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Sunstone, Vol. 1 QUOTES

Sunstone, Vol. 1 QUOTES

1 " Before all this , I had my life figured out to some extent ... [sic.]

The mundane nature of it was like a familiar painting on the wall. The one you lived with long enough that you don't even notice it anymore.

But that morning, something changed. That morning I noticed a flame of paint falling off from it.

There seemed to be a while other painting underneath it ... [sic.]

A restless part of me mused about the hidden possibilities of this new painting ... [sic.] considered tearing down the layer of familiarity for a chance of something amazing. "

― Stjepan Šejić , Sunstone, Vol. 1

2 " How the hell did I end up here?

I certainly had no intentions of making this comic. There was, in fact, no comic to be made. Sunstone was the end result of the deepest fast-food and burn-out I have ever experienced in my life.

It was three years ago. I had just finished my last issue of Witchblade, a comic that I had lived and hated at that point.

Comics itself had nothing to do with it ... [sic.] Truth was, artistically speaking, I hit a wall and there was no way past it. In my eyes I wasn't a storyteller anymore. I was a grinder going through the emotions.

And I was burnt out.

So there I was, sitting and hate-staring my computer monitor... or way...too...long... ,

Something had to change. I had to find the spark, which by that time, I had obviously lost. I started reminiscing about those great outbursts of inspiration and drive I experienced in my past.

And there, I remembered it. The most exciting moment of my career. It was just before I got hired by Top Cow. I was in my early twenties, and my dream was to become a comic artist. Chances of this living in Croatia were slim to none, but my work was noticed, and I got asked to do a fetishistic erotic comic.

Not all that unusual in Europe.

I was ecstatic. For the first time I would be able to help my family by doing something I love. I remember drawing up a storm. I drew over 30 sample pages, and then crazily enough, Top Cow's offer came in.

I had to make a choice. And it was a choice I never regretted.

But I remembered something about those long list sample pages ... They were expressive.

There was so much energy to them ... Energy that got lost in my work over time as a result of trying to emulate other people's work.

I shrugged ... said "Fuck it!" turned to Linda, and told her about my idea ... "

― Stjepan Šejić , Sunstone, Vol. 1

3 " Once I started writing the actual story, it became apparent that this wasn't going to be a story about one domme and two submissives. It just made no sense. A simple, serious look at the characters and their situation transformed it into a story about two women, two online friends, who met for the sole purpose of scratching a very specific sexual itch.

And then, the unplanned romance messed up their plans. It was a story about them dealing with their emotions, trying at first to deny the crush. Then, as it grew to love, it became about them struggling to find a way to admit it.

It was a very intreaguing [sic.] writing process, as the conflict within their story was interesting, human, and loaded with irony.

That is the amazing thing about writing romance. You start realizing just how much logic is chucked out the window.

When we are secretly in love, we make mistakes. We make stupid decisions and justify them with the dumbest of reasons. These reasons make sense at the time ... [sic.] they make perfect sense to us ... [sic.]

And those reasons, those persistent self delusions piss off everyone around us who can see the obvious.

So yeah ... [sic.] Ally, Lisa, Alan, and Anne ... [sic.] they all changed from their initial conception.

More and more of their pasts, their motivations, and their interests were revealed. ...

From my experience, the funny thing about writing is how the characters rarely remain what you initially thought they would be. "

― Stjepan Šejić , Sunstone, Vol. 1