Long time no post so let's get right to it. I recently finished a significant overhaul of "The Goblin Prince". There is now significantly more back story and a couple new characters inspired by Anne Terres' fantastic artwork. You can see some of the new concept art in the slide show. The reading level is now a bit higher. The book is now meant for readers transitioning from picture books to chapter books, although there will still be illustrations on every page. The extra words were liberating, though, and opened the possibility of future books about these wonderful goblins!
On a completely unrelated note, teaching is completely eating my time. Steph Becker has been wonderful and patient with me, considering that her illustrations have been complete for quite some time. However, I cannot find the time to A) learn how to layout a book and B) actually lay out the book. Is there anyone out there who would be willing to help me with either of these steps? "The Fox and the Shadow" looks absolutely incredible (and hopefully, reads just as well), and I feel awful that it is still unfinished.
Now it's time to finish a baseball article before my editor devours my soul for tardiness. Hopefully, there will be a couple updates over the next few weeks including, but not limited to, news about graduate school admissions...
Showing posts with label fox and the shadow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fox and the shadow. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
News News News!
Before I dash off to work (where I spend nearly all my time right now), a few quick updates and previews for this weekend's more extensive update:
1) I am currently working laying out pages of "The Fox and the Shadow." A preview page will be posted this weekend!
2) Anne, the illustrator of "The Goblin Prince," sent some new character sketches. They are absolutely fabulous and even better than before, as hard as that is to believe! They will be posted as we start to finalize the vision. Also, the manuscript itself is undergoing considerable changes, so it is a bit away from completion. I'll work on it much more after my classes finish their exams and I submit my graduate school applications.
3) "Reckoning" is in the midst of a complete overhaul. A new version will be up within the next month. Thank you for your patience!
1) I am currently working laying out pages of "The Fox and the Shadow." A preview page will be posted this weekend!
2) Anne, the illustrator of "The Goblin Prince," sent some new character sketches. They are absolutely fabulous and even better than before, as hard as that is to believe! They will be posted as we start to finalize the vision. Also, the manuscript itself is undergoing considerable changes, so it is a bit away from completion. I'll work on it much more after my classes finish their exams and I submit my graduate school applications.
3) "Reckoning" is in the midst of a complete overhaul. A new version will be up within the next month. Thank you for your patience!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Letting Go
Today, around 8 PM, the edges of the sky turned gold, then dark blue, then purple. Clouds lazed in their grooves while the wind sang a silly song. Then I, brief repose complete, returned to my class.
It has been two months since my last update. Much has changed. Summer is fading and autumn is kissing the leaves. Parts of my life that I believed unending have ended, and new chapters have begun. Spring is supposedly the season of renewal, but perhaps there is a chance that buds can bloom before the snows arrive. Although my progress is uneven, I have been learning to let go.
Happily, one flower, planted months ago, is reaching fullness. Steph recently sent me the completed illustrations for "The Fox and the Shadow." As individuals, they are precious. Each somehow tells a complete story on its own, with colors and shapes wriggling about playfully. But as a whole, they are far greater.
As you will see once the layout is complete, the images in sequence convey the transformation the Fox endures in the name of vanity. The Fox is not a terrible being; his pure-hearted friends love and cherish him. But he is a flawed one, and in the end, his flaw lays him low. Somehow, Steph touches the Fox's soul and brings it onto the page for all to see and, hopefully, learn from.
One note before bed: Updates will be more frequent now, probably weekly. As much as I would like to speak with all of you every day, my current work schedule combined with graduate school applications makes it impossible. However, I will stay in better touch from now on.
I promise.
It has been two months since my last update. Much has changed. Summer is fading and autumn is kissing the leaves. Parts of my life that I believed unending have ended, and new chapters have begun. Spring is supposedly the season of renewal, but perhaps there is a chance that buds can bloom before the snows arrive. Although my progress is uneven, I have been learning to let go.
Happily, one flower, planted months ago, is reaching fullness. Steph recently sent me the completed illustrations for "The Fox and the Shadow." As individuals, they are precious. Each somehow tells a complete story on its own, with colors and shapes wriggling about playfully. But as a whole, they are far greater.
As you will see once the layout is complete, the images in sequence convey the transformation the Fox endures in the name of vanity. The Fox is not a terrible being; his pure-hearted friends love and cherish him. But he is a flawed one, and in the end, his flaw lays him low. Somehow, Steph touches the Fox's soul and brings it onto the page for all to see and, hopefully, learn from.
One note before bed: Updates will be more frequent now, probably weekly. As much as I would like to speak with all of you every day, my current work schedule combined with graduate school applications makes it impossible. However, I will stay in better touch from now on.
