10. Women Fighters in Reasonable Armor

It’s eye candy for queer female fantasy readers! For example, there’s nothing sexier than hanging upside down in form-fitting (leather?) armor with a knife that is miraculously not falling out of its sheath due to the force of gravity that’s making your hair fly out sexily:

Art by Jason Chan

9. Sister Mischief by Laura Goode

A heartfelt, funny, beautiful book about a Jewish lesbian rapper named Esme Rocket (who doesn’t love that name?), and her first true love. I blogged about it here.

8. Red Glove by Holly Black

The second in the Curse Workers series, set in a world in which magic (known as curses) is done through the touch of a hand — and it’s illegal. This book (and White Cat, which comes first so you should read that first if you haven’t yet) is a mashup of mystery, mafia, crime, and the fantastic, and when I read them I feel like I will never be as good of a writer. Which is, paradoxically, incredibly inspiring! I can’t wait for the third in the trilogy, Black Heart, which comes out in 2012!

7. Tripping to Somewhere by Kristopher Reisz

A roadtrip about two girls, a fantasy come true, and heartbreaking love. I blogged about it here.

6. The Walking Dead

I was a little late to the zombie party, so although this series premiered in 2010, I didn’t start watching it until this summer. I was instantly hooked! I admit I was a little leery at first because I’m not the biggest zombie fan, but this show is about way more than horror. It’s about life after the zombie apocalypse, so while there is plenty of zombie killing, there’s also surviving in a totally changed world. In what is about the most refreshing thing I’ve seen on TV in years, the show also isn’t afraid to have characters of color who discuss, onscreen (it’s not even subtext!), race and racism. The show is currently in the middle of its second season, and this season I’ve developed a new favorite character: Glenn, played by Steven Yeun. He even got to have a love interest this fall, and I reallyreallyreallyreally hope he survives in the spring! (You never know with this show.)

Glenn (Steven Yeun) and Maggie (Lauren Cohan)

5. The Vampire Diaries

Yes, I ranked this above The Walking Dead; you all now know that I’m totally a cheesehead! On the surface, TVD is a glossy soap about sexy vampires (and werepires) and their hot girlfriends. But underneath that … OK it’s exactly the same. And that’s why I love it! It’s melodramatic, it has crazyass plots that make no sense, everybody has awesome hair, and the show isn’t afraid to be what it is: fun! Also, this season we have Evil Stefan, who is my FAVORITE:

(Don’t worry, I will always love Spike more.)

4. Drink the Sea by the Glitch Mob

This came out in 2010, but I only discovered it this year as I was writing Adaptation. I’ve listened to it so many times I have parts of it memorized, and whenever I hear it, I am instantly transported into the last third of Adaptation. Is that a spoiler? It is the THEME MUSIC of the last third of the book! Here’s one of my favorite tracks from the album, “Fortune Days”:

3. The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

This book was pure escapist fun for me. Smart girl gets plopped in the midst of a supernatural murder mystery at a London boarding school = YES I WANT MORE. I blogged about it here.

2. Fixin’ to Thrill by Dragonette

Yeah, I know, I’m behind on all the hot music! So, this came out in 2009 (OMG I’m so not hip), but it is still awesome! It’s ear candy pop that I can listen to on repeat — and I did, because some of the songs are just about the perfect representation of a character in Adaptation. So, think of that what you will. Here’s one of my absolute favorites from the album:

1. Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey

Obviously, my favorite thing of 2011 was this novel (even though, yes, it was first published in 2009, but I didn’t read it till this year!), which I’ve talked about everywhere and still completely adore. This is the kind of book I wish I had written, and then realize, thank god, I don’t have to write it because somebody already did, and I can just enjoy it.

So there are my top 10 favorite things of 2011. What did you love this year?

Thankfully I recently discovered Women Fighters in Reasonable Armor, a tumblr (what are they? blogs? sites?) that not only distracts me from my technology stress but also has made me seriously consider joining Tumblr. Back when I was first posting about Huntress, I remember I went online and looked for images of women I thought might resemble the main character in the book. However, whenever I searched for “huntress” I got images like this:

This is not what Kaede looks like.

