Poisoned

Dear Diary,

I guess I’m officially important now. Someone tried to assassinate me.

It started when, thankfully, we found the Valforte’s village, settled in a temporary tent city a few miles from their original village. And…I mean, they’d just had their homes burned, all people could see was this Andrian “princess” walking into their midst…I can understand why it happened. To make a long story short, I was poisoned.

I nearly died—I should have died. Actually, from what I hear, I did die for a few seconds. The amount of poison I was given probably would have killed the entire village, but I suppose my sorceress constitution wasn’t taken into account.

Not long after, Koen and I got into an argument, about me putting myself between him and the other Valforte in danger. He says I’m too important, that each and every one of them can and should die before me, if it comes down to that. Obviously, I have a problem with watching my boyfriend and, let’s face it, my family, lay down their lives for me while I stand back and quiver.

It’s not the way I’m made. If it was, we wouldn’t be here. I’d still be back in that cottage Halryan brought me to, staring at my cell phone in the hopes that service bars would suddenly appear. I wouldn’t be running around, risking everything I have and even things I haven’t got yet for a world I’m not even sure I believe in. I think he understands now. At least, we’ve agreed to disagree.

It got me thinking, though. What would have happened if the poisoning attempt had been successful? If I’d died…the world would have ended.

If it weren’t such an annoying burden to bear, man, would I have the biggest head in the universe.

--June

Buy Surviving Serendipity at Amazon or Quake Direct!

Brunching with Readers

Sorry about last week’s interruption in the blogs; sometimes life just isn’t convenient to blogging.
I’m back on track this week, though, and have a very nice author event to tell you about. The slate plaque/pen holder you see above was my gift from the Bangor Public Library, for participating in their biannual Brunch with the Author program.

At times, it can be more uncomfortable to address a small group than a large one, but that certainly wasn’t the case here. I was made very welcome from the start, and there was no “pressure to perform.” It was also very nice to be able to tell the attendees that the book we were discussing was written just a few blocks from where we were sitting, since before moving to Palmerton we lived on the same street as the library. And, ya know, they fed me and gave me presents.

So thanks to Melanie, who set the event up, and the awesome library staff and Friends of the Library members who made me welcome and fed me homemade goodies. I had a great time!

Buy Surviving Serendipity at Amazon or Quake Direct!

Displaced

Dear Diary,

We finally arrived at Koen’s village…or what’s left of it. Koen and the twins thought the Andrians caught wind of the fact that they were helping me, and burned his people out.

I have to call them that, the Andrians, even though they’re ‘my’ people. I can’t align myself with them. All I have in common with them is skin color, and they’re attacking the people I’ve eaten with, slept with (ha, in more ways than one, now), and loved. I hate them. I hate my own people.
We have no idea if any of the Valforte made it out; we haven’t found any bodies, but the village is burned to the ground—

I’m going to try and do a search for them. God, I hope I find something.

--June

Buy Surviving Serendipity at Amazon or Quake Direct!

At Last...

Dear Diary,
“Happiness” is such a limiting word. “Elation,” “ecstasy,”…I could go through the whole thesaurus (if I had one) and not find a word to even approach what I’m feeling right now.

Koen and I are together. He came and found me after the whole Halryan debacle last week and, well, things went from there.

He’s felt about me the same way I’ve been feeling, but the whole societal separation thing kept him from telling me how he felt. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have believed a line like that, but a) it’s Koen, he doesn’t lie, and b) we both got cornered directly after we “came out,” for a lecture on how dangerous our relationship is—for Koen especially.

That knocked me for a loop and made me reconsider everything, but Koen refused to let me back out, and told me I was more important than the threat of—well, let’s not talk about it.

Am I weak and selfish for believing him, for continuing to be with him, when the
consequences could be so severe? Is it naïve to keep thinking, even after all this time and everything we’ve been through, that love could really conquer all?

June

Buy Surviving Serendipity at Amazon or Quake Direct!

Done

Dear Diary,

I’m done. I can’t do this anymore. I don’t care what happens. I can just sit right here in this little clearing while the world disappears around me.

