Extremes
It has been a day of. And if my nerves twangle any harder I won’t be able to type. It should have been a good day. Any day with a Connie lesson in it should be a good day.*
I have mostly avoided telling you about the relentless lack of progress on the hellhound digestive front. I know I told you about the joy and delight of picking up a sample of every crap they crapped for three days, for the Every Lab Test Known to Human and/or Canine Kind Comprehensive Diagnostic Campaign. And I assume I told you that it came back positive for an evil little ratbag bacteria/um called campylobacter, which the vet warned me is a fiend to get rid of. We’re into the fiend stage. Except we’ve been in the fiend stage for the last two years. They’ve been like this–cyclical chronic diarrhea with lashings of vomiting and extreme weirdness about food–since I brought them home. And I’ve already reached the end of my rope. I reached the end of my rope months ago. And the latest, campylobacter-specific remedy is working to exactly the same pattern as everything else that’s been tried in the last two years–both the allopathic and the alternative–which is that the things that work at all work somewhat, for a while, and then they stop working. I told the vet about a week ago that we were emerging from the working-somewhat phase and moving into the stopping-working phase and he said no, no, it takes a while for campy to clear up, just keep going a little longer. . . . Chaos is streaming at both ends, and I mean streaming. This began after he pointblank refused lunch. I left it down, because sometimes he changes his mind. After about half an hour he had maybe three mouthfuls, at which point I picked it up. Half an hour after that, the three mouthfuls abruptly re-emerged into the light of day. . . which was the beginning of the rest of my interesting afternoon.
Meanwhile Merrilee sent me an email yesterday evening saying, CHALICE has a starred review in PW**! Hurrah! –And that she’d send it to me today. This morning I had a further email from one of my editors, saying, Congratulations on a great review! But nobody has sent me the damn thing. I wrote Merrilee a cranky email saying, You could at least ring me up and read me the beastly thing over the phone.
And I was working happily on HELLHOUND and thinking hey, we may even be ahead of schedule for turning in FIRE ELEMENTALS the end of August when, um, hellhound mayhem began. . . .
And when I took them out for their afternoon walk, because we tend to carry on through these things because nothing else works any better and at the moment at least there’s nothing wrong with Darkness, we met . . . a Labrador and two Jack Russells off lead. The hellhounds have actually begun to be somewhat less hellish about other dogs. They’re not going to win the Miss Manners Poise and Deportment Trophy or anything, but the veins don’t pop out on my forehead so much any more, holding onto them. Also, Chaos is not at his best. So I wasn’t expecting trouble, except insofar as the Lab or the JRs chose to provide it. So fancy my rapture and jubilation when hellhounds took a tremendous lunge after one of the Jack Russells, and, because the footing was bad and I hadn’t bothered to brace myself, pulled me over . . . into a bank of nettles.***
I’m wearing shorts. I’m not at all sure I’m going to sleep tonight.
I got back to the cottage roaring. And found a message from Merrilee on the phone machine saying, okay, I’m here, where are you? So do you want to hear this review or don’t you? So I rang her, and screamed for at least a full minute about hellhounds. And then she read me the review.
. . . And I can’t give you the link, because there isn’t one.† And I can’t write it out because that violates their copyright. But I’ll quote you the beginning and end: ‘Fans and new readers alike will greedily devour McKinley’s latest, a high fantasy as perfectly shaped and eloquently told as BEAUTY and THE HERO AND THE CROWN . . . a lavish and lasting treat.’
And Chaos ate his small plain chicken and rice dinner, which I hope is a good sign. Yes, for a normal dog with diarrhea this severe I’d let him fast. I don’t dare let a hellhound fast, because when they stop eating they don’t start again, and since Chaos in particular lives on the edge he goes downhill as fast as a penguin on an ice floe. However, if I’m not sleeping anyway, it won’t matter much if I have to get up to let a hellhound out.
Sigh.
