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Hmm. I'm disappointed I haven't been able to get more magazines to accept/assign review copies of The Admonishments of Kherishdar, particularly since I think as science fiction it's got more tooth than its predecessor. Unfortunately, all the places I've approached haven't taken me up on the offer. I still have several review copies left. If you write reviews for someplace and are interested, drop me a line. More importantly, if you'd like to see The Admonishments reviewed at your favorite SF website/magazine/etc, why not drop the editor an email and ask them about doing it? Maybe if we get some input coming from the other end of the reader-writer dialogue we'll be able to generate some traction. It's like swimming upstream most days, trying to get these places to take you seriously. It continues to disappoint me, given that I'm writing in the underdog genre which used to have a liking for upstart scrappers. And it's not like I'm some complete unknown... I'm no big name, but I did sell my way into SFWA. I have a few credentials. Stardancer Home.Tags: alt publishing, networking, new publishing paradigms, the admonishments of kherishdar
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![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) ysabetwordsmith interviewed me about The Admonishments, crowdfunding and Kherishdar here!EB: What were some of the background references you used in bringing Kherishdar to life? Which artists or writers that have influenced your work are particularly visible here?
MCAH: I think my breakthrough with writing Kherishdar happened several years after I assimilated a volume of wisdom tales from Tibet, a book of writings by Rumi, and a great deal of Chinese and Japanese poetry.
While most of my art features long and sweeping lines, no doubt the extreme elongation of the Ai-Naidar is a result of early influences on my work by Lladro and El Greco.
Otherwise, the most significant influence on the Admonishments (and the Aphorisms before it) was… my work as a technical writer. Clarity and brevity are paramount when writing reference manuals, and there’s no emotional attachment to the material to prevent you from honing those skills. When I sat down to tell stories in two pages or less, those skills made the difference between success and failure. Nothing in my life — not editorial commentary, not workshops, not critiques, not even seminars by prominent agents — has taught me economy in writing like my day job writing software help files. She asked me a lot of interesting questions, which I did my best to answer in kind. Do check it out! :) Stardancer Home.Tags: books, marketing, networking, the admonishments of kherishdar
Current Mood: sleepy
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Long ago (it seems), I promised if we met a donation cap for the illustrations I would tell you a little about the first servant of Shame. You delivered... and now it's my turn. PrecedentM.C.A. Hogarth vuler en anaj [ voo LEHR EHN ahn AHJZ ] , [ adj ] — "truth in the gaze", used to describe someone around whom you feel compelled to behave well because you sense that they can tell when you haven't. From an old love poem; began as a noun (so-and-so has "truth in the gaze") and migrated to adjective form, ("so-and-so is truth-in-the-gaze-ish").
Silence. Always it was silence with him. Thirukedi's regard rested on his bent head. The first. Not of many, He knew, but enough. Always there would be enough.
He lifted the male's face to meet those light eyes and traced one thumb over the cheek just below the rightmost. The skin creased beneath His touch: a smile, moving only half the male's face.
"I know," Thirukedi said. He would be one of the few who could meet this gaze, and yet there was no regret in the servant's eyes. No sorrow, no fear of isolation.
The male stood then and drew his cloak from his body, and then all his garments, until he stood naked before the Emperor, inviting His touch. Know me, the gesture said. Map me. Find the right place for your mark.
So He did... ran His fingers over the entirety of that spare body, spare not like a sword but like a firing iron, meant to be thrust into a molten heart. It was not a beautiful body, but it was supremely purposeful.
But again, Thirukedi returned to those eyes and lingered. Brushed a thumb beneath one of the dark-rimmed lower lids, watching the light glimmer off delicate lashes. He met this servant's eyes, and then reached... not for the shadowflower dye, but for the glove.
The male's eyes rolled upward even as they closed. It was the only sign he allowed of his gratitude. They were of one mind. As the Emperor parted the flesh in a long thin line toward the first eye, He gave His subjects a gift: the illusion that this male's gaze was difficult to meet because they were marked with scar and poison... and not because they were his. It was a lie, but for the first servant of Shame, a necessary one. Or there would be no second.
 Stardancer Home.Tags: ai-naidar, excerpts, the admonishments of kherishdar, writing
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And now, continuing the week's theme of OMGYAYBOOK, a post I've been wanting to make for a while: a discussion of color in The Admonishments. The observant will notice that there are two primary color schemes for the illustrations I did for the book: a yellow and purple palette and a black/dark/red palette. This was a conscious decision on my part, though for a while I've been struggling to find the right words to articulate why some pieces ended up with the first palette and some the second. And then I stumbled on this Ai-Naidari word: apadisil [ ah pah dih SEEL ], (verb) – bring out of malleable-space; the people allowed to do this are rare, and this almost always refers to the part of Correction that involves easing a person out of the state where they were receptive to Correction and into the state of once again being a normal member of society; this requires the facilitation and guidance of someone else. And that's the best explanation I can find. Some of the illustrations take place during a time when the individual is malleable, amenable to change: the black and red scheme. Some of them don't, and they got gold and purple. Outside Malleable Space  Here we get the initial illustration of Shame looking out over the temple district with his morning cup, which also represents a point in time when he's still comfortable with his duties. While this one is probably an intuitive choice for this color scheme, the piece of him undergoing the trial to become Shame is also in this color scheme because he is completely confident of his course. This is not a matter of tortuous thought for him. He is glad to be there, if that makes sense. Inside Malleable Space    On the other end, most of the remaining illustrations belong to the people you meet in malleable space or people undergoing change or stress. The first illustration, of Shame just after administering a difficult Correction, demonstrates how his work begins to change him. "Five Months" visits two Ai-Naidar who are still reacting to a painful but effective Correction, and addresses a resolution between them that can only come during that space. The final illustration with Thirukedi is an ultimate change: the Correction that finally breaks Shame. And of course, the cover is a kind of invitation to the reader into the malleable space, saying, "Come see if you'll change your mind if you really engage us," and showing you the guide you'll find there. You'll notice spots of gold in these, representing "light at the end of the tunnel": the two in "Five Months" resolving their issues, and of course Thirukedi who is the light at the end of all tunnels, for the Ai-Naidar. The Odd Ones Out   There were a couple of things I had to accomplish completely outside the two color schemes. The first was the illustration of the sociopath leaving the World Gate. In this case, I wanted to paint the Gate in a naturalistic scheme because I didn't want the palette to distract the reader from the realness of it; I wanted to make it clear that this landscape exists outside of Ai-Naidari perception so that you'd believe the sense of scale. But the Sociopath leaving the scene is in the black of someone who is about to be put in malleable space (even if he doesn't "take"). Finally, the last piece of the book I wanted to feel ephemeral, ghost-like... almost artificial. Like a snapshot. So I did it in a neutral gray, with a single dot of red to let you know that this individual works with and is still in malleable space: for better or worse, stressed and still able to change. I hoped that would be an appropriate lead-in to the events in Black Blossom. And there you are! From the brain of a writer-who-paints, or an artist-who-writes. I hope it was interesting. :) The Admonishments of Kherishdar Website.Tags: art, books, process, the admonishments of kherishdar
Current Mood: sleepy
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 In Kherishdar, when a person commits a crime, they become their sin....
