Monday, February 10, 2014

I Have Fan Art!

To say I'm artistic is a huge understatement. Ever since I was a little girl I've been drawing, singing, acting, writing--basically doing anything I can to create, create, create. So when I saw my first piece of fan art, I completely flipped out!

My critique partner, Ilima Todd, recently asked me if she could let her fourteen-year-old daughter read my latest manuscript. I said yes and a few days later, Ilima told me how much her daughter loved my story--that it's one of her top five favorite books (and she's a voracious reader). This made me all kinds of happy. I write YA stories, but I've never had someone in my target audience read anything of mine. So to see such a positive reaction was thrilling.

Then to make things even more wonderful, Ilima's daughter (Emma) sketched a drawing of the love interest in the story, Gabriel Stonebrook. She told her mom she'd been a little depressed ever since finishing my manuscript because no boy at her school will ever compare to Gabriel. :-) Happy sigh. Can I just tell you much I love Emma right now?

So without further gushing over Emma, here's how she sees Gabriel:


Look at his suspenders! His lopsided dimples! His sweet, but haunted expression! And my favorite, the hearts around his name. Oh, and I didn't see this until now--very faintly on top it says, "for Kathryn Purdie."

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Thanks, Emma, for making this author's day--week--year. And here's hoping you find your own Gabriel someday (and with any luck his mom isn't trapped in the purgatory of his dreams and he lives in your own time dimension). ;-)

Have any of you authors received fan art? Did you have a similar reaction? Or for you readers, have you ever loved a book so much you made your own fan art for it?

9 comments:

  1. Love it! Very talented girl. A wonderful rendition!

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  2. Aw. She really does love Gabriel AND your book. I'm so not surprised, though. I knew she'd love it. As you already know, I have a built-in artist at home that does a lot of fan art for me. So so fun!

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  3. so awesome. And I love that the artistic gene is so alive and well in Ilima's family.

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  4. How sweet!!! (and what a beautiful drawing!)

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  5. Wow, how awesome is that?!?! Seriously, that is amazing. <3<3<3

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  6. Oh my GOSH! I'm swooning over that one deep dimple!!!! Holy talent... what a cool thing, Kathryn... love. Love. Love. I hope someday to have fan art! :)

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  7. Love, love love. I've seen some of Emma's other work and I'm always so impressed.

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  8. This is so good! His eyes really draw you in, and eyes are hard to do! (right up there w/hands...ugh) Fan art would be super awesome, right up there w/seeing your cover for the first time. At least I imagine anyway! =)

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