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Showing posts from 2014

Worldbuilders Auction

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It's no secret to anyone who's read my posts about books, or talked to me about my favorite authors, that I'm a giant fangirl about Patrick Rothfuss and his incredible stories. Really, it's undignified. But there it is - I'm a proper geek when it comes to Pat's overall coolness. His writing is in a class by itself and continually blows me away - whether a novel, a children's story, a blog post, or a review of someone else's book. His game recommendations always find their way into my son's ears. His blog posts often get read out loud when the laughter erupts within earshot of anyone in the family. And my best friend and I have traded Aolian pipe earrings for a signed and personalized copy of The Name of the Wind as favorite gifts. It's all her fault anyway - she's the one who first introduced me to Pat's books. And then there's Worldbuilders. Because Pat wasn't cool enough. He talks about his charity, and the donat

Bilbo and Book Recommendations

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Book recommendations are like pieces of advice - it's so satisfying to have exactly the right one to dispense to a person in need. There's approximately the same risk involved, too. Dislike the book I recommended and you might start to wonder about my reading tastes, and therefore, me as a person. Give bad advice, and, well... we all know how that ends. The reverse is also true. My friend, Angela became my friend because of books. She came into my house when we first met, saw my bookshelves, and said, "Oh, I know you." It's true. I've been known to judge people by the books they like. I have an instant kinship, for example, with anyone who loves Ender's Game, Outlander, The Name of the Wind, Ship of Magic, and The Code Book.  I know I can laugh and drink wine with friends who loved Neanderthal Seeks Human and any of the Charley Davidson series. And there are knowing nods and winks to be shared with readers of The Fever Series, The Elemental Mysteri

Throwback Thursday

I was talking to my editor today - she has a cold, so there was no wine involved. It was also 10am, so strike two for wine. She's reading the first two acts of Changing Nature while I sprint through the last chapters, and she had a couple of notes. When I'm done sprinting (which basically means writing my fingers off) - hopefully in about two weeks - I'll make some changes to the draft as a whole, then get the entire thing back to her by Halloween. In my conversations with her I recognized a couple of things about my writing process, and this is where the Throwback Thursday part comes in. My first Marking Time notes were made in March, 2010, and I eventually published it in November, 2012. I was done sooner, but had to go through the whole agent-query process just to make sure my ego and confidence were firmly stuck around my ankles. The short answer to why did I publish Marking Time independently is that agents wouldn't look at a debut YA novel over 100k words long b

What I'm Writing Wednesday

I still had one dagger left and Jehanne was focused on directing her remaining fighters like they were her own personal chess pieces. It would be so easy to bury the point between her shoulder blades, but even the fact that I had that thought sent a foreboding chill curling around my guts. I was not a killer. “Hey!” I yelled at her and she spun in surprise to face me. She said something in French that didn’t sound like “it’s nice to see you, would you like some tea,” right before she lunged at me with her sword. Well, crap. I didn’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that. Apparently, she didn’t have the same aversion to killing that I did because she wasn’t kidding around with that sword-thrust. I dove to the side to get out of range of Jehanne’s sword, and practically fell over Connor’s clothes. I heard my mom’s voice in my head yelling at him to pick up his stuff, and in the next moment I could have kissed him for leaving it lying around because his

What I'm Writing Wednesday - Changing Nature

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Because Elizabeth Hunter is a genius who writes great books, and she borrowed this fantastic idea from Colleen Vanderlinden's blog, I'm going to do the same. So, today is What I'm Writing Wednesday and I'm in the middle - literally the middle - of Changing Nature. I found this photo of sword fighting champion, Samantha Mott, and she has very definitely inspired my lead historical character.      I looked away to find Jehanne watching me with open hostility. “What’s your problem?” It didn’t matter that she didn’t speak English, she knew from my tone what I’d just said.      She spat on the ground and said something in French that made Connor scoff as he translated.      “She said they burn women like you.”      “She’s the one who has visions and I’m the witch?”      Connor stifled a laugh and Jehanne spoke again.      His mouth tightened into a grim line at her words, but he didn’t automatically translate for me. She just watched me with

Because ... Outlander

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I read Outlander in 1991, just after it was published. I'd wandered into a bookstore after reading Jack Finney's Time and Again, and asked the girl behind the counter about time travel books. She'd heard great things about Outlander, so I bought it. I was just out of college then, so buying a new paperback instead of trolling the used bookstores was a big deal. My bookshelves were full of mysteries and spy novels, fantasies with dragons and white gold rings, all with beaten spines and dog-eared pages. So I took my sparkly new red paperback and I went home to read. I didn't leave the couch. I read. I didn't answer the phone. I read. I didn't eat or sleep or sometimes even breathe. I read Outlander. And then I recommended the book to anyone who would listen. Anyone looking for something to read. Never mind if they only read non-fiction, or espionage, or picture books, this book - THIS BOOK was amazing. Impeccably researched. Beautifully written. Character

Amazon / Hachette

I generally don't speak my politics out loud, especially as I live in an area of the country where my personal politics definitely don't match the vast majority of my neighbors, other parents at my childrens' schools, and even many of my friends. Political conflict just ends up being conflict, and frankly, life's too short to lose friends over their voting preference. I do, however, have strong opinions. And when I'm asked about them, well, then, all bets are off. Amazon recently sent an open letter to all the authors who publish through them, discussing the Amazon/Hachette Publishing conflict. I've been following it through the opinions of various authors I admire, and had formed my strong opinion well before I received the letter from Amazon asking for support. But since they asked... My letter to Hachette: Dear Mr. Pietsch, While I understand you’re in the business to make money for your investors and your parent company, I don’t appreciate