Day 5: Right Next To Heaven

It's been a great week with Kristin. Before we say ta ta she's going to give us an exclusive tour of Cades Cove, TN where Autumn Winifred Oliver Does Things Different takes place.

Autumn is set in Cades Cove, TN, which is now part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In 1934, the year in which Autumn takes place, the Cove was still quite isolated thanks to its geographical location, so the culture within the area was unique. Cades Cove is a broad, swishy meadow set within a ring of cloud-tipped, rolling mountains:

The formation of the National Park drives Autumn’s story. Here are some of the things you’d see if you visited Cades Cove today:

Cable’s Mill, which is powered by Abrams Creek. Cove residents would gather here once a week, usually Saturday, to grind their grain or corn into meal.

Elijah Oliver’s cabin. The Oliver family was the first Caucasian family to settle in Cades Cove, so Autumn naturally took their last name.

The Primitive Baptist Church. There were two churches and one schoolhouse in the Cove in the 1930s, and most social events took place in one of these “hot spots.”

Cades Cove is the most-visited section of the most-visited national park in America, hosting over 2 million visitors each year. If you haven’t yet visited the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, book your next vacation today! It is, as Autumn would say, right next to heaven!

In the mean time: check out my book trailer and come visit me! I’m online at http://www.kristintubb.com/ and http://www.kristintubb.blogspot.com/.

What gorgeous pics! Thanks for everything, Kristin. We can't wait to read Autumn.

Day 3: Mapping Things Out

We all know writers have a love of words, but did you know Sarah Prineas also has a love for maps?

An interesting thing about hobbits is they don't like to travel, but Bilbo always loved maps. Especially Thror's map.

I love maps, too, with a deep and geeky love for things like magical runes and "here there be dragons" and the compass rose and place names like "the Withered Heath" and "Mirkwood the Great".

For fantasy writers, maps are really important because we often create what Tolkien called a "secondary world" that is, a world completely removed from the "real" world, with its own geography and history. Maps make real the places of the imagination. That's why you'll see maps in the first couple of pages of many fantasy novels, including THE MAGIC THIEF.
When the book was being designed, my editor asked me for a map sketch to give the artist. I started out by consulting a really excellent map of 18th century London because Wellmet, the city in my book, is very loosely based on it, especially Southwark which was, back then, the seedy side of the Thames. I was inspired by the twisty streets with the funny names:

London map

Then I started sketching, coming up with twisty streets and funny names of my own. This is a detail from the Twilight, the part of Wellmet where you wouldn't want to live:

my map sketch

Then the artist for THE MAGIC THIEF took my sketch and turned it into a real map which is right at the beginning of the book:

book map

I have a puzzle version of Thror's map, by the way. It's one of my favorite things in the world.

What a cool thing to see the evolution of a story map. Now be sure to come back early tommorrow because Sarah will be treating us with biscuits and bacon. Yum!

Book Trailer for The Lucky Place!

The book trailer for Zu Vincent's The Lucky Place is, in a word, FANTASTIC!





The Lucky Place is, in a word, FANTASTIC!

We heart you Zu Vincent! We heart The Lucky Place!