A Present for My Readers
Breaking my blogging fast to give you a present: perspective.
Thanks to my pal, secret codename: SBPWK, for the link.
Thanks to my pal, secret codename: SBPWK, for the link.
Posts
And All Through the House, Not a Blogger Was Stirring
Some wise friends of mine have convinced me to take an internet break until January. Therefore, this will be my last scheduled post until the new year. I wish you all a peaceful, thoughtful, and joyful December.
For anyone wanting bloggy reading while I'm gone, I've compiled a Best of the Blog list, randomly chosen by yours truly. Many of these are posts I wrote a long time ago, before my blog was getting so much traffic -- which means that they might be new to you. It's kinda long, the list, but... well, it's only for you to read if you want, so ignore it at will!
I Heard There Was a Secret Chord That David Played...February 14: Interplanetary Be Who You Are DayOver-Optimistic Are Those Who Have Not Seen and Yet BelieveA Trip to the Library Has Made a New Girl of Me...Who Are Your Character Crushes?Who's Up for a Labor Day Rant?Blessed Are The Meek, for They Shall Be Scratched Behind the Ears
I Believe in Little Things, Like You and Me...I ♥ FinlandIn Which Karma…
For anyone wanting bloggy reading while I'm gone, I've compiled a Best of the Blog list, randomly chosen by yours truly. Many of these are posts I wrote a long time ago, before my blog was getting so much traffic -- which means that they might be new to you. It's kinda long, the list, but... well, it's only for you to read if you want, so ignore it at will!
I Heard There Was a Secret Chord That David Played...February 14: Interplanetary Be Who You Are DayOver-Optimistic Are Those Who Have Not Seen and Yet BelieveA Trip to the Library Has Made a New Girl of Me...Who Are Your Character Crushes?Who's Up for a Labor Day Rant?Blessed Are The Meek, for They Shall Be Scratched Behind the Ears
I Believe in Little Things, Like You and Me...I ♥ FinlandIn Which Karma…
A Brand New Addition to the Gallery of My Favorite Objects
I was thinking the other day that it'd be nice to live on the planet where the kingdoms of Attolia, Sounis, and Eddis are. After all, that planet has Gen, Irene, Helen, Sophos, Costis, the magus, and some chill-inducing gods, which makes it a damn awesome planet.
At the end of my deliberations, though, I decided I like our own planet best, and here's why: we have Megan Whalen Turner.
Take that, Sounis! *thbbbbttt*
You are not going to be disappointed by this book.
(For the uninitiated: read The Thief first. And for those in need of gifts for a book lover: A Conspiracy of Kings doesn't come out until April 2010, but The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, and The King of Attolia are all out in paperback.)
(Also -- I don't know if any of my readers will have read A Conspiracy of Kings already, but just in case any have, here's a warning for others to tread carefully through the comments to this post, because there may be Attolia spoilers. Commenters, please be kind and use …
At the end of my deliberations, though, I decided I like our own planet best, and here's why: we have Megan Whalen Turner.
Take that, Sounis! *thbbbbttt*
You are not going to be disappointed by this book.
(For the uninitiated: read The Thief first. And for those in need of gifts for a book lover: A Conspiracy of Kings doesn't come out until April 2010, but The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, and The King of Attolia are all out in paperback.)
(Also -- I don't know if any of my readers will have read A Conspiracy of Kings already, but just in case any have, here's a warning for others to tread carefully through the comments to this post, because there may be Attolia spoilers. Commenters, please be kind and use …
Housekeeping. Also, Which Muppet Are You?
A reminder to people curious about book news: I now put stuff like that behind my News link. A reminder to people with general, factual questions (for example, how to purchase signed copies of the books): you'll almost certainly find your answers, and more, on my Contacts, Info, and Credits page or in my FAQs. I have a few other links, too, where you can probably find the info you're looking for -- see my home page.
I'm still reading through the wonderful comments from Monday. Thank you, everyone, for taking the time to introduce yourselves! Reading it all is so much fun. :o)
Here's my question for you today: Which Muppet are you, and why?
(h/t to R for the question!)
Take us out, Gonzo.
(h/t to M for the video ^_^)
I'm still reading through the wonderful comments from Monday. Thank you, everyone, for taking the time to introduce yourselves! Reading it all is so much fun. :o)
Here's my question for you today: Which Muppet are you, and why?
