Laura Anne Gilman's Blog, page 25

Silver on the Road Media Roundup, Week 1

I'm off to the airport, heading down to California (San Diego and San Francisco) and I hope to see some of y'all there (at Mysterious Galaxy and SF-in-SF at Borderlands Books, respectively).

For those hanging out online...

TODAY: The "Big Idea" behind SILVER ON THE ROAD, admitting where (and why) SILVER almost didn't get written....

In radio/virtuality:

Dive Into Worldbuilding (via YouTube)


Elsewhere in the blogosphere:

Geeking Out at Geek Mom

Slippery Words: 5 Questions in 5 Minutes

Dreamcasting SILVER ON THE ROAD at My Book The Movie

Talking about the origins of SILVER ON THE ROAD with Juliet McKenna

Where I Am, Where I'll Be...

Where I am right now is at my desk, trying to convince myself that yes really I DO have to tackle the List of Pending Things That Are Not New-Book-Related.

More coffee may be required.

But TONIGHT! I will be at the University Bookstore in Seattle, reading and signing and generally talking about SILVER ON THE ROAD.

SATURDAY AFTEROON! I will be at Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego, sharing the stage with Cat Winters, reading and signing and generally talking about our books, and writing historical fantasy...  (hijinks start at 2pm)

MONDAY NIGHT! I will be in San Francisco with Loren Rhodes, at SF in SF, being hosted by Borderlands Books, reading and signing and... yeah, you got it. The hijinks officially start at 6:30pm.

And then I am home for 24 hours, and I'm off to Manchester New Hampshire for Another Anime Convention, where I'm an Author Under Glass, er, GOH.

And then I come home and fall over for a bit.  Um, I mean, start working on revisions to THE COLD EYE.

SILVER ON THE ROAD hits the Shelves!

What's that? There's something happening today I'm supposed to be paying attention to?

*drinks coffee*

Ooooo, riiiight!

Today, SILVER ON THE ROAD is officially on shelves (and in your digital reader).

And I’m not gonna lie - the reviews have been amazing so far.

“Gilman skillfully plays with western folklore and history, infusing them with ambiguity and subtle strangeness to deliver a memorable adventure out on the untamed frontier. “ - Publishers’ Weekly

“[Gilman’s] cocktail of Western folklore, Native American mythos, and known history are seamless, and will be a particular treat to fans of the other master of that kind of mashup, Neil Gaiman." - B&N.com

“Silver on the Road takes an underused setting for fantasy—the American West—and uses it to explore coming of age, the limits of power and responsibility, and the importance of mingling compassion and justice. It’s fresh and original and the language is both stark and lovely. 4.5 stars (out of 4.5)” - RT Reviews

(I blush.  I also grin like a maniac, but I blush)

Happy Book Day, Izzy and Gabriel! May the ride ever be interesting....

Excuse me while I hyperventilate a little....

via Barrnesandnoble.com

"With all due respect to Steve Earle, the devil’s right hand is a largely overrated appendage. In Laura Anne Gilman’s stark, sparkling Silver on the Road , the star of the show is the devil’s nimble, freshly minted left hand: Isobel, not a day over 16, reared alongside saloon girls and gamblers, and very suddenly sent off on a Western odyssey she cannot begin to understand.

...While Isobel may perfectly capture all the feelings of inadequacy of adolescence—who am I? What do I want out of life? How do I menstruate on the open road?—she’s also a modern encapsulation of the hero’s journey.

In fact, that’s what Gilman does best here, infusing the classic with the modern. Her cocktail of Western folklore, Native American mythos, and known history are seamless, and will be a particular treat to fans of the other master of that kind of mashup, Neil Gaiman."


*falls over a little, giggling like a madwoman*

Guest Bloggery!

Juliet McKennna ( jemck ) invited me to take the mic today… talking about writing a western, against all plan or intention.

Literate Liquors... as one might expect, NSFW

Oh lord, lord, cover the children's ears and pour another shot of the good stuff. My episode of Literate Liquors is up. Me and John Hartness, several drinks into a Saturday night at DragonCon, shooting the book-shit (and dropping an impressive number of f-bombs, so this podcast is NSFW)

Because I haven't becatted you guys in a while....

PEER REVIEW: All the Ways I Love This Book: Silver on the Road

Professional reviews are lovely. Reader reviews make my heart grow two or three sizes. But peer reviews give me the shiver of craft-recognized on a while different level - because most writers, willingly or not, become jaded readers. So if you can wow them, that's a job very well done.

