I was obsessed with this movie as a small child. In fact, for years, I avoided reading Harry Potter because I thought of this as the definitive “witch school” bit of media. Haven’t seen it in ages. Doesn’t so much hold up — particularly Tim Curry’s musical number, which is bad video-effectstastic. (However, the evil twin sister song is actually still fun. Let us not discuss how and Englishwoman’s evil twin sister witch ends up with a Texas accent.)
Still a LOT like Harry Potter, though.
The Worst Witch, part one:
The Worst Witch, part two:
(Sing it with me, y’all: “If you’re filthy/ smelly/ evil wicked and cruel/ you’ll fit right at home / in my little school.”)
The Worst Witch, part three: (tell me this doesn’t look like the flying scene from Harry Potter!)
The Worst Witch, part four: (terror tag! With a ridiculous amount of screaming given that all they are doing is making funny faces)
The Worst Witch, part five:
The Worst Witch, part six: (In which we meet Tim Curry, and he sings!)
The Worst Witch, part seven:
And finally, The Worst Witch, part eight, in which “Hermione” gets hers:
Reports have been reaching me that word is out about Rampant.
Well, maybe not so much Rampant, but certainly that book about killer unicorns. Which I’m pretty sure has to be mine, right?
Take, for example, this snippet from the Fuse #8 recap of Harper Collins Children Spring ‘09 library preview:
“There was one more book waiting to be mentioned. And with only a few seconds left Kristin Daly (filling in for Jill Santopolo) said the two-word pitch that would haunt me long after the preview was over.
“Killer Unicorns”.
It’s called Rampage and it’s by a Diana Peterfreund and . . . . . killer unicorns. I bow before the brilliance of it all. Best. Pitch. Ever.”
Later, she calls it Rampart. Which, you know, close.
[Updated to add: the name of the title has been corrected on the link now. But whatever she called it, I'm still happy as a unicorn in bloody entrails. And plus, she spelled my last name right, which we all know is a much harder feat than any of those R words.]
How awesome is that? I can totally see Kristin saying it too, with that special glint in her eye. No wonder people thought we were joking for a while. Because, well…. killer unicorns? Sounds like an Onion article.
And though I’ve been calling it a killer unicorn book for several years now, unofficially, I think I’m going to start letting the tide take me and call it that, all official like. Because we know what happens when you don’t name your series. You have names thrust upon you. And sometimes, they aren’t pretty.
So I’ve named the file housing my synopsis for the second book, which is still untitled, “KU2.” (Killer Unicorns #2) in anticipation of it being the series name. Have no idea if my publisher is with me on the idea. I may be asked to come up with something a little more erudite than “the killer unicorn books” — something like The Mortal Instruments, or His Dark Materials — both of which, I think, are Milton-inspired?
::Drags out dog-eared collegiate copy of Paradise Lost, which opens to the part where the angel talks about angel sex. Oops.::
But by all accounts, “killer unicorns” is good and sticky. Both Justine Larbalestier and Carrie Ryan, who are working the karma angle like a unicorn hunter with a well-oiled crossbow (best critique partners ever!), have reported back from their respective tours that there are whispers on the street regarding a book about killer unicorns. I’m 90% sure there’s no other book coming out on the topic.
Let me know if you hear of one, okay guys? We could have a killer unicorn book smackdown. Maybe Jello wrestling. Red jello, natch.
In other news, HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Sailor Boy and I are headed to a costume party tonight. when I come back, I’ll bring pictures of our hopefully awesome costumes. And a giveaway. (Yes, I know I never announced the winners of the Wilson giveaway. Bad Diana! I’ll do that Monday as well.)
Also, good luck to all you NaNoWriMo-ers! I am sitting out this year, but instead, I’ll once again be sponsoring 70 DAYS OF SWEAT, which is starting on November 10th (perfect, if, like me, you are busy the first week of November) and running through January (we give time off for the holidays). I love this program, and I think it’s an AWESOME way of getting your book done. I’ll be using it to write KU2. Sign up today!
Okay, a little bit of ado. You see, I’ve been sitting on this cover for a while now. I got the very first proofs from the photo shoot back in July.
Before I had a house.
Before I had a puppy.
Before quite a lot of things, like going on my honeymoon or finishing Tap & Gown.
A photo shoot is only one step on the path to a cover. Though it was a big path (I’ll talk more about that later, possibly on Melissa Walker’s blog). They had to find the right shot, and then they had to do the design, which incorporated not only the picture, but also the magic of Photoshoppery, a scene from the book, and some really cool calligraphy.
