It’s here . . .
I got to bed last night . . . um . . . late. So I was still in the early, Clothing. Must. Find. Clothing. Put. On, stage when there was an ominous noise like a delivery van stopping in front of the house. Yeeep. Pulled several garments on at random and was at least covered when there was a crisp knock on the door.
But see what he was bringing me.*
* And then there is the saga of the Loading the Photo, which for some reason saved itself as ‘read only’ and ‘read only’ sideways, and I’m amazed the neighbours didn’t call the cops to remove the dangerous madwoman or at least gag her. . . .
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Please join the discussion at Robin McKinley's Web Forum.
Please join the discussion at Robin McKinley's Web Forum.
Beautiful, indeed! Oohh …
BTW, I subscribe to the online weekly e-newsletter, PW Children’s Bookshelf, and today’s edition included the starred review of Chalice. I hope that means even more people will see it and decide they just HAVE to order it.
Yes please! :)
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Ooooh.
It’s GLORIOUS. I may break and get the hardback for this one even though it won’t fit with the others…I love it so much. (I’ll just have to buy the paperback too so it can sit next to its friends.)
Man, that’s gorgeous. That’s the cover art little writers dream of…
:)
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SQUEEEEE!
Um, yes, very nice.
Cover is gorgeous – you have us drooling. You had us at hello Robin. We are the converted. I spent ten years going into every bookstore I could find on two continents with a sci/fi fantasy section and looking up your name. I can’t tell you the jubilation when I found Deerskin. Of course we’re going to get it. Now be nice and don’t show us toys we can’t play with yet.
*You’re* not the one panting to stay ahead of daily entries.
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By the way, the background quilt is lovely too. Where did you get that lovely Celtic thing? (my consumer instincts unfortunately run in many directions)
::squee::
The cover is gorgeous. The inside artwork is gorgeous too. Here’s hoping that it now sells in *shipping-container-fulls*.
::hands over the celebratory chocolate and champagne::
Thank you! :)
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*consults maps and sat nav and starts plotting to raid Robin’s house and stealth off with a copy of Chalice to read…*
…Damned sat nav! Apparently it can’t plan a route from the information ‘Robin McKinley’s house, somewhere in Hampshire’…;-)
**Whew.** –Note that this is my ONLY copy. I’ll get my author’s dozen in September when they appear in the shops. So if you wrenched this one away from me . . . *sniff* . . . .
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I could sit in the corner and read it? I’m extremely short so I’d not need much space, and I usually sit with my feet curled under me, so you’d not even trip over my legs… And I’m a fast reader…
*Tries to look cute and appealing*
*fails*
Send photo of looking small, cute and appealing and we’ll negotiate. :)
How about this….
….http://s226.photobucket.com/albums/dd163/Vikkik16/spike/?albumview=slideshow
LOL! Don’t you find turning pages a little challenging?
*grin*
Okay, I admit it, that’s not really me. That’s my lucky teddy, Spike. He’s a Steeleye fan too, you know.
If I could have found a halfway decent photo of me I’d have posted a link, but all the ones I have seem to be fairly hideous at the moment.
yes, what it is it about photos of oneself? They’re ALWAYS hideous.
I’m useless at posing for photos, I always tense up and end up either grimacing or looking really strained and uncomfortable. And if someone gets me unawares so my face actually looks natural then it’s usually at a time when I look like I’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards…
Absolutely gorgeous! I can’t wait to see it in person.
OH MY GOODNESS! OH MY GOODNESS! OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!!
CHALICE!
It is THERE!
Squee!
Hugs and chocolateand lots of excitement from Julia!
Well, it’s not *quite* there, you know. You still have to wait till September. *I* wasn’t expecting it so early, even as the single advance guard copy.
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[*spirits crushed... but only for a moment*]
STILL….
It IS there.
UNFORTUNATELY… it is NOT HERE. In my hand, so I can stay up all night and read it right this minute… NO.
But it is THERE.
So I will still be excited.
Hooray.
Chocolate and hugs. And a daisy crown, because I spent two hours making them today at the library.
–Julia
Okay, WHY were you making daisy crowns at the library?
For an event the children’s librarian held today called In The Good Old Summertime… which basically was a bunch of tables outside, different stations, so to speak. My sister was doing palmistry, someone next to me was teaching kids cats cradle tricks, there was paper airplanes and magic tricks and jump rope and so on and so forth. Lots of fun. And she put me in charge of making daisy chains.
