Giftwish & Catchfire

Today I want to talk about two of the most captivating fantasy books I've ever read, Giftwish and Catchfire by Graham Dunstan Martin.

Now, I'd like to preface my gushing review by acknowledging that both books are brimming over with so much descriptive imagery that sometimes I found them a bit difficult to follow. Yet that is precisely part of their charm! Martin twists syllables into strangely fantastic sentences and metaphors that I would never think of in a million years. One of my favorites is the description of the wizard Hoodwill, who is said to smile "like a knife" (In Catchfire, p. 6).

I would dearly like to see such a smile.

And then there's the story itself. All the best elements of fantasy included: Wizards, a dragon, a peasant lad forced to play the role of champion, and a witch girl with the double soul of a princess.

In a creative writing class I took in college, a few were of the opinion that fantasy tales are often the same. Personally, I believe the fantasy genre is more like a game board with new rules and pieces for each game, and Martin plays it better than most!

Work cited:

Martin, Graham Dunstan. Catchfire. Glasgow: Richard Drew Publishing, 1989.

Agented!

I am very pleased to announce that I have accepted an offer of representation from Natalie M. Fischer of the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.

I just want to say to all my fellow writers still agent-hunting, NEVER GIVE UP! Keep writing and revising. It pays off in time. For some, perhaps after a short while, for others, longer. It took me about four years of serious scribbling, research and revision to come to this point in my writing career, with oodles of rejections along the way. But here I am. I can't believe it myself!

Now for further revisions and editor-hunting . . .

Global Guinea Pig Reader Appreciation Day

I have decided to proclaim August 1st Global Guinea Pig Reader Appreciation Day. By guinea pig reader, I mean those wonderful, long-suffering souls we scribblers afflict with multiple drafts and barrage with endless plot questions. After all, why wait for publication and the acknowledgements page?

So, without further ado, thank you! Anandi (for saucer eyes, popcorn, and scissors), Becci (for arguing me into writing a better story), Mary Alice (for threatening bodily harm if I don't finish my drafts), Tonya (for clapping when I run out of pixie dust), Misty(for your keen observations & anticipation), Mary, Savannah & Rhet (for the most awesome road trip critique), Trang (for believing when I didn't), Letty (for the best email encouragement EVER), Audrey (for all the fairies). Special thanks to my college creative writing instructors, including Neil Newel, Dr. Dean Hughes, Dr. Patrick Madden, & Brandon Sanderson, and the multifarious individuals in my life whose advice, instruction, and encouragement helps me to press my dreams into syllables. Always, all my thanks to Bonnie, who in the brief iridescent years as my mother taught me to seek the ink inside.

Please accept my mickle gratitude. Yeah, mickle. It's a truly marvelous little word that should be used more often. Benjamin Franklin did in Poor Richard's Almanack. Consult the Google and Dictionary.com oracles and be enlightened!