And this is the result:
(The title and surrounding calligraphy will be in ice-blue metallic ink.) And here is the flap copy:
Forget everything you ever knew about unicorns…
The sparkly, innocent creatures of lore are a myth. Real unicorns are venomous, man-eating monsters with huge fangs and razor-sharp horns. And they can only be killed by virgin descendants of Alexander the Great.
Fortunately, unicorns have been extinct for a hundred and fifty years.
Or not.
Astrid Llewelyn has always scoffed at her eccentric mother’s stories about killer unicorns. But when one of the monsters attacks her boyfriend in the woods – thereby ruining any chance of him taking her to prom – Astrid learns that unicorns are real and dangerous, and she has a family legacy to uphold. Her mother packs her off to Rome to train as a unicorn hunter at the ancient cloisters the hunters have used for centuries.
However, at the cloisters, all is not what is seems. Outside, the unicorns wait to attack. And within, Astrid faces other, unexpected threats: from crumbling, bone-covered walls that vibrate with a terrible power to the hidden agendas of her fellow hunters to – perhaps most dangerously of all – her growing attraction to a handsome art student… an attraction that could jeopardize everything.
________________________________
I’m so in love!
(Coming soon: the back cover. And the Saga of the Keys)
Kelly Parra, whose new book, Invisible Touch, never fails to earworm the Genesis song in my head, was on Melissa Walker’s blog yesterday talking about the genesis (ha! See what I did there?) of the book’s fabulous cover.
“I knew a girl would be on the cover but I wasn’t quite sure what she would be doing! I told them Kara had short hair and she had light brown skin….obviously, they didn’t give Kara the short hair. Haha! So Kara’s hair suddenly changed in the book. *wink* I did not have to change Kara’s hair, but it would have bothered me otherwise and it was an easy fix.
“We all agreed on the cover, writer, agent and editor. It was very eye-catching and portrayed the feel of the novel and that’s what counted….”
[Melissa] Thanks, Kelly! This might sound silly, but I’m so glad the hair descriptions match the cover! I get so bothered by covers that look nothing like the character I know in the book, so I’m with Kelly on that change.
Interesting. I’ve heard this before, about authors changing the descriptions of their characters to match the covers they’ve received. I know Leslie Kelly has done it, too.
We don’t have any control over what appears on our covers. But does that mean we have an obligation to change our text to match?
As those of you who have read the secret society girl books know, Amy doesn’t really look like the girl on the cover of the novel. Unlike Kelly, I couldn’t even make the choice to go back and give Amy long hair, as the novel had already been published in hardcover at that point. In the first book, Amy is depicted as having “a shoulder-skimming bob.” The hardcover didn’t have a girl on it, but when the paperback came out, this is what “Amy” looked like:
Hardly a bob. But I’m not going to change what Amy looks like between the hardcover and the paperback because of the model’s barely-seen hairdo. I’m also not going to change her clothing style. Amy wouldn’t be caught dead in the outfits she wears on the covers of SSG or UTR. Way too preppy for our jeans and t-shirt girl. If it’s too hot for her sweater, it’s probably tied around her waist or stuffed at the bottom of her messenger bag.
Fortunately, Amy doesn’t cut her hair in Under the Rose, though she does dye red streaks in it that are not visible in that cover.
Amy’s hair keeps getting longer and longer in the covers. It’s all the way down her back on the cover of Rites of Spring (Break). She must have the fastest-growing hair on the planet! And if we’re going to talk about inaccurate, her tattoo is in the middle of her back, not the side.
But that’s not the point. Whether or not Amy’s hair is long or short, if she’s in prep-school clothing or something more like what she’d wear, or the precise placement of her tattoo does not matter. I love the Rites of Spring (Break) cover because it so perfectly captures the essence of Amy. The tattoo in this picture looks better off center because of her proud, go-get ‘em hands on her hips stance. Her hair drifting across her bikini straps (yellow! I was so excited, though I’ve been told it was a choice based on aesthetic, not necessarily accuracy) looks wistful and romantic and girly.
So it’s not important to me that a cover be literally accurate, as long as the mood it captures is the right one. (And we can argue all day about whether or not the mood of the prep school outfits on the cover of the first two books are the right mood.)
And then we come to Rampant. Rampant was in copy editing when I first saw pictures from the cover shoot. I’m not big into lengthy descriptions of my characters (always tiresome in first person) but I had made one point very clear: Astrid has very long, very straight cornsilk blonde hair. The model they had chosen for Astrid was positively stunning, and really captured the essence of the character. The shots I was shown took my breath away — she was such a perfect Astrid! But her hair was…. not long.
