From the Official Press Release:
After nearly a year of planning, this Saturday, November 1 (All Saints Day), Grail Quest Books will launch a Kickstarter campaign to refine the audio drama adapted from the novel by Joshua Rothe, Stitched Crosses: Crusade, originally released in 2010 (as Stitched Crosses: The Audio Drama).
“We are very proud of the original audio drama: each of us did the whole thing out of pure love of the craft and storytelling,” says Josh Radke author of Stitched Crosses: Crusade (writing under the name ‘Joshua Rothe’), who also adapted, produced, directed, and co-edited the original audio dramatization. “Still, we need to go back and re-record some scenes and add/extend some others to sync the production with the novel; some of the score will be re-orchestrated as well.”
Josh continues, “We also have needed to recast the primary supporting character, ‘Sir Charle’, and have added a new historical character as well, ‘Balian, Lord of Ibelin’ — whose true historical account (written by his squire) of an anonymous Templar knight they meet is the impetus behind ‘Sir Markus’.”
‘Charle’ will be played by Grant Kempster, an actor on his local stage in England as well as British independent film (who just wrapped filming his latest, 2025). ‘Lord Balian’ will be played by Legendarium Media‘s Tyler Michael Jonsson. “I have wanted to work with both gentlemen for some time, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to do so.”
The Stitched Crosses series is not straight-forward historical fiction as most readers might expect. “As a life-long Christian, I am very comfortable with the supernatural breaking into our history. Christianity is the ‘myth’ that actually happened, is what Tolkien told his dear friend, C.S. Lewis, a notion that played a significant role in his returning to the faith.” Josh adds that the Indiana Jones films had a huge influence on him during his adolescence. “That property does a fantastic job of weaving fantastical legend and history into one setting.”
This Kickstarter is really just the beginning Josh hopes. Their primary stretch goal will be to achieve funding Stitched Crosses: Decimation, the first in a cycle of 3-4 stories taking place in Roman and sub-Roman Britain, when King Arthur is believed to have ruled much of the island nation. Mr. Jonsson and Mr. Kempster have both been cast in leading roles in the ‘Britannia’ cyle.
Fans of classic literature will find some interesting homages and sub-plots in the cycle. “The content for all these stories will draw heavily from Arthurian literature and Grail lore, along with church hagiography — and of course real history. Decimation will be a kind of ‘prologue’ for the series and tell how the Holy Lance might have passed from the Roman legion reported to have been its steward to eventually arrive at Castle Carbonek, where certain Knights of the Round Table are given the opportunity to see it with the Holy Grail.”
Josh adds that both main characters in the ‘Britannia’ cycle are connected in some way to the story of Sir Markus in Crusade, to create one large continuity.
“We love this old fashioned media mode of delivering Story: I have always been a huge fan of The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and The Chronicles of Narnia audio dramatizations. I was brought up on fiction audio dramas from Fisher Price’s ‘Spellbinder’ series; my Dad played old radio episodes of The Lone Ranger and The Shadow for us all the time. The ‘theatre of the mind’ is a superb medium that cultivates the imagination. We are committed to it, and therefore we look forward to building on this Kickstarter campaign towards these other immediate audio dramas projects, and several more in development.”
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