Keyword Fun

Lately I've been looking at searches bring people to In Bed With Books. Most of the searches are straightforward, but there's a few things I can offer updates on.

There's "kate spade emma clutch" - those searchers will want this post chronicling my lust for the expensive Kate Spade Romeo + Juliet clutch. They might also be interested in perusing the book collection of French designer Olympia LeTan, which are even less affordable. Natalie Portman carried her Lolita bag to the Black Swan premiere.

Follow Kate Spade on Tumblr.

"[S]exy reading pictures" is an evergreen search term for IBWB, somewhat strangely. I suppose they're being directed to this post on the reading mudflap girl. (I've spotted other variations on the theme since then; have you?)  I recommend those searchers check out this cool Wired article about Rachel Ann, the original mudflap girl.

But if you really want sexy reading pictures, you're probably better off going to the Book Porn Tumblr.

Finally, we come to "games wizards play release date." This is because I once said GAMES WIZARDS PLAY (Diane Duane) doesn't have a publication date yet. Unfortunately, there is still no release date. But . . . in late 2012 an anthology entitled THE WIZARDS' YEAR will be published. THE WIZARDS' YEAR will contain twelve short stories set in the Young Wizards universe. See the bottom of this post.

For parallelism, Diane Duane is on Tumblr.

Young Wizards Updating

The Young Wizards series, by Diane Duane, is one of my favorites. I just bought A WIZARD OF MARS, the ninth book, at a local Borders. It reminded me to get online and look for news about the tenth book. Unfortunately, there's no publication date yet for GAMES WIZARDS PLAY.  Instead, I discovered that Duane is updating the first four books in the series. 

I love my copies of SO YOU WANT TO BE A WIZARD, DEEP WIZARDRY, HIGH WIZARDRY, and A WIZARD ABROAD. I have the 1996 covers, which are far more attractive to me than the current cartoon covers. (The Cliff Nielsen covers, which I own for books 5-9, are quite nice too.  I am a Nielsen fan, if only because he's done covers for many of my favorite books.) 

But this isn't a cover issue. SO YOU WANT TO BE A WIZARD was first published in 1983 - six years before I was born and far longer for kids just discovering the series. The Young Wizard series is one of the strongest influences on my own writing. I loved how Duane blended fantasy and science fiction. But the early books are less accessible nowadays due to that focus on science and technology. Duane explains more about what technological updates are needed, as well as fixing a few timeline issues caused by a series that's been published with long gaps between books.

The new edition of SYWTBAW should be out September 1 and will be available here. Even though I own and love the old editions, I am excited to see the changes.

For those who haven't read the series, you can get an ebook bundle of all nine books for $39.99. (Or less, if you use 10 % off discount code COMPLETE. Instructions on using discount codes here.)  I do advise you to check it out.  Nita and Kit's adventures are clever and exciting.  Though I recommend starting at the beginning, I will confess that my favorite is A WIZARD ABROAD.