Jacqueline West's Blog, page 9
September 30, 2011
Links in a New Chain
Originally published at Jacqueline West. You can comment here or there.
Hello, hello, hello.
I am typing this on my spanking new WordPress blog, which feels a bit like driving a new car, where all the buttons are in slightly different places and you turn on the windshield wipers when you're trying to set the cruise control, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it. Eventually. I'm trying the automatic cross-posting to LiveJournal function, so we'll see how that works, too. If, for whatever reason, you want to find older journal entries, they should still be readable at http://jacquelinewest.livejournal.com.
I'm currently drafting one project, revising another, and working on a few short stories with the shards of time in between. My brain has essentially been divided into three warring pieces, and I'm having trouble finishing nonfictional sentences. That's my excuse for making this a very linky post.
First, and very belatedly, a writing-and-cooking focused interview is up at the incredibly fun blog Pots 'n Pens: http://potsnpens.blogspot.com/2011/09/interview-with-jacqueline-west.html. If anyone who reads it actually uses my recipe for black pepper tofu, I will be very happy — and so will the person with a fresh batch of black pepper tofu.
Strange Horizons, one of the best science fiction journals currently in operation, is holding its yearly fund drive. Donors are entered into a prize drawing that features a slew of amazing work. Check out the prizes available: http://www.strangehorizons.com/fund_drives/2011/prizes.shtml. (As you may notice, one donor will win a signed copy of The Books of Elsewhere, Volume One: The Shadows…)
And some new reviews of Spellbound are out: Dave Wood's Book Report, a feature of the RiverTown Newspaper group, discusses the book here, and Arlington Public Library covers both volumes (and calls Volume Two 'even better than the first' — Hurray!) here.
September 7, 2011
Pavement Pumpkins (and poetry)
Early this summer, we noticed a hardy green vine beginning to unfurl from the corner of the driveway, in the seam between the cement and the compost bin. Soon the vine sprouted huge, prickly leaves, which were joined by exotic-looking orange blossoms. Then the blossoms closed up and turned into pumpkins (which have already approached beachball size), while the vine continued its conquest of a massive swath of pavement. Now we have to take running leaps to jump over it.
Our best guess is that a seed from the compost slipped through the cracks and sprouted. Nursed by compost tea and sheltered by the garage wall, it's a lot happier and healthier than any pumpkin vine I've ever grown on purpose. In fact, it may have plans for world domination.
(Accidental Pumpkin Husbandry -- You too can grow gourds on your own driveway!)
There's been a lot of accidental gardening around here this summer. Blackberry vines reached through the neighbor's fence and rooted themselves in our yard. I (apparently) planted some carrots, forgot I'd planted them, and was delightfully surprised to pull them up, fully grown, a few months later. Morning glories, whose seeds scattered from the vines we planted last year, have taken root in every crack of our back walkways, and now cover the railing to our back steps and keep trying to wind themselves through the door handle. If the pumpkins and the morning glories start to conspire, we may not be able to get into our house at all.
For the first time in several months, I have poetry news!
- My poem "Buying the Muse" appears in the September issue of the glorious Ideomancer: http://www.ideomancer.com/?p=1054, and "Styx," a piece written several years ago, has found a home in the "Soul of a Victorian" issue of Niteblade: http://www.niteblade.com/september-2011/2011/09/styx/.
A new writing-focused interview can also now be found at Writing Raw: http://www.writingraw.com/interviews.html
In Books of Elsewhere news, I just received my sample copies of the Scholastic Book Club edition of The Shadows. As a grade schooler, I LOVED Scholatstic's classroom order forms -- Arrow! TAB! The names alone still make my heart jump! They were better than the Sears Christmas catalog! -- and I looked forward to the school book fair all year long. It makes me awfully happy to know that something I wrote will be discovered this way by a new generation of book lovers.
Our best guess is that a seed from the compost slipped through the cracks and sprouted. Nursed by compost tea and sheltered by the garage wall, it's a lot happier and healthier than any pumpkin vine I've ever grown on purpose. In fact, it may have plans for world domination.
(Accidental Pumpkin Husbandry -- You too can grow gourds on your own driveway!)
