Kindling!

Article yesterday in the NYT about the Kindle...while there may be some legitimate debates about how Kindle will change publishing--and some of those changes maybe not so much the better for authors--the NYT hand-wringing seemed to be mostly over the fact that books on Kindle can't be used as status signifiers (tho' the Kindle itself, of course, it somewhat a status signifier since it ain't cheap)...after all, how will people know you are so cool and read Melville or Sartre if there's no book cover to inform them of such? It's true that as far as being used as a wing-book, the Kindle is useless...but...full disclosure:

Devilman got me a Kindle and it's pretty cool. Actually, Devilman got US a Kindle, and although I was skeptical at first, he's now not been able to pry it out of my hot little hands. I'm pretty smitten. Now, I wouldn't want to read every book on the Kindle, and I wouldn't buy a book on the Kindle that I had any expectation of wanting to add to my library, but for a swift read it's pretty sweet how you can download a book in seconds from wherever you are and begin reading instantly. This has caused me to buy books that I might not have otherwise, based on the instant gratification principle. If I had to write the title down and go to the bookstore I might have lost interest in the book before I even got out the front door.

I particularly like reading the newspapers on the Kindle. We used to take the NYT, the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal, but we only ever read the FT weekend edition, and the newsprint did add up. It seemed as though I was always carrying scads of paper to the recycling, or stumbling over pilesin the living room. Now, we are paper free, and don't have to deal with spreading out huge pages on the breakfast table or the living room. Plus, I tend to do most of my reading now whilst satisfying the voracious appetite of the Captain and his grabby hands make books and newspapers problematic. But I can easily hold the Kindle out of his reach and turn the page with one hand, and that works great. You don't get the easy browsing function you do with the physical paper, and the Kindle editions don't have the entire content of the paper edition but it's good enough for casual reading.

A couple of drawbacks: firstly, the Kindle ain't cheap, as mentioned before. I'm sure the price will come down and by the time Captain Jenks is old enough to read Gogol he'll probably wonder why anyone would read books printed on paper, oh those silly old folks. By then, maybe they'll be giving Kindles out in cereal boxes. (I am ancient enough to remember when digital watches cost over $100 bucks and were giant clunky things; you could order them out of the Sears catalog--if you were rich!). But right now it's an investment.

Another drawback: you lose the lovely physical quality of a book. No graphics, and if the book had pictures in it, usually they are ommited from the Kindle edition. I just finished GO DOWN TOGETHER, a bio of Bonnie and Clyde (what absolute pathetic losers--so sad), and I would have liked pictures to go with my text. Luckily, google pics provided illustrations but that's not the same as flipping to the middle of the book. Plus, no cover art, or interesting fonts, etc. Just stripped down utilitarian text. For those of us who like books as objects, that's a drag. But as I said, if I really want to keep a book, then I'll buy it for real.

Last drawback--which could be a MAJOR one for those of us with no self-control. To buy books you set up an automatic account. This means when you click buy on the Kindle, the credit card information is already in the system--which makes book buying SEEM easy and almost FREE. If you aren't careful, you can rack up some serious charges quickly just by hitting BUY BUY BUY. This may be great for the publishers and impulse buying but can get you into fiscal hot water rather quickly. Like with donuts, one must learn to exercise restraint.

However, over-all I am pretty happy to be Kindling...

Andre Norton Award!

Woo! Last night, FLORA'S DARE won the Andre Norton Award...

Thrilled, excited, stunned, amazed, wah-wah, all of those things. Sad that I wasn't there to woo in person, but the Amazing Dave Schwartz did the honours for me, and even sent me a text pic of the thing itself. It was hard to see details on the small screen, but still it looked grand!

But I am sad that Dave's SUPERPOWERS did not win the Nebula for Best Novel. It's a great novel, and he's a great writer, and I am very very sure that this Nebula nomination will be the first of many nominations for many different awards.

