C.J. Milbrandt's Blog, page 83

The third and final book in the Galleries of Stone trilogy is set to release in less than a fortnight, so it’s high time we did a cover reveal! Tupper Meadowsweet is no longer the newly-nubbed boy of ten who first arrived at the Statuary to cook and sweep. He turns sixteen in Rakefang, the age when most young Flox turn their thoughts to courtship.

SERIES IN...

Book Three. The third and final volume in the Galleries of Stone trilogy is due to release on Tuesday, February 24, 2015. As of yesterday, Rakefang‘s cover has been finalized, so look forward to Friday’s cover reveal! I’ve been swapping emails all week with Hannah Christenson, illustrator extraordinaire. Art peeks are my favorite kind of teasers, so I have to share!

Here’s what things look like in the sketch phase:

Hannah’s creating dozens of these small illustrations, which serve as scene brea...

Aurelius might have complained about Ulrica’s callous disregard for the inconveniences he’d endured for her sake, but he wasn’t a lackwit. Only a fool throws obstacles into his own path. Instead, he checked the sky as he calmly recoiled his rope. “Can you run?”

“Fast and far,” Ulrica snapped. “Try to keep up.”

Bark and bite, with bristles besides. Aurelius couldn’t wait to see if the girl’s confidence was justified. He accepted her answer with a nod, but made no move to put their temp...

Last weekend, I attended the reception for the San Diego Public Library’s 49th Annual Local Author Exhibit. To take part, you contribute a book written during the previous year, which is then included in a huge display on the downtown library’s first floor. To my knowledge, this was the first year they limited authors to one title. Which meant I had to pick and choose. I published five titles during 2014—Galleries of Stone, Book 2: Harrow and the first four Byways books.

In the end, I went...

Every Byways book is a story, but it’s also a game. There’s an educational element to this series of kids chapter books. Details in each story are borrowed from its assigned state. (As in the United States of America.) Byways will work through all fifty in order of ratification, so Book #2 covers our second state—Pennsylvania. Sharp-eyed readers will spot cities and towns, icons and emblems, famous firsts and claims to fame. Hide and seek. Search and find. Fun and learning.

Let’s give a quick...

Ulrica braced herself for disdain or disbelief, but something else entirely flashed through the idiot boy’s eyes. He believes me. And suddenly, Ulrica was torn between relief and regret. Few accepted her at her word. Except Brother, who is too trusting by far. But she’d blurted private matters to some no-account lackwit. If Mother found out, there would be blood.

“When is your thirteenth festival?” asked the boy.

“The next,” she admitted. “Autumn.”

In peevish tones, the boy sai...

“Cower more,” Ulrica muttered.

“Oh, aye. I shall cringe and grovel at your bejeweled feet.” The infuriating boy’s gaze flicked briefly to the dagger in her hand. “When you need me less.”

She bared her fangs.

He smirked and went back to ignoring the threat she posed in favor of carefully removing rubble.

Ulrica’s rage simmered just below the surface, but on an entirely different level, she was pleased. He noticed. The pedicure had taken her hours, but she considered time well spent....

Aurelius was halfway down the pit wall, swinging from a rope that wasn’t going to be long enough. A few minutes won’t matter one way or the other during a test I could have passed when I was nine. He let go of the rope, dropping into a crouch not far from the unconscious girl. Pebbles hadn’t roused her, so he was risking a closer look.

All Pred hunted with their hair knotted, but the accident had knocked hers loose. Aurelius stole closer and plucked a comb from amidst m...

Bookings and Bookmarks. I’m gearing up for my first school visit of the new year, hoping to inspire future authors. Since I write books, I know a thing or two about the stuff of stories. There’ll be a fair amount of stuff and nonsense, wit and world-building, and maybe even a pinch of pixie dust. All in all, I’m looking forward to a good day. And something I’m really excited to share: the brand new Byways bookmarks that arrived from the printer!

The featured art is “Fairy Kestrels” by Katie Ho...

Summer leaves brushed bronze skin as Aurelius’s scuffed boots left the ground. Lean arms flexed. Claws bit bark. Curling in on himself, the boy swung onto an overhanging bough with all the effortless grace of his kind. After an entire winter’s voyage spent clambering through the rigging on his uncle’s ship, a tree was nothing.

He made it to the fourth limb without disturbing so much as a sparkfly. Gratifying, but not as satisfying as an audience. Not that his regular hunting partners...