There's been a lot of accidental gardening around here this summer. Blackberry vines reached through the neighbor's fence and rooted themselves in our yard. I (apparently) planted some carrots, forgot I'd planted them, and was delightfully surprised to pull them up, fully grown, a few months later. Morning glories, whose seeds scattered from the vines we planted last year, have taken root in every crack of our back walkways, and now cover the railing to our back steps and keep trying to wind themselves through the door handle. If the pumpkins and the morning glories start to conspire, we may not be able to get into our house at all.
For the first time in several months, I have poetry news!
- My poem "Buying the Muse" appears in the September issue of the glorious Ideomancer: http://www.ideomancer.com/?p=1054, and "Styx," a piece written several years ago, has found a home in the "Soul of a Victorian" issue of Niteblade: http://www.niteblade.com/september-2011/2011/09/styx/.
A new writing-focused interview can also now be found at Writing Raw: http://www.writingraw.com/interviews.html
In Books of Elsewhere news, I just received my sample copies of the Scholastic Book Club edition of The Shadows. As a grade schooler, I LOVED Scholatstic's classroom order forms -- Arrow! TAB! The names alone still make my heart jump! They were better than the Sears Christmas catalog! -- and I looked forward to the school book fair all year long. It makes me awfully happy to know that something I wrote will be discovered this way by a new generation of book lovers.
August 30, 2011
More than Halfway There
Gene Wolfe apparently once said that you never really learn how to write a novel, you just learn how to write the novel that you're writing. This seems very wise to me. And helpful. And humble, coming as it does from someone who has written more than thirty novels.
I'm currently embarking on Volume Four (that's Four out of Five) of The Books of Elsewhere. It feels a bit easier now. I have some new tricks, some survival techniques, a much tougher skin -- and, of course, much more time to devote to writing than I had when I began. Maybe because this is a series, and the plots and characters and styles and themes are all interrelated, starting Volume Four doesn't present the same challenges that come with starting a Whole New Novel...but it's still scary. I'll keep Mr. Wolfe's words in mind and continue figuring it out as I go along.
Whenever I begin a new book (or story, or poem), I feel like I've found the central elements of a collage: I know that they belong together, and all their secret, subtle relationships will become clear as I put them in place. Right now, I've got the pieces of Volume Four spread out in front of me, and I'm trying to work out what belongs where, and what needs to fit in the spaces in between.
As for the volume that's already out there in the reading world:
- School Library Journal has given Spellbound a very nice review, which will appear in the September issue.
- I had a great time visiting with the Girls Book Club at the Excelsior Library this month -- the group was full of wonderful comments and questions -- and a photo of the visit can be seen on the homepage of the Children's Literature Network (at least, it can for now...):http://www.childrensliteraturenetwork.org/index.php
- And Spellbound was mentioned in July's "Cool New Books" list at the awesome Kidsreads.com: http://www.kidsreads.com/features/1107-cool.asp
I'm currently embarking on Volume Four (that's Four out of Five) of The Books of Elsewhere. It feels a bit easier now. I have some new tricks, some survival techniques, a much tougher skin -- and, of course, much more time to devote to writing than I had when I began. Maybe because this is a series, and the plots and characters and styles and themes are all interrelated, starting Volume Four doesn't present the same challenges that come with starting a Whole New Novel...but it's still scary. I'll keep Mr. Wolfe's words in mind and continue figuring it out as I go along.
Whenever I begin a new book (or story, or poem), I feel like I've found the central elements of a collage: I know that they belong together, and all their secret, subtle relationships will become clear as I put them in place. Right now, I've got the pieces of Volume Four spread out in front of me, and I'm trying to work out what belongs where, and what needs to fit in the spaces in between.
As for the volume that's already out there in the reading world:
- School Library Journal has given Spellbound a very nice review, which will appear in the September issue.
