Faery Rebels: Spell Hunter by R. J. Anderson

The Hunchback Assignments by Arthur Slade

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

Thief of Attolia, Queen of Attolia, and King of Attolia  by Megan Whalen Turner

The Lost Conspiracy by Francis Hardinge

The Swam Maiden by Heather Tomlinson

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

The Boneshaker by Kate Milford

Mae also asked which Egyptian ruler I thought was the coolest, and that is hard! Hatshepsut is very cool, not least because she was one of the very few women pharaohs. Thutmose III was a pretty strong ruler, too. And Ramses II was an amazing builder. Gosh. I don’t know if I could pick ONE favorite, but those are three of my favorites.

Adriana, I wouldn’t say that the Theodosia books are about Egyptology, but Theo’s parents are Egyptologists, and she deals a lot with Egyptian artifacts and research. The next book is called, THEODOSIA AND THE LAST PHARAOH.

Amelia, I think ideas are absolutely EVERYWHERE. They are all around us, we have only to open our eyes and pay attention. I have a harder time not being bombarded with ideas. Or forgetting cool ones that I don’t want to forget.   Like you, I have a small notebook I carry with me everywhere, and then I have a lot of notebooks all over the house full of ideas I’d like to turn into a story someday.

One of the things I do, since I have so very many ideas, is to try and be sure an idea is really story-worthy; that it truly has enough meat on its bones to make a good dramatic story. Sometimes ideas are just that, ideas, and don’t really have enough conflict or drama to be developed into an entire book. History and ancient civilizations and anthropology are great sources of ideas for me.

And as for tips for writing, well that is a huge subject. I write a LOT about the writing process on my author blog (http://rllafevers.blogspot.com) and have some tips on the Writer’s Page of my author website, but I will  do a separate post on some writing tips in the next week or two.

There has been some movie interest in Theodosia, but nothing that’s actually gotten off the ground. Believe me, if and when that happens, I will shout it from the rooftops!

And as for how many books are planned, well, I’m not sure. I have tons more ideas for Theodosia adventures so we’ll just have to see how it goes. A lot of that isn’t really up to me, but is decided by the publisher based on sales numbers and that sort of thing.

Thanks for all the great questions!

From Kaitlyn: How are the Nathaniel Fludd Books coming?

Very well, thank you! I have finished up the fourth one and have just received a copy of the cover for it. Here’s a peek at the new cover.

Also, Kaitlyn asked if I have any new ideas for books, and I do! It’s just that I don’t really talk about them until they’re finished, so I can’t say much. Sorry!

Collin, there will be at least five Theodosia books and probably more. As always, with everything in publishing, it depends on sales numbers. The final title for Book Four is THEODOSIA AND THE LAST PHARAOH, and it comes out May of 2011. The working title of Book Five is THEODOSIA AND THE FLAME OF SEKHMET, but that is subject to change. It will be coming out sometime in 2012, most likely.

kalifaziz asked when the next contest is, and I have to think one up first! But you’re right, we are definitely due for one.

kalifaziz aso said: “the ben ue bird is the perfect energy that created the world. you should really be careful for immature reasearch from rambontious anthropologist’

You know, there are actually a number of theories on the origins of the benu bird. Most of what we know we are guessing from clues left behind or trying to decipher earlier writings. Also remember, that Theodosia was working with information from 100 years ago. We have learned about archaeology and interpreting the past since then. So just because Theo’s story of the origin of the benu bird is different from yours, doesn’t make it immature research. She is just using different sources.

I’ve also done some updating of the site, most notably adding information about school visits on the Teacher and Librarian pageI wan since I get asked that question so often, and links to a number of interviews I’ve done on the About the Author page.

There has been a fair amount of confusion in the comments so I thought I’d post here to clarify.

The third Theodosia book, THEODOSIA AND THE EYES OF HORUS, is out now.

The fourth Theodosia book, THEODOSIA AND THE LAST PHARAOH, will be out May of 2011.  Hopefully that will clear things up for those of you wondering when the next Theo book will be out.

And now for the owl, because Theo readers are smart and clever and owls are smart and clever, this one especially so. I never knew owls could be so versatile!

P.S. Also, if you leave your comments on really old posts, it is harder for me to find and respond to them.

And as if that weren’t enough ancientness and history in the news, another article talks about the discovery that the ancient beast, Leviathan, was real! And they have the fossils to prove it! (Although really, any of the beastologists from the Nathaniel Fludd books could have told them that.) http://bit.ly/cGv5tP

Seriously though, this is why I love writing historical fantasy. There are just so many mysteries out there we don’t really know the answers to!

A lot of the emails I get have asked me about the new series I’m writing in addition to Theodosia, so I thought I’d mention it here. It’s called, NATHANIEL FLUDD, BEASTOLOGIST, and tells the story of Nate Fludd, whose parents are lost at sea so he is sent off to live with a mysterious unknown relative who turns out to be the world’s last remaining beastologist. It is now Nate’s job to help take care of the world’s mythical beasts.