I was in bed when the news came through; the Captain has been restless at night recently and as soon as he hits the rack I do too, as I know I might be up again soon enough. Of course, I am delighted to win, but I'd also like to exert my new found award winning power (yah right!) to remind everyone of the other Norton nominees, worthy books all.Viz.,

• GRACELING by Kristen Cashore.
• LAMPLIGHTER, by D.M. Cornish.
• SAVVY by Ingrid Law.
• THE ADORATION OF JENNA FOX by Mary Pearson.

I am also super happy that John Kessel's "Pride and Prometheus" won the Nebula for Best Novelette. I read this story in draft form the year I went to Sycamore Hill; to describe it as a mash up of FRANKENSTEIN and PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (what if Victor Frankensteins had been a pal of Mr. Darcy?) is accurate, but the story is oh so much more. It is worth seeking out.

It's unspeakably gratifying to be honoured by one's peers in this fashion, of course, and hopefully the unspeakable gratification will give my current writing a bit of a boost. I'm still hacking away at FLORA'S FURY. I had to ditch the first 35K words that I spent three months working on and start over again--off to the wrong start--and now feel back into the scheme of things, but juggling a baby and a book ain't no joke, as I have discovered.

But that's tomorrow. Today is woot!

Flora takes the Omnibus

I have heard that FLORA'S DARE and FLORA SEGUNDA is going to be published in an omnibus edition by Science Fiction Book Club. I am a huge fan of omnibus editions. When you are reading a series, and really enjoy book 1 it is oh so nice to have book 2 between the same boards, ready and waiting to keep you going. I am always looking for omnibuses (omnibii?) but they are, for rather obvious reasons, confined to book clubs usually, and I'm not currently a member of any book club. I know from a collectible stand-point book club editions are valueless, but I've always liked them. They often have cool cover art, and many times are the only way to get books otherwise published as mass markets in hard back form. I have many Tanith Lee books from the 80s and early 90s in book club editions, and I treasure my book club edition of Gene Wolfe's SHADOW OF THE TORTURER and the other volumes in that series. And great cover art, too. I have seen a prelim of the cover art for FLORA FYRDRAACA (as the omni will be called) and it's pretty nifty. When I get the okay, I will post.

The only sad thing is that FLORA'S FURY will then be a little stand-alone, or no edition at all. Unless, she says, laughing diabolically, there is a fourth book...hmm...there's an idea...

Excuses

Is it April already? How did that happen? The long long winter is suddenly over, and now, from this side, it don't seem so long. Although, I have to admit that the Captain and I spent six weeks of it in warmer climes (Arizona and Tejas), so we can hardly complain about the winter being so darn long.

And now the little spring buds are budding, and the flowers are flowering, and all will be green again soon.

In other news, once again I am honoured to be on the ballot for the Andre Norton Award, this time for FLORA'S DARE. I guess that's the good thing about publishing a book a year, three years running. If you lose one year, there's always next year. As always, the rest of the ballot is mighty tasty so who knows what my chances are, but at least I ain't up against the JK Rowling juggernaut this time. So there's hope.

Which reminds me, if you haven't read D.M. Cornish's books, you should. LAMPLIGHTER is up for the Norton too, and while I haven't read it, MONSTER BLOOD TATTOO was delicious and contained some of the best world building I've come across in a mule's age. (That's longer than a donkey's age, twice as mean and will wait for years for the chance to kill you.) Also, I'm jealous of the website. It's full of super cool flash, and D.M. Cornish can actually draw so he can do his VERY OWN COVERS. She sighs with jealousy.

In yet other news, I am pleased to say that FLORA'S FURY is finally moving at a steady clip. Now that I've said that no doubt I'll get stymied again, just for spite, but for the moment I am making progress. I had to cut almost 30K words--OUCH--but I have managed to replace almost all of them with better longer and more descriptive words, so it's all copacetic now. I might be over 1/3 of the way done. Woo!

