Leaping Hart Press

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.

 

 

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.  

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.