This is an exciting weekend…because yesterday was Launch Day for my novel! Since my writing group was also meeting yesterday, naturally I had to bring something to celebrate!
You could say that I made one of these things from scratch…and just added some crucial decoration to the other.
Have a splendid weekend! And visit West Metro Mommy for more Saturday Snapshots. 😉
I’ve mentioned a time or two 😉 that I have a novel coming out…and we’re getting close! Launch Date, November 15th, is less than a week away! The Wanderers will be available in paperback and ebook. Ebooks aren’t so easy to photograph, so today I’m sharing pictures of the paperback. Technically this is the final proof, but it’s what the published book will look like too…
Every writer I know agrees that the arrival of the proof is one of the most exciting parts of the process…suddenly it’s all real! 🙂
I hope you have a wonderful weekend–and you can visit West Metro Mommy for more Saturday Snapshots.
As regular blog readers know, I’m planning to publish a novel in November. I finalized the cover a few weeks ago…and recently, my business cards arrived!
The back of the card reads:
You might recognize the landscape. You may think you know the rules. But you’ve strayed beyond the tales.
Come join a wandering adventurer, a talking cat and a witch’s daughter as they fight monsters, pursue quests, and learn that sometimes, rules are no help at all.
Sadly, I can’t give any business cards to all you lovely people I only know online…but if you’re someone I see in person, ask for one. 🙂
Have a great weekend, and visit West Metro Mommy for more Saturday Snapshots!
Last week I announced that in November I’m publishing my YA Fantasy novel, The Wanderers. I also promised to share the fun parts of the process! So far, I’ve been having lots of fun playing with images to create my cover. I’m almost done–but I want some opinions. I’ve already run some versions past my writing group for very helpful feedback, and now I also want to hear what you lovely readers think.
Here are my two (admittedly similar) cover images:
Thoughts on your preferred font? On your preferred placement for the cat? On anything else? Opinions greatly appreciated! And keep an eye on the Novel News page, where I’ll be posting the finalized cover soon.
Talking cats and Charles de Lint–now how could I resist The Cats of Tanglewood Forest? This made the rounds of the blogs I follow when it first came out, and I’ve finally jumped in to read it too.
De Lint gives us a folk lore-like story about Lillian, a girl who loves all the creatures in Tanglewood Forest–the real ones, and the ones who may be only stories. When Lillian is bit by a deadly snake, the cats of the forest turn her into a kitten to save her life. Lillian is offered what seems to be an easy and complete solution to her problem…but as Rumpelstiltskin would have warned her, magic always has a price, dearie. When that price turns out to be higher than she ever imagined, Lillian must find a way to change things–even if it means she’ll go back to being a cat.
I finished this book several days ago…and I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about it. On the one hand, I was a little disappointed to not see de Lint’s usual edge. It was a different style than I expect from him–but it is a book for a younger audience, and the folk lore style that is here is very well done. So that’s not really a complaint, though perhaps a warning for de Lint fans who may also have different expectations.
The plot is a little more of a problem. Everything progresses in a reasonable fashion, but once I got to the end, I felt like the entire midsection–the bulk of the book–was really just a divergence. That’s especially a shame because that section ends with Lillian deciding to make (what seems to me) a significant sacrifice for a loved one–and I don’t feel like de Lint gave that the emotional power it should have had. If the midsection had been about Lillian’s growth to be able to make this huge sacrifice, great! But it didn’t quite read that way for me.
All right, so much for cons. On the pro side, the book moves along in a quick, easy read (so even a divergence doesn’t take long) that stays engaging. There are a number of intriguing, folk lore characters that are fascinating to read about, from the comical Fox to the horrid Bear People to the mysterious Apple Tree Man and even more mysterious Father of Cats. And all cats are pretty mysterious, of course!
Lillian is a likable heroine and I love her love of nature. She’d fit in beautifully with L. M. Montgomery’s heroines, who love their wild surroundings and leave out milk for cats or for fairies. Lillian is a little rougher around the edges, a little more hands-on than Montgomery’s heroines, but that probably improves her for a modern reader (with all due respect to Anne, Emily and the rest).
The best part of the book, though? It’s illustrated, with gorgeous illustrations by Charles Vess. Every chapter opens with an animal twined around the first letter, and every few pages there’s a full or half-page illustration breaking up the text. The pictures are lovely soft water colors that give so much warmth and heart to the story.
So consider yourself warned that this is folklore, not urban fantasy, and the plot makes some strange choices…but it’s a good read anyway, and a visually beautiful book.
Other reviews:
A Reader of Fictions
Fantasy Literature
A Book Obsession
Sturdy for Common Things
The Green Man Reviews
Anyone else?
Buy it here: The Cats of Tanglewood Forest
Tales of the Marvelous 