King Baby continues to hold the entire household in thrall. Only Bothwell is immune to his charms. Bothwell knows full well that *he* is the cutest thing in the house. The Captain is merely an upstart.

But I haven't gotten around to watching the final season of BSG. I think I am afraid.

Oh, and The Science Fiction Bookclub is publishing an omnibus edition of FLORA SEGUNDA AND FLORA'S DARE. I love omnibus editions, so I'm super pleased about this. You only seem to get them through book clubs but they are a great way to get a nice hardback chock-a-block with good stuff, to make the reading pleasure last a little longer. Since I can burn through a book very quickly, I am always pleased to have another one waiting in the wings.

Steampunk Jewelry

My super cool ancient friend Lisby (ancient in the sense that we have known each other for a mule's age, not in the sense that we are both ancient although we might be that too--happy to be crone-like and wise) has been making jewelry for also a mule's age, and very pretty lovely jewelry it is.

Now she and her jewelry making cohorts have branched out and are making pretty lovely super fantastically cool steampunk jewelry which you can drool over at her etsy shop Big Circle Designs and Steampunk Emporium.

I quoth from her own words, for she has said it better than I can: "Big Circle designs are diverse, encompassing the funky, the tribal, the mystical, the spiritual, the powerful, the serene, and the steampunk. Perfect for both the Venus of Willendorf and Romanadvratrelundar--and everyone in between!"

The pieces are lovely meldings of delicate chains and jewels with bits of the mechanical past. They would be sure to make any member of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen drool. Also, each piece has a very cool name, such as Chrononaut Badge of Meritorius Service; Time Machine Key; and Weeping Angels.

Who doesn't want a time machine key?

Thanks to the Wall Street Journal (of all venues), I have discovered Amanda Palmer, one half of the Dresden Dolls,* who has just struck out on her own with a solo effort. Somehow I had not really noticed the Dresden Dolls before, tho', of course, any band that bills itself as "Brechtian Punk Cabaret" seems exactly up my alley.** So I'm not sure how they remained off my radar for so long. I guess I've been too immersed in sea shanties and the 97th Regimental String Band these last few years.

Anyway, so I've been listening to Madama Palmer's album, Who Killed Amanda Palmer, and enjoying it tremendously. She has a very large range--both in vocal quality, subject matter, and tone. But I haven't listened much recently to contemporary music, and so I'm really enjoying it. Several of the songs have operatic qualities to them that are quite appealing. There were videos, but they got caught in the Warner's youtube malarky and are no longer available. However, here's a video of her song "What's the Use of Wondering."


What's the Use of Won'drin'? -Amanda Palmer & Vermilion Lies- from Amanda Palmer on Vimeo.

You can see why I like her! Apparently, Madama Palmer's label has not been particularly supportive of her album--something I can quite relate to--so I urge you to check it out. She's also working on a book in conjunction with Neil Gaiman, also called "Who Killed Amanda Palmer" which consists of photographs of Madama Palmer posing as a glamourous corpse. I wish I had Madama Palmer's fashion sense.

In other news, my lovely and talented agent sent me a box of Rivera pears for the holiday. At first I was slightly skeptical, as pears can be so hard and grainy...but these pears are soft and delicious and I have gobbled my way through almost the entire box already. In fact, I ordered another box.

In other other news, Devilman, Captain Jenks and I just finished watching "The Golden Compass" on telly. I hated hated hated HATED the books (don't get me started!), and while the movie looked stunning, we were underwhelmed at the plot. At least they managed to cut out most of the stuff I hated about the book, so that was a positive.

And it rained here today.

