CANR
WORK TITLE: The Queen of Nothing
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WEBSITE: http://www.blackholly.com/
CITY: Amherst
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NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 341
http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/holly-black/the-coldest-girl-in-coldtown/9780316213103/ http://thebooksmugglers.com/2013/09/book-review-the-coldest-girl-in-coldtown-by-holly-black.html http://dearauthor.com/book-reviews/overall-b-reviews/b-reviews/review-the-coldest-girl-in-coldtown-by-holly-black/
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born November 10, 1971, in NJ; daughter of Donald and Judy Riggenbach; married Theodor Black (a painter), 1999.
EDUCATION:Attended Temple University, 1990-92; College of New Jersey, B.A., 1995; graduate study at Rutgers University, 2001-03.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Worked as a production editor on medical journals and for d8 magazine, New York, NY.
AVOCATIONS:Reading, fairy tales, urban fantasy, gothic decorating, collecting ball-jointed dolls (dollfies), reading teen/young-adult fiction.
AWARDS:Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults selection, America Library Association (ALA), Best Books for Young Adults selection, ALA, and Books for the Teen Age selection, New York Public Library (NYPL), all for Tithe; International Reading Association/Children’s Book Council Children’s Choice selection, for The Field Guide; Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers selection, ALA, Best Books for Young Adults selection, ALA, Books for the Teen Age selection, NYPL, and Andre Norton Award, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, 2006, all for Valiant; Newberry Honor Book designation, and Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature, both 2014, both for Doll Bones; Romantic Times Choice Award for middle-grade protagonist, 2014, for The Iron Trial; Silver Inky Award, 2019, for The Cruel Prince.
WRITINGS
Contributor to anthologies, including The Faery Reel, edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, Penguin (New York, NY), 2004; 21 Proms, edited by David Levithan and Daniel Ehrenhaft, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2007; and Magic in the Mirrorstone, edited by Steve Berman, Wizards of the Coast (Renton, WA), 2008. Contributor of articles and poems, under name Holly Riggenbach, to d8 magazine. Contributor to A Flight of Angels, DC Comics (New York, NY), 2011.
The “Spiderwick Chronicles” series was adapted for film as The Spiderwick Chronicles, Paramount Pictures, 2008. The original screenplay was also adapted for novelizations. The “Curse Workers” series has been optioned for film by Vertigo Pictures.
SIDELIGHTS
Fantasy writer Holly Black is the author of the best-selling “Spiderwick Chronicles” novel series, about three youngsters who discover a magical world of faerie-folk, including goblins, boggarts, and sprites. Black has also written a number of titles for older readers, including Tithe, and has coedited the humorous anthology Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd. “I think that I have an interest in faeries because more than any other supernatural creature, they seem to have escaped the confines of morality,” Black stated on her home page. “They embody contradiction; their very nature is conflicted.” She added that “faerie ballads are terrifying.”
Black recalled on her home page that she developed an early interest in the supernatural. Her mother, a painter and dollmaker, read her books about ghosts and faeries, which led Black and her sister to concoct their own witches’ brews while they cared for their pet rats. Black was interested in Dungeons and Dragons role-playing as an adolescent, as well as listening to punk rock, reading, and writing poetry. She attended college in Philadelphia, where she married Theodor Black, a painter. They later moved to New Jersey, where she worked for the gaming magazine d8. During this time, she met illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi, who provides the artwork for her “Spiderwick Chronicles” series for young adults.
In an interview on the Seven Impossible Things before Breakfast Web site, Black noted: “I have loved faerie folklore since I was a kid and my mom brought home Brian Froud and Alan Lee’s Faeries. That was the book that made me realize that faeries were dangerous.” She added that her work has also been influenced by folklorists Dermot MacManus, Katharine Brigg, and Robert Kirk, as well as by contemporary urban fantasy authors, such as de Lint, Terri Windling, and Ellen Kushner. “What I want most of all, in my own writing,” Black stated, “is to evoke the sense of the numinous that both their writing and the folklore inspire.”
The protagonist in Black’s first novel, Tithe, is sixteen-year-old Kaye Fierch, a high-school dropout who spends much of her time shoplifting and caring for her mother, a would-be rock star who performs in third-rate clubs. When her mother’s boyfriend becomes violent, Kaye and her mother retreat to Kaye’s grandmother’s house on the Jersey shore, where Kaye reunites with childhood friend Janet and Janet’s homosexual brother, Corny.
After an encounter in an abandoned building with Janet’s boyfriend, Kaye stumbles upon Roiben at the forest’s edge, and she rescues this beautiful, wounded knight with silver hair. Kaye, who has always been seen as a bit different by the other girls, soon comes to understand why faeries have been a part of her life since childhood. In fact, she is a changeling pixie, and her childhood faerie playmates return and entreat her to pretend she is human so that they can use her as an offering to release them from the power of the dark Unseelie queen. Complicating matters, however, is Kaye’s attraction to Roiben, one of the dark faeries and part of the Unseelie world from which Kaye’s otherworldly friends wish to be free.
Reviewing Tithe for School Library Journal, Beth Wright commented that “the greatest strength of the story lies in the settings, particularly the descriptions of the debased Unseelie Court.” Writing in Booklist, Gillian Engberg called the book “dark, edgy [and] … compulsively readable.” Locus reviewer Carolyn Cushman described Tithe as “an unusually powerful YA contemporary fantasy,” and a Kirkus Reviews contributor called it a “stunning debut,” continuing that “a labyrinthine plot with Goth sensibility makes this a luscious treat for fans of urban fantasy and romantic horror.”
Black returns to her faerie world in Valiant, “a story weaving adolescent subculture, the dark side of the city, and those glimpses of the shadow side that most of us miss,” according to Kliatt reviewer Michele Winship. The novel concerns seventeen-year-old Valerie Russell, who runs away to New York City after finding her boyfriend in the arms of her mother. Valerie falls in with a group of teenagers who inhabit the tunnels of the subway system, a place where the faerie world and reality coexist. She also finds herself bound to Ravus, a troll who may be involved in a plot to kill faeries. In Valiant, “Black puts enough twists and turns into [her plot] to keep even a jaded reader from figuring out where it’s going next,” commented the noted fantasy author Charles de Lint in a review for Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. “And the freshness of her work,” de Lint continued, “lies more in the harsh realities that fill the lives of her characters.”
Discussing her inspiration for Valiant, Black told an interviewer on the Simon & Schuster website: “In my life, I’ve had several friends and acquaintances who have, at one point or another, lived on the street. I’ve found the experience of homelessness to be either romanticized or demonized in much fantasy fiction. I wanted to write something that was more true to my own experiences. I attempted to portray the range of circumstances that might bring a person to live on the street—other than abuse at home—and write about some of the people I’ve known.”
In Ironside, a sequel to Tithe, warring factions led by Roiben, Kaye’s boyfriend, and Silarial threaten both the ethereal realm of the faeries, as well as New York City, known as “Ironside” to the faeries.
The author “has a vigorous writing style, great dialogue, and a cast of genuinely likable characters that you can’t abandon once you’ve started reading a book of hers,” de Lint stated. According to Eva Mitnick, reviewing the work in School Library Journal, Ironside “will appeal to readers who like their magic served with a layer of urban grit.”
Black’s “Spiderwick Chronicles” series begins with The Field Guide and The Seeing Stone. In the first title, readers follow the adventures of Grace siblings Mallory, Jared, and Simon as they move with their mother to the eerie, ramshackle Victorian house owned by their great-aunt Lucinda. After hearing strange noises in the walls, Jared begins to poke around the house, eventually finding Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World around You, a guide for navigating the sometimes dangerous fairy world. The second volume in the series, The Seeing Stone, finds Simon kidnapped, with Mallory and Jared compelled to rescue their brother.
Calling the initial volume “snappy,” a Publishers Weekly critic found The Field Guide to be “an inviting package,” containing “appealing characters” and “well-measured suspense.” Although she considered the characters a bit weakly drawn in The Field Guide and The Seeing Stone, School Library Journal critic Beth L. Meister concluded that “the fast, movie-like pace will grab young readers.”
In Time magazine, Heather Won Tesoriero predicted that the “Spiderwick Chronicles” series, with its “dusty Olde Worlde charm,” might attract readers too young for J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” books or Lemony Snicket’s “A Series of Unfortunate Events” adventures. New York Times Book Review contributor Scott Veale offered praise for the series, citing Black’s narrative as well as DiTerlizzi’s artwork: “With their evocative gothic-style pencil drawings and color illustrations, rhyming riddles, supernatural lore and well-drawn characters,” Veale wrote, “these books read like old-fashioned ripping yarns.”
The third title in the “Spiderwick Chronicles,” Lucinda’s Secret, follows the children as they discover an old map leading them to a secret forest, despite an ominous warning from their great-aunt Lucinda. DiTerlizzi’s “black-and-white Arthur Rackhamesque illustrations add a satisfyingly eerie note to this mock-gothic tale,” observed School Library Journal contributor Elaine E. Knight.
Black continues the story of the Grace children in The Ironwood Tree. Here, after Mallory disappears, Jared and Simon learn that she has been taken by evil dwarves who want to construct a world made of metal and install their sister as its ruler. In the opinion of de Lint, “Black does her usual first-rate job of keeping things moving at a good pace, leavening the proceedings with equal parts whimsy and darkness.”
The series continues in The Wrath of Mulgarath, as Mallory, Jared, and Simon must save their mother from the clutches of an evil goblin king named Mulgarath. Readers “looking for spirited YA adventure that moves along at a happy clip and plays with all the fairy elements brought up in the previous books” will be satisfied, de Lint stated.
Asked to describe the success of the “Spiderwick Chronicles” series, Black noted in an interview on the Simon & Schuster Web site that “Jared, Simon, and Mallory are just regular kids in a magical world—their only powers are cleverness, compassion, and bravery. I think that kids respond to the idea of there being magic in their own backyards. I think we all like to believe that the world around us is a fantastical place, even if the magic is hidden from us most of the time.”
Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World around You and "Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles" Series
Black and DiTerlizzi have also produced a number of companion volumes to the “Spiderwick Chronicles” books, including Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World around You. The work, purported to be a reproduction of the guide discovered by the Grace children, contains descriptions and drawings of household brownies, fire salamanders, and griffins, among other creatures. “Fantasy readers will love immersing themselves in the lore of the hidden,” noted Walter Minkel in School Library Journal.
Black launched a spin-off series, “Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles,” with the publication of The Nixie’s Song. In the story, three children help a water nixie find her missing sisters and battle a terrifying dirt giant. According to Booklist critic Suzanne Harold, the new work contains “the same sly humor and old-fashioned design that marked the original series.” Black’s Florida-based “Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles” series continues with A Giant Problem and concludes with The Wyrm King.
Working with illustrator Ted Naifeh, Black initiated a new series, “The Good Neighbors,” with the graphic novel Kin. In a statement on the Scholastic Web site, Black expounded on some of the reasons she turned to the graphic novel format: “I’ve always loved comics and in college I actually hung around with a bunch of comic artists. I was still trying to learn how to create a coherent plot, so although I tried to write some comic pages back then, they were very bad. Then, when I started writing novels, I felt like I’d headed off in another direction.” However, after coming up with the basic idea for “The Good Neighbors,” it was suggested to her that the tale might do well an extended comic or a graphic novel. As she further remarked on the Scholastic Web site: “It was a challenge to try and write for a different medium, but it was a good challenge. I think it really let me stretch and was also a lot of fun.”
Kin introduces Rue Silver, a sixteen-year-old who begins seeing strange things around her sleepy town, including people with the wings and faces of animals. When her mother disappears, Rue’s world is sundered, and now her visions take on a surreal tinge. She fears she is going insane. Then, when her professor father is arrested for allegedly killing one of his students, Rue finds herself in serious trouble. Her father is also the prime suspect in her mother’s disappearance, but now Rue learns the truth about her background: her mother was actually of faerie blood. This explains Rue’s visions and her newfound abilities, such as becoming invisible or conversing with ivy plants. All of this is related to Rue by her grandfather, Aubrey, who is also of the faerie realm. When Rue finds herself torn between her human life and life in the faerie realm, she also turns investigator to find her missing mother and prove her father innocent of murder.