- I had a great time visiting with the Girls Book Club at the Excelsior Library this month -- the group was full of wonderful comments and questions -- and a photo of the visit can be seen on the homepage of the Children's Literature Network (at least, it can for now...):http://www.childrensliteraturenetwork.org/index.php
- And Spellbound was mentioned in July's "Cool New Books" list at the awesome Kidsreads.com: http://www.kidsreads.com/features/1107-cool.asp
August 14, 2011
In Which Chairs Are Carefully Pushed
I spent half of last week in Minneapolis, typing away in a hotel room, while Ryan attended a conference 20 floors below. I generally jump at the chance for a change of scene; it brushes away the dust and helps me to focus. Or maybe it's not the change of scene, but the lack of distractions: no dirty dishes, no errands to run, no Brom Bones to walk, not even any tempting channels on the hotel TV. I did still look over my shoulder every time I pushed back the desk chair to make sure that I wasn't about to squish a sleeping dog...but of course there was no dog there to be squished. (He was at his Red Wing kennel, probably barking his head off for 72 hours straight.)
On this one-writer mini-retreat, I wrote an essay for the fledgling blog 1 Bookshelf, which should appear within the next few weeks, caught up on email, completed some poetry research, and finished a rather odd and bitter 6,000-ish-word story while sitting in the very same seat in the very same Nicollet Mall Barnes & Noble cafe where I began it, over two months ago. (Here is a shot from the kids' section of the Nicollet B&N. Can you spot: 1. The writer. 2. Her new book. 3. The second Jack Blank book by her fellow Upstart Crow, Matt Myklusch? Hint: Spellbound and The Secret War are very close to each other. Hint 2: The writer doesn't much like having her picture taken.)
When each conference/writing day was done, we strolled around downtown and indulged ourselves ridiculously with a sort of pan-Asian tour of restaurants (Moscow on the Hill, Saji Ya, True Thai, and Everest. They're all just far enough away that we can't--or don't--visit them on a whim, and I can't even think about a couple of these places without sighing longingly. And drooling.) Before we headed home, we stopped at St. Paul's Red Balloon Bookshop. Copies of The Shadows and Spellbound are in stock (and now some of them are signed...): http://www.redballoonbookshop.com/Books900.
Twilight on Nicollet Mall.
Now I'm back at my very own writing desk, copy-editing Volume Three of The Books of Elsewhere, and Brom is running from window to window, whining at the dogs who are being walked outside. His collar jingles distractingly.
Other good news to share:
The paperback edition of The Shadows made the SIBA (Southern Independent Booksellers Association) bestsellers list. Yay!
A new interview can be found at Examiner.com: www.examiner.com/young-adult-fiction-in-national/interview-with-jacqueline-west-author-of-the-books-of-elsewhere.
And one more summer bookstore event is creeping closer: I'll be signing in-store at Bookin' It in Little Falls, MN, on Saturday, August 20th, from 11:00 - 3:00. Come on down, central Minnesotans!
Time to walk the dog.
On this one-writer mini-retreat, I wrote an essay for the fledgling blog 1 Bookshelf, which should appear within the next few weeks, caught up on email, completed some poetry research, and finished a rather odd and bitter 6,000-ish-word story while sitting in the very same seat in the very same Nicollet Mall Barnes & Noble cafe where I began it, over two months ago. (Here is a shot from the kids' section of the Nicollet B&N. Can you spot: 1. The writer. 2. Her new book. 3. The second Jack Blank book by her fellow Upstart Crow, Matt Myklusch? Hint: Spellbound and The Secret War are very close to each other. Hint 2: The writer doesn't much like having her picture taken.)
When each conference/writing day was done, we strolled around downtown and indulged ourselves ridiculously with a sort of pan-Asian tour of restaurants (Moscow on the Hill, Saji Ya, True Thai, and Everest. They're all just far enough away that we can't--or don't--visit them on a whim, and I can't even think about a couple of these places without sighing longingly. And drooling.) Before we headed home, we stopped at St. Paul's Red Balloon Bookshop. Copies of The Shadows and Spellbound are in stock (and now some of them are signed...): http://www.redballoonbookshop.com/Books900.
Twilight on Nicollet Mall.
Now I'm back at my very own writing desk, copy-editing Volume Three of The Books of Elsewhere, and Brom is running from window to window, whining at the dogs who are being walked outside. His collar jingles distractingly.
