Wow, I’m so pleased by the overwhelmingly positive response to the cover of Magic’s Child both here and in emails. Yay! Nice to not be alone in the liking.
A bunch of quessie were asked in that comment thread. Here are the answers:
- Magic’s Child will be out in March 2007 at the same time as the paperback of Magic Lessons.
- Magic! Magic! Magic! Oi! Oi! Oi! was never going to be the title. It was a placeholder name until we came up with a title that fits the book (so glad you all agree that Magic’s Child is that title). Magic Lessons was also known as M!M!M!O!O!O! until the real title came along.
- If one day I write a book that’s set in Oz and is funny and about magic I will definitely call it Magic! Magic! Magic! Oi! Oi! Oi!. I promise! So maybe one day there will be M!M!M!O!O!O! fridge magnets and bumper stickers. Though in the meantime dastardly Jonathan Strahan will prolly steal it for an anthology of Australian fantasy. That rotter!
- I have no plans for further books in the Magic or Madness universe. The next four books that are (sort of) planned out, or at least beginning to coalesce in my head (yes, it’s kind of painful) are completely different from MorM. One’s the great Australian Elvis mangosteen cricket fairy YA novel, another’s about a runaway, the third’s about cricket, and one’s about a liar. They could all turn out to be the same book or maybe I’ll come up with some other idea. Who knows?
That is all. Except that I love the butterflies. Love them! They’re campy and silly and plus there are actual butterflies in the book. Honest!
an anthology title? nooooooo. besides, who wants to read magic! magic! magic! oil oil oil? what’s with the oil, already? more seriously: i am definitely up for the great Australian Elvis mangosteen cricket fairy YA novel. because i am, though, i’m guessing you’ll go with a different one. sorry, btw, you won’t be making worldcon.
Mangosteens!!!
Um, also, yay, more books from you!
But also… Mangosteens! Best! Fruit! Ever! (Oi! Oi! Oi! ?? Not sure if that’s proper at all)
Make the bumper stickers!!
http://www.cafepress.com/
🙂
Jonathan: Eyes failing you in your old age, Jonathan? My felicitations. Good news is that seeing an opthamologist in Australia is a lot cheaper than seeing one in the US of A!
Oyceter: Yup. There is no taste more divinely wonderful than that of a fresh mangosteen.
Little Willow: Very droll.
i just wanna see a mangosteen cricket fairy. that would be cool. wonder if shaun tan could be persuaded to draw one? hmmm.
more seriously, is that the novel you might do next? i’m already dead-impressed by scott’s choice of new project, and this sounds like a lot of fun.
It’s the novel that I’ve already written a large chunk of which puts it well ahead of the other contenders. Whether it’ll be my next published novel is an entirely different question.
Tragically, there is no mangosteen cricket fairy in the novel. But there are mangosteens and cricket and fairies.
i understand. the more i think on it (which is not much), the more i think there should be a mangosteen cricket fairy. i’m just not sure what it’d look like. a little bit snugglepot and cuddlpie maybe, and a little bit warnie.
And with a mangosteen for a hat. But let’s leave it to Shaun Tan to decide, eh?
i’ll read anything you write. that said, totally uninformed, out-of-it denison of the USA here: what is a mangosteen??? (elvis, cricket, fairy, australian–i’ve heard of those.) and please, please once i’ve read the novel will i understand cricket? (i’m badly sports-challenged. i don’t understand baseball.)
Here is the answer to your mangosteen question.
There’s very little cricket in the book, not to worry. But if you want to know about the world’s greatest sport go here.
thank you, justine.
i want (a) a fridge magnet (b) reason’s child (c) a book by justine titled mmm ooo (which i am still slightly disappointed will not be the real title!) and (d) the mangosteen cricket fairy ya novel. all will be so good!
March 2007 is so far away.