I’m starting a new email list for book news and updates. If you’d like in, you can join here:
Basically, it’s really easy to miss things on the Internet, so this list is for anyone who wants to be sure they don’t skip the important stuff. (Or at least, the important stuff as it relates to me and my books.)
I’ll keep posting more frequent updates here (along with a whole bunch of other stuff) here, too, of course!
1. I’m GoH (Guest of Honor) at TusCon 41, October 31-November 2, 2014. I’d be delighted if you could join me!
2. SFWA members can nominate 2013 books for the Norton and Nebula awards from now until February 15. If you’re so inclined, Faerie After is among the many fine books that are eligible this year.
3. “Drawing the Moon” will be a short film this summer, directed by Chelsea Garland. Check out the movie’s facebook page for updates.
My short story “Drawing the Moon” is being adapted into a short film by Chelsea Garland–details on the movie’s facebook page. “Drawing the Moon” originally appeared in Bruce Coville’s Book of Nightmares.
Elizabeth DiFiore created a series of images inspired my short story “Tearing Down the Unicorns”–see her art here. “Tearing Down the Unicorns” first appeared in another Bruce Coville anthology, A Glory of Unicorns.
It’s so easy for it to feel like the things we write are “through” within a few weeks or months or maybe a year after we release them into the world. I love these reminders that everything we create echoes out far beyond that.
Takes on Faerie After from Shorewood Library, Faerie Winter from Random Amber, and Bones of Faerie from Nerdy Enough and Randomly Reading and Ranting.
I’ve been taking the past few months off from traveling/conferences/speaking (though I was very sorry to miss everyone at Sirens!) for some much needed retreat/vacation/book-finishing/well-charging time, but will be around and about again in November:
Saturday, November 2, 1-2 p.m.
Signing at Mostly Books
6208 E Speedway Blvd
Tucson, Arizona
Perfect for some early holiday shopping–plus, it’s the day before my birthday, so there’ll be cookies/cake, too!
Friday-Sunday, November 8-10
TusCon Science Fiction Convention
Hotel Tucson City Center
475 N Granada Ave
Tucson, Arizona
I’ll be reading Friday night at 9 p.m.–come join me!
Faerie After (aka, the final book of the Bones of Faerie trilogy) has been out for a couple months now. As for the entire series, I’ve been careful to avoid spoilers when talking about the books.
Except here.
This is a place for spoilery discussion of all three books: questions, thoughts, things you just want to chat about. I might share a few thoughts of my own about the writing process for the final book that I haven’t been able to talk about other places because of spoilers, too.
I’ll check in regularly, so do jump in, now or later!
I’ll be signing in your city tomorrow! (Saturday.)
When: Saturday, July 27, 1-3 p.m.
Who: Sara Wilson Etienne and Janni Lee Simner
Where: Hastings at 840A Juan Tabo NE in Albuquerque, NM
Stop by and say hi!
I love the mix of post-apocalyptic dystopia and fantasy in this series. Love, love, love! … This is what speculative fiction does that realistic fiction doesn’t do as well. It makes us think we are getting a fun story, and then there’s a twist and we realize we are suddenly looking at ourselves in a new, and not always so happy way.
In the Bones of Faerie trilogy, one of the differences between the town protagonist Liza grows up in and the town the young healer Allie grows up in is that Allie’s town was quicker to value magic than Liza’s was, for all the dangers magic holds.
Another difference is that Allie’s town values storytelling, which any writer or reader will tell you is almost the same thing.
So it’s not surprising that it falls to Allie to tell Liza the first half of the story of the Faerie realm’s First Tree, which she’s learned from the fey in her town, at a point in the story where they’re both in need of a distraction.
And I keep thinking that story makes for a nice excerpt.
**** excerpt / mild Faerie After spoilers ahead ****
“Simner has a way of connecting you to her characters on an intimate level. Their struggles with each other could very well mirror your own struggles with loved ones … Simner has a deft skill at writing characters I can directly relate to.”
“Janni Lee Simner has a gift for moving a plot along at a relentless pace but making it feel whispered and ethereal. Her books are tantric, but rather than emptying you of emotion these pages fill you up … you cannot disbelieve the story—no matter how fantastic—when wrapped in its magical web.”
VOYA also reviews Faerie After this month:
“Fans of the first two novels of this series will be delighted to read the wrap-up to this trilogy … Liza continues to be a strong female protagonist, and the supporting cast of characters, both faerie and human, are well drawn and interesting. Besides the suspense of survival, this story also explores the themes of use and abuse of powers and talents. This is a satisfying finish to the Bones of Faerie trilogy that both junior and senior high students will be eager to read.”
“Faerie Winter exceeded my expectations for a sequel! I felt about it the same way I did Bones of Faerie. That it was a great story and by the end I would have been satisfied if I learned there wasn’t going to be another book. Lucky for me its a trilogy but even better that each book thus far in this trilogy has done such a stellar job of standing on it’s own legs.”