My mini-vacation from The Circus Sequel seems to have proven effective as I am now desperate to get back to my circus people and their adventures, hurrah. It was also timely as I received edits from my UK editor on Friday and have spent the last few days learning that plaid == tartan and braid == plait and various other tweaks to phrases. At one point Trix refers to something as being “a foot thick” and it just doesn’t sound right converted to metrics. So that’s been pretty interesting!

I also did a lot of reading, finishing off a couple books I had partway finished for an embarrassingly long time. I also did some other non-writing/reading stuff that is documented on my personal blog. I had an especially luxurious morning Saturday in which I read all morning long ensconced in my reading chair with a cup of tea (actually, several cups). Here are some mini-reviews.

The Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor: Some absolutely gorgeous and vivid imagery. And a fascinating setting (2070 West Africa). I will admit the first half took me awhile to get into, but I was very glad to have stuck it out and was rewarded by the second half. Some of my favorite bits: Onion, the talking camel; Jaa, the woman warrior who causes red flowers to fall from the sky when she speaks; the powers of the various “speakers”; the descriptions of organic buildings in Ginen and the weird and wonderful beings we meet there.

Fire by Kristin Cashore: Again, this is one that took me some time to get into. It is beautifully written and the characters feel very real — it was the raw reality of their pain that actually made me set this aside. But they kept calling to me to come back and learn the rest of their stories, and so I did, although I was afraid they would end up breaking my heart. And my heart did break a little, in a couple key places, but I also found hope and love and other good things, and so in the end I am very glad I didn’t give up! I particularly loved the subtle but powerful development of the romance. Very nice!

The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg
I started this because I was reading some of the stories in the Geektastic anthology and loved the one by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci, and it reminded me how I had adored Boy Proof. This was fun, funny, and thought-provoking. And I really liked all the Janes. Will definitely look for the next in the series. (Note: this is a graphic novel).

House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones: There’s just something about her storytelling voice that wraps me up and makes me feel cozy and entertained and in love with books. This one did not tug on my heart as some of her others have, but it delighted me (and made me hungry, with the characters being much taken with eating pies and pasties). I am so very sad to hear that Diana Wynne Jones is doing poorly. If you are a fellow fan and want to send her a message of support, you can find details on how to do so on her website. She’s been such a huge part of my fictional landscape since I first found DOGSBODY on the shelf at the library. My thoughts are with her and all who love her.

Yes, that is a typo, but it looked so cute I had to leave it. I suppose that means I should include a cute mouse story, no? We did find a mouse (our first in three years, thankfully) in our old creaky house a week or so ago. It terrified our dog Charlie so much (I think it was the way it stood absolutely still despite the fact that it was a fraction of his size) that he hid upstairs for the rest of the night, even after Bob relocated the mouse to the back of our yard. Charlie is still somewhat suspicious of the corner where he discovered the tiny monster though.

And now here are a number of random, un-mice-related but cool-to-me links to share:

• Looking for YA/MG Science Fiction? Ms. Yingling Reads has a great big list here, including a whole bunch I had never heard of!
• Via Charlotte’s Library, here’s a thought-provoking article by author Katherine Langrish on Fairytale Heroines, and why they may not be the spineless wimps some of us think they are, if we go back to the original source material rather than considering only the damsel-in-distress/princess archetype.
• Speaking of damsels, I love that there is a costume maker out there who markets under the name Damsel in this Dress. I am especially fond of the Pirate Coat.
• Physicists have achieved quantum teleportation over a distance of 10 miles. Neat! I also learned that “spukhafte Fernwirkung” means “spooky action at a distance” (what Einstein called the quantum entanglement that makes the teleportation possible. Although apparently he didn’t support the idea).

On a more writerly note, I’m taking a break from my WIP this weekend. I feel as if I’ve lost my perspective a bit, and need to step away. Or possibly I am lazy. But I will go with Meaningful Writing Perspective for now. I’m hoping to spend the long weekend (Monday is Memorial day in the US) doing a bunch of reading, since I’ve just gotten a stack of ILL books from the library (and I still have three shelves of to-read books at home!).

