Using Canva to create my book trailers

I had worked with the brilliant tool Canva since 2017, albeit in a professional setting where I was more a passive recipient of mockups lovingly realised by UX designers at my workplace.

After releasing The Secret of Chantilly in late November, then participating in the book’s promotion activities in December and surviving all the Christmas cooking, I decided I needed a purely visual and auditory project. I took on playing with Canva and was pleasantly surprised. What began as social media posters (that I deleted) and fun food menus themed around Christmas and High Tea, soon led to a joyful passion for book trailers. 

I completed two book trailers in late January after upgrading to Canva Pro. One for Calista and one for The Ming Storytellers. I also had loads of fun with a Secret of Chantilly promo to coincide with Talleyrand’s birthday. I’ll eventually work on a trailer for my other books. 

My favorite part of the process was choosing imagery that evoked themes and symbols in my stories — a very rewarding semiotic exercise —  then applying various royalty free sound pieces to set the mood. I also had to avoid modern imagery as my novels are set in the past, and choose video content over photos where possible to avoid that “presentation slide” feel which is not what I wanted.  For the sound in the Calista trailer, I added thunderstorm, ocean and cricket effects and had fun with jarring and downright spooky horror pieces. The addition of sound made me realise just how crucial to the emotional effect sound mixing is and my respect for that discipline of filmmaking has increased like never before. The result is an unsettling little video that captures the contrast in Calista’s life before and after moving to England and creates intrigue. It won’t win an Oscar but I’m very happy. :)

For the Chantilly promo video, my aim was not to convey what the book is about but rather to showcase the essence of my characters : nimble, hardworking chef Carême affairing himself in the Château de Valençay kitchen, and his tasteful and regal master, Talleyrand. All the Valençay photos are my own, taken during a trip to Indre in July 2020 while I was editing the French version of the novel. I also used music that would have been familiar to Talleyrand in his time, so the first piece for example which accompanies Carême’s cooking, is by Mozart, and it worked wonders when I adjusted the pace of the imagery and used lots of dynamics like confetti, butterfly wings, and hand gestures. The cartoonish imagery is befitting because the novel possesses  a fairytale like quality, and these childish finishes also add an element of fun to what is, after all, a birthday celebration video. 

Giveaway ! 📚
How about a trip to the @ChateauValencay for #Talleyrand’s birthday? 🥳 I hear French chef Antonin Carême is cooking up a storm.

If you enjoy foodie historical fiction with heart, The Secret of Chantilly is currently free on Kindle. 🎁♥️ https://t.co/tpWhJXVGTb pic.twitter.com/7zHDcNDAax

— Laura Rahme (@Laura_Rahme) February 1, 2022

The Ming Storytellers book trailer is my greatest joy. It has by far the prettiest music, a melody that wonderfully tugs at the heartstrings while spelling mystery and awe. I remember sighing wishfully years ago, telling myself that I needed a book trailer for my epic story, but I never had the time nor the resources for it, and now, ten years after its release, it finally has one! Thank you Canva!  

Calista - my new novel

I am pleased to announce the publication of my Victorian gothic novel, CALISTA, to be released on 25 May 2021. This book combines two long-held obsessions of mine.  Alas, I am sworn to secrecy and it is unfortunate that I cannot share anything of the plot beyond this. 

Despite my lifelong fixation on certain themes, I had not planned on writing this book at all. The idea took shape after a trip to Greece last year, after which I had little choice but to set aside other projects and craft this story. 

Calista is a horror mystery set in both England and Greece. The plot, spanning the years 1835 to 1848 mostly takes place in Alexandra Hall, an isolated mansion in Berkshire. French Inspector, Maurice Leroux, must solve a series of curious deaths not knowing that what he will find will change him forever. 

I can't wait to share this story with you! 

I want to take this opportunity to extend my heartful thanks to graphic designer, Ross Robinson, for Calista's gorgeous book cover.  Ross is based in Queensland, Australia but has worked in Sydney and the UK in the past. His work is exceptional. I've worked with Ross in the past when creating the cover for my novel, Julien's Terror.  Each time, he really understood what I wanted and went above and beyond.  

This book cover for Calista combines all the elements I had in mind and executes it in such a beautiful way.  I long to hold this book in my hands. 

