Water Baby - Ross Campbell

Water Baby
Ross Campbell
Minx an abandoned division of
DC Comics
ISBN 9781401211479

The short-lived MINX graphic novel line was supposed to feature stories about strong women and girls and be quality graphic novels for young women. I plan on keeping most of the series set aside for my daughters for when they are older, but this is one book I will not be keeping. I found very little that is redeeming about this graphic novel. The main character has lost her leg in a shark attack; we don't know if her sour view of life and the way she treats everyone poorly was habitual before or after the attack. She seems to just be a skank, with nothing to teach and there is no growth or change. The story feels incomplete and poorly planned compared to the rest in the MINX line. It does not really go anywhere but downhill. I was truly disappointed in this book, and with it being the last in the series I read, it is a good thing as I may not have read some of the others if I had read this earlier.

MINX Graphic Novels:

The P.L.A.I.N. Janes by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg (May 2 2007)
Re-Gifters by Mike Carey, Marc Hempel, and Sonny Liew (Jun 6 2007)
Clubbing by Andi Watson and Josh Howard (July 11 2007)
Good as Lily by Derek Kirk Kim and Jesse Hamm (Aug 1 2007)
Confessions of a Blabbermouth by Mike Carey, Louise Carey, and Aaron Alexovich(Sep 12 2007)
Kimmie66 by Aaron Alexovich (Nov 7 2007)
Burnout by Rebecca Donner (Jun 24 2008)
Water Baby by Ross Campbell(July 8 2008)
The New York Four by Ryan Kelly (July 22 2008)
Janes in Love by Cecil Castellucci (Sep 23 2008)
Emiko Superstar by Mariko Tamaki (Oct 14 2008)
Token by Alisa Sheckley (Nov 4 2008)

All Nighter by David Hahn (Unreleased)
Janes Go Summer by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg ( (Unreleased)

Top Ten Teas of 2010

Top 10 Teas of 2010

Last year I wrote a 13 part series on tea. It has been a very popular series based on traffic to the site. I wanted to update my final article with my Top Ten Teas of 2010. In the previous tea articles, I rated my favorite teas based on their type: Red, White, Green, Black, Mate, Fruit Blends, Wellness Blends and herbal. This article will list my top ten favorite teas that I keep around all the time and why. It was really hard narrowing it down to a list of just 10, but this year all of the Teas are from Teaopia. Below the name of the tea is a description from the company's website, or catalogue. These are the teas that I keep both at home and work. These are best of the best based on my current tastes and predilections. One of the things that makes tea so easy and accessible now the Teaopia tea master. In the picture to the left are the first three generations of the Tea Master truly an excellent brewing tool.

1. Superberry White - Teaopia
Superberry White Tea is a mixture of White Tea, apple pieces, schisandra berries, cranberries, goji berries, bilberries, and mallow flower blossoms. The combination of incredibly healthy White Tea with these true `super` berries makes a tea that everyone will want to have in their tea collection. This tea is high in antioxidants and helps strengthen the immune system.

2. Wonderful White - Teaopia
White tea is a combination of White Tea, apple pieces, orange peel, ginger bits, cinnamon, lemongrass, coconut flakes, pistachio, red peppercorns, and corn flower blossoms.

3. Goji Green - Teaopia
Green Tea consists of organic sencha shokai, goji berries, schisandra berries, pomegranate flower blossoms and an all natural strawberry aroma. Get the benefits of Goji berries and Green Tea with this amazing blend.

4. Dragon Heart White - Teaopia
This flavoured White Tea is a blend of Pai Mu Tan, bamboo leaves, and pomegranate blossoms that surprisingly come together to create a wonderful cranberry flavour. Fruit and White Tea lovers will enjoy this tea day or night.

5. Jiaogulan - Teaopia
Jiaogulan (pronounced 'JOW GOO LANN') is a Chinese herb which has been consumed for centuries for its reputed anti-aging, antioxidant and disease-fighting properties, which is why it is known as the `immortality tea`. Jiaogulan is held in shape by a very light sucrose, which adds to its natural sweetness when infused.

Infusion Recommendations: Infuse each ball in approximately 24 ounces of water at no more than 175 degrees for at least five minutes. Multiple infusions are strongly recommended. Successive infusions are smooth and delicious.

Jiaogulan is recommended for anti-inflammation, detoxification, cough remedy, and as an expectorant and chronic bronchitis remedy. It is rich in antioxidants, amino acids, minerals, and is stimulant-free.

According to herbalists Jiaogulan is used for antioxidant and disease fighting properties, supports organ systems and blood function, decreased cholesterol, improved digestion and nutrient absorption, relief from fatigue, increased vitality and endurance, regulation of hormonal functions, aids in weight loss, improves sleep, is calming and elevates mood.

