Margaret Atwood devotees, meet your new favorite author

Ronlyn Domingue is the critically and commercially acclaimed author of The Mercy of Thin Air.

She returns in March 2013 with The Mapmaker’s War which is already receiving some fantastic advance praise.

Here’s a little bit about the book…

In an ancient time, in a far-away land, a young woman named Aoife is allowed a rare apprenticeship to become her kingdom’s mapmaker, tasked with charting the entire domain. Traveling beyond its borders, she finds a secretive people who live in peace, among great wealth. They claim to protect a mythic treasure, one connected to the creation of the world. When Aoife reports their existence to her kingdom, the community is targeted as a threat. Attempting to warn them of imminent danger. Aoife is exiled for treason and finds refuge among the very people who had been declared her enemy. With them, she begins a new life surrounded by kindness, equality, and cooperation. But within herself, Aoife has no peace. She cannot share the grief she feels for the home and children she left behind. She cannot bear the warrior scars of the man she comes to love. And when she gives birth to their gifted daughter, Aoife cannot avoid what the child forces her to confront about her past and its truth.

This is a mesmerizing and utterly original adventure about love and loss–and the redemptive power of the human spirit.

Take a look at some the wonderful advance praise below.

“Journey to the heart of a fairy-tale land with doomed queens, epic quests, and enemy kingdoms in The Mapmaker’s War. Ronlyn Domingue’s jewel of a book has a big canvas, memorable characters, and intimate storytelling. You will be swept away by this otherworldly tale that charts the all-too-human territory between heartbreak and hope.”-Deborah Harkness, New York Times bestselling author of A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night

“The Mapmakers War is an extraordinary tale of a woman’s courage in an ancient Utopian world. Domingue has taken on the herculean task of inventing a new legend, and the result is a remarkable novel at once absorbing and heart wrenching, but above all mesmerizing!”
— M.J. Rose, internationally bestselling author of Seduction

“A map can make sense out of the seen world. But it can also evoke greed. And what of a map of the heart? Legend, allegory, fantasy—this second novel by Domingue entwines genres to cast a spell upon its reader…. A curious, thought-provoking story about how the heart’s terrain bears charting, too.”
— Kirkus Reviews

“What a stunning, original book this is—restrained and sensual, cerebral and lush, always blazingly intelligent, epic and expansive, yet filled with the most precisely and lovingly observed details. This is one of the best books I’ve read in years. Reminiscent of Margaret Atwood’s best work and yet wholly its own, The Mapmaker’s War evokes one of its heroine’s fantastic, world-defining maps: giving lines to human landscapes as old as myth, seemingly for the first time. You won’t be able to put this book down, and it will take you somewhere you’ve never been, leaving you transformed.”
— Carolyn Turgeon, author of Mermaid and The Fairest of Them All

“The Mapmaker’s War evokes not mere fantasy, but the real magic I found as a child, reading by flashlight under a blanket. As then, the story takes me by the hand to exotic lands and noble people. As it proceeds, I’m reminded of myself as a teen-age girl, chafing under the restrictions of an established order. Further on, I’m lead into adulthood. The story keeps me under its spell, but it fills with adult contradictions, with experiences of betrayal and regret, with sex and self-knowledge, with the reality of evil, and all the while, yes, the same old magic. But the magic has matured, now, redeemed by love and wisdom.”
— Ava Leavell Haymon, author of Why the House Is Made of Gingerbread: Poems, Winner of the MIAL 2011 Prize for Poetry

“With an original voice, Ronlyn Domingue takes us into a land of strange truths and raw beauty. Writing against contemporary norms, she dares to forge into new territory even as she takes us into an ancient world. To the place of a red dragon and warm desire. A world full of love, and hate, and recompense. Domingue has a rare eye for the honest word and a heart willing to travel where the story leads. The Mapmaker’s War offers us the chance to reflect on both our sins and saving graces and to believe in the possibility of a future that holds kindness and understanding as key. This novel is a celebration of brave women and men, of expansive vision, and ultimately, of a humanity not easily denied.”
— River Jordan, nationally bestselling author of Praying for Strangers and The Miracle of Mercy Land

I have a few ARCs available. Send me an email at anneliese.grosfeld@simonandschuster.ca if you’d like a copy. First come, first served.

