December 21, 2005
Book fantasy comes true
H.S. Ramsby creates 'Neverlore' world with area illustrator
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Move over J.R.R., J.K., and C.S. - H.S. Ramsby is ready to climb the fantasy action adventure charts with his book "Neverlore."
The author also known as Henry Ramsby has a day job as a builder/developer but, with the publication of his first novel earlier this month, is already outlining a second and has plans for a third. Writing much of the 352-page book while his teenage son was a baby, the manuscript gathered rejection slips and then dust for 14 years. During the early 1990s, there was little interest in the genre for juveniles.
Fast forward a decade and it's a different story. Harry Potter books are a publishing sensation while Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy and Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series are in the midst of a revival. All three adventure series have also gained wide audiences over the past few years thanks to highly successful movies.
Ramsby figured it was high time he weighed in with his concept, which evolved years ago from his initial vision of a children's book into a full-blown novel. In "Neverlore," Jamie, 12, is a paraplegic confined to a wheelchair after he fell out of a tree when he was seven. Flying a kite one day, the string breaks and he follows the drifting kite into a woods. There, he finds a magic tree that has been struck by lightening, goes through it and enters another world.
"All of a sudden he can walk again and he's overjoyed," said Ramsby, who self published the book and is now negotiating with an agent. "He's been stifled for the past five years by his wheelchair and now he can go on this great adventure: trying to save Neverlore from the evil intention of a powerful warlock."
The book ends with a triumphant Jamie confronting a difficult choice: stay in Neverlore and walk or return home to his wheelchair.
"There's a huge moral to the story but it's very subtle and doesn't hit you in the face," said Ramsby. "It falls somewhere between Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings and there's some pretty awe-inspiring scenes in the book."
Jackie Valerio of Cadillac brings Jamie and the other characters vividly to life. An experienced, self-taught artist, Valerio has won multiple first and second place awards in the National Cherry Festival's commemorative print competition.
Prior to entering her first competition in 1997, where she garnered second place, Valerio had never entered or displayed her art in any venue. For years, she had painted as a hobby while a homemaker raising her two sons. She was extremely skeptical of her chances in the event and entered only after being goaded to by family and friends.
"My best friend took me down and I cried all the way home because everything was so different than mine," recalled Valerio of her trip to Traverse City with her first entry. "I thought, 'Oh, I just made a fool of myself!'¡"
From that halting but encouraging start, she launched a career as an artist that includes extensive commission work, children's books, four National Cherry Festival Prints and now as illustrator of "Neverlore."
In fact, Valerio and Ramsby connected thanks to the 2004 festival. She again took first place for the commemorative print and, while riding in the Cherry Royale Parade, Ramsby ran out to the car and gave her a card. Ramsby had read her bio and seen her work in the Cherry Festival program, but could not find a way to contact her. While at a party with friends enjoying the parade along the route, he also kept an eye out for Valerio.
"He said, 'I've been trying to find you, call me,'¡" she said of the unorthodox introduction.
She did, they met the next week and connected artistically. She brought sketches of some characters that immediately appealed to Ramsby.
"It was actually a relief to work with Jackie because I had focused so much on the writing and hadn't given too much thought on the illustration," said Ramsby, who is working on a prequel and sequel to the novel.
"She came out of the blue and put a physical presence to the characters," he added. "She's a very artistic person and it amazes me how much she put herself into the book."