Kliatt reviewer George Galuschak had praise for Kin , noting that “Rue is a likable protagonist, a strong yet vulnerable woman who is in the process of self-discovery.” School Library Journal contributor Lisa Goldstein was also impressed with the graphic novel, remarking that it would appeal to “fans of intelligent, otherworldly stories.” Similarly, a Kirkus Reviews contributor predicted that, “with a healthy smattering of angst, romance and faerie lore, fans of the genre should enjoy this volume.” Horn Book reviewer Deirdre F. Baker also had a high assessment of Kin, commenting that “Black demonstrates yet again that fairy-tale imagery can be a potent metaphor for the struggles of the adolescent psyche,” while Booklist contributor Tina Coleman commended the author for doing “a wonderful job of weaving an alien faerie world through Rue’s urban landscape.” ComicMix.com reviewer Andrew Wheeler called Black “a major writer for young people,” and went on to note that Kin is “similar in plot and setting to Black’s teen novels, but … less dark-themed and dangerous.” Wheeler concluded that the “Good Neighbors” books will be enjoyed by “the hordes of young readers who love stories of dangerous, seductive figures sneaking into lives very much like their own.”
The “Good Neighbors” series continues with Kith, in which Rue must make difficult decisions that many “normal” young adult readers also confront. Here she has to decide what to do in the event that someone close to her acts in an unethical manner. Specifically, Rue discovers the plan of her not-so-nice faerie grandfather Aubrey to wall off her city from the rest of the world with a magical barrier. With the city’s buildings covered in vines and exotic creatures in place, the inhabitants will be compelled to change their lives to live according to the new system of New Avalon or perish. Other subplots include love potions and numerous characters cheating on their partners. A Publishers Weekly contributor praised the fact that Black “presents [her] strong theme deftly.” Horn Book reviewer Baker felt that, as with the first tale in the series, Black “uses faery horror as metaphor for adolescent angst and fury.” School Library Journal writer Andrea Lipinski was less impressed with this sequel, however, observing that “ Kith does not live up to the promise of Kin. ” On the other hand, John Hogan, writing for TeenReads.com, had a much higher assessment of this second book and of the author’s talents in general: “Black is adept at writing intelligent books aimed at teens and keeping the suspense elevated without letting up.” The series concluded with the 2010, Kind.
Black inaugurates another young adult fantasy series, the “Curse Workers,” with her 2010 novel, The White Cat, “a dark coming-of-age tale with a likable hero,” according to School Library Journal contributor Leah J. Sparks. From a family of curse workers, seventeen-year-old Cassel is seemingly the only one without this malevolent magical ability. While others in his family perform death curses or put emotional spells on people, Cassel is stuck with more conventional ways to make his way through life. He uses certain conman skills, as well as his intelligence, to keep a normal profile at his private school. There are lapses, however, such as dreams of a white cat that resembles his murdered friend, Lila—Cassel believes that he actually killed Lila. There are also bouts of sleepwalking and of nightmares regarding his family’s connection to the mob. Ultimately, Cassel’s independence from his family’s powers is threatened by a plot that might bring him into the world of curse workers after all.
Booklist reviewer Ilene Cooper felt that The White Cat initiates Black’s new series “with spine-tingling terror.” In a similar vein, a Publishers Weekly contributor termed the novel a “beautifully realized dark fantasy.” Boche, writing for TeenReads.com, also offered a positive assessment of The White Cat, noting that the author “has worked her magic once again with this exciting new series.” Boche added: “Cassel is an extremely relatable teenager who is struggling to figure out where he fits into his family and in life.”
Black continues her “Curse Workers” series with Red Glove, in which seventeen-year-old Cassel Sharpe once again has to use his gift of the con to do battle with his family of curse workers and with the mob to get to the bottom of his brother’s murder. Having been reunited with his great love Lila at the end of the first novel in the series, Cassel realizes that he may never really be with her, as she hates him still for having unwittingly transformed her into the white cat. Yet he has been cursed by his mother to lover Lila forever. Now FBI agents come to Cassel and tell him that Lila’s father, crime boss Zacharov, is responsible for his brother Philip’s death. Zacharov, confronted, denies this and instead offers Cassel a position in his crime syndicate. At the same time, Cassel’s brother Barron sets him up to work with a rival gang. Now Cassel must use all his conning powers to save himself and his brother. He manages to track down the real killer of Philip, and get his brother and himself into a witness protection program. In the process, he realizes he has lost Lila forever, as she now accepts fully her father’s way of life.
Booklist reviewer Heather Booth felt that this second installment of the “Curse Workers” trilogy “continues to offer a sleek and stylish blend of urban fantasy and crime noir.” Similarly, Lucy Schall, writing in Voice of Youth Advocates, felt that the novel’s “complicated plot produces nonstop action and unanticipated twists.” A Kirkus Reviews critic also had high praise for Red Glove, noting: “Dark, disturbing fare, crafted by a master; readers of the trilogy’s first will be supremely satisfied.” Likewise, a Publishers Weekly contributor commented: “This powerful, edgy dark fantasy won’t disappoint Black’s fans.” School Library Journal writer Philip S. Miller also offered a positive assessment of Red Glove, stating that it “will appeal to teens looking for a thrilling read.”
The trilogy concludes with Black Heart, in which Cassel now uses his powers of transformation working with the feds at the Licensed Minority Division against the mob. Now Cassel’s mother goes missing, and a governor is getting out of control and it seems that feds want Cassel to use his special powers to solve that problem. Then a jewel heist brings him back into the sphere of Lila, now a rising star in her crime family. Cassel must save his mother, determine how he will use is transformational powers, and also try to resurrect Lila’s love for him before it is too late.
A Kirkus Reviews critic felt that this “conclusion to Black’s brilliant and unusual ‘Curse Workers’ trilogy lives up to its predecessors.” Similarly, Brenna Shanks, writing in Voice of Youth Advocates, commented: “Fast-paced action, multifaceted characters, and an interesting paranormal world will keep readers hooked.”
Black next teamed with Cassandra Clare to write the middle-grade “Magisterium” a magic-themed saga that is comparable to the esteemed “Harry Potter” novels. The first installment, The Iron Trial, introduces readers to twelve-year-old Callum Hunt. Callum’s father is a former mage who believes that the magic academy (the Magisterium) is corrupt. Callum has taken his father’s advice to heart, and he tries to fail his Magisterium entrance exams on purpose. Unfortunately, his magical abilities are too great, and when Callum arrives at magic school, he begins to question his father’s judgment. He befriends Tamara and Aaron, and the trio enters into a series of magical adventures. By the book’s end, Callum has learned that he is the magical reincarnation of Constantine Madden, the most evil mage who ever lived.
“The end offers a few intriguing twists and perspectives that hint at what’s to come in the next installments,” Maggie Reagan observed in Booklist. Indeed, a Kirkus Reviews critic found that The Iron Trial offers “a promising beginning to a complex exploration of good and evil, as well as friendship’s loyalty.” Offering further applause on the Portrait Ezine Web site, a reviewer stated that “the last fifty pages of this novel were amazing, and so action packed. The characters have depth to them, without being cliché, and so the friendships forged throughout this novel are realistic. The ending tied things up nicely.”
Callum’s adventures continue in The Copper Gauntlet, and the poor boy is worried that he may turn evil. Callum’s friends and family are as scared of him as he is of himself, and when Callum learns that his father is plotting against the Magisterium, he is forced to choose sides. In the meantime Aaron (a chaos mage) is in danger; someone has stolen an artifact that can split chaos mages apart. Callum, Aaron, and Tamara decide to find the thief before the thief can find them, and as Elisabeth Gattullo Marrocolla put it in School Library Journal, “fans of the previous volume will relish the continuing adventures of Call and his friends.” Reagan, writing again in Booklist, was also impressed, and she advised that “Shades of ‘Harry Potter’ still linger, but this has a personality of its own.” In the words of a Kirkus Reviews contributor, Black and Clare “successfully probe the themes of good and evil even as they craft an entertainingly fast-paced read.”
Black presents her first story collection with the 2010 The Poison Eaters and Other Stories. The grouping of twelve tales “is sure to satisfy readers who crave something magical,” according to School Library Journal contributor Shawna Sherman. The supernatural world is the territory of these stories; Black writes of unicorns, vampires, fairies, and elves. One tale tells of a the temptation of one young boy to transform himself into a werewolf by eating a magical flower; another relates the story of a young girl who uses alcohol to combat her urge to become a vampire; and yet another finds a girl taking on the devil in an eating competition. Using magic correctly is, in these tales, a step toward learning to understand one’s true self.
Despite the edgy characters and often dark themes, these tales still “inspire hope, are touching and delightful,” according to Sherman. Further praise for this debut collection came from a Kirkus Reviews contributor, who felt that this book “assures [Black’s] place as a modern fantasy master.” The reviewer further felt that these “fresh and haunting … stories deserve reading again and again.” Similarly, Horn Book reviewer Lauren Adams commented: “With its wide range of subject and style, this collection of supernatural stories shows off Black’s fertile imagination.” Likewise, a Publishers Weekly contributor noted that the dozen tales in The Poison Eaters and Other Stories “often feature the edgy sexuality and angst that have become [Black’s] trademarks.” Writing for Bookslut Web site, Melissa A. Barton also commended this collection, noting: “Black has a talent for creating believable settings and characters that seem deep and fully realized even in the few pages of a short story.”
Black has also shown her skills as an editor with the 2009 collection Geektastic. Here she worked with Cecil Castellucci to “create a rousing collection of all things geek,” as TeenReads.com contributor Benjamin Boche commented. “Each story is a realistic look at the lives of teenagers who welcome their inner geek and deal with the consequences of what that all entails.” Among the authors anthologized here are Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, John Green, Hope Larson, David Levithan, Kelly Link, and Lisa Yee. Black and coeditor Castellucci also contribute a story to the collection, dealing with the love between a boy who is a Star Wars fan and a girl who is all about Star Trek.
“Geeks, old and new school, will appreciate this collection written by their own,” observed Booklist reviewer Courtney Jones. Writing for Horn Book, Claire E. Gross also had praise for Geektastic, noting that it “explores universal themes in original settings, and its talented authors bring transparent, infectious enthusiasm to what is obviously a cherished topic.” Similarly, a Publishers Weekly contributor felt that the tales in this collection “often hit at the insecurities, camaraderie and passions at the heart of geekdom.”
Black’s middle-grade novel, Doll Bones, once again takes readers into the realm of dark fantasy. Zach, Poppy, and Alice, have been friends for years, playing make-believe games that have evolved into a sort of epic quest adventure of pirates and mermaids. Now that they are twelve, such make-believe is no longer so easy. Zach’s father insists he stop playing these games, and while Zach is at school one day, his father throws out all his action figures. This enrages the young boy, but he informs his friends he is now out of the game. Poppy, however, pleads with him and Alice to have one more adventure together. They must go traveling to find the ghost who has possessed her porcelain doll. As they begin their journey, however, the ghost seems to take over their adventure.
A Kirkus Reviews contributor found Doll Bones “spooky, melancholy, elegiac and ultimately hopeful; a small gem.” Similar praise was offered by Booklist reviewer Daniel Kraus, who noted: “The tightly focused, realistic tale—bladed with a hint of fairy-tale darkness—feels cut from the very soul of youth.” Likewise, School Library Journal contributor Mandy Laferriere called this a “chilling ghost story, a gripping adventure, and a heartwarming look at the often-painful pull of adulthood.” New York Times Book Review critic Lauren Oliver also had high praise for Doll Bones, terming it a “deep, strange and compelling book, at times lovely, at other times heartbreaking and deliciously weird.”
