New Book!

Huh, how about that? My monthly posting here coincided exactly with my posting at the Samhain blog. So I'm here and there today.

Things are still crazy here at my house, but a little better. I survived the Book Fair (though my checking account is lighter), and there's only 2 and a half weeks of school left. Summer semester has started, but it's not too bad just yet. I'm nearly done applying to Grad School - just have to wrap up some loose ends, like taking the GRE's. Yanno, I don't get the reason behind that test - does it really matter if I can do 8th grade math if I'm not getting a Masters in Mathematics? Half of the battle is logically eliminating the answers that don't make sense, I guess. And there are only three baseball games left in my son's season. Almost time to relax.

In the midst of all this chaos, The Ankh of Isis has been released in paperback! I'd almost forgotten how much fun it was to write this book until the author's copies showed up on my front porch. Ankh is the second of the Library of Athena series, and life is getting better for Megan Montgomery. She's adapted to her new school, has new friends, and is looking forward to a relaxing Easter holiday. The only fly in the ointment is the arrival of her father's business associate, which means Megan has to play hostess. When the man arrives, he brings with him his handsome teenaged son, and Megan is charmed. It is only when the boy's father starts asking too many questions that she begins to be suspicious, and eventually they all wind up inside another of Sir Gregory Archibald's enchanted books.

Just as with The Crown of Zeus, I did a ton of research for this book - at some point in my life I think I wanted to be an archaeologist, and Ancient Egypt has always fascinated me. I'm glad I chose a different path, though - I hate the heat. I would never have survived digging in the desert :). It's just as much fun to write about, though!

And who knows, once I get that Masters in Library Science, maybe I can go work at a museum or something. You can read an excerpt of The Ankh of Isis here.

Hopefully next month, I'll have news about the third book in this series! It's with my fantabulous editor now, and I'm chewing my nails in anticipation!

A Few of My Favorite Things

Last month when I was here I talked about my good luck in landing a temporary job at an elementary school library. I just finished my first full week, and I LOVE IT. I mean, I get to read to children AND help introduce them to books they might not have read before. The fact that I know so many of the newer authors helps too :).

It's gotten me thinking. I know a lot of romance authors talk about the romance writers they read when they were younger that inspired them to write romance. I'm not a big romance reader, but I did read a lot when I was younger, and when I look back, it's not really surprising that many of my favorite books were of a fantasy bend. So I thought I'd list a few of my favorite childhood books :

The Witches, Roald Dahl: I think I took this book out of the library about a million times when I was in elementary school. Even better than Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I adored this book. I mean, what's not to love about a group of bald women with no toes who turn children into rats? This is classic children's entertainment!

A Wrinkle in Time, Madeline L'Engle: My copy, which is probably in a box in my father's attic, is yellowed and dog-eared. Actually I love the whole series, but the first was the best, and not just because the first book begins, "It was a dark and stormy night". I identified with Meg in a big way, although I had something in common with Charles Wallace too. I rooted for her through the whole series. As an adult, I cherish the fact the book was rejected something like 23 times, often for being "too sci-fi" for the children's market.

The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin: Another that I took home many times from my school library, this little novel has such great plot twists that it never got old. I actually have a copy here in my home library and I read it from time to time to remind myself how great it is. It's a mystery, not a fantasy, but if you've read any of the Library of Athena books, you know how I love a good mystery.

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, E.L. Konigsburg: Not strictly fantasy, also more of a mystery, but a fabulous adventure story. Who wouldn't want to hide out in a museum? I was so happy when I discovered this was being re-issued last year in a new edition that I pre-ordered a copy from Amazon. It totally deserved the Newberry Award that it won.

These are just four that I think of fondly, but there were SO many more - books by Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary and other authors I can't think of, but when I see the covers I get a warm feeling of happiness. Books were a big part of my childhood, and I'm so glad that I get the chance not only to write books that they love, but to help them (at least for a little while) discover new worlds to explore.

I'd like to give a quick shout-out to my fellow inkslingers over at The Enchanted Inkpot. It's a new community of children's and young adult fantasy writers. Stop by and say hi!