* * *
* You may remember: I hate Labradors. And I hate terriers, especially Jack Russells. I am also a sap. Jenny has Jack Russells. Two of them: mum and daughter. When Jenny is teaching they’re locked up in her tack room.^ Usually. I already have a few Jack Russell and Riding Lesson stories. When Jenny is not teaching they’re usually loose in the yard. They perform a useful function: like Black Beauty put into the field next to the train when he was just a baby, and having run in terror from the great puffing monster a few times and noticed that none of the other horses ran with him, he stopped being afraid of trains. Horses on Jenny’s yard don’t mind dogs. They’re both terribly friendly–not unlike my hellhounds, only shorter. They also have a habit of rushing up to you and flinging themselves down on their backs so you can rub their tummies. Mum is getting a bit old and stately and would really rather you came to her; daughter Clover, however, is perfectly happy to chase you around the yard, upending herself on your feet any time you pause. As observed, I am a sap, and they also probably know me better than some of even the long-time boarders because I use Jenny’s tack room because Connie is Jenny’s horse. Contemplate, if you will, trying to clean tack with two Jack Russells lying tummy-up on your feet, wagging their tails like blazes. Anyway. I had occasion today to zigzag across the yard several times after I’d put Connie away, and had Clover weaving through my ankles most of the way. Eventually I gave up, stopped, let her do her fling-and-upend trick, and then, because rubbing a dog’s tummy silently is kind of boring, started asking her if she’d enjoyed her first sexual experience, and what he’d looked like, if he’d been young and cute, and whether he’d wanted it to be good for her too, and whether she’d missed her first period yet, and how I hoped she would be sensible and not have too many puppies at once, and that I also hoped she was a conscientious young person and was reading up on how to be a good mum and raise a socially responsible litter, and that there were probably web sites about this now too if she had internet access and . . . and I looked up and saw . . . hmm. You know, sometimes I think the British reputation for being potty about their animals is exaggerated. But my point is merely that if it’s furry and friendly I am its slave, and I don’t care what its DNA is. Some day I’ll tell you about the Labrador out at Montmorency’s Folly.
^ Life was easier in some ways when I had a part-share of a boarder, and was using the boarders’ tack room. Getting out of a door carrying a saddle without letting a Jack Russell determined to escape through your legs is . . . challenging.
** Publishers’ Weekly. The trade mag.
*** This is of course the least of my problems, but this little performance also made me look like a complete twit to the owner of the other dogs. This is the sort of behaviour that in other dogs makes me angry and scornful.
† As I recall, there’s something funny about PW and links, and there may not be one later either. If there is, I’ll post it. You can just bet I will.
comments
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Yea! for the review, pshaw for other dogs, sorry for the hellhounds digestion and ouch for the nettles.
Feel better soon to you and Chaos. Off to bed for me.
The Sex talk with a Jack Russell gave me my first good laugh of the day, thanks much.
So sorry about the nettles! We used to make an ointment out of Jewel weed for nettle burns…I don’t know if there is Jewel weed in England…or if it is called “Jewel weed”…hmmm..so not much help, but lots of sympathy!
I just visited my amazon page for the first time in ages and there was the cover of “Chalice”! which made me go all goosebumpy. I may have even squeeled. I like the cover very much (such things are important to a superficial girl like me). Congrats on the great review!! And I will light candles for Chaos and Darkness…maybe two candles for Chaos.
Thank you!:) (And I’m glad you laughed!)
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Hellhounds. Well. Talk about living up to their name…. :( Very sorry to hear that they are being such a trial. Are they still just on the homeopathics or have you done the “shock and awe” thing with the antibiotics yet?
Jack Russells…… **snork**
(Although you haven’t heard *me* doing the sex pep-talk for male alpacas with issues…. !!)
Chalice. !! Woohoo!!
Nettles…. OUCH. I expect you are slathered in creams now. Sleep well! (and may the hounds sleep well too!)
(Although you haven’t heard *me* doing the sex pep-talk for male alpacas with issues…. !!)
********* No but do please POST. :)
Have I asked you if you have Tales of Life with Alpacas yet? Any blog links? I have a camelid in one-of-the-competing-Third-Damar-novels and I’m looking for BACKGROUND.
