Summer Shamelessness

Well, Inkpot fans, it's officially summer!  That means hot days, reading by the pool, and a whole new batch of shameless news from your favorite Inkpot writers!

National Book Award winner William Alexander has a new book out and GHOULISH SONG is already racking up some award nominations of its own: it's a finalist for the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature!

Speaking of new books coming out, P.J. Hoover's new book TUT: THE STORY OF MY IMMORTAL LIFE (Starscape/Macmillan, September 16, 2014) got an awesome Kirkus review!  Here's my favorite line:

"the tension between Tut and creepy Horemheb is a well-placed and -paced plot driver.  A pyramid history buffs and fantasy fans will delight in excavating."

Awesome.

Not done yet!  Elizabeth Bird released her Newbery/Caldecott 2015: The Summer Prediction Edition and you might just recognize #5 on the list: THE GREENGLASS HOUSE by Kate Milford!

And last but very much not least, Laurisa White Reyes has a new book coming out this week! CONTACT, a YA thriller about a girl who uploads people's psyches with a single touch, comes out on June 23rd with Hallowed Ink Press. It will be available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble & Indiebound.

I can tell you personally - this book is amazing.

And that's it!  Go grab your favorite book and enjoy the summer sunshine.  I'll be back soon with more!

The Gift of Fantasy

 The fantasy that gave me the greatest gift was Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain series.  I was in first grade, and every few days I’d check out a stack of picture books limited only by the need to get my hands underneath it and my chin on top.  One day the school librarian handed me The Book of Three.

“I think you’d like this,” she said.

“I don’t know,” I said.  (Just like every kid in the universe confronting their first novel.)  “It’s awfully thick.”

“Give it a try.”  And she smiled.

So I opened that thick intimidating book and started to read, and fell into a real, long, dense story for the first time in my life.  I think I lived in Prydain more than I did in the real world for the next few years.  If Mrs. Burris had handed me some other book, a mystery for instance, I might not be a fantasy writer today.  Or even a writer today.  So that’s the fantasy that’s given me the greatest gift.  (And thanks to Mrs. Burris, too!)

                                                                        --Hilari Bell

From Elizabeth Bunce:

For me, it came about ten years ago when I read Sharon Shinn's ARCHANGEL for the first time. I had spent so many years reading To Learn the Craft, to soak up knowledge and study storytelling techniques, that reading had become more work for me than pleasure (although I didn't realize it at the time). I had lost sight of one of the most important things: Reading should be fun. But Archangel swept me away like no book had in years. I picked it up, dove in, and before I knew it, five chapters were past, and I REMEMBERED. Shinn brought back that sense of reading for pure delight that I had lost somewhere along the line. I've said that this is one of the most important lessons I've ever learned as a writer... but it's also the greatest gift: the reconnection to the experience of reading a great book for the pure joy of it. Thank you, ARCHANGEL!

From Erin Cashman:

For me, it was Lord of the Rings. I was having a hard time my freshman year in high school - 3 middle schools all joined together, and I found that my good friends were hanging out with another group of girls -- and one of the girls decided I was not welcome. One night I started reading Lord of the Rings, and instead of worrying or crying (as I had been doing every night) I completely forgot about my troubles and was swept up in the story. I read it straight through -- claiming a stomach ache and missing the next two days of school. For some reason, when I returned to school I didn't care that much anymore (maybe it was simply that a mean girl is not so scary when compared with the Nazgul!) and I sat at lunch with two girls I didn't know, who became good friends. I realized then the power of a good book - and the ability it has to transport the reader to a new world, away from the issues and problems of every day life. Lord of the Rings inspired me to
become a writer, and even to this day when I feel down, my escapism is often found in the pages of a fantasy novel.

From Dawn Metcalf:

I'd consider "starter" fantasy books like BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA by Katherine Paterson, PROTECTOR OF THE SMALL by Tamora Pierce, DRAGONSONG by Anne McCaffery and, of course, HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE by J.K. Rowling can start a lifelong love of fantasy books!

For old folks like me, I love transportive, quirky and somewhat shadowy fantasy and I'd give THE NIGHT CIRCUS by Erin Morgenstern, THE DAUGHTER OF SMOKE & BONE by Laini Taylor, NEVERWHERE by Neil Gaiman or THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE by Audrey Niffenegger.

(And if kids are darker like me, then I'd probably wrap up a copy of HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE by Diana Wynne Jones, ARTEMIS FOWL by Eoin Colfer or our own William Alexander's GOBLIN SECRETS!)

From Pippa Bayliss:

I consider every fantasy novel I've ever read as a gift which isn't very helpful to you for your TOTW :) but what stands out as a particularly special novel to me was Roald Dahl's 'Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator'. It's the sequel to the better known 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' and an old dilapidated copy found its way into my hands. My son was a reluctant reader so I started reading it to him out loud at bedtime. He loved it. Even though it was so old and strange, it became one of his favorites., and he'd make me repeat any parts that involved the 'vicious knids' - no silent 'k'. Just the sound of k-nids made him laugh and that alone gave us both a gift that I'll always cherish.

From Will Alexander:

I don't know if this counts, since it isn't a fantasy novel, but my first thought is Lewis Hyde's The Gift: a book-sized essay about the role of art and the artist in society. It's made up of the same raw material as a fantasy novel, given that it's filled with folk and fairy tales, and it's a boon to any artist trying to sort out their own gifts and how best to use them. (Hyde's Trickster Makes This World is also very, very good, but given the focus on trickster figures that one commits gleeful theft rather than offering presents.)


Let me try again with an actual fantasy novel. When I took over reading bedtime stories to my youngest sister, we first picked up The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper. That was a gift, I suppose. "I loved this, and I think you'll love it, so here. Let me read it to you." It utterly failed as a bedtime story, though. We didn't sleep at all. We just read straight through until dawn, and finished The Dark is Rising while the sun was rising.