(and just one month until The Ankh of Isis comes out in paperback! I've submitted the third book in the series to my fantabulous Samhain editor - just waiting to hear now!)

Release day!

It's release day! I'm so excited - today is the day The Ankh of Isis (Library of Athena, Book Two), hits the shelves, so to speak, at Samhain!
It's the sequel to The Crown of Zeus, and the adventure is bigger, the stakes higher, the snakes more deadly!
Whoops, sorry, there weren't any snakes in the first book. But there's a great big one in this book, along with a little YA romance, and lots of sand and sun. It IS Ancient Egypt, after all.
I'm running a contest to celebrate the release, which you can read about over at my blog. I have four- blogger, LJ, Xanga, and MySpace -but you can find out about the contest at any one of them. If you're part of the Samhaincafe loop, keep an eye out for other release day contests too. AND I'll be doing something a little extra-special for those who belong to my personal loop - www.yahoogroups.com/groups/christinenorris .

Here's a wee-bitty excerpt...

“I rather like this temple,” Rachel said. “It’s got a certain…mysterious charm to it.”

“I’m surprised you like anything that reminds you of Ancient Greece,” Megan said with a teasing smirk. She wrapped an arm around her friend’s shoulders. “You would think you had had enough of it.”

Rachel feigned surprise. “I can’t imagine why you would say such a thing. I mean, I only helped you cut off a Gorgon’s head. Then I was forced to fly on the back of some mad mythical horse.”

“His name is Pegasus.”

“Whatever, it was perfectly terrifying. Then I was almost captured by some bull-man creature and eaten—”

“Minotaur.”

“—and had to face a Sphinx who threatened to eat me if I didn’t answer her silly riddles.” She took a deep breath. “It doesn’t make the temple any less interesting.”

Megan snorted. “Well, when you put it that way…”

Tucked into the far corner, in the shadow of one of the columns, was a plain oak wooden door with a brass knob. Megan pulled the key from her pocket, put it in the lock and turned it. She swung the door open and allowed Rachel to enter.

Rachel’s voice echoed in the dark. “Brr. I’d forgotten how cold it is in here.”

“Bailey says it’s climate-controlled,” Megan explained. She flicked a switch, and torch-shaped electric lights came on to chase away the gloom. “The rocky cavern underneath the house keeps the books at precisely the right temperature and humidity levels to preserve the books.” She picked up two pair of white cotton gloves from a holder on the wall next to the door. She handed a pair to Rachel. “If you’re going to touch the books, put these on.”

“Why?” Rachel took the gloves. “We didn’t have to before.”

“We didn’t know any better last time. They keep the oils on our hands from damaging the paper.”

Rachel pulled on the gloves and took a few steps inside. The Library was an oak-paneled room three times the size of the temple outside. Polished wooden floors reflected pools of light. A wide, carpeted aisle ran down the center of the room and away into the distance; on either side stood row upon row of bookshelves, filled with more books than one could hope to read in three lifetimes.

Above them arched an elegant domed plaster ceiling. Today the dome looked like a perfect spring day—robin’s-egg blue with white fluffy clouds floating across it. It was sort of a timepiece. The ceiling would change as the day wore on, the clouds fading and the sky darkening until it was a deep, midnight blue, spattered with golden stars. A crystal chandelier, ten feet in diameter, hung from the top of the dome to cast its light over the room.

The Library of Athena. Megan thought there was something solemn, something sad about this big room. At the same time, she was glad it was here, a secret place that was just for her, as it had been for Sir Gregory. How many other people had their very own library, let alone one filled with books about magic?

And how many people believe in magic anyway? Anyone who came down here would probably be more interested in the scrolls or the rare first editions…or only editions, in some cases.Megan hadn’t believed in magic herself before her first-hand, near-death experience with it. Now she was a true believer, and she took her job protecting the Library seriously. She felt it was up to her to be responsible, to care for the Library as best she could.

Rachel walked slowly down the aisle, stopping to read the cards in brass holders mounted on the end of every case. The handwritten cards indicated what was shelved there.

“I don’t know what’s down here we could use for our papers,” Megan said.Rachel reached the fifth set of shelves, turned right and disappeared down the aisle.

