Interview with Brian Delandro Hardison, the FYF Illustrator

Andrew Reinhard of Bolchazy-Carducci, who publishes the Follow Your Fates series, recently posted an interview with award-winning illustrator Brian Delandro Hardison, who did the illustrations for the series:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdbaaCZBDsI

Exile of Aeneas Reviewed in Midwest Book Review

Just stumbled upon this new review in the August 2010 Midwest Book Review Bookwatch (Lorraine's Bookshelf):

"The Exile of Aeneas" is a "Follow Your Fates" series rewrite of the choices facing Aeneas in 2,000 year old Greek epic literature. The object is for the reader to face the choices originally faced and made by Aeneas, and in making original decisions, learn to compare and contrast values and cultures between modern and ancient times. In addition to learning Classical history and literature through this re-imagining of "The Exile of Aeneas," the reader will achieve another goal effortlessly: entertainment. Third in the series by the author, "The Exile of Aeneas" follows "The Wrath of Achilles" and "The Journey of Odysseus," other Follow Your Fates titles. The prose story of "The Exile of Aeneas" places the reader directly in the action of the "Aeneid," its original source, but based on reader choices, there are 32 possible different endings to the story. Five black and white illustrations by award winning comic book artist Brian Delandro Hardison add to the impact and appeal of "The Exile of Aeneas." Written by a famous teacher of Latin and the classics, "The Exile of Aeneas" is sure to bring an ancient epic to fresh young adult (and older)audiences and new awareness and fame.

http://www.midwestbookreview.com/mbw/aug_10.htm (toward bottom of page)

Not sure that I quite qualify as a 'famous teacher of Latin and the classics' but I'll take it (despite the apparent identification of the Aeneid as Greek rather than Roman / Latin literature).

Amazon.com Review

Happened upon a customer review posted on Amazon on the 17th for Exile:

"The Aeneid is the epic from antiquity that most people are the least familiar with. The Exile of Aeneas is a step toward fixing that. Instead of a translation or adaption for children, Ed DeHoratius presents the story as a series of choices for the reader. Since the story is not as familiar to students and Aeneas is an all too-human hero, students will have a chance to see the story unfold for themselves as they are faced with the no-win choices Aeneas had to make. For students who are more familiar with the story, the choices available to Aeneas are made more immediate in this style of storytelling."

Thank you, Peter Sipes!

Worcester Art Museum to sell Follow Your Fates in Gift Shop

Just found out that the Worcester Art Museum gift shop will be carrying the Follow Your Fates series starting in the fall. Next step (since I live in Worcester) is seeing if we can organize an author event at the museum....

The Exile of Aeneas has arrived!

Caught my first glimpse of Exile this past weekend at CANE (Classical Association of New England). It arrived via UPS at the conference Friday afternoon, quite literally hot off the presses, having arrived at the publisher just the day before. Needless to say it looks great and I'm thrilled that the series is now complete (at least until we start writing more...). Bolchazy also produced some nifty promotional materials for the series (and they made a copy of the poster for me). I'll hopefully be posting the flyer in the next couple of days. Let the marketing blitz begin!

Exile of Aeneas Cover

Received last week the cover for The Exile of Aeneas, and it looks great! The color scheme is a bit different from the first two, but I like the change. This should mean that the book will be going to press this week or next, so hopefully in about 6 weeks or so it should be ready to go.

Exile of Aeneas Illustrations

Received yesterday via e-mail the final 5 drawings for The Exile of Aeneas and they look great! (Maybe my favorite so far.) I'm especially partial to the Laocoön drawing. Sounds like the cover will be in this week or next and so the book will go to press in the next couple of weeks.

Second Printing for Wrath of Achilles

Heard from B-C (publisher Bolchazy-Carducci) yesterday that Wrath of Achilles is about to sell out its first print run and that a second is on its way. Thanks to all who purchased!

Follow Your Fates in Classical Outlook

Sharon Kazmierski, in the Clearing House section of the latest issue of Classical Outlook (v.85, issue 2 (winter)), wrote about a column and a half review of the series, giving it both a positive review and an endorsement for more titles (and endorsement I am on board with if B-C is as well). Thanks, Sharon!

Article in Prima, ACL's Newsletter for Classics at the Elementary & Middle School Levels

Just received an e-notification that the new issue of Prima is available on-line and there is an article in it about The Wrath of Achilles and The Journey of Odysseus. The article covers a teacher in New Hampshire who used the books with her class(es) with great success. I appreciated of course the positive comments but also that both teacher and students seemed to understand the broader goal of the series (and that apparently they're hoping for more, which I hope to give them). Thank you, Jessica!

Click here for the .pdf of the newsletter; the article is on pages 26 & 27.

Click here for the Prima page on the ETC (Excellence Through Classics) web site where the link to the Fall 2009 Prima is located.

Catching Up After the Holidays: The Exile of Aeneas Illustrations & Review in the Half Moon Bay Review

There are a couple of developments to report that I missed over the holidays:

1. Received Brian's sketches for the illustrations for The Exile of Aeneas and they of course look great. I look forward to seeing them in their final form and to seeing what the cover will look like.

2. A former colleague of mine in his Christmas card sent a review written by a fifth grader from the Half Moon Bay Review that was published in September. Click here to read it.