And just like that, you get a day where things actually start to happen.
First up, an excellent phone call from the agent in which nothing concrete has happened yet, but many promising signs are on the horizon. If I had something to share I would, but right now it's just nice to know that lots of folks are asking about the book. And get this - many of them are contacting my agent because they have heard about me via this site and Bookslut. How cool is that? (And something to think about for all those who wonder if blogging is a good thing for a writer to do.)
The review for the airspace law book is off and accepted to Booklist. One less review to think about and now all of the books I had for the September issues are gone (6 books reviewed in that group - words on the environment, Antarctica, aviation, Iraq and walking. Lots of reading there.)
I have neglected mentioning my new column up at Bookslut. This is a summer reading column - lots of fun words geared towards teens looking for books to while away the lazy days with. I will be interviewing Mayra Lazra Dole, author of Down to the Bone, for the WBBT this November and highly recommend that book. It works on so many levels but truly dazzles for GLBT teens.
Other than the Hilary McKay book (the last Casson title and wonderful, of course) I have not seen much anywhere about the other books I reviewed. While I'm happy to bang a drum for overlooked works, I wish that was not the case with these books. You have a wonderful mystery (The Postcard), a historic romance from the 1960s (Come in From the Cold), Mayra's wonderful coming-of-age title about losing love and finding yourself (and finding a family), Barbara Shoup's stellar - STELLAR - Wish You Were Here. This is the book for kids from broken/remarried/mixed together families. But it's also way more than that and just fabulous.
Salt Water Taffy is a very fun gn for the younger set (boys will adore it in particular) and I have two great anthologies - one of SF stories and one of westerns. (Yes - westerns! With Barry Lopez engravings!)
I ran today and did not die. Thank you Murakami. (Yes, I am chanting "suffering is optional" about halfway through; if he could do it, I can do it.)
Good books I'm reading? How about Thomas Wharton's Icefields, the People's Choice Award for Canada Reads this year and a book quite reminiscent of Michael Ondaatje (but less confusing) and Andrea Barrett. Here's the description:
During an expedition to the Arcturus glacier in 1898, British doctor Edward Byrne falls into a crevasse and spies something magical in the ice. While convalescing in the remote settlement of Jasper, he begins to grasp that the mysteries of this landscape are mirrored in its unusual inhabitants.
In his travels, Dr. Byrne uncovers near-mythical tales about the area and meets other eccentrics caught up in their own quests. He also becomes enamoured with Elspeth, a woman who shares his obsession with the things that lie hidden in the ice.
Told through a mixture of journal entries, clippings, scientific notes and letters, the novel blends history with fiction to tell a dazzling story of a singular place and time.
I reviewed another Wharton title, The Logogryph a few years ago and it remains one of the most original and startling books I've ever read; I loved it. (You have to read it to the end when it reveals itself to be more than you thought.)
Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book really is that good; his usual smart and creepy storytelling. This guy just does not disappoint and teens in particular will love it.
Kelly Link's Pretty Monsters will open her to legions of more fans. I read "Monster" last night and it freaked me out as much as "The Specialist's Hat" - and that's saying something. I have only the title story left to read and I'm sure I'll love it. Between her and Margo Lanagan, teens who love thoughtful fantasy that works on multiple levels are really finding themselves in luck. (And Kij Johnson and Ellen Klages and I could go on and on.)
Both of these books will be in my "October Country" column.
Charles de Lint has a new book due out this winter from Tor: The Mystery of Grace. It is not set in Newford but rather the southwest. A bit from the catalog:
Grace works at Sanchez Motors, customizing hot rods. A few blocks around her small apartment building is all her world - from the grocery store where she buys beans, tamales, and cigarettes, to the library, the little record shop, and the Solona Music Hall. Which is where she meets John Burns, just two weeks too late.
Prime Books is reissuing the adult fairy tale series edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. I read two stories in Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears last night and was reminded all over again why some authors are so very very good. They can take an old story (Beauty and the Beast in one case) and revitalize it in a way that makes it pretty much a new story - still owing a bit to the original but unique in its own right.
Basically, that Tanith Lee is really really good.
Reviews coming of some New Orleans books, some toon graphic novels, some scary books and a wonderful coming-of-age story that tackles all those issues of class that we were talking about last month.
Tonight I have to write a one page biography of my life. While it makes perfect sense to me, I can imagine more than one editor wondering how I co-own an aircraft leasing company and also review teen books while writing about polar exploration topics on the side. Maybe I'm just four or five people sharing the same body?
[Post pic of Murakami running]
