Have I mentioned how excited I am about this book?
To celebrate the release of ZvU, I’ll be appearing at the Baltimore Book Festival alongside editors Holly black and Justine Larbalestier, and fellow anthologists Carrie Ryan, Scott Westerfeld (both team zombie — hisssss!) and Kathleen Duey (Team Unicorn!).
And a little bird told me they’d have copies of Ascendant available. That’s PRIOR to the release date, y’all.
Be there or I won’t be responsible for what the zombies OR the unicorns do to you.
Friday, September 24, 2010, 5:30-700 PM
Children’s Bookstore Stage, Baltimore Book Festival
MOUNT VERNON PLACE
600 BLOCK NORTH CHARLES STREET
BALTIMORE, MD 21201
PANEL DISCUSSION: Zombies versus Unicorns Debate with Justine Larbalestier, Scott Westerfeld, Carrie Ryan, Holly Black, Diana Peterfreund & Kathleen Duey
Zombies versus Unicorns Debate
Team Zombie takes on Team Unicorn to prove which fantastic creature is superior. Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier lead their authors in a debate inspired by their new short story collection Zombies versus Unicorns.
I don’t know if I’m going to be able to go through with it, frankly. Not because I don’t have the guts to read my old dreck, but because, as I was picking the finalists this morning, I was barely able to get through some sentences for the laughter. And I know I’ll probably already be half in hysterics from the other laughing. (Holly, I know from experience, is especially adept at reading aloud for humorous effect.)
Sadly, my high school magnum opus, a futuristic post-apocalyptic fantasy written in longhand in a marbled blue spiral bound notebook, has mysteriously gone missing from its place of honor on our living room bookshelf. And by “magnum opus,” I mean I managed to actuallyw rite some of it. What I’ve discovered in going through my paperwork is that I never actually wrote as much of these stories as what lived in my head. I had this idea I had half a hisotrical romance lying around, but when I put hands on it, I realized I only had about three pages. Again, longhand.
I am now even more impressed with myself that I have managed to complete nine whole novels. I often tell the story that I joined RWA after winning a bet with myself that I could write a whole book. Now I see that I was right to have made that bet.
Speaking of, my ninth novel (9th to be written, 4th to be published, and #8 will be 5th — if you follow all that) just arrived on my doorstep in beautiful ARC form. I would do the usual picture of me surrounded by my ARCs, but alas, my camera, she died in Ireland. Poor girl. So just trust me that Tap & Gown looks splendiferous. I really love the interior design on this one. We were able to go hog wild with the decorations and every confession is wearing a jaunty little mortarboard and tassel.
So… I’m thinking I should do a giveaway. What say you? Want to be the first person on the block to read it? (Okay, the eighth person, since Carrie, Erica, Julie, my editor, my agent, and my copyeditor have all read it, and my best friend just snatched up her copy of the ARC and was like “Awesome, now I get to find out what happens to Amy and Poe!”) But it’s unlikely that any of these people actually live on your block, so I guess that’s cool.
I think the first giveaway will be right here on the blog. Lasts until Friday. Leave a comment here, and because I’m especially evil, and spent the last week in Limerick, I’ve decided that to be eligible for entry, you must include a limerick on the subject of the SSG books (unicorns optional).
Enter as many times as you dare (Multiple limericks will count as multiple entries, so do me a favor and post them as separate comments.) You have until Friday.
See you New Yorkers at the Tompkins Square Park Library tomorrow at 4!
A lot of people have been asking me, and the rumors are out on the internet, so though I have not been given the go-ahead by TPTB over at Harper, I have decided to respond, since “I can neither confirm nor deny…” sounds kinda silly in the face of “I saw on Amazon…” So:
The publication date of Rampant has been pushed back to August 25, 2009.
This has absolutely nothing to do with the reorganization that occurred at Harper last week. I have known about the date change for over a month.
The date change also has nothing to do with the preparedness of the manuscript. ARCs have been out since last fall, as is usual for a spring book, and the only changes made to the final book concern the usual typography errors and copyediting changes that did not, for some reason, make it into the galley version. (This is common, and has occurred with every book I’ve written. That’s why most ARCs have huge disclaimers on them that the text is NOT the final version.)
