Enlarging the Family: Tree/House and Unpredictable Worlds Now Available in Portuguese

It is my great pleasure to announce the ebook release of Casa na Árvore and Mundos Imprevisíveis, two of my most imaginative books, in Portuguese! 

My writing is heavily influenced by magical realism, which is an important literary trend all over Latin America. So I'm thrilled that Tree/House and Unpredictable Worlds are now available in the two dominant languages of Latin America, Spanish and now beautiful, poetic Portuguese. 

I've done 500 days of Duolingo in Portuguese and taken a fantastic trip through northern Portugal with a Spaniard. My skills in this marvelous language leave something to be desired.

But they've been translated by two up-and-coming translators, and I trust that these stories are just as complex and thought-provoking in Portuguese. 

More information about Casa na Árvore here.

More information about Mundos Imprevisíveis here. 

Best Books of the Year and What's to Come in 2016

It's been a great year. I won a prize for flash fiction, got seriously started on my editing business, released Unpredictable Worlds and received some recognition for it, released Tree/House in audiobook, spent ten gorgeous and hard-earned days in Spain, took part in Launch Lab, made it safely to my new home, and had Seven Noble Knights accepted for publication, to name just a few of the best events.

I also read quite a few good books. Which were the best?

That's really not a fair question in the year when the grand finale of a trilogy I have passionately, unreasonably adored came out.

The Map of Chaos by Félix J. Palma

Which book is best is hardly fair in light of another fact: this one is the manifestation of a historical novel I hoped would materialize some day to dramatize the life of Queen Emma for this Anglo-Saxon enthusiast.

The Price of Blood by Patricia Bracewell

So there you have it, the best novels (in my humble opinion) of 2015. The best nonfiction book was undoubtedly La nación inventada by Arsenio and Ignacio Escolar. I enjoyed this book more than I expected to (which is saying a lot) and will probably tell you more about it in future posts.

The year 2016 will see the debut of my darling Seven Noble Knights, so many of my resolutions have something to do with getting it into the limelight as much as possible. I also plan to draft the sequel this year. You didn't know Seven Noble Knights was going to have a sequel? It's a pleasant surprise for all of us! For those of you waiting patiently for more of my unusual contemporary work, I've resolved to get Awash in Talent published this year. More on that soon, for sure. In my personal life and "day job," I've got a lot to do to make this latest move make sense. In the meantime, if you need an editor for your awesome novel, call on me.

Vague as they seem, these are my professional resolutions, leaving room for the surprises that always seem to crop up.

What are your plans for 2016? Happy new year!

A selection of some of the other best books of 2015:

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Along the Far Shores by Kristin Gleeson

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Mermaids in Paradise  by Lydia Millet

Raven Brought the Light by Kristin Gleeson

Lucky Us by Amy Bloom

The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan

Love in Infant Monkeys by Lydia Millet

Like to Listen?

It's here! Every audiophile's dream. Tree/House, the strange little novella that inspires everyone who reads it, now comes to you via the lively professional talent of Melissa Moran.

It's available on iTunes, Audible, and Amazon. Click on the links to find compelling audio samples.

If I may say, it's priced very reasonably for this much imagination and creative talent (the voice artist's). And yet, there are a couple of ways you can get it for no money at all.

1. Contact me (in a comment here or at Facebook or Twitter) for a free download code from Audible! I would, of course, love it if you enjoyed Tree/House in audio and left a review after using one of the limited number of codes I have available. The important thing is to enjoy it.

2. Join Audible's first month free and make sure Tree/House is the first book you download. If you love audiobooks, you'll want to keep your subscription for only $14.95 a month. That charge includes one audiobook per month and 30% off additional ones. If you remain a member in good standing for 61 days (three months) after you get Tree/House as your first download, I get a special bounty payment. This is the option for you if you love to listen to books and want to give yourself (and me) an amazing gift.

Having Tree/House brought to life in this way has been a dream come true. I've personally listened to it all and am amazed at how well it's turned out. But it has cost me a significant amount of money to produce. Like everyone I know, I work very hard for the small amount of money I earn, so this was a big decision. I hope I have some avid reader supporters to help me get back my investment. Every download helps! Really. Thank you.

