Various

[ewein2412]

1) Ramblings about other people's illustrations of my stuff

Charles Vess has done the illustrations for The Coyote Road, in which I have a story forthcoming called "Always the Same Story." It always stuns me a little when I see a picture that someone else has done which is nevertheless associated with something I have written--I'm never quite prepared for the fact that someone else has actually read and understood my own personal and interior creation. It feels, just a little, as though someone has read my thoughts. And the best pictures are always of scenes that I haven't quite imagined myself, but which are obviously deeply connected to the story.

I love Scott Multer's original cover of The Winter Prince, which ever so subtly and appropriately puts Lleu on the defensive and Medraut on the attack, with Lleu's determined yet impassive expression a contrast to Medraut's furious intensity; and then, Greg Spalenka's more recent cover for the paperback, which is similar to the original but differs in that rather than crossing swords, Lleu and Medraut are struggling for possession of a single sword.

The French and Dutch editions of The Winter Prince are both illustrated, and astonishingly, each, independent of the other, in the first chapter shows Medraut with his back turned, a satchel over his right shoulder, making his way toward Camlan. It's exactly the picture that *I* did for the first chapter.


My reaction to illustrations I don't like is usually, "Well, THAT person hasn't read the book!" rather than, "Oh, you've really misinterpreted that." As long as someone reads the story and understands it, I don't care for toffee how they interpret it. The illustrations in the French edition of The Winter Prince, by Françoise Moreau, are very stylized and cubistic (someone commented that they're actually very "French"). In the general scheme of things the artwork isn't to my taste, but I love them anyway because each one is so fraught with symbolism and design; and if that's the way Moreau perceived my story, well, that's her right as a reader. She certainly was a careful reader. In the first of her pictures, where Medraut is arriving at Camlan, he is looking ahead into a dark hallway lit by a single torch (in the composition the torch finishes a perfect triangle whose other points are his head and his satchel); in the bare lower corner of the page are nine grains of wheat, which are described in the text as littering the dark halls. It just slays me, in one of the later illustrations in the book, that the illustrator gives life to one of Lleu's hallucinations.

I love to have my stories illustrated because these pictures are, in a very concrete way, confirmation that someone has read what I've written. It can be a very cloistered life sometimes, sitting with a computer or a pen all day, and your own mind ticking away.

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However, I have Another Life, which includes Weasels and Grandparents. Here is the latest update on the home front:

2) My Grandmother

Gramma is HOME. She went home yesterday--if you've been to Mt. Gretna you know that the downstairs of the house is meant to be disabled-friendly so that my brother can visit. This mostly means that it's wheelchair accessible and we've got a "disabled bathroom" (which fortunately was NOT disabled yesterday; as Gramma reported, "I was so surprised to be able to take a shower--the pipes in there usually freeze when the temperature dips below 20." Clearly, some improvements may be necessary before she spends another winter there on her own…). I don't think she has a wheelchair; she's been working hard at walking, and Medicare will only pay for a walker OR a wheelchair (not both). So. Rugs have been rolled up, there's a hospital bed on hire and set up in the corner by the fireplace (the downstairs is all open-plan), a microwave has been installed, and we're working on better lighting and on rearranging the kitchen.

Gramma always sings the Doxology whenever she comes back into the house after time away, and the first thing she said to me when I called her last night was, "I sang the Doxology SO LOUD!"

3) A Rant Against the UK Children's Clothing Design Mafia

Sara comes home from school and announces sadly, "I'm afraid so-and-so [her so-called best friend at school] is going to force me to get a crop top."

A crop top, I have discovered, is a piece of underwear that mediates between being what they call a vest (a sleeveless undershirt, which all the little kids wear for warmth) and a training bra. The crop top is supposed to be more "grown up" than a vest because it looks like a bra--kinda sorta, apart from the fact that it is designed for people who don't have breasts. Sara thinks they're stupid, and amazingly enough she formed this opinion on her own without any assistance from me, although I don't actually have enough words for "stupid" to tell you what I think of this garment.

Sara is 9. She is about the size and build of your average 7-year-old. She is not going to need a bra for some time.

HOWEVER, they all have to take off their clothes in the gym hall to put on their gym kit, girls and boys TOGETHER; and of course since they've now all had their first unit of sex-ed, they've gone all self-conscious about their bodies, and it's understandable that they want some undergarment to cover up their skeeter bites.

