Maureen Bush

The Veil Weavers

We have a title: the third in the Veil of Magic series has been named The Veil Weavers, following The Nexus Ring, and Crow Boy.

I’ve finished the current round of editing, and emailed it to my editor.

Now it’s off my desk for a little while and I can catch up on all the paperwork that’s been piling up. Except I’d rather be writing.

Maureen

Veil of Magic

Monday I worked with all three Veil of Magic stories, and found it a little disorienting. In the morning I had a great time talking with Mrs. Hogue’s kids at Aberhart – they’re reading The Nexus Ring (Book I). I came home and finished the page proofs for Crow Boy (Book II). And then I pulled out my manuscript for Book III and read through what I’ve written so far. It was useful to see how the three fit together; I rarely see them this way. But at the same time I had trouble keeping track of exactly where I was. (Literally – which mountain is this?)

Maureen

No Origami at the Book Fair

The book fair went well – well organized, steady traffic. I did no origami, although I did a little writing in the quiet times. I brought Alice the Apatosaurus, and she was a big hit.

Kids were consistently drawn to The Nexus Ring rather than Feather Brain, and I sold more copies of The Nexus Ring, even though Feather Brain has been more successful generally, both in sales and in nominations. I talked to Derek Mah, who was casing the place, and his theory is that The Nexus Ring title and cover art both clearly say, “This is fantasy,” while the Feather Brain title and cover art are less clear.

My favorite moment: a boy read the cover of The Nexus Ring and told his dad about it. His dad misheard, in the noise of the hall, and said, “It’s about fairies? A fairy ring?” The boy struggled to explain, and finally, in frustration, said, “No, Dad. It’s ferry – F E R R Y – they’re homonyms!”

Maureen

The Nexus Ring’s Second Cover

Here’s the Scholastic cover for The Nexus Ring, published for a grade six in-class book club of fantasy novels.

Maureen

Corvus

I have a new Corvus – a birthday present from my kids. He’s a little smaller than the original, but he’s happy in the garden.

Real crows visit more often now. My mom figures they know I’m writing about them.

Maureen