“Rachel…” Megan said. She pulled the door shut and followed her.

Rachel hadn’t gone far; Megan found her in front of one set of shelves halfway down, scanning the titles.

“Looking for something in particular?” Megan asked, her suspicion reflected in her voice.Rachel picked three books from the shelf. “I’m doing my paper for Livingston’s class on Ancient Egypt,” she said. Rachel tucked the books beneath her arm and walked away from Megan, through the stacks.

Megan chased after her. “I think we should be careful about using books from here…”
Rachel shot a look over her shoulder. “Come on, Megan. There’s way better books here than at the school’s library. Who am I to pass up a great resource?” The stacks emptied into a narrow open area with several reading tables. Rachel pulled out a chair beneath the nearest one and sat.

She opened her pack and got a notebook and pen from inside. “The books are definitely more interesting here. I don’t want to turn in the same old boring paper everyone else has.”

Megan sat next to her. “Um, well, I guess you can look. Like I said, I don’t know what you can actually use. Some of these books you’d have a hard time explaining in the bibliography.”She picked up one of the books. “Like this one—Secret Spells of Ancient Egypt: A Translation of Papyrus found buried beneath the temple of Osiris.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Rachel said. She opened the notebook and started writing. “It’s not like hieroglyphs are some big secret. Everyone knows that the Egyptian priests used their own brand of magic. If you’re worried about me telling where I got it, I’ll just say I found a copy online at the British Museum or something.”

“No, you can’t lie. Livingston will see right through you. And I’m not worried about that. This copy is handwritten, by Sir Gregory, from a manuscript he personally discovered.” Megan said. She laid the open book down in front of Rachel. She pointed to the title page. “Look here, it says it was translated in 1936, by Sir Gregory Archibald.” She scanned the translation. “I’d love to see the look on Livingston’s face, but how would you explain it?”

Rachel’s face fell. “I see your point. Not that one, then.”

The Ankh of Isis is coming!

In another week and two days - July 8 - the second book in The Library of Athena series, The Ankh of Isis, will be released by Samhain! Woot! Isn't the cover AWESOME! I love SP's cover art department, and Christine Clavel, who also did the cover for The Crown of Zeus, had come through again.

This book takes us to Ancient Egypt (uh, obviously, I guess). There will be adventure, and danger, and even...a little romance?!? Well, it IS YA, so don't get all excited. But there is a cute boy.

In honor of the upcoming release, here's a list of the top ten Egyptian Gods you should know. One thing you need to know about the religion of Ancient Egypt - it was all about the afterlife. Hence the emphasis on elaborate tombs stuffed with treasure. You would spend your life earning your way to a pleasant afterlife, and not getting was a horrifying thought. With that in mind, I give you the Egyptian Gods!

Isis

The Queen of Egyptian Gods! Wife of Osiris, mother of Horus, and the goddess of magic and symbol of motherhood. She tracked down all 13 pieces of her husband when his brother, Set, cut him up after he had stuffed him into a box and Isis retrieved him. If nothing else, she's persistent. Don't mess with Isis.

Osiris

If he looks like a mummy, well, there's a really good reason for that. At first, he was the God of Goodness. But when his brother tricked him into a coffin during a banquet and he was ressurrected, he became the God of the Dead. Ultimate judge, using the Feather of Maat) of who gets to pass into the afterlife and who gets eaten by the Ammut. Symbol of eternal life (which was THE most important thing to the Ancient Egyptians) as well as fertility.

Horus

The falcon headed god, and son of Isis and Osiris. Thoth, the God of Wisdom, offered to help him find his father - all he had to do was look him in the eye. Set distracted Horus by turning himself into a pig, and the result was Horus' eye was burned out. The eye of Horus is a powerful Egyptian symbol. Protector and guide to all the Pharaohs.

Annubis

God of Mummification. He has a jackal's head, and oversees both the transfer of people to the afterlife and guards the Necropolis (city of the Dead). People who performed mummification were priests of Annubis, and his book is the Book of the Dead. No, it doesn't bring them back to life, but contains instructions on mummification, and prayers and spells for the deceased.

