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This past weekend, I happened to catch Elf on television. For those of you unfamiliar with the movie, it’s about a human elf (I know, right?)named Buddy who was raised by elves at the North Pole (aka Santa’s workshop). He goes in search of his family; mischief and mayhem ensue, not limited to Santa’s sleigh being powered by holiday spirit.

The movie made me realize how much of our holiday lore is a work of speculative fiction. I’m not including religious works (even if some people consider them spec), but here are a few of my holiday favorites:

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss

The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E.T.A Huffman

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

All of those, it should be noted, have been made into motion pictures or performed in some theatric venue.
Why is there so much speculative fiction surrounding the holidays?
Because even the most doubtful of us will suspend our disbelief just long enough to hear Twas the Night Before Christmas by Clement Moore, if it means we can gain a few moments of hope that miracles can happen, that there are better times ahead, and that goodwill toward all man is possible.
My favorite holiday specfic has been and always will be A Christmas Carol. I love the whole time traveling aspect, the visitation by the ghosts (especially Marley…*shudder*), and, on the realistic side, knowing that people can always change.
Sound off…what’s your favorite holiday spec fic and why?

10 Comments on It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Spec Fic…, last added: 12/10/2009

Joni Sensel

As much as I enjoyed reading both The Hunger Games and Catching Fire this year, I have to admit that my favorite was an older one — M.T. Anderson’s Whales on Stilts. I laughed out loud in public reading this book, and I think it’s brilliant.

K. A. Holt

My oldest son is in the second grade this year and really learning to love books. He and I read together nightly, and right now we’re about halfway through with Suzanne Collins’ Gregor the Overlander (the first of the Underland Chronicles series). This book has been out for sometime, but my son is just now old enough to really enjoy it. It has to be my favorite book of the year so far, because it’s been so surprising in parts, making us both giggle uncontrollably as we read together. It’s not a new book, and we haven’t even finished it yet, but we’re really loving it.

P. J. Hoover

I started reading The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan and couldn’t put it down. I loved the explanation for the zombie disease, how grim the world was, and how the author was not afraid to raise the stakes. I can’t wait for the sequel, The Dead-Tossed Waves, in 2010.

Parker Peevyhouse

I really enjoyed the main character of Rebecca Stead’s When You Reach Me. I loved the scene in which she contemplates the entire history of the world in order to decide if her problems really matter in the grand scheme of things. And of course, the ending was interesting and a great discussion starter.

Jo Whittemore

This year, I returned to an old favorite…Stardust by Neil Gaiman. I love this book because it’s lighter in tone than his usual work, and I find it comforting. The characters are memorable, even the small ones, and the story is so very sweet. It’s a love story, an adventure, a fantasy, and a comedy with a twee bit of steampunk mixed in.

In honor of the recent release of a certain movie with vampires and quivering-lipped girls, I thought of how different authors have portrayed vampires over the ages.
For example, traditional fiction describes vampires as somewhat captivating creatures with lothario tendencies. In Eastern European folklore, however, they were simply re-animated corpses.
In some fiction, sunlight is the death of vampires, while in others it’s just a nuisance. Vampires in most fiction, however, seem to maintain a pallid complextion.
Some vampires are soulless demonic creatures that have survived hundreds of years. Some are simply people infected with a parasite/virus that makes them cannibalistic and withdrawn from those not like them.
And let us not forget the garlic/holy water/turning into a bat/sleeping in a coffin stereotypes of old.
For me, I’m a traditionalist. I prefer my vampires afraid of daylight, dashing but dangerous, cursed creatures that don’t just fall in LUV at the drop of a lady’s handkerchief. That’s not to say I’m against human/vampire romance, but I prefer the vampire to nosh on a few necks before he finds The One.
So, what about you? Do you prefer the old-school vampire, or are you loving the new twists?

It wouldn’t quite fit in our last post, so here’s another viewpoint about revisions from Jo Whittemore, author of ESCAPE FROM ARYLON and other books in her trilogy, The Silverskin Legacy:

The most challenging editorial changes are still ongoing for a pet project of mine. It’s currently sitting on the backburner, however, while I work on other projects that I’ve already got hammered out. It’s caught somewhere between MG and YA, so I’m working to balance it out to be more MG. What makes it so difficult is that the original version/much of the character action was based on a YA world (driver’s ed, etc), so not only do I have to age down the characters and their language, but I have to alter their situations to suit a new set of circumstances.