Goodbye, Richard Stark

Alas, Donald E. Westlake has died. I just read the first Parker book, The Hunter, (which was published under the name Richard Stark), over the summer and it was terrific. Hard boiled enough to make egg salad with, but with that wonderful noir style--terse, tense and utterly stripped to the bone. The main character, Parker, is a true anti-hero, tough and unsympathetic, but the people in his sights are so much worse than he is that its easy to cheer him on. Plus, there is something intriguing about such single-mindedness. Parker has been wronged--he's going to set that wrong right and nothing will stop him. There is a bit of a cultural artifact about The Hunter, because it so clearly takes place in the early 1960s, but that context only makes the book more intriguing, I think. It's always interesting to read books that were contemporary when they came out, but today are pretty much historical. There is a lack of artifice in such books that you just don't find in historical novels.

Of course Mr. Westlake wrote many many other mysteries, under his own name and others. He was the kind of writer the market just doesn't support anymore, and he was prolific without being a hack. We should all be so lucky.

Happy New Year!

So once again it is that time to consider old bad habits and try to discard them for new (good) habits. Resolutions rarely end up lasting much past February, but still, if you don't resolve to do anything then you'll do nothing.

Hence, my resolutions for this year:

• Get back into the bloggy habit--at least twice a week
  
• Learn military time
  
• Finish Flora's Fury
  
• Write at least two short stories
  
• Clean out my closet
  
• Go to Sweden to visit my darling friend Lilla My
  
• Take my vitamins every day
• Get my website cleaned up
  

Not particularly lofty goals, but sometimes it is better to strive small with hopes of achieving than to reach for the stars and end up flaming out. I'm already working on goal number 2, by switching most of my clocks to military time, thus forcing me to work a conversion before I know what time it is. And this blog post is also a start.

Of such small steps are mighty journeys made.

What about you?

Flora and Paimon

The fabulous graphic artist Madama Lea Hernandez has turned her pen to the illustrating of Flora Segunda and Paimon...and kindly allowed me to post said portrait here.

Since I was purposely vague in my description about Paimon (focusing on parts instead of a whole) it is always interesting to see how other see him...And I love Flora's furious fan!

Madama Hernandez writes graphic novels. More of her work can be found here. (How can you not like texas steampunk?) And she has a few other sketches of Flora et al. here. (I like that we are sharing a page with Iggy Pop!).

Many thanks to Madama Hernandez for taking the time to illustrate Flora and her friends, and to allowing me to post the fruits of her labour!

In what distant realm

has she been loitering? Well, I shall tell it: I have been in that undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler ever returns, tho' occasional messages do get through (such as this one).

That is to say: the Country of Motherhood.

A stork flew over my house back in October (just after my last blog post) and off-loaded a package marked "KING BABY." Suckered as I was by a pair of bright blue eyes, a red furred noggin and two giant purple feet, I took possession of said package and have been dancing attendance ever-since. To the detriment of blog, book, Bothwell and hair-care regime. Of course, the time hasn't been completely wasted--I certainly have new opinion on Buck's mothering strategies, as well as lots of material gathered should I ever want to write a book on the glories of the modern nappy (as earth-killing as it may be, it sure as heck can contain a vertiable shite-load of shite).

But I haven't gotten much writing done--here, or anywhere.

Come January (two weeks from now) that will be changing, as I shall be setting myself the task of getting back into the swing of things. I had completed about 1/3 of FLORA'S FURY before UPStork package arrived, and I have had plenty of time to consider how far I'd gotten and changing things around and new plot-lines and etc. But I fear this blog will remain somewhat sporadic. Intermitent but not fully forgotten.

In the meantime, FLORA'S DARE continues to rack up pretty good reviews, including this one which was just posted Eva's Book Addiction. It's a great review--not just because the reviewer loved the book--but it's a fabulous example of how to write a really consise thoughtful review that imparts the flavour of the book without giving away any spoilers. I have to say I'd rather have no review at all than one that happily ruins almost all the plot-points--as a writer it is very aggravating to spend lots of time coming up with great plot twists and then have them all be rendered moot by a reviewer who could think of no other way to review the book than to recount the plot. Reviewing is tricky, I know--which is why I leave it to others.