6. Cactus Fig - Teaopia
This flavoured tea is the perfect blend of Green Sencha, fig pieces, aloe vera, sandalwood and orange flowers. The combination provides an earthy yet sweet taste and aroma that is perfect any time of day.

7. Pomegranate Green - Teaopia
This flavoured Green Tea is a beautiful combination of sencha, cranberries and pomegranate flowers. The subtle taste of our Pomegranate Green is perfect any time of day either hot or iced for tea and fruit lovers.

8. Fit Active and Rise and Shine- Teaopia
This Wellness Blend is a combination of apple pieces, rose hip peel, strawberry and raspberry leaves, elderberries, bramble berries, sunflower petals, vitamin C from the acerola cherry, and safflower and cornflower petals. This tea is a must-have for all tea drinkers, as it helps prevent the common cold and is very rich in vitamin C. Keep this Wellness Blend as part of your collection and watch how the health benefits transform your life.

A perfect combination of lapacho, honeybush, Yerba Mate, apple pieces, cinnamon bits, green Mate, chrysanthemum flowers, guarana powder, cola nut, pomegranate blossoms, marigold and aroma. This blend is considered a great stimulant without the side effects of coffee, which makes it wonderful for those trying to make the switch to tea.

9. Mate Citrus Buzz - Teaopia
The combination of Green Mate leaves, lemongrass, safflower petals, sandalwood, orange peel, ginger, lemon peel and spearmint give this herbal tea an unmistakable citrus flavour that will leave you with the pick-me-up you desire without the side effects and toxicity of coffee.

10. Mate Sweet Energy - Teaopia
All the incredible health benefits of Green Mate are infused with aloe vera bits, figs, dates, orange peel, mallow flower and sunflower petals to create a refreshing and exotic flavour.

I hope you have enjoyed my series on tea; I have enjoyed your many comments on facebook and my blog, I look forward to trying some of the teas you have suggested. And check back next year for an updated Top Ten List. And remember what C.S. Lewis said; "You can't get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me." So may you always have a book in your hand and a cup in the other!

Articles in this Series:
1. Tea an Overview
2. Red Teas
3. Green Teas
4. White Teas
5. Black Teas
6. Matcha Tea
7. Yerba Mate
8. Fruit Blends
9. Wellness Blends
10. Herbal Teas
11. Purveyors of Fine Tea (my preferences.)
12. Custom Blending
13. My Favourite Teas
Top Ten Teas of 2010

Top Ten Teas of 2023

Top Ten Teas of 2024

...

(Above my tea collection at home, below my tea collection at work.)

Christopher Moore - Author Profile

Christopher Moore is an author with a tremendous gift for wit and wisdom. He spends his time between Hawaii and San Francisco, but grew up or at least was raised in Toledo, Ohio. His writings have a giant cult following. His main characters are a typical 'everyman' who comes to possess supernatural power or has an encounter and conflict with said power(s). All of his books but the most recent are set in the same universe with characters traversing between the different books. And now for some frivolity with Mr. Moore.

1. When did you know you wanted to be a writer? How did you nurture that dream?

I was sixteen, I think, when I first thought about going pro. I immediately started pursuing education in photography because I figured I couldn't make a living writing. I'm from Ohio. We don't nurture dreams there, we crush them.

2. Which books or authors had the greatest impact on your work?

John Steinbeck's Cannery Row had more influence on me than any single book. He has such gentle, forgiving voice in that book, yet it's very funny, and at that point in my studies (mid twenties) that was like finding the Rosetta Stone.

3. Who were some of your biggest supporters and contributors to your early success?

I had a number of close friends who were waitresses and bartenders in the places I worked who were very supportive of me, despite a complete lack of evidence that I'd ever have any success. Once I sold a book, my agent was and has always been very supportive and doggedly loyal and enthusiastic.

4. You have stated elsewhere that you gave up drinking and started writing. Has your writing ever driven you to the drink again?

A couple of times when I was in Micronesia, on an outer island of Yap, I had to drink with the men's circle with the islanders or they wouldn't talk to me, and I needed to have information for my book. It really wasn't an emotional thing, just a necessary social thing. (These people had a very old way of life - living in huts, off of fish, coconuts, and breadfruit. It wasn't a situation I have ever encountered since.)

5. What advice do you wish an artist had passed on to you early in your career, which you only learned through experience?

That you need to sit down and do the work before you can participate in the luck. There is no shortcut to discipline.

