Finally, a good sketch for the lightning strike

I've been working (only part time) on the illustrations I want to do for Take The Wind Up With You for a few months now, and it didn't feel like I was getting anywhere with them until recently, when I realized I was seeing this image more and more clearly in my mind with every boring sketch I made. Last night I finally got the basic idea down. Hooray!

This isn't the final version, but I'm beginning to understand both the process of development, and also the look that I want the illustrations to have.

Now on to the next one!

Morris and Deke shoot their first scene together

In the very first shoot, things fall apart as the lack of a makeup artist scuttles the guys' attempts to act their parts.

Top actors signed for "Take the Wind Up With You: Making The Movie"

Deke Bixby

The auditions and screen tests are finished for the two lead roles in "Take The Wind Up With You: Making The Movie", and the two lucky actors are now preparing for their roles. The exciting young actor, Deke Bixby, fresh from his starring role in "Vampire Eagles," will play Tlocan, while the role of Ha-Keen will be taken by screen legend Morris Mouseman. Mouseman has worked exclusively on the British stage for the last two years; this is his first movie since "Mouse of Cards." This role could be a breakout role for Bixby, labeled "most promising" and "underrated" in the Hollywood press.

Morris Mouseman

Portions of the screen tests can be seen on youtube for both Bixby and Mouseman.

Filming for the movie is scheduled to begin after the first of the year.

Free Book Day Tomorrow!

Kindle copies of Take The Wind Up With You are FREE tomorrow, all day on Amazon! The more copies that go out, the happier I'll be. Just one day—Saturday, Oct. 4th—this time.

Please tell your friends!

I had a very productive afternoon, working on the music for Ha-Keen's song.

New happenings afoot

There's a lot of behind-the-scenes action going on with Ha-Keen and Tlocan, although none of it is ready to release yet. I've written songs for both of them. Here's an excerpt from each.

Tlocan's song:

Wings Across The Sun

Copyright ©2014, Patricia M. Ryan

I live to feel the wind

Flowing fast around my wings,

I soar into the blue above

The other living things.

I thrill to see the land

Rushing past me far below.

From here to the horizon,

There's no place I can't go!

Nothing else is so much fun,

I see my wings across the sun.

All I want to do is fly—

I am a hunter of the sky.

Ha-Keen's song:

Hunter Of The Night

Copyright©2014, Patricia M. Ryan

Here in this great canyon land,

Lives and grows our family.

A greater band of hunters

This place will never see.

We live our lives together,

We keep each other strong,

Sharing all our stories,

And singing all our songs.

So I sing this life of fun,

A life where skill and luck are one,

Here beneath the stars so bright,

I am a hunter of the night.

Another search through my Zion National Park photos yielded the definitive location of Lower Pines (above), and I'm constructing a set where I can make videos of Ha-Keen and Tlocan for Youtube. That's going to take me another week or two to get ready, and in the meantime I'm preparing to screen test the two characters.

It'll probably be a few weeks before I have anything to show, but when I do, you'll see it here first!

Tlocan is flying, all around the world!

I want to say, Thank you! to all those people who took advantage of last weekend's promotion to download free copies of Take The Wind Up With You for their kindles and kindle readers. I'm happy to report that Tlocan is now in the air over Japan, the UK, Germany, and Canada, as well as many copies to the US! I hope you all enjoy the flights!

I wanted to share a copy of the first sketch of Ha-Keen that I made, trying to capture his intensity and wisdom. I have to admit, he still looks pretty young in this sketch. While it's true that rodents do age very gracefully, I am still working on how to show his advanced age, something that Tlocan realized very quickly when he was sizing him up.

Until next time, enjoy an exciting story and have a good time with your kin!

Tlocan has taken flight!

©2014, Patricia M. Ryan

The Kindle version of Take The Wind Up With You was released to Amazon.com last night, and he's flying all over the world as I write this. I'm thrilled to have this book completed and released, and I'm happy that Amazon provides such a great publishing path for self-published authors like me. Having been through the process before, I found it astonishingly easy to do a second time. If you don't have a Kindle, no problem—there's a free Kindle app for just about any kind of computer and device.

I'll have a link to its Amazon page here, as soon as I can remember how to do that!

The home of "Take The Wind Up With You"

The story of Tlocan and Ha-Keen in Take The Wind Up With You first came to me in 2003. After writing the first draft, it sat in the back of my imagination until the next fall, when I spent a week in Zion National Park. Seeing all those red rock cliffs and canyons breathed life and dimension into the story in my mind. I took hundreds of photographs as I walked and drove all around the area.

The high canyons

I found one canyon that I was sure Tlocan had flown through.

I found what might have been the mouse caves where Regia's clan lives, a long line of shallow caves above a line of undercuts and large caves that might shelter other animals.

The mouse caves at Lower Pines

These sloping ridges could have been the path from Upper Pines down to Lower Pines, and where Tlocan first tried to take shelter from the storm.

The canyon wall

The crisp desert air, soft morning light, and the stunning colors of the setting sun on the rocks still resonate in my imagination.

Morning light in a big canyon

Sunset

But almost ten years went by before the story was ready to unfold in this world. As I edited the original manuscript, I realized how much affection I have for these characters, and I hope the richness of their lives as I see them comes through in the story.

A high, narrow ridge—great country for hunters

Bits and pieces of my own experiences have snuck into the tale. I lived in the desert southwest for several years as a child, and grew up with a fascination for raptors like Tlocan. I knew nothing about rodents of any kind, however, until one of my close friends adopted a wonderful female rat, and I learned how smart and affectionate she was. She loved live guitar music and eating Cheerios. Sometimes it wasn't hard at all to know what she was thinking.

Tlocan begins one adventure, and it becomes a much greater one. Before it's over, both he and Ha-Keen learn things about themselves that they never expected.

Take The Wind Up With You will be available for Kindle and Kindle reader apps on amazon.com VERY SOON!

Take The Wind Up With You and all photographs are Copyright©Patricia M. Ryan.