Hi there,
I'm doing publications for FogCon 2, a literary science fiction convention with aspirations to be similar to WisCon and Readercon for the San Francisco Bay Area. Along with the usual Guest of Honor, we like to include a "Ghost" of Honor. This year we are honoring Mary Shelley. I need to find someone to write a short biography of Mary Shelley for our program book. I've been having trouble finding someone and the deadline to get the program book to the publisher is looming. Is there anyone here or does anyone know anyone that might be interested in writing such a biography? The theme for this year's convention is The Body, so it would be great to relate the biography to our theme. If anyone is interested or if anyone can recommend someone, could you please contact me? My e-mail is xangoexu@gmail.com. Thanks for your help.

Broad Universe will have an open annual meeting on August 14, 2011, at 7pm Eastern Time (US/Canada). This will be different from previous annual meetings in that it will be virtual -- that is, a large-scale conference call and web presentation.

New president Trisha Wooldridge will chair the meeting, which starts with a message from our outgoing president, Phoebe Wray. Other members of the Motherboard will describe what we've been doing this past year, and all will talk about our plans for the future. At the end, we'll answer questions that have been submitted.

If you're interested in attending, visit our Annual Meeting FAQ page. The meeting is open to both paid Broad Universe members (www.broaduniverse.org) and non-members.

The meeting will be recorded so that those who can't attend will be able to listen later.

Broad Universe is a nonprofit organization under US Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3).

Morven,
Member of the Motherboard and technical maven for the meeting

edited to fix broken link

The March Broad Pod is now available by visiting: http://broadpod.posterous.com

Jean Marie Ward (http://JeanMarieWard.com) is the hostess for this month's, "March's Woman Power," a collection of short readings from women writing speculative fiction.

In honor of Women’s History Month the spotlight is on aspects of Woman Power—and powerful women:
Charged with treason, Gail Z. Martin’s,(http://www.ascendantkingdoms.com/)pregnant queen Kiera must wage a war of words to save herself, her friends, and her unborn child.

Larissa N. Niec’s (http://larissaniec.com/) selection, the goddess Rhianna’s high priestess embarks on a dangerous spirit quest to seek help for her dying land.

Theresa Crater (http://theresacrater.com/) introduces her heroine—and us—to the legendary Morgan le Fey in the land beneath the hallowed hill.

Diane Whiteside (http://dianewhiteside.com/) takes us to present-day
Virginia, where a psychically gifted homicide detective learns just how powerful a woman working for the FBI can be.

Danielle Ackley-McPhail (http://sidhenadaire.com/) takes us to the future and a squadron of hell-raising women fighter pilots led by the infamous Scarlet Jay.

Check it out! http://broadpod.posterous.com

Today we're visiting with Broad Universe member Gail Z. Martin. She is the author of the "Chronicles of the Necromancer series", and the new "Fallen Kings Cycle." Her latest book, "The Sworn," is available in bookstores. For more information on Gail, check out: http://www.ascendantkingdoms.com/

**When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
I’ve known that I wanted to write stories since I was 14 years old.

**What is your writing process? When do you write?
I write two days a week for the whole day. That helps me to mentally move into the world I’m writing about and keeps distractions at a minimum.

**Do you have any writing rituals? What do you keep around your writing area to inspire you?
I like to have instrumental music (no words) playing when I write—anything with lyrics is too distracting. And I keep a cup of tea or coffee close by, along with my dog. I take a break and hug my dog if I need to think through a scene.

**What is your most current project?
I’ve turned in the manuscript for "The Dread" (Book Two in "The Fallen Kings Cycle"), so now I’m working on the first book in a whole new series for Orbit Books.

**What was the inspiration for the book?
I started with “what if” and ran with it, thinking about a historical occurrence and asking “what if” it had gone in the opposite direction.

**Who is your favorite character, and why?
My two favorite characters in my books to date are Tris and Jonmarc. I like Tris because he refuses to be boxed in by fate, and Jonmarc because he has been knocked down so many times and keeps getting back up.

**Tell us one thing about yourself people would be surprised to learn?
I love to take my kids to the amusement park and ride the roller coasters.

**Words of wisdom to new writers?
Don’t ever give up! Ever! Find a supportive circle of friends who will give you true yet encouraging feedback, and learn to write for their amusement, then broaden that circle.