6. What does your writing process look like? Take us through the steps from idea to publishing.

I have an idea for a story. I do a little bit of research to see if it's feasible. Then I research and plan out the story, go to the places where the story takes place, figure out the characters. If I have a contract, I send an outline or proposal to my editor. If I don't have a contract, I do a proposal and my agent presents it to my publisher. (When you start out, you have to write the book. I can only do this because I have a track record.) That usually takes six months or so. Then I write the manuscript. That usually takes 9-12 months. I send the first 100 pages to my agent and my editor, just to make sure I'm not too far off base. When I have a draft I usually go back through it once, then send it to my editor. She does a pass on it, sends me a comment letter, and I make changes or not depending on her comments. Almost without exception, this makes the book stronger, and it's usually fairly minor. The first edit may take me a week. I send it back. It goes to a copy editor, who fixes spelling, punctuation, and checks for continuity (eg. "She orders coffee on p175 but is drinking tea on p176). I make changes and send the manuscript back. It goes through another proofreader and my main editor again. By now they will have been designing covers and found a place for the book on the release calendar, usually 9-12 months out. Then, a month or so later, the unbound galleys come back. These are the printed pages, as they will appear in the book, unbound. I proof them, and I also pay another, independent proofreader to go through them. I'll make corrections and return them to my publisher, who will send them to a proofreader again. By this time, there will inexplicably, be new errors in the book that everyone has missed. Next, bound galleys will come out and be sent to other authors for comment, to a few booksellers, and a few reviewers. Now we're about 3-6 months from publication. My tour schedule is figured out, and if there are trade shows, like BEA or the regional booksellers' conventions, I may go and give out bound galleys and sign them for booksellers. When the book comes out, I'll tour, twenty to thirty cities in a month or so, doing media (if we can get it) in the morning, and doing signings every evening. Sometimes there are two events a day in some cities. I usually catch a cold on the 2nd day of tour and then proceed to infect about 3000 people by the end of the tour. That's sort of it from my end. In addition, there are tons and tons of meetings at the publisher which I'm not party to, talking about everything from cover design to marketing and sales.

7. I once heard Madeleine L'Engle state that her characters were real to her and almost an extended part of her family. She said once that at the dinner table she sat up and stated, "Meg just finished her PhD." Are your characters real to you, do you ever get glimpses of what they are up to now, or once you finish a book is that it?

When I'm in the middle of a book, I'm spending more time with my characters than I am with any real person, so sometimes I talk about them as if they were imaginary friends. My girlfriend might say, "I talked to Karen today-", and go on about something a friend said, and I might respond with something one of my characters said. It's not confusion with reality, it's just really all the contact I've had that day.

8. What current projects are you working on or are on the back burner in some stage of development?

I just finished an historical novel about painters in 19th Century Paris, and now I'm adapting my novel "Fool" for the stage and researching my next book, which will be set in Venice.

9. Do you use a playlist when writing? Are certain books written while predominantly listening to the same music?

Lately I just have a couple of Pandora stations that are built around slow groove and chill music. It's mostly music that will disappear into the background. I can't listen to music with words or it distracts me. I listened to a lot of Eric Satie and Claude Debussy when I was writing the Paris book.

10. Which of your books is your favorite and why?

That changes. I think I'm most delighted by scenes in "A Dirty Job" when I read them, but "Lamb" is probably my most ambitious accomplishment, so it's probably the one I'm most proud of.

11. What current projects are you working on?

See above.

12. What were some of your favorite authors or books in your teen years that helped shape you?

Early on, it was Jules Verne and Ray Bradbury; in my teen years, Richard Matheson and Robert Bloch, as well as H.P. Lovecraft. In my twenties it was Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, Tom Robbins, and John Steinbeck.

13. What are some of your favorite books and authors now?

Steinbeck and the plays of Shakespeare. I still read the occasional Wodehouse. I love Nick Hornby's books. I like Sedaris, Dave Barry, Carl Hiaasen, and a number of crime writers.

14. All of your books are available in electronic formats but with that comes bootleg distribution. What are your impressions of e-books and the distribution of them through torrents and other illegal means?

There's no percentage in talking about this. Whatever I say, it results in people squirming in their self-justification.

15. Some authors monitor torrent sites and have their publishers contact them to remove their content. Do you do so or have someone do so for you?

I publish with Harper Collins, which is part of News Corp. They have one of the most vigilant team of rights lawyers outside of Disney or Apple. I don't have much to do with it, but they move on anyone they know about who violates their copyrights.

16. Is it possible we will see more stories in the lines of A Love Story (Bloodsucking Fiends, You Suck, and Bite Me)?

I don't think so. I feel as if I've finished that story arc. I might consider picking it up again for another form. Maybe graphic novel or film or TV.

17. I once had a university professor state that the true goal of a university education should be to teach one to learn how to think. What would you state should be the goal of higher education and why?

I think that's almost spot on. I had a friend who used to say that a university education was to teach you how to learn. I think the truth lies between the two.

