The Moon Coin

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Guest Post…From Sketch to Chapter

From Sketch to Chapter: an Illustrator at Work

For me, getting to work with Carolyn Arcabascio was a dream come true. On The Moon Coin, we worked from a master list of scene options, with Carolyn picking out scenes she liked and making sketches. For the prologue, Carolyn drafted three options. All three were great, but two in particular were spectacular. I first went with option 3 (one of my scene suggestions). I think we spent more time on this sketch and subsequent color drawing than on any other piece. But it never seemed right. At the eleventh hour, I asked Carolyn how hard she’d hit me if I suggested scrapping the thing and instead going with the pinky promise scene you see below (one of her scene suggestions).  Carolyn responded: “There would be no hitting involved!” and told me it wouldn’t be a problem. You sure can’t ask for better than that.

From the Prologue: Bedtime Tales

Richard: Did you make all these sketches in the same location, Carolyn?

Carolyn: Yes, I do all of my work at a drafting table that’s situated in a little nook of my apartment in Acton, Massachusetts. There’s a bookshelf to my right and a wall of “inspiration” to my left, where I hang prints of other artists’ and illustrators’ work. On either side of my drafting table are drawers of supplies, and stacks of sketchbooks and old paintings. The drafting table faces a window overlooking a quiet street and the woods beyond it.

From Chapter Two: A Coin of the Realm

Richard: Do you use models when you’re sketching?

Carolyn: I use a combination of models and photo references. If I need to work out the nuances of a character’s posture and really understand the perspective of it, I’ll ask whatever friend or family member is handy to pose for a sketch. Often, I’ll get into the position myself or mimic the facial expression I want to portray in order to get the feel of it. And sometimes, if there’s a character being portrayed multiple times across scenes, I’ll make a rough model of their head out of clay so I’ll have it to refer to.

From Chapter Four: To Barreth

Richard: When drawing fantastical creatures, do you use bits and pieces of real animals for inspiration, or have you actually seen a wirtle and you’re just not telling us? 😉

Carolyn: No wirtles native to Massachusetts, fortunately! When figuring out the look of fantastical creatures, I use photo references of different animals to understand the way the anatomy might work, and then combine features as I see fit and as the story calls for. To understand the wirtle’s legs and paws, for example, I referred to a series of photographs of show dogs leaping over hurdles. The severely arched, scruffy back was influenced by photos of hyenas on the prowl. The bone-structure of the face ended up being something of a cross between a cow and a warthog, and I wanted the snout to be bare—kind of gross and raw-looking. Add it all up and, voila! We have a wirtle.

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Thank you Richard for sharing this interesting and unique post with us today! 

For more information on the author and the book, as always…check out the links!

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The Moon Coin, by Richard Due, is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and the iBookstore for $2.99.

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Copyright © 2011 by Richard Due. All rights reserved.

Gibbering Gnome Press, A Division of Ingenious Inventions Run Amok, Ink™

The Moon Realm™

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Indie Author Spotlight…Richard Due