Other good news to share:
The paperback edition of The Shadows made the SIBA (Southern Independent Booksellers Association) bestsellers list. Yay!
A new interview can be found at Examiner.com: www.examiner.com/young-adult-fiction-in-national/interview-with-jacqueline-west-author-of-the-books-of-elsewhere.
And one more summer bookstore event is creeping closer: I'll be signing in-store at Bookin' It in Little Falls, MN, on Saturday, August 20th, from 11:00 - 3:00. Come on down, central Minnesotans!
Time to walk the dog.
August 8, 2011
The Writer's Desk
There is a book by photographer Jill Krementz called The Writer's Desk, which is filled with many of her wonderful portraits of writers in their work spaces. (Krementz was Kurt Vonnegut's wife, and there is a great shot of him at his desk, barefoot, hard at work on a crossword puzzle.) The book came out in the mid-1990s, and more of the desks are occupied by Smith Coronas and Olivettis than HP laptops or MacBooks. Ashtrays also appear with slightly startling frequency.
But almost everything else is consistent, not only from era to era, but from author to author. There are a few who always write in bed, or while lying on the sofa, or while perching on a kitchen counter, but most writers seem to use the same familiar building blocks: Piles of notes. A scattering of pens and scrap paper. Inspiring quotes hanging just above the work surface. A window, or some artwork, or family photos, or a few totemic little figurines. A dog lying supportively nearby.
When people find out that I'm a writer, they often ask me where I work. "In an office, in my house," I say. "At a wooden table in front of a window, with my dog snoring near my feet." This is what it looks like, minus the dog. (His bed is that red fringe-y thing at the left. In this photo, he has recently vacated it in order to try to bump the camera out of my hands.)
I'm more than a week behind, links-wise, but you can still read the Star Tribune's interview with me about The Books of Elsewhere, along with reviews of several fantastic new middle-grade novels by Minnesotans, at www.startribune.com/entertainment/books/126406968.html.
I was also recently featured on Writers Read (here's me: whatarewritersreading.blogspot.com/2011/07/jacqueline-west.html), which made me happy because I got to gush about Gillian Flynn and Catherynne Valente.
And, finally, here's a review of The Shadows from the fantastic site Mundie Kids (younger sibling of the tastemaking Mundie Moms), which I somehow didn't see until three days ago: mundiekids.blogspot.com/2010/07/book-review-shadows-books-of-elsewhere.html.
But almost everything else is consistent, not only from era to era, but from author to author. There are a few who always write in bed, or while lying on the sofa, or while perching on a kitchen counter, but most writers seem to use the same familiar building blocks: Piles of notes. A scattering of pens and scrap paper. Inspiring quotes hanging just above the work surface. A window, or some artwork, or family photos, or a few totemic little figurines. A dog lying supportively nearby.
When people find out that I'm a writer, they often ask me where I work. "In an office, in my house," I say. "At a wooden table in front of a window, with my dog snoring near my feet." This is what it looks like, minus the dog. (His bed is that red fringe-y thing at the left. In this photo, he has recently vacated it in order to try to bump the camera out of my hands.)
I'm more than a week behind, links-wise, but you can still read the Star Tribune's interview with me about The Books of Elsewhere, along with reviews of several fantastic new middle-grade novels by Minnesotans, at www.startribune.com/entertainment/books/126406968.html.
I was also recently featured on Writers Read (here's me: whatarewritersreading.blogspot.com/2011/07/jacqueline-west.html), which made me happy because I got to gush about Gillian Flynn and Catherynne Valente.
And, finally, here's a review of The Shadows from the fantastic site Mundie Kids (younger sibling of the tastemaking Mundie Moms), which I somehow didn't see until three days ago: mundiekids.blogspot.com/2010/07/book-review-shadows-books-of-elsewhere.html.
July 29, 2011
Not single links, but battalions
I'm currently wrapping up the second full-scale rewrite of the still semi-secret Shakespearean YA project. Enough time has passed since the first round (it's been nearly a year, I believe), that the work has been surprisingly painless. Revising can feel like fighting your way through an overgrown raspberry patch, searching for a handful of perfect berries while the brambles tangle in your hair and catch in your skin until even your scratches have scratches.
