If you are friends with me on Facebook, you know an incredibly cool image appears beside all of my comments.
This portrait (in the truest sense of the word) is the work of artist Jacquelyn Kruzic. She sent it to me out of the blue. Oh, we know each other, yes – but this was a surprise. An amazing, soul-pleasing, awesome surprise.
She shows me with book, bowl, and candle. She surrounds me with my spirit animals and familiar. She has me lighting a sage smudge stick (like I did last night for Mabon Eve). She renders me in the warm, golden tones I love so well. She reveals the priestess within me, a core part of my being I too often lose track of myself.
Now, hang onto the art thing, and go retro with me a moment, back to the late ’90s.
Having enjoyed a modicum of success with my first novel, Hunter of the Light, I was eager to write more. My agent was eager for the same; in fact, I didn’t quite realize how eager he was for me to plop another Celtic fantasy onto this desk within a year or so.
A year or so? Not being a lady of leisure, it took me a tad longer.
After waiting nearly 3 years to see something new from me, my agent wasn’t exactly overjoyed when the ms. I plopped on his desk wasn’t a Celtic fantasy. It was Darkdays, an action-packed, intergalactic space-noir. Not at all what he was expecting.
He peddled it a bit, but it didn’t sell. Interest was low partly because I’d written outside of my assigned genre. Apparently genre-hopping is only allowed when your name is the biggest draw on the cover.
To be frank, though, the ms. had a real weakness. Darkdays is about an alien werewolf bitch – a Tyneth – fighting for survival in a corrupt and mendacious universe. The story is 1st-person, from her point-of-view. While I had no problem guiding readers through the basics of Lingo – the common language spoken by all Darkdays’ characters – finding words to convey the Tyneth’s inner monologue when she was in full-animal mode was tough. I did my best, but the concept was fundamentally flawed. Instinctive, visceral, sensory action just doesn’t translate to rational, comprehensible prose.
So, back to the art thing. Jacquelyn Kruzic isn’t just a whiz at capturing an old lady’s inner essence. She’s brilliant at drawing human/animal hybrids. As soon as I saw her work, I asked her to collaborate with me on a graphic-novel version of Darkdays. Someday.
It had to be “someday,” because by the time I met Jacque, I’d long since given up the wacky notion that I could raise a family, maintain a home, hold down a job, and write. I shared some chapters with her, though. I piqued her interest.
Good thing, too. A few years later, Darkdays and all its backups were destroyed in the fire that took our home. Only the seven chapters in Jacque’s keeping survived.
All things writerly went on hiatus as we went through 2 years of displacement and built a new house. I made sure our new residence had something the old one never did. A genuine, custom-designed office. A private, perfect place to write.
This summer, I started a serious re-boot of my writing life. I’m starting small. I’m re-reading and re-editing Shadow’s Road, the sequel to Hunter of the Light. I’m blogging weekly (ta-DA!). And I’m updating/revamping the personal website I abandoned 8 years ago.
The website is good-to-go, save for the Author’s Notes page. Author’s Notes contains some background on Hunter, a little promo for Shadow’s Road, and a few words about Darkdays. The first two bits have thumbnail icons beside them: a stag for Hunter, a shield for Shadow. Darkdays needs an icon of its own. I asked Jacquelyn Kruzic to create one for me.
The final icon is still to come – but omg, look what she’s been sending me!
Here’s her first take on my heroine, in both human and animal modes. The beast top right, the slim figure below it, the profile bust, way cool, right?
The Tyneth’s mane is a major identifying feature. Here’s a sleeker, smoother, brushed-forward look. What I love most in this set are the human/animal pair on the right, because it’s so clear they are the same creature.
Just today I got this set. That foot at top left? Fabulous blend of human and beast.
And here, omg!
Yes, I know, I’m a writer, but I can’t find words to express how keen I am to dive into this story, now the Tyneth is taking shape before my eyes. I want to get busy turning Darkdays into a graphic novel where substantial sections of prose alternate with sections of unscripted illustration; where words tell some of the story, and pictures tell the rest.
Check out more of Jacquelyn Kruzic’s work at her art station and on Facebook at Vierdz Art. Or, as the Tyneth would say, snag a visual. You’ll be glad you did.
OMG, yes!
Crowd fund the graphic novel. Do it!
Lol, yes, we will. We both have things on our front burners to deal with before we can move Darkdays off the back burner, but no worries. It’ll be a bit of a learning curve for both of us, but we have totally glommed onto Declan’s spot-on idea.
I’m so jazzed Jacque is making your werewolf come to life!
That reminds me—did you smudge?
Yes! Smudged the whole house with Roy, top to bottom, widdershins, chanting, “Avaunte! Avaunte! Maleficum defense! Honi soit qui mal y pense!” Danged if I didn’t sleep better the last 2 nights, too.
I’d like to pre-order my copy now. In fact, why not crowd-fund it?
Holy Moly – what a great idea! All these projects getting their kick-starts and such, from video games to feature films to zen centers, yet it never occurred to me that we might not have to write/draw Darkdays on-spec. You’re a genius, Dec. Happy Equinox!