So I’m battened down for Hurricane Irene and then we were without power for four days. It’s tedious and after the first flush of “we’re all in this together” — it’s easy to get bitter when the next street over gets power back and we’re still in the dark. In the midst of all this negativity, my lovely publicist, Lara Starr, sends me this review from Sue at Bookshelf: What We’re Reading. It totally brightened my day (and not coincidentally I’m sure, the power came back on!)
Enjoy!
The Maiden’s Court is a lovely blog that focuses on historical fiction. I always find a new book to read here. I was so pleased that Heather liked Prisoners in the Palace. She gave it 4.5/5! Check out her review here.
Sam at 10.3 Bookblog just wrote the most heartfelt and enjoyable review of my debut novel that I’ve ever read. I was smiling the whole time. Sam is my target reader — a young lady who HATES History (she even thinks the word is boring). But after she read Prisoners in the Palace (and despite feeling like a nerd) she actually looked up Queen Victoria. Great review and I think Sam is Awe-Spiring too!
Well, actually under a very nice tent on a lovely night. The Sharon Library invited 30 authors to come and sign books. The event was ticketed and was a fundraiser for the library. This is the first (but not the last I hope) year I did this so I didn’t know what to expect. Imagine how excited I was to find myself between two authors I admire greatly… Ann Brashare (does anyone need to borrow a traveling pant?) and Jennifer Donnelly who wrote two of my favorite books, A Northern Light and Revolution. I went home inspired…. I’ve got a deadline looming and if I want to write nearly as well as they do… I’ve got to get cracking! (And did I mention Henry Kissinger was there?)
Alas, not a great picture. Still can't get the hang of the blackberry!
I’m a NPR junkie. I admit it. I’ll even listen to Science Friday (which is way outside my comfort zone). At the end of every episode they feature a video of the week (which is ironic on radio — kids take note if you want to know what irony is).
Last week it was about cephalopods (octopus, cuttle fish and squid) and how they are masters of illusion. They have thousands of little nodes on their body that never sleep and can adjust to changes in their environment within a second. These guys can change their skin texture — a lesson to writers everywhere who write about skin crawling, or goosebumps — and they don’t do it by touch but by SIGHT. They are master observers of nature. But it turns out they don’t completely change — they change just enough to fool whatever is looking at it. Which implies that the world may not really be the way we see it. It’s what the world want us to see it. As my daughter likes to say about anything that blows her mind… “INCEPTION!”
Seriously, watch this clip. It’s amazing.
