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Yesterday I promised to tell you all about how a music video inspired the cover for For Darkness Shows the Stars.
But that’s not entirely true.
When we last left our tale, I had been sending pictures of starscapes to my editor in hopes that it would inspire the art department. Time passed, as time does when you’re waiting to hear about the publication of a book that’s been moved back three spans because you went and had yourself a baby that totally threw off your production schedule.
Which is to say: like a glacier.
Then, one day, I was watching TV, and I saw a music video. The music video for the song, “E.T.” by Katy Perry. And, in this music video was an image that I loved. An image that I thought would make a very fitting cover for my novel.
It was not this one, in case you’re wondering:
Too much nudity (this is a JANE AUSTEN-INSPIRED YA, y’all) and too many weird faun legs.
Nor was it this one:
Because… wow, the hair. And oosh, the makeup. And of course, blue Kanye. I mean, AWESOME, right, but not really in keeping with my farm girl heroine.
Anyway, I digress. There was an image in there that I found really inspiring. And I said to myself.
“I would like the cover of For Darkness Shows the Stars to look like this Kay Perry video.”
I thought to myself, I should send this along to my editor.
And my husband, Sailor Boy, who is a wise and practical man, said, “Darling, think about this for a minute. Katy Perry is a paragon of bubblegum pop. She has been known to dress like this:
“She is not, for whatever reason, regarded as highly as an artiste as another current bubblegum-pop shilling, outrageously-costumed rockstar. (Even though you, Diana, actually prefer Katy’s music.) I am sure this non naked-butt-nor-faun-leg-nor-blue besunglassed-Kanye image that you claim to have found during the ‘E.T.’ video is lovely and classy and all that, but do you really think the best thing to say to your editor about your book, your lyrical, partly-epistolary, layered tome about class struggles and social justice and genetic engineering set against a post-apocalyptic landscape, a book that you based on a classic work of the Western canon, is ‘I want the cover to look like a Katy Perry video?’”
And I looked at my husband and knew he was right.
Later that day, I got in the car and turned on the radio, and lo, what was playing, but “E.T.” And these are the lyrics I heard:
They say be afraid
You’re not like the others, futuristic lover
Different DNA
They don’t understand you
You’re from a whole other world
A different dimension
You open my eyes
And I’m ready to go, lead me into the light.
Divorced from the video (in which Katy seems to be the alien; you know, with the faun legs and the gills and the flying through space), the words took on a whole new meaning, one I thought resonated with Elliot. (Yes, these are the things I think about when I’m in the car listening to pop music. About whether or not the lyrics match the mindset of my main characters.) Like the singer, Elliot has been taught to fear the future, and the person who embodies it for her.
(In passing, in college, I once wrote an academic analysis of a Shania Twain song. Pop is poetry, people.)
I could not get the song out of my head. I mentally added it to my ongoing For Darkness Shows the Stars playlist.
When I next spoke to my editor, I thought to myself, “Hey, Kristin’s got a good sense of humor. She’s young. She’s hip. She’ll laugh if I point out how the a Katy Perry song remind me of my book.”
And, during that conversation, I was all, “Heh, heh, you’ll get such a laugh out of this — I mean, I know it sounds so silly and all, but I was watching the music video and I saw this one image, and I thought, wow, wouldn’t that be awesome on the cover? Hee, hee, a Katy Perry video.”
I sent her the screenshot.
Silence.
Then, “Actually, Diana, this kind of does look like the comp for the cover.”
These are the thoughts that proceeded to go through my head:
What? Awesome! Wait, what? Oh no, my cover is going to look like a Katy Perry video.
Be careful what you wish for, folks. That’s all I’m saying.
A few days later, as I was hiking through the woods with Rio and my friend Erica Ridley, I got an email from my editor with said comp attached.
“I can’t look, Erica,” I said, thrusting my smartphone away from me. “You do it.”
She looked. And then she passed it over to me.
It was hard to see, on the phone, on the trail, in the glare of the bright sunlight. But it was very promising, which is great for a comp (which is publisher-speak for a “mock-up” of the cover, using the art, but usually unphotoshopped, and without the final fonts).
