I want my children to forge the same kind of deep connection to this land, so when they smell an aspen leaf or see a red paintbrush flower it stirs a deep-seated memory for them, of being warm and safe inside a tent with their family, sharing the adventure of a lifetime.
~ Andrea Lani, Uphill Both Ways
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It's here, it's here! The cover art is here! I hope you love it as much as I do. It's nowhere close to what I imagined when I envisioned my ideal cover and filled out the design worksheet for the publisher, yet it's exactly the perfect cover for this book (which, I suppose, is why I'm the writer and not the designer). There are so many things I love about it.
- It's a picture I took, which is gratifying and validating and makes this book even that much more a product of my creativity.
- It's iconically Colorado--dramatic scenery, blue sky, purple mountains majesty, and all that. You know what you're getting when you buy this book.
- The kids look SO small. I remember thinking as they hiked down this very slope how small and vulnerable they were (and no doubt I wrote that thought in the book). It tells potential readers that there will be kids in the book, and it tells them that that's a pretty awesome feat. I mean, that mountain is so big and they're so little!
- What you can't see is that this view is from the top of Hope Pass, a place whose name is symbolic of both this journey and of the stage of life I write about in the book. It's also one of the most physically and mentally challenging stretches of trail (something like 4,000 feet of vertical rise over four miles). So descending from that pass, though not quite halfway through our journey and though challenges would remain ahead, was an important symbol of overcoming obstacles and making progress toward goals.
- Doesn't that view make you want to sing Sound of Music tunes (as my friend Libby pointed out), especially if you didn't just climb 4,000 vertical feet to get to it?
This week I've been reviewing the page proofs of the book, looking for last-minute typos that I missed in the first 3,000 drafts (like writing "tail" instead of "trail"). Those proofs, along with the cover, makes it all seem so real. They're laid out exactly as the book will appear, with the font and the margins and the photos and illustrations. It looks so beautiful--and professional. A real, live, genuine book. I suppose the proper attitude, the grown-up writer attitude, at this stage would be nonchalance, but it's all so exciting! I'm elated to see five years' (and counting) of work coming to fruition in such a beautiful way, and I'm so deeply grateful to the editors, designers, and other people who have helped get me here, including you, dear reader. Thank you!
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Once a month until the book comes out in March, I'm giving away an archival art print of one of the illustrations to a subscriber of this newsletter. If you got this in your inbox from me, you're already subscribed and entered in every drawing. If a friend passed it on to you, you can subscribe here. If you know of anyone who you think might be interested in reading Uphill Both Ways, please pass this newsletter on to them. This month's giveaway is Alpine Spring Beauty (right), and I'll draw the winner on October 31.
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Now Reading
I've been enjoying the Tannie Maria mystery series by Sally Andrews--Recipes for Love and Murder and The Satanic Mechanic. Lush descriptions of the South African landscape, yummy recipes (I made the cheesecake for Milo's last day home), a touch of romance, a dip into social issues, and the mysteries themselves intricate puzzles to solve.
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Climb every mountain, friends. Ford every stream.
~ Andrea
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