But not this time. I know my characters, I know what's going to happen in my reconstructed plot, and putting the bits together has felt almost like transcribing rather than writing -- like someone has handed me a jar of ready-made raspberry jam, and there isn't a thorn in sight.
Writing plot-propelling dialogue in iambic pentameter, however...
Not so easy.
It helps to remind myself that even Shakespeare used little tricks for this: Playing with syntax, starting sentences with "O" to get that first unstressed beat, using syncope to cut syllables ("heav'n," "ne'er," "o'erthrown," etc.) I think the challenge has been good for me. It's probably been especially good for the poor, atrophied mathematical part of my brain, which doesn't have to do a lot of counting these days. The whole book isn't in verse, thankfully--just the speech of one character, and that is enough for me. (I remember reading somewhere that Robin Williams could improvise in iambic pentameter. I think the story was that back in his theatre-student days, he lost his place during a performance of Shakespeare, and simply rolled along, improvising in the correct meter, until things got back on track. I sigh in envious admiration.)
In the not-at-all-secret realm of SPELLBOUND, there is a wealth of good news to share.
First, a list of best-sellers at Minneapolis's Wild Rumpus bookstore: www.wildrumpusbooks.com/bestsellers
A review from the wonderful Charlotte's Library:charlotteslibrary.blogspot.com/2011/07/spellbound-books-of-elsewhere-2-by.html
And another review from Alternative Worlds: www.alternative-worlds.com/2011/06/01/spellbound-jacqueline-west/
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
A new interview -- mostly about the charming Brom Bones, including several photos -- can be found at Coffee with a Canine, a blog with two things that I love in its title alone, and many more things to love in its articles. My interview is here; you can also find links/info here.
And, finally:
Afew months ago, a young reader who writes under the name Pherisphena Ladea asked if I would be willing to write a guest post for her blog, The Word Asylum. In my visits to schools and book clubs, I've met many aspiring, enthusiastic young writers like Pherisphena, but I know that most of them struggle to find a real community--a group of other writers near their own age who share their commitment and passion. If you're one of those writers, or know one of those writers, I encourage you to visit her blog and pass the link along. Here's the post featuring my advice to young writers: thewordasylum.wordpress.com/2011/07/28/the-word-asylums-100th-post-part-1/. I hope it helps. And if you've got questions or comments, please get in touch.
But not this time. I know my characters, I know what's going to happen in my reconstructed plot, and putting the bits together has felt almost like transcribing rather than writing -- like someone has handed me a jar of ready-made raspberry jam, and there isn't a thorn in sight.
Writing plot-propelling dialogue in iambic pentameter, however...
Not so easy.
It helps to remind myself that even Shakespeare used little tricks for this: Playing with syntax, starting sentences with "O" to get that first unstressed beat, using syncope to cut syllables ("heav'n," "ne'er," "o'erthrown," etc.) I think the challenge has been good for me. It's probably been especially good for the poor, atrophied mathematical part of my brain, which doesn't have to do a lot of counting these days. The whole book isn't in verse, thankfully--just the speech of one character, and that is enough for me. (I remember reading somewhere that Robin Williams could improvise in iambic pentameter. I think the story was that back in his theatre-student days, he lost his place during a performance of Shakespeare, and simply rolled along, improvising in the correct meter, until things got back on track. I sigh in envious admiration.)
In the not-at-all-secret realm of SPELLBOUND, there is a wealth of good news to share.
First, a list of best-sellers at Minneapolis's Wild Rumpus bookstore: www.wildrumpusbooks.com/bestsellers
A review from the wonderful Charlotte's Library:charlotteslibrary.blogspot.com/2011/07/spellbound-books-of-elsewhere-2-by.html
And another review from Alternative Worlds: www.alternative-worlds.com/2011/06/01/spellbound-jacqueline-west/
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
A new interview -- mostly about the charming Brom Bones, including several photos -- can be found at Coffee with a Canine, a blog with two things that I love in its title alone, and many more things to love in its articles. My interview is here; you can also find links/info here.