Last night I had the opportunity to see Maya Angelou speak. And wow, is she one impressive lady. As the president of the University of Maine at Augusta (who sponsored the visit) said, when you hear the litany of her accomplishments you can”t help but think how most of us would be proud just to have done ONE of those things.

Anyways, it was a wonderful talk that I can’t hope to reproduce here. I would encourage anyone who hasn’t read Dr Angelou’s writings to check them out — they range from the heart-breaking to raucously funny, just like her talk last night. Listening to her read them aloud was particularly mesmerizing. Sidenote: the sign-language interpreters were also mesmerizing. I had never seen poetry conveyed in sign-language and it was fascinating to see how graceful and poetic the motions seemed, and how I could catch glimpses of the meaning in the motion.

The one bit I got out my notebook to record was when Dr Angelou spoke about courage, and said (paraphrasing, because I was taking notes in the dark) that it was the most important virtue, because without it, you could not practice the other virtues consistently. That really resonates with me, in terms of writing and so many other things in life. As another friend was saying to me just recently: fear is the enemy of creativity. You have to be courageous to dare to create something better, something that not everyone will like, something that might fail.

Writing, and life, aren’t about playing it safe and just getting by.

So, all-in-all it was an excellent evening, made even better because I got to have dinner with Cindy Lord (and my husband) beforehand and had their company afterward to talk about the event (as we waited to get out of the parking lot with the huge crowd — for Augusta Maine– that had come to hear Dr Angelou speak. Supposedly the biggest crowd since Elvis came here!).

One day I will learn that when the story turns to cold molasses and I have to spend hours juggling my outline and turning the plot over and over in my head to try to make it click, the problem always ends up being this: the protag is not protagging and/or is not staying true to character and goals.

One day (I hope) the world will recognize the great gift of service dedicated librarians and teachers give us all. It was great fun to hang out with a bunch of them last week at the Maine Library Association Reading Round-up!

One day I will look back and remember how my dog can lie utterly motionless except for his thumping tail, and the sound of Bob’s voice when he’s trying to sound serious but is actually about to make some outrageous statement, and I will be glad that those are the things I paid attention to, not my Amazon ranking.

One day I will learn that making chocolate chip cookie dough and sticking it in the back of the freezer doesn’t actually stop me from eating it. It just means I eat it raw and partly unfrozen (even better than hot from the oven!)

Actually, I think that last one might be a lost cause…

If you had asked my twelve-year-old self what sort of books she was going to write when she grew up and sold her first novel, she probably would have said “epic high fantasy with drama and complex worldbuilding and tough girl warriors.” Because that’s the kind of book I was busily scribbling into spiral-bound notebooks, huddled in bed, early in the morning before school.

If you had told tween Deva she was going to write books that made people laugh, she would have said “Who, me? I’m not funny.” And she wouldn’t have minded, because she didn’t really understand the value of humor.

And I still don’t think of myself as someone who is particularly good at writing humor. Humor is hard, especially striking that balance between slapstick caricature and honest emotion.

But I’ve definitely developed an appreciation for it. My absolute favorite books and television shows are a mix of the light and the dark, laughter and tears. Doctor Who makes me giggle as much as it makes my heart ache. I love Roo (from E. Lockhart’s The Boyfriend List) because her adventures are hilarious and heartbreaking. And it’s what I aim for now, in my own stories. To make readers feel joy, and hilarity, and pain, and love. Because that’s what life is.

So when I do hear that my books made someone laugh or cry, or think, it’s some of the best praise I could hope for. Which is why the first official “industry” review of THE MAGICAL MISADVENTURES OF PRUNELLA BOGTHISTLE, from Kirkus, makes me especially happy. Here’s the non-plot-synopsisy portion:

Spunky characters and surprising plot twists will keep readers laughing and turning pages. Fagan also sneaks in a powerful you-can’t-judge-a-book-by-its-cover lesson, as nothing here is what it seems. But even more important than that is the lesson she offers in finding and valuing one’s own identity, even when it confounds the expectations of well-meaning family and friends.

Thank you, Kirkus!