Pages

Monday, December 30, 2013

My 2013 in review

This is my year in pictures and links. I tried to stuck to two or three links per month but there were times when there was so much going on it was difficult to follow my own rule.

You won't find much soul-searching here; 2013 was a truly fabulous year.

January

Amazing what low light can do...
February
The finished cover ends up looking even better, I think
March
The SCOTUS hearings go so well I just want to send everyone flowers
April
May
Photo by the incomparable Jennifer Durham
June
Photo by Tony Valenzuela
July
Photo by Christine Doyle
August
Photo by Karina Melendez
September
Photo by Jennifer Durham
October
  • I have an excellent adventure at the PNBA, in which I discover it's just like a science fiction convention, and sign my first copies--about 200!--of Hild.
  • The whole month is about Hild. Lots of reviews and interviews start to go up.
November
Photo by Jim Berg
December
As I say, it was a great year. I posted less than usual because I was overwhelmed with work. Overwork is probably what triggered the MS exacerbation, too. But it could have been the sheer excitement. Even exhilaration is physiologically stressful.

I'm getting over it--though still not willing to travel for a few weeks--and I'm pretty sure 2014 will be amazing, brilliant, and marvellous for me and Kelley.

I hope 2014 brings you all you dream (and plan, and work) for.
This blog has moved. My blog now lives here: http://nicolagriffith.com/blog/

Print

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Hild sales graph

This pleases me very much.


This is a graph from my Bookscan sales numbers for Hild. You can see where pre-orders kickstart the whole thing when the book debuts on 11.12.13. Then a natural dip as everyone catches their breath. Then sales start picking up again with word of mouth. After the NYTBR ad they zoom.

I haven't included actual numbers for two reasons. One, Bookscan doesn't cover the whole market--some Big Box stores and some big independents don't report--so I don't have access to what's going on, ah, off the page. And, two, it's about money, and while I'll happily share money details with friends and family I've become American enough to understand that talking about it in public is Not Done. Also, I literally have no clue what kind of sales the audiobook is enjoying. And I mean none, no window at all. (Mainly because I forgot to ask...) So a more mature assessment will come later. 

But: Woo hoo! This is absolutely thrilling for a writer: the more people read, the more they tell their friends. It's like a dream. It won't last, of course (more's the pity!) but meanwhile I'm enjoying every minute.
This blog has moved. My blog now lives here: http://nicolagriffith.com/blog/

Print

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Photon torpedoes for Christmas...

I love Christmas. I love explosions. Is there anything better than combining the two? There is not! So here you go. (It's becoming an annual tradition...)



For those who wished Hild had dragons, I made this one for you. Have a wonderful day. I intend to.

This blog has moved. My blog now lives here: http://nicolagriffith.com/blog/

Print

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Hild comps: winners!

A while back I said I'd do the final tally for our Hild comps competion around Thanksgiving. I must have been on crack; reviews are still coming in. But the holidays are upon us, it's time to call it a wrap.

If I count only public reviews from either well-known authors or well-respected journals (listed in one of the eight Hild roundups), then in addition to the previously listed Hilary Mantel, Sigrid Undset, T.H. White, George R.R. Martin, Ellis Peters, Rosemary Sutcliff, J.R.R. Tolkien, whoever wrote Beowulf, the person to whom we attribute the Arthur legends, Seamus Heaney, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Roger Deakin, Robert Macfarlane, Rudyard Kipling, Frank Herbert, Ursula K. Le Guin, Alison Weir, and Umberto Eco we can add Dorothy Dunnett and Mary Renault.

That makes the count, by number and gender (male pseudonyms count as men, female as women):

      20 total: 2 undeclared, 8 women, 10 men

The respective gender percentages work out at:

     10% undeclared, 40% women, 50% men

Possibly because I did such a poor job of laying out the rules, possibly because many of you don't seem to like to play by what rules I did lay down, there was no clear winner. Even after work with pencil and paper (hey, it's that time of year; it seemed more appropriate than a calculator app) it was difficult. Add to that the fact that I'm not at all sure I always remembered to count comparisons (you try calming counting when you want to beam and chortle and caper and you're telling all and sundry, Now this reviewer is very, very smart! Their genius shines from them! I bet their eyes are lovely, too! And their taste in clothes!) and, well, there's really no point in being rigid about it.