Black ventures into vampire fiction with The Coldest Girl in Coldtown. Here the author posits a world in which Coldtowns exist, quarantined cities where vampires and those infected go to live. Tana is a seventeen-year-old high school student who awakens one morning after a party to discover that her friends are dead, bled out by vampires. Tana knows about such attacks, for when she was six, her mother was transformed into a vampire and attacked her own daughter. She discovers that her ex-boyfriend, Aidan, is still alive, but is infected. She also finds Gavriel, a handsome, red-eyed vampire who saves Tana from Aidan’s first bite. Tana escapes this scene of horror and in order to save them all, she must first break into and then out of Coldtown.
Booklist reviewer Candice Mack praised The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, writing: “Black returns with another dark, fast-paced thriller starring a sharp-witted, brave girl who does all the right things when faced with monsters.” Similarly, a Kirkus Reviews critic noted: “You may be ready to put a stake in vampire lit, but read this first: It’s dark and dangerous, bloody and brilliant.” School Library Journal contributor Jennifer Furuyama also felt that “teens with a yen for dark, futuristic novels, and maybe even a few Anne Rice readers, will find this a refreshing take on vampire lit.” And a Publishers Weekly reviewer concluded: “This superior, dread-soaked tale will satisfy vampire addicts of all ages.”
In an interview with Publishers Weekly Online contributor Michael Levy, Black responded to his query about the rationale for writing a vampire novel after the Twilight books and so many imitators: “I think that’s a great question. I’ve loved vampires for a very long time. In eighth grade, I guess, my research paper was on vampires. I’ve read countless vampire books and in all the time that I have loved vampires they’ve either been so over that you’d be crazy to write a vampire book, or so popular that writing one would be a waste of time because there were too many of them. Eventually I said to myself, there’s never going to be a time when it makes sense to write a vampire book, so just write one.”
With the book The Darkest Part of the Forest, Black offers a young adult novel with a fairy-tale theme. The people of Fairfold have forged a delicate truce with the magical Folk, and siblings Hazel and Ben may be responsible for breaking it. The siblings know that an enchanted prince is encased in a glass coffin in the forest, and if the coffin is broken, the prince will wake and rekindle the war between the Folk and the Fairfolds. During the most recent war, Hazel hunted down the Folk and killed them, but when she met the king of the forest, she agreed to help him capture the sleeping prince in exchange for peace. When the coffin is broken, Hazel’s secret will come to light.
The Darkest Part of the Forest largely fared well with critics, and a Smart Bitches, Trashy Books Web site correspondent announced that “the important things about the story are responsibility, bravery, loyalty, and honesty, not romantic love. Everyone has a secret, and ultimately it’s the airing of secrets that saves the day.” The correspondent added: “The conclusion of this book was very satisfying and overall I enjoyed it. Better yet, I’m still picking over it in my head even though about two weeks have passed since I read it—I love it when a book sticks in my brain like that. Read it for the horror and the fantasy.” Kimberly Giarratano, writing in BookPage, was equally laudatory, asserting that “Black’s stories are like the faerie world she creates—deeply dark, yet achingly beautiful. She turns stereotypes on their heads.”
Black opens her young adult series, “Folk of the Air,” with The Cruel Prince. Set at the High Court of Faerie, the novel follows the adventures of Jude, who was stolen away with her two sisters when she was seven. With her parents murdered, she has lived for ten years at the High Court of Faerie and now wants badly to belong. Many of the fey, however, hate the humans, and this includes the youngest son of the king, Prince Cardan. But if Jude wishes to find a place at court, she must deal with palace intrigues and finally face the most difficult test of all, risking her life as civil war threatens the Faerie and her sisters.
Booklist reviewer Maggie Reagan had praise for The Cruel Prince, commenting: “Whatever a reader is looking for–heart-in-throat action, deadly romance, double-crossing, moral complexity–this is one heck of a ride.” Similarly, a Publishers Weekly contributor noted: “Breathtaking set pieces, fully developed supporting characters, and a beguiling, tough-as-nails heroine enhance an intricate, intelligent plot that crescendos to a jaw-dropping third-act twist.” Likewise, Voice of Youth Advocates writer Sean Rapacki concluded: “Black, quite rightly, is the acknowledged queen of faerie lit, and her latest shows her to be at the top of her game, unveiling twists and secrets and bringing her characters vividly to life. Jude is a brave and cunning protagonist, quite worthy of playing this game of thrones, faerie edition.”
The “Folk of the Air” series continues with The Wicked King. It is seven months after Jude staged a coup and now is in secret control of the Faerie kingdom and Cardan. Jude is beginning to feel the pressure of this secret coup, and is also somewhat disgusted with her untempered ambition. She would like to make the world better and perhaps even act on the growing and surprising infatuation with Cardan, yet there are challenges to deal with, including attempts by the Queen of the Undersea to take over Faerie, as well as machinations by her Faerie father and her twin, Taryn.
“Black’s writing is both contemporary and classic; her world is, at this point, intensely well-realized, so that some plot twists seem almost inevitable,” noted a Kirkus Reviews critic of this second installment. The critic added: “A rare second volume that surpasses the first, with, happily, more intrigue and passion still to come.” Horn Book reviewer Jonathan Hunt was also impressed with The Wicked King, noting: “The plot itself twists, turns, and dovetails perfectly with the assured character development; in this way, Black proves herself a master storyteller writing in the tradition of Megan Whalen Turner.” BookPage reviewer Kimberly Giarratano had similar praise, observing: “Black ratchets up the action with even more sinister settings, wicked villains, surprising plot twists and her haunting, melodic prose. … The Wicked King is intense and entertaining storytelling at its finest.”
The third and final installment of “Folk of the Air” series, The Queen of Nothing, finds Jude now exiled into the human world. She was silly enough to release Cardan from her control, and he betrayed her, and she is now the exiled and all too mortal Queen of Faerie. She no longer knows how to negotiate the human world and awaits her chance to regain power in the land of Faerie. Ultimately, she is summoned back to the kingdom by her twin sister, Taryn, who is in danger. Jude makes her way to the Faerie Court, but war is coming and she quickly is caught up in the politics of the land, and when a curse is unleashed, Jude has to choose between her immense drive to recover power and her own sense of humanity.
A Kirkus Reviews critic lauded this third installment, commenting, “Jude might be traumatized and emotionally unhealthy, but she’s an antihero worth cheering on.” The critic further observed: “There are few physical descriptions of humans and some queer representation. Whether you came for the lore or the love, perfection.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, February 15, 2003, Gillian Engberg, review of Tithe, p. 1064; July, 2005, Jennifer Mattson, review of Valiant, p. 1915; February 1, 2006, Carolyn Phelan, review of Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World around You, p. 47; October 15, 2007, Suzanne Harold, review of The Nixie’s Song, p. 49; September 15, 2008, Tina Coleman, review of Kin, p. 47; September 1, 2009, Courtney Jones, review of Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd, p. 81; April 1, 2010, Ilene Cooper, review of The White Cat, p. 36; March 15, 2011, Shauna Yusko, review of Welcome to Bordertown: New Stories and Poems of the Borderlands, p. 60; April 1, 2011, Heather Booth, review of Red Glove, p. 70; December 15, 2011, Tina Coleman, review of A Flight of Angels, p. 41; February 15, 2012, Cindy Dobrez, review of Black Heart, p. 53; March 1, 2013, Daniel Kraus, review of Doll Bones, p. 58; August 1, 2013, Candice Mack, review of The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, p. 72; August 1, 2014, Maggie Reagan, review of The Iron Trial; September 1, 2015, Maggie Reagan, review of The Copper Gauntlet; October 15, 2017, review of The Cruel Prince, p. 50.
BookPage, January, 2015, Kimberly Giarratano, review of The Darkest Part of the Forest; January, 2019, Kimberly Giarratano, review of The Wicked King, p. 29.
Children’s Bookwatch, December, 2008, review of Kin.
Horn Book, January-February, 2009, Deirdre F. Baker, review of Kin; September-October, 2009, Claire E. Gross, review of Geektastic; January-February, 2010, Deirdre F. Baker, review of Kith; May-June, 2010, Lauren Adams, review of The Poison Eaters and Other Stories; July-August, 2013, Cynthia K. Ritter, review of Doll Bones, p. 122; January-February, 2019, Jonathan Hunt, review of The Wicked King, p. 86.
Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2002, review of Tithe, p. 1303; June 1, 2005, review of Valiant, p. 633; November 15, 2006, review of Care and Feeding of Sprites, p. 1171; September 1, 2008, review of Kin; June 15, 2009, review of Geektastic; February 15, 2010, review of The Poison Eaters and Other Stories; March 1, 2011, review of Red Glove; April 15, 2011, review of Welcome to Bordertown; February 1, 2012, review of Black Heart; March 15, 2013, review of Doll Bones; July 15, 2013, review of The Coldest Girl in Coldtown; August 1, 2014, review of The Iron Trial; July 15, 2015, review of The Copper Gauntlet; October 15, 2018, review of The Wicked King; September 15, 2019, review of The Queen of Nothing.
Kliatt, July, 2004, Annette Wells, review of Tithe, p. 26; July, 2005, Michele Winship, review of Valiant, p. 7; November, 2008, George Galuschak, review of Kin, p. 32.
Locus, September, 2002, Carolyn Cushman, review of Tithe, p. 35.
Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March, 2004, Charles de Lint, review of Lucinda’s Secret, p. 33; August, 2004, Charles de Lint, review of The Ironwood Tree, p. 32; March, 2005, Charles de Lint, review of The Wrath of Mulgarath, p. 27; January, 2006, Charles de Lint, review of Valiant, p. 35; October-November, 2007, Charles de Lint, review of Ironside, p. 30.
New York Times Book Review, June 22, 2003, Scott Veale, review of The Field Guide, p. 23; March 25, 2013, review of Doll Bones, p. 70; May 12, 2013, Lauren Oliver, review of Doll Bones; p. 24.
Publishers Weekly, October 28, 2002, review of Tithe, p. 74; April 14, 2003, review of The Field Guide, p. 70; July 16, 2007, review of The Nixie’s Song, p. 165; July 13, 2009, “The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year,” p. 39; August 3, 2009, review of Geektastic, p. 45; November 2, 2009, review of Kith, p. 55; February 1, 2010, review of The Poison Eaters and Other Stories, p. 51; April 12, 2010, review of The White Cat, p. 53; February 14, 2011, review of Red Glove, p. 59; July 1, 2013, review of The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, p. 91. November, 2018, review of The Cruel Prince, p. 64.
School Library Journal, October, 2002, Beth Wright, review of Tithe, p. 158; July, 2003, Beth L. Meister, reviews of The Field Guide and The Seeing Stone, p. 95; November, 2003, Elaine E. Knight, review of Lucinda’s Secret, p. 88; June, 2004, Krista Tokarz, review of The Ironwood Tree, p. 96; June, 2005, Tasha Saecker, review of Valiant, p. 148; March, 2006, Walter Minkel, review of Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World around You, p. 186; July, 2007, Eva Mitnick, review of Ironside, p. 96; November, 2008, Lisa Goldstein, review of Kin, p. 150; August, 2009, Heather M. Campbell, review of Geektastic, p. 98; January, 2010, Andrea Lipinski, review of Kith, p. 127; February, 2010, Shawna Sherman, review of The Poison Eaters and Other Stories, p. 104; June, 2010, Leah J. Sparks, review of The White Cat, p. 94; May, 2011, Heather M. Campbell, review of Red Glove, p. 106; April, 2012, Maggie Knapp, review of Black Heart, p. 155; June, 2013, Mandy Laferriere, review of Doll Bones, p. 112; August, 2013, Jennifer Furuyama, review of The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, p. 109; October, 2015, Elisabeth Gattullo Marrocolla, review of The Copper Gauntlet.
