Update:
From March 2018 through April 2018, the rmack: bookmaker - night flyer posts featured eight installments of my illustrated novel, Night Flyer. Because they were limited editions, I hope you found these free reads. If not, never fear. On May 1, 2018, the project moved into production mode and over the next month, as the book is built, I'll provide sneak peeks into that process. Patreon Patrons get full First Look posts, and soon, I hope to announce the completion of this rmack: bookmaker project with the sale of Night Flyer.
Want to become a Patron? Click here. Or sign up for storm row studio blog emails. Follow By Email is in the column to the right.
Below is the original post from March 1, 2018.
"The night I learned to fly I
was running for my life. Not to save myself from being killed, just to save
myself from Terry. I was eleven, living in that dingy trailer park with my mom.
We were deep into spring at that point and most of the adult tenants of the
park were out around rusting barbeques and vinyl-strapped lawn chairs. Lots of
smoking, drinking, but laughing, too. I should have stayed with them, with Mom,
but Terry’s daughter convinced me to go on an adventure with her."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first paragraph of Night Flyer was written around ten years ago and with rough construction. At that
time, the story consisted of five pages I typed in a quick sit. The sentences
were so full of loneliness and fear that I whipped through them, desperate to
get to the part where my character, Tara, was free. Writing to her moment of freedom—a few, short lines at the bottom of the fifth page—felt powerful. But
it wasn’t until I read page five to a critique group that Tara’s power
overwhelmed me. It caught in my throat. I choked it back. Later, I wondered,
“Could one girl be this potent?”
If you’ve
read any of my recent posts, you know how a year or so ago I came upon two
lines of a Muriel Rukeyser poem that won’t leave me.
“What
would happen if one woman told the truth about her life? The world would split
open.”
Her
question and answer have personal meaning for me, but they also, eerily, help
me answer the question I asked myself all those years ago.
Yes, one girl can be this potent.
Of course, I’d been writing Tara’s story and creating her world in all the months and years between asking my question and finding Muriel’s words. In fact, around 2012, the novel took a critical turn. I elevated both the scientific and fantastical bird elements and, ta-da, finished a shitty first draft. My struggle wasn't over, though, because the story had social and political threads that were grounded in reality. Our world—the real world—was changing, but not in ways that could help Tara. At least not yet. Then, in 2016, a major political party nominated its first female presidential candidate and the rest is, well, flyer history. I revised and rewrote. I submitted the manuscript. To date, it's garnered interest, but no takers. And the world continues to revolve. And so must Night Flyer. Revolve out and around, where readers can find it.
Yes, one girl can be this potent.
Of course, I’d been writing Tara’s story and creating her world in all the months and years between asking my question and finding Muriel’s words. In fact, around 2012, the novel took a critical turn. I elevated both the scientific and fantastical bird elements and, ta-da, finished a shitty first draft. My struggle wasn't over, though, because the story had social and political threads that were grounded in reality. Our world—the real world—was changing, but not in ways that could help Tara. At least not yet. Then, in 2016, a major political party nominated its first female presidential candidate and the rest is, well, flyer history. I revised and rewrote. I submitted the manuscript. To date, it's garnered interest, but no takers. And the world continues to revolve. And so must Night Flyer. Revolve out and around, where readers can find it.
Announcing rmack: bookmaker
A Storytelling & Bookmaking Project
Under Development:
Night
Flyer - An Illustrated Novel
Beginning Monday March 5, Night Flyer will be available to read here on storm row studio blog. Companion book-building posts featuring Night Flyer art, illustration, and design will be available on storm row studio’s Patreon page. At the end of the project, Night Flyer will be an actual hold-in-your-hand book (or books).
An archive
and a memoir, Night Flyer spans decades and binds two families in all their
glorious and awful truths. At the center of it all? The luxurious, underground
city of Meadowlark—home to humans who can fly—and one resistant flyer, Tara Landers,
on a quest to destroy it.
Told in six parts, with
traditional chapters narrated by Tara, transcripts from an historian’s
interviews, and diary pages, letters, and art shared between family members, the
story lands Tara at the intersection of two unfamiliar worlds—politically upset
Washington D.C. and corrupt Meadowlark. There, she must decide whether to take
action or look the other way. Either choice will cause pain, but one also brings freedom.
Links to Previous rmack: bookmaker Posts
