So this is an experiment. I recorded my first podcast. It made me realize that Pantalaimon’s little built-in microphone probably isn’t going to cut it in the long run. There was nothing I could do to remove the static, and it makes me sound like I’m slurring some of the words. I feel kind of like poor Neil Armstrong and that whole “man/a man” debacle. Except, you know, sitting in my office instead of walking on the surface of the moon.
Other than that, though, I’m happy with how it turned out.
Behold: listen to me read another short excerpt from RAMPANT! In this scene, Astrid, her fellow hunter Cory, and their pet pygmy unicorn Bonegrinder are exploring beneath the ancient nunnery, and discovering that the medieval Romans had a serious knack for the macabre in their interior design:
Okay, so that’s done. What do you think? Am I all set for the signings?
Now, onto the review bit.
First of all, not only did Tamora Pierce give me an awesome blurb for the book jacket, but she also recently posted this on her blog on a list of “good teen summer reads”:
Peterfreund, Diana RAMPANT (8/09): Almost here! Almost here! I will only put it this way, okay? Try . . . Buffy, the Vampire Slayer meet killer unicorns. I mean killers. Vicious, slaughtering, bloody-hoofed, razor-horned unicorns, who supposedly vanished, except, well, they didn’t. }8-D
Yeah, I felt a bit faint when I read that.
There’s also a new review up at Angieville. Now, Angie has always been a very vocal fan of my Secret Society Girl series, but she’s also a big fantasy fan, so I’ve been very curious to see her reaction to this, my first fantasy. I do wonder how many of my readers will crossover. For me, I think nothing of reading a historical romance, then a chick lit, then a science fiction novel, then a fantasy epic, but I know that most people are a lot more circumspect in terms of which genres they’ll go for.
(I have actually gotten a few letter from fans who are upset that I wrote Rampant after finishing the secret society girl series — instead of another book like SSG — which I can’t help but be amused by, because in actual point of fact, I started wriitng Rampant at the same time as I wrote Secret Society Girl, back in 2005. I sold it before I finished Rites of Spring (Break), in 2007, and finished it before I even WROTE Tap & Gown, in 2008. So from my perspective, this “diversion” into YA fantasy has always been something that was going on concurrently with my adult mainstream writing, though I understand that, from the perspective of the reader, all they know is which books come out when.)
But I digress. Angie. Anyway, it’s a great review, and one should go read the whole thing. This is my favorite part:
I always enjoy Diana Peterfreund’s light touch with words. Her prose never feels heavy or disjointed and it’s a pleasure letting your mind and eyes absorb the words as they come. Rampant‘s strengths lie in its worldbuilding–the seamless way in which unicorn lore and legends come together to form the fabric of reality in Astrid’s world. They are horrifying creatures and, when Astrid encounters the more nightmarish ones, the aftereffects include vomiting and agony. I absolutely loved how heinous they were. Along with that, the history of the hunters is layered and complex and extremely well done. I occasionally find myself tiring during exposition that covers thousands of years, wanting to get back to the action of the main plot. Not so here. The stories and bloodlines and incarnations were so varied and interesting that all I wanted was more.
Eighteen days left. I MAY not make it. (Cf. aforementioned bit about having started this book in 2005.)
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