Good news: NPR and Spoonflower

Two nice surprises this morning:

1. My illustrated novel THE LOVER’S PATH was featured on NPR in their Three Books feature. Their theme du jour is “Three Books To Take You Back To The Renaissance.” I’m in exhalted company—the other two books are Sarah Dunant’s SACRED HEARTS and Robert Hellenga’s THE SIXTEEN PLEASURES. This is a bit ironic, since THE SIXTEEN PLEASURES was one of the novels my literary agent recommended I read for inspiration while I was writing THE LOVER’S PATH.*

An excerpt from Three Books:

Prepare to be transported to 16th century Venice from the first page. This novel is a feast — a full-color picture book for adults that tells a wrenching story of eternal love…. This beautiful fable reminded me of Erica Jong’s Serenissima, except without the explicit sex.”

2. My Venetian Masque design came in second place on Spoonflower’s Fabric of the Week contest. It’s now also available for purchase, just in time for all your Halloween needs. Thanks to all who voted for it!

* On a related note, I have a post simmering about reading lists and inspiration, specifically in regards to my now-onto-the-second-draft novel THE LILY MAID. Hopefully it will go live tomorrow in time for Creative Friday!

• Filed under retail therapy, reviews + press, the world around me | 3 Responses

We’re in Time Out New York – and Tarot Salon reminder

There’s a nice write up of my little studio-gallery in this week’s Time Out New York. It’s part of their “Great Walks/Own This City” issue — they’ve included my ‘hood Ditmas Park (aka Victorian Brooklyn). Here’s what they wrote:

Look for a small blue sign that points you to Kris Waldherr Art and Words (1501 Newkirk Ave at Marlborough Rd; 347-406-5811, artandwords.com). Waldherr—an author, illustrator and designer—turns her studio into an open gallery on Fridays (5–8pm) and Saturdays (1–5pm), when she also hosts tarot salons, publishing workshops and art-themed activities for kids (suggested donation $5). Passersby are welcome to stop in during open gallery hours and peruse Waldherr’s book art and photography exhibits free of charge. While the focus here is on literature and illustration, Waldherr boasts some techie cred, too: Ask her about Goddess Tarot, the application she developed for the iPhone.”

Read the rest of the article here. I’m pleased that they included many places that I frequent myself — from the Castello Plan to Vox Pop, my favorite coffeehouse. Who knows, maybe I’ll see you there one day myself.
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Speaking of tarot salons, tomorrow is the last Friday of the month*, which means it’s tarot salon time! This month,  I’ll be joined by tarot reading/Body Love Wellness founder Golda Poretsky and Fusion Spa’s Fran Dunston (the best masseuse ever). Here’s the deets:

Friday, April 30, 7 – 9:30 pm
TAROT SALON – SPRING EDITION
Free admission and refreshments.

1501 Newkirk Avenue (entrance on Marlborough Road)
Brooklyn, NY 11226 | 347-406-5811
Subway: Q or B to Newkirk Avenue; gallery is around the corner from station.
Street parking is available.

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Final notice: The DAUGHTERS OF THE WITCHING HILL giveaway continues! Today is the last chance to enter since the giveaway ends at midnight. To enter, all you need to do is comment here. There’s also a wonderful interview by author Mary Sharratt about her creation of the novel.

*Not sure if we’ll be having a tarot salon in May because of the holiday weekend that month. If so, we’ll be returning on the last Friday of the month in June. Promise.

• Filed under art and words, events, giveaways and raffles, reviews + press, studio and gallery, tarot and oracles | No Comments

Goddess Tarot app review

Thanks to Willa, who blogs at Beautiful iPhone Apps, for her lovely (and timely) review of the updated Goddess Tarot iPhone app:

“I have Kris Waldherr’s “Goddess Tarot” cards, so I was excited when she came out with an iPhone app. The original app was great, but one thing I would have liked to have was a journal to keep track of notes and thoughts on readings. With a recent update, a journal has been added, so the app is, in my opinion, pretty much perfect. And also beautiful!”

“Pretty much perfect” is high praise indeed.

Haven’t downloaded the app yet? You can here.

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The above illustration is of Isis, who is featured in The Goddess Tarot on the Magic (The Magician) card.

• Filed under goddesses, iPhone apps, reviews + press | 3 Responses

Stuff I like: Audrey Niffenegger’s HER FEARFUL SYMMETRY

My daughter Thea has a useful expression for describing when she rides her bike. She says, “I was going so fast the world was blurry.” That’s a bit how I felt this past week. Between finalizing the files for two card decks (Ask the Queens advice cards and Doomed Queens playing cards), preparing for the October 2nd launch of the Love Tarot app (yay!), and finalizing upcoming publishing workshops, the world was indeed “blurry”.

