Last year I worked with a local artist to develop ten drawings for Henley & The Book of Heroes. Since its arrival in 2009, the only way to see into Henley’s world was with your imagination. While this is wonderful, I thought some peeks into The Living Tale characters was long over due.
The artist, Kristi Love-Tsukada, knocked her assignments out of the park! Here are a few to wet your appetite for what is coming. Some people asked me why I didn’t create these images using AI. Call me old fashioned, but I believe the human touch and imagination are worth preserving. There is something special about seeing the artist’s hand strokes on her artwork. I use some AI images, but not here.
One of the dearest relationships throughout the series is the connection between Henley and his British, WWII veteran, grandpa Reggie. At the beginning of the book, Henley is hurting something fierce because his father is deployed in Iraq in the Army Special Forces. Grandpa is the glue that holds the family together while they’re missing dad and helping Henley ignite his heroes heart before Toolended destroys it.
“Remember that things are not as they appear, and you are much more than Robert and Julia Banks’s third son. You are a keeper, and you keep a seed in your heart that was planted to produce greatness. This seed gives you the ability to turn dreams of heroism into real victories, but there is only one who can awaken that seed.”
Another group of characters you’ll meet are Henley’s French tailor trolls. These clever fellows use light to create his armor. Or as they say, “‘We use only zee finest beams of light,’ continued the first as he smoothed his hands across Henley’s chest like armor.
‘Yes, light as a feathzer,’ finished the second.”
The characters of the Living Tale and I are excited to show you more of their world. Next, we will do the other books in the series too.
I expect this illustrated version to be available by the end of February and we will have a launch party in early March. Stay tuned for more details.
See you on the inside!
Dr. Jane, Author of the Living Tale Series