Sun Singer Give-Away Winners (and a few secrets)

Congratulations to the BIG WINNERS of the The Sun Singer's Fourth Birthday Party Book Give-Away this morning.

(DRUM ROLL OR OTHER APPROPRIATE RACKET)

First Place: Mary in Tennesee

Second Place: Chelle in New York

Third Place: Phyllis in California

While "The Sun Singer" is billed as a fantasy, it began in the purported real world:

The book's sun singer imagery stems from a childhood visit to Robert Allerton Park in Monticello, Illinois, with my grandparents where I did, in fact, see the primitive man, last centaur, fu dog, and sun singer statuary on a sunny afternoon and stormy evening as described in the book. Created in bronze by sculptor Carle Milles in 1931, the Sun Singer stands alone facing east in a 140-acre meadow in the park. The statue recently went through a major restoration.

West Wood Street and Fairview Park as used in the novel are in Decatur, Illinois. My grandparents lived on West Wood, and I spent a considerable amount of time playing on that street and in the nearby park. It was only natural to use these settings for Robert Adams' home and neighborhood.

The book's mountain settings are modeled exactly after Glacier National Park in Montana even though I changed most of the place names in the novel. The hotel referenced in the novel is Many Glacier Hotel on the east side of the park. I worked there as a bellman while in college and, in my off-work hours, hiked and climbed throughout the park.

Secrets

While "The Sun Singer" is billed as fiction, I'm of the opinion that stories become real in the telling of them. And with the dawn of reality, the secrets I enjoyed hiding throughout the book come to light. Once you have read the book, I will tell you three of them. Send me a message and ask me about The Three Staffs, The Garden of Heaven, and The Hollow Bone.

But do not ask me about The Sun Singer Talisman or The Haunting Temptress! I have to save something for future novels.

Many thanks to everyone who entered the birthday give-away and who has followed the sun singer on his journey.

Book Give-Away Deadline Fast Approaching

Don't forget the 4th anniversary of The Sun Singer book give-away. Nothing to buy. No risk. Pick a book off the list on my web site by midnight on June 23. If you win, you win. If you don't, thanks for entering.


My family will be traveling to Glacier National Park, Montana in about a month. It will be nice to see how the primary setting of The Sun Singer has changed since our ast trip there in the 1980s. Shown here is a photograph of Mt. Gould on the eastern side of the park.

Meanwhile, I'm keeping busy writing book reviews for Living Jackson Magazine and doing research for Sarabande, the next book in the queue. Garden of Heaven continues to make the rounds of prospective agents.

As you can see, a lot of a writer's life is spent hovering between research and limbo with a little bit of writing in between.

Sequel to 'The Sun Singer'

Now that "Garden of Heaven" has been completed and is making the rounds of prospective agents, I can finally turn my attention to "Sarabande." This is one of two planned sequels.

The story will be told from Sarabande's point of view. You may remember her as a major character in "The Sun Singer." One challenge here will be writing from a woman's viewpoint. That's a little frightening, actually.

"The Sun Singer" was based on the general hero path scheme and "Garden of Heaven" was loosely based on Odysseus general story. "Sarabande" will indirectly follow the myth of Inanna's descent into the underworld.

There's a three year story gap between the time when "The Sun Singer" ends and "Sarabande" begins. Needless to say, more actual time has gone by since the novel was released in 2004, so as usual, I'm writing at a snail's pace.

Malcolm

P.S. There's still time to enter my book give-away.

Copyright (c) 2008 by Malcolm R. Campbell