Ogres and Trolls at the Enchanted Inkpot

No, don't think this:













Think this!

















Take a look at my "Ogres and Trolls" post at the Enchanted Inkpot. And here's the secret interpretation of TOTW: Topic of the Week. (Second image by Theodor Kittelsen.)

"WIP It!" at the Inkpot

Just to let you know, I put up a post at the Enchanted Inkpot which tells about the manuscripts a dozen or so MG/YA fantasy writers are working on right now (including me!). It's an enticing look at what you'll be reading in 1-2 years...

WIP stands for Work in Progress, but I couldn't help thinking of Devo's most famous song (from 1980).

Tween Books on Enchanted Inkpot

Click over to The Enchanted Inkpot fantasy writers blog, where I'm hosting a discussion about the no man's land of books for older MG or younger YA, AKA tweens.

Are publishers more uncomfortable with books in this age range than readers are? See what you think, and feel free to chime in with a comment!

Enchanted Inkpot Repost at SFWA

Okay, I'm pleased about this! The post I wrote at The Enchanted Inkpot on fairy tale retellings has been reposted (with my permission, of course) at the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America blog (SFWA). Yay! Here's the link in case you missed it the first time or just want to take a look. Be sure to check out the comments at the original post, since I only listed a handful of retellings, then asked people to talk about their favorites in the comments. (It was really more of a discussion starter!)

Art by John Waterhouse, "Miranda and the Tempest."

Enchanted Inkpot Giveaway, Etc.

The writers who host the Enchanted Inkpot blog are doing their second annual Giveaway Extravaganza, and all you need to do to enter is comment on what upcoming MG and/or YA fantasy books you're looking forward to reading! So head on over and see if you can be the first or second place winner of ELEVEN books in one fell swoop, including possibly (in one of the batches) mine.

On a slightly chagrined note, I will tell you that the sequel to my book, The Runaway Princess, is on sale at Amazon right now. While I'm not sure this is a good sign from my perspective as an author, I figure some of you might want to take advantage and get your hands on a copy of The Runaway Dragon for a lot less than the usual price.

And in that vein, let me just point out that this is a great time of year to buy your nieces and nephews, or sons and daughters and brothers and sisters and spouses and friends and, well, everybody, a book! Or two or three books, for that matter. I'm guessing I'm not the only one who used to love spending the afternoon of December 25th as a child reading the new books Santa brought me for Christmas...

The Trouble with Sci-fi/Fantasy Villains

I am hosting a discussion on "Defeating the Undefeatable Villain" over at the Enchanted Inkpot if you want to stop by to see what some of my fellow writers have to say about this issue. You know, when Everykid must save the world from a terrifyingly powerful foe with a name like, say, Dr. Evil or Voldemort... It's not easy to write a book where this scenario feels credible, so how do writers handle it?

The New Fantasy for Kids

I just posted a panel discussion I'm leading over at the Enchanted Inkpot, a blog created by a group of children's and YA fantasy writers. This week's topic? "'New-Fashioned' Fantasy: What Does It Look Like?" We talk about current trends in fantasy for young readers, indicating how the genre has changed since the days of Tolkien, Lewis, and Barrie. Take a look!

Enchanted Inkpot Giveaway Extravaganza

Eep! Forgot to tell you about this! Okay, I belong to a fantasy writers' blog called Enchanted Inkpot, and we are currently doing a major giveaway where you can win, not one, but eight books at a time. This photo shows the selections, including my two Runaway books. Each row is a gift basket, with three baskets in total. (And each one has a theme of sorts.)

But you have to link over there and comment at the very least to have a chance at winning. The grand prize winner gets first pick of the baskets and a gift certificate to a bookstore, too. To win that, you also have to twitter/blog/post on Facebook about the contest. Second prize is similar, but third prize is simply a drawing based on comment participation. So if you're interested, link on over and have at it!

Update: This contest ended December 9, 2009, and the winners have been posted.