Catching up

Dear curious reader,

First let me say thank you for all your messages and emails. It would be a lonely endeavor to write a blog and maintain a website if it all just disappeared into a great, silent void. I’m so glad to hear from you.

During the past few months, some of you have asked questions that I want to catch up with today:

Is The Snow Child cover art available as a print or in another form? I agree —  both the US and UK editions have covers beautiful enough to hang on the wall. So far no one has gone that additional step and offered prints to sell.  The art for the US cover is by the Italian artist Shout, also known as Alessandro Gottardo. You can see more of  his artwork here. Cover designer Keith Hayes with Little, Brown and Company then took the art work and designed the overall cover. In the UK, credit for the cover goes to Patrick Insole at Headline Publishing. I will certainly mention your request to buy prints to both my publishers.

Will there be a movie of The Snow Child? If and when a film is in the works, I will certainly let you all know.

Do I have any US book tours planned? Not currently. I will be in New York City at the beginning of December for the Center for Fiction Awards Dinner, and later in the spring I will be Oregon (more on that soon.) And as I mentioned in my last letter, I will be in London on a short book tour soon. I so appreciate your kind requests that I come to bookstores in your part of the world. If the opportunity arises, I will certainly announce any travel plans here on my blog.

Can you still enter Little, Brown and Company’s Snow Day Sweepstakes?
Yes, the contest is open until Dec. 6 to win a basket full of Snow Child goodies for your book club. Click here to learn more. Unfortunately, it’s only open to US readers.

Am I working on another book? Yes, whenever time allows. It won’t be a sequel to The Snow Child, but so far it includes some similarities — set in historical Alaska with mythological elements.

What am I reading right now? I was down with a cold-flu illness this past weekend, so I read a lot. At the enthusiastic request of my 13-year-old, I finished The Night Circus, which I enjoyed thoroughly.  Then I read Alif The Unseen by G. Willow Wilson. Imagine One Thousand and One Nights meets Harry Potter meets 1984. A great read! Next up — Louise Erdrich’s The Round House, which just won the National Book Award.

Do we have snow yet? It’s funny because we are having the exact kind of winter I describe in the beginning of The Snow Child. Typically by Halloween we have enough snow to sled and build snowmen. But it is nearly Thanksgiving and  it is dusty, gray, cold, windy and snowless. Our two daughters are doing their version of a snow dance — they cut out paper snowflakes and taped them all over our living room windows.

Are there any questions I missed?

And how about you — what are you reading? And do you have snow?

Cheers!

Eowyn

 

22 Comments

  • Teresa-Iche says:

    I have just finished reading Snow Child and I, like many many others so enjoyed the story and the way you conveyed it. It was like being nourished with the most delighful heart-warming foods imaginable. I was sad when I read the very last word in the book. Thank you for sharing this beautiful country Alaska and it’s magical landscape. Blessings to you.

  • Michelle says:

    I love your book so much and would love a sequel! Do you have any plans? I’d love to know what happens to the characters after the book ended. I just loved it so much! Thank you.

  • cravingpages says:

    Hello Eowyn – congrats on your National Book Award nomination! That’s brilliant news! Sadly I won’t be able to come say hello again during your signings, but I hope you have a lovely time here anyway. London is manic but fun during the winter season! Try to experience Hamleys if possible – the queue down Regent Street goes on forever during the weekend, but it’s so much fun at Christmas.

    My read at the moment isn’t cheery, but it’s interesting – The Aquariums of Pyongyang, an account of someone’s life and eventual escape from North Korea. It’s fascinating. But if you feel like turning to a non-fiction read, I recomend Nothing to Envy. Same topic, but written by a journalist, Barbara Demick, who tells real stories of people who escaped from North Korea – it’s unique in that it almost reads like fiction. One of the most moving pieces of non-fiction I’ve ever read. http://nothingtoenvy.com/nothing-to-envy-excerpt/

    On the other hand, I also read The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake recently. An odd one! I still can’t figure out how I feel about it, but the author, Aimee Bender, has a real way with engaging prose.

    Will Self’s ‘Umbrella’ is also excellent – it’s written in a stream of consciousness, so it’s quite a unique read.

    Thanks for those book recs too – time to fill up the Christmas list! Sorry for the long comment!

    -Catherine

  • Sue Mathis says:

    I am reading “Cloud Atlas.” So far, (about three quarters of the way through) I’m thoroughly enjoying it. It’s our book club read for January suggested by Eowyn – Good choice!

  • Nance says:

    Since I only read Harry Potter because of the deal we made, you may be shocked to learn that I’m reading Casual Vacancy . . . and really enjoying it!! 🙂

  • Thanks for the wonderful update, it’s wonderful to hear what’s happening or what might be happening in the Snow Child world. It’s great to hear you are working on something else, I wish for you plenty of time conducive to delving deep into the creative space where it will develop.

    I was in London(UK) last week and popped into Foyles bookshop on the Southbank while waiting for a friend and ‘The Snow Child’ was in their 3 for 2 promotion, so since I read it on kindle I bought the paperback to reread and I also bought The Night Circus, which the assistant said was excellent. She then asked about The Snow Child and said Is it sad? She had been hesitating to read it thinking it was going to be sad and said she’d read too many sad stories recently. I said No, it’s not sad, at least that is not how I found it, I said certain parts are ambiguous, so I guess it depends on whether you are an optimist or a pessimist. I told her truthfully, it is the best book I’ve read in 2012, so I hope she will read it and recommend it as well.

