Putting Some Flesh on Prism

It’s an amazing thing to realize someone can see inside your head! But that’s what Laura, illustrator extraordinaire, seems to have done with the beautiful cover art she’s been working on for The Terror of Prism Fading. Although not yet in its final form, the link below will give you a good idea – both where the cover is heading and also how very talented Laura is!

A trip to her web site shows the various steps to this point, and they in turn are a pretty fair reflection of our various conversations and emails.

As points were clarified and details given, so the characters came to life until, a few days ago, I was sent an email with an attached link. I opened it gingerly, not entirely sure what to expect, and took a deep breath….



It’s a little off putting to see a scene - which has existed so far only in one’s imagination – suddenly take shape and appear on a page in full color! In many ways this image was, for me, too, my first ever glimpse of Prism, and I am wholly grateful to Laura for the opportunity to look into this wonderful world and see the characters I have already grown to love. I let out a deep sigh of relief when I realized the Prism I was looking at and the characters I was seeing were completely coherent with the places and people in my imagination that I had been living with for so many years.

Thank you, Laura.

Yours gratefully,

K.E. Stapylton

A Mountain of Work...and then...

Progress! The Terror of Prism Fading website is now up and running! Currently in its most basic form, the website will soon be a place where you can download the book in e-book format as well as purchase it through Lulu. Various graphics and effects should be added over the coming weeks to make TheTerrorOfPrismFading.com a fun place to spend a little time. And for those who make the effort to find their way there, there will be extra snippets of material on favourite characters plus a greater look into the history and legends of Prism. I can only recommend that you check the site regularly for updates and news!

Speaking of news, as well as working on the second installment of the Prism series, I've begun writing a short book for younger children. I find writing for children of all ages deeply rewarding and it's a complete joy to communicate with them. Flights of Family Fancy is for children aged 4-9 (otherwise known as the 'pre-Prism set'!), and is a collection of poems and short stories that could be managed by the older children in this age range, or read by parents to those at the younger end of the spectrum. This collection of poems and stories is extremely precious to me as it's being written predominantly for the entertainment of one special 7 year old in California whose giggles and wide eyed gaze when her father reads them to her are the elixir of life for a children's writer. Perhaps one day I'll find an illustrator and do something more formal with them. In the meantime, Flights of Family Fancy is the way I spend my spare time, when I have any of it to spare, and the stories I write when I wish to enjoy the pastime of writing without pressure.

But meanwhile, back at Prism....

Laura Diehl has come on board as illustrator for The Terror of Prism Fading, and the concept draft I have seen so far is hugely exciting! After considerable back and forth, plus significant time spent on the phone, Laura seemed to grasp the whole concept of Prism and will do an excellent job of translating it to paper. As a result, I'm hoping that The Terror of Prism Fading will be available in paperback version by the end of August! This will be a major milestone and I can assure you that champagne corks will be flying in this house!

In the meantime, work will be proceeding on Book 2, and I hope you enjoy the new website!

Yours Progressively,

K.E. Stapylton

Hallo Kindle....

After much hard work and ingenuity on the part of a team of highly trained professionals, I am now published on Amazon's Kindle! For a child psychologist/mediator-turned-writer, this represents a big step in the change of career process. For decades I knew it was only a matter of time till writing became my profession, and the written word has been my passion for even longer, but making the leap from academic writing to children's fantasy author represents one of the most exciting and challenging things I've ever done.

And the list of tasks is endless! Blogs, web sites, summaries, cross links, wikipedia entries, and more versions of my book than I'd ever thought necessary (Kindle, Lulu, Amazon, Borders...) all make this a process of almost limitless proportions. And it's all worth it! I feel, after 20 years of planning, I'm willing to do whatever is necessary to get my words read, to get the message out, to encourage children to see themselves as central and valuable, to use story telling to engage with children to touch their hearts and assist in their healthy development.

I believe that, to write for children, one's motivation needs to be two fold. Firstly, one must want to tell stories. There has to be a deep seated desire to 'spin a good yarn' and to entertain. I remember the first time I read 'A Horseman Riding By'. Having studied literature of all kinds at university in Australia, and so much of it having been dry and boring, I was struck by the extent to which this story simply entertained me. And when I started writing the Prism series, I vowed to myself that I would write nothing dull, nothing that had to be 'sat through to get to the good bits'! I wanted to write things that would make children sit - wide eyed - on the edges of their seats, waiting with baited breath for the next word.

But secondly, one must surely be committed to the healthy development of children. I believe that a children's novel must be committed to bringing an experience of increased health and joy to its readers. It should be a tool for parents whose aim is to raise healthy contributors to their communities. And it should light a passion for 'right' in the bellies of its readers - something which inspires them to be greater than they were when they started reading.

A book is a powerful thing, and a children's book doubly so. I hope that the Prism series will dispel the haze of grey we so often wade through, and ignite instead a powerful spectrum of color in those who read it,

Colorfully,

K.E. Stapylton

The Heart of Prism

Welcome to my blog, created to complement the collection of children's books known as 'The Terror of Prism Fading.'  Here I'll be posting news of the books' progression - their creation and dissemination - and an exploration of the themes they espouse.  Even though these books are not yet published (hard copy available September 15th when the cover art is completed), more or less everyone in my circle of friends and acquaintances know that my time is spent on a day to day basis in the wonderful, magical land of Prism.  As such, interested bystanders often ask me what the books are about.  What they're looking for is a quick rundown of plot, character, and progression - a short wrap up of what I'm writing and where I am in the process.  But today over lunch I was contemplating what it was I was truly trying to say.

What, in fact, is the very heart of Prism and the story it tells?

Prism is a land and a story filled with flawed, yet lovable, characters.  Much like real life, there is no perfect individual, nobody who has completely 'made it', and many people who fall woefully short.  Many people in Prism try and try hard, yet very few are inherently powerful.  Many come from non-illustrious backgrounds - some even shamefully so.  And few consider themselves to be the sorts of people destined to change the world; indeed, some of the characters in Prism are simply trying to get through life with as little embarrassment as possible.

And Prism is full of difficulties and conflict.  The goals of one are rarely the goals of the other, and people find themselves marginalized, ostracized and generally doubted on more than one occasion.  Rabbit in particular finds herself the victim of scorn and suspicion almost from her first moments in this new and glorious land.  There is little in her experience of life to lead her to optimism, self confidence, or trust in her fellow man, and her experiences in Prism by and large reinforce this mindset.  Rabbit sees herself as small and weak, nothing special, and largely at odds with those with whom she has to work.

And yet, through hardship and difficulty, loneliness and fear, Rabbit finds in Prism a chance for greatness.  Rabbit discovers, when she puts her own goals to one side, a capacity for the heroic she would not have thought possible.  Despite a history of rejection and loneliness, this one small girl knows more about love than anyone ever suspects and - through self denial and sheer determination - Rabbit finds she has a gift for healing greater than herself.  When Rabbit steps out of the spotlight of her own life, she discovers a power she never knew she had.

So perhaps if there is one central theme in Prism it's that there is a potential for greatness in all of us that we can only discover when we put our own dreams and aspirations to one side.  When we live fully to serve others, even the smallest and weakest of us becomes strong and potent, and capable of great things.  When our own comfort is no longer our goal, we can all become vessels of healing.  And when we lay down the conflicts which are precious to us, we can, each and every one, become a chalice of peace.

Powerful indeed.

I hope the books of Prism will be like the very characters about whom I write; collections of individually powerless words which, when read in sequence, embolden readers to believe in the potency of service and the healing magnitude of humility,

With hope,

K.E. Stapylton