So, that’s the news. Now, the bad part of this news is, obviously, wah, three more months until killer unicorns take over the world! Additionally, it means that my little romance will not be out in time for the RWA conference in my hometown of DC, and also, that I am less likely to be able to throw a joint launch party for Tap & Gown and Rampant, since they are no longer being released a week apart. (Then again, if one party is good, two is twice as good. True for everything but weddings and funerals.) But the good parts, in my opinion, far outweigh the bad. The extra time gives me the opportunity to plan some truly exciting promotional tidbits. Also, since Rampant is now a fall ‘09 book, it means that KU2 is a fall ‘10 book, which means that my deadline has been pushed back. Yay, extra time! Finally — and this is really the best part of all — I’m now being released very close to a few of my YA writer friends, which means that we might end up doing some cool events together! More to come on that front, obviously. But as I’ve waited for over two years to become an official YA author, I’m hoping ot take as much advantage of that as possible!
Which brings me to my next bit of news. Next month, there’s a Teen Author Festival in New York City, and I’m going to be attending,and speaking at the following panel:
NYC Teen Author Festival Juvenalia Smackdown Panel
Date: Monday, March 16, 2009, 4-6pm Location: Tompkins Square Park branch of the NYPL, 331 E. 10th Street
Join Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, Alaya Johnson, Justine Larbalestier, David Levithan, Diana Peterfreund, and Scott Westerfeld as they read some of their (ahem) less accomplished work from their middle school and high school years. Hosted by Libba Bray.
I am so excited about this panel. Justine has done itbefore and she says it’s the most fun you can have at a conference. Now, the only trick is to choose which of my works of early genius to share with you all. There’s the apothecary romance, in verse, natch. There’s the historical about the scarred debutante being stalked by her dead sister’s lover (who set the fire that killed her family and burned her half to a crisp). The best thing about that story is how most of the scenes centered around the heroine’s cousin, who was secretly in love with her childhood best friend (not that this was more familiar to my own high school experience than arsonists and burn victims). Oh, and the best friend had just discovered he was an earl. Because what’s a story without a secret inheritance? Then there’s the teen Christmas story which, I’m sorry to admit, I actually faked sick from school for several days in a row so I could stay home and work on it. (Kids: don’t do this. Stay in school.)
So the other day, my fiend Justine Larbalestier asked for advice on answering one of her “writing advice month” questions about voice. So I did, but most of my advice is just a riff on Julie Leto’s excellent articles on the subject.
Like Julie, I believe that a writer’s voice is something that develops over time, through the process of putting words on the page, over and over. She writes that it’s one of the hardest aspects to define, because it is so different depending on how it manifests. With one writer it could be the way they choose to put sentences together, or their propensity for wacko similes (or avoiding them like the plague, as they always come out cliched “like the plague”), or the fact that they write super short chapters, or that they always write XYZ kind of characters. It’s what makes you love one writer’s historical romance but not care very much for her contemporary thrillers. Or vice versa.
Like that famous quote about pornography, you know it when you see it. But that doesn’t mean you can define it.
When I first started writing, I knew absolutely no one and nothing about this industry. I knew no writers and the only person I knew in publishing was a friend of a former college roommate who was an assistant in reference non fiction at Penguin. (The roommate kept trying to get us to talk to each other, but we were both quite rightly thinking “What’s the point?” since all she could say to me was “I think you should try getting an agent.”
Nothing bugs me more than the pervasive myth that it’s all some big secret that published authors, agents, and publishers are colluding to keep from unpublished authors. I knew absolutely nothing, but I read a copy of Writer’s Market cover to cover and subscribed to free online writing newsletters (this was before there were blogs, when there were barely Yahoo loops). When I had finished a book, I spent $100 (an enormous sum for me at the time) joined RWA and my local chapter and attended meetings religiously.
And I learned how it worked. I learned the all important maxim, “Money flows toward the writer.” I learned the difference between a vanity press and a real publisher. I learned how to tell a good agent from a bad agent. I learned that you weren’t going to wake up tomorrow and be handed $750,000, like the newspapers brag of Stephenie Meyer receiving for her first novel. I learned that even once you got an agent and sold a book, you were only going to receive your advances in tiny dribs and drabs over a period of months or even years. I learned there was this service called Publisher’s Marketplace, and if you signed up for their newsletter, they sent you publishing news every single day and, once a week, they sent you a list of books that had actually been sold, and by whom, and to whom, and for how much. (Big mystery! Ha!) I learned about writing and publishing for a year before I ever tried to submit anything.
