Then, as the release day approaches, I'll switch gears and drive us right into the new release with all new teasers. So remember to check back here on the blog on Thursdays!
The re-release of Crow's Rest is coming from Crow & Pitcher Press on May 22, 2018! As a way to pay tribute to its previous life as my debut novel, I'm sharing teasers and material from those early blog tours for the next several weeks.
Then, as the release day approaches, I'll switch gears and drive us right into the new release with all new teasers. So remember to check back here on the blog on Thursdays!
Then, as the release day approaches, I'll switch gears and drive us right into the new release with all new teasers. So remember to check back here on the blog on Thursdays!
The re-release of Crow's Rest is coming from Crow & Pitcher Press on May 22, 2018! As a way to pay tribute to its previous life as my debut novel, I'm sharing teasers and material from those early blog tours for the next several weeks.
Then, as the release day approaches, I'll switch gears and drive us right into the new release with all new teasers. So remember to check back here on the blog on Thursdays!
Then, as the release day approaches, I'll switch gears and drive us right into the new release with all new teasers. So remember to check back here on the blog on Thursdays!
ARJ’s Top Ten Urban Fantasy Influences
1. The Borderland series,
which starts with an anthology
of the same name edited by Terri Windling, and moves on to some novel-length
works like Elsewhere
by Will Shetterly. It may have actually established the "collision
of the strange and the everyday" definition in my mind.
2. Ariel
by Steven R. Boyett is a cult favorite from 1983, which takes place in
a post-Apocalyptic landscape--where the Apocalypse was caused by technology
failing and magic returning to our world.
3. Books by Charles de Lint, who made Urban Fantasy popular
with his Newford stories. I recommend starting with Little
(Grrl) Lost for the younger YA set, or Svaha
for older readers.
4. Faerie
Tale by Raymond E. Fiest is a great example of UF that straddles the
line into horror
5. The Craft Sequence by Max Gladstone, which starts with Three
Parts Dead, is a great example of what makes UF so hard to
compartmentalize--this fantasy novel takes place in an urban environment where
the natural laws on the existence of magic are completely different from our
world, and yet aspects of the city and its denizens still seem so universal and
relatable.
6. The
Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black can stand in for the vampire
books that are sometimes labeled "paranormal" (with or without
"romance" added to it), sometimes fantasy, but in my mind are UF.
7. Daughter
of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor is another that fits the above
description (but not with vampires).
8. Gail Carriger's YA Finishing School series, which begins
with Etiquette
and Espionage, is another world that could equally be described as
steampunk or UF. Her Parasol
Protectorate series, which starts with Soulless, is more on the paranormal
end of the scale, in my opinion.
9. Cassandra Clare's books, especially her Infernal
Devices series, also straddles that steampunk/UF/paranormal line.
10. Christopher
Moore’s books, which are shelved in general fiction in most bookstores,
although they have elements of magical realism, urban fantasy, fantasy,
mythology, and horror to various degrees. My favorite is his A Dirty Job, and
there’s a sequel to it coming out in August.
The re-release of Crow's Rest is coming from Crow & Pitcher Press on May 22, 2018! As a way to pay tribute to its previous life as my debut novel, I'm sharing teasers and material from those early blog tours for the next several weeks.
Then, as the release day approaches, I'll switch gears and drive us right into the new release with all new teasers. So remember to check back here on the blog on Thursdays!
Then, as the release day approaches, I'll switch gears and drive us right into the new release with all new teasers. So remember to check back here on the blog on Thursdays!
The re-release of Crow's Rest is coming from Crow & Pitcher Press on May 22, 2018! As a way to pay tribute to its previous life as my debut novel, I'm sharing teasers and material from those early blog tours for the next several weeks.
Then, as the release day approaches, I'll switch gears and drive us right into the new release with all new teasers. So remember to check back here on the blog on Thursdays!
ARJ’s Top Ten Creatures from Myths and Legends
1. Kelpies: these water-horses have fascinated me since I was a child. I was horse crazy to begin with, and then you add in magic? Yes, please! The bit about them drowning and/or devouring people didn’t faze me a bit; I just knew I would be the exception and the kelpie and I would become fast friends. Fortunately, this belief was never tested, because older-me fears I would have just been another tasty morsel.
2. The Wild Hunt: this is another one that combined my love of horses with hounds, and like Hagrid and his blast-ended screwts, as a child I refused to believe their sinister reputation. Once I got older and more morbid, their sinister reputation was what renewed my fascination, lol. The Wild Hunt makes an appearance in the Crow’s Rest sequel, Merlin’s Stronghold.
3. Puca: I’m a sucker for trickster characters, and a puca is the ultimate trickster. If you haven’t seen the movie Harvey with Jimmy Stewart, I highly recommend that as an introduction. The film features the puca’s rabbit form, but they’re also fond of goat, horse, or dog shapes.
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| Art by ARJ |
5. Unicorns: yes, I admit I was one of those girls whose bedroom walls were covered in unicorn posters, and who toted around a sticker book containing 90% of the unicorn decals ever manufactured. They were like the best horse ever, but with an upgrade. My very first attempt at a novel, when I was around eleven, included unicorn and werewolf characters, lol
6. Selkie: One of my all-time favorite movies is The Secret of Roan Inish, a story of a young girl who tries to reclaim her baby brother, lost to the seals. It’s a great example of how the Fae can protect human folk, and aren’t always sinister.
7. Hedley Kow: You can find the tale of the Hedley Kow here, but he’s basically another shapeshifting trickster. His tricks are more on the prank end of the spectrum, than on the “laughing while they devour you alive” side.
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| The Hedley Kow as pictured in More English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs (public domain) |
8. Cat Sith: this is a creature that must be appeased with a wake that includes games, singing, dancing, storytelling, and offerings, lest it steal the soul of your dead loved one. I may have shared a home with this sinister black cat for twenty-plus years, but I could never prove it. She answered to Tippy.
9. Pegasus: are you noticing the fantasy-horse theme among my favorites? What could be better than a horse that actually flies? I remember reading a book where some children climb up a pole to the gas station’s sign, a flying red horse, and bring it to life. They fly off on adventures, and I was so envious. Then there are the actual Pegasus myths from Greece, which are epic in their own right.
10. Corbin: okay, so this is the creature I made up for Crow’s Rest. But a corbin and his trickster ways, along with a more young adult sexiness, combines all the things I love about mythical and legendary creatures. So even though corbin don’t have as long of a history as his puca brethren (they’re closely related), they will always have a place in my heart.
The re-release of Crow's Rest is coming from Crow & Pitcher Press on May 22, 2018! As a way to pay tribute to its previous life as my debut novel, I'm sharing teasers and material from those early blog tours for the next several weeks.
Then, as the release day approaches, I'll switch gears and drive us right into the new release with all new teasers. So remember to check back here on the blog on Thursdays!
Then, as the release day approaches, I'll switch gears and drive us right into the new release with all new teasers. So remember to check back here on the blog on Thursdays!
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