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I Spent A Decade Writing Up A Tempest

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Natasha Kennedy writes of her graphic novel series being crowdfunded and includes an exclusive opportunity for Bleeding Cool readers. She writes: My name is Natasha Kennedy. I am 31, and I am finally Kickstarting my ten-years-in-the-making graphic novel series called Tempest.

I Spent A Decade Writing Up A Tempest.
Cover from Tempest.

When I sat down at my computer to put together my Kickstarter campaign last month, I began to feel this intense pressure on my shoulders as I wrote down the words "ten years in the making"—this is not something I should be boasting about lightly! I am about to launch my graphic novel series to a world that has seen so many stunning and groundbreaking projects come out of the comics industry in the last decade. And here I am, an indie comic creator, offering the comics world a decade's worth of work!

This could either go really well or fall really hard on its 10-year-old face.

I Spent A Decade Writing Up A Tempest.
Image from Tempest.

This story would need to be worth those ten years. And so I sat there wondering: do I really want to boast the ten years that it took me to now launch TEMPEST: Volume One?

My answer is yes, and here are four reasons why:

1. If I spent a decade writing a story, it would have to be one damn good story.

Back in 2010, I took on the task of writing a weaving story. I follow several different characters on their personal journeys as they cross paths and work together to tell a tale greater than the sum of their parts. Focusing so closely on complex characters, twisting plots, and mind-bending cosmology takes so much time! I had to be willing to take my time to perfect this story. Even though every New Years' resolution was to "finish TEMPEST," every year, I was glad I had waited—a plot this thick needs time.

I Spent A Decade Writing Up A Tempest.
Image from Tempest.

2. If I spent a decade writing a story, it would have to capture that decade of my life.

I didn't just spend my 20s writing TEMPEST. I spent them traveling the world.

Being a lover of story-telling, I felt it my mission to travel and find out how other people think, how other cultures function, and how other humans like me find purpose and happiness. I got to debate philosophy in the Swiss Alps, argue with scholars in their offices, and hear the life stories of just about anyone who would share with me. Getting married to a prof, I was also given the opportunity to mentor students. Falling in love with the human race and paying attention to what they really wanted gave me so much perspective on how to guide people towards fantasy: the great escape.

I Spent A Decade Writing Up A Tempest.
Image from Tempest.

The 20s are the child's "right of passage" into adulthood. TEMPEST is a tribute to my 20s. It is a letter to my generation, offering shelter from the mundane and a place to rest inside the tempestuous chaos of fiction. It is a story that asks the questions I asked, it clings to the beauty which got me through, and it features the true suffering that I didn't know was possible for someone as young as me to experience. TEMPEST wouldn't exist without what I learned in my 20s.

I Spent A Decade Writing Up A Tempest.
Image from Tempest.

Check out and support TEMPEST

3. If I spent a decade writing a story, I should have a lot to show for my work.

TEMPEST took me ten years because I needed it to be different! I pushed the envelope on what makes a graphic novel as I have both long-form prose and plot-dependent artwork.

TEMPEST is a whole new visual experience that gives one the feel of reading a novel while also drawing in the reader with colorful and imaginative artwork.

I Spent A Decade Writing Up A Tempest.
Image from Tempest.

Another reason why it took so long: I do everything. I write the story. I do the research. I design the characters. I build the world. I do all the artwork, line art, coloring, formatting, type-setting, and campaigning! Being a one-woman show while also raising three kids and working as a graphic designer on the side is really a lot of work!

4. If I spent a decade writing a story, then this story should be about me.

TEMPEST is the story of abandoning deathly cycles for chaotic purpose. It is a fantasy—an escape from meaninglessness and darkness. It is a doorway into a world that I have written so that my fellow humans could really go somewhere new.

I Spent A Decade Writing Up A Tempest.
Image from Tempest.

All in all, TEMPEST is a story about me: a human, full of expectation, who went on an adventure that changed her forever. She came out on the other side as someone who saw and experienced such beautiful and compelling things that she couldn't help but share them.

I Spent A Decade Writing Up A Tempest.
Image from Tempest.

This, my friends, is true fantasy.

I Spent A Decade Writing Up A Tempest.
Image from Tempest.

Please check out the Kickstarter for TEMPEST Any Bleeding Cool readers who order through this link will additionally receive a free digital copy of my first graphic novel Reklas Abandon, a vampire-satire.

Natasha Kennedy is an author and illustrator based in Seattle, WA. She has been an artist her entire life and loves to tell compelling stores of beauty and truth. Her multi-volume illustrated novel series TEMPEST launched in 2020. She is the author and illustrator of coloring book Maia of the Forest, children's book series Where I Go When I Sleep, and graphic novel Reklas Abandon. Natasha is married, has three children, enjoys a quiet and contemplative life, and is always looking for new ways to tell creative stories.

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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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