Ask the Author: Maurice Africh
Answered Questions (2)
Maurice Africh
Hey Michael! Thank you so much for asking this question. Yes, there will be a hardback edition available in the near-ish future. There are a few things currently in the works, including a pre-order for round 2 and a hardback edition going on sale that is separate from the Kickstarter. If you follow me on IG or TikTok @mauriceafrich, I will post updates as soon as I know!
Maurice Africh
The first thing I ever did was create the crew. The original crew was a little bigger than it is now, but the final crew members were all there. I actually still have a little piece of paper with names and "job titles" that I doodled the day I came up with the initial spark of the concept.
Anyway, when I create characters, I always lead with VIBE + NAME. Or, in this case, ROLE + NAME. So, the names almost came first. I wanted something opposite and cutesy the badass female knight who doesn't smile. Mars probably stemmed for my love of Red Rising, and my inclination to make every part of the character feel as big as the man himself--using a planet evokes size, at least to me. Minnow and Farlow felt like they were from the same family tree. Willow, though, felt different. And I chose Bones (Billy "Bones" Barnabe, to be exact) because I wanted one of their names to be super pirate-themed. There's no real method involved. It's all just vibes, haha!
Also, Grey is not short for anything! It's always just been Grey Shimada to me. As with most things, I think I just ... liked it?
Anyway, when I create characters, I always lead with VIBE + NAME. Or, in this case, ROLE + NAME. So, the names almost came first. I wanted something opposite and cutesy the badass female knight who doesn't smile. Mars probably stemmed for my love of Red Rising, and my inclination to make every part of the character feel as big as the man himself--using a planet evokes size, at least to me. Minnow and Farlow felt like they were from the same family tree. Willow, though, felt different. And I chose Bones (Billy "Bones" Barnabe, to be exact) because I wanted one of their names to be super pirate-themed. There's no real method involved. It's all just vibes, haha!
Also, Grey is not short for anything! It's always just been Grey Shimada to me. As with most things, I think I just ... liked it?
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Oct 29, 2025 04:08AM · flag