Three Things For A Post
Three things, internets! 1: When We Wake First pass pages: SUCCESS [Transcript: A pile of printer paper bound with heavy duty rubber bands, many post-it flags indicating changes in the top left corner. The top page reads WHEN WE WAKE in a delightfully futuristic typeface] Typically nervewracking work, because what if you don’t like the book anymore? Turns out I do, excellent, send it off on Monday. 2: First ever creme brulee: MOSTLY SUCCESS. [Transcript: A creme brulee in a grey terracotta soup bowl, looking mighty fine if I do say so myself.] Me: Where are those ramekins you said you...
read moreBook Mini-tour in the USA!
Internets, or that part of it which lives in various parts of the USA, would you like to meet me? Would you like me to chat with you and tell you things and maybe sign any books you have with you? They don’t actually have to be my books. I once signed a copy of Sarah Rees Brennan’s The Demon’s Covenant with my name. I believe the salutation was, “Dear [Reader], I wrote this book. Happy reading!” But in case you would like me to sign the books that I wrote, I can do that too. Yes, it’s mini-tour time! SAN DIEGO Thurs 27 Oct, 7pm: Diversity in YA event! San...
read moreCreepy Cake N Bake: Dark Chocolate Teacup Puddings
Mmm, bakery. I love baking. I like weird things. I like doing weird things with baking. But after the delicious mess that was Dead Dinosaur Trifle earlier this year, I feared that I wouldn’t be able to top myself for the Creepy Cake N Bake-a-thon, where authors bake things in a TERRIFYING manner. So I went simple, and, in keeping with the theme, I went dark. This recipe is not suitable for vegans, people with coeliac disease, or people with tree-nut allergies (although you can probably substitute the heck out of things at will). All photos illustrate the text without any additional...
read moreGuardian of the Dead wins Aurealis Award
I thought today was going well when I triumphantly finished my powerpoint for Reading Matters – I promise, internets, I AM going to tell you about what I’m doing for Reading Matters, not to mention recounting the wonders that were the Auckland Writers Festival – and then made delicious steak sandwiches and feijoa-apple martinis for appreciative eaters. Half an hour later, when I had made trenchant commentary on a beautiful story the fabulous Belinda was working on in my spare room and was feeling very satisfied with myself, I got a text from Editor S. No Rapture, instead an...
read moreWhy I’m Pleased I Didn’t Win The Shadows Award
I think awards are very nice! I would like to win one! And I was pleased and honoured to be on the Australian Shadows Awards Long Fiction short list. But since I think of Guardian of the Dead as more urban fantasy than horror*, I was fairly sure it wasn’t going anywhere near the trophy on this one. On mentioning this to my agent, he told me to have more confidence in myself. I told him that I had plenty of confidence in myself! I just didn’t think the book had much of a chance. “But how can you be sure?” he asked me. And then I fatally said: “Barry, I bet I...
read moreGuardian of the Dead Paperback Cover!
Internets, I am so happy! As you know, I think I have had excellent fortune with covers; although I love some more than others, I think they are all beautiful, and none horrify my social justice sensibilities. Neither of these things are guaranteed in the world of publishing, and I am very lucky to have had excellent designers and ethical publishers working on these books. This is all preamble to say that Little, Brown decided on a new cover for the paperback of Guardian of the Dead and I LOVE IT FOREVER. [Image transcript at end of post] It is so creepy and sexy and strong. This is no...
read moreAbout Karen
Karen Healey is a young adult novelist. She is the author of the urban fantasies GUARDIAN OF THE DEAD and THE SHATTERING, both set in New Zealand, and the forthcoming sci-fi adventure WHEN WE WAKE. GUARDIAN OF THE DEAD won the 2010 Aurealis Award for Best YA Novel and was a finalist for the William C. Morris Award. Karen can tell you a lot about baking, covers of "Hallelujah" and superhero comics.
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