The Smart Bitches are going to kick ass :)

News of this have already got out, of course, but I've found the actually text only today and just have to post it -- it's too cool not to:

Sarah Wendell and Lay-Ping "Candy" Tan's SMART BITCHES WHO LOVE TRASHY BOOKS, based on the popular blog, a funny, somewhat bitchy and adoring look at the world of romance novels, from the authors to the covers to the conferences to the audience, to Sulay Hernandez at Touchstone Fireside for Fireside, in a nice deal, by Daniel Lazar at Writers House (NA).

A big WHOOOHOOOOO! to the Smart Bitches!

Off to Newcastle

Tomorrow I'll be off to a conference in Newcastle: "Feminism & Popular Culture" (and it looks as if they have invited only female speakers ...). Initially, I thought Newcastle was this big, ugly industrial city and thus, was extremely happy when I found out last week that this is not the case. They've got a medieval part (complete with castle) (well, with a name like "Newcastle" I should have expected a castle -- duh! *head desk*) and are not too far from the sea, which means I'm going to spent a day on the beach (probably not sunbathing, though *g*). If possible, I'll also visit Alnwick Castle, which is nearby: I based the library of Troy's estate in THE LILY BRAND on Alnwick Castle, so of course I have visit it this week!

Another lovely thing about this trip to Newcastle: I'm going to meet LauraV from Teach Me Tonight for the very first time! Yay!

So, all in all, I'm faintly optimistic that it's going to be a wonderful trip. (But I'm sure I've already mentioned that things tend to go wrong when I travel ... urghs ... at the moment I worry that it might be the hotel, that the reservation hasn't come through or that the hotel is downright horrible) (And I'll be all alone!!!! Waaaaaargh!) (No, no, it's going to be good. I'm sure. Yes, indeed!)

An enchanted summer

Sometimes you find a book which truly enchants you because everything about it is simply charming.

For me, Jeanne Birdsall's debut novel, THE PENDERWICKS, is such novel. Just look at this subtitle: "A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits and a Very Interesting Boy" -- absolutely lovely, isn't it?

THE PENDERWICKS is the story about the summer holidays of the Penderwick family (an no, the smallest of the girls is not a fairy, she just always wears these big butterfly wings). As their usual beach cottage in Cape Cod had been sold by the owner, their father had to find them another cottage -- which turns out to be part of the big, sprawling estate of Arundel.

The owner of the mansion might be most fearsome, but the housekeeper is as nice and cheerful as housekeepers are wont to be. And moreover, the Penderwick girls soon befriend Jeffrey, the boy who lives in the mansion.

Somewhat eccentric and accidentprone, the Penderwicks stumble from one adventure into the next, with their big dog, Hound (who is easily sick), always hard on their heels.

A truly lovely, charming children's book.

Boooooks!!!!

The first load of my 350-Euro-order at abebooks have arrived. At the moment, the books are slumbering in the freezer (kills off any wee beasties that have dared to take up residence in my books). Among the Sleeping Beauties on ice is a Baedeker's Guide of Paris from the 1870s or 80s -- and it's wonderful! All the maps are still there, and there are a lot of them! While skipping through it before putting it into the freezer, I discovered a chart with cab fees in and around Paris, detailed descriptions of several museums, and a list of useful phrases. Very, very cool. Needless to say I'm thrilled with my latest find! :)

The Mean Volk

I stole this title from Schrumpfkopf's post on translation desasters (which he wrote while correcting an exam). At the moment I'm correcting student papers and I'm just as happy and delighted as Schrumpfkopf was when he wrote the aforementioned post. Namely,

AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!!!

Why, I ask you? Why can't people stick to the most simple formatting rules? Why don't they document their fricking sources??? WHY? We talked about this in class! There was a handout they could have downloaded. We've got a stylesheet at our department. Which students can buy. For, like, 50 cents. It doesn't cost the world. It's perfectly affordable.

Oh man, this is worse than getting a bad review! Worse than the Smart Bitches comparing your books to maggot-infested cheese! Worse than getting three points (out of 100) from Mrs. Giggles!

