The Official Cover of Anubis Speaks!

 

Isn't if fab? Isn't it fun? I just love the cover--illustrated by Antoine Revoy--for my upcoming book, Anubis Speaks!, which releases this October from Boyds Mills Press. The crafty canine-headed dog takes the middle-grade reader through the twelve hours of darkness (or, has he puts it, the twelve "Caverns of Misery") that Ra must travel through in his dangerous journey to be reborn as the sun every morning. Full of mayhem and monsters, it's a fun way to learn about the ancient Egyptian afterworld and death practices.

On the cover, Anubis's slightly cagey look, along with his very sharp teeth, perfectly capture  Anubis's voice throughout the book--snarky and dangerous.  You know what else is cool? The book was mentioned in the Publisher's Weekly rap-up of BEA as one of the "notable" nonfiction books of the season. Woohoo! 

Go Anubis, you sly dog, you.

I have a couple of ARCs to share for any school or youth services librarian who would like a free copy in exchange for an honest review. Any takers?

Let me know!

Kids Ask the Darndest Things--Over Skype

A pic of my screen as we said goodbye...

The students at Star Prep Academy in California asked so many great questions about my books on Cleopatra (both the biography and novel), I found myself occasionally taken aback. I mean, how do you respond to a young reader who asks what in MY life informed the way I wrote about Cleopatra Selene's relationship with her MOM?

Whoa. A future psychoanalyst in training.

Other great questions included why I chose to write about a character in history (Selene) that historians actually know so little about; why it was so important to show the power of Rome throughout the novel; and what I thought about the editing process.

I love talking to kids about history and writing and the fact that I was in Atlanta and the Star Prep students were in Culver City, California, made it all the cooler that we could have these conversations. A big thank you to teacher Hannah Ruth Wilde for setting the visit up. 

Skype has definitely changed the game. So teachers, if you want me to talk to your students but can't bring me out to your classroom, let's do it over Skype!

Roman Funerary Rites for our Fish, Aeneas: a Pictorial

Aeneas the brave betta lived a heroic life 

drifting aimlessly in circles.

But alas, as all mortals must, he went belly up.

So we set him ablaze to release his shade unto Hades's domain.

To honor him, we held gladiatorial games

(see the crossed knife swords?).

 The victor pulled an Odysseus and took

out his opponent's eye.

A live-action look at the 

heroic fight to the death:

AVE ATQUE VALE AENEAS!

Book Giveaway! Forged by Fate

Last week, the author of Forged by Fate shared how she came to the characterization of biblical Eve in the first novel of her historical fantasy. And I forgot to include that she is graciously offering a signed copy for a giveaway to those who leave a comment. So. Better late than never. Leave a comment here and you could win a signed copy of the paperback of FORGED BY FATE. What are you waiting for? Comment away! You've got until June 1.

Eve Re-imagined in a Mind-Blowing Way in FORGED BY FATE

Take biblical characters like Eve. And Adam. And Lilith. Throw in all of the gods of the ancient world. Mix well and what have you got?
      A fascinating re-imagining of biblical Eve in a world where ALL the ancient gods exist and where they are constantly negotiating ways of maintaining their territorial holds and, basically, not annihilating each other. A world where Eve is determined to save the world after Adam falls. A world where Adam is unpredictable and often, quite frightening.
      Intrigued? You should be. Forged by Fate by Amalia Dillin, is the first in a fascinating fantasy/alternate history trilogy that brings together some of your favorite gods from the ancient world. My favorite is Thor, the Nordic God of Thunder. Dillin re-imagines him as a complex god, torn by duty, and not just an anvil-spinning hot-head.
      Dillin weaves several story lines--as well as several epochs--together into a fascinating re-imagining of familiar biblical characters and ancient gods. My only complaint is the cover--I don't think it does the story justice. It looks too much like bodice-ripper, which it is not. It is an intelligent, well-researched foray into alternate biblical history with a compelling story line.
      I found Eve's re-imagining particularly fascinating and asked the author if she would share with us her process for developing Eve's character. Here is her response:   

The Evolution of Eve

It always seemed to me that Eve was getting an unreasonably large share of the blame for the fall of man. I think that’s what it all comes down to, really, and like so many other women in history, misunderstood or villainized to make men look better, I wanted to believe better of her. I wanted to give her a reason for taking the actions she took, beyond just a certain level of gullibility.

