answers. He needs to know why Hao Yun Orphanage was targeted, where is the man responsible for destroying the orphanage, and why has no one seen him for the past 13 years? What
happened to his locket and who are his parents? Finding the
answers to these questions is his objective as Jin sets off from
Fujian Temple, located in the foothills of the Wuyi Mountains.
Join us, as we follow Jin on a journey that takes him to the lowest
depths of hell and into the heights of heaven. Enter as Jin will,
into the world of EMPYREAL.
SP!: I HAVE TO SAY, AFTER READING THE SYNOPSIS AND VIEWING
THE PREVIEW ART, ON YOUR WEBSITE I IMMEDIATELY THOUGHT
THIS STORY IS BEGGING TO BE FILMED BY TSUI HARK. WERE YOU
AT ALL INFLUENCED BY CHINESE CINEMA?
well. To answer your question, though, absolutely! I was definitely
influenced by Chinese cinema while working on this project; films
such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; House of Flying Daggers;
countless martial arts films (too many to list them all here), and
other Chinese cinema. This project definitely lends itself to the
cinematic experience. It has that epic scope to it.
SP!: THE ARTWORK HAS AN IMAGE COMICS FROM TOP COW
LOOK AND A BIT OF A MARK SILVESTRI INFLUENCE. WAS IT A
CONSCIOUS DECISION TO GIVE THE ART AN AMERICAN GRAPHIC
NOVEL LOOK, VERSUS ASIAN CO MIC OR MANGA FLAIR?
AZ: No, to be perfectly honest, we were actually just looking for a
professional artist and someone that was a good fit for the project.
We didn’t consciously go into it saying we want an artist that
AZ: Thanks for that! Glad to hear that you immediately went in that draws like xyz or anything like that. Something that we strive for at
direction! It means we as creators have done our job correctly. I Inkwerk Studios is putting forward our absolute best quality work
agree with you and I am sure that many other people would as in everything we do. We strive to release the kind of work that can
rival work from any other top company/studio in the
industry. As a result, we found Edu Francisco. He is
a top-notch artist. He has done work for Aspen, DC
Comics, and many others. If you haven’t heard of him
before, look him up on Facebook and remember his
name! He’s destined for great things. He brought in
some other people, such as colorist Sunny Gho from
Imaginary Friends Studios. He has done coloring for
Top Cow comics, which might be why you noticed
the similarities with, and influences of, Top Cow and
Marc Silvestri.
SP!: WISH, THE TEARS OF THE CHERUBS, LITTLE
SOLDIERS... THESE TITLES FEATURE CHILDREN
PLACED IN EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES.
WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR LITERARY INFLUENCES
WHEN IT COMES TO WRITING ABOUT CHILDREN?
ARE YOUR CHARACTERS AT ALL INFLUENCED BY
CHILDREN YOU KNOW IN REAL LIFE (E.G. NIECES,
NEPHEWS, COUSINS, YOUR KIDS OR CHILDREN OF
FRIENDS)?
AZ: As far as some of my literary influences when
it comes to writing about children, definitely the
Grimm Fairytale stories, which strongly feature children in many of the tales; Aesop’s Fables; William
Golding (writer of Lord of the Flies), and many others.
In regard to the second part of your question, yes!
Absolutely! My characters are sometimes influenced
by children that I know in real life. I mean, it depends
on the story, the characters and where they are ultimately destined to go through the story. Whether
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SELF PUBLISHER MAGAZINE 2015