Alex Epstein's Blog, page 3

Toronto Tour

Looks like I'm going to be appearing at two bookstores, a library and a school in Toronto in late October. Should be a fun trip.

Chapters Bayview, October 22

Looks like I'm going to be giving a reading of THE CIRCLE CAST at the Chapters Bayview Village, in Toronto (well, North York, really), on Saturday, October 22, at 2 pm. That should be fun! If you're in Toronto, come hear me read!

(I'm also screening my five minute teen vampire sex comedy, YOU ARE SO UNDEAD, at Toronto After Dark, that night at 9:30 pm!)

Teens Read Too...

TeensReadToo says TCC is "a hidden treasure." Thanks!

In The Guardian, YA authors report that their agents and/...

In The Guardian, YA authors report that their agents and/or publishers have asked them to straighten out their gay characters.

Two American authors have revealed that they were told by a literary agent to "straighten" a gay character in their post-apocalyptic young adult novel if they wished to be represented...

The demand follows the experience of author Jessica Verday, who pulled out of the young adult anthology Wicked Pretty Things in March after she was told by its editor that her story...

The Last Kingdom

I finished the LAST KINGDOM by Bernard Cornwell. I'm sort of two minds about it. It's a quick read. It catches the wild ride of one Northumbrian nobleman's son whose father is killed, and his lands taken, by the invading Danes. He's captured by a Danish nobleman and raised almost as a son, but destiny has other plans for him.

I liked the book as historical fiction. I liked the sense of who the Saxon English were, and who the Danes were, and what they valued. The reign of King Alfred of Wessex ...

THe Last Kingdom

I've been enjoying Bernard Cornwell's THE LAST KINGDOM, about a Saxon boy, the son of an Earl, who's captured in war by the Danes as they conquer Northumbria, and raised by a Danish nobleman. The kid is a fresh character, torn between his two identities -- he really prefers being a pagan Dane to having been an English Christian, but he knows in his heart that he's English and not Danish. The historical details really put you in another time and another place, and the people are true to their ...

Staff Pick

It was nice to see my book was a Staff Pick at the downtown Chapters in Toronto!

Kindle Kover

Right now my Kindle shows a random assortment of images when it's off. There isn't an easy way to change them unless you want to upload hackage into the Kindle, which seems not worth the trouble unless you are a hardware hacker and simply can't resist.

You know what would be fun? If it showed the cover of whatever book I was reading last.

Historical Research

I've been reading Charles Mann's new book 1493, the sequel, natch, to his awesome historical book 1491. 1491 was about evidence that the pre-Columbian Native American societies were far richer, more populated, and complex than we think of them -- that what is now the Amazon jungle was heavily cultivated by millions of Indians who were wiped out by disease before any but the very first white travelers saw them. 1493 is about the huge changes in the world after the New and Old Worlds became li...

Adult or YA

I've had a bunch of nice reviews on YA blogs, as you can read further below. But the really glowing reviews have come from the straight press. I had that glowing review in the East Hampton Star, and in Historical Novels Review. I wonder if the book would do better as a straight novel, or just adult fantasy?



It's hard to say. My wife's book The Intrepid Art Collector got shelved under "collectibles" instead of under "art," although it had nothing for collectors, and was meant for art connoiss...