FRIDAY BOOK UPDATE #5

The new version of our book has retained our incredible illustrator for the GARDEN PALACE saga.

Fellow blogger Smoky Bunny, also known as Nana Sakata, supplied 13 illustrations, including the book cover for the original version of our story. Unfortunately due to pressure over trademark use we had to begin the revision of the book which meant all of Nana's illustrations could not be used in the new version.

However I was very excited when Nana agreed to join the new revised edition and supply new illustrations for the Garden Palace.

We recently had a meeting about the new location of the story and Nana was very excited to be able to create a whole new building, and whilst the fictional building is a recreation of a factual building long since destroyed, it still gives Nana full artistic licence to create the building from her own creativity.

This is a major advance to the previous version of the book where Nana was restricted by the fact that the location was a prominent and existing building.

Our latest catch up saw us visiting the only remaining relics of the original Garden Palace days. The gates of the Garden Palace which are standing just off Macquarie Street between the "Con"and the Library.

That's Nana photographing the Palace pylon of the gates. :-)

That's me daydreaming about the Garden Palace in my mind. :-)

Excuse my finger in the bottom corner, but this is a plaque commemorating the 100th anniversary of the opening of the original Garden Palace, laid in 1979. Very pivotal to our story.

If you want to sample Nana's work you should visit her website below.

Nana Sakata - Smoky Bunny

Nana has read all the latest rewrites of the new prologue, chapter one, and chapter two and believes its time to start sketching so these really are exciting times for our book.

I am currently halfway through editing Chapter 3 which brings to life the 3000 seat auditorium within the Garden Palace named the "Palace Theatre" which I'm really enjoying.

The current chapter progress is below.

Original Book                                        New Version                                Status
Prologue                                                  Prologue                                      Revised
An Usher Becomes a Tour guide            The New Ambassadors                  Revised
A Night at the Opera                               The Guiding Beacon                     Revised
A Guiding Light                                      The Palace Theatre                        Drafting
The Legend of the Opera House Ghost   Untitled                                         Yet-to-revise   

Stay Tuned

J G S