Monday, March 30, 2009

The Enchanted Inkpot

Hey guys! I want to share with you the launch of a new collaborative blog that I have been working on that goes live April 1st! I want to share with you the press release and invite you all to come by and take a tour. The beautiful artwork on the header is by my wonderful illustrator buddy Virginia Allyn and we are featuring lots of amazing authors whose debut books will be coming soon. So spread the word and come on by for some fascinating discussion on kidlit fantasy!

The Enchanted Inkpot Blog to Focus on Kidlit Fantasy

March 30, 2009 — Twenty writers (and one illustrator) of middle-grade and young-adult fantasy have joined forces to launch The Enchanted Inkpot (EI), a collaborative blog focused on high, historical, traditional and cross-genre fantasy. EI is located at The Enchanted Inkpot.

"The idea was to create a blogging community for people who write, read, or otherwise adore fantasy stories written for middle grade and young adult readers," said blog founder Marissa Doyle, author of Bewitching Season (Henry Holt, 2008) and Betraying Season (September 2009), young adult fantasies set in Regency England. "Authors who write MG and YA fantasy are among the most vociferous supporters of this genre, so they're forming the nucleus of the group, but we hope that anyone who loves fantasy for kids and teens will participate."

EI will feature interviews with established fantasy writers as well as newcomers to the genre. April will feature an interview with Elizabeth C. Bunce, whose A Curse Dark as Gold (2008) won the American Library Association's first-ever Morris Award for a debut young adult novel. In May, Tamora Pierce, bestselling author of Melting Stones (Circle Reforged), Terrier, the classic Song of the Lioness novels and other award-winning YA fantasies, will talk about her newest YA book, Bloodhound.

EI will also celebrate its own members, kicking off with an interview with Ellen Jensen Abbot, whose debut YA novel, Watersmeet, will be released in April by Marshall Cavendish. Two other EI members' books also debut in April: Deva Fagan's fairy tale novel, Fortune's Folly (Henry Holt), and Cindy Pon's Asian-inspired Silver Phoenix: Beyond the Kingdom of the Xia (Greenwillow). A detailed list of all members' published books is provided under the Member Bios section of the blog.

To foster community and reader participation, the blog will devote the first day or two of every week to a Topic of the Week. In April, the first week's topic will be "fantasy in Asia," followed the second week by a discussion of how you "write what you know" in a fantasy novel.

Finally, EI will offer a monthly book club and other features as well as contests, quizzes, and news of members and others in the industry.

16 comments:

Kimbra Kasch said...

This sounds great. I will be a regular visitor.

Anonymous said...

I love the header artwork, love the name of the blog, and love the idea. Good luck with that! I'll be stopping by!

Paul

Carrie Harris said...

It sounds like it's made of awesome. Of course it is; you're in it! ;)

Anonymous said...

. . . so that is why I have no clean socks!

Nice bio, Ello. I noticed the absence of words such as "patient," "supportive,"
"worldly" in your brief reference to me.

Da' Man

LarramieG said...

That's a much needed site, Ello, but you're going to be busy!

Jacqui said...

Ooh! Fun.

Stacy Nyikos said...

Sounds like an awesome blogging community. Marissa is really great at organizing. She did a bang up job with the Classof2k8, which I was a part of. Hats of to her. You guys will rock!

JaneyV said...

Looks fantastic Ello - make sure you put a link from your sidebar to it!!!

Stuart Neville said...

Congratulations, Ello, I hope it does well for you. And putting on my web developer head for a moment - looks great, and very usable. Well done to all concerned!

cindy said...

wooowooooooooOOOooooOOO! =D

Patti said...

Sounds intersting i'll check it out.

Mary Witzl said...

I've seen this on VK's, Ello, and it does sound wonderful. I'll try to get there too, once we're through midterms here.

I'm so sick of midterms I could scream...

Christina Farley said...

I saw this through the Blue Boards. Very exciting! i'll be visiting often.

Chris Eldin said...

Good luck with this!!! Sounds like an idea that will really take off!
:-)

Ello - Ellen Oh said...

Thanks everyone! I'm so glad you are all interested! And Janey I've linked it!!

Unknown said...

Wow, this sounds awesome, off to check it out right now!

Search This Blog