tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18583707885197784872024-03-14T03:57:17.733-04:00The Omniscient Third PersonA very occasional blog serving mostly as a web site for author Laura L. Sullivan, with occasional bits about nature...Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger73125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858370788519778487.post-18878131015082680392013-12-05T09:44:00.000-05:002013-12-05T09:44:07.892-05:00An Artistic Temperament FREE on Amazon Dec. 5-9<span style="font-size: large;">Free Dec. 5-9 on Amazon -- my funny short story </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Artistic-Temperament-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B005LD2YG4/ref=sr_1_14?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1386254377&sr=1-14&keywords=laura+sullivan+l" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">AN ARTISTIC TEMPERAMENT</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> -- featuring another favorite character of mine, Cyril Payne, who might have stepped out of a Saki story.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Artistic-Temperament-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B005LD2YG4/ref=sr_1_14?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1386254377&sr=1-14&keywords=laura+sullivan+l" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><img alt="http://www.amazon.com/Artistic-Temperament-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B005LD2YG4/ref=sr_1_14?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1386254377&sr=1-14&keywords=laura+sullivan+l" border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVmJqiWQpLHG77-uzMqar9GjxcW2FyMXD-Ld4H-lCR6mTnqtMG2MOU0k8dGO4GKCKzdMhXmXHvjwZhancJuT8Obd0TvHW33uTe0SWeLdoNXN8055hNtffAQWdbfRTSnBY6ebFx79S-dX1y/s400/artistic+temperament+FREE+promo.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Here is the Amazon description:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<br /><span style="font-size: large;">AN ARTISTIC TEMPERAMENT is another quirky comedy from children's author Laura L. Sullivan. Though intended for adults, it features a sixteen year old girl as one of its central characters. <br /><br />Cyril Payne, one of society's most delightful parasites, is staying at the seaside at his friend's expense. Though he'd much prefer to lounge in the shade and nibble at plums, he leaps languidly to the rescue when his friend announces he is bored. Cyril lights upon a sheltered teenaged girl and begins to spin his web of meddling machinations. Before long, the poor girl finds herself in a sauna with a dead body. Will she be scarred for life, or embark on a new career? <br /><br />With echoes of Saki and Wodehouse, AN ARTISTIC TEMPERAMENT is a quick, clever romp that introduces one of Ms. Sullivan's favorite characters, Cyril Payne.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">You can get your very own free copy </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Artistic-Temperament-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B005LD2YG4/ref=sr_1_14?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1386254377&sr=1-14&keywords=laura+sullivan+l" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">here</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">(And please, please review! Just a line or two on Amazon is very helpful.)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">xo</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Laura</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858370788519778487.post-17582352527131419522013-11-30T15:09:00.000-05:002013-11-30T15:09:34.735-05:00One of my favorite characters -- LANA HALLIDAY -- FREE<span style="font-size: large;">For the next five days, my short story <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Halliday-Short-Story-Laura-Sullivan-ebook/dp/B005IDBN78/ref=la_B004FS1KX4_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1385839837&sr=1-10" target="_blank">LANA HALLIDAY</a> will be free on Amazon.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Halliday-Short-Story-Laura-Sullivan-ebook/dp/B005IDBN78/ref=la_B004FS1KX4_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1385839837&sr=1-10" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.amazon.com/Halliday-Short-Story-Laura-Sullivan-ebook/dp/B005IDBN78/ref=la_B004FS1KX4_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1385839837&sr=1-10" border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPRRqbUREtNfaxoMg-z4fzkYaWccG9rNuQtBnyfReC33HZasoSTEwxkBOiGVs_uY6KYVpXaLs8VDPTJQXkslOmM0o96jpYC6uy5RlEg8y9rikPaGMTLYj5cpgwG-p83YvFN5FTV0MjCNE9/s400/LANA+HALLIDAY+FREE+promo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />The captivating, sly LANA HALLIDAY is part detective, part guardian angel, part trickster. When her friend Ronnie Acton loses his gold-digging fiancé -- and the huge diamond engagement ring he gave her -- Lana steps in to set things aright. Her methods aren't quite ethical, but they are always comical.<br />
<br />
You can get your free copy <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Halliday-Short-Story-Laura-Sullivan-ebook/dp/B005IDBN78/ref=la_B004FS1KX4_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1385839837&sr=1-10" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
xo<br />
L</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858370788519778487.post-41365655000310135092013-11-25T10:52:00.001-05:002013-11-25T10:53:13.972-05:00He Hunts Butterflies... With GunsMy next FREE story is <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Butterfly-Hunter-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B00FY13H3M/ref=la_B004FS1KX4_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1385394552&sr=1-11" target="_blank">The Butterfly Hunter</a></em>, a horror(ish) story that originally appeared in the horror magazine Necrotic Tissue. (Is that not a perfect name for a horror magazine? I think it is now defunct, which is unfortunately also appropriate for a horror magazine. Perhaps it will one day be undead.)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Butterfly-Hunter-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B00FY13H3M/ref=la_B004FS1KX4_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1385394552&sr=1-11" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.amazon.com/Butterfly-Hunter-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B00FY13H3M/ref=la_B004FS1KX4_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1385394552&sr=1-11" border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvkyPRej-HIzHCP9mV9Y3KbkZamOmODYhE2lGRuy-Ofg_0ntd5LdrTymZ-yIeMEgMRFlvroEK4y48oso6kx92KWlYxfkscrW7tN9TlrnBfeiww2sSpOe8tCE6gLgE4EjBXleHK5AZBorC5/s400/The+Butterfly+Hunter+FREE+Promo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