So I told her I'd get her a camisole. Grownups wear camisoles, after all (they don't wear crop tops, to my knowledge, at least not as underwear, and not if they haven't got anything to cover up). I went shopping for camisoles a few days later. Everything on offer was covered in pink ribbons and hearts. BLICK, BLICK, BLICK. I finally found something white (Sara is very fussy about white underwear). Lo and behold (as Gramma says), in the size for ages 9/10, this camisole comes with a reinforced "hidden support" shelf. Not available in the size for ages 7/8.

Why is my 9-year-old being FORCED TO WEAR A BRA? CAN'T THE UNDERWEAR DESIGNERS DO THEIR WORK BASED ON SIZE RATHER THAN AGE? Can I point out that IF your 9-year-old needs "hidden support" you will buy her a BIGGER SIZE? Or a BRA??? GROWNUPS can buy camisoles without built-in "hidden support", so WHY CAN'T KIDS??????

It is so insidiously evil it makes me want to scream. And the pink ribbons and hearts. They make me want to scream too. I think it is far more rampant in the UK than in any other country I've been lately (USA, France)--they seem DETERMINED here to turn their girl-children into frilly little throwbacks to the 19th century. Whatever happened to Free to Be You and Me?

Grrrrrrr.

Comments

[marguerlucy.livejournal.com]

The Scott Multer is my favorite edition too - but that might be because it was the first one I read. Unfortunately I got a semi-lame edition from Amazon, but one perseveres.

Re: Children's underwear. It's so weird how perceptions change, because frankly I was mortified to be one of the first girls in my class to have to wear a training/sports bra in fifth grade, and I was ~ridiculed for it. But now children dressing as teens is all the rage (i hate the rage!)

[ewein2412]

yeah, lauradi7 targets this as 5th grade too (see her comment below), and in fact Sara *is* in 5th grade, or its equivalent. (They start year 1 at age 5 in Scotland.)

[lauradi7.livejournal.com]

I think of the nipple-cover version of a pre-bra as being a 5th grade thing. This was true when I was in 5th grade (1965-6) and was true when my daughter was in 5th grade (1999-2000). Some variety of sports bra was the popular choice among my daughter's flat chested friends, not anything lacy or frilly.

[ewein2412]

She is the equivalent of 5th grade. Isn't that amazing. I don't know what her friends wear, but there was NOTHING available in any of the children's clothing stores that wasn't lacy or frilly (or pink).

[handworn.livejournal.com]

You'd like my wife, I think. You and she are much of a mind on the subject of the girls' clothing available today. ("Retch" is a prominently used word in her opinion of it.)

[ewein2412]

I bet she uses lots of others, too!

[harriet-wimsey.livejournal.com]

Shoes were the difficulty when I was that age. My feet were a (US) size 10 by 4th grade, and my mother had quite a lot of trouble trying to find appropriate dress shoes without heels.

I've been meaning to tell you that I was finally able to get your books from the library, and I loved them all. I think it would be difficult for me to tire of anything even remotely Arthurian, but these were exceptional.

[ewein2412]

My feet were a (US) size 10 by 4th grade

oh. my. that is heartbreaking!

I have trouble finding shoes to fit Sara because she has weird feet (narrow, with extremely high arches), but at least she doesn't have to be self-conscious about them once we've found a pair that fits.

I am very glad you liked the books. (And that you managed to get them out of the library, too--I always find it uplifting when they appear in libraries)

[sovay]

In the general scheme of things the artwork isn't to my taste, but I love them anyway because each one is so fraught with symbolism and design; and if that's the way Moreau perceived my story, well, that's her right as a reader. She certainly was a careful reader. In the first of her pictures, where Medraut is arriving at Camlan, he is looking ahead into a dark hallway lit by a single torch (in the composition the torch finishes a perfect triangle whose other points are his head and his satchel); in the bare lower corner of the page are nine grains of wheat, which are described in the text as littering the dark halls. It just slays me, in one of the later illustrations in the book, that the illustrator gives life to one of Lleu's hallucinations.

I really want to see these now.

I have always loved the original cover for The Winter Prince: it looks like a mummer's play. How do you feel about the covers for A Coalition of Lions or The Sunbird?

[ewein2412]

If I ever get inspired I'll see if I can scan them.

Re the covers of the other books, I think the Coalition cover is beautiful and appropriate and accurate. I had a certain amount of choice and input in its design, which I'd never had before, and advised the artist re hair/background etc. I cannot tell you how much I love the picture of Telemakos on the cover of this book--and again, this was the first time anyone but me had ever produced an image of him, so it was...It's a weird feeling to describe. Like looking in a mirror for the first time, or maybe like seeing yourself in a video or hearing yourself on tape. Do I--does Telemakos--really look like that? Well, obviously!

