After working as a software engineer at Amazon for six years, Peter Davoust was burnt out and realized he missed being involved in and creating art.
“I thought that I was constitutionally incapable of drawing or painting, but since I was considering pursuing a career in visual effects, I thought I should learn the fundamentals, even if I expected to be awful at them,” said Davoust.
Combining his project management and business experience from his previous career with his artistic interests and skills to bring other people’s work to life, Peter launched Shrimp Cult Press last year, an independent publishing company.
Shrimp Cult Press
“I started Shrimp Cult Press because I realized that storytelling is one of the most important things we do as people. Stories are the way we learn about the world around us, they’re our entertainment, and they form our legacy,” said Davoust.
Davoust says he found his true calling with Shrimp Cult Press and is doing his part to create important storytelling through beautifully illustrated, light-hearted stories.
“The company exists to publish light-hearted stories that are in opposition with the current trend of darkness in fiction and even news coverage.”
Last year, Shrimp Cult Press launched their first book, The Kingdom of Gallus and the Trouble with Brunch, a tabletop roleplaying adventure starring a city of talking chickens that Peter wrote and illustrated himself.
Pizza Pigeon: The Search for the Lost Parm
This year, Peter plans to launch three books through the company. Pizza Pigeon: The Search for the Lost Parm, an anthology with contributions from several artists, and a third graphic novel that’s still in its early stages.
Written by Jared Clay, Peter says Pizza Pigeon: The Search for the Lost Parm was his inspiration for launching a publishing company in the first place.
“Jared and I have been working together on and off since he started writing this first installment in the Pizza Pigeon franchise, and I’m thrilled that he decided to publish Pizza Pigeon with Shrimp Cult Press.”
Pizza Pigeon was born after leaving a pizza place on Broadway Avenue in Seattle, where Jared saw a pigeon dragging a piece of pizza. Jared quickly went back to his apartment and within an hour, Pizza Pigeon was born.
As the days passed by and his imagination ran wild, Jared constantly thought about this curious pigeon searching for a block of parmesan cheese. This witty, charming graphic novel follows a pigeon with pizza for wings who embarks on a mission to save the city he loves, even though it doesn’t love him back.
With Jared’s clever writing, excellent storytelling, and beautiful edgy art style, a beautiful story full of love and happiness was born.
Pizza Pigeon: The Search for the Lost Parm will be released on February 17th and you can come meet author Jared Clay in person at the Vancouver Fan Expo taking place from February 17 to 19 at the Vancouver Convention Centre.
Clay described how he feels launching the book here in Vancouver.
“You know, it’s strange to most that I’m launching the book in Vancouver, because I live in San Diego where one of the biggest Comic Con’s is held,” remarked Clay.
“Vancouver is quite possibly one of my favorite cities in the world, and from the start of writing and illustrating Pizza Pigeon, Vancouver was the place where it would first see the light of day.”
To pre-order your copy of Pizza Pigeon, click here.
This branded article was written by Anywhere Vancouver for a sponsor. Visit their website here.