Leaping Hart Press

Welcome to the home of Leaping Hart Press, an independently owned small press. Over the next six to eight months, we will begin publishing in new editions, both in paperback and ebook versions, of author Midori Snyder's currently out of print back-list. This includes Soulstring, Hannah's Garden, The Flight of Michael McBride, the three novels of the Oran Trilogy--New Moon, Sadar's Keep, and Beldan's Fire, and the award-winning novel, The Innamorati, a rollicking tale of food, sex, magic and the Commedia, set in 16th century Tuscany.

 

 

Hannah's Garden Available in Kindle Edition

I am delighted to announce that Hannah's Garden is now available in Amazon Kindle edition for $5.99. It has been quite a learning journey for this editor, but I am very pleased with the outcome. How stunning is that terrific book cover from artist Jennifer Bruce. Click the image to return to Amazon Kindle. 

 

Hannah's Garden About to Enter Digital Age

I am very excited to announce that after a great deal of work (which was preceded by a great deal of work on my part to first learn the entire process of creating books and then actually getting them out for the world to see) Hannah's Garden is scheduled to be published in a Kindle edition with a gorgeous new cover (created by artist Jennifer Bruce) in the next week or so. After so many months (and a few unexpected train wrecks like my triple-by-pass surgery) I am hopeful that I will be able to bring out a new book at least every month, along with articles and short stories. Many thanks to those who who offered so much support on this journey.

 

 

The Long Hard Winter and the Promise of Spring.

When I started Leaping Hart Press, I had such high hopes for a slow but deliberate march towards getting the books all re-edited, copy-edited and published. I still have those hopes, but fate had a few stumbling blocks for me and the press. The first, I had an unexpected triple-bi pass surgery that knocked me down pretty hard. The recovery takes a full year, to stitch the sternum back together, get my ribs where they used to be, deal with a laundry list of drugs that while keeping one alive, also make you woozy and miserable. But each day gets better...slowly. So I beg your patience a little while longer. The books are being worked on -- by a terrific copy editor and proof reader -- an author's dream-- who cares a great deal about the work she does, helping authors write their best works. Send me an email and I will happily forward her information to you. 

In the meantime, let us turn toward a new year, that while it still presents challenges, we are hardy enough to continue making craft and art and wonderful books. 

All Best, 

Midori

Reorganizing Priorities: What to Publish After Hannah's Garden

I have been going back and forth, trying to decide which of my out of print novels to reissue after Hannah's Garden. The stand-alone novels seem easier, cleaner, less complicated, and were at least well edited. But how wondrous and strange it is that the Oran Trilogy, that three-volume sprawling series, barely edited, continues to be the most asked for in my list. So be it.

With the help of a terrific editor and copy editor, I will spend the summer months re-reading and editing the original manuscripts. My greatest hope is that my readers will not notice the changes but rather sense the more cohesive narrative of the edited versions. It will be something of a journey backward for me, as it has been many years since I read the entire series.

I am looking forward to it, not just as an author, but as a reader, experiencing it for the first time.

PS: Time to redo the covers too! 

Current Novel on the Schedule: The Flight of Michael McBride

As the work on Hannah's Garden is getting finalized this month for release in April, 2022, we have also begun the work of re-issuing The Flight of Michael Michael, set in the late 1870s; an unusual pairing of Irish fantasy and and the iconic American cattle ride. What better way for a not yet hero to undergo a rite of passage? Here's an excerpt from the novel, where Michael discovers that he sees more things in the world than an ordinary man...terrifying creatures hunting him for reasons he doesn't understand....

"...There was no carriage standing before him, but as he turned to look behind him, Michael tensed. There, waiting on a black horse, was the man in the red cap. Only now Michael saw it wasn’t a cap, but long red hair slicked down close to the sides of the man’s narrow face. Surrounding the man were other mounted horsemen spread across the street, their spears and axes held upright. On the pommels of their saddles were skulls tied together, festooned with red and green ribbons and the glint of twirling gold coins. In the shadows of the building, the horsemen’s faces were a deep mottled brown, their bodies thick and strong like carved oak. But in the open street, the sunlight drenched the armor and the warriors shone transparent as a sheet of gold rain. They were attended by wraiths whose pale gray faces wore masks of misery and who stared at Michael out of haunted eyes. Hands soft as dust clung to the bridles and held the mounts steady. Shadowed substance and shining light, they appeared to Michael at once solid and threatening as a closing storm and as vaporous as a misty dream. The man with the long red hair nodded at Michael.