I have had a blast writing this series. I’ve always adored animals, and we had a ton of them when I was a kid, including some very exotic ones; a goat (we lived in a city) chipmunks, about eight cats, three dogs, chickens, an anteater, and for a few brief weeks, two baby bear cubs. So yeah, animals were a huge part of my childhood.

The idea for this series came about when two different things I’d been reading about kind of crashed into each other. I’d read a newspaper article about a couple of new species of animals that had been discovered in some wild, desolate place. It made me realize how there really are so many pockets of uncharted territory in our world, who knew what lived there?

I was also doing some research for a medieval book I was working on and stumbled across medieval bestiaries, books that documented all the creatures the medieval scholars believed existed at that time, and I was struck by how many mythical beasts had once been thought to really exist.

And then I thought, well, who’s to say they didn’t exist?

Thus Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist, was born.

Now a warning; these are much shorter, smaller, easier to read books that the Theodosia books. I specifically wanted to write something for slightly younger readers. However, many Theodosia readers (kids and adults) have enjoyed them. Just be forewarned that if you’ve read Theodosia, you can probably read these books in about an hour each. The first one, The Flight of the Phoenix came out in September last year. The second one, The Basilisk’s Lair, came out this week!

So that’s what I do when I’m not working on Theodosia or writing blog entries.

Here are the places I’ll be:

Monday, May 17 3:30 – 5:00 at The Children’s Book Store in Baltimore, MD

Tuesday, May 18, 10:30 a.m. Politics and Prose, Washington DC

Wednesday, May 19, 4:00 p.m. Curious George Bookstore, Boston, Massechussetts

Thursday, May 20, 6:00 p.m*. Wellesley Booksmith, Wellesley, Massachusetts *Note the new time here–there was a mix up. The 4:00 time listed on Wellesly’s website is incorrect. It really is 6:00 pm.

Friday, May 21, 4:00 p.m. The Flying Pig Bookstore, Shelburne, Vermont

If you live close to any of these cities, I would LOVE to see some of you there!

Also, I was interviewed yesterday by a very accomplished eleven year old named Summer. My favorite question: Do you believe in curses? Check out the entire interview here.

The Emerald Tablet is a thick slab of green emerald or crystal (depending on which legend you are reading) on which is enscribed the secrets of all alchemical knowledge. It was reported to have been fashioned by Thoth/Hermes Trismegistus himself, who is a legendary synthesis of both the Egyptian god, Thoth and the Greek god, Hermes.

Thoth is the god of learning and scribes, the god who gave wisdom to man, so it makes sense that he would have carved this tablet. He was also the god who gave magic to mankind, so clearly it is in keeping with his reputation to share alchemical knowledge with humanity.

There is some disagreement, however, as to whether alchemical knowledge was ever truly supposed to turn lead into gold, or whether it was always intended more as a philosophy or a spiritual process to help us move our thoughts onto a higher, less physical plane of existence.

Personally? I vote for both, that the alchemical knowledge contained in the tablet is both practical and spiritual.

Some legends say that the tablet was one of the most widely copied texts in the Alexandrian Library, and that when it was destroyed in the 4th century, it was spirited away into the desert, where it remains hidden.

Or did, until it ended up in the Museum of Legends and Antiquities’ basement. ☺

Below is Sir Isaac Newton’s translation of the Emerald Tablet (via Wikipedia, but confirmed through a number of other sources as well.)

1. Tis true without lying, certain most true.
2. That which is below is like that which is above that which is above is like that which is below to do the miracles of one only thing.
3. And as all things have been arose from one by the mediation of one: so all things have their birth from this one thing by adaptation.
4. The Sun is its father, the moon its mother,
5. the wind hath carried it in its belly, the earth its nurse.
6. The father of all perfection in the whole world is here.
7. Its force or power is entire if it be converted into earth.
7a. Separate thou the earth from the fire, the subtle from the gross sweetly with great industry.
8. It ascends from the earth to the heaven again it descends to the earth and receives the force of things superior and inferior.
9. By this means ye shall have the glory of the whole world thereby all obscurity shall fly from you.
10. Its force is above all force. for it vanquishes every subtle thing and penetrates every solid thing.
11a. So was the world created.
12. From this are and do come admirable adaptations whereof the means (Or process) is here in this.
13. Hence I am called Hermes Trismegist, having the three parts of the philosophy of the whole world.
14. That which I have said of the operation of the Sun is accomplished and ended.

I hope everyone is so quiet because they have their nose buried in a good book!

My travel plans are firming up, and the information on where I’ll be talking and signing in May is trickling in. Two firm dates are:

Tuesday, May 18,  10:30 a.m.   Politics and Prose, Washington DC

Thursday, May 20,  6:00 p.m. Wellesley Booksmith, Wellesley, Massachusetts

And lastly, for those of you who just can’t enough about Egyptian magic, I blogged over at The Enchanted Inkpot this week, talking about that very thing!

This is the Reading Room. For a long time, this was the only place scholars could find the preeminent works on archaeology or ancient Egypt.

These next two pictures are pictures of the actual display rooms. I think it’s interesting to see how much they made use of natural light back then, when electric light had only just begun to come into widespread use.

And lastly, this is a picture of how I envision the family’s sitting room there in the museum.