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Now available for your delectation: gorgeous
Magic's Child screensavers complete with animated butterflies. I just tested it and it made me squeal with happiness. It comes in mac and pc flavours. Happy sigh. Thank you, Courtney Wood, for all your hard work!
What better way to celebrate the final book in the Magic or Madness trilogy's arrival (just eleven more days) then to have pretty butterflies flutter across your computer screen?
And now I will return to my manga binge. I gave myself a much deserved (truly!) holiday: I went out and gathered up armloads of delicious manga and now I'm reading it. Why, oh why, did I only get the first four volumes of Monster?! What was I thinking? Everyone ...
Posted by Justine at 17:43, March 12th, 2007 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Manga, Praising, Reading, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 9:17, March 9th, 2007 under Fans & readers, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Magic or Madness trilogy, Praising, Scott's books, Vainglory, Young Adult literature |
1. I am now officially an award-winning author. Sort of.
Daughters of Earth just won the Susan Koppelman Award for Best Anthology, Multi-Authored, or Edited book in Feminist Studies in Popular Culture which is given by the Popular Culture Association. How cool is that? No book of mine has ever won an award before.
As I didn't write Daughters---other than the introduction anyways---I'm not sure this qualifies me as an award-winning author. I guess what I am is the editor of an award-winning book. I sure did put a lot of work into it and so did all the contributors. We're very proud and thrilled that someone else likes it well enough to give it a prize. Woo hoo!
Thank you ...
Posted by Justine at 17:41, February 28th, 2007 under Daughters of Earth, Magic or Madness trilogy, New York City/USA, Praising, Vainglory |
Writer and artist,
Chris Howard, was so inspired by reading Magic or Madness he painted a portrait of Reason:
It amazes me that my books have inspired
some folks to commit art. Makes me all teary!
I'm also made teary ((Best segue ever, eh?)) by the awesomeness of the vast majority of librarians. The recent kerfuffle over a
dog's scrotum has led many to think that librarians in the US of A are all for banning books over a single word. This is emphatically not the case. The
American Library Association has a
whole division that goes to battle to protect
intellectual freedom in the US of A. They're the ones who bring us ...
Posted by Justine at 0:15, February 20th, 2007 under Bloggery, Fans & readers, Magic or Madness trilogy, Praising, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 11:08, February 12th, 2007 under Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction, Bloggery, Fans & readers, Magic or Madness trilogy, Praising, Vainglory, Writing life |
Posted by Justine at 0:07, February 9th, 2007 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 2:13, February 8th, 2007 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Sydney/Australia, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 0:15, February 7th, 2007 under Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction, Bloggery, Daughters of Earth, Reading, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 16:02, February 1st, 2007 under Daughters of Earth, Magic or Madness trilogy, Scott's books, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 16:33, January 30th, 2007 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Praising, Vainglory |
I've been
boingled again! Mr Doctorow has
now read the whole trilogy, yes, including Magic's Child and has many kind words to say. Like this, for example:
Justine Larbalestier has concluded her wonderful young adult fantasy trilogy, Magic or Madness. The third volume, Magic's Child, brings the series to a really satisfying, complex conclusion that's both brave and thought-provoking.
This trilogy is ready-made for smart, curious kids who look to fantasy for more than escape---who look to fantasy literature to stretch their understanding of the real world.
I blush.
For those of you who want to rush out and grab a copy of Magic's Child, it's available for
pre-order, but won't be out till March.
In the meantime, Magic or Madness, ...
Posted by Justine at 17:31, January 27th, 2007 under Bloggery, Magic or Madness trilogy, Vainglory |
The first post of the inaugural
request week (rw) was suggested by Rebecca:
Ooooh, and a day-in-the-life thing, kinda like
Maureen Johnson had up the other day.
Someone asked me to describe
my average working day a while back and this is what I came up with:
Today I typed, yesterday I typed, tomorrow I will type. Words were written, words were deleted. Dictionaries and thesauruses and Scott (do Americans say "poxy"?) were consulted, as were various other reference books, and things were googled. Then there was more typing. And around about five or six I gave up and had a glass of wine, unless it was an alcohol-free day (curse them!) in which case I merely contemplated the glass ...
