Fall Festivities

I spent a wonderful three days with my husband on the Katy Trail near Hermann, MO. The autumn weather was perfect for long bicycle rides.  We passed through golden fields and painted forests, and enjoyed spectacular views of the sparkling Missouri River.  In the evenings, we slipped into Hermann to sample the local Tin Mill brews.  Wildlife was not super-abundant, but we did see some cool animals like turkeys and a coyote.  I wish we could have stayed longer, but classes resumed at Avila today.  It will probably be spring before I can indulge in the luxury of a multi-day bicycle adventure again.

There are so many exciting things afoot right now, I don't know where to begin. 

Tomorrow, October 22, as part of DelSheree Gladden's month-long Meet the Character Blog Fest, you will get to see the most detailed preview yet of the cover for High Maga.  I have a post that compares images of Eolyn, past and present, and I talk about how the cover art for my novels reflects Eolyn's development as a character. 

I also invite you to visit last week's Meet the Character post on Adiana of Selkynsen, a musician and close friend of Eolyn's.  Adiana is a minor character in both Eolyn and High Maga. While she does not command magic like Eolyn, her music confers a special power of its own.  Adiana has been one of my favorite characters since she appeared in my first novel, and I look forward to sharing more of her story in the second one.

If you visit DelSheree's blog, don't forget to register to win the grand prize of over forty free books.  There are lots of opportunities to enter, including free entry for fans of Eolyn on Facebook and followers of Eolyn on Twitter.

We are working hard on a new web site for Hadley Rille Books.  I love the new format; it gives a much better idea of the dynamic strength of this small but very busy press.  It's also designed to make it easier for visitors to browse HRB titles and meet HRB authors.  The new site may be up as early as next week, but (hopefully) no later than the first week of November.

I'll close with another vagancia.  For some reason, lately I've taken to making videos about my courses at Avila.  I shared the first video, about Ecology through the Writers Lens, a couple weeks back.  Now here's a video about my introductory course on Environmental Science.  Enjoy, and stay tuned because there is much more news to come. . .

Vagancias

"Vagancias" is the word in Costa Rican Spanish for the little things we do out of sheer self-indulgence.

You know you enjoy your job when the best parts of your work feel like vagancias. Here are two vagancias I indulged in this week:

Cover Design for HIGH MAGA

For me, the biggest act of self-indulgence on the way to publication is cover design. 

Friends and followers of Eolyn, we are sooooo very close to having the cover art finished!  I wish I could share with you every delightful piece that Thomas Vandenberg has sent my way over the past several days, but we're just going to have to wait a little longer. Because no matter how fantastic the images so far, Tom still wants to do more.

On Heroines of Fantasy this week, Terri-Lynne DeFino posted a wonderful reflection about the face of women in fantasy.  Quite coincidentally, just before this post went live, Tom sent me his rendition of Eolyn.  The cover for High Maga will allow us to see her face, and folks she is beautiful. Fierce. Strong. Determined. Most of all, real. Everything you want in a heroine and a maga. (And with no need for any bikini armor.)

I'd love to show you a cover preview with Eolyn's face, but my mother always told me to leave the dessert for last.  So here's another appetizer:

In case you're wondering, that's the clawed forelimb of a Naether Demon, creatures summoned from the Underworld to assist the Syrnte army in their invasion of Moisehén.

I confess, all my attempts at secrecy may soon come to naught, as High Maga might get some special and unanticipated exposure in the coming weeks.  If that happens, you'll be sure to hear about it.  If not, stay tuned for more previews, and several weeks down the road, a full and proper cover reveal. 

Promo Video for Ecology Through the Writer's Lens

My second vagancia was for my day job at Avila University.  As some of you may remember, we are planning a travel course next spring that will integrate literary and scientific modes of understanding the forest.  We have everything set to go; now we just need the students.  Yesterday, I sat down with Windows Movie Maker and put together this simple video as a way of spreading the word about the course.  It gets me excited about going back to Costa Rica; I hope it gets my students excited, too!





Those were my vagancias this week.  What were yours? 

Savegre Lodge and Ballena Marine National Park

The resplendent quetzal, king of the highland forests
of Talamanca, is set to make a cameo appearance in
Eolyn's third companion novel, Daughter of Aithne.

This week Avila University professor Amy Milakovic and I did a scouting trip for a new course we plan to offer next spring, entitled Ecology through the Writer’s Lens.  The course was inspired during my residency for the Long Term Ecological Reflections (LTER) program at Andrews Experimental Forest in the mountains of Oregon (see my May 2011 posts). 

Like the LTER project, our goal is to integrate scientific and literary approaches to understanding the forest. Of course, we will be working on a much shorter time scale than LTER.  The program at Andrews Experimental Forest is set to run about 300 years; our course will run about 10 days.  Still, it’s going to be a fun and memorable experience for us as professors and for all our students.

On the scouting trip, we visited Savegre Lodge, nestled in the oak forests of the Talamanca Mountains, at about 2300m elevation.  Fans and followers of Eolyn know by now that these are the magnificent forests that inspired Eolyn’s childhood home in the South Woods.

Ballena Marine National Park, Costa Rica

After a night in Talamanca, we visited La Cusinga Lodge in the Pacific lowlands, surrounded by tropical rainforest and overlooking the stunning Ballena Marine National Park.  Along the way, we saw quetzals, monkeys, whales, and all kinds of other wildlife.   We travelled with long-time friend and colleague, Jose Rogelio Vargas, owner of Ruta Verde Tours.

While I was off the grid, Mark Nelson wrote a wonderful reflection for Heroines of Fantasy, marking our 100^th post for the blog.  Mark contemplates the same question we will be asking in our upcoming course:  How do the landscapes we encounter inspire the stories we write? Please stop by to read Mark’s post and share your thoughts on this topic.



A howler monkey in the lowland rain forest

Next week, I’ll be starting a blog tour with Orangeberry Book Tours.  The tour will last through September, including guest posts, interviews, reviews, giveaways, Twitter views and Twitter blasts.  Eolyn will also be one of the featured titles for the Orangeberry Book Expo, which runs through the end of August. For the full schedule, visit my author page at OrangeberryBook Tours. I will, of course, post events as they occur here, as well as on my Facebook page and Twitter account for Eolyn.

That’s the news for now.  Enjoy the sunny weeks to come. Autumn is on its way.

Members of this week's tropical expedition (from left to right):
Dr. Amy Milakovic, Rafael Aguilar, me, Jose Rogelio Vargas