From Ellen Booraem:

One marathon weekend in the dregs of high school, THE LORD OF THE RINGS opened a new world for me. And I don’t mean just Tolkien’s world of Middle Earth—I mean the universe of fantasy written for anyone older than ten. My parents weren’t fantasy readers, so up to that point my experiences with speculative fiction consisted of fairy tales, Pooh, and a couple of other books distinctly written for younger crowd. I had no idea that you could give up childish things and still read about dragons and elves. Imagine how the top of my head blew off when I met Bilbo. And Gandalf! In fact, I barely slept that weekend—read the entire trilogy, day and night, stopping only for meals and to exchange a word or two with my long-suffering parents. Thank you, Professor Tolkien.

So tell us, what fantasy story has been a “gift” to you?

Refueling Your Inspiration

Let’s be honest – we don’t have great ideas all the time. In fact, sometimes we don’t have any ideas. Other work gets in the way, with all those memos and meetings, or with the digging and polishing, the measuring and pouring. Then there are the dishes, the school concerts, the potlucks for the community soccer team, and the back of the fridge in need of cleaning. (Actually, there might be some great inspiration there for pandemic infections.) Sometimes the many demands of the real world can get in the way of imagining fresh ones.

Or sometimes, after writing several stories, we begin to think all our ideas are gone. Used up. Every time we put something on the page, it seems stupid or silly. It seems to have been said a million times already. We end up staring at the ceiling, which is as blank as the page on the screen.

What to do? Here are some answers from a few Inkies, as well as some story starters to help spark a few ideas.

To start with, when I need inspiration, I read fairy tales and folklore. Also, I read nonfiction books and articles, anything full of cultural details and individual stories. I especially like letter collections. I walk or run to clear my head. I amble around and take photographs.

William Alexander: “I have a very simple refueling trick. If my typing slows to a trickle, I turn off the computer and start scribbling in my notebook. If I run out of ink (metaphorically or literally), I switch back to the keyboard. Chocolate also helps.”

Lisa Gail Green: “The best fuel for me, when I seem to be writing stale, is reading a good book. It's really the best medicine and I find myself recharged and ready to go.”

P.J. Hoover: “I find that chatting about the story, even topically, with friends (not only writing friends), can really help kick start ideas. Also, simple brainstorming techniques like writing words that come to mind about a certain subject can really help get creativity going and help me avoid the clichés.”

Keely Parrack: “I find reading a huge help, preferably something really well written that has nothing to do with whatever I'm working on. I just read The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman and Her Fearful Symmetry (both of which let me escape into totally different worlds. And today I spent two hours working really productively on a pb while my kids went to the movies – another great refueling trick - coffee and limited time!

“Also just get out, go to a movie, visit an art gallery, walk in a cemetery - all opportunities to let your mind wonder and be inspired by new experiences. And if you can, travel is brilliant for helping you see everything with a fresh lens!”

Any ideas to add? What are some ways you refuel?

For those of you who could use a bit of a nudge this week, try some of the story starters below:

• I saw it sideways, out of the corner of my eye. But it couldn’t have been there. Impossible.

•   In the last two years, here’s what I’ve determined: lots of people in New York go to church on Sunday; lots sleep in. Mike and I found the perfect middle ground and meet for pizza. Sure, maybe both of us will end up in hell, but life will taste good until we get there. 

• The light was a shade of, blue? Green? It was gray, or maybe something without a name. I reached toward it. 

• The present he’d given her wasn’t entirely what she’d expected. In fact, it wasn’t what she’d expected at all.

• Spring didn’t come, nor did summer. Four feet of snow at the end of July.

• She opened up her mouth, and all that rose out of her was birdsong.

• She wasn’t a witch, exactly. At least, that’s what she told everyone.

• It had no power source: I was certain of that. Yet the metal form began to rise.

An Interview with National Book Award Winner, Inkie Will Alexander

An Interview with Will Alexander

by Nancy Holder

William Alexander won the National Book Award for his debut novel, Goblin Secrets, and the Earphones Award for his narration of the audiobook. His second novel, Ghoulish Song, just came out. So did the audiobook. He narrated that one, too. 

I'm so excited to interview my fellow Inkie Will about his work, and have a chance to talk about Ghoulish Song, which I loved every bit as much as Goblin Secrets. I enjoyed the mystery and adventure in both books, the lush writing, and the nods to the theater. And I'm really happy to hear that he's got more books in the works! 

Here's our interview: 

NH: First of all, congratulations on winning the National Book Award for your first novel, Goblin Secrets. Can you tell us a little bit about what it felt like to win it? 

WA:Hiccup-inducing, muppet-flailing, astonished terror and joy.

NH: Has winning the National Book Award changed your life in any fundamental ways?

WA: The day-to-day stuff hasn't changed. I have two very small children, and neither one of them is easily impressed. My toddler is starting to appreciate my juggling skills, at least, but not so much the literary honors. And I'm still writing the books that I planned to write next anyway, so that bit hasn't changed either. 

On the other hand, yes, everything is different. I get to feel like an author rather than someone indulging in a goblin-haunted hobby. This is a tremendous relief. 

NH: You have created a rich, theatrical world in which masks, music, and theater are woven into exciting and mysterious fairytale-like adventures for your young protagonists. Can you talk about how the Zombay “universe” came into being? 

WA: My sense of world-building is messy and mostly intuitive. Lots of separate interests and questions glommed together in the back of my brain when I wasn't really looking, and eventually found expression in Zombay. 

The city itself began with the bridge: a great big span of stone and metal where artists, musicians, changelings, and former pirates live suspended between two very different sides of the city. The Fiddleway Bridge is a place set apart, and it's the only thing holding Zombay together. Both books bring their young protagonists to the Fiddleway.

NH: Ghoulish Song is described as a “companion” to Goblin Secrets. Can you tell us what that means? Is it possible to read one without the other? Is there an order in which they should be read? 

WA: It means that the two books tell separate stories that take place at the same time, in the same city, with several of the same supporting characters. If you do read both then you'll notice each one unfolding in the background of the other. But you can start with either. Hopefully the new book offers some of the same satisfactions that a sequel would have given, like recognizing familiar characters.

I wanted to capture my own sense of city living, with so many different lives and stories in constant overlap. And I wanted to give Kaile her own novel.

NH: Ghoulish Song is a story about a girl and her shadow. Other notable “doubles” in fantasy include J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan and Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series. And of course lots of people have grown up having an invisible friend. What drew you to this theme of twinning? 