Posted by Justine at 0:03, January 24th, 2007 under Bloggery, Vainglory, Writing life |
This time it's
Daughters of Earth ((Which means every single one of my published books has been up for an award. Isn't that amazing? Of course, when the award noms dry up, does it mean my career is over?
Nah. I can think of gazillions of wonderful books that have slid under the award radar. I'm very fortunate that mine haven't. It's good to remind myself that like everying in publishing award nominations are mostly just luck.)) on the
British Science Fiction Association's non-fiction shortlist. Let there be w00ting! Here's the other nominees:
The Arthur C. Clarke Award: A Critical Anthology, ed. Paul Kincaid and Andrew M. Butler (Serendip Foundation)
Daughters of Earth: Feminist Science Fiction in the Twentieth Century, ed. ...
Posted by Justine at 21:07, January 15th, 2007 under Daughters of Earth, Vainglory |
It has been brought to my attention through various means such as
comments here, my email box, and this
lovely loudmouth that me and Scott are on
the preliminary ballot for a
Norton Award.
What does that mean?
The award is given in memory of the late great Andre Norton to honour her considerable contribution to fantasy and sf young adult fiction. While it's administered by SFWA and is announced along with the Nebula Awards, it is not actually a Nebula Award. This is the second year the Norton Award has been given. Last year it went to the fabulous Valiant by Holly Black. Woo hoo! (And much fun was had celebrating that win, wasn't it, Holly?)
At ...
Posted by Justine at 8:02, January 11th, 2007 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Scott's books, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 12:56, January 9th, 2007 under Bloggery, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Vainglory, Writing goals & milestones |
Sometimes when the writing is not going as fabulously well as it could, I procrastinate do other work, like update mine and Scott's websites, or muck around with
various plugins for this blog, or
list software.
So, um, I now
appear to have a newsletter. It's mainly for those folks who write me wanting to know when my next books are coming out, when my books are going to be made into movies, when they can read me in Italian, and when I'll be doing an appearance in their town.
If you want to get the newsletter you can
subscribe here.
Is there anything else you'd like to hear about? The weather in Sydney? Fashion tips from Tom? ...
Posted by Justine at 0:26, January 2nd, 2007 under Vainglory |
It's been another good year for me professionally and I will now skite about it: My second and third books, Magic Lessons and Daughters of Earth, were both published to some very nice
reviews and
reader responses. The whole Magic or Madness trilogy sold to
Editora Record in Brazil, Magic or Madness and Magic Lessons sold to
Mondadori in Italy, while Magic Lessons and Magic's Chld sold to
Amarin in Thailand. And then there was the recent sale of the trilogy to the
Science Fiction Book Club for a 3-in-1. Not to mention Magic Lessons being on the shortlist for the Aurealis.
It was a great year for
Scott who hit the ...
Posted by Justine at 9:50, December 31st, 2006 under Bloggery, Cricket, Daughters of Earth, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Last Day of the Year, Magic or Madness trilogy, Praising, Scott's books, Sport, State of the World, Sydney/Australia, Vainglory, Writing goals & milestones |
Magic Lessons has just had its very first Australian award shortlisting---it's up for an
Aurealis. I'm dead excited! And Scott's The Last Days is nom'd too. Woo hoo!
Here's the full list Young Adult shortlist:
Monster Blood Tattoo: Book One. Foundling. D.M. Cornish (Omnibus)
The King's Fool. Amanda Holohan (ABC Books)
Magic Lessons. Justine Larbalestier (Penguin)
Wildwood Dancing. Juliet Marillier (Pan Macmillan)
The Last Days. Scott Westerfeld (Penguin)
The rumours I'm hearing are that Monster Blood is going to take it. And why not? Great title. Plus it's illustrated! Why don't my books have pretty pictures? Not fair!