In the meantime, to all those who have added me as a friend, or asked to join my mailing list, thank you...it is nice to know that, tho' I might currently toil in the soggy nappie mines, I am not forgotten.

And for those who have emailed me--I am slowly making my way through through my inbox, so please forgive me if I take some time to respond directly. But respond I will, as King Baby (aka Captain Jenks) allows.

An Explanation...

I've noticed recently that my blog view numbers are steadily going up. Of course, this is fantastic, and I really appreciate all those who have decided to waste a few minutes of their time checking The CPG out.

But I'm sure everyone has noticed that I've gotten rather bad at posting regularly here. There's a fairly decent reason for that, which it feels only fair to share. I've recently developed a pretty bad case of carpal tunnel syndrome--the bete noir of all writers--and thus am having to limit my typing/writing time. Alas that most of my efforts have been focused on working on the final book in the Flora trilogy--(currently called) Flora's Fury and thus blogging has taken a bit hit.

For all who continue to check in, I will try to keep posting but my posts will be intermitent until this horrible tingly condition clears up. Thanks to everyone who is checking in/hanging in/patiently.

Help Save Ratchet!

I would be very sad if I had to leave Bothwell anywhere. Who would take care of him? Who would feed him? Who would love him? But I would feel even worse if I had to leave him in a war zone.

Sgt. Gwen Beberg has been in Iraq 15 months past her out-date (boo for stop-loss). In that time, she rescued a cute little pup who she named Ratchet, and who helped her get through her time in the war-zone. Now Sgt. Beberg is going home but the War Department is telling her that Ratchet must stay in Iraq--an almost certain death sentence for the poor pup. You can read more details at the link above, which is to article on CNN.

It's against Army Regs for soldiers to adopt dogs, but, of course, the Army dog is a long long tradition--both with war dogs official and dogs unofficial. And needless to say, Sgt. Beberg is distraught at the thought of losing her precious pup--and he is precious, isn't he?

You can help Sgt. Beberg and Ratchet by signing a petition asking that Ratchet be allowed to leave Iraq with her. You can also donate money to the SPCA sponsored organization Baghdad Pups, which is dedicated to helping soldiers like Sgt. Beberg get their buddies home. Please consider adding your voice, and possibly a few bucks, to this worthy cause. It's a small cause, true, but such small causes are the grace notes of our humanity. Sgt. Beberg has served her country well--her country should be willing to return the favour, particularly when the favour she asks is so very small. And cute, and fuzzy, and lovable.

Please help Ratchet!

Another Fine Review...

Another great review of FLORA'S Dare, this time from Wordcandy.

There's no higher praise that a writer can receive, IMHO, then that the reviewer thought the middle book of a trilogy was not just a middle book of a trilogy. It's so hard to get that bridge right--you aren't starting the story (Book I) , and you aren't finishing the story (Book 3), so the temptation to make Book 2 just filler is pretty strong. I tried super hard to make Book 2 not just filler, but rather to give it a heft and importance of its own. So, I'm very happy that, as far as this reviewer was concerned, I succeeded!

Also, also, I was super pleased that to see that Wordcandy's "Author of the day" was one of my own personal favorites, the now oft' overlooked Mary Stewart. In my salad days, I loved her books--so gothic, so atmospheric, and so proto-feminist!--and even tho' my salad is slightly wilted now, I love her still. Wordcandy recommends NINE COACHES WAITING but my favorite Stewart book is THE GABRIEL HOUNDS. Tho' her most famous series is probably the Merlin trilogy, I never quite got into those books. With the exception of THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING (ranked among my biggest influences) and LE MORT D'ARTHUR, Arthurian legends never really did much for me. I was much more interested in gothic melodrama--and unsurprisingly, still am!

Got Evil?

If you think you are pretty bad--not just bad, but actually Bad, and can run with the Really Bad Boys, er, Horses, er Supervillains then here's your chance.

The Evil League of Evil is recruiting.

