New T-shirt design! This one is a typographic treatment of a quote from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: “My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.” I’m thrilled with how it came out. I chose a brown shirt for my sample, but it works on many other colors as well and comes in a number of different shirt styles. See the “My Courage Always Rises” T...
One of my favorite middle-grade series of all time is Stephanie Burgis‘s Kat, Incorrigible trilogy, and the third book, Stolen Magic, is now out in paperback! Book 1: Kat, Incorrigible — Indiebound | Amazon | Barnes & Noble Book 2: Renegade Magic — Indiebound | Amazon | Barnes & Noble Book 3: Stolen Magic — Indiebound | Amazon | Barnes & Noble I’m not...
I’ve read so many great books so far this year, and the most recent is one of my favorites: the graphic novel Cairo written by G. Willow Wilson and art by M.K. Perker (Vertigo, 2008). Cairo interweaves the stories of six people (well, five people and a jinn) in a tale of magic, adventure, and romance. I found all the main characters likable almost immediately, a pretty amazing feat...
The second book in my Above World series officially makes its way into the world today, but before I get to that, I want to talk about Bridget Zinn and her YA debut Poison, also releasing today. Bridget died from cancer in May 2011 at the age of 33, before getting to see her debut book published. I never had the opportunity to meet her, but I think I would have liked her. Her bio says: Bridget...
I have no intention of becoming a book reviewer, but I do want to start talking about books that I’ve read more often. Instead of a review, you’re likely to get a ramble about the book, my emotional state while reading it, or whatever tangents I feeling like exploring. The first book I read in 2013 was Matthew J. Kirby‘s Icefall, and I absolutely loved it. Do you like vikings...
This post is part of the Norton Award Blog Tour. The “Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy,” given annually by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), is actually an award for both young adult and middle grade fiction, despite the official title. If you look at the list of Norton Award finalists and winners since the award’s creation, you’ll see a...
This post is part of the Norton Award Blog Tour. Although the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult* Science Fiction and Fantasy relies on nominations from SFWA members just as the Nebula Awards do, the Norton also employs a jury of qualified volunteer SFWA members to help round out the ballot and ensure that outstanding works are not overlooked. We’ve asked this year’s jury to share their thoughts...
I have no interest in reviewing books, but I love sharing the joy when I find a great one. Today I want to talk about Mike Jung‘s debut middle-grade novel, Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities [Indiebound, Barnes & Noble, Amazon], recommended for ages 8-12, but easily enjoyed by everyone. Excerpted from the official blurb (with spoilers extracted): Vincent Wu is Captain Stupendous’s No...
Deborah Coates, one of my favorite people in the world, has a book out today. Her first book, in fact, although she’s been writing and publishing incredible short stories for years. So if you like fantasy, contemporary stories, or romance, do yourself a favor and read Wide Open. Here’s my review from GoodReads: I love this book. Hallie is one of the most interesting characters...
I have incredibly talented friends. In fact, they are so talented that four of them have book releases today. (I am talented, too, since I already have copies of all of them.) Feast your eyes on this cornucopia of awesome: And Blue Skies From Pain by Stina Leicht This is the second book in her “A Book of the Fey and the Fallen” series, after the critically acclaimed Of Blood and Honey...
I read some wonderful books in January. Finnikin of the Rock (Lumatere Chronicles #1) by Melina Marchetta This is epic fantasy with gritty, modern-day themes. I struggled a bit at the beginning, but a plot twist around the end of Act 1 (my distinction, not the author’s) completely hooked me and I gobbled up the rest of the book. I think fans of Turner’s The Thief and Martin’s...
One of my best friends in the whole world is the talented Sarah Prineas, author of The Magic Thief middle-grade series. Sarah and I met about 10 years ago at Wiscon when neither of us had published a novel and, wow, it’s been quite a ride for both of us since then. Today Sarah has a new middle-grade book out called Winterling, and it’s dedicated to me: To Jenn Reese. For you, and for...