Many fine writers are shortlisted in other categories such as Deborah Biancotti, Grace Dugan, Margo Lanagan, Lucy Sussex, Anna Tambour, and Sean Williams. Damn my ...
Posted by Justine at 0:10, December 22nd, 2006 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 23:05, December 17th, 2006 under Fans & readers, Magic or Madness trilogy, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 0:35, December 11th, 2006 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Praising, Reading, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 9:47, December 2nd, 2006 under Bloggery, Magic or Madness trilogy, Vainglory |
It's not often that a writer gets a review that totally understands what they were trying to do. Well, Magic Lessons just got one from Tansy Rayner Roberts in
As If: Australian Speculative Fiction in Focus:
The lesson you will take away from this book is that magic hurts. There are countless stories that tell us magical power should come with a price (and even more countless stories that don't), but it's rare to find a story that demonstrates that price in such a realistic and stomach-wrenching manner as Larbalestier does in Magic Lessons. You have to respect an author who makes her characters suffer quite so miserably, and yet still keeps the reader glued to the page.
That's what I ...
Posted by Justine at 5:16, November 12th, 2006 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 18:39, September 20th, 2006 under Listening, Magic or Madness trilogy, Scott's books, Vainglory |
I got my very
first fan art by the lovely Kate of
Refrigerate Kate. Here are her sketches of Jay-Tee:
Isn't that fabulous? (Though for the record Jay-Tee doesn't smoke.)
There are also sketches of Tom on her site. I'm dead chuffed! I have fan art! Really good fan art! Thank you, Kate.
I've also neglected to mention what
novel I decided to write next. On account of it was
youse lot's overwhelming favourite (and me having already written 25 thou words of it) I will now be turning my attention to finishing the
Great Australian feminist monkey-knife fighting Elvis mangosteen cricket fairy young adult novel.
Anyone who'd like a sneak preview---I'll be reading the first ...
Posted by Justine at 0:26, September 5th, 2006 under Cons & Other Gatherings, Fan art, Fans & readers, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Magic or Madness trilogy, New York City/USA, Praising, Vainglory, Viewing |
Posted by Justine at 20:10, August 21st, 2006 under Bloggery, Frippery, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Magic or Madness trilogy, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 0:05, July 24th, 2006 under Daughters of Earth, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Liar, Vainglory |
Remember the anthology I published a couple of months ago?
Daughters of Earth?
Well, at long last, it's
been reviewed and the review's a lovely one.
Here's what Nancy Jane Moore at
sfrevu has to
say about Daughters:
In Daughters of Earth, eleven feminist science fiction scholars look at eleven feminist science fiction stories. Given that the field of science fiction scholarship is a small one, it is a joy to find eleven very good feminist scholars among them. Combining the microcosm of each story with the macrocosm of the Twentieth Century, these scholars provide us with a depth of experience we can't get just reading the stories themselves.
A ridiculous amount of work (tracking down ...
Posted by Justine at 10:13, July 5th, 2006 under Daughters of Earth, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 10:09, June 10th, 2006 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Vainglory, Young Adult literature |
Posted by Justine at 1:18, June 1st, 2006 under Fans & readers, Vainglory |
Even while I'm away at a convention good news arrives: Magic or Madness and Magic Lessons just sold to
Mondadori, the biggest publisher in Italy. Woo hoo!
I'm especially excited because I met the editor, Fiammetta Giorgi, in Bologna and she was not only elegant, cool and fun, but also had great taste. We talked for ages about our favourite young adult writers such as Holly Black and Diana Wynne Jones. And now I'm going to be part of her Dark Magic series. Yay!
Mondadori also publishes Scott, so we're now published by the same company in the US of A (Razorbill/Penguin), Australia (Penguin), France (Editions du Panama), Brazil (Editora Record) and now Italy. How cool is that?
Magic or Madness ...
