Arts & Literature

Local Author Spotlight: Ellie Raine’s Successful Story in Self-Publishing

Published

2 years ago

August 25, 2022

Ellie Raine is a Peachtree Corners resident with nine book titles to her name, most notably the NecroSeam Chronicles, which consist of a series of five epic fantasy novels and two prequels. Her writing has earned her recognition as a two-time winner of the Readers’ Favorite in the International Book Awards and first place in the fantasy division for Writer’s Digest’s Self-Published Book Awards in 2019, as well as a couple other awards.

Author Ellie Raine. Raine’s books and merchandise.

The NecroSeam Chronicles even have their own website, necroseam.com, which is themed around their fantastical namesake. There, Raine regularly engages with her active fanbase on her blog, posts her own artwork (and fanart, coming soon), sells merchandise, promotes her upcoming events and provides notes and a glossary on the world she’s built. There’s even a personality quiz you can take to find out what knight you are! (I’m a BladeSworn.)

But who is Ellie Raine? How did her writing expand beyond her series to build a fantastic universe?

A visionary from the beginning

Raine explained that her love of magic goes back to her childhood.

“I was a huge fantasy nerd, like the rest of my family,” she said. “I grew up on Sir Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, books with dragons, Harry Potter, King Author, Final Fantasy, Zelda, tons of anime, the Hobbit, Lord of the Rings — you name it. If it didn’t have knights in shining armor, magic sorcerers and fire-breathing dragons, I wasn’t interested.”

Book covers 1-4 of Raine’s books.

The joy she found from video games, storytelling and fantasy led her down the path of video game art and design, so she enrolled at the Art Institute of Atlanta to gain an education in that field. While she was enrolled, she took a creative writing course and started telling the story of the game she was developing. She found that she liked the writing format better than video game development, so she switched fields.

“It was so much more fulfilling. It was like something just clicked, and I’ve been writing ever since,” Raine said.

Today, that video game turned creative writing assignment has turned into the NecroSeam Chronicles.

The NecroSeam Chronicles

It took Raine over 10 years to write the epic, gothic, high fantasy series for which she is best known. In addition to Terry Pratchett, Raine said she draws inspiration from Rachel Aaron and Brandon Sanderson (notable for his creation of the Cosmere fictional universe) as well as from her own life.

Three more Ellie Raine titles.

“Being present in the moment is probably the most effective tool for sparking creativity, especially for fantasy. I have a lot of fun asking, ‘what if things worked this way instead?’, and those are the questions that usually prompt a new story,” Raine said.

The Necroseam Chronicles have been described as “[i]f Tim Burton had written Lord of the Rings” by Vincent E.M. Thorn, author of the Dreamscape Voyager Trilogy.

A sampling of Raine’s merchandise.

“They are an epic fantasy series about twin necromancer brothers who were born with split abilities to control the dead,” is how Raine described the NecroSeam Chronicles in a TikTok video.

@aizelleraine
I never uploaded this from last year since I didn’t have a TikTok back then 😅 hi everyone! This is me! colbertSmallBizBump booktok fantasybooktok
♬ original sound – Ellie Raine 📚 author

“One resurrects corpses, the other puts souls inside them, so together, they kind of make one necromancer. But one of the brothers gets his soul ripped out of his body and trapped inside his brother, so they go on a journey to figure out what happened to the other brother’s body, and on the way, as they’re crossing over all these other kingdoms, they run into demons, they run into dragons. So, it’s a lot of fun. It’s magic-adventure.”

The series contains so much lore and worldbuilding that it spills out of its own pages. Raine has created an oracle deck based on the series (similar to a tarot deck, it’s a loose collection of cards that assist in self-reflection) that she often performs readings with during interviews and at conventions. There are maps (because all the best fantasy novels have maps), songs sung in the audio versions of the books using the language that Raine created and explanations of how her fantasy world operates — its laws, symbols and belief systems.

The process of creating this series was a “passion project” in itself for Raine. Though the first two books were traditionally published, the author decided to self-publish her third book onwards.

