2008 NEWS ARCHIVE
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UPDATE:
Order signed
copies of Kushiel's Mercy at The Signed Page.
Lots of interesting responses to last month's meandering posting! Thanks to all the readers who wrote to let me know that one of my books was their That Book. And thanks, too, to the surprising number who were concerned by the pancake batter lacuna in my culinary skills and offered to send fool-proof recipes.
You may note that this update spans two months. Due to travel plans, I'll be away for a good chunk of March and April. First up is LunaCon in New York, where I'll be the writer Guest of Honor. I hope to see some East Coast fans there! After that, I'm off on a long trip to China.
Research, you wonder? Definitely! For the record, I haven't been to all of the places I've written about. Given the amount of territory my books span, it's just not feasible within the constraints of my publishing schedule (not to mention my budget), and sometimes I'm forced to rely on plain old academic research. I'm fortunate to have traveled enough in my lifetime that I have a lot of vivid memories to feed my imagination. But it's been too long since I undertook a major trip and it's time to replenish the well.
To avoid being overwhelmed upon my return, I'm temporarily removing my email contact and the Bookplate Offer. As it happens, I'm just about out of the original Kushiel's Legacy bookplates that Tor had printed back in 2001. When they gave me 5,000 extras, I never thought I'd go through them all... but I have!
As far as the burning questions that plague you, please check the FAQ, because I may have already answered them. I've even added a couple of new ones. And here's one I didn't add: A lot of readers have asked if I'll be offering signed copies of Kushiel's Mercy through The Signed Page again this year. At this point, I don't know. It depends on whether or not they're up for another round and it fits into my tour schedule. I promise, if we're doing it again, it will be posted atop the site by May.
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Speaking of promises, as promised, there's a link to the first chapter of Kushiel's Mercy under Extras over to the left. Enjoy! And I've got a real treat in terms fan art for you this month. There may never be a Kushiel movie in my lifetime... but reader Alex has given us a glimpse of what film posters for the original trilogy might look like. The first one is featured on the homepage. Check out the Fan Art gallery for the other two, plus more new offerings. Hope that's enough to hold you. I'll be back in May!
So I was thinking today that it's good to be a grown-up. Yesterday, I splurged on something silly at the grocery store - Batter Blaster. It's organic, pressurized pancake batter. This is just the sort of thing I would have thought was awesomely cool as a kid and begged my mother to buy. Being a sensible woman, she would have looked at the price tag and refused. I looked at it and thought, what the heck. What's the point of being a grown-up if you can't indulge the kid inside you every now and then? Also, although I'm a fairly good cook, for some reason I have a mysterious inability to make decent pancake batter. After this morning's breakfast, I'm sorry to say that I won't be signing on as a Batter Blaster spokesperson any time soon. But the kid inside me was tickled to pieces nonetheless. And thinking about how there are parts of us that never age got me to thinking about a book that was That Book for me as an adolescent girl. I may have written about this before, but That Book is the first book you read with explicit sex scenes that makes an indelible impression on you. The one you discuss with your friends in whispers and giggles (at least if you're a girl). For me, The Thorn Birds was That Book. And then, years later, it was made into a miniseries. By this time, I was mature enough to enjoy discussing its guilty pleasures with my mother. One of the best things about that miniseries wasn't the racy bits at all - it was Barbara Stanwyck's fabulous performance as the dowager Mary Carson. As we watched her confront Richard Chamberlain's Father Ralph de Bricassart and declare with an old school Hollywood star's venomous passion that she had always loved him and that inside this stupid body she was young, my mother leaned over and said, "It's true. That's exactly how you feel." Things to think about on a dreary winter day! All the glorious snow in the photo on the homepage is gone, but for a bit of February cheer, check out the Tattoo and Fan Art galleries for more new offerings, including a couple of charming Phèdre and Melisande toons. Next month, a sample chapter!
Apologies to anyone who may have emailed me and received no reply in the past six weeks or so. Due to a technological glitch, there was a period of time where none of the mail I sent to various address, especially AOL, was being delivered. I think the problem is resolved, so feel free to try again. In the spirit of the holidays, I do have one special request. I received an email from a soldier stationed in Iraq wondering if I knew of anyone willing to part with a copy of Earth Begotten, the limited edition letter-press booklet, as a special gift for his wife who will be spending this past Christmas and next without him. Maybe you're a collector with a soft heart? If you have a copy you'd be willing to sell, drop me a line. Once again, check out the Tattoo and Fan Art galleries for some lovely and creative new additions. And on the homepage, a little taste of winter in Michigan! Freezing rain is nasty stuff when you have to be out and about in it, but it does leave the world sparkling and magical. Here's wishing all my readers a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!
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Writing,
writing, writing. Once more, little to report! New York area fans
take note, I'll be the writer Guest of Honor at 
