What is JacketFlap

  • JacketFlap connects you to the work of more than 200,000 authors, illustrators, publishers and other creators of books for Children and Young Adults. The site is updated daily with information about every book, author, illustrator, and publisher in the children's / young adult book industry. Members include published authors and illustrators, librarians, agents, editors, publicists, booksellers, publishers and fans.
    Join now (it's free).

Sort Blog Posts

Sort Posts by:

  • in
    from   

Suggest a Blog

Enter a Blog's Feed URL below and click Submit:

Most Commented Posts

In the past 7 days

Recent Posts

(tagged with 'Dragon Slippers')

Recent Comments

Recently Viewed

JacketFlap Sponsors

Spread the word about books.
Put this Widget on your blog!
  • Powered by JacketFlap.com

Are you a book Publisher?
Learn about Widgets now!

Advertise on JacketFlap

MyJacketFlap Blogs

  • Login or Register for free to create your own customized page of blog posts from your favorite blogs. You can also add blogs by clicking the "Add to MyJacketFlap" links next to the blog name in each post.

Blog Posts by Tag

In the past 7 days

Blog Posts by Date

Click days in this calendar to see posts by day or month
new posts in all blogs
Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: Dragon Slippers, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 5 of 5
1. Review of Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George and an interview...

 


Today I have an interview with fabulous author, Jessica Day George, at Deliciously Clean Reads. You can see the interview here. You won't regret it. She's hilarious. I am also giving away a signed copy of her new book, Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow.



Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George is absolutely delightful.


The story begins with this great opening: “It was my aunt who decided to give me to the dragon. Not that she was evil, or didn’t care for me. It’s just that we were very poor, and she was, as we said in those parts, dumber than two turnips in a rain barrel.”


Creel’s aunt hopes Creel will come away from the dragon with a rich husband. Creel hopes to come away with gold from the dragon’s hoard. What she actually comes away with is something nobody expected…a pair of enchanted slippers.


When she escapes from the dragon’s lair, she can’t return home, so she makes the long journey to the King’s Seat in search of a job as a dressmaker. Of course, things don’t often turn out the way we expect. Many obstacles arise, but in the midst of her struggles, she finds love, courage, friendship, and the strength to pursue her dreams.


As you can probably tell, I highly recommend this novel. It is an original fairy tale full of dragons, princes, adventures, and laughs. Nothing pleases me more than a good fairy tale.

Add a Comment
2. Interview with Jessica Day George


What can I say about Jessica Day George? She is a riot in a bottle. She is a red-headed firecracker. When asked for a picture of herself she sent the one to the right, saying, "Oh, here, post this picture! I swear, it's an exact likeness!"


Today we have the opportunity to find out a bit about her, her books, and her writing habits.

But quickly, before we get started, let me remind you about her books. The first one was Dragon Slippers, which I requested from the publisher after hearing it was something I might enjoy. I did. Tremendously. To find out all my thoughts about it, visit my review here.


The sequel to Dragon Slippers will be released in April. Dragon Flight is a fantastic sequel and lovers of Dragon Slippers will surely be happy with it. I have had the chance to read it already and will be reviewing it fully closer to its release.

Jessica Day George's latest book, Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, is my favorite of the three. I will be reviewing it shortly. If you love fairy tales and fantasy, you don't want to miss this book. I loved it.





If you comment on this post (be relevant, please), the one about Dragon Slippers, or the review of Sun and Moon (which is coming soon) you will be entered into the drawing for a free signed copy of Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow!!! Comments will close a week from today, on Wednesday, March 5th at midnight. A winner will be announced the following day.



JDG: Okay, let's get to these questions before my brain falls out my ear, which is a very likely scenario at this point.

1. How much research do you do for your stories? How do you organize it?

JDG: Ah, organization. Yes, er, I'm not that organized, actually. It's kind of alarming. For Dragon Slippers, I pretty much did no research, since I like my dragons a certain way and I invented the customs, language and culture of Feravel. But for Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, I reread the original fairy tale both in English and Norwegian, and kept an Old Norse dictionary at hand for reference. It was a project I had been mulling over for years, and so I already knew what elements of Norwegian culture I wanted to bring to it.

2. How did you get the ideas for Dragon Slippers and Dragon Flight?

JDG: Dragon Slippers came to me one night like a bolt of lightning, which is just as painful as it sounds. The entire book just downloaded into my brain (again: ouch!), and I just had to type fast enough to get it all in before I forgot any of it. I never intended to write a sequel, but one day while telling my husband that I had no ideas for a sequel, I thought of one. So Dragon Flight was a bit harder to write. I knew that certain dragons were still alive (not to spoil anything), and I knew that I wanted to go to a new country, and have that country using dragons like cavalry horses. But piecing the rest of it together took a lot more effort than the first book. Hilariously, I've just finished the first draft of a third dragon book, which was much easier to write than the second one.