Like Kelly, I returned to my manuscript. Should I chop off her hair? She would still be Astrid without the long hair. Like Jo March. Like Anne Shirley. I could do it. I took out my shears.
And then I looked at the manuscript. Oh, look at this scene where her hair plays a role. And what about this part, where her hair… well, I can’t tell you. But believe me, it’s got to be long for it to work. Away went the scissors.
Evocative. Essence. Accuracy? Eh, not so much. And I’m cool with that. The cover is still gorgeous. And it’s still Astrid, no matter what length her hair is.
Yes, I have seen the Robocop on a Unicorn set at Flickr. I find it hilarious that such a set exists, but that’s the internet for you. This is my favorite (by Daniel Andrews).
I think I like it best because it’s the most “killer” of all the unicorns. Though of course, the unicorns in my book are not the kind that can be ridden. They aren’t even all that horse-like, to be honest. (Then again, neither are traditional unicorns.) My editor actually told me a funny story from one early in-house conversation about the cover, where someone asked her if they should depict Astrid on top of a unicorn. Her response? “Not unless she’s in the process of slitting its throat.”
Let’s just say that didn’t make it into the final design. Which I’m dying to show you. The cover is actually quite beautiful and not gory in the least. There’s plenty of both in the book.
Part of me feels like I can say, “killer unicorns” until the end of days and I will still not have convinced some people that I mean it. Not unlike that whole confusion about whether or not the unicorn played the love interest thing a while back. Which, still no. And ick.
On a related note (I promise!) I went to see THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES last weekend. I have mixed feelings about it, though I thought the acting was superb, and I only wished there was more singing (come on, Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, and Jennifer Hudson in one film and not nearly enough singing!). But Tristan Wilds was in it, too, and I kind of have a crush on him right now. He’s the ONLY reason I watch the otherwise vastly disappointing resurrected 90210, and I admit, I mostly watch that because there’s part of me that wonders if Dixon is what Michael might have become had he been given a different choice in his life. then again, Dixon doesn’t seem to have that coldness in him, so maybe he’s what Dookie would have become.
Lord, I miss The Wire. It’s pointless, trying to picture impoverished Baltimore street kids in Beverly Hills, or trying to imagine the kind of depth in 90210 that you got on The Wire. But a girl can dream. And Michael was awesome. And I did watch a lot of Moonlight dreck for a few scenes with Jason Dohring (Logan from Veronica Mars). So there’s precedent of me following lesser shows because I love the actors. I wish Dohring would get another job. I bet Wilds is making way more as a principle on The CW than he was as a supporting player in The Wire.
Anyway, to get to the point, I was talking with my editor last week about fake-casting Rampant, and I know I’ve said before that Amanda Seyfried would make an excellent Phil. I think that Tristan Wilds would make an excellent Giovanni. And he’s actually the right age in real life: 19. Now all I need is an Astrid.
I just discovered, in a serendipitous turn of events whereby I *watched* someone email me through the form on my website and then did not receive said email, that due to an unfortunate typo, my webmail form is sending all emails to an address that does not exist.
And because it’s a form, there’s no bounce back message to the sender.
So, if you are someone who has emailed me through my contact form page on this website (i.e., since June) and has not received a response, please do not think me rude. I never got it. And I never knew. (Explains why I never get fan mail anymore. Sniff, sniff.)
The reading fest continues apace. Finished another one yesterday, which grew on me as it went along. In the end, I decided my issue with the story is that it wasn’t being told in the manner I would have chosen to tell it. I wanted it to be more clever, or more wry, or something. I checked out the author’s website, which was extensive and fascinating, and filled with little tidbits about her purpose in writing the novel and what she was trying to do with it, which helped me see that my problems were all ones of intention. I wanted the novel to be something different from what the author intended it to be. She succeeded in what she wanted it to be. I respect that. Sometimes I read critiques of my work where it is clear that the problem the reader had with the book is that they were reading a different book than I was writing. They were reading a cozy mystery or a romance novel or a literary thriller. It’s probably impossible to please a reader under these circumstances. I’m always going to want this book I just read to fulfill the potential I thought it had based on my interpretation of the premise. But that’s not the book the author wanted it to be.
