“Ms. Peterfreund takes readers on a dark and deadly adventure that will shock and delight readers while keeping them thoroughly engrossed. Rampant should easily be enjoyed by both mature teens and adults alike. I’m looking forward to a future visit in this compelling world.”
Yesterday, I was interviewed on TV — I’ll keep y’all updated as to when that’s available as well — and I got to read from RAMPANT for the very first time. Yay! It was sort of last minute that I got to read from Rampant as well as Tap & Gown, so I just picked a piece at random and then stopped kind of in the middle because I was afraid I was going on too long and of course as I was driving home from the interview I remembered that the next paragraph was totally kickass and I should have read that part too, but oh well. The good part is: A) I got to read from RAMPANT on television,and B) I think I know what part I want to do now for readings. And it’s not even the first chapter.
This is probably a good time to plug my upcoming events, at which I will be doing the aforementioned reading. Please come! Bring friends! Bring teenagers! Bring anyone who ever owned a Lisa Frank Trapper Keeper and scare the crap out of them. It’s amusing for us all.
Speaking of the Lisa Frank set (or the Beagle set, or the Legend set, or any other set that adheres to the happy-go-lucky, rainbow, glitter vision of the unicorn), I’ve been getting some emails from readers who mostly haven’t read my book (’cause, you know, it’s not out yet) and are quite miffed that I’m “destroying” the unicorn legend. And I feel the need to point out that I’m not. I’m actually reclaiming it. The unicorns in my book are real. There is a vast richness to the unicorn legend in both the non-Western and the Western tradition that is nothing at all like the rainbow-sparkle unicorns. (Remember this? Not photoshopped, guys. It’s a page from a medieval French manuscript on the life of Alexander the Great. It was painted by the artist Jean Bondol in 14th century. And it very clearly depicts a man-eating unicorn.)
Speaking of unicorns, I got something very interesting in the mail the other day:
Hmmmm, who can this be from?
Why, it’s a present from regular blog commenter Purple Ranger. A sealing wax kit — and look what the sealing wax leaves behind!
A Rampant Unicorn! W00T!
Now I just have to mail some stuff out so I can use it. (Yes, I know a lot of y’all are still waiting for prizes. Bad Diana.
As soon as I wrangle this second killer unicorn into submission. I promise.
Hi guys! I’m still snowed under, but keep those entries going in the Bite Me Giveaway Post. I’ll keep it open until Friday.
A few links of interest from around the web:
Alaya Dawn Johnson’stake on Angry Black Woman regarding the Larbalestier cover controversy. One of the side issues of this whole kerfuffle to me is that LIAR, which is an incredibly awesome novel, is getting way more press for its disingenuous cover than for the amazing story contained inside. I hope it doesn’t overshadow the wonderfulness of the novel.
100 Scope Notes gallery of joke YA covers. Playing off the cliches of modern YA title and cover conventions, we automatically generated a few. These are the results. And yes, I am so calling YANK. I picture it as a sort of modern, Palahniuk body-horror kind of thing. Of the ones I didn’t make myself, I’m particularly partial to BEND and WONDER.
Jenny Crusie talks about turning points. Always a good thing to keep in mind, and very similar to my own “four act” plotting method.
My pal Melissa Francis’s debut: BITE ME! is in stores TODAY! Mel and I share an editor and an agent. And yet, I have not read this book. What’s up with that? No one sends me anything. If I had to do an In My Mailbox post like the bloggers, it’d be super pathetic. And though it’s been on Pre-Order since it could be, and thus I’m actually in possession of this book, I’m still not allowed to read it, as I’m still not allowed to do anything but work on this book until there’s no more book to work on.
AJ Ashe isn’t your typical seventeen-year-old vampire—as if there is such a thing. Her ex-boyfriend—whom she’s still totally in love with—is now her stepbrother. A former classmate—who, um, she may or may not have turned into a vampire—is stalking her. And now, apparently, the fate of humankind lies in her little undead hands. Whatever happened to the good old days when all a vampire girl had to worry about was the occasional zit and hiding her taste for blood?
Gah. I soooooooo want to read this. I really, really, really, really, really need to finish my WIP.