**How has Broad Universe “broadened” your writing life? Any fun stories, experiences, etc.?
I love the supportive atmosphere in BU and have made a lot of friends who are also BU members. I don’t get the chance to participate in the conversations as much as I should but it’s fun to watch them scroll by.

**What one book would you save from a burning fire, and why?
Assuming that copies of my own books and manuscripts are safely duplicated elsewhere, I’d have to say that it would be whatever book I’m reading at the moment—I couldn’t stand waiting around without a good book!

**Are there any writers (living or dead) that are influencing you right now?
Right now I’m reading Carole Nelson Douglas’s "Irene Adler" series and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro’s "Saint-Germain" series and I’m very impressed with the details of their descriptions and their world building.

**If you could talk to any writer (living or dead) what one question would you ask, or what one thing would you say?
“Thank you.”

**Favorite bookstore/library?
All of them! Seriously. We spend a lot of time (and cash) in bookstores, and I go to the library every week with my daughter to augment the book supply.

**Favorite planet or fantasy world you'd like to live in?
Somewhere that the temperature stays between 70 – 90 degrees with low humidity and calories don’t count!

**Give me one thing you want readers to remember after they finish this blog?
Most published writers became “overnight successes” after putting in years of hard work and preparation. If what you want isn’t coming easily for you and you look around and wonder why it’s so easy for others, realize that you’re only seeing the end result, not the struggle.

Today we're visiting with Broad Universe member, and award-winning author, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, who has worked both sides of the publishing industry for over fifteen years. Her works include the urban fantasies, "Yesterday's Dreams," "Tomorrow's Memories," and "The Halfling’s Court: A Bad-Ass Faerie Tale." She has edited the "Bad-Ass Faeries" anthology series, and "Dragon’s Lure," and has contributed to numerous other anthologies and collections. To learn more about her work, visit www.sidhenadaire.com and www.badassfaeries.com.

**When did you know you wanted to be a writer? I don’t think it was ever a conscious choice, it just happened. I was a reader before I was a writer and then when school was introduced into the picture with English and Composition assignments, that just put paid to it as they say. I’ve always had more creativity than was likely good for me and writing was a natural outlet.

**What is your writing process? When do you write? I write whenever I can grab the time. When I wake up in the morning before work, on the train using my PDA, at my lunch hour at work, once I get home from work…3am in the morning when I can’t sleep.

**Do you have any writing rituals? What do you keep around your writing area to inspire you? If I have any ritual at all it is turning on the computer, turning out the lights, and turning on the music…instrumentals only, please ☺ If I’m really caught up in things it is best to have no distractions. As for my inspiration…I’m supposed to be writing "The Redcaps’ Queen," sequel to my biker faerie novel, "The Halfling’s Court," so I have two things I received from my co-editor Jeffrey Lyman on my desk: a biker bear in black “leather” and tulle, and a resin figuring of a biker faerie chick literally burning rubber on a cycle with a dragon prow, for lack of a better description ☺ I do have photographs

**What is your most current project? Oh my…you’d think I was writing a book if I told you all I was working on…my two immediate projects are two steampunk anthologies I’m co-editing. One is called "Clockwork Chaos" and the other is In "An Iron Cage: The Magic of Steampunk," both are co-edited with Neal Levin. I’m also working on the fourth "Bad-Ass Faeries" anthology, (It’s Elemental), and the second "Legends of a New Age" anthology (Eternal Flame). On the novel front, I am working on two at the moment: "Today’s Promise" (the last book in the Eternal Cycle series), and "The Redcaps’ Queen" (the sequel to The Halfling’s Court). And finally, I’m working on a nonfiction writing guide. It’s a new series by Dragon Moon Press called, "The Elements of Fantasy." Volume one is all about magic.

**What was the inspiration for the book? Neal has the lead on "Clockwork Chaos," so I couldn’t tell you the inspiration there, but for In "An Iron Cage" it was a really cool piece of artwork of a dark elf in front of a steel-riveted wall. The elf echoed the color of the wall which was a bit rusted, because her hair was rust red and her skin was gunmetal grey. She looks very enigmatic in a pseudo-Nazi uniform with a riding crop propped against her folded arms. Neal sent me the art initially and just said…what would you do with this. What can I say, the picture spoke to me! As for the rest…I don’t think we have enough space to go into it all ;)

**Who is your favorite character, and why? I presume you mean in relation to the above projects. I would have to say Miss Sadie Angelina Carlisle from the story I wrote for In "An Iron Cage." She’s one of those very distinct characters that has a voice very independent of my own and to me she just jumps off the page. Her story is one of the few I have ever done completely in dialect…something I normally try and minimize, but I can say without a doubt this would not be half the story it currently is without Sadie’s “Voice” on the page and in your face the way it is now.