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I’m all yours…. fingers poised over the keyboard ….
What exactly do you want to know? I haven’t blogged about the alpaca much before but if it helps with a 3rd Damar novel then count me in!!
Funny/embarrassing moment: My sister and I were meeting an actress that we both adored and when she asked “What do you do?” my sister jumped in and said ….. “She’s an alpaca sex therapist.” I nearly died. I mean it was kind of true but..!!!
LOL! Well, that’ll do to start with!
What are they LIKE? What is it like to have one around? I can get the what you feed them and how much room they need etc from a book on raising alpacas. What are their PERSONALITIES like? What do they smell like? How do they interact with you? What are their funny habits and quirks? What do you htink of when you think of liking alpacas? What is your idea of the Perfect Alpaca Companion? I want the, as it were, HUMAN stuff. The human-interest stuff. So the *alpaca* interest stuff.
bugga. just lost the reply I was working on!!
Ok …… methinks video may be handy. Will work on that for the weekend.
Here’s a pic of a little-known fact – female alpacas would rather be *knitting* than having sex …. (well if the male goes ON AND ON for 40 minutes she is REALLY thinking of all the chores that need to be done!!)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21742944@N05/2697517030/
Okay, so what’s the evolutionary advantage of lying down having sex for forty minutes–?? Hmmmm . . .
Quite a few years ago I read a Smithsonian article about alpacas and was quite charmed. Per the article, they can be housetrained and tend to use one area of the yard for their business; they hum; some people do have them in the house, where they hang out with the family and watch TV; they can be carried, because they will (or might?) lie down, in a mini-van; they make excellent guardians against coyotes etc. for flocks. You may know all this already. At any rate, it made me think it would be nice to have an alpaca, although if they take out after dogs it wouldn’t work for me.
I didn’t know they could be housebroken!! that’s brilliant! You don’t expect that of a grazing animal! I did know they hum. :) I also thought it was the llamas that were good guardians against coyotes: alpacas are a little *small*?
Llamas and alpacas will both react against predators such as foxes or dogs. Against dogs and coyotes though I would be more inclined to use llama (bigger) or even donkeys. There have been a quite a few cases here of alpaca being mauled by dogs :(
Housebroken – yes. You could. But it really messes with their heads to think they are human. Males can be quite dangerous if bottle-reared and coddled. Best to have the *snip snip* early for those ones!
Yes, that’s what I thought, about guard critters. I know people who use guard llamas–no one I can trap in a corner and cross examine however. I **may get back to you** when BELLS OF MAZAHAN rolls back onto the computer screen, she says threateningly. You Have Been Warned. Meanwhile, if you *do* post any stories, please send me links, and at least prods. :)
Congrats on the review, commiserations on the nettle stings and the hellound digestion sitiuation.
And in an effort to cheer you up, I’ll share a wonderful line from my friend Rosie’s LJ. This is from a post about her having been tossed from one of the horses she exercises (well, I think this one is more of a pony)
“… I was riding bareback again, as I can’t fit the saddle through the dog flap (I can the bridle…) ”
I have some wonderfully insane friends, and Rosie is one of the most insane…..
Oh, gods, this made me laugh out loud and the hellhounds woke up! I think I may have to post this in an entry! LOLLLL!
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*giggles*
Glad it had the desired effect :-) Rosie’s LJ entries frequently have me in stitches. (the dog in question is apparently a Great Dane, so it’s a BIG dog flap – I’m still not sure WHY Rosie and the tack were exiting through it though….(or not exiting in the case of the saddle!))
Well, yes, one can’t HELP WONDER . . . :)
I did ASK, and was told, “well the door was locked…”
Right. So she also went through the cat/dog flap??
**Right. So she also went through the cat/dog flap??**
Yup! Good job it’s a Great Dane and not a chihuahua…;-)
. . . I’m laughing again . . . does she have any interesting SCARS, the life she apparently leads???
