December Highlights: SKYPE-tacular!

Sarah Maas with the German cover for Throne of Glass!  Celaena's wearing some sweet threads, no?  Photo credit: magazin.dtv.de

So last weekend's weather was a little bit incredibly intense (Winter-pocalypse 2013!)...

Fortunately, Skype still works in bad weather, so we still got to talk with Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight author Sarah Maas during our meeting last Thursday (the weather was fine in California, apparently)!

In case the ice kept you away from the library, here are some highlights from our conversation with Sarah:

• She started out writing fanfiction: Sarah didn't start out writing bestselling books.  Back in the day, she wrote fanfiction for fun - even mash-up fanfiction about, for example, Harry Potter with Sailor Moon!  "It was terrible!" she says.  Read some fanfiction on the site Sarah used to post hers:  Fanfiction.net

• She started writing Throne of Glass at 16!: She had the idea while watching Cinderella - the music was so dramatic when Cinderella runs away from the ball, it sounded almost as if she had done something criminal.  "So I started thinking, 'What could she have actually done that would deserve being chased from the ball like that?'"  Like... try to assassinate someone?  Hm... 

• Throne of Glass had tons of fans before it was even published:  Before it was called Throne of Glass, Celaena's story was titled Queen of Glass and was posted on a website called Fictionpress.com, where people can publish original works of fiction online.  At one point, Queen of Glass was the most read story on the website!  "It was my refuge," says Sarah.

Unofficial cover art.

• Cool background info on the Crown of Midnight cover art:  Sarah says that Celaena was originally illustrated as being craaaaazy thin on the cover art for Crown of Midnight, and Sarah took a stand to have her illustrated at a healthier weight (is Sarah awesome or what?!).  Besides being an unhealthy image for teens, she says, it's also untrue to Celaena's character*!  

• She's working on a new series: Aside from working the Throne of Glass series, Sarah's working on a new series called A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES.  It's a retelling of Beauty and the Beast in which the character Beauty is a huntress.  It's for an age group a little older than teens called "New Adult", and it'll be out in Winter 2015!  For more info on the story, click here; for more info on this series, click here; to read a snippet, click here.

• Check out her new online project, The Starkillers Cycle!:  After some vacation-fueled brainstorming, Sarah and her BFF, Susan Dennard (author of the Something Strange and Deadly YA series - visit Susan's website here), have started a collaborative work of fiction that will live online and can be read on the series' tumblr.  Titled The Starkillers Cycle, it's a type of sci-fi called a space opera (think Star Wars, kinda); read the authors' intro and disclaimer about content, then read the first chapter (also this hilarious interview with the two of them).

• WE GOT SOME INFO ON Throne of Glass BOOK #3!!:  ... very little info, though.  No, she didn't tell us the title of Book #3, but we now know that it will have three narratives following three different storylines: one for Celaena, one for Chaol and Dorian, and one for a new character - someone who is connected with the Iron Witch Clan of the Western Wastes.  Remember Yellowlegs, the witch with iron teeth in Crown of Midnight?  Oh yeah.  THOSE Iron Witches.

• She's got some book recommendations: Looking for something to read until Sarah's next book is out?  She's got some suggestions:  Sabriel by Garth Nix, Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta (Sarah told us the hilarious story of when she met the author... and got a little too excited: "I was crying hysterically"), Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, and, of course, the Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien (she went to all see all the movies at midnight when they came out - and dressed up. As who?  "Eowyn!").

A ginormous THANK YOU to Sarah for skyping with us!!  We got so much good info and insight into her inspirations, being a writer and her new projects (I'm definitely checking out both of them)! ... although I'm such a fan of this series that she could have just read aloud from the phone book and I'd still call the meeting a win.

Did you enjoy Crown of Midnight, and are you looking forward to Sarah's next projects?  Are you a fan of fanfiction, or a writer yourself?  Let us know in the comments!

* So why wouldn't Celaena be super-skinny, as she was first illustrated for the Crown of Midnight cover art?  Celaena was malnourished as a slave in Endovier in Throne of Glass, and if there's something Celaena DOES NOT LIKE, it's slavery.  Being skinny was a reminder of her time as a slave, so she's unlikely to have stayed that way on purpose once she was freed!

A Real-Life Crown of Midnight

The Midnight Tiara.

