SeaHeart

So, since finishing Moth, Jenn and I have been non-stop at work on the next Fable Tribe update...which is tonight at eight o'clock, EST! I'm uploading everything now (while munching on one of the cortland apples we picked in the orchard on Sunday, and drinking violet tea. BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT YOU MUST DO WHEN YOU UPDATE THE FABLE TRIBE. ;D <3), and will set the shop live at eight tonight!

See the update preview at our Flickr! Seeker Stone sets, Blessing Bowls, hair flowers and spoon pendants. <3



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We finished everything up for the update today, so I haven't been outside yet. To those of you who know me, this comes as no surprise, but I'm kind of a wild hooligan MOST months, but fall is my worst. XD I MUST BE OUTSIDE EVERY DAY FOR MULTIPLE HOURS, OR I TURN INTO A PUMPKIN (actual results may vary XD). I'm going to push through adding everything into the shop, and then I really hope there's enough time to go cavort at Swallow Hollow. This is the most beautiful day. <3 (To combat this while I was finishing up Moth, even if I'd worked fifteen hours straight on it during the day, I had to go for a walk. Even at one o'clock in the morning. In the rain. <--might have done so multiple times. Autumn fills me, sustains me, makes me feel alive, and I need to be part of every second of it.)

*has been vibrating in place at the table all day staring at the out-of-doors*

*updates faster*

~*~

Last but not least! I posted this in a Tumbl last night, but I'm putting it here, too. <3

You asked, we answered! Many of you wonderful, sparkly people have asked us how you can purchase signed paperback editions of our books…and now you can! I’ve created the Sappho’s Boutique Etsy shop. It has signed editions of all of our paperback books currently out, and some eReader editions, for those people who asked for a way to purchase the eReader copies directly from us. ♥

Thank you so much, guys, you’re wonderful! Let us know what you think of the shop. ♥

I grew up at the library. I was homeschooled and pretty sick as a kid, so activities out in the "real world" were few and far between, but the Holy Grail of the week was our Wednesday night library visits. They were immovable. They always happened, a sort of uncompromising rock to my growing-up years. Even now, if I'm troubled about anything, a trip to the library is absolute balm for my soul. I'll go in, inhale that all-too-familiar scent of books and stacks and paper and ink and stories, stories, stories, and I'm at peace.

I know I've talked before about how much the library means to me, how it's my safe haven, my sanctuary. It's such a regular part of my day-to-day life, even now, all grown. No longer "needing" the library, I need it just the same. I'm there a few times a week, oftentimes there every day, writing my stories or wandering the shelves, waiting for something to speak to me (how many times have I wandered through the non-fiction section to get a story idea pouncing on me!), picking up books I've ordered. I have two library cards to two separate, gigantic systems in New York state (living in one county and working in another FINALLY had its advantages), can pretty much find any book I want/need, sometimes for twenty-five cents a hold, sometimes for free (it depends on the system!). But, regardless, I can find it. It's like a free super power.

I know all of the librarians' names, the names of their pets (and how many they have), who their favorite authors are, what they like to read, and they know all of mine (one time, a favorite librarian and I talked for half an hour about cat NAMES. I was trying to buy a book from a book sale at the time. By the end of the discussion she just handed it to me and said it was a gift from the cat gods. :P The moral of the story: Nice people + conversations about cats = FREE BOOKS). They're like...the gods of literature. NEVER have I met a librarian I didn't love, ever since the first one long, long ago who put a Pratchett novel in a twelve year old girl's hands and said: "I think you'll love this, Sarah." <3 <3 <3

This whole post is brought to you today by the simple fact that I went to to the library this afternoon. No big thing--I was picking up the audio book of Terrier by Tamora Pierce, because I wanted to hear it performed (I'm re-reading all of my favorite Pierce novels right now for the ELVENTY BILLIONTH TIME. I don't know why I'm even bothering reading them, I still have most of the Immortals Quartet MEMORIZED.). I walk in, and I'm met with huge smiles and delighted conversation, and I realized as I was walking along the stacks, fingers brushing the row of books, that the library is, in many ways, Home for me. Arguably, nowhere else in the world is Story so important, so cherished, so talked about or so loved.

I'm so grateful that we have these bastions, these sanctuaries, these Homes.

