It’s All About Story: July 2014

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

San Diego Comic Con: How I Tried to See Everything in One Day

I was able to attend SDCC courtesy of the panel Fairy Tale Remix, which I shared with authors Marissa Marr, Danielle Paige, Cornelia Funke, Tony DiTerlizzi, Shannon Hale, Ben Tripp, and John Peck. They've all written fantastic books. Ben Tripp's and John Peck's will be coming out soon.

Introverts like me aren't the best at public speaking, but it was surprisingly non-nerve-wracking. (Or maybe that was the jet lag, as I'd just gotten off a plane 2 hours earlier.) I do wish the panel had been a little longer, as everyone had intriguing things to say about old stories made new again. I think the best comment, from Shannon Hale, was that what we write is fan fiction.

After the book signing and meeting my agent Thao Le for lunch,https://twitter.com/ThaoLe8/status/492491753430065153/photo/1 I spent the next several hours swimming through a sea of amazingly non-aggressive people in the Exhibitor's Hall, (aka Nerd Heaven) and discovered that we nerds come in all ages. From film and TV exhibits, to artists and sculptors and toy makers, book publishers small and large, and probably every comic book or action figure ever made, there was a multitude of merch to choose from.

Here are some pictures that I managed while searching for something cool for my 13-year-old nephew and a souvenir for me and trying to avoid going broke.

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Reviews for Thorn Jack!

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Thorn Jack: The Original Story

   I wrote THORN JACK years ago and I've been asked what the original story was when I penned it at seventeen. It was very '80s. So here are the most changed bits . . .
   The first setting was in Los Angeles. I don't know why. At the time it sounded exotic. I had a thing for deserts and Francesca Lia Block's LA-set magic realism.
   Finn, the heroine, was Maude Clare, a ballet student.
   Jack was still an assassin and slave of the faery folk, but his name was Kevin.
   Christie evovlved from two characters; Johnny, who had a blonde mohawk and was in a rock band; and Christopher, Maude's golden boyfriend, who was an actor.
   Sylvie was pretty much the same, only her name was Maggie and she worked at an antique shop.
   The Villain. There was no Reiko. The antagonist was the faery king, Seth Lot, elegant and cruel. (He became Seth Lot, the Wolf king, the villain in Briar Queen, Thorn Jack's sequel).
   Anna Weaver, the autistic girl who is also an oracle, was a runaway boy named Nathan (who became Nathan Clare), who was also autistic, and a changeling.
   There was no Fata family, just urban faeries who were dangerous and seductive.
   Stories don't have to be set in stone. Even when I've given up on a manuscript, I've saved it, knowing I might scavenge it at another time, or it might undergo a metamorphosis and become something else.

For more about story and such, here are some links to my favorite websites by authors:
http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/
http://www.francescaliablock.com/blog
http://jenniferweiner.blogspot.com/
http://windling.typepad.com/blog/
how i write | Maggie Stiefvater

Saturday, July 12, 2014

The Characters of Thorn Jack: The Black Scissors

(slight spoilers)

The BLACK SCISSORS the Dubh Deamhais, was once William Harrow, a young tailor in colonial Virginia. Then he met Reiko Fata, who proceeded to seduce him. When her lover, a Fata from a dangerous family named Tiamat, was murdered, William was blamed and the Tiamats cursed him into something that would walk the earth forever. He became a highwayman, seeking vengeance on Reiko. Over the decades, he evolved into a faery doctor, a shadowy figure who walks the borders between the worlds and knows the Fatas' tricks.

Monday, July 7, 2014

San Diego Comic Con 2014 June 24

I'll be speaking on a panel called Fairy Tale Remix, with Shannon Hale (Ever After High series) moderating, and these authors of fabulous fairy tale-inspired books: Marissa Meyer (The Lunar series), Tony DiTerlizzi (The Wondla series) Cornelia Funke (The Mirrorworld series), Danielle Paige (Dorothy Must Die), John Peck (The Charming series), and Ben Tripp (The Accidental Highwayman). These authors have been inspired by everything from Grimm fairy tales to the Wizard of Oz.

Below is the link to Marissa Meyer's site, with more info: http://www.marissameyer.com/event/san-diego-comic-con-2/

The darker, more gruesome Grimm fairy tales, such as Bluebeard, The Robber Bridegroom, and The Juniper Tree, appeal to me, because the heroines manage to survive nightmarish ordeals. And I love Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen and The Little Mermaid, which are beautiful stories.

So...what's your favorite fairy tale? And why?

Thursday, July 3, 2014

The Characters of Thorn Jack: Absalom Askew

(Maybe spoilers)

ABSALOM ASKEW is the trickster, the wild card, the Fool. And he exists in the body of a teenage boy who dresses eccentrically, has orange hair, and a sweet face. No one knows who--or what--Absalom really is, but he's dangerous and capricious and a distributor of weed and alcohol. He's also very protective of Anna Weaver, an autistic young girl who tells fortunes and whose sister meets a bad end. He's also the hero Jack Fata's friend. And Jack doesn't trust him . . .

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Thorn Jack's Launch Party: June 24

Everything was perfect!
The cake was by Batter Up and Beneva Flowers made the gorgeous flower arrangement.
The launch party took place at the Sarasota Barnes and Noble.

A Thorn Jack-inspired charm bracelet I made as a gift.