And now, you can enter the Read it Before Diana Does Giveaway, right here on this very blog. Just comment here to enter, and I’ll ship you your own copy from Amazon (because I am astoundingly bad at getting to the post office, which is why you people who have won T&G prize packs or books I’ve had signed by friends also don’t have your prizes yet, because, honestly? I haven’t even been grocery shopping in weeks. It’s gotten to the point where I just make dinner out of whatever might be left in the pantry at the end of the day. Yesterday, we had spaghetti, beans, and baking powder. thank goodness for my garden.).
Right. Amazon. I can ship things to you from Amazon without looking up from my keyboard. It’s a miracle. And, the evil empire, natch, but hey, I’m grateful to them at the moment.
I know Rampant hasn’t come out yet, but it looks really interesting (vicious killer unicorns as a short reprieve from all the vampire drama and werewolf angst? Dude, count me in). The problem: I only read series books. I’m a freak I know, but I hate getting invested in characters only for their story to end way too abruptly. So, my question: Is Rampant going to be part of a series, or will it just be a stand alone novel?
Series Freak
Dear Series Freak,
You’re in luck. I’m writing a sequel to Rampant right this very moment. Stay tuned for more news on that front, and for more news on additional stories set in the killer unicorn world.
Epically Yours,
Diana
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Hi, I was self-googling and I found my name in your book. Topher Cox is kind of an odd name, and one that was a fencer even more odd. I was just curious as to how that happened. Not a big deal, just wondering.
Or, is it just a coincidence?
I should read the book to see what he is like.
Thanks,
Topher
Dear Topher,
It’s just a coincidence. I named the character after the actor Topher Grace from That 70’s Show. You are not, however, the first person to email me about having the same name as a character. I now understand why J.K. Rowling uses unusual names like “Hermione.” She has stated that she didn’t want school children with the same name as the character facing ridicule (however, since Hermione is one of the most awesome characters in the book, and the names Harry and Ron are far more common — especially in that age group in England, given that there’s a young prince by the name of Harry — I can’t imagine how that argument holds water). I have also heard from an Amy Haskel, and, at my brother’s wedding, I met a young woman who knew a Jamie Orcutt and didn’t like him at all.
I’ve also already heard from a few Llewellyns who are not happy that Astrid spells her name with only three Ls. People are very particular about names. I understand this. I’m very particular about names myself.
Finally, I feel I should warn you in advance of reading the book: the character Topher is not he world’s nicest guy.
Hello! My name is,
Diana
______________________
I love all three of your books. I read them over and over again. Are there going to be any more?
Missing Out
Dear Missing,
You’re in luck! While on my website sending me this email, you may have noticed a few mentions of my latest book, Tap & Gown. It’s number 4 in the series and it’s already on shelves!
Glad I Could Help,
Diana
_________________________
I love all four of your books. I read them over and over. Won’t you please, please please write more in that series? [Insert suggestions for how to write more, including following Amy after graduation, following the new tap class, coming back many years later a'la Before Sunset, etc.]
Also A Series Freak
Dear Also,
Thank you so much for reading. Tap & Gown is, alas, the last book about Amy and Rose & Grave. If you wish to read more in that series, I recommend giving the free secret stories on my website a try. Though I appreciate your suggestions, I feel confident that I have said everything about Amy and the secret societies at Eli that there is for me to say. Perhaps some day I shall write a short epilogue, but I’m not feeling it now. I’m up to my ears in teenagers and killer unicorns, and after that — sorry to all the series freaks out there — I’m going to write a few stand-alones for a fresh change in pace. Stay tuned for more news on that front.
Sorry I Couldn’t Help, but Do Give Those Killer Unicorns a Try,
Diana
Yesterday, as I was having a write-in with my friend, awesome historical romance author Lavinia Kent, UPS pulled up to my doorway and left me a small package from Harper Collins. Inside the package was a little rectangular present, wrapped up in bright blue paper with a light green bow.
I knew at once it was my book. Rampant! One advanced copy, hot off the presses! Ooh la la!
Ooh, so pretty!
