Sunday, February 7, 2010

Contest Prize

Last month, Natalie Whipple ran a writing contest over on her blog, and my story won a lovely prize:



Isn't she talented?  This picture is from a scene in "Star Swans and Sarki," my novel that most wants to be finished, the one I'm almost finished revising (until I get feedback, and then I'll revise some more).  Lani looks just the way I imagined her, and the Star Swan is very close.  There are differences, but I like them.  For instance, she made the Star Swan sparkle, and the sparkle reminds me of sparks from a fire.  I hadn't even thought of that; I may incorporate the sparks into the story.  And I love that Natalie dressed Lani in red.  If you haven't been over to Natalie's blog, I highly recommend it.  I've scrolled through all of her posts labeled "drawing" because I like her art, and she gives great writing advice.

In this scene, Lani discovers that the Star Swan loves pomegranates as much as she does and is feeding it seeds.  She's convinced Jaavan to sneak out at night so they can convince the Star Swan to heal his mother, but they don't know that Lani's mother also fed a Star Swan before she disappeared. 

There is a distant allusion to Hades and Persephone, so distant and inverted I didn't realize it existed when I was writing it.  I noticed it later.  Isn't it interesting how our subconscious feeds our stories tidbits of other stories? J.R.R. Tolkien referred to sources of this nature as "the bones" of "the soup" in his famous essay, "On Fairy-Stories."

I hope you enjoyed the picture as much as I did! 

10 comments:

  1. So pretty! I was happy to see you were the winner. :)

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  2. What a great drawing and I love the insight into your novel, good luck with pushing through!

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  3. Thanks, Debbie! The title of your blog always reminds me of that essay by Tolkien. Have you read it?

    Thanks, Maile! These characters have been around in some form or another since 2005, but I love that you ended up with a Lani! I have several more Hawaiian names, but I'm going to want to pick your brain for customs and ghost stories one of these days. Want to go to the park, if it ever stops raining?

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  4. So beautiful. And your story sounds very interesting! Glad your revisions are going well.

    Shelley

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  5. Great picture, great tease. Can't wait to read it!

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  6. Hey Myrna--your story sounds very intriguing. I'm glad you are writing--I keep tossing the idea of writing around in my head, but haven't actually done anything about it. I enjoy editing though, so if you need a reader, let me know.

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  7. Thanks, Shelley, they are today. I've dumped over 1,000 words in the first hole.

    Krista, I've been coveting pictures of her Betas WIPs since I started reading her blog.

    Hey Hillari! Thanks for the offer. I may take you up on it one of these days. And now I'm clicking on your name to see if you have one of these bloggy blog blogs too. :)

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  8. That sounds like a beautiful story and very deserving of the art, which is gorgeous. Congrats on winning!

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  9. Congratulations! What a beautiful illustration :) I love Greek mythology and your story sounds absolutely fascinating.

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  10. Thanks, Jackee! Are you referring to the novel or the contest entry? I think the art is gorgeous too.

    Thanks, Julie! I really like Greek mythology too.

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