**Tell us one thing about yourself people would be surprised to learn? I am related to both Captain Kidd (maternal line) and Grace Kelly (paternal line). So…I can really say I’m a pirate princess!

**Words of wisdom to new writers? Writing is often an enriching experience for the soul, but more rarely for the wallet. Do it because you love it, not because you want to get rich.

**How has Broad Universe “broadened” your writing life? Any fun stories, experiences, etc.? I have met so many wonderful Broads through BU, and because of them I have had writing opportunities that have made me stretch my boundaries outward, consider new things. It’s been a blast. If I could only keep one writing organization I belong to, it would be Broad Universe.

** What one book would you save from a burning fire, and why? The Bible because it’s pulled me from the fire on more than one occasion. As for fiction books…as much as I love to read, and am proud of the books of my own that have published, I’m afraid all the paper goods would lose out to the people and cats closest to me.

**Are there any writers (living or dead) that are influencing you right now? No…not really. I can’t say that I’ve ever tried to mirror or emulate any particular author other than myself. My creativity doesn’t function that way. Characters influence my style more than the writing of others, and at that, only my characters. Reading is for enjoyment for me, not something to hold my own work up against.

** If you could talk to any writer (living or dead) what one question would you ask, or what one thing would you say? I would ask CS Lewis “Are there books in Heaven, or should I bring my own?”

**Favorite bookstore/library? Between Books, an independent bookstore in Claymont, DE (www.betweenbooks.com). Not only does it have the coolest selection, but the owner loves what he does and intimately knows the contents of his store. Pretty ironic considering he is located in the middle of a limping strip mall, but tell you this…he’s been in business for over thirty years, so that has to tell you something!

**Favorite planet or fantasy world you'd like to live in? The one where chocolate doesn’t make you fat, chores never need to be done, and parents don’t have to be afraid for their children the minute they walk out the door.

**Give me one thing you want readers to remember after they finish this blog? All fiction is fantasy, so why not put a bit of magic in it? Look at the world crosswise and have fun playing with the twists, because anyone can write about everyday things, but those we remember are those that can put someday on the page.

Today we're visiting with author, Stina Leicht a Broad Universe member and fantasy writer, living in central Texas. She has a flash fiction piece appearing in Ann and Jeff VanderMeer’s anthology, "Last Drink Bird Head." Her debut novel, "Of Blood and Honey" is being published by Night Shade Books and is a dark fantasy set in 1970s Northern Ireland during "The Troubles." More information can be found at: http://www.csleicht.com

**When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
Like many writers, I knew I wanted to be a writer when I was very young. Of course, I also wanted to be a Pit Mechanic at a race track, an Astronaut, an Animator for Walt Disney, and a Ballerina. Strangely, Fiction Writer was the one that worked out. It’s just as well. It’s tough to cram a tutu in a space suit anyway.

**What is your writing process? When do you write?
My husband calls me a “method writer” which means I get busted for doing ridiculous things like smelling snow and standing too close to fireworks displays. Oh, and driving 90 mph on a race track.
I tend to write in the mornings or late at night.

**Do you have any writing rituals? What do you keep around your writing area to inspire you?
Music is important to my process. It helps me get my head into the setting. I also like to keep candles, incense and... toys on my desk. No, really. And my magic wand collection. I keep hoping I’ll find one that actually works. (No dice so far.)

**What is your most current project?
I’ve a two book deal with Night Shade. Soooo, that would be the next book in the series. The working title is And Blue Skies from Pain, but the jury is still out on that one. It’ll focus a bit on the Belfast Punk scene – which actually had more in common with the 60s peace movement than London punk. London punk stood for anarchy. Belfast punk was about peace and unity with the occasional slam dance thrown in for good measure, of course. I know that sounds strange, but that’s how it was. Belfast in the 1970s is a fascinating time and place, really – not to mention the music.

