Rachel Hartman's Blog, page 43

Review: Imaginary Girls, by Nova Ren Suma

(Reposted from Goodreads)

Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

OK, I think I'm finally ready to review this properly. Deep breath…

I didn't like this book.

I know, I know, it has four stars and may even deserve five, but I didn't LIKE it. It hit too close to home, and I'm having trouble working out a way to discuss that without laying my own crap out all over the internet in gruesome and excessive detail.

I'm going to have to approach this obliquely, I fear.

Long ago, when I...

Release date change!

It looks like Seraphina will be coming out July 10th, 2012, instead of the previously announced date in May.

I realize that means waiting two extra months for it – and I totally sympathize with how heartbroken you all must feel – but it's actually good news. Captain Editorpants assures me that this means Random House is trying to optimize the release date so that my book can make a bigger splash. Yay!

But even better than that: it means the book will be coming out the day after my 40th...

Impudent updates

* Writing! Sometimes it's wonderful, sometimes it's like hitting yourself in the face with a bat!

* Hm. Interesting question. I've gotta go with "aluminum bat", I think. The wooden ones split against my thick skull.

* And hey, good news everybody! No, the cover still isn't done — or at least not the North American cover. But that's okay, because the NINYSH cover art is ready! Seriously. Here it is:

Wow! How awesome is that?

Apparently in Ninys it's traditional to put the author on the cover...

Notes to a young writer

I was recently asked how one balances writing with the rest of one's life. It's a great question, and something I don't always feel I do well. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized there were a few things I wish I'd known and put into practice early on. Here, then, is my advice:

* Figure out what time of day you do your best work, and cordon it off with velvet ropes.

* Go for walks. Other exercise is good too, and important, but walks are special. Walking makes your brain go.

...

Please GRAMMAR Don't Hurt 'Em

The Non-Adventures of Wonderella.

It's funny because it's pedantic!

(Via my friend Dave on FB) (Hi, Dave!)

Obsession roster

Every time I start a new project, I suddenly have a laundry list of things I need to "research". I put that in scare quotes because I suspect that it's actually a subconscious strategy to derail myself. I can't possibly write! I don't know enough yet!

Here's the current list of suspect preoccupations:

Bantu knots/cornrows (thanks to everyone who answered my burning questions!)building styles and materials of Savoy/Hautes-Alpes (fortunately, I have a book with good pictures!)lichens (yes, you...

Zen mind, writer's mind

Y'know, I was ready for this to be Buddhism Week, Chez Rachel. I had that dog koan, and then the last few mornings I've begun meditating again (I do want to talk about that sometime – I highly recommend it for preventing panic in the face of giant to-do lists). But yesterday I also had a good writing day, which reminded me of that thing I always forget until I'm in the throes of a new project:

My writer's mind is comprised of three parts. Like tripartite Gaul, yes.

Each part has its own...

Cantankerous updates

* I seem to have defeated the virus. Either I'm awesome, or it was very very wimpy. Let's all just vote for the former, shall we? Maybe that will un-grump me a little bit.

* The next three weeks are going to be particularly busy here on the home front, so this is just a heads-up to say posting will be sporadic until after Canadian Thankgiving (called "Columbus Day" by our southern neighbours, and "October 10th" by the calendar).

* Still no cover. We were very close for a moment; there was a...

And then I was taken out by a microorganism

Well, a virus anyway. Do they count as microorganisms? I remember debating this question with my sister at the dinner table when we were kids – are viruses alive? – but I don't remember what we concluded.

Given how old we were, we probably concluded my sister was a booger. That's how most of our intellectual sparring wound up.

Anyway, I've got a cold. That doesn't mean I haven't found anything to challenge your little brain, however. Here's an excruciatingly comprehensive round-up of the...

OMG!

Seraphina Sequel plot outline is GO! I get to start writing!

It's… it's kind of shocking how excited I am about this. I suppose it's a good thing that I like to write, eh?

Working title is Dracomachia. That could change, of course.

[Rachel bounces off, stage left...]