My second published book grew out of my love for everything Philip Pullman has ever written. I proposed a book on his work “beyond” his famous trilogy His Dark Materials and when I had a contract in hand, I applied for a sabbatical. I took 8 months to research and write all but the final chapter, and I took almost a semester to write said chapter when I was back teaching. After a summer of edits and page proofs, the book was published, and Pullman, with whom I had had an email and letter correspondence during which I interviewed him several times, said that he was grateful he would be remembered for more than his trilogy.
Here is the description from the back cover:
Beyond the His Dark Materials series lies a vast fictional realm populated by the many diverse character creations of Philip Pullman. During a more than 30-year career, Pullman has created worlds filled with quests, trials, tragedies and triumphs, and this book explores those worlds. The picture books, novellas and novels written for children, adolescents and adults are analyzed through the themes of innocence and experience, and the journeys Pullman sets his characters on, journeys through which they learn that one must embrace change, loss and suffering to grow in wisdom and grace.
Miranda Rey 