If you prefer to read it and interpret it for yourself, a new edition of Tree/House is also available in many electronic and print venues.
Kindle • iBooks • Nook • Kobo • Smashwords • Inktera • Blio • Many other ebook retailers • Softcover • Softcover Indiebound • Softcover Amazon •  Softcover Barnes and Noble • Request it at your local library or bookstore

Music to Your Literary Ears

As you know, this week (Friday) will see the release you've been waiting for of the new edition of Tree/House and Unpredictable Worlds in all formats.

But the most wonderful news has been years in the making. In 2011, a reader on Goodreads asked me if Tree/House was available in audiobook. I knew it was a great idea, but it just wasn't the right time. Now, it's the right time! Through the magic of the internet, I've been able to find the perfect narrator for Tree/House. Her name is Melissa Moran and she's hard at work finalizing the audio files now! I've heard the proofs, and I can't describe how exciting it is to hear this crazy, heartfelt story out loud. Melissa really makes the characters come to life.

The audiobook will be available very soon. It will make a great holiday gift...

Tree/House is now available in Kindle and Nook and in Softcover, Softcover at Indiebound, Softcover at Amazon,  Softcover at Barnes and Noble, and you can request it at your local library or bookstore. Many other ebook sites will have it on November 20. Preorders are available at Apple iBooks and Kobo. Buy it now and on November 20, it will magically appear!

At first, Unpredictable Worlds was in Softcover, Softcover at Indiebound,  Softcover at Amazon, and Softcover at Barnes and Noble, but only in Kindle for ebooks. Now, it's ready for you on Nook! Those amazing preorders are being taken at Apple iBooks and Kobo, so you have something downloading to your device while you're waiting for the next showing of the final Hunger Games movie on November 20. Many other retailers will have it on November 20. If you feel like shopping at your favorite ebook retailer, it will be waiting for you!

A New Edition in Honor of the Passing of Time

I've learned a lot since I first published Tree/House. It's no longer my magnum opus—I've written two novels and participated in lots of critique groups and workshops—so I've learned a lot about writing and what it is I'm trying to say. It stands the test of time pretty well in that regard. There's not much I would change.

I've learned a lot about book formatting and merchandising. I've already made changes, the last and most important being the spiffy cover that so well captures the content for me.

I've learned a lot about editing, copyediting, and proofreading. Almost too much! When I first uploaded Tree/House, I had basic grammar and punctuation covered, but was years away from figuring out how to get an editorial job with a publishing company and even longer from purchasing my own copy of the Chicago Manual of Style. And now I'm close to having it memorized.

So I've gone back over my dear little book and excised a lot of the types of gaffes I now take out of other authors' manuscripts for a living. I've given it a new five-act structure, in a nod to Shakespeare, and I'm thrilled with how it's come out.

The new edition is available now in Kindle and in Nook, with other digital formats and a new softcover to come soon. I'll be sure to let you know.

Watch this space for an even more exciting Tree/House announcement!

Winter's Tale Then and Now

I read Helprin's Winter'sTale the year before I graduated college on the recommendation of my thesis advisor in preparation for writing my thesis (which turned out to be the novella Tree/House). I'm sure it was recommended because of my interest in magical realism, but my reading of it went much farther than academic analysis, and like a lot of readers of this book, I experienced an enduring, gasping devotion to it long after I forgot what it was about. (If I ever knew. It's special in its inability to be pinpointed.) Even now, having moved a million times, I have Winter's Tale with me. I've gotten rid of a lot of stuff, but's non-negotiable. I tried to read other Helprin works, but they never worked out. Maybe I can only go through such a complex, transformative experience once.

Go to the microfiche for the really amazing discoveries.

Fast forward to 2014, and there's a movie of this unwieldy masterpiece. It was such a thrill when the first trailers came out. To think, someone dared to bring Winter's Tale to the cinema! I doubted it could be done — and apparently, so did everyone else! The reviews have been terrible.

I went to see it on opening day (Valentine's Day — thanks, sweetheart!) and the film is lovely to look at and highly sentimental, a perfect Valentine. If it weren't compared to the book, it wouldn't be judged so harshly. In fact, I'm not sure the two should be considered together because this goes beyond the usual cutting necessary for the visual medium. It's so simplified and reprocessed, it's hardly the same story at all.

