Clare Bell's Blog: The Scratching Log - Goodreads, page 2

"October Sky" and My Husband Chuck Piper

I saw the movie "October Sky" last night, with my husband Chuck Piper. This film is based on Homer Hickham's book, Rocket Boys. It has a special resonance for both of us because Chuck is also an amateur rocket builder. He also won a science fair, met Werner Von Braun, and has worked for many years as a rocket propellant engineer. One of his designs for the European Space Agency Beagle 2 Mars mission (a cable-cutting cartridge) is now on Mars. He and his friends began the Smoke Creek and Black Rock Desert rocket launching events that now attract thousands He also built a three-stage 30 foot rocket that flew to 120,000 feet (the edge of space) in the 1970's, which other amateur rocket builders only achieved recently.
Chuck is known as a "Rocket God" in the amateur high-power rocket community. Smoke Creek, Nevada, where the launches began, is called "The Promised Land" by rocketeers, and the remnants from those launches are honored as "Rocket Fossils".

Chuck deserves far more recognition than he has received. If I write his biography, it could be a film.
/CB

Ratha in Russian out in December!

I got word from Richard Curtis that the first Russian Ratha edition will be out this December. Oiching horosho! (My badly transliterated Russian for "very good".)
The publisher is OLMA Media Group in Moscow ( http://www.olmamedia.ru/ ). I did study Russian in high school and college many years ago, but I still have my Russian language text. I'd like to correspond with Russian readers, and have let the Russian publisher know, so I'll see if I can find hardware or software that lets me type in Cyrillic (the Russian alphabet). /CB

NaNoWriMo Resource for Animal Characters

For those of my friends who are doing National Novel Writers' Month ( #NaNoWriMo ), and who are doing realistic animal characters, here's a link to my Realistic Animal Characters: Exploring the Clash Between Instinct and Intelligence workshop: http://forum.rathascourage.com/index....

Scratching Log - Honoring Fan Art Contest Artists -

As much as I love Ratha, I enjoy artistic interpretations of other Named clan cats, such as Bira, Fessran, Thakur, and others, including Meoran.  We've seen Ratha attacking him in an earlier entry by Karyl Cunningham, but fan artist Leonca showcases him in a menacing portrait.  She mentions in her DevArt Gallery that he's based in part on the American lion, and cites the passages in Ratha's Creature about some of the Named being able to crush prey or opponent s skulls with a bite, in a way similar to the powerful jaguar.   She is exactly right; I did do that.  My original concept of the Named was more leopard or lion-like at first, with cheetah-based appearence and behavior added in later books, in part due to changes in cover illustration between Clan Ground and Ratha and Thistle-chaser. For more detail about this, see the Research section (tab above) or this link:  http://rathascourage.com/Research%20D....   /CB

 

 

 

        

         Your name:  Leonca

Your age: 23

 

Title of your entry: Meoran

 

What media did you use for this artwork?

Graphite, Prismacolor fine line marker, and Photoshop

 

Tell us a little about your process for creating this work.

Sketch with graphite, ink with marker, scan, and color in Photoshop

What inspired the work, and/or what were you trying to convey?

Though I liked the protagonist I also like stories with a good villain, so I thought I would give him some attention since he doesn’t get much fan art.

Is there anything else you'd like to tell us about the entry?

I based my interpretation of the Named on multiple species for anatomy and markings, including lions, cheetahs, and cougars.

When did you first read the Named books, and how did you discover them?

 I read the first book in early 2011. I think I discovered the series online through discussions of animals in fantasy books.

What's your favorite book in the Named series?

Ratha’s Creature, since it is the only one I have read so far.

Coffee or hot chocolate?  Coffee

Ereader or print?  Print

 

Firekeeper or Herder?  Herder

 

Thakur or Bonechewer? Thakur

 

Ratha or Thistle-Chaser? Ratha

 

Do you have a link where people can view more of your artwork?

http://leonca.deviantart.com/

 

Scratching Log - Honoring Fan Art Contest Artists - Rhiannon Fields

Halloween is creeping closer.  Night begins encroaching further into day, and colors fade to black, white, and gray.  Perhaps it is appropriate that our eighth and last artist to be honored has created a ghostly image of the Named leader in such spectral shadings. As a side note, Rhiannon says that she was drawn to the Ratha series by another piece of fan art!  Here is Rhiannon Fields with her very different and original "Charcoal Ratha".  /CB

Your name: Rhiannon Fields

Your age: 18

Title of your entry: Charcoal Ratha

What media did you use for this artwork? Charcoal

When did you first read the Named books, and how did you discover them? I found a piece of fan art drawn by someone who had read them and thought it looked interesting. So I hunted down a copy of the first one.