Indie Bookstore Spotlight: Woozles Bookstore

The independent bookstore is a cultural and community hub – authors are introduced, works read aloud to an audience and ideas are shared.

Each month, we will be featuring an independent bookstore from across Canada, proving what a special role these shops play in fostering authors, community and a love of reading. For November, we are featuring Woozles bookstore in Halifax, Nova Scotia. You can follow them on Twitter and Facebook!

Tell us a little bit about the history of Woozle.

In the spring of 1978, three people agreed they couldn’t find the children’s books they wanted in Halifax – Liz & Brian Crocker and Ann Connor Brimer – and so the idea of a children’s bookstore was conceived.  And then they noticed that an old house on Birmingham Street was for sale.  It seemed the fates were aligned, the building was bought (along with a manual on bookselling and how to do accounting for small businesses), renovations were made books were ordered, a fabulous manager was hired, and Woozles opened its doors on Saturday, October 14, 1978.  Opening day was overcast but people came by the hundreds (600 the first day) and Woozles has never looked back!

There have been so many milestones along the way…ranging from Woozles graduating from writing sales on pieces of paper to getting a cash register in 1986 and then a computer in the late 90’s…to the untimely death of Ann Connor Brimer in 1988…the two expansions of the building so that Woozles has now grown from its initial 600 sq. ft. to approximately 1500 sq. ft….the numerous authors and children’s performers who have crossed our threshold to delight young people (and adults too!)…to the retirement, after 30 years, of our first Manager, Trudy Carey, in 2009…to our newsletter which was first issued in October, 1978 and still is published 3 times a year, on-line and on paper!  (I could go on and on here but hopefully that’s a bit of a flavour)

What made you want to open a bookstore?

This is somewhat answered above…it really was because three of us couldn’t find the books we wanted for children in Halifax – there were other bookstores but no one had a very extensive children’s section…and children’s books were our passion.  We also strongly believed in the idea of a community resource for children and the line underneath “Woozles” is “A Place For and About Children”….our community bulletin board, our workshops, our support of various children’s organizations, our Battle of the Books program and our writing competition (which both support the love of writing and reading) give testimony to the fact that we believe we are more than a store…

What does the book-buying public understand least about independent bookstores?

Most people are familiar with a traditional retail model that marks everything up a certain amount to make profit and are not necessarily aware that things work differently with books.  The fact that the publisher sets the price of each book and then gives bookstores a discount on that price makes things different in the sense that it limits the percentage which a bookstore is able to mark down a book without then actually losing money on the sale.  This makes it look like we are deliberately refusing to discount our books the way that grocery stores or big box stores do but doesn’t allow customers to see the full story.

What is the hardest part about being a bookstore owner in 2012?

In one way, it’s not hard because we continue to love what we do and see the positive responses, every day, from children and parents when good books are discovered and shared.  The media would like us all to believe that independent booksellers are on their way to being things of the past and, in this climate, we believe it is important to pay attention to actual trends rather than broad-stroke gloomy predictions.  We believe the trends are saying that more people are reading than ever before – in paper format and on-line – even though there is tremendous competition for children’s time and attention.  It would be great if authors, booksellers and publishers could come together and think creatively to ensure that good books continue to be written and published and sold by people who know them and love them.

What types of books does your store stock and/or specialize in?

As a specialty bookseller, we focus on books ‘for and about children’.  We pride ourselves in having fabulous books for readers aged 0-18.

What are some of your favorite titles? Titles coming out this year?

Phewf.  How long have you got?  We are enormous fans of Oliver Jeffers, of Sandra Boynton, of Kenneth Oppel, of Sarah Dessen…the list goes on and on and on.

What are you reading right now?

Suzy is reading The Casual Vacancy for her adult bookclub (but she did just finish Violet Mackerel’s Brilliant Plot!), and Lisa is reading Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes and the Friday Society by Adrienne Kress.

What is your most current best seller? Classic?

Where is the Green Sheep by Mem Fox, Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell and Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown are consistently at the top of our bestseller lists.

Right now, due to the recent release of Shauntay Grant’s new book, Apple and Butterflies, that is the #1 seller.

What have been some of your favorite (or most memorable) author events?

Barbara Cooney, Tamora Pierce, Robert Munsch.

Any strange, wild or crazy-but-true stories?

There was a period of time when we found handwritten notes on pieces of paper left in several books over several months.  We dubbed the author of these notes the ‘caper of Woozles’.  Incidentally, all of the notes were loosely about the end of the world.