I have personal reasons for being okay with the movie version being so much more linear and to the point. When I read the book, it encouraged me to see the world in a complicated, ritualized way I was already cultivating. But I went to see the film with my one true love, and our life is simple and our love is uncomplicated, so both art forms were a perfect match for the way things were going with me at the time.

A bad reason to like a movie that doesn't deliver even half the messages of its book? I don't think so. See the Winter's Tale movie with your true love and you'll see what I mean.

Translating and Discovering Tree/House

The Tree/House cover was originally of a tiger butterfly, so I always wanted to put butterflies in the post when I finally announced its translation into Spanish. This is a Blue Morpho, which is to say that it looks blue on this side, but on the other side it's a dingy brown with motes and a big spot on each side that's supposed to look like a scary eye. So this butterfly has two different faces, just like Tree/House, now in English and Spanish. This is the kind of parallelism you'll find throughout the book.

When you translate a book, you get intimate with it in a way that's not comparable with anything else, except maybe those uncomfortable times when a relative hugs you too tight, if you know what I mean. I have always wanted Tree/House to be available in Spanish, but because it's already flesh of my flesh, I couldn't translate it myself.

I did, however, edit the translation I had a couple of other people do, and that editing has caused me to experience the book in a new way. I frequently laughed out loud when I came across key phrases, sometimes because they were funnier in Spanish, and sometimes just because it was so exhilarating to see my dream come true.

First cover of the English edition

I always thought the book would make more sense in Spanish. I wasn't sure why, but I felt certain I wouldn't get the odd-stare-type responses I've had from some readers in English. Reading the translation, I think I've figured out why: some of the passages appear to be straight out of The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, a surrealist film by Luis Buñuel, a Spaniard. I've written a surrealist masterpiece without even realizing it! I now strongly believe that Tree/House is written on the same foundations as surrealist and absurdist texts. How did it get that way? I blame having been forced to read twentieth century literature in school when all I really wanted was to dig into medieval texts I didn't yet have access to.

One core tenet of both surrealism and absurdism is that the art should disturb the reader or viewer. I'd always wondered where I got that apparent mean-streak-need to disrupt reader expectations. Again, blame twentieth-century literature for teaching me that I need to pay attention to my muse at the expense of reader comfort. Tree/House's disruptive yearning is apparent in its dissected title. The translated title means "A Home in the Trees," which has a lot less disruptive impact and points instead to what I'm trying to do in the book when you get past the weirdness.

The new cover by
Amygdala Design

What I'm trying to do is show through metaphors and Jungian archetypes (see the book club guide) that we've all been asleep and now is the time to awaken to our possibilities for growth, creativity, and, ultimately, empowerment. Those noble intentions probably kept me from seeing the absurdist tendencies of it, because I find most texts in that tradition to lack "redeeming" values. I've also had a surprise recently, when my friend and excellent author Seymour Hamilton read it and kindly reported to me that he didn't "get" it. I directed him to the book club page, and he was then able to fit it into his conceptual framework in a very flattering way -- in its symbolism, he said it was similar to Pans' Labyrinth by Guillermo del Toro! Love that film!

In the opposite way the girl in that film navigates a horrifying reality by responding to a complex dream world, Emma in Tree/House has let her dreaminess drag her through situations that negate her personhood. She has to break out of all the weirdness and find either the real world or one of her own making. It doesn't matter a lot, but in either case, Emma's new world must be free of the indecision and lack of confidence that has stood her in such ill stead.

Yup, I wrote this in my early twenties, mostly for myself.

I'm now prepared to do guest lectures on this book in undergraduate absurdism or Jungian criticism seminars. The graduate ones will have to wait a bit longer...

All of this is just to say that Un hogar en los árboles is available in ebook -- at last, at last! It seriously is the realization of a dream for me and I can't emphasize enough how happy I am with the quality of it and with it finally seeing the light of day.

Here's the Kindle version. Paperback coming soon. And the English version is already available for your enlightened enjoyment!

Happy Fourth of July tomorrow!

Spectacular New Cover for Tree/House

There's something new and wonderful going on with my pre-SNKL magnum opus, Tree/House!

It will soon be released en español as Un hogar en los árboles. To get the party started, I've had a magnificent new cover designed! It will go on both the English and Spanish versions.