Because, let’s face it. Adam and Eve were both pretty naive before they ate the Fruit. God had told them “No,” but they were practically just children, and it always seemed to me that they didn’t really understanding right or wrong or any of those kinds of subtleties. As unsupervised innocents, they would have been easy pickings for the serpent. And what child doesn’t like to test the limits of their parent? Isn’t that part of growing up? Part of coming into adulthood and reaching independence?

Thor in Forged by Fate: Complex and Fascinating.

In some traditions, Eve has been lumped in with this idea of deliberate deception. But it seems to me that neither Adam nor Eve were really capable of that kind of behavior before they ate of the Fruit. It’s far more likely and understandable that Eve was being used by the serpent. Maybe to get back at God for whatever reason. Maybe just because he wanted to inject a little mayhem into God’s ordered world. Maybe to test his own limits, and his own skills. 

 But even that wasn’t really a satisfactory enough answer to me. It seemed like just another way in which agency is taken from women. Another justification for keeping them under the control of men in a patriarchal world. A cautionary idea of: “See what happens when you let a woman think for herself?” The first woman, the greatest pioneer of them all, she had to be more than that. More than a tool, more than a prop, more than an easy excuse for men to remain blameless.

So what if Eve had agency? What if she understood what she was doing, and all the ramifications, all the consequences? And what if, even knowing all that, eating the Fruit was still necessary? What if what was happening around her compelled her to consider that option and make that choice, eyes wide open and heartsick?

And what if it is was a sacrifice, rather than a sin?

You’ll have to read Forged by Fate to find out!

About the author:  Amalia Dillin began as a Biology major before taking Latin and falling in love with old heroes and older gods. After that, she couldn't stop writing about them, with the occasional break for more contemporary subjects. She lives in upstate New York with her husband, and dreams of the day when she will own goats--to pull her chariot through the sky, of course. The first novel in her FATE OF THE GODS trilogy, FORGED BY FATE is available now, in paperback and ebook. You can find more information on her website, www.amaliadillin.com. 

Purchase Forged by Fate at your local independent bookstore (find the closest one to you here), or at B&N or Amazon.

Body Image and the Ancient World

     My awesome brother, Michael Alvear, just released a book called Not Tonight Dear, I Feel Fat (Source Books). How he ended up writing a book like this is a story in itself--it all started with a sex advice column that led to a British TV Show, to HBO airplay of said show, to appearances on The Tyra Banks Show, and to a firm belief that anything that stops people from fully enjoying themselves in the bedroom needs to change.
      And whether he was working on the TV show or answering letters, he discovered that the issue that came up with distressing frequency from women was how being self-conscious (or critical) about their bodies (no matter their size) got in the way of their sexual expression.

Aphrodite: baby got back in the ancient world...

     Not Tonight Dear is a fresh look at overcoming the problem of body consciousness, particularly in the bedroom. It's a fascinating read--both for women who struggle with body issues and for the partners who sometimes feel rejected because of their woman's inner struggles. So, um, order it (link above). 

     But, of course, the topic got me thinking about body image in general and how it changes by culture and era.



     Throughout most of history and in most cultures, a curvaceous, well-rounded female form was the ideal. Why? Because a little bit o' meat on dem bones meant the woman was healthy (and possibly wealthy), strong, and more likely to successfully have and nurse children. 

Venus, paragon of ancient hotness: "Thigh-gap--what's that?"