Time, June 9, 2003, Heather Won Tesoriero, “Horror, in Pint Sizes: The ‘Spiderwick Chronicles’ May Have Just Enough Spookiness to Catch on with the Pre-Harry P. Set,” p. 78.
USA Today, November 9, 2004, Jacqueline Blais, “‘Spiderwick’ Wraps the Scary in a ‘Cozy’ Package,” p. D8.
Voice of Youth Advocates, June, 2011, Lucy Schall, review of Red Glove, p. 156; June, 2012, Brenna Shanks, review of Black Heart, p. 170; December, 2014, Sean Rapacki, review of The Darkest Part of the Forest; February, 2018, Sean Rapacki, review of The Cruel Prince, p. 65.
ONLINE
Bookslut, http://www.bookslut.com/ (December 30, 2013), Melissa A. Barton, review of The Poison Eaters and Other Stories.
Book Smugglers, http://thebooksmugglers.com/ (September 9, 2013), Ana On, review of The Coldest Girl in Coldtown.
ComicMix.com, http://www.comicmix.com/ (June 19, 2009), Andrew Wheeler, review of Kin.
Cynsations, http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/ (June 19, 2009), Cynthia Leitich Smith, author interview.
Dear Author, http://dearauthor.com/ (May 20, 2010), review of The White Cat; (September 5, 2013), review of The Coldest Girl in Coldtown.
Enchanted Living, https://enchantedlivingmagazine.com/ (October 18, 2019), author interview.
Fantasy Book Review, http://www.fantasybookreview.co.uk/ (June 1, 2010), author interview.
Holly Black, http://www.blackholly.com (October 18, 2019).
Internet Movie Database, http://www.imdb.com/ (October 31, 2013), author profile.
Lost Entwife, http://thelostentwife.net/ (October 26, 2013), review of Doll Bones.
Portrait Ezine, https://www.theportraitezine.com/ (September 2, 2016), review of The Iron Trial.
Publishers Weekly, http://www.publishersweekly.com/ (September 5, 2013), Michael Levy, “Q & A with Holly Black.”
Scholastic, http://www2.scholastic.com/ (June 19, 2009), author profile.
Seven Impossible Things before Breakfast, http://blaine.org/ (June 19, 2009), “Holly Black: Faeries, Proms, and D&D.”
Simon & Schuster, http://www.simonsays.com/ (June 19, 2009), “A Conversation with Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi, Creators of The Spiderwick Chronicles.”
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/ (September 2, 2016), review of The Darkest Part of the Forest.
Spiderwick Chronicles, http://www.spiderwick.com (June 19, 2009).
TeenReads.com, http://www.teenreads.com/ (June 19, 2009), John Hogan, review of Kin; (July 14, 2010), John Hogan, author interview, review of Kith; Benjamin Boche, review of The White Cat and Geektastic.
Holly Black is the author of bestselling contemporary fantasy books for kids and teens. Some of her titles include The Spiderwick Chronicles (with Tony DiTerlizzi), The Modern Faerie Tale series, the Curse Workers series, Doll Bones, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, the Magisterium series (with Cassandra Clare) and The Darkest Part of the Forest. She has been a a finalist for an Eisner Award, and the recipient of the Andre Norton Award, the Mythopoeic Award and a Newbery Honor. She currently lives in New England with her husband and son in a house with a secret door.
Holly Black
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Holly Black
Black at the 2010 Texas Book Festival
Born
November 10, 1971 (age 47)
West Long Branch, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation
Writer, editor, producer
Residence
New England, U.S.
Nationality
American
Period
c. 2000–present
Genre
Children's, young adult literature, short stories, fantasy, horror
Website
blackholly.com
Holly Black née Riggenbach[1] (born November 10, 1971) is an American writer and editor best known for The Spiderwick Chronicles, a series of children's fantasy books she created with writer and illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi, and a trilogy of Young Adult novels officially called the Modern Faerie Tales trilogy.[2] Her 2013 novel Doll Bones was named a Newbery Medal honor book.[3]
Contents
1
Early life and education
2
Literary career
3
Adaptations
4
Works
4.1
Young adult novels
4.2
Middle grade novels
4.3
Graphic novels and comics
4.4
Short fiction
4.5
Anthologies edited
4.6
Poetry
5
Awards
5.1
Won[18]
5.2
Nominated[18]
6
References
7
External links
Early life and education[edit]
Black was born in West Long Branch, New Jersey[1] in 1971, and during her early years her family lived in a "decrepit Victorian house."[4] Black graduated with a B.A. in English from The College of New Jersey in 1994. She worked as a production editor on medical journals including The Journal of Pain while studying at Rutgers University. She considered becoming a librarian as a backup career, but writing drew her away. She edited and contributed to the role-playing culture magazine d8 in 1996.[5]
In 1999 she married her high school sweetheart, Theo Black, an illustrator and web designer.[1] In 2008 she was described as residing in Amherst, Massachusetts.[6]
Literary career[edit]
Black's first novel, Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2002. There have been two sequels set in the same universe. The first, Valiant (2005), won the inaugural Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy—as the year's best according to American speculative fiction writers—and it was a finalist, like Tithe, for the annual Mythopoeic Fantasy Award. By vote of Locus readers for the Locus Awards, Valiant and Ironside (2007) ranked fourth and sixth among the year's young-adult books.[7]
In 2003, Black published the first two books of The Spiderwick Chronicles, a collaboration with artist Tony DiTerlizzi. The fifth and last book in the series reached the top of the New York Times Bestseller list in 2004.[4] A film adaptation of the series was released in 2008.[8]
White Cat, the first in her Curse Workers Series, was published in 2010. White Cat was followed by Red Glove (2011) and the trilogy concluded with Black Heart in 2012. A standalone novel, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, was released by Little, Brown in September 2013.[9] Black published a short story of the same name in the vampire anthology The Eternal Kiss: 13 Vampire Tales of Blood and Desire. Doll Bones was published in May 2013, and was awarded a Newbery Honor[3][10] and a Mythopoeic Fantasy Award.[11]
In 2012, Scholastic acquired a five-book series co-written by Black and Cassandra Clare to be called Magisterium. Its first volume, The Iron Trial, was published in September 2014.[12] The series has already been optioned for the screen by Constantin Films.[13]
Black has also written dozens of short works and co-edited at least three anthologies of speculative fiction.[14]
Adaptations[edit]
Black is co-executive producer of the film adaptation of The Spiderwick Chronicles, released in February 2008.[15] The film covers the entirety of the novel series. The Spiderwick Chronicles has also been released as a video game from Stormfront Studios.
In 2011, Black stated that the Curse Workers books had been optioned by Vertigo Pictures and producer Mark Morgan.[16]
Works[edit]
Young adult novels[edit]
Modern Faerie Tales
Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale (2002)
Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie (2005)
Ironside: A Modern Faery's Tale (2007)
The Curse Workers
White Cat (2010)
Red Glove (2011)
Black Heart (2012)
Folk of the Air
The Cruel Prince (2018)
The Lost Sisters (2018, companion novella)
The Wicked King (2019)
Queen of Nothing (upcoming 2019)
Standalone
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown (2013)
The Darkest Part of the Forest (2015)[17]
Middle grade novels[edit]
Magisterium, Black and Cassandra Clare, illus. Scott Fischer
The Iron Trial (2014)
The Copper Gauntlet (2015)
The Bronze Key (2016)
The Silver Mask (2017)
The Golden Tower (2018)
Spiderwick, Black and Tony DiTerlizzi
The Spiderwick Chronicles
The Field Guide (2003)
The Seeing Stone (2003)
Lucinda's Secret (2003)
The Ironwood Tree (2004)
The Wrath of Mulgarath (2004)
Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles
The Nixie's Song (2007)
A Giant Problem (2008)
The Wyrm King (2009)
Accompanying books
Arthur Spiderwick's Notebook of Fantastical Observations (2005)
Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You (2005)
The Spiderwick Chronicles: Care and Feeding of Sprites (2006)
Standalone
Doll Bones (2013, Newbery Medal honor book), illus. Eliza Wheeler
Graphic novels and comics[edit]
The Good Neighbors, illus. Ted Naifeh
The Good Neighbors: Kin (2008)
The Good Neighbors: Kith (2009)
The Good Neighbors: Kind (2010)
Lucifer
Lucifer vol. 1: Cold Heaven (2015, trade paperback)
Lucifer vol. 2: Father Lucifer (2017, trade paperback)
Short fiction[edit]
Collections
The Poison Eaters and Other Stories (2010), illus. Theo Black
Short stories
"Hades and Persephone" (1997) in Prisoners of the Night
"The Night Market" (2004) in The Faery Reel: Tales from a Twilight Realm
"Heartless" (2005) in Young Warriors: Stories of Strength
"Going Ironside" (2007) in Endicott Journal of Mythic Arts
"In Vodka Veritas" (2007) in 21 Proms
"Reversal of Fortune" (2007) in The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales
"The Poison Eaters" (2007), The Restless Dead: Ten Original Stories of the Supernatural, ed. Deborah Noyes
"Paper Cuts Scissors" (October 2007) in Realms of Fantasy
"The Coat of Stars" (2007) in So Fey
"Virgin" (2008) in Magic in the Mirrorstone
"The Boy Who Cried Wolf" (2009) in Troll's Eye View: A Book of Villainous Tales
"The Coldest Girl in Coldtown" (2009) in The Eternal Kiss: 13 Vampire Tales of Blood and Desire
"A Very Short Story" (2009) in Half-Minute Horrors
"The Dog King" (2010) in The Poison Eaters and Other Stories
"The Land of Heart's Desire" (2010) in The Poison Eaters and Other Stories
"The Arn Thompson Classification Review" (2010) in Full Moon City
"Sobek" (2010) in Wings of Fire
"Everything Amiable and Obliging"(2011) in Steampunk!
"The Perfect Dinner Party" (with Cassandra Clare, 2011) in Teeth
"The Rowan Gentleman" (with Cassandra Clare, 2011) in Welcome to Bordertown
"Noble Rot" (2011) in Naked City: New Tales of Urban Fantasy
"Coat of Stars" (2012) in Bloody Fabulous
"Little Gods" (2012) in Under My Hat: Tales from the Cauldron
"Millcara" (2013) in Rags & Bones: New Twists on Timeless Tales
"Sisters Before Misters" (2014) (with Sarah Rees Brennan and Cassandra Clare) in Dark Duets: All-New Tales of Horror and Dark Fantasy
"Ten Rules for Being an Intergalactic Smuggler (the Successful Kind)" (2014) in Monstrous Affections: An Anthology of Beastly Tales
"1UP" (2015) in Press Start to Play
Anthologies edited[edit]
Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd (2009), eds. Black and Cecil Castellucci
Zombies vs. Unicorns (2010), eds. Black and Justine Larbalestier
Welcome to Bordertown (2011), eds. Black and Ellen Kushner
Poetry[edit]
"The Third Third: Israfel's Tale" (1996) in d8 Magazine
"Bone Mother" (Autumn 2004) in Endicott Journal of Mythic Arts
Awards[edit]
Won[18][edit]
2006: Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy, Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie
2014: Mythopoeic Fantasy Award in Children's Literature, Doll Bones[11]
2014: Newbery Medal honor book, Doll Bones
2014: Delaware Diamonds Award—High School, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
2015: Indies Choice Book Award—Young Adult, The Darkest Part of the Forest
Nominated[18][edit]
2006: Locus Award—Young Adult, Valiant
2014: Locus Award—Young Adult, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
2014: Land of Enchantment Book Award—Young Adult, Doll Bones
2015: Green Mountain Book Award—Grades 9-12, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
2015: Indies Choice Book Award—Young Adult (Finalist), The Darkest Part of the Forest
2015: Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award—Young Adult, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
2015: Colorado Children's Book Award—Junior Novel, Doll Bones
2015: Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award—Children's, Doll Bones
2015: Iowa Children's Choice (ICCA) Award—Children's, Doll Bones
2015: Kentucky Bluegrass Award—Grades 6-8, Doll Bones
2015: Nene Award—Children's Fiction, Doll Bones
2015: Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award—Grades 3-6, Doll Bones
2015: Rhode Island Children's Book Award—Grades 3-6, Doll Bones
2015: Sunshine State Young Reader's Award—Grades 6-8, Doll Bones
2016: Young Reader's Choice Award—Senior/Grades 10-12, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
2016: California Young Reader Medal—Middle School, Doll Bones
2016: Nene Award—Children's Fiction, Doll Bones
2016: Sequoyah Book Award—Intermediate, Doll Bones
2016: William Allen White Children's Book Award—Grades 6-8, Doll Bones
2016: Young Hoosier Book Award—Intermediate, Doll Bones
Holly Black is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of over thirty fantasy novels for kids and teens. She has been a finalist for an Eisner Award and the Lodestar Award, and the recipient of the Mythopoeic Award, a Nebula, and a Newbery Honor. Her books have been translated into 32 languages worldwide and adapted for film. She currently lives in New England with her husband and son in a house with a secret library.
