FireHeart - Author's Note 10 Aug 2008

FIREHEART SAGA PROJECT
Author’s Note

Update: August 10, 2008
A Review to FireHeart from the Author’s Point of View


Seeing this NovelBlog and (if there’s going to be any) Printed version of FireHeart Cycle, people may ask how come? Will FireHeart in print be more enjoyable yet less original than the NovelBlog version? Why did the author, Andry Chang put nearly entire content of the Cycle in blogs? Well, I, the author, have prepared an answer for that.

You see, I didn’t make FireHeart for money. It’s simply a way to express myself and a channel for my idealism: events, thoughts and culture that are different and doesn’t happen or exist in the real world (a.k.a. Earth) in modern times, but it happened in Eternia.

So that’s why I also made it in present tense (Blog/First Draft Version) giving the impression that all the events must be real-time, something you and I experience right when we read the book. I want you to think and feel them all: The rush of adrenaline whether Robert is in high emotion, Chris’ grudge that led him into near-madness and terrible anger, and the flow of blood rushing into your head when you, as Robert, kissed Eloise with love overflowing, and the difference between when he kissed Elaine, Carolyn and when he refused to kiss Xylen.

The feeling of family love, a true fatherly love for a son who despised and offended him. The feeling of living in a country that has corruption rooted deep in the culture (though it sounded more extreme than reality, but it happened in a feudal kingdom – inspired by an Indonesian comic strip: Panji Koming by Dwi Koen). Also, it depicted what Justice is all about, viewing justice in a whole new point of view.

It’s all idealism in one package, fellas. It’s not just a full-action novel with kung-fu like moves and display of extreme power. The paperback / commercial version of FireHeart may have refined storytelling, cutting off the elongated speeches of ideality and thoughts to entertain the popular demand, yet the blog version (the draft version) stays. It might not be entertaining, it drew out all kinds of bitter critics (like a medicine for idealism) in the forums from some fantasy-fiction lovers who craved for a greater sensation than Harry Potter, Naruto, Lord of the Rings and Inheritance Cycle (Eragon Saga), Saint Seiya, etc.

No way. Me, an Indonesian of Chinese ethnicity, in my state now can’t afford to pay the literary agents’ fees, as if telling me that I must be rich before I can make a dime out fro this FireHeart Project. So, at the risk of being pirated by plagiators (may lord forgive them) I have no choice but to display the whole content in this blog as if it’s my diary of my journey in Eternia.

And yes, I admit these entries are hard to navigate (as reviewed and recorded). I admit I lack all the education level, the literacy and English language mastery level to make this a grand literature like the classics (like King Arthur and Knights of the Round Table, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Iliad by Homer and Asgard – Ragnarok Saga). Yet, like I wrote in my novel, at least I tried.

It’s a gruelling time since I started this project back in January 2005. I missed out many opportunities since then, but I can’t stop now. I started the journey and I’ve come this far. I played by my own strength, learning, improving my imagination and skill, meeting wonderful people, and last but not least, opening myself to possibilities (or opportunities) beyond the mainstream.

So, for my dedication (recipient undisclosed), here’s what I wrote:

“I’ve lost the sparkle of your eyes along the way, but in return, I’ve found myself”

- Andry Chang, 2008