So I took the names of those who coloured even vaguely inside the lines and put them in a hat--okay, a tupperware container--and asked Kelley to pick one. She was in the middle of pondering a new baking experiment (involving oatmeal and raisins, drool) so to make the interruption seem worth her while I said, What the hell, pick two!

And the two winners are:

     Lilian Shen
     Cheryl74


Congratulations! Drop me email (asknicola2 at nicolagriffith dot com) which includes the the address you want the book sent to and who you'd like it signed for. I'll get them in the mail before the end of the year.


As for the gender spread itself if I had included private correspondence then the tilt towards men would be even more pronounced. This might merit its own post down the line. For now, though, those oatmeal cookies are calling...
This blog has moved. My blog now lives here: http://nicolagriffith.com/blog/

Print

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Hild roundup #8

This will be the last links roundup, I think. Hild's been out six weeks and the pace of reviews and interviews is slowing. There are one or two to come but I'll just link to them as and when they appear.

Previous roundups are here. At some point (when need some avoidance behaviour) I'll create a roundup ΓΌber page for those fanatics who wish to wallow in all things Hild.

REVIEWS

The Sunday Guardian
"Perhaps Griffith's greatest achievement here is in not giving Hild a modern mind. […] Hild is immersive and feminist, and believable. Whether this is historical fiction or fantasy (and Griffith suggests that perhaps there needn't be a distinction between the two) it's complex and intelligent."

Val's Random Comments
(Neither random nor by someone called Val, but long and discursive and interesting.)
"Hild is a fascinating piece of literature. […]  It is also one of the most rewarding reads I've come across this year. I can't wait for the continuation of Hild's story. When that book is published it will no doubt jump right to the top of my to read list."

The Next 50
"If you have any interest at all in historical fiction, the Middle Ages in Britain, the change from pagan religions to Christianity, the early church in Britain, the role of women in medieval times, etc., READ THIS BOOK. […] I understand from the afterword that there is a second book in the works.  I can hardly wait.  This one will be going to the nursing home with me (if I still have all my marbles) because it is a gorgeous read and I look forward to re-reading it repeatedly in the future."

Journey of Faith
Stories
(Fascinating stuff, from the perspective of faith.)
"Like all great novels, Hild transcends the world it describes. […] Karen Armstrong writes in A Short History of Myth, that mythology (like good fiction) is fundamentally about our experience. 'A myth was an event which, in some sense, had happened once, but which also happened all the time. Because of our strictly chronological view of history, we have no word for such an occurrence, but mythology is an art form that points beyond history to what is timeless in human existence.' But 'myth is not a story told for its own sake. It shows us how we should behave.' […] Perhaps it's time to let this image of being 'the light of the world' change me more completely.  Perhaps it's time to see how far my light can shine."

The AudioBookaneers
Release week: Nicola Griffith's Hild

"Curious, I stayed up past midnight Monday night to jump aboard, and am well, well pleased with Hewitt’s narration, though far from finished as the audiobook runs well into a 24th hour. It’s a book I’ve been eagerly waiting all year."

MISCELLANEOUS

Three writers at Ambling Along the Aqueduct put Hild on their end-of-year list:

"It is, simply, the best book I read this year—and there were others that came damn close. But Hild wields more beauty, strength, passion, wit, sex, fear, glory, grue, delicacy, and magnificence than any book has a right to. Griffith, as Eileen Gunn put it, “writes like a commando”—she takes you away to wherever she wants and you can’t refuse to go. I went. I’ll go back again willingly for any sequels she cares to manifest."