And, finally:
Afew months ago, a young reader who writes under the name Pherisphena Ladea asked if I would be willing to write a guest post for her blog, The Word Asylum. In my visits to schools and book clubs, I've met many aspiring, enthusiastic young writers like Pherisphena, but I know that most of them struggle to find a real community--a group of other writers near their own age who share their commitment and passion. If you're one of those writers, or know one of those writers, I encourage you to visit her blog and pass the link along. Here's the post featuring my advice to young writers: thewordasylum.wordpress.com/2011/07/28/the-word-asylums-100th-post-part-1/. I hope it helps. And if you've got questions or comments, please get in touch.
July 22, 2011
Dandelion Wine Days
My favorite summer book in my favorite summer place.
The Books of Elsewhere, Volume Two: Spellbound had its birthday on July 12, and the week that followed was busy and beautiful. Thank you to everyone who turned up at the Red Wing Public Library, The Valley Bookseller, and Best of Times Bookstore -- especially the enthusiastic young readers who had already read one or both books (some more than once!) and who asked such fantastic questions. If you're in Minnesota and couldn't make it to either of these (but wanted to), I'll be reading/chatting/signing at Reading Frenzy Book Shop in Zimmerman on August 2nd at 6:30, and I've just added another signing at Bookin' It in Little Falls, from 11:00 - 3:00 on Saturday, August 20th.
Reviews of Spellbound are beginning to come in. Here's one from the Atlanta Examiner. which gives the book 5 out of 5 stars--Hooray!-- (www.examiner.com/young-adult-literature-in-atlanta/the-books-of-elsewhere-vol-2-spellbound-by-jacqueline-west-book-review-review), another from Monsters and Critics (www.monstersandcritics.com/books/science_fiction_fantasy/reviews/article_1651045.php/Book-Review-The-Books-of-Elsewhere-Vol-2-Spellbound), and a third from the lovely blog Waking Brain Cells (wakingbraincells.com/2011/07/05/book-review-spellbound-by-jacqueline-west/).
Brom Bones loves the screened porch even more than I do. As far as he's concerned, it's surround-sound, IMAX, and Smell-O-Vision all rolled into one.
More reviews, interviews and updates coming soon.
Back to work.
July 5, 2011
Happy Peas, a Poetry Interview, and a Dream I Hope Came True
First, the happy peas:
It has turned suddenly hot and humid and tornado-y here, and the snow peas are rejoicing. Their blossoms are so elegant, like tiny orchids. We Wests have also been rejoicing: swimming (outdoors! In open-air swimming pools!), taking long walks (in shorts! And sandals!), seeing Louis C.K. perform live (right here, in our town!), and attending Ellsworth Wisconsin's annual Cheese Curd Festival. Highlights included spotting Cheesy Rider, the festival's mascot, a moustachioed robotic curd who rides a motorcycle, and watching two pre-teen boys vomit into a garbage can after the curd-eating contest. Ah, summer in Dairyland.
Spellbound will be released exactly one week from today. To help you recognize it in your local bookstores and libraries, here it is, in all its shiny hardcover glory:
On the subject of Spellbound, here's a review from the beautiful Books Together blog, which focuses on art and museums in children's literature: bookstogether.squarespace.com/blog/2011/6/17/spellbound.html. I've said this before, and I'm sure I'll repeat it a thousand times, but I am so grateful to the bloggers, teachers, librarians, and book-lovers who have given these books their personal recommendations. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Prick of the Spindle, an online literary journal that has published some of my poetry, includes a regular feature called "Writer Round-Up," in which several writers answer the same work-related questions. I'm included in the current issue, talking about my chapbook, Cherma: www.prickofthespindle.com/interviews/5.2/writer_round-up.htm. I thought the differences in the writers' answers were extremely interesting, particularly about the revision process -- we had some widely varied experiences.
