Melting

The whole of B.C. is in the midst of a scorching heat wave. Yesterday, thermometer showed 38 degrees Celsius (100.4 Fahrenheit) in the shade. It’s been like this all week with no relief in sight. The house was like a freakin’ sauna: muggy, sticky, sweltering and wholly unpleasant. Seriously, it was so hot even my eyeballs were sweating. (I have a low melting point.) Well, after several sleepless nights, exhausted and fed-up, we went and bought an air conditioning unit. Ahhhh!

Fantasy Debut Review

Tia Nevitt of Fantasy Debut really enjoyed The King’s Daughters and has given it a glowing review, so much so that I am posting two excerpts.

First excerpt: “Sometimes, when I read a book, it exceeds all my expectations. Nathalie Mallet achieved this with The King's Daughters. I enjoyed the ending so much that most of my nitpicky complaints that I had about it before that point have faded from my consciousness. Which is just the way it's supposed to be.”

Second excerpt: “As Ms. Mallet did with her first novel, she brings all the various plot threads together brilliantly. I can't think of anything left unexplained, except some new tidbits that she came up with toward the end for subsequent books. I recall in Princes that she did this almost to a fault. Here, it was just about perfect. She also brings in some Russian mythology and folklore into the story--some really strange stuff--weaves it brilliantly into the story.”

But don’t take my word for it, read the entire review here.

First UK Review

Graeme Flory of Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review has given The King’s Daughters its first UK review, and it’s a splendid one.

Here’s an excerpt: “‘The King’s Daughters’ is one of those books where you find yourself filtering out the noises and distractions of the outside world so you can pay more attention to what is happening on the page. That’s certainly what I found myself doing with an intriguing mystery interspersed with moments of intense swordplay.” MORE.

I especially like Graeme’s insight into Amir’s character. He’s right; my prince is a spoiled, whiny brat. Slowly changing him is one of the many pleasures I get from writing the series, though. :)

Also, check out Graeme’s review of The Princes of the Golden Cage—he was the first to review it in the UK. It's mighty fine!

New Review of The King’s Daughters

Chadwick Ginther of McNally Robinson wrote a very nice review of The King’s Daughters.

Here’s an excerpt: “At times it feels there is a real dearth of non-western themed fantasy out there, but Mallet has created two cultures here, one, influenced heavily by the Middle East, the other by Russian and Slavic myth and folklore and has started to build a larger and cosmopolitan world. I can't wait to read more when Prince Amir heads east in the forthcoming Death in the Traveling City.” More here.

I met Chadwick at the World Fantasy Convention last year, and we’ve kept in touch since. He’s the buyer for McNally Robinson's Sci/Fi/Fantasy department. The McNally Robinson’s bookstores are AMAZING. :)

Night Shade Books Interview

I recently had the pleasure of doing an interview with Ross E. Lockhart, senior editor at Night Shade Books. We talked about my inspiration and literary influences, as well as the challenges of worldbuilding without maps and writing across genres. I also “hint” at what’s coming next in the series. You can read the entire interview right here.

Pottermania

Alright, I’ll come clean. I’ve succumbed to Pottermania too. (Hanging my head…just a little though.) No, seriously. I can’t wait to see the Half-Blood Prince tomorrow night! It looks amazing! Plus, I have to admit I’m little curious to see how my husband will react to the ending. He hasn’t read any of the books, so he has no idea of what’s coming at the end of this one. Wow, he’s in for a surprise.

The King’s Daughters Contest Winners

Tia over at Fantasy Debut has announced the winners of THE KING’S DAUGHTERS. And they are:

Rabia of Bradford, VT
Grace of Bartholows, MD
Debra of Tewksbury, MA

Congratulations guys! And a BIG thank you to Tia for holding the contest for me!

The first review of The King’s Daughters

John Ottinger over at Grasping for the Wind just reviewed The King’s Daughters. And although he preferred The Princes, he still enjoyed the sequel and recommends it. Read all the details here.

SF Creatives

Lynda Williams and I will be hosting another SF Creatives meeting tonight, Thursday, July 9, at Books and Company in Prince George, B.C. I invite readers and writers to drop in and share their favourite books with us. Each person gets a turn and takes part in discussion about other people's choices. There will be readings from Lynda’s new book, Far Arena, and mine too, of course. Informal, friendly and fun, with a focus on science fiction and fantasy, we start at 7 pm.

Giveaway Contest

Reviewer Tia Nevitt is running a giveaway contest for copies of THE KING’S DAUGHTERS over at Fantasy Debut. The contest ends next Monday, so hurry up folks! :D

Copies have arrived

These copies arrived two days ago and have stayed together only long enough to take this picture. Already half of them have been shipped to reviewers. And more should leave next week. I’m feeling very lucky right now that all those people want to read my book. Seriously. My cheeks hurt from grinning so much.

You won’t believe it, but it cost me more ($10.23) to send a parcel across Canada via ground than to send an identical parcel to the US ($6.70) through Air Mail. Hmmm, something’s wrong here! :/

Canada Day

PARTY!