What if you were offered a chance to live with a group of mythical people who are in the beginning phase of war? Would you join them if it meant trading technology for magic?
What if you were being abused and it meant leaving some of your siblings behind, would you have the strength and determination to help fight their battle to save your siblings?
These are the questions twelve-year-old, Austin Vilness, and his two brothers must ask themselves in Moon Tree Magic.
Moon Tree Magic a/k/a Moon Tree Brothers is a stand-alone book that will appeal to youths living in a multi-cultured society as they question the size of man's footprint on earth and the consequences of that print.
This is not from my query but is definitely questions I asked myself as I wrote Moon Tree Brothers: Magic.
“It’s the journey and not the destination.” Anthony Bourdain and probably a few people before him, said. I love the journey of writing books and painting pictures. The destination is the icing on the cake. And, that is not bad, either!
Showing posts with label Mythology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mythology. Show all posts
Monday, June 11, 2012
Monday, October 26, 2009
The Moon Trees are a microcosm of cultures
Her name was Ellen Pamela Nichols Parker (d/b: 11/23/1852 in Oklahoma) and she was my Great, Great Grandmother. Family rumor had it that she was related to Quanah Parker, the great Chief of the Comanches. Quanah Parker - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Somewhere there is a wonderful black and white photo of her in a canoe. She had stereotypical high cheekbones and darker skin, that show where the rumor came from. That, and the fact that, when her son, my Great Grandfather, was off on a tantrum, my Grandmother used to say to him, "That's your Indian blood." From the other stories I have heard of my Great Grandfather, meanness came naturally to him. He did not need any help from stereotypes.
I traveled to Oklahoma to solve the mystery a long time ago. I was not successful in resolving it, but thought it was nice that mom can still have this romantic notion of a connection to the early inhabitants of this country.
She loves reading books about Native culture and watching every movie with Native American culture, she can find. She especially loves movies like A Man Called Horse and Dances with Wolves, but her heart is with the Native American woman. I envision her imagination sometimes lives in a buckskin dress and gathers berries. There is a very good listing of Native American movies here: Native American Movie Listing
I love to paint faces and find that all faces are beautiful and have so many stories to tell. I have been a professional portrait artist for twenty years and have exhibited at Pow Wow’s and painted many Native American faces. The sign on my booth read, “I paint with respect. Please let me know if you do not want me photographing you. I send copies of photos I have taken if you would like to leave your name and an address.”
I was only asked one time not to take a photograph. I have been honored with a white heart bead necklace by a Native Chief out west and I have been asked to keep watch over a treasured Eagle feather headdress. I have been able to do paintings of many beautiful Native faces and even painted the grandfather, father, son and daughter in one family.
Growing up with a love of all things Native and spending nights, in my van, falling asleep to the drums (believe me, it is the best sleep ever), gave me a great resource for the fantasy novel I am working on.
Native American culture is full of a wonderful Mythology, much of which is a bit adult in nature to use in a Middle Grade novel. I began throwing in other cultural references that enrich the world I have created. My personal opinion, that we are all one on this earth, is reflected in that I have a major character who is Celtic, a teacher from Bengali, an African beneficent faerie, and an Apache Mountain Spirit. Student's genealogy is also diverse: Japan, Africa, Native America, an Arabic young man and Caucasian.
My protagonist is an abused boy who, with his brothers, seeks shelter in a world that believes in taking care of the earth and all its inhabitants. I have enjoyed the research I have done for this book and it falls right in with "write about what you know."
Somewhere there is a wonderful black and white photo of her in a canoe. She had stereotypical high cheekbones and darker skin, that show where the rumor came from. That, and the fact that, when her son, my Great Grandfather, was off on a tantrum, my Grandmother used to say to him, "That's your Indian blood." From the other stories I have heard of my Great Grandfather, meanness came naturally to him. He did not need any help from stereotypes.
I traveled to Oklahoma to solve the mystery a long time ago. I was not successful in resolving it, but thought it was nice that mom can still have this romantic notion of a connection to the early inhabitants of this country.
She loves reading books about Native culture and watching every movie with Native American culture, she can find. She especially loves movies like A Man Called Horse and Dances with Wolves, but her heart is with the Native American woman. I envision her imagination sometimes lives in a buckskin dress and gathers berries. There is a very good listing of Native American movies here: Native American Movie Listing
I love to paint faces and find that all faces are beautiful and have so many stories to tell. I have been a professional portrait artist for twenty years and have exhibited at Pow Wow’s and painted many Native American faces. The sign on my booth read, “I paint with respect. Please let me know if you do not want me photographing you. I send copies of photos I have taken if you would like to leave your name and an address.”
I was only asked one time not to take a photograph. I have been honored with a white heart bead necklace by a Native Chief out west and I have been asked to keep watch over a treasured Eagle feather headdress. I have been able to do paintings of many beautiful Native faces and even painted the grandfather, father, son and daughter in one family.
Growing up with a love of all things Native and spending nights, in my van, falling asleep to the drums (believe me, it is the best sleep ever), gave me a great resource for the fantasy novel I am working on.
Native American culture is full of a wonderful Mythology, much of which is a bit adult in nature to use in a Middle Grade novel. I began throwing in other cultural references that enrich the world I have created. My personal opinion, that we are all one on this earth, is reflected in that I have a major character who is Celtic, a teacher from Bengali, an African beneficent faerie, and an Apache Mountain Spirit. Student's genealogy is also diverse: Japan, Africa, Native America, an Arabic young man and Caucasian.
My protagonist is an abused boy who, with his brothers, seeks shelter in a world that believes in taking care of the earth and all its inhabitants. I have enjoyed the research I have done for this book and it falls right in with "write about what you know."
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