I love them. Students ask the best questions. Not just “where do you get ideas for your books”, but also questions that are surprisingly real–”Is it hard to sit in your chair and write when no one tells you you have to?”

Here’s one of the things I was greeted with when I visited Mrs. Madison’s 5th grade class at Lewis and Clark Elementary–a quote from Wolfproof on the board!

Want to talk about fantasy, writing or the state of the world? There are several ways you can contact me. You can leave comments on the news blog, click on website contact button and send a message, or leave a message on my Facebook wall. I’m really happy when studens ask me questions about writing, publishing, poetry or the characters in my book.

Fantasy books have many reasons for their appeal. In fact, fantasy and sci-fi are the genres of choice for talented YA readers. These books are full of intriguing ideas, complex connections, rich description, alternative worlds and, at their best, well chosen, nuanced language.   

I believe there is also another reason readers love fantasy. G.K. Chesterton says,” Fairy tales are more than real, not because they tell us there are dragons, but they tell us the dragons can be defeated.” And it is often the unlikely hero who defeats the dragon. I have always been a fan of the type of fantasy that comes knocking right at our door–the door of an everyday person–and won’t go away until you let it in. Think of Gandalf scratching the mark on Bilbo’s door, Lucy Pevinse stumbling through a wardrobe and having tea with a faun, the letters flying through the everyday mail slot on the Dursley’s door, or Neil Gaiman’s Richard Mayhew ending up below the streets of London in the middle of an average day. 

We all want to be able to defeat the dragon, to get the strange phone call or knock on the door that reminds us that mystery may be just around the corner.  

Readers often ask me where the best place to order Wolfproof is. It all depends on what you mean by best. Certainly, it is most convenient to order on-line, and you can’t beat the price. However, I am committed to supporting independent bookstores. It is a wonderful thing to be able to walk into a store with a knowledgeable staff who love to read and can recommend books you might love as well. In this mega-chain world, the small independent businessman is often overlooked and in doing so we change our society. There is great value in community based businesses where retailers know you by name, remember your preferences, and care deeply about the community/ neighborhood they serve. I also love big bookstores with cozy chairs and lattes on the side. Yes, I shop at Barnes & Noble and Borders too. In fact, one of the first things I do in a town is check out the local bookstores and libraries.

So, the answer is that there is not just one “best place” to buy Wolfproof. You can even order it through this website. The important thing is that you read, buy books and continue to believe as Karen Cushman says, “words can nudge the world.”

I just returned from a preview of fall’s newest NW books for children and YA. Santoro’s bookstore in Seattle literally sat authors, illustrators and book store owners knee to knee as we listened to the “inside story” on some wonderful new books. Kirby Larson told the story behind her new novel, Hattie Big Sky, based on journals written by homesteaders, and yes, one of them really was her relative. Melissa Schorr shared her new “chick-lit with a Jewish slant” novel Goy Crazy, and Dia Calhoun, winnner of the mythopoeic award for YA fiction, has a new fantasy novel, Avielle of Rhia about to appear on bookstore shelves.

I loved seeing illustrators early drafts, and hearing the story behind the story for everything from picture books to novels.We are rich with talent here in the northwest. This promises to be a year of plenty! Read up!

Check out the article, poem and wonderful art.

http://www.endicottstudio.typepad.com/