(Whew, that DOES sound like a tough revision.)

How about you, readers? What have been your toughest revision challenges — and did you discover any secrets for completing them?

What’s a good spec fic story without some good conflict? And what’s a good conflict without a bit o’ bada$$ weaponry?

What would I have in my arsenal?

-The subtle knife from Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy.
Being able to slice a hole between worlds? I’d be visiting Chocolate World like crazy. Not to mention that knife is EXTREMELY sharp. Remember what happened when that kid accidentally nicked his finger with it?
“Dear Wendy’s, I found this finger in my chili…”

-Scientific formulas that give me powers, tattooed on my body a la Michael Reisman’s Simon Bloom series.
Oh, what’s that? You’ve got a cute little bunny tattoo? Well, my heat formula tattoo gives me the power to turn your bunny into hossenfeffer!

-Shield bugs from Angie Sage’s Septimus Heap series.
We’re not talking your garden variety squashables. These bad boys will fight to the death for their masters, and when they’re done, you can use them in your insect collection!

-Fawkes the phoenix from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series.
You knew I had to mention Harry Potter at least once. And with Fawkes at my side, I’d be close to immortal. Come on, Fawksy. Cry for mama!

-Bartimaeus the djinni from Jonathan Stroud’s Bartimaeus trilogy.
He can shapeshift, which makes him an excellent spy, and he’s got an excellent sense of humor. Granted, he’s kind of a douche who would sell you up the river for his freedom, but come on….he can turn into Gerard Butler, ladies!

So, sound off! What (or who) would accompany you into battle?

We continue our discussion about favorite villains from speculative fiction.

P. J. Hoover

My favorite literary villains are the ones who change to the good side at the end. The ones who find the redemption they are looking for and decide to help the main characters reach their goals. I recognize that many times this happens when there is another antagonist also (double antagonist, anyone?), and the good and the bad unite against a new common enemy. I’m drawing a blank on examples, but if the commenters have any examples of this, I’d love to hear them. The only examples I can think of come from sci-fi movies: Darth Vadar being the most well known in Return of the Jedi and also the Captain in Titan AE.

Jo Whittemore

My favorite literary villains are the ones with no sense of self-preservation.

They have no fear and no care if they live or perish, so long as they achieve their desired result. This can be applied to robots, zombies, and any mindless drone. In particular, the giants-turned-ogres from Patrick Carman’s Land of Elyon series frighten me. They’re ruthless, they smell like rotting brains and they just want to eradicate all other species, consequences be damned. These are the toughest to battle because they literally will fight to the death, and if they’re bigger and badder…you’ve got your work cut out for you.

Parker Peevyhouse

I like the “ticking clock as antagonist,” as in Jeanne DuPrau’s The City of Ember. It’s so ominous when the lights start going out in that story. But as far as traditional villains go, I love Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar from Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere. They’re really funny, and that makes them even more unsettling. Here’s a sampling of their dialogue which I will use to convince you to agree with me:

“Talking of the marquis, I wonder where he is. He’s a bit late, isn’t he, Mr. Vandemar?”
“Very late indeed, Mr. Croup. As late as he possibly could be.”
Mr. Croup coughed sententiously and delivered his punchline. “Then from now on, we’ll have to call him the late marquis de Carabas. I’m afraid he’s ever-so-slightly–”
“Dead as a doornail,” finished Mr. Vandemar.

Okay, so it’s not the new trend yet, but I SO want it to be.
I’m not talking frat houses, by the way.
I’m talking all things of Greek mythology.
All the gods and goddesses: Apollo, Aphrodite, Hades…
All the creatures: centaurs, chimeras, griffins, harpies…
All the legends: the Argonauts, the Trojan War, the Theban Cycle…

Yes, there are books out there (as Greg Fishbone mentioned earlier this year) that feature gods, and the Percy Jackson series teems with mythology, but surely Rick Riordan hasn’t cornered that market.

So why am I such a huge proponent of the Greek uprising?

