Manga Review: A Little Snow Fairy Sugar and Fairy Cube

So, while I'm on my manga kick, I thought I'd share two trilogies that I just read.

A LITTLE SNOW FAIRY SUGAR was a sweet little story about a snow fairy (one type of season fairies) named Sugar and a human girl named Saga. Sugar needed help to become a full-fledged season fairy, and Saga was just the girl to help her. It started off okay. The two MCs were always yelling at each other over misunderstandings, but once that got out of the way, and they were able to find a place where they weren't fighting. In the end, I actually cried. I couldn't believe that I cried over such a silly story, but the ending was really sweet. This one is good for all ages.


FAIRY CUBE is not much like SUGAR. It's kinda the opposite. Meaning, it's not fluff. It is definitely not for kids. There is murder and sex, and I would recommend ages 14 and up. It had an interesting twist on some old folklore, but they stayed true to a lot of it. Which makes me happy.

Both of these are worth the read. The first is cute and fun and can be shared with kids. The second is dark and dangerous.

Graphic Novel Review: Kith and Rapunzel's Revenge

KITH by Holly Black was the second in The Good Neighbors series. The first one was good. This one was better. The story was much more involved, and much more interesting. If you like urban faeries and fantastic art check this one out. Third installment to come Fall 2010.


RAPUNZEL'S REVENGE was hysterical. Shannon Hale has done several fairy tale retellings, but this one was probably the most ingenious. As you may have guessed, it is set in a wild west setting, and Rapunzel uses her hair as a lasso. This isn't the watered-down fairy tale about a princess with long hair that is rescued by her prince. Nor is it entirely true to the original. Finally, a princess that rescues herself. It might not be something you're interested in, but it may suck you in just as it did me. Next one comes out in January: CALAMITY JACK.

Book Review: Demon Ex Machina

What would happen if Buffy the vampire slayer went into retirement, got married, and had kids, then was forced out of retirement. That's what happened to Kate Connor. I love this series. I just read DEMON EX MACHINA, book 5. The plot keeps getting more complicated and more twisted, and I love it. It's urban fantasy, but there's definitely comedic genius here. If you'd like to read the entire series:

CARPE DEMON
CALIFORNIA DEMON
DEMONS ARE FOREVER
DEJA DEMON

DEMON EX MACHINA

I can't wait for the next one. I hope there is a next one.

Synopsis:

Demon Hunter Kate Connor is having one hell of a month...

In between demon patrols and teaching self-defense classes to the local moms, Kate has to deal with a teenage daughter who's gung-ho on being a demon slayer in training and a toddler son entering a tantrum phase that rivals anything from the pits of Hell.

That's a lot for one woman to juggle, but on top of it all, Kate has to find a way to release the demon possessing her first husband, Eric, without destroying the man inside. Because if the demon within Eric gets free, it just might be more than one seriously stressed suburban mom can handle.

Manga and Anime

I've been reading a lot of manga recently. It all started with Melissa Marr's faery series, WICKED LOVELY, got a spin-off manga. VAMPIRE KISSES, THE FAERIE PATH, and CIRQUE DU FREAK are other young adult fantasy series that have done this. Usually, it’s only a small series. Three seems to be the golden number for these.


There are also several series by Marvel. But I have to recommend RETURN TO THE LABYRINTH or THE LEGEND OF THE DARK CRYSTAL, both based off of the Henson movies made in collaboration with the fantastic artists, Brian and Wendy Froud. Also, fans of World of Warcraft, there is a series called LEGENDS, and THE SUNWELL TRILOGY in manga form. One of my favorites was STAR TREK TNG, THE MANGA. I can’t wait to read MAXIMUM RIDE AND NIGHTSCHOOL.

“Real manga” (as I call it) was originally in Japanese. Which is why they’re “backwards”. We read left-to-right. They read right-to-left. So, to keep the book exactly the same when they translated it to English, they read right-to-left.

One of the most popular authors is Clamp, which is actually a group of four women. I’ve yet to read one of their manga, but as I’ve recently learned, a lot of manga has an animated series… anime! I recently discovered the anime station, Funimation. The only anime I’ve seen before this is Sailor Moon. Anyway, XXXHOLIC, is a very popular CLAMP manga, and I adore the anime. I have a small crush on Watanuki.

I recently read FAIRY CUBE by Kaori Yuki, and I loved it. I want to read another series of hers, ANGEL SANCTUARY. Now, I’m reading A LITTLE SNOW FAIRY SUGAR. Some are silly. Not all of them, but most. I’m anxious to get my hands on VAMPIRE KNIGHT and XXXHOLIC to name a few.