I know I'm not the only little girl built on stories who grew up to be a Woman built on Stories because of libraries.

Honesty: I've been having a very, very, very sad week. There's the dichotomy of being Pagan and having the firmest faith and belief in the universe, of having ushered our beloved little kitty to the other side, of keeping vigil, knowing the Goddess holds him in Her arms, knowing he's happy and safe and taken care of in his passing. And then there's the mortal selfishness of wishing we could have him back. And then crying. Lots and lots and lots of crying.

Top it off with a looming book deadline, and, really, I'm kind of in shambles.

So. That's fun.

So I've been distracting myself with everything I can think of. When I'm not working on my novels, I'm plotting them, making outlines and notes and notes and notes. My publishing schedule in the upcoming year is industrious and slightly insane, and I'm hoping to not only hit it, but surpass it. So, yay! More sparkly lesbian books in the universe that has far too few of them.

I thought I'd share part of the sparkly process with you, in lieu of a super depressing entry. If the above depressed you, read on! There are sparkles, I promise.

When I start working on a novel, one of the first things I do is write a blurb and create a book cover for it. It helps cement everything about the book for me, so I have many, many, many book covers completed. Making them is one of my greatest joys (I don't why I obsess about making them, BUT DEAR GODS I LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT), so I thought I'd share several of the ones I have laying around. Because, you know--they make me happy. And they're pretty.

All of these books are in varying stages of outlined/written/completion. I don't know when they're going to come out--they are NOT all going to come out this year is all I can tell you. :) Some of them are under my name, Sarah Diemer--that means they're going to be YA. Some of them are under me as Elora Bishop--those will be adult books. And yes, these are only some of my covers. I'm keeping several a secret for now. <3

Let's start with my favorite, shall we? I can definitely tell you this is coming out this year. And it's going to be fucking EPIC. <3


( This way to more sparkle! Involving lesbians! )

Note: Some of them still have watermarks on them, some don't. The ones with no watermarks are the actual, cemented covers, and those books are further along in progress. The ones with watermarks means I haven't purchased the original stock photo yet, so the book isn't as far along. :) <3

I knew that in an instant anyone might die or be transformed forever, and so I vowed always, always to tell others when I loved them. Perhaps this was what Jesus meant by the kingdom of God being at hand--the only opportunity for connection was now. I wrote Christmas cards in a fervor of adolescent honesty, even confessing to Mr. Polliche, my bearded, poetry-loving English teacher, how much he meant to me. I promised myself I'd always put words to my feelings, and, no matter how sentimental it felt, I would never be ashamed. Love, I decided, exists in the present and should be shared recklessly.

~ from Swinging on the Garden Gate: A Spiritual Memoir by Elizabeth Andrew

For those who have been around a few years, you might remember that I've had a few Pagan non-fiction pieces published here and there under the pen name Eevie Keys. I've always used that name for my non-fiction stuff because it made the most sense to me--I like the separation, and think it's easier for readers to find what they're looking for if they're not wading through books that might not be relevant to their interests. (I'm sure Pagan folks could really care less about my fictional and magical beasties, and YA readers might not give two figs about lesbian witchcraft.) I'd always intended to continue using my pen name when I went on to publish non-fiction books. I also have been very open from the start that I'm Sarah, but I'm also Eevie--I like things simple, and hiding pen names is a tad silly, I think. SO, I'm getting a LITTLE CLOSER to releasing my non-fiction books, and thought it a good time to band everything together, all neat and tidy!

I've created Oh, Sweet Witchery! to be a web site for all of my non-fiction work, and a Twitter feed under "eeviekeys" to tie it all together. And, sometime this winter, I will be releasing the following three books:

This, which is the one I'm most excited about, has been something I've been working on for almost two years, now. *JOY*


( And two more for the less lesbian inclined! )

Announcing my next two projects at my blog, Muse Rising--my next novel, and my upcoming novella! Along with COVER ART REVEALED! :D

For example, the cover art for Ragged: A Post-Apocalyptic Fairy Tale by the incomparable and amazing Laura Diemer~ <3333


(If you enjoyed the post, or were moved to comment, you can do so at the blog. Thank you so much~ <3)

I've been reading such a row of really good books, which so rarely happens (I'm too picky! It's rare I really love books, instead of general ambivalence which is usual. ;D) that I thought I would document it here, and recommend some absolutely spectacular ones. These are a few, lately, that I've been loving~ :) <3