WA: This is probably Ursula Le Guin's fault. Plenty of people lost their shadows in my childhood entertainments--Peter Pan, that guy in the Hans Christian Anderson story, Link in The Legend of Zelda--but Sparrowhawk's shadow in A Wizard of Earthsea haunted me most. 

Le Guin's essay "The Child and the Shadow," from her classic collection The Language of the Night, unpacks shadow imagery as a Jungian archetype. (Such archetypes are very useful for writers, whether or not Jung was actually right about anything.) She describes antagonistic shadow-characters as abject parts of ourselves rather than evil twins; everything we would rather set aside and ignore gets hidden away in our shadows. The real challenge isn't defeating your shadow but reconciling yourself to it. This thing of darkness I acknowledge mine. 

For more stories about a young girl losing and contending with her separate shadow I very much recommend Catherynne M. Valente's Fairyland books. 

Did I answer the question? Not really. I just gave you a list of reading material that I find delicious. That'll have to do. We work with what we're given. And my reasons for running with any theme are always shadowy, associative, and unconscious, so I really don't have a better answer. 

NH: What surprised you most while you were writing Ghoulish Song?

WA: The Reliquarian surprised me. She's a sort of museum curator in the Northside Reliquary, a place dedicated to collecting bones of every kind. She said and did several things that I didn't expect… 

NH: What was your favorite part about writing Ghoulish Song, and what was your least favorite?

WA: Finishing it. That's my answer to both questions. The finishing touches felt like a very satisfying loss. 

NH: Instead of chapters, Goblin Secrets was organized into acts and scenes, while Ghoulish Song was told in verses. What’s next?

WA: I'll probably have to blend the two and write something operatic. That was a joke. It was supposed to be a joke, but now it's got me thinking. Hmm. 

NH: You have planted your flag firmly in the arts—theater, music, and literature. Did anyone ever try to steer you toward more pragmatic interests? 

WA: Science is strong in my family, so I might have become some flavor of scientist--but science education isn't really designed to reward curiosity, not once you get past a certain point. Instead it brutalizes students by forcing them to memorize organic chem compounds. Only a few survive beyond the introductory college courses, and they have a long slog ahead before they'll get to indulge in basic curiosity and wonder. Or so I'm told. If true, it's a terrible loss. And it might explain why many of our best minds went into banking (rather than say, NASA), got bored, and destroyed the word economy in their boredom. They might have caused less damage as mad scientists. 

NA: What are you working on now?

WA: Science Fiction! As a kid I always figured I would write SF someday, and the time has finally come. The book is called Ambassador, and it's about a kid named Gabe Fuentes who becomes the representative of our world. Meanwhile his parents are getting deported (from our country, not from our world). 

After Ambassador I plan to write a proper sequel to both Goblin Secrets and Ghoulish Song called The Fiddleway Siege. 

NH: Is there anything you’d like to say to the Enchanted Inkpot community, and those who read our blog? 

WA: Read widely and wildly. Stretch your sense of the possible by first enjoying impossibilities. Don't skimp on the chocolate. 

Nancy Holder is a proud member of The Enchanted Inkpot. She has a short story in Shards and Ashes, edited by Melissa Marr and Kelley Armstrong, from HarperCollins 

Happy New Book Year!

Happy New Year! This is one of my favorite times a year; fat with promise, with hopes and dreams and goals...and fat with BOOKS!

SO MANY good books coming out in the next few months! I've asked the Inkies to help me get my TBR list all nice and corpulent and oozing with stories I can't wait to read. So here goes (I'll start):

In case you missed it, the first book on my list was featured last week on the Inkpot: PROPHECY, by our own super-awesome Ellen Oh. Go read the interview, and then go buy the book!

It's a good thing my signed copy of PROPHECY is winging its way to me right now, because all the other books on my list are SO FAR AWAY. *cries* I fell in love with TYGER TYGER a hundred years ago and have been waiting impatiently for the completion of the series ever since. Only five months to go for the release of WHEN THE STARS THREW DOWN THEIR SPEARS!

Another one that's even FURTHER away *shakes fist* is the second book in Sarah Rees Brennan's unassailable gothic trilogy, UNTOLD (UNSPOKEN, the first book, is made of so much awesome it hurts my brain...it hurts it and then my brain is like THANK YOU SO MUCH I LOVE YOU MORE PLEASE). (and, thanks, Masters of the Book-Release Universe, that's the only semi-coherent link I can find because it doesn't come out until SEPTEMBER)

GRR. Let's move on to what everyone else is looking forward to. I need to be cheered up.

Lisa Amowitz:

Well, mine for starters!

BREAKING GLASS comes out in July 2013 from Spencer Hill Press and I may have another one to sneak in, but that's still up in the air..

But I am also seriously looking forward to the next installment in Laini Taylor's DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE trilogy, PRODIGY from Marie Liu (that's not out yet, is it?) THE GATHERING DARK, by my good friend Christine Johnson, and the next installment of Maggie Stiefvater's Raven Boy series. And anything that John Green puts out--as they say--I will read his grocery list. :)

Just started Leigh Bardugo's Grisha Trilogy (SHADOW AND BONE) and I LOVE IT--also loving Will's GOBLIN SECRETS--too much to read!!! Not enough time!!!

TRUTH. Looking forward to more Grishas and Ravens, myself.

More delicious books under the jump!

End of the Year Shamelessness

The end of the world the year is upon us.  Well, almost.  But I figured I'd better hedge my bets just in case the Mayans were right.

I am totally, utterly kidding.

But this is the last Shameless Saturday post of 2012, marking four years that I've been bringing you these updates.  It's still an honor to be able to share the deals and awards, reviews and appearances, cover reveals and trailer debuts of this very talented group of writers.

I'm getting mushy.

*shakes it off*

Anyway, here we go with the last bits of awesome this year, but don't worry, I'll be back January 5th with a whole new list!

THE CABINET OF EARTHS by Anne Nesbet is featured in a School Library Journal list of middle-grade fantasy books, and in some very fancy company.  Go Anne!