Impressive? Put together by Amygdala Design, I think it captures the book really well. I hope it gets more attention than my humble little snapshot of a tiger butterfly ever did.

To celebrate, Tree/House (complete with new amazing cover) will be on sale for 99 cents on both Kindle and Nook until May 13. Snap up your copy and give it as a gift to the reader in your life while you can. Moms love it! (At least mine does.) This book has seven good reviews already!

Buy it on Kindle! Buy it on Nook! (Kobo's change of platform prevents me from running this sale on that site, but watch for it later!)

Imminent Projects

I'm excited about two really big projects I'm currently working on (aside from my WIP, The Seven Noble Knights of Lara, which I think, feel, and breathe at all hours!). Both are related to Spanishness and women's concerns and both are the culmination of years of blood, sweat, and tears.

Tree/House, my stunted little book about personal growth in the face of limitations, imposed by others and by the self, very popular with readers who like a little weird with their literary, will be coming out in Spanish in ebook and paperback very soon! It will be called Un hogar en los árboles (A Home in the Trees) and the final draft is the work of two fine human beings, dedicated to writing in a way that honors the Spanish language, as well as my critical eye. I've always wanted to see a Spanish edition of this book. This is a dream come true for me. Let all your Spanish-reading friends know! It's on eTLC in English.

Lee más acerca de este libro en español aquí.

Si tú lees en español y quieres escribir una reseña -- por muy corta que sea -- dímelo y te regalaré una copia digital. Las reseñas de lectores en Amazon y Goodreads son esenciales para el éxito que todo libro nuevo. ¡Gracias por tu apoyo!

This is a mockup -- the real cover will
be much more attractively designed.

In no particular order, the second project is... another translation... this one, my English version of Lidia Falcón's Camino sin retorno. It will be available from Loose Leaves Publishing in December! Here's the jacket description:

Barcelona, 1986: The dictatorship is over and life is free and easy. But what if you can’t forget the seventies?

Elisa’s troubled past comes back to her in the form of her ex-husband, Arnau, who needs her help to exonerate a former comrade. Elisa relives her Catholic childhood, her marriage to Arnau, her blind loyalty to the communist cause, her experiments in feminism, and her prison time to create a twentieth-century emotional history of the political Left in Spain. The women who faced so much adversity with Elisa weave their own perspectives and testimonies into hers, making this more than a novel: it’s an important contribution to history that gives a voice to the silenced.

Can Elisa ever leave the path history has carved out for her? Is there really no turning back?

“Followers of contemporary Spanish history … will now have the opportunity to understand some of its complex factors … through Falcón’s unswerving critical appraisal of Spanish politics. … No Turning Back guarantees that the memory of clandestine resistance is no longer consigned to the past or to scholars.”

—from the critical introduction by Linda Gould Levine

It took quite a few years to be able to bring this to the market, but I'm glad I waited until the circumstances were right. Tell everyone you know who's interested in recent Spanish history!

By the way, the inimitable Lidia Falcón is currently in the United States. I'm unable to meet with her because of geography, but if you have the opportunity, in Kansas or New York, don't miss it!

Memory Lane: Tree/House Version

While I was writing Tree/House, my first big project, I went looking for all the ego-boosters I could among the educated people in my hometown. Going through my junk recently, I found a sheet of their comments. What they had to say is still music to my soul.

My then-boyfriend couldn't get over it when we discovered that I think in English prose, considering and crafting each thought before passing it through my lips or pen.

My high school junior year English teacher noted: "You have a natural and instinctual grace and elegance." My prose is "always well-dressed, finely bred and stately." My poetry "captures a freshness, innocence, and dreaminess." I have "a wonderful ear for conversation and dialogue" and my "characters converse as real, compelling people."

My high school senior year English teacher claimed I was far smarter than he. "I read in your style a passion that was uncommon, saw a tease that was subtle and alluring, felt a tickle that needed to be scratched." He also advised that I should take more risks (though mostly I have failed to undertand what that would mean  to my writing). "If you ever let loose and showed people the passion that is within you, you might cause the wig-tappers to be called out in force to straighten all the wigs you'd flip." (Yes, I used that image in Tree/House -- how could I let that slip away unwritten?)

I could never see these wonderful things in my own writing. It feels weird to type them here. I know only that I had to write. If what they said was ever true, I hope I have only improved with time!