Uh, no. A woman who was actually going to use a bow would not be prancing around in a leather bikini. (There are plenty of other opportunities to wear a leather bikini, I’m sure, but not while hunting.)

Anyway, Women Fighters in Reasonable Armor (I love the name!) is just that. And the ladies are awesome! Here is a very reasonable approximation of what Kaede might look like (the girl is even Asian!):

Artist: Mario Wibisono

It’s even more awesome because it is a Japanese bow and the girl is wearing a Japanese glove, which is exactly what Kaede puts on when she learns how to shoot. (OK, I don’t know what that hat with the feathers on it is about, and Kaede probably wouldn’t tie a bow around her waist, but still, it’s closer to her than other images I’ve seen.)

I also love this image from Women Fighters in Reasonable Armor:

Art from Magic: The Gathering by Michael Komarck

She looks quite serene. And serious. When you’re getting ready to kick some ass, these are good qualities to have.

Last but not least, finally I have an excuse to post this photo of Kristen Stewart from the upcoming Snow White and the Huntsman:

I first saw this image back in July when Stewart was promoting the movie at Comic-Con, and I was floored back then because I had just written a short story, loosely based on “Snow White,” that involves a girl wearing armor. OK, the girl in my story isn’t a brunette, but still, I just love this image. (Yes, the story will be published! I can’t tell you where or when yet, but I will soon. I’m very excited about it!)

So, if my site is down and you’re wondering what I’m up to, I’ll be visiting Women Fighters in Reasonable Armor to keep myself sane while trying to deal with hackers. Grr!

Back in May, I was part of the Teen Author Carnival, where I was on a panel about “Kick-Ass Females in YA.” A lot of the discussion centered on the fact that being kick-ass could, metaphorically, mean a lot of other things — you know, being a strong woman, having integrity, etc. That’s certainly true, but today I’d like to focus on, well, the deadlier side of being kick-ass. In other words, let’s get back to the heart of being kick-ass.

Here are some of my favorite kick-ass fictional ladies, in the order in which I discovered them:

Harry Crewe in The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley

I’m pretty sure I read The Blue Sword when I was thirteen, which makes Harry my first favorite kick-ass lady. To this day, I think that Harry is the model I think of when I think kick-ass heroine, epic fantasy: She started off not knowing much about how to kick ass, but after being kidnapped by a sexy desert king (yes! I love this part too!), she is given a magical sword and special training in how to kick ass. One of my favorite parts of kick-assery (I believe one of the authors on the Teen Author Carnival panel coined this word) is the fact that there is often a training montage involved. I love a good training montage, and Harry gets one of the best out there.

Other things I like about Harry: She’s funny! She’s not full of herself! She doesn’t whine or complain about being kidnapped! And she doesn’t moon over her love interest, either. She does what has to be done, and she does it well. Also she gets a fancy hero name: Harimad-sol. But she’ll always be Harry to me.

Kitiara in the Dragonlance books by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

Kitiara is on the right. On the left is, um, a kender?

I don’t remember much at all about her except that she was thoroughly kick-ass, possibly evil, wore sexy armor and commanded armies. Also she was very good with the weapons. Sadly, I never saw Kitiara in a training montage. I also don’t recall if she was ever in any sort of romantic relationship, although I think she was pretty thoroughly sexualized in that kick ass lady = dominatrix way. I did not understand, when I was 14, why I found this so fascinating. I was kind of an innocent 14-year-old.

Faith in Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Eliza Dushku as Faith

I think her story line of coming to terms with what it meant to actually be bad was much more believable — and her character could actually be redeemed with some measure of honesty — because originally she really had no comprehension of the responsibility her power gave her. Also, I love the Boston accent.

Starbuck in Battlestar Galactica

Katee Sackhoff as Starbuck

Starbuck is a really interesting kick-ass lady because initially she was very much the male Starbuck of old, but as the series progressed and her character changed, she grew into one of the most complex portraits of a woman I’ve seen on TV. She was allowed to be physically powerful (especially when fighting Lee Adama in the boxing ring, which I loved), she was allowed to be in control of her sexiness without becoming a dominatrix, and she was allowed to have extremely tortured feeeeeelings while never going whiny. I want more female characters like her!