(h/t to R for the question!)
Take us out, Gonzo.
(h/t to M for the video ^_^)
"Have we met?"
Here's a moment from the first time Buffy's mother, Joyce, officially meets Buffy's vampire nemesis, Spike:
Joyce [pleasantly]: Have we met?
Spike: Um, you hit me with an axe one time.
[Joyce looks confused]
Spike: Remember? [helpfully brandishes imaginary axe] "Get the hell away from my daughter! Rawr!!!"
So, now and then I like to ask my readers to take a minute to introduce themselves. I expect I have a lot of regular readers who don't comment; I'm sure I have readers who're just passing through for the day; doubtless I have readers who got here by accident, having misspelled "Kristin Chenowith," and wish they'd never ended up here at all. :o)
Anyway, no pressure. But today I extend an invitation to all of you -- even the lurkers and the shy -- to tell me a little bit about yourself in a comment. You don't have to tell me your real name. But maybe you'd like to tell me where you are? What you do? What you feel like eating tod…
Joyce [pleasantly]: Have we met?
Spike: Um, you hit me with an axe one time.
[Joyce looks confused]
Spike: Remember? [helpfully brandishes imaginary axe] "Get the hell away from my daughter! Rawr!!!"
So, now and then I like to ask my readers to take a minute to introduce themselves. I expect I have a lot of regular readers who don't comment; I'm sure I have readers who're just passing through for the day; doubtless I have readers who got here by accident, having misspelled "Kristin Chenowith," and wish they'd never ended up here at all. :o)
Anyway, no pressure. But today I extend an invitation to all of you -- even the lurkers and the shy -- to tell me a little bit about yourself in a comment. You don't have to tell me your real name. But maybe you'd like to tell me where you are? What you do? What you feel like eating tod…
A FAQ; A Holiday Question; Stuff; In Addition to Which: Things
The extremely silly gentleman to the right (click to make him bigger. Really. You want to see him bigger) is my friend and fellow writer Will Ludwigsen, who was flabbergasted to find Graceling in the dumps at his local Barnes & Noble. Check out his strange, sad, and lovely story "Remembrance is Something Like a House" in Interfictions 2: An Anthology of Interstitial Writing, just released by Small Beer Press. My sister, secret codename: Cordelia, and I had the pleasure of listening to Will read this story around the campfire a couple Halloweens ago. Cordelia was dressed up as Randolph the Orange-Nosed Reindeer and I was dressed up as a Leprechaun for Change. (This was right before the 2008 election. Beyond that, don't ask. ^_^)
So, I promised that I'd let you know if I stumbled across any gems in my reading. I have. The Magician's Elephant, by Kate DiCamillo, is a book about magic, love, and longing, and it is fabulous.
A FAQ.
Can you tell me when your b…
So, I promised that I'd let you know if I stumbled across any gems in my reading. I have. The Magician's Elephant, by Kate DiCamillo, is a book about magic, love, and longing, and it is fabulous.
A FAQ.
Can you tell me when your b…
8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... Blast Off (Plus, Umbrellas!!)
8. Warm hellos to everyone coming to my blog from NaNoWriMo. Welcome! The comments you've written here and there in various posts have brought tears to my eyes. Thank you! I really do know what it's like, and I really do hope you'll keep writing despite how hard it is, and despite all the voices that tell you not to. (To any of my regular readers who have no idea what I'm talking about, I wrote a pep talk for National Novel Writing Month, which you can read here.) To all those writing novels/short stories/fan fic/WHATEVER this November: good luck. Don't forget to be kind to yourself and KEEP THE FAITH.
7. For those of my blog readers who are Megan Whalen Turner fans -- and I know there are a lot of you -- check out her interview last week at Hip Writer Mama.
6. Next, remember the other day when I mentioned Tu Publishing, a small, independent multicultural SFF press that needs funding to get off the ground? Well, now there's a new, fun way to help: the Kicks…
7. For those of my blog readers who are Megan Whalen Turner fans -- and I know there are a lot of you -- check out her interview last week at Hip Writer Mama.
6. Next, remember the other day when I mentioned Tu Publishing, a small, independent multicultural SFF press that needs funding to get off the ground? Well, now there's a new, fun way to help: the Kicks…
"Hello, hello, hello, hello. Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye. That's all there is...."
