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It feels like forever since I’ve posted! Given the choice between blogging and riding The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, I’m happy to say I’d pick the Tower of Terror any day of the week.
So I had an interesting discussion with my critique group today, and thought I would share the basic guts of the conversation and get more feedback from the spec fiction blog world. Our (online) conversation centered around two main things:
1) What is up with weird spellings like Magyk and Magick instead of Magic?And Faerie and Faery instead of Fairy?
2) Who started the whole faerie comeback in fiction?
My theory on (1) is I think part of this is a marketing ploy to make books seem different and exotic. Regarding the spellings of faerie vs. fairy, the general consensus was that fairy was like Tinkerbell (who I saw plenty of this past week at DisneyWorld), and that faerie was more evil and dangerous.
But what about the magic spellings? Theories here?
My thought on (2) was Tad Williams. I read The War of the Flowers back in 2003, but some googling showed me Holly Black’s Tithe did come out in hardcover in 2002. Did you guys read either of these? Were they awesome or what? What books (in the recent revolution of faeries in novels) came before these? Or were they the first?
Anyway, do the math: the faerie revolution started in ~2002 and there are still faerie books coming out.
Interesting, right?
PJ Hoover has yet to include faeries in a novel.
Posted in P. J. Hoover Tagged: faeries, magic
Illustration Friday: Parade
In this enchanted woods, you may hear some Faeries singing and see flower sprites fleeting in a beautiful aerial parade of lights and splendor.
Mantchev, Lisa. 2009. (July Publication) Eyes Like Stars. Feiwel and Friends. 368 pages.
Part of me knows that it's mean to tease you. To taunt you with how very very wonderful a book is...and then reveal that it isn't going to be available until July. But. I can't resist. Why? Because I am head over heels in love with this book. I didn't just love it. I didn't just love, love, love it. I LOVED it. Take my normal enthusiasm of a book that I've gushed about in the past and multiply it a couple of times. Then you'll begin to understand how giddy this book made me.
The fairies flew suspended on wires despite their tendency to get tangled together.
Who are these fairies? None other than Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Moth, and Mustardseed. (These four are from Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night Dream). Our heroine, Beatrice Shakespeare Smith, counts these four fairies as her closest friends. And they do have a bit in common: they're all mischievous. (In a good way.) Beatrice--as far back as she can remember--has lived in the Theatre. Her bedroom? One of the sets. Her friends? The characters from all the plays ever written. Her love interest? A minor player, a pirate from The Little Mermaid. (He's only ever had one line.) Her forbidden playmate whom she loves-to-hate and hates-to-love? Ariel from The Tempest.
When we first meet Beatrice, she's in trouble and doesn't even know it. The Theatre Manager has decided that it is time--past time really--for Beatrice to go. To leave her home, her friends, the only life she's ever known. His excuse? She's not contributing to the theatre. She--and others along side her--plead with him; he grants her a few more days to prove that she has what it takes, that she belongs there.
Her idea? To be a director! Though their productions generally never require a director--after all the originals know their lines backwards and forwards and then some--but if she were to change it up, change it around...then...maybe just maybe she'd find her place. Thus she seeks to recreate Hamlet...to give it an ancient Egyptian setting.
But life is never this easy, right? You know there are bound to be conflicts! I am not going to say much more. I don't want to spoil it. But it is oh-so-magical. It is fun and playful. It is giddy-making.
Here's the blurb--in case I haven't already persuaded you to put this on your wish list:
All her world's a stage.
Beatrice Shakespeare Smith is not an actress, yet she lives in a theater.
She's not an orphan, but she has no parents.
She knows every part, but she has no lines of her own.
Until now.
Welcome to the Theatre Illuminata, where the characters of every play ever written can be found behind the curtain. They were born to play their parts, and are bound to the Theatre by The Book--an ancient and magical tome of scripts. Bertie is not one of them, but they are her family--and she is about to lose them all and the only home she has ever known.
Great premise, great characters, great writing, great cover...this book has it all.
© Becky Laney of
Becky's Book ReviewsIf you're reading this post on another site, or another feed, the content has been stolen.
Melissa Marr is the author of Wicked Lovely, Ink Exchange, and the soon to be published Fragile Eternity. In August of 2007 Wicked Lovely won the Rita (Romance Writers of America) Award for Best Young Adult Book. Her biography states that in high school she was voted “most likely to to end up in jail,” which shows the uniqueness of her life. This uniqueness is reflected in Marr’s novels which mirror human nature at it’s loveliest as well as nastiest. Below is an online interview with Marr.
When you started writing Wicked Lovely, were you planning on 
writing more books set in the same world?
I didn’t have a plan. When I started, I wrote a short story. About a year later, those characters and that story evolved into a novel. As soon as I finished it, I began writing another novel (parts of which eventually became the second and third books, Ink Exchange and Fragile Eternity respectively). Currently, I’m planning a total of 5 books in this world. The fourth of those is the one I’m currently writing.
Do you listen to music while writing? If so, what are the musical playlists for both books?