And, yes, it looked a little bit like the image from the Katy Perry video.
Tomorrow, I’ll be showing y’all the cover, and you can judge for yourself.
Yes, tomorrow. Because I’m a terrible tease.
On the radio this morning, the DJ was talking about how there are now fantasy bowhunting leagues, like fantasy football leagues. How neat is that?
Of course, I already have a fantasy bowhunting league. It consists of Astrid, Cory, Valerija, Melissende, Grace, Dorcas, Ursula, Ilesha, Zelda, and Wen.
I’m sorry for my lack of substantive posts of late. I’m hard at work. I’m writing a new story (a unicorn story), and my new book, codename PIMP (which is hilarious — the codename, not the book, though the book does have some LOLs in it), and planning Queenie’s birthday party.
I know, I can’t believe she’s almost one year old, either.
Mostly spoiler-free:
- Wow, I forgot how much of a psychotic jackass my fictional-boyfriend Logan really is.
- You know where you lose Duncan as a character? Where he starts taking his pills again because he’d rather not think about how Lilly’s death “doesn’t add up.” So you have a few nightmares. Isn’t it worth it to actually question the lie everyone is living under? This is why no one likes Duncan. Because he runs from his problems where Veronica, explicitly, doesn’t.
- I really did forget how horrible Logan is. Bumfights. Holy crap.
- But I’m still on TeamLogan. The scene where he picks out the belt just slays me.
- Not to mention the scene where he makes the awesome Lilly video.
- You want to see psychopath? Duncan. Wow, Duncan. He honestly scares me.
- And once again, Duncan runs. TO CUBA!
- Why does Veronica still like him? Really?
- This adultery plotline is done SO well.
- Lilly might be the best dead character of all time. You know she knows what’s going on with Duncan, yet she’s trying not to get between them.
- Duncan and Lilly are the best secret keepers in this show. They don’t want to talk about things, even with the people they are closest too? They just don’t. Logan and Veronica, on the other hand, wear everything on their sleeves.
- I do wonder why Lilly didn’t tell Veronica she was sleeping with Weevil. Was she afraid goody two shoes Veronica would think she was a slut?Also filed under “I wonder”: Lilly and Veronica are best friends? Since Veronica’s personality WAS so different from Lilly’s. Also, Lilly was a year older. And were they best friends since before she started dating Duncan? Because then that’s super weird. (Actually, it’s weird if it was after, too.) No wonder Mrs. Kane was like “ENOUGH WITH VERONICA ALREADY, PEOPLE!!!!”
- Ah… Weapons of Class Destruction. Pause, rewind, watch again. Pause, rewind, watch again. One of the best kisses of all time.
- Dude, I also forgot how Veronica goes full bore thinking Logan killed Lilly. Lamb is right. She’s stone cold.
- Because girlie, if one of your boyfriends has it in him to murder and then skillfully hide it, it ain’t Logan.
- Poor Wallace. V walks all over him.
- I remember how shocked I was the first time I watched this.
- And the tears I cried at the settlement signing scene.
- I WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND WHY VERONICA LEAVES THE PARTY. What possible reason does she have for getting in a car alone and driving down a dark road. Just call the police. Oh wait,t eh governor’s at the party. The police are already IN THE HOUSE.
- Though she is savvy enough to get those tapes on the roof.
- CLIFFHANGER SEASON ENDING!
Season 2:
- I can see Veronica getting back together with Duncan… temporarily. Just because now it’s all over and they can. But I don’t see it lasting, even longer than a week. They have nothing in common and he’s a lump.
- Poor Meg. Poor Meg with a VERY flat belly in this scene.
- Why does Jackie talk like that? And walk like that? It’s not even fair to call it walking. She slinks.
- Seriously, Jackie has it right — Duncan and Veronica don’t belong together.
- I also don’t believe that, if they are together, they haven’t slept together. Given their history. And Duncan’s history.
- And, he’s being a total jerk to her about the crash.
- And he’s keeping secrets from her again. Seriously Veronica, this guy’s a peach. If you want to date an asshole, at least date an interesting one.