18. Your books appear to regularly go through cover changes. Do you play a role in selecting new artwork? What is your favorite cover today and why?

I do have some input, but I'm not involved in every image. I think the cover to "A Dirty Job", with the Death's Head baby that glowed in the dark, was probably my favorite, and I had nothing to do with that idea.

19. If you were stuck on a desert island and could only have 10 books to read again and again, what books would you want with you?

Complete works of Shakespeare, the Firefox survival books, a Norton Anthology of English-language poetry, I don't know. I'd have a hard time picking them out of the air. If I were standing in front of a bookshelf it might be easier.

20. What advice would you give to teens today, to your readers? What gems of knowledge have you gleaned in life that you would pass on?

Don't drive drunk. Ever. Don't shag anyone you don't like, or who doesn't like you. Get a look at how people live in a place where you don't. Suffering is over-rated, don't pursue it. Ask for help when you need it, don't when you don't, and learn to recognize the difference. Don't confuse movement and progress. Be kind. Be forgiving. Pay attention.

Thank you again Mr. Moore for taking the time to answer some questions for the readers here at Book Reviews and More. Much appreciated.

Books By Christopher Moore:
Practical Demonkeeping
Coyote Blue
Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story
Island of the Sequined Love Nun
The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings
The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror
A Dirty Job
You Suck: A Love Story
Fool
Bite Me: A Love Story

The Griff (Graphic Novel with Ian Corson)

John Diefenbaker: An Appointment with Destiny - Arthur Slade

John Diefenbaker:
An Appointment with Destiny
Arthur Slade
XYP Publishing
Dundurn PressISBN 0968816606

Over the past year I have read all but one of Arthur Slade's books. This is the only non-fiction and it was a compelling read. I must admit, before reading this book, I knew very little about Diefenbaker, the man, the myths or the legend. This book explores all three aspects of the man's life and legacy. The book was very well written, it was compelling and I had a hard time putting it down. Though not a conservative myself, I found after reading this book that I had a much greater respect and appreciation for Diefenbaker.

Arthur Slade did an amazing job presenting a man, who is a legend in Canadian politics and history, in a way readers will appreciate and admire. The writing is excellent and the pace of the story great. It spans almost 85 years of history in less than 200 pages and yet you do not feel like there were major gaps. After reading this, as much as I love Slade's fiction, I can only hope he will try his hand at nonfiction again soon.

Books by Arthur Slade:
The Dragonfly's Journey (1996)
John Diefenbaker: an Appointment with Destiny (2000)
Dust (2001)
Tribes (2002)
Monsterology (2005)
Villainology (2005)
Megiddo's Shadow (2006)
Jolted (2008)
Shades: 17 Startling Stories (2011)
Flickers (2016)
Crimson (2018)
Death by Airship (2019)
Mr. Universe (2021)

...

Hunchback Assignments Series:
aka Modo Mission Clockwork Series:
The Hunchback Assignments (2009)
The Dark Deeps (2010)
Empire of Ruins (2011)
Island of Doom (2012)
Modo Embers End - Graphic Novel (2014)

The Northern Frights Series
Draugr (1997)
The Haunting of Drang Island (1998)
The Loki Wolf (2000)

Northern Frights Reprint Editions:

Draugr (2020)

Drang (2020)

Loki Wolf (2020)

...

The Canadian Chills Series
Return of the Grudstone Ghosts (2002)
Ghost Hotel (2004)
Invasion of the IQ Snatchers (2007)

...

The Canadian Chills Reprint Editions:

Return of the Grudstone Ghosts (2024)

Ghost Hotel (2024)

Invasion of the IQ Snatchers (2024)

...

Librarian. Assassin. Vampire Series:
Amber Fang: The Hunted
Amber Fang: Betrayed
Amber Fang: Revenge
Amber Fang Box Set Books 1-3
...

Dragon Assassin Series:
Twin Fury
Shadow Hunter
Dark Wings
Bitterwaters
Elder Magic
Royal Blood
Hidden Powers
Burning Empire
Old Enemies

Downfall

The Golden Spear

Deathwings

...

Dragon Assassin Novels (Omnibus editions):

Twin Fury

Royal Blood

Burning Empire

Downfall

Deathwings

…

I, Brax Series:

A Battle Divine

…

Books as Stephen Shea:
The Not So Simple Life
Damage
Viper - Short Story

...

Visual Bibliography for Arthur Slade
Author profile interview with Arthur Slade.
Author profile interview with Stephen Shea. 

Roderick Gordon - Author Profile

Roderick Gordon, one of the co-authors of the amazing Tunnels Series of books he currently resides in North Norfolk with his wife and two sons. This former corporate financier turned author has taken some time to answer some questions for us here at Book Reviews and More.

