Bestselling author Morr Meroz chatted about his book “Snowlands: A Blood Moon.”
Book Description
A brand-new, full-color graphic novel series for animal fantasy fans that delivers a daring adventure and a mysterious threat that has animals-prey and predator alike-disappearing.
An orphaned white wolf cub exiled from her pack. A lone snow leopard searching for her missing cub. A bumbling wild cat who can’t hold a tune. In the midst of a brutal winter in the unforgiving Snowlands, famine plague the wolf pack.
As the pack goes hungry, blame falls on Feba, an orphaned wolf cub whose white fur many elders believe is a bad omen. When the wolf pack’s cubs vanish into thin air, the pack leaders vote to banish Feba, and perhaps worse. She escapes her fate and runs off into the icy wilderness of the Snowlands.
Lost in the treacherous mountains, Feba stumbles upon Usha, a cold and unfriendly snow leopard mother on a personal quest. While Usha wants nothing more than to continue her journey alone, she grudgingly allows Feba and a skittish young mountain cat, Batu, to follow her.
With a snowy trail full of deadly obstacles ahead, the unlikely trio sets out to find the Seeress, a magical being Usha hopes can find her missing son. Each step takes Usha, Feba, and Batu deeper into danger where they encounter other creatures-some helpful, some deceitful-and uncover a widespread peril in the mountains, the fate of the missing cubs, and what having a family truly means.
Background on the author
Morr Meroz is an animation filmmaker, award-winning author, and the founder of Bloop Animation Studios. After graduating from the School of Visual Arts, Morr worked as a character animator in some of the best NYC studios, such as Framestore, MTV, and Aardman Nathan Love.
In 2013, Morr founded Bloop Animation Studios and started producing animated short films. His shorts were screened in film festivals all around the world, including a premiere at the Brooklyn Film Festival.
In addition to making films, Morr launched Bloop Animation’s educational initiative, which has become a leading animation learning platform with thousands of students that features dozens of courses, tutorials, and guidebooks about animation filmmaking.
In 2020, Morr founded The Snowlands Company to create books and graphic novels, including the new Snowlands graphic novel series.
His screenplay Snowlands, which this book is based on, is an Academy Nicholl quarterfinalist, a Second Rounder in the Austin Film Festival, and was the top animation screenplay on the Black List. He lives with his family in New York City.
Q & A interview
Every book has a story about its creation, what’s the story behind ‘Snowlands: A Blood Moon‘?
The spark for the idea of Snowlands came when I watched an episode of Planet Earth about snow leopards. It followed a leopard mother and her cub as she prepares her for adulthood, which ends with an inevitable separation. I thought that was a beautiful, yet tragic, trajectory. Tragic for us, of course, not so much for the animals.
So the first idea was a book about a leopard mother and daughter on their last journey together before parting ways. After many rewrites, it evolved into the story of Feba the wolf cub outcast, and Usha the snow leopard mother as unlikely travel companions finding family in each other. The fact that I was also about to become a parent made it the perfect storm for writing this book.
This book is a rather amazing read, and it has been very popular with readers. What do you hope they take away with them when they finish reading it?
First, I hope they have a fun time going through this spiraling adventure through the Snowlands. Most of my readers are middle-grade age, and so I think the most important thing is they have fun reading it and find some kind of escape in this fantastical world. Second, I hope that through reading about Feba’s experiences, they feel more empowered about their own specialness.
While writing ‘Snowlands: A Blood Moon‘ did you learn anything new about yourself? Can you tell us one of the challenges you faced, as well as one of your successes?
The most important thing I learned about myself is that I can write a book. This was my first go at a long-form fiction project (after working on animated short films in the past), and the process was long and grueling.
The biggest challenge in figuring out the story was how to balance emotion with adventure. Making sure the characters go through a personal journey while keeping the plot gripping and entertaining at the same time was a delicate balancing act.
‘Snowlands: A Blood Moon‘ includes stunning illustrations. What was the process of combining illustrations with your story like for you?
This was my favorite part of the process – seeing my story come to life in such a vivid way. I think what made it so wonderful is picking the right person, who was able to capture so much of the life of the characters in the drawings. Collin did get a rather detailed script with instructions for each panel, but there was still so much room for him to bring his own style and ideas, which I felt made it twice as good as anything I could have imagined.
Your book has been very successful with both readers and reviewers, do you have another book in the works you can tell our readers about?
I am currently in the process of writing book 2. I can’t share much about it yet, but I will say it follows an adult Feba (who’s a mother now), and it will most likely be ready by the end of 2024 / early 2025.
When did you finish writing a new book what is your favorite drink to celebrate with?
A favorite drink to have while writing is warm sake, and a celebratory drink for the end of writing is an Old Fashioned.
“Snowlands: A Blood Moon” is available on Amazon by clicking here.
