Rachel Hartman's Blog, page 39
January 3, 2012
My cover story
(And I'm sticking to it, ha ha!)
The entire time I was working on Seraphina, friends kept asking me what I wanted the cover to look like. This was not an unreasonable question; I used to draw comics, after all. I (pretend to) have aesthetic standards about such things. But honestly, when I heard the question I couldn't help hearing beneath it, Are you going to draw it yourself? Since the answer to that unstated question was most assuredly "no" – the publisher would not have let me, and I...
January 2, 2012
Hello, 2012! Hello, cover!
I have things to say and stories to tell, but for now, I think I'm gonna let this baby speak for itself:
That's our North American cover, friends. I seriously can't stop staring at it. Stories tomorrow, I promise.
December 26, 2011
Coming soon: the North American cover!
Hi, all! I hope you're all having a very happy Winter Holiday season. Today is Boxing Day in Canada, the day we all put on our gloves and punch each other in the face. Good times. Helps us stay mild and inoffensive for the rest of the year. You wondered why Canadians are so polite? Boxing Day. You may quote me.
I'm really just popping in to let you know we have a North American cover, at long last. It is beautiful – I can't stop staring at it – and Captain Editorpants says I'm to sit on it...
December 16, 2011
Io Saturnalia!
Well, friends, the holiday season is upon us. I shall be taking a break from this space for the next couple weeks, that I may celebrate Saturnalia with my family. It's a full-contact holiday, and will take up all my time for a while.
I tried to find a good Saturnalia song to share with you, but this silly thing is really all there is:
Whatever you celebrate, have a good one. See you in 2012, if not a bit before.
December 15, 2011
Art and neuroscience
An article from the NYT: Art and the Limits of Neuroscience.
Very interesting. I suspect I have things to say in response, but I'm going to have to let it stew for a few days. Also, the dog is whining to go out, which really has to take precedence over almost anything else. Whatever else is true, dog pee on the floor is not art.
December 14, 2011
Where do you get your ideas?
That question, more than any other, seems to be a bugbear for writers and other artists.
I find it embarrassing, myself. Not because it's hard to answer, and not because the answer (from my brain) is so obvious and anticlimactic. It's because I inevitably hear a question behind the question: why is it that you have good ideas and I don't?
It can't be true that the asker has no ideas, or really doesn't know where ideas come from, right? Those aren't possibilities I can entertain, and I am the...
December 12, 2011
Review: A Monster Calls
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
(I look at these five stars and think, no way. This book cannot be measured with stupid little stars.)
(I will just mention, too, that there are spoilers ahead. This is a book worth not being spoiled, so please do read it first before reading my review. You'll need a box of tissues, and your blankie.)
As always, I start from my own eccentricity: I am interested in the Monsters of the Mind. We all have them, the Grendels, the Keepers of the ...
December 9, 2011
Scott is the hero
[The following public service announcement is part of my sentencing, along with folding several loads of laundry, making lunch, and buying an external hard drive. And believe me, it's ALL better than having two months' work flushed down the toilet.]
Hey, kids! Back up your work!
I just about had a heart attack yesterday. Our main computer – the one I'm writing the sequel on – would not boot up again after being turned off.
For one horrible moment I feared I'd lost everything.
Once I calmed down a...
December 6, 2011
Another oldie-but-goodie
In honour of how grumpy I've been on and off for the last two months, here's a comic strip I did for Strange Horizons, almost a decade ago:
For a writer, any time can be that time of the month
I need to add, however, that actual writer's block is very rare for me these days. Maybe there is a cure, or maybe the same phenomenon takes different forms (the aforementioned cantankerousness, for example). Maybe it's a matter of experience: I'm more likely to rip out pages and try something new if I...
December 5, 2011
A few reviews
I could play coy and pretend I never stalk myself online, but that would be a big fat lie. Now that Seraphina is out in eARC form, a few YA book bloggers have read and reviewed it. I don't know what the etiquette is for linking to reviews, so I've tried to be even-handed. Not all of these reviews are gushing and enthusiastic, but they're all thoughtful, well-considered, and full of good observations. Here are the ones I've found so far. Please note: some of these have spoilers!
