So Jan Stack, the lovely youth services clerk at the Joliet Public Library, with which WriteOn Joliet has a partnership, recently crafted fifty stunning purple music roses for me.
As you may know, both piano music and purple roses are motifs that appear in quite a few books in the BryonySeries.
Below this photo you'll find some quote examples from the books and a closeup of the gorgeous paper roses in several shades of purple.
And below THAT, you'll learn where to find these purple music roses this year (and how you can take one home).
Some quotes
Skidding on satin slippers, Melissa fled past the croquet grounds and then the tea garden, in full bloom with Henry’s forbidden purple roses. "Bryony"
With a flourish, John removed his hand from behind his back and offered Melissa his gift. It was a bouquet of one dozen purple roses. "Visage"
Melissa sat at her desk correcting papers by the tiny lamp. It was the only light in the entire room except for the pink candle she burned near the vase of the fresh purple roses she always insisted Kellen buy for her. "Staked!"
For every stem on his experimental roses, roses that were bare when he left them that morning, roses that never bloomed despite years of tending and experimentation, every stem now bore a deep purple bud. "Before The Blood: Henry Matthews"
She dutifully placed them into cut glass vases and filled the room with their fragrance, but more than once her eyes strayed to Mr. Matthews' landscape oils with the tiny purple rose painted in each corner, and then to the chair near the fire where Mr. Simons had sat last night. "Before The Blood: Bryony Simons"
On other nights, Henry abandoned his art and restlessly wandered the vast Simons estate, peering past the seedlings and into the ground to their roots, wracking his mind as to why annuals and perennials once fascinated him, why his uncle built him a greenhouse at Arcadia, and why Henry spent years crossbreeding roses to create a purple variety. What value did it hold? "The Phoenix"
The final room boasted wine-hued carpeting and wallpaper, shelves overflowing with books on most walls, mahogany desks with typewriters and leather chairs, a settee with crimson and gold upholstery, and vases of fragrant purple roses. She strolled across the room and touched a velvety petal. Fresh. Weird. "House on Top of the Hill"
How can I get one?
These purple music roses are only available at The Book Market in Crest Hill (starting Wednesday and while supplies last) and at these two events:
"Light Up The Holidays North Pole Christmas Market: 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Nov. 29 (the day after Thanksgiving), Renaissance Center, 204 N. Ottawa St., Joliet
WriteOn Joliet 8th Annual Anthology Release Party: 6 to 8 p.m., December 5, Joliet Public Library, 3395 Black Road, Joliet.
These purple music roses are not for sale.
The purple music roses are a "thank you" gift from the BryonySeries team for purchasing approximately $15 worth of books.
That means any novel, any two combination of cookbooks, any two books in The Adventures of Cornell Dyer series, any two books in the Girls of the ByronySeries, or any three books in the Bertrand the Mouse series.
However, we are not putting a limit on how many roses a customer may receive. They are available for EACH $15-ish BryonySeries books purchase while supplies last.
Happy Tuesday!