LOL
I should think so, she’s usually managing to injure herself. A few months ago one of her uni tutors banned her from riding until after her finals in case she damaged herself (again…)
(And I have some VERY interesting photos, but if I shared those she’d probably kill me!)
Maybe you can just do those little blindfold things over the eyes? :)
Well, that’s wonderful about the review! Congratulations! But..
*HUGE GIANT HUGS* The rest of your day sounds really rough! And hellhounds! You two behave, eat, and keep your food where it belongs! Right now! *looks stern*
*slips Robin lots and lots of tea and chocolate*
Yes. Sigh. Anything that works . . .
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Congrats on the review. I am anxiously awaiting Chalice. YAY!!
I hope Chaos gets better. Those bacterial infections can be very hard to kick. My mother had something similar and it took quite some time to get better.
I hope you sleep. Bad nettles.
Good god.
The review pays for all, though. :)
Robin, I don’t think it’s entirely violating copyright, if you cite that that’s where you got it from; it is eventually going to be put up on the book’s Amazon page and such. As for a link, this is the one I’m pulling up for it now.
http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6579438.html?industryid=47139
Congrats on such a lovely review, btw. =)
Well, I hope so, since it’s up there!
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What a day! Nettles – ugh. Nettles are horrid; not being able to see them – or not well enough to see that they are nettles – does ensure that I’ve had my fair share of being burnt, so I absolutely sympathise. It’s been awhile, but “I remember it well.”
I’d dearly like to read that review – am looking forward to the link.
Also hoping that Chaos managed to keep down his chicken and rice and that it comes out in – er – acceptable form.
Yes, much better today, thank you! The question is . . . tomorrow . . .
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Oooh, I read the review online, I love how they make it seem so steamy, and then end it, “12-up”.
Yes, I’m a little twitchy about the smouldering, which I think overstates it, but you know how HARD writing reviews is!!!!! And the point is she (presumably she) REALLY LIKED IT!!!!
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For a link to the PW site, try using http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6579438.html
The starred Chalice review (congratulations!) is the first one listed under “fiction,” after the picture books.
Can’t wait to read it…
HURRAY!!! for Chalice’s review; please do post/link if at all possible.
Oh yes, Jack Russells and horse yards – been bitten on the ankles by more JRs than I care to remember, most being territorial and hating visitors (on a riding school yard???) But a nice JR is delightful, so very glad Jenny has two of the latter.
How DO you get out of a door carrying a saddle without letting them out? It must involve incredible contortions! Where’s stable cam when we need it lol
Just when the Connie gate grazes are better, nettle rash! OUCH! I can empathise having got my feet locked in cycle pedals on a particularly steep hill once, and after going slower and slower, trying to pedal and undo the d**ned things, I slowly and gracefully rolled over, still attached to bike, in a large area of thorn bush and nettles; and it was right outside the youth hostel I was heading for, so I got a good sized audience to boot. Sigh.
Lighting candles for the HH digestion, and thinking of Chaos, poor little chap – and of you. I saw a card recently which made me think of you! “Yes madam our computer dating service has identified two perfect matches for you” Two picures appear on the screen between the woman and the dating agency worker – chocolate and champagne! May you have a sufficiency of both
Yes, well, I hate Jack Russells! :) And I don’t mind them biting ME so much–I mind them biting my hellhounds!!!!! LOL!
I slowly and gracefully rolled over, still attached to bike, in a large area of thorn bush and nettles; and it was right outside the youth hostel I was heading for, so I got a good sized audience to boot. Sigh.
********** LOL!!!!!
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In case it has not yet been posted, here is the link for the PW review:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6579438.html
Yes. It’s a terrific review! Go you!
Also, sympathies on caring for your furry companions–hope you find effective treatments for them, esp. Chaos.
Thank you! They pass it back and forth–but Chaos generally speaking does have it worse.
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Well, I did fid a link: http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6579438.html?industryid=47139
So at least right now, the review can be read.
And since this seems to be a public link, I can also copy and paste the text. Although you might want to delete it anyway. So I put the text in a second comment.