And I met writers. I met amazing, talented writers at my local RWA chapter. People who’d been in the business for decades, like Virginia Henley. People whose careers were just starting to take off, like Susan Kearney and Julie Leto. People who had just gotten their first book deal, like Roxanne St. Claire. And people like me — people who had a manuscript or two under their belt and were still trying to break in. One of those people, C.L. WIlson, is now a New York Times bestselling author. (How cool is that?) And you know what? Two of these writers recommended me to their editors. Neither editor bought anything. Knowing someone does not make a difference. It’s the work that sells.
Eight years later, things are easier for the beginning writer looking for information. There are hundreds upon hundreds of websites out there, hundreds upon hundreds of career writers (like Justine and me) who for free, give out advice about writing and publishing (or links to advice about same) on their websites. There are websites like Preditors and Editors, heaps of blogs by agents and editors and publishing watchdogs like Writer Beware. There are dozens upon dozens of Yahoo Loops for writers in different genres, and genre-specific support forums like Verla Kay’s Blue Board (for children’s books), both filled with published authors who are just bursting with advice and assistance for the young writer. There are websites like Show Me the Money and Tobias Buckell’s surveys that track how much authors are really making (Hint: It ain’t $750,000). There are agent searching sites like Agent Query that will help you find agents who handle the kind of book you’re writing, and Publisher’s Marketplace is stronger than ever. I still subscribe, only now I have the paid subscription, which means I can access an enormous database of sales and editor/agent/author profiles. And every single thing that I just mentioned, with the exception of the paid subscription to PM (you can still get the free one), is absolutely free, right here on the web. Heck, in most cases, you don’t even have to send out paper queries with SASEs anymore! I queried my agent, sent her my manuscript, and have sold six books without having to print a single thing out. You know when I go to the PO? When I return copyedits, page proofs, or send out prizes for things I give away on my blog. (Must get at that.) And you want to get to know writers? Here we are! I’ve met a ton of talented, savvy new writers online. Some now have books coming out while others are still waiting for their big break. One of these writers I recommended to my agent. She passed, and the writer signed with someone else who promptly sold her book — off a cold query. You don’t need to know anyone.
All of which is to say that there’s pretty much no excuse for ignorance. The info is out there, and it’s free. The people who say it’s all some big mystery aren’t trying very hard. It’s like they want a quick fix. Spend a few Sunday afternoons perusing the web. Google some of those terms I listed in the previous paragraph, like “Brenda Hiatt’s Show Me the Money” or “Writer Beware” or “Verla Kay Blue Board.” People who become lawyers and veterinarians and carpenters and pastry chefs spend time training for their profession. Spend some time. We don’t even have to go to school or get licensed to do our job. But that doesn’t mean we don’t need to study for it.
I know I’m preaching to the choir when I say things like this to the writers who visit this blog. You’re already reading a blog post about writing advice.
Hey, guys! I’m back from New York and back to work. No rest for the weary ’round these parts. Is anyone else doing Seventy Days of Sweat? Every time I get started, a new pile of work lands on my desk — revisions, first page proofs, you name it. Check out the Sven blog today for another post by me — this one about how tough it is to work in the face of outside forces. But work we must; especially since we have due dates.
TUESDAY’S GIVEAWAY WINNER: Megan S.!
WEDNESDAY’S GIVEAWAY WINNER: Dulce!
By the way, these are random drawings, care of the good people at random.org.
Ah, New York! So I got in early Tuesday morning and popped up to Harper Collins to pick up my First Page Proofs. Oooooh, pretty. Because I am horribly challenged when it comes to the order of the non-numbered streets in Manhattan, there was a little east/west confusion with the whole Lexington/Madison/Park thing and I wound up all the way on the East side before I figured out I was going the wrong way. Anyway, I had a nice chat with my editor’s assistant, Corey (Hi, Corey! If you read the blog!) and then headed out to work on them. I spent the day working with Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare (who has an AWESOME new cover), Maureen Johnson, and Bennett Madison. I did not get a lot of work done. I mostly bugged them all in turn. It’s pathetic. I’m sure if I saw these folks more often, I would actually write during writing dates, rather than play catch up and show them all my cover mock up and tell Libba all about our house-hunting adventures from last summer.