What's your favorite book in the Named series? Not sure, but it would have to be one of the first three.

Coffee or hot chocolate? Hot chocolate!

Ereader or print? Print

The Scratching Log - Honoring Contest Fan Artists - Michelle Bryant

 

 

 

Michelle Bryant says that her interest in art began when she started drawing the Named clan cats. Again, I am amazed and honored to have inspired such creative talent. She also shows as well as tells us how she developed this piece. Seventh up on the sunning rock is Michelle, with “Tamer of the Red Tongue”, a stunning rendition of Ratha and her creature in digital media, developed from a hand-drawn sketch directly into Photoshop. This, I believe, was the First Prize winner in the contest. /CB

 

Your name:  Michelle Bryant

Your age: 21

Title of your entry:  "Tamer of the Red Tongue"

What media did you use for this artwork?   Digital media (Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 and a digital drawing tablet)

 

Tell us a little about your process for creating this work.

First the sketch was drawn directly into Photoshop. I start off using basic shapes to define my picture then I slowly work towards details. My sketches are often pretty loose and messy, so I use a lot of different colors to help keep the different part organized.

 

 

After I have everything the way I'd like, I outline the entire picture with a line black like and add color, shading, highlights, and background after that. In total, my entry took nearly 8 hours to complete.

 

 

What inspired the work, and/or what were you trying to convey?

My inspiration mainly came from the first book, "Ratha's Creature" but since Ratha's fire is a reoccuring theme throughout the other four books, it could fit for any of them too. From the beginning, I was drawn to Ratha's fierce determination at not only taming 'her creature' but going a step further and risking everything to bring this creature to the rest of the Named. Even after loosing her fire and banished to exile, she still kept her head high until she could regain the Red Tongue, return home, and become leader. Ratha's spirit is defined by fire, which is a symbol of courage and power, and I wanted to show this in my image.

Is there anything else you'd like to tell us about the entry?

This picture took me nearly 8 hours to complete spread out over a 3 day period. The longest steps were the fire detail and the shading, which were also the most challenging.

 

When did you first read the Named books, and how did you discover them?

I first found the Named books through my highschool's library back in 2004. I loved reading stories about felines and I happened to come across "Ratha's Creature", which I read and loved! I checked out the rest of the series (at that time only books 2 through 4) and instantly fell in love with those too. I started drawing fanart from the books after reading them all, so you could say the Named books helped me along the road to becoming the artist I am today, to which I'm truly grateful.

 

What's your favorite book in the Named series?

My favorite book of the series would have to be "Ratha's Creature." The way Ratha rebounds from losing everything to the new leader of the Named is inspiring.

 

Coffee or hot chocolate?  Hot Chocolate!

Ereader or print?  Print

Firekeeper or Herder?  Firekeeper

Thakur or Bonechewer?  Bonechewer

Ratha or Thistle-Chaser?  Ratha

Do you have a link where people can view more of your artwork?

You can find all of my artwork online at http://kaisertiger.deviantart.com/

 

 

The Scratching Log - Honoring Contest Fan Artists - Tori O'Shea

The Ratha series would never have returned to print without the devotion and support of readers and fans.  Tori OShea's early fan website, Clan Ground of the Named, woke me up from a discouraged daze to the realization that the series still lived on the net, and in the hearts of readers. She adopted "Ratha" as her fan name, and (as far as I know), did the first Ratha fan art on the web, appearing on the Lion King Fan Art Archive in 2002. 

I am so glad that she decided to enter this later piece, since I have been wanting to recognize and honor her for years.  This is one of my favorites from Tori, and I am pleased to present "Ratha and Bonechewer, Forever Love".  /CB

 

 

Your name:

Tori J. O'Shea

Commonly known around the internet as 'Ratha', for the last 11 years. :3 I was one of the very first Ratha fan-artists to appear online.

Your age:  22

Title of your entry:

I believe it was something like, Ratha and Bonechewer, Forever Love... somethin' like that.

What media did you use for this artwork? Pens, pencils and inks.

