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illustrates and I write. There
was definitely a larger discussion when designing the
way characters looked – she’d
receive two to four lines as a
description (age, height, motivations, character traits, any
features that stand out etc)
and then she has had full reign
to be as creative as she liked.
Some of the minor characters
that appear once or have no
lines she has pretty much had
the freedom to illustrate as
she wished.
GS: Do you think having a Psychology degree has helped you in
any way in terms of your writing?
much to learn about the anxos
that you’ll never actually learn
it all even in the graphic novels themselves. It’s a bit like
the Star Wars world – there’s
so much that’s not even
mentioned or spoken about
that people create their own
meaning. That’s how I’d like
this world to come across. It’s
funny, actually. People talk to
me at conventions about the
story to learn more about the
world that’s not in the story
and they hurriedly shut me
up in case I’m giving away
spoilers. I assure them I’m not
and they want to find out for
themselves. I love that.
SO: Absolutely. I am constantly
psycho-analysing
characters in films and comics, not to mention my friends
and their motives to do certain things. That can get annoying, but my mind is always
working to find meaning. I’ve
worked very hard to make
sure nothing happens in Elysia without any rhyme or reason. Everything has some consequence, whether it’s a major
plot point, to the design of her
t-shirts.
GS: Elysia was funded by Kickstarter. Can you tell us why you
opted for that particular platform?
GS: The art is being used quite
heavily in terms of world-building
such as the state of the wings to
signify social status. Were most of
these ideas already fully formed or
did you find that Jennie’s art sent
you off into new directions with
the story?
GS: How much planning did you
do in terms of your strategy for
running the Kickstarter?
SO: I’m a bit of a stickler for
meaning and consequence, so
I had created all of this prior
to even meeting Jen. The world
is enormous and there’s so
SO: Kickstarter was the obvious choice because they don’t
give you the funds unless you
hit your goal. That was motivation enough to keep working to raise the funds until we
finally did. We raised £22,000
on the site and a further £3,000
off the site, so we didn’t do
too badly for an independent
graphic novel.
SO: There was almost two
months of prior planning, setup and working for nothing
that occurred when putting
the Kickstarter together. Everybody involved was counting on us to hit the target, so
it’s pretty lucky that we did!
The video took three weeks
alone to perfect (and we can
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