The extremely silly gentleman to the right (click to make him bigger. Really. You want to see him bigger) is my friend and fellow writer Will Ludwigsen, who was flabbergasted to find Graceling in the dumps at his local Barnes & Noble. Check out his strange, sad, and lovely story “Remembrance is Something Like a House” in Interfictions 2: An Anthology of Interstitial Writing, just released by Small Beer Press. My sister, secret codename: Cordelia, and I had the pleasure of listening to Will read this story around the campfire a couple Halloweens ago. Cordelia was dressed up as Randolph the Orange-Nosed Reindeer and I was dressed up as a Leprechaun for Change. (This was right before the 2008 election. Beyond that, don’t ask. ^_^)

So, I promised that I’d let you know if I stumbled across any gems in my reading. I have. The Magician’s Elephant, by Kate DiCamillo, is a book about magic, love, and longing, and it is fabulous.

A FAQ.

Can you tell me when your book(s) will be released in my language/my country?
Unfortunately, probably not. If the information isn’t on my Contacts, Info, and Credits page, it’s because I don’t know. Ask your local bookstore — they might know better than I do. If this sounds weird to you, I understand; it was a surprise to me, too, that writers are often not in contact with their foreign publishers. I have met a few of mine, actually, but that’s only because I was lucky enough to go to the Bologna Children’s Book Fair last spring. Often, the only way I know a book has been released is that it arrives on my doorstep!

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And now, a question for you. Do you like December? Do you like Christmas carols? How do you feel about the holiday season? Do you celebrate a holiday? What do you do? How do you stay peaceful in what is — let’s face it — a supremely unpeaceful time?

Anyway. The time is nigh. I tend to counteract the suffocating Christmas-carol barrage by listening to moody, atmospheric, melancholy holiday/winter/Christmas music. For example: Christ Child’s Lullaby, performed by Sheena Wellington; God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen, performed by Loreena McKennitt; Greensleeves, performed by the King’s Singers. Joni Mitchell’s “River,” which isn’t anywhere on youtube. Some other songs that aren’t about the Christmas tradition that I also can’t find, argh! What about you? Do you, like some people (*cough Cordelia*), love corny holiday music and own the Elvis Christmas album? Or do you, like me, find yourself wanting to impale yourself on a fir tree (or perhaps on some other pointy object with less inherent Christian symbolism)?

*looks at the calendar* In the meantime, happy Thanksgiving to my American readers. :o)