Kaspa writes: A few days ago Fiona and I created the cover for her fourth novel, The Most Beautiful Thing.  We’d talked about publishing it ourselves, and this was a step in that direction – although we still weren’t sure…

On Sunday we went for a walk in the beautiful Batsford Arboretum and came up with a name for an imprint. This was another step in the self-publishing direction. We came home and registered the domain name: www.woodsmokepress.com.

Woodsmoke.Something that is beautiful in its transience. Something that is to do with the most primal act of creation – making fire. This act of creation also hints at what it is to be human. In creating fire we warm ourselves and fend off the dark – but there is a necessary act of violence at the heart of it. Woodsmoke, like the phoenix, rises from the burning deadwood.

We have talked a lot about publishing The Most Beautiful Thing ourselves. We thought of lots of pros, and a few cons. But I wonder if the real reason is that we each have a small control freak inside of us… It feels great to be involved in each stage of the creation process. We had real fun producing the cover, and I think it looks great.

I’ve read the manuscript for TMBT and it’s excellent. Possibly my favorite of all Fiona’s novels. I can’t wait for it to be read.