Maat

Goddess of truth, order, and justice. Akin to the modern Blind Justice. It is her feather (see it there on top of her head?) that decideds whether or not a soul is worthy to pass into the afterlife. A man's heart would be weighed against the feather - if your heart was lighter than the feather, you pass. If not, your heart was fed to the Ammut, and well...sucks to be you.

Maat is also the priniciple of justice, and it was the Pharaoh's responsibility to uphold Maat.

Ammut

This creature, with the head of a croc, the rear end of a hippo, and body of a lion, this female demon played a vital role in the judging of souls. If yours didn't pass the test of Maat, then Ammut would devour it and spend an eternity digesting it. And sorry, you don't get to go to the afterlife. To the Ancient Egyptians, this was literally a fate worse than death.

Thoth

Thoth has the head of an ibis - a bird - and is the god of wisdom, knowledge, and language/writing. He tried to help Horus find his father by using his gift of vision. Creator of magic and writing. The mythical Book of Thoth was said to be able to teach man the language of the animals and birds, to see the wind and hear the secrets of the stars.

Bastet

Cat-headed Goddess of women, the moon, and secrets. It is said that she is a wild goddess, and to incur her wrath is to feel that of the beasts. If you were in her favor, she blessed you accordingly. Cats were widely worshipped in Ancient Egypt, so Bastet (or Bast) is one of the most important goddesses, next to Isis. Her name was often carved on the sides of jars of perfume, which was very expensive, so that she would protect them.

Hathor

Goddess of Love, Music, and Beauty. She's one of the most ancient gods of Egypt, and yes, despite having the head of a cow, she's the goddess of beauty. Most of her priests and priestesses were artisans who turned her worship into works of art. Comparable to the muses of Greece.

Set

Set is the brother of Osiris, and a pretty bad dude. He's the God of Evil - winds, wrath, war, darkness, and conflict. He held a banquet and invited 72 of his cronies...and his brother. When he offered a beautiful coffin to the one who could fit inside, of course the only one who did fit was Osiris (since the box had been measured only to fit him). Set shoved him inside and sealed the box with lead. When Isis retrieves the box, Set tore his brother's body into pieces and scattered them across Egypt, creating the 13 tribes. To this day Osiris and Set battle it out, in the neverending conflict between good and evil.

There are far more gods from Ancient Egypt, of course, but these are the big ones. Be sure to check out The Ankh of Isis from Samhain on July 8!

Egyptian clipart on this page courtesy of Neferchichi's Tomb

Kismet

For some reason, I thought my blogging day was NEXT week. I'm going away next weekend, but had planned to do up my post and schedule it for when I was away. This past week has been very tough - we lost our dear dog, who we raised from a pup, to lymphoma, and I had to work four days, which I hardly ever do, and the summer term at college started this week, and I had to turn in the Final Line Edits to my next Samhain book. So I haven't been thinking much about what I was going to post, thinking I had another week to do it.

So here I am, writing off the cuff. What strikes me this week, besides the way that sometimes life can quite frankly suck, is the strange way that kismet can find us. My series, The Library of Athena, contains different mythologies from different cultures. The first book, The Crown of Zeus, is centered around Greek mythology. I shouldn't say centered - really the series has bigger things going on, but let's say it's a large component. The upcoming book, The Ankh of Isis, contains a whole lot of research about Ancient Egypt. (reviewers have been saying that the books are educational as well as fun, which wasn't my intention, but that's a post for another day.)

At any rate, the third book, which is just a WIP at the moment, takes us to Ancient China. I wanted to do China, because I don't think it's a culture many books explore. I've been researching for this book for almost two years. There have been difficulties to overcome with the book - China is such a LARGE country, for starters. Having my characters travel all over the country really wouldn't work. And the mythology is so different. But despite these hurdles, I've managed to put something together that I think is exciting and fun. The only component I was missing is that I didn't have quite a good grasp of Chinese culture.