GoodReads can be a dangerous place for an author, but it’s a wonderful tool for readers. I love seeing all the books I’ve read arrayed together with their glorious covers. Here’s what I read (and listened to on audiobook) this year, not including about half dozen amazing manuscripts that I’m sure you’ll be seeing soon: If you have any questions about these books...
Anne McCaffrey has died. It’s moments like these that I’m grateful for the Internet and for services like Twitter that make it easy to see that McCaffrey affected other people as profoundly as she affected me. I don’t know if I could adequately describe her impact on me otherwise. But you know. Most of you already know. I devoured the McCaffrey’s Pern books in high school...
Yes, I did just use “haiku” as a verb and I promise you, things are only going to go downhill from there. (Warning: Real poets may wish to avert their eyes.) A few years ago, I wrote a post for SF Novelists called “Novel Haiku” where I suggested the game of summarizing one’s novel in the form of a haiku. Back in 2008, I described my novels like this, and shockingly...
I’m a member of SF Novelists, a group of new and established science fiction and fantasy novelists. We’ve just put together our first novel sampler, and it’s available for FREE. Please share the file with anyone you want. Although many people helped put this project together, I had the honor of designing the cover in my guise as Head Tiger of Tiger Bright Studios. Hope you like...
I have talented friends, and they write fantastic books. Today I’d like to talk about two recent releases because they are so incredibly different, and yet have so much in common. Let’s compare the books: Boy at the End of the World by Greg van Eekhout Male author, male main character Science fiction (post-apocalyptic) Setting is wild and dangerous, very “Person vs...
It’s hard to believe, but all 26 stories that Tim Pratt, Heather Shaw, Greg van Eekhout, and I wrote are now live on Daily Science Fiction’s site. Twenty-six weeks has never gone so quickly! If you missed a story or want to gulp down all 26 at once, here you go: The Alphabet Quartet on DSF If you’d like to hear our stories instead of read them, then you won’t have long to...
I’ve been going through some old artwork from high school, and thought I’d share some of my X-Men (and other famous superhero) sketches, mostly to reinforce my love of comics despite recent blows. Please note: all of my sketches involve me copying (but not tracing) specific panels. I was never good enough to create my own poses or to drawn superheroes without a reference. Click to see...
When I’m reading, I often classify heroes into one of two camps: special by birth or special by action. The special by birth folks often have super-human powers, unnatural talents, and/or live at the centers of prophecies. This group has many famous members: Harry Potter, Buffy (the Vampire Slayer), Bella (Twilight), Superman, Aragorn (LotR), Katsa (Graceling), Harry (The Blue Sword)...
It took me a couple of weeks to figure out formatting and cover issues, but I finally got my first novel, JADE TIGER, up on Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and GoodReads as an eBook. (Other formats may come later.) As for covers, I decided on two versions and am planning to try more as I go — it’s fairly easy to change them, and I’d like to see if some designs fare better than...
When I was visiting with my family over the holidays, I sat with my 4-year-old nephew and tried to show him how to draw a dragon. Suddenly, I had this strong memory of my favorite drawing book when I was a wee lass — a book that showed me how to create all sorts of animals out of basic shapes. That book was Ed Emberley’s Drawing Book of Animals, and I loved it beyond reason. But I...
Yesterday I was involved in a lively discussion about group author blogs with two other writers. Among other things, we discussed best practices for running group blogs, existing group blogs, and their efficacy in terms of promotion and, ultimately, author awareness and sales. Personally, I don’t think group blogs are effective sales or marketing tools. When I think about the group blogs I...
Some fun, free fiction to liven up your holiday season! Tim Pratt’s THE NEX Tim is serializing his middle grade/young adult novel THE NEX online, and you can read it for free! (Donations accepted, but not required.) I read this novel way back when, and found it to be a rollicking adventure with great characters and settings and a plot that never stops. If you love TA Pratt’s Marla...