I can’t write without music—or proofread with it. Each book starts out with a collection of songs that grow & shrink & get sorted as I write. Some characters have playlists too. When I hear a song I think works for a character, I save it to their individual playlist. (FWIW, my webmaster posted a bit of a playlist on my website for both of the first two books.) With WL, I listened to a fair bit of Jem, Tegan & Sara, and The Corrs. For INK, I had music with more obvious teeth— Within Temptation, 30 Seconds to Mars, Bella Morte. For the manga series (Desert Tales), I listened to Sia and Damien Rice a lot. Fragile Eternity had a lot of A Fine Frenzy and Hurt. And, for reasons I don’t question, every book includes listening to Marilyn Manson. He’s my failsafe. Whenever I need inspiration or a shot of energy, his art is one of the resources that I can rely on to spur me to write.
In your bio you say that you’ve lived all over the country. Why did you choose Pennsylvania as the setting?
Actually, I’ve never really thought of it AS being in PA. It was a sort of “any town.” Pennsylvania works—but so does New Jersey or West Virginia. There are references to Pittsburgh & DC, but Huntsdale isn’t defined as being in particular state location. Folks assume it’s PA bc of the P-burgh reference and bc I’m from PA. It’s certainly a viable possibility, but so are a few other spots.
Why not specify? It’s like writing detailed physical descriptions of the characters: I think that sort of concrete real-world data is unnecessary. Adding it takes away from the stories I’m trying to tell. I know what the characters look like, and I could find Huntsdale on a map . . . but that’s my visual and my map. Yours would be different, so who am I to impose mine on you? Everywhere I’ve been in my travels, there are towns with folks desperate to escape. There are spots fighting economic depressions and teens and adults dreaming of a way out. That feels familiar to me; it’s been a theme that runs through conversations I’ve had with people all over. I like leaving it non-specific for that reason.
Your novels remind me of Holly Black’s modern fairy tale series. Have you read her novels and if so are they an influence?
I have read and enjoyed Holly’s YA novels. Her novels, along with Clare Dunkle’s and Charles de Lint’s and Emma Bull’s and Neil Gaiman and a host of other authors’ texts, gave me hope that there was a chance for stories rooted in old folklore to find readers. Their texts did (and do) what folklore has done: take the improbable and mythic beings and place them in the Real World. It’s what folklore has been doing for centuries. It’s what I’m trying to do. Like them, I stay lore-true in some cases, but vary in others. Frex, I didn’t stick as true to courts as Holly Black and Emma Bull do. They both use Seelie & Unseelie, whereas I did a four court structure and made up two a court for Cailleach Bheur (Winter Court) instead of it being just her and her hags.
What other novels and writers have influenced your writing?
Everything influences what a writer writes. My biggest influence textually is folklore. In terms of writing, classic literature is where I find my inspirations. Faulkner does gorgeous things in incorporating full sensory experiences. He tweaks narrative structure and threads wisdom into a good story. Browning and Wilkie Collins did the narrative structure thing brilliantly. Christina Rossetti evoked folklore for modern (to her) political statements—as did Hardy and Barrett Browning. They did this all within good storytelling. That’s my goal. I’m obviously not there yet, and quite probably will never touch even the bottoms of their shoes, but that’s my influence—folklore and literature.
How do you come up with fairy names? Did you research them? Are they variations on other mythical names?
Some are from myth. Beira is from one of the many names of Cailleach Bheur/Cally Berry/Beara. She was the one who made Winter spread. It wasn’t a court though. She was attended by her hags. I wanted her to have more companionship than her hags and her wolf, though. I kept a version of her name, but in the myth where she’s thwarting the embodiment of Summer, I re-named him Keenan (little ancient one) bc liked the etymology of Keenan for the character.
Aislinn wasn’t the name of the missing Summer Queen, but Aislinn is a sort of traditional “dream or vision poem.” It’s also a name. I thought that fit well.
Niall means “champion”—which was appropriate for his role in the novels.
In terms of types of faeries, yes, most of those are research rooted as well. Ly Ergs are based on a type of faery who was a warrior with a “red right hand” stained with blood. Bananach is one name of a carrion-crow. Rowan is a sacred tree, so rowan faeries seemed fitting. Thistle fey are a result of the thistle as a traditionally used herb, combined with the idea of skin that caused pain to touch. (A similar type of faery is in the manga in the desert for the same set of reasons.) Scrimshaw is carved bone, and the rather macabre faeries are called that bc of their general mien. The more animalistic and natural ones (including thistle and scale) are a sort of homage to Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” which was the poem that made me want to be a lit teacher.
This is a dangerous question. *smiles* I research and read and angst over the names and characters and allusions to the point of obsessive sometimes. Frex, I opted to call the Dark Man Far Dorcha as opposed to Fear Dorcha bc although “fear” is the proper spelling of “man” it looks like fear (i.e. fright) which has connotations that I didn’t want. A folklorist I talk to kindly sent a letter asking about my “inaccurate spelling of ‘fear’ in the Dark Man’s name.” I was all anxious as I explained the logic & hoped my logic was acceptable to her. (It was.) The decision to do that was seemingly minor—I mean, it’s a single letter I changed, right? It wasn’t a minor choice though.
