By now you’re probably familiar with the Valentine universe. There are five books in the original series, five books in the Valentine Apart series, six books in the prequel series Lucia and the Saints and currently one book in the Valentine R series. Before all of these books there were handwritten versions of Valentine. Before those handwritten versions of Valentine, there were other books; other girls with guns.
Misako Kanna: The Underground Gun 2004
The first woman to pick up a gun in a Woolaston Entertainment book was Misako Kanna, a half American, half Japanese bounty hunter known as an Underground Gun. Her series is comprised of four books, and her creation was inspired by Naomi Armitage from the anime Armitage the Third (if you ever watch the English dub, watch the version with Elizabeth Berkley and Kiefer Sutherland). Misako, along with her partners Rika Rubeus and Desoto DeWitt work for the UGA (Underground Gun Association). They follow a strict set of rules and deal with personal issues. Rika is the daughter of a Russian gangster, Desoto desperately wants to be good at his job and fit in, and Misako has an estranged father. On top of all of this, there’s a woman working to shut down the UGA.
The first three books follow Misako, Rika and Desoto as they pursue their bounties and deal with problems in their personal lives. Misako begins to talk to her father for the sake of her younger half sister. Rika reconnects with an old friend who is also an Underground Gun, but breaks some of the rules. Desoto continues to work to prove himself worthy as an Underground Gun. At the end of the third book Misako suffers a personal loss, one that changes her role as an Underground Gun and a human being.
Misako Kanna: The Underground Gun: Last Order 2008
If the Misako Kanna series had been a TV series, Last Order would be a movie. This fourth book, which I didn’t intend to be part of the first three and simply stand alone, picks up where the rest of the series left off. Misako has suffered a personal loss: her father has been murdered by the very people looking to shut down the UGA. Misako and her younger sister Mitako stand side by side at their father’s funeral, surrounded by other mourners. Misako, Rika and Desoto move into Mitako’s house at her request. Misako does some digging and learns who was behind her father’s murder and even learns that her dispatcher Billy was involved. She eventually finds the very person who killed her father and exacts her revenge.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to forgive myself for killing you. But I’ll find a way.”
Misako Kanna
Vengeance Angel Yuka: 2005
There’s a special relationship between Vengeance Angel Yuka and Valentine, and it concerns the image on the first published edition of Valentine. I’ve told this story before, but I’m going to tell it again for anyone who isn’t aware. I was working on the image for the cover of Yuka, when I made a mistake. My plan was to color Yuka’s hair black and put a pink stripe in it. Instead I colored all of her hair pink. I set that image aside and created another one: Yuka with wings and a handgun in front of her. You can see my love of anime all over this one. That other pink-haired image became Val Entienne, and I wrote a book, a sequel, and later published both books together as one.
Let’s get back to Yuka.
Yuka Naegino comes from a family filled with secrets. Her extremely wealthy grandfather Kobayashi Naegino owns a bank, and her mother , Seiko, works for him. Yuka stumbles upon some information involving her grandfather and her parents. Her grandfather used to run an operation known as the Vengeance Angel Organization: a group which sought justice for the weak, and people for whom the legal system did not work. The death of Yuka’s father brought everything to a halt and the organization was shut down. Yuka decides to revive the family trade, and she, her cousin Alto and her friends form a Vengeance Angel Organization of their own. But Yuka and company are in way over their heads, and she learns there’s more to her grandfather’s and her mother’s pasts then she ever could have imagined.
Both Misako Kanna and Yuka Naegino led to the creation of Valentine. Misako’s relationship with Rika and Desoto and Yuka’s relationship with her cousin Alta are the basis for Val’s relationship with her own cousin, Veronica. Misako has an estranged father, while Val has an estranged mother. Yuka wants to be the one to take care of her family’s legacy, while Val fights to protect her family. All three characters are young women, who are grossly underestimated in their stories. And yes, all three carry guns.
If I hadn’t written Misako Kanna or Vengeance Angel Yuka, I seriously doubt I would ever have come up with Valentine (especially considering the drawing of Yuka became the drawing of Val). I’m considering tweaking both stories and preparing them for publication, and they will most likely be published via Patreon first. We’ll see. I’ll keep you posted.
Never ever ever throw away your old stories. You never know where they will lead you.
woolastonentertainment.com 
Good tip about not throwing away old stories. I now regret getting rid of some of my old writings.
Good luck!