“It was a wildly different experience, but to be honest, there’s something freeing about learning what exactly goes into publishing. The logistics can be dizzying, but eye-opening for why traditional publishers make the decisions they do,” she said.

With self-publishing, Raine said she’s become educated on market trends, book advertising and marketing. She’s also built close relationships with her cover artists and audiobook narrators, and the latter have their own profiles on the NecroSeam Chronicles’s website

More Ellie Raine

Though the NecroSeam Chronicles are complete, Raine said she does have plans in the works for projects that exist in the same universe: one is a standalone NecroSeam novel with different characters in a different part of the same universe, another is an epic fantasy novel that plays with shadow-magic. An audiobook of “Pearl of Emerald,” the third NecroSeam book, is scheduled to be released this fall or winter.

For younger readers or those who don’t have a taste for violence, Raine has also created a children’s illustration book that she originally wrote and illustrated for her then-two-year-old daughter. It’s called “Ballad of the Ice Fairy,” and it’s “[a]n enchanting children’s illustration book with beautiful colors and a lovely story of courage, magic and healing,” according to its description.

“Honestly, writing the series and the noir novella was insanely easier than the children’s illustration book, mostly because I’m much slower at creating visual art than I am at writing. It was a huge part of why I switched over in college,” Raine explained. “It took years to finish the children’s book, instead of my (previously) usual six-month turnaround for novels. But I’m still insanely proud to have finished it, and I definitely plan to do another one when I have another concept to obsess over.”

In addition to finding new genres and new subjects to try her hand at, Raine’s had to adjust to a new routine as a mother in her 30s and post COVID-19. While she used to pull all-nighters writing, fueled by caffeine and hyper-fixations, she said that nowadays her daughter keeps her awake all day, especially with the reduced childcare availability caused by the pandemic.

“The progress is drastically slower than the old days, but one of the most important mantras to keep in mind for any writer is ‘Any pace is better than no pace,’” Raine said.

For aspiring writers, she also loves to share this piece of advice: “You can’t edit what doesn’t exist, and you can’t take care of your story if you don’t take care of yourself first.”

Keep up with the author

Raine is currently hosting a NecroSeam fanart competition through July 30. All entries will be featured in the website’s upcoming fanart gallery as well as across Raine’s social media channels; winners will be awarded special additional prizes. Find more information on her blog on the NecroSeam website.

You can also catch her live in the upcoming months, including the Savannah Mega Comic Con on July 30-31, the Key City Steampunk Festival on Aug. 12-14, the Multiverse Fandom Convention on Oct. 14-16, Anime Weekend Atlanta on Oct. 27-16 and CONjuration on Nov. 4-6.

In the meantime, follow Ellie Raine on TikTok and Instagram, like her Facebook page, subscribe to her YouTube and bookmark both her personal website, ellieraine.com, and the NecroSeam website, necroseam.com. You can purchase her books directly from her online store or listen to them on Audible.

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Ivy Marie Clarke

Ivy Clarke is a nationally award-winning writer, editor, artist and aspiring literary activist currently studying English literature, creative writing and art at Mercer University. In addition to her work with Peachtree Corners Press, she writes and edits for The Mercer Cluster, The Dulcimer, Macon Magazine and Mercer University Press. She has also published poetry in Atlanta Review, Glass Mountain and The Allegheny Review.

Around Atlanta

The High Museum to Showcase “Thinking Eye, Seeing Mind”

Published

1 week ago

December 12, 2024

Peachtree Corners Magazine staff

Oil on paper artwork by Terry Winters. A large red circle with smaller blue circles on top of it and gold/yellow accents. All of it on a dark brown background.

The special exhibition of the Medford and Loraine Johnston Collection will run January 17 through May 25, 2025

In the mid-1970s, artist and Georgia State University professor Medford Johnston, along with his wife and collaborator Loraine, began collecting works by artists who were in the vanguard of contemporary art. Today, they hold one of the finest collections of postwar American drawings and related objects of its kind, now numbering more than 85 works.