    For my part, I’m into Book 3 of 1Q84 which is steaming along at quite a pace and I’m also part way into The Zenith by Duong Thu Huong, whose first book Paradise of the Blind I read while travelling in Vietnam many years ago.

  • liz says:

    Firstly, let me say how much i loved your book. So much so that I have chosen it for our Christmas book group read. The only complication is that we theme our Book Group Christmas Dinner on the book that we are reading…. how can I create an Alaskian wonderland (together with Alaskian food, wine and music), in my dining room I wonder? A challenge I think. !!

  • patfereday says:

    I read the Snow Child a couple of months ago and was captivated by it. I’ve had a long time ambition to travel to Alaska and your book with it’s wonderful descriptions of the place has made me take the decision at last to book a holiday next spring!

    We will be travelling to Anchorage and spending 2 weeks on the Kenai peninsula with a visit to Fireside Books high up on the itinerary.

    My husband and I love books so I will read a few more set in Alaska before we get there.

    We’re keen birdwatchers but also hope to see moose, bears and even whales.

    No snow here in the UK just rain.

    Books I have just read – Pennance by Clare Ashton, Nightwoods Charles Frazier, Peace Like a River Leif Enger.

  • Cara says:

    Hello Eowyn! Happy Thanksgiving!
    I’m so happy to hear you’re working on another book about Alaska! I can’t wait to read it!
    About the book I’m reading….you may laugh, you may roll your eyes….but I’m reading “Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing” by Judy Blume and I’m really enjoying it! You see, I’m helping out with The Battle of the Books at Sutton Elementary. “Tales” was on the list and I have an old copy from my childhood that I kept around for my kids to read when they’re older. (currently 2nd grade and 4 yrs) So this winter I’ll be reading a lot of fun, young reader books. yay!
    I don’t have to tell you that we don’t have snow either since I’m your neighbor, but my kids are doing a snow dance. My 4 yr old son doesn’t believe it’s winter because there’s no snow. He refuses to bundle up and wear winter gear. (I made him put a hat on because with the wind chill it got down to -2) But we’re still wearing tennis shoes around town. Waiting for the wind to stop and the snow to come…
    Cara

  • Sarah Allen says:

    Reading Snow Child at my desk while I should be working 🙂 Your prose is stunning. I just wanted to drop a note to tell you that. I wish I could write as lyrically as you do!

    Sarah Allen

  • Eowyn Ivey says:

    Thank you all for sharing your current reads, and for the kind comments about The Snow Child. I’m so glad you are enjoying it.

  • Barbara Borg-Jenkins says:

    The Snow Child is now featured as The Ladies Home Journal pick of the month for December 2012/January 2013. (I work in a library so I see the magazines as they come in).

  • Elizabeth says:

    I’m reading Billy Lynn’s Long Half Time Walk. Not a very cheery book, but pretty amazing. Alif The Unseen is on my list! Definitely no snow where I am in Pasadena visiting family (it was 85 today), nor up in the bay area.

  • Donna Braendel says:

    Not reading.. Working, finally, on a long overdue project ;)… Hoping it turns out the way I see it in my mind, or at least close..

  • Kathy says:

    Dear Eowyn,
    Your book is Magical.
    You have captured the spirit of the snow child some of us make when the snow scatters down from the sky and we’ve been cooped up in our winter houses for too long and we’ve lost all Hope. I’m glad you wrote down the words too help free us. Thank you, Kathy

  • Holly Warnes says:

    Dear Eowyn,
    Just simply a thank-you. For your beautiful book, which I have just finished. For creating that world, and a story which moved me beyond words.
    When I was a small child, I arrived on an aeroplane from america, back to my father and a new mother, an angel on earth who took me in and loved me more than I ever thought possible. That winter she wrote and illustrated a tiny book for my father called The Woodcutters Christmas. It was the story of an old couple who lived in a little cabin in the woods and were very happy except that they had no children of their own. So on christmas eve, the wife, busy in the kitchen, makes a little boy out of dough and wraps him up for her husband. Outside in the woods, the old man carves a little girl out of the wood of a holly tree for his wife. Overnight, of course, the magic of christmas brings the children to life and in the morning the couple wake to find a boy, who they name Reuben (my brother) and a little girl they name Holly (that’s me). And they are happy for the rest of their days. So you see, when my mum stumbled upon your book and opened the first pages, it was as if someone had written the novel of her own small story from so long ago. She brought it home and by the time both of us had read the first page we were in floods of tears and fighting over who would get to read it first. I have read a great many books in my life. Many of them truly wonderful, some inspired, some deeply moving, others profoundly affecting, but your book, for me, was perfect. There have only been two books in my adult life that I have read more than once and I have never understood why my father would want to read the same book every year. Now, I understand. And I am certain that I shall return to Mabel and Fahina and that snow covered landscape time and time again. So thank-you again for this beautiful gift. I have cherished every sentence.
    Holly.

  • stelphique says:

    Bonjour, j’ai adoré votre livre et je me permet d vous envoyer ma chronique qui j’espere montrera tout e l’emotion que votre talent m’a procuré!!!!http://fairystelphique.wordpress.com/2013/01/08/la-fille-de-lhiver-eowyn-ivey/
    a bientot!!!!