Rachael Pruitt's Blog
April 18, 2012
Writing "Dragon's Harp"
WRITING "DRAGON'S HARP": Part 1
WITHIN THE MISTS OF WHAT COULD BE
Given the number of times I’ve been asked about writing & how DRAGON’S HARP came to be, I thought it would be fun to devote my introductory GOODREADS blog to the story of how--and why--I was inspired to write HARP.
An important thing to understand about me right up front is that I’m happy to share my story & lots of tips about writing, Celtic & Arthurian mythology, and my own favorite reading material. I also love to hear from readers-so if you have suggestions for topics you'd like to explore here--or any feedback at all, I'm happy to hear from you. I also love discussions & Q & A :)
However, the purpose of my blog is for me to inspire & to share with you & I'll be doing this both as an author & as an avid reader myself. What I won't be doing is ”bragging" about myself. There’s enough of that elsewhere! Here it’s just you & me–and if you’re like me, you’ve got plenty of dreams & might like some help bringing them to life. I certainly did–and still do!
The idea for DRAGON’S HARP actually came to me several decades ago when my daughter was still a toddler and I, a young mother sitting on rocks overlooking the Pacific, watching as my little girl toddled over driftwood into an early morning mist. We were encased in fog, the waves sounding soft & muffled, & suddenly, the first paragraphs of HARP came to me, literally as if they, too, were a part of the mysterious yet beautiful dawn fog that surrounded us:
"Men have called me beautiful. But the gods men worship now have cursed beauty.
"My name is Gwenhwyfar, born daughter to Cadwallon, Ordovician King of Dinas Emrys in the North. As a young woman, I married Arthur, High King of all the tribes of Albion. I am no stranger to the ways of sovereignty. I know much of pride and stature. Yet I am old now, I see my past and shudder.
"I stand, barefoot, on my favorite beach at dawn, a bit dizzy with the joy of escaping my small cottage before Mica can rise, dress my hair properly, and insist I behave like the queen I once was.
"Strange how this small forgotten island feels like the grit of home beneath these old toes. For it was in the hills and not beside the sea that I first tumbled out of bed and saw the stars…." (Dragon’s Harp, Pruitt (c) 2012)
The prologue of my novel came that dramatically. I do not exaggerate! Yet it took me close to 25 years to “get serious” about giving this haunting voice that had found me a true home–a book all her own.
Perhaps you are like me–for procrastination is my middle name! Yet it was more than procrastination that kept me from trying to finish HARP sooner. I believe, I truly had to “grow into” this amazing character called Gwenhwyfar (Welsh spelling of Guinevere) and I also had to develop the skills to take her story further–to turn it into a book worth reading.
During my next blog post (two weeks from now), I will address the actual writing journey that unfolded as I grew and developed as an aspiring author and the research that went into the writing of DRAGON’S HARP. Tonight though, if you will allow me, I wish to comment further on the actual mystique of writing–and share a truly magical story about how my wonderful cover artist Jo Jayson & I met.
We will fast-forward to a time, towards the end of last summer (2011), when I was struggling with just how to create–or find–an artist who would develop a cover for DRAGON’S HARP. For you see, I had finally made the decision–after years of hearing “we really like this, but…” from agents—to go the more risky route of doing it myself.
But a book cover? I was exploring a few alternatives when I happened to pick up a magazine at a friend’s office. Ordinarily, it was the kind of local publication that I breeze through quickly &/or file away and forget about (My closet, I fear will bear witness to this “filing” tendancy of mine. It’s filled to overflowing with stuff that should have been recycled first time around! Can anyone else out there appreciate this? )
For once, however, my packrat tendencies proved to be a goldmine. While absent-mindedly glancing through the magazine, an image caught my eye. It was a stunning painting and there was something unique about it. Beyond the image of the woman herself, there was a power that seemed to radiate off the paper. I was intrigued enough to go to the artist’s website. There, as I explored, I saw glorious scarves as well as paintings and oracle cards. Jo Jayson, the artist, (http://www.jojayson.com) was clearly a very talented lady–yet it wasn’t until I explored further that I saw it–the wondrous image you see on the cover of DRAGON’S HARP.
Here was the image I had dreamed of–a strong powerful, sexy, mysterious young woman–clearly coming into her power, self-confident and assured. Here was “my” Gwenhwyfar. She even had the red-gold hair that my character had insisted on!
Can you imagine my shock when I looked closer at the painting & saw that it was actually named “Guinevere–The Queen” by Jo Jayson. That did it, I called Jo–and the rest is “herstory”!
It gets even better, for Jo tells me that the day before I called she had gone to a healer who informed her that she needed to “pay more attention to Guinevere”. I, for my part, had also heard from a friend two days befiore that she sensed some beautiful Goddess energy around my novel & its cover!
Whether you believe in such things or not–I certainly do–and Jo & I are firmly convinced that Gwenhwyfar, the glorious, mysterious, much-maligned, archetypial lady that I love to call “The Once & Future Queen” had a hand in it all!
We are both honored and blessed to have found each other as artists & creative collaborators. More importantly, as Jo and I look at the mystical world & Queen we have both been called to interpret in our different art forms, we cannot help but shiver at the ever-present magic of Camelot.
From the ancient British Isles to the beaches of Oregon to the streets of New York, there still lives an extraordinary Queen–a strong, fascinating, profoundly-romantic woman who dwells not far beneath the regal surface of her legend. Priestess, lover, queen: it’s time to hear her story at last!