- I totally get why Veronica broke up with Logan in the summer, but in terms of the guys she falls for? Maybe Piz is a better choice after all. Because Duncan is both mean to her and totally lame besides. Plus he lies and keeps secrets from her. If he actually told her all the shit he was doing (and avoiding) she’d probably dump him just like Logan.
- Then again, Logan is sleeping with Cordelia Chase. So there is that.
That’s as far as I’ve gotten. I only did one disk of S2. But it’s interesting to see my take on it now, after a few years away. I don’t love Logan as much. But I find Duncan even creepier and more boring than I did before.
Some of you may have already seen the announcement, but my pal Carrie Ryan has sold an anthology of short stories.
From Publisher’s Marketplace:
NYT bestselling author Carrie Ryan, ed.’s FORETOLD, an anthology about prophecies and predictions featuring stories by Laini Taylor, Jen Lancaster, Meg Cabot, Richelle Mead, and Michael Grant among many others, to Krista Marino at Delacorte, for publication in Fall 2012, by Jim McCarthy at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.
I am also in said anthology, and so is:
Heather Brewer
Lisa McMann
Kami Garcia
Margaret Stohl
Matt de la Peña
Malinda Lo
and
Saundra Mitchell
My contribution is called “Burned Bright,” and it’s about a girl and a boy and the end of the world. And if you think you know what that means, I promise you, you don’t.
So that’s fall 2012. In spring of 2012, you’ll see “Foundlings” in BRAVE NEW LOVE, and in summer of 2012, “Stray Magic” in UNDER MY HAT. All I know about this last one is the release date is August, 2012, and some of my fellow contributors include Garth Nix, Jane Yolen, Tim Pratt, Ellen Kushner, Francis Hardinge, Patricia McKillip, and Mary Rickert.
All three are stand alone short stories, set in completely different worlds.
FORETOLD will be my second antho with Meg Cabot and my fourth with Carrie, since she’s also in BRAVE NEW LOVE. UNDER MY HAT will be my second antho with Garth Nix, and my second compiled by Jonathan Strahan, who also did the Best SF&F one.
There’s also TWO more, but all the deets on those are still a secret… except: they are unicorn stories.
You’re welcome.
I can’t believe it’s September already. Wow, time flies. This will be a quickie post, since I have two deadlines this week:
August Goals:
- Camp Nanowrimo: I did about 10k for this, then was forced to drop out to do copyedits of For Darknesss Shows the Stars, and I never picked it up again, However, I did manage to omplete a great new proposal. so yay.
- Copyedits of FDSTS: I killed these.
- Clean out flower garden and replant. Oops.
- Clean out closet and donate old clothes.
- Write short story #4: Almost done with this one.
- Finish babyproofing. As much as you’re ever really finished. She keeps finding new things to get into.
Blog: I blogged 16 times in August. Plus I guest-blogged twice. Not bad, y’all.
Rio: As the weather’s been more tolerable, Rio’s been getting a lot more long walks, though of course nothing like her pre-baby daily three mile hikes. I don’t know if those are ever coming back, sadly. The most she’s been getting lately are big hikes on the weekend, and shorter daily walks with a lot of ball-retrieving at a local park. Yesterday, we tried to go on a long hike as a family, but those of you who follow me on Twitter know how that turned out. First, it started raining, so we diverted our path from Great Falls to a local walking trail along Rock Creek. But then Q, who used to go on hour long hikes with me and Rio every day as a newborn, suddenly decided she was DONE sitting in her carrier and started screeching and wouldn’t stop until we packed up and went home.
This is how sibling rivalry starts, folks.
Garden: My garden gave up the ghost this month. I’m not sure why. The basil’s still going strong and I have a few peppers left, but although my tomato vines are as viney as ever, they’ve stopped producing tomatoes. I haven’t seen a tomato in weeks. I actually had to buy some from the store. (There are a few blossoms out there now, so I might still get a second harvest. Here’s hoping!)
Quality Time with Sailor Boy: I think this is where we fell down the most in August. We went out twice (once to see Attack the Block, which I highly recommend, and once for dinner for SB’s birthday) but in general, we each got really busy with work. We also started spending a lot more quality time with Queenie than with the two of us alone. We’re having a lot more family dinners now that Q is eating regular food, and we’re spending a few hours in the evening hanging out with her, playing games and reading books and playing music and singing. (She LOVES music and clapping right now.) I guess this is what happens.