The long version:
Holly Black is the bestselling author of contemporary fantasy novels for teens and children. She grew up in New Jersey and loved reading and writing from an early age. Her first book, Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale, was published in 2002. Tithe was called “dark, edgy, beautifully written and compulsively readable” by Booklist and was included in the American Library Association’s Best Books for Young Adults. She published a companion book, Valiant (2005), which was the recipient of a Nebula Award (formerly the Andre Norton Award), and a sequel, Ironside (2007), which spent five weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.
Holly collaborated with her long-time friend, Caldecott-award-winning artist, Tony DiTerlizzi, to create the bestselling Spiderwick Chronicles. The first two books, The Field Guide and The Seeing Stone were released together in 2003, with the next three, Lucinda’s Secret (2003), The Ironwood Tree (2004) and The Wrath of Mulgarath (2004), following in rapid succession. The Wrath of Mulgarath climbed to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. The five-book serial has been called “vintage Victorian fantasy” by the New York Post and Time Magazine reported that “the books wallow in their dusty Olde Worlde charm.” The lavishly illustrated Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to The Fantastical World Around You (2005), The Notebook for Fantastical Observations (2005), and Care and Feeding of Sprites (2006) expanded the Spiderwick universe. To date, the books have been translated into 32 languages. There are three additional chapter books in the Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles series, The Nixie’s Song(2007), A Giant Problem (2008) and The Wyrm King (2009). The Spiderwick Chronicles were adapted into a film by Paramount Pictures in conjunction with Nickelodeon Films. Released in February 2008, the film stars Freddie Highmore and Sarah Bolger, with Mark Waters as the director.
Holly has also been a frequent contributor to anthologies, and has co-edited three of them: Geektastic (with Cecil Castellucci, 2009), Zombies vs. Unicorns (with Justine Larbalestier, 2010), and Welcome to Bordertown (with Ellen Kushner, 2011). Her first collection of short fiction, Poison Eaters and Other Stories, came out in 2010 from Small Beer Press.
She has also done some comics work. She wrote an Eisner-nominated graphic novel series, The Good Neighbors (Kith in 2008, Kin in 2009 and Kind in 2010) and a year of Lucifer comics for DC Comics in 2015.
She returned to novels with The Curse Workers series, a trilogy set in a world of capers, curse magic, and organized crime. The three books in the series were The White Cat (2010), The Red Glove (2011), and The Black Heart (2012).
2013 saw the release of two stand-alone novels. Doll Bones, a Newbery honor recipient and Mythopoeic award winner which marked a return to middle grade fiction, tells the story of three friends who go on a road trip to bury a haunted doll. In the words of BCCB, “This novel is a chilling ghost story, a gripping adventure, and a heartwarming look at the often-painful pull of adulthood.”
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown follows Tana, who lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. “You may be ready to put a stake in vampire lit, but read this first: It’s dark and dangerous, bloody and brilliant,” said Kirkus Reviews. It was a finalist for the Norton and the Locus awards.
During this period, she also collaborated on a five-book middle grade fantasy series, Magisterium, with friend and fellow author Cassandra Clare. The series includes The Iron Trial (2014), The Copper Gauntlet (2015), The Bronze Key (2016), The Silver Mask (2017), and The Golden Tower (2018).
The Darkest Part of the Forest (2015), a stand-alone novel, marked her return to faerie fiction. She followed that up with her Folk of the Air series. The first book, The Cruel Prince (2018), debuted on The New York Times bestseller list and remained on the list for four weeks. The novel was a finalist for the Lodestar Award and has received such critical acclaim as starred reviews from Publishers Weekly (“…a beguiling, tough-as-nails heroine enhance an intricate, intelligent plot that crescendos to a jaw-dropping third-act twist.”) and School Library Journal (“Another fantastic, deeply engaging, and all-consuming work from Black that belongs on all YA shelves.”). The second book, The Wicked King (2019), debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. The third book, The Queen of Nothing (2019) finished out the series. In a starred review, Kirkus wrote, “Whether you came for the lore or the love, perfection.”
In 2019, she also published a middle grade novel featuring Disney’s Maleficent, entitled The Heart of the Moors.
Holly lives in New England with her husband, son, and cats, in a house with a secret library.
Q: Do you have any advice for writers?
I have a section of this website devoted to advice for writers.
Q: Will there be any more Folk of the Air books?
I don’t think that The Queen of Nothing will be the last book I write that is set in Elfhame.
Q: Will there be any more Magisterium books?
Cassie and I had a wonderful time writing that series, but she’s very busy right now! Maybe when she has some more free time, but knowing what I do about her schedule, that won’t be for years.
Q: Will there be a sequel to the Coldest Girl in Coldtown?
Coldest Girl in Coldtown was written as a stand-alone, but I know what happens next and I’ve been thinking more and more that a sequel could be in the near future.
Q: Are you ever going to write more Spiderwick books?
We have no plans at this point, but maybe someday in the future we will do another project together. We’re still great friends, and I’d love to work with him again.
Q: Do you really know the Grace children? Can I have their address?
I really know the three kids who told us the story, but their real names were changed in the books. I also can’t give out their address. Their parents are very concerned about protecting their anonymity.
Q: Are you ever going to write more Modern Faerie Tale books?
Darkest Part of the Forest and the Folk of the Air series are set in the same world as the Modern Faerie Tale series. You will even get to see some of the Modern Faerie Tale characters in The Cruel Prince, The Wicked King and The Queen of Nothing.
Q: Are you ever going to write more Curse Worker books?
I hope someday I get to come back and write one or two more books in that series, but for now I’m happy with where I left everyone.
Q: What happens after the end of Doll Bones? And was there really a ghost?
Doll Bones is meant to be open ended. Not all the questions are answered, so readers can use their imagination if they want to. Feel free to speculate yourself— what do you think will happen? Was the ghost laid to rest? Was there ever a ghost at all? Will Poppy, Zach, and Alice stay friends? Will they keep playing some form of the game, and if so, as they grow up, how will the game change?
Q: Will there be a sequel to Doll Bones?
Although I love the characters, I don’t think I’d ever want to write about what happens next. I think it’s important that there not be a sequel, so that you get to decide both what you think happened in the book and what you think will happen next to the characters.
Q: Is there going to be a movie/TV series about [insert project] ?
I want to take a step back and explain a little about the process of getting something made. Oftentimes when people ask this question, they ask “Are you going to make a movie of [insert project]?” Movies and TV require many millions of dollars, a lot of technical know-how, and the ability to secure distribution – I can’t do any of those things on my own. For one of my books to become a film or TV series, the following would have to happen:
1. The project would have to be optioned by a production company or studio. This is the first step and very exciting when it happens, because it means that someone has paid money to be allowed to “develop” the project for a limited period of time (usually a year or two). You may have heard that some of your favorite books have been optioned before. You will recall that some of them became films and some of them did not.
2. During the time when the project is “under option,” the producers will try and get it ready to be turned into a film or TV show. This means securing financing, paying for a script to be written, and attaching directors or actors to the project. For TV, a pilot might even get shot. Depending on how well that goes and how much buzz the project attracts, it might go on to be:
3. Greenlit! This is the point when the movie is almost definitely getting made and the TV show is almost definitely on the air. This is when people begin talking about shoot schedules and release dates, scouting locations and making props. Once a movie gets to the point, you are likely to see talk about it on film sites. It’s also the point that the author of the source material would start making a lot of announcements.
I’ve simplified this quite a bit, but you can still see that it’s a convoluted process, and one that the author gets very little say in. It works a little different for TV, too. Even when this process is set in motion, it can take years and years to get to the point that the studio is ready to greenlight it. It may sound daunting, but the Spiderwick Chronicles movie got made, and another movie could get made someday. Fingers crossed!
Q: Is there going to be an adaptation of the Spiderwick Chronicles?
There already is!
Q: Did you like the Spiderwick movie?
I liked it a ton. I thought Mark Waters did a great job directing and that Freddie Highmore and Sarah Bolger played the kids incredibly well. They really seemed like the characters from the books. I was also extremely happy that the faeries seemed organic and a little bit frightening.
Q: Are faeries real?
I don’t know. I’ve never seen one, although I have met lots of kids and adults who have seen them. I want to believe faeries are real, but I also want proof. I hope someday I will see a faerie myself so that I can know for sure.
Q: How can I find out if I have faeries living in my house/yard?
Strange lights, things going missing or being rearranged, an abundance of clover among the grass and/or seeing things moving out of the corner of your eyes.
Q: Do you have any pets?
My family has two cats: Miel, a fluffy grey street cat from a small town in the French countryside, and Bast, a sleek black cat from New England.
Q: Is it true you have a secret door in your house?
I do! And you can too! I got it from here: https://www.hiddendoors.com
Q: Both the Spiderwick Chronicles and the Magisterium series are collaborations. How do you go about collaborating with other authors?
Collaborations, in my experience, work differently every time. When Tony and I first sat down to collaborate on Spiderwick, we did a lot of brainstorming and sending bits of writing and art back and forth. Then I went off to write, he went off to draw and we continued to comment on each other’s work. He might send me the picture of a creature he thought might be in the book. I might tell him a scene I thought he should draw. If you look at the artwork in Spiderwick, it tells parts of the story that the text doesn’t — which was very deliberate.
With the Magisterium series, Cassandra Clare and I actually sit in the same room and hand the computer back and forth after we’ve written a few hundred words (between 200 and 500, on average), often when we get stuck. We have a pretty strict outline — something she’s really excellent at creating — but when we need to figure out something new, we can go off together and brainstorm.
Every collaboration of mine has been a unique process. When I worked on the graphic novels Good Neighbors with Ted Naifeh, I had completed the manuscript before he saw it — however, we were still able to talk about what happened after that — he’s the one who pushed me to let the villains take over the town, so that he could draw it. When Rebecca Guay first approached me about working with her on A Flight of Angels, I was just going to write one of the stories, but I wound up having the opportunity to write a story that wove between all the other tales — something I had no thoughts about doing when I first began.
If you are thinking about collaborating, I think the most important thing is that you really love the other person’s work, and that they really love yours. It’s also useful to know them pretty well, so you don’t have to be too polite.
Writing Advice
Home » For Writers » Writing Advice
When I started compiling a list of online writing resources, I found myself in the middle of an organizational nightmare. For purposes of clarification, I’ve broken them up into sections based on different hypothetical questions, starting at the very beginning with questions about starting a writing project to questions at the end about publishing.
Also, please note if you’re coming from somewhere other than my main page, most of these links are primarily for fantasy and/or children’s fiction. Hope you find something useful!
Q: How do you come up with an idea for a story?
A: Writers have a lot of different answers for where ideas come from. In part, that’s because books and stories aren’t the result of one idea, but of a ton of different ideas thrown together.
