Copper Magic

THE BOOK: COPPER MAGIC.

PUBLISHED IN: 2014.

THE AUTHOR:  Julia Mary Gibson.

THE EDITOR: The insightful Susan Chang.

THE PUBLISHER:  Starscape/Tor/Macmillan.

SUMMARY: In 1906, twelve-year-old Violet Blake unearths an ancient talisman – a hand of copper.  Violet is certain that the hand is magic – and if anyone is in need of magic, it’s Violet.  Her mother and adored baby brother are gone, perhaps never to return.  Her heartbroken father can’t seem to sustain the failing farm on the outskirts of Pigeon Harbor in the northern lake country.  Violet, believing that the copper hand has power, wishes on it.  Surely the magic of the copper hand can make things right for Violet and restore her fractured family.  Violet’s ignorance and carelessness unleash formidable powers that jeopardize not only herself, but the entire town of Pigeon Harbor as well.

The present is imbued with the past.  Land and waters are alive with memories, intentions, and impulses.  Magic alters Violet and brings her gifts – but not always the ones she thinks she needs.

THE BACK STORY: The woods, lakes, and rivers of northern Michigan felt magical to me when I was growing up.  Sunbeams dancing on the ferns.  Phosphorescent rotting wood.  Clear water of many hues.  Northern lights.  Fairies surely lived beneath the columbine.  When I was eleven, my friends and I found human bones in a sand dune by the lake.  The bones were centuries old and belonged to Native people.  Remembering this as an adult, I felt guilty that my white relatives kept the bones and displayed them.  COPPER MAGIC evolved out of wanting to reconcile with the bones somehow, and with the land that had been stolen and colonized and also fertilized me.

Pigeon Harbor and its surroundings are fictional versions of the real harbor town near the sandy bluff where we found the bones.  I wanted a deprived and lonely girl protagonist, someone who could use a little magic in her life.  I wanted her to find something that she believes has power.  Copper is a conductor, a preservative, and an agent of healing.  Copper was mined in the Lake Superior basin thousands of years ago and fashioned into exquisite sacred art.  The story took many years to coalesce.  I struggled with how murky it should be.  I had to get rid of a character I was crazy about.  There were centuries of back story, some of it ancient, some of it mine.

WHY THIS TITLE?: The working title was THE COPPER HAND for the many years it took for me to finish the book and find a publisher.  The publisher wanted a title that emphasized magic in order to target a middle-grade readership.

WHY WOULD SOMEONE WANT TO READ IT? The characters, except maybe the bad rich guy, are not all good and not all bad.  Same with the setting, which is lovely to the eye and bloody in its roots.  The early twentieth century was a time of upheaval in the United States.  The upper midwest was already overlogged, overfished, and choking with sawdust.  The children of the relocated Anishinaabeg were forced into residential schools.  Sundown towns were legal.  This is the backdrop for a lonely, angry kid who needs to believe that magic is real and that it can help her if only she can work it right.

I wrote the story for the ten-year-old girl I used to be – a climber of trees, a believer in dryads, a devourer of fantasy and folk tales.  I’ve been surprised to hear from readers of all ages and genders, who appreciate the language, the layered world, and the surprises.  They feel for Violet and admire the outspoken photographer Miss Nadia.  The mood of the story is like the weather in the north woods.  Storms sweep in and away.  Sunlight busts through the cloud cover.  Branches have been blown down, but wounded trees still thrive.

 REVIEW COMMENTS:

“An impressive debut that’s both historical fiction and enchanted realism … The magic of the hand is presented in such a way that readers have the option of believing in it or not—it’s always a pleasure when an author trusts her readers to come to their own conclusions. Gibson examines race, ethnicity, class and tragedy without didacticism or oversimplification, and while all of the characters are well-crafted, the imperfect protagonist is particularly refreshing. Furthermore, Violet’s poor choices have real-world consequences, and those negatively affected are not blissfully forgiving but instead help Violet feel the depth of her transgressions.  Fresh, subtle, daring: well done indeed.” – Kirkus Review (starred review).

“A great story, wonderful characters and a delightfully drawn tale … I was transported to a different time.  It was elegant, yet sassy and funny and charming and heartbreaking and breathtaking and timeless……and simply magical.  Copper Magic is one I will read again and again.” – Cowgirl Caitie.

“Copper Magic is a book that is filled with earth and water, justice, ancient traditions, the wind and the sky, the power of women, and, of course, magic … Copper Magic contains the kind of poetry that makes you see the world differently in a great shift from darkness to hope.” – Christina Zawadiwsky.

AUTHOR PROFILE: My parents were bohemian radicals who loved opera, James Baldwin, poetry, art.  I came of age in the 1960s, when art and social justice were braided together in daily life.  Everyone made art, but mostly it wasn’t for sale.  Art was for the people, not profit.  I wrote poems and stories when I was a child and into adulthood, but I didn’t take up writing as a vocation until middle age.  Before I made that commitment, I worked in the motion picture visual effects field for many years as a technician, animator, and visual effects producer.  In the movie business I learned much about storytelling, group dynamics, human nature, flexibility, persistence, and work ethic – all of which came in handy when I decided to devote myself to writing.  I work in several genres, including short and novel-length fiction, graphic novel, screenplay, and personal essay.  I recently won the Barry Lopez Nonfiction Prize for a piece about my intense relationship with John Lennon, who I never met in real life.

AUTHOR COMMENTS: Some of the themes in COPPER MAGIC are racism, ecological and cultural devastation, and spiritual hunger.  Most of what I write touches on these themes.  I’m fascinated with coyotes, the ultimate survivors, who thrive despite attempts by humans to eradicate them.  When I visit schools and libraries, I like to talk with kids about their relationship to nature and how they plan to make the world better.  When does hope turn into complacency?  How do we honor magic without relying on it?

SAMPLE CHAPTER:

There’s a nice number of pages available to read here: www.amazon.com/Copper-Magic-Julia-Mary-Gibson/dp/0765332116/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=copper+magic+gibson&qid=1559251875&s=gateway&sr=8-1

LOCAL OUTLETS: An independent bookstore can order it, but (see below):

 WHERE ELSE TO BUY IT: Amazon’s the best bet.  The book’s almost out of print, though a new edition is in the planning stage.

PRICE:  Almost nothing!  Two bucks!  Unless you want a used first edition, which is a bit more.  The audiobook is free with an Audible subscription.  Totally worth it!  Narrated by the versatile Sandy Rustin: sandyrustin.com.  She did a lovely job.

CONTACT THE AUTHOR: I love to hear from readers and writers of all ages.  Email me!  juliamarygibson@gmail.com.