Ian Tadashi Moore's Blog

I had big plans to finish my new book Raquel & Finn in 2025. It seemed possible at the beginning of the year. But somehow the year has passed, and although I’ve made solid progress — my editor and I have gotten through 9 of 16 chapters — it’s far from done.

Rest assured, it will get done. I’m too far into it now to leave it behind. It’s a much bigger endeavor than any of my other books. Fewer illustrations, but three times as long at nearly 100,000 words. So editing has taking a lot longer than I thought. I’ve had to slow down and take my time with every chapter, and we’ll have to comb through it again once we get through a second revision.

But it will be worth it. I’m excited about the characters and the story. Raquel has ended up being the rebellious, impulsive character I hoped she’d be and  the dynamic between herself and Finn are a delight to write. There are so many characters and relationships in this book that it’s been essential that I work with an editor.

What’s next?

I’m considering launching the crowdfunding/preorder process in 2026, whether I’m done or not. But I also really don’t want to rush the process. Taking my time and letting the narrative marinate over time has proved to be worthwhile.

Even so, stay tuned for that… I’ll be sending out a notice via email when it does happen. Meanwhile… know it’s slowly but surely headed for the finish line.

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Come see all the artistry, Saturday November 8 11-5!

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Three of my pieces will be featured in a collaborative online gallery for color e-ink frames!

Kickstarter and Me

It should come as no surprise that I’m a big fan of Kickstarter. It’s brought many dream projects of mine to life.

I’ve backed over 80 projects since 2012 from board books to board games and fascinating desk toys.

Recently, a company came along riding the incoming wave of color e-ink displays — if you’ve ever seen a kindle or a price display in a Kohl’s, you’ve seen what e-ink can do, but the rush of color displays is relatively new. There are a number of them on Kickstarter, but I chose to back the Arpobot team and their Bloomin8 spectra-6 color e-ink frame in part because of their reward tiers, their communication on the platform, and how they planned to handle content with the app.

In the rewards surveys Arpobot posted a call for collaborative artists. I submitted three pieces and I’m happy to announce that they’ll be part of the collection when the official product / app arrives (approximately late October). You can see previews of of the works chosen here (they were part of my Creal Microgallery submission).

And though I have yet to hold the Bloomin8 frame in my hands, (I got 2x small canvas, unfortunately not available via retail) the app and the product look quite solid and polished and I’m looking forward to showcasing both photography and artwork on a rotating basis on our walls with them. The app looks well designed and whatever content you choose to put on the frame is NFC delivered and never on a cloud server (although of course, my shared pieces will be).

Check out the frame if you’re interested at Bloomin8.com.

EnlightenmentCompany

Mystery in the gallery

I’ll be reading an excerpt from one of my books at the local Magnolia Stables Sunday August 24, 2025 at 11:00am. For a small $5 fee you can interact with the horses!

Storytime and Q&AMeet-the-Horses session with our staffOptional book signing, photos, and book/swag sales

Using Freeform to sticky-note map all the characters, their events on a rough timeline

I have been mulling over a new book for the past four years, ever since Where All the Little Things Live was finished.

Recently, I decided to jump into more formal plotting using Aeon Timeline which jumpstarted the whole process, and the narrative and characters started pouring out faster than I anticipated.

I’ve spent the last month or so working through different characters arcs, exploring their motivations and personalities, and I’m at the point now where I’m writing small drafts in the form of scenes.

This is a different way of writing for me. My other books felt more plot based, and I wove the characters within it — and that worked well, I think.

But this time the plot seems almost secondary. A bunch of Macguiffins, sort of. What mattered more was who the characters are and what their motivations and desires are and how that navigates them through their situations and how they change. And there are far more characters involved that mean something than I’ve used before. More than just minor characters with the singular purpose of advancing the plot.

I’m excited to dive into more drafting and writing and seeing where this takes things. I’ve done enough plotting I think, and now I can go back to pantsing with intent. One of the most fun things I wrote was more or less putting two characters into a scene and letting them talk. I get to do a lot more of that here.

I have no firm dates, but look forward to this new book somewhere in 2025 or 2026: a story of Raquel the raccoon and her unlikely bond with a wayward hunting Vizlas named Finn.

I view this as a bit of manifest destiny… now that I’ve said it “out loud”, well — I’ve no choice but to make this come true.

If you’re in the Ann Arbor area, stop by the Creal Microgallery from July 16 – August 19, 2023 to see my new illustration work.

View other exhibitions at the Creal Microgallery

Read more about microgalleries

Read the news announcement at Stamps.umich.edu

Come see me and a host of other authors at the lovely downtown Plymouth District Library!

https://plymouth.librarycalendar.com/event/local-childrens-author-fair

 

 

Saturday, June 3, 202310a – 7pm

The Farmington Author & Book Festival (FAB) is a collaboration between KickstART Farmington and the Farmington Community Library. The FAB festival will debut June 3, 2023, from 10 am until 7 pm, during Art on the Grand (which generally attracts over 40,000 visitors) in downtown Farmington and will feature author readings, book signings, discussions, workshops, and more, along with a book marketplace offering publications by area authors and publishers.

Farmington Author & Book Festival

Saturday, May 20, 20232p – 4p

212 W Cady St, Northville, MI 48167

https://northvillelibrary.assabetinte...

 

 

 

Left: original image from 2015, black and white. Right: 2nd edition revision using 3 spot colors and black.

I wrote and illustrated Zōsan in 2015, opting to raise the money for printing  on Kickstarter.

I had specific ideals of printing using offset printing methods, rather than digital. There’s also a full length audiobook complete with music and sound design, and a full letterpress-printed edition of Zōsan as a keepsake.

I was extremely proud of the results, but had this sense that there was room for improvement. However, at the time the main goal was stick with it and finish.

That experience lead to producing two other books, Tamaishi and Where All the Little Things Live in the same way. I’m grateful for Charles at Eberhardt Press for helping me realize the same vision of beautifully produced books. Without him I’m not sure any of this would have been possible.

I decided to take the opportunity to apply everything I’d learned and revise Tamaishi when they were nearly all gone, rather than just reprint as is. The results were fantastic.

Color Dreams

There aren’t many copies of Zōsan left — and I saw another opportunity to revise, spending weeks reworking the text and months revising and adding illustrations.

Now instead of black and white — a constraint due to nature of letterpress — the book is printed using multiple spot colors. The result is a visual narrative that flows with the words: as Zochi’s world fills with color, so do the illustrations.

Someday, I actually hope to find the time and space to letterpress print this color edition myself. But until then, Zōsan, 2nd edition will be available this summer. Stay tuned!