Indie Authors Spotlight is a weekly meme that will be held on every SATURDAY in the month.
It is hosted by Beckie @Bittersweet Enchantment & CYP @A Bookalicious Story.
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This week’s spotlighted author on Aside from Writing is Richard Due…
“Tales, unlike stories, never lie. You see, a tale is an account of things in their due order, often divulged secretly, or as gossip. Would you like to hear one?” —Lord Autumn
Uncle Ebb was so good at telling his tales of the Moon Realm that sometimes it sounded like he’d been there himself. As children, Lily and Jasper listened raptly to his bedtime tales of a place where nine moons swirled around one another, each inhabited by strange and wondrous beings: magical lunamancers; undersea merfolk; wise birds; winged dragons; and Lily’s favorite, the heroic, leonine Rinn.
There was only one rule: don’t tell a soul.
But now, years later, Uncle Ebb is missing. Lily has learned the secret behind the tales, and soon Jasper will too. But there’s one big problem. You see, something terrible has happened in the Moon Realm. . . .
Featuring twenty-two stunning full-color illustrations by Carolyn Arcabascio.
Volume One of the fantasy adventure series The Moon Realm.
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Want to know more? Check out the links!
Buying Links:
Amazon (Kindle & Kindle Fire): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005JFMKB8
iTunes iBookstore (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch): http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/richard-due/id462821815?mt=11
Author and Illustrator Bio:
Richard Due (pronounced “Dewey”) first imagined the Moon Realm while telling bedtime tales to his children. He makes his home in Southern Maryland, where he and his wife have owned and operated Second Looks Books since 1991. The Moon Coin is the first novel in the Moon Realm series. Visit TheMoonRealm.com for more information.
Author Image:
Carolyn Arcabascio hails from Massachusetts, where she lives and works as an illustrator while pursuing her lifelong exploration of words, images, and the magical places where they meet. Visit her website at www.carolynarcabascio.com
Illustrator Image:
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Q&A on The Moon Coin
1. Your book sounds like a genre-bending read – where did your inspiration for it come from?
The Moon Coin is, at its core, traditional epic fantasy, such as The Chronicles of Narnia or the Lord of the Rings. But each moon in the Moon Realm brings something very different. The first two books in the series center around the moons Barreth and Dain. Barreth is inhabited with the Rinn, which are creatures a little larger than Earth’s draft horses, only the Rinn are more lion-like. Whereas Dain is a moon inhabited by people not unlike us, only with magic, albeit a faded, weak magic. The next two books in the series take place mostly on the Moon Dik Dek, which is a mer-world, covered by ocean, and the moon Mintar, which is encased with an unnatural snow and inhabited by giants.
Having these different moons gives me wonderful challenges. There is always something new coming around the next moon. There’s even one moon, the inhabitant of which are secretive about everything, which is pure steampunk. I can’t wait to get working on that one.
As for the origin of the story, I was racking my brain one night, trying to tell my daughter a new bedtime tale. I was exhausted, physically and mentally, and kept stumbling into that wonderland between dreams and sleep. My daughter kept elbowing me: “Wake up, Daddy, you’re not making any sense!” But I kept drifting off. And then, all in one jolt, I brought back with me The Moon Realm. About nine books worth.
2. Please tell us in one sentence only, why we should read your book.
If you love being immersed in intoxicating new worlds, weaving through story lines full of narrative puzzles, meeting invigorating characters, and enjoy nail-biting reveals, then my book is definitely for you—because it’s got all that and more.
3. Any other books in the works? Goals for future projects?
The Moon Coin is the first book in the Moon Realm Series. Book two, The Dragondain, is written, edited, and currently with the illustrator, Carolyn Arcabascio, for preliminary sketchwork. The eBook will be out the first week of September, and a paperbound version will follow a month or so later. I’m really excited about getting book two out into the world, because I write these books in pairs. The Moon Coin is part one, The Dragondain is part two. Writing the ending to a book two is always going to be easy because book twos will always have a really big finish. I pretty much just have to keep my fingers on the keyboard and hope my head doesn’t explode from the excitement. Writing the endings to part ones is far trickier. I work very, very hard to make sure the reader gets a satisfying end to those. My beta-readers played a significant role in getting the ending of The Moon Coin just right.
4. What inspired you to want to become a writer?
I have to write. I’ve found that I’m really only happy, only really at peace, when I’m trying to balance a narrative juggernaut in my brain. If I try and clear my mind, empty my thoughts, relax, let go—that’s when the tension and anxiety builds. I need a health dose of mayhem ricocheting through my head into order to chill out. I always have. Writing is the only salve I’ve found.
5. What’s one piece of advice you would give aspiring authors?
Read the genre you want to write until your eyeballs fall out. Then put them back in and read some more. Repeat.