"The new Nicola Griffith novel, Hild, contains only homeopathic quantities of fantasy. And yet, much like a work of Magic Realism, it is set in a world where everyone believes in magic, and consequently for them magic does exist. That world is 7th Century Britain... Griffith does a magnificent job of creating this world, and because her central character is female it is a world we see very much through women’s eyes."

"Nicola Griffith’s Hild is also one of my favorite books of the year. Like Fowler, Griffith does not confine herself to any one genre, though also like Fowler, I think her books will interest sf/f readers regardless of whether she is writing sf, thrillers, or – as with this one – historical fiction. This book pulled me into 7th Century Britain, making the dirt and menace of the times very real and yet allowing me to live fully in another world – one of the real pleasures I get out of fine sf/f. I can hardly wait for the sequel, because – in time-honored fashion – I want to know what happened next."

Last week started with a bang. On Sunday there was, of course, this:


On Tuesday the audiobook came out.

And on Wednesday I posted two video clips:



And now Hild will take a bit of a rest. I know she's going on a least one roadtrip...

This blog has moved. My blog now lives here: http://nicolagriffith.com/blog/

Print

Friday, December 20, 2013

Winter wonderland

We woke this morning to a winter wonderland. It won't last—for which, frankly, I'm grateful. (We live at the bottom of a hill. Snow and ice = housebound.) But for now it makes everything look serene and snug.


This blog has moved. My blog now lives here: http://nicolagriffith.com/blog/

Print

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Flowers and sunshine

A wonderful way to start the day. I think it's going to be a good one. I hope yours is, too.
This blog has moved. My blog now lives here: http://nicolagriffith.com/blog/

Print

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Video of Hild reading and Q&A

The Hild audiobook came out yesterday. In celebration, here are two short videos taken from the Hugo House gig in Seattle last month. 

First, the longest: 31 minutes of the real me, complete with, ah, language. I'm answering readers' questions about all kinds of stuff: research, writing process, knowing the ending before you begin, publicity for aspiring writers, and so on.


Second, one of the readings--from the very beginning of the book--which is much shorter, about 8 minutes long:



There's more; we got the whole evening on tape. If you like these clips
I'll post the whole enormous video (intro of me, my intro to the evening, two readings, whole Q and A). It's long, absolutely, but if that kind of thing floats your boat...

All camera work by the amazing Kurt Lorenz.
This blog has moved. My blog now lives here: http://nicolagriffith.com/blog/

Print

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Hild audiobook is out!


Hild: my very first audiobook! Nearly 24 hours of luscious narration by Pearl Hewitt. Available today from:



And a zillion other fine retailers that I forgot to hunt down but will do very soon.
This blog has moved. My blog now lives here: http://nicolagriffith.com/blog/

Print

Monday, December 16, 2013

Note for readers of Hild: Extras!

In Hild, both digital and print, there is a map. And pronunciation guide. And glossary. And note about Hild-the-real-person. And family tree. ALL RIGHT THERE IN THE FINISHED BOOK (though not the galleys). You just have to look for them.

For those who are reading on Nook or Kindle or Kobo or other app, and don't like popping in and out of the narrative to look at the extras (I've tried it; it's a bit of a chore) I recommend downloading PDFs of said extras (available here) and keeping handy on another device or--gasp--as print-outs.

Obviously if you have a hardcover you don't need to do any of that, because you can just flip to the map and family tree (at the front) or the biographical note, glossary, and pronunciation guide (at the back). Thumbs + print = radically efficient technology. Though digital is cheaper and much, much lighter...

But whether you're reading print or digital, you might also want to check out the 140+ character list, or Dramatis Personae, which I put together last week.

Enjoy. And, seriously people, I do not want to hear, ever again, that "There should be a map!" or "a glossary might be a good idea" or "the author should at least have indicated how to pronounce all those names..."  I have, I did. Go look.

This blog has moved. My blog now lives here: http://nicolagriffith.com/blog/

Print

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Look at this!