Katsa in Graceling by Kristin Cashore

UK cover. I know, Katsa wouldn't go sleeveless on an iceberg, but still, it's a hot cover!

Another thing I loved about Katsa? At one point in the book she cuts off her super long hair. This just seemed so right to me. I’ve always thought it ridiculous that many kick-ass ladies in fiction have long, flowing hair. I mean, if you’re going to be running around with weapons and fighting people (who could presumably grab your hair), why would you have long hair that gets in the way? It was just so right and so realistic for Katsa to do that.

Loup Garou in Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey

If you follow me on Twitter, you probably know that I just about freaked out from pure joy when I read this novel earlier this year. Yeah, I have a fairly embarrassing crush on this book, and a lot of it is because of Loup, the main character, who is a genetically modified human being who feels no fear. Literally, she has been modified to feel no fear. Now, the actual definition of “brave” and “courage” is to be fearless, but that is not why Loup is so awesome. Even though she feels no fear, she still has feelings; she can still be hurt and she can still love people.

The thing is, the fact that she’s fearless means that when she falls in love with another girl, she’s not afraid of it. I thought that was one of the most amazing things about this book: pointing out that homophobia is pretty much always about fear.

Also, you know how I love training montages? There are SO MANY! Loup becomes a boxer, which is not something I actually watch in reality, but in fiction? Very very hot. I can’t wait for the sequel!

Val in Valiant by Holly Black

I know that Valiant was published a while ago, but I only read it this past spring. It was one of those books I read while thinking: Wow, this is a book I’m going to love for a long time, so I’d better read it slowly.

Val is an ordinary teen girl who gets tangled up in a big, extraordinary faerie mess in New York. She runs away from home, sleeps in the subway, gets sucked into doing drugs (like, real drugs) and other things that everybody knows is really bad, and despite all that, she maintains this core heroic nature that just glows through her. I don’t know how else to say it. She’s surrounded, in this story, by grit and dirt and awful things, but Val is a true light through it all. Sure, she makes some mistakes, and she does things she should not have done, but ultimately, she becomes the valiant person that others see in her.

Also, there’s a training montage and swords! Now, if only she were blond … Maybe her friend Ruth could dye her hair?

* * *

So, there are seven of my favorite fictional kick-ass ladies. What are some of yours? Why do you love them?

This is a novel I did not know I was going to write until fall of 2008, when I was finishing up the last round of revisions on Ash and was facing the second book in my contract. When I sold Ash to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, I didn’t think I’d be writing a second book related to Ash in any way — in fact, initially I thought I’d be writing a gothic boarding school mystery.²

But during the course of writing Ash I became curious about exactly how the job of the huntress originated. If you’ve read Ash, you’ll remember that every year during Yule, the King’s Huntress leads her hunters into the City square and tosses out gold coins to the citizens. She and her hunters dance around the bonfire and sing an old hunting song. At one point in Ash, Kaisa explains to Ash:

“It is said that many hundreds of years ago, when fairies still walked the land and the King’s Huntress was appointed to go between both courts, a powerful greenwitch was called upon to cast a spell that would ensure the huntress’s safe return each time she visited the fairy court. But in order for the spell to hold, each time the huntress went into that other world, she had to gather all of her hunters together to chant the words, for that would bind her to this world. If they ever did not say the spell together before she left for the fairy court, she might never be able to return.”

The part that I kept returning to was the idea that the huntress was appointed to go between the human and fairy worlds — sort of as an ambassador. I started to wonder how exactly that had come to be. From that kernel, I began to spin out a story about the very first huntress in the Kingdom.

I knew that I wanted certain things in the story: A girl having an adventure. A romance with sexual tension. A world on the verge of dying (I’m a big fan of dystopians). Powerful, creepy fairies. Weapons. And I wanted it to be a hero’s quest. As I noted in my writing journal back in October 2008 when I was figuring out what would happen, “The point of the quest is to bring order and harmony back to the mortal world.”

