Prayers in Bath
I'm happy to announce the publication of my newest book, Prayers in Bath. This is a project that was over three years in the making, and I couldn't be more pleased with how it's turned out.
Here's the description:
After several attempts at in vitro fertilization, Ted and Julia Taylor are out of money and out of hope. In an attempt to shake herself out of her depression, Julia accepts an internship on an archaeological dig in Bath, England. When she finds an ancient scroll while working in the sewer connected to the Roman baths, she sneaks it back to her flat, translates it, and discovers a secret previously lost in the shadows of legend. But her new knowledge poses significant risks, and the repercussions leave her career, her faith, and her marriage hanging in the balance.
When Mormon Artists Group founder Glen Nelson approached me about writing a piece of fiction, I was over the moon. MAG's projects are always gorgeous and unique. I knew I wanted the book to be about a Mormon woman, but that was all I knew.
Going through my idea journal, I remembered that long ago, my Welsh friend Tan Morgan told me about the curse tablets that had been found in the hot springs at Bath in England. I loved the idea of people writing out their prayers on little pieces of metal, and then throwing them in the water in the hopes that Sulis Minerva, the local goddess, would answer them. What else might be waiting to be dug up in that ancient holy place, I wondered? And that's when I knew I had my story.
The amazing Jacqui Larsen created four paintings inspired by the story (one of which is in the opening spread, above). Here's what she had to say about the process:
When I read the novella Prayers in Bath, I was intrigued by how contemporary life intersected with historical artifacts and legends. Wanting to echo those intersections in this series of paintings, I began by looking through my collage materials. As one who collects European ephemera until my pockets bulge, I had plenty to look through. In a serendipitous moment, I came across some fragments of hand-marbled paper and 19th-century landscape engravings that would dovetail nicely with Prayers in Bath. I then layered color, lyrics from a William Blake poem referenced in the novella, and a network of circles. Circles as halos, circles as fields of vision, even circles as worlds or realms—the ones we live in and others yet to be explored.
Graphic designer Cameron King created the lovely layout, which mirrors a lot of the details found in Jacqui's paintings. For the limited edition, Glen chose a blue-green Asahi silk with which to hand bind the covers. The end result is exquisite:
It's also available as a paperback on Amazon. It doesn't have the paintings or the design elements printed in color, but on the other hand, it's a bit more in the realm of affordability for most of us.
In the happiest of coincidences, I just found out I was accepted to VCFA's summer residency at Bath Spa University this July. David Almond and Lucy Christopher are on faculty there, and our VCFA professors accompanying our group are the fabulous Tom Birdseye and Sharon Darrow. And I'll get to walk around all the places my characters walk (I've only been to Bath once briefly, long ago.) Much will be learned and enjoyed, all of which will be recorded right here in the months to come.
If you read Prayers in Bath, drop me a line and let me know what you thought. I'd love to hear from you.