Tell us a little about your process for creating this work.

Well, it started as a sketch. From the sketch, I decided I liked where it was going, so I took it, inked it, and decided in needed colour as well. I did this all in Home-Ec class my senior year of high school. Ha!

What inspired the work, and/or what were you trying to convey?

Nothing, really. I was bored, the books have been in my heart nearly my entire life... they're my go-to for drawing.

Is there anything else you'd like to tell us about the entry?

Ratha and Bonechewer may have made a great couple... but Ratha and Thakur were meant to be!

When did you first read the Named books, and how did you discover them?

I read them the summer before fourth grade. I was really sick, and my mother went to the local library to get me some books. She asked the librarian if they had any 'chapter books about cats'. This was long before Warriors, and the librarian found Ratha's Creature and Clan Ground. The fact I read them in order was magic- I picked whichever one looked like it had more talking in it and read it. It was 'Creature'- and I fell more than in love.

What's your favorite book in the Named series?  You can't beat the first. <3

Coffee or hot chocolate?  Hot chocolate all the way, man!

Ereader or print?  Print. A dying art.

Firekeeper or Herder?  Herder. I stick to originals :3

Thakur or Bonechewer?  Thakur!

Ratha or Thistle-Chaser?

Ratha... I've ALWAYS identified myself as 'Ratha', especially online and as a child when we would play out scenes from the books (yeah, we did that- I introduced my friends to the books, and we were all hooked!).

Do you have a link where people can view more of your artwork?

The family appropriate site:

http://fanart.lionking.org/Artists/Ratha/

You can find a lot, if not all, of my Ratha-related art there, along with other kooky characters from my little world.

-Tori

 

 

 

 

 

The Scratching Log - Honoring Contest Fan Artists - Cheyanne Dawn Welsh

 

Cheyanne Dawn Welch is artist number five up on the sunning rock, receiving the light and warmth of recognition.  I like the way Cheyanne made Ratha's fur "rough and unruly" to capture her defiant spirit. It looks spiked and wild.  The Red Tongue also looks saw-edged and spiked, which gives a fierce unity to the piece. I am pleased to present Cheyanne and her "Ratha and the Red Tongue".

/CB

 

 

 

Thank you for this opportunity!

 Your name: Cheyanne Dawn Welsh

 Your age: 14

 Title of your entry: Ratha and the Red Tongue

 What media did you use for this artwork?  Traditional; colored pencils and pastels.

 What inspired the work, and/or what were you trying to convey?

 I was inspired by the imagery in Ratha's Challenge, and I wanted to portray my interpretation of how Ratha looked. I imagined that her eyes would be fierce and determined (like her personality), and her fur, long and unruly. I also wanted to convey the kind of triumph and pride that Ratha had in her creature, making her body relaxed, but all the while making her face strong and defined, with eyes holding that triumph and pride.

 I also created a fan forum for the series, and would like to invite Ratha fans to check it out, at

 Is there anything else you'd like to tell us about the entry?

 I'm an amateur, and this was one of my first serious sketches. I have learned much and have been progressing with my art skills. I have, all my life, grown up around cats and have much love and admiration for them, big or small.

 When did you first read the Named books, and how did you discover them?

 I discovered them in 2009, when I was looking for a new series to read. I was driven to read them by my admiration for felines, and was not disappointed. Clare Bell's "Ratha" series opened my eyes to a new and fascinating world of creatures that exist no longer, but have left their marks in long-ago history.

 Clare Bell's works have inspired me to pursue a career in fictional writing. I have been writing short stories for local contests, and am coming up with new ideas all the time. I wish to publish in the future.

 What's your favorite book in the Named series?

 I wish I could say, "All of them!"

 But since I must choose, my one most-favorite is Clan Ground. I was intrigued by Orange-Eyes, and how different he was from the Named, in his actions and thoughts. He was discreet, cunning, and what you might call "evil", but at the same time, he could have been a strong and loyal Clan cat, had he not done what he did.

 Coffee or hot chocolate? Coffee (...in my Ratha coffee mug, of course!)

 Ereader or print?

 Print; and I hope that, in the future, books are still printed (versus being put on digital devices). We depend too much on technology.

 Firekeeper or Herder? Firekeeper

 Thakur or Bonechewer? Thakur

 Ratha or Thistle-Chaser? Ratha

 Do you have a link where people can view more of your artwork?