In Ink Exchange, Leslie the main character is mentally and physically abused. Do you have any advice to give to teens in similar circumstances?
“Get help” and “tell someone” are easy to say, but awfully hard to do sometimes. However, those are good first steps. It’s the healing part that’s a little more nebulous. I’m a rape survivor, and I had lots of advice from helpful folks. At the time, though, it all felt like noise. I believe it does get easier over time. It did for me. It’s such a personal path though. I’ve known folks for whom group therapy or one-on-one or self defense or religion helped. Revenge doesn’t. Drugs don’t. Sex binges don’t. Avoid the stuff that masks how you feel and is destructive to your spirit or your body.
How would you feel about a fan getting Irial’s tattoo? Horrified, pleased, or indifferent?
I’ve had a few dozen emails from folks on this so far. Personally, I don’t think it’s my place to have any opinion on what someone else does to decorate his/her body. When I’m asked, my only real concern is the same as it is when asked about any tattoo opinions: please research to assure that the person into whose care you’re trusting your body is a true professional. Beyond that, it’s not my place to have a voice in this.
Any plans for new tattoos?
*grin* Always.
What’s the most common drink requested in a biker bar? What’s the weirdest thing you’ve found in an archeological dig?
Most of the places I’ve worked were beer and whiskey places. I worked in one beach bar that was fluffy drinks, but the clientele there wasn’t very much fun so I moved on pretty quickly. The dig I worked was colonial ( a settlement that had been razed & re-settled & later abandoned) , so we found a lot of pottery shards, tools, and daubing. My favourite finds were when I could collect a piece of a dish that I’d found earlier pieces of, like a puzzle slowly coming together.
Can you tell us a little bit about Fragile Eternity the next novel in this series?
I’m so not good at this part. FE is a sequel. When I finished writing Wicked Lovely, I started a new book; parts of that book became Ink Exchange and parts became Fragile Eternity. It’s funny to me that I wrote WL in a matter of months, but INK took almost three times as long and FE was already in progress at that time (and after). Instead of it taking less time, each book has taken longer. Fragile is a sequel in that it revisits the protags from Wicked Lovely. I call it “Seth’s book” bc he’s the center of this novel. FE is set directly after INK, but it’s going back to Ash, Seth, Keenan, & Donia.
The fourth book is “Ani’s book”—she’s the center of the events that take place in it. Like INK, it stands alone.
The fifth one (the final book) is back to Ash & Donia again. Like Fragile Eternity, it’s part of the original protag’s story.
Also can you tell us about the 3-book manga series coming out next year?
Desert Tales is a story that I started about Rika, a former Winter Girl. I’d started it as a short story or maybe the start a novel, but when I was asked to do the manga, I knew that this story worked. The central question I was wondering about was what happens to the winter Girls once they’re freed. There is only one Winter Girl at a time, so where do the others go? I had a few ideas (which I reference briefly at points in Wicked Lovely), but I wanted to explore it further. Where would she go? Somewhere hot, away from Keenan, and out of Winter’s reach . . . the desert. What would she feel? What leftover fears, worries, hopes, dreams would she have? Trust issues . . . It felt like something to follow up on, and the manga was a new venue in which to do so. Writing it was fabulous fun, and Irene Diaz (the artist) really made the whole process thrilling for me. I love seeing the thousands of words I wrote converted into a few hundred pages of images. It was incredible to me to see how few pen strokes it takes Irene to “say” they same thing in images that I said in paragraphs of words. Visual art is like magic to me.
If you were a fairy what kind would you be and to what court would you belong too?
I actually have no desire to be anything other than who and what I am, so if the choices were infinite, I’d be me as I am right now. If the options were limited to faeries, I’d be solitary. I’m not very good at following orders. Winter makes my body ache; High is too reserved; and Dark or Summer . . . well, it’s not where I’d choose at this point in my life. Once upon a time, I would’ve liked those two the best, but I’m a mom now so giving myself over to sheer decadence isn’t the path I’m on these days. Vacations into indulgence are still on the table as options, but so are bouts of practicality. Solitary would enable me to meander among a few courts, so I’d go for that option. As to what kind, I’ve always had a fascination for water beings—selchies, kelpies, finn-folk—so I’d probably lean towards those options. The spouse & beasties are all ocean lovers, so I suspect they’d veer that way, and in the end, that’s my ultimate decision maker: the path that assures that I’m with my family.
Thanks for the fun questions!
M.
*Thank you Melissa Marr for providing such an entertaining interview! The YaYaYas are looking forward to the publications of your new works!
The Mystery of the Fool & the Vanisher
by David and Ruth Ellwand
The Mystery of the Fool & the Vanisher is a fascinating and slightly creepy little story, told in the format of a journal-within-a-journal and illustrated with exquisite photographs. In the first journal, photographer David Ellwand follows a strange light through the woods to an old, dilapidated house, where he finds a locked chest. When he is able to get the chest open, he discovers that the chest contains some mysterious items, as well as what turns out to be wax phonograph recordings. The recordings tell the story of another photographer named Isaac Wilde, who in 1889 is commissioned as the official photographer on an archaelogical dig into an old hill fort believed to be inhabited by the faerie folk. What Isaac Wilde discovers at the site, and his attempts to photograph it, put him in conflict with the leader of the dig, and lead him, and Ellwand after him, into trouble.