-They never do anything on a small scale. If you’re worried your child is going to overthrow you, swallow him as an infant, a la Kronos.
-They use dramatically extreme opposites. On one end, you have Medusa who could turn a man to stone with one look. Also, her hair was a bit…unruly. On the other, Aphrodite, who could win Miss Universe by just showing up (and yes, those are her real boobs).
-They have the coolest origins for everything. Why do we have different seasons? Because that daft girl Persephone got duped into eating pomegranate seeds in the Underworld, and everyone knows if you eat the food there, you have to live there! Luckily, she only ate a few seeds, so she’s only there part-time, but her mom Demeter (goddess of harvest) gets so upset when that happens she stops providing fertility to the earth.
See? Cool! And don’t get me started on the Fates.
-They have awesome beasties, and they all have awesome names.
Exhibit A: Cerberus, the three-headed dog, who guards the gates of Hades (once you cross the Styx, you ain’t never coming back, honey).
Exhibit B: Cerynitis, an enormous gold-antlered hind (think deer, people) fast enough to outrun an arrow. Heracles had a job chasing THAT one down. The man ran after it for a full year (again, those Greeks and their extremes!).

Plus, they’re coming out with The Lightning Thief and a re-make of the Clash of the Titans, so kids (and adults) are going to have an interest anew. Why not tap into it?
So, I say, once the vampires and werewolves and zombies are retired to the Lon Chaney vault, let there be light…ning thieves!

Who’s with me?

REMINDER: POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD

Time for our second round of questions!

Symbolism is prevalent throughout most good stories.
An obvious example in this story is the mockingjay, a symbol of hope and courage by the people in the districts. Did anything else strike you as symbolic in this novel?

Joni Sensel:
Loads, including:
Snares — the setting of them, the idea of not seeing a trap until you’re already caught, the idea that setting one may be harder than you thought and might bite the setter, not just the prey
Fire and its parallels with love, passion, compassion, and other strong emotions — as simultaneously a warming, nurturing, rousing and painful/destructive force
Drugs and narcotics, including sleep and the related associations to turning away, ignoring, numbing, forgetting, and going passive… as well as our human need for these things at times
The world’s division into the other twelve districts and a central capital — we have deep-seated cultural and religious associations with this number as a “natural” and “perfect” division (because of the number of hours in a day). This is connected with the importance of time in the story, the games, and our lives, and also with District 13 and all the associations we have with that number, including the fact that it does not appear on a clock and is therefore “beyond time”

Jo Whittemore:
I think the characters themselves were very symbolic, even the minor ones.
Darius, one of the Peacekeepers for District 12, who represented Kat’s old, comfortable way of life. When he was turned into an Avox for interfering with the government, it was a symbol of the drastic hobbling of the district itself. The same can be said for Gale, really.
Cinna, Kat’s personal tailor and close friend, who represented the unspoken discontent and dissent among the Capitol citizens and later turned Kat into the mockingjay that meant so much to the people.
Finnick, one of Kat’s unlikely allies in the Quell, who represented strength and fortitude when Kat couldn’t find it in herself or Peeta.
Johanna, a competitor in the Quell, who until the very end represented the uncertainty of the Games with her good/bad actions and callous nature.
And of course, the dark and evil that is President Snow who represented, well…all things dark and evil.

Second Question
What did you enjoy about the novel that hasn’t yet been mentioned?

K.A. Holt:

REMINDER: POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD

It seems fitting to start off with something that plays such a huge part in both books. So, here’s the first question posed to our authors:

When writing series and sequels, it’s important to maintain continuity but avoid repetition. What are your thoughts about Kat and Peeta’s re-entrance to the arena (and their experience there) compared to the previous adventure?

K.A. Holt:
I was initially very disappointed that Kat and Peeta were going back to the arena. I remember thinking that I wanted a *sequel* to the Hunger Games, not a rehashing of it. However, as the Games proceeded, I was caught up in the story and the potential for rebellion and I enjoyed it very much. That said, I do wonder if Collins could have achieved the same messages if she would have tried something different. Maybe Prim and Gale could have been chosen for the Games, in order to punish Kat (and we wouldn’t need the contrivance of the Quarter Quell). Maybe there could have been a switcheroo with mentors, where a Careers district mentor was forced to “mentor” District 12, and Kat and Peeta were forced to “mentor” different districts. This would let us see the Games, behind-the-scenes. And it would give lots of opportunity for duel-purposed strategies and questionable silver parachutes. Too complicated? Probably. I just wanted something a bit different – something to show bolder attempts from Kat and the Capitol to thwart each other.

