Meet James Moloney, author of The Beauty is in the Walking (Angus&Robertson, HarperCollins) James Moloney is a statesman in the world of Australian YA and children’s books. The hilarious Black Taxi and Kill the Possum for YA and Dougy, Swashbuckler and Buzzard Breath and Brains for children are among my favourites of his books. I store his […]
Add a Comment
new posts in all blogs
By: [email protected],
on 11/24/2015
Blog: Perpetually Adolescent (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: A bridge to Wiseman's Cove, Black Taxi, Dougy, Gracey, Kill the Possum, The Beauty is in the Walking, YA, diversity, Author Interviews, children's lit, Angela, CBCA, disability, The Book of Lies, James Moloney, Indigenous Australians, Bridget, Swashbuckler, Buzzard Breath and Brains, Silvermay, Isobelle Carmody, Book Reviews - Childrens and Young Adult, Joy Lawn, Add a tag
By: April Henry,
on 3/12/2013
Blog: So many books, so little time (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: bridget zinn, poison, bridget, Add a tag
Maybe it would have been worth a little discomfort. She was completely exposed standing on the riverbank in her undergarments, the grass prickly beneath her bare feet.
Why did she have to be wearing these underthings?
A breeze caught at her shift and set the ribbons trembling. She briskly rubbed her hands over her arms to warm them up and bent down to her clothes.
Not only were they the most ridiculous, feminine, beribboned bit of foolishness that ever existed, but they’d been a gift from Princess Ariana.
Ariana had specially commissioned them for Kyra’s fifteenth birthday the fall before, and she’d embroidered them herself. In none-too-neat stitching the word kitty— Ariana’s nickname for Kyra—was stitched across the left bosom of the waist-length shift. On the right bosom was a horribly stitched cat. It appeared to be winking. Or suffering some sort of nervous facial tic. A ribbon wrapped around the torso and tied into a fat bow beneath the breasts, and below that was a whole panel of see-through lace that ended just beneath her belly button. And the lower half was almost worse—cut off high on the thigh and festooned with ruffles all across the bottom.
And of course you can guess that someone sees Kyra in this ridiculous and revealing outfit. Someone male.
Bridget's last Facebook post read: "Sunshine and a brand new book. Perfect."
So that’s what I’m bringing you today: A little bit of metaphorical sunshine from talking bout Bridget and Bridget’s brand new book!
Celebrate the book
By: April Henry,
on 8/25/2011
Blog: So many books, so little time (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: bridget, Add a tag
By: April Henry,
on 5/26/2011
Blog: So many books, so little time (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: cancer, bridget, Add a tag
By: April Henry,
on 11/23/2010
Blog: So many books, so little time (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: bridget, Add a tag
By: April Henry,
on 11/2/2010
Blog: So many books, so little time (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: bridget, Add a tag
Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: Bridget, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 6 of 6
By: [email protected],
on 11/24/2015
Blog: Perpetually Adolescent (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: A bridge to Wiseman's Cove, Black Taxi, Dougy, Gracey, Kill the Possum, The Beauty is in the Walking, YA, diversity, Author Interviews, children's lit, Angela, CBCA, disability, The Book of Lies, James Moloney, Indigenous Australians, Bridget, Swashbuckler, Buzzard Breath and Brains, Silvermay, Isobelle Carmody, Book Reviews - Childrens and Young Adult, Joy Lawn, Add a tag
2. Celebrating a first book on behalf of an author who can’t be with us Meet Bridget Zinn and Poison
By: April Henry,
on 3/12/2013
Blog: So many books, so little time (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: bridget zinn, poison, bridget, Add a tag
Meet my friend Bridget Zinn. 
This week marks the release date of Bridget's first book. She died from colon cancer in 2011, when she was just 33. She not only wrote about magic, but she looked pretty magical herself. She had beautiful red hair and that creamy skin you only see on redheads. The inside matched the outside. She had a sense of mischief, and a sense of joy. If I had to use one word to describe Bridget, it would be vibrant.
