About the cover of The Purcell Suite
When I think about the Purcells, three things come to mind: startling mountains, brilliant snow and golden larches. I started asking my photographer friends to send me potential cover photos that incorporated these three elements. I had my “that’s it!” moment when I went to visit Julie Castonguay. Like Carol Wallace (whose painting was featured on the cover of The Inner Green), Julie is a scientist and an artist. She works as a forester with a specialty in entomology and her artistic medium is photography. She has spent time in school studying both. Having been hiking with her, I know that when she’s up in the alpine and subalpine, she is a woman with a mission: picture taking.
This particular photo was taken in one of her favourite autumn haunts – Monica Meadows. The meadows are accessed from the West Kootenay side via Glacier Creek. They’re a hop and jump away from Jumbo Pass and are a great place to wander. In case you hadn’t noticed, the mountains, snow and larches in this photo are an upside down reflection in a mountain tarn, which is tres Julie. I’m grateful she was willing to donate this image for The Purcell Suite. To see more of Julie’s work visit www.juliecastonguay.com.
About the cover of The Inner Green:
In 2000, just as I was starting to work on the first chapter of The Inner Green, I went to visit my friend Carol Wallace. As a geologist, she had worked extensively around the Columbia Mountains and had researched the geological origins of the area. When I went to her, seeking information about geology, she spread maps across her kitchen table and attempted to describe the very complex story of rocks in the region. I must have looked mighty confused, because at one point, she disappeared into her basement and emerged with a simple yet colourful painting of rock layers. Looking at the painting, I had a big “ah-a!”; geological things began to fall into place in my head.
So, four years later, when Eileen and I were visiting artists’ studios, searching for just the right image for our book, I remembered Carol. Although Carol works as a geologist, she is also a fine painter. I had admired her work on many occasions, especially her watercolours of kokanee, great blue herons and caribou and her landscapes in acrylics. Eileen and I were looking for an image that conveyed steep slopes, abundant greenery, alpine peaks and plenty of water. Carol’s painting “City View”, painted from Giveout Creek, looking east across Nelson up the West Arm of Kootenay Lake fit the bill. My only regret is that the entire painting, uninterrupted, could not be featured on the cover. So here it is instead. If you’d like to see more of Carol’s paintings or purchase some of her greeting cards, get in touch with her. You might learn a thing or two about geology as well. cwall@netidea.com
A Word about the Cover of If Home is a Place.
Most people don't realize that authors don't get to choose their cover art or cover design. Sometimes publishers consult with authors about their books covers but the final desicion is up to the publisher.
When Polestar was working on the cover of If Home is a Place, I gave them some visual materials, including a photo of my mother at age 14. My mother is fair-haired and Estonian. When Polestar showed me this cover, I was dismayed. How my Estonian mother had been transformed into this dark-haired, Latina woman, I couldn't image. I suspect the change was based in the artists' assumptions that all refugees are from Southern countries, a belief that has its underpinnings in a racist notion that things "like that" don't happen to fair-skinned Northern people. I rejected the cover but was told that there was no time before my fall book tour to create another. You can imagine how unhappy this made me.
I joke with audiences that the woman on the cover is named Carmen and she sat in for the painting because an Estonian was too shy to do so. Nevertheless, this cover bothered me so much that I decided to create an alternate cover which I then stick onto the books. It is a picture taken in an Estonian pine forest, looking up at the sky. If you would like to order a copy of If Home is a Place, you can get my more appropriate cover for $1 extra.
