How to use this Page

I was sorting through some old box files recently, and I came across the following correspondence from a few years ago. I thought it made a salutary tale - just in case any of you were approached by this outfit. Forewarned is forearmed, as they say...

*          *          *         *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *           *          *

Character UPgrades, inc.

New Caledonia

Dear C.J. Busby,

As clearly laid out in the terms and conditions to which you were deemed a consenting party by virtue of mailing us your character specifications, the actions of our upgraded characters are entirely the responsibility of their author and no liability can be accepted on behalf of UPgrades, inc. We delivered a fully compliant Lancelot character who was willing to be beaten in single combat by your SuperUPgrade King Arthur. It is in no way the responsibility of this company that the resulting plot lines have come unravelled. Character UPgrade, inc. did not include a 'bard theme' in the upgraded specification, so Lancelot's subsequent decision to become a wandering minstrel is obviously a result of character flaws that were part of the original specification. We are, however, willing to perform a tricky overwrite on your Guinivere and Arthur characters so as to smooth over the resulting strife you are experiencing in your story. This is a specialist job, however, and we cannot offer it to you for less than full price plus overtime calculated at 150% plus VAT. Please mail your character specifications by return for complete satisfaction guaranteed.

Yours, etc.

Character UPgrades, inc.

New Caledonia

Dear C.J. Busby,

Here is your new SuperUPgrade Guinivere and SuperUPgrade Mark II Arthur character. We hope you will agree they are now in complete harmony and we hope have many hours of fun with them. Please mention us to all your friends when they comment on the new improved version. Our rates are extremely reasonable and satisfaction is guaranteed.

Yours, etc.

Character UPgrades, inc.

New Caledonia

Dear C.J. Busby,

Unfortunately, it is impossible to return your characters to their original specification as the original data has been permanently over-written. Have a nice day.

Yours, etc.


*          *          *          *          *          *           *          *          *           *          *           *           *

All illustrations copyright David Wyatt.


C.J. Busby writes fantasy adventures for children aged 7-12. Her Spell series (from which these illustrations are taken) follows the adventures of accident-prone would-be wizard apprentice Max Pendragon and his sister Olivia in their attempts to save King Arthur from the plotting of his evil sister Morgana le Fay.

"Great fun - made me chortle!" (Diana Wynne Jones)










The first book in her latest series, Deep Amber, was published in March 2014 by Templar.

"A rift-hoping romp with great wit, charm and pace" (Frances Hardinge)









www.cjbusby.co.uk

 @ceciliabusby

Helen Cooper edited and abridged the Oxford World’s Classics edition of Le Morte Darthur by Sir Thomas Malory, which is arguably the definitive English version of the stories of King Arthur. Completed in 1467-70, it charts the tragic disintegration of the fellowship of the Round Table, destroyed from within by warring factions. It also recounts the life of King Arthur, the knightly exploits of Sir Lancelot du Lake, Sir Tristram, Sir Gawain, and the quest for the Holy Grail. In the original blog post below, Helen Cooper states the case for King Arthur being the most successful commercial brand in English Literature (even more so than Shakespeare) and explains what Malory did that was so remarkable.

King Arthur has some claim to be the most successful commercial brand in the history of English literature, ahead even of Shakespeare. He has certainly been famous for much longer: his reputation has been growing for some fifteen centuries, against Shakespeare’s mere four. The historical Arthur, if he ever existed, was most likely to have been the leader of a war-band trying to hold at bay the invading Saxons in the wake of the withdrawal of the Roman armies, perhaps early in the sixth century. His fame was preserved in oral traditions for the next few hundred years, and only occasionally reached the written record; but after a Norman-Welsh cleric, Geoffrey of Monmouth, invented a full biography for him in the 1130s, stories about him have spawned and expanded, until by now we have a deluge of retellings, historical or unashamed fantasy, for adults and children; films, television series, and wargames; parodies at all levels, not least from the Monty Python team; a tourist industry, and consumer items from toy swords to T-shirts. There is even a fast-food shop in Tintagel named Excaliburgers.

Geoffrey wrote in Latin, and the story he invented remains just about plausible in historical terms: his Arthur is a great conqueror who unites Britain under his rule, overruns much of Europe and reaches the very gates of Rome. The first overtly fictional accounts of his court, not least the knights of the Round Table, were written in French. Magic begins to creep into these new stories, and so does love: there is no Lancelot in the historical tradition. For a long time, Arthurian material in English kept largely to the quasi-historical account as outlined by Geoffrey, and anyone who wanted a detailed acquaintance with the romance elaborations of the story still had to read them in French. It was not until the late fifteenth century that a Warwickshire knight, Sir Thomas Malory, distilled the full story of the Round Table into a single English version. The result, the Morte Darthur, is one of the great works of English literature, and it underlies, directly or indirectly, almost every version of the legend produced in the anglophone world since then. Greg Doran’s 2010 production of the Morte with the Royal Shakespeare Company is the latest of these, and its script, by Mike Poulton, is impressively (and exceptionally) faithful to its original.

The qualities that make Malory so remarkable are the same ones that have made most of his literary descendants want to change him. For him, actions speak not only more loudly than words but often instead of them. Causes are often missing and motives have to be deduced, in a way that sets the imagination buzzing. Morality is carried by a few adjectives: noble, worshipful, faithful, against recreant or cowardly. The love of Lancelot and Guinevere is good because it is faithful: ‘she was a true lover, and therefore she had a good end’, as Malory puts it in one of his rare authorial interventions, cutting through all the questions about

by Gerald Morris illustrations by Aaron Renier Houghton Mifflin 2008 It's been way too long since I read me some Arthurian legend. And while I should probably go back and remind myself of everything I've forgotten from T.H. White's The Once and Future King, or perhaps Roger Lance Green's King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table (with it's spiffy new Puffin Classics edition), it was more

I love book-related greeting cards. Children’s book cards, even more. The holiday season is coming up, and many of these cards really appeal to me. I’ve never been a big celebrator of Christmas, but when you pull books–especially children’s books–into it, my interest perks up. I think they might appeal to some of you book lovers, too. I especially love the “Joy” Where the Wild Things Are cards.

	Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas Cards
	Maurice Sendak’s Where The Wild Things Are “Joy” Boxed Holiday Cards
	another Where the Wild Things Are set of Boxed Christmas Cards
	another Where the Wild Things Are Boxed Holiday Cards
	3065-Curious George in Santa Cap Christmas Cards
	HN1 - Cat in the Hat Holiday Cards
	Olivia Boxed Holiday Cards
	Olivia w/ Ornaments Christmas Cards (3281)

I also found some lovely bookish greeting cards, thanks to Kim over at Kimbooktu.

These book-cover Christmas cards look perfect to me.

Aren’t they so neat? A book greeting card that folds out. I also like that it only says “Season’s Greetings” inside.