If whoever’s running this whole little circus is trying to drive me nuts, well, congratulations, you succeeded. I just killed a man, which to me proves I’ve gone right over the deep end.

Someone’s coming.


June

Buy Surviving Serendipity at Amazon or Quake Direct!

Reviews, reviews, reviews

Wow, I totally flaked on blogging yesterday. Big duh moment. Anyhoo...

Here's what I read this week:

The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester: Stephenie Meyer called this a cross between "Little House on the Prairie and X-Men," and I couldn't agree more. What a fabulous book. Piper, the only child of a traditional farming couple, isn't what anyone expected. But her wonderful gift and unsinkable attitude land her in a heap of trouble. What at first seems to be the answer to her prayers turns out to be a nightmare, and to save herself and her new friends she must decide between meeting the expectations of others and being true to herself. Middle grade, but I still loved it.

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey: Jessica finds out her strange background is even stranger than she thought, when her vampire fiance, to whom she's been promised since birth, shows up at her school to claim her. This is worth reading just for Lucius's letters home. Very entertaining, although I would have liked a little more explanation on Fantaskey's version of vampirism, and I could have happily throttled her hippy-dippy parents pretty much any time they showed up.


by Carlos Ruiz Zafon: A slow, intricate read, but worth it. Young Daniel's introduction into the secret world of books takes a terrifying turn when he discovers a book called The Shadow of the Wind, by Julian Carax. When he researches the book's origins, he discovers he possesses the only remaining copy of the book-because a mysterious, horribly disfigured man has been traveling Europe, destroying every copy of Carax's books he can find. It isn't long before the scarred man shows up to try and collect Daniel's copy. Daniel has to delve deeply into Carax's past and his own future to find the truth and bring closure to a cycle of hatred and unrequited love spanning two generations.

Impossible, by Nancy Werlin: This was a magical read in every sense of the word. Seventeen year old Lucy Scarborough lives with her fiercely protective foster parents, but their protection isn't enough to save her from rape and subsequent pregnancy. Soon, Lucy discovers that her situation isn't a coincidence; she's the latest victim of a centuries-old curse that leaves each Scarborough woman doomed to give birth and go insane by her eighteenth birthday. The only way to escape her fate is to complete a series of seemingly impossible tasks set forth by a song, passed down from mother to daughter, a strange version of "Scarborough Fair," unknown to folk historians. Time is slowly running out as Lucy races to complete the tasks and save herself and her unborn daughter from the clutches of the curse.

Hope you enjoyed this week's offerings; tune in next Thursday for more quickie book reviews!


Buy Surviving Serendipity at Amazon or Quake Direct!

Gone.

Dear Diary,

Minogan's dead.

Two mornings ago, I woke up with a bad feeling. I couldn't find anything on my out-of-body scan, though, so I chose to ignore it, the decision that cost Minogan his life.

The Eid Gomen came out of the water, like they have the past two times they surprised us. Only this time they weren't aiming to capture; they came to kill. One of them came after me, Minogan tried to stop him...

I feel like the Queen in Macbeth. I tried to stop the bleeding, tried to heal him, like I did with Errigal's arm. But I wasn't fast enough, or strong enough, and now even though I've scrubbed my hands with sand and salt water a million times, I still feel like I can smell his blood. Think I catch a speck of it on my palm or between my fingers if I look at my hand too fast.

The others are all devastated, but Koen is the worst. All I can say is that I'm so grateful they made up, because if they hadn't...

I will never forget the terror in Minogan's eyes as he tried to catch his breath. I've never seen him scared of anything before. And I don't think I'll ever forgive myself.

--June

Buy Surviving Serendipity at Amazon or Quake Direct!

Sunlight At Last

Dear Diary,

Sunlight, at last. For the past, well, I don’t even know how many days, I’ve been held captive in another of the Eid Gomen’s underground lairs. It would have been the most horrible experience of my life, even if I didn’t have a rotting corpse as a roomie. Tamsik died the same night I arrived, but not before she imparted some really weird info and gave me a very strange ‘gift.’

The guys rescued me, even after I expressly told them to go for help if anything happened. This just goes to show you how wonderful democracy is. I was outvoted, and I’ve never been so grateful in my life.

