Here is one of the illustrations Shirley Mackenzie drew for River of Stones, which will be launched in the next few days. When I looked at her first draft, a host of objections swarmed into my mind. Where were the … Continue reading
Dragons and a Princess with New Artwork
I asked Seymour Hamilton, author of The Laughing Princess, how it came about that he met Shirley MacKenzie, who did the lovely new cover and many other drawings for that book. This is how he explains it:
I met Shirley MacKenzie at a reading soiree at a now defunct indie bookseller which had our books on consignment. Shirley had written and illustrated a moving account of her search for her birth mother and father. The emotional impact of Shirley’s story was in her drawings, which are at the intersection between personal and universal. She does not tell her reader what to think or feel: she presents evocative images of loss, longing and fulfillment that haunt me still. Continue reading
Strong Women and a Strong Voice for The Laughing Princess
The Laughing Princess is Seymour Hamilton’s enchanting foray into something like fairy tales. Petra and Daniel, a brother and a sister, meet a dragon who tells them a series of bewilderingly surprising stories from the lore of the more-magical-than-it-seems village where they’re vacationing. After much suspense, the audiobook is now available for free download! Go to Podiobooks.com and listen online, or right-click on the files at the bottom of the page to take your own mp3 with you, wherever you like, free of charge. Enjoy!
I (Jessica Knauss, editor and publisher at Açedrex) took this opportunity to ask Seymour some questions about his unique little book. Continue reading