O. Beauford Jasper began life as a contented baby surrounded by a garden of flowers. But when one of the flowers torments him by flying away, Jasper begins a lifelong obsession with butterflies that leads him to the wildest reaches of the globe. But he doesn't collect butterflies – this butterfly hunter slaughters them with a gun. He stalks the world's rarest butterflies, and takes joy only in seeing them obliterated by a bullet. <br />
<br />
But Jasper gets his comeuppance deep in the Amazon rain forest when he tries to shoot a butterfly thought to be extinct. <br />
<br />
You can get the<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Butterfly-Hunter-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B00FY13H3M/ref=la_B004FS1KX4_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1385394552&sr=1-11" target="_blank"> Kindle edition FREE on Amazon November 25-29</a>. Happy reading! (Well, rather disturbing reading, but you know what I mean.)<br />
<br />
xo<br />
LauraUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858370788519778487.post-81426513986911189672013-11-20T11:05:00.000-05:002013-11-20T11:05:37.507-05:00The Next FREEBIE -- SF Short Story LARVALMy next FREE story is the science fiction short, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Larval-Short-Story-Laura-Sullivan-ebook/dp/B00FRJS12S/ref=la_B004FS1KX4_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1384963258&sr=1-8" target="_blank">LARVAL</a>. It will be free Nov. 20-24.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Larval-Short-Story-Laura-Sullivan-ebook/dp/B00FRJS12S/ref=la_B004FS1KX4_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1384963258&sr=1-8" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.amazon.com/Larval-Short-Story-Laura-Sullivan-ebook/dp/B00FRJS12S/ref=la_B004FS1KX4_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1384963258&sr=1-8" border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh66U7u7GUZBuXnAxeQKA0AWStiLw6D7yNOpkge_pAUuufb4dOGjmkhK7B3h8e8f2dVStIq3BgaEMM5dDvXIDJp3PzOh2kHOgfjXkogHAIivRErAOTPDlIAg-ptdAf2MSsLSiwahnT1Gqnh/s400/LARVAL+free+promo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
In LARVAL, two recent graduates with mountains of debt and grim prospects meet two girls who claim that humans are larval stages which, on earth, never undergo metamorphosis. The girls are refugees who want to keep their fleshy bodies all their lives instead of changing into all-knowing energy creatures like the rest of their species. <br /><br />One of the human men – a workaday scientist stuck in a dead-end job of ceaseless pipetting – thinks metamorphosis is a wonderful idea. But when he passes himself off as one of the escapees to a bounty hunter, he finds that becoming an intergalactic creature of immense power isn't as good as it sounds. LARVAL is a dark, insightful tale for science fiction fans. <br />
<br />
You can get LARVAL for FREE <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Larval-Short-Story-Laura-Sullivan-ebook/dp/B00FRJS12S/ref=la_B004FS1KX4_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1384963258&sr=1-8" target="_blank">here on Amazon</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858370788519778487.post-27912746023983241782013-11-15T20:30:00.002-05:002013-11-15T20:30:30.888-05:00SF short FREE Nov. 15-19 -- The Ideal Household Appliance<span style="font-size: large;">Here is the latest FREE story -- <span id="goog_299538881"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/">The Ideal Household Appliance<span id="goog_299538882"></span></a>, a science fiction short, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ideal-Household-Appliance-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B00FWVU50M/ref=la_B004FS1KX4_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1384565313&sr=1-11" target="_blank">free on Amazon November 15-19.</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ideal-Household-Appliance-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B00FWVU50M/ref=la_B004FS1KX4_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1384565313&sr=1-11" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.amazon.com/Ideal-Household-Appliance-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B00FWVU50M/ref=la_B004FS1KX4_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1384565313&sr=1-11" border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBQpGj7U-zaeb3lMHwWBCGWdTfP7lEOjqPBmVMW5sH1nD1uziIC31etnW0NDrcGBvBFt6TwMyWe4F9FJDijbay1UpKteDF5sUzsX9U19bvoo8j3aj4K0Y20FQxU2qZ3WlrcbeWQsRBRJe6/s400/The+Ideal+Household+Appliance+FREE.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">In THE IDEAL
HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCE, a socially averse entomologist with an interest
in robotics has created the perfect cleaning gadget – artificial
roaches that hide in the daytime but scurry around at night cleaning
up debris. They have all the benefits of insects, without the feces
and disease. But when he develops an unhealthy obsession with his
neighbor, and her violent ex-husband returns, the scientist discovers
that his new invention still has a few bugs.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">You can get your free copy <a href="http://here./">here.</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">XO</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Laura</span><br />
</div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858370788519778487.post-91295306957537064172013-11-12T09:43:00.000-05:002013-11-12T09:43:05.228-05:00Mark your calendar for FREE ebooks!<span style="font-size: large;">Just so you can plan to download all of your FREEBIES, here is a calendar of all of my holiday giveaways. I have some science fiction, some adventure, a couple of kids stories, and some literary stories as well -- all for you. Enjoy!</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8clv0BAt6-t6kR_SC7iBNWQIJhowZ2JMtGEYWiBvrE_cFnYUT6UUJnUnX8wbLzacNk-gY8w6Px51NREUlHno3E-2JpyPWvS4PZ1zI7AoXhEAQBp6rTd9OzuBzjxZ4lnLCddeGhVS1QiPB/s1600/FREE+PROMO+(All+Titles)+Laura+L,.+Sullivan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8clv0BAt6-t6kR_SC7iBNWQIJhowZ2JMtGEYWiBvrE_cFnYUT6UUJnUnX8wbLzacNk-gY8w6Px51NREUlHno3E-2JpyPWvS4PZ1zI7AoXhEAQBp6rTd9OzuBzjxZ4lnLCddeGhVS1QiPB/s640/FREE+PROMO+(All+Titles)+Laura+L,.+Sullivan.jpg" width="425" /></a></div>