For September:
- Get rid of unused furniture.
- Reorganize office.
- Hang up art.
- Take out bush in front yard.
- Plant bulbs.
- Finish short story #4.
- Finish essay.
- Write at least 15k of new book.
- Review and sign new contracts (!!!)
- Plan Q’s first birthday party.
- Buy tickets for NINC trip to Florida.
And the big list:
- Revise/finish my contracted novel.
- Write short story #1
- Write short story #2
- Write short story #3
- Write short story #4
- Write essay #1 (that’s this week)
- Write new proposal #1
- Write new proposal/book #2
- Go to one writing-related conference.
- Walk my dog.
- Plant a garden.
- Make sure I spend quality time with Sailor Boy.
- Do at least two home improvement projects.
- Cut our budget.
- Read at least one new novel per month.
Enna Isilee interviewed me as part of her Birthday Bash, and there’s a giveaway involved — plus MAD LIBS. How can you resist?
I have been reading with interest the recent flurry of blog posts (in the wake of the release of A Dance with Dragons*) dredging up that old battle of George R. R. Martin’s fans against George R. R. Martin that became internet-famous once Neil Gaiman told everyone to settle on down.
People get very attached to series. A recent sampling of my mail and twitter feed:
“I’m thoroughly confused! Help! The series is clearly a trilogy. Are you working on the last book? Is it done but not published? Oy vey! I need to know what happens!”
“Loved your killer unicorn series! i was just wondering if there would be another one.”
“Will there be a third book in the Unicorn series?”
“Where did you get the idea for both books? Will there possibly be a third book in the series? I was close to weeping when I finished Ascendant.”
“Will we be getting a third Killer Unicorns anytime soon? I want more Astrid in my life.”
And when I’m not getting mail about that, I’m getting mail asking me to write more secret stories, or possibly a fifth Secret Society Girl book. Or both.
Which is all very wonderful, and definitely makes my writerly day. I love that people are so invested in my series and in my work that they would not only read my books, but would take time out of their busy day** to ask me to write more. I thank you, Amy thanks you, Astrid thanks you, and Bonegrinder thanks you.
Fine, fine, fine. But what are the answers?
On Secret Society Girl: Amy’s story is complete. I will never say “never” about writing more about Amy (or more secret stories) but it will only happen when I feel like I have something more to say about her. Right now, I feel like the poor girl had a really tumultuous year and deserves some down time. Where do I think Amy is right now? I think she’s killing it in NYC.
On Killer Unicorns: Astrid’s story is not complete. Anyone who has read Ascendant can glean that. I’ve written before that I envisioned her story as a trilogy. I know what happens to her, and I even know the title of the conclusion.
I just don’t know when I’ll be writing it or publishing it.
I know this is disappointing to fans of that series. I have even gotten flak for it on the internet — some readers have called me “sloppy” or even “irresponsible” for daring to envision a book not under contract.*** There is a growing expectation, I think, that book series must not only appear one after another, with nothing in between, but they must also appear in quick succession — 12 months or less apart.
This is not always the case, however. Megan Whalen Turner’s excellent The Thief was first published in 1996, and the fourth book in that series, A Conspiracy of Kings, only came out in 2010. Lois Lowry’s The Giver was first published in 1993, followed by Gathering Blue in 2000 and Messenger in 2004. Maureen Johnson’s 2006 13 Little Blue Envelopes only saw its sequel published this year, after Maureen wrote heaps more books.
I could go on. The point is, authors do not always write solely in one series and sometimes there are delays between books — they might be due to publishers, or to writers, or to phases of the moon. And it was neither sloppy nor irresponsible of me to write the (fictional) truth of Astrid’s story, in all its elaborate, messy detail. What would have been is if I’d gone back into a completed (and copyedited) manuscript and changed it; cheated Astrid, and the story, and the readers into a rushed, pat, and false ending just so Ascendant could tie itself up in a pretty bow.