Generally, I start with either a single image that’s inspired me or a mood and a character that has stuck with me. Then I think about the kinds of books I like to read, the characters I like best — both in books and real life — and I write for that reader self, rather than my writer self.
Neil Gaiman has a wonderful essay about where ideas come from on his site.
Here are some excerpts from LeGuin’s essay “Where do you get your ideas from?”
Here’s a collection of writers with very, very different ways of becoming inspired.
Q: I have a lot of ideas. How do you choose between ideas?
A: It’s exciting to be at the crossroads where lots of ideas meet, but to finish a project, it needs to be your focus, at least for a little while. So you have to commit to an idea, even if you begin second-guessing yourself moments after that decision.
There are a couple of different ways you can choose. You can pick the idea where you have the most material generated already and the clearest sense of what’s going to happen. You can pick the idea to which you feel the most forcefully attracted. You can pick the idea that when you talk about, other people get excited. You can try to combine all of your ideas into one huge project. Or, if you like, you can print the ideas out, stick them to a large log and throw darts at them.
What matters most is that once you choose, you stick with your choice no matter how mightily tempted you are by the ones you decided would be on the back burner for a while. You’ve chosen! Now you’ve got to finish the project before you get to choose again.
Q: But I think maybe I made a mistake! Maybe I should have gone with the other idea.
A: Once you choose, you may have a little buyer’s remorse. That’s normal. Whenever I commit to a new book, I have a period of uncertainty. But that passes as I get more deeply involved in the story and as I begin to identify the bits of that initial idea that are going to change to create the final story.
Q: What about working on two projects at the same time?
A: Some people manage to juggle two (or even more) projects, but unless you have a compelling reason why you should (since you know you best and no advice suits everyone), I would suggest you stick with one project until it’s done.
Q: So I really, really, really, can’t ditch this project and come up with another one? Really?
A: Of course you can! As I said, no rule works for everyone all the time — if you absolutely have to switch projects, then you’re going to know it deep down in your bones and no advice I can give you will (or should) countermand that. All I can say is that if you do change projects then you really, really, really, really better stick with the new project until you finish it. Otherwise, you are going to have a desktop full of the beginnings of projects – and will never get enough practice writing middles and ends.
Q: How do you start a book?
A: Put the pen to paper or your fingers to the keys and just start. Start now. Start today. Okay, maybe get a cup of coffee first — and maybe make some kind of outline or plan. But start soon because there’s nothing worse than the blank page staring back at you.
Q: Do I need an outline?
A: Some people like to dive straight into a project, while others prefer to outline first. In my experience, most authors use some combination of plotting and discovery writing. Personally, I usually start a book by writing an exploratory chapter or three before I seriously dig down and start plotting. I have friends who plan out everything before they begin. Whatever works for you is the right way.
Q: How do I outline?
A: There are many different ways, but the one way I have never seen anyone outline a book is with roman numerals, the way that we’re taught to outline things at school. Some writers use index cards (Alexandra Sokolof wrote an interesting article on using index cards for plotting ). Some do scene-by-scene outlines which they write out in short paragraphs broken out by chapter. Some do beat sheets or mind maps. Some make lists of all the events in particular plotlines and then weave the timeline together after. Some start by creating a “spine” of dialogue which they then fill in and flesh out. Some just know the beginning and the end, believing to know more would be getting in the way of the fun.
Here are a couple of examples of writerly outlines. Here’s some of J.K. Rowling’s outline for Harry Potter. Here’s an article with a range of jotted down notes from authors, including Jennifer Egan, Joseph Heller, Sylvia Plath and Gay Talese.
Q: I’ve just started my book/short story, but I’m having a hard time coming up with a plot I like.
A: This is a super common problem, maybe the most common problem — often we start something because we have a fun premise, or interesting characters, or an image in our heads and then bog down when we realize we’re not sure how the story proceeds from that initial part.
Even when you have an outline of the whole story, sometimes you realize either there’s something missing or that your outline doesn’t quite fit the story as its evolving. This is the point where I like to bother one of my critique partners and toss around some ideas.
Diana Wynne Jones wrote some very calming tips on the process of writing a story. There are some exercises for brainstorming book ideas in Karen Wiesner’s article from the Guardian that seem more useful — to me — for unsticking when stuck than for generating ideas in the first place.
And finally, writers of screenplays have formalized plot in a way that can be very helpful. The book most often referred to is Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat, so much so that he recently released a version just for novels, Save the Cat Writes a Novel.
Q: I’ve just started my book/short story, but I’m having trouble fleshing out the world.
A: Some people do a lot of worldbuilding before they begin writing, while others plan their worlds along the way. It should be noted that planning along the way generally results in a lot more re-writing.
For insights into the process, take a look at Patricia C. Wrede’s enormous list of questions to help with worldbuilding. It will terrify and amaze.
For the most part, fantasy and science fiction worldbuilding, insofar as possible, should be based on history, anthropology and astronomy more in-depth than that available online. For example, if you are expecting warfare in your book, you could look at John Keegan’s The Face of Battle. In addition, reading primary texts from the historical period when your books are based on provides invaluable insights. For example, if your world is based on a pseudo-medieval setting, you might try A Medieval Home Companion. If you’re influenced by feudal Japan, you might try sources like The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon. And so on.
If you want to take a look at some of my favorite resources, here’s a list.
Q: I’ve just started my book/story, but I’m having trouble fleshing out the characters.
A: James Patrick Kelly gives a good overview of the functions of different characters in the narrative and some advice in his article “You and Your Characters.” There is a good list of character development questions at Writers Write, which I know some people find incredibly helpful and others find frustrating (I admit, I find them frustrating).
You should absolutely read “Transracial Writing for the Sincere” by Nisi Shawl, who is one of the founders of Writing the Other, an immensely useful web site with resources, workshops and a link to the book on the subject she co-authored with Cynthia Lord. Really solid writing advice.
And be sure to take a look at Teresa Nielsen Hayden’s Evil Overlord list (archived) site to make sure your evil overlords, heroes, and henchman have learned from their predecessors. I also suggest looking into some of the extensive writing on the phenomenon of the “Unlikeable Female Protagonist” and the way readers judge female characters differently from male ones.
And finally, here’s some writing advice from Cat Valente on many things, but I thought her insights on character creation to be particularly interesting.
Q: I need some help naming my characters. Are there any sites for this?
A: Absolutely. Baby name sites aside, there’s the Medieval Names Archive and Behind the Name. The coolest is probably Kate Monk’s Onomastikon, which has lists by region for the sole purpose of naming characters, but is sometimes unavailable.
My current favorite site, however, is Nameberry, which has official lists of names and also reader lists, allowing for some very odd and useful groupings.
Q: I’m stuck! Is this Writer’s Block? And if so, what do I do about it?
A: My friend Cassandra Clare always says a very wise thing about writer’s block, which is “writer’s block isn’t a disease. It’s a symptom of the disease. There is something causingyour writers block.” Maybe you don’t know enough about your story, your world or your characters. Maybe stuff is going on in your personal life that’s keeping you from being able to focus. Maybe your anxiety is getting the better of you. Maybe you’ve made a wrong turn in the story and you’re reluctant to double back. But figuring out what’s causing the block is the best way to overcome it. Elizabeth Moon’s essay on the subject, “How to Identify Dread Writer’s Block and Its Relatives” is fantastic. I’d also recommend this Twitter thread by Laini Taylor in which she expresses frustration over a lot of the common advice and identifies a particular form of writer’s block, which she calls “Perfectionism.” Here she has some advice about how she manages it.
Q: How do I know if I’m writing a middle grade book or a young adult book?
A: Laura Backes attempts to define the categories of children’s publishing on her site Write4Kids.Com. Take a look.
Q: How do I know if I’m writing a young adult book or an adult book?
A: Does your book have a teenage protagonist? Does it address the concerns of being a teenager without being either didactic or elegiac? If so, you may well be writing a young adult book. However, remember that what will really decide is whether its purchased by a young adult publisher or an adult publisher. Many formerly adult books (such as Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game and Jane Yolen’s Briar Rose) have been repackaged for the young adult shelves.
Q: There’s so much going on in my life. How do I make time for writing?
A: Sometimes writing a book can feel like an enormous, overwhelming task. The best thing you can do is try to write a little every day, whether that’s 200 words or 2,000. It adds up, more quickly than you might think. Victoria Schwab gives herself stickers on a calendar when she hits her writing goals.
I started keeping track of my daily word count and it really helped me see how writing even a small amount added up to a book. If you write a mere 250 words a day, in a year you’ll have 90K. When you break it down, the massive task of writing a book feels more possible. I’ve been using the program Pacemaker to keep track of my writing – both what I do and what I still have to do.
Q: How do you end a book?
A: Finding a satisfying ending for a book — especially if you haven’t planned it all along — is always a challenge. The end of a book is always in its beginning, though. The questions the book started with, the losses and desires and needs of the protagonist, are all answered — for good or for ill — in the end. If you get stuck when you reach the end, go back and re-read your start to remind yourself what those were.
It’s also perfectly acceptable to write an ending and then realize that ending is nutso and it needs to be massively changed. It happens.
Q: I don’t think my book/story is working. Do I still have to finish it, even if I know I am just going to stick it in a drawer and start something else?
A: YOU MUST FINISH. You don’t have to ever show it to anyone, but you have to finish it. You can tuck it away in a drawer, but you still have to finish it. Maybe it’s not working, maybe it’s broken, maybe a lot of things, BUT YOU STILL HAVE TO FINISH. There are very few more important skills than the ones you learn by finishing your writing projects, even your failed ones.
Q: I’m almost done with my story, but I don’t have a title!
A: Brenda Clough wrote the definitive article on titling. After reading it, you’ll need Bartlett’s or maybe WikiQuote.
Q: I just finished my book/short story, now what?
A: Now you put it in the proper format, check for grammar and spelling mistakes, and either take it to your critique group/critique partner or take off your writer hat and put on your critiquer hat. Once you get or make comments, it’s time for revisions. If you’ve made major changes, you might want to send it back to your critique group for another round. Once you’re satisfied, send it out to agents & editors.
Q: How do you edit a book? Do I need a professional editor?
A: You do not need to pay for editing before you submit your story to agents. You do, however, need (a) the story to be as well structured and well written as you can possibly make it and (b) the grammar and spelling mistakes to be minimal enough to not be intrusive. Agents and editors receive an enormous number of submissions and yours has to stand out in a good way. You might want to peruse this post, called Slushkiller, on Making Light, which goes over common reasons manuscripts are rejected.
Obviously, if you’re self-publishing, then you will probably need to engage a professional editor and copyeditor (as well as a cover designer, etc.) because you’ll be handling all aspects of the publishing process.
Q: What is the proper format for submissions?
A: William Shunn has an excellent article/example both for short stories and novels. More and more editors prefer Times New Roman over Courier, however.
Q: How do I find a critique group/critique partner?
A: There are several groups online, including Critters and the Online Writing Workshop for Science Fiction and Fantasy (formerly the Del Rey Writing Workshop).
For local groups, check your library, bookstores, and the regional arms of any groups of which you are a member. SCBWI has many critique groups all over the country, for example. Local conventions are also a place to get in touch with writers near where you live who might be interested in workshopping.
For an example of the usefulness of critique groups, you might want to look over the Turkey City Lexicon, a collection of common (and funny) critique terminology that is specific to speculative fiction. Most of those terms were coined in workshops.
The most important thing to look for in a critique partner or group is (a) that they have a similar enough aesthetic to yours to be helpful (b) that they both appreciate what is genuinely good about your work as well as seeing the flaws (c) that they interested in supporting your voice and your vision (d) that you like their work and their vision too.
Q: Do I need an agent and how do I get one?
A: With more and more publishers unwilling to accept unsolicited manuscripts, agents are becoming more necessary. While I know several successful writers that have managed to do without one, the advantages of having an agent are many: they know editors and their tastes, they can get a book read quickly, and they can get a lot more money for a book because they can get competing offers.