This is some very belated news, but I can't stop thinking about it: At the end of May, Bridget Zinn, one of my fellow Upstart Crows, died of complications due to colon cancer, at the age of 33. Her debut novel, Poison, will be published by Hyperion; you can hear more about Bridget and her book in agent Michael's eloquent entry at the Upstart Crow blog. I never got to meet Bridget, and I feel selfishly sad about this -- not only because everyone she knew seems to have loved her, and my heart goes out to all of them -- but because reading her vibrant, funny, celebratory blog feels like sitting in a friend's backyard, surrounded by blooming flowers and cats and mugs of sweet-spicy tea, and I am going to miss this. This entry, in particular, has planted itself in my mind: www.bridgetzinn.com/blog/. Each time I feel grumpy or restless or ungrateful, each time I realize I'm wandering through my day with eyes half-closed, I remind myself of this. Read it, and then read the rest of her blog, and you'll feel like you knew and loved Bridget, too.
It has turned suddenly hot and humid and tornado-y here, and the snow peas are rejoicing. Their blossoms are so elegant, like tiny orchids. We Wests have also been rejoicing: swimming (outdoors! In open-air swimming pools!), taking long walks (in shorts! And sandals!), seeing Louis C.K. perform live (right here, in our town!), and attending Ellsworth Wisconsin's annual Cheese Curd Festival. Highlights included spotting Cheesy Rider, the festival's mascot, a moustachioed robotic curd who rides a motorcycle, and watching two pre-teen boys vomit into a garbage can after the curd-eating contest. Ah, summer in Dairyland.
Spellbound will be released exactly one week from today. To help you recognize it in your local bookstores and libraries, here it is, in all its shiny hardcover glory:
On the subject of Spellbound, here's a review from the beautiful Books Together blog, which focuses on art and museums in children's literature: bookstogether.squarespace.com/blog/2011/6/17/spellbound.html. I've said this before, and I'm sure I'll repeat it a thousand times, but I am so grateful to the bloggers, teachers, librarians, and book-lovers who have given these books their personal recommendations. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Prick of the Spindle, an online literary journal that has published some of my poetry, includes a regular feature called "Writer Round-Up," in which several writers answer the same work-related questions. I'm included in the current issue, talking about my chapbook, Cherma: www.prickofthespindle.com/interviews/5.2/writer_round-up.htm. I thought the differences in the writers' answers were extremely interesting, particularly about the revision process -- we had some widely varied experiences.
This is some very belated news, but I can't stop thinking about it: At the end of May, Bridget Zinn, one of my fellow Upstart Crows, died of complications due to colon cancer, at the age of 33. Her debut novel, Poison, will be published by Hyperion; you can hear more about Bridget and her book in agent Michael's eloquent entry at the Upstart Crow blog. I never got to meet Bridget, and I feel selfishly sad about this -- not only because everyone she knew seems to have loved her, and my heart goes out to all of them -- but because reading her vibrant, funny, celebratory blog feels like sitting in a friend's backyard, surrounded by blooming flowers and cats and mugs of sweet-spicy tea, and I am going to miss this. This entry, in particular, has planted itself in my mind: www.bridgetzinn.com/blog/. Each time I feel grumpy or restless or ungrateful, each time I realize I'm wandering through my day with eyes half-closed, I remind myself of this. Read it, and then read the rest of her blog, and you'll feel like you knew and loved Bridget, too.
June 21, 2011
Summer Book Events (and Links!)
A few more bookstore events are in the works, but as of today, here are the summer's scheduled events for The Books of Elsewhere. Events that are open to the general public are in bold.
June 14: The Shadows released in paperback
July 9: Summer Celebration of the Arts
Anderson Center, Red Wing, MN, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
The celebration features the work of more than 85
artists, writers, and musicians. I'll be signing and selling
The Shadows and Cherma (but not Spellbound,
which won't be released for three more days...)
June 14: The Shadows released in paperback
July 9: Summer Celebration of the Arts
Anderson Center, Red Wing, MN, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
The celebration features the work of more than 85
artists, writers, and musicians. I'll be signing and selling
The Shadows and Cherma (but not Spellbound,
which won't be released for three more days...)
July 12: Spellbound released
July 12: Red Wing Public Library
Red Wing, MN, 10:30 a.m.
Summer reading program for kids
July 14: The Valley Bookseller
Stillwater, MN, 5:00 p.m.