I also did a lot of cooking. I made fennel and potato au gratin (delicious!), butternut squash puree (not totally sold on the recipe, as I think it’s too buttery and not sweet enough), pumpkin puree in preparation for today’s experiments in pumpkin apple soup, roasted pumpkin seeds, because, hey, I had them (and I don’t know if Rio or Sailor Boy loved them more) and then last night at dinner, my best friend and I made sweet potato and chick pea curry which was delicious and warming. Then we had a whole conversation about why it is that fall makes you want to cook more than any other season. And we agreed that summer is our favorite season, but despite summer berries nad peaches, fall is the best food season.
I talk about my best friend a lot on this blog. I wonder if I should say her name or if I should give her a cutesy nickname like SB has. See, Rio doesn’t get a choice, because she’s non-human and thus subject to my whim. SB may in fact be regretting his nickname now, these many years later. Anyway, my BF and I live down the street from each other, which makes me happy every time I think about it. We’ve been best friends our whole lives, since we were about 6 and also lived down the street from each other, but we haven’t even lived in the same state since we graduated college to about a year ago. And now I get to see her a few times a week.
Also, Rio is in love with her dog, Gracie. If Gracie sniffs something, Rio sniffs it. If Gracie chases something, Rio chases also. If Gracie rolls in deer scat, Rio stands there and goes, “Wow, that’s interesting. I wonder why she does that?” Rio wasn’t remotely interested in the dog bed that we bought for her until Gracie claimed it, and now she lies in it all the time. In fact, she’s snoring in it right now. It’s very odd for Rio to be so low-energy in the morning. But she wouldn’t eat breakfast, and she didn’t want to go on a walk. She’s just fast asleep on her doggie bed. I hope she’s not sick, but I suspect this is because she went on two very long walks in the past two days, and didn’t really nap much to make up for it.
Okay, back to cooking, reading, and working on new proposals. Anyone else had some good culinary experiments recently?
I’m reading a book right now that has managed to hit several of my writing pet peeves. Boring openings, plot points that come out of nowhere (and not in the cool, “I totally didn’t see that coming, but wow it fits” way), motivations and characterizations that are far too on the nose. Everyone feels exactly what they say they feel, which is also, conveniently, exactly as they are supposed to feel.
These are a bit general, I know. It’s not so specific as “characters with red hair” that some people find annoying (I don’t, btw. Love me some Anne Shirley). The specific things that I tend to find annoying in characters is the otherwise practical historical heroine in extremely dire straits (not in genteel poverty) who turns down the otherwise eminently suitable, respectable offer of marriage that will save her. I don’t like it when the main characters make none of the decisions that drive the plot. Some things, of course, are out of their control, but if they are just along for the ride… bleh.
But then, some people get majorly peeved by scenes that don’t bother me at all. One of my friends hates anything she terms a “Scooby Doo” scene: when the characters sit down and have explained to them everything that was going on that they didn’t understand. That doesn’t bother me, though I suppose it depends how it’s done. For instance, I am annoyed when the villain could just choose to kill the good guys but instead feels the need to explain himself, thereby giving them time to escape (parodied most excellently in both Austin Powers and The Incredibles). But in some cases, it’s necessary for a non-POV character to explain what may be happening behind the scenes. I have what I suppose you could call “Scooby Doo” scenes in many of my books, and often, they are my favorite scenes. I love those moment of revelation, when everything a character thinks she understands about another are shattered, and I love being able to peek into those moments.
What about you? What are your reading pet peeves? Or what do you love in a book that other people do not?
Saturday I was up bright and early to drive with my in laws down to Richmond. i got to see my brother in-law’s new house, and my mother-in-law and I ran all the games at the baby shower. It was a twelve hour trip. Luckily, my father-in-law drove, so I was able to spend the drive down and back reading The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, which is fabulous! I loved it. Of course, I’m into any book about women sticking it to all-male secret societies, though Lockhart’s book and mine approach the subject very differently, I give quarter to the idea (after all, Amy does join the society). She full out rejects it. The kind of book that really makes you think.
Not that I’ve had much time to think about it. I barely got a chance to say hello to my puppy and Sailor Boy before I was off, packing and getting ready to leave for New York.
On Sunday, I caught an 8:30 bus to Manhattan. It got in early, and as it turns out, Carrie’s plane did too, so we met up at her hotel (which was right around the corner from Harper Collins Childrens, and a few blocks away from Random House, had lunch, and talked books, release plans, and excitement about our upcoming meetings.
After that, we wandered around the (cold,cold) city, visiting bookstores. We spent an age in the fabulous Books of Wonder, talking about books we read or wanted to read, and trying to imagine where our covers would sit (I’m right near Tamora Pierce). I’ve never been to Books of Wonder before, but I discovered on this trip that it’s right down the street from my old office in New York, near a bakery upon which I based a premise of one of my unpublished romance novels. So it comes full circle!