Joni Sensel:
Personally, I thought the whole Quarter Quell thing was pretty contrived, not just repetitious, and if I were to believe it, an even more egregious example of how President Snow and/or the administration in the book’s world was too stupid to have held onto power even this long (although at least the resulting events demonstrated the failure of their philosophy of control). But I put that reaction aside and certainly enjoyed the story regardless, and I thought Collins did a good job of making the events and emotions that followed different from what happened in the first book. The differences in the game setup the second time around, and the differing relationships with the other players, made the game itself seem very different, so that was also great.

Linda Joy Singleton:
When I first read the part about going back into the arena, I was shocked. I never saw this coming and didn’t want to go through that blood-bath again. It did feel contrived, like just repeating what worked the first time. But it was handled well and the arena was very interesting with the clock design. There were plenty of surprises and the people I cared about most survived. I liked the resourcefulness of Kat and the relationship with Peeta. The ending was partly what I suspected in how Kat connected with others, but a surprise, too. It left me wanting more…definitely a cliff hanger.

P.J. Hoover:
I have to admit I was shocked that Suzanne Collins chose to send Katniss and Peeta back into the arena. My thoughts at the time were, “really?” That said, I trusted the author and, of course, read on. And I have to say Ms. Collins did a great job of glancing over the parts that would have seemed redundant (much of the preparations) and of making the playing field much different. The games felt like more of a bonding experience, and the question was never who was going to die but more how the author would choose to end the novel. And I have to say, I was completely pleased with the ending.

Second question:
Given that this series deals with survival, there will obviously be bloodshed and casualties. How did your view of the violence in this novel compare to the previous one?

Parker Peevyhouse:
I was originally reluctant to pick up the first book in the series because I don’t do well with lots of violence. However, I think in both Catching Fire and The Hunger Games, Collins does well to avoid graphic descriptions and include just enough information for us to understand the horror of violence without being overwhelmed by it. That said, I’m apprehensive about the film treatment Hunger Games is undergoing–seeing someone get killed is much more disturbing than reading a vague description of it.

Jo Whittemore:
That’s funny, because physical violence doesn’t terrify me nearly as much as mental torture.
In fact, I loved the image Collins painted with the phrase:
“her throat slit open in a bright red smile.”
As far as mental torture, this book was so much creepier to me than the first. From the very beginning (where Kat realizes that if she makes one wrong step with the Capitol, all their lives are forfeit) to getting ready for the Quarter Quell (when she runs into her friend who’s now an Avox, and there’s nothing she can do for him) to the spinning clock in the arena (where will the terror come from next?) to specifically the jabberjays (hearing your family members cry out in torture and knowing it’s not them but wondering if it might be because it sounds SO real). If Collins ever went to work for the government, she could get any hardened criminal to spill his deepest, darkest secrets with her torture techniques!

Third and final question today (since this post is looong).
Thoughts on the Gale/Kat/Peeta love triangle?

P.J. Hoover:
A couple thoughts here. Gale seems the more desirable choice, as he portrays “the bad boy”. Peeta is just too nice. I’m not sure how many teen girls will pick the nice guy over the “bad boy.” That said, Gale is not given much screen time. I found myself wanting him on screen much more (and I’m sure this is because I want Katniss to choose him because he is the “bad boy”). I really hope in book three we get to see more of Gale. It’s set up for this to be the case.

Parker Peevyhouse:
I have to say it–I was so bored by the love triangle this time around. In fact, I didn’t really like the story until the games started. I wouldn’t have minded skipping all the set-up–all of Katniss’s anxiety about her two loves and her indecision about whether to run away with either/both of them. But I still feel invested in Katniss’s future with either Peeta or Gale, and I think the only way she can really choose between them is for one of them to die. Probably Peeta will sacrifice his life for Katniss, and Katniss and Gale will be the reluctant new leaders of the Districts.

Sound off, readers! Even if you disagree, we’d love to hear from you!