**What was the inspiration for the book?
Half of it is because I’m not really a short fiction writer. "Of Blood and Honey" started with a short story sold to an online anthology. Charles de Lint read it and asked me the very important question, “Where’s the rest of the story?” The other half came from a nonfiction book I found in the break room while working at BookPeople as a bookseller: "Those Are Real Bullets" by Peter Pringle and Philip Jacobson. It’s a collection of first-hand accounts of Bloody Sunday (Jan. 30, 1972) in Londonderry. Thirteen unarmed civilians were shot by British Paratroopers during a civil rights march. (A fourteenth died of his wounds at the hospital later.) I was stunned to discover that not only did the British government lie about what happened, the Paratroopers responsible were awarded medals. Most sources site Bloody Sunday as the pivotal moment at the start of the thirty year war the Irish call “The Troubles.” I felt it was too awful an event to just vanish into the past without further comment. So, my main character, Liam Kelly, was born.

**Who is your favorite character, and why?
In "OB&H?" All of them, really — yes, even the black hats. It’s important to make characters fully-rounded. They should have understandable, sometimes sympathetic, motivations for what they do, not just because they make for more interesting characters for the reader. Captivating stories contain conflict of some kind. Cognitive dissonance within a reader is a powerful form of conflict. So, a character is especially effective and memorable when they have sympathetic motivations actions that are clearly not a good thing.

**Tell us one thing about yourself people would be surprised to learn?
I’m a shy person struggling to be more out-going.

**Words of wisdom to new writers?
Never give up. Never surrender. ☺

**How has Broad Universe “broadened” your writing life?
The Rapid-fire readings have been really helpful. They’re great for getting a information on trends, about what other women are writing. It’s also good to know I’m not the only female who enjoys action and horror.

**What one book would you save from a burning fire, and why?
To be honest? All of them, if I could. It’s hard to choose! But "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury definitely springs to mind. I can’t imagine why anyone would not understand why! LOL.

**Are there any writers (living or dead) that are influencing you right now?
Well, yes. Ray Bradbury will always be a big inspiration, and Stephen King too, and Shirley Jackson. All are poetic in their prose and deeply psychological in content. Of course, with "Of Blood and Honey" I used a lot of Irish Crime writers for inspiration: Collin Bateman, Adrian McKinty, Ken Bruen, Stuart Neville, and Gerard Brennan for example. But my intent was to combine modern fantasy and ancient Irish myth with Irish Crime.

**If you could talk to any writer (living or dead) what one question would you ask, or what one thing would you say?
I’d thank Madeleine L’Engle for "A Wrinkle in Time." That book was "the" book that got to me as a kid. You know, "the" book that influenced me and made me love reading more than almost anything.

**Favorite bookstore/library?
Bookstore: BookPeople in Austin, Texas. Library: The Central Library in downtown Austin. The librarians there have cheerfully helped me with research before. We’ve had a lot of fun.

**Favorite planet or fantasy world you'd like to live in?
Actually, nothing beats what’s going on in my reality right now. I mean, I’ve a wonderful husband, a kick ass car and a new book hitting the shelves. Hell, I’ve wanted this since I was in the 6th grade! But if I had to pick one, I think it’d be Middle Earth. It’d be fun to be a Rohirrim shield maiden like Eowyn.

**Any last words?
Try new things. Take risks. Mix genres. Write whatever it is you feel most passionately about. Don’t write something just because there’s a trend and everyone else is doing it. Be brave and bold and above all, live life to the fullest.

1. Broadsheet Editor Needed!

Tap into our vast array of info and resources by producing our thrice-yearly Broadsheet! Editor-in-chief will coordinate with feature editors to gather articles, artwork, interviews, and book reviews for uploading to the Broad Universe website. Contact Elissa Malcohn for more information at deviations [at] earthlink [dot] net.

2. Call for submissions for the Broadsheet Blog Issue!

Do you blog about the writing process? About women in the genre? Do you have lessons to offer or a post about lessons learned? What have your writing experiences and adventures been? Submit to the Broadsheet! We offer a reprint payment of $15, so send in your favorites! E-mail the URL (permalink) of your blog entry to Elissa Malcohn at deviations [at] earthlink [dot] net.

Sword & Saga Press has launched an imprint called Lost Woods Books that will specialize in genre fiction books dealing with the environment. http://www.swordandsagapress.com/index.php

Lost Woods Books
At Lost Woods Books we're dedicated to bringing together the best in environmental fiction with a twist--genre fiction. For years science fiction and fantasy writers have been writing, predicting, recreating, and exploring the environmental world, whether it be on Earth or in an imaginary landscape. Now, we're seeking to bring those voices together in one package.