There’s a story I heard once about Michelangelo and I think about it often. Sometimes, Michelangelo’s statues would be missing parts — their arms or their feet or etc. When his clients would complain, he’d say it was the fault of the stone cutters back at the mountain. They were the ones who had carved out the blocks of stone he made into statues, and they had left the hands, etc. in the mountainside. Michelangelo believed the figures were already there, inside the stone, and he just freed them. He wasn’t going to change where the hands went just because that was the shape of the stone block that he had no control over.
Now, I’m not Michelangelo! But I can see his point, though, had I known, I probably would have chosen a different stone. For me, while carving, I had every reason in the world to believe that the statue would fit. But, to really pound this metaphor into the ground, the edges cracked off while I was halfway through my carving. And now I’m stuck wondering how best to tack on a new bit of stone.
And I’m aware that the reader doesn’t really care about any of that. For me, I’m thinking, “Wow, I have four short stories and two books out in 2012!” For a reader who is expecting KU3, however, it’s “When is Diana going to write the book I’m waiting for?”**** We both have totally valid reasons for wanting what we want, and I wish to reiterate that your enthusiasm for this series makes me so very, very happy.
I do hope we won’t have to wait for 6 years to see more killer unicorns. The thing is, it hasn’t actually been that long yet (less than a year), and the paperback of Ascendant hasn’t even come out. A lot of people didn’t start reading Rampant until the paperback came out. A lot of people didn’t start reading any of the series until they discovered killer unicorns by reading “Errant” or “The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn” in the three anthologies those stories appeared in (or by buying Errant online).***** And the paperback of Zombies vs. Unicorns (out this fall!) will hopefully lead even more people to discover the series.
And I do spend a lot of time thinking about the books and strategizing about how to make them happen. I’m actually writing another killer unicorn short story right now, so I’m still very invested in this world and as soon as the right opportunity to finish Astrid’s story presents itself, I’ll be all over it.
I’m just waiting for the right block of stone.
In the meantime, I have a lot of non-killerunicornsthree work going on:
- For Darkness Shows the Stars, a post-apocalyptic retelling of Persuasion: (Balzer &Bray, summer 2012)
- “Stray Magic” in Under My Hat: Tales from the Cauldron, ed. by Jonathan Strahan, (Random House, August 2012)
- “Foundlings” in Brave New Love, ed. by Paula Guran (Running Press Kids, ~winter 2011)******
- two other short stories in anthologies whose titles and publication dates are very far from being announced.
I have one other full-length book under contract right now, with Balzer & Bray. It will be a YA novel. That’s all I can say about it right now, mostly because my editor and I haven’t talked about it yet. I have a pretty good idea of what I want it to be, though I want my editor’s input and insight on the matter as well.
So there’s the complete status of my publishing schedule. I am sorry if it disappoints some of you. I was also disappointed when I learned that Astrid’s story would be incomplete for a while, but since that happened in January of 2010, I’ve had time to get used to the idea (plus I was busy with FDSTS and that whole making-a-baby thing).So yeah, Astrid & co. = on hold but not dead; killer unicorns = still going; more fiction by me = gangbusters. All in all, I’m happy.
___________________________
* Also, I only just now this minute realized that the TV show Game of Thrones is based on this book series, which I guess I hadn’t realized because the book series is called A Song of Ice and Fire and only the title of the first one is A Game of Thrones. Which is so very HBO (Hello, True Blood).
** I’m so behind on answering mail. I should put that on my To Do list, too.
*** This is patently ridiculous, given that 99% of books were envisioned and written not under contract.
**** Can you imagine the folks who wish I’d stop it with the killer unicorns and write more chick lit? They’re really bummed. I get those emails, too. And believe me, I’d love to! As soon as I can sell some.
***** Wow, I really need to update my website, too!
****** This is a tentative release date. This anthology has been through the wringer. (Ringer? I never know which one that is.) Anyway, now there’s an edited line-up, a new editor, and a promise to donate proceeds to a shelter for homeless gay youth, so I’m very happy to be part of this collection!
A few months ago, I had the great pleasure of meeting Alethea Kontis, an amazing speculative fiction and children’s book writer, and last month, she posted an interview we did on her blog. Due to my crazy schedule, I totally missed linking to it until today. I now rectify my error.