Having said that, I had high hopes for the cover of Sunbird, which was done by the same artist; and I was very disappointed when his first sketches turned up with the exact same face, I mean the exact image, photoshopped straight off the Coalition cover and onto the Sunbird one. So I whined about it, and he changed it, but although the translucent gold and the heat of the cover are very beautiful, I have never liked the vapid, empty expression on T's face.

I know a lot of people really love The Winter Prince, but I think The Sunbird is the best thing I've ever written. I was disappointed by the cover.

You are so right that the original cover of Winter Prince looks like a mummer's play! And to THINK I'd never noticed it. You do know that the book I'm writing is going to be called The Sword Dance, don't you?

[sovay]

If I ever get inspired I'll see if I can scan them.

Thanks!

I know a lot of people really love The Winter Prince, but I think The Sunbird is the best thing I've ever written. I was disappointed by the cover.

Can you get a better one on reprint?

You do know that the book I'm writing is going to be called The Sword Dance, don't you?

I did not. That's awesome. Now I really want to read it.

[boxofdelights]

Fortunately you can still buy plain white cotton underwear in the U.S., even if you're a girl! But we may be moving in the girls-are-for-decoration direction. I went looking for the plain white cotton girls' undershirts I remember seeing in the shops a few years ago, and found these:

http://www.onehanesplace.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce/ProductDisplay?prnbr=16062&cgnbr=9071000000

Almost the same, except that each has a "Dainty lace detail and satin bow".

[ewein2412]

Bingo, that is EXACTLY what I'm looking for! If I can't order them on line I'll get someone in my family to send me some. Thank you!

[tigertrapped.livejournal.com]

I still love your drawings. *g* That first cover, the blue one, is stunning. How wonderful to have your books illustrated - you are lucky! I'm glad your Gramma is thriving, and sympathise completely with the Nazi fashion comments. I'm so lucky to have a tomboy for a girl, although doubtless she'll fall prey to the same nonsense when she's a little older.

[ewein2412]

hey, you are about the only person on my flist (though there might be one other) who might recognize Shining Tor in the background of that Chapter 1 illustration!

Thanks for the good wishes. I can always pass along Sara's non-frilly undergarments when the time comes.

[hirnverbrannt.livejournal.com]

The best lines in your rant were, "And the pink ribbons and hearts. They make me want to scream too." There was something so agreeable in those two lines.

ANYWAY. You know some authors of books I've read have actually illustrated their own covers. I'm not saying I've seen your art or whatever and can judge your talent, but I'm sure with the 4 novels you have under you presently (the new one comes out it June, right?) they probably wouldn't object to things like that too greatly. Yup O_O I've always been interested in seeing author illustrations of their own work because they know it better than anyone.

I really love the original cover of "The Winter Prince" because it was the cover of the first version I read from the library. I have the newer one, the art of which always amazes me with the bits of painting and graphics and such, but...I always consider stealing the old "The Winter Prince" from the library and paying the fine...

And in your comment below about "The Sunbird" being the best thing you've written you think, I just read it and I was carried right along in the story the whole way. I thought it was amazing! Thanks for it! (rave reviews it!)

Your grandma sounds kickass from what I've read about her personality and quirks. Gotta love people like her. I'm glad she's back at home. You'd better keep her happy because happy people tend to take care of themselves and stick around longer! And kickass people are always the best to have sticking around.

Sorry for such a long comment @_@

[ewein2412]

thanks for the enthusiasm and praise--I will try not to let it go to my head. And thanks for taking an interest in my grandmother. She really is a wonderful and amazing woman, and each "extra" year is a gift--she seems so youthful and often says, "I can't believe I'm 90." (There is a picture of her on her 90th birthday here.)

If ya wanna see some author art, you might like to check out (if you haven't already) my [unpublished] chapter heading sketches for The Winter Prince, which are here (be warned that this is a 4.85 MB .pdf file!)

[hirnverbrannt.livejournal.com]

Those pictures are gorgeous! Just wow! Just what I imagined (makes me happy I got things right!) And the file size of that is hardly overwhelming (I make posters bigger than that, poor computer). Thanks for posting the link here for my benefit (I'm often too stupid to find things like that otherwise).

Grandparents are important people because they get to spoil you and remind you that the world DID exist before you discovered it.

I wish you great luck with family health, writing, other, and of course, clothing your children.