So, yesterday was a loooong Monday. I still had some work to do when I got home, but I couldn't get home. All the streets surrounding our house were blocked off for some mysterious race, so I had Christopher meet me at the only accessible pub grub place I could find. As we were–finally–on our way back after the streets re-opened, I was checking twitter on my phone and saw an i09 update that said "What's more thrilling than a fantasy about the Chosen One? How about the Cursed One?" And I actually thought to myself, Huh, the cursed one instead of the chosen one is kinda how I think about Blackwood; I wonder what the link's about?
Wellll, it turned out to be a lovely review of Blackwood by the fabulous Charlie Jane Anders. Snippet:
There have been a ton of young adult fantasy novels lately where one person stands against a dystopian world, or faces a terrible menace, and they're sort of the chosen savior. But Gwenda Bond's YA debut, Blackwood, takes a very different tack: Her heroine, Miranda Blackwood, is the cursed one, who bears the mark of the betrayer, and she's also the most hated person in her small town. Blackwood is a neat spin on all of those YA fantasies about being special — especially when it turns into a story about "freaks in love."
Go there for the rest. I don't read all reviews (because I don't want to go crazy), but it really is amazing when someone has read the book you were trying to write. And that's how I feel about this one. Day = made, in other words.
Also, a new interview conducted by the delightful Megan Whitmer has just been posted at HerKentucky.com. I talk about Blackwood and Lexington's wonderful literary community and Other Things.
And! I'm told that SOON I will be able to share VERY EXCITING NEWS…but not quite yet. *commences secret chair dancing but tries not to be obnoxious about it*