Thank you! I’m assuming they’re not going to come after a blog comment. Well, I hope they’re not. Whoever they are.
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As announced, the full text (or at least all that dan be found under the link), but without the little star :-(
Chalice
Robin McKinley. Putnam, $18.99 (272p) ISBN 978-0-399-24676-0
Fans and new readers alike will greedily devour McKinley’s latest, a high fantasy as perfectly shaped and eloquently told as Beauty and The Hero and the Crown. Humble beekeeper Mirasol has been chosen to take on the key ceremonial role of Chalice, the woman charged with maintaining the province’s well-being by communicating with the (sentient) land. She is keenly aware of the suffering brought on by the misrule of its former Master: “[The province] Willowlands was restless, hurt and unhappy… delirious as a child with a bad fever.” Hope flickers when the former Master’s brother returns and assumes the role; but because he is now an Elemental priest of Fire, he may not be able to perform the duties. Mirasol and the new Master are drawn to each other, even though she suspects their union is prohibited, and their smoldering attraction—plus the gorgeously evoked magic and the escalating threat that Willowlands will be usurped—gives this tale its sizzle. In the best McKinley fashion, the fantasy realm is evoked in thorough and telling detail, with the energy of the narrative lending excitement to descriptions of even the most stylized rituals. A lavish and lasting treat. Ages 12–up. (Sept.)
I am so sorry about your pups. My rottweiler has the same issue, but with urinary incontinence—no medications work; they start to, never really do, and then make the problem worse. But incontinence isn’t life-threatening, just gross. I truly hope that the hellhounds get sorted—at least it’s something capable of getting rid of.
With candles for you and the dogs,
Stella
The same issue? You mean Campylobacter? And you CAN’T get rid of it??
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Here you are:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6579438.html?q=mckinley
Congrats:) I am glad it has something to do with beekeeping. I can’t wait until I am in a civilized place where books are available.
Thank you!
Well, only sort of–it’s another book where I did all this blasted research and then threw it all away.
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I’m sure you’ve probably found this already now, but here’s the Publishers Weekly review for all of us to see: http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6579438.html?q=robin+mckinley Congratulations! I can’t wait to read it. :)
Thank you!
(Please remember to sign a user name–I begin to despair of WordPress’s log in.)
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This was me! :) Oh dear… I know your beautiful new blog is so much better than Livejournal but I’m used to LJ doing it for me.
No blog is perfect. :) And wordpress is obviously cranky about sign-on.
Congrats on the great review–maybe it will now show up on CHALICE’s Barnes and Noble page.
I’m so sorry to hear about the ongoing issues with the hellhounds’ digestions, and hope that Darkness continues OK so you only have one to go nuts over. Has your vet considered that there might be more than one thing affecting them (or him, if it’s just Chaos)? Does he have any thoughts on the cyclical nature of the symptoms? :: sends virtual hug and SERIOUS sympathy ::
I have never been pulled over into nettles (thank you, God) but once dropped down to the ground more-or-less of my own volition to keep from being pulled when the Alpha Bitch got seriously cranked up about someone jigging with a dog in the park while we were walking. She spotted them while she was at the end of a 6-foot lead and I couldn’t get her reeled in. After that I put her pinch collar on and made sure to keep her close when we went over there, so she wouldn’t be able to start acting up. Talk about no fun. She’s better now that she’s older but I just don’t walk her on a loose lead where there could be other dogs, maybe even loose dogs, approaching. Whether she wants to meet them or eat them, she looks bad and I look like an idiot when she starts lunging and jumping. And she’s been gong to class since she was 3 months old. Aaaarrrgh.
Hope tomorrow is better and Chaos’ food stays DOWN.
Today HAS been better . . . and I can’t TELL you how relieved I am to hear OTHER responsible dog owners may be made to look like twits by their carefully nurtured creatures. I never PLANNED for obedience trial dogs–I just want something nice to live with. And they sit, and come, and *crucially* GO LIE DOWN . . . and also crucially LIE DOWN in the car. They also ‘drop’ on command, and ‘stop that’ USUALLY stops them dead mid-riot. I’m also sure that they even eat as much as they do because they acknowledge my right to bully them. But–!!!
