I’m Vera Greentea, author of To Stop Dreaming of Goddesses and founder of Greentea Publishing.  I’m here to talk about my nearest-and-dearest project, Recipes for the Dead. 

Recipes for the Dead was an idea I came up with in 2010.  I was deeply passionate about it and it must have showed, because I found a wonderful artist and produced the first issue with her within months of the idea’s inception.  After successfully producing the first issue, the many unfortunate circumstances that can hit a young artist during a recession happened to me, and I had to put Recipes on an unintended hiatus.  However, after months of building up my resources and clout again, I am able to present to you with issue 2 of Recipes for the Dead: Apricot Asylum.

I was always a believer that art and illustration is transcendent beyond its own genre – be it fine art, manga or anything else.  Simply, I thought, if done well, a work of art can be appealing to anyone, even if that person typically is not an enthusiast.  I wanted to create a beautiful book that would be appealing through the story, the colors, and the lines.  Recipes for the Dead was my experiment and I am pleased to say that it performed beautifully – I found that it captivated not just the fans of anime or even art, but it did well amongst people who never read comics before.  Veronica’s wonderful supporters gave me the motivation to do it again - find another amazing artist, to keep writing and to come back to Kickstarter with the second issue in this series.

This time around, the enchanted brushes will be wielded by one brilliant Allison Strom, an artist who can build atmospheres and tear down worlds with a simple brushstroke.  Check out her magic on the first page of RftD: Apricot Asylum!

Similar to Issue 1, Issue 2 will be roughly 20 pages and completely in full color.  The $2,000 will allow me to pay Allison, the production costs, Kickstarter fees, and offset some of the post office costs.  I am hoping to bring this book with me to New York Comic Con in October, so I anticipate having the complete PDF by the end of September (anyone who donates $5 will be seeing it the same day as I do!).  Along with the rest of the incentives, I will be posting Allison’s sketches, updates and notes from the story, which anyone can access just by donating $1.

I hope you take the opportunity to become part of this project and in the meantime, enjoy the process.  And if you’re New York-bound during Comic Con season, remember, I’m the girl with the cookies.

P.S. It would do me a world of favor if you add an extra $4 to your donation if you’re pledging internationally. 

Thank you all for checking out my project and I hope you decide to contribute!

Yours truly,

Vera Greentea

(Practically all of the art in the video was created by Allison Strom.  Music is by Isaac Albeniz, performed by Gordon Rowland.)