Ratha Returns with New "Courage", Part 1
by Clare Bell
Ratha, the fire-wielding leader of the Named prehistoric cat clan, has, according to the recent VOYA review of the new Ratha's Courage, “a long and venerable history”. From the now-classic hardcover Ratha's Creature (Atheneum/Margaret K. McElderry/1983) through Clan Ground, Ratha and Thistle-chaser, to Ratha's Challenge, Ratha's prehistoric Miocene world fascinated readers. Now, thirteen years later, comes Ratha's Courage. Why has there been such a long gap after Challenge and why at last did I return to the series?
When Ratha sprang into print in 1983, she captured the 1984 IRA Children's Choice and jumped onto recommended teen book lists. CBS Storybreak adapted the book for a 1987 animated episode (see clips on MySpace TV and YouTube). After such an entrance, the series should have been commercially successful, but it wasn't for various reasons.
I mourned, and turned instead to my other love, electric vehicles. I became an EV journalist/editor for the Electric Auto Association, and later an
electric vehicle engineer.
In 2003 a call came from acclaimed Firebird Books editor Sharyn November. Sharyn interacts via Internet with teen readers and her young advisors suggested re-issuing my Ratha series. Would I write another book in order to pull the series back into print? Could Ratha, perhaps grown creaky from a 13 year sleep, handle another adventure? The answer came back in a Ratha-growl. Yes, of course!
Stay tuned for more!
CB
posted by rathacat @ 11:48 AM
2 Comments:
Rathacat,
The story of how you lost Ratha made me so terribly sad. I am among those readers who never lost hope. I'm glad that the internet made you see the hearts you touched and the inspiration you gave birth to, we were out there waiting for you. I discovered your books in the school library in the early 90s, just as they started to disappear from bookstore shelves and then I spent the next 10 years looking for my own copies. With ebay and amazon, I found those I was not able to scrounge out of used book stores. Even with those 1st edition books (one with your signature) I still purchased all of the re-prints and just finished Ratha's Courage. Thank you for finding your own courage and breathing life into these books again. I will cherish them for the rest of my life and will return to the series again to read it when I need the comfort of an old friend. I’ve followed your blog thanks to amazon.com so I know how hard you have struggled to bring this to print. Don’t lose hope, your fans are behind you, and I, for one, would enjoy reading the 6th book of the named.
Greatful to your endeavor,
Shadow9cat
I saw your post on librarything about your blog, and will have to read your series. I love my cats, one of whom is a bit of a warrior queen.
Your cover art is outstanding. I also blog and have a book with its own blog (scrapbookofchristmasfirsts.blogspot.com
Terra
Post a Comment
<< Home