But when Koen came into my cell with the rest of the guys, and I saw his face, after thinking I’d never see him again—I had to face something. This isn’t some crush I have; I’m falling in love with him. Actually falling is wrong, since it would signify that I’m not already there. I love him. And I don’t think he loves me back.

June B

Buy Surviving Serendipity at Amazon or Quake Direct!

Beware the sound of crying children, watch out for the barmaids, and whatever you do, don't let the Pegasus spit on you.
Surviving Serendipity--http://www.sylvaniamania.com

Flying through the air

Dear Diary,

We finally did it. After weeks of tramping through the woods, across the wettest desert in history, and starving to death with seemingly no purpose—we got the first piece of the tablet.

It sounds kind of strange, but up until this point, I’d almost forgotten what we were supposed to be doing here. That there actually was a point to torturing ourselves in the wild, that we hadn’t just been transported to some kind of hellish purgatory.

We even managed to get a ride. The dragons—who are big and scary looking, but apart from the Valforte, the most civilized “people” I’ve met here, have agreed to fly us to the coast, where the map on the back of the tablet says we’ll find the next piece. I am so grateful I can’t even speak; it would have taken us months to get there on foot, since we let the horses go in the desert. (And no, I’m not talking about that, because I still want to cry every time I think about Rosie. So we’re just not.)

In a few hours, we’ll be flying dragonback to the next part of the journey. Fingers crossed.


June

Buy : Surviving Serendipity at Amazon!

Beware the sound of crying children, watch out for the barmaids, and whatever you do, don't let the Pegasus spit on you.
Surviving Serendipity--http://www.sylvaniamania.com

Crossing the desert

Dear Diary,

We’ve been in trouble before, but this is the first time I’ve really believed we could die here.

We’re in a desert. It’s raining. Yeah, I know, that makes no sense, but it’s a salt desert, apparently, so it can rain all it wants and nothing will ever grow. Looking on the bright side, we don’t have to worry about water, at least. We can just tilt our heads back and drink to our heart’s content.

That’s about the only bright side there is, though. We’re starving, soaking wet, we’re eating saddle leather—and we can’t even see if we’re even making progress toward Fire Mountain.

I don’t know how much further, but…trees, I’m sorry. I have cursed you over and over again, and I am sorry. I miss you. Please come back.

June






Beware the sound of crying children, watch out for the barmaids, and whatever you do, don't let the Pegasus spit on you.
Surviving Serendipity--http://www.sylvaniamania.com

People Poll

I had an experience last week I wanted to blog about. A man who owns an independent bookstore, who we’ll call Andy, contacted me on Twitter to tell me that, unless I started linking to Indiebound.org, instead of Amazon, he would no longer be able to follow or support me. He also sent me an email, reiterating his request/demand.

Huh.

My background so far with independent bookstores has not been the best. As an author, I’ve given up contacting them regarding signings, since I’m usually treated like a telemarketer and hung up on. Even Andy forgot that, when I contacted him to do a signing many moons ago, he kept putting me off, even after I mailed him a free copy of my book for his consideration. After a while, I just gave up.

Plus, I like Amazon. They take care of me. They send me my books cheaply and quickly, and if I have a problem, it’s corrected within a day.

But my opinion isn’t what matters; yours is. You’re the person who will be buying and reading my book, and so I have a question for you. I’ve put up a poll on the right, asking if you’d rather buy from an independent source or from Amazon. If I get a fair margin of people who tell me they’d prefer to buy independent, I’ll add links to my blog and website.

Thanks!


Buy : Surviving Serendipity now at Amazon.com!


Beware the sound of crying children, watch out for the barmaids, and whatever you do, don't let the Pegasus spit on you.
Surviving Serendipity--http://www.sylvaniamania.com

Three reviews, one blog!

I read four books and one short story in the past week. (Yes, I know, I’m a freak.)
The first book was Sam Morton’s Disavowed.

It’s a crime drama, which is not something I’d usually pick up and stay with, but—I loved it. There was a real humanity in the book which I think is missing from most other books in the genre. The main word I keep thinking of in connection with his book is honest. In addition to having an action-packed plot, it delves really deeply into the racial issues that still plague our country.