Review: All the Murmuring Bones by Angela Slatter

When I learned that multi-award-winning author, Angela Slatter, had penned a mermaid fantasy novel, I knew it would be a gripping read. Even with its cover and title, All the Murmuring Bones evoked the gothic and spawned dark visions of an ocean underworld.  I was also curious about the secret pact between the O'Malley family and the merfolk: safety for their merchant ships in return for a child of each generation. A plot that promised danger, magic, sacrifice and likely, evil deeds.  All the Murmuring Bones delivered all this and more. I've not read a story that so artfully depicts sea-folk as ghoulish sinister forces. As it turned out, this young adult novel comes with more than one mystery to unearth and it's a well-paced fantasy adventure along the way to answers.

Miren, the descendant of a long line of O'Malleys whose fortune has fallen into ruin despite a prosperous past, was abandoned as a child by her mother and raised by her grandparents. Upon her grandfather's death, she inherits the decrepit castle at Hob's Hallow. We get a sense quite early that Miren is curious, feisty and thinks for herself. That latter trait will come in handy when her destitute grandmother has in mind that Miren will wed her wealthy cousin, Aidan Fitzpatrick. Grandmother thinks there's much profit to be made from this scheme. Not so innocent Miren watches herself get pampered and gifted with numerous frocks, along with a magical quilt that will have disastrous effects. This passage of the novel is effective at giving us Miren's point of view as a conflicted young woman who sees her world collapsing and is confronted with choices. I personally enjoyed all those dress descriptions even if they came with a dangerous deal. For Miren can't shake the fact that there's a strong sense of menace in marrying the devious Aidan Fitzpatrick. That, along with her burning desire to find her mysterious mother, Isolde, will see her flee from the family home and set off on an adventure.

Along the way, merfolk, witches, rusalki, corpsewights— this novel has its share of bone-chilling encounters. After all, this is a world where witches are not burnt and where the Queen of Thieves, a cunning business woman, rules them all. I thoroughly enjoyed the horror aspects of this novel. Earlier, the creepy scene at the port's Weeping Gate where Miren is attacked underwater by mermaids and learns that she is cursed with her family's debt, sets the pace for what is to come. Then as Miren journeys to find her mother, one memorable tense scene sees her strike a bargain with three revenants. The courageous Miren must solve their riddle or else suffer what may.

                             

But horror has no need of fantasy to inject fear, and one of the darkest sections in this deliciously gothic story borrows from traditional themes— secret identity, crime, hidden rooms and family lies. Once Miren arrives in the mining village of Blackwater, there's more than one eerie passage, and Angela Slatter is adept at creating an atmosphere of the uncanny while building up the tension. Miren will discover the stunning truth about her mother but before that, she'll need to apply her clever wits to untangle the mysteries at Blackwater.

 

One of the strengths of this novel is Angela Slatter's masterfully crafted lyrical voice. It really is beautiful. Right from the first chapter, the spellbinding prose creates a sense of place that transports. Throughout the book, as Miren reflects on her family's secret history, the author artfully weaves in short fantasy fables where witches and merfolks come alive through her skilled narration. There's never a feeling, though, that the plot is scattered, and these short tales serve as hints to solving the main mystery. 

The theme of family stood out for me. All the Murmuring Bones suggests that family is not always kind, and often family members cannot be trusted or at least they require us to keep a sceptical eye. It is a refreshing and daring message. It also carries lessons about how we choose to treat one another despite our past. While in the story, a supernatural curse is passed on within the family over many generations, in the real world, there are curses of another nature that families tend to pass to one another...betrayal, hurt, or even abandonment. With this in mind, I held on to Miren’s insight:

"Some folk make a point of not visiting pain on others when it's done to them; most people though, think it's their due to inflict a little of their own agony."

Miren does learn from this lesson in the way she comes to treat others. Meanwhile there's also plenty we can learn from her non-materialistic decisions at the end of the story.

I highly recommend All the Murmuring Bones for its deep levels and its gripping, entertaining story. I believe it is likely to please adults as well. 

A huge thank you to Titan Books for sending me a review copy of this novel.

 

All the Murmuring Bones by Angela Slatter is out on 9 March, 2021.