In 2025, the High Museum of Art will present Thinking Eye, Seeing Mind: The Medford and Loraine Johnston Collection, featuring their collected works, which is a promised gift to the museum. Featuring artists such as Sol LeWitt, Brice Marden, Elizabeth Murray, Martin Puryear, Ed Ruscha, Al Taylor, Anne Truitt, Stanley Whitney and Terry Winters, among others, the exhibition will demonstrate how establishing the parameters of an art collection requires infinite patience, focus, discipline and a keen eye.

“The Johnstons have been friends of the High for a very long time. They’ve also built an impressive collection featuring works by many of the 20th century’s most significant abstract artists,” said the High’s Director Rand Suffolk. “We are honored that they have promised to leave their collection to the Museum where it will be preserved for future generations — and we are delighted that they are sharing it with our audiences now, hopefully inspiring the next generation of art collectors and supporters.”

A curated collection

The Johnstons’ story is a testament to, in the words of the High’s Wieland Family Senior Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Michael Rooks, “knowing the difference between what is right and what is almost right” when building a collection.

Although the Johnstons acquired several paintings and objects when they first began collecting in 1972, they quickly narrowed their focus to drawing, primarily by artists working on the frontlines of abstraction in the mid-1960s during a time of great innovation and experimentation.

Ink drawing by Anne Truitt, rectangular lines and shapes made with black ink on off-white background — Anne Truitt (American, born 1921), *Ink Drawing ’59 [11]*, 1959, ink on paper, The Johnston Collection. © Estate of Anne Truitt / The Bridgeman Art Library / Courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery, New York.

Rooks added, “Med and Loraine’s collection struck me at once by its single-minded focus on a specific moment in time, which was essentially the time of their contemporaries. The artists in their collection are like close friends to the Johnstons — in fact many are or were. What is equally astonishing about the collection is the Johnstons’ dogged pursuit of quality. Their in-depth knowledge of each artist’s practice combined with their understanding of specific qualities to look for — or more appropriately, to hold out for — will be a revelation to emerging collectors.”

The Johnstons have built their collection with the High in mind as the benefactor of their passion and discernment. For them, their collection “is a labor of love, pursued over more than 50 years, and we are delighted to be able to help the High Museum document and celebrate these important artists working during the same decades as our lives.”

About the exhibit

Thinking Eye, Seeing Mind: The Medford and Loraine Johnston Collection will be presented in the Special Exhibition Galleries on the second level of the High’s Stent Family Wing.

The exhibit is organized by the High Museum of Art and made possible through the generosity of sponsors:

Premier Exhibition Series Sponsor Delta Air Lines, Inc.
Premier Exhibition Series Supporters Mr. Joseph H. Boland, Jr., The Fay S. and W. Barrett Howell Family Foundation, Harry Norman Realtors and wish Foundation
Benefactor Exhibition Series Supporters Robin and Hilton Howell
Ambassador Exhibition Series Supporters Loomis Charitable Foundation and Mrs. Harriet H. Warren
Contributing Exhibition Series Supporters Farideh and Al Azadi, Mary and Neil Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. Baxter Jones, Megan and Garrett Langley, Margot and Danny McCaul, Wade A. Rakes II and Nicholas Miller and Belinda Stanley-Majors and Dwayne Majors.

Support has also been provided by the Alfred and Adele Davis Exhibition Endowment Fund, Anne Cox Chambers Exhibition Fund, Barbara Stewart Exhibition Fund, Dorothy Smith Hopkins Exhibition Endowment Fund, Eleanor McDonald Storza Exhibition Endowment Fund, The Fay and Barrett Howell Exhibition Fund, Forward Arts Foundation Exhibition Endowment Fund, Helen S. Lanier Endowment Fund, John H. and Wilhelmina D. Harland Exhibition Endowment Fund, Katherine Murphy Riley Special Exhibition Endowment Fund, Margaretta Taylor Exhibition Fund, RJR Nabisco Exhibition Endowment Fund and USI Insurance Services.

About the High Museum of Art

Located in the heart of Atlanta, the High Museum of Art connects with audiences from across the Southeast and around the world through its distinguished collection, dynamic schedule of special exhibitions and engaging community-focused programs.