Click here to hear about my favorite food and drinks, my love of Macs, life with baby, and some exclusive news about For Darkness Shows the Stars…
Another killer busy month here. I did another (final) rewrite on my Post-apocalyptic Persuasion book that ate up all of May. I had a slew of houseguests. I hung out with SB, Rio, and Q. I watched my garden wither and ::knockwood:: bounce back.
So, to catch y’all up from May:
Writing: Didn’t accomplish any of my May writing goals, since instead I rewrote the ending of my book. But now it’s done. My goal for this month is to finally do short story #3 and get started on a new proposal.
Home: I rearranged my kitchen, and helped SB take out one huge ungainly bush and trim all the others, and finally unpacked and shelved every book in my house. YAY! There wasn’t any *big* change this month, but enough little things to make a difference to me. What happened is once Q started crawling around and I took in the set-up through baby proofing eyes, I realized it was silly to keep all my pretty, fragile china teacups in a cupboard that she could reach with her little baby fingers WHILE displaying on a decorative shelf all of the valves and whatnot of her plastic bottle collection. I don’t know what I was thinking. I blame new-infant sleep deprivation insanity. So, one little switcheroo later:
Pretty, huh? If only it weren’t too hot for tea. My home improvement projects for this month include: finish cleaning out my closet (I skipped pruning last year because it was too depressing while in maternity-wear), babyproof, put in the rocks around the AC units near the patio, clean out the flower garden and replant, and do something about the Ent.
Blog: Sadface. But, I’m already doing better in June!
Quality Time with SB: We took walks every afternoon with Rio and the bebe. It was a whole family time fun thing. We even took the baby swimming for the first time. She loved it!
Rio: See above. She’s still sick. Now the vet thinks it’s some kind of food allergy, which I suspect is related to the fact that Q thinks it’s HILARIOUS to give Rio all her food. Maybe she’s allergic to DHA, which I swear they put in every darn baby food on the market. I found fish oil in Queenie’s YOGURT the other day. Are you kidding me? YOGURT?
Garden: Well, after my pathetic garden post from last week, I redoubled my efforts and I think I may have turned it around. My garden (sans zucchini, which I didn’t plant this year) now looks a lot more like the one from 2010. Yay for tomato food. The plants are higher than my office windowsill now. I also planted a small “garden annex” on the inside of the fence and put three sweet peppers (which are hanging on) and one squash (which I don’t think is) in there. I hope to get some tomatoes next month. Fingers crossed!
And, the big list:
- Revise/finish my contracted novel.
- Write short story #1
- Write short story #2
- Write short story #3
- Write short story #4
- Write new proposal #1
- Write new proposal/book #2
- Go to one writing-related conference.
- Walk my dog.
- Plant a garden.
- Make sure I spend quality time with Sailor Boy.
- Do at least two home improvement projects.
- Cut our budget.
 Now available as an iTunes app (iBook) for your Apple device. Yay!
Also newly available at the Diesel ebook store. And of course, still for sale at Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords (in pretty much any format your little heart desires). Read a free sample here.
In 18th century France, a noble family prepares to celebrate their daughter’s arranged marriage by holding a traditional unicorn hunt. But when an unusual nun arrives at the chateau with her beloved pet to help the rich girl train, nothing goes as expected. Starring hunters, fine ladies, fancy frocks, and killer unicorns. A 2010 Locus Recommended Read.
Also, I just ran across this great review of it:
“Surely an anthology is the perfect opportunity to attract new readers?
“Diana Peterfreund’s Errant is a stunning example of how to do this – it lasts just over 30 pages but packs in as much character development as some novels do, and is the perfect introduction to Peterfreund’s world of unicorn hunters. This is the story I mentioned earlier as rivalling The Spy Who Never Grew Up for my favourite in the collection, by the way. Similarly, Rachel Vincent’s Fearless is a prequel to her Soul Screamers universe. Mara Sabine, who feeds on people’s nightmares, is sent to a juvenile detention centre – but has to try and work out why no-one there is having bad dreams. She’s an author who was completely unfamiliar to me prior to this anthology but, like Peterfreund, is one I’ll be eagerly seeking out in the future.”
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