New! Clamoring Spring

We are currently accepting submissions for the anthology, "Clamoring Spring," a tribute to the legacy of Rachel Carson. As you (hopefully) know, Rachel Carson influenced the modern environmental movement during the 1960s with her groundbreaking book, Silent Spring. She brought to light the dangers of living in a toxic and polluted society. Her work prompted much needed environmental regulations and the removal of DDT from the market. Without her work, our world would probably be even more dire.

Clamoring Spring, seeks to bring together fiction writers, poets, and essayists, to clamor, to share your voices about what the environment means to you. Much the same way The Last Man Anthology showed a broad range of voices on catastrophe and disaster, we're looking to pool together a collection of stories that projects a vision of how our generation regards nature, the environment and the world at large. See below for specific guidelines to submit.
For more information:
http://www.swordandsagapress.com/Lost-Woods.php/*9

The brand new Broadly Speaking podcast is now available for your listening
pleasure!

This very first Broadly Speaking edition brings you interviews and insights from
women writers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror - and all the realms in
between. Keeping with the Broad Pod's theme of Faith and Fear, Broadly Speaking
will chat with Jennifer Pelland, Morven Westfield, and Gail Z. Martin about how
they've used faith and fear in their writing, advice on how to do it well, and
even how selling and marketing can be affected. Join host Trish Wooldridge for
some true tales of women's adventures in writing!

You can download and listen to the podcast here:

http://broadlyspeaking.posterous.com/broadly-speaking-faith-and-fear

Please, please, please - leave a comment and spread news of this far and wide!

I normally don't bring up how much work these involve - but there were hours of
editing involved in this one (and it's still not as "perfect" as I want it, and
I feel bad for that), so I would really appreciate as many of you as possible
promoting this: facebook, blogs, Twitter... anywhere you can! :) Thank you so
much!

Thank you Jen, Morven, and Gail for being interviewed and handling our technical
difficulties and my stumbling with kindness and grace! Recording took longer
than I promised, too, so I appreciate you all staying until the end.

Also, special thanks to Justine Graykin for doing all the music for this
episode! I think it sounds great.

Happy reading, y'all!!

Best,

Trish Wooldridge
readings & events chick

Today we're visiting with Broad Universe member and author, Sylvia Kelso, who lives in North Queensland, Australia. She writes fantasy and SF set in analogue or alternate Australian settings. She has published six fantasy novels, two of which were finalists for Best Fantasy Novel of the year in the Australian Aurealis genre fiction awards, and some short stories in Australian and US anthologies.

Her latest book is "Source:" http://jupitergardens.com/index.php. The third of the Amberlight series, with the "Solitaire Ghost," book one of the "Blackston Gold" duo, due for release in June 2011.

***When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
I don’t think I ever knew consciously: writing, or at least telling stories, is something I’ve done as long as I can remember. Poetry I did start to write at eight or ten, and my first “novel” was started at the end of my second year in high school. I didn’t think seriously about trying to get any of my fiction published, though, until late in the 1990s.

***What is your writing process? When do you write?
I’m a lark, not an owl. For novels, I tend to start in the morning; once, after breakfast and daily chores, nowadays after the e-mail check! If the story is stuck I may just tinker with a re-read, but if it’s running I may work until lunchtime or later. As a rule, around then the well will dry up. However, there are also really early morning inspirations – arrivals in the brain buffer, so to speak – and sometimes crisis sections or chapters will go to all hours of the night.

***Do you have any writing rituals? What do you keep around your writing area to inspire you?
No rituals, really, except I firmly believe you should look at your current work every day, but not try to force it. “If it comes it comes, if it won’t, it won’t,” to quote an old Bob Dylan line. This doesn’t work for people who have tight deadlines, of course!

I do like to keep related pix around. Nowadays I use a screen-saver or a desk-top pic. The last novel I finished had an archipelago loosely based on the Orkneys, off Scotland, so I had a pic of Rack Head, on the island of Hoy, as desk-top for several months.

