I wrote a book!
Hellu! My real name is Sarah, but I'm also known as Rufi Angel, the webcomic artist and writer of Serpamia Flare. (I'm a storyteller at heart!)
The Lethian is my first full-length young adult novel, and is a martial-arts fantasy based in a contemporary setting. It's about a teenage girl who takes up a mystical form of martial arts to avenge her murdered sister, and save her kidnapped brother. Here's the blurb on the back cover:
When nine year old Sharie loses her family to the city's most prolific crime syndicate, Baklei, it ignites in her a howling thirst for revenge.
In pursuit of strength, she becomes the first disciple of Jeremiah, a Lethian martial artist. When Sharie becomes a Lethian Novice at sixteen, Jeremiah is called back to the Academy and Sharie must return to the city. Against his orders she jumps into the DKC, Baklei's underground fighting circuit, in her search for her sister's killer. Determined to take back what she lost, she is drawn into a deeper world of drugs, prostitution, and brutality...
If you haven't seen the trailer video at the top of the page, on YouTube, or on Vimeo, please take a look!
The Lethian is around 600 pages of fast-paced action, and it took me three years to write and edit. It does have some violence and a few darker hints of the adult world, so I'd recommend it to readers aged 15 and up. If you like fast-paced action with a touch of depth and fantasy, and a dash of grit and mystery, then this is the book for you!
The book is ready to go, but I need funds to do a print run. Technically I don't have to do a print run at all because I could just make it an e-book, but I'd really gosh darn like to! And so, I humbly ask you to consider taking part and supporting this campaign to help this book reach physical form.
(Here's a brief peek at the novel cover!)
Where your support comes in
I'm printing this book in a softcover trade paperback format, using a local printer in Hong Kong. Here, as in most places around the world, printing a 600 page novel is expensive. The more copies I print, the lower the cost per book, so I am basing my current price estimates on printing at least a few hundred units. I'll adjust according to how the campaign goes! :)
Every bit of support will go straight to printing costs, and if I don't manage to raise the full amount, that's okay - I will still print! If I reach the funding goal early, any extra money will go into printing it with tiny frills, funding new perks or buying choco.
Want a sample of the writing in the book? No problem! I have a couple of sample chapters from the earlier parts of the novel for you to check out. :) Chapter Two, and Chapter Twelve.
What perks are you offering?
The pre-order prices are lower than the pending final prices for the e-book and softcover, so if you pre-order through this campaign then you are getting a nice discount! :)
If that isn't enough and you want some extra goodies to go in your bag, I have some of those, too! Alongside the novel, I am also working on two collections of bonus content - a digital art book, and Off The Record: deleted scenes and outtakes.
The art book will have both my own artwork and some awesome contributions by very talented artists! It's projected so far to be around 30 pages+. Some completed works I already have include artwork by jjak, Anjing, Deji, BlueTen, thumbjr, kaalashnikov and rtil. The rest are coming along and are still under the hood - once I start getting completions I'll be updating this list! (New additions: Mothtrap, Matt Knab, Alicia, CiciEnixa, Rinkel, Spelledeg, HapyCow, seabiscuit, LeRenardRoux, HeSerpenty, Damatris, Saari, TheD-Wrek, Confettirainbowpony, kara, EcM!)
The art book will be available as a downloadable freebie after the preorder campaign is over, but the everyone who picks up the Lethian Maven Perk during the preorder campaign will instead get a 'deluxe' edition that includes:
- everything in the regular artbook
PLUS
- my rough sketches of characters and scenes
- discarded character designs
- 3-panel gag comics (3koma) starring the characters (sample below!)
Off The Record: deleted scenes and outtakes will not be freely downloadable after the campaign, and it will only be available to those who pick up the Lethian Maven Perk during the preorder campaign. It will be a collection of scenes I deleted from the book, with short commentary by me as to why it was removed. It will include:
- 'missing scenes' that didn't make the cut
- scenes that were just never meant to happen
- a 'director's commentary' about the ending of the story and other alternative endings
There may be extra perks depending on demand, so feel free to voice out opinions!
Know anyone who might like 'The Lethian'?
I would hugely appreciate it if you could get the word out for this campaign! Tweet it, tumblr it, share it on Facebook, print it on a shirt and wear it to work - honestly, I'll be happy for all the help you can offer. :)
Helping to get the word out on this project could also win you an art commission, so please check my DeviantArt journal entry here for details!
I didn't write this book all on my lonesome; many people helped out and contributed to make it real. Getting the book out there requires so much more than just me! Thank you so much for your support!