Posted by Justine at 13:50, May 26th, 2006 under Cons & Other Gatherings, Magic or Madness trilogy, Publishing business, Reading, Scott's books, Vainglory, Writing life |
Blandine Longre, the editor of the French literary magazine,
sitartmag.com, just sent me the link to a
lovely review of
Dans les griffes de la sorcière, the French version of Magic or Madness. From what I can tell from babelfish it looks like Anne-Judith Descombey's translation is a very good one indeed. Thank you! This is the first review of any of the translated versions of MorM. Colour me excited!
To reward myself for sending off the first rewrites of MorM 3 on Friday I've been reading whatever I want to read! Woo hoo! And seeing some movies. Namely V for Vendetta---most entertaining, though what accent was Natalie Portman doing?---and last night
Night Watch. ...
Posted by Justine at 10:25, May 1st, 2006 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Manga, Praising, Reading, Vainglory |
There's a
fun profile I did up on
Norm Geras's blog (a blog I discovered via
Rjurik. Thank you, Rjurik!). I went to read Norm's words of wisdom on cricket and stayed cause it's most excellent.
I've already been asked what I mean by giving the answer "passion" to the question of what's a person's worst fault as well as their best quality. I'm with W. B. Yeats on "passionate intensity": every day someone somewhere is killed because of someone else's passion. On the other hand every day someone somewhere is creating something beautiful because of that passion.
Marrije enjoys Magic Lessons and has many many questions for the final book in the trilogy, which although smart and ...
Posted by Justine at 8:41, April 22nd, 2006 under Bloggery, Magic or Madness trilogy, Vainglory, Writing goals & milestones |
Posted by Justine at 13:53, April 13th, 2006 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Sydney/Australia, Vainglory |
I know you've all seen this already---cause, I mean, who doesn't read
boingboing?---but
I was boingled. My very first! And what a blush-making boingle it was. And what an immediate impact it had. I woke up to my amazon numbers having zoomed from six figures to below 2,000 and my site getting hammered. Bless you,
Cory Doctorow and bless you,
boingboing. Here's my fave thing Cory said about MorM:
Magic or Madness wonderfully mixes a genuinely creepy system of hereditary magic with Australian bush lore, sweet and canny details about New York's East Village, daily life in Australia, fashion and mathematics, sneaking lectures into dialog and description so subtly you never know they're there, only that you're ...
Posted by Justine at 5:44, April 4th, 2006 under Bloggery, Magic or Madness trilogy, Vainglory |
And I'm not talking about the World Cup, though I totally want them to win. Viva Brasil! I don't even mind if they beat Australia in the finals. Now, that would be a World Cup! Nope, I'm talking publishing, as in:
I just got an offer from Editora Record, one of the biggest and best publishers in Brazil, to publish the entire Magic or Madness trilogy. Am I happy? Yes I am. Very very.
We are in Bologna with very dodgy internet access hence my non responding to email or comments on this blog. Okay, posting this before the connection blows up again!
Posted: Bologna 10:32AM, 27 March
Posted by Justine at 19:33, March 27th, 2006 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Vainglory |
Today is the day! The official publication date of my second novel:
Magic Lessons the sequel to
Magic or Madness! Yay!
And if that wasn't enough it's also the pub date for the paperback version of Magic or Madness. That's right, MorM is now affordable.
Aren't the covers of both books gorgeous? They were designed by
Marc J. Cohen. Bless him.
I've mentioned before that both me and Scott have photo credits for the cover of Magic Lessons. The original photos we took are
here. Scott talks about it
here. Our first photo credits. Yay us!
Oh, and because people keep asking, here's how I pronounce my surname: Lar-bal-est-ee-er. It can also be pronounced Lar-bal-est-ee-ay. ...
Posted by Justine at 4:46, March 17th, 2006 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Praising, Vainglory |
The clock is ticking down on the official release date for the sequel to Magic or Madness. The 16th of March is just around the corner. Yay!
