Announcing the Launch of Purple & Green Stone Press

Welcome to The Burning Hearth! Whether you are new to TBH or are a returning reader, I’m happy you are here.

Much has been happening in my corner of the universe lately. Happenings that have led me to launch my own imprint, Purple & Green Stone Press. (This imprint is strictly for self-publication purposes at this time. Submissions are not being accepted.)

As many people know, I didn’t have a favorable experience with the publication of Born of Water. It’s not necessary for me to get into the details, as I know there are many authors who have had a different experience with this publisher, and I wish them all well moving forward. I, however, decided I wanted to reissue my book, and so went about purchasing an ISBN to do so. In the process, I learned it’s cost effective to buy ISBNs in groups of 10. This left me with 9 ISBNs to play with.

Word to the wise: look out! Things get a little wild when I’m left to my own devices.

Brief History of How I Got Here

About 30 years ago, I thought it would be fun to create my own books. The first name that popped into my mind for this endeavor, and that has stuck ever since, was Purple & Green Stone Press. I never pursued it at the time, but I have doodles in past journals that are very similar to what my daughter, Hannah, improved upon in creating the logo above.

Why purple and green? I love amethysts and emeralds, which, for me, stand for healing and prosperity. Why stones? Anytime I hold a stone, I feel as though I’m holding history. I have stones in my house from many different landscapes and bodies of water. Therefore, the history of those earth and water places live in my house in these stones.

So that’s the history of the logo, but what is it that makes me want to create my own books? When I owned my dance studio, I held an annual recital. This process required me to: teach, choreograph, select music, set the program order, and, in my case, design costumes, as I had my own costume maker. I loved every aspect of this. The amount of creativity that I was constantly living in served as a powerful, always replenishing, fuel that sustained me.

All aspects of creating a book, from writing to revising, formatting, illustrating, and cover design, excites me. I am fortunate in that my husband is an editor and my daughter is artistic. Much like my costume maker, they complete my creative vision. And, much like the creative output of a dance recital, creating books is a powerful, always replenishing, fuel that sustains me.

What Does This All Mean?

It Means Farmer Ted’s Pumpkin Patch is now a Book!

After all these years, I have finally acted upon my long-ago desire to create and publish my own books. Part of what has taken me so long to get here is the stigma that surrounds self-publishing. But, perhaps because I’m nearing 60, I find I just don’t care about that stigma anymore. And so, I asked Hannah, who has loved Farmer Ted’s Pumpkin Patch since I first read her the story when she was 4, to join me in the book’s creation and illustrate it. This is the first of many mother/daughter collaborations to come!

I wrote Farmer Ted’s Pumpkin Patch in 1997 for my dance students. The story features Helga the Witch, a character I would assume every Halloween with my students when I led them on an imaginary journey through The Deepest Darkest Forest. Something about this story and Helga endured until I closed my studio in 2011. Because of this, it seems only appropriate to me that Farmer Ted’s Pumpkin Patch be the book that launches Purple & Green Stone Press.

Farmer Ted’s Pumpkin Patch

Written by Constance Malloy and Illustrated by Hannah Malloy

Constance reads Chapter One

Farmer Ted’s Pumpkin Patch is available just in time for Halloween. For ages 4-10, it can be ordered at Amazon here. Contact me at missconnie11@fastmail.fm, if you’re interested in ordering directly through me. Please write FTPP Order in subject line. Note, my personal copies will not be available until November 4. Not to worry, it would appear Helga transcends any and all seasons.

Coming next from Purple & Green Stone Press is a revised edition of Born of Water, followed by Book One of my fantasy series Holder of Stones.

To anyone who supports and/or spreads the word about Purple & Green Stone Press and its initial book Farmer Ted’s Pumpkin Patch, both Hannah and I thank you in advance.

Also, if you happen to live in the Milwaukee Area, you can find us at Wonderland Bookshop on Saturday October 25, at 11:00 am for a reading and signing. Rumor has it that Farmer Ted’s Great Granny Hester’s pumpkin-shaped sugar cookies with cinnamon buttercream frosting will be served.

Here’s wishing you all a wonderfully frightful Halloween!

Constance

a.k.a. Helga