Or rather daisy crowns.
All in all, good fun. Moving all the tables wasn’t terribly amusing, but all the kids– and the parents– enjoyed it. and so did I- I had a crown on too, and had it not just fallen apart when I was putting rhodedendron bushes in the car to take to my grandmother’s house, I probably would still be wearing it, three hours after the thing was over!
:)
–Julia
Or the other answer…. WHY NOT?! I do EVERYTHING there. And love it.
Good for you. And your sister. I offered to read Tarot cards for the church fetes a while ago but was told stiffly that Tarot was **inappropriate** for a Christian fete. Good grief. Tainted money I guess.
[shakes head] (at the bit about Tarot being *inappropriate*)
[shouts down hallway to sister that you say good for her]
Yeah– she had me drive to several different libraries to pick up books on palmistry and stuff. But all in a good cause, so I didn’t mind. Much.
:)
Funny how she is two years younger but still she is the one telling ME what to do. Humph.
But she looked marvelous in the daisy crown I made for her.
:)
–Julia
It’s all beautiful and I can’t wait. This may just have made me decide to buy it sight unseen, which I NEVER do.
Oh, go on . . . :)
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And the first page has me hooked. That’s it, I’ll go pre-order it.
Oh good. :)
Gorgeous cover! When I saw the dress, I thought about the cranberry red dress that Sunshine has to wear. Are they (the dresses) cousins? ;)
Good gods no. Sunshine’s dress is spaghetti straps and silk. Mirasol’s is heavy and, well, she wouldn’t actually be caught dead in those sleeves, so maybe it’s one of her Chalice robes. :)
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As soon as you mentioned that review I headed over the Powell’s site where I can pre order almost anything I know is coming out. Yup they have it ready to prebuy:) And i got to see the cover too before you posted it here*g*
It’s gorgeous! I can’t wait to get my hands on it!
How long, again, should I plan to wait?
Never mind the book cover (she says dismissively, though she really thinks it’s gorgeous), what’s that loveliness it’s sitting on? Is that a quilt with all that intricate knotting? It’s beautiful!
I’m afraid it’s only a sofa/chair cushion from I think Past Times from years and years ago. If you saw it more plainly you would see it is rather the worse for wear. But yes I bought it because it was pretty! :)
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It’s beautiful! (And we’re definitely drooling.)
I think I’ll go pre-order the hardback…
Prepare to groan–
Robin, it’s the bees knees!
Also love the beautiful material you have the book on.
Yaaaak! :)
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Lovely, lovely art… I can’t wait to read the art inside(:
Beautiful! I buy your books when they come out because they’re by you. But I’m afraid I tend to buy unknown authors by the covers – and that cover would have me in a heartbeat.
OOOOOH… AND it’s gorgeous!
Can’t wait! (actually I must because for some reason known only to the occult scientists of the publishing/marketing world we’re generally at least 9 months behind here. Except for That Scarred Boy Wizard. Grrrr)
******** But see what he was bringing me.
CHALICE!!!
Not only great content – congrats on being one of the week’s only 2 starred reviews in PW email – but great art also; Pre-Raphaelite/Celtic/Bees – WOW! How did you manage to get so many good ingredients combined?? Much better than metal bras for women superheroes, which I have always thought would pinch rather :(
And just to add to any bee-themed entry you may be posting (cos I do worry about you having to spend so much time blogging you know) here’s a link which I hope you like – no pre raphaelites, but riverdance(bee 2) is celtic…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m5vt07W2n4
SNORK. But don’t these boys know that most bees are GIRLS?? –I wasn’t expecting it to have a, you know, PURPOSE. But it’s true that honeybee populations are dropping dangerously.
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Boy bees – I know, but can you imagine the spice-bees? Or bees-aloud?
Did you see the other helpthebees clip? Opera, bees and (almost) icecream…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZ5UiOkgclQ
Weird. Okay, whatever works. We need bees. And I know the knock-on effect of lack of pollination is already being felt.
My local honey guy at the market lost all of his 100 hives except for 17 this last winter. It warmed up spectacularly in March, and then had a record deep freeze for 3 weeks… but otherwise, his bees aren’t disappearing in the fields yet…