L.R. Lam's Blog, page 45

Fantasy Faction Interview!

I’m flying back to Scotland from California in a few hours. Back to my normal life! And writing! It’ll be a bit of a hellacious flight: San Francisco to Los Angeles to London to Aberdeen.

Today an interview with Fantasy Faction went live. I really enjoyed the interview process and Leo Cristea asked some excellent questions. Please check it out!

Books Read in August

1. The Unwritten Volume 1 – Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity – Mike Carey (graphic novel, meta, fantasy)

2. The Unwritten Volume 2 – Inside Man – Mike Carey (graphic novel, meta, fantasy)

3. The Unwritten Volume 3 – Dead Man’s Knock  - Mike Carey (graphic novel, meta, fantasy)

4. The Unwritten Volume 4 – Leviathan - Mike Carey (graphic novel, meta, fantasy)

5. The Unwritten Volume 5 – On to Genesis - Mike Carey (graphic novel, meta, fantasy)

6. The Unwritten Volume 6 – Tommy Taylor and the War of Words - Mike Carey (graphic novel, meta, fantasy)

7. Seraphina – Rachel Hartman (fantasy, ya, dragons)

8. Heartsick – Chelsea Cain (horror, thriller, serial killers)

9. The Key of Gold – 23 Czech Folk Tales – Josef Budis (czech, fairy tales, translation)

10. Annabel - Kathleen Winter (intersex, contemporary fiction, canada, gender)

11. Broken – A.E. Rought (retelling, frankenstein, ya, strange chemistry)

Also read the short story “All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury.

New Blurbs & Photos

I’ve had two new endorsements come through recently, both of which I was very honoured to receive:

“In PANTOMIME, Laura Lam has created a world which will take your breath away, and characters you will never want to leave. Enchanting.”

 -Lou Morgan, author of Blood and Feathers

“A lyrical, stunningly written debut novel, which set my heart racing with every lift of the trapeze. In Micah we have one of the most original – and likeable – protagonists I’ve read in a long time. An author to watch, without a doubt.”

- Amy McCulloch, author of The Oathbreaker’s Shadow 

I also found this photo of us at the Strange Chemistry launch on KatieA3′s Flickr:

Amanda Rutter (editor), Kim Curran (Shift), me, Jonathan Howard (Katya’s World)

And lastly, one of Ms Robards’ students, Caroline, sent me this photo from after my first talk at Hayward High. I have her permission to post it. They’re posing with my Kindle, which has Pantomime on it.

Back to High School: a talk at Hayward High

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The Hayward High Crest…yes, our mascot is the farmers. Go Farmers!

Yesterday, while walking around my old high school, I felt both closer and further away from the teen I used to be.

Hayward High in many ways looked the same. I remembered where all the halls were. I remembered where my locker had been. Little memories of walking between classes, of chatting with people at lunch by a certain classroom kept coming to me as I waited for my friend and now-teacher to find me. But it was different as well. The school was no longer mustard-yellow, but grey. There were bars across the front of the school, making it look like a prison.

I spoke to two AP English 12 classes yesterday, in 3rd and 6th period. I was really nervous beforehand and as the students trickled in. In some ways, I went back to my high school self at that moment – will they like me? Will they find me interesting? Will they think I’m cool?

But when I looked out at their faces, they all looked interested (well, aside from the one boy who fell asleep…). And so, awkwardly at first, I told the first class about myself. I graduated from Hayward High in 2006 before going to college up the hill at Cal State East Bay, but now I live in Scotland, so I was both local yet not.

After I told them about the book, the classroom asked me questions. They’d been asked to come up with two questions for homework, so it was like a pop quiz. But after the first few questions I actually really liked it, so that when there was a lull I wanted more questions! It was so good to hear what teens wanted to know about my book–they asked about the setting and the characters. They also got a bit off topic and kept asking me about my husband because they thought our love story was cute (because it is). I even got a room full of “awws.” They also asked a lot about the publishing world, and I told them the process and warned them against the mistakes I had made. Someone asked about writer’s block, I got the question about inspiration, or what themes and philosophies I had integrated into my work.

One girl asked me about the language tone I used as Pantomime is set in a pseudo-Victorian society. Another asked if I used “big words,” and I said that I did, I supposed. I didn’t dumb down my language at all because, as I said, “teens aren’t stupid,” to which everyone applauded. Because they’re not. These teens were so bright, so interested, and so with it. It was so inspiring. I told them that they are my target demographic. While of course I’m pleased as punch if adults read it too, my book is for them. And they really seemed to like that.

I gave them a reading from Pantomime, and in the second class a few of them put their heads down like it was storytime, but their eyes were still open. It was a totally different atmosphere to when I did a reading for adults at the launch. I was totally relaxed by that point. No knee shaking this time.

