When I set out to write grydscaen, I wanted to make sure that we could expose the grydscaen message to the global market. With the short stories that were first made available in grydscaen: tribute regarding the character Rom, I am making the grydscaen world accessible in other languages. To date, some of the grydscaen short stories are available in Japanese, French and English with planned translation into Spanish coming soon.
Currently the story “A Storm’s Coming” is available as “Une Tempete Arrive” and Arashi ga Kuru.” The story “Rogue” is available as “Le Paria” as well. I wanted to make grydscaen accessible to people all over the world, and making the stories available in other languages is part of that mission.
grydscaen has a universal message of hope and courage. The reviews from major sources have come in that say the messages of grydscaen show LGBT characters in positions of power. I wanted to show that people on the LGBT spectrum can achieve greatness just like everybody else along with making commentary about such issues as youth homelessness, mental health, drug addiction, social inequality, and gender issues.
Since the story of grydscaen is multi-cultural, I wanted to enable more people to read it. By translating “A Storm’s Coming” into Japanese, I honour the heritage and background of the characters from the Pacific Territories. By making the story available on a global scale I can reach a wider audience.
grydscaen is influenced by Japanese, American, British, Chinese and French cultures in the writing. Having been raised with a metropolitan background in the cities of Tokyo and New York City, as well as Washington D.C. and Los Angeles, I have the ability to move within multiple cultures and use facets from each of these cultures in the story. Having studied French, in junior, high school and college, along with Japanese in college, it was only natural that the first languages that grydscaen was translated into would be Japanese and French.
There are slight hints of Chinese culture in grydscaen as well, however the limitations of making a Chinese version available are a hurdle. Since Spanish is a major language in the United States, it is only natural that Spanish would come next in the chain of translation.
The Japanese influences in grydscaen are mainly front and center including some Japanese terms that are used in grydscaen: tribute. One of the reviewers mentioned that in their review. Since the Pacific Territories is made up of islands and nation states in that region in the story, it was only normal that there would be influences from there. The Atlantea Federation which has its homeland at Londes, has the feel of an oppressive nation such as North Korea. The Chinese, Japanese and Korean influences are apparent in the story. I may have the story translated into Korean as well but that would be in the future down the road some time.
As I grew up in a multicultural household and I am hapa myself, it was only natural that these influences would come to bear in the grydscaen story. Bowing, honouring ancestors, family and some of the pageantry of the Imperial Guard harken back to the Imperial Rule in Japan during the Edo period. Some of the pageantry of the Viceroy harken back to early European and British influence. The open society, international language and melting pot of cultures comes directly from the American influence.
Though it is important to get the grydscaen message out in as many methods as possible, it has to be done in a systematic way. Although I have penned 6 books in the grydscaen series that have been published to date with a 7th on the way this year in 2016, I am still considered a new author. Translating grydscaen short stories into other languages is a way to get the word out.
For now French, Japanese and English are my focus with Spanish quickly coming into play. I want the grydscaen message to be available to as many people as possible. And if I can bring the message of hope and self esteem to young people from multiple cultures then I will have done my job of reaching individuals with my message.