<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858370788519778487.post-14155198024721722832013-11-10T04:00:00.000-05:002013-11-10T04:00:10.753-05:00The First Freebie -- A MAN OF KIRI MARU Free Nov 10-14<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Man-Kiri-Maru-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B00FG9BSV0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1384045119&sr=8-1&keywords=a+man+of+kiri+maru" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.amazon.com/Man-Kiri-Maru-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B00FG9BSV0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1384045119&sr=8-1&keywords=a+man+of+kiri+maru" border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji-nQSMPYl1yCmfNrkdGYaOWEV3nBsCcTiAAn0Uw98u4V7Fa3z3G71DEQ5LBzb4CISVMPdIRg0MtRiXNabb_jUFaKmYBkIFUoi3JVFnFR4Oqdy0Xx281V8O9T1Mwmo7JfmvbFTxVM30kCn/s400/KIRI+MARU+FREE+PROMO+smaller.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">As my holiday gift to my readers, I'm giving away every single one of my short stories -- FREE on Amazon in Kindle format. For five days, from November 10-14, you can get a free copy of </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Man-Kiri-Maru-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B00FG9BSV0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1384045119&sr=8-1&keywords=a+man+of+kiri+maru" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">A MAN OF KIRI MARU</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> right </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Man-Kiri-Maru-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B00FG9BSV0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1384045119&sr=8-1&keywords=a+man+of+kiri+maru" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">here</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">. (Other free titles will follow, through December 24.)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Here is what <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Man-Kiri-Maru-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B00FG9BSV0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1384045119&sr=8-1&keywords=a+man+of+kiri+maru" target="_blank">A MAN OF KIRI MARU</a> is about:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, bathed by the Humboldt currents, lies the island of Kiri Maru. It is a strange and lovely place, where time is so fluid that days and nights merge, but the hours of a new moon are never remembered. The natives had a god once, but he died in a drunken fall. Now the islanders live on luck, generated by the manner of a person's death. Being ripped apart by a wild animal is considered very lucky indeed.<br /><br />To this island comes a scientist, searching for the elusive giant squid. Instead he finds love in the arms of a young woman, the daughter of a man of Kiri Maru and an American anthropologist. <br /><br />She ensnares him, body and soul, and wants to bear his child. But first he must become a man of Kiri Maru himself... if the Red Brothers will accept him. Who are the Red Brothers? The man-sized Humboldt squid who haunt the local waters, and are said to be so jealous of human men that they sometimes... well, you'll see.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858370788519778487.post-46538079818168335992013-10-16T10:04:00.001-04:002013-10-16T10:04:23.943-04:00Weepy as Soon as the Book is in my Hands<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjldSteCLFs66367F9AensEClec9712FreYUtyWYUMcCOU0ndj4A4hPzw1fPekwzquYguqeYrkqsWAk7oLKy1eRR3HxU8Quq5B0whTQ8PTakfHhG5lF_gxUT_CrshmtIrWsdyiDqiot23I/s1600/dog.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjldSteCLFs66367F9AensEClec9712FreYUtyWYUMcCOU0ndj4A4hPzw1fPekwzquYguqeYrkqsWAk7oLKy1eRR3HxU8Quq5B0whTQ8PTakfHhG5lF_gxUT_CrshmtIrWsdyiDqiot23I/s400/dog.png" width="266" /></span></a><span style="font-size: large;">Right now I'm reading Eva Ibbotson's last* book <em><strong>One Dog and his Boy</strong></em>, and I've been misty-eyed ever since picking it up. I KNOW that it is going to end well, because her books always do. But she's going to make me suffer to get there. Even more than that, I'm weepy because I know there won't be any more Eva Ibbotson books. The late Eva Ibbotson is one of my favorite writers. <em>Was</em> perhaps my favorite living writer. (Luckily I still have Laurie Graham. Ms. Graham, please eat well, look both ways and all that!) Sigh. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">* At least one more Eva Ibbotson book is being released -- <em><strong>The Abominables</strong></em>. But I don't know how I feel about an author's heirs publishing an old manuscript that the author deliberately held back. Apparently her beloved husband died as she was completing it, and in her grief she decided to abandon funny, silly books for those with more emotional depth. But her comedies <em>do</em> have emotional depth, and her more serious work always has a comic element, so... Well, I'm glad there will be one more, but I'll feel a tad ambivalent reading it. Which of my old manuscripts would I want my heirs to release? Some, perhaps, like <em>The Bulbuls of Baghdad</em>, a time travel fantasy set during the Iraq war and a particularly bloody period of Medieval Baghdad that no one seems to want to touch... but certainly not some others, handwritten Mary Sue juvenilia... </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">xo</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Laura</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858370788519778487.post-88433206855263676592013-10-15T07:37:00.003-04:002013-10-15T07:37:41.019-04:00CLEVER ELODY -- a sweet fairy tale for kids<span style="font-size: large;">Here is a sweet little story called </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Clever-Elody-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B00DMHGNSQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381836873&sr=8-1&keywords=clever+elody" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">CLEVER ELODY</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> about a poetic prince and the poor girl he loves. All seems hopeless -- until Elody teaches the prince how to turn one borrowed chicken into perfect bliss.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCSDFKoBFE6wzdN2KsQfWfMkbRrGw8G7CEe5VNm00LxvQrzMNcVKL6nQmBaErvZnTQzwtweZr8j3oiMDsZt9ZTQ07RDAF5TXExJBQbSlF1o1SCU2DiWzHNGqxrCU4Q1tM91vch8g71QR9a/s1600/Elody+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCSDFKoBFE6wzdN2KsQfWfMkbRrGw8G7CEe5VNm00LxvQrzMNcVKL6nQmBaErvZnTQzwtweZr8j3oiMDsZt9ZTQ07RDAF5TXExJBQbSlF1o1SCU2DiWzHNGqxrCU4Q1tM91vch8g71QR9a/s400/Elody+cover.jpg" width="266" /></span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Here is the first line:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
<em>Elody was beautiful – which, as she told everyone, wasn't her fault
– and clever, which was only natural because she read everything
she could get her hands on.
