Never mind. I don't want people turning up here to feel brow-beaten by the Sales Department. Rather they should come to enjoy the pics or monologues, and maybe once in a while go browsing (it'll only take a minute this year — longer by the end of 2012) for a good ebook.
Actually, I'd be glad to have comments from visitors about the price of RMB ebooks. Riduculously cheap? Too dear? About right?
Any day now I'll be able to show you the cover for Michael Jackson's Road Markings: An Anthropologist in the Antipodes. I hope to launch it on Rosa Mira's birthday, the 11th of January. The blurb begins: 'Internationally-acclaimed anthropologist and poet Michael Jackson hires a car and travels the length of his natal New Zealand, reflecting on the idea of origins. Visiting old haunts and old friends, he ponders the hold our histories have over us, and the enduring power of our first experiences in life.'
He writes: 'I sat down on the tideline and slipped the rucksack from my shoulders. I felt the sun on my face, heard the slipshod sound of the sea and the distracted cry of a nesting dotterel. My mind drifted. I was thinking of the gap between the inspiration I drew from places like Waikawau Bay and the satisfaction I had found in America, Europe and West Africa. With every return home, the expatriate is reborn. It is not simply because you are returned to the landscapes of your early life; it is because the quotidian, momentarily bathed in a new light, appears exotic. And so you marvel that this place you could not live in because of its emptiness and insularity still has the power to remind you of who you really are.'
I'm feeling excited about next year's publishing: an intriguing line-up so far. I'm finding the production process simpler and a little different each time.
Hmm, someone forgot to colour in the hot air balloon. Imagine it's lime green with gold spots.
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7 comments:
RMB prices are very fair, indeed. I'll vouch for that. Now I just have to get to reading!
Jackson's book sounds wonderful. Gosh, my reads are piling up. ;)
As yours are the only ebooks I've paid for (so far) I have no true yardstick.
I am thrilled by Ratty's adventures and the new book sounds very interesting, especially to a seemingly permanent exile such as myself.
Isabel x
ps - have you thought about putting the Ratty illustrations together into a picture book for all ages?
xx
Thanks, Jayne and Isabel. I'm pleased to know how many people are looking forward to Michael's book. And yes, he speaks to pat and expat alike; those who look out and those who look back.
The Book of Rat has been suggested but the concept seems beyond me at present. I can't see it making a terribly grand or coherent adventure . . . but perhaps over a year or so enough material might come together. Meanwhile he does what he does!
I hope you don't mind that I am posting a link to RMB (with the lovely card) tomorrow.
Best wishes, Isabel x
I don't mind at all, thanks, Isabel. I wonder how the slightly crinkly card will translate to digital. Keeping cats in the frame, anyway. (Good on you and LG.)
Penelope, I did boldly proceed to post two illustrations, a link and some information on my blog, all credited. I trust it was handled in keeping with your views and philosophy. Could we start a Ratty and Lily fan club? My thanks. xo
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