I enjoyed The Mystery of the Fool & the Vanisher and found it an interesting, although quick, read. The photographs are beautiful, and worth going back and spending some time with after the first read. Some of them are pictures of natural settings, others are still life pictures of the "found items" and meticulously constructed out of natural objects. I studied photography as a teen, and had thoughts of being a professional photographer, so the photographs were definitely the highlight of this book for me. My favorite was a dramatic, sepia-toned photograph of the dilapidated house with clouds behind it.
Although I enjoyed the book, I'm not quite sure whether kids and teens would enjoy it or not, and who the audience may be. It may be too simplistic a story for the fiction readers, but too fictional for the non-fiction readers. I think it's most likely to find a home among kids who enjoy the "ology" books, because it has the same kind of "fiction as non-fiction" approach, although it lacks those books' interactivity. It also may appeal to visually-oriented young people and those with an artistic nature. This may be a book to put out in a library display and let kids be drawn in by the eerie cover and the beautiful photographs.
Ever since we were small evil ones, our mothers have been there for us.
Reading to us.
Buying us books.
Supporting our blogging endeavors.
Among other things. But, you know.
So, we salute thee, O Mothers!
A very Happy Day to you.
With admiration, sincerity, and love,
Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr is a creepy, haunting urban fantasy that fully lives up to the standard set by Marr’s first book, Wicked Lovely… though it isn’t quite as good.
Ink Exchange is the story of Leslie, a girl who wants to get a tattoo to reclaim her body as her own (though you’ll have to read the book to find out why she feels the need to do so). Leslie’s family is broken—her mother is gone, her father drinks, and her brother is high all the time. She feels distant from her friends, particularly Aislinn (the main character of Wicked Lovely), who seems to be changing in ways that Leslie cannot explain or understand.
Leslie’s tattoo is beautiful—a pair of winged eyes on her upper back. But, as it turns out, it is not a normal tattoo. Leslie has become the subject of an Ink Exchange, something which ties her to the King of the Dark Court, Irial. This bond, as well as her friendship with Aislinn and a growing romance between she and the faery Niall, plunges Leslie into the strange and dangerous world of Faerie.
As I said before, Ink Exchange is good, but not quite as good as Wicked Lovely. One reason for this, I think, is Leslie’s relationship with Niall. Ink Exchange is the story of a damaged girl attempting to regain control of her life, and I felt that her romance with Niall was superfluous, unnecessary. At times it was even melodramatic— earning a very teenage roll of the eyes from me (though I do tend to roll my eyes a lot). It also created a Niall-Leslie-Irial love triangle that was a little too similar to the Seth-Aislinn-Keenan love triangle from Wicked Lovely.
All in all, though, Ink Exchange was a gorgeously executed, fabulously dark urban fantasy—just what I would expect from Melissa Marr. Irial made me shiver (creepycreepycreepy) and Leslie was a believable and interesting main character. So read this book. It’s good.
I give it four daggers.
Shivering, creeped out, happy, and yours,
The Dark Court's nature is terrifyingly brutal. Its king, Irial, is icily cruel and oddly compassionate by turns. And Leslie--accidentally tied to them by the tattoo meant to set her free--is confused. Her will is not her own these days, and she has no idea why.
This is the world of Ink Exchange. It's scary, beautiful, and well imagined. Admittedly, it isn't as good as Wicked Lovely, but is quite enjoyable nonetheless. I didn't find the Niall-Leslie love shape quite as superfluous as Aislinn seemed to. He (Niall) is quite a good character.
I bestow three and a half out of five daggers on Ink Exchange.
Looking over my shoulder for faeries...
Ink Exchange comes out on April 29.
Ink Exchange
by Melissa Marr
On the surface, Leslie seems like a normal teen, but she hides the truth of her life from her friends. Ever since her mother left, Leslie's life has been difficult. Her father has basically abdicated responsibility for the family, and Leslie's drug-addicted brother controls the house. Leslie tries to pay the bills when she can, and stay out of the way of her brother's drug dealing cronies—especially since some of those cronies raped her with her brother's permission for payment of his debt. Leslie lives in fear, but she's determined to take control of her life. She decides to get a tattoo as a symbol, a promise to herself, and a way to reclaim her own body.
One of Leslie's friends is Aislinn, the new Summer Queen of the faerie. But Aislinn is keeping her own secrets—she doesn't tell Leslie about her new faerie life, or that her new friends are not human. Aislinn wants Leslie to have as normal a life as possible, so she has forbidden any of the faerie to reveal themselves or their nature to Leslie. But keeping secrets can have unforeseen consequences. Leslie doesn't realize that her new tattoo will tie her to the faerie King of the Dark Court, Irial. Nor does she know that Aislinn's friend Niall, who appears to show an interest in her, is really a faerie whose powers are devastating to mortals.