</em></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">And the last two lines:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
<em>Then they were truly
happy with what they had – each other, and a chicken. Which is all
anyone really needs.</em></span><br />
<em><span style="font-size: large;"></span></em><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">It is written at about middle grade level, but also makes a perfect read-aloud for fairytale-loving younger ones.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Right now you can get </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Clever-Elody-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B00DMHGNSQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381836873&sr=8-1&keywords=clever+elody" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">CLEVER ELODY at AMAZON</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">, but it will be available at Barnes and Noble soon. If you'd like a review copy in any format, let me know!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">xo</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Laura</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858370788519778487.post-37756878985439982732013-10-08T18:51:00.003-04:002013-10-08T18:51:37.658-04:00Some Short Stories -- This One About SQUID!<span style="font-size: large;">I'm making some of my short stories available in e-book format. Some of them have been previously published in magazines like <em>Story Quarterly</em>, <em>GUD</em>, and others, some have been published under my nickname and are now being restored to my real name, and other are completely new and never before published.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kiri-Maru-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B00FG9BSV0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381272306&sr=8-1&keywords=a+man+of+kiri+maru" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS9J4hVSVFreqEokLXoLubXyfoxVeS4XjKX6ZSSWwFuEHDkypyyjlwvkLyowWFof7uzPmSpLnwmGUtCRgr9T8E8ZncnxlZZyqUKfbNrhw-cN5Repcvffn_H_eXQQxslkAM7JhjBqLkF_Z3/s400/Man+of+Kiri+Maru+Cover.jpg" width="266" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">Here is the cover of one of them, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kiri-Maru-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B00FG9BSV0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381272306&sr=8-1&keywords=a+man+of+kiri+maru" target="_blank">A MAN OF KIRI MARU</a>, designed by yours truly. What do you think? I'm still finessing my Photoshop skills, so if you have any ideas for improving it, let me know. Ditto any of the copy.</span> <span style="font-size: large;">The nice thing about e-books is that they are easy to tweak.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">A MAN OF KIRI MARU is for ADULTS. It's not <em><strong>that</strong></em> kind of adult book, but it does have sensuality, danger, and mature situations.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Here is the blurb:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
In the middle of the Pacific Ocean,
bathed by the Humboldt currents, lies the island of Kiri Maru. It is
a strange and lovely place, where time is so fluid that days and
nights merge, but the hours of a new moon are never remembered. The
natives had a god once, but he died in a drunken fall. Now the
islanders live on luck, generated by the manner of a person's death.
Being ripped apart by a wild animal is considered very lucky indeed.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><span style="font-size: large;">To this island comes a scientist,
searching for the elusive giant squid. Instead he finds love in the
arms of a young woman, the daughter of a man of Kiri Maru and an
American anthropologist.
</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">She ensnares him, body and soul, and
wants to bear his child. But first he must become a man of Kiri Maru
himself... if the Red Brothers will accept him. Who are the Red
Brothers? The man-sized Humboldt squid who haunt the local waters,
and are said to be so jealous of human men that they sometimes...
well, you'll see.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kiri-Maru-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B00FG9BSV0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381272306&sr=8-1&keywords=a+man+of+kiri+maru" target="_blank">A MAN OF KIRI MARU</a> is available at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kiri-Maru-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B00FG9BSV0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381272306&sr=8-1&keywords=a+man+of+kiri+maru" target="_blank">Amazon</a> at the moment, and will be available at Barnes and Noble soon. <br />
</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858370788519778487.post-52286789223097364232013-10-07T11:51:00.000-04:002013-10-07T11:51:55.016-04:00Squawk<span style="font-size: large;">This bird is called a SQUAWK. (Guess what their call sounds like?)</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeuMkiag59dZEjwSBNirmVOyaFkYkejcjyno6aLtqa0iEd0NhUwYmmxK-nIBqPCL7XSB21mEWQ2IXpjR9kWIYWyirdw83OY_DrgJfhZAClPmVXIbGMuFZ3UlRvBKr9uDZEp74nWt_vzkEn/s1600/GEDC2354.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeuMkiag59dZEjwSBNirmVOyaFkYkejcjyno6aLtqa0iEd0NhUwYmmxK-nIBqPCL7XSB21mEWQ2IXpjR9kWIYWyirdw83OY_DrgJfhZAClPmVXIbGMuFZ3UlRvBKr9uDZEp74nWt_vzkEn/s320/GEDC2354.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">They are also (more commonly) called Yellow Crowned Night Herons, and their favorite hobby is to really freak me out when I'm walking by a lake in the evening. This one was sleeping just before I took his picture, no doubt resting up so he can properly scare the dickens out of me when I'm lost in thought later...</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858370788519778487.post-943990018582561402013-10-04T11:31:00.000-04:002013-10-04T11:31:06.546-04:00Under the Green Hill is Honored<span style="font-size: large;">Did I mention the pleasant news that UNDER THE GREEN HILL was selected for the Sunshine State Young Readers Award list? That means thousands of middle school kids throughout the state of Florida (my home state!) are being encouraged to read my book. I am so honored, and thrilled, and giddy!