Yes, Bad Horse, the Thoroughbred of Sin, Doctor Horrible, and their evil compatriots are looking for some evil company to round out their league of rogues.

Come on, don't you want to help them sow discord and trouble everywhere, not to mention kick Captain Hammer right in the middle of his carpenter's pants?

You know you do. So hop right on it. If I were in any position to hop, you can bet I sure would.

True Blood

Last night Devilman and I watched the first three episodes of TRUE BLOOD, HBO's new series based on Charlene Harris' Sookie Stackhouse novels. I've never read any of the Sookie books (tho' I've always admired their covers--very American comic book primitive), but judging from the tv show they are very Southern Fried Gothic. You know--moonlight, magnolias, psychobilly, snake-charmers, rednecks and vampires.

The show takes place in the Deep South and follows Sookie, a telepathic waitress, as she slowly becomes involved with Bill Compton, a 200 plus-year-old veteran of the War Between The States, who owes his longivity to his habit of drinking human blood. A habit that he is able to now break free of thanks the Japanese invention True Blood, a synthetic blood that fulfills all vampiric nutritional needs. Thanks to True Blood, vampires no longer need to hide in the shadows; they've 'come out of the coffin' and are now demanding equal rights with humans. (The show clearly wants to sorta kinda explore the issue of racism in America substituting vampires for other minority groups, but so far that trope has taken second fiddle to Sookie's growing desire for Bill, and that's probably just as well--that sort of substitution can become pretty heavy handed pretty quickly.)

TRUE BLOOD has been getting mixed reviews, but I rather liked it. Anna Paquin, who plays Sookie, does an excellent job of imbuing the character with just the right amount of Southern sass, steel magnolia and naivite. Stephen Moyer, who plays Bill, does a pretty good job of brooding and looking romantically old timey and inscrutable.

I also appreciated that the writers did attempt to inject some sort of historical perspective to people's reactions to the vampire. For example, when Sookie's grandma finds out how old Bill is, she asks if he'll come speak to the local chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy--that would be my exact reaction if I ever ran into a vampire who had fought in the Civil War. Well, not the Daughters of the Confederacy part, but wanting to hear a first hand account of the war--definitely yes! And Bill does seem like the kind of guy who could have been born in the 19th century--he still retains some of those old timey qualities, whereas most tv vampires seem utterly contemporary (Angel & Spike--I'm looking at you!)

And I really like the theme song, Jace Everett's Bad Things. Very psychobilly swamp-grass--one of my favorite genres of music. The credits are also way cool--HBO shows always have great credits even when the shows themselves are awful. (Now I'm looking at you, Carnivale)

Devilman pointed out that the writers have, at times, sacrificed plot continuity for melodramic moments, which is true, but then it wouldn't be a gothic if there wasn't quite a bit of melodrama, so that's okay with me. The first two eps mostly set up backstory and character dynamics; the plot points don't really start rolling until ep three, so if you are tempted to watch, I'd give it at least that long before giving up on the show, should you be leaning that way.

For the moment, I think I'll stick with the show.

Flora's Dare hits the Big Time!

Speaking of reviews, FLORA'S DARE hits the big-time with a shout-out in Salon.

To wit:

"Flora's Dare" by Ysabeau S. Wilce

Flora Fyrdraaca, the teenage heroine of Ysabeau Wilce's spirited young-adult novels, comes from an eminent military/political family but aspires to be a ranger, which in her imaginary land resembles a cross between a musketeer and a wizard. Like the first book in the series, "Flora Segunda," "Flora's Dare" features the pacing of a madcap farce, the intrigues of a Dorothy Dunnett novel and a Wonderland version of San Francisco in which the human residents are the colonial subjects of some vaguely Aztec-bird-headed overlords. Weird in the best possible way, Wilce's novels are what girl readers graduating from the Harry Potter books ought to be reading instead of the insipid "Twilight" series. The author's Web site is fun, too. -- Laura Miller

I'd be a total liar if I said I wasn't tickled shocking pink to be proffered as a much better alternative to the Twilight books, which IMHO deserve a epithet a bit stronger than "insipid".