***What is your most current project?
I’m currently at the start of a possible story for a Steampunk and Shakespeare antho, based on "The Tempest," called, “The Isle is Full of Noises.” So far I don’t have much but the title and the basic scenario.
Otherwise, I’m in the final prep for "The Solitaire Ghost," which is a contemporary fantasy/romance/mystery set in an analogue of my North Queensland home town, and going back to the days of the gold rush around here. I’ve been working with the artist on the cover over Christmas, and expect the galleys for a final check any time now. It’s coming out with Five Star books in June, and I’m very excited, because this is the first contemporary fantasy that I’ve actually managed to get published.

***What was the inspiration for the book?
LOL! For Ghost, it was standing in the shower – where so many of us must meditate! thinking about the story that you can see Roman soldiers marching knee deep in a cellar somewhere in York. And then thinking about a ghost in a skyscraper – how much of them would you see, and where? And suddenly, here was this figure in diggers’ (gold rush) clothes climbing invisible steps out of the elevator floor in a local high-rise, and putting a panning dish (for gold) down on the narrator’s head.

***Who is your favorite character, and why?
Do you mean real people, invented people, or my invented people? Goodness, so many. Real people, in history, the Carthaginian general Hannibal, my long-term fascination and inspiration because he was so smart, such a sharp-tongue, and he never gave up.

Invented characters – in SF and F, from way back, Professor Challenger from Conan Doyle’s, "The Lost World," because he seemed so outrageous when I was twelve-years-old. Closer, Eowyn and Faramir in The Lord of the Rings, she for courage and he for charisma – and because his gabbiness almost made Tolkien expunge him at birth! Barbara Hambly’s wizard, Antryg Windrose, for sheer unsurpassed dottiness.

And for myself, the time traveler in "The Solitaire Ghost," a sarky (sarcastic) Tyrone Catholic activist who proved to have a direct line to some Northern Irish ancestor of mine, and produced dialect wisecracks in a way that was near scary at times.

***Tell us one thing about yourself people would be surprised to learn?
That I’m shy.

***Words of wisdom to new writers?
Don’t quit your day job till your advance offer tops $500,000, and never say, It can’t be done about a requested revision.

***How has Broad Universe “broadened” your writing life? Any fun stories, experiences, etc.?
The list digests are a constant source of new info and inspiring stories, just for starters – though it’s painful hearing about all the great cons and RFRs in the US when I can’t get to them. Fun experiences, being at WisCon with books of mine on the BU table, or getting to meet people off the list for real. I hope to be part of an RFR next time I get to the US, esp. WisCon, though FOGcon also now sounds really tempting. I will certainly be wearing the BU pin with a boastful air!

***What one book would you save from a burning fire, and why?
Owwwww, this is worse than the New Library of Alexandria teaser, which has every book in the world, and it’s burning, and you can save ten … With the New Library, there’s the condition that other people are saving books too, which lets you bypass a lot of really popular books. But the obscure ones are worse; there are so many. Well, if there was just me saving, I’d probably take "The Lord of the Rings." Second edition or later, so it has all the little additions. And I’d save it for old times’ sake, because it’s the book I’ve probably read more times than any other in my own library, and for its unsurpassed world-building. And of course, its great characters.

***Are there any writers (living or dead) that are influencing you right now?
Patricia McKillip constantly influences me, or rather, is constantly someone whose style I aspire to. Otherwise longterm, Mary Renault, who could make dialogue mean more, and leave out more sub-text, than almost any other novelist I ever read. But of course, writers collect something from everyone they read. It’s like spores off plants and flowers on your clothes as you walk past…

***If you could talk to any writer (living or dead) what one question would you ask, or what one thing would you say?
I’d want to ask the monk who wrote down "Beowulf." What was his source?

***Favorite bookstore/library?
Cringing I admit, at the moment my favourite bookstore is Amazon Kindle. I bought one last year – with writing payments, yet – and I’m just now exploring the basements of ancient if not classic stuff I read and never owned years ago, esp. obscure Edwardian novelists like A.E.W. Mason – and, after years of neglect, lol, I’m about to start "The Count of Monte Cristo."

***Favorite planet or fantasy world you'd like to live in?
Well, a lot of planets and fantasy worlds are beguiling, but they also have a habit of being dangerous, you know? It’s in the nature of stories. But one I would like to live in is Caroline Stevermer’s quasi-Edwardian Europe from "A College of Magics" – provided I could be a witch myself, of course.

***Give me one thing you want readers to remember after they finish this blog?
The name of that latest book? Source?

http://jupitergardens.com/inde