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Well, as my instructor repeats often enough, dogs are situational learners and good responses at home or in class do not necessarily mean good responses somewhere else or in the face of really powerful stimuli. Alas. You don’t *really* want your dog to be a slug, but there are times when an infusion of sluggishness would be very welcome.
I just found the review. It’s about half way down here: http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6579438.html?q=robin+mckinley
(or you can just go to Publishers Weekly, and search for Robin McKinley…
Sue in Switzerland
Very worrying and tedious and exhausting for you. Sympathy.
Sigh. Thank you.
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I’m sure someone’s already posted it, but it’s here: http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6579438.html (it’s the second starred review, first in the fiction section, so you have to scroll down a bit). Congrats!!
Sorry to hear about the trouble with the hellhounds.
What happened with my dog Toby this week is nothing near that, but I’m still worried about the little guy. My cat must have knocked the dog treats off the (very high) cabinet yesterday because when I got home our little dog (he’s a jack russel mix, actually) had eaten ALL of them. It was a BIG jar of treats. Hopefully, there won’t be any ill effects to his eating all of that.
Congratulations on the review! I am very excited to read Chalice. Fantasy novels are my favorite when they are done well, but I am incredibly picky about prose and characters and all of that. And so when I find an author that I love, it’s an exciting thing. Somehow I didn’t come across your books until after high school, but now I’ve read them all so many times. Even (especially) Deerskin, because that book seems to be about the possibility of healing even from the very worst things, and so few people even attempt to write about that.
Deerskin, because that book seems to be about the possibility of healing even from the very worst things,
************ YES. EXACTLY. I hope that’s EXACTLY what it’s about.
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Here you go…
http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6579438.html?industryid=47139
Ow, ow, ow. What a day… my sympathies to you for all the frustrations & aggravations. And a large candelabra is burning for you and the dogs. I wish I could suggest something for the nettles but the closest I can get is mosquitos (admittedly I’m like Sunshine in that regard) which is a blunt end of a toothpick’s worth of neat lavender oil applied several times daily. It doesn’t last but its the best I’ve found so far besides yucky cortisone cream. Which I’ve resorted to occasionally.
WOOHOO on the review!
And may tomorrow be MUCH MUCH better. Less eventful, for starters.
I found the link to the starred PW review here:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6579438.html
If you just scroll down, CHALICE is the first one listed under Fiction. And may I say, ohmygoodnessme it sounds so good. I can’t wait!
Congratulations and hooray for the review! Many sympathies about the nettles, and candles for the hellhounds.
http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6579438.html#Fiction
Thank you!
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Am so sorry about the hellhounds continuing… issues.
Off topic comment, ’cause I just discovered these yesterday and thought of you: Moleskine pocket music notebook. I’d covet them, but I don’t compose.
Also, a *book* on sightreading? *slightly boggled* But then, I learned that early, and don’t remember ever struggling with it, at all, it’s apparently one of my ‘superpowers’ – can sightread through anything my technique can handle. Except for notes way above or below the staff, I have to think about those, ’cause I started on organ, which has *fewer* *keys*.
and thought of you: Moleskine pocket music notebook. I’d covet them, but I don’t compose
************* Ooooooh. Yes. Ooooh. :) Hey, you should START composing.
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Oh, hon. You need to sit in a quiet place for a little while.. and when you stop yelling maybe take a nap… Do you have any champagne handy?
Do you have any champagne handy?
********** Yes. :)
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Congratulations on the very positive review (which manages to compliment not only this latest book, but your entire lexicon)!
It took me a bit to find it because I was looking in “fiction reviews” rather than “children’s reviews.” That brings me to a question I’ve had for some time. I’ve noticed that your books very often get shunted into the YA sections of libraries and bookstores. But I don’t really think of your writing as particularly young readersish. I love YA stuff, don’t get me wrong. I just wonder if you’re categorized there because your first work was there or if you do consider yourself a primarily YA author.
