June 2023’s newsletter main feature, “Mood boards.”
Hello, friend!
I thought I might share with you some of the mood boards I’ve put together for my upcoming book, Fledged in Storms.
These mood boards are all available on my Twitter profile [https://twitter.com/Labrecqueauthor] and will be uploaded to my Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/slabrecque_author/], but as a special treat, you can find my comments on each mood board in this email.
I hope you enjoy!
The First Mood Board
Together
This word is repeated between the main characters– Karoku and Julian– two best friends who believe they can do anything so long as they’re together. I represent their friendship in this mood board by the two clasped hands and the picture of playing children. Yet, will they always be together, or will life lead them down different paths? You can see this question represented by the diverging road.
If you read my commentary on the Fledged in Storms playlist, [available here: https://slabrecqueauthor.com/2023/05/26/fledged-in-storms-pl…] you’ll know the song “Two Birds on a Wire” by Regina Spektor was a huge inspiration for this book. I paid homage to the song that started it all by including its logo in my mood board, which is the two birds in the upper-right corner.
Beneath the birds, the spell book represents an important reoccurring character: the wizard Nanti who always brings change whenever she visits their village.
Last but not least, the red eyes interposed on the dark forest at the bottom is an ominous contrast to the pleasant pictures above. This represents the monstrous threat that lurks behind the scenes at the happy village of Rittaun.
The Second Mood Board
As I became more accustomed to making mood boards with canva, I explored with different formats.
I chose a collage format for my second mood board to give the feel like we are seeing Karoku’s and Julian’s own scrapbook.
We see the two birds logo is repeated from the first mood board. I wanted to include it somewhere in each board I created. (You’ll find it in the third mood board too!)
The red eye once again hints at the lurking danger around Rittaun. Similarly, the background of the dark and misty woods gives an ominous backdrop to the cheerful images of the circus and peaceful village.
And lastly, Nanti gets another shout out with the purple spell book!
The Third Mood Board
Friendship and family are central themes in my story, which is reflected by this mood board’s heart-shaped layout.
The layout lets me use more pictures than the previous two. I included themes that appeared in one of the previous two mood boards (the clasped hands, the circus, etc), as well as the themes that repeat in all three (dark forests, the two birds, the wizard). And I had space for new images, such as the wagon, the bow and arrows, and the stormy night. What do these represent? You’ll have to wait for the book to find out!
The charms I scattered around the photos are a smaller homages to important events. I tried to match them with the images they’re related to; for example, the juggling balls go with the circus, and the book goes with the wizard. The red eyes, of course, are matched with the dark forest and stormy night. I managed to squeeze a lot into this one board, huh?
I lined the foreground with leaves to bring back the forest theme with a more light-hearted twist. It’s like we’re uncovering the story in the midst of the woods!
Which mood board was your favorite? Leave a comment and let me know!
Thanks for reading!
-S. Labrecque