We here at the Spectacle thought it would be fun to read a spec fic book as a group and have a discussion about the content as it relates to craft.
This Wednesday and Thursday, we’ll be talking about Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins.
Obviously, there will be spoilers mentioned, so if you haven’t read the book, you might want to bookmark those entries for future reading. If you’ve already read Catching Fire, you’re welcome to add your own comments to the discussion.
Reminders about potential spoilers will be posted in the headers of Wednesday and Thursday’s discussions.
Hope to hear from you!

“I don’t want stories with talking animals.”
That is often the mantra chanted by agents and editors alike.
But why?
There are some GREAT stories/series with talking animals out there. To name a few:

Watership Down
The Chronicles of Narnia
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh
The Land of Elyon
The 101 Dalmatians
Charlotte’s Web

I posed this question to a fabulous group of authors (Alex Flinn-A Kiss in Time, Kurt Scaletta-Mudville, Elizabeth Bluemle-How Do You Wokka-Wokka?, Stacey Kade-The Ghost and the Goth, Randy Mortenson-The Landon Snow series)

They all made some very valid points, which are listed below, in no particular order:

-“Kids today generally think talking animals are too young for them.”
-“Talking animals can come off as cutesy if done wrong.”
-“Talking animals are the kind of thing a grandma does when she
decides to write a cute little book for kiddies, without studying the
market and without much experience writing at all, and so for editors and agents they see a lot of stuff in the slush pile that involves talking animals and is horrible.”
-“A lot of those books have animals who wear clothes, live in houses, and ride on buses and are basically not animals at all.”
-“I also think it’s like the ‘no rhyming picture books’ thing, which really means, ‘no *bad* rhyming picture books.’”
-“I suspect a lot of neophyte writers employ talking animals in novels for the same reason they try to make their picture books rhyme: because that’s their idea of what a children’s book ’should’ be.”
-“If you’re distinguishing between novels in the animal world–where animals talk to each other but not with humans–and novels where animals and humans talk to each other, the latter would be the tougher sell, I’d think.”
-“If they’re of a completely made-up species, people are more willing to accept.”
Moreover, it can be tolerated if “They don’t speak in sentences or anything, more like stream of consciousness.”

So, we’re all ears here at The Spectacle.
What do YOU think limits the appeal of talking animals?

Deus ex machina.

It’s pronounced “DAY-us EX MAH-kin-a”, and you’ve probably seen the term before.

The literal translation is “God from a Machine”, and it comes from ancient times when the Greeks would put on plays and introduce one of the gods to the story, bringing the actor to the stage on some sort of machine (a crane or a riser from the floor). Oftentimes, the god appeared to resolve conflict and save the day without being mentioned at any point earlier in the story. It was a convenient and easy way to wrap up a tale.

But we’ve come a long way, baby.

Deus ex machina is now seen as a pathetic plot device used by amateurs who don’t plan for the ending of their book (ask me how I REALLY feel about it). At the last minute, when it seems doom is imminent for the main character, suddenly…they realize they have the ability to fly! And they escape the bad guy. The End.

Agents will not like this. Editors will not like this. Readers will not like this.

This is why we have foreshadowing. When your reader gets to the point where the main character resolves the conflict, it must be believable. To make it believable, you must have left an impression in the reader’s mind that such an event was bound to happen based on the events that preceded it.

Example, you ask? Of course.

The Hunger Games: (spoilers follow–but not for the sequel, Catching Fire)

When the Games get down to just the two contestants from District 12 (Katniss and Peeta), the Capitol announces that only one contestant will survive (earlier they’d been told if both contestants from a district were the last standing, they’d both win). Since neither Kat nor Peeta wants to kill the other, Kat devises a plan that they will both pretend to eat a poison berry and die, meaning no winner for the Games. As soon as they put the berries in their mouths, the Capitol changes their mind AGAIN and announces them both the winners.