I’m often frustrated by the literary tendency to pigeonhole. (I think libraries do this too. For example, Stephenie Meyer’s new book has been touted by her marketing team as “her first book for adults!” yet is still shelved not in adult fiction, but in the children’s section because that’s where she was first wildly popular.)
Of course, the best children’s lit can be read and enjoyed every bit as much as an adult. So maybe it’s just a sign of your timelessness again, eh? :)
This is *so* sore a subject and probably deserves its own entry. I didn’t know YA *existed* when I sent BEAUTY in, and they called it YA and published it as such. I do NOT consider myself a YA author. The more teenagers that read me the better (with occasional exclusions for the more, um, sheltered) but I am ‘crossover’ or ‘all ages’ or one of those kinds of things and being pigeonholed as kids’ or YA MAKES ME *&^%$£”!! NUTS.
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I have some theories on the subject, all of which are likely to be wrong.
First, that your books so often feature childhood/young adulthood at some point (because your characters are growing into themselves). But that *can’t* be all of it because, well, look at Alice Sebold’s “Lovely Bones.”
So, secondly, that in general your books are what can be referred to as “wholesome,” i.e. lack lashings of profanity and explicit sex and stuff like that. Except that that can’t be all it either. There’s a LOT of YA stuff out there right now packed with those things.
Thirdly, and this is my best theory, is that your books often find their basis in fairy tales. And everyone *knows* fairy tales are for kids. (I’ll spare you the rant on that particular topic). So OF COURSE they’d go in the YA section! Why would adults want to read fairy tales?
And, I will say that not once while reading it did I *ever* consider that Chalice was a YA book. I can’t see any way that this particular novel was even right for that categorization. In fact, I was confused as to why the marketing campaign the ARC listed was going to so many teen places. So it’s good to know that I’m not on crack, though the marketplace may be.
I shall continue to proselytize for you in the adult world with a clear conscience knowing I’m not subverting your chosen route. *concocts ninja plans to move entire sections of Robin’s books to front table and adult sections in bookstores in the dead of night*
LOL! Good luck! Part of what I hate about pigeonholing is that when you climb out of it–as I left ‘wholesome’ behind when I wrote DEERSKIN and SUNSHINE–people feel justified in being outraged and abusive. I’ve had some outrage about Eric’s language too. And that Jake says ‘sh–’ under stress.
If you’re paying that kind of attention (and that you were WHOLLY ABSORBED in the story is a perfectly good reason why you WEREN’T :)) you’ll have noticed that Mirasol is not, in fact, a young adult. She’s about thirty. I was asked to take any direct references to her age out, which I did do, and had at least one person tell me huffily that she was *obviously* younger. Depends on your experience of thirty, I guess. :)
She struck me as about late twenties, yeah. Thirty makes perfect sense. I mean, she had time for a whole life before the book even happens, plus the whole timeline of the other characters likely ages…yep, sounds about right. Which is why the teen marketing campaign made no sense to me.
The book is beautiful, though! Congratulations!
Thank you! It seems to me that the whole business of how difficult she finds the Chalicehood is totally undermined if you make her young, just starting out. The point is that it’s this enormous wrench after she thought she understood what her life was.
As I also keep saying, it’s FINE with me that teenagers and precocious kids read my books–with some caveats about DEERSKIN and SUNSHINE–I want them to. But I’m not a ‘YA’ author. Even my books with YA protagonists are mostly only dubiously YA.