</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQXEfS1yeuizMGmwGykQLkX0NFetDYzWwIM8S9a_CejgF7aWT88H-NV_RjrRrPh5HDwCZNvK7XLXBxDDvln2qMwucGU0GZipjTU3y52rP5WLVGuFob9iK6GpKSvbwadXM7uFrJQuuC076U/s1600/Cover+paperback+UnderGreenHill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQXEfS1yeuizMGmwGykQLkX0NFetDYzWwIM8S9a_CejgF7aWT88H-NV_RjrRrPh5HDwCZNvK7XLXBxDDvln2qMwucGU0GZipjTU3y52rP5WLVGuFob9iK6GpKSvbwadXM7uFrJQuuC076U/s400/Cover+paperback+UnderGreenHill.jpg" width="271" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the paperback cover.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAn2eMja0_isWNoMUIu3Z0GZyGdkv4hcEEtdCyr-eqhipXK0riogWBVKWUD58FvVXaVob4tNgfp4aZbXOukdJfoODyuuB4A7N581E9-v9VKEg802r7O8UtUTyKxUbspjmkUousl-UX06P3/s1600/Copy+of+FINAL+COVER+UTGH.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAn2eMja0_isWNoMUIu3Z0GZyGdkv4hcEEtdCyr-eqhipXK0riogWBVKWUD58FvVXaVob4tNgfp4aZbXOukdJfoODyuuB4A7N581E9-v9VKEg802r7O8UtUTyKxUbspjmkUousl-UX06P3/s400/Copy+of+FINAL+COVER+UTGH.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And this is the hardback cover.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858370788519778487.post-70050600452099057242013-09-29T11:44:00.001-04:002013-09-29T11:44:48.294-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLvUbMtmJ_KiiL2Ap2k1IdMPhg_niACMNUeiGqs8m-KEgwf7PN9riIhWyOnrQS5voJewXqTS8Vd5HJWGjy68hr04vJ06Nv6F7DroOWk3wNYvNMqhmAlvDcpMncBsJKeVOOdRNc6KLwn5zF/s1600/Morning+Star+final+COVER+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLvUbMtmJ_KiiL2Ap2k1IdMPhg_niACMNUeiGqs8m-KEgwf7PN9riIhWyOnrQS5voJewXqTS8Vd5HJWGjy68hr04vJ06Nv6F7DroOWk3wNYvNMqhmAlvDcpMncBsJKeVOOdRNc6KLwn5zF/s400/Morning+Star+final+COVER+copy.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Here is the oh-my-goodness-lovely cover of <em>Love by the Morning Star</em>. I think it is my favorite cover ever. It so perfectly captures the effervescent romance, the sly comedy, and the setting of my upcoming book.</span><br />
<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858370788519778487.post-70947952764224700002013-05-22T10:43:00.000-04:002013-05-22T10:43:11.503-04:00The Romantic Comedy Formerly Known as MORNING STAROddly enough, writing and blogging don't seem to go well together.<br />
<br />
The good news is, I've finished my romantic comedy (or historical romance, or Wodehousean farce) which was once known as MORNING STAR, but which will soon have a shiny new name. I'll tell you more about it soon. It will be out some time in 2014 from Harcourt (HMH).<br />
<br />
Rumor is that <a href="http://www.redsilas.com/" target="_blank">Christopher Silas Neal</a> might do the cover. He's the one who did that AMAZING covers for Sadie Jones' <em>The Uninvited Guests</em>, and Laurie Halse Anderson's <em>Chains, Forge</em> and <em>Fever 1793</em>. I'm kind of swooning at the possibility.<br />
<br />
XO<br />
LauraUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858370788519778487.post-84428129326616296712013-01-08T09:12:00.004-05:002013-01-08T09:12:23.873-05:00YA Historical Fantasy DELUSION Hits the Shelves!<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi82sccGRbj0mL8ghEK0fz13olm7ImRGd79ljd8U7uakqvwv9BD1OraYLcGivID71pQg5QmT-snHcjI0RX4z8HcG12-84UceXIlC6CBufme0pNKAqlRIQpWTfY4434B1Fh8dqrH6FxYU95T/s1600/page0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi82sccGRbj0mL8ghEK0fz13olm7ImRGd79ljd8U7uakqvwv9BD1OraYLcGivID71pQg5QmT-snHcjI0RX4z8HcG12-84UceXIlC6CBufme0pNKAqlRIQpWTfY4434B1Fh8dqrH6FxYU95T/s400/page0001.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My young adult historical fantasy DELUSION is released today! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It is about two teenaged stage magician girls in London at the beginning of WWII who are evacuated to the countryside – and discover a hidden college of real magicians. As they try to persuade the reclusive magicians to help their country's cause (two handsome, dashing ones in particular) they face love, betrayal, danger, and challenges to their most deeply held beliefs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">You can buy DELUSION at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Delusion-Ms-Laura-L-Sullivan/dp/0547688369/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357653751&sr=8-1&keywords=delusion+sullivan" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/delusion-laura-l-sullivan/1108083065?ean=9780547688367" target="_blank">Barnes and Noble</a>, <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780547688367" target="_blank">IndieBound</a>, or your favorite local bookstore. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I like to write about the small things inside the big things – the romances, the friendships, the accidents, that have a huge (though utterly unknown) effect on history. My historicals are alternate history in that the main characters never existed, the plots they make or foil never happened. But they are set in a past that is as accurate as possible. In other words, no magicians probably ever meddled in world events in 1939, but they could have. I don't change any real historical outcomes. I just show what could have happened behind the scenes if a stage magician girl and a real magician boy happened to meet and fall in love. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I hope you read it -- and I hope you love it! Let me know what you think!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">XO</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Laura</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858370788519778487.post-3872086034322015062012-11-02T09:10:00.000-04:002012-11-02T09:10:33.709-04:00All is roses<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Writers (oh how I love to generalize) are fragile, insecure creatures (who are at the same time egoistic narcissists, but they keep that on the DL) who go all to pieces at bad reviews and then start a downward spiral of sour-graping mixed with crushing self doubt. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Then they get a review like this, and all is roses again:</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://bookshelvesofdoom.blogs.com/bookshelves_of_doom/2012/10/ladies-in-waiting-laura-l-sullivan.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Bookshelves of Doom reviews Ladies in Waiting.</span></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">So thanks.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">xo</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Laura</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858370788519778487.post-52000364748720771982012-09-24T19:50:00.000-04:002012-09-24T19:50:21.450-04:00Carbon Free Sugar<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZJzekY1ozc18id0rNUt-bKkgTvrgMyuAr4_r9uVP7liU0ElgO__rp1GXZ5Ea_avd_a8GeDyanG7iCsSyyVIhrgobn8pUDcuc8FnlU3XAF8CaDqd2BsKyogkR4d2UhUD4MMgLnlafHA6UC/s1600/GEDC1585.