As Leslie becomes more closely tied to the Dark Court, she finds the darkness exhilarating and liberating. But the price that Leslie has to pay for freedom from fear may be more than she is willing to pay.
Ink Exchange is the sequel to Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely, and if anything, I liked it even better than Wicked Lovely. It's a very different book—much darker, for example—but I thought the writing showed more maturity and I found it a very compelling read.
Leslie is a difficult character to identify with, because she keeps her emotions so tightly restrained due to the devastating events in her recent past. But I think Marr successfully walks the line in portraying a character who is both "broken" and strong. But more interesting than Leslie are some of the faerie characters: Niall, who is tormented by his attraction to Leslie, knowing what will happen if he gets too close, and Irial, a reluctant Dark Lord who isn't entirely evil in spite of the horrifying things he does. I love the duality in these characters, the yin and yang of characters who have aspects of both darkness and light. Irial cares about his people and feels a deep sense of responsibility. If he didn't have both the darkness and the caring, he wouldn't be as good a king for the Dark Court. And conversely, Marr shows the dark side of the Summer King as well.
One thing that upset me is that the Advanced Reading Copy I read is labeled for "Ages 12 and up." I really don't think that this is a book that most twelve-year-olds are ready to read. There are alcohol and drug use, reference to a rape in Leslie's recent past, and some pretty horrifying deaths. I think it would have been more responsible of the publisher to label it as "Ages 14 and up," knowing that twelve-year-olds who are emotionally ready to deal with such things would read it anyway.
Ink Exchange is scheduled for an April 29, 2008 release.
Holly Black is the author of the Modern Faerie Tale series (Tithe, Valiant, and Ironside) as well as the Spiderwick Chronicles (which were illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi). The Spiderwick Chronicles movie comes out on February 14! We're excited! Are you? Yes? Good!
We asked Holly Black 13 questions... and, as we're sure that you're thinking, yeah, yeah, shut up and get to the interview already... here they are!
Interviewingly yours,
1. What made you want to write YA/urban fantasy/faerie books? What made you want to write in general?
I've always liked to make up stories and I've been interested in folklore, particularly faerie folklore, since I was a teenager. Growing up, I lived in this creepy old Victorian house (not unlike the Spiderwick house) where the trees were so tall that the branches scraped at my windows at night when the wind blew. My mother believed in ghosts, so it wasn't like she was going to tell me that any of that stuff didn't exist. Basically, in defense, I started reading folklore about faeries and ghosts and werewolves and vampires (especially vampires!) to try and protect myself. I was pretty much scared all the time.
One of the things I love so much about contemporary fantasy and urban fantasy is that it juxtaposes the fantastic against the world that we know, ideally giving the reader the feeling that if we look just slightly to the side, out of the corner of our eyes, there might be something there. That the world might turn out to be bigger, more interesting, and maybe a little scarier than we thought.
2. Zombies or unicorns?
Unicorns. They have SWORDS ON THEIR HEADS. What is more badass thanthat, I ask you?
3. Say that you're at a carnival, and there's an organ grinder who has a time-travelling monkey named Herbert. For a shilling, Herbert will locate your teenage self and give her a letter, written by you. What would this letter say?
Stop writing all that mopey poetry and learn to plot! More seriously, I would give my younger self a list of books that she really ought to be reading, instructions on how to change time to make sure a particular thing didn't occur (my sister died in her twenties, in a way that was highly preventable), and would point out to my younger self that there's music to go with that all-black-clothes-with-eyeliner look I was trying to rock. I'd also like to reassure her that not everyone secretly hates her.
4. The Spiderwick Chronicles are being made into a movie! What's that like, for you, as an author?
I went to media training to learn how to better answer questions like this one and I was told to stop saying "surreal" and to give an anecdote instead. But really, it feels surreal. And wonderful. I was sick the other day and just slacking in front of the television with cups of tea and the trailer came on five times. I really had difficulty processing that experience (the cold medicine didn't help either).
5. What was your favorite YA novel of 2007?
I know I am going to forget a bunch of books and want to go back and add them, but here are a few of my 2007 YA favorites: Sindy Felin's TOUCHING SNOW, Kathleen Duey's SKIN HUNGER, Cassandra Clare's CITY OF BONES, Libba Bray's THE SWEET FAR THING, Jo Knowles's LESSONS FROM A DEAD GIRL, Cecil Castellucci's BEIGE, Scott Westerfeld's EXTRAS, Maureen Johnson's GIRL AT SEA, Justine Larbalestier's MAGIC'S CHILD, Shannon Hale's BOOK OF A THOUSAND DAYS, Isabeau Wilce's FLORA SEGUNDA.
The book that meant the most to me to see published, though, was Steve Berman's VINTAGE. He'd been working on it when I was writing TITHE-- we'd been critique partners since we worked at the same medical publisher (I was a production editor on THE JOURNAL OF PAIN)-- and we both inserted the other person's title into our books. Corny is reading VINTAGE in TITHE and one of his characters, Trace, is reading TITHE.
