July 3 and 4: On these days in Pen Pal

[asakiyume]

On July 3, Kaya's pet crow Sumi brought her Em's message in a bottle, and on July 4, she wrote to her mother about the experience--and she wrote back to Em.

Here is what she wrote her mother. She was staring into the fires of the Ruby Lake, and then. . .

I couldn’t keep looking at it for long, though. It’s too bright. It paints itself permanently on your eyes, the way the sun will if you stare at it. I closed my eyes and saw black spots where the lava had been especially bright, and when I opened them, one black spot remained, seeming to rise right out of the lava.

It was Sumi . . . But for all that Sumi seemed to be to flying up from the depths of the Ruby Lake, she must actually have been returning from a trip to the coast, because she brought me a present from the sea.

And below the cut is her letter to Em.




The Little Red Reviewer asked me some questions about Pen Pal the other day, and the interview is here on her blog. My LJ friends have heard me talk about all this stuff before, but I mention it for readers at Goodreads or folks who drop by and are curious.

Oh yeah! And speaking of Goodreads, I'm doing a giveaway there (link here), five books each month for the three months that Em and Kaya correspond, beginning now. And this time I found a way to make it open to people all over the world, so if you have friends in far-flung locales who don't often get a chance to win books, here's an opportunity. So far I know copies of it have reached England, France, Italy, Portugal, Egypt, South Africa, Pakistan, India, Singapore, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, Australia, Chile, Argentina, and Canada. I wonder where it might go next?

Comments

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I love that painting of Sumi. So striking!

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Thanks! That's actually oil pastels--but it really does give the impression of paint (especially since I passed it through a crude photo editor after I uploaded it).

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Did you do this crow, too?

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

No, this one comes to me via duccio, but I think it's not one of his but a painting he saw.

[queenoftheskies.livejournal.com]

What a truly awesome interview!

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

She asked some great questions! And hard ones… I really had to think about how to answer some of them….

[oiktirmos.livejournal.com]

Neat to hear in the interview of the genesis of your interest in Japan.
Dramatic drawing.
Pen Pal is making it around the world. Next stop? Well, it should go to Japan. ;)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I hope!

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

I love these visual additions to the story!

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Thank you; it's a *lot* of fun.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

(PS I entered only so it would show up on my Goodreads updates. I do not expect to win another copy!)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I appreciate your doing so, and if, 万一 (one in ten thousand), you are a winner, we can donate it on to another person ♥

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Good thought!

[sovay]

But for all that Sumi seemed to be to flying up from the depths of the Ruby Lake, she must actually have been returning from a trip to the coast, because she brought me a present from the sea.

That is a lovely, lovely crow against the Ruby Lake.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I am so pleased you like it--it's a bit strange there above her tale, but that's because she's holding the bottle.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed that interview. It is so interesting how different people come up with different slants and questions about a writer and her process.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Yeah, an interview really is half the interviewee, sure, but half the interviewer--you really get insights into both people.

[yamamanama.livejournal.com]

This is majorly offtopic, but remember that entry where Nina was talking about an R2-D2 bird?

I think it may have been a bobolink.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Oh that would make good sense. Bobolinks really do sound crazy electronic-robotic.

[pattytempleton.livejournal.com]

That was a great interview! And WOW! That's a hefty giveaway. Let me know how it goes. I was thinking about doing a giveaway on Goodreads, too. : )

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I was happy with my first experience of a book giveaway--I'll email you!

Just reblogged your video on Tumblr--that was gorgeous. You totally rock ♥