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Saturday, September 24, 2016

Back at Last!

Summer's almost over, Autumn is fast approaching and my time in the boonies has but three days to run as I write this. I have had fun up there in Polebridge, but it did shorten my free time to the point where I had none left for this blog, for which I am quite sorry.

Even so, we have not been idle. We have delayed the publication of the one-volume edition of Transgression until October to allow the development of new cover art for the series. 

Jan became disenchanted with the original series covers, and deemed new art was in order. For Transgression, she adapted her original digital painting of Menannon and Nirna for the trade paperback and we were able to use the full painting for the d/j on the limited hardcover edition.  I'll post the pb cover on Face Book when she is done with it. The full painting can be seen here.

The cover for subsequent books will be uniform in style, as before, but will all have new art, as we wanted to better showcase her work. She has already begun work on the cover for Retribution (book 2 in the Lindensaga) featuring brand new art and she has as well begun completing the MS which should be finished in time to make the November publication date.

December will see the publication of book 3 in the series, Prince of the Teluri, which is also the first part of a duology, The Gift of the High One. The MS for this is essentially completed barring only a few small tweaks to bring it into line with Transgression/Retribution as it was written some time ago.

The short time I had available for blogging has come to an end, so I bid you goodbye until next time.

-- Richard 
    for J. R. Hardesty


 

Sunday, April 17, 2016

Paradise at Polebridge



Last summer whilst accompanying Jan on her “Roam the Park” daythe “gate Rangers” in Glacier National Park get one work day to wander around the park and get to know it betterwe headed for the North Fork country as she was least familiar with that semi-remote area of Glacier.
    The North Fork of the Flathead River serves as the western boundary to Glacier for part of its length and the North Fork valley is home to some awesome scenery as well as the little hamlet of Polebridge. The Polebridge Ranger Station, guardian of the NW entrance to Glacier, is located nearby.
    There are many who consider the North Fork Paradise on Earth, and I would not dispute that claim. There are more residences up there than appear to the eye, most of them being for summer occupancy only, but there are a few hardy souls who live up there year around. Polebridge itself is home to two institutions of far-reaching fame: the Polebridge Mercantile and its awesome bakery, creators & purveyors of divinely mouth-watering treats fit for the gods, and its next-door neighbor, the Northern Lights Saloon.
    On our little jaunt up the North Fork with Kintla Lake as our ultimate destination, we stopped in Polebridge, of course. After indulging in some heavenly pastries, we headed north on Glacier Drive for the one mile drive to the Polebridge entrance to Glacier National Park. After chatting with the gate Ranger (the official Park Service name for those folk is Visitor Use Assistant or VUA), we headed on north for Kintla. As we left the entrance, I opined somewhat wistfully that it would be a grand place to be assigned for the summer and wouldn’t it be fun! She whole-heartedly agreed.

    Be careful what you wish for.
Paradise at Polebridge
    Around about November last, I brought up the topic of our future plans for our books and observed that we need more capital and perhaps I should get a job of some sort, but that I definitely refused to work retail ever again. She nodded in agreement and understanding, then asked me, ”Well, why don’t you apply for the Park?” I knew that some of the VUAs would not be returning and I said, “What he heck? Why not?” I’d rather sit in the kiosk at the West Entrance where Jan worked than work retail any day. And it might work out that we would work together some of the time which was fine with both of us.
    So, I applied.
    I jumped through all the hoops and was eventually notified that if I was still interested and available, I had a job—West entrance, of course. Cool. I was tickled pink and quite excited. After filling out more paperwork and getting my fingerprints taken (for the background check—we handle money after all), I settled into a regular routine of checking my e-mail daily for any other communications from the Park people as I did not wish to miss anything.
    So one fine day, I found an e-mail not from the usual roster of folk I had been dealing with. Curious, I opened it up, read it, blinked, read it again and then shouted to Jan who was out in the kitchen.
    “Hon, they’ve offered me Polebridge!”
    “What??”
    “I’ve been offered Polebridge!”
    “Super! You’d better take it or I’ll hurt you!”
    Of course, there was no way I was going to turn that offer down anyhow, so I quickly responded in the positive.
    So now, I will take up my station at the Polebridge Ranger Station May 23 after four days of orientation and training. Because of its remoteness, I will be staying in a little cabin up there during my work week and driving home for the weekend over one of the nastiest dirt roads in the state.

    But the rest of the week, I’ll be in Paradise.

-- Richard