6. What was your favorite book as a teenager?
I loved Tanith Lee, particularly SABELLA, OR THE BLOODSTONE and TALES FROM THE FLAT EARTH, Michael Moorcock's ELRIC series, and Anne Rice's INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE.
7. Now, ask yourself a question! (The create-your-own-question-question!)
What is the thing that always cheers you up, Holly? Coffee. When I'm tired, it wakes me; when I'm cold, it warms me; when I'm uninspired it fills me with the will to go on.
8. If you were to take over the world, how would you do it?
Excellent question!
First, I would purchase the appropriate accessories: high collared gowns, tall boots, sharks. Then I would purchase a small island. From my base, I would train an army of rats to scamper among you and find out everything. Yes, *everything.* Then the blackmailing would commence.
9. What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
I have two pieces of advice that might seem really obvious, but they were really the most helpful to me:
1. Read everything. Read outside of the genre you like, read nonfiction, read mysteries, read science fiction and fantasy, read literary fiction, poetry, short stories, history, true crime, the backs of shampoo bottles, everything. Different kinds of stories teach different tricks and I really think that diverse reading leads to richer writing.
2. Although this one doesn't work for everyone, the thing that really pushed me to be serious about my writing was getting a critique partner. Having someone to be accountable to and who was going to give me crap if I didn't finish a chapter on time made a huge difference in actually getting a book finished. And having to tell me when a scene worked and when it made no sense was invaluable.Cecil Castellucci once told me to "write from my inner rage and my inner perv" and I think that was the best piece of writing advice I was ever given. Lots of times I shy back from making a scene as intense as it needs to be and her advice reminds me that I always have to make sure the messy and hard stuff is there in the writing and is as real and true as possible.
10. Who would win in a fight-- Spiderman, or James Bond? Explicate.
James Bond, because he fights dirty.
Well, maybe it depends on which James Bond vs. which Spiderman? Tobey Maguire would still be a soulful and conflicted webcrawler while Daniel Craig shot him, but I believe Tobey could manage to net Timothy Dalton and dump him in the East River while Tim was still trying to come up with a quip.
11. Do you believe in faeries? Magic? Time-travelling monkeys?
Actually, I was raised with a belief in the supernatural and ghosts which is extremely hard to shake. I have become more of a skeptic over time, but I am still fascinated with reading evidence related to the paranormal.
12. What's your next project?
There are two things that I'm working on right now. I have my first graphic novel, called THE GOOD NEIGHBORS, coming out from Scholastic in September of this year (at least I think it will be in September). Ted Naifeh (of COURTNEY CRUMRIN and HOW LOATHSOME) is doing all the art. I am so excited to be working with him. THE GOOD NEIGHBORS is loosely based on the true story of a woman named Bridget Cleary, who was killed by her husband in front of family and friends, because they all thought that she was a changeling. In my graphic novel, Rue's mother has disappeared and the police believe that her father killed her. Rue has to decide what really happened, whether there's such a thing as faeries and whether her mother is one. It's the first book in a trilogy.
The other book I'm working on is called THE WHITE CAT. It has absolutely no faeries in it. It's my grifter, curse magic, boarding school, cat-in-a-dress book that borrows pretty loosely from the fairytale of the same name. I have to finish it by this time next year, so it won't be out until 2010.
13. What's your favorite kind of cookie?
I am torn between ginger snaps, especially the really spicy kind, and oatmeal raisin cookies. The oatmeal raisin cookies may be the result of brainwashing however, as my dad would shop almost exclusively in the generic aisle when I was a kid and bring home generic oatmeal cookies every week. I hated them then, but now, perversely, I love them. See, brainwashing works!
I'm meeting with fellow illustrator Cheryl Phelps tomorrow for a private consultation about my next move into licensing. I believe I'm ready to go to the next step. The problem is--what's the next step?! There are so many ways to go it becomes like a whirlwind in my head. I have a couple of "lines" I'd like to sell, but not sure where to start. She's a great resource and her workshops are fantastic!
This is a display I created to show my new Pixie Garden line of Pixie Bears. I had a lot of fun making it. On the right is the "sketch" I did. On the left is the finished product. I also created a little box with one of the images on it. Now, can I make about 50 more for the boutique? Do I even want to? I hope I can turn it into a real product line soon.
Wicked Lovely is the story of a girl who can see faeries. Not shiny, happy, sparkly, petal-wearing fairies—scary ones. Thus the spelling: fairy = Tinkerbell, faery = awesome. And of course, by awesome I mean, you know. Frightening.
Aislinn (That’s the girl’s name. Coincidentally, it is also my name. It’s pronounced Ash-lin, not Ah-is-lin, or Ay-es-lin, or Bill, or however one chooses to butcher it.) catches the eye of a faery named Keenan, who turns out to be something called the Summer King. This makes him an important person (or faerie). He’s also kind of a jerk. Keenan has been searching for a bride for nine centuries (faeries are immortal, if you were wondering) and thinks that Aislinn may be the one. I won’t go into all the details, but, basically, Aislinn is given a choice: become a Summer Girl (one of many simpering idiots who die if they go too far from Keenan), or take a test. Obviously, I’m not talking about a math test. It’s a magical test. You know, like slaying a dragon or pulling a sword out of a stone (though slaying a dragon is more about brute strength and/or battle prowess). If Aislinn passes, she becomes the Summer Queen, Keenan’s bride (also, a curse gets broken and some other stuff happens, but I won’t go into that). If she fails, she becomes the Winter Girl, forced to endure constant cold and bound to serve the Winter Queen (who is evil, of course). And no, I’m not going to tell you what the test is. You’ll have to read the book. It isn’t slaying a dragon, though.
