Heroes of Karth - Supporting Autism
My name is Grant Hamilton and ten years ago my son Gregory was diagnosed with autism. My wife, Carla and I had noticed that he was not behaving the same as other kids and was being bullied in school due to these differences. Having a son diagnosed with autism changed my family’s lives forever and opened our eyes to a completely new world. We made the decision to re-invent ourselves by downsizing our home and Carla quit her job to stay home to care and home-school Gregory. This transition was not easy, and we have made many family sacrifices along the way, but it has absolutely been worth it. We would make the same decisions if we had to do it over again.
As parents on this journey, Carla and I have become strong supporters of autism and we now see ourselves as champions for this cause. Certainly the challenges of raising a child with autism have been great but there have been so many more positives. As he has grown, Gregory has become quite the character, with a sweet personality, a “gentle giant” of a young man. He is a wonderful person, but if I was asked today if he could have a normal life and keep a job, I would hesitate to say yes.
Anyone who understands autism knows that their obsessions drive their happiness. Gregory’s obsessions are music, books and games. But if something were to happen to Carla and I, who would feed his needs? Without support would he fall back into depression and sadness? Like many other families with special needs children one starts to ask - what will happen after my wife and I are gone? Facing that question was a wake-up call for us, because his possible future in a group home or worse is not appealing. We want him to have a normal life or at least have a happy life where he does not need to worry about how he will take care of himself. Pondering this question awoke a desire in me to provide help, not just for Gregory but for everyone with autism!
In order to provide a more stable future for my son and raise autism awareness, I drew on my creative writing background and have written the first book of a fantasy series called Heroes of Karth: The Curse of the Undead . In this story, one of the main characters has autism, symbolizing one of the overarching themes of the story, "it is okay to be different". It also conveys that having autism is analogous to having a super power and is not something to hide or be ashamed of.
The book deals with important themes such as autism awareness, supporting LGBTQ and against racism while still remaining a very entertaining fantasy story. It has been written and edited, and all original artwork has been created. The book is available now in paperback and electronic format at Amazon.com.
We are also in the process of creating an LCG card game based on the novels and the Trial Pack is almost ready to release.
More information is available on our website at heroesofkarth.com.
Now the next difficult step in the process – production costs and promotion!
So far as an independant creator, I have funded this entire creative process by myself. It has caused some difficulty for my family, but Carla and my other kids know the ultimate goal and are supportive of this journey. I am not one to ask for help, but I am running out of funds to further develop and promote this book and game and continue the Heroes of Karth journey. We are so close, but I need your help!
I already have agreement from a number of hobby and book stores to sell the book on their shelves but am lacking the funds to follow through with it. Conventions are also where a large bulk of promotions for fantasy novels and games are promoted. There are many across North America and around the world, but we want to focus on three for now with more depending on how much money is raised.
To help this project we need people either buying our book (coming this January) or donating to gofundme so we can make this dream a reality.
At a minimum either liking our page or sharing will go a long way!
To support autism, $1 dollar from every book sold will be donated to the autism society. This is only the beginning for the Heroes of Karth.
With your help, the journey can continue!
________
Although the book is a novel with no illustrations, below we will have a series of comic strips revealed throughtout our campaign to better give you an appreciation of the epic storyline.
Book Teaser #1: Llythwain shows the purity of heart that typically someone with autism carries with them.
Book Teaster #2: The Heroes of Karth mercenary band is hired by the elves to unlock the secret of the Curse of the Undead.
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As parents on this journey, Carla and I have become strong supporters of autism and we now see ourselves as champions for this cause. Certainly the challenges of raising a child with autism have been great but there have been so many more positives. As he has grown, Gregory has become quite the character, with a sweet personality, a “gentle giant” of a young man. He is a wonderful person, but if I was asked today if he could have a normal life and keep a job, I would hesitate to say yes.
Anyone who understands autism knows that their obsessions drive their happiness. Gregory’s obsessions are music, books and games. But if something were to happen to Carla and I, who would feed his needs? Without support would he fall back into depression and sadness? Like many other families with special needs children one starts to ask - what will happen after my wife and I are gone? Facing that question was a wake-up call for us, because his possible future in a group home or worse is not appealing. We want him to have a normal life or at least have a happy life where he does not need to worry about how he will take care of himself. Pondering this question awoke a desire in me to provide help, not just for Gregory but for everyone with autism!
In order to provide a more stable future for my son and raise autism awareness, I drew on my creative writing background and have written the first book of a fantasy series called Heroes of Karth: The Curse of the Undead . In this story, one of the main characters has autism, symbolizing one of the overarching themes of the story, "it is okay to be different". It also conveys that having autism is analogous to having a super power and is not something to hide or be ashamed of.
The book deals with important themes such as autism awareness, supporting LGBTQ and against racism while still remaining a very entertaining fantasy story. It has been written and edited, and all original artwork has been created. The book is available now in paperback and electronic format at Amazon.com.
We are also in the process of creating an LCG card game based on the novels and the Trial Pack is almost ready to release.
More information is available on our website at heroesofkarth.com.
Now the next difficult step in the process – production costs and promotion!
So far as an independant creator, I have funded this entire creative process by myself. It has caused some difficulty for my family, but Carla and my other kids know the ultimate goal and are supportive of this journey. I am not one to ask for help, but I am running out of funds to further develop and promote this book and game and continue the Heroes of Karth journey. We are so close, but I need your help!
I already have agreement from a number of hobby and book stores to sell the book on their shelves but am lacking the funds to follow through with it. Conventions are also where a large bulk of promotions for fantasy novels and games are promoted. There are many across North America and around the world, but we want to focus on three for now with more depending on how much money is raised.
To help this project we need people either buying our book (coming this January) or donating to gofundme so we can make this dream a reality.
At a minimum either liking our page or sharing will go a long way!
To support autism, $1 dollar from every book sold will be donated to the autism society. This is only the beginning for the Heroes of Karth.
With your help, the journey can continue!
________
Although the book is a novel with no illustrations, below we will have a series of comic strips revealed throughtout our campaign to better give you an appreciation of the epic storyline.
Book Teaser #1: Llythwain shows the purity of heart that typically someone with autism carries with them.
Book Teaster #2: The Heroes of Karth mercenary band is hired by the elves to unlock the secret of the Curse of the Undead.
HoK is starting 2017 off with a spell of summoning! "Heroes of Karth: The Curse of the Undead" available worldwide on Amazon! #hok #fantasy #autism #aspergers
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