Next, I read Regan Black’s Pixie Chicks, a short story only available in eBook format. Now that was a fun read, and the first of hopefully many stories featuring Brianna, Austin, Claire, and Lana, four high school band “geeks” dubbed the Pixie Chicks. I think fans of Libba Bray and Meg Cabot will especially enjoy this series. Click here to download from Fictionwise.

The third was a book called The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins.

I was enthralled by page 19, and by the end, my cheeks were actually flushed. The sequel comes out in September, and I just can’t wait. Katniss is one of those characters you connect with instantly and find yourself thinking about as you try to fall asleep that night.

The fourth—well, we’ll take the old saying, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all,” and apply it here. Major letdown. If you can’t deal with not knowing, though, email me at jacquelynsylvan@sylvaniamaniaDOTcom, and I’ll tell you. Being an author, I just can’t conscience blasting someone’s book publicly.

Here's what's on my upcoming to-read list:

Hunted (House of Night, Book 5) -The fifth enstallment of P.C. and Kristen Cast's House of Night series. Anyone know if this is the last one? Came out March 10.
The Forest of Hands and Teeth -A new novel I've been hearing a lot of buzz about. Post-apocalyptic-zombie novel, but with several plot twists that look like they'll be setting this book apart. Just released last weekend.
City of Glass (Mortal Instruments) -The third book in Cassandra Clare's series. Interestingly enough, she got her start doing Harry Potter fan fic! Releases March 24.
Fell -Second book in David Clement-Davies The Sight series. I got a pleasant shock when I realized I'd picked up one of his books a few years ago in a used bookstore, and loved it. About psychic wolves, from the wolves' perspective.
Exodus -I seem to really be into the post-apocalypse scene (now, if only I could spell 'apocalypse' on the first try!). This is another one, but where the seas rise up and take over the Earth. Recommended by Sam Morton!



And of course, if you’re still looking for something to read, you can check out Surviving Serendipity!


Beware the sound of crying children, watch out for the barmaids, and whatever you do, don't let the Pegasus spit on you.
Surviving Serendipity--http://www.sylvaniamania.com

Way to Focus

Dear Diary,

We may have escaped capture from the Eid Gomen, but, of course, having one enemy would be too simple. The Sidhe may have sold us out to them, we’re not sure—it’s complicated. Plus, we found out this week, through a chance encounter with an Andrian, that the Sorcerer’s Guild, or whoever’s passing for government these days, is looking for us, too. And there’s a price on our heads. Aren’t these the people who are supposed to be on our side?

So we’re going to keep going as we have been, keeping off the roads, slowly starving to death, since we can’t trade for food. We can’t even risk a fire to cook meat, most of the time.

I’ve lost my entire life on Earth, we’re starving, we’re being pursued, we could be killed or captured at any moment, which would lead to the end of the world, but is that what occupies my mind most? Nope. It’s Koen. Did he laugh at my joke, what did that look mean, what’s he thinking, blah, blah, blah. I’m in the middle of a life and death situation and I have caught my first crush since high school. Brilliant, June. Way to focus.

--June



Buy Surviving Serendipity and find out how it ends! And don't forget to follow June on Twitter!

Beware the sound of crying children, watch out for the barmaids, and whatever you do, don't let the Pegasus spit on you.
Surviving Serendipity--http://www.sylvaniamania.com

As the world turns

Dear Diary,

Well, I thought the excreta had already hit the fan, when, ya know, I was kidnapped to another world, but I was so wrong. Turns out my stay here in Prendawr is permanent. Well, I guess I could go back, but since everyone I know on Earth was already eighty years old a few days ago and are by now probably dead, there doesn’t really seem to be a point, does there?

I guess there was this whole for-the-greater-good point to sending me to Earth, but I don’t care. All I care about right now is that I’ve lost everything. I’ve been lied to and cheated out of everything I had, everything I’ve known. Every memory of my life before coming here is going to carry a taint.