Anyhow, while all this is going on, Aislinn is getting into a romantic entanglement with a boy named Seth. Unlike Keenan, Seth is wonderful. He is also mine—sorry, Avery dear. Seth lives in a train car. And has tattoos. And a snake. Also, he’s hot. And did I mention mine?
Wicked Lovely is Melissa Marr’s first novel, and she had better write more now, because it is most absolutely utterly wonderful fantabulous. It starts out a little slow, with a scene that is supposed to introduce you to the concept of faeries and the fact that Aislinn can see them. But Aislinn’s fear at seeing them seems a bit forced—she’s been seeing them all her life, and you’d figure she’d be used to it. The book recovers quickly, though, and has very few weak moments after that. There were some times when I wanted to scream at the characters because they were making bad decisions and don’t be stupid and ack don’t do that you idiot because can’t you see that other thing? But I’m not sure that this is bad. I scream at characters a lot, see.
I give this book 4.5 daggers out of 5.
Sincerely, book-reviewingly, Seth-kidnappingly, faery-lovingly yours,
Faeries have been a part of my life (self? soul?) since I was very, very young. Because of this, I just happen to have an affinity for books about them. Often, I will be excited about a book on the subject of faeries, only to be monumentally disappointed. Fortunately, however, this was not so with Melissa Marr's 'Wicked Lovely'.
The book, as Aislinn (Nyx, not the main character) stated, began shakily with an awkward "I see fairies" scene. It recovered quickly, plunging the reader into an epic clash between winter and summer, love and obligation, mortal and faery. You know... everything that my daily life would be if it weren't... normal.
One thing that I really loved about this book was its love story. The high ranking fae creature verses the best friend is a common love conflict/scenario, popular among many fantasy writers. The great thing about Wicked Lovely is that Marr took a common theme and made it original and complex. And entirely awesome.
(And actually, Aislinn darling, Seth is not yours. He may not be mine, but if I can not have him, neither can you. So there.)
All in all, Wicked Lovely was, well... lovely.
I pierce the icy heart of the Winter Queen with four and a half daggers.
Fae at heart...
Last week, lectitans asked, What's the deal with fairies?
Why do these creatures captivate our imaginations so? Since I've read 3-1/2 faerie books in the last week (and I have an ongoing fascination with the fey) I wanted to try my hand at answering.
I think part what makes fairies so interesting, even more so than other fantastic creatures, is that they are so similar to us and yet so different. Although the faerie come in many varieties, they are often humanoid, and sometimes look very much like humans. They live in societies like we do, but their societies are based on very different rules. That makes them fascinating and exotic.
Also, dealing with the folk carries with it an element of risk, since they can behave unpredictably (at least to us). You could end up with a valuable gift, or you could be killed or kidnapped for hundreds of years. Even that valuable gift may end up having different results than you expect. So there is a certain excitement in dealing with them, which makes them good fodder for stories.
Finally, I think there's something very appealing in the idea that there is a hidden world or hidden folk just around the corner, if we could only see them. It appeals to our sense of adventure.
And, who knows? Maybe that hidden world does exist. I know that there are rational, intelligent people today who still believe that faeries are real.
Wicked Lovely
by Melissa Marr
Aislinn has the Sight; she can see the faeries all around. It's a genetic trait that she inherited from her mother and her grandmother, who raised her when her mother died. Grams drilled the rules for survival into Aislinn: don't look at the faeries, don't speak to them, don't attract their attention. If the fey know that you can see them, they may blind or kill you.
So when two faeries actually approach Aislinn and talk to her, she's justifiably alarmed. But the danger is greater than even she imagines. For one of the faeries is the Summer King, who has chosen her to test to be his queen, a test with dire consequences for failure. All Aislinn wants is a normal life, but she finds herself trapped in a situation with no good outcome possible.
I have to confess that reading Wicked Lovely immediately (minutes!) after reading Holly Black's ironside, at first it seemed like a pale imitation. Aislinn even digs her fingernails into her palms just like Black's Kaye does. However, as I continued reading, the book drew me in and became a fascinating book in its own right. Melissa Marr's story is unique and surprising and quite delightful.
327 pages
ironside: A Modern Faery's Tale
by Holly Black
As Roiben's coronation as King of the Unseelie Court approaches, Kaye is uncertain where she stands. She doesn't feel like she completely belongs in either world, faerie or human, and she's not certain where she stands with Roiben. The Unseelie Court sees her as a liability and an inconvenience, and they tolerate her only for the sake of their new King. Goaded by some of the Unseelie Court, Kaye publicly declares her love for Roiben and he gives her an impossible quest to prove her love: find a faerie who can tell an untruth. If she succeeds, Kaye will be his consort and sit by his side; if she fails she can never see him again.