Regardless, today is the official publication date for Audrey Niffenegger’s new novel, Her Fearful Symmetry, which is cause for celebration. I’m a huge fan of The Time Traveler’s Wife as well as of Niffenegger’s illustrated novels. (Full disclosure: We shared the same editor at Abrams.) I greatly admire her ability to bridge the worlds of art and words with such artistry and integrity. So you can imagine how excited I was when I read that Scribner had acquired her new novel earlier this year in a very significant publishing deal. I was even more excited to score an advance copy of it from a Twitter friend. (Thanks, Melissa!)

I was up to 2:30 in the morning devouring Her Fearful Symmetry—it’s that enthralling a page-turner. Though it’s been about two weeks since I finished, I’m still processing my thoughts about it. It’s lingered with me, which is my mark of a good book.

First off, set aside any preconceptions or expectations you may have about Her Fearful Symmetry. It’s decidedly not The Time Traveler’s Wife, though both books share the theme of The Things People Do For Love knitted throughout, as well as a subtle mordant humor. It’s also written in third person, instead of the alternating first person narrative of TTW. For that alone, kudos to Niffenegger for not resting on her laurels to craft a TTW-romance redux.

Short version: Her Fearful Symmetry is an exquisitely written ghost story. The book’s premise is not dissimilar to one offered by a horror film: To claim an inheritance, Julia and Valentina, a set of abnormally attached identical twin sisters, must live for a year in a fabulous London apartment bequeathed to them by an aunt they’ve never met. The apartment is set next to Highgate Cemetery, the final resting place of many Victorian-era luminaries, including Karl Marx and Elizabeth Siddal Rossetti. The cemetery permeates the novel with an intense sense of place. (To research HFS, the author became a tour guide there; her deep knowledge infuses the novel.) Soon after the twins take possession of the apartment they learn that auntie may not have passed over to the other side. Paranormal shenanigans ensue.

Her Fearful Symmetry is far darker and more complicated and twisty than The Time Traveler’s Wife. The main characters are not what they seem and do stunningly selfish and cruel things; regardless, you find yourself seduced by them and ultimately caring about their fates. The ending is not tidy and requires a serious suspension of disbelief—I still have not decided what final outcome Niffenegger insinuated for one of her characters— though it is strangely uplifting. No spoilers here, but the concluding scene has a poetic justice/beauty about it that moved me deeply.

And yes, I cried at the end, though not the huge gulping sobs that TTW induced in me.

I hope you’ll also read Her Fearful Symmetry. I’d be interested to hear what others think of it since I suspect this is going to be a divisive book that some will adore, others may not. I loved it. It’s especially perfect for this time of year, as we gear up to the night when the “veils between the worlds are thin.”

If you do read, watch out for the Little Kitten of Death. Yup, it’s that kind of book.

• Filed under be-mused, reviews + press, stuff I like, the world around me | 7 Responses

Goddess Tarot app blog tour – the finale!

Last week, the final three stops on The Goddess Tarot app went live:

~ On Joanna Powell Colbert’s beautiful Gaian Tarot blog, I was interviewed about translating the Goddess Tarot into the digital age. Read it here.

~ Tarotist Beth Owl’s Daughter asked me to write a post about The Artist’s Way and goddesses which garnered some interesting comments. Read it here.

~ Finally, fellow Brooklynite, tarotist, and author Elizabeth Genco (aka the Marketing Goddess) interviewed me about the business end of making art. Read it here.

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Just reading over this list makes me realize how ridiculously and dizzyingly busy August was. Besides launching The Goddess Tarot app, I’ve also been traveling, working, dealing with home renovations, sold several decks, and even held a tarot salon. No wonder I’ve been quiet here on this blog!

But now it’s September, and you might be wondering what this new month holds for me. While work isn’t slowing down for me, it is easing up in terms of must-get-this-down-now-or-else pressure — always a welcome development. So I plan to be back to a more consistent posting schedule on this blog.

I also have two wonderful blog guests scheduled for September, to make up for skipping August’s. Lisa Hunt will be interviewed by me about her newest publication, The Fairy Tale Tarot. I have a copy here and it’s a real beauty! Urban shaman Mama Donna Henes will also be stopping by to discuss her inspiring book, The Queen of My Self.

As for my own creative efforts, I’m back to revising my long-aborning New Book and finalizing the Doomed Queens-themed card decks for publication. Plus there are new iPhone apps in the works, including one featuring the Lover’s Path Tarot.

Info on these — and more! — to come soon.

• Filed under friends and colleagues, goddesses, reviews + press, tarot and oracles | No Comments