Today's New York Times Book Review. Now that's what I call placement...
This blog has moved. My blog now lives here: http://nicolagriffith.com/blog/

Print

Saturday, December 14, 2013

San Francisco is cancelled

I won't be at Writers With Drinks after all. Like my mini-tour of the midwest, I've had to cancel.

For the first time in years I'm having an MS exacerbation. Why? No idea. It could be a recent swap in medication. It could be the relentless workload. It could be just that, well, I have MS and it tends to act in mysterious ways.

This has taken me off guard. (In fact I feel quite affronted by the timing, mutter mutter.) I'm no longer cancelling absolutely everything the way I was a couple of weeks ago--I did a local reading earlier in the week that went pretty well, and a video interview a couple of days ago--but it's clear that getting on a plane at the moment is a stupid idea.

So Kelley and I will not be travelling to San Francisco this year after all. For those whose plans I've messed with, I apologise.

This blog has moved. My blog now lives here: http://nicolagriffith.com/blog/

Print

Friday, December 13, 2013

Hild roundup #7

Three pieces of Hild news:
  • The hardcover, which has been out four weeks and three days, has just gone into a third printing
  • The audiobook will go on sale on Wednesday, 17 December; it's available for pre-order
  • If you don't subscribe to the New York Times Book Review you might want to buy the edition dated 12/15. Not a review but... Chortle.
Meanwhile, here's the latest links roundup for Hild. It's not everything; I haven't included a zillion reviews from places like Goodreads and Amazon and smaller personal blogs because it's just too hard to keep track. But if you see something you think I might have missed, please let me know. Previous roundups available here.

REVIEWS
The Week
Novel of the week: Hild
"This 'fierce, brilliant, and accomplished book' brings to life a 7th-century England in which women worked in every corner of the economy."
(print only for now, but they liked it)

Fox Home
"Despite gruesome scenes of battle and torture this is a book that can be called lovely, because this is a book about seeing. We see a beautiful land that is still mostly natural. We see it through the eyes of Hild..."

Keep the Wisdom
Hild
"I have spent the last four days in seventh century Britain so fully engrossed in its brutal and beautiful world that sitting down at my computer feels like I have come back to the future."

Literary Omnivore
Review: Hild

Bookpage

Sacramento News and Review
From Pagan to Saint, Kel Munger

MISCELLANEOUS
And finally one dog, at least, likes Hild as much as cats seem to:
Petunia will fight you for a book
This blog has moved. My blog now lives here: http://nicolagriffith.com/blog/

Print

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Hild audiobook

From: Darlene 
I've been checking audible.com everyday for Hild. Any chance I'll ever find it there? If not, I've got my Kindle ready to roll! Your blog is really interesting,and I added some of your other books to my TBR pile. I'm ashamed to admit I've never heard of you until just recently. But I'm very glad that's been remedied! Thanks for your time.

The Hild audiobook is complete. It's narrated by Pearl Hewitt, a fellow Northerner (a Geordie rather than a Yorkshire lass--but, still, wow, how cool is that?) Sadly the original narrator, Anne Flosnik, had to withdraw from the project.

Pearl did a heroic job. This is a huge book, 23.5 hours of finished audio, and when Anne stepped down Pearl stepped into the breach with aplomb and, as one of my favourite fictional characters might say, took it on the volley.

It will be released 12/17 and is now available for pre-order:
And probably others which I'll add as they become available.
This blog has moved. My blog now lives here: http://nicolagriffith.com/blog/

Print

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Hild dramatis personae

From: Rio 

For my 92-year old mother, who is well into Hild, which I’ve just finished and loved, could someone create a cast list or dramatis personae? She is flummoxed by all the names, so similar to one another, and the back material is too meager to support such an ample and abundant book. (I wrote all over the map, to amplify it.) I say, "Just read on, the context will make all clear," but she’s a bit discouraged. Yet reading is her life, and her father was from the area, so she wants so much to read it. And then I say, "It’s one of the rare books that actually surges in energy in the middle, and then keeps building. And how did the last chapter manage to be a surprise after all that?" Well done.
Thank you. I'm delighted you like Hild well enough to write all over it! I'm sorry your mum's having a hard time with it, though. If I'd had an extra year I would have created all kinds of spiffing extras, including a Dramatis Personae that would have made readers swoon: organised by dynasty and/or geographic region, complete with witty asides and representations of the family crest, for example the Yffing boar.