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" hea="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZJzekY1ozc18id0rNUt-bKkgTvrgMyuAr4_r9uVP7liU0ElgO__rp1GXZ5Ea_avd_a8GeDyanG7iCsSyyVIhrgobn8pUDcuc8FnlU3XAF8CaDqd2BsKyogkR4d2UhUD4MMgLnlafHA6UC/s320/GEDC1585.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Okay, I get what they're saying. It still tickles me.</span></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<br /></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<br /></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<br /></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Certified Carbon Free Sugar.</span></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<br /></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<br /></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Not quite as bad as the fat free spring water, but still, funny.</span></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<br /></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<br /></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<br /></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<br /></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<br /></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Because of course, sugar has carbon.</span></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<br /></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDoSPAERCG-a_AISl_prab3DEhuKjtuD2JDYqVVnEmdG0aagBIXuJOC-oh66GqlFd435I0s-wqAPti0O8E2j7g8WKTGH18o7-DLb2O2qgMH8OlOMao7zPO1LN4iR8o5EkA85VHAQtuyQ_N/s1600/sucrose.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hea="true" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDoSPAERCG-a_AISl_prab3DEhuKjtuD2JDYqVVnEmdG0aagBIXuJOC-oh66GqlFd435I0s-wqAPti0O8E2j7g8WKTGH18o7-DLb2O2qgMH8OlOMao7zPO1LN4iR8o5EkA85VHAQtuyQ_N/s320/sucrose.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">And here is a nifty little experiment you can do (if you have sulfuric acid) which rather dramatically shows exactly how much carbon sugar has</span>:</div>
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/pqi50sjJVc0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858370788519778487.post-59752407428783259792012-09-08T07:45:00.001-04:002012-09-08T07:45:55.757-04:00The Winner!<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Congratulations to MIKE! You won a copy of <strong>The Crimson Petal and the White</strong>, and a signed hardcover of <strong>Ladies in Waiting</strong>. I'll contact you shortly to get your mailing address. I can't wait to hear what you think of both books!</span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">XO</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Laura</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858370788519778487.post-73046264549307088782012-08-22T10:33:00.000-04:002012-08-22T10:34:21.874-04:00August Historical Giveaway -- The Crimson Petal and the White<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Life has been exciting lately, what with selling a house (for a rather depressing price, but hey, I got a little out of it and at least I'm not paying for a house I'm not living in any more, so I can't complain... too much) and the Little Guy starting kindergarten (he got a smiley face on his first daily report and was "respectful and curious") I got a little distracted so this month's giveaway is late. Let's run it from now until September 5 to give you two full weeks.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Crimson Petal and the White, by Michel Faber, is one of my favorite historicals. Fierce, tender, scheming, literary whore Sugar goes from being pimped by her own mother in a Victorian slum, to being the mistress of a rich man, to... well, I won't tell you where she ends up, but it is a rich, juicy, complex, moving, completely satisfying book. It's the world of Trollope where Trollope feared to go. I love a good prostitute tale, and this is one of the best. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">In the 17th century, and in the 19th, women didn't have a lot of options to get ahead that didn't involve sex. In both The Crimson Petal and the White and Ladies in Waiting, young women are surrounded by sex but trying to support themselves through their wits and talents.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">This month I'll give one lucky winner a copy of The Crimson Petal and the White, and a signed hardcover of Ladies in Waiting. Just fill out the form below. Spread the word for more chances to win!</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe src="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/embeddedform?formkey=dGVrckt6dUx1TzlxcUt1S3BRbS1fa3c6MQ" width="760" height="510" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0">Loading...</iframe>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858370788519778487.post-71529688015305396432012-07-26T15:26:00.001-04:002012-07-26T15:26:25.573-04:00There Goes My MascaraFoolish, foolish girl! You knew the ending of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Code-Name-Verity-Elizabeth-Wein/dp/1423152190/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343330436&sr=8-1&keywords=code+name+verity" target="_blank">Code Name Verity</a> would make you weepy (as did several parts before the end.) Why on earth did you read it right before going out? Why did you doom yourself to a day of puffy eyes and damaged mascara when you could have just saved those last twenty pages until you were snug in bed?<br />
<br />
I don't review, but I probably should start mentioning books I really enjoy. <em>Code Name Verity</em> was amazing. Though I am seriously annoyed at the author for making prominent use of Nelson's dying words “Kiss me, Hardy” – which I was using to comic effect in my work in progress, set just a few years before <em>Code Name Verity</em>. Curses! One might say I should keep it, since Morning Star won't come out until 2014. Everyone will forget, right? Well, not if Verity wins a Printz, which it probably will. Oh well. I can keep my character's name Hardy, and just make a Thomas Hardy joke instead.<br />
<br />
XO<br />
<br />
LauraUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858370788519778487.post-55496057885175152832012-07-25T06:00:00.000-04:002012-07-25T06:00:04.982-04:00Home<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAcIHGGjKTPsdOv2ASbX2t2uMBXXYbisWZMOUrG3PiGCEW65SucMRcXnV7-dzPzZwaNWzrK7PFICgtHYKpL47_xOxvIwFUz6YkrqcxM_qZ7eoGD7TqAgGchGZVyO-sQoi4iNbQPELzY8Xj/s1600/GEDC1413.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAcIHGGjKTPsdOv2ASbX2t2uMBXXYbisWZMOUrG3PiGCEW65SucMRcXnV7-dzPzZwaNWzrK7PFICgtHYKpL47_xOxvIwFUz6YkrqcxM_qZ7eoGD7TqAgGchGZVyO-sQoi4iNbQPELzY8Xj/s320/GEDC1413.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I feed the seagulls like a tourist...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">I had to run away from home for a while. A few years, actually. I thought the mountains were calling me. I thought I yearned for seasons. I was wrong. I'm home now.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">You know you're home when the smells almost make you weep. For some, it might be mom's cookies, a lover's aftershave. For me it is dead fish. Low tide on the salt flats, the fiddlers foraging, the mangroves airing their tangled roots. Iodine and ozone and imminent rain... the stranded unfortunates on whom seagulls feast... pelican guano, seaweed, red tide, baking in a just-shy-of-tropical sun.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I've passed through my Appalachian tribulations, and emerge a born-again Floridian. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span> <br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><em>XO</em></span> <br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Laura</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858370788519778487.post-22295970640766024172012-07-19T08:12:00.003-04:002012-07-19T08:12:50.049-04:00And the winner is...<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>HANNAH! </strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Congratulations! You've won a copy of my favorite historical <strong><em>Forever Amber</em></strong>, and a signed copy of my own <strong><em>Ladies in Waiting</em></strong>. I'll email you soon to get your information. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thank you so much to everyone who entered. The response was great and I plan to have another giveaway in August.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">XO</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Laura</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858370788519778487.post-33014457719306818012012-07-04T06:00:00.000-04:002012-07-04T06:00:05.714-04:00July Giveaway -- FOREVER AMBER and LADIES IN WAITING<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So let's make with the <strong>freebies</strong>, shall we? I don't know much about food and wine pairing, but I <strong>do</strong> know heaps about book pairing. For the next few months (and perhaps indefinitely if it proves popular) I'll be giving away a pair of books each month. One by me, and one personal favorite that partners it in some way.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Do you have a favorite book? Maybe not the BEST book you've ever read, but the ice cream of books, a comfort book that you'll re-read when you have the flu or think you've read everything else in the world already. Something fun... stimulating and soothing at the same time... maybe not great literature but still your darling favorite. For me, that book is <em>Forever Amber</em> by Kathleen Winsor. Trashy romance, but really, really good trashy romance. And well-researched, which for me is a must. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Since <em>Forever Amber</em> is the book that started my obsession with Restoration England (and my little crush on King Charles II) I'm giving away TWO books this month -- a SIGNED copy of LADIES IN WAITING, and a copy of FOREVER AMBER. Just fill in the form below by, oh, let's say July 17, for a chance to win.</span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">XO</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Laura</span><br />
<br />
<br /><iframe frameborder="0" height="510" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/embeddedform?formkey=dDlxUThyY1Z6czVhaDQzbEE3TGNpN3c6MQ" width="760"></iframe><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858370788519778487.post-41721951412996581382012-07-01T13:22:00.000-04:002012-07-01T13:22:33.278-04:00Aphra Behn -- Playwright, Spy (and probably not a whore)<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If Margaret Cavendish was one of the first widely recognizes female writers, Aphra Behn was one of the first <em>professional</em> female writers – she actually made a living from her writing. (Which as the writers among you know is hard enough even today.) She is the inspiration for the character Eliza in <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ladies-Waiting-Ms-Laura-Sullivan/dp/0547581297/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1341163015&sr=1-1&keywords=ladies+in+waiting" target="_blank">Ladies in Waiting.</a></em> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX6ha5AJT8s6YBU6keUcmt45RJV1LZtbc3dfWHV9EE175DtkeQ3v4ZaL31qtHHrK-f2-NPuHqtjMkSb7-DpSTGTSnc5bE59lVOA8ikg9ExJ4Npl_72y4aO02n-kg_BqoxSMj_YTfrGAiab/s1600/Aphra+Behn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX6ha5AJT8s6YBU6keUcmt45RJV1LZtbc3dfWHV9EE175DtkeQ3v4ZaL31qtHHrK-f2-NPuHqtjMkSb7-DpSTGTSnc5bE59lVOA8ikg9ExJ4Npl_72y4aO02n-kg_BqoxSMj_YTfrGAiab/s1600/Aphra+Behn.jpg" vca="true" /></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Though it certainly wasn't common for a 17th Century woman to want to be a professional playwright – and even less common for her to succeed – it was certainly possible. The sexes were by no means equal, but women were somewhat better off than they had been for a while, and more professions were open to them. Dentists were officially licensed for the first time in this period, and a woman was one of the first licensees. Since King Charles II's restoration to the throne, women could now be actresses. Of course, the main occupations were still marriage and prostitution, so it was no great shakes, but still, better than it had been. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Not too much is known about Aphra Behn's personal life. Of course, she was briefly a spy for King Charles II in Antwerp, so secrecy might have become a habit for her. I'm sure she learned cynicism after the king – always broke – didn't pay her for her loyal service, and she almost wound up in debtor's prison. Her writing saved her, and apparently she didn't hold a grudge, because she remained a staunch royalist all her life. Of course, it could just be that she liked the alternative even less.