(In passing, I’m going to another one today, with Bennett and Lavinia Kent. And I will WORK!)
Anyway, after the writing date, Maureen and Bennett and I headed over to Butter for Melissa Walker and Marianne Mancusi’s book release party, which was a lot of fun. You can see all the details here, along with Marianne’s pictures, and here, along with Melissa’s.
Scott Westerfeld, Marianne Mancusi, Me, and Melissa Walker
Me, I didn’t take pictures. I was too busy drinking martinis and not eating food, sadly. I was tipsy. Justine made fun of me, rightly. Note to self: have dinner before going to book parties. I also saw Chris Keesler, Elizabeth Kerri Mahon (who has an amazing blog called Scandalous Women), Hope Tarr, and Liz Maverick.
After the party, Marianne, her boyfriend Jacob, and I went back to Marianne’s place where I met Molly (oooh, adorable! So much cuter than even her pictures!) ate deli food, and watched a hilarious episode of South Park about goths vs. vampires.
(This is Molly. She has excellent taste in books.)
Looking at Marianne’s dog made me very homesick for Rio. I’ve hardly been away from her overnight since we got her.
The next morning, I caught the subway into Manhattan, which was surreal. I lived in Astoria for almost nine months, back in 2001-2002, and took the N train every single day, and it was like I’d never been there before in my life. I had to reacquaint myself to the elevated trains and all. I can’t believe my memory is so pathetic. (Then again, between my horrible landlords and my horrible job, I think I blocked a lot of that year out. I mostly remember lunches with my friend Lauren, Buffy nights at Rachel’s, and the most amazing Seder dinner ever.)
Anyway, I met my editor, Kerri, for what I’m sure we shall remember in the future as a legendary breakfast, and we talked about books and went over the full cover of Tap & Gown, which I love! Then I went back to work on those pesky page proofs, discovered a huge continuity error in my book, called Carrie Ryan to have a panic attack over it (she calmed me down, thanks Carrie) and returned to DC with Bennett Madison in tow.
In honor of the book party, today’s giveaway is a signed copy of Melissa Walker’s VIOLET IN PRIVATE. Leave a comment here to be entered into the giveaway.
Off to work! Poor Rio’s got another day of kennel thumb-twiddling in her future!
Thank you for all the well wishes yesterday! I really appreciate it. As payment, Rio doing what we like to call “disco sleep”:
“Ahh, do the hustlezzzzz…
Aside from the plague, it’s been a big week chez Diana. I’m an aunt — yay! I’m also a fake aunt — yay! Rio lost one of her canines and got three new big-dog teeth. (They’re ENORMOUS. Like giant, craggy icebergs bursting through her gums.) My Rampant ARCs are going out into the world (my mother in law has already read hers and reported back to me), and I just saw a copy of my complete cover for Tap & Gown.
And yes, I did hear about the fabulous Zombies vs. Unicorns anthology that Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier are doing. I am so excited! I think it’s going to be incredible, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what the collection has to say about that awesome beast, the unicorn. To set the record straight, I’m not the slightest bit appalled by the anti-unicorn sentiment going around the internet these days. A development such as this:
(This is Rebecca. Justine met her in Texas.)
is entirely appropriate and even prudent behavior. Say NO to unicorns, people! Unicorns are DANGEROUS. Like drugs! And not wearing your seatbelt. If you see a unicorn, back carefully in the other direction! (Do not run. The unicorn can catch you.) Climb a tree. Get away from open windows. Hide yourself in the middle of a crowd of more tender, delicious-looking people. If you don’t, this might be what happens to you:
I applaud both Rebecca and Justine for pointing out these important safety tips.
