One of the things I’ve loved about writing fantasy for teens is the opportunity to geek out as much as I want and call it “work.” In fact, in my pre-fanstasy-writing adult life I’d almost forgotten how fun it was to geek out, but I’d always loved Halloween costumes, foreign places (both real and imagined), unusual foods, unusual clothes, new worlds, new experiences. My first favorite writer and favorite book was Lloyd Alexander/The Book of Three.
Thank goodness that in that other-worldly experience of raising children I was re-introduced to the world of the fantastic and re-allowed to fall in love with fantasy books again (because with all due respect to David Foster Wallace and company, you just can’t get more classic and awesome than Tolkien. Or the Grimm brothers for that matter).
My grown up love of teen fantasy has officially gotten to the point where I’m drawing maps of different worlds. Yes, it has come to this. Yes, it is a happy place. In fact, I found the creation of this map so therapeutic that I suddenly understood the whole adult coloring book trend. Each night when I was creating this map, I always found myself going all zen. Each night I had to force myself to stop drawing and go to bed, for heaven’s sake, like a proper adult.
And so, today, I wanted to give you a sneak peek of the map of the Land of the Great Red Sun. Or at least as much as we can see of it in the book. Enjoy!
