Here I am in Orlando, Florida at the annual RWA Conference. I spent yesterday evening with my roommate, Erica Ridley, as well as Team Castle-mate Jennifer Barnes and my new BFF Melissa de la Cruz (I kept the fangirllng to a minimum).
People keep saying to me, “Oh, what are you doing here at RWA?” Man, you skip a con for four years and this is what happens!
In other news, I was giddy with joy last night when I started seeing some reviews for my two upcoming books: Zombies Vs. Unicorns and Ascendant pop up on these here internets. The first is from Eve’s Fan Garden:
“Team Unicorn is Holly Black, Meg Cabot, Kathleen Duey, Margo Lanagan, Garth Nix, Naomi Novik, and Diana Peterfreund. Even if all you know about Unicorns is that they come in the form of shiny, sparkly stickers, you will love everyone of these stories. My favorite one was “The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn”, by Diana Peterfreund. I blazed through this story and was left wanting more and more! The Unicorns in these stories will change the way you perceive unicorns from those shiny, sparkly sticker images to something entirely different!”
The second is not so much a review as an interview with the powers-that-be behind the anthology, Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier, for BWi:
BWI: If educators were asked to share one story to get teen readers interested in the debate, which one(s) would you recommend to lead off the discussion?
HB: Well, on the unicorn side, I would love to see people talk about Diana Peterfreund’s story with the baby killer unicorn, who is at once horrific and adorable; I would love to see people discuss Margo Lanagan’s reframing some of the traditional unicorn story elements; but mostly I’d like readers to pick the story they think they would like the best and read that.
The whole interview is fantastic, especially if you’re fans of these authors’ works. Check it out.
There have also been folks reading Ascendant. The first review comes care of Raila of Books out of the Bookshelves, a Brazilian reader who I believe discovered my work through Secret Society Girl (which is published in Brazil) and has now decided to try out killer unicorns (which is only published in North America so far). Can I just tell you how impressed and a little jealous I am that she can speak and read and write in Portuguese and English? I know I love writing these cosmopolitan characters who speak multiple languages (Gitta, in “Errant” speaks seven) and that is because I secretly wish that I was this amazing polyglot like Raila and the people in my books. About Rampant, she writes:
Two other different and amazing and creative aspects of Rampant that I sincerely liked and feel like I need to point out are: first, the story is nearly entirely settled in Rome, and we get to visit through the characters’ eyes and steps museums and places I would love to go someday; second, in Rampant, it’s not the guy who is the mysterious and dangerous, it’s the girl—and it’s such a sweet part of the story, something I could read again and again.
Well, the whole story is basically written based on the surprises Astrid faces, therefore I can not tell much or I might (sorry about the language) screw it up for you—though I don’t even think it’s possible since I sincerely loved this sequel and now want more! Because the ending left me sad sitting on my bed, and wondering a LOT, period! Overall, Ascendant is brilliant. I had no idea I was going to enjoy it so much as I did, nor find what I found. Astrid keeps being such a strong female protagonist, who grows on me by every chapter. I’m sincerely super looking forward to see what comes next in the series, how everything is going to be solved… or not.
I know I have said this before, but one of the best parts of being a writer for me is the moment when you really feel like a reader has connected to precisely what you were trying to create — the kernel behind the words on the page. They may like it, they may not, they may be confused or hurt or inspired by it, but since the point of my job, beyond entertainment, is communication, it warms the cockles of my heart to get the sense that I really connected with the reader in the way I intended to.
Last, but not least, we have The Ravenous Bookshelf. I met this blogger at ALA, and gave her a copy of ASCENDANT. And here’s what she has to say (It begins with “Diana Peterfreund certainly doesn’t pull her punches” which I think I want on the cover of the book):
It is a tribute to Astrid as heroine that I felt compelled to stick with her throughout all this horrible mess, even as she screws up and gets lost and hurts people she cares about — I just couldn’t leave her. Because she was doing the best she could and being strong and smart and funny despite it all and let me tell you that is a kickass heroine.
It’s awfully risky to have your main character go through the wringer, mostly because as readers we want to identify with our protagonist and no one likes having Life kick the snot out of them. But Life Happens, and props to Diana Peterfreund for developing this story in the way it should happen even if it means a rougher ride.
This review put a major smile on my face. The choices I made in Ascendant won’t please everyone, I know. When I told Sailor Boy of my dire plans for Astrid, he was very scared for her. But it’s a matter of being honest with your story, even if it’s hard. And being a unicorn hunter is very, very, very hard.