It’s got all the dedication, and the acknowledgments, and all sorts of goodies in there. Like the Library of Congress categories. I’m always amused to see what my publishers pick. It’s all shimmery on the outside and thick on the inside — longest book I ever wrote!I mean, look at it next to the hardcover of Secret Society Girl:
Check out that spine! Thirty-three more days! (ish). And, okay, because I couldn’t resist (and I couldn’t get a picture of Rio with Rampant. She’s become afraid of books!) here’s a pic of all my books together:
Naturally, the first thing I think of when I hear the words “unicorn chaser” is one of my girls. But the hilarious folks at ThinkGeek have an entirely different meme going on.
Playing off the trope of unicorns as a purifying element in classic alchemy… Ahem. Playing off the trope of unicorns as a modern, happy-go-lucky, innocent-to-a-fault sparkly little things, the folks at BoingBoing started following up offensive images, video, etc, with a “unicorn chaser” — an image of a unicorn that would purify your eyes. ThinkGeek has jumped on the bandwagon with an ACTUAL unicorn chaser — a drink to help you feel better after viewing something gross or disturbing on the internet.
And, of course, as I am an expert on all things unicorn, my pal Julie Leto saw fit to send these things my way. I am finding them irresistible. After all, my entire book is about just this sort of thing — the search for a magical, unicorn-derived purifying medicine. Sparkles optional, natch.
So here’s the plan. I’m going to order a bunch of these bad boys, and give one a try on videoblog. And, if I don’t die on the spot, I’ll do some giveaways.*
_______________
* BTW, those of you waiting for the SSG prize packs — I have not forgotten. I just got swamped and was not able to put them together. I promise you, they are coming soon. I’ll take a weekend in August and do them.
The Winners of the Jeri Smith-Ready Giveaway are: B.E. Sanderson and Rhiannon! Please email me about your prizes. The way this will work is, the first winner to email me gets their choice of either Wicked Game or Bad to the Bone (include your choice in your email). The second winner to email me gets whatever is left.
Last night, SB and I went to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Now, I’m not very familiar with HBP (Or Deathly Hallows, to be perfectly honest). I listened to HBP on audio twice, and read DH once. Compare that to multiple readings of the the first five, including dozens (probably) of 3&4. So I may just not be remembering things correctly. I’m not as familiar with the book, so I’m not always aware of when a script makes changes for the better, or are able to bypass things that might work in books and tell it differently for the sake of the visual medium (something that the Lord of the Rings movies, for example, did brilliantly). Also, I felt that HP6 was a tad problematic on a fundamental level (Harry spends half the book on a mission from Dumbledore to discover a secret that, eventually, it seems that Dumbledore already knows — not to mention that the whole Half-Blood Prince’s anticlimactic reveal). I do, however, feel that the film didn’t necessarily solve these problems (it really could have been an easy fix) and introduced others that were entirely unnecessary. I’m not super familiar with Yates’s work (I saw OOP and liked it, but pretty much any opinion of mine would have been a step up from the book), so maybe it’s just that his story sensibilities are UTTERLY different than mine. But. Yeah. His story sensibilities are utterly different than mine.
For instance, was there any particular reason that we needed to spend about as much time on Hermione’s charmed birds when she’s crying in the courtyard as we do on, oh, I don’t know. Dumbledore’s death scene? Throughout the movie, there seemed to be this odd focus on story elements and scenes that didn’t, in the end, seem to have much bearing on the entirety. There were a LOT of shots of the overacting Lavendar Brown going all mooney-eyed over Ron. A. Lot. It was funny the first few times. Then it got old. Also, was it me or was Ron shunted almost completely to the side in this film? It would have been easier to buy Hermione’s vast unspoken love for him if he were actually included in some of the serious scenes. His character has entirely been reduced to a comic relief. (Compare to Sokka of Avatar, who manages to be both goofy and a contributing member of the team.) He just sits there, staring dumbly into the distance, out of earshot of their very important plot conversation at the big end sequence where Hermione promises to be there for Harry when he says he’s going to drop out of Hogwarts.
