Hello readers! I am Eric Clevenger, the Clevenger half of Graham Clevenger, and I wanted to take a moment and talk about our debut project, Manticore’s Shadow and the Stories of Sainan. It’s been an amazing journey, and I wanted to tell you all why this project means so much to me, and give you a bit of backstory.

In 2004, I explored the idea of Symon (not his original name) and his story. The idea of this young man exploring his roots fascinated me. This character has a stable home, a loving but sometimes cold father, and a bright future. But deep down, he knows there’s something missing. When he develops magical abilities unknown to the kingdom he lives in, he dives deep into his father’s past and uncovers secrets that change his life.

I reflect on this story based on my relationship with my own father. The dynamic between Kyrn and Symon is that of a son who is so much like a man he doesn’t understand. I think it’s a powerful revelation when you discover your parents are just people like you, doing their best to shape the world for their children. Watching Symon learn who his father is as a man is an exciting exploration of this concept.

I had always envisioned that Symon would come of age in a land stuck between two warring factions. I wanted a gray area where the powers that be were neither good nor evil, but truly depended on what side of the argument you were on. And in Symon’s kingdom, they labeled both of them as evil because of the damage wrought on their homeland. Rarely is there a true “villain” and I wanted to explore that deeper.

I’ve been looking to tell this story for nearly two decades, but didn’t have enough of a “non-character driven” plot to backdrop the story. In 2019, Graham and I sat down and discussed story ideas that we had both been thinking of and what we wanted to do with them, and where our struggles were. When he told me the idea he had of Vargarden, Jesse and the war between the Shadow and the Undead, I was stricken.

My story had a backdrop in his and the elements I needed were right there in front of me. The contrast between Jesse and Symon gave us a “day versus night”, where you see two young men coming of age but with radically different circumstances and was an amazing contrast. We quickly began interweaving our ideas and the Stories of Sainan Series was born.

Throughout the writing of this series, Graham and I have always focused on keeping true to our original visions of Jesse and Symon. I have long been an ally and supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, and providing a safe and accepting world for Jesse and Symon was very important to me. With the birth of our fantasy setting, we could craft dozens of races and establish a world of equality and acceptance for all of our characters. I truly hope that readers will find a character that they can connect to. I hope we reflect a society that accepts all, and that those who have struggled to find a voice will find one in our world.

Looking back over these seventeen years, I am so excited to see where Sainan has gotten to. I cannot wait to share it with all of you, and hope you enjoy!

Be kind.

E