Here we are looking really goofy at BoW’s YA section (you can just see the hardcover for Holly Black’s Tithe over my shoulder):
We also stopped at a few bookstores that sold adult books too and Carrie made me sign stock of Secret Society Girl books. I used to be much more militant about signing stock at every bookstore I went to, but then the people at the Borders store near my house started rolling their eyes every time I walked in the door, so I fell out of the habit. So if you are from New York and want a signed copy of any SSG book, they’ve got them at the Barnes & Noble at Union Square, as well as the smaller one around the corner on 5th Ave.
Then we headed downtown to a restaurant and had a glass of wine and I told Carrie about the end of Tap & Gown, which she hasn’t read. And she got chill bumps. So there’s your little teaser for the day. And then Scott and Justine showed up, and we had a marvelous dinner wherein we drank lots of champagne and Scott, Carrie, and I all ordered the same thing (pumpkin filled pasta), and Scott and Justine gave us copies of their books and also gave Carrie sage advice about school visits, which she was starting on the following day. Scott’s advice was all about how to warm up the crowd. Justine’s advice was to tell vomit stories. Is it wrong to think that the way she pronounces “vomit” is adorable?
I was exhausted that night, and fell into bed. On the way up to New York, I’d been reading Graceling, and though Carrie had warned me at lunch that I was about to hit a major turning point in the story, I didn’t get too far that night.
Monday morning was FREEZING. I looked at my meager wardrobe and decided to pick the warmest clothing I’d brought. Then I took a cab up to Harper Collins.
Funny story: so I was staying with a good friend of mine from college. The year we graduated from college, we worked together at a rather horrible job that paid just enough to live on. Because we had no money, we didn’t take cabs. Ever. Anywhere. I became an expert on the subway system. This habit has stayed with me every time I go to New York. I never, ever, ever take a cab. This may be exacerbated by now living in Washington D.C., where cabs, instead of being a reasonable means of transportation as they are in New York, are kind of a hassle, what with the zones and the lack of metering etc. (Or did they go to metering now? See? I never take them. I have no idea.) So when Carrie and I took a cab on Sunday to get to my friend’s house, we found her street blocked by a street fair. I mentioned this to my friend who goes, “You took a cab? YOU?” Yes, seven years later, friends. So it felt very luxurious and decadent to take a cab uptown on Monday morning.
I saw Carrie shortly again, we wished each other good meetings, and then I saw her off to meet her editor to go on her tour! (Hope it’s still going well!) I wen to meet my editor, Kristin, for lunch. I had convinced her to go one of my favorite restaurants, Beacon, where they were serving their fall menu, including that pumpkin apple soup with the cotton candy garnish I’m always going on about to anyone who will listen. Kristin seemed to think it lived up to the hype. We had a great talk, all about books and my plans for the second unicorn book and some other really cool things I can’t talk about just yet.
Then we went back to the office and I had a conference with her and the publicity and marketing teams. They’re great! I’m so excited about the coming months. Right now, only a few people have read the book, but the galleys should be out soon. We’ve already heard some fabulous reactions from the people who’ve gotten sneak peeks.
Speaking of sneak peeks, what is this my spy-cam caught? Could it be a shot of the interior design?
A dagger with an alicorn hilt!
I am in so much trouble right now.
I love talking about these books with my editor. There’s this great synergistic energy I get whenever I get to bounce ideas off her.
Then I went home to Sailor Boy, Rio, and Gracie (whom we are babysitting). Actually, Gracie went home yesterday. Rio is inconsolable.
Good thing we’re about to go out hiking with her and my best friend and her husband. See ya!
Kelly Parra, whose new book, 
Amy’s hair keeps getting longer and longer in the covers. It’s all the way down her back on the cover of Rites of Spring (Break). She must have the fastest-growing hair on the planet! And if we’re going to talk about inaccurate, her tattoo is in the middle of her back, not the side.
On a related note (I promise!) I went to see THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES last weekend. I have mixed feelings about it, though I thought the acting was superb, and I only wished there was more singing (come on, Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, and Jennifer Hudson in one film and not nearly enough singing!). But Tristan Wilds was in it, too, and I kind of have a crush on him right now. He’s the ONLY reason I watch the otherwise vastly disappointing resurrected 90210, and I admit, I mostly watch that because there’s part of me that wonders if Dixon is what Michael might have become had he been given a different choice in his life. then again, Dixon doesn’t seem to have that coldness in him, so maybe he’s what Dookie would have become.