(from Simon & Garfunkel's "Leaves That Are Green")
Goodbye to my darling Super Conquerant 80-sheet hardback spiral notebook made in Spain by Enri. For years, we've had something special, you and I... but now my trusty neighborhood stationer, Bob Slate, tells me that you've been discontinued, probably by the importer. Alas! No more will I fold you over my knee and cover you with a thousand sweet scribbles. No more will you travel with me everywhere I go, simply because I cannot bear to let you out of my sight. No more... *sniff*... will I tuck you in to sleep at night in the fireproof, waterproof safe! Oh, my darling! *weeps; rends clothing*
*.....*
So, I'm not so precious about my writing process that I'm going to try to figure out how to get my exact brand of notebook from Europe. Actually, I'm slightly that precious, but it'd be a lot healthier to just accept that the notebook is no longer available, don't you think? So this means …
Goodbye to my darling Super Conquerant 80-sheet hardback spiral notebook made in Spain by Enri. For years, we've had something special, you and I... but now my trusty neighborhood stationer, Bob Slate, tells me that you've been discontinued, probably by the importer. Alas! No more will I fold you over my knee and cover you with a thousand sweet scribbles. No more will you travel with me everywhere I go, simply because I cannot bear to let you out of my sight. No more... *sniff*... will I tuck you in to sleep at night in the fireproof, waterproof safe! Oh, my darling! *weeps; rends clothing*
*.....*
So, I'm not so precious about my writing process that I'm going to try to figure out how to get my exact brand of notebook from Europe. Actually, I'm slightly that precious, but it'd be a lot healthier to just accept that the notebook is no longer available, don't you think? So this means …
"It was my candle to St. Jude"
Announcement: I ♥ librarians. Why? Because librarians love information, know how to find it, know how to use it, and know how to help other people find and use it; and because librarians love, care for, and offer us BOOKS. And school librarians, in particular, share their awesomeness with young people without condescension. Thanks so much to the New Jersey Association of School Librarians for inviting me to their fall conference this past weekend. You guys are inspiring.
Housekeeping: I got a great suggestion the other day from an audiobooker who wished she could see the maps of the kingdoms while listening. Please see my new link to the left, Maps of My Book World, which shows both the maps so far, both drawn by Jeffery C. Mathison. Click on the maps to make them bigger.
In other news, in case anyone's wondering, Spike is still beating Beethoven in the highly scientific Spike Versus Beethoven: You Decide! poll -- but Beethoven is holding his own! I'm proud. I thought o…
Housekeeping: I got a great suggestion the other day from an audiobooker who wished she could see the maps of the kingdoms while listening. Please see my new link to the left, Maps of My Book World, which shows both the maps so far, both drawn by Jeffery C. Mathison. Click on the maps to make them bigger.
In other news, in case anyone's wondering, Spike is still beating Beethoven in the highly scientific Spike Versus Beethoven: You Decide! poll -- but Beethoven is holding his own! I'm proud. I thought o…
Randutiae, and Give Yourself a Treat Today
If you happened to see me at Books of Wonder on Tuesday covering my ears, singing "la la la la la la!", and seriously invading Scott Westerfeld's space, I swear, it was only because I was trying to avoid hearing the Liar spoilers happening on my other side! Justine Larbalestier was being an absolute champ trying to protect me from her conversations with her readers, but really, there's only so much an author can do! :o) Anyway, I got through unspoilered, and clearly, I need to read Liar ASAP. Oh, and the event was super. Thanks to everyone who came!
If you're a book blogger who wants to sign up for the Book Blogger Holiday Swap -- basically a Secret Santa among book bloggers world-wide -- today is the last day.
I'm having a busy week of train-riding and events -- I'm home again now, but tomorrow I'm off to New Jersey. Cross your fingers for me tomorrow evening, when I'll be giving a speech at the fall conference of the New Jersey Association o…
If you're a book blogger who wants to sign up for the Book Blogger Holiday Swap -- basically a Secret Santa among book bloggers world-wide -- today is the last day.
I'm having a busy week of train-riding and events -- I'm home again now, but tomorrow I'm off to New Jersey. Cross your fingers for me tomorrow evening, when I'll be giving a speech at the fall conference of the New Jersey Association o…