When she was first hospitalized but before they knew exactly what was wrong, she and her boyfriend Barrett got married right there in her hospital room. They kept getting married in what they called The Summer of Love. Everything was the occasion for a party, like the “Fatten Bridget up for Chemo Party” with all kinds of decadent treats. And Bridget kept her sense of humor, even when she was in the emergency room with some frightening complications and another woman tried to claim that SHE was actually Bridget Zinn. As they fought the cancer, Barrett and Bridget spent long hours in various waiting rooms and hospital rooms, and I’m proud to have suggested many quality online time killers, like CakeWrecks.com and DamnYouAuto Correct.com.
About the book
This week marks the release date of Bridget's first book. She died from colon cancer in 2011, when she was just 33. She not only wrote about magic, but she looked pretty magical herself. She had beautiful red hair and that creamy skin you only see on redheads. The inside matched the outside. She had a sense of mischief, and a sense of joy. If I had to use one word to describe Bridget, it would be vibrant.
When she was first hospitalized but before they knew exactly what was wrong, she and her boyfriend Barrett got married right there in her hospital room. They kept getting married in what they called The Summer of Love. Everything was the occasion for a party, like the “Fatten Bridget up for Chemo Party” with all kinds of decadent treats. And Bridget kept her sense of humor, even when she was in the emergency room with some frightening complications and another woman tried to claim that SHE was actually Bridget Zinn. As they fought the cancer, Barrett and Bridget spent long hours in various waiting rooms and hospital rooms, and I’m proud to have suggested many quality online time killers, like CakeWrecks.com and DamnYouAuto Correct.com.
About the book
Horn Book says: "Sixteen-year-old Kyra is a girl with more than her share of secrets. Living in the world of witches, dwarves, potion masters, shape shifters, and the like, she is reluctant to trust anyone, even her best friend and the future queen, Ariana. Readers learn early on that Kyra has attempted to murder Ariana, and we spend the rest of the book trying to figure out why Kyra shot a deadly potion at her…and why, when she has never missed a target, she missed that one. Twists and turns, including dramatic cliffhanger chapter endings, quick getaways, disguises, tricked-out witches, a princess-seeking pig, and one especially clever and handsome boy make this a fine rollicking adventure from start to finish. The author's use of thoroughly modern language in a magical setting adds to the charm. The characters are complicated and act in flawed human ways, making mistakes in judgment that make the plot twists all the more realistic. Kyra and Ariana are strong girls in the Vesper Holly tradition—not giving in to sexist social requirements and, thank goodness, never fighting over Fred, the love interest. Zinn has crafted a marvelous tale, more Harry Potter than Twilight. Readers will be sad that, due to her untimely death, Zinn's more-than-promising debut novel will be her last."— Robin L. Smith, The Horn Book
A taste of Poison
A taste of Poison
Here’s part of my favorite section of Poison:
Kyra stripped off her black thieves clothing, feeling like she was taking off a layer of armor between herself and the world. Her clothes had been treated with potions to repel water, but it was better not to get them wet at all—she hated the feeling when pockets of water got trapped between the fabric and her skin. She’d end up taking them off to get dry anyway.
Maybe it would have been worth a little discomfort. She was completely exposed standing on the riverbank in her undergarments, the grass prickly beneath her bare feet.
Why did she have to be wearing these underthings?
A breeze caught at her shift and set the ribbons trembling. She briskly rubbed her hands over her arms to warm them up and bent down to her clothes.
Not only were they the most ridiculous, feminine, beribboned bit of foolishness that ever existed, but they’d been a gift from Princess Ariana.
Ariana had specially commissioned them for Kyra’s fifteenth birthday the fall before, and she’d embroidered them herself. In none-too-neat stitching the word kitty— Ariana’s nickname for Kyra—was stitched across the left bosom of the waist-length shift. On the right bosom was a horribly stitched cat. It appeared to be winking. Or suffering some sort of nervous facial tic. A ribbon wrapped around the torso and tied into a fat bow beneath the breasts, and below that was a whole panel of see-through lace that ended just beneath her belly button. And the lower half was almost worse—cut off high on the thigh and festooned with ruffles all across the bottom.
And of course you can guess that someone sees Kyra in this ridiculous and revealing outfit. Someone male.