Then on Tuesday I started my college courses, one of which is American Women Writers since 1900. This course has a particular focus on second-wave feminism. What does that have to do with my book? The first novel we are reading is Women Warrior:Memories of a Childhood Among Ghosts, by Maxine Kingston. Maxine is a first generation Chinese immigrant. It tells her story being the child of Chinese immigrants, and more importantly for me, gives me a window into Chinese culture before the Revolution. I couldn't have asked for a better book to help me understand the traditions and mindset of the Chinese people. That this book should fall into my lap, sort of, at this exact time, reminds me that yes, sometimes life does suck, but sometimes fate takes pity on us and throws us a bone. Kismet. Serendipity. Karma. Fate. Whatever you want to call it, something pulls us back onto the path when we need it most.

And on that note, I'll leave you. Next month, I promise to have something more interesting to talk about. I'm almost free of the day job for the summer, AND I'll be talking about my newest book. I think a tutorial on Egyptian gods is in order. :)

If you happen to be in the Bowie, Maryland area next weekend, drop by the Maryland Faerie Festival and say hi! I'll be signing copies of my first two books, and I'll have some promo materials for the new books too!

Stuff going on today!

I was going to post something else, when I realized that my day today coincides with the YA List Mom day over at the Samhain Cafe. If you're not already signed up, it only takes a minute to subscribe to the list. Myself and four other Samhain Publishing Young Adult authors are taking over the list from 1-8 pm (EST) to talk about, what else, our books! There will be some excerpts, and games, and prizes (of course). So drop on by!

Meanwhile, I'm here with the second round edits to The Ankh of Isis, which is the sequel to The Crown of Zeus and the second in the Library of Athena series. The cover art has been submitted, and I'm waiting for approval. Anxiously waiting, because I can't wait for everyone else to see it! The artist, Christine Clavel, is totally brilliant! I'll be posting at least one preview excerpt from ANKH today at the Cafe. ANKH wil be available from SP July 8, 2008! I'll be sharing more about the book when we get closer to the release date. Expect posts about Ancient Egypt :)

I've been finishing up my college courses for the Spring term, and finally finished all the papers, and reading books that I will review over at my site (YA and Fantasy Bookspot), and working like a fiend and looking for a full time job. I passed my certification test (yay!), so I'm qualified to work as either an Elementary School teacher or a Middle School (grades 5-8) Science teacher. Yes, Science. I know, it's strange eh? That was my original topic for today - how I am the new Renaissance Woman, able to appreciate both Science and Literature, Fantasy and Reality. But I just ran out of time to do it properly.

I've been so busy that I haven't really been able to even work on the WIP, which is the third in the LoA series. After the finals are over, I plan to dive back in and wrap up the first draft.

Hope to see you this afternoon!

Make every day magical,

Christine

Editing!

This month's blog snuck up on me. Totally. I had nothing prepared and was stressing about it all week. I'm swamped with schoolwork, writing, work. Trying to find a permanent teaching job. Signing kidlet up for kindergarten, and remembering to call the doctor so I can get a copy of his shot records. There aren't enough hours in the day to get it all done, and I'm not one of those people who can give up sleep. I need my eight hours or I'm crabby all the next day.

Then my wonderful editor dropped the first round edits for The Ankh of Isis into my lap. It's okay, I'll just work on them during my scheduled writing time. And I figured I'd blog about editing.

Some writers hate editing. They hate revising, or rewriting, or whatever they call it. But I love it. I can't explain why, but I get a thrill out of taking something written and making it better. Polishing is what I live for. Maybe it's why I also like doing English Adaptations of translated books.

I think it's that once I have the whole first draft done, I have the whole picture in front of me. I can see where the mistakes are, and what needs to be put in focus. First drafts, on the other hand, are sometimes reminiscent of dental surgery without benefit of anesthesia. Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration. But they are slow, and long, and I can never get to the end quick enough, so that I can go back to the beginning.

And there's nothing more satisfying than finishing up with those last bits and finally being satisfied. I learn something new with each successive draft, and each successive book.

Of course, once you submit it, your editor comes back with their editoral letter, and you have to do it all over again, but hey, it's all good, right?

How I'd better get back to those edits so you all can read the book in July instead of August. ^_^

Make every day magical!

Christine