Speaking of end of year lists, THE FALSE PRINCE by Jennifer Nielsen has been named by Publisher's Weekly as one of the Best Books of 2012, to the New York Times Notable Books of 2012 list, and was a finalist in the Goodreads Best of 2012 Middle Grade List. It was also a silver award winner from the National Parenting Publication awards, and is part of the poll for MTV's "Best Novel of 2012." That's quite a rock star list!

And we have several Inkies on the Kirkus Top 100 Teen Books of 2012 list: THE CRIMSON CROWN by Cinda Williams Chima, GRAVE MERCY by Robin LaFevers and THE BROKEN LANDS by Kate Milford!

Even my own little book TEN made a couple of lists this year, landing on the Los Angeles Public Library's list of Best Teen Books for 2012 and the American Library Association's Best Fiction for Young Adults and Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Readers.  Go me!

William Alexander's GOBLIN SECRETS recently won the National Book Award (I just love saying that!) but he's not done yet.  GOBLIN SECRETS just picked up an Earphones Award for audiobook narration.  Guess who narrated the book?  William.  Show off.  :D

Leah Cypess has some sparkly news. HarperTeen Impulse will be e-publishing a short NIGHTSPELL prequel in July 2013. The novelette is called Buried Above Ground, "in which the ghost of a nobleman's mistress sets out to solve her own murder but is not prepared for the secrets she uncovers." (Publisher's Marketplace)

Anna Staniszeski also has new e-book content: a free short story prequel called My Very UnFairy Tale Life: Jenny's First Adventure, available on Smashwords and Kobo (and it will soon be up on BN and iTunes).

Here's the description:

How does an average girl become a magical adventurer, anyway? Find out in this short prequel to My Very UnFairy Tale Life! (Includes fun UnFairy bonus content!

And it wouldn't be an end of the world the year post without a book trailer, would it? Here's the newly debuted trailer for PROPHESY by Ellen Oh!

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD SHAMELESSNESS!!!

We're starting out with ridiculously exciting news!!!  This year's winner of the National Book Award for Young People's Literature is...

WILLIAM ALEXANDER 

for 

GOBLIN SECRETS!

Plus there's an amazing interview with Will in Publisher's Weekly.  We pretty much couldn't be more excited.  You should have seen the email chain that went through the Inkies group.  It was epic.

But that's not all the news we have today. The new YA edition of Lena Goldfinch's fantasy novella, THE LANGUAGE OF SOULS, is now available as an ebook (print forthcoming). And yes, there's a cover reveal!!!

Nancy Holder has accepted a position as writer in residence at Odyssey, a six-week intensive science fiction and fantasy workshop held at St. Anselm college in New Hampshire. The workshop runs from June 10-July 19, 2013.

She will also serve on the faculty at the Stonecoast MFA in Creative Writing Program at their campus in Dingle, Ireland, in July of 2013. For those of you who haven't been, the Dingle Peninsula is one of the most beautiful places in the world.  So yes, I'm ridiculously jealous.

Hilari Bell's first four novels have been re-released as ebooks! You can look for SONGS OF POWER, NAVOHAR, A MATTER OF PROFIT and THE WIZARD TEST, wherever ebooks are sold. And if you check out her Facebook page, you can get a Smashwords coupon to get any one of those books free.

And that's it!

"It."  WILL WON THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD!!!!  *flails*

:)

LOTS of Shamelessness!!!

I've got a ton of news today, mostly because I accidentally skipped a week in there somehow.  OOPS!  I've been on the road promoting TEN and, well, I'm old and forgetful.  ;)

Anyway, enough excuses.  Here we go!

The BIG NEWS this week - we have some finalist for HUGE AWARDS!!!!

William Alexander's GOBLIN SECRETS is a finalist for the National Book Award!

Lena Coakley's WITCHLANDERS and Megan Crewe's THE WAY WE FALL have just been nominated for a White Pine award, Canada's children's choice award for teen readers.  And it just so happens that WITCHLANDERS is now available in paperback.  How convenient!

Inkies are so talented.

As if to emphasize that, DIVERSE ENERGIES, an anthology featuring Ellen Oh and Cindy Pon, is now on sale!  Booklist gave it an amazing review:

It starts off with a fabulous one-two punch: Ellen Oh’s devastating “The Last Day,” about a future global war and the horrific Hiroshima-like aftermath; then “Freshee’s Frogurt,” a wild, violent, and funny excerpt from Daniel H. Wilson’s Robopocalypse (2011). In general, the subsequent stories fall on the more thoughtful, brainy side of the sf spectrum. Two standouts are Paolo Bacigalupi’s “A Pocket Full of Dharma,” about the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama on a portable storage drive; and Cindy Pon’s “Blue Skies,” a wistful have/have-not tale from a smog-filthed future Taipei. A solid introduction to a number of highly talented writers.

Speaking of talent, Amy Butler Greenfield is sharing her blurbs for CHANTRESS and they are quite a line up:

“Wonderfully felt, seen, and dreamed, Greenfield’s debut fantasy is an enchanted read.” - Franny Billingsley, National Book Award finalist and author of CHIME

“Chantress is one of those rare books that’s so beautifully written you want to read it slowly and savor every word, but the story is so compelling you want to race through the pages! I loved it.” - Mary Pearson, author of THE ADORATION OF JENNA FOX and THE FOX INHERITANCE

“With a spirited heroine, fearsome monsters, and luminous worldbuilding, this story had me hooked from the first page. CHANTRESS is truly enchanting.” - Jessica Spotswood, author of BORN WICKED

“Chantress is like the best kind of magic – absorbing, mysterious, and delightful.” - Rebecca Stead, Newbery Award winning author of WHEN YOU REACH ME, FIRST LIGHT and LIAR & SPY

“A pure and elevated pleasure, like strawberries of the perfect ripeness or a gorgeous aria.” - Katherine Sturtevant, author of AT THE SIGN OF THE STAR and A TRUE AND FAITHFUL NARRATIVE

“Chantress is a beguiling and mesmerizing story, full of mystery and song. From the first word, I was enchanted by Amy Butler Greenfield’s unique twist on English history and by her compelling, magical, and loveable heroine, Lucy.” - Nancy Werlin, NYT-bestselling author of IMPOSSIBLE and EXTRAORDINARY

And last but never least,Cinda Chima Williams's THE CRIMSON CROWEN launches October 23, 2012! It's the fourth book in the Seven Realms series and Cinda will be traveling the world--er--the eastern U.S. You can find author tour information here.

