“Curse of the Griffin” is a new young adult fiction series. In many ways is a testament to how much commitment it truly takes to grow as an artist.
Jerome makes a living during the day as an advertising consultant, running his own design studio, The Blue Griffin. He works with clients in the retail and healthcare industries. In the evenings, after the family has settled in, Jerome works on writing stories and illustrating graphic novels. In early 2013, he successfully launched three books in his graphic novel series, “Nowhere Man”. These were published through Forward Comix. In many respects, it didn’t seem there would be time to finish another independent project before year’s end.
“I spent a number of years writing ‘Daniel’s Pride”, the first book in my series, “Curse of the Griffin”. Developing a YA fantasy series can be challenging. Yet, in a very short period of time, things started to snap into place. I then moved quickly because I really like this main character and I believe he will have really broad appeal,” states Jerome.
The mere mention of vampires can be polarizing. Yet the series includes them and provides a very different take on these supernatural beings. In the Commonwealth of Anthrazit, despite vampires being in full control, it isn’t quite the vampire paradise. Sure enough, Daniel – an artist on the margins society- crosses Leonardo, a powerful yet insecure political figure. Leonardo then becomes obsessed with destroying Daniel and his ragtag friends, at any cost.
A key dynamic in the storyline sets fantasy mythology against urban supernatural. This promises to be very exciting.
Daniel Griffin is a runt of a character, lacking practically all the traits of a stereotypical hero, namely physical strength and boundless confidence. Instead, all Daniel seems to have going for him is a lack of knowing any better and impeccably bad or good timing depending the circumstances. “Daniel’s Pride” has been released as a novel on the Amazon Kindle, July 2013.
“The decision to develop “Curse of the Griffin” as a novel trilogy was a personal, challenge. I wanted to know if I was able to tell a compelling story, without visuals. That is still the plan. I am currently working on the manuscripts for books two and three without the use of illustrations, my greatest strength as a storyteller. Based on the feedback so far from my editors, this approach is going really well.
However, after years of practice, my illustrative work turned a corner this summer. I wanted to do something special to share that experience with my readers.”
Jerome’s crowd-funding proposal is fairly straightforward. The campaign offers the opportunity to receive a special edition of the first book, as an illustrated book. Each book is signed and numbered. The illustrated version is intended to be limited and will not be available outside of the campaign.
Jerome has received critical praises for his art in Forward Comix’s “Nowhere Man”. Something significant has occurred along the way, for sure. Years of practice and late nights are starting to show, and the illustrations in progress for “Daniel’s pride” is arguably his strongest work to date.
Check out the kickstarter funding page.
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