I promise.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Pictures. Books.
My favorite coffee shop in Israel (sorry Ba'cafe) is The Coffee Mill in Jerusalem. It has decent food, a great selection of coffee, and a relaxed atmosphere. The right-hand wall is filled with bins of different coffee beans, imbuing the small building with a warm, earthy scent. The rest of the walls are covered with old New Yorker covers spanning at least a couple decades.
I spent many days there whiling away the hours with friends, glancing at the wonderful illustrations constantly. Each captures the mood of a moment in history, from Bill Clinton's mug during the Lewinsky scandal to the iconic New Yorker monocled man.
A recent cover summed up the unfathomable nature of the disaster in the Gulf. The reference to Escher is brilliant; like his work, the oil spilling into the ocean tricks our minds. We cannot comprehend it rationally. Despite my best efforts, I cannot imagine millions of gallons of oil worming their way through deep waters and onto shores hundreds of miles away. I cannot fully understand the true extent of the damage wrought on the ecosystem. All I do when I see pictures of birds covered in brown goo is say, "Wow, that sucks."
The cover is brilliant because it is not didactic; it doesn't leap off the page and smack you on the nose for being an oblivious dolt. Instead, it blends the timeless with the present to remind us of the limits of our mammalian brains. Our brains are fantastic pattern-recognition machines provided patterns conform to the scale of our humanity. But there are events in the world that defy our sensibilities, rendering our efforts to shape them mockeries of competence and comprehension.
In a strange way, the illustrations in "The Goblin Prince" and "The Fox and the Shadow" are wonderful because they work similarly and also at cross purposes as that New Yorker cover. They work similarly because they combine the classic with the contemporary in exciting ways. Hetsi and Agorot are green-skinned humanoids (like most mythological goblins) but have expressive ears and body language (Anne's idea, a unique feature). The Fox and his world start brightly colored and cheerful (classic fable material) but slowly darken as the story twists into something decidedly un-childlike.
However, their intention is to take ideas larger than any individual such as the duty of the parent to a child and the relationship of humanity to the natural world, and make them bite-sized. That is the great gift any great illustrator gives her writer. Even if you never read a word of either book, you can understand almost everything through the illustrations. You can know how much Agorot idolizes Hetsi and how Hetsi adores his son. You can understand the monstrosity of the Fox's actions toward his shadow. As "The Fox and the Shadow" moves toward completion, the interplay between the words and images invigorate me like a warm summer afternoon scented by freshly ground coffee.
I spent many days there whiling away the hours with friends, glancing at the wonderful illustrations constantly. Each captures the mood of a moment in history, from Bill Clinton's mug during the Lewinsky scandal to the iconic New Yorker monocled man.
A recent cover summed up the unfathomable nature of the disaster in the Gulf. The reference to Escher is brilliant; like his work, the oil spilling into the ocean tricks our minds. We cannot comprehend it rationally. Despite my best efforts, I cannot imagine millions of gallons of oil worming their way through deep waters and onto shores hundreds of miles away. I cannot fully understand the true extent of the damage wrought on the ecosystem. All I do when I see pictures of birds covered in brown goo is say, "Wow, that sucks."
The cover is brilliant because it is not didactic; it doesn't leap off the page and smack you on the nose for being an oblivious dolt. Instead, it blends the timeless with the present to remind us of the limits of our mammalian brains. Our brains are fantastic pattern-recognition machines provided patterns conform to the scale of our humanity. But there are events in the world that defy our sensibilities, rendering our efforts to shape them mockeries of competence and comprehension.
In a strange way, the illustrations in "The Goblin Prince" and "The Fox and the Shadow" are wonderful because they work similarly and also at cross purposes as that New Yorker cover. They work similarly because they combine the classic with the contemporary in exciting ways. Hetsi and Agorot are green-skinned humanoids (like most mythological goblins) but have expressive ears and body language (Anne's idea, a unique feature). The Fox and his world start brightly colored and cheerful (classic fable material) but slowly darken as the story twists into something decidedly un-childlike.
However, their intention is to take ideas larger than any individual such as the duty of the parent to a child and the relationship of humanity to the natural world, and make them bite-sized. That is the great gift any great illustrator gives her writer. Even if you never read a word of either book, you can understand almost everything through the illustrations. You can know how much Agorot idolizes Hetsi and how Hetsi adores his son. You can understand the monstrosity of the Fox's actions toward his shadow. As "The Fox and the Shadow" moves toward completion, the interplay between the words and images invigorate me like a warm summer afternoon scented by freshly ground coffee.
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