Tessa Gratton Newsletter #31: Defy the Storm
It's launch day, so I did some gardening.
This time of year, that mostly means pulling wild garlic (my nemesis) out of any garden beds and glaring meanly at it, as if that can convince it to stick to the yard. And digging fallen leaves out of the downspouts and porch corners and vinca.
The rest of the time I pick my way around hoping to see new growth on all the otherwise dead looking winter-gold plants.
And some of my new ornamental trees are budding! That's tiger-eye sumac (which I'm very excited about) and jane magnolia.
Anyway this is what I'm always like on launch day! I pretend it isn't happening, but I also can't write. It's a nonsense day so I might as well rake leaves.
But here's the good stuff:
DEFY THE STORM by me and Justina is out today! It's the first YA of phase III of The High Republic, and we had a great time writing it. Except for those 8 days in December 2023 we weren't speaking to each other because of the Stormwall.
If you think the Jedi find the Stormwall frustrating, just ask a Project Luminous author. ;)
It's also the 4th book Justina and I have co-written since 2020. As a dedicated curmudgeon and lone wolf, I'm surprised we still like each other at all. But you can tell we very much do in this interview we did with each other for Star Wars dot com:
Authors on Authors: Gratton vs Ireland
Part of the interview features never-before-seen art for several of the main characters. My favorite are the early sketches of Cair San Tekka:
Cair is only the second time a character I created all by myself has gotten character art (the first being Sky Graf from QUEST FOR PLANET X). Most of the characters I've written in THR were created by other writers (like Jordanna and Xylan in DEFY or Kevmo and Marda in PATH OF DECEIT). Even though I was very involved in Kevmo and Marda's characterizations, I didn't name them or choose their species or those kind of details that tend to make it into the art. But for Sky and Cair, I was the one with the references and details, and it was really neat!
Seeing a character brought to life by an artist, whether professional or fanartist, is always weird and rewarding and intense. I sent in photos of actors and descriptions of clothes and attitude, and I can see the evidence of everything in those sketches. The hairstyle is exactly like one of the photos, the robes are layered just the way I suggested and the gauntlets are perfect--and in the color sketches I've seen even more so. But there are things the artist adds: slouchy boots, which are perfect, the neck scarf, the life in every line of his body when Cair is playing his dulcimer. Obviously, we all agreed he was hot.
I do think it's funny that the two original characters I've gotten art for are a Graf and a San Tekka, from the feuding families of the High Republic.
The only thing remotely close to a spoiler I'll say is that of course if there are feuding families, the best possible thing to do is write a star-crossed (gay) romance. So expect that in the background while the Jedi are saving people, the kids are getting revenge, and everybody is just trying to survive and do the right thing for the galaxy.
Oh, and beware the Nameless, those sweet, darling, misunderstood monsters.
Thanks for reading!
Tessa