Short Story Love

Often we discuss novels here at Enchanted Inkpot, so I thought we might take some space to talk about short stories we love.

I confess the short stories I like tend to be odd. One of my favorites is “Sweet Pippet” in Margo Lanagan’s Black Juice. It’s a love story, told from the perspective of elephants. I adore the way Lanagan explains almost nothing. We simply have to puzzle out whom the elephants love and why.

Another of my favorite collections is Kelly Link’s Pretty Monsters. Like Black Juice, this collection has odd stories, some surreal and some strange. “The Wrong Grave”, about a guy who decides to dig up poems he left in his girlfriend's grave, is funny in a dark, sad way. The collection also includes traditional tales with a twist, like “The Wizards of Perfil”, which features wizards, a tower, and lost children.

Steampunk! – edited by Kelly Link and Gavin Grant is a wonderful anthology that includes steampunk stories by Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, Holly Black, and M.T. Anderson, among others. If you’ve liked novels by these authors, you might enjoy their short stories.

When I'm looking for great fantasy stories, short and long, I frequently visit Endicott Studio's "Mythic Fiction for Young Adults" to see what's listed there. For short story collection recommendations, check out the 4th paragraph. 

Also, some recommendations from other Inkies:

William Alexander recommends Holly Black’s collection, The Poison Eaters. In a review for Magers and Quinn Booksellers (you can read the full review here), he says: “It's like very strong espresso, delicious to sip but powerful enough to keep you up all night wishing you could breathe comfortably with blankets pulled over your head.”

Leah Cypress wants to announce that she has short stories with YA appeal forthcoming and available, in the anthologies Sword and Sorceress 27 and Two and Twenty Dark Tales, as well as her own free collection Changelings and Other Stories. Take a look at her website for more information on these.


Amy Butler Greenfield says: "I don’t often read short stories, but I really enjoyed Willful Impropriety:  13 Tales of Society, Scandal and Romance (ed. Ekaterina Sedia).   Almost all the stories have a strong historical fantasy element; some are painful; many are funny.  Taken together they’re a fascinating and thought-provoking look at social norms and 'improper' behavior, with a bit of magic thrown in for good measure."

Dawn Metcalf recommends the Bordertown short stories, including the latest collection edited by Ellen Kushner and Holly Black. Dawn says, “These were the first stories I read as a teen that blended fantasy and technology on the border where our world and Faeland met along the Mad River; where bookstores came with magic locks, elves jonesed for a cup of coffee, and people rode motorcycles powered by spellboxes that (sometimes) worked. It was magic remade all over again and I loved it!”

Let’s add to this list. What short stories, and short story writers, do you love and why? 

TechnoFail Shamelessness

Sorry this post is a day late! Somehow I lost all my files with the shameless updates for this week, and had to beg everyone to resend. But the issue has been resolved, so here we go!

NOTE: We have not one, not two, but THREE amazing cover reveals today. But I'm saving those for last. Because I'm mean like that.

We're going to start with review news this week, and not just because my own book TEN features in. Ha! Kate Milford's new release THE BROKEN LANDS "landed" (see what I did there?) a fantastic Kirkus review:

"Two teens race against time to thwart the forces of evil in this prequel to The Boneshaker (2010).

The Broken Land is a hotel where much crucial action takes place, but it is also an apt description of the United States in 1877. The Civil War has scarred the country, and Reconstruction has ended. “Folks are angry, still,” orphan Sam is told. “Folks are scared and folks feel like punishing each other, and I don’t think many of ’em are clear about what they’re mad for.” It is also a time of technological marvels like the Brooklyn Bridge, although this particular wonder has come with a price for young Sam. After losing his father to illness brought on by work on the bridge, Sam finds himself working as a cardsharp in Coney Island. He becomes the unlikely ally of Jin, a Chinese girl working with a team to provide fireworks at Broken Land, as they find themselves resisting a figure seeking to establish his own Hell. This seamless blend of fantasy and historical fiction is ripe with rich, gritty detail. Best of all, it is populated by a vast array of unusual characters: Along with Sam and Jin, there's Tom, a former member of the U.S. Colored Troops, and Susannah, a biracial woman who may hold the key to victory.

Readers will be captivated."

Kirkus was a busy little beaver this week, because TEN also got a fab review. I'm cutting out some of the more spoilery stuff because I think they added a bit too much plottage to the review, but here's the rest:

A scary gorefest of murder and mayhem, not for the faint of heart.

Clues are just amorphous enough to sustain the mystery, and since mistakes are lethal, the suspense is high.

For murder-mystery fans, there's more than enough horror and gore to sustain this effort (and several more), making for a breathless read. (Mystery/horror. 14 & up)

Yeah, I'm happy. Then right on that review, I found out I was a Top Pick in the September issue of Romantic Times!

TEN
by Gretchen McNeil

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary Young Adult

RT Rating

You want to read this book. McNeil incorporates all the thrills and chills of a horror movie into this fast-paced, gripping tale. With its quippy dialogue, it’s like reading Scream. This reviewer got the willies while reading Ten on a sunny afternoon. 

A party on a secluded island has Meg’s (slightly unstable) friend Minnie totally excited. Meg is less thrilled, especially once she finds out that TJ, the crush she and Minnie share, will also be attending. A storm isolates the teens, and even the hosts don’t show. Then, one of the guests commits suicide … or does she? (BALZER + BRAY, Sep., 304 pp., $17.99, ISBN: 9780062118783, HC, 13 & Up)

Hee.

I'm sure you've all seen the NPR short list of Best Ever Young Adult Novels, but did you notice there were THREE Inkies on there? Congrats to THE SEVEN REALMS series by Cinda Williams Chima, ASH by Malinda Lo, and GRAVE MERCY by Robin LaFevers! So go vote NOW!

