the Luck Child, again--

Yesterday I wanted a kiss from the Luck Child, and today I have got it--a gorgeous glory of a review in Strange Horizons from that wonderful reviewer who always sees what no other reviewer sees, Tom Atherton of Wales. It's strong and wide-ranging and full of insight, delineating aspects of the book I like to see revealed. (He's even got a few criticisms, and I can tell you that he's the sort of reviewer whose remarks I will remember, next time I am revising a novel.)

Earlier he wrote an equally insightful review of Thaliad (and he begins this review with Thaliad) that pleased me very much--even, I can say, enlightened me. I am infinitely grateful to him for the results of his story-mining and contemplation.

I have sometimes doubted that beauty and perception can find their reward in our culture of trend and frantic change and celebrity. The fact that Strange Horizons has picked up Tom Atherton as a reviewer is heartening.

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In more Luck Child news, most or all of my marked galley pages turned out to be not lost forever but scattered about "in the mail bin."

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Images in this post: Art for Glimmerglass (Mercer, 2014) by Clive Hicks-Jenkins of Wales, book design by Mary-Frances Glover Burt of Georgia. Art for Thaliad (Phoenicia, 2012) by Clive as well, with design by Andrew Wakelin, also of Wales. May I just confess that I love Wales?

Making a list, checking it twice

Snitched from twitter: reviewer Tomcat's list of his favorite books of 2013, in no particular order--and yet I like the order very well. He reviewed the book here:


And now I must go off to sing and read and serve, and so I wish you a wonderful Christmas Eve and Day, however you spend the time.

The Dormouse Round-up

Why is a raven like a writing-desk?

People have come up with a lot of ingenious answers over the years to the Mad Hatter's nonsense question--as a child, I thought it must be "quills." I had forgotten Lewis Carroll's own, much later answer in an introduction: “Because it can produce a few notes, tho they are very flat; and it is nevar put with the wrong end in front!” Evidently the first typesetter corrected "nevar" and spoiled the pun part of the answer. In a proper Carrollian world, Tweedledum and Tweedledee's monstrous crow would have come flapping after him.

Lady Word of Mouth: Locus

Tomcat's wonderful review of Thaliad has been picked up by Locus Blinks--so very rare to see such a thing as a long, adventurous story in verse in the realm of Locus, even as a "blink." I'm glad. Lady Word of Mouth can be kind. In his wide-ranging review, Tomcat argued that Thaliad shouldn't just belong to poetry/literary readers but should be welcomed by the science fiction and fantasy world. I thank him and Locus.

The February Lightspeed

is now available in toto as an ebook here. I have a story reprint and an interview in the issue. Both will also be available for free later in the month.

Dummy-moi

I have finally noticed the feature element at Scribd. Either I didn't know what I was doing the first time I uploaded, or things have changed considerably in a year. I think the page looks rather appealing with its new bells and whistles.

The Friday tea party

Mad Hatter says, "Nobody but the Dormouse reads posts on a Friday. Whatever are you doing here? Move three seats along the table, make a cutting (hair-cutting, preferably) personal remark, and slosh me up a cup of tea."

At Scribd and in the Red Room...

THE RED ROOM

"The Red Room" makes me think of Jane Eyre, flung inside to contemplate her wicked behavior... But nothing bad happens to me there; in fact tomcatintheredroom (Tom of Cardiff, we might also call him, it seems) has written a long, marvelous review of Thaliad that reminded me of things about the adventure that I had forgotten and also suggested ideas that I had thought about only in the strange, immersed-yet-outpouring way one thinks when making a poem.

Please go read the whole sparkly thing! I'm tempted to review the review because it was full of illuminating passages about sources, novel vs. epic, Gabriel and the fall from innocence, the tension between future setting and traditional form, the reason why it can get away with a name like Thaliad (despite nervily invoking classical epic adventures), the Hicks-Jenkins art, the poetic form, readability, inventiveness and exuberance, and more. I'm grateful to him for striking out in so many different directions, and for understanding so well what I sought to do so.

If you have a comment, please leave it there. Comments off.

SCRIBD

Lots of Thaliad images, excerpts, and comments are now up at Scribd. (The first chapter of A Death at the White Camellia Orphanage is still there as well.) Please take a look and enjoy! Find more about the book (as well as how to get a copy) on my Thaliad page or at Elizabeth Adams' Phoenicia Publishing.