After the first talk, a group of students came up and asked to have a photo taken with me and they gave me hugs. And after the last period Briana, who asked lots of amazing questions and was so sweet, asked me for an autograph. My first autograph!

I was so nervous about answering the questions that it took me until today to realise I missed a really good opportunity to ask them questions. What sort of stuff did they like to read? Where did they find out about books? Do any of them have e-readers? The next school visit I plan to prepare some questions of my own.

I walked out of the campus the way I had countless times in high school and then met my dad. And I felt really exhilarated and privileged that these students had asked me questions and now knew about my book. And it reminded me so much about why I love teens and writing for teens. Hurray for YA!

Worldcon 2012: Chicago Style

I am still recovering from the Chicago Worldcon, but it was a blast. Here’s some bulletpoints of the week:

Pancakes
Booze
Pizza
Bowling
Discussing publishing
Readings
Falling down stairs
Bruises
Maple bacon donut
More pancakes
Hugos!
Big cocktails
Pho
More pizza
Booze
Sightseeing

…As you can see, food played a big role. The week was a lot of hanging around, eating, drinking, and uh, not going to many panels on my part. Or um, any. I kept meaning to go, but never got around to it. The next con I’m going to I’m going to plan my time better.

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This is why they call it the Big Bar. With Wesley Chu.

That’s not to say I was in the Big Bar the entire time. Because the Angry Robots took over Worldcon, we did a few events. We went out for pizza, we went bowling, and there was a book reading at The Book Cellar (where you can buy beer! Bookstores, take note: this is a possible future). I went to the Tor party and sat through part of the Hugos, but it was so packed I couldn’t stand in the back the entire time, so we followed via Twitter in the bar. Again.

I was really impressed by the Hugos, which I’d not followed that closely in previous years. Out of the 17 categories, 11 of the wins were of women, and there was a good parity between genders in the nominations. As so many award ceremonies have been male dominated, that was refreshing. Another goal next year is to read all the nominations next year and vote.

All dolled up for the Hugos. Adam Christopher, Stephen Blackmore, and me.

This con was a lot about meeting people I’ve known online for some time. Foremost was meeting Wesley Chu, who I chat to on gchat pretty much every day, so meeting in person and staying at his house was a treat. Also invading Wesley, his lovely wife Paula, and their dog Eva’s home was my husband, Craig, my editor, Amanda Rutter, and Adam Christopher.

Me and Kim at Lucky Strike!

 

I also met many of my Strange Chemistry and Angry Robot stablemates for the first time: Gwenda Bond, Cassandra Rose Clarke, Ramez Naam, his girlfriend Molly, Lee Collins, his girlfriend Victoria, Chuck Wendig, and Matt Forbeck. Saw Lee Harris, Anne Lyle and Kim Curran again. New people met: Mur Lafferty, Stephen Blackmore, Stacia Decker, Anne Zanoni, and Josh Vogt.

Adam Christopher, some dude who won a Hugo, and me

Also, I said a brief awkward hello to Neil Gaiman (photographic proof to the left!) and then ran away from Neil Gaiman to say a quick hello to Scott Lynch, who is one of my favourite authors. Yay! I’m sure I’ve forgotten people and will have to go back and slyly edit this.

Overall, it was a great, if exhausting week. Now I’m in California hanging out with my family, so stay tuned for a California post later!

Ladies that Launch

This past weekend I went to London for two launches–the Strange Chemistry Launch at the British Library, and Kim Curran’s launch for Shift at a pub in Richmond.

It was an amazingly fun weekend, though also rather terrifying as I was giving my first reading of Pantomime to a roomful of strangers. This tinged Thursday with anxiety as I had a busy morning at work, travelled for five hours, got ready as quickly as humanly possible at Kim’s, downed a gin and tonic in nothing flat for a bit of Dutch courage, and then made my way to the launch. Amanda, my editor and the mother of Strange Chemistry, looked lovely in a floral dress. There were three SC authors there–Kim Curran, Jonathan Howard (guess he’s not a lady that launches), and me. There’s me reading to the left. I’m amazed at how happy and relaxed I look in that photo, considering my knees were shaking the whole time.

It was great to put faces to a few online names, such as Kaylie who interviewed me last week. I also met Sam Copeland, Kim’s agent and the agent who pointed me in the direction of Juliet, my now-agent, and agents Molly Ker Hawn and Jenny Savill.

Lou Morgan, Juliet Mushens & moi

Icarus

Man as Machine

The next day we went to the Wellcome Centre and I saw an exhibit I’d been really keen to see–Superhuman. It detailed the ways humans have been striving to enhance themselves from ancient times to modern day and postulations to the future. There was a prosthetic toe from the Egyptian era and a plan of how near scientists feel we are to the singularity. It was both inspiring and really, really depressing. Humans are both extraordinary and terrible creatures.