In foreign rights news, Kate Coombs' The Runaway Princess, has been translated to Japanese and is now available in Japan

I promised cover reveals, and here they are! First, the gorgeous cover for Kate Milford's THE KAIROS MECHANISM. The image is by Andrea Offermann, the artist behind THE BROKEN LANDS and THE BONESHAKER, and our own inkie Lisa Amowitz handled turning it into a cover.

Cindy Pon and Ellen Oh are both featured in DIVERSE ENERGIES, a multicultural YA dystopian anthology published by Tu Books (November 2012).

And William Alexander has a cover to share as well! For GHOULISH SONG!

PHEW!!! So glad I was able to reassemble all that info. See you in two weeks!

Pour on the Shamelessness

You know, us Inkies get around.  Last weekend, we descended about New York City for BEA 2012, with signings, meet and greets and cocktail parties galore.  I had an amazing turn out for my signing of TEN, and Grace Lin's upcoming middle grade novel STARRY RIVER OF THE SKY was part of the middle grade buzz panel!  Which is pretty rad.

Next week?  It's Anaheim's turn for ALA 2012!

Cindy Pon has both a panel AND a signing at ALA.  The Not Another Boring Vampire Romance: Going Beyond the Norm in YA Paranormal Fiction will be led by the fabulous librarian, Angei Manfredi where Cindy will be joined by Kendare Blake, Jackson Pearce and Kenneth Oppel.
Saturday, June 23, 8-10am in the Anaheim Convention Center, Room 209B.

Then from 12.30-1.30pm, Cindy will be signing along with Tahereh Mafi at the HarperCollin’s Booth 2558. Cindy will be signing BOTH Silver Phoenix paperbacks as well as Fury of the Phoenix hardcovers.

Nancy Holder is also signing at ALA: 1:00 – 2:00 PM, in the Simon & Schuster (Booth #2600-2601).  And don't forget Robin LaFevers,1pm Saturday at the Houghton Mifflin Booth!

I'll be at ALA as well, roaming around the convention floor Saturday June 23rd.  No signings for me (boo hoo) however, I will be doing a special TEN giveaway.  BUT YOU HAVE TO FIND ME AT ALA TO WIN!  Details coming on my blog next week.

We've got a huge cover reveal coming up next week.  Ellen Oh's PROPHECY reveal will be hosted by the YA Book Central on Monday, June 18th at noon EST.  Don't miss it!

A couple of weeks again, we announced that William Alexander got an amazing blurb from Ursula Le Guin for his upcoming release GOBLIN SECRETS, and now Ursula herself is blogging about the book.  Yes, that scream your heard just now?  Inkie fan girl/boy screams from around the country.

Speaking of blurbs, Miriam Forster has two to share for her upcoming debut CITY OF A THOUSAND DOLLS:

"A truly unique treasure, Forster's debut is storytelling at its best. With a chilling mystery, a forbidden romance, and delightful characters I fell in love with, I wanted to spend more time in the City of a Thousand Dolls." —Elana Johnson, author of Possession

"With fantastic world building and a wonderful heroine, City of a Thousand Dolls intrigued me from the first page. Forster took me on a fascinating journey full of twists and turns--I can't wait for the sequel!" --Cindy Pon, author of Silver Phoenix

Lastly, Lisa Gail Green has two short stories out in the new anthology JOURNEYS OF WONDER on sale only at Amazon.com now! $.99 or free through the Amazon Prime lending library.

Shameless Celebration!

YAY!  Lots of news this week.  I love weeks like this.  :)

Starting out with a bang, Lena Coakley's WITCHLANDERS is a SCBWI Crystal Kite Award winner!  Chosen by SCBWI members, this is like being voted prom queen by your peers!  Such a huge honor.

We have another book with honors this week: Dawn Metcalf's LUMINOUS was picked as a Top 40 Pick for the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association.  What an awesome line up of books!!!

In foreign rights news, Nancy Holder sold Polish rights to WICKED, the NYT bestselling YA series she writes with Debbie Viguie. Copies of WICKED: WITCH, the first novel in the series, arrived on Friday.

In blurbage news (hee), William Alexander landed an amazing blurb for GOBLIN SECRETS from none other than Ursula K. Le Guin!

"It was hard to stop reading Goblin Secrets, and I didn't want the book to end! The author's imagination is both huge and original, taking us to a truly new place, rich with lively, vivid scenes, fascinating people, and marvelous inventions. He doesn't explain things, yet everything is clear. And he tells his fast-paced story in language that's a pleasure in itself -- subtle, tricky, funny, beautiful. More, please, Will Alexander!"

And perhaps most excitingly of all this week, long time Inkie P.J. Hoover has not one, but TWO book deals to announce!

P.J. Hoover's SOLSTICE, about a near-future global heating crisis and a Texas teen who uncovers the strange untold ending of the Persephone myth, only to find that she is part of the story -- and that her choices in love, in family, and in friendship will determine the destiny of her world, to Susan Chang at Tor Children's, for publication in Spring 2013, by Laura Rennert and Lara Perkins at Andrea Brown Literary Agency (NA).

P.J. Hoover's TUT, in which a young immortal King Tut, who has been stuck in middle school for over 3,000 years, must defeat an ancient enemy with the help of a dorky kid from school, a mysterious Egyptian princess, and a one-eyed cat, to Susan Chang at Tor Children's, for publication in Winter/Spring 2014, by Laura Rennert and Lara Perkins at Andrea Brown Literary Agency (NA).

Excuse me while I squee all over myself.  :D

Hmm.  There's something else.  Something I'm forgetting...  Oh yes, winners in the Tu Book drawing!  I gots them:

Natalie Aguirre
Julia@ThatHapaChick

Congratulations!

Faux Fantasy! (For all our April Fools)

Ah, April. Such a wonderful month, time for spring flowers...and tricks, pranks, and jokes of all kinds. In honor of April Fool's day, I urged the intrepid authors of The Enchanted Inkpot to tickle our funny bones. And I have to tell you, they're a pretty funny bunch. I'm still smiling. :)

Check out these (faux, tongue-firmly-in-cheek) fantasy books, coming soon to a bookstore near you!! Or maybe not. Perhaps they'll appear in another realm entirely, one full of magical, lightning-fast printing presses and wizardly editorial types with ink-stained fingertips. Whatever. I'm sure these are all destined to become instant classics.