Putting all those things together, the book that came out was Huntress.

Tonight I’m having a book launch at Books Inc in Palo Alto, but I know that most of you don’t live in the San Francisco Bay Area. So, for those of you who can’t make it to my real-world events, but still want a signed copy of Huntress, you can get a signed copy in two ways:

From my local independent bookstore, Book Passage — Go to www.bookpassage.com to order the book online or call them at (800) 999-7909. To order a signed copy from their website, please specify that you want a signed copy in the Order Comments section of the online order form. If you want it personalized (e.g., “To Taisin”), please include exactly what you’d like me to write in the book. Once you’ve ordered it, Book Passage will let me know and I’ll go down to the store to sign your copy.

Send me a self-addressed stamped envelope to get a beautiful signed bookplate! — The hardcover edition of Huntress has an amazing map designed by Dave Stevenson printed on the endpapers, and I’ve been able to use part of the map to commission special Huntress-specific bookplates. Look how pretty:

Gorgeous bookplates!

(I suggest you affix the bookplate opposite the title page so you don’t cover the map itself.)

Want a bookplate? Here’s how you can get one:

1. Mail a self-addressed, stamped envelope to me at: 

   [The giveaway is now over! If I'm able to send out more bookplates in the future, I will post about it.]

2. You MUST include a self-addressed stamped envelope, or I will not be able to send you a bookplate. If you are not in the United States, you must include an international reply coupon along with your envelope (yes, don’t forget the envelope).
3. Don’t forget to tell me what you want me to write on the bookplate (e.g., “To Kaede”).
4. The deadline for sending me SASEs for bookplates is May 1, 2011. This is because I will be out of town for most of May (come see me on the Diversity in YA Tour!), and I will not be around to actually send them back to you. If you’re in the U.K. and won’t be able to get your copy of Huntress until May, just send me your SASE now and you’ll get the bookplate just in time for the U.K. release date!
5. I have a limited number of bookplates: only 500. I don’t know if I’ll print any more than that. So if you want one, send me your SASE now.

Oh, one more thing: I’ll throw in a Huntress/Ash double-sided bookmark for you, too.

Double-sided bookmarks!

That’s it! I hope you guys enjoy Huntress! It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever written, and I’m pretty proud of it.

1. in the U.S. and Canada
2. I reserve the right to do this in the future!

To everyone who bought my book, thank you. To everyone who checked it out from their library (or who asked their library to order it!), thank you. To everyone who blogged or tweeted or facebooked or mentioned my book on the internet, thank you. To everyone who told their friends in person about my book, who gave it as a gift, who loaned their copy to someone else: Thank you.

Ash was my first published novel, so it will always mean a lot to me, even as I write new and different books. Your support for Ash has been amazing, and I’m so glad that the words I wrote touched you in some way.

To thank you, I’m excited to share with you the brand new, official¹ book trailer for Huntress, which will be coming to bookstores (and ebooks!) on April 5, 2011.²

Now, I know that not everyone likes book trailers. I mean, you’re interested in the book, which means words, right? So, I’m also posting Chapter 1 of Huntress right here for you to read.

And, because Chapter 1 is really pretty short, I’ll be posting Chapter 2 in two weeks. And then, two weeks after that, I believe I may even post Chapter 3.

I also know that some people don’t even like to read teaser chapters, because then they get all antsy about not having the rest of the book to read. I’m sympathetic to you guys, because I’m the same way. Sometimes I’ll check out a book trailer because I’m curious, but I rarely read teaser chapters. I just want the whole book.

Since I totally get where you’re coming from, I’m also giving away five signed ARCs of Huntress! I will ship up to two of them outside the U.S. and Canada, so overseas readers, you’re welcome to enter.

