I have designed covers and interiors for my own books and zines, and it’s far more fun than should be allowed:
But this year, I got the chance to do the same for someone else, namely author Geraldine Harris / Geraldine Pinch (she uses the former name for fantasy and the latter for Egyptology; the below book, available in paperback here and forthcoming in ebook, is both):
How did this happen?
In high school (or possibly middle school), I encountered Geraldine Harris’s Seven Citadels (a fantasy quartet, ostensibly YA) at the library. As is the case with most of my favorite books, it took me a few tries to read all of them, but the Diana Wynne Jones blurb and the lyrical beauty and complexity of the series spurred me on, and they were an incredibly rewarding experience. I started bits of fanfiction, went a bit gaga over the complexity of the philosophies and symbolism, fell in love with Kerish, wondered if Gidjabolgo was secretly Nietzsche, and tried to decide which of the sorcerers in the titular seven citadels were associated with which of the seven deadly sins (spoiler alert: I doubt this works at all, but I cherish a secret hope the same scheme might work regarding the Godborn introduced in the first book…).
I also (having made in preceding years the startling discovery that authors of brilliant books are frequently also extremely cool human beings) found her website, where I encountered, among other things, the beginnings of another book, Eye of the Sun, about some college students who through their own foolishness get thrown into the literal and metaphorical deep end of Egyptian mythology. Readers were encouraged to write for the full manuscript. I did not have the nerve.
Fast forward more than a decade. The Seven Citadels had been republished. When I bought the ebooks and reread, an aspect that had seemed less appealing in high school was now awesome: the epigraphs from Galkian scripture were not mere platitudes but rather added a new dimension to the text. Meanwhile, what I had loved as a kid has not paled but rather, like Aslan, grown with me: Kerish’s struggles and growth, the philosophies and religions he and his companions encounter, and the poetry of his relationships,
(Also, the Jennie and the Firebird element at the heart of Evernost almost certainly began as my subconscious’s remix of Tebreega and the Ferrabrinth; more explanation would be spoilers).
Long story short (though I can’t resist this highlight from the long story: The Diary of a Woman Scorned, Harris Pinch’s second most recent novel, is bleak, hilarious realism and — despite the emphatic lack of a happily ever after — is frankly the first book I’ve read to make me feel what it is to be in love with a longtime spouse), I wrote, and, more than a decade later, she was still willing to send Eye of the Sun, now retitled Invisible Frogs.
What’s more, she revealed that she’d been meaning to self-publish Invisible Frogs for years. After a few months’ hesitation (surely she has better resources for book design than a random American!), offered to get the process started…with the result that the paperback of this wildly dreamlike whirlwind tour of Egyptian mythology has already been released on Amazon with my cover design and the ebook is on its way.
Working on this project has been an absolute pleasure, both because Geraldine Harris Pinch herself is kind, witty, and thoughtful and because I’ve learned a ton from the book, whose images have lodged in my mind. When the ebook is released, likely next week, I hope to share a deep dive on this strange and excellent novel.
Of Elsewhere 