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness is, perhaps, one of my favorite books of all time. It's very rare that I think a book is perfect, and I believe, wholeheartedly, that this one is. I don't really know how to describe this book. I'm pretty sensitive and emotional, and I had to actually stop reading it for a week toward the middle of the book because it was excruciating, so raw, so painful and real. I'm not going to start reading the second book for another week because I'm too emotionally fragile from this first one, and I don't think I can take it yet. I NEVER FEEL THIS WAY ABOUT BOOKS. As a writer, I can usually see right through them, and it is SO RARE that I let a story eat me up. This book did. It is a story of young Todd, and his lovable pup Manchee (who has to poo a lot), and a world where "all of the women are dead" because of a virus, and the men have developed something known as Noise--they can hear one another's thoughts. How Todd becomes a man, how Todd keeps going, how Todd finds the courage to become something extraordinary...that's the stuff of legends, and this book sets it up brilliantly. I am so inspired by it, so challenged by it--if I can ever write something one fingernail's width as brilliant as this book, I know I'll have done well.

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The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey is TOTALLY NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART, but is so unabashedly original in its telling of a story about young Will Henry, an apprentice to a rather obsessed doctor who is also a Monstrumologist.

Definition of monstrumology:
1: the study of life forms generally malevolent to humans and not recognized by science as actual organisms, specifically those considered products of myth and folklore.

2: the hunting of such creatures.

The monsters in question in the book are Anthropophagi, and the telling is so fast paced and well done. I'm loving it so far--it's so original, and the telling is so original, and I can hardly believe it's on the shelves with the rows and rows of vampire+teen girl books. I think I'm in love!!

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The Kingdom of Ohio by Matthew Flaming was one of the books that Bree (the_gargoyle) gave me for my birthday. Bree has exquisite taste in books--EXQUISITE--and I'd never heard of this one, so when I began to read it, my jaw dropped on the ground a little in awe and joy, which was to be expected. ;D This is an alternate history set in turn of the century New York City, where the massive labyrinth of subway tunnels is being built. It's backbreaking, depressing work, and one young engineer named Peter Force emerges from it all, who is meant for extraordinary things. He meets a young woman who believes that she worked with Tesla, and--together--they developed a time travel machine. Supposedly, she came from the Kingdom of Ohio. The way that this story is told creeps up on you. It's understated and beautiful and unravels into something extraordinary as the book goes on. I absolutely love it--the perfect tea and blanket and scrumptious cookie while the sky is gray and cloudy out sort of book~ <3

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I picked up the hardcover of Mockingjay today on break--Jenn and I were going to go to the midnight release party, but I've been working too much on Glamourkin, and we were too tired. :) I can't touch it until I do my nightly Glamourkin work tonight, and I'm aching to! I've been waiting for this book for over a YEAR, and I'm so, so, so excited~ <33333

She supposed that houses, after all - like the lives that were lived in them - were mostly made of space. It was the spaces, in fact, which counted, rather than the bricks.

— from The Night Watch by Sarah Waters

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Bree (the_gargoyle) has the best taste in books on this planet, or any other. We were talking a few weeks ago, and I let slip that though I love Sarah Waters' stuff, I'd not yet read The Night Watch. She promptly paled and let me borrow it, saying it was for posterity's sake. XD

If you're not gay, you might not recognize the name Sarah Waters, though she's gone above and beyond what many, many, many other gay authors have found possible...but you've probably seen her on bookshelves. Her books, filled with gay primary characters, and gay secondary characters--and, oh hell, A LOT of gay sex, have reached not just gay people. They are best sellers, books that countless straight people have read. She cracked the code, she was able to get a vast amount of literature that would "normally" have been considered gay fiction (and, therefore, relegated to the "gay fiction" section, where few straight people dare to tread) out into the mainstream, won dozens of awards for it, put herself on a bestseller status, and was a complete genius all the while. Let's face it--she's a perfect writer.

It's very, very rare that I consider a book to be truly perfect. I have, perhaps, thought this three times in my life. I thought it about The Night Watch, which is why I'm posting about it, urging and asking you to read it. If you're a writer, I think you should read this book. I you love beautiful, heart breaking stories, I think you should read this book. If you want to feel something extraordinary...read this book.