1. For all intents and purposes, writing has been a major career change for you. So how did you end up writing fiction?

That's an extremely good question, and I'm still not entirely sure how it happened. I studied biology at university, then sort of fell into a job doing corporate finance in London's Square Mile until I was made redundant in late 2001. Total dedication to the job was the norm, which meant very long hours and working through weekends if a deal went live. My role involved raising money for private businesses, and although I believed I was doing some good - creating jobs and securing the future of the businesses I was helping - I knew all the time that it just wasn't me.

When I was sacked I didn't see it coming, and felt angry and betrayed. I felt the company had had so much from me; I'd missed out on a large part of my two sons' early life, and I have to admit I barely knew my youngest son, Frankie, who was three at the time.

So I found myself at home with time on my hands. I did try halfheartedly to find another job in corporate finance, but the truth was I couldn't face going back into it. Instead I hooked up with an old friend, Brian Williams, who had studied art at the same university I'd attended back in 1980. We'd kept in touch during the intervening three decades, and had often talked about writing something together. In 2003 we finally sat down and wrote a screenplay for a thriller, and it was so much fun we thought that we'd collaborate on another project.

My wife, Sophie, suggested a book for younger readers, and Brian and I began to put some ideas down, but I must say neither of us took it very seriously at the time. Then, suddenly, it became deadly serious. Brian would cycle over to my house every day to progress the story, and I did nothing else but work on my computer.

When I look back now, it makes me shiver. I have no idea what I thought I was doing. My sons' education and a massive mortgage were eating into what little I had in the way of savings. As if that wasn't bad enough, my wife's business was drifting badly and we had to pump money into it. I would wake up in the early hours of the morning in a cold sweat, feeling that I was driving straight for a brick wall at high speed.

But Brian and I finished the book, which was called The Highfield Mole, and I sold a property I had in the country so that I could self-publish it. I had 2,000 paperbacks and 500 hardbacks printed, and the only ambition I had at the time was that if I made enough back on the books I might be able to self-publish the second volume in the series. It never entered my head that I'd make any sort of living from writing, so when Barry Cunningham called up and said he was interested, it came as a complete surprise. Barry had signed JK Rowling for her first two Harry Potter books while he was at Bloomsbury, and then went on to set up his own children's publishing company, Chicken House, which is now owned by Scholastic.

Anyway, after nearly two years, he published The Highfield Mole, which had been renamed Tunnels, and it just took off. Publishers all around the world wanted it, and we sold the movie rights to Relativity Media, who say they are going to begin filming later this year.

So in answer to your question, my writing career wasn't planned at all - it just happened. And I don't really regard it as a "career" or a "job" - I had a job I hated for far too long, and this is something else all together, something far more important.

2. What advice do you wish an artist had passed on to you early in your career, which you only learned through experience?

I still consider myself to be at the start of my writing career because I haven't been doing it for very long. I'm still learning and, I hope, developing. But a couple of years ago, the writer Hanif Kureishi, whose work I love, really helped me. He was working a short story called Decline of the West in which the main character had lost his job in the City, and we met up because my recent history was relevant. I remember I was complaining to Hanif how difficult I was finding the third Tunnels book, and that after two books I couldn't understand why the writing process wasn't getting any easier. He turned to me and said "Why would you want it to be easy?" He was right. If it's easy, then you're not giving it all you should. His advice helped me through that third book, and it still comes back to me in those dark moments when I feel I can't go on.

3. When did you know you wanted to be a writer? How did you nurture that dream?

My first published work was a short story in a school magazine when I was eleven, and I suppose I thought about being a writer then. Over the years I tried my hand at short stories and books, but they never went anywhere. I turned fifty last year, so it's taken me most of my life to finally find something I really want to do. Maybe I just wasn't ready when I was younger.

4. All of the books you have published have been co-written by Brian Williams, do you see yourself writing any books solo? Do you have any projects underway?

When Tunnels was first published, we'd be asked how the division of labor was split, and we'd each say that we regarded the book entirely as our own. It makes me smile when I read that people say they can spot the difference of styles in Tunnels. It wasn't the case that one of us wrote a chapter, then the other did the next. The book wouldn't have had hung together if we'd worked like that. The story evolved as we swapped drafts between us, and we usually can't remember who thought of what. And when the first draft of The Highfield Mole was completed, I took it away and spent a good six months reworking it to make sure the style was consistent throughout.

Brian has always regarded writing as "just another tool in the box" in his career as an artist, and has continued with his filming, photography and installations - he's working on an installation in Liverpool right now. So I don't know if he has any immediate plans with regard to further writing projects.

I started a new story last year, but had to put it aside when I began work on the fifth book in the Tunnels series, which is to be called Spiral. So, yes, including that unfinished book, I have another three or four books I intend to write when I have the time.