Instead, here's a PDF of about 150 characters from Hild, in alphabetical order, with a brief note about who/where each belongs. Enjoy.

If any kind soul feels like a) filling in the gaps and b) making the whole thing pretty, here's an Excel spreadsheet of the Hild characters to play with... (ETA: I changed the settings so anyone can view and comment.)
This blog has moved. My blog now lives here: http://nicolagriffith.com/blog/

Print

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Seattle Public Library: Tuesday, 12/10, 7 pm

If you're going to be in Seattle the night of Tuesday December 10, please join me for a fantabulous evening in the Microsoft Auditorium at the spectacular downtown central library

Here's a confession: I've never set foot in that building before. So come on down and make me feel welcome. In return I'll give you a rip-roaring evening of assassination, derring-do, and growing up, and I will answer just about any question you ask. (The Q and A is one of the things I like best; I get to tell outrageous stories. Some of them are even true...)

Also, I'll sign your book--which hopefully you will buy from the most amazing University Book Store, which will be sponsoring the event. 

You know you love Ubooks. You know you love SPL. And you know you love a great story. So come and hang out for an hour or two. And let me take you back fourteen hundred years to a child called Hild who is about to have her life changed--and in turn start changing others...
This blog has moved. My blog now lives here: http://nicolagriffith.com/blog/

Print

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Hild Kindle version now only $6.49

In The best way to buy Hild I outlined all the various factors to take into account when buying a copy of Hild for yourself or as a present for someone else. I come down in favour of a hardcover from your local independent book shop.

But for those who are devoted to the Kindles and Kindle apps, and are looking for an inexpensive gift for the holidays, Amazon currently has Hild on sale for $6.49.

Why? I don't know. But I do get the same royalty as before so, hey, it doesn't seem worth fretting about. Think of this as a public service announcement: it's a great price; I doubt it will last beyond the weekend. (There again, it could stay at this price point forever. It's not up to me.)

Here are some juicy review quotes to whet your appetite:

"Steeping us in the taste of seventh-century England's mead, the weight and warmth of its gorgeously woven and embroidered fabrics, and the myriad sights, sounds and scents of long ago, Seattle writer Nicola Griffith has created a marvel and a joy." -- The Seattle Times

"Hild is a book as loving as it is fierce, brilliant and accomplished. To read it felt like a privilege and a gift." -- NPR Books

"The novel resonates to many of the same chords as Beowulf, the legends 
of King Arthur, Lord of the Rings, and Game of Thrones -- to the extent that Hild begins to feel like the classic on which those books are based." -- Neal Stephenson

"...passionate fiction: a novel of loneliness, fear, love, desire and joy in living, and surviving." -- Vulpes Libris
This blog has moved. My blog now lives here: http://nicolagriffith.com/blog/

Print

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Hild roundup #6

As I'm sure most of you know I've had to cancel a bunch o' stuff in the Midwest this week. But I will be fit enough for the big Seattle Central Library bash on Tuesday 12/10 (7 pm--it's free!) so if you're in town I hope you'll join me. And right now things are looking good for Writers With Drinks in San Francisco on Saturday 12/14 (doors open at 7 pm--it's not free, though I'm assured no one would be turned away if they can't afford the sliding scale cover).

So while I recover, here are the latest snippets about Hild that I've rounded up for your delectation and delight. (Roundups #1-5 available here.)