Yes; view my other works at http://takeflightraven.deviantart.com

 

The Scratching Log - Honoring Contest Fan Artists - Karyl Cunningham

Third up on the sunning rock to be bathed in the warmth of praise and honor is Karyl Cunningham, who stunned me with her unusual and energetic entry depicting a scene that rarely if ever shows up in Ratha fan art.  Her creativity is unmatched only by her persistence in battling time constraints, unco-operative materials (dried-out acryrlic paints) and other adversities.  So, you are being honored also for your determination in meeting the challenges as well as your artistic ability.  /CB

 

 

Your name: Karyl

Your age: 27

Title of your entry: The Death of Meoran

What media did you use for this artwork? Arcylic paint

Tell us a little about your process for creating this work.

Well, the process was a bit of a struggle from the point the pencil
sketch was finished. I found out at the last minute that my acrylics
had mostly dried out, so made a run to the nearest store to buy some
more. Except the new paints turned out to be poster paint. So, just in
case I didn't find anything else, I made some mess of an underpainting
to at least get something started. Then the planets aligned and a
voice shouted down from the heavens "thou shalt paint" and lo and
behold, Jo-Ann's was having a clearance sale on their acrylics. So I
painted over the messy excuse for an underpainting, and ultimately
decided to forego detail in favor of the sense of the tense emotion of
the scene (admittedly in part because it was getting pretty late and
close to the last night for submissions, and I didn't want to fall
asleep in my paints).

What inspired the work, and/or what were you trying to convey?

There was one scene from the Ratha books I had read that always stood
out in my mind, and that was the scene where Meoran tries to attack
Ratha, and gets a nasty surprise when she shoves a firebrand into his
jaw to protect herself. It was always strangely vivid, even more so
than the other scenes, and since I don't have my own copy of the
books, that made it the perfect scene to capture for the contest.
Plus, I don't think I've ever seen anyone draw out that scene before,
so I wouldn't have anyone else's version in my head already that might
block out my own sense of the image.

When did you first read the Named books, and how did you discover them?

I can't remember how long ago I first read the books, but I know it
was thanks to our local library. My sister was rather obsessed with
cheetahs at the time, and had borrowed a copy of Tomorrow's Sphinx. I
thought it sounded neat, so next chance I got, I borrowed it too, and
found the Ratha books alongside it. Our library doesn't have them all,
but they had enough to get me hooked. ...Okay, I was hooked by the
first one, I'll admit.

What's your favorite book in the Named series?

I'm going to go with the first for now since it's the one I've read
most often. Sadly it's been too long to really give a clear and actual
favorite, though.

Coffee or hot chocolate?

Depends, am I trying to get warm or wake up? If it's the dead of
winter, I'm a definite fan of hot chocolate. Of course, sometimes I
also mix the two.

Ereader or print?

Both. There's something nice about the feel of a real book, and of
course I grew up on them... but for travel I think an ereader would be
nice, especially one of the ones that has eink technology, with a
non-backlit LCD screen, so it's more like reading on paper and gives
less eye strain. But I do like the idea of being able to carry a few
hundred books with me at once without breaking my spine.

Firekeeper or Herder?

Firekeeper, all the way. I've always been a fan of sitting around the
fire, and I don't think I've got the attention span to be a herder.

Thakur or Bonechewer?

I seem to remember being a bigger fan of Thakur when I was a kid. Not
that I disliked Bonechewer, but Thakur had a bit gentler a style I
think.

Ratha or Thistle-Chaser?

I really need to read that book again to know for sure...

Do you have a link where people can view more of your artwork?

I have a few actually. For the vast majority of my art there's this
one: http://lyrak.deviantart.com/
For my craft items that you can actually buy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/lyrak
And, for my photography portfolio: http://karyl.smugmug.com/

New Imaginator Press Trade PB Edition of Ratha and Thistle-chaser - 2010!

$10.50SKU: 003T

Ratha and Thistle-chaser originally appeared in hardcover in 1990.  Now, in 2010, Thistle-chaser is 20 years old and is celebrating her birthday with a wonderful new paperback edition from Imaginator Press.  Completely and lovingly copyedited to remove any typos, but not a word of the story itself.  Complete interior re-design, and stunning new cover by A.L. Lashmit, with graphics  by 1106 Design.  Re-enter Thistle's world and enjoy her story once again.

Price: $10.50