While the book isn't quite out yet, the first review is (be warned: if you haven't read MorM this is loaded with spoilers):
Magic Lessons Penguin/Razorbill
Sequel to Magic or Madness (2005), this second in a proposed trilogy continues the story of 15-year old Reason, an Australian girl who has spent much of her life running away from the magic that dominates her family. She now understands that running won't help her, it will only bring her closer to a terrible choice . . . use magic and die young, or stay away from magic ...
Posted by Justine at 8:19, March 4th, 2006 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Vainglory |
I'm in Chinese! Complex character Chinese, no less. The Taiwanese edition of Magic or Madness just arrived. Thank you,
Whitney! The very first non-English edition of the book to appear anywhere in the world.
And yet another different cover for my first novel. While not as beautiful as the French cover, it does bear much more of a resemblance to the tale told within its covers. I adore seeing all these different versions of my book.
The other cool thing? It's so skinny. What was almost 280 pages in the Oz and US editions is a mere 220 pages in this edition. Chinese complex characters are mighty efficient.
Posted by Justine at 0:01, February 23rd, 2006 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Vainglory |
Interviews with
me and
Scott have gone up on Cynthia Leitich's fabbie blog,
Cynsations. The interviews were done because we're giving a couple of workshop thingies on writing synopses and on teen speak at
SCBWI's
Before-Bolonga Conference (which is why I answered the questions as if it was already March).
Via the
Lady Bond.
Posted by Justine at 7:50, February 18th, 2006 under Bloggery, Cons & Other Gatherings, Scott's books, Vainglory |
Magic or Madness just made its fifth best books of the year list with its inclusion on
Locus' 2005 Recommended Reading List. I'm in ace company with the likes of Elizabeth Bear, Judith Berman and John Scalzi. Scott made the YA list along with Holly Black and Carol Emshwiller and other excellencies. Best of all they listed Midnighters 2: Touching Darkness which has been mostly ignored by the other lists. Dunno why. It's fabulous.
Anyways, I'm off to stick my head in a bucket of cold water in hopes of reducing the swelling.
Posted by Justine at 11:21, January 29th, 2006 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Scott's books, Vainglory |
The
Young Adult Library Services Association has just announced its lists of recommended books for 2005. Getting on one of these lists is a very big deal because they are frequently used as a guide for building a collection etc. The two main lists are the
Best Books for Young Adults (BBYA) and the
Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers.
This year both Scott and me were on the BBYA. I'm so thrilled. Magic or Madness is one of the best young adult books of the year! Woo hoo! Even cooler, Scott made the list with two books, Peeps and Uglies, and Peeps was on the
top ten BBYA of the year. How bout that?!
Here's my ...
Posted by Justine at 7:26, January 26th, 2006 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Scott's books, Vainglory, Young Adult literature |
It seems that the direct translation of Magic or Madness is less than euphonious in French, so my publishers there,
Editions du Panama, have opted for a new title for both the series and the first book. The series title will be:
AU-DELA DE LA PORTE (BEYOND THE DOOR)
and Book 1 will be:
DANS LES GRIFFES DE LA SORCIERE (IN THE WITCH'S CLAWS)
Interesting, eh?
Posted by Justine at 9:05, January 23rd, 2006 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Vainglory |
I just found out that
Penguin Australia has made an offer for Magic Lessons! They're planning to publish it in September exactly a year after
Magic or Madness was released here. I'm thrilled! Penguin Au doesn't buy many foreign books (yes, even though an Aussie wrote them, the MorM books are "foreign" because they're being sold through Penguin USA), so it's really exciting that they've now bought two of mine, and two of
Scott's (
So Yesterday and
Peeps). Yay! It means a lot to me to be published in my own country.
Posted by Justine at 9:47, January 18th, 2006 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Sydney/Australia, Vainglory |
I got up all ready to start turning my sketchy draft of MorM 3 into something a whole lot better. Before starting I thought I'd have a quick squiz at the email, just in case there was something important (you know like a foreign language sale, those always start the day off marvellously well). Of course, the fact that it was Saturday in the US of A and Sunday here made that vanishingly unlikely. Instead I found
one of the most blush-worthy reviews so far, which is almost as good as a sale for starting the day off humming.