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Her first play, <em>The Forc'd Marriage</em> in 1670, was a resounding success. Hit followed hit (though engagements in those days were generally very short) and today she is best remembered for the 1677 play <em>The Rover</em>. It was so well regarded that Nell Gwyn, the king's actress mistress, came out of retirement to play one of the female leads – a prostitute named Angelica Bianca. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Aphra Behn might have been married for a very short time, but it seems more likely Mr. Behn was a fiction to give her the slight protection a married woman or widow enjoyed. Miss, past a certain age, was a euphemism for prostitute. She, and other female writers, were still accused of being whores. Playwright Robert Gould said of female writers, <em>Punk (whore) and Poetess agree so Pat,/ You cannot well be</em> This<em>, and not be</em> That<em>.</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">At least no one has called me a punk yet. At least, not to my face.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A shout-out to Prof. Neil Saccamano at Cornell, who introduced me to Aphra Behn in his 18th Century Literature class (which dipped its toe into the late 17th century too.) It is to him – and to Kathleen Winsor, of course – that <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ladies-Waiting-Ms-Laura-Sullivan/dp/0547581297/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1341163015&sr=1-1&keywords=ladies+in+waiting" target="_blank">Ladies in Waiting</a></em> owes its genesis. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><em>XO</em>,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Laura</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858370788519778487.post-12656474100015454632012-06-09T17:00:00.000-04:002012-06-09T17:00:07.596-04:00Margaret Cavendish (or why I don't write about characters who have babies, bake bread and die in obscurity, although that's what most of us have done since the dawn of humanity, including me, though I haven't died in obscurity yet, but give me time)<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sometimes, writing about a perfectly average historical figure works. You know, those girls who have no prospects and no powerful ambition to create them. Young women who, when attacked, cringe and hope for the best instead of picking up a sword. People who are accurate representations of 99 percent of their era. But it's pretty rare that those people make compelling characters. (One of the best, a truly outstanding novel, is <strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Book-Maidservant-Rebecca-Barnhouse/dp/B005DIB8LE/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1339274131&sr=1-1&keywords=book+of+the+maidservant" target="_blank">The Book of the Maidservant</a></strong> by Rebecca Barnhouse. You absolutely <em>must</em> read it. Johanna is probably the truest to her time of any character I've ever read.) Most of the time, though, we want to read about the exceptions. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Two of the three Elizabeths of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ladies-Waiting-Ms-Laura-Sullivan/dp/0547581297/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1339274731&sr=1-1&keywords=ladies+in+waiting" target="_blank"><strong>Ladies in Waiting</strong> </a>are definitely exceptions, and they are inspired by (though not actually based on) two real 17th century women.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Zabby</strong> (does <em>anyone</em> like her name?!?) is the daughter of a Barbados plantation owner of middling aristocratic rank and great wealth. Raised more or less in isolation – at least, isolated from Europeans – she has studied alongside her scientific-minded father all of her life. As a teenager, she returns to England to study with her godmother, the real-life scientist, writer and philosopher Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-Upon Tyne – and the inspiration for Zabby's character.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Though their personalities are dissimilar (Cavendish, though bold in her opinions, probably had what today we'd call social anxiety disorder; she could talk to one person at a time, but became bashful and speechless in larger groups) both share a love of exploring the natural world. And because they have both wealth and leisure, they can indulge themselves. It was not unusual for an aristocrat to dabble, and a rich titled woman might well tend her home and babies and write poetry or plays or conduct scientific experiments, though generally for her own amusement rather than publication or profit. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Margaret Cavendish studied what was known as natural philosophy – a 17th century catch-all for physical, chemical and biological sciences. She argued with members of the Royal Society of London. She was an outspoken anti-vivisectionist. She was a prolific writer, producing volumes of autobiography, poetry, plays, science and philosophy. Today she is best remembered as the author of what is usually considered the first science fiction novel, <strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blazing-World-Writings-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140433724/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1339274834&sr=1-1&keywords=the+blazing+world" target="_blank">The Blazing World</a></strong>.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXgx05lswOuD5l3yyWi3tQLqgCFtxD70EZFLrC11GS0Zyew58R_b1YGbXoW4XtQqTJpNbMMZcKrEO4je95ZHIQT5DrXBUUirJ6lUrUrwuNTcvTZbqf1Agk2RLAuK4tRhkz7dxhh4eNTZp8/s1600/Cavendish+picture.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" fba="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXgx05lswOuD5l3yyWi3tQLqgCFtxD70EZFLrC11GS0Zyew58R_b1YGbXoW4XtQqTJpNbMMZcKrEO4je95ZHIQT5DrXBUUirJ6lUrUrwuNTcvTZbqf1Agk2RLAuK4tRhkz7dxhh4eNTZp8/s320/Cavendish+picture.gif" width="258" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Samuel Pepys called her “mad, conceited and ridiculous.” Which was just the sort of comment learned, opinionated, iconoclastic women could expect, through much of history.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next: playwright Aphra Behn, the inspiration for Eliza.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS; font-size: large;"><em>XO</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS; font-size: large;">Laura</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0