Red Cap. That’s what the tiny stick creatures had called him. And Michael recognized him at once. The man was hunting him, and this time he’d brought an army.

A crow cawed loudly overhead and the horsemen shifted in their saddles, their eyes trained upward toward the sound. Out of the blue sky, a huge black crow flapped wide her wings, driving a black shadow over the street beneath her gliding body. The horsemen stirred, clutching the reigns as their mounts became restive. The wraiths bowed their heads into the deep valleys of their bony shoulders. Red Cap broke away from the line of waiting horsemen to confront the crow. He pulled his long bow from a case in his saddle and knocked a long arrow of yew, its red fletch a streak of blood.

Hannah's Garden Re-Release October, 2022

I am happy to announce that Hannah's Garden is set to be re-released August, 17, 2022. It will appear in a new kindle edition. And hopefully, after that LHP is looking to release an audio version. Here are some of the excellent reviews of Hannah's Garden.

“A mystical spiral garden that is also a gateway to another world blooms at the center of Snyder's tightly woven fantasy, a potent blend of faery and family conflicts…Thanks to Snyder's gift for description, readers may feel as if they can hear the music or smell the fragrance of the garden's rare woodland species; the audience will be hooked.” Publisher’s Weekly

“Like the tales Cassie remembers her mother telling, this is “filled with wonderment and botany,” as well as music, deep relationships between generations, and complex, evocative magic-working.” Kirkus Reviews

“Inventive, beautifully written…Snyder’s use of language is especially poetic in describing nature, including the farm’s flora and fauna and the magical creatures of the Green Clan…a satisfying mix of real life problems and lovingly described magic.” School Library Journal

“Compelling…This has a power and depth that makes it good for contemporary fantasy of all ages. Loc

Excerpt from Hannah's Garden: The Fiddler Plays a Tune

Here is a short excerpt from "Hannah's Garden" to give you a glimpse into the story of a teenage girl, family secrets, and a world full of myth and mysteries. Stop a moment to visit the pub where traditional musicians gather to play tunes and are captivated by the tune from a single fiddler. 

 

 

"...The fiddler caught my glance and smiled. He took up his unusual fiddle and began to play a waltz. The sad, sweet sound of his fiddle lifted slowly and caught the ear of the other musicians crowded at the table drinking beer. They stopped talking, and like ripples radiating out from the table, people throughout the bar gradually became silent, almost entranced, as the melancholy tune soared. The two bartenders, momentarily relieved of customers, leaned back against the counter, arms crossed over their chests as they listened.

"I didn't know the tune, but I could have sworn the tune knew me. It called out to me, dug under my skin until I was sure I could have picked up my own violin and followed along without effort. It was a distant memory; there, just on the edge of my thoughts, almost out of reach, like trying to remember the taste of something sweet. Did it come from up north? Had Poppie hummed the tune while he worked at his easel and I played with my dolls in the studio? As I listened, drawn into the liquid sound, the notes splashed colors across the dingy walls of the bar until they were the deep green of pine trees and long grass. Gold, the color of sunlit wheat stacks and marsh marigolds, gilded the backs and shoulders of the listeners. The dark, murky corners of the ceiling brightened into an open blue sky and the long wooden bar was stained red as the clay on the stream banks, red as the painted clapboard walls of Poppie's farmhouse. I looked down at my violin resting on my lap, and was filled a wave of long­ing. I could smell the fields behind Poppie's house and the faint perfume of the garden. And I knew, as surely I knew my own name that the fiddler played a tune about coming home."

Text of Hannah's Garden © 2002 Midori Snyder.

 

On This All Saints and All Souls

It seems the right day to read this story again. Jack Straw was one of those rare stories that appears instantly and somehow hardwired in the brain. I wrote it all at once, and it was very satisfying. Hope you enjoy it.