Magic Men

It's Tuesday night, well past midnight into Wednesday. Time for another Round Robin Photo Challenge! This time the topic, chosen by Steve of PAPARRAZI BY PROXY, is "Magic."

Well, you probably know where that word leads me: right into Mâvarin, that ubiquitous "country in my mind." But hmm... how can I show the magic of my wonderful, fictional Mâvarin photographically?

Like this:

Here's Rani Fost, the main protagonist of the Mages of Mâvarin trilogy, and an important supporting character in Heirs of Mâvarin. Rani eventually becomes an apprentice mage, and discovers talents for divination, animation (bringing things to a semblance of life), telepathy, mind-healing, and necromancy. He's also a tengrem, which is to say, he turns into a four-legged, two-armed, one-horned, fire-breathing monster unless he's got that necklace about his throat. This is an unusual picture of Rani indeed: we caught him smiling for once. (Looking at him here at work, I noticed that I needed to lighten the photo a bit. I've now done so.)


The original drawing of Rani is by my friend Sherlock, of course, from 2004. I colorized him a while back, but I've never before tried to render him photographically. Somehow I've never managed to sneak a camera into Mâvarin, which doesn't have such devices.

This was my first pass at merging the drawing with a couple of photographs. I think I like it a bit better than the top version, which has the one photo superimposed a second time. I'm not going to tell you who the main model is, because I didn't ask permission to use my photo of her in this way. Yes, her. Now you know why the first shot is a bit too feminine to really capture Rani's character. (The other problem is that my model was facing a slightly different direction, which threw off the nose and mouth a bit.) As for the hair, well, a smidge of it is mine, from a 30-year-old photo.


And here is Fayubi the Seer, my "tricky old man" character whose talents are divination and illusion. In the Mages trilogy he's the Royal Mage of Mâvarin. He's also disappeared - kidnapped from his home and dumped in a cave hundreds of miles away with a severely damaged memory.

Here's the Sherlock original. Again, I didn't ask the guy at church for permission to superimpose his face over this black and white rendering. As for the eyes, well, those are mine. The sad part is that I look older than Fayubi in that photo. I really need more sleep!

One of the reasons that I'm fixated on my Mâvarin characters right now is that I just heard on Tuesday morning that the editor at Tor remembers my manuscript. No, I haven't heard back yet, and no, I have no idea whether he'll respond soon, or whether the response will say "Send us more" or "No, thanks." But it means that he's seen it, or at least a first reader's report on it, and hasn't said no yet. If it were obvious, irredeemable garbage, I'd probably have it back by now. I'm thinking it's passed a few hurdles and now awaits further attention to determine whether it's a high-end rejection or something worth further consideration. I hope I hope I hope! I thought about informing PNH that the deadline has passed for rejection, and he now has to look at the full manuscript, but he might find that quip more presumptuous and critical than amusing. Believe me, I have no intention of criticizing Tor, even if the final answer turns out to be no. A yes would be ever so much better, though!

Now go see what everyone else is coming up with for this Challenge. And yes, as always, you're invited to join in yourself! Check the Round Robin blog for the details.

Karen

Linking List

Steve - POSTED!
PAPARRAZI BY PROXY
http://journals.aol.com/navakukus/PAPARRAZIBYPROXY

Steven - POSTED!
(sometimes)photoblog
http://sepintx.blogspot.com/

Carly - POSTED!
Ellipsis... Suddenly Carly
http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com/

Linda - POSTED!
Blah Blah Blah
http://blahblahblog.wordpress.com/

Karen - POSTED!
Outpost Mâvarin
http://outmavarin.blogspot.com/

Teena - POSTED!
It's all about me!
http://purple4mee.blogspot.com/

Gattina - POSTED!
Keyhole Pictures
http://gattina-keyholepictures.blogspot.com/

Dorn - POSTED!
Through The Eyes Of The Beholder
http://journals.aol.com/dornbrau/ThroughtheEyesoftheBeholder/

Brad - POSTED!
we-is
http://we-is.blogspot.com/2007/01/round-robin-photo-challenge-magic_10.html

Technorati Tags: Photos, memes, Magic, Mâvarin, Round Robin Photo