Link for review in PW:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6579438.html?industryid=47139
Text follows (please omit, if there is a copyright issue for you):
Chalice
Robin McKinley. Putnam, $18.99 (272p) ISBN 978-0-399-24676-0
Fans and new readers alike will greedily devour McKinley’s latest, a high fantasy as perfectly shaped and eloquently told as Beauty and The Hero and the Crown. Humble beekeeper Mirasol has been chosen to take on the key ceremonial role of Chalice, the woman charged with maintaining the province’s well-being by communicating with the (sentient) land. She is keenly aware of the suffering brought on by the misrule of its former Master: “[The province] Willowlands was restless, hurt and unhappy… delirious as a child with a bad fever.” Hope flickers when the former Master’s brother returns and assumes the role; but because he is now an Elemental priest of Fire, he may not be able to perform the duties. Mirasol and the new Master are drawn to each other, even though she suspects their union is prohibited, and their smoldering attraction—plus the gorgeously evoked magic and the escalating threat that Willowlands will be usurped—gives this tale its sizzle. In the best McKinley fashion, the fantasy realm is evoked in thorough and telling detail, with the energy of the narrative lending excitement to descriptions of even the most stylized rituals. A lavish and lasting treat. Ages 12–up. (Sept.)
I can’t wait! :)
Thank you! :)
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Just in case you don’t have it already worked out, here’s a link to the review.
http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6579438.html?industryid=47139
Sorry to hear about the horrible digestive trouble. We’ve been battling campylobacter in our dogs for years now–it seems to consistantly flare up in the summer months for us for some reason, and true to form our latsest heat wave has dogs spurting all over the house…blech.
And nettles on top of everything! Talk about a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day! I recomend heaping helpings of Bufy and Booze.
Thank you!
Sorry to hear about the horrible digestive trouble. We’ve been battling campylobacter in our dogs for years now–it seems to consistantly flare up in the summer months for us for some reason, and true to form our latsest heat wave has dogs spurting all over the house…blech
********OH GODS. I SO DON’T WANT TO HEAR THIS. What do you do for it? And do you have any idea HOW THEY GOT IT IN THE FIRST PLACE? And what do you do if you want to go AWAY? Generally speaking I’m happy to stay home and ring bells etc but as it is I’m *trapped*, because of the hellhounds.
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Campylobacter is a difficult bug to eradicate, because it is endemic in wild animals and birds, and most dogs are so-and-sos on walks for picking up and eating unconsidered trifles – however disgusting.
You may find that your best bet is to use antibiotics to clear the campylobacter out of the dogs guts (ideally do a sensitivity test first), folllowed by a supplement of ‘good’ bacteria to recolonise the gut and hopefully offer some competetive exclusion. At the same time, do a really thorough clean and disinfect of anything that the dogs may chew or lick at home (bowls, toys etc).
I realise that you have not had much success with antibiotics or competetive exclusion in the past, but coupled together with good disinfection they really can work. However, it will still take constant vigilance because it will be so easy for the dogs to get reinfected when out and about.
I am not a vet, by the way, but I am a farmer, so have to do a fair amount of practical bug ecology.
Good luck!
Thanks. Right at the moment I’m still kind of in shock. Because of the way these two react to it I’m kind of trapped at home and the idea of remaining trapped at home for the next fifteen years or something . . .
I talked to my vet this morning. He says antibiotics won’t do it on their own, and he wants to think about it some more. And we’ve already done antibiotics and good gut flora . . . and it worked somewhat for a while, and then came back. Just like everything else.
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Alpacas? You’re interested in alpacas? My cousin and uncle have raised them for years. When my mother first went into her nursing home, they visited her on their way back from an alpaca show. They crossed their fingers and brought their pretty-well-behaved alpaca into the home for everyone to see. Everyone was thrilled. But you know that when they told people the next day, “We had a llama here last night,” the relatives looked at each other and tapped their temples sadly.
Baby alpacas are incredibly appealing. I think they have the same kind of charm as baby lambs, but are more delicate looking.
I agree. But I still want to know what they’re like to live with!
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Nettles – I looked them up on wikipedia to make sure they were the same thing I remembered from childhood. Yep. But the entry said they’re a galactagogue, which I thought was a GREAT WORD! Sounds like space! But it has to do with lactation, i.e.milk, as does the milk pie Susan from Athens mentioned – Galaktoboureko. So I’m thinking, what does space have to do with milk?!? Then it hit – Milky Way? (forehead slapping moment with giggles…:))