Let’s see, what else? Oh, I bought a stack of books — doing my part to save the world, you know. I also read some, being stuck in bed with little more than a warm sleepy puppy and a box of tissues to keep me company. I read THE HUNGER GAMES (believe the hype — it’s fabulous!) and Mari Mancusi’s newest, GAMER GIRL. I loved them both, though they are nothing alike. THE HUNGER GAMES was a riveting, harsh, horrific dystopian adventure, and GAMER GIRL was an adorable, light contemporary romance. Having spent several hours talking video games with Marianne, I was unsurprised to find her spot-on account of gaming, but I was impressed so much by her ability to turn the premise into an engaging real life love story. It’s like The Shop Around the Corner, but with MMORPGs. So cute. I think it’s my favorite book of hers and I’m wondering when Disney is going to snap up those rights. (There’s also a lot of manga talk in the story, but I know more about WOW than I do about manga or anime, so…)
Also, she makes fun of unicorns. Tsk, tsk, Marianne…
Unicorns as a metaphor? For what exactly? Tooth decay? Give me a break. They are a beastie entirely without resonance.
Au contraire, mon Aussie amie! Also, fie! There are very few monsters with more allegorical resonance than the unicorn. Alchemists actually used the unicorn in their pictoral language as a symbol of purity, of femininity, and of fertility. As a phallic symbol the unicorn can’t be beat. Carl Jung, who was a big fan of the idea of symbols belonging to the collective unconsciousness, was downright obsessed with the unicorn and its place in alchemical literature. He says, “The virgin represents the passive feminine aspect while [the unicorn] is the wild, rampant masculine force.” (And really, that only scrapes the surface of what Jung said about the unicorn, but I’m sure you can imagine a lot more.)
In the early Christian church, the unicorn was represented (due to mentions in Psalms) as possessing health and strength. It is alternately aligned with Christ (whereby the image of the unicorn and virgin would be an allegory for the Pietas, or the dying unicorn/Christ in the lap of the Virgin) or, more specifically, the unicorn and virgin were a symbol of Mary having conceived by The Holy Spirit, which is a slightly more sexualized take on the matter.
The unicorn-as-Christ metaphor linked with the unicorn-as-symbol-of-Holy-Spirit belief was prevalent throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance. During this time, it was believed that animals with strong symbolic connotations actually possessed certain abilities. (Think about how people even now in some parts of the world will consume parts of a rhinoceros or tiger — both which are symbols of virility — in a belief that it will increase their sexual prowess.) If a unicorn was aligned with Christ, who everyone knew could heal the sick, raise the dead, transform water into wine, etc — woudl not having a piece of a unicorn do the same thing? Unicorn horns were thought to cure disease, purify wells, neutralize poisons. Unicorns, like virgins, were symbols of purity, which was why the unicorn would be attracted to or only tamed by a virgin.
Due to this inextricable link between the unicorn and the virgin, it became commonplace for the symbol of the unicorn to appear in a portrait of a woman in order to advertise her virginity. Nowadays, on dating sites, you see a picture of a woman and underneath, her stats: age, interests, occupation. Back then, portraits were painted of woman that did the same thing in an allegorical language. You may see a picture of a woman wearing a particular color or holding a flower (symbolizing her family crest), wearing jewelry or sitting in front of a backdrop of the land she would bring into the marriage as dowry. It was popular to include a unicorn in said picture, as if to say, “And she’s a virgin, too!”
Take this picture, painted by Raphael (SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER: This picture plays a big part in my book.)
This was painted as part of a betrothal contract, and sent to the groom and his family as proof of what they were getting. Pretty girl, totally untouched. See the unicorn? What other proof do you need?
UPDATE!!!
Justine has issued the following fighting words on her blog:
“Maybe in the olden days, Diana. But I don’t know if you noticed: this isn’t the olden days. No one allegories or alchemises no more. Unicorns are metaphorically as dead as the dodo.”
And again I say, not so!
Metaphors change over time. As Simon Pegg explains (and as Carrie Ryan will pontificate on to anyone who holds still for long enough), zombies were originally a Caribbean islander metaphor for slavery. More than “the walking dead” zombies were mindless slaves controlled by a voodoo master. It is only more recently, thanks to George Romero (who was strongly influenced by the vampire book, I Am Legend), that zombies became a metaphor for the spread of pandemics — the cannibalistic, brain eating, walking dead we know and love today.
