Now We Rise Blog tour - Burner

Hi there,

I was thrilled to be asked to be part of the #NowWeRise blog tour for Children of Blood and Bone. If you haven't heard about it yet, Children of Blood and Bone is a big new fantasy novel which draws on western African tradition to give it a really original feel. I read it last week and I loved it. There'll be a (very positive) review coming soon.

 Rather than doing a standard blog tour with reviews and extracts, the people at Macmillan are doing something really different and interesting. They've asked bloggers to produce original content linked to Children of Blood and Bone. I have been meaning to do some more art for ages, and this feels like the perfect opportunity.

My drawing is inspired by an African proverb I found online, "The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth." This felt like it fit really well both with the African feel of the book and also with the Burner magi clan. One of the most destructive of the clans, Burners control fire, and I wanted to try and capture the idea of a Burner magi who has been rejected, coming back home.

I hope you like it! I'm hoping to bring you more original content inspired by Children of Blood and Bone in the next few days.