Anime

Her Eternal Moonlight Is Here!

by

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr)

“Her Eternal Moonlight,” the look at female fans of Sailor Moon that my co-author Bonnie have been working on for 16 months is out. Available in both ebook and physical format! You’ve been hearing about it – now it’s done and it’s something I’m proud of!  Seriously, take a look at this cover by the amazing Jennifer Cox.

sm-hem-full

Yes, it’s finished! After interviews, writing, rewriting, editing, and more this “psychological travelogue” of how Sailor Moon affected her female fans in North America is finished. So now it’s time to let the world know (and by the way, you can help with that, start sharing the links)

This was a pretty amazing experience; interviewing people, understanding their stories, looking for patterns, weaving it into a whole. It was also a humbling one as the Sailor Moon media phenomena changed lives – and the whole 90’s DiC dub was far more life-altering than I’d expected. Doing a book on how a TV show changed others changed me, to be frank.

So it’s done. Bonnie and I will be looking to speak on it at various events, depending on our schedules – and we’ve already got an idea for another pop culture impact book. We just won’t start that one until 2017 because we’ve got this one, and I kinda need a rest . . .

– Steve

Sailor Moon Book Update 4/27/2016

by

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr)

Whew, haven’t had one of these in awhile. So where’s the book?

AT THE EDITOR.  Yes, I am so glad!

The latest copy, fully set up as a book, is also off to the pre-readers. Ok not perfect (it lacks the physical print format) but close.

This is a big milestone for us as the book is that much closer to being real. We get it back from the editor sometime in June, and then after an editing binge, it’s done. Finished. Ready to print.

I’m pretty proud of it actually. The final run on it, the formatting, getting the chapter titles right, the final edit, really brought it together. It finally feels like a book, and one with a unified theme and feel.

It just needs that thorough edit to make it completely ready to go.

Of course the print formatting and the like can be a bit of a pill. I’ve got it mostly done as a system, but the preprint work is the real pain in the keister – because covers can be a nightmare and print reveals all sorts of problems. But at least by then its just a matter of time.

We’re already planning to book at least one podcast near the time, and plan to reach out to more, probably pacing ourselves before and after it reelases.

If you want to review it, let us know!

– Steve

Sailor Moon Book: An Update

by

Hey gang, so the latest on the Sailor Moon Book (y’know, we really need to make sure we finalize the title so I have something to call it).

Me, I’m now up to my neck in research, which is to say, reading stuff and seeing it it’s useful and sticking it in the bibliography.  The sad part is the information isn’t “spread out” consistently – a few things are best found via wikis first then drilled into.  I wish someone would write a book on Sailor Moon’s history with a giant bibliography, and I have the terrifying fear someone will want us to do that next (I actually have a few other plans in mind).  So this is a pretty erratic experience, but I think I’ve discovered enough useful information.

Two things that came up are:

  • The exact history of the first Sailor Moon dub is a bit erratic (indeed, one book, Sailor Moon Reflections) was the best source.  Really this early history is kind of a mess, of options, of handoffs, hard-working actors and cultural adaptions, and strange broadcast hours.  It’s a bit of a wonder it happened.
  • The history of Magical Girl shows isn’t that well documented.  I found some intriguing bits and pieces on a manga called Princess Comet, which sounds like a proto-Sailor Moon story (including a lost handsome prince, space magic, and some rivalry) but can’t find much else on it.

Bonnie did her first run through the book and it’s shaping up.  It went from “reads like a collection of blog posts” to “reads like an book that needs polishing” due to her extensive efforts.  Once I finish my research (this week hopefully) I’ll make a go, then she and I will go over it together later in February.

It’s got a feel of being a kind of extended convention panel, filled with anecdotes and human bits, as well as a clear outline of progression (which was fairly obvious).  It took work to get it going, but now it’s really enjoyable as we see the different facets of how this show affected people.

Oh, and we’ll hopefully be speaking at some cons in 2016, stay tuned . . .

The artist is signed on.  No spoiling yet 😉

  • Steve