And, since this is totally a valentine from me to my readers, I don’t want you to do any work to get it. All you have to do is enter your email address in the form below. There are no extra entries for promoting my contest on Twitter or Facebook or your blog.³

I do ask, though, that you not enter the giveaway unless you honestly loved Ash. This is totally on the honor system here; I can’t check to see if you’re lying or not. If you haven’t read Ash yet, I’ll be doing more ARC giveaways of Huntress on Twitter in the next month, so you can follow me to make sure you have a chance to win there. This giveaway, though, is for fans of Ash. Also: You can be any fan of Ash. I don’t care if you work in the publishing business or are a fellow YA author or are one of my real-life friends who keep demanding that I give you an ARC (I love you, really) — if you’re a fan of Ash, feel free to enter this Huntress ARC giveaway!

That said, here are the rules:

1. To enter the giveaway, please enter your email address in the form below. Comments do not count as entries.
2. You do not have to answer the survey question, but I would love it if you did, since I’m curious.
3. The deadline to enter this giveaway is Friday, Feb. 18th!
4. Winners will be selected using Random Number Generator shortly afterward, and will be notified by email.

And, last but not least, thank you again for reading Ash!

Updated 2/20/11: The contest is over! Thanks for entering; winners will be notified shortly.

1. And 100% home-made, aka I’m a writer, not a cinematographer!
2. Can I tell you how hard it is to find stock photo or video of Asian teens who are not wearing tons of makeup and/or carrying a cell phone? It’s really, really hard. In fact, I found no stock video of that. Hence, photos.
3. Although if you do want to share the giveaway news out of the kindness of your heart, I’m sure you’ll rack up some good book karma.

I’m giving away not only a brand-new paperback copy of Silver Phoenix, but a signed advance review copy of its sequel, Fury of the Phoenix, which doesn’t even hit stores until April 2011. To win, all you have to do is enter your contact info in the form at the end of this blog post.

I met Cindy online when I first started poking around the YA blogosphere in early 2009, and she has become a real-life friend to me since then. I know that sometimes readers are a little skeptical of authors gushing about their friends’ books, and I totally understand. But I don’t really gush about anybody’s books that often (friends or not), so if I do, you can be sure that I mean what I’m saying.

In Silver Phoenix, 17-year-old Ai Ling flees from an arranged marriage to a lecherous merchant and journeys on a quest to find her missing father. Along the way she discovers a great power within her, which she must use to fight demons and monsters who block her way. She also meets two brothers, Chen Yong and Li Rong, both of whom become her allies. Booklist, which named Silver Phoenix one of the Top Ten Fantasy and Science Fiction Books for Youth in 2009, described Cindy’s writing as “both fluid and exhilarating.” But here are my reasons for why Silver Phoenix and Fury of the Phoenix are worthy of your attention:

• They are different than 99% of the young adult fantasies being published today. There are no angels or vampires in these books. The love interest is not a bad boy with stalker instincts. The main female character doesn’t spend most of her time moping over a love triangle.
• They are both Asian-inspired fantasies written by an Asian American author. What that means is you get a non-Western setting that is also, in my opinion, refreshingly not exoticized. Stuff happens in these books that is based on thousands of years of Chinese mythology, but I’m absolutely certain you have never heard of some of these myths. And all the names sound right!
• Ai Ling, the main character, is courageous and smart. She does things she doesn’t know if she can do. She rises to the challenge presented. And she does it all while trying to never skip a delicious meal!
• The guy she falls for, Chen Yong, is smart and brave. He treats Ai Ling with respect, and he acts like man, not a boy. To me, that’s way sexier than a smirk and an attitude.

Since Fury of the Phoenix is a sequel, I won’t spoil it by telling you too much about what happens. But I will tell you this. Fury of the Phoenix is truly one of the most unique YA¹ fantasies I’ve ever read. It is sexy and thrilling, and I really love Cindy Pon’s style. She writes with an appealing lightness and energy that gives great motion to the story. And, because I can’t resist a little bit of a teaser: Fury of the Phoenix is chock full of pirates, deliciously wicked court intrigue, and lush romance between a eunuch and a courtesan. (I’m not kidding! I loved it!)

There’s one more reason you might enjoy Silver Phoenix: Food! As I mentioned, Ai Ling loves to eat, and there is so much delicious, yummy Chinese food in these books! Cindy has even included a special recipe in the back of the paperback edition; it’s her mother’s own vegetarian mopo tofu. I love to cook, so I convinced Cindy to give me a sneak preview of the recipe, and I tried it out.