Bridget's last Facebook post read: "Sunshine and a brand new book. Perfect."
So that’s what I’m bringing you today: A little bit of metaphorical sunshine from talking bout Bridget and Bridget’s brand new book!
Celebrate the book
There's an online Shindig party tomorrow night (kind of like Skype but for an audience from all over). It's Tuesday, March 12, 8:30-9:30 pm, Eastern Standard Time : http://shindig.com/event/bridgetzinn
If you live in Portland, there's a great event at A Children's Place Bookstore on Saturday, March 16, featuring: Carolyn Conahan, Virginia Euwer Wolff, Ruth Feldman, Susan Fletcher, April Henry, Victoria Jamieson, Rosanne Parry, Sara Ryan, Lisa Schroeder, Inara Scott, Laini Taylor, Jen Violi, Emily Whitman and Johanna Wright. Purchase a book that is signed by all!
You can win the book
If you live in Portland, there's a great event at A Children's Place Bookstore on Saturday, March 16, featuring: Carolyn Conahan, Virginia Euwer Wolff, Ruth Feldman, Susan Fletcher, April Henry, Victoria Jamieson, Rosanne Parry, Sara Ryan, Lisa Schroeder, Inara Scott, Laini Taylor, Jen Violi, Emily Whitman and Johanna Wright. Purchase a book that is signed by all!
You can win the book
On Indiebound
On Amazon
On Barnes and Noble
Want to know more about Bridget or how you can help spread the word?
Then click here.
Add a Comment
On Amazon
On Barnes and Noble
Want to know more about Bridget or how you can help spread the word?
Then click here.
By: April Henry,
on 8/25/2011
Blog: So many books, so little time (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: bridget, Add a tag
Bridget's (BridgetZinn.com) last Facebook post, just a few days before she passed, read: "Sunshine and a brand new book. Perfect." At her memorial, her husband had made bookmarks with her picture, and photos of flowers, and that saying.
Bridget found joy in everything she did. I hope you find some of Bridget's joy today.
By: April Henry,
on 5/26/2011
Blog: So many books, so little time (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: cancer, bridget, Add a tag
Another light of the Portland YA community has been extinguished.
I met Bridget Zinn shortly after she and her then-boyfriend Barrett had moved to Portland. They attended a SCWBI event together and sat behind me. We spoke at the break. Even then I was struck by her beauty and intelligence.
It wasn't that long after that Bridget's life got crazy good and crazy bad, all in one month:
- She was diagnosed with colon cancer.
- She and Barrett got married in her hospital room by the hospital chaplain. (They went on to get remarried a few more times in what they called The Summer of Love.)
- She got an agent for her YA novel, Poison.
Not long after, Poison sold at at auction, to Disney/Hyperion. Poison is about a teen girl turned reluctant assassin as she hunts down the princess of the realm, her former best friend, with the aid of an enchanted piglet. It's a magical book that reminds me a lot of The Princes Bride.
Bridget was funny, smart, and passionate. If I was going to use one word for her, it would be vibrant. Or radiant. She and Barrett made the very best of the very poor hand they had been dealt.
She was very young when she first started having symptoms of colon cancer. A doctor told her she was too young to have it and did not do follow up. If he had, she might have lived. And he was dead wrong. Even in your 20s, you are not too young to get colon cancer (although that young it's possible there's a genetic component).
Please see your doctor if you are having these symptoms:
- A change in your bowel habits, including diarrhea or constipation or a change in the consistency of your stool for more than a couple of weeks
- Rectal bleeding or blood in your stool
- Persistent abdominal discomfort, such as cramps, gas or pain
- A feeling that your bowel doesn't empty completely
- Weakness or fatigue
- Unexplained weight loss
By: April Henry,
on 11/23/2010
Blog: So many books, so little time (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: bridget, Add a tag
This is Bridgett Zinn and Barrett Dowell in February, 2009, the day they got married at Emanuel Hospital in Portland. It was at Emanuel that Bridget was diagnosed with Stage Four colon cancer. I had met Bridget and Barrett just a few months before, at an SCWBI meeting
After receiving treatment in Portland for 18 months, Bridget and Barrett are now traveling to Phoenix one week every month for innovative treatment at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America. Not all of their costs for this promising treatment are covered by insurance. Bridget and Barrett's friends and family are rallying to help them pay the bills so that they can focus on Bridget's health and kick cancer. Artists, authors, and other friends and acquaintances have donated items in the spirit of love and hope.
