Anna Moore's Blog

There are a couple of giveaways running for Edith. This first is on Goodreads which is an excellent website for any one interested in books, reading and writing. There are 20 paperback version available, if you just submit your details you have a good chance of winning a free copy, that giveaway ends at the end of May (see the widget below).

Meanwhile if you prefer a Kindle version, a free version will be available to download for a week shortly if you are a Kindle Unlimited subscriber.

Goodreads Book Giveaway Edith and the Owls by Anna Moore

Giveaway ends May 27, 2016.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Dobbs House Library

A lot of the action in Edith and the Owls takes place in the library because that is where Delilah's Curiosity Collection is kept, you know the giant stuffed fish and the shrunken head etc. Its also where Delilah and Digby's portraits are kept. I had fun thinking of things to put in the library and drawing it. It probably still isn't as cluttered as I had intended, but it has the look of an Edwardian Study / Library, which was what I wanted


Edith shows Nikki the LibraryIn this rough Edith first shows Nikki the Library. That rather indistinct shape on the desk could be Ecruba's artefact on the desk, although its possible that I had not thought that far ahead when I drew this.


Edith poring over the Owl BookEdith is reading Owls of the World on the non flying carpet. I felt these Owls were a bit too whimsical for the story as it developed, although at least the Laughing Owl is not clutching his stomach, as I first showed him; so for the cover of Edith I stylised from real owl photographs.

I thought I would post some of my drawings just in case anyone is interested in the the 'history' of Edith and the Owls. I have nothing but total admiration for those who have the tenacity to produce a graphic novel. I am not sure at what stage I drew this set, but Edith's Gran later turned into her Aunt daisy. One of the great things about doing this was that I gained a really strong idea about what Edith and Nikki looked like. The dialogue in a comic format has to be very lean and efficient, because of space, but then the visuals can take some the burden of written description. I struggled to rein in my dialogue in the book.

So Edith is let loose on the world. Her world has become so rich and real, to me at least, that I feel protective towards her and her family and friends over in Chislebury Spa.Edith came about in a strange way. I wrote a very short script for a childrens' picture book of about thirty pages, where a young girl called Edith finds owls appearing in her house. I have always been an obsessive about detail and when I drew some of the initial pictures I started to fill in and elaborate. Perhaps it would make a graphic story I naively thought. So I wrote a longer script. It was there that Edith and Nikki began to take over, Soon they had family, history, likes, dislikes and the story became longer and longer from fifty to one hundred pages, then to one hundred and fifty. I did not care, I found that I just enjoyed writing dialogue. So here we are Edith and her family and friends are fully formed and stepping out of my head and into the world. If only a few other people enjoy them then I have succeeded, but regardless of Kipling's two imposters, 'success and failure', I will plug on with Edith until she is completely out of my system. It could be quite some while.