The Story Trap cover finally finished
10 Mar 2012 1 Comment
in books, stories, work in progress Tags: writing
I’ve finally finished the cover for my book “The Story Trap”. I changed her eyebrows and ears, added more chains and leaves, and changed the background to the lettering as well as some changes to the colours used. I’m done now. What a process!
There is going to be a print edition this time so I had to do the spine and back cover as well 
If you would like to be notified when this book is launched, you can join my “new release” mailing list at this link.
I will not share your information with anyone. You won’t receive many mails from me – I only send a notification when a new book is launched, and you can unsubscribe whenever you like
A strangely comforting trauma
20 Oct 2011 Leave a Comment
in books Tags: fantasy, horror, vampire
I’ve been very sick (flu!) and very busy, but at last have time for a quick review of a remarkable book:
The Stress of Her Regard by Tim Powers.
You just know that things are going to go bad from the moment when a very drunk Michael Crawford, on the night before his wedding, puts his wedding ring on the finger of an ancient female statue. In the middle of a stormy night. For safekeeping. He has reason to regret that decision very soon.
This book is not for the faint hearted. These vampires may sparkle at times, but they bite hard too. And yet they are not just evil monsters. They fit into our world with Tim Powers’s convincing mixture of science, magic and poetry.
It also features real historical characters such as Byron, Keats, Shelly and Mary Shelly. In Tim Powers’s reality there is a close link between vampires and the poetic muse, and some poets are willing to put up with quite a lot of danger if it keeps them writing.
This is a cruel book. Fingers are shot or bitten off, throats are cut, eyes are gouged and many of these wounds are self inflicted. As with the other Powers’s books, you are taught very early on that the characters are not safe and wont be rescued at the last moment. This makes things a lot more tense and exciting, and in the end, also very moving. The hero and heroine are mauled and savaged and yet they survive. Despite being traumatised and permanently scarred, they remain true to some deep part of themselves, and to one another. I found that strangely comforting.
An interview with author Debora Geary
05 Sep 2011 7 Comments
The Wild Shore by Kim Stanley Robinson
24 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in books
It’s been a while since I’ve written a review, but The Wild Shore by Kim Stanley Robinson is one of the best books I’ve read in years. Fantastic story, compelling characters, interesting issues, vivid writing – I just loved it.
It is set in America “after the bombing”. The United States is no more. America has suffered a severe nuclear attack. Millions died in the initial attack, and millions more in the aftermath, struggling to survive in the new pre-industrial world. Getting food by growing and hunting it, avoiding the “scavengers” – the people who live from the looted ruins and hunt one another.
What is more, the outside world is actively preventing any kind of reconstruction, using their space age technology to destroy any attempts to build up an industrialised civilisation.
About sixty years after the bombing seventeen year old Henry is living in a coastal farming community. He has a rather strange view of history, learnt from old Tom, one of the only people who still remember the “old times” before the bombs. This is a combination of truth and tall tales, and in fact, this is a strong theme in the book – the importance of story telling and the need for “lies”.
Henry has to make some hard choices when he meets outsiders urging him to join the “resistance”, a group people who vow to fight the outside worlds attempts to “keep America down”. He learns about betrayal and regret, and what it means to be an adult in a harsh world.
The setting of this story is just awesome. Trees growing on the abandoned highways, crumbling sky-scrapers, flooded cities. Kim Stanley Robinson always loves to dwell on the detail, and its never just “description”. The landscape is as important to the plot as the action.
And apparently there are more – a whole series of “Orange County” books. Off to the library to find some more!
One step closer to publishing – the cover design:
09 Jun 2011 3 Comments
in all my drawings, books, my books, stories, work in progress
I’m about to publish my collection of short stories as an ebook. It’s been a very interesting process so far, lots to learn. I’ve just completed the cover designs. The stories will be available as bundles of three or four stories each, or you can buy the full collection that includes illustrations.
Designing ebook covers has some specific challenges as they need to read clearly at thumbnail size and also in grayscale , to look good to potential buyers browsing for books on their Kindles.
Here is the cover for the first bundle:
I like the way they look as a set. Here are the rest:
William Blake’s Inn by Nancy Williard
08 May 2011 1 Comment
in books, illustration
“William Blake’s Inn – Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travellers” written by Nancy Willliard and illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen is simply charming. It is an homage to William Blake in words and images. Nancy Williard’s poems remind me more of Ogden Nash than Blake, but they share Blake’s fantastical imagery. The Inn is inhabited by dragons, angels, bears and the King of Cats, no less:
The tiger is a recurring motif, for obvious reasons. Just look at this mischievous beast:
A Modern Witch by Deborah Geary
06 May 2011 6 Comments
It’s been a while since I’ve done any book reviews, but I’ve been inspired to start again by my experiences in reading ebooks. My husband and myself were lucky enough to get a Kindle each as a birthday present from my sister in law. Thanks Moira!
I’ve been reading quite a few books on my Kindle, and here is one I thoroughly enjoyed: A Modern Witch by Deborah Geary.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
It’s a fresh take on the classic fantasy trope of somebody coming unexpectedly into their magical power. But unlike many others, this is dealt with a light and humorous touch – no endless pages of adolescent guilt and denial!
What I particularly enjoyed is the solid and convincing way the magic itself is portrayed. This is an area that is often glossed over in other books. Magic, how it works, its effects on people and their relationships with one another is the focus of this story. At times I wondered if the author herself is a witch, it was all dealt with in such a knowledgeable, no nonsense and practical way.