It's not an easy one. I'll be honest with you--there is cutting, death, body parts, jury-rigged abortions, lots and lots of blood and people being blown up constantly. It's set after and in WWII, in London, and she does not mince scenes, but shows the gruesome bits in startling honesty.

However...the book follows the stories of four people. Four tragic, incredibly flawed, yet astoundingly beautiful people. They are so intensely human, in their decisions and their mistakes and their truths. She builds longing and hope, tragedy and deepest despair with every word, and throughout the book you feel like they move and walk and breathe about you. You have Duncan, put in prison for trying to commit suicide. Viv, his sister, a typist in an affair with a married man. Kay, who lost the love of her life and becomes ghost-like...and Helen, who was the love of her life, and left her.

The way their stories are interwoven, the intensity of longing that is built within every scene...it's startling and sharp and so clear. I did not think I would like the book, to tell you the truth. Jenn hated it, and told me it was horrible and I shouldn't bother reading it. I'm glad I tried it, though (we often have very different viewpoints on our favorite books and debate them endlessly...I should have assumed I would love it. XD). I rarely read books that don't have a supernatural element in them. I thought I'd be bored to tears. A period piece that was not Victorian, where there were only two main lesbian characters? Eh. It didn't sound like my cup of tea. I was very, very wrong.

You may be reading over this thinking "I'm not gay," or "I don't like World War II," or "I'm not really into gore..." That all may very well be true. But if you love beautiful stories, stories that make every bit of you ache, that break your heart, that burn you to the marrow of your bones...then none of these things will matter. The deep humanity of our shared heartbreak, the deep bones of our truth, what you feel, what you can feel, in the midst of horror and sadness and supreme despair, and not--somehow--be turned into a monster...that is what this story is about. This beautiful, horrible, incredible story.

It is exquisitely told, perfectly executed...a gem of storytelling, and I've never read anything like it, and it breaks my heart that it's over.

A very rare and perfect book--I recommend it wholeheartedly.

~*~

For me, personally, the book brought so much to light for me that I think about but don't share; that I wonder about. There is this scene in the very beginning of the book where Helen and her new lover, Julia, are sitting out in the park. It's 1947, the war is over (the story is told backwards, beginning in 1947 and ending in 1941), but Helen remembers what it was like, and can't understand how such horror could have existed...but now it's sunny, there are children playing in the pond, and the blue sky overhead shines down on a world that's filled with atrocity--but also perfect beauty. She brushes her fingers across Julia's back, the only tiny sign of affection she feels she's allowed to show (if people knew they were gay, they would probably get killed), and she's so completely grateful for that tiny touch. It was surreal, reading that. I know we're lucky, now--I understand that--but it's still strange, remembering all of the lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgendered people who have gone through history, who have gone through so, so much...and now we're here and now. It's not perfect, not by any stretch of the imagination...but I have so much to be grateful for.

I identified with Kay so much. So, so much. Her story, what she went through, what happened to the love of her life, and what she felt when she was with her. It broke my heart on every level. I love being chivalrous, I love doing little things that make Jenn smile, and I do everything I can to protect and cherish her. Kay is so butch that she's often mistaken for a man. I'm not butch--I'm so far from butch, it's not even funny--but the need to protect her, the need to take care of her, to cherish her and spoil her and love her with all my heart...I felt the ache that Kay felt, the beauty in that love, of having found your soul mate, of the joy and gift of being with her. I think, because I identified so much with Kay, the heartbreak throughout the book was much worse than it might have been ordinarily.

I hope you give the book a try. I hope you love it~ <3

My friend, Shaun David Hutchinson's (radshaun) book, The Deathday Letter is being released on June 15th--a mere handful of days away! Shaun is an AMAZING WRITER, and The Deathday Letter is going to be off the charts. If it was my Deathday? Jenn and I would road trip to Salem, get into a boat and sail as far as we could go...with a soy latte in hand. XD

I am SO excited for Shaun, and the release of his book, and I can't WAIT to walk into Borders on Tuesday and buy our shiny, amazing, awesome copy of The Deathday Letter--if you want to support an amazing author with his first book, I urge you to do the same! <3333

Marie Antoinette agrees. XDDDDDDDD