Then in the evening was Kim Curran’s launch for Shift! It was really wonderful to see all her friends and family supporting her and I bought my signed copy of Shift. It was very relaxed. I met James Dawson, author of Hollow Pike, who was lovely, and met a few of Kim’s friends. I also met Kim’s good friend Miranda Dickinson, author of The Fairy Tale of New York and It Started with a Kiss, among others. To the left is Kim beaming as she signs her book.

Saturday was a day of lazing and then far too early on Sunday I was back in Aberdeen. Now it’s frantic packing and I’m off to Chicago and Worldcon! Hooray!

And in the Dragon was a Story: The Edinburgh Book Sculptures

This past Saturday was the launch of the Scottish Tour of the Edinburgh Book Sculptures. Most bibliophiles will know this tale, but if you haven’t heard about it, an anonymous artist gifted libraries, a theatre, book festival tents, and a bookstore around Edinburgh with lovingly crafted sculptures made from books. With them she (all we know about her is that she’s a she) left little notes. A delightful little mystery took place around the city and word spread around the world as ten sculptures appeared, and then a surprise eleventh for Ian Rankin, the author whose books had been used in several of the other sculptures.

I’d read the news articles last year when it spread across the internet, and I was really excited when they came to my library where I used to work. The GiftED tour was arranged by the Scottish Poetry Library and Edinburgh’s UNESCO City of Literature Trust. They’re in Aberdeen until September 6th and then they’ll be travelling to Dundee, Wigtown, Glasgow, Dunfermline, and then back to the Scottish Poetry Library.

The first thing that struck me about the sculptures from afar when I snuck in was that they seemed so small and innocuous. I couldn’t get a clear look at them until after the launch, which was great. Two writers, one with the awesome name of Rapunzel Wizard with dreadlocks to the back of his knees read short, humourous poems, some of which had props. In the photo to the left he was finding anagrams to various officious terms. I particularly enjoyed his distilling of his favourite books into haiku. Martin Walsh, the other writer, didn’t have quite as flashy a style, but his work had a quiet humour and complexity that I also enjoyed.

I expected to enjoy seeing them in person. What I definitely didn’t expect was to be moved to tears by them. I had to blink rapidly. Seeing all ten at once in their displays was almost overwhelming. So much time, care, and love had been spent on these, and to not take credit and gift them to the world to show how important reading and words and stories are is simply incredible. Whoever you are, mysterious artist, thank you. Onto the photos. Unfortunately my camera phone does not do them justice. For proper photos and for more of the photos of how they fit together, you can also look at Chris Scott’s photos on his blog Central Station.

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Worth mentioning is that a book about the sculptures has been published, entitled Gifted – The Tale of 10 Mysterious Book Sculptures Gifted to the City of Word and Ideas. While the editors of the book have no idea who the artist is, they were able to communicate with her via a pseudonymous email address, and in it is a note from the artist and a lovingly illustration on how to make a “poetree” as well as a map of Edinburgh as the end paper. It’s a really beautiful book and £10, and for my it was a tenner well-spent. Some of the proceeds go to helping libraries.

When the curator of the tour introduced the exhibit, she also said that just that morning she had received a very exctiting call from Edinburgh–the anonymous book artist had struck again, leaving 50 paper flowers with a quote by Orson Welles scattered about the Ediburgh book festival. So maybe each year she (or another artist) will gift us with more little paper wonders to remind us of the power of libraries, books, words, ideas…

Photo: The Edinburgh Reporter

My First Interview!

I have an interview up over at YA Bluewater’s blog today, discussing Pantomime, YA, writing advice, and how much fun Tyrion Lannister would be at a fictional dinner party. Check it out!

Many thanks to Kaylie for approaching me for my very first interview!

Random Research: Magic, 1400s-1950s

Magic, 1400s to 1950s – edited by Mike Caveney, Jim Steinmeyer, Ricky Jay, Noel Daniel

Product description (from Amazon):

The scientists of showbiz. Magic has enchanted humankind for millennia, evoking terror, laughter, shock and amazement. Once persecuted as heretics and sorcerers, magicians have always been conduits to a parallel universe of limitless possibility – whether invoking spirits, reading minds, or inverting the laws of nature by sleight of hand. Long before science fiction, virtual realities, video games, and the Internet, the craft of magic was the most powerful fantasy world man had ever known. As the true pioneers of special effects in human history, magicians have never ceased to mystify by perpetually making the impossible possible. This book celebrates 500 years of the dazzling visual culture of the world’s greatest magicians. Featuring over 1,000 rarely seen vintage posters, photographs, handbills, and engravings in one 640-page volume, it traces the history of magic as a performing art from the 1470s through the post-WWII years. Through sensational images and clear and insightful accompanying text, “Magic” explores the evolution of the magician’s craft, from its early street performers to the brilliant stage magicians who gave rise to early cinematic special effects; from the 19th century’s “Golden Age of Magic” to groundbreaking daredevils like Houdini and the vaudevillians of the early 20th century.

