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create-ure In reply to rainesz [2013-09-29 05:53:52 +0000 UTC]

Wow, thanks for purchasing the book! So pleased you enjoyed it. I think I'm a bit better with the words than the art work but I hope to have more pictures to post. As you are a graphic novelist I don't have to justify the enjoyment of illustrating your own work.
I love your cartoons of Rossetti, you have captured his expressions perfectly (as I imagined they would be). I wonder what he thought of Burne Jones's cartoons, if he ever saw them?

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rainesz In reply to create-ure [2013-10-02 06:04:29 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much! I really just started the cartoons to be silly but then people kept wanting me to draw more of them.  
I know both Rossetti and Burne-Jones drew cartoons (Rossetti's were a little bit snarkier and mostly poked fun at William Morris-- he was an easy target, poor guy) I'm sure they must have shared the humor. At times, Burne-Jones sometimes thought Rossetti crossed the line into meanness.

I do have to say I LOVED the novel and all the tremendous amount of research that you put into it. (I especially love how you wrote Lizzie Siddal.) All the relationships felt very real and charming, even among the older artists. I especially loved the one particular scene between Rossetti and Hunt, when Hunt was having his nightmares. We got to see Rossetti's concerned, nurturing side.   

You're probably already aware that The Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood reviewed your book and Stephanie loved it, too! Sequel????  

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create-ure In reply to rainesz [2013-10-05 21:24:17 +0000 UTC]

Yes, Stephanie was very kind and did email me her comments about the book, which were wonderful. I was happy that it resonated well with people who knew about the PRB.

I believe that Rossetti was a staunch defender of his friends but he was also so very prickly when an assumed or real slight occurred. He also knew full well when something was his fault, even if he never admitted it. I gave him a chance to show how much Hunt's friendship meant to him.

I never bought the theory that Lizzie was a cipher or shadow of Rossetti. She was so obviously a rare individual in an age when women weren't supposed to be. I must have been hard to be her, and find her place in the world, without other role models.

Thank you again for your kind words about the book. I have been asked about a sequel and the idea has appealed to me. The years 1854-65 certainly covers much more action in their private lives than the previous ten and introduces Morris and Burne Jones, Swinburne, etc. I don't shy away from research so we'll see.

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rainesz In reply to create-ure [2013-10-05 23:48:46 +0000 UTC]

You're most welcome and certainly would love to see your take on the later years of the PRB, and especially Morris and Burne-Jones. Again, great work!!

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