"A story about a girl wizard who infiltrates a school for vampires, only to find out that only one student gets to graduate alive. It's a combination of Harry Potter, Twilight, and the Hunger Games! Plus, if there is any new huge success between now and this book's publication, I'll figure out a way to work that in too."
Leah Cypess

“Plucky youngsters create small golems out of belly button lint. They wear fuzzy sweaters all the time to generate enough lint, and develop powers of static electricity as a result. But their powers are tested when an army of bullying booger-golems attacks the school. Buffy meets Captain Underpants!”
William Alexander

"CSI meets Pretty Little Liars meets Disney when Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel and Cinderella go on a girls’ weekend and one of them is murdered. Luckily, our protagonist, a mind reading detective is also staying at the resort, and she must solve the crime, before she's next!"
Erin Cashman

"Mary Sue discovers she is the Chosen One and must attend the Chosen One Academy with five thousand other Chosen Ones. When she and she alone discovers that all the Chosen Ones must battle to the death to really become the actual super-chosen Chosen One, she meets her one true love and together they embark on a fascinating journey of the heart."
Nancy Holder

“A troupe of princesses are on their way to a ball when a portal opens beneath the carriages and drags the hapless damsels into a post-apocalyptic world where their Prince Charmings never had their Happy Endings and all the kingdoms fell under a corporate merger. Now the princesses have been sorted into districts run by KingdomCorp and find themselves the unlucky contestants in a beauty pageant to the death; the winner will have massive merchandising rights on all the products in the pink-colored toy aisles and the chance to choose her own Prince Charming on the reality TV show, 'Princess Bridal.' Who will win the ultimate challenge or will the princesses overthrow KingdomCorp to change their pasts and their world's future?”
Dawn Metcalf

“Sam Alex Price has always felt out of place in her high school, where everyone is conventionally attractive and mostly just downloads songs you hear all the time on the radio anyway. Sam Alex, on the other hand, has to suffer from an acutely cool musical sense (punk rock + Flamenco), while her radiant emerald eyes, fiery hair, and gorgeous birthmarks in the shape of Celtic dragon-rune tattoos for some reason make her the last girl anyone would ever take to the prom. And why does her nervous mother always insist on keeping a juniper branch (sprinkled with Holy Water) above the front door? All is explained when the most gorgeous dark-eyed dude shows up in pre-calc: Blade is a demon-angel-vampire hybrid, who just needs to assassinate Sam to get the equivalent, in demon-angel-vampire circles, of his GED. Sam's secret identity as a Nephilim-Seelie-warriorgirl-with-slight-phoenix-tendencies is betrayed when a swarm of demons kidnaps Sam's mother (see?! She was RIGHT to be nervous!), leaving a portal open to the magic library where Sam's mother's all-revealing diary has been mis-shelved all these years. Fortunately, Sam, due to her Flamenco training, turns out to have serious battle skills and to be very good with a dagger. Blade is impressed. The assassination is delayed. Kissing is involved.”
Anne Nesbet

"An orphanage, overcrowded with kids destined by prophecy to perform heroic deeds, becomes the headquarters of a fierce resistance. The orphan's mission - to rid the world of fantasy novels that kill off parents and bind kids to futures full of scary things and near-death experiences. Will their dastardly plot to kill of all fantasy writers succeed, or are they doomed to fail, to live out their own preordained destinies? And just how do they plan to squelch all that uncomfortable inner angst and romance brewing under the surface? One orphan holds the key, but that orphan, Goober Tickletrunk, lowliest of them all and guardian of the keyring, won't reveal its location!"
Pippa Bayliss

"Kafka meets Celebrity Apprentice when young Sam's mother breaks it to him that his father was a cockroach. Threatened by nuclear extinction, humanity must learn survival skills from the roaches. Sam undertakes a perilous journey through the silverware drawer to find Trump, a wise old cockroach who runs a school for half-roaches and holds the key to his species' longevity. Hair gel becomes a factor. And antennae. Also (apologies to Anne) kissing."
Ellen Booraem

Too funny!! Thanks, everyone!

If you have a faux fantasy pitch, please feel free to share it in the comments section. :-)

Lena Goldfinch is the author of The Language of Souls, a short-but-sweet tale that will "appeal to teens who enjoy fantasy with a side of sigh-worthy romance". She lives in New England with her husband (born on April Fool's Day--happy birthday, hon!!), two teens, and a very spoiled black lab. You can visit her online at www.lenagoldfinch.com.

New Deal Shamelessness!

Starting out with big news from Leah Cypess! Per Publisher Marketplace:

Leah Cypess's DEATHSWORN, a fantasy about a young sorceress with mysteriously fading powers who has been sent to tutor a sect of assassins in their underground stronghold; but while trying to solve the murders of the tutors who preceded her, she will discover a terrible secret about the assassins' true goals, one that will challenge her deepest beliefs and force her to make a choice that could overthrow an empire, to Martha Mihalick at Greenwillow, for publication in Fall 2013, plus a sequel, by Bill Contardi at Brandt & Hochman (NA).

WOO HOO LEAH!!!!!!!  This one sounds just as amazing as the MISTWOOD saga, too!

William Alexander has racked up yet another fantastic review for GOBLIN SECRETS, this time over at Fantasy Matters, which says:

There are books that make you feel good for having read them. Not virtuous or well-behaved, but good. More whole-hearted, more brave, more likely to look at a stranger and see the fine face beneath the mask of their unfamiliarity. Goblin Secrets, William Alexander’s debut novel, is just such a book.

Could a review be any better? I think not!

If you're in the Southern California area, I'll be doing an appearance at WonderCon tomorrow, March 18th.  I'll be signing at the Mysterious Galaxy Booth at 11am alongside Andrea Cremer, and I'll be on the YA panel at 3pm with some amazing authors.  Here's the line up:

3:00-4:00 Shivers, Shakes, and Swoon: the Young Adult Books We Can't Put Down — Come along for a Q&A session and chat about the hottest new titles in YA fiction. Moderated by Andrea Cremer (The Nightshade Series) and featuring Ann Aguirre (Enclave), Kami Garcia (co-author of the Beautiful Creatures novels), Gretchen McNeil (Possess), Lissa Price (Starters), Ransom Riggs (Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children), and Veronica Rossi (Under the Never Sky). Room 207

*dances*

And lastly, the audio version of Erin Cashman's THE EXCEPTIONALS is now available to order!