3. Is the setting in Dragon Slippers and Dragon Flight based on a real location and society?

JDG: Not at all. But if there is a Feravel out there, I'd love to visit. (Not so much Citatie, I don't do well with heat.)

4. How did you get into writing?

JDG: "Oh, yo ho! Yo ho! The writer's life for meeeee. . . ." I am just completely unsuited for anything else. All my life I've wandered around with my nose in a book or my head in the clouds, making up stories. I've got a Cabbage Patch Kid diary from when I was eight that has about five pages of actual diary entries, and then it suddenly goes off on some story about a girl and her horse. (Which, incidentally, I'm turning into a trilogy based loosely on World War I England.) I've been telling people I was going to be a fantasy author since I was at least eleven, and my parents always supported me in that. They would take me to writers' conferences or to booksignings so that I could meet real authors, and all I've ever wanted was to be one of them.

5. What authors have influenced you as a writer? As a person?

JDG: The person and the writer are the same being, really. And I owe so much of my childhood and my writing to Robin McKinley, Patricia C. Wrede and Diana Wynne Jones. If you haven't read The Hero and the Crown, Dealing with Dragons, or Dogsbody. . . . for shame! And there's also the inestimable Tad Williams, whose giant, 1,000 page fantasy novels were the most treasured possessions of my awkward high school years. (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn: best fantasy trilogy ever.)

6. Why did you choose to retell Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow?

JDG: It is, hands down, my favorite folk/fairy/legend/tale/story. Trolls, polar bears, fabulous palaces, it has them all! And it's set in Norway, one of the most gorgeous places on the planet. I used to read the P.J. Lynch picture book version over and over, and dream about how I was going to turn that story into a full-length novel. There was just something about it that appealed to me. It was my story, the way little girls now dress up like Belle from Beauty and the Beast, I wanted to be the woodcutter's youngest daughter.

7. After Dragon Flight, do you have any other books in the works?

JDG: Oh, my yes! I have a retelling of Twelve Dancing Princesses coming out next year (title is under construction), which will have knitting patterns in it, and I'm a hundred pages into a sequel to that. Plus I just this week finished a third dragon book, and have about half a dozen more books planned. So far.

8. How did you break into publishing?

JDG: With a crowbar and a delicate set of lockpicks. . . . Oh, sorry! That's another story. . . . I was at BYU's Writing for Young Readers Conference (which I very much recommend), and the girl sitting next to me during one of the sessions heard me talk about Dragon Slippers. She invited me to attend a private writing retreat she and some local authors were putting together. They were bringing in a real live New York editor to talk to about 20 people about publishing, and then we would each get 15 minutes alone with the editor to tell her about our writing. I went, it was wonderful, the editor loved my story and ended up buying it. I couldn't understand one word in ten of the contract, though, so I called up an agent I had met at the BYU conference, and asked her if she could negotiate it for me. Now she's my agent full time, and Bloomsbury is my publisher! I really recommend attending writing conferences. Not only does it help you become a better writer, but meeting an agent or editor face-to-face gives you a much better chance at selling your story.

9. What is the hardest thing about being a writer?

JDG: Not enough time! Balancing writing new books, editing the ones on their way to the printer, and taking care of my little one and our messy house is a lot harder than I thought it would be. Added that are making time for school visits and booksignings, it's just crazy-busy!

10.What advice do you have for other aspiring writers?

JDG: Make sure you don't forget to read, not just in the genre you're writing in, but all kinds of books. Write down all your ideas and keep them, even if you think they sound stupid five minutes later. A few years down the road, you may find a use for that scene/character/plotline. Did you catch my above comment? I'm using a story I wrote when I was EIGHT as the starting point for a trilogy! And writers' conferences = invaluable.



A commenter at Clean Reads asked the following questions:

What are you reading right now?

JDG: I am currently reading Juliet Marillier's Wildwood Dancing, which is also a Twelve Dancing Princesses story (but vastly different from mine), and next I am very excited to read Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay, a wonderful writer for grown ups and a cool person too!

What do you do when you get writer's block?

JDG: Eat licorice and dance around the room. (You're laughing because you haven't tried it.)

What's your favorite part of the creative process?

JDG: Sitting down at the computer and starting a fresh new story. There is no writer's block yet. There is nothing but that blank screen. And as soon as I start typing, I get this giddy feeling and think that I could go on and on for days . . . if only my family didn't need dinner and clean underwear.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

JDG: You're welcome, you're welcome!