And as for the people that lied to me…they still get what they want, that’s what makes me the maddest. I still have to save their stupid world for them, because if I don’t, innocent people like Koen and the rest of the Valforte are going to die. If it weren’t for them, honestly, I’d just sit down and wait for it all to blow up.

And I’m going to make sure that, if I do manage to keep the world from ending, everyone knows that if it weren’t for the Valforte, they’d all be dead.

--June

You do realize you're going to have to wait a whole 'nother week to find out what happens, right? Not if you order Surviving Serendipity now on Amazon.com or Quake Direct! And don't forget, you can follow June on Twitter!

Beware the sound of crying children, watch out for the barmaids, and whatever you do, don't let the Pegasus spit on you.
Surviving Serendipity--http://www.sylvaniamania.com

You might be in South Carolina if:

I spent the weekend at a fabulous event in Columbia, SC; the South Carolina Book Festival. If you’d like to know more about my time at the actual festival, head on over to Quake’s Teen Seen blog, where I give an illustrated summary of the weekend.

But what I really wanted to talk about are the cultural differences between South Carolina and Pennsylvania, which is where I live. So I’ve compiled this brief list:

You might be in South Carolina if:

-Someone asks you if you’d like a cola (as opposed to a soda).
-Immediately upon entering a restaurant, you become the waitress’s “baby”.
-“Y’all” is more than just a conjunction, it’s a cultural phenomenon.
-In Walmart, there’s beer in the cooler and wine on the endcaps.
-If you are a female over the age of twelve, you are known to strangers as “ma’am”.
-General Sherman stayed in your hotel in 1865.
-There are three inches of snow in the forecast, and the news anchor asks the sheriff he’s interviewing if there are plans to open shelters.

I hope this doesn’t come across as snide, because it’s certainly not meant that way—I love every minute of my time here, even if they are insisting on having their first snow storm in two years. I simply find it fascinating, what a difference six hundred miles makes. They must think I’m pretty weird, too!


Click the cover to buy Surviving Serendipity!

Beware the sound of crying children, watch out for the barmaids, and whatever you do, don't let the Pegasus spit on you.
Surviving Serendipity--http://www.sylvaniamania.com

South Carolina Book Festival

What better way to kick the winter blues than to head down south? Tomorrow, I’ll be road-tripping my way down to the South Carolina Book Festival in Columbia, SC. I had a blast at this event last year, and I can’t wait till next weekend to do it all again. I had so much fun last year, actually, that my mom got really jealous, so jealous she’s coming along! There are palm trees, flowers, green grass—and, based on my mother’s research, a REALLY big mall.

So, if you’re in the Columbia area this Saturday and Sunday, come on down to the festival and make sure to stop by the Echelon table (hot tip—if you tell me you read my blog, I’ll knock 20% off the price) and pick up a signed copy of Surviving Serendipity. There’ll be a lot of other Echelon and Quake authors and their great books there, as well!

And if you don’t live in the area…well, um, I hope it’s not cold where you are. Um, did I mention they’re forecasting 60 degrees for Columbia next weekend? I’m just saying.

Beware the sound of crying children, watch out for the barmaids, and whatever you do, don't let the Pegasus spit on you.
Surviving Serendipity--http://www.sylvaniamania.com

Surviving Serendipity-the book trailer!

I am crazy excited about this! My friend, April, talented SIMS director extraordinaire, surprised me by making a book trailer for Surviving Serendipity! Check it out!

Surviving Serendipity


If the video won't play for you, you can link to it directly here. And don't forget to order Surviving Serendipity on Amazon or Quake Direct!

From Bad To Worse:

Dear Diary,

Things are starting to get damn serious. A few days ago, I caught my first glimpse of an Eid Gomen, one of the creatures Halryan says are trying to destroy the world. I can’t even write it down, I’m still so freaked out, but let’s just say that glimpse was a revelation and a half.

There was a really bad accident with Koen, too. One that made me realize just how isolated we are. If someone gets hurt or sick, there isn’t anyone to call for help. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so small or alone.

Also, it seems that Halryan was right. I do have—God, this is so crazy to write!—magical abilities. I can heal myself, move things with my mind, and a bunch of other stuff that’s harder to describe. Like seeing faraway or invisible things, throwing up shields. It’s insane. I really wish I was dreaming all this up, but I have to admit, my mind is not whacked enough to come up with this crap.