5. What authors or books most influenced your writing style and format?

William Golding for his prose, which is so clean and uncluttered, and has always inspired me. Mervyn Peake (author of the Gormenghast trilogy) for his ability to create a world I didn't want to leave. And DH Lawrence for his short stories, many of which leave me breathless.

6. What does your writing process look like? Takes us through the steps from idea to publishing?

It probably looks very messy and disorganized from the outside. I always start with a handful of big ideas, often without a clue quite how these are going to fit together. Then I just sit at the computer and begin knitting or weaving or whatever you want to call it, and the little ideas began to turn up. I think writing is about finding these little ideas - plucking them from the ether - and it takes time, which is why I need around a year for each book. I wish I could do it faster, but I can't.

I've never had writer's block, but quite the opposite - I'm sometimes so spoilt for options that I'm frozen into inactivity. And there's always the fear that I'll take the wrong route and find myself in a dead end, having wasted months. But it hasn't happened yet.

The most painful part is putting the story down on paper for the first time - sometimes it feels as if I'm tearing chunks out of myself. And once the first draft is finished, I begin the interminable editing. It's very different from the first stage of coming up with the story, because at least you know you've got something that sort of works. But I spend months going through the prose and tinkering with it and experimenting with different structures and ideas. I could never work longhand - I need to be able to cut and paste and move the words around quickly on the computer screen to see what it looks like.

And Barry Cunningham isn't just my publisher, but my editor too, and we have a wonderful working relationship. I love that he always gets what I'm trying to do, even if it isn't absolutely right on the page. Writing is such a personal thing, and he's very good at making gentle suggestions as to how I might improve the book. What's annoying is that he's sometimes right!

7. I once heard Madeleine L'Engle state that her characters were real to her and almost an extended part of her family, she said once that at the dinner table she sat up and stated "Meg just finished her PhD." Are your characters real to you, do you ever get glimpses of what they are up to now, or once you finish a book is that it?

I spend more time with Will, Chester, Elliott and the other characters in my books than I do with real people. They're never far from my thoughts. What's been interesting is at the beginning, when you first create characters, you infuse them with some of your own personality and emotions to give them life. Then something happens. Suddenly they're standing on their own two feet, and they know what to say and do. You can tell that a character is really working when the tables turn and their emotions begin to flow back and affect you - when they begin to make you angry or sad. During Freefall, the third Tunnels book, Dr Burrows really began to infuriate me, to the point that I was shouting at him as I worked on his scenes.

8. Your Tunnels series of books is available in over 40 countries. Did you expect to achieve such widespread distribution when you first self published it?

It never entered my mind. The only thing I focused on was to write the very best book I could. It was never never about money or fame. They're the wrong motivations for writing.

9. Speaking of the original version of Tunnels, published as The Highfield Mole, I read that it was renamed because of substantial reworking. Is the text or story significantly different enough to make it worth tracking down for fans of the series to read? To see the progression of the story?

I'm not sure precisely what percentage of The Highfield Mole was changed during the period of editing with Chicken House, but it's really not that different. I wrote several additional scenes for Tunnels, but the main change was that there wasn't enough description about what Will Burrows was feeling or thinking, so I put that right. And in places the dialogue was a little too succinct and boiled down, so I fleshed it out for Tunnels.

10. There has been a three part graphic novel version of Tunnels, released in Japan. Are there plans to do a graphic novel version for the UK or US markets?

Both Scholastic in the US and Chicken House in the UK have mentioned the possibility, but I haven't heard any more on it recently. It's probably very likely if the Tunnels movie gets made.

11. Do you use a playlist when writing? Are certain books written while predominantly listing to the same music?

I have music on all the time I write, and it drives my wife crazy! I listen to a lot of new stuff when I'm putting the story down for the first time, but when I progress to the editing phase it's always my Nick Drake and Smashing Pumpkins playlists. I suppose it's because I know these playlists so well that they don't distract me from the process.

12. A few of your books are available in electronic formats (though not in English) but with that comes bootleg distribution. What are your impressions of ebooks and the distribution of them through torrents and other illegal means?

I think it's incredibly unfair because it's hard enough trying to stay afloat as it is if you write for a living. And if someone is stealing your work, it just makes matters worse.

13. I once had a university professor state that the true goal of a university education should be to teach one to learn how to think. What would you state should be the goal of higher education and why?

I couldn't agree more with your professor. The same argument is applied to learning Latin - sure, one can say it's a "dead" language, but it teaches one to think logically. And in the same way, my nineteen years in corporate finance has probably helped me to write. I used to compile business plans and financial models, and each of these was really a work of fiction that had to be entirely credible for the company to raise funding!