Cindy's mom's vegetarian mapo tofu (made by me!)

It is super tasty! I’ve made it several times now. I really love the addition of cherry tomatoes, which isn’t in traditional recipes. It adds a really nice tartness to the dish.

So, if you want to win a copy of the paperback edition of Silver Phoenix and an ARC of Fury of the Phoenix:

• Enter your contact information in the form below. This giveaway is open internationally!
• Comments do not count as entries; you must fill out the form.
• You can get extra entries by tweeting, blogging, or posting to Facebook about the giveaway.
• The deadline for the giveaway is Feb. 15th.
• I will contact the winner shortly afterward.

Thanks for entering, and please do help spread the word!

Updated 2/20/11: The contest is over and a winner has been selected. Thanks everybody for entering!

1. I’m categorizing the books as young adult because that’s how they’re published. But in my opinion, these books very easily cross over into adult fantasy.

I was in Orlando for the ALAN workshop, which was a great experience and I’d tell you all about it, except when I go to these kinds of conferences, I seem to hardly ever take photos anymore because I’m too busy talking to other people or giving speeches or signing books. I resolve in 2011 to be better at this, but for now, all I will say is: My publisher rocks! I love meeting English teachers! (I’m a lifetime teacher’s pet, honestly.) And I got Peeped by Lisa Yee! (That sounds racier than it actually is.)

Anyway … knowing that I’d get to be in Orlando this fall, I carefully planned time to spend a day at WWoHP because I love the Harry Potter books! Amy even came with me, and we decided to make an entire day of it at the Islands of Adventure. We read up on tips for visiting the park from blog posts and tour guides, because theme parks can be a bit crazy and I wanted to avoid the crazy as much as possible. Well, most of these guides recommended getting there an hour before the entire theme park opens, which would mean we’d have to leave our hotel by 7:15 a.m. Since we were jetlagged from the West Coast, that didn’t happen. I count ourselves lucky that we got there by 9 a.m., the official opening time.

When you get to Islands of Adventure, WWoHP is on the far side of the park, and when you combine the trek from the parking structure, you’ve got to walk for at least a mile (maybe two) before you get to the edge of the Harry Potter section. (Islands of Adventure has several different themed areas, e.g., comic book land, Dr. Seuss land, and Harry Potter land.) We booked it — I think we were practically speedwalking at times — but by the time we got there, there was already a gigantic wait (more than an hour) for the main ride, the Forbidden Journey.

The line before the line to get into the Forbidden Journey

If you enter WWoHP the way we did, from the Jurassic Park area, you get spit out into kind of a bottleneck area right in front of the Forbidden Journey, which happens inside the fake (but beautiful) Hogwarts castle. This is not a particularly well-organized area to arrive in. The problem is the line for the ride doesn’t begin until you get to the sign in the picture above, but there are hundreds of people just milling about in front of the sign and cutting in line to move closer to the sign. Once you get to the sign, it’s a 60-minute wait to ride the 4-minute ride.

Everybody said the ride was fantastic, though, so we got in the line. And once you’re inside the castle grounds, the wait isn’t so bad. You do have to put your bags into a locker before getting into the real line, which can be a little confusing, but then — finally! — you get to see some cool stuff. Such as:

The line snakes through the Hogwarts greenhouse ...

... where you can see mandrake roots! (I think that's what they are)

Inside the castle/ride itself, it’s pretty dark and it’s very hard to take photos. There’s a PA system in which they keep announcing that if you want to take photos, please move out of the way and let people get ahead of you. We didn’t really take this to heart, which meant we missed a few cool things (Dumbledore’s office is this entire little mini-show which we didn’t realize we could stop to watch), so if you go, definitely dawdle as much as you want once you get into the castle.