The Bridget Kicks Cancer: Season of Love and Hope Auction is off and running. Between now and December 4, you can place a bid on 114 items and services. Get a unique gift for a loved one (or even yourself) and do a good deed at the same time.
There's:
- Jewelry
- Portrait photography
- Tutoring
- Personalized animation
- A beach house rental
- Original artwork
- Professional manuscript critiques (including one by me!)
- and of course books, books, and more books, most signed by the authors!
We've already raised about $2,500 for Bridget. It's amazing what love can do.
To view and bid on items, visit the auction site at http://bit.ly/bridgetauction and follow the instructions for bidding.
The action ID is: bridgetkicks and the password is: cancer. (People will need this information if you send them a link to a specific item, or if they use any link other than the one above.)
By: April Henry,
on 11/2/2010
Blog: So many books, so little time (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: bridget, Add a tag
Remember Bridget, this beautiful young writer who lives in Portland? Three things happened to Bridget in 2009:
1. She got a two-book offer for her young adult novel.
2. She got married.
3. She found out she has Stage Four colon cancer.
Here is the latest from Bridget:
“Everyone must be thinking, Bridget, come on, aren’t you done having cancer yet? I am totally with you. I'm ready to move on to something more fun. But cancer doesn't seem to be quite done with me yet.
“Over the past year and a half, I've had chemotherapy every two weeks, almost non-stop. There was that little "vacation" for surgery. I've been over a range of treatments. On some of the less harsh treatments (chemo is no joke-less harsh does NOT mean easy), we've had glorious little stretches of a few days, sometimes even a week at a time when we could almost pretend that things were normal. And there were some chemo regimes that didn't really give us much of that. But we found joy where we could and Barrett and I are talented at finding joy. The “Summer of Love” celebrations back in Wisconsin, all of the book signings, fifth Fridays and social gatherings we were able to attend back home in Portland were extraordinary high points.
“But we reached a stopping point with my treatments at OHSU--we had a setback but no real options left to turn to in Portland. So we decided to try Cancer Treatment Center of America in Phoenix, AZ. They showed us a good eight options to try and that was just the beginning. They are committed to providing options for their patients and their motto is "care that never quits" so they never give up on you. This, along with their survival rate for people with my type of cancer being statistically higher than the national average, really helped nudge us in this direction. This first treatment was a little rougher on me than they expected but they're going to help us continue to plan and move forward with something that works on the cancer and allows us as many of those glorious stretches of normalcy as possible.”
How can you help? It’s simple. In the spirit of Bridget and Barrett’s Summer of Love,” let’s keep it going with an online auction, “Bridget Kicks Cancer: Season of Love and Hope,” from November 22-December 4. Please consider donating an item to the auction (and bidding on items once the auction is underway). Items that have been popular and successful in previous auctions include:
· Author and writer services: critiques, help with social networking
· Autographed books
· Handcrafted jewelry
· Local services: wine tours, house rentals, wine packages
· Original Artwork: perhaps design an 8 x 10 -12 x 24 around the theme of “Season of Love” (paying homage to Bridget’s “Summer of Love”), offer to commission a piece of art, or donate an existing piece
· Handcrafted greeting cards
I am donating a manuscript critique that would be perfect for anyone who writes YA, mysteries, and/or thrillers.
If you would like to donate, go to http://bit.ly/bridgetkickscancer. Donations must be in by November 19, 2010.
Items will be listed in an online auction at http://32auctions.com/ beginning Monday, November 22, 2010. Donors will be responsible for shipping their item to the winning bidder. Since this is around the holidays, send items as soon as possible after we notify you that payment has been received. Thank you!
If you would like to follow Bridget blog or just find out more about her, you can do so at http://www.bridgetzinn.com,