Housed within facilities designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architects Richard Meier and Renzo Piano, the High features a collection of more than 19,000 works of art, including an extensive anthology of 19th- and 20th-century American fine and decorative arts; major holdings of photography and folk and self-taught work, especially that of artists from the American South; burgeoning collections of modern and contemporary art, including paintings, sculpture, new media and design; a growing collection of African art, with work dating from prehistory through the present; and significant holdings of European paintings and works on paper.

The High is dedicated to reflecting the diversity of its communities and offering a variety of exhibitions and educational programs that engage visitors with the world of art, the lives of artists and the creative process.

For more information about the High or to purchase tickets, visit high.org.

Top image: (from the collection) Terry Winters (American, born 1949), Orb, 2020, oil on paper, The Johnston Collection. © Terry Winters, Courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery, New York.

Around Atlanta

City Springs Theatre Company Presents the Hit Musical Jersey Boys

Published

6 months ago

July 3, 2024

Peachtree Corners Magazine staff

The megahit musical Jersey Boys is making its regional premiere with the City Springs Theatre Company in a five-week run.

The megahit musical Jersey Boys makes its regional premiere in City Springs Theatre Company’s (CSTC) first-ever, five-week run at the Byers Theatre in Sandy Springs.

Directed by Atlanta’s-own Shane DeLancey, and choreographed by Meg Gillentine, Jersey Boys tells the rags-to-riches story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. The show details their remarkable journey from the streets to the top of the charts, to their 1990 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Leading the cast of Jersey Boys is Haden Rider as Frankie Valli. Rider is a City Springs Theatre Company veteran, with recent roles in both Legally Blonde (Emmett) and Fiddler on the Roof (Perchik).

Presented by Resurgens Spine Center, Jersey Boys runs from July 12 through August 11, and shines a special spotlight on home-grown talent, as the show’s four leading men are all Atlanta-area residents.

With phenomenal music, memorable characters and great storytelling, Jersey Boys follows the fascinating evolution of four blue-collar kids who became one of the greatest successes in pop-music history.

“City Springs Theatre Company is very proud to be the first in the southeast region to present Jersey Boys,” said CSTC Artistic Director and Tony Award-winner Shuler Hensley. “Our audiences have been asking for this particular show since we opened. The production is truly stacked with talent onstage and off, and we’re pulling out all the stops to bring audiences an experience that will rival any previous version of the show.”

Jersey Boys premiered at the La Jolla Playhouse in 2005, prior to its 13-year Broadway run, from 2005 to 2017. There have been productions of the show in Las Vegas, UK/Ireland, Toronto, Melbourne, Singapore, South Africa, the Netherlands, Japan, Dubai and China.

Jersey Boys features a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, with music by Bob Gaudio, and lyrics by Bob Crewe.

Individual tickets to see Jersey Boys are on sale now ($42 – $108), with discounts for seniors, students, groups and active and retired military personnel.

CSTC’s Box Office is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Call 404-477-4365 or visit CitySpringsTheatre.com for more information.

This production contains adult language and is recommended for mature audiences.

Performance schedule:

Arts & Literature

Local Students Show Off Their Artistic Creations

Published

7 months ago

June 2, 2024

Peachtree Corners Magazine staff

Courtney Escorza, Colleen Nikopour, Laura Hwang, Jennifer Jackson, Norcross. Laura ELizabeth Martin, Payton Hirschmann, Paul Duke HS

From May 11 through May 18, the Norcross Gallery & Studios kicked off a fantastic exhibition, Reflections at Rectory, which showcased the works of 36 rising stars: AP and IB art students from our local high schools.

The opening reception celebrated their creativity and dedication. Gallery director Anne Hall presented a dozen awards generously sponsored by the community, a testament to the local support for these young artists.

One prestigious award, the Terri Enfield Memorial Award, holds special significance.

Established by Terri’s daughters, it recognizes not just artistic excellence, but also leadership, work ethic and the spirit of collaboration. Last year’s winner, Aidan Ventimiglia, even played a part in selecting this year’s recipient Jasmine Rodriguez.