A sign inside the castle

The sorting hat does move and do a little sorting hat song-and-dance

The ride itself involves being strapped into a roller coaster-like seat, with very secure bars locked over you, so you can’t get out. If you’re claustrophobic it can be a little scary just getting in the seat. But once the ride starts, you’ll be grateful that you’re strapped in, because the ride jerks and spins and practically flips you over several times. I’m not a fan of rollercoasters because I don’t like the sensation of falling, but I’ll deal with it on one of these kinds of rides, which involve video projections and animatronics to make the whole thing a lot more immersive.

You get to fly over a quidditch field (but this was way too fast! I wanted more!), you’re taken into the Forbidden Forest and are attacked by giant spiders (who spit on you! gross!), and encounter dementors who ooze a kind of fog at you (I didn’t think they were very scary though). It actually felt a lot longer, to me, than 4 minutes, and by the time it was over I was a little shaky from being shaken up so much. It was fun! But yeah, I don’t think I’m doing that one again.

After the ride, we tried to wander through Hogsmeade village, but it was so crowded by then (just after 10 a.m.) that wandering was more like carefully maneuvering yourself through a throng of gawking tourists in Times Square. We chose to not stand in line to enter Ollivander’s wand shop, because that line was about an hour long under the sun (there’s fake snow on the rooftops, but it was hot — it’s Florida!)

Hogsmeade Village

More Hogsmeade

Instead, we accidentally found a back entrance to the Hog’s Head pub, which is connected to the Three Broomsticks. The Hog’s Head only serves drinks (including butterbeer), and the Three Broomsticks serves food. There was such a gigantic line for the food (which all reviews say is just a kind of Americanized British pub food) that we decided to skip it and just get drinks. We got one butterbeer and one Hogs Head Brew, which is a Scottish ale (alcoholic) they brew especially for WWoHP.

The bar at the Hog's Head

Then we found a table in the Three Broomsticks and sat down to drink our beverages and gape at the scenery.

Inside the Three Broomsticks

Butterbeer is tasty! It’s basically a cream soda topped with a creamy topping that’s a cross between butterscotch pudding and whipped cream. The topping is very sweet, and it starts to foam over the mug if you don’t drink it fast enough. (Yes, we got the souvenir mugs!) But, I don’t have a sweet tooth, and I have to say I really enjoyed it. It was yummy! It might have helped that we got the Hogs Head Brew as well, which was delicious and not too bitter, but definitely helped cut the sweetness.

Butterbeer (left) and Hog's Head Brew

After refreshing ourselves, we thought we’d take a peek into the various shops in Hogsmeade Village. The theme park has kind of mashed together Hogsmeade with Diagon Alley, so you’ve got Honeyduke’s along with Dervish & Banges, Ollivander’s, and Zonko’s Joke Shop (connected to Honeyduke’s). Unfortunately there was a line to just get into the shops!

By then it was at least 11 a.m., and the entire place was turning into a madhouse. People told us that it was about a 20-minute wait to enter the shops, which was probably true, but once you got into the shops you had to stand in a 30-minute line to buy anything. However, I thought I’d regret it if I didn’t get into at least one shop, so I stood in line for Honeyduke’s and bought chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans.

At this point it was just after noon, and WWoHP was so crowded it was difficult to walk down the street. We decided that we’d had enough and left that area of the theme park. Unfortunately the rest of Islands of Adventure was also super crowded. I thought because we were there on a Monday it wouldn’t be as crowded, but maybe everybody was taking the entire week off before Thanksgiving?

Anyway, overall the experience was fun, but if you don’t like crowds, you really should get there an hour before the park opens. I’ve heard rumors that Universal may be expanding the WWoHP to take over one of the adjacent park areas, which I think would be a great idea. The streets within WWoHP just aren’t wide enough to accommodate the foot traffic. By the time we left there was a 45-minute wait to just enter the WWoHP area.

However, I’m glad that I went! And I love my cheesey Butterbeer and Hogs Head souvenir mugs! Even though the experience is really nothing like being immersed in the books (because the books do not have thousands of American tourists trying to buy butterbeer out of a giant barrel-shaped contraption in Florida), I think it’s still something worth seeing (if you can spare $83 for the admission ticket!).

The butterbeer stand in Hogsmeade

And then, once I returned home after a Thanksgiving trip up to Boston, I finally saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1, which I loved.