That's it for this week.  Big round of applause for everyone's fantastic news!!!!

Goblins

Fantastical literature has given us many different versions of the roguish goblin, from Christina Rossetti's seductive fruit mongers to J.R.R. Tolkien's violent and villainous fighters, from the bankers of Gringotts to the glass-toothed critters chronicled by Spiderwick.

The following Inkies have all written books about goblins, and this is what they have to say:

Jennifer Nielsen

What a fun thing to be able to compare my goblins with those of other Inkies! The goblins in my books are from The Underworld Chronicles and are primarily in Book 1, Elliot and the Goblin War. This book tells the story of how 11-year-old Elliot Penster becomes king of the brownies and accidentally launches an interspecies war with the goblins.

One of the wonderful things about using goblins as characters is that there is a lot of latitude in the “classic definition” of what a goblin should be. Generally speaking, a goblin is a twisted sort of fairy: smaller in size and grotesque in appearance. They’re not necessarily evil, but they are lazy, disorderly, and mean. They also tend to be troublemakers to humans, but can be appeased if the family leaves food out for them.

These were exactly the qualities I wanted as antagonists for Elliot and the Goblin War, but I did make some changes so that these goblins would be unique to this series.

Primarily, I wanted to give the goblins some magical abilities that would make them even more threatening to Elliot. In particular, they have two abilities. The first is they can scare other creatures to death. If Elliot is lucky, he’ll get away from a goblin attack only having been scared half to death.

The second goblin ability is in blowing things up. This is a definite departure from traditional mythology, but I added it because…well, it was funny.

As the series progresses, the goblins definitely evolve as characters and eventually learn to get along with Elliot. To be sure, they were some of the most fun mythological characters I got to play with throughout the stories.

Cover art by Gideon Kendall

Hilari Bell

I have to confess, I’m not really sure what a “classic” goblin is. My vague, personal definition is a small, not particularly pretty humanoid, with some form of magic. And more important than any of the above; not particularly good, either. If not outright evil, goblins should at least be mischievous. So when I wanted small, mischievous, neither good nor evil creatures to torment my heroine, befriend her, and ultimately be championed by her—well, goblins sounded like a good fit.

Of course, then I had to evolve my goblins to suit my story, with differing magical powers that defined what types of goblin they were, and a social order built on equal trades, with a horror of being indebted to anyone because that left you unequal, always owing the person you were indebted to. Though they soften this rule for friends and family, so that when favors were done for those close to you only a token needed to be paid in exchange. And that token could be anything—a pinecone, a pretty pebble, a button. Which is why, after my heroine became the general of the goblin’s army, she always wore a vest covered with loosely stitched buttons.

Cover art by Cliff Neilsen

William Alexander

The idea that goblins used to be human, and that they used to be children, has always stuck with me. I'm pretty sure that I first absorbed this piece of goblin lore from George MacDonald's The Princess and the Goblin, and David Bowie later reinforced it when he kidnapped a potential new goblin babe in Labyrinth. Wherever I got it, I still find it haunting. Goblins are the vampires and werewolves of childhood. They are the monsters that you might become.

My own goblins are likewise small humans transformed. Everyone knows that they steal children, but not everyone realizes that they are the children that they steal. They are also traveling actors, which fits the mischievous temperament that goblins always seem to have. My hero runs off with this theatrical goblin troupe, and he has to decide whether or not he can possibly trust them.

Cover art by Alexander Jansson

Far-Reaching Shamlessness

There's a lot of exciting news this week.  Um, I even have some for a change.  But more on that later...

New on shelves this week, Ellen Booraem's SMALL PERSONS WITH WINGS is out in paperback, with a slightly modified cover. (But still with sparkles!). Official pub date was Feb 16. If you haven't gotten a chance to read this fantastic fairy novel, GET ON IT!

We're lucky here in the Inkpot to have some amazingly talented authors, and we always love it when one of them earns the recognition they deserve.  Grace Lin is just one example.  Her award-winning middle grade fantasy WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE MOON is #26 on Scholastic Parent and Child Magazine's "100 Greatest Books for Kids."  She's in amazing company, too.  SO COOL!!!!

Grace isn't the only Inkie getting recognition. Nancy Holder's horror novel THE SCREAMING SEASON, is a Bram Stoker Award nominee. Winners will be announced at the World Horror Convention. How awesome is that??? Meanwhile, she sold a piece to ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE: FIGHT BACK!, the second in a trilogy of mosaic novels about a zombie pandemic, edited by Stephen Jones.

And not to be outdone, William Alexander's GOBLIN SECRETS received a starred review from Kirkus this week:

Alexander’s world, blending steampunk and witchy magic, is impressively convincing and evocative in its oddities. Though highly textured, it’s tightly woven and reassuringly seamless.

The result is wryly humorous and bearably yet excitingly menacing: Even while much is left unexplained, Rownie’s triumph is both gripping and tantalizing.

Steampunk goblins? WIN!


I have a review to share as well! POSSESS got a fabulous review in the School Library Journal's March issue, that called it a "fantastic YA debut":

This tale of possession, duplicity, angels, and demons is set in foggy San Francisco and is a wonderful addition to the field of paranormal romance. It's also a mystery and a tale of teenage outcasts and bullies, and loss of a parent. While some of the story is predictable, the humor and occasional twists will keep fans of the genre hooked and wanting to finish this book in one sitting.

*dances*

Which leads to the last piece of shamelessness for this week...

I was finally able to reveal my cover for TEN this week! To celebrate, there's a huge contest going on at Me, My Shelf and I - an online scavenger hunt for ten clues (see what I did there???) and the grand prize is a signed, annotated copy of the unbound galley of TEN!

Are you ready for the cover?

And yes, I totally freaking LOVE it!  :)