14. What were your favorite books and authors to read as a youth?

As I was growing up my parents had a room in our house they referred to as "the library" - it was really a dumping ground for books from relatives and family friends who had passed away, so there was a real mix of genres in it. I'd read quite a few 1950s pulp thrillers before I was ten, and many of the classics like Treasure Island. That room was my little haven, where I could discover the secrets that all these dusty volumes held. In my late teens I had a major science fiction phase - Clifford D. Simak, Samuel R. Delany etc. - before I moved on to all the great Russian authors.

I have to admit that I watched a heap of American television programs when I was growing up. Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel, Star Trek, Get Smart, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Land of the Giants, The Twilight Zone, Rod Serling's Night Gallery, Man From Uncle - you name it from the sixties or the seventies, and the chances are I've probably seen it. And I don't regard any of this time as wasted, because it taught me all about plotlines and story composition.

15. What are some of your favorite books and authors now?

I have many favourites from different stages of my life - Mervyn Peake, Hemingway, James Joyce, and so on, but I don't think it would be wise to go back re-read them. I'd rather just remember how important they were to me at the time. Currently I don't read enough, and when I try I generally just drift off into a reverie and find that I'm thinking about whatever Tunnels book I'm meant to be working on. I read JG Farrell's Troubles recently and thoroughly enjoyed it. And my literary agent gave me Haruki Murakami's What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, which I found fascinating. I also read a load of Neil Gaimen's books on holiday last year. It would be great to meet him one day - when we were touring in Chicago last year there was a vague possibility that it was going happen, but in the end it didn't. And talking of Chicago, I also really enjoy Audrey Niffenegger's work.

16. What are your favorite books to read with your children?

Charles Dickens, and Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl books. My sons really read by themselves these days, and my youngest has devoured everything he could get hold of by Michael Morpurgo. My eldest is now reading the books I suggest to him, such as Orwell's 1984.

17. Are there plans for more books in the Tunnels series after the 5th book Spiral comes out?

They're should be one more after Spiral to wrap up the series.

18. What books are currently in progress for you? Writing, researching, planning or even just ideas that you would like to work on?

There's the book I mentioned before, which I'm going to try to finish this year. It was shaping up well but I have to finish Spiral before I dare to allow myself to think about it again. And I've got a couple of other stories that are at concept stage, and I'm determined to write them!

19. If you were stuck on a desert island and could only have 10 books to read again and again, what books would you want with you?

I really don't know. Lord of the Rings, probably, because I could lose myself in it again. Maybe the Bible, because I'd have the time to read it all the way through! Some Shakespeare too, because I don't feel I know it well enough. Oh, and James Joyce's Finnegans Wake, because I've never managed to finish it.

20. What advice would you give to young aspiring authors and artists?

I you really want to write, just write. Don't let anyone put you off - if I'd listened to a couple of people close to me when I began The Highfield Mole, I wouldn't be answering these questions right now. Don't think about who you're writing for - write it for yourself. And don't think that the whole story will somehow miraculously turn up - if you get stuck then just keep thinking about the plot and the characters, and a solution will suggest itself. It's like solving a crossword puzzle - your brain will be working away on the problem even if you're not aware of it. And don't be afraid of experimenting with your writing. Often the accidents are the best parts. Steven, thank you for those great questions and for interviewing me! Roderick Gordon

Roderick Gordon, thank you again for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer out questions. I know that many eagerly await the remaining books in the Tunnels series, and your future offerings.

Books in the Tunnels Series:
Tunnels
Deeper
Freefall
Closer
Spiral (2012)

(Photo courtesy and copyright Frankie Gordon, with much thanks.)

Lost Tales of Ga'Hoole - Kathryn Lasky

Lost Tales of Ga'Hoole
Kathryn Lasky
Scholastic
ISBN 9780545102445

Reading a book by Kathryn Lasky has long been on my list of things to do. But because she mainly writes series and some of them are long, I had not started yet because I did not want to get sucked in. When this collection of short stories became available I pounced at the opportunity. I was not disappointed. This collection of stories shows a breadth and depth of life in the Owl world created by Lasky. The stories in this collection are:

The Snowy Sisters
Fritha's Painted Past
Uglamore Redeemed
Brothers Brave and Blustery
A Secret in Braithe's Gizzard
Cleve's Sorrow

With a greeting from Soren, the Monarch of the great tree of Ga'Hoole, and an afterwards by Otulissa, the historian of the great tree, this collection will entertain, enlighten and challenge readers. I think what I loved best about this collection is that even though these are stories about Owl society, each has a lesson we can learn from, some we will draw courage from, some we will be challenged by, and some will just entertain. But each of these stories has lessons that can be transposed to our own lives and our development into learning to be better at being. And maybe that is the secret to the popularity of these books and the movie; they challenge the reader to think, and if the reader is open, to being changed for the better. The stories in this collection are so well written, I have moved reading the whole Gardians of Ga'Hoole series and the Wolves of the Beyond series towards the top of my to read pile. Both series are set in the same world, and if they are as good as this collection of short stories, they will be great reads. I for one will be return to the Northern and Southern kingdoms in these stories again soon.