Other anime I've enjoyed is MoonPhase, Peach Girl, and School Rumble.

FaerieCon 2009!

The third annual Faerie Con happened last weekend. I've been each year, and each year seems to get better. As sad as it was the Brian and Wendy Froud weren't able to make it, and that Melissa Marr and Lesley Livingston were both out with the flu, Charles de Lint was there. He was so funny. He made several interesting little quips. Some things he shared that fellow writers may find interesting and/or helpful...

1. Write everyday.
2. Stop in the middle of a scene. At least you'll have something to pick up with next day.
3. Read a lot, even if it is not in the same genre that you are writing

He and his wife, Maryann Harris, performed. He has written music that goes along with his books. The first song he sang was called "Medicine Road" which is for the book of the same name. Though, I haven't read the book, I thoroughly enjoyed the song. And all his songs. He plays the guitar, and they have a folk sound. I asked him when he was going to put a record out. Jokingly, of course. And he said he'd love to do that one day. He also said he'd love a television series for his characters and the town of Newford.

I blogged recently about SJ Tucker and Tricky Pixie. I was thrilled to get to meet SJ Tucker and Betsy Tinney (of Tricky Pixie, and previously Gaia Consort). They were amazing. We sat in the front row. The performance was only 45 minutes long, but it felt like much less. I could have listened to them for hours. SJ played the guitar and Betsy plays the cello. Her cello was black and was named Raven. It had a long "tailpiece" as she plays standing up. I wish I had gotten a pic of them on stage. SJ is in the funny hat and Betsy is in green.



I also got to meet Toby Froud... again. I love his puppets. They are so incredible, and he moves them so life-like. A little girl came up to him right after the picture, and he made the puppet talk to her. She stood in front of him with her mouth hanging open for about 30 seconds.


I got a new baby from Jennifer Carson. This is Greta, a hobbit. I found a chair for her at an antique mall.

A pic of all my babies.

Meeting Authors: Sarah Dessen

I got to meet the fabulous Sarah Dessen today. She started out reading a selection from ALONG FOR THE RIDE.

Then she took questions from the audience. Some things she talked about:

When she wrote LOCK AND KEY, she purposefully made it different. She had read a lot of negatie reviews saying she needs to be more different, all of her books are the same. And then apparently people said LOCK AND KEY was not enough like her other books.

She said when she starts writing, she always has her beginning, ending, climactic moment, and first line down. Although it changes along the way.

THIS LULLABY is her favorite. THIS LULLABY and ALONG FOR THE RIDE were the most fun for her to write.

She doesnt' like the idea of writing a series or doing sequels, so she started the cameo thing. Now she said she feels it's expected of her to do the cameos, and she enjoys them.

She said guys were the hardest for her to write. She wants to make them each unique, but kinda makes them all like the guys she liked when she was a teen. Said she was concerned they would be too similar. Dexter and Wes are her two favorite guys.

She said she often procrastinates when writing. This makes me feel better. She said she tries not to think about her writing when she's not at the keyboard (which is every day from 3-5 EST while her nanny is watching her daughter) because it drives her crazy and makes it harder to write. Also, when she's frustrated, she walks away instead of forcing her writing.

She said she gets inspiration from everywhere, but especially airports.

And here we are after she signed my books!

Music Review: SJ Tucker and Tricky Pixie

I recently discovered a wonderful musical artist.

SJ Tucker - folksy-pagan-faery stuff. It's really good. She has some music to be listened to as companions to THE ORPHAN TALES: IN THE NIGHT GARDEN and IN THE CITIES OF COIN AND SPICE and PALIMPSEST by Catherynne Valente (highly recommended author, btw). Her voice is amazing. In addition to those, her albums are: Haphazard, Tangles, Sirens, and Blessings. Blessings has some amazing pagan songs, and Sirens has the Wendy Trilogy.

Also, check out Tricky Pixie - pagan rock. They're really good. Some of the songs are kinda silly, but mostly good. And a few songs not for kids. The lead singer is SJ Tucker, and the other woman is Betsy Tinney (previously of Gaia Consort), which is how I originally heard of this group. Gaia Consort is one of my favorites. Anyway, you can listen to the entire album (and also purchase digitally) by clicking the link below.

http://www.trickypixie.com/music.php

I think tracks 3, 5, and 11 are my favorites. 2 and 6 are silly. 12 is hysterical.



Also, check out Gaia Consort. Their albums are Evolve, Secret Voices, Vitus Dance, and Gaia Circles, the last one being my favorite.