See Tree/House at eTLC.

Check Out My New Guest Blog!

As you know, Mera's YA Book List is giving away some gorgeous Tree/House bookmarks at this time. Today I have contributed a short essay about the most important theme in Tree/House that I hope my readers will enjoy.

Check it out here! Thanks for stopping by!

My Famous Appearance on Mera's YA Booklist

I haven't been in the blogosphere much lately because of work commitments, but there's something pretty special going on! Check out Mera's YA book list this week for free bookmarks of Tree/House! Visit this link.

These bookmarks are shiny and beautiful with extremely high quality printing and that lovely butterfly. Trust me, you want one! Mera has a great page, anyway. You won't be sorry.

Thanks for your support!

SSS: Method in the Madness?

Continuing in Tree/House where we left off last week...

* * *

“Viola, I’ve given up that life. Take your dirty games to some cesspool.”

“My dirty games? ‘False face must hide what false heart doth know’!”

The two were mere centimeters away from each other now, each more insistent on standing his or her ground than the other, and Emma watched, her eyes wide, as Franklin towered threateningly a full foot above Viola, and while she kept her eyes fixed on his, craning her neck. She said steadily, “Though this be madness, Emma, yet there is method in it.”

* * *

Who is this Viola? Who, indeed?


Tree/House is available here, here, and here. Request it for your library!

Thank you very much for your comments. If I can find your blog, I always reciprocate. Please see all the great excerpts at www.sixsunday.com.

SSS: Excellent Wretch

Thanks so much for the great feedback last week! To keep you excited for the big news I can't yet reveal about my Tree/House, these lines come just after last week's:

* * * 

The young woman laughed out loud. “What lines?”

Franklin’s grey face faded even further to white. “Viola!” he gasped. “‘Excellent wretch!’”

“Also Othello, three: three, line 98,” said Viola.

* * *

Six sentences is not a lot in this case! I hope you enjoy them, and all these other great sentences: www.sixsunday.com.

SSS: Shakespearean Drama

Thanks for all the encouragement last week. That's a piece I believe in and won't give up on. Hooray for love!

I have some big news about my magnum opus, Tree/House, to announce at a later date. In preparation, take a look at this emotional scene in which a seemingly random young lady has come to the door to accuse and recriminate the master of the house.

* * *

The young woman stepped inside and looked as quickly around as her furtiveness would allow, then she took Emma by both shoulders and said firmly, “You’re Professor Andrews’ new wife, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” said Emma, shaken.

“I have to say to you, then: “‘Tis not a year or two shows us a man: they are all but stomachs and we all but food. They eat us hungerly, and when they are full, they belch us!’”

She released Emma just as suddenly as she had taken hold of her, and Franklin suddenly lurched out of the Shakespeare library. “Othello, act three, scene four!”

* * *

Nothing like Shakespeare to add drama to your story! Thanks for visiting. I appreciate your comments immensely and if you have a blog, I will return the favor. The other exciting samples are here.

Tree/House, as always, is available here and here. And here.

New Interview Today!

The generous and thoughtful Ryan Brock of liloQuy has done me the honor of interviewing me. See it here.

In this interview, I have the chance to talk about my recently developed double-track writing (i. e., weird, non-genre stuff and historical fiction).

Notice where I talk about my respect for my readers. I appreciate you very much!

New Place to See Tree/House and Great New Writers

The Electronic Text and Literature Cloud is the place to go to find out about independent authors you might never have otherwise heard of. Each title is showcased on an understated, tasteful page full of links to more information and, of course, where to buy it. I've had the honor of Tree/House being the first featured text in the "Literary" genre. Check it out here!

And check back with eTLC often for buried treasure that deserves more attention!

You Know You Want To

He's really upset about leaving the cabinet because he was in the middle of a great book: Tree/House! 

Go ahead, read it. Some strange urge deep within your psyche is telling you... you know you want to.

You are feeling sleepy, very sleepy...
Wake up with a good read! Really inexpensive, too.


Photos from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920).

He'll Feel a Lot Better Once He's Read Tree/House

Clergyman approved, Tree/House can even get rid of your headlice problem.

Fashionable Historical Women Love Tree/House!

It's a timeless classic!

Also see the new cover for the Sailing Italy series!