Books by Kathryn Lasky:
Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book:
1: The Capture
2: The Journey
3: The Rescue
4: The Siege
5: The Shattering
6: The Burning
7: The Hatchling
8: The Outcast
9: The First Collier
10: The Coming of Hoole
11: To Be a King
12: The Golden Tree
13: The River of Wind
14: Exile
15: The War of the Ember
A Guide Book to the Great Tree
Lost Tales of Ga'Hoole

Wolves of the Beyond:
1: Lone Wolf
2: Shadow Wolf
3: Watch Wolf
4: Frost Wolf
The Wolves From The Beyond Field Guide

Daughters of the Sea:
Hannah
May

Starbuck Family Adventures:
Double Trouble Squared
Shadows in the Water
A Voice in the Wind

Born to Rule
Unicorns? Get Real!

The Royal Diaries:
Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor, England 1544
Mary, Queen of Scots: Queen Without a Country, France 1553
Marie Antoinette: Princess of Versailles, Austria-France 1769
Jahanara: Princess of Princesses, India 1627
Kazunomiya: Prisoner of Heaven, Japan 1858

Dear America:
Journey to the New World: The Diary Of Remember Patience Whipple, Mayflower, 1620
Dreams in the Golden Country: The Diary of Zipporah Feldman a Jewish Immigrant Girl, New York City, 1903
Christmas After All: The Great Depression Diary of Minnie Swift, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1932
A Time for Courage:The Suffragette Diary of Kathleen Bowen, Washington, D.C., 1917

My Name Is America:
The Journal of Augustus Pelletier: Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1804

My America:
Hope In My Heart, Sofia's Ellis Island Diary
Home at Last: Sofia's Immigrant Diary
An American Spring: Sofia's Immigrant Diary

Standalone Titles:
The Last Girls of Pompeii
Blood Secret
Broken Song
Star Split
Alice Rose and Sam
True North
Beyond the Burning Time
Memoirs of a Bookbat'
The Bone Wars
Pageant
Beyond the Divide
The Night Journey
Prank
Hawksmaid
Ashes
Chasing Orion
Dancing Through Fire

Children young adults non-fiction:
3038 Staat der Klone
John Muir: America's First Environmentalist
Interrupted Journey: Saving Endangered Sea Turtles
Shadows in the Dawn: The Lemurs of Madagascar
The Most Beautiful Roof in the World
Sugaring Time
Days of the Dead
Searching for Laura Ingalls
Monarchs
Surtsey: The Newest Place on Earth
Dinosaur Dig
Traces of Life
A Baby for Max

Picture Books:
Lunch Bunnies
Show and Tell Bunnies
Science Fair Bunnies
Tumble Bunnies
Lucille's Snowsuit
Lucille Camps In
Starring Lucille
Pirate Bob
Humphrey, Albert, and the Flying Machine
Before I was Your Mother
The Man Who Made Time Travel
A Voice of Her Own: The Story of Phillis Wheatley, Slave Poet
Love That Baby
Mommy's Hands
Porkenstein
Born in the Breezes: The Voyages Of Joshua Slocum
Vision of Beauty
First Painter
The Emperor's Old Clothes
Sophie and Rose
Marven of the Great North Woods
A Brilliant Streak
Hercules: The Man, The Myth, The Hero
The Librarian Who Measured the Earth
She's Wearing a Dead Bird on Her Head!
The Gates of the Wind
Pond Year
Cloud Eyes
I Have an Aunt on Marlborough Street
Sea Swan
My Island Grandma

Adult:
Night Gardening (pseudonym of E.L. Swann)
Dark Swan
Mumbo Jumbo
Mortal Words
Trace Elements
The Widow of Oz
Atlantic Circle

Author Profile Interview with Kathryn Lasky

Edward Fudwupper Fibbed Big - Berkeley Breathed

Edward Fudwupper Fibbed Big
Berkeley Breathed
Storyopolis Books an imprint of
Little, Brown and Company
ISBN 9780316144254

We recently received two of Berkeley Breathed's books for children. He is the Pulitzer Prize winning author and creator of Bloom County and Opus. His style, through somewhat different, is easily recognizable. The illustrations are amazing and the story charming. Well written, and in such a way children will ask to have it read to them again and again. It is the story of a brother and a younger sister; the sister seems to dislike her brother's habit of telling tall tales, until she must tell one to save his bacon.