We get a bit of a kick out of kids who come into the store and promptly take their coat and shoes off…because Woozles is situated in what was once a house (and still feels like a cozy house)

We were approached recently by a local ghosthunter who wanted to stay overnight and do an infrared recording of the potential bookstore ghost…but for security reasons one of the staff or owners would have had to sleep overnight in the store with the team, so it didn’t end up happening.

We once got a call from a gentleman who asked to see our books about taxidermy for an 8 year old.  Not, do you have any, but where are the multitude of?  We’ve also been asked about the location of our ‘Octopus section’.

What book are you, or will you, hand-sell with a vengeance?

What’s neat about this store, and about independent bookstores in general, is that our staff are knowledgeable, generous and helpful.  And tastes vary all over the map.  So depending on the day, you could encounter Mollie, who will no doubt sell you In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak or Suzy who will insist you take home Visitor for Bear.  But if you meet Lisa, you’ll likely walk out with an armload of YA fiction, whereas Nadine might show you her favourite illustrated classic.  We are passionate about what we do, and it is not formulaic in any way.

Is there anything else you would like to tell our blog readers?

We are deeply honoured to have the opportunity to do what we do every single day.  Thanks for making the independent bookstore experience so special.

Signed,
Lisa, Suzy and Liz

Simon Likes

With summer just around the corner, there’s no better time to reread some of your favourite books. We asked our charming staff at Simon & Schuster Canada to share some of their top picks with you. Next up, I, the marketing intern, recommend Go Ask Alice.

I first read Go Ask Alice when I was in middle school. It shook me then as it shook me now, rereading it so many years later. It’s the real diary of an anonymous fifteen-year-old girl, originally published in 1971. It starts off being about school and crushes, as any teenage diary might, but sharply swerves when she tries LSD for the first time. She’s instantly hooked and soon moves onto other drugs. The story follows her descent as she weaves in and out of addiction, sharing with her diary her deepest emotions and secrets.

It’s absolutely heartbreaking as the reader follows a girl who never truly changes herself, but who rather becomes buried by drugs, save for the spurs when she breaks through, yearning to restore her life back to what it once was. Her story ropes you in, wishing you could have been there to support her, to help her escape, but the saddest part of all is knowing that neither you nor anyone else could have.

The world will be reading… The Hunger Pains!

The truth is, a book hasn’t made it big until it has been made into a parody. That’s what the masterminds behind The Harvard Lampoon have done for The Hunger Games.

The Hunger Pains is a loving parody of Suzanne Collin’s dystopian trilogy that will make you laugh so hard, you might pee your pants!

Jump into spring break with these excellent reads

Take your imagination on incredible journeys this spring break with these excellent reads!

Beyonders series: A World Without Heroes and Seeds of Rebellion

The most powerful weapon in the land of Lyrian is not a sword or a book — it’s a word. Lost over the ages, it’s six syllables scatters across the land. When put together, this word can unleash magic so strong that it can destroy the evil wizard Maldor and end his reign of terror. Who is brave enough to embark on a quest to find this word of power? Find out the Brandon Mull’s bestselling fantasy series, Beyonders!

The Hundred-Foot Journey

Immerse yourself in the aromas, colours, and flavours of the kitchen in Richard C. Morais’ The Hundred-Foot Journey, a succulent treat about family, nationality and the mysteries of good taste!

11/22/63

What if you could travel back in time and change the past? Let Stephen King take you on an incredible journey into the past and alter it to prevent the Kennedy assassination in 11/22/63. Never before has time-travel been so believable or so terrifying.

His next book, The Wind Through the Keyhole, comes out in April.

My Life As An Experiment

One man goes on ten humble quests to improve himself from living as a woman to impersonating a movie star to practising radical honesty! Follow Jacobs through his eye-opening situations that will change the way you think about the big issues of our time — from love and work to politics and breakfast cereal in this humour and wisdom-filled memoir, My Life as an Experiment.

A.J. Jacobs’ next book, Drop Dead Healthy: One Man’s Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection, comes out in April.

The Mortal Instruments series

Cassandra Clare’s ferociously entertaining fantasy, The Mortal Instruments series takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end. Follow Clary in the world of the Shadowhunters as they fight to protect the world from demons.