Ian: Let’s start by talking about your comic Realm of Spirits, this is your baby, how did you get Realm of Spirits started?
Sylvester: I first named the story Spirit Realms, but I began to not like the title and changed it to “Realm of Spirits.” I got the idea from the book of Enoch which is Noah’s great, great grandfather. Enoch was a profit someone very connected with his spirit and in his day angels fell from heaven and corrupted the Earth.
Ian: What is it like trying to adapt Realm of Spirits from your mind to book and comic?
Sylvester: So Michael, Gabriel and a few other angels came down to earth to arrest them and that’s when I came up with the idea. I thought what if Michael and his band of angel could not rescue the Earth because they had to fight a war in heaven, so they will need children to defend the Earth and that’s how I got Realm of Spirits. It’s hard to transcend especially from rock bottom but I’m not the competitive type, I want everyone’s story to be heard because all our struggles in life are through our stories, they should all be heard.
Ian: How much of the creative process do you do yourself? Do you source out anything like coloring or lettering?
Sylvester: I wrote the comic script at the same time I wrote my novel, however, I cannot draw so I hired a company of artist at http://comic-book-artists.com/ to draw what I envisioned.
Ian: Are the characters based on existing lore or are they your own creation?
Sylvester: My characters are based on archangels you hear in bible stories. Their powers are elemental but their true power comes from the spirit world.
Ian: What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of trying to turn a book into a comic?
Sylvester: Some like reading from novels but it doesn’t really sell people as well as comics do. Creating a budget for artist can reach its limits and that’s when you need help from your fans. But sometimes your fans can’t always help you but you don’t give up, you may have to wait a while until you can create more art at the same time you will be closer to your goals but never give up.
Ian: You started writing the book in 2008 and published it in 2012 tell us a little bit about the book publishing process?
Sylvester: It’s better to self-publish you’re your work but first make sure you have it edited by a professional. You can publish for free on Amazon.
Ian: Can you compare the book publishing process to comic creating and comic publishing?
Sylvester: I cannot compare novel publishing to comic publishing because I haven’t finished my comic yet.
Ian: You have lofty plans beyond just books and comics, can you tell us a little bit about your motion comic and featured film plans?
Sylvester: In the beginning I hired an old friend of mine to create my first motion comic, I wanted him to make a second but he couldn’t so I spent six month learning Photoshop, after effects, encoder, and premiere pro to make the next motion comic. I was also blessed to find a voice over actress (Lauren French) to voice Azaria Heroca’s mother. When the full comic is done I plan to finish the motion comic and hopefully be blessed with more voice actors. I also plan to make a movie of my story in the future as a web series.
Ian: How do you expect to marry all of the different mediums?
Sylvester: First I tried to bring about all three things, novel, comic book, and movie together. And I failed but not completely, I did get it all started. It cost me all I had earned but that’s how much I believed in it. Know I know I should focus on one at a time.
Ian: Do you have plans for a sequel? In any medium?
Sylvester: There are many stories of this soon to be series. Right now I’m tell the story of my characters Exodus and when that is done I will tell the story of their Genesis.
Ian: You have plans on starting a crowdfunding campaign, can you tell us a little bit about that?
Sylvester: I will be able to start a crowd funder soon. My plan for the fans is to create two different comic covers for the fans to choose from. As the campaign goes on I plan to add as many concept art works for the fans to choose as rewards as I can and for every fan helping out their names will be on a special thanks for your support page of the comic book.
Ian: What are your overall goals for crowdfunding?
Sylvester: My overall goals for the campaign will be to finish issue 1 of Realm of Spirits: Birth of a Living Storm and maybe just a little leftover to start issue 2 Realm of Spirits: Blossoms of the North Star.
Ian: When do you plan on starting your campaign?
Sylvester: I plan to start the campaign as soon as the 2nd cover comes in, hopefully in a month and a half.
Ian: Where can people get a hold of your books?
Sylvester: If fans would like to read the novel before the comic it is available on amazon kindle or Barnes & Noble Nook book.
Ian: Where can people contact you?
Sylvester: Fans can always feel free to contact me by Facebook or fans can reach me on my website.
