Qui sine peccato est - the cover

I always find it exciting to see what a graphic designer can do with my input and ideas.
Since this is the first time I work with Recito förlag I did not know what to expect. Could they create a professional and great looking cover for my third novel?

I am happy to say that the graphical designer created a cover that really captures the feeling of the book. I hope you like it too!

The next step is the actual printing. The books will be available in time for the book release Nov 16 at Bokens Dag in Kungälv. I hope you will come there to see the book In Real Life!

#MyStorytellerBrand: Role models

Ok, so Jesper got me thinking when he said I was not going to sell myself, but a persona. What is my Storyteller persona like? How do I want to be perceived as a Storyteller?

I started by looking at some of my role models within Storytelling. Not surprising, my role models are independent women who wrote/write stories their own way. Let´s take them in chronological order:

Selma Lagerlöf 

Selma was asked to join “Svenska Akademin”, a very prestigious institution. She declined with a cocky statement: “I want to win the Nobel Prize first”. She knew should could never win that if she was part of the group that selected the winners and obviously she was convinced she could win the Nobel Prize. 

She did win the literary Nobel Prize, the first Swede and the first woman to do so.  With the money she won, she bought back the house where she grew up, a home her parents had lost when they could no longer afford it. Later on she had another chance to join Svenska Akademin and she did, the first woman to do that too. Her stories are the kind that stays with you and they are relevant also today, long after Selma herself has gone.

Astrid Lindgren 

There are few, if any, Swedish children who have not read and become absorbed by Astrid´s fantastic stories about Pippi, Emil, Ronja, the brothers Lionhearts and many, many more. Not only did she write stories that impacted generations of Swedes,  she also seemed to do it the way she wanted to. Her stories, her way.  She was also a woman who cared much about children and animals and she voiced her opinion in ways that impacted our society. No wonder I admire her.  

Joanne Rowling 

“Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.” This quote alone is a great reason to see Joanne Rowling, who wrote the Harry Potter books under the pseudonym J.K. Rowling, as a role model. Her story was refused by  many until one publisher saw its potential. She wrote about Harry because she wanted to write that story,  not because she wanted to become known. Joanne Rowling stays away from media rather than seeks it and she donates some of her wealth to different charities. She is my third role model when it comes to Storyteller persona. 

Types of stories 

So, do I want to write like these three women? No. I see them as role models when it comes to how they behave as storytellers and how they brand themselves (even though I doubt they ever used that word) but my stories are not like theirs.   

When it comes to storytelling style I have other role models; authors who write the type of stories I write. Stories with lots of love, adventure and important questions for the characters and readers to consider.  They are:

• Khaled Hosseini (The kite runner, A thousand splendid suns and more)
• Nicholas Evans (The horse whisperer, The smoke jumper and more) and 
• Deborah Smith (on Bear mountain, Charming Grace and more).  

With these role models in mind, I had an idea of my persona as a Storyteller. In my next blog post I will describe how I chose to brand that persona.  

Qui sine peccato est - the blurb

I told you that I would post the blurb of my coming book Qui sine peccato est.

Before I do, let´s look at what a blurb is. The word was coined in 1907 and a blurb is, according to Wikipedia:

"a short promotional piece accompanying a creative work. It may be written by the author or publisher or quote praise from others. Blurbs were originally printed on the back or rear dust-jacket of a book..."

And this is, supposedly, the very first blurb:

And now, finally, the blurb for Qui Sine Peccato Est:

 Hon springer genom eldregnet, springer med sina slagna skrapade ben, sina armar med brännmärken efter repet, sin kropp nedsmutsad, slagen och besudlad av hårda, klämmande händer, sin sönderslagna läpp. Hon springer med en själ som gör tiofalt mer ont.  

      Om du har ljugit om det här, vad har du då ljugit mer om? 

      Om du inte är den man jag alltid har trott, vem är du då? 

         Plötsligt tar det slut. Regnet, blixtarna, hennes ork. Hennes springande ben blir stumma trädstammar. Precis när hon sjunker ner på knä står de där bredvid henne. De sandgula benen med gråsvarta hovar. Ryttarens hand sträcks mot henne.  

Två länder. En organisation som ses som frihetskämpar av det ena landet, som terrorister av det andra. Journalisten Leyah Londo som hamnar mitt i och får kämpa inte bara för sitt liv utan också för att behålla sitt förstånd, när hon får veta mer än hon vill veta om de två ländernas problematiska förflutna och hennes mans del i det som händer omkring henne. 

Qui sine peccato est är Annika Rosendahls tredje roman. Precis som i hennes första romaner får läsaren djupa frågor att ta ställning till i en roman med högt tempo, spänning och som alltid, starka personligheter och kärlekshistorier. 

I hope this blurb makes you want to read the book as soon as possible :-). The very first possibility to do so will be at the book release on Bokens Dag in Kungälv November 16. I hope to see you there!

#MyStorytellerBrand: Not you, your persona

” The difference between you and Camilla Läckberg (a succesful Swedish author) is that she is known and you are not.”

 Jesper said and leaned back in his chair.  

We were sitting around a table at our friends' house. They were, just like we at that time, a Swedish family living in Spain for a few years. Jesper, who has worked as a creative director, knows a lot more about marketing than I do. A lot more. And still my answer was:  

“I don´t want to be known. I want my books to be known, but I do not want to promote or market  myself.” 

His reply was immediate: 

“You are not going to sell yourself. You are going to sell a persona.” 

Thanks Jesper for putting it in a way that made me understand. I am, like all of us, a complex person with a lot of different dimensions and different roles in my life. I am a mother to three fantastic boys, a loved and loving wife, a daughter, a friend and much more. And I am a storyteller.  Of course I am not going to brand or sell myself. I will only brand and clarify my Storyteller Persona.  

