World Enough and Time

John Helfers on A FLIGHT OF STORKS AND ANGELS

My fantasy novel A Flight of Storks and Angels will, in a few weeks, be available in a Kindle edition. I'm pretty sure it's still available as a trade paperback from Five Star.

Meanwhile, I recently found what its editor, John Helfers, had to say about it on a YA editor panel last spring, hosted by Nancy Holder, as part of his response to the question, "Would you mind naming 10 seminal works of fantasy that an aspiring YA fantasy author should read?".

Here's what John had to say about Flight:

"A Flight of Storks and Angels by Robert Devereaux: One of the first fantasy novels I acquired during my time overseeing the Five Star SF/Fantasy line, and the one acquisition I am the most proud of in that line. Devereaux writes rural fantasy unlike anyone else, with incisive character portraits of both adults and children, keen insight into human nature, and a plot that gradually unfolds until the reader is swept away by it. A work worthy of being reprinted by a major publisher."

Lovely, eh?  :^)

 

Slaughterhouse High is now available in a Kindle edition!

SLAUGHTERHOUSE HIGH now out from Eraserhead Press!

I'm pleased to announce that the novel once known variously as Ice Ghoul Daze and Deadolescence (as in Dead plus Adolescence) has at last found its perfect publisher in Portland's Eraserhead Press and is now called Slaughterhouse High: A Tale of Love and Sacrifice.

The gist: "It's prom night in the Demented States of America. A place where schools are built with secret passageways, rebellious teens get zippers installed in their mouths and genitals, and once a year, on that special night, one couple is slaughtered and bits of their bodies are kept as souvenirs. But something's gone terribly wrong at Corundum High, where the secret killer is claiming a far higher body count than usual . . . Slaughterhouse High is Robert Devereaux's slicing satire of sex, death, and public education."

At last, the truth about high school is revealed.

You know you want it, so go get it!

Robert

Manifesto: Toward a Conflict-Free Novel

It is a given of literary criticism that conflict is the basis of all story. The more conflict, the more engaged readers are, and the moire likely they will stay with you until the last page, full of fear and anxiety for sympathetic characters in peril.

This essay asks, Can there be a powerful story for which the driving energy isn't conflict?  Is delight a sufficient driver?  Surprise and delight?

Consider books for young children.  Consider Curious George up in the sky, clinging to a kite.  And how quickly I needed to get to his rescue, Caitlin was so agitated at the idea that he might fall and hurt himself.

Now can there be an adult story where continual and unexpected delights are the driving force?  Might the creation of conflict, anxiety, and various sorts of violence--the reinforcement of the myth of duality--be the lazy writer's way out?

I'm just asking these questions.

Consider Don Quixote.  Surely there is conflict, but perhaps in greater measure there is delight.  Consider Falstaff in I Henry IV.  Delight.  Only later will he be rejected by the prince, but until then, easy banter and that grand persona.  Tom Sawyer and the whitewashed fence is similar, scampishness and no conflict.  Consider much of the Oz books, the unfolding wonders of the odd creatures and environments Dorothy encounters.  Or many of the tales in the Arabian Nights.

Is it possible to sustain the magnificent engine of a novel with these other-than-conflict drivers, told in prose so powerful and engaging that the adult reader cannot put the book down, and must immediately reread the novel as soon as the first reading concludes?

Might such a book bring to vivid life once more the lost innocence and delight of the child in us all, giving way as well to vast possibility, sparking our creativity and the bold optimism of the person for whom the whole world continually opens up infinitely?

First review of SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE HOMOPHOBES

Santa Claus Conquers the Homophobes has received its first review, in The Harrow, and it's a good 'un.

Excerpts:

"The premise concerns Santa's immortal stepdaughter Wendy using her talents to see into the futures of the children of the world and seeing the promise of one life snuffed out due to homophobia and intolerance. At her behest, Santa sends up an entry to God himself to intervene and save young Jamie Stratton's life. Working through Archangel Michael, God allows Santa and Wendy--with the help of the happily castrated Easter Bunny--to visit those whose intolerance will lead to Jamie's ultimate suicide in an attempt to persuade them to change their ways and embrace diversity. The Tooth Fairy gets wind of his plans and does everything within her power to stop him."

"The Tooth Fairy [is] one of the most delightfully wicked villains in any book I've read in the past five years, a creation that can cause other writers to feel a mixture of admiration and jealousy that they didn't come up with a character that much fun and evil."

"a wonderful mix of ancient mythology and childhood icons . . a hell of an accomplishment . . . startlingly original and daring"

Full review here.

Back from trip to Italy

Vicki and I went to Italy Sept 18 through Oct 4.

Visited Roma, Firenze, Siena, and Cinque Terre.

First time ever & loved it!

Santa Claus Conquers the Homophobes now available online...

SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE HOMOPHOBES is now available at all the usual suspects online.

IN BRIEF
----------------
Santa Claus and stepdaughter Wendy strive to remake the world in compassion and generosity, preventing one child's fated suicide by winning over his worst tormentors, then attempting, with the Easter Bunny's help, to eradicate homophobia worldwide in one magical night.

WHERE TO FIND IT
------------------------
Amazon.com, print edition
Amazon.com, Kindle edition
Barnes & Noble
Booklocker.com, both as a trade paperback and an eBook. The first five chapters can be read here.
Booklocker.com - wholesale order form for bookstores

Enjoy!

Robert

SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS now in hand!

Just a quick note to tell you that yesterday's mail contained the first copy of SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE HOMOPHOBES.

All's well with it and I've told booklocker.com to proceed with the final steps for making it available online and through Ingram's.

Stay tuned as it hits the streets.

It should be a matter of a few weeks!

Oh and here's a link to the cover.

Robert

Back cover text for Santa Claus Conquers the Homophobes

Folks, my new novel Santa Claus Conquers the Homophobes will be out in late August or early September as a trade paperback.

For those familiar with Santa Steps Out, this book is a sequel, but it isn't necessary to have read the earlier book first.

To whet your appetite, here is the back cover text.

Enjoy!

%%%%%%
Santa Claus is back. And flying beside him is Wendy, his freshly minted stepdaughter, who can peer into the future of selected children and offer them glimpses of the wonders ahead.

But with that power come horrific visions of the turmoil and trouble the less fortunate among them seem destined to suffer.

Can Wendy and her stepfather prevent the suicide of Jamie Stratton in his teen years, as he grows up gay in a homophobic household and community? God the Father grants them three visits to Jamie's tormentors, in hopes of bringing about a change of heart in them and eliminating their ingrained prejudices.

Beyond the challenge of rescuing one child lies the far more daunting task of expunging entirely this brand of bigotry from the human race, as Santa and Wendy seek to remake the world in compassion and generosity.

Along the way, they enlist the aid of the Easter Bunny, a highly persuasive fellow indeed.

But the Tooth Fairy and her loathsome imps are hell-bent on doing all they can to stop Santa and Wendy--nay, to *heighten* mortal fear and hatred against anyone whose orientation strays even the slightest from the norm.

In the end, Santa must make the ultimate sacrifice if he is to save humankind from complete chaos and self-destruction.
%%%%%

Nice to be back, if back I am!

Yep, been away from blogging for a while.

Got Deadweight back into print from great POD publisher booklocker.com.

Mulling political books & prepping a little for Pikes Peak Writers Conference.

Also on Facebook to communicate with my daughter in Switzerland.

And continuing the elusive pursuit of Argentine Tango.

Gotta run!