Talking, reading, and signing Spellbound
July 16: Best of Times Bookstore
Red Wing, MN, 10:00 a.m.
Spellbound release party!
Reading, signing, Q&A, and treats.
August 2: Reading Frenzy Bookshop
Zimmerman, MN, 6:30 p.m.
Talking, reading, and signing Spellbound
August 16: "Girls Only" Book Club
Excelsior Library, Excelsior, MN, 10:15 a.m.
Discussing The Shadows; books will be available
for purchase/signing through Excelsior Bay Books
My summer events were also mentioned in the Star Tribune Books section:
www.startribune.com/entertainment/books/124034064.html
And here's new review of The Shadows:
www.lunch.com/reviews/d/UserReview-The_Books_of_Elsewhere_The_Shadows-1745758-208970-What_Lurks_in_the_Shadows.html
June 6, 2011
Lunettes Magiques
Round Two of revisions on The Books of Elsewhere, Volume Three = COMPLETED. Times I've cried over this one = ZERO. Hooray!
And now that Vol. Three is back with la editeur extraordinaire, I'm wading back into the revision of a completely (extremely, weirdly, mind-twistingly) different YA-type project. I'm also feeling the temptation to begin a few short stories that have been rattling around in my mind, just so my life isn't ALL revision...which is sort of like pasta without the sauce, or sourdough toast without the strawberry-rhubarb jam.
As a nice little reward for all that revising, we drove down to Iowa City to spend the weekend with my brother and his girlfriend, (who between them have too much good-looking-ness for any one couple)...
went to an art festival, ate at the amazing all-organic, all-locally grown, all-VEGETARIAN restaurant The Red Avocado (I don't have to tell you how rare treats like that are in the Midwest), and browsed at Prairie Lights bookstore.
I also got to briefly wear a cat as a collar.
Back at home, the French edition of The Shadows was waiting for me. The publisher, Seuil, has retitled the series La Maison des Secrets (The House of Secrets), and Volume One is Les Lunettes Magiques (The Magic Glasses), but they've used Poly Bernatene's cover and interior illustrations, which meant that upon opening the package of books, I experienced one of those odd, eye-rubbing moments when you think you must have been staring at a computer screen for too long, because English doesn't even look like English anymore. And, of course, it wasn't.
Voila!
Finally, because it makes me so glad that readers are still discovering Volume One while I've got my head buried in Volume Three, here's a lovely new review of The Shadows: elizabethvaradansfourthwish.blogspot.com/2011/06/book-review-friday-shadows-volume-i-of.html. Thank you, readers and reviewers.
And now that Vol. Three is back with la editeur extraordinaire, I'm wading back into the revision of a completely (extremely, weirdly, mind-twistingly) different YA-type project. I'm also feeling the temptation to begin a few short stories that have been rattling around in my mind, just so my life isn't ALL revision...which is sort of like pasta without the sauce, or sourdough toast without the strawberry-rhubarb jam.
As a nice little reward for all that revising, we drove down to Iowa City to spend the weekend with my brother and his girlfriend, (who between them have too much good-looking-ness for any one couple)...
went to an art festival, ate at the amazing all-organic, all-locally grown, all-VEGETARIAN restaurant The Red Avocado (I don't have to tell you how rare treats like that are in the Midwest), and browsed at Prairie Lights bookstore.
I also got to briefly wear a cat as a collar.
Back at home, the French edition of The Shadows was waiting for me. The publisher, Seuil, has retitled the series La Maison des Secrets (The House of Secrets), and Volume One is Les Lunettes Magiques (The Magic Glasses), but they've used Poly Bernatene's cover and interior illustrations, which meant that upon opening the package of books, I experienced one of those odd, eye-rubbing moments when you think you must have been staring at a computer screen for too long, because English doesn't even look like English anymore. And, of course, it wasn't.
Voila!
Finally, because it makes me so glad that readers are still discovering Volume One while I've got my head buried in Volume Three, here's a lovely new review of The Shadows: elizabethvaradansfourthwish.blogspot.com/2011/06/book-review-friday-shadows-volume-i-of.html. Thank you, readers and reviewers.