While you're finishing up reading Crown of Midnight for tomorrow's skype sesh with Sarah Maas, chew on this:  there's a real, non-fictional "crown of midnight"!

More specifically, it's a tiara of midnight - the Midnight Tiara, worn by Crown Princess Mary of the royal Danish court*.  Don't be fooled by the twigs, leaves and berries: this tiara's 31 flower buds are made of over 1,300 small diamond brilliants and polished moonstones, and its leaves and branches are hand graved in 18 carat rose gold, white gold, and black oxidized silver (nope, none of that creepy black substance from the Crown of Midnight novel). The colors are meant to look like a starry moonlit sky at midnight, hence the name "the Midnight Tiara."



Crown Princess Mary wearing the Midnight Tiara with matching earrings and broach.

*Call me immature, but this is what I think of

 every time I read "Royal Danish Court". Mm,

 danishes.

It was designed by Charlotte Lynggaard of the jewel firm Ole Lynggaard, a jeweler to the Danish royal court.  It's a more modern-looking tiara, and it has an unusual, modern ownership deal; instead of the Danish royal court owning the tiara, the jewel firm, Ole Lynggaard, retains ownership of the tiara, but Princess Mary is the only person allowed to borrow it from them. It's a pretty sweet deal - Princess Mary gets another cool tiara to wear, and Ole Lynggaard gets publicity.  The tiara even has a matching broach and earrings - fashion win!

That's it for now!  Don't forget to come to tomorrow's meeting (6pm @ SPL) to skype with Sarah Maas herself (tiaras are optional).  Have your questions for Sarah ready - see you then!

Weird Wyrds? CROWN OF MIDNIGHT Pronunciation Guide

Feeling tongue-tied?  If you've been reading our book for this Thursday's meeting, Crown of Midnight (or its predecessor, Throne of Glass), then you've probably noticed that spellings of names and places are a bit... different.  And hard to pronounce.  Seriously - "Eyllwe"?  "Anielle"?  No idea how to say those.

Lucky for us, author Sarah Maas has provided a super-helpful pronunciation guide for the tricky bits!  Check it out here on the blog to learn all the lingo just in time for Thursday's meeting.  You'll sound like a native of Adarlan in no time!

Are any of the pronunciations different from what you'd expected? Which words, and what was your pronunciation?  Let us know in the comments! Don't worry - since these are all made-up words, there isn't really a wrong way to pronounce them.

And don't forget to come tell the author what you think of these pronunciations when we skype with her at the next meeting - this Thursday, December 5th, 6-7pm at the library!

Prequel Stories for CROWN OF MIDNIGHT - read them NOW!

Have you started our book for December's meeting, Crown of Midnight?  Already finished and want some more?

Sarah Maas has written two prequel short stories for Crown of Midnight, which you can read online for FREE!  These are "bridge" stories, meaning they take place after Throne of Glass  and before Crown of Midnight. 

Both short stories have been posted in little pieces on different book blogs, a.k.a. a blog tour.  You can read each part by clicking on the links below.

Here's the first story -

The Assassin and the Princess

Part 1                    Part 7

Part 2                    Part 8

Part 3                    Part 9

Part 4                    Part 10

Part 5                    Part 11

Part 6                    Part 12

But that's not all! The second short story one isn't exactly a "bridge" story; instead, it takes place right at the beginning of Crown of Midnight, though it's not included in the book, making it more of a deleted scene! Use the links below:

The Assassin and the Captain

Part 1                    Part 3 

Part 2                    Part 4

Be sure to snoop around these blogs once you finish reading the short stories     you might find a review for a new book to read!

And don't forget to come to our next meeting on December 5th at 6pm to skype with Sarah Maas!

SKYPE with SARAH J. MAAS: the Sequel

Hey look, it's Luke Skype-walker!

Sometimes, sequels really aren't as good as the original. But here's your lesson for the day:

SOMETIMES THEY'RE EVEN MORE AWESOME.

If you haven't heard, we're reading an even-more-awesome-than-usual book for our next meeting:  Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas, the sequel to Throne of Glass, our book pick for LAST December (read all about it here; read a synopsis for Throne of Glass and put it on hold here).

But wait!  There's more sequel-ness:

SARAH MAAS IS GOING TO SKYPE WITH US AT THE MEETING!! AGAIN!!  