Before you start looking for an agent, check out SFWA’s Writer Beware pages, listing some of the more egregious agent scams and giving tips on deciding if an agent is dishonest. If you are still unsure, the Bewares and Background Checks area of Absolute Write has threads on lots of agents and you can always post to get opinions. The important thing to know about a good agent is that they take a 10-15% commission on the money they make for you. They never charge you anything and you should never have to pay an agent out of your pocket. You should also not be shy about asking your agent for names of his or her other clients. Looking up their books online should tell you a lot about your agent’s success rate.
AgentQuery is a fairly comprehensive site of agents and how they would like to be contacted.
Q: How do I write a query letter? What about a synopsis?
A: Many publishers and agents will ask for a query letter with a synopsis and (sometimes) sample chapters. If they like what they read, they will request the full manuscript. For this reason, writing a compelling query letter has become a highly prized skill.
Lynn Flewelling wrote an article on query letters, complete with an example. As did Susan Dennard. Also worth looking at are the query critiques over at QueryShark.
Q: Are there any professional writerly organizations I can join?
A: Professional authors of all sorts can join The Author’s Guild. For children’s book writers, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) is the main professional organization. For science fiction and fantasy writers, it is the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). To join SFWA, you must have at least one professional sale.
Q: What about classes?
A: The most well-known programs for speculative fiction writers are the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer’s Workshop, Clarion West, Odyssey, and the Viable Paradise Writers Workshop.
You also might also want to take a look at the two annual SCBWI conferences on writing and illustrating for children (there are great local ones as well). Other conventions, particularly sf/f ones, may offer short writing programs during the convention. MadCap Retreats offer several writing workshops, including one on Writing Cross-Culturally.
Q: I just sold my book! Now what?
A: First of all, congratulations!
I will try to outline the process between acceptance and publication, but different publishers function differently, so no series of steps is universal. The usual start, however, is revisions. Once a contract is signed (and maybe even before), you will get a revision letter from your editor. There will probably be a deadline in the letter for when your editor is expecting the revised manuscript. Conventional wisdom says that after you look at your revision letter, you should let 24 hours pass (or at least a good night’s sleep) before you respond to it, to avoid freaking out. Do not freak out!
Also, remember that while your editor is very good at figuring out what’s wrong with a book, it’s not always true that their proposed solution will be the right one. As Neil Gaiman famously said: “when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.”
Once you hand in your revised draft, the next step is copyedits, when a copyeditor will go over your book, correcting grammar, spelling, fact-checking and hopefully catching all small mistakes.
At that time you can also turn in any front matter, such as dedications and acknowledgments — or if you need to, you can hold on to those and turn them in during copyediting.
Close to your publication date, you will see Advance Reading Copies (ARCs) or “uncorrected proofs” which are bound and can be sent out to reviewers and booksellers. The back copy and flap copy of this will not be written by you, although you may be able to give some input.
If it’s possible, do try and go in at least once and meet the people working on your book. This is not just the editor, but many, many other people in the marketing, publicity, production, and the art departments. Your editor will probably not be responsible for sending out review copies, so once you get about 3-4 months before the publication date, find out who is in charge of publicity for your title.
There are a lot of long stretches between the stages of publication where the author will hear nothing. This is normal. The best thing that you can do to distract yourself is work on your next book.
To read one author’s tale of the publication process, read Scott Nicholson’s Virgin in the Church column series. For children’s books, you might want to take a look at the National Library of Canada’s Page by Page series. And Janni Lee Simner has a great ongoing series, Writing for the Long Haul, that talks about the challenges of a career in publishing, beyond the first book.
Q: Do I have any control over the cover art?
A: Er, no. Probably not, unless your agent got something better than “cover consultation” put into your contract. But don’t despair. Ask your editor what the art department has in mind. Give honest feedback. Your publisher doesn’t want you to hate the cover. Use your influence wisely.
Q: What are blurbs and how do I get them?
A: Around the time that the book is in final layout form, you should start thinking about getting blurbs. Blurbs are those endorsements across the top or back of a novel from a famous author. They say things like “fantabulous!” or “the best thing since sliced bread!”
Make a list of all the authors that you really like. Then, make a list of well-known authors that write in the same genre that you write — especially ones whose fans would very likely enjoy your books. If you are lucky enough to know a well-known author in any genre, add that person to the list. Then, once you have a complete list, contact your editor and agent to see if they are willing reach out to those writers for you. There is some variety of opinion as to whether one should ever approach writers personally or whether blurb queries should always go through agents/editors. I have gotten blurb queries both ways. Some writers have blurbing policies on their sites; please consult those.
If a writer agrees to consider reading your book , make sure galleys or ARCs or electronic copies get sent and then wait. Most will not reply, but one or two might and their words will grace the back (or front!) of your book.
Q: What conventions should I be attending?
A: There is no requirement for attending conferences and conventions, although I’ve found them to be both a lot of fun and also helpful in terms of getting my books into the hands of readers and meeting authors I like a lot. When I started out, I went to a lot of different conventions and eventually settled into the ones I liked best and found most helpful.
WorldCon, World Fantasy and World Horror are three big semi-professional genre conventions (although readers can attend). In addition, there are many regional conventions like ReaderCon, WisCon, and Convergence that draw many authors as well. For a listing by region, state and month, try Alexander von Thorn’s convention listings at the SF site. You might also look into DragonCon and San Diego ComicCon, two very large conventions not focused on books, but still useful for promotion.
Here’s some excellent advice on promoting at SF/F conventions.
Additionally, your publisher may send you to the American Library Association conference, local chapter conferences and bookseller conventions, such as Book Expo America, BookCon, Winter Institute, the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association trade show, the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association trade show, and/or the New England Booksellers Association trade show.
Q: I’ve never been to a science fiction/fantasy convention before. What do I need to know?
A: Read John C. Bunnell’s explanation of the nature of SF conventions. You should check out Gandalara’s newbie guide to conventions and a list of con-related terms. And if you’re thinking of going to a big media con, Seanan McGuire’s guide to surviving San Diego ComicCon will be immensely useful (her reminder to bring a bathing suit for the hotel pool should be in every convention advice piece).
In the last few years, there’s been a welcome push to make conventions safer and more inclusive spaces through better anti-harassment policies and procedures. When you’re going to a convention, it’s a good idea to read over the policy they have in place, so that you know both what the rules are and where to go if there’s a problem. Jim Hines discusses some of the history of convention harassment, personal experience and hope for the future in an essay on Gizmodo.
Conventions can be overwhelming, but also an enormous amount of fun. As everyone in these links say, get enough sleep, enough water, and make sure to take care of yourself.
Q: What about awards?
A: Although your publisher is responsible for and most publishers are good about sending books to awards committees, it’s a good idea to know what awards a book is eligible for and to confirm books have been sent to the appropriate places, especially for specialized awards. David K. Brown maintains a list of children’s book awards on his Children’s Literature Web Guide. The Science Fiction Database maintains a list of science fiction, fantasy and horror awards.
Q: I’m under the age of 21; are there any resources just for me?
A: Yes, there are! Yvonne Ventresca has a compilation of interviews with editors who publish teens, places to submit and writing conferences .
Several colleges and universities offer summer programs for young writers. Here are a few: Iowa Young Writers Studio the University of Virginia Young Writer’s Workshop, Center for Talented Youth, and the New York State Young Writer’s Institute. There are lots out there, mostly affiliated with universities, so search for one near you!
You should also take a look at Alpha, a workshop just for teen writers of speculative fiction. And Shared Worlds, also for teens, in which writers make a world together and then write stories set in it. I have taught at both and I can’t recommend them highly enough.
An Interview With Holly Black
By Enchanted Living Magazine
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W
e talk to the best-selling author and enchantress about her love for the forest and her new book The Wicked King.
*Interview from Issue #46 Into The Forest Issue – Subscribe | Print | Int Print | Digital
Enchanted Living: Can you describe your idea of an enchanted forest?
Holly Black: There’s this line in The Cruel Prince, where a mortal girl who has been raised in Faerie is observing another girl: She’s looking around the forest, as though if she can prove it isn’t magic, then nothing else is, either. Which is stupid. All forests are magic. And I am going to stand by that. There’s just something about entering even a small patch of woods and drinking in the smells of leaf mold and moss and ferns that is calming and invigorating at once.
EL: Much of your work centers on enchanted woods. Why has the forest been such a compelling setting for you?
HB: Woods are liminal spaces in fairy tales—the place where the witches and wolves are, the place where one hides from the evil queen, a place of danger and transformation. But growing up in the suburbs, woods are liminal spaces too. Places you can play as a child and feel very far from your home, even if you’re only a few blocks away. Places you can sneak off to and drink with your friends as a teenager. And so I think they’re really resonant for me as a setting for lots of different stories.
EL: Why do you think the forest is so central to fairy tales generally?
HB: I think it’s immensely useful as a symbol of the wild chaos of nature in opposition to the orderliness of town.
EL: Are any of the wooded encounters in your books based on experiences you’ve had in nature?
HB: Not the experiences themselves but certainly the woods. In particular, there was a spot in my first book that I called “the glass swamp” because that’s what we called it when we were kids. It wasn’t at all a swamp—just an extremely tiny stream surrounded by trees and a lot of broken glass. And in The Cruel Prince, I drew a lot of inspiration from the woods of Cornwall and Devon, which I found immensely magical when I visited them.
EL: Do you have a favorite forest or a favorite spot in nature where you like to spend time?
HB: The Julius Lester trail near Puffer’s Pond in the town where I live. It’s just a really lovely stretch of woods, with a stream running through it, strange little bridges, and a wonderful canopy of leaves overhead.
EL: What is your favorite way to lose yourself in the woods?
HB: I like to go for walks, especially when I am stuck on a plot thing. And I like wandering with my family. My son loves to throw sticks into water and watch them sail away or skip stones. There’s always something to see in the forest.
EL: Your characters often start out in familiar places and are then thrust into magical encounters. How would you fare if you were suddenly dropped into Faerie or an enchanted forest?
HB: Well, I think it’s useful to know some of the rules, but I imagine I would quickly find myself drunk on faerie wine and devastatingly enchanted.
EL: Do you have a favorite forest-themed fairy tale?
HB: I think “Vasilisa the Beautiful” is maybe the best example of how the forest works as a place of both danger and opportunity. In it, Vasilisa is sent by her wicked stepmother to fetch fire from the witch Baba Yaga’s hut. Baba Yaga sets her a series of impossible tasks and tells her that she will kill her if she doesn’t accomplish them. Luckily, Vasilisa has the help of a little doll that her mother gave her on her deathbed. With the doll’s help, she does all that’s asked of her and is able to return home with a skull with flaming eyes to light her way. Upon arriving home, the fire springs out and burns her wicked stepmother and stepsisters to ash.
EL: Can you tell us more about your new book The Wicked King?
HB: The Wicked King is the second book in the Folk of the Air trilogy. They’re about a mortal girl named Jude who is raised in Faerie by the murderer of her parents, the Grand General of the High Court of Elfhame. She wants to find a place for herself in the High Court but is thwarted by the youngest—and to her mind, worst—of the princes, Prince Cardan. The Cruel Prince asks what Jude is willing to do for power, and The Wicked King asks what she will do to hang on to it.
EL: Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
HB: Here’s the best advice I have gotten and given over the years: First, write to please your reader self and not your writer self. Second, finish what you start. Third, unless you’re totally against the idea, find a critique partner with whom you can pass things back and forth.
EL: And finally, how do you stay enchanted?
HB: It’s hard to feel magical all the time. When you’re working a lot and busy, it can be hard to feel magical at all. But I think there are a few things that help—being around beautiful things, experiencing art and music and writing, taking moments to light candles. But I think the most important thing is to have people in your life who look for enchantment too.
You can find Holly Black’s work at blackholly.com or follow her on Instagram @blackholly.
