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readergirlz is a literacy and social media project for teens, awarded the National Book Foundation's Innovations in Reading Prize. The rgz blog serves as a depot for news and YA reviews from industry professionals and teens. As volunteers return full force to their own YA writing, the organization continues to hold one initiative a year to impact teen literacy. All are welcome to "like" us on Facebook!

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Welcome, Tamora Pierce!


We are thrilled to welcome Tamora Pierce to