This is not the usual plot about taking-down-evil-threat-to-the-world-with-predictable-cliffhanger-ending. It’s all about relationships and people getting to know themselves and one another. I also appreciated the many strong female characters. This book certainly passes the Bechdel test!
The mice far from home: Lliane Roels
05 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
in books, illustration
Here are some pictures from a book I’ve known since childhood – “Bij de dieren thuis: De Muizen” which translates to roughly to “At home with the animals: The Mice”. It’s a small book with a simple theme – some mice travel the world to find out how other mice live.
It starts off with our hero, a mouse called Lodewijk, who lives with his family in the ideal mouse home, inside a rocking horse in an attic. Of course, Lodewijk is not satisfied with his happy life and goes off on an adventure. First, he rescues Lili, a white mouse from a laboratory:
Liane Roel’s illustrations are enchanting: every detail is considered, every shape exact.
Lodewijk and Lili travel the world and find out how other mice live. They find that the country mice have a beautiful home, but some frightening enemies:
Switch on the Night by Leo and Diane Dillon
29 Jan 2011 4 Comments
in books, illustration
It’s been a while since I’ve posted – (and no, I’m only halfway with colouring in the “Unexpected Tea Party drawing that I posted about last time!)
In any case, I wanted to share an illustrated children’s book I found in a second hand bookshop yesterday. It is called “Switch on the Night”, is written by Ray Bradbury, and illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon who I also wrote about in this post.
The story is about a boy who is afraid of the dark. He does his best to light up every room he is in:
Notice the Escher-like distortions of perspective. Here is another image, showing his parents walking through the house, switching off the lights:
Zinzi and Sloth – Zoo City
01 Sep 2010 2 Comments
in all my drawings, books Tags: Lauren Beukes, Zoo City
I’ve just finished reading “Zoo City” by Lauren Beukes. I really enjoyed it, and did some drawings of the characters. Here is Zinzi December and her Sloth:
I like her a lot. She’s a tough girl.
I want to draw her lover, Benoît, but I dont have a clear idea what he looks like yet.
Finding “Fire upon the Deep”
29 May 2010 2 Comments
in books Tags: science fiction, vernor vinge
This morning, we celebrated our return from flu-land by strolling down to a nearby second hand bookshop – where I found this:
A copy of Vernor Vinge’s amazing “Fire Upon the Deep”. It’s what I think of as “proper” science fiction, with fascinating ideas as well as an excellent story. Also, some of the most interesting aliens I’ve ever read about.
Just the right book to read on a sunny Saturday morning .
You can read a description of the book here.
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
21 Feb 2010 2 Comments
in books
This is one of the saddest books I’ve read. And yet, despite its subject matter, it is very gentle. Only at the very end did the story flow away and leave me stranded with the pain of the narrator embedded in my own heart.
It is very difficult to write about “Never Let Me Go” without some spoilers. I’m about to give away a plot point now because unlike many others whose reviews I’ve read, I don’t believe that this point is in fact, the core of the book, or the source of its sting.
But in case you are like me, and thoroughly allergic to any spoilers at all – I will now say goodbye . If you dont mind, read the rest of the review…
…good. You are still around. More
Miss Fanshaw – by Sue Scullard
26 Jan 2010 10 Comments
in books, illustration Tags: writer_artist
Miss Fanshaw and the Great Dragon Adventure – written and illustrated by Sue Scullard - is the opposite of a pop-up book – it’s a “pop through” book.
It satisfies on several levels. An unusual heroine, sumptuously detailed drawings and clever “reveals” created by holes cut in the pages. These holes are part of the plot, as you shall see in the examples below.
Avatar’s End
17 Jan 2010 5 Comments
in fantasy, opinions & reviews
(many spoilers in this post, if you haven’t seen Avatar yet)
Sometimes a story just goes wrong. The author sets it all up just right – and then somehow the whole thing falls apart. That’s how I feel about James Cameron’s Avatar. Its a stunning movie. The richly detailed landscapes and lovely Aliens draw one deeply inside the world of Pandora. And apart from the glorious visuals, there is a tragic heart to the story that makes you want to watch it to the end, even though you know that it cannot end well.
I’m struggling to articulate why one would feel drawn to tragedy. Is it simply the affirmation of facing your fear? Maybe that is why I felt so let down by the way that Avatar plays out. Instead of facing up to the inevitable tragedy of its story line, we get a day dream fairy tale ending.
I felt the same about WALL-E . That was a truly dark story. More
The Hunting of the Last Dragon by Sherryl Jordan
09 Nov 2009 1 Comment
in books, fantasy, Richard's Booklist
The plot in Short: It’s Britain in the 14th century. The last of the dragons was killed almost a generation ago. So how could an entire village be burnt to the ground, all its occupants killed in a night? Young Jude survives, homeless, friendless and terrified.
He meets tiny, fierce Jing-wei, crippled by her bound feet and trapped in the life of the freak in a travelling show. Jude is torn by guilt and fear, but Jing-Wei is more than willing to force him to turn and face his past, to hunt the last dragon.
(image from tripreportwww2008)
What I thought: This is a wonderful book. I’m a sucker for dragon books as it is, and this one is lovely.
Its a real story teller’s book. More
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