The unicorn as metaphor has changed over time too. Retaining its original symbol of purity and innocence, the modern unicorn is now a symbol of childlike innocence and fantasy. this was an especially prevalent idea in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Unicorns were a common motif in psychedelic artwork, where they were a stand in for hallucinations. The horn was occasionally likened to the opening of the “third eye” in transcendentalism, and overall of the embrace of fantasy and of innocence as a powerful and positive lifestyle choice. The plot of The Last Unicorn is in large part a parable of the end of fantasy. In Legend and Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone, unicorns are so aligned with goodness and purity that only the most evil of beings (Tim Curry as the Devil int eh former, and Lord Voldemort in the latter) would ever think to harm one. Unicorns are also used facetiously as a stand in for fantasy and innocence in the sense of “You’re living in a dream world.” Only yesterday, popular blogger and science fiction writer John Scalzi encouraged folks to get real about their expectations of the future president: “Barack Obama does not fart cinnamon-scented rainbows. He is not trailed by angels and unicorns.”
But perhaps you think this only further justifies the argument that unicorns have been taken out of the equation in terms of their ability to induce terror. Unciorns have been so embraced as good and innocent and pure and blahblah that they are, in fact, toothless, while zombies are still scary. I will concede that point to you. (See, I can reach across the aisle!) Which is why I attempt to reclaim unicorns in my book. Because they are big beasts and they have a spear attached to their foreheads.
Oh, and they run. FAST. Take that, you shuffling, shambling, death-symbol. Unicorns aren’t the death that creeps up on you. It’s the one that pounces and spears you right through the gut.
According to my friend Justine, whose fabulous new book, How to Ditch Your Fairy, is in stores today, I am a cynical pessimist who really needs to lighten up and look on the bright side.
Okay. Fine:
I love this commercial. I love the Discovery Channel. I love the actual channel, and I love the company itself, for its hard work in the name of science love and for its pivotal role in the revitalization of my town. If all commercials were this good, I might watch TV. But most of them are political lies these days.
Oh, crap! There goes that cynical pessimism again.
Hmmmm, now what will put me in a good mood? I know! How about a delicious new novel set in a world where everyone has their own personal fairy. How about giving away a copy of this amazing book?
I was lucky enough to be an early reader for this novel, back when it was being called “the great Australian feminist young adult Elvis mangosteen monkey knife-fighting cricket fairy novel.” No, really. When Justine sent it to me, all I knew was that she’d written a fairy book. Having just finished Holly Black’s wonderful books, I was expecting dark, brooding urban fantasy fairies.
Not so much. Justine’s fairies are one part “savvy” or “grace“, one part Pullman daemon, and one part guardian angel. And Charlie, a basketball and cricket player at New Avalon Sports High, really, really wants to get rid of hers. I was utterly charmed by this book, and instantly told everyone I could how great it was, and what would our fairies be.
Justine is on her publication tour right now, so if you’re in California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan, Missouri, or Texas, make sure to check her out!
I’m so glad that the rest of the world finally has an opportunity to read this book! Go grab your copy today, or, leave your comment on this post to be entered into a drawing to win one of two copies of HOW TO DITCH YOUR FAIRY.
UPDATED on 9.17: THE CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. PLEASE SEE 9.17 BLOG POST FOR WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT AND NEW GIVEAWAY!
“Come on, Hiro,” she said. “Unicorns aren’t real, and I know stuff about them. Like… they have horns on their foreheads. And they can fly!”
Hiro groaned. “No, that’s Pegasus that flies. Unicorns just have a horn.”
Now, I ask you. What can that possibly be except a shout-out to yours truly?
Take that, Justine. Guess we know where your old man falls on that all important unicorn/zombie divide. I’ve yet to see a zombie reference in this novel. Also, thanks Scott, for clearing up the confusion, even if we do have to wait until the future.
However, I must disagree. Unicorns are real. And they are very, very dangerous…
Anyway, I met my editor, Kerri, for what I’m sure we shall remember in the future as a legendary breakfast, and we talked about books and went over the full cover of Tap & Gown, which I love! Then I went back to work on those pesky page proofs, discovered a huge continuity error in my book, called Carrie Ryan to have a panic attack over it (she calmed me down, thanks Carrie) and returned to DC with Bennett Madison in tow.