REVIEWS
The Inferior 4
"The other thing that makes Hild a terrific read is the prose, which is gorgeous. I could quote parts of this book all day: "Long-legged birds speared shellfish, and women with sacks collected coal and driftwood, dodging the surf that ran up over the sand like the froth in a milkmaid's pail. The sky showed as blue as twice-dyed linen. The sea was restless, glinting like napped flint." Look at the alliteration: "Long-legged"; "collected coal"; "surf" and "sand" and "sky." Look at the near-rhymes: "ran" and "sand"; "twice-dyed"; "glinting" and "flint." Look at the startling similes: "as blue as twice-dyed linen"; "glinting like napped flint." It's as close as you can get to poetry in prose."

Radish Reviews
"Hild is, without a doubt, one of the best books I’ve read this year. [...] Hild is about an extraordinary, singular woman. It’s about the women in her life and the constraints they lived under and how they were still able to influence the path of history. They did it subtly, through weaving patterns and taking calculated risks instead of with swords and open violence, but they did it nonetheless. / This is an amazing book. Read it."

Locus Magazine
Hild review by Cecelia Holland
"Time after time, a sentence brings you there – "slack tide, when the muscular surge of the water stops, is just gone, like a dying man’s breath." "The rain was coming down like rods of glass from an iron lid of a sky." [...] As an evocation of the Dark Ages it’s a beautiful read, reminding me often of Dorothy Dunnett’s King Hereafter and Sigrid Undset’s Kristin Lavransdatter."
(No link because it's only in the print edition (Dec 2013) but it's well worth seeking out for Holland's interesting approach to the ease/difficulty approach of 16th vs. 7th centuries in fiction.) 

The lost Entwife
"Hild takes on history with imagination, a deft writing style, and some of the most complex, gorgeous storytelling ability I have ever read. […] So, first of all, let me talk about Griffith’s writing. It’s masterful and beautiful and all those adjectives that people use to try to describe a brilliant writing style. But, more than anything, what struck me was how knowledgeable it was. I really don’t want to just gush over this book more. Suffice it to say that any serious historical fiction fan, or really, anyone who has had a passing interest in the Dark Ages, should check Hild out."

Books By the Willow Tree
Hild by Nicola Griffith, Marie G Johansen
"I don't know where to start. I read a lot, generally at least two books a week. I love large, thick books that can take awhile to read. When I love a book, the longer it lasts the better it is! I read with enjoyment. I don't spend my reading time with anything that I don't enjoy, which is why I seldom give books less than 3 stars here or on any other site on which I post my reviews. Actually, most of my reviews are 4-5 stars. This one should have at last 7 stars by that reckoning. Some books, very few actually, are finished but stay with me, like the after taste of a particularly fine something .. wine, chocolate, a favorite dessert or meal. This book is staying with me, and I am wishing that the sequel was already available so that I could continue to savor the reading. [...] Ms. Griffith is a master at prose. This book, in places, reads more like poetry, each word so finely tuned that they sing like a finely tuned violin or as the voices in a perfectly pitched acapella."

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
"It is an astonishing book. And one filled with beauty and power. Griffith’s prose is spare, but her eye for line and rhythm, the perfect turn of a phrase, is hard to match. The world she depicts feels real, textured, nuanced: full of patterns, complicated relationships, violence, love, need. Hild herself is a fantastic character, and Griffith explores the loneliness to which her pattern-seeing, bright, sharp mind and adamantine will subjects her with grace, and power, and elegant brutality." 


MISCELLANEOUS
This blog has moved. My blog now lives here: http://nicolagriffith.com/blog/

Print

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Madison and Chicago cancelled

I am very sorry to say I've had to cancel my trip to the midwest. Kelley and I won't be reading at Room of One's Own on Tuesday. I won't be at Women and Children First on Wednesday. And if you're a student at the University of Indiana, I won't be talking to you in Gary on Thursday.

My apologies for the late notice. More news when I have it.

This blog has moved. My blog now lives here: http://nicolagriffith.com/blog/

Print