It's written by an online friend of mine,
Rachel Manija Brown. I
very much enjoyed her memoir, ...
Posted by Justine at 9:53, January 16th, 2006 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Reading, Vainglory |
I know it's not the New York Times, but I'm pretty stoked. Especially as Pat Reardon has written a
smart and interesting article about
author photos and I'm quoted alongside the likes of Jane Smiley. Woo hoo! Here are my pearls of wisdom:
"When you're really sucked into a book, it's an incredibly intimate experience," says Justine Larbalestier, an Australian science fiction young adult writer and historian. "You're really in that person's brain."
As an author, Larbalestier is ambivalent about dust-jacket photos. She's even tried, unsuccessfully, to persuade her publishers to go without her photo. But, as a reader, there are times she finds herself gazing at the writer's image for answers. She did so recently while reading The Music ...
Posted by Justine at 9:11, January 13th, 2006 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Reading, Vainglory, Viewing |
Posted by Justine at 20:40, December 31st, 2005 under Bloggery, Last Day of the Year, Magic or Madness trilogy, Praising, Reading, Scott's books, Sydney/Australia, Vainglory, Writing goals & milestones |
And of all places it's in Australian Family Circle (December 2005 issue). A lifestyle magazine filled with recipes and stuff on quilting etc. (or at least that's what it looks like from the cover) with a circulation of more than 300,000. In a country of only 20 million that's pretty good going. Here's what they said:
Reason Cansino has spent all her life in the outback with her mother, trying to hide from her grandmother---a witch. But when her mother falls ill, Reason has live with her grandmother and discovers all is not as she thought. While this is technically a fantasy novel, the very real world that's created will enchant anyone who reads it.
Not bad, eh? And while some genre ...
Posted by Justine at 15:04, December 31st, 2005 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Vainglory |
I mentioned
a while ago that both
Scott and me had made SLJ's best books of the year list. That issue is
now available. I was very pleased by their description of
Magic or Madness:
In this Australian page-turner, a resourceful teen tries to sort out her contentious family's secrets and is astonishingly transported to New York City via a portal in her grandmother's house. A potent mix of mystery and magic with a thoughtful exploration of personal-identity issues and familial relationships.
It also turns out that Scott has not one, but two books on the list:
Peeps and
Uglies. I'm dead proud. It's one thing to be prolific, it's another to be prolific and ...
Posted by Justine at 11:18, December 29th, 2005 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Scott's books, Vainglory |
Sorry about the not blogging of late, especially with you lot being all interesting in the comments (I've finally gone through and responded, bless you all). I was kept from it by boring, boring non-internets stuff and the looming deadline. Or rather, panic about the looming deadline.
Corey asked of my deadline how soon "scary soon" is: 2 January, which is 17 days away, and I'm about 15-20 thou words short of the end. Also, I'd like to, you know, revise and rewrite before I send it off.
Ordinarily I leave myself a month or more for that, and while I'm revising I send it out to my first readers for comments. There won't be none of that this time, ...
Posted by Justine at 8:46, December 16th, 2005 under Bloggery, Magic or Madness trilogy, Travelling, Vainglory, Viewing, Whingeing |
A few things:
1) I got my intramanet back!! In my very own home. My excitement is beyond words: email! dictionaries! blogs! posts! The whole world at my fingertips!
2) Magic or Madness made its third best books of the year list, the
Tayshas reading list put together by the Young Adult Round Table of the Texas Library Association. I'm particularly chuffed about this one on account of I got family in Texas---that's where my in-laws hail from and my uncle-in-law is the principal of a high school in Houston. Also there are many very cool books on the list. Not just Scott's Uglies, but the work of at least two other Aussies: Fiona McIntosh's Myrren's Gift and Marcus Zusak's I ...
Posted by Justine at 18:55, December 5th, 2005 under Bloggery, Magic or Madness trilogy, Scott's books, Sydney/Australia, Vainglory, Viewing, Young Adult literature |
