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Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Rebecca Young: No Longer In Her Mother's Shadow!

Very Excited to Welcome Rebecca Young to Darcyholic Diversions!
During the Decatur Book Festival I had the pleasure of meeting Rebecca Young.  She is a very talented graphic artist (in addition to being the daughter of her Austen Author mother, Abigail Reynolds).  I believe I am safe to say that she is Darcy's definition of an accomplished woman!  I hope you enjoy getting to know her and seeing some of her very creative work.

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I am also announcing initial plans for a Darcyholic Holiday eBook Festival
More Information to come, but send me an email at barbaratillercole@gmail.com if you are an author and would like to participate!!
Upcoming Guest Posts Are As Follows:
October 5--C. Allyn Pierson
October 7--Jan Hahn and Janet Taylor's Jane Austenland Adventure
October 9--Karen W.
October 12--Sally Smith O'Rourke
October 15--Linda Goschioner
October 19--Amanda Grange
November 2--Amy Patterson
November 13--Karen Doornebos
And Many more to come!

Comments on Rebecca's post will be included as entries into the October give aways.  Chances will be given for joining this site, tweeting this post, joining this site as a member via Google Friend Connect (GFC) (See the left hand column on the blog to join!), sharing this on Facebook or your blog, Friend Barbara Tiller Cole on Facebook,  clicking 'like’ on Barbara Tiller Cole, Author's Facebook Page.
Rebecca Young:  No Longer 

In Her Mother's Shadow!

It’s very strange having your mother be a published author. Everyone has all these high assumptions of what authors are like and what they do and how they work, but for me she is still just my mom. 
Living with my mom has always been an adventure. She has the annoying quality of being able to be amazing and successful at everything she decides to pick up. I will always remember the day she decided to take up landscape quilting. We went to a fabric store and picked out a bunch of batiks and when we got home I watched this image begin to form out of these seemingly random scraps of cloth. The most recent talent addition is the harp. I came home one day and there was a full size harp in our living room. The sad thing is that it didn’t shock me. That is just what my mom does. So when she told me she had started writing I knew she would do well and was not at all surprised when a publisher approached her. Some people would say all this would be intimidating and hard to live up to but I just take it as inspiration. She shows me that it is possible to do anything you want, you just have to believe and be willing to get creative in how to make it happen.
My introduction to P&P came through the BBC version. One day mom sat me down with it and I watched it straight through. Around 2am when it was over, I started over again with disk one and watched all 5 hours again. I was hooked. 
I only actually started to read my moms books a few years ago(originally they were ‘too mature’ for my age) but I instantly fell in love. My first was Pemberley by the Sea which led to many others. I have always been a heavy reader and JAFF gave me something new.
I am many things but I have never been a writer. So I didn’t imagine that I would ever be included in this part of her world, however it has actually brought us together so much in the last year.  Over the years Mom has made passing comments that designing covers could be a good job for me and finally this spring I decided to do it! This led me down a crazy rabbit hole which I never could have forseen. She has been such a support for me in this designing endeavor and has introduced me to so many wonderful people.
I have always been very into art and started working in digital design at a summer camp in middle school. I formatted and designed a book of my friend’s poems when I was 15 and published it on Lulu. When I got really into it though was during a class I took freshman year of college. I had already been working with book formatting for about a year at that point and the design class gave me the courage to turn my art hobby into a career.
It is now common at our house to hear me and mom throwing around ideas for search terms for a ‘sexy mysterious guy with abs.’ (by the way the answer is ‘italian’ or ‘european’!)
Cover design and formatting fit perfectly into my life. I have never been a 9-5 girl and mom has always said I would probably end up having 5-10 jobs at a time. I just want to be doing everything and have variety in my life! With this job I work on my own time(often at 2am!) and can work at a coffeeshop, in waiting rooms, in my bed, on my couch, at the theatre, wherever! My life is like a game of tetris and design work is flexible. It also lets me be artistic and productive at the same time. I love working with all the authors and I find so much meaning in being able to bring their ideas to life.
Some people ask if I think I will ever work for a publisher and I can easily say no. I am a freelance girl. If a publisher wants me to work freelance I am happy to but I need freedom from rules. I like to cross the boundaries of what is expected and work with the authors. I am not someone who can be happy with being given a book and designing a cover and turning it in and never getting the authors input. I find way too much value in my discussions with authors and having their essence be in the covers as well as mine.

14 comments:

  1. She is amazing. My cover isn't among those displayed here but several people at austenprose liked it exceedingly well.
    Three cheers for Rebecca!

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  2. Rebecca, Your work is incredible. Each time you improve and blow me away! I had not seen Monica's cover yet. I love it! I am very happy your mother's passion for Jane Austen led to you releasing your talents. Keep it up.

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  3. I wouldn't know what to do without Rebecca's fine eye for composition. You are correct, Sharon: Rebecca gets better and better. Sometimes, I feel she can read my mind. I already have two more projects in the works for her. LOL!!! I know Abigail is very proud.

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  4. Rebecca, Your work is fantastic. All your covers are inviting, but Monica's cover makes me want to buy a book with "steampunk" in it. Honestly, I don't even know what steampunk means. I do believe you are a chip off your mother's block, and you will do well in whatever you take up.

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  5. Rebecca-your covers are stunning! I love that photo of you with your Mum.

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  6. It was so nice to meet you in Decatur - you are extremely talented! What kind of books do you normally read?

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  7. Rebecca, I have been googling steampunk fashion since I saw your work in Decatur. Can't wait to see what is in your future.

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  8. I loved your article and your covers, Rebecca. Congratulations on your success and may it continue. I think you have a very bright future ahead of you. Abigail must be very proud of you - and justly so.

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  9. I'm excessively proud of Rebecca, though I must admit she has a shocking tendency not to notice the things I'm terrible at. ;) Or that I can't play that harp (which is for research purposes) without making everyone in the house, pets included, wince! But she's still great fun and has taught me enough about formatting and covers that I look at my early work and want to go hide. ;)

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  10. Rebecca,

    You have many talents like your mom, you just don't know it yet. I can tell you one more. If no one has told you your smile can light up a room. You have this incredible ability to make someone feel like an old friend just with your smiling face. Your eyes sparkle and say life is awesome! It was a pleasure meeting you at the DBF. Too bad we didn't have more time to talk but I know we will in the future. Congratulations on your amazing covers. They are very sexy and elegant and fun!

    Abigail, I love your book covers. I don't know what you are talking about!

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  11. Thank you everyone for the wonderful comments! I have been on hiatus working on various formatting and cover things so didn't get to look at this until now. It is great to be connecting with all of you and hearing what people like. A lot of you mentioned the steampunk cover which was really fun for me to do because I also hadn't done anything with steampunk until now and found it fascinating. Although I realized when I saw this that somehow I uploaded a rough draft of the cover instead of the final! Also a big thanks to Barbara for having me here and putting together the post so well!

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  12. Congratulations, Rebecca! Love the covers! They are all very striking.

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  13. I love all your covers, Rebecca. You are very talented. I also enjoyed your post and hearing how you like to cross the boundaries of what is expected. I'm sure that is part of what makes you so good, that and the fact that you want the author's input. I admire your work!

    Thanks for sharing with us.

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  14. I like all your covers, but must admit the steampunk really captured my attention!

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