Foreshadowing Points:

• Through stories from Kat about the kind things Peeta has done for her and by seeing her and Peeta in action, you understand that it would NEVER be possible for them to kill each other.
• Earlier in the story, Peeta had picked several of the berries, thinking they were edible, and one of the other contestants had tried to sneak some of them to eat. Kat and Peeta saw her die and knew the berries were poisonous, and Kat put a couple in her pocket just in case she might need to use them on another contestant later.
• Throughout the story, the Capitol is perceived as being all about appearance and keeping up their image. Kat knew there would be a massive uproar if NOBODY won the Hunger Games, so she used that to her advantage. It was also made known throughout the novel that the audience LOVES Kat and Peeta. If neither of them won, there would be serious outrage.

Your foreshadowing points should add depth and detail to the story. They shouldn’t seem forced into the text.
“I’d better keep this knife hidden in my boot at all times. Who knows when I might need it to resolve a conflict?”

The audience should sense the foreshadowing but not focus on it. Uusually, this means reiterating your conflict resolver SEVERAL times through the story. If you mention a hidden knife once at the beginning of the book, the audience won’t remember it at the end.

For more on foreshadowing, check out this post on my livejournal.

Jo Whittemore

(Reproduced from http://jo-no-anne.livejournal.com)

I had the awesome opportunity to attend SCBWI’s annual national conference in L.A. a week ago, and you’ll be pleased to know that the spec fic world was well represented.  I saw the likes of:

Holly Black (Valiant)
Kathleen Duey (Skin Hunger)
R.L. LaFevers (Theodosia Throckmorton and the Staff of Osiris)
Ingrid Law (Savvy)
Marlene Perez (Dead is the New Black)
Cindy Pon (Silver Phoenix)
Michael Reisman (Simon Bloom: The Octopus Effect)
Joni Sensei (The Farwalker’s Quest)
Linda Joy Singleton (Dead Girl in Love)

And these are only the people (off the top of my head) that I ran into with spec fic books out! It boggles the mind who else was there.
BUT this post isn’t about name-dropping (too much). It’s about Holly Black’s talk, Examining the Strange: The Basics of
Fantasy Writing.

Some key points:
-As fantasy writers, we need to read broadly and widely. Some of the best fantasy is melding ideas from so many genres. We are in a genreless genre.
-Fantasy gets labeled as escapist, but it’s no more so than any other kind of literature
-In fantasy, we can sometimes learn things that are much harder to learn in realism; fantasy gives us distance
BUT
-You have to watch your metaphors and be aware of what stories you’re telling
-Fantasy is like historical fiction. In both, you’re introducing readers to a place they’ve never been and can never visit, but you must convince them that they HAVE been there. And like historical fiction, there’s a lot of research
-Magic rules can be divided into day logic (the same action gets the same result every time) and night logic (rules are seldom spelled out; must work intuitively…it contains the numinous).
-In fantasy, there have to be two stories, the fantastical and the human. The interaction between these two plots is what makes the story.

Well done, Holly!

If you’re a fabulous librarian or educator, then you’ve got what it takes to enter this month’s book giveaway! This time we’re featuring TWO books for one lucky winner. These are books for “striving/reluctant” readers, ladies and gents, because EVERYONE should get to enjoy the world of literature.  (For clarification on what a “striving/reluctant” reader is, see Steve Brezenoff’s post here).

The titles we’re offering are:
The Mummy at Midnight, by Steve Brezenoff
Superman: The Menace of Metallo, by Eric Stevens

How do you enter?*
Simply leave your name and the name of your school/library in the comments below, along with an answer to the following question:
With all the spec fic hitting the big screen, what book/graphic novel would YOU like to see made into a movie? 

The contest starts 8:30 am Monday, May 11 and ends at 5:00 pm Friday, May 15. Winners will be announced the following Monday.

*Contest is open to US and Canada residents only, please.

Because I am in luuurve with SCBWI (they helped me get my first book published) and because we can always learn, no matter what our phase in life, I recommend to our avid spec fic writers (and writers in general) a wonderful learning opportunity:
The 38th Annual SCBWI Summer Conference, August 7-10
Holly Black, Kathleen Duey,  and Ingrid Law are on faculty, ladies and gents!
Some of the workshops include:
Examining the Strange: The Basics of Fantasy Writing (Holly Black)
Writing Magic: From the Head to the Heart (Ingrid Law)
Transmutation: Books That Matter (Kathleen Duey)

Registration opened May 5, and the hotel rooms fill up fast, so if you’re interested, get cracking!

Jo Whittemore