Review and Response:

I bought Taschen’s giant circus book when revising Pantomime (see review here). I found it incredibly helpful and really wanted this book, but damn if it wasn’t expensive. When I got my book deal, my husband bought it for me as a congratulations present for my sequel. Well-played, husband, well-played.

I thought the Circus book was big. This one is even more gigantic–clocking in at 16 pounds and around 650 oversized pages. I could weight-lift with this thing. I could hit someone with it and do some serious damage.

The book is separated into subsections:

Foreword: Wizards of Wonder

Introduction: To Please and Cheat the Sight

Chapter 1: Conjuring Life and Death: The Essence of Illusion

Chapter 2: Devilish Deception: The Origins of Wonder

Chapter 3: From Black Magic to Modern Magic

Chapter 4: The Supernatural and the Spirit Worlds

Chapter 5: Masters of the Golden Age

Chapter 6: The Great Touring Shows

Chapter 7: Chains, Blades, Bullets, and Fire: Daring and Danger in Magic

Chapter 8: Magic in Vaudeville and Nightclubs

As with the Circus book, each Chapter was in English, German, and French, along with all the captions of the photos. The essays are well-written and give insight into overarching trends in the history of magic. So many magicians had different personalities and styles. This book touches on both the ones well-remembered today–Houdini, Thurston, Kellar, Carter–and some of the lesser-known ones, like Ionia. The lithographic posters are extraordinarily lovely, and some have two-page spreads. Some of them are quite rare. This book is absolutely gorgeous, and if you’re a magic afficianado, it’s a must-read to have a clearer idea of how magicians have evolved over the years to reflect the cultural zeitgeist. Through the years, we’ve grown more cynical, and the audience became increasingly aware that magicians were fooling us, but enjoying the tricks all the same.

Image from Erin Morgenstern’s blog

Want to see more magic stuff? Check out my Pinterest boards – Magic Posters and Magic Photography.

Random Research: The First Psychic

It’s been quite some time since I’ve done one of my Random Research blogs. Let’s bring that back, shall we?

The First Psychic: The Peculiar Mystery of a Notorious Victorian Wizard – Peter Lamont

Book Description (from Amazon):

He was simply the greatest psychic of all time. He was also the first – before him, the word ‘psychic’ did not even exist. The feats he performed were so extraordinary that Victorian scientists had to invent the term in order to explain them. The man who became the world’s first psychic was Daniel Dunglas Home. Now almost entirely forgotten, Home was a household name in Victorian Britain, a man of inexplicable ability who divided opinion wherever he went. Hated by Dickens and defended by Thackeray, denounced by Faraday yet mysterious to Darwin, insulted by Tolstoy but patronised by the Emperor of France and the Csar of Russia. The astonishing feats he performed, and the bizarre personal life that attracted so much controversy, are little known today outside the esoteric world of psychical research. He rarely appears in the biographies of the many great Victorians who knew him as few could openly admit to such a controversial acquaintance. This book will finally introduce one of the most remarkable and enigmatic figures in history, and the strange and seemingly inexplicable events that occurred in his presence.

Review and Response:

Reading this book, it is incredible that Home isn’t better remembered today. John Anderson, The Wizard of the North and Home’s rival, is better known.

Born in Scotland, near Edinburgh, he immigrated with his family to the US at a young age. He suffered from poor health. Throughout his childhood, strange events followed him–he predicted several deaths and recounted strange visions that proved to be true.

He eventually decided he simply must inform the world about Spiritualism, and traveled the world, offering seances and hoping for patronage. He became most well-known for his extraordinary levitations.

Scandal also followed him. A wealthy widow “adopted” him and gave him large amounts of money, who later recanted and claimed Home had tricked her under spritualistic distress and sued him. He married a young daughter of Russian royalty and Alexander Dumas was his best man. By all accounts, he loved her deeply, but she died of tuberculosis. He later married an older, wealthy Russian.

Home was a study in contradictions. He claimed to be fervently devoted to his cause. Most knew him as earnest and mild-mannered. Yet at the same time, what he did was most likely all trickery, meaning that his very personality might also have been a ruse. Did he manipulate most of those around him, or was he actually who he claimed to be? But if he was a fraud–he was never caught, despite how often people tried to expose him.

A very interesting and recommended read.