To find out more about Jessica, visit her website, http://www.jessicadaygeorge.com/, where she blogs and there's all kinds of fun stuff about the books.

18 Comments on Interview with Jessica Day George, last added: 3/12/2008
Display Comments Add a Comment
3. Good News!




Friends,


I have some exciting news. I went to LTUE at BYU last weekend. Oh, that wasn't the exciting part. Here it is...I have new signed books lined up for giveaways! YAY!


And, I talked Jessica Day George of Dragon Slipppers and Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow fame, into doing an interview. As soon as I brave up, I'll email some questions off to her. I can't wait for her answers. She was a riot in a bottle on Saturday.

In other words, expect a giveaway (and hopefully an interview) next week! See you then.

-Emily

PS. If you have any questions for Jessica, PLEASE leave them in the comments, and I'll throw them in (with credit to you). I'm not terribly confident about my interview-question-making skills. :)

0 Comments on Good News! as of 1/1/1900
Add a Comment
4. DRAGON SLIPPERS by Jessica Day George



Review by Emily of ...Whimsy...


Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George is absolutely delightful.

The story begins with this great opening: “It was my aunt who decided to give me to the dragon. Not that she was evil, or didn’t care for me. It’s just that we were very poor, and she was, as we said in those parts, dumber than two turnips in a rain barrel.”

Creel’s aunt hopes Creel will come away from the dragon with a rich husband. Creel hopes to come away with gold from the dragon’s hoard. What she actually comes away with is something nobody expected…a pair of enchanted slippers.

When she escapes from the dragon’s lair, she can’t return home, so she makes the long journey to the King’s Seat in search of a job as a dressmaker. Of course, things don’t often turn out the way we expect. Many obstacles arise, but in the midst of her struggles, she finds love, courage, friendship, and the strength to pursue her dreams.

As you can probably tell, I highly recommend this novel. It is an original fairy tale full of dragons, princes, adventures, and laughs. Nothing pleases me more than a good fairy tale.

0 Comments on DRAGON SLIPPERS by Jessica Day George as of 1/1/1900
Add a Comment
5. Happy Days

I've had the most wonderful day with books today.

I had a storytelling gig tonight with a group of kindergarteners and some of their older siblings at a local elementary school. I wanted to recreate an activity I used to do this time of year with my own students so I went over to the school early to set up a campfire, a tent, etc.

As I signed in, one of my wonderful former students (and dedicated reader) came in (she is now in college) to see a parental unit who works there. She gave me the most wonderful hug and I got to meet her boyfriend. Boyfriend? Funny how kids stop growing in your mind in 5th grade or when ever you see them for the last time. Gosh, if I had known I was going to see her, I would have brought her a stack of books.

I also had a visit there with another friend whose son (another of "my" kids) finally became an avid reader in 6th grade thanks to Percy Jackson. His mother mentioned that he was on the waiting list for Titan's Curse at his junior high (on a WAITING LIST??? No no no no...)

After I picked up my entling from school and we stopped by the public library where it seemed like Camille's-old-elementary-students-now-in junior-high day. It seemed like every time I turned a corner there was another pocket of old students who seemed wildly enthusiastic to see me (you never know for sure.) I ended up walking and talking the shelves of the YA section with one of them. He kept pulling the books off the shelf as I described them and asking me, "What else is good?" He took a pile over to be checked out. He always was an adventurous and courageous reader.

I got back to the school early this evening to make sure every thing was working and saw yet another teacher friend who is now teaching at this new campus (I think half my old school is there now) and in the course of our conversation realized I had just the picture book she needed for a subject she is introducing this week. Since I am subbing at a jr. high very near her tomorrow, I will drop it off on my way.

The storytelling was very fun and Dragon was in his most cheeky, most annoying element. The coolest moment was when I pulled a small spider puppet onto my fingers to start an Anansi story and one little boy started to sing "The Eensy-Weensy-Spider" and the whole group joined in. Those precious young voices, it brought tears to my eyes.

My 6th grade friend was also there and he now has a Titan's Curse to read. Bah on waiting lists.

When I got home I saw this post at Chicken Spaghetti about Susan's son and Calvin & Hobbes.
I love it when I hear that someone has finally made a reading connection.

Reading is so personal and I take my friends' reading personally. That amazing "right book, right reader, right time" thing is what has always interested me the most about being a librarian. It is always an honor to be a small part of the magic.

2 Comments on Happy Days, last added: 5/17/2007
Display Comments Add a Comment