QUOTE:
"Jude might be traumatized and emotionally unhealthy, but she's an antihero worth cheering on." The critic further observed: "There are few physical descriptions of humans and some queer representation. Whether you came for the lore or the love, perfection.
Black, Holly THE QUEEN OF NOTHING Little, Brown (Young Adult Fiction) $19.99 11, 19 ISBN: 978-0-316-31042-0
Broken people, complicated families, magic, and Faerie politics: Black's back.
After the tumultuous ending to the last volume (marriage, exile, and the seeming collapse of all her plots), Jude finds herself in the human world, which lacks appeal despite a childhood spent longing to go back. The price of her upbringing becomes clear: A human raised in the multihued, multiformed, always capricious Faerie High Court by the man who killed her parents, trained for intrigue and combat, recruited to a spy organization, and ultimately the power behind the coup and the latest High King, Jude no longer understands how to exist happily in a world that isn't full of magic and danger. A plea from her estranged twin sends her secretly back to Faerie, where things immediately come to a boil with Cardan (king, nemesis, love interest) and all the many political strands Jude has tugged on for the past two volumes. New readers will need to go back to The Cruel Prince (2018) to follow the complexities--political and personal side plots abound--but the legions of established fans will love every minute of this lushly described, tightly plotted trilogy closer. Jude might be traumatized and emotionally unhealthy, but she's an antihero worth cheering on. There are few physical descriptions of humans and some queer representation.
Whether you came for the lore or the love, perfection. (Fantasy. 14-adult)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Black, Holly: THE QUEEN OF NOTHING." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Sept. 2019. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A599964398/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=cfdef923. Accessed 5 Oct. 2019.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A599964398
QUOTE:
"Black ratchets up the action with even more sinister settings, wicked villains, surprising plot twists and her haunting, melodic prose. ... The Wicked King is intense and entertaining storytelling at its finest."
* The Wicked King By Holly Black Little, Brown $19.99, 336 pages 9780316310352 Audio, eBook available Ages 14 and up
Fantasy
High stakes and heartbreak are at the center of awardwinning author Holly Black's The Wicked King, the second book in the Folk of the Air series and the luscious sequel to her New York Times bestseller The Cruel Prince.
When The Wicked King opens, it's been five months since 17-year-old human Jude planted Faerie Prince Cardan on the Elfhame throne. Now, she's struggling to maintain her behind-the-scenes power, and it doesn't help that Cardan is trying to undermine their deal or that her twin sister's marriage to the duplicitous Locke comes with its own set of challenges. On top of all that, Jude's stepfather is strategizing behind her back.
But when the Queen of the Undersea threatens the Faerie kingdom and Cardan's rule, Jude must spy and scheme to protect her family and her hold on the throne. But Jude can't foresee everything, and someone is out to betray her. Despite growing up in a Faerie world, Jude is not one of them. And there's only so much power a mortal girl can wield when fighting monsters.
Fans of The Cruel Prince have been clamoring for this book, and they will not be disappointed. Black ratchets up the action with even more sinister settings, wicked villains, surprising plot twists and her haunting, melodic prose. Cardan and Jude's infatuation with one another is seductively tense as they continue to fight their feelings. And Jude's ability to steamroll her enemies with violence and wit offers a particularly feminist high.
The Wicked King is intense and entertaining storytelling at its finest.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 BookPage
http://bookpage.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Giarratano, Kimberly. "The Wicked King." BookPage, Jan. 2019, p. 29. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A567426123/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=67275aa8. Accessed 5 Oct. 2019.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A567426123
QUOTE:
"The plot itself twists, turns, and dovetails perfectly with the assured character development; in this way, Black proves herself a master storyteller writing in the tradition of Megan Whalen Turner."
The Wicked King [Folk of the Air]
by Holly Black
High School Little, Brown 325 pp. g
1/19 978-0-316-31035-2 $18.99 e-book ed. 978-0-316-31033-8 $9.99
A mortal raised in the realms of Faerie by the devious General Madoc, Jude Duarte has learned to play games of politics and intrigue quite well. By manipulating her onetime nemesis, Cardan (the titular Cruel Prince of the previous book, rev. 1/18; and Wicked King of this one), onto the throne and binding his will to hers for a year and a day, Jude has bought time for her young foster brother, Oak, whom Madoc would have thrust into power and controlled from the shadows. Using all of her resources-her spy network, her inability to be glamoured, and her innate physical and intellectual talents--Jude manages to keep Cardan's numerous rivals in check. The growing trust between Jude and Cardan blossoms into an unlikely romance and ultimately a clandestine marriage--but one final betrayal threatens to undo all of Jude's plans. The plot itself twists, turns, and dovetails perfectly with the assured character development; in this way, Black proves herself a master storyteller writing in the tradition of Megan Whalen Turner.
g indicates that the book was read in galley or page proof. The publisher's price is the suggested retail price and does not indicate a possible discount to libraries. Grade levels are only suggestions; the individual child is the real criterion.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 The Horn Book, Inc.. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Sources, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.hbook.com/magazine/default.asp
Source Citation
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
hunt, Jonathan. "The Wicked King: [Folk of the Air]." The Horn Book Magazine, Jan.-Feb. 2019, p. 86. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A569042370/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=0f36813e. Accessed 5 Oct. 2019.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A569042370
QUOTE:
"Black's writing is both contemporary and classic; her world is, at this point, intensely well-realized, so that some plot twists seem almost inevitable," noted a Kirkus Reviews critic of this second installment. The critic added: "A rare second volume that surpasses the first, with, happily, more intrigue and passion still to come."
Black, Holly THE WICKED KING Little, Brown (Young Adult Fiction) $18.99 1, 8 ISBN: 978-0-316-31035-2
A heady blend of courtly double-crossing, Faerie lore, and toxic attraction swirls together in the sequel to The Cruel Prince (2018).
Five months after engineering a coup, human teen Jude is starting to feel the strain of secretly controlling King Cardan and running his Faerie kingdom. Jude's self-loathing and anger at the traumatic events of her childhood (her Faerie "dad" killed her parents, and Faerie is not a particularly easy place even for the best-adjusted human) drive her ambition, which is tempered by her desire to make the world she loves and hates a little fairer. Much of the story revolves around plotting (the Queen of the Undersea wants the throne; Jude's Faerie father wants power; Jude's twin, Taryn, wants her Faerie betrothed by her side), but the underlying tension--sexual and political--between Jude and Cardan also takes some unexpected twists. Black's writing is both contemporary and classic; her world is, at this point, intensely well-realized, so that some plot twists seem almost inevitable. Faerie is a strange place where immortal, multihued, multiformed denizens can't lie but can twist everything; Jude--who can lie--is an outlier, and her first-person, present-tense narration reveals more than she would choose. With curly dark brown hair, Jude and Taryn are never identified by race in human terms.
A rare second volume that surpasses the first, with, happily, more intrigue and passion still to come. (map) (Fantasy. 14-adult)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Black, Holly: THE WICKED KING." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Oct. 2018. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A557887092/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=75d42974. Accessed 5 Oct. 2019.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A557887092
QUOTE:
: "Black, quite rightly, is the acknowledged queen of faerie lit, and her latest shows her to be at the top of her game, unveiling twists and secrets and bringing her characters vividly to life. Jude is a brave and cunning protagonist, quite worthy of playing this game of thrones, faerie edition."
Black, Holly. The Cruel Prince: The Folk of the Air, Book 1. Little, Brown, January 2018. 384p. $18.99. 978-0-316-31027-7.
5Q * 4P * S
Jude is only seven years old when she opens the door to her home to a strange man who proceeds to slaughter her parents in front of her and her sisters, twin Taryn and older sister Vivienne. The man is a general from the realm of Faerie, and Jude's mother faked her death and that of her unborn child so she could escape Faerie and run away with Jude's father, a mortal like herself. The general, though cruel, has a sense of honor, and takes the three daughters back with him to Faerie to raise as his own, even though the twins are not his. A decade has passed, and Jude has done her best to adapt to life in Faerieland, but it is difficult to endure the bullying that comes from the gentry of Faerie. Painfully beautiful and virtually immortal, they torment mortals whom they see as inferior beings worthy only of contempt. Surviving these torments will turn out to be the least of her worries, however, as Jude attempts to thwart bloody intrigues to take the throne.
Black, quite rightly, is the acknowledged queen of faerie lit, and her latest shows her to be at the top of her game, unveiling twists and secrets and bringing her characters vividly to life. Jude is a brave and cunning protagonist, quite worthy of playing this game of thrones, faerie edition.--Sean Rapacki.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
http://www.voya.com
Source Citation
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Rapacki, Sean. "Black, Holly. The Cruel Prince: The Folk of the Air, Book 1." Voice of Youth Advocates, Feb. 2018, p. 65. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A529357154/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=4aed8072. Accessed 5 Oct. 2019.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A529357154
QUOTE:
"Breathtaking set pieces, fully developed supporting characters, and a beguiling, tough-as-nails heroine enhance an intricate, intelligent plot that crescendos to a jaw-dropping third-act twist."
The Cruel Prince
Holly Black. Little, Brown, $18.99 (384p) ISBN 978-0-316-31027-7
When Jude Duarte was seven, she watched Madoc, general to the high king of Elfhame, slaughter her parents. Madoc then dragged Jude and her two sisters off to Faerieland, where he raised them as his own. Ten years later, Jude remains an outcast who is cruelly bullied by the other children of Faerie--the king's youngest son, Prince Cardan, chief among them. Jude dreams of becoming a member of the High Court and the power that it confers, so when the opportunity arises for her to enter into the service of one of Cardan's brothers, she seizes it, inadvertently placing herself at the center of a bloody coup and endangering the lives of everyone she loves. First in a trilogy, this spellbinding fantasy from Black (The Darkest Part of the Forest) reflects on the cost of ambition and explores the bomb-strewn border between love and hate. Breathtaking set pieces, fully developed supporting characters, and a beguiling, tough-as-nails heroine enhance an intricate, intelligent plot that crescendos to a jaw-dropping third-act twist. Ages 15--up.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"The Cruel Prince." Publishers Weekly, 27 Nov. 2018, p. 64. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A564607323/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=fd8f891a. Accessed 5 Oct. 2019.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A564607323
QUOTE:
"Whatever a reader is looking for--heart-in-throat action, deadly romance, double-crossing, moral complexity--this is one heck of a ride."
* The Cruel Prince. By Holly Black. Jan. 2018. 384p. Little, Brown, $18.99 (9780316310277); e-book, $9.99 (9780316310284). Gr. 9-12.
When Jude and her twin sister, Taryn, were seven, their parents were murdered by their half-sister Vivian's fae father, and all three girls were stolen away to the High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, raised by the very man who killed her parents, Jude has adjusted to the life as much as she can and struggles to earn her place in a world whose inhabitants scorn, and even despise, humans. While Taryn hopes to marry into a place at court, Jude wants to seize hers by becoming a warrior, and she chafes against the attentions of Cardan, the youngest and cruelest faerie prince, who hates Jude and viciously bullies her daily. Disgusted at her own human weakness, Jude finds herself accepting a dangerous role offered by his brother and is soon tangled in a complex political plot. Though the faerie world is a familiar setting, in this case, it is by no means stale; Black employs the same detailed world building, chilling suspense, and whiplash-inducing plot twists that allowed The Coldest Girl in Coldtown (2013) to make even vampires fresh again. Jude, who struggles with a world she both loves and hates and would rather be powerful and safe than good, is a compelling narrator. Whatever a reader is looking for--heart-in-throat action, deadly romance, double-crossing, moral complexity--this is one heck of a ride.--Maggie Reagan
HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Black got her start writing about faeries [Tithe, 2002) and both her talent and her fan base have only grown; this return to the faerie world will surely be met with thunderous enthusiasm.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Source Citation
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Reagan, Maggie. "The Cruel Prince." Booklist, 15 Oct. 2017, p. 50+. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A512776214/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=444d0229. Accessed 5 Oct. 2019.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A512776214