The End!

Hogwarts!

Woohoo! What makes a celebration even better? Obviously, a giveaway! In honor of the fact that Ash is a fairy tale retelling, I’m giving away two different prize packs of fairy tales retold. Each pack includes a signed paperback copy of Ash, plus two other books. I’ve separated them into YA and adult, because fairy tales often cross over into both age groups. Those in the YA group are somewhat gentler than the ones in the adult group, which are best read by mature readers (you know who you are!). I know that both teens and adults have read Ash, and it’s my giveaway after all, so I’m including Ash in both categories!

Prize Pack #1: The YA Collection

Beauty by Robin McKinley — One of my favorite books of all time! A retelling of Beauty and the Beast that is warm, wonderful, magical, and meant to be read by a fire. Beautiful indeed.

Kissing the Witch by Emma Donoghue — A lyrical, linked collection of fairy tales retold, in which the witch is not as witchy as she seems, and girls sometimes love other girls, too.

Ash by Malinda Lo — My book!

Prize Pack #2: The A(dult) Collection

Deerskin by Robin McKinley — Another of my favorite books of all time, but definitely a dark, dark story that involves sexual violence. Still, it is haunting and beautiful.

The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter — A collection of short stories by a masterful writer, these tales are frightening and powerful and make me want to be a better writer.

Ash by Malinda Lo — Yep, it’s me again!

Here are the rules:

• To enter the challenge, you must fill out the form below. Comments will not be counted as entries, but if you have questions about the contest, please do comment and I’ll answer them as I can.
• Everybody who enters gets one entry automatically. You can have additional entries in the contest by tweeting, blogging, or liking me on Facebook. Please be sure to leave links as requested in the forms; otherwise I won’t be able to confirm what you did, and those extra entries will be invalid.
• I am only able to ship to addresses in the United States and Canada, so if you live overseas, you can enter the contest as long as you have a U.S./Canadian mailing address I can ship to.
• The contest will end at midnight Pacific time in two weeks, on Oct. 20th. Winners will be drawn the next day, and I will email them (you, perhaps!) for their addresses.

The contest is over! Thanks to everyone who entered. Winners will be notified by email.

I know, I know, most people release book trailers before the hardcover comes out, but I never got around to that, and this seemed like a good time to do it, too. I’m pleased to say that I made it myself (who knew all that vlogging back in the day would teach me how to make book trailers!). I tried to keep it simple and to maintain the mood of the book, so it’s not one of those breathless, edge-of-your-seat kind of trailers; it’s more meditative.

Without further ado, here it is:

Come back next week for details on my celebratory giveaway!

ETA 9/22: It’s true, I haven’t posted the giveaway yet. I’ve decided to postpone it for another week. It’ll still be awesome!

Inclusion — Arthur A. Levine is a fabulous children’s book editor; you may remember seeing his name on the spine of every Harry Potter novel published in the U.S. because, well, he published those books in the U.S. In this post he’s talking about the recent (well, last year) change to the Lambda Literary Foundation’s requirements for who is eligible to win a Lambda Award. (In the past, it was anyone who wrote a book with LGBT themes; now it’s LGBT authors.) There is a very interesting discussion that ensues in the comments that is too complex for me to summarize here in a sentence.

One Way to Stand Up Against Whitewashing — Arthur A. Levine’s colleague, editor Cheryl Klein (whose blog is fab for writers!), suggests a way to support books featuring people of color on their covers. I think it’s a fantastic suggestion, but it requires a lot of organization. Like, grassroots organization, activist style. I don’t have the chops for this, but I’m hoping someone does.

tgibfm! feel the love, baby! — Author and friend of mine Cindy Pon is giving away seven (7!) books featuring characters of color. You have until July 14 to enter, so go now!

Runway Recovery — Author and friend of mine Deva Fagan blogs about five things she learned from watching Project Runway. Who says reality TV is useless? I loved this.

Last but not least, I found this io9 collection of vintage science book covers via Nathan Bransford, and had to share one of my favorites with you:

And now I’m going to stop procrastinating and get to work myself …