That's right - AGAIN:  she skyped with us once already (last April), and Sarah's agreed to skype with us again at our next meeting on December 5th, 6pm, at SPL.  That makes this meeting ...

SKYPE WITH SARAH J. MAAS,

THE SEQUEL:

SKYPE-IER THAN EVER

- OR -

THE EMPIRE SKYPES BACK

THE DARK SKYPE
LIVE FREE & SKYPE HARD

I'm pretty excited.  Here are some more details about Sarah:

"Sarah J. Maas was born and raised in New York City, but after graduating from Hamilton College in 2008, she moved to Southern California. She's always been just a tad obsessed with fairy-tales and folklore, though she'd MUCH rather be the one slaying the dragon (instead of the damsel in distress). When she's not busy writing, she can be found geeking out over things like Han Solo, gaudy nail polish, and ballet."

Not gonna lie - she sounds pretty adorable. Check out her website for more about her and to get Throne of Glass extras! She also has a blog and is on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest. There's also a Throne of Glass Facebook page!

We still have FREE COPIES of the book to give out for those attending the meeting, so if you haven't signed up for the meeting yet, get to the teen room! And don't forget to come to meeting - December 5th, 6pm.  See you there!

December: Crown of Midnight

Thanks to everyone who came to our meeting last week!  We talked about Kelli London's Uptown Dreams and ate Halloween candy.  Oh yeah, I'm talking about gummy Crabby Patties.  Mmmmm.

On to the next book!  Get excited - it's time to read Crown of Midnight, the sequel to last December's read, Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas!!!

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

After a year of hard labor in the Salt Mines of Endovier, eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien has won the king's contest to become the new royal assassin. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown – a secret she hides from even her most intimate confidantes.

Keeping up the deadly charade—while pretending to do the king's bidding—will test her in frightening new ways, especially when she's given a task that could jeopardize everything she's come to care for. And there are far more dangerous forces gathering on the horizon -- forces that threaten to destroy her entire world, and will surely force Celaena to make a choice. 

Where do the assassin’s loyalties lie, and who is she most willing to fight for?

.  .  .

Um, YESPLEASE.  If you haven't signed up yet, get to the library stat - we still have several FREE COPIES of Crown of Midnight to give away when you sign up for the next meeting!

The fun begins with Throne of Glass; check out a library copy from the teen room, then get caught up with all our so be sure to read it first - check out all our previous posts about Throne of Glass!  Keep watching the blog - I'll be bringing you some special content for Crown of Midnight soon, as well as a SUPER AWESOME ANNOUNCEMENT about the next meeting!  [EDIT:  click here for the announcement!]

November: Uptown Dreams by Kelli London

Sorry about the radio silence - or rather blog silence; there've been some technical issues with blog posts on our library computers.  Technology FAIL.

Time for a new book!  Get ready for Uptown Dreams by Kelli London:

Uptown Dreams by Kelli London

At the prestigious Harlem Academy of Creative and Performing Arts, students are destined to realize their uptown dreams—as long as friends, haters, and crushes don't trip them up. . . 

La-La Nolan's killer voice could make her a superstar, but she's more focused on scoring the attention of Ziggy Phillip—the cute Jamaican boy in her class. But a singing competition against her arch rival could cost her both Ziggy and her spot at the Academy. . .

The daughter of the school's director and voice coach, Reese Allen has to work harder than everyone else to prove herself. But all Reese wants is to be a hip hop producer—a path her mother will never approve of. . .

Even though it's clear that Ziggy loves the ladies, he has to keep his passion for dance a secret from his father. But then his brother discovers Ziggy's ballet shoes and threatens to tell all—unless Ziggy gets him into the Academy too. . .

No one's a better actress than Jamaica Kincaid Ellison. She's even acted her way out of the boarding school her parents think she's still attending and into the Academy. She'll do anything to achieve her dream—unless her lies destroy everything. . .

If that weren't enough drama, rumor has it that the Academy may close at the end of the year. Can these gifted students put their talents to the test to save it?

We're out of free copies to hand out at the library, but you can still stop by the teen room to get on the wait list (we'll call/email you if we get any more copies of the book to give away).  If you have Uptown Dreams already, get to reading!  Our next meeting is November 7th, 6-7pm at the library.  Catch you then!