So now we’re on our way to meet the faeries. Yes, the faeries, I said faeries, I still can’t believe I’m talking about faeries. And from what I’m getting so far, I have a feeling they’re not going to be buzzing around on cute little butterfly wings.

--June

P.S. Found out my real name. I’d write it here, but then I’d have to burn the page. Absolutely foul. If it wasn’t for bad luck…

Still not enough for you? Order Surviving Serendipity on Amazon.com or Quake Direct! And don't forget to follow June on Twitter!

Beware the sound of crying children, watch out for the barmaids, and whatever you do, don't let the Pegasus spit on you.
Surviving Serendipity--http://www.sylvaniamania.com

Yeah, It's Real

Dear Diary,

Wow, what a week.

First, I’ve come to the unfortunate conclusion that this is not a hallucination or joke television episode. This is real. I am really on another planet, I’m really speaking a language other than English, and I really look like this. But it’s not all bad, weirdly enough. I’ve stopped freaking out every time a crazy-looking woodland creature jumps out on the path (although freaking isn’t exactly an overreaction, since the first creature I met was the draek, which is this absolutely disgusting creature that lures its human prey by imitating a crying child).

And I actually think I’ve made some friends; the Valforte, who are the blue guys I wrote about last time. They’re nice, they’re down to Earth, and I feel really bad for them. Because, as I found out when we stopped in a village, Halryan isn’t the only one who treats them like dirt. Shame, because I haven’t met a single one of ‘my’ people (Andrians, I guess they’re called) worth the breath insulting them would cost. I understand now why the Valforte were so cautious, when they first met me, though…they probably thought I was a jerk, just like the rest of the people who look like me. But we’re getting along pretty well now. Except for Minogan, but he’s just a little strange, I think.

But now we’re back in the woods, moving on with the quest. I’m starting to get a little performance anxiety here; everyone’s still banking on the fact that I’m a sorceress, and I’m still positive I’m not.

--June

Can't wait to read the rest? Buy Surviving Serendipity on Amazon or Quake Direct! And don't forget to follow along with June on Twitter!

Beware the sound of crying children, watch out for the barmaids, and whatever you do, don't let the Pegasus spit on you.
Surviving Serendipity--http://www.sylvaniamania.com

Back to Basics

Well, I had kind of hoped to have a completed cross stitch to post a picture of, but…no such luck. Definitely next week, though. I’m almost done.
As for my other adventures this week:

-Thursday, dinner with Emily. I gave her a little bottle of help to get her through her weekend, and she gave me tips on asserting myself.

-Friday, my surprise day off, I took myself on a date to the movies to see The Uninvited. Freaky movie, more so when you’re one of only three people in the movie theater.

-Sunday, Mom’s birthday! Went over and celebrated with her and Dad. Was nearly attacked by a chicken on the way, when I stopped to drop some books off at a friend’s house (yes, that's the chicken, top left). And I launched Project June, where you can follow the main character from my book on Twitter. You can also catch her diary entries every Tuesday right here on Serendipitous Times.

-Monday, got pulled from my usual Monday location to work another one. Of course, this was the day everyone in town decided to get their bloodwork done. I stuck thirty people by lunchtime, but surprisingly was able to be moderately productive when I got home.

This week, I’ve also had to come up with a plan to get more writing done. See, when I started writing Surviving Serendipity, it was in notebooks. Then, my husband got me a laptop. Then I got on MySpace. And Facebook. And now, finally, Twitter. So, I get home, I’ve got emails from Twitter and Facebook, Tweetdeck is chirping at me every thirty seconds…I can’t get anything done. So, I’m going back to the beginning. From now on, when I want to write, the computer goes OFF. And if I need a thinking moment, I can have a thinking moment, not a “well, let me see if anyone posted something interesting on Twitter,” moment. That’s the plan, anyway…let’s see how well it works.


Beware the sound of crying children, watch out for the barmaids, and whatever you do, don't let the Pegasus spit on you.
Surviving Serendipity--http://www.sylvaniamania.com