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Casanova in Paris: The Shadows of the King

Dave Thompson and Kev Butters write:

The best ideas happen when you're with a mate down the pub, don't they? Well… no, no they don't. What happens is your normal collection of cognitive biases (optimism bias, confirmation bias, WTF-does-anyone-else-know bias, etc. etc.), galvanised by alcohol and bonhomie become untethered from planet Earth and jet off into a kinder more welcoming universe with brainchild in tow. The next day, however, sad reality dawns and your idea now more closely resembles those damp and scummy firework casings you find in your garden the morning after Guy Fawkes.
That's what usually happens, anyway.

Casanova in Paris: The Shadows of the King
Every now and then, however, when the three stars of Alpha Centauri align perfectly with the moons of GalSec seven (and a bit like the storm at the inn at the end of all worlds in the Neil Gaiman's The Sandman), a new dimension in reality opens up. And it was at that precise moment when Kev, my partner in crime, over a pint of IPA bitter shandy and a packet of hedgehog crisps, out of nowhere issued his challenge: "If you come up with a story, I'll put some pictures to it." Needless to say, the challenge was accepted.
Casanova in Paris: The Shadows of the King
Using Giacomo Casanova as our protagonist, over the next eight years the idea just grew and grew. We had approached a publisher with a much smaller version of our story (our present online version runs to almost 250 pages), and although he was interested, it was obvious it was going to take ages for anything to happen. So we decided to print off our own copies, most of which we were fortunate enough to sell. We then thought, why not put it online (I mean, how hard could it be for two people with the IT skills of Paddington bear to set up a website)? That would give us loads of ways to develop it further. We'd discovered from feedback from our printed copies, for example, that not many people knew much about the true life of Casanova or the actual world in which he lived so next we thought, why not add a history dimension to our site?
Casanova in Paris: The Shadows of the King
Where are we now? As well as the graphic novel in the form of 12 flipbook chapters we've produced 18 meaty history articles about Casanova's life and times along with a load of blogs with more history stuff but also stuff on the characters in our story and how we've put it all together.

And we've set up Pinterest and Google+ pages, which contain lots of other history materials which we're hoping to add to in due course. We've also now begun working on part 2.
Casanova in Paris: The Shadows of the King

Come and have a look at our site at http://www.casanovashadows.com and for Bleeding Cool readers who subscribe in December 2017 we'll give you free membership for a year.  To obtain your free membership register under the 'Patreon supporters – free/ 1 Year' option and create a username beginning with BC.  We'll then upgrade you. 


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Rich JohnstonAbout Rich Johnston

Founder of Bleeding Cool. The longest-serving digital news reporter in the world, since 1992. Author of The Flying Friar, Holed Up, The Avengefuls, Doctor Who: Room With A Deja Vu, The Many Murders Of Miss Cranbourne, Chase Variant. Lives in South-West London, works from Blacks on Dean Street, shops at Piranha Comics. Father of two. Political cartoonist.
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