And let us not speak of the mishandling of the entire Half Blood Prince plotline. It’s awkward in the original, but it COULD have been integrated so much better. The true horror of Sectum Sempra is not simply that Harry doesn’t realize what a horrible spell it is (after all, this is after Malfoy breaks his nose with his boot), but also that it reminds Harry of the torture that he himself underwent at the hands of the evil headmaster in book 5. Thou shalt not cut with invisible objects. (And thou shalt not cast spells thou dost not understand, either, but whatever.) And then, Ginny Weasely recommends hiding the book? Ginny Weasley, who knows from evil books by mysterious authors? Guys, we already saw you burning newspapers in the first scene. I think that’s a gun on the wall.
Speaking of the Weasely house — what was up with that whole Christmas thing? Does Ginny Weasely really go around tying boys’ shoes in the book? There was a lengthy sequence I could have done without. And the Death Eaters came to… do what exactly? Make sure everyone was well out of the house before they burned it to the ground? Speaking of what the Death Eaters come to do — and again, this might be betraying my bad memory of the book — but don’t they have a huge battle at Hogwarts? They come in and start attacking people? The werewolf guy bites all kinds of folks, including one of the adult Weasely’s who came to help in an OOP capacity? These Death Eaters in the movie — I’m not sure why they were there. To back up Draco? I mean, what was the whole point of the yearlong, laboriously detailed and repeated struggle with the Vanishing Cabinet? So Bellatrix could come in and break some windows? Srsly?
In passing, moviemakers, one of the benefits of being able to cut away to the villain doing villainous things throughout the entire film is that at the end you don’t need that scene you often have in books where the heroes and the villain talk about what the villain had been doing the entire film. Also, the idea that Harry just sits around while the Death Eaters kill his mentor is a lot harder to swallow when Harry is, in fact, just sitting around, and not immobilized, invisible, and wandless as he is in the book.
So that was the bad. It is a testament, perhaps, to the mythic/epic qualities and my love of hte series that despite these drawbacks, I did enjoy the film. I am moved by the story. I guess it’s a question of whether I want to watch these movies as movies in their own right or whether I just think of them kind of like fan art — I watch them to be reminded of how much I liked hte books and to be reminded of my favorite things about the books. A few of my favorite parts:
Jim Broadbent. In general, I love everything this actor does, but I thought he was a particularly good choice for Slughorn, who is one of the juiciest parts in the entirety of the series, if you ask me. Bellatrix may be sexier and more fun to play, but it’s difficult to pull off what Slughorn must — as the only “good” Slytherin in the entire series, he’s got a big burden, and he’s an incredibly complex, flawed character. Broadbent nailed it. Soooooo good. Every scene he was in was positively riveting.
I do like the new Dumbledore. He was so good here.
I like how they KINDA made an argument for the whole “go be friends with Slughorn” thing, making it about Dumbledore trying to figure out how MANY horcruxes Tom had made. Though they probably could have hit that plot point harder. (Though, honestly, wherefore the new Damienesque Tom? He looked so off. Was Christian Coulson not available again?)
The expanded Draco scenes. That actor is also shaping up rather nicely. They give a lot of credit to the main three, but some of the other kids are great. (More Neville, if you please!)
Luna Lovegood is my hero.
The Katie Bell sequence was fantastic and terrifying. It was terrifying in the book and just as terrifying in the film. Kinda had a Japanese horror-film quality to it, don’t you think? Like something you might see in The Ring?
I’m back! I was away for the weekend, and though Rio only narrowly escaped burning down the house in my absence (I swear, I tell that dog not to use the stove without parental supervision), I returned home to find everyone safe and sound.