*sob*

Maybe I should start writing for the Mills&Boon Modern Romance line. I hear they're paying awfully well. And what with the books being translated in umpteen languages ... Heck, I'm sure there's a secret baby waiting to break free in all of us! An amnesia story! A smouldering Greek tycoon, who oozes sinful lust -- and thinks every woman must be a gold digger or punishes the poor heroine for the sins of his slutty mother! Or, even better, a smouldering Greek tycoon, who oozes sinful lust -- and is out for revenge! On the heroine! (Uhm ... in every sense of the word.)

Secret baby, where are you?

Wheeeeeee!

Castle of the Wolf got reviewed in the Chicago Tribune!!!!!!!!! (Please imagine me hopping up and down and from side to side and generally about and around with joy.) And they liked it. Isn't that fantastiggerish? Here's the thingie:

Celia Fussell thought she was doomed to life as a poor spinster, when she unexpectedly inherited a castle in Germany -- with one condition: She must marry the son of the former owner within four months. When she arrives, she discovers a few other things her lawyer failed to mention. Not only is her new home a gloomy, rumored-to-be-cursed ruin, but the son of the former owner doesn't seem to want to turn the castle over to her.

In "Castle of the Wolf," Sandra Schwab's nuanced characters, detailed setting and writing seasoned with a soupcon of tart wit blend together to create a magical, fairy-tale, Regency historical romance.

Website Update

I've just updated my website: among the new goodies is the first part of the Wolfenbach Library in the Members Section, that is, explanations of some of the intertextual references in CASTLE OF THE WOLF. In order to get access to the Members Pages, you need to subscribe to my newsletter (see brandnew icon at the top of the sidebar!).

Other exciting new things on the website include: more Secrets of Wolfenbach (e.g. about the very special cards Cissy receives from Mrs. Chisholm, complete with pictures of the little Queen's two faces) and more reviews with an extra section of blogger reviews. So far, I've been extremely lucky with reviews: most people enjoyed CASTLE OF THE WOLF and have written lovely things about my novel (in one case, even a reviewer who didn't like CASTLE wrote lovely things about it!). Among the reviews I've recently discovered is this from The Romance Studio:

"Castle of The Wolf was an enjoyable read from beginning to end. The setting being in Germany made for a nice, refreshing change from the typical English surroundings. Ms. Schwab does a wonderful job with descriptive details throughout the whole story. Celia comes across as a very strongwilled woman who gets very creative in her attempts to bring brightness into her husband's dark world. Fenris is a dynamic character and the touch of paranormal surrounding him makes him even more intriguing. Celia will not back down from her husband's dark side and both help the other put the past behind each other. This story is a treat and highly recommended to those wanting an entertaining, captivating read."

Luuuuuvely, isn't it? *beaming smile*

Anyways, I hope you'll enjoy all the new things on my website!

Kill that bank account!

Go shopping at abebooks! *sigh* I freely admit it, when I shop at abebooks, my inner Gollum breaks free every time: I get the fiery gleam in my eyes and buy and buy and buy and IT'S ALL MINE!!!!!

But at least the bulk of my last order were books I need for the PhD thing. Or books I think I might need for the PhD thing. It's seems my subconscious has decided that I'm putting together my own private collection of 19th-century chapbook-editions of "The Seven Champions of Christendom"

I've ordered three more editions, but, it would seem, all with different texts. How exciting is that? (Okay, to normal people this is probably not at all exciting. To crazy Sandy it tollay IS exciting. Toteliciously exciting, in fact!)

And to cause even more excitement, I ordered three 19th-century guidebooks (The Rhine, Paris, London) yesterday. All of them Baedekers. With those wonderful red covers. *happy sigh* In addition I've discovered a great site run by people who collect Baedeker guidebooks: www.bdkr.com.

Uh-hu ...

I've just found this on a German authors' messageboard with an international division:

But I would say that ANY setting external to the USA, unless the story
focusses on Americans in that setting, will not make it in the States.

I couldn't help laughing. Out. Loud.

People, there is romance. The genre which shan't be named. The one that makes up about half of all paperback fiction sold in the US. And there are lots and lots and lots of romances *cough*like Regency-set historicals*cough* which are not set in the US and which don't feature Americans. And some authors of such romances are even successful. Sort of. *g*

And books set in Scotland? These still sell very, very well in the US.

And what about Harlequin / Mills&Boon novels? UK, Australia, New Zealand -- and if you go back a few years, you get some more exotic places as well.