Ninjas In the Stacks!
Beware the library ninja!
Don’t forget to drop by the main branch of the Portland Public Library this Saturday, 10/14, at 2:00, for an adventurous event to celebrate the launch of Deadly Wish. There will be a stealthy scavenger hunt through the stacks, ninja tattoos, Japanese snacks (green tea Kit Kats! Really!), and signed copies of Deadly Wish to purchase.
(Drop by the exhibit of art by Maine treasure Dahlov Ipcar while you are here. Gorgeous art in pop-off-the-wall color!)
Read MoreNinjas Are Here!
It’s here, it’s here–the very first hot-off-the-press copy of Deadly Wish. Mark your calendars for the release date of September 26th.
Ninjas, bandits, pirates, thieves, and delightfully creepy demons–all here!
Read MoreThe Speech
Deadly Flowers won a snazzy award from the Wisconsin Library Association, which I am so very happy about…but maybe we can all sit around in a circle and read the book instead of me having to get up and talk about it?
It is so weird that I can happily work away at a novel for years, but ask me to write a speech about how or why I wrote said novel and my insights into the writing process and what it makes me think about the human condition, and all I want to do is crawl under my desk whimpering. Why is that?
Read MoreFuna Yurei
These funa yurei are more robust and less skeletal and spooky than the ones Kata meets in Deadly Wish. Note the headgear, however. A white, triangular headdress such as that used in an ancient Buddhist funeral ceremony is a dead giveaway (pardon the pun) of a funa yurei.
If you are sailing off the coast of Japan and the fog sweeps in, beware…you might be approached by a funa yurei.
The spirits of sailors who have died at sea, funa yurei sometimes try to sink boats and sometimes to snag an unlucky soul to take their own place on a ghostly ship. Often a funa yurei will demand a bucket or a ladle from its victims. If they refuse the ghost will sink their ship in vengeance. If given a bucket, the ghost will pour water into the ship, swamping it. How to get out of this hopeless situation? Hand the ghost a bucket or ladle with the bottom removed. It will futilely try to scoop water up with the bottomless vessel, leaving you free to sail quickly away.
(Kata, the heroine of Deadly Wish, did not know this trick. She was forced to try and come up with other ideas to defeat the funa yurei she encountered.)
Read MoreSarah L. Thomson
A children’s book author publishing award-winning nonfiction, poetry, picture books and novels including…
“Readers will treasure the blossoming friendship between opposites in this whimsically illustrated tale. Short chapters and plenty of action make for an accessible and appealing reading experience. . . . Touching and inspiring.”
—Kirkus Reviews