Magenta Skies

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𝙑𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙢𝙪𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙥𝙤𝙥𝙪𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙨. 𝙎𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙞𝙣𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙙𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙝 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙙 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙫𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙨. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙮, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙪𝙣𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙣 𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙚, 𝙖𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙡 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙞𝙩𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛. 𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙬𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙣, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙠𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣.

𝙏𝙤 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙄 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙧𝙮.
- 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨’𝙁𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚

Talking With J.R. Manga

What was the inspiration for writing Magenta Skies?

It is difficult to pin point what inspired me to write this particular story, as I feel this is a collection of ideas I’ve had since childhood. But the inspiration for all my work seems to draw from a few things. One being Manga which has massively contributed to how I approach the fantasy element of my writing. Another inspirational factor was all the sci-fi, cyberpunk, and horror movies I love. Robocop, Blade Runner, and the Alien franchise to name a few. My final inspiration actually came from the epic fantasy novels I was reading at the time, but not in the way many would assume. I remember trying to search for something, that story that had the ascetics of Akira, the writing finesse of a novel, and the action of a Matrix movie. A little far fetched and specific I know, but a man can dream. That kind of story may very well be out there somewhere, but I couldn’t find it, and if there are any, I just want Magenta Skies to be a part of that niche.

What music did you listen to while writing Magenta Skies?

Chilled Jazz instrumentals mostly. I’m usually a hiphop guy, but Jazz gave me a weird hypnotic focus.

What was your favorite scene in Magenta Skies to write?

By far my favourite scene to write was where the protagonist, Brandon E Slade was in his prison cell with his pregnant partner. She was not happy with him at all. The banter, the love, and the concern between them really shone through, and it was a great way of delving into their relationship.

What was the hardest scene in Magenta Skies to write?

There was a scene where one of the main characters discovers the truth of her origins. For lack of a better word, she is an emotional reck, but she is strong in a lot of ways. Conveying that convincingly was harder than any action scene in the novel. Trauma has a strange space in fiction, it can easily show the downfall of a character. Yet with her, I wanted to show another aspect, an underlying source of courage and fierceness, along with the vulnerability that usually comes with a checkered past.