I will share my branding work with you in a series of blog posts, and of course, in the end you will see the result. I will display it for the first time on the book release of my third book: November 16 at Mimers Kulturhus, Kungälv (Sweden).  You will also see it online when I open my annikaslol web shop in December. Stay tuned!

Qui sine peccato est

Qui sine peccato est

Maybe you know what it means. If you don't you can most likely look it up. But I hope you will choose to figure it out by reading my coming book with the same title. The explanation will come in the 80th chapter:

“Qui sine peccato est, primam lapidem mittat.” 

Holyany såg förfärat på Leyah. Hon visste att Leyah var chockad, galen, men det här var första gången hon pratade på ett obegripligt sätt.  

”Det… det går inte att förstå vad du säger Leyah…” sa Genrik, nästan försiktigt. 

Recito förlag have started with the typesetting of my book Que sine peccato est, and my and their aim is to have it ready for the book release in November. I hope you will be there!

Book release of Que Sine Peccato Est, Annika Rosendahl's third novel,  at Bokens Dag in Mimers Kulturshus, Kungälv Nov 16. 

Next weekend I will post the blurb (yes, I know it sounds like a description of what it sounds like when a monster burps, but it is a real word) of my book. I hope you are looking forward to reading the "blurb", and later on, the book :-).

No more knocking on doors

When a reporter from TIME asked Tyler Perry what he thought about "the all white Oscars", he responded:

“I’ve never been one to knock on the door and say: Please let me in. I have always tried to make my own way. I don’t think change comes from asking people to let you in. I think change comes from becoming owners of projects, owners of studios, owners of content.”

I think there are many in show business who would like to stop knocking on doors, stop going to auditions and hear :

"Don´t call us, we´ll call you"

I also know, after having given talks to people who were looking for work and to students who try to figure out what kind of job they want to apply for, that they would also like to stop knocking on doors, stop sending application after application just to hear that they were not selected to come to an interview.

And I know that I no longer want to knock on doors and ask publishers to pretty please publish my book. Publishers who very often take a long time (we are talking months) to answer.

Essence of Taos, Mikki Senkarik

So in parallel with looking for a publisher (knocking on doors...) for my third book, I took steps to becoming more independent.

Getting professional help with the script
I decided to buy this help for my third book. I bought the service from an editor I found on the web and with his help I improved my script until I felt confident about it.

Turning the script into a book
For my third book I turned to Recito förlag regarding the work related to layout, cover, getting ISBN, printing the books, distributing the book etc.  No more waiting for answers from publishers, with Recito förlag I can start the process whenever I want.

Selling the books
In addition to the selling that Recito förlag will do, I will launch a web shop this year, where I will sell signed copies of my books. The third step to independence. :-)

I am very happy Oppenheim (the publisher of my debut novel Jenny, Jenny) and Idus (the publisher of my second novel, Ursus-dit rättvisan inte når) worked with me with my first two books. Together with them I have achieved things I could not have done without them and I have learned a lot. Maybe the most important lesson of all, was when I opened the door in my mind to the place that said:

Hey, I can actually do this!

Book number three on its way!

Many of you have asked when it will come; book number three. I have long said that it would come this year and now I have pressed the "GO" button :-).

My third script is uploaded to Recito förlag, a great reason to open up the champagne bottle my great colleagues gave me when I changed assignment just before the summer:

Hopefully you all want to know more about the book; when I will release it, what the title is, what it is all about, how the cover will look...

Keep an eye on this blog and you will find out!

Skål!

The Beauty of Art Part 4 - the answers

Oh, yes, the clue helped many of you  to answer the Beauty of Art part 4 (and 4.5) :-).

What is the name of the sculpture?

The first sculpture I posted is Le baiser (the Kiss), here displayed from another angle:

The original title was Francesca da Rimini, from Dante´s Divine Comedy. Critics suggested a name change to the kiss and the sculptor agreed. Even though it is hard to understand today, this sculpture raised some controversy since it was considered too erotic for general display. In the originial work, the male is "in an aroused condition", but in most American minitatures of the sculpture he has been censored and is of neutral gender.

The second sculpture I posted is Le Penseur, (the Thinker), here seen from behind:

Also this sculpture had another name before it was changed to the Thinker: Le Poète (the poet). And just like the kiss, this sculpture was inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy. Rodin wanted to make a heroic figure that represented intellect and poetry. 

Who is the sculptor?

Auguste Rodin, a Frenchman who is often seen as a forerunner of modern sculpture. He never set out to rebel against the past, but his work departed from traditional themes like mythology and he sculpted the human body with realism. He was critized in the beginning, something he did not like, but he still carried out with his own style. Later on he became more and more acknowledged and today he is one of few sculptors who is widely known outside the visual arts community. 

Where can this sculpture be seen?
Both sculptures have replicas all over the world, but the original works are in Musée Rodin, Paris, where I saw them.

How does this piece of art make you feel?

Sculptures in general impress me, I find it amazing that some have the ability to create all kinds of shapes out of different stones, wood or metal. The skill and patience needed is so far from myself that I get amazed. 

When it comes to Le Baiser I like that there is so much softness and such a tender moment expressed in something as hard as marble.
Le Penseur makes me stop and think, wondering what he is thinking about, he looks so lifelike even in bronze.
You have said that the Thinker makes you happy, calm and that the sculpture reminds us all about the importance of stopping to reflect, especially when the sculpture is in places that emphasize reflection and calmness, like at Waldemarsudde (Sweden).

Thanks for participating!