___End
WITHIN THE MISTS OF WHAT COULD BE
Given the number of times I’ve been asked about writing & how DRAGON’S HARP came to be, I thought it would be fun to devote my introductory GOODREADS blog to the story of how--and why--I was inspired to write HARP.
An important thing to understand about me right up front is that I’m happy to share my story & lots of tips about writing, Celtic & Arthurian mythology, and my own favorite reading material. I also love to hear from readers-so if you have suggestions for topics you'd like to explore here--or any feedback at all, I'm happy to hear from you. I also love discussions & Q & A :)
However, the purpose of my blog is for me to inspire & to share with you & I'll be doing this both as an author & as an avid reader myself. What I won't be doing is ”bragging" about myself. There’s enough of that elsewhere! Here it’s just you & me–and if you’re like me, you’ve got plenty of dreams & might like some help bringing them to life. I certainly did–and still do!
The idea for DRAGON’S HARP actually came to me several decades ago when my daughter was still a toddler and I, a young mother sitting on rocks overlooking the Pacific, watching as my little girl toddled over driftwood into an early morning mist. We were encased in fog, the waves sounding soft & muffled, & suddenly, the first paragraphs of HARP came to me, literally as if they, too, were a part of the mysterious yet beautiful dawn fog that surrounded us:
"Men have called me beautiful. But the gods men worship now have cursed beauty.
"My name is Gwenhwyfar, born daughter to Cadwallon, Ordovician King of Dinas Emrys in the North. As a young woman, I married Arthur, High King of all the tribes of Albion. I am no stranger to the ways of sovereignty. I know much of pride and stature. Yet I am old now, I see my past and shudder.
"I stand, barefoot, on my favorite beach at dawn, a bit dizzy with the joy of escaping my small cottage before Mica can rise, dress my hair properly, and insist I behave like the queen I once was.
"Strange how this small forgotten island feels like the grit of home beneath these old toes. For it was in the hills and not beside the sea that I first tumbled out of bed and saw the stars…." (Dragon’s Harp, Pruitt (c) 2012)
The prologue of my novel came that dramatically. I do not exaggerate! Yet it took me close to 25 years to “get serious” about giving this haunting voice that had found me a true home–a book all her own.
Perhaps you are like me–for procrastination is my middle name! Yet it was more than procrastination that kept me from trying to finish HARP sooner. I believe, I truly had to “grow into” this amazing character called Gwenhwyfar (Welsh spelling of Guinevere) and I also had to develop the skills to take her story further–to turn it into a book worth reading.
During my next blog post (two weeks from now), I will address the actual writing journey that unfolded as I grew and developed as an aspiring author and the research that went into the writing of DRAGON’S HARP. Tonight though, if you will allow me, I wish to comment further on the actual mystique of writing–and share a truly magical story about how my wonderful cover artist Jo Jayson & I met.
We will fast-forward to a time, towards the end of last summer (2011), when I was struggling with just how to create–or find–an artist who would develop a cover for DRAGON’S HARP. For you see, I had finally made the decision–after years of hearing “we really like this, but…” from agents—to go the more risky route of doing it myself.
But a book cover? I was exploring a few alternatives when I happened to pick up a magazine at a friend’s office. Ordinarily, it was the kind of local publication that I breeze through quickly &/or file away and forget about (My closet, I fear will bear witness to this “filing” tendancy of mine. It’s filled to overflowing with stuff that should have been recycled first time around! Can anyone else out there appreciate this? )
For once, however, my packrat tendencies proved to be a goldmine. While absent-mindedly glancing through the magazine, an image caught my eye. It was a stunning painting and there was something unique about it. Beyond the image of the woman herself, there was a power that seemed to radiate off the paper. I was intrigued enough to go to the artist’s website. There, as I explored, I saw glorious scarves as well as paintings and oracle cards. Jo Jayson, the artist, (http://www.jojayson.com) was clearly a very talented lady–yet it wasn’t until I explored further that I saw it–the wondrous image you see on the cover of DRAGON’S HARP.
Here was the image I had dreamed of–a strong powerful, sexy, mysterious young woman–clearly coming into her power, self-confident and assured. Here was “my” Gwenhwyfar. She even had the red-gold hair that my character had insisted on!
Can you imagine my shock when I looked closer at the painting & saw that it was actually named “Guinevere–The Queen” by Jo Jayson. That did it, I called Jo–and the rest is “herstory”!
It gets even better, for Jo tells me that the day before I called she had gone to a healer who informed her that she needed to “pay more attention to Guinevere”. I, for my part, had also heard from a friend two days befiore that she sensed some beautiful Goddess energy around my novel & its cover!
Whether you believe in such things or not–I certainly do–and Jo & I are firmly convinced that Gwenhwyfar, the glorious, mysterious, much-maligned, archetypial lady that I love to call “The Once & Future Queen” had a hand in it all!
We are both honored and blessed to have found each other as artists & creative collaborators. More importantly, as Jo and I look at the mystical world & Queen we have both been called to interpret in our different art forms, we cannot help but shiver at the ever-present magic of Camelot.
From the ancient British Isles to the beaches of Oregon to the streets of New York, there still lives an extraordinary Queen–a strong, fascinating, profoundly-romantic woman who dwells not far beneath the regal surface of her legend. Priestess, lover, queen: it’s time to hear her story at last!
___End
