And we have a drawing winner! Ashoka has won a newly released paperback of Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris. Thanks to everyone who weighed in with their favorite cover choices. The French version was the hands down winner. Ashoka I will be emailing you for your address so I can send you the prize.

And speaking of staffs, I get asked a lot about how much of the Egyptian lore and magic in the books is real and how much is made up. While the idea of an actual staff that belonged to Osiris was a construct of mine, the idea that Osiris once lived and walked the earth was not, nor was the idea of magical staffs. The staff was a symbol of authority used by both the pharaohs and Egyptian priests. I thought you might enjoy seeing a picture of the real Egyptian staff that was the creative spark around which the Staff of Osiris was built. Here is a picture of an actual staff taken from a tomb under the Ramesseum in Thebes.

It was found tangled with a mass of hair! Isn’t that especially creepy!

In the comments to my last post, someone asked about the cover for Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus. It’s not available yet, but I’ll post it as soon as it is. In the meantime, I thought it might be kind of fun to see all the foreign covers of Theodosia. The book has been published in French, Polish, Italian, and German. It’s been hugely fun seeing how the different countries design different covers.

In French: Theodosia et les Serpents du Chaos

In Italian:

In German:

In Polish: (Even though it’s the same cover, I love the way the title looks in Polish.)

Do you have a favorite? Post your favorite cover in the comments and you’ll be entered in a drawing to win a just released paperback copy of Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris!

The contest will run until next Monday, when I’ll announce the winner in my next post. Good luck!

(p.s. The more entries there are, the more winners I’ll draw. I’ll draw one winner for every ten people that comment!)

Hello! Long time no see!

Theodosia is off having a wild string of adventures, so this is RL checking in with you to give you some updates.

First of all the paperback edition of THEODOSIA AND THE STAFF OF OSIRIS is out now.

Secondly, some of you have been asking when the next Theodosia book is out. Well, THEODOSIA AND THE EYES OF HORUS will be out in April 2010.

I am also very excited to officially announce there will be a fourth book, THEODOSIA AND THE LAST PHAROAH! The Last Pharoah will be out sometime in the spring of 2011. So you there will be lots of Theodosia for your reading pleasure for years to come. ☺

For those of you wondering what just what Book Three will be about, here is a sneak preview of the cover copy. Enjoy!

Being able to detect black magic isn’t all tea and crumpets—and when you’re Theodosia Throckmorton, it can be a decidedly tricky business! When Sticky Will drags Theo to a magic show featuring the Great Awi Bubu, she quickly senses there is more to the magician than he lets on, setting in motion a chain of events she never could have bargained for.

Meanwhile, back at the Museum of Legends and Antiquities, Henry is home for the spring holidays and makes an accidental discovery of an artifact alchemists have been hunting for centuries. Soon, every black-cloaked occultist in London is trying to get their hands on it.

Further complicating Theo’s life is her grandmother, who is determined to give her ex-beau a proper funeral, and the head of the Chosen Keepers’ insistence that Theo work with her nemesis, Clive Fagenbush (who still smells of boiled cabbage and pickled onions). Toss in a disgruntled mut, Sticky Will’s newfound career goals, as well as further meddling by the Arcane Order of the Black Sun, and you have another rollicking adventure as Theodosia and her friends are pursued in a race for one of the most guarded ancient secrets of all time.