O-RA-gami

What do you do when it’s spring break and you’re stuck in quarantine? If you’re my daughter, you devise a way to make an origami Ra.

To surprise me, she made a whole army of cats.

It’s an origami army!

Aren’t they sweet?!

If you want to make one of your own, she and her dad have a guide and a gif that will lead you through it, step by step:

 

I think Ra would be pleased, don’t you?

Something for the weekend: The Ra Race

I have something fun for you this weekend — a game my 11-year-old daughter designed.

My daughter loves to make games, and this summer she came up with one based on Ra the Mighty. Her model was a 16th-century game called Goose that is still a lot of fun to play today. Instead of geese, however, her board featured Ra and his friends:

 

Note the carefully drawn symbols. Some of my favorites are the cat snacks (which mean “Have a snack and miss a turn”), the leopard Aat (“Begin the game again”) and an eye  (“Yay! You found the Eye of Horus amulet! You win!).

She made up instructions, too — and even little game tokens. I loved it!

So she and my husband made a printer-friendly version. Then Ra’s illustrator, Sarah Horne, joined in the fun. So now we all proudly present to you our final game board for THE RA RACE, in full color!

If you’d like to try it out, please download the board and instructions for free on my website. We’d love to hear how it goes!

 

Fun and mysteries

Just a quick post today to say that I’m delighted to be a guest on Elizabeth Dulemba’s wonderful blog today, talking about writing, inspiration, and unexpected story twists. And also about how the BBC is a boon to writers and how beetles make things better. (Ra’s scarab beetle buddy would agree with me there.)

I even take a closer look at a goddess.

Yes, I’m looking at you, Bastet!

 

For more fun and mysteries, come check out my post at Elizabeth’s site. And do take a look at the rest of her great offerings, including her newest book, CROW BY CROW!

Something to brighten your Monday

Looking for something to brighten your Monday? Never fear — the RA THE MIGHTY book trailer is here! It’s 47 seconds of pure comedy, featuring Sarah Horne’s fabulous art and some great Keystone Cops music:

I wrote the basic script, but my husband is the genius who put it together. It reminds me a bit of those wonderful old Edward Gorey MYSTERY intros on PBS, only more madcap.

Let me know what you think! And please feel free to share.

 

YA Scavenger Hunt

Tags

YASH

ETA:  The Fall 2015 YA Scavenger Hunt is over! So the special content is gone, but you can check out the winners here: http://www.yash.rocks/

Congratulations to Ileana A. who won the extra CHANTRESS giveaway!

Skype chats, trailers, blog tours — and chocolate cake

A few weeks ago, I found a note in my in-box from a teacher at my old middle school.  Her kids had read Chantress and loved it, and she was wondering if I’d do a Skype chat with them.

Of course I said yes.  On Friday we talked, and the kids were great, bursting with good questions.  I had so much fun talking with them.  And here’s something else that delighted me:  Later on, the kids were going to have chocolate cake as a special treat, because they’d read it was my favorite.

Warmest thanks to Barbara Peria for making the chat happen, and to her 6th grade class for all their enthusiasm!

The chat came at the end of an incredibly busy week, as I gear up for the debut of Chantress Alchemy on May 6th — now just nine days away!  The amazing bloggers at Mundie Moms unveiled the book trailer on Thursday.  You can win a free copy of Chantress Alchemy over at their blog!

Like the Chantress trailer, this one is a home-grown production.  I wrote the super-short script, and my husband brought it to life.  It wowed Simon & Schuster, which makes us happy.

Chantress is coming out in paperback on May 6th, too — and you can win a copy of it over on Goodreads.  There’s a giveaway of a Chantress Alchemy ARC on Goodreads as well.

Tomorrow the pre-pub blog tour for Chantress Alchemy begins, organized by the lovely women of the Fantastic Flying Book Club.  I’ll be answering questions about writing, Chantresses, alchemy, book covers, and what the week after publication is like.  And yes, I might just be mentioning chocolate now and again.  You can see the schedule here!

 

Roses and juggling

Oh, my stars. Is it really mid-July? I can’t believe it’s been two whole months since I last posted anything here.

The trouble is that I’m juggling altogether too many things – publicity for Chantress, the last edits for Chantress Alchemy, and the start of the third Chantress book. And that’s just the writing part! When I do get a bit of online time, it’s measured in moments, so you’re more likely to find me tweeting than blogging these days.

All things considered, I’ve been fairly productive juggler. This summer I’ve done various guest posts for other blogs, including a fun one about the touchstone images for Chantress, where you can see the Tower of London at night and a chained book and one of the most amazing clockwork pictures ever. I’ve worked on flap copy and other odds and ends for Chantress Alchemy. And I’ve got Book 3 (still untitled) off to a great start. I even squeezed in a radio interview and a short writing retreat in deepest Oxfordshire.

But all the same, I have my issues with juggling. It’s a necessary skill, but you can do too much of it. After one too many nights up in the wee hours, mind racing, I’ve begun looking for ways to center myself and slow down.

I started last month with something I’ve neglected for a long time: meditation. It’s amazing how even five minutes of essentially doing nothing can somehow change everything. I’m starting to say “no” to a whole bunch of things that were wearing me out. Although I still have a heavy workload, I now have a little more time to say “yes” to the things that really make me happy: walks and talks with my daughter, playing the piano, concocting a new flavor of ice cream…

I’ve also been spending more time in my garden. Poor garden! At one point this spring, it was almost as neglected as this blog. But it’s holding its own now, despite this month’s brutal heat-wave. You still couldn’t call it a show garden, but every day it brings me pleasure.

The motto I chose for 2013 is “Fill the well” — and little by little, I’m working out how to do that.

How do you fill the well? I’d love to hear.

A walk around the garden…

…with the friendly neighborhood cat (who is especially interested in the catnip)

Lots of purples this month…

And pinks galore.

BYO Axe

Today you’ll find me over at jeannineatkins‘s tea table, axe at the ready. Come join us (no RSVP needed, BYO Axe)!

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with fun news about two delicious historical fantasy debuts:

First up, fabulousfrock a.k.a. Jaclyn Dolamore is holding a Scavenger Contest to celebrate her fabulous website. Visit for a chance to win an ARC of Magic Under Glass, which comes out in December!

And next, this terrific trailer for A Most Improper Magick, a Regency adventure (with magic!) by stephanieburgis :