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Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Thaliad and thanks

Early morning facebook post: Smolder of light in the dense clouds... Tiny rift of blue above Glimmerglass, gone gunmetal gray. Momentary canyons break into day-after-hurricane clouds; the awe of world-weather is with us again. But this time we have no giant Kentucky coffee tree on the cars and, to my surprise and delight, never lost power.

And I have worked on marketing, one of those things that I do not particularly love but which must be done in a year when a writer publishes a novel, a collection of poems, and an epic poem in blank verse--A Death at the White Camellia Orphanage, The Foliate Head, and now Thaliad.

The new Thaliad page for this website is now up (see tab above.) It offers a little taste of the words and images that will appear in the book. Please take a glance, and let me know if there's anything you see amiss or that you would like to see there. A link to the pre-order page at Phoenicia Publishing is tucked in as well. 

What a year for books! I thought A Death at the White Camellia Orphanage an unusually handsome novel, immaculately designed for Mercer by the Burt and Burt team. Then I fell in love with Andrew Wakelin's design and Clive Hicks-Jenkins's art (green men!) for The Foliate Head from Stanza Press in the UK. But now I am struck by the great beauty of Thaliad. It is profusely illustrated by Clive Hicks-Jenkins and designed by Elizabeth Adams of Phoenicia Publishing in Montreal. Just looking at the print-out--as I must do today, checking for tiny spacing problems and so on--brings home to me what a marvelous collaboration it has been.

I am lucky and blessed to have such friends to me and my books (those mentioned and many more) in the worlds of art and publishing, and again I want to thank Mercer, Burt and Burt, Andrew, Clive (and Peter too!), and Beth for their great gifts of time and love and care for beauty. Thank you for believing that my writing was worth those gifts.

And to all who trust in the work enough to be my readers, many thanks. We live in a peculiar time when the media and the powers of the world like to cast fairy glamour on dead leaves and rot--to encourage people to value and run after things that are empty of life and worth. For this reason, I am especially grateful for those readers who find joy (though sometimes glimpsed through darkness) in my words and continue to support my passion for making story and song. Thank you.

The writer operates at a peculiar crosswords where time and place and eternity somehow meet. His problem is to find that location. --Flannery O' Connor

7 comments:

  1. What a wonderful year it has been in your writing life! I wish you so many more of the same, for you as well as the rest of us.

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  2. Readers are very, very lucky. We have the most wonderful creations to enjoy - both in the literary way and for the eyes too.
    This has, indeed, been a fabulous year for you (and us!) Marly.

    Bravo!

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  3. Robbi,

    It has certainly been crammed with events and books. And that is a good wish, and good for many.

    Paul,

    Among the people I am grateful for, you stand out! Thank you for all those lovely videos... and the Requiem project too.

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  4. Marly, a lot of the pleasure comes from the fact that you are a lovely person, in addition to being a magnificent writer! (I'm not going to call you gifted, because I know that while talent may be God-given, what we do with it is the product of hard work, intelligence, and discerning, always growing awareness of what other artists do. And you work very hard.) I do hope lots and lots of readers and illustrated-book lovers will enjoy Thaliad as much as we've all enjoyed making it into a book!

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  5. Ah, that's sweet and kind. I hope so as well.

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  6. My comment seems to have gone awry. Just wanted to say congrats again in for such a productive creative year, Marly! I've passed on to my sweetie my holiday wish list with this latest as the cherry on top!

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  7. Oh, Marja-Leena--

    Sorry about the comment--I checked the Gulf of Spam, which was full of Ugg boots and prozac and prematurity, so it wasn't there...

    But thank you for lodging me on the wish list!

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Alas, I must once again remind large numbers of Chinese salesmen and other worldwide peddlers that if they fall into the Gulf of Spam, they will be eaten by roaming Balrogs. The rest of you, lovers of grace, poetry, and horses (nod to Yeats--you do not have to be fond of horses), feel free to leave fascinating missives and curious arguments.