From the Himalayas to the Rockies, these cats get around.
Canmore writer and artist Jocey Asnong and her cats, Nuptse and Lhotse, are on a new adventure and this time they’re right here at home in the Canadian Rockies.
In 2009, Asnong released her first children’s book, Nuptse & Lhotse in Nepal, inspired by her love for Nepal and her fascination for the two mountains that guard Mount Everest: Nuptse and Lhotse.
With those two names rolling around in her mind, the Canmore cat lover created her characters, Nuptse, a white cat with black markings and blue eyes and Lhotse, a ginger tabby, and off she went, self publishing her first book.
“I loved those names,” Asnong said April 2. “That was the seed. That captured a moment. I wanted to do something with those names. As soon as I came back from that trip I started to put them into a story and I thought, I love cats.”
In Nuptse & Lhotse Go to the Rockies, the cats get a letter from Mrs. Jasper, a grizzly bear who has lost her cubs Kootenay and Yoho somewhere between Paradise Valley and The Valley of the Ten Peaks. Mrs. Jasper asks the cats for their help to find her cubs.
Their search takes them to Lake Louise, through the Spiral Tunnels on a train, skiing a steep couloir, traversing the Columbia Icefield and finally rescuing the cubs from a crevasse in the ice.
The story was inspired by the 2007 event when three black bear cubs climbed onto a train and caught a 30-kilometre ride to Field, B.C. None of the cubs were hurt and it gave Asnong some food for thought for what is a sweet, engaging story accompanied by her playful illustrations.
“Anybody who is familiar with these areas is going to recognize these spots, but they’re referred to indirectly, so people who live outside of the Rockies don’t have to know those places to enjoy the story,” she said.
And while Asnong self-published her first book, Nuptse & Lhotse Go to the Rockies has been published by Calgary-based Rocky Mountain Books.
“Rocky Mountain Books approached me in the spring of 2012 and they were eager to publish my sequel,” Asnong said. “The original plan was to send the cats to the South Pole. I have a huge passion for Antarctica.
“After talking to Don Gorman (RMB publisher) I knew it would be better to do the sequel with Canadian content and it was obvious to showcase this area, which I love.
Asnong said she enjoyed and appreciated the process of her first self-published book, but working with a publisher has helped to make Nuptse & Lhotse Go to the Rockies a much stronger book.
“We’ve strengthened the playful parts,” she said.
Asnong, a familiar face behind the counter at Canmore’s Café Books, is holding a two-part book launch and reading on April 21.
The first part begins at Café Books with readings at 4 and 5 p.m. for the kids. She then moves down the street to the Good Earth Café from 7-9 p.m. with two readings at 7:30 and 8:30 p.m.
And while at Good Earth Café, Asnong will also sell her illustrations in response to a growing demand for the original artwork.
“A lot of people have asked for the illustrations over the years,” she said. “My illustrations are always close to my heart so it’s taken a while to come to that.”
Asnong will still maintain the digital rights, however.
She has framed 21 of the more recognizable illustrations: such as the ones featuring Lake Louise, the Spiral Tunnels and the Three Sisters.
The single page illustrations sell for $250 to $285. The six double-page illustrations, which come in two frames, are available for about $485.
The rest of the unframed illustrations are for sale, as well.
Nuptse & Lhotse Go to the Rockies is not the last time we’ll see Nuptse and Lhotse.
The next one will see the globetrotting cats in Iceland. Asnong is planning to travel there in fall and will let that trip set the tone for her illustrations and her story.
“I’m very sensory, so a lot of my colour choices and little elements I might use in collage are coming first hand from being in these landscapes,” she said.
Nuptse & Lhotse Go to the Rockies, published by Rocky Mountain Books, is available for $12.