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Originally posted by difrancis at All the Ways I Love This Book: Silver on the Road

First, a qualifier. I know Laura Anne Gilman and I got an advance reader copy of the book from her because I whined and moaned. I’d heard her read from it at an SFWA reading and I so wanted to have a chance at it as soon as possible. I wasn’t disappointed. In fact I already want to read it again.

What’s the book? Titled Silver on the Road, it’s the first in The Devil’s West series. Here’s description of it:

A heroic fantasy by an award-winning author about a young woman who is trained in the art of the sinister hand of magic, but at what price?

Isobel, upon her sixteenth birthday, makes the choice to work for the devil in his territory west of the Mississippi. But this is not the devil you know. This is a being who deals fairly with immense—but not unlimited—power, who offers opportunities to people who want to make a deal, and they always get what they deserve. But his land is a wild west that needs a human touch, and that’s where Izzy comes in. Inadvertently trained by him to see the clues in and manipulations of human desire, Izzy is raised to be his left hand and travel circuit through the territory. As we all know, where there is magic there is chaos…and death.

Now first, don’t go making the mistake that this is YA because Isobel is 16. It isn’t. It’s a coming of age story, a story of becoming (and not just for Isobel) and a story of change and exploration.

Set in The Territory, where magic is normal and the world is very dangerous, Isobel travels with her mentor, Gabriel, to learn about the territory and The Road. On their journey, they uncover something dangerous and evil and must attempt to deal with it, for Isobel is the Devil’s Left Hand, and while she doesn’t know what that means at first, she has to learn.

There’s so much I love about this book. The characters have such depth. The writing is deft and rich and I could smell and practically touch everything inside. It’s well researched, which you only notice because you can immerse so deep into the world and the story. The deftness of the story-telling left me a little breathless with envy. Especially conversations.

There’s not a lot of religion in the book, though the devil is there, as are some monks from Spain. It’s more about the west and the Territory’s own peculiar rules and habits. It turns history on its head and makes it both utterly familiar and entirely new.

I’ve read Laura Anne’s other books. I like them. A lot. But this is a whole new level of writing for her and it’s truly stunning. If I sound like I’m gushing, it’s because it’s one of those books that you want to pass around to everybody you know to read and you want to put it up for awards because it’s just that good. So do yourself a favor and get a copy. Read it. Savor it. I did. I will again. It releases on October 6th. So go get yourself signed up. I promise you won’t regret it.

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

Laying Hands on a (Signed) Copy of SILVER ON THE ROAD: The FAQ

You’re not doing a lot of signings to support this book!  How can I get a signed copy?

Yeah - I’d hoped to be able to support the book more with in-person signings, but it would have had to’ve been on my own dime, and the budget just wasn’t there.  :-(

However!  Even if you live far away in a place where no writer ever comes to visit ever (yes, I’ve gotten your email, I sympathize), you can lay hands on a signed (and possibly even personalized!) copy of SILVER ON THE ROAD.  Because the following bookstores have offered to handle mail or phone orders of signed copies!

BORDERLANDS BOOKS, in San Francisco, CA.

Call (888 893-4008 or email office@borderlands-books.com)

UNIVERSITY BOOKSTORE, in Seattle, WA

Call 1-800-335-7323 or 206-634-3400

Or use this form: http://www.bookstore.washington.edu/_services/pop.taf?subject=contact

They will ask:

*what (if anything) you would like the inscription to say,

*the address you'd like the book sent to,

*What kind of shipping you want (they will be able to quote you costs)

*and how you would like to pay for your order.

What about book plates?

Ahhh, glad you asked!  Yes, if you’ve already bought your copy, and would like a signed bookplate, all you have to do is send us a SASE (stamped, self-addressed envelope) larger than 4”x 6” to:

Laura Anne Gilman
c/o 820 NE State Highway 104
Suite 102, PMB 138
Kingston, WA 98346

and we will send you one!  Or even two!

(this is a limited time offer - get your requests in before the new year begins!)

Cooking as an Offset to Stress

For reasons family and book-related, I've been pretty stressed recently. So today I decided to fall back on that tried and true remedy - cooking.

But I didn't want to do anything too complicated, because I had Stuff that needed my attention. So...something easy to prep, one-pot, tasty satisfaction at the end...

Arroz con pollo!

I used brown rice and chicken thighs, setting the dutch oven to a slow steady cook, for about 40 minutes. Kept most of the skins on, so the rice would absorb some of that tasty rendered fat...

Why do I not make this more often?

(oh, right. Because the cats get sulky when I don't give them any)

Drinking the last Rhone rose of the season, waiting for the moon to rise so we can maybe see some of the eclipse.