While Kaye seeks for something that doesn't exist, she and Corny, who is conflicted after his experience in Faerie, along with Luis from Valiant, are drawn into the impending war between the Seelie and Unseelie courts. The devious Silarial, Queen of the Seelie Court, is determined to rule both courts and will stop at nothing to triumph over Roiben.
Like Tithe and Valiant, ironside is a dark and compelling book. Even if I hadn't been reading it for the 48-hour book challenge, I probably would have read it straight through; it's a hard book to put down. Black is brilliant at showing how the faeries can be both horrifying and seductive, often at the same time. But where Tithe conveyed the horrors of the monsters of Faerie, this book is more about the monster within. It's also a great twist that the Queen of the Seelie, or Bright Court, is devious and cruel, while the King of the Unseelie, or Night Court, is a compassionate faerie who struggles to "be like ice" as is required of the Unseelie King.
ironside is definitely my favorite of the series. Holly Black is a gifted writer and I hope that she continues to write YA fantasy.
Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer
by Laini Taylor
Magpie isn't like other faeries. Accompanied by her band of crows, she travels the world, capturing devils that the unwitting humans have released from the bottles in which they've been imprisoned for thousands of years. But when she finds an empty bottle with a broken seal bearing the sign of Magruwen, the Djinn King, she knows that this is no ordinary devil. For Magruwen himself to have sealed the bottle means that its occupant must be powerful. And indeed, the horror that has been unleashed on the world is a monstrous shadow known as the Blackbringer, which devours everything in its path. Magruwen and the other Djinn withdrew from the world millennia ago, and the magic of the faeries has diminished over the years. Magpie and her friends are all that stands between the world and this new horror.
It's hard to describe Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer in a way that does it justice. Start with a richly imagined world, add a heroine who is not only courageous but obsessed, stir in a bunch of other interesting characters, and throw in some stuff about dreams and the relationship and responsibility between a creator and his creations, and you've got a potent mix.
Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer is a wonderful book on many levels, but at its core what really makes it work is the interactions between the characters, especially between Magpie and the other characters. Magpie is astonishing in her stubbornness, her determination, and her devotion to her friends. She's a young woman on a mission, and she's not going to let anything stand in her way, even her creator. One of my favorite scenes has her facing off against the Djinn King, creator of the world, in a like-father-like-daughter type contest of wills. The other characters in the book are equally interesting, including a young man who overcomes his physical limitations in surprising ways, and matches Magpie in personal heroism.
Hey look, it’s a Jessamyn/librarian who is not me!
Jessamyn Fawn is torn between her two lives – that of a librarian living in the mundane confines of suburbia and her secret life as Faerie Priestess. Her work within the Faerie Ring takes a new turn after a Beltane ritual, which leads her further and further into the Faerie realms – and to a spiritual and sensual awakening that threatens to unravel Jessamyn’s everyday life. Jessamyn realises that in order to truly be herself she must find a way to bring these seemingly opposing worlds together.
book,
faeries,
jessamyn,
me
I am surprised that faeries have stuck around so long–but very glad of it. While there is a lot of lore behind faeries, I feel that many authors feel free to shift/change/alter the lore to create a unique story (unlike, say, werewolves and vampires, which all have a similar ring to them). One faerie story is very different from another one, and I’m very grateful for that!
I always thought the faerie spelling was British, based on that Edmund Spenser poem from 1590-6. I’m not sure it’s totally marketing, as Morgan le Fay means Morgan of the Fae, and all of her mystical lands are fae lands, right? Medieval British people could not agree on a spelling to save their lives — (that still shows today in records; even surnames changed spelling between father and son sometimes, which makes research a real pain) and so faerie or faery seems reasonable.
Magyk, though — isn’t that all Septimus Heap?
So true, Beth. Lots of the faerie stories seem very different from one another. Were you the one who recommended Bones of Faerie?
I lot the old roots of the faerie world, Tanita. To me, this is the very coolest part of the entire genre!
And so funny about not being able to agree on spelling!
I think some people feel that “magic” connotes magicians and rabbits being pulled out of hats, while “magick” connotes psychic or occult powers.
Don’t ask me why everything in the Septimus Heap series is spelled with a Y: magyck, flyte, etc. It’s kind of cool, though.
Interesting, Parker! And I do admit it is cool and eyecatching when walking by at the bookstore or library.
On “Faerie” – what about the renewed popular interest in The Lord of the Rings, fueled by the first film release in 2001, paired with the fact that Tolkien spelled it “Faerie” (e.g., “On Faerie Stories”)? Any chance that played a role?
I wonder if the “y” for “u” thing has anything to do with transliteration from Greek to English (in which that often happens).
Good theory, Travis. Anything with Greek origins, and I’m sold!
Oh, I wonder, Travis. That was the boom of LOTR, wasn’t it.
So when does The Hobbit come out? Have they even started filming?
They haven’t started filming yet, no. Screenplay’s not done yet, and the cast isn’t finalized.