      A skin-and-bones form, to the ancient thinker, likely meant that the gal was either ill, starving, or poor. Ill, starving or poor was not, in general, considered very "sexy."

     Until modern times, that is. Today, a super-thin body--on a woman especially--is considered the height of attractiveness and "class." Ironically, in most of today's western countries, the thin are the wealthy and elite, while the overweight are often considered "lower-class" or poor. 
     The ancients would've been thoroughly confused by the modern preoccupation with ultra-thinness for women. That's not to say that the ancients preferred overweight women--only that they appreciated the roundness of the female form.
     Harry Turtledove and Judith Tarr's novel, Household Gods, does an excellent job of showing this dichotomy in the story of a modern woman who ends up time traveling to ancient Rome. Very quickly, her hard-scrabble life forces her to become very thin--and hungry. So what happens? She stares with envy at the rounder, dimple-cheeked wealthy women she sees at the baths--the kind of figure she used to have.
     Yeah. What goes around, comes around. Seriously, check out my bro's book!

Friday Funnies--Ancient Style

On Passion and Librarians

Me, Laura and Heather at the Alabama Library Association.

Last week, I had the honor of speaking on a young adult panel at the annual convention of the Alabama Library Association. Seriously, you guys--a whole room full of book-loving librarians? Died and went to heaven.

Authors Heather Montgomery and Laura Golden joined me on the panel. It became evident pretty quickly that although we write vastly different types of books (Heather writes nature and science books and Laura writes mid-grade fiction), the three of us gravitated toward a single message: passion is the key to connecting with kid readers. Once each of us got to talkin' about our favorite subjects, we were fairly hopping with energy. Our writing reflects this excitement and kids feel it when we present at schools.

We were, of course, preaching to the choir, but still. It was a terrific session. And then I discovered that the entire time I was speaking, my name tag was upside down. Before the program began, I was speaking with someone when I slapped the "speaker" ribbon on my name tag and didn't notice I'd slapped it on the wrong end. Typical.

After the presentation, my good friend @AshParso took me on a tour of Montgomery. And friends, she does not play. If I lingered over anything I found fascinating at the Alabama archives or museums, girlfriend all but snapped a whip to keep me moving.  

Still, I was able to take some pictures of some fascinating things. My favorite is this photo of Coretta Scott King at MLK's funeral. This little picture doesn't capture the beauty and intensity of this shot--breathtaking. 

I also loved seeing Zelda Fitzgerald's fainting couch. Seriously, I want a fainting couch of my very own so badly, I actually feel a swoon coming on.

Our last stop was the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts inside the Alabama Shakespeare Festival compound. Such beautiful property and a wonderful museum. I was very impressed with the kid's section of the museum, especially the way they turned James Hopper's New York Office paintings into a 3-D interactive set. Very cool.

The painting, which hangs in the galleries.

The 3-D interactive recreation of the painting in the kid's section of the museum.

 

All in all,
it was a great visit. I hope I get to present at more ALA conferences because it was just plain awesome.

Friday Funnies--Ancient Style!

Today's Theme: Puns

The Metropolitan Museum, Anubis and Me

I really can't believe that I forgot to post about this but my wonderful editor at Boyds Mill Press, Larry Rosler, got Dr. Janice Kamrin, associate curator of the Egyptian Galleries at THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART to vett my upcoming Anubis book. 

(And yes, I know putting things in all caps is the equivalent of yelling, but seriously, that needed to be yelled because, uhm, THE MET!).

So yeah. That happened. She told my editor that she really enjoyed Anubis Speaks! and that the research I'd put into it really showed. Squeeeee!

Now I have fantasies of walking into the Metropolitan Museum and finding my book there. Swooooon. There's no guarantee, but still. A gal can dream.

I know one thing--it would make Anubis himself very happy. You can tell by that delicious grin reflected in the Tut mask via fab illustrator Antoine Revoy. 

I seriously cannot wait for this book to come out.  October--just around the corner!