RampantDiana Peterfreund. HarperTeen, $17.99 (416p) ISBN 978-0-06-149000-2
This compelling new adventure, Peterfreund’s (Secret Society Girl) YA debut, introduces an international cast of strong young women, virginal descendants of Alexander the Great, who hunt an unusual breed of monster: unicorns. Sixteen-year-old narrator Astrid Llewelyn never believed her mother’s stories about unicorns—portrayed as bloodthirsty, venomous and near impossible to kill—until one impales the boy she’s seeing. Sent to Rome (unwillingly) to train with other huntresses in response to the “Reemergence” of the supposedly extinct creatures, Astrid makes new friends and enemies, hones her powers and finds time for a little romance, while coming to grips with her new life (“Forgive me if enforced lifelong celibacy and possible death by dismemberment and poisoning don’t exactly get me excited,” she gripes). But she soon suspects (as will readers) that the war against the unicorns isn’t so cut-and-dried. With an atmospheric setting, personable ensemble cast and some reasoned discussions about virginity, this gripping page-turner evokes the same grrl-power spirit as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, packed with action, mystery and a complex and intriguing mythology. Ages 12–up (Aug.)
Thirty-six days, people. I don’t know if I’m going to make it.
In other news, I’ve updated the Events page with the first two confirmed dates for the RAMPANT tour. Many, many more to come (even some outside of the general DC area)! Stay tuned!
I just found this illustration and I have to share it with you guys! So as many of you know, I’ve got this book about killer unicorns coming out next month. I may have mentioned it once or twice. The premise of this book, which I also may have mentioned once or twice, is that the people who have special powers to hunt unicorns all share the same three qualities: 1) female, 2) virgin, 3) descended from Alexander the Great.
Now, when you read the book (which I know you’re all going to do next month), you’ll find out why this is, but meanwhile, I wanted to share with you some of the interesting, unicorn-related facts about Alexander the Great.
You may already know that Alexander the Great was a great conqueror and Macedonian king who lived in the 4th century, BC. He conquered half the known world and died by the time he was 32. Alexander is most often pictured astride his beloved warhorse Bucephalus, whom he first trained as a child and who he rode almost his entire life (Bucephalus allegedly died in battle at the age of thirty). In fact, Alexander was so distraught when Bucephalus died that he named one of the cities he conquered after this brave horse.
One of the most famous stories about Alexander (next to the story of the Gordian Knot), was that when he was a child, he saw Bucephalus about to be put to death. Seems the horse, which was living in Alexander’s father’s stables, was deemed completely untrainable. On top of this, he was described as “anthrophagos” — man-eating. Obviously, they couldn’t keep a man-eating horse around. But Alexander saw potential in Bucephalus, and bet his father, King Philip, that he could train the horse himself. He did, and thus was formed a lifelong bond.
Great. So where do the unicorns come in? Well, back when Alexander was alive (and for centuries after), there was a popular book out about his life called the ALEXANDER ROMANCE. It was one of the greatest bestsellers in all of history. Imagine Harry Potter times Twilight, and you get the idea. Some of the information in the book was what we would today call true, and some of it is more like the legend of George Washington chopping down the cherry tree. One of the legends about Bucephalus was that he wasn’t a horse at all — he was a special kind of Turkish-peninsula (where Macedonia is) unicorn called a karkadann.
Like Bucephalus, the karkadann was known to be absolutely untameable, man-eating, and, incredibly fierce. Also, In Greek, Bucephalus meant “ox-head,” which some believed to describe the fact that this animal had horns. In most
classical and medieval manuscripts of the Alexander Romance, Alexander is depicted as riding a horse with either one horn or two. In many, many versions, he’s shown riding a unicorn.
Pictured here is a page from an illuminated Medieval biography of Alexander that shows the scene in which King Philip lets the young Alexander tame the man-eating unicorn, Bucephalus. It quite clearly shows a “traditional” looking unicorn surrounded by the bones of its victims, and a bunch of scared courtiers huddled behind the brave unicorn tamer Alexander the Great.
And that’s from the middle ages! So much for the idea of innocent fluffy unicorns.
So now that I’ve done my cranky for the day,a few reminders:
Reminder the First:
I’m really crazy busy right now. Hence the lack of blogging.
Reminder the Second:
Giveaway goings-on a few posts below, re: Jeri Smith-Ready’s WICKED GAME and BAD TO THE BONE. Have at it!
Reminder the Third:
In a little more than a month, RAMPANT will be on shelves! Hip hip hooray! Talloo, Tallay! I’m so excited about this, you guys, I can’t even see straight. And I’ve got some really fun stuff planned for the month of August to celebrate this little fact.Stay tuned!