Still Flora and I are both pleased and honoured at the attention.

To job or not to job

In the New York Times today, David Gessner muses on trying to balance the writing life with the working life. He's trying to do both, though teaching creative writing may not be as detrimental to the writing life as say, working as an insurance agent.

Certainly, Sieur Gessner makes an excellent point when he says: "After all, there’s something basically insane about sitting at a desk and talking to yourself all day, and there’s a reason that writers are second only to medical students in instances of hypochondria. In isolation, our minds turn on us pretty quickly."

On the other hand, descending into this sort of insanity is a necessary part of the creative process (so believe I), so if one does not have the luxury of disappearing into one's work, it can be difficult to make progress. As many others have pointed out, writing is the act narcissistic act, the act of a megalomaniac, and neither of those qualities tend to be conducive to being a good employee.

Yet, most writers do need to work just to eat, and to get out into the real world to avoid disappearing into their imaginary worlds, and that's not a bad thing. Believing that one is too focused and tormented to hold down a job is not necessarily the best way to approach one's discipline. And in the end, being a successful writer (published or not) is all about the discipline. It is discipline that turns a scribbler into a writer.

I've had jobs and written at the same time, but my out-put is better when I'm only working on books. Currently, I'm lucky, as writing is my only job. That's about to change, and I'm worried about being able to do big jobs at the same time. But one thing about discipline--it can be cultivated, so right now I'm trying like mad to grow some!

More Reviews!

Reviews of FLORA'S DARE are starting to trickle in, and I'm tickled to say that they are so far pretty positive.

I'm particularly pleased that several of these reviews have picked up on aspects of the book not normally commented on by readers--world-building, or the characterization of Flora's parents, etc. Of course it's lovely when people love the story, but even more lovely when they notice all the nit-picky stuff you really sweated over, but which often recedes into the background--and you can't tell if anyone noticed at all.

Anyway, here are two reviews to wet your whistle:

The Rush that Speaks LJ

SCI FI.Com

Now in Stores!

So, FLORA'S DARE is finally available in fine bookstores near you, as well on Amazon.

I would be remiss if I didn't point out that this fine book would make an excellent house-warming, birthday, anniversary, get-well, graduation, or baby gift.

Buy soon and buy often!

First Official Review of FLORA'S DARE

Just in:

KIRKUS REVIEWS

August 1, 2008 issue

FLORA’S DARE: How a Girl of Spirit Gambles All to Expand Her Vocabulary, Confront a Bouncing Boy Terror, and Try to Save Califa from a Shaky Doom (Despite Being Confined to Her Room)

"Fourteen-year-old Flora Nemain Fyrdraaca ov Fyrdraaca thought everything would get better when her father’s sanity returned after her adventures in Flora Segunda (2007). Instead, he’s turned into a slave driver, making Flora wash dishes, dust her bedroom and study, study, study. Flora wants to find someone who can teach her magical Gramatica, but when an enormous tentacle attacks her out of a dance-club toilet, she’s drawn back into her city’s intrigues. Earthquakes, rebellion and a giant squid threaten Flora’s home, best friend Udo has been possessed and perfect sister Idden has gone AWOL. Flora and Udo are hilarious protagonists in a crackpot setting: While Udo zombifies bandits while wearing lip rouge and frock coats, Flora swims through the magical Current with sexy Lord Axacaya. Many fantasy novels have spunky heroines who challenge traditional gender roles; Flora’s world doesn’t so much subvert gender as find our received notions completely irrelevant to its own society’s complex mores and culture. This fresh and funky setting is rich with glorious costumes, innovative language and tantalizing glimpses of history. (Fantasy. 12-15)"

WOO! I love being fresh and funky--much better than being stale and funky, that's for darn tootin'. Also, always happen to make received notions completely irrelevant!