Suicide. Rape. Child Abuse. Addiction. Twenty-five crimes. Twenty-five stories. Twenty-five narrators... and one minister over them all, to judge, convict and Correct the faulty: the priest who serves Shame.
This companion volume to The Aphorisms of Kherishdar explores the wayward and their journey back to society, offering another glimpse into the Ai-Naidari culture.
A darker, more difficult glimpse—
Without Shame, there is no Civilization. At last, after months of work and tweaking to get the best-looking volume I could possibly create, it's ready! 72 pages; 7 full-color interior illustrations, including two you've never seen in full! Done in the same style as The Aphorisms of Kherishdar, but starker to suit the subject matter. dave_bryant outdid himself with the layout. 
Dawn - The AdmonishmentsMaking the illustrations part of the story and having the stories flow from the images to the words so smoothly, both visually and contextually, elevated this one beyond my first effort. This one breathes. I'm really proud of it. I think you'll be pleased with it too. 
Buy Now! I hope you'll spread the word! Remember, if you haven't read the book you can still read it for free online! Decide for yourself if you want a hard copy, and check out the companion volume if you haven't already, The Aphorisms of Kherishdar. If you buy them together, you'll be way over the top for Supersaver Shipping...! And as always, thanks so much for your support. Without your patronage none of this would have happened. I am proud to say this volume had even more sponsors than its predecessor. Your faith in me is inspiring and humbling, and I can't wait to see what we accomplish next! The Admonishments of Kherishdar Website.Tags: books, sale, the admonishments of kherishdar
Current Mood: elated!
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 Logged an hour outside the bookstore working... such gorgeous weather! I hope to get another two hours in on Sunday. A charming older gentleman with a ginormous camera asked if I minded being photographed; he said he liked to capture people who were expert at their work, which was flattering, so of course I said yes. I wonder if any of the photos will tickle my fancy, since historically I don't photograph well... I guess I'll find out, since we exchanged business cards and he promised to inform me when they were uploaded. I thought a little about re-arranging myself once I knew I was being photographed, but didn't: how many people has he watched try to secretly preen once he asked them if he could photograph them? I'm sure he knows all the signs of self-consciousness. The good Lord knows whether he caught me biting my lip (something I do constantly while working), holding my brush in my teeth or dipping it in my coffee. :) Stardancer Home.Tags: art, paintings, process, progress, the admonishments of kherishdar
Current Mood: pleased
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 As those following my Twitter heard, I went out to paint the final illustration for The Admonishments this evening and flubbed it. I don't at all begrudge that failure, though, because I learned so much from it. When I sat down to begin it, I knew I had no plan... and I couldn't really imagine one either. I knew the only way to figure it out was to try, and that I'd probably sacrifice the evening and the materials in the attempt. Sometimes, you just have to buck up and forge ahead. So I tried, and in the failing I figured out what I was doing wrong and how not to do it again. And all it cost me was about $10 worth of paper (and, I suppose, $2 in decaf). This particular piece is one of the hardest things I've ever drawn. And it's going to be the very first illustration in the book; I want it to be a good one. And now, after my failure, I have a plan... which you can see there above. I'm going to make another try at this in the next couple of days. Hopefully if I fail again, I'll learn just as much. I just hope I'll figure it out before I use up my $50 watercolor block! Stardancer Home.Tags: art, photos, process, progress, the admonishments of kherishdar
Current Mood: determined
Current Music: The Clash - Rock the Casbah
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In Kherishdar, when a person commits a crime, they become their sin....
Suicide. Rape. Child Abuse. Addiction. Twenty-five crimes. Twenty-five stories. Twenty-five narrators... and one minister over them all, to judge, convict and Correct the faulty: the priest who serves Shame.
This companion volume to The Aphorisms of Kherishdar explores the wayward and their journey back to society, offering another glimpse into the Ai-Naidari culture.
A darker, more difficult glimpse—
Without Shame, there is no Civilization. (New folks, if you want to read these stories, they're available online: The Aphorisms of Kherishdar here and The Admonishments of Kherishdar here. You can also buy a beautiful hard copy of The Aphorisms on Amazon. This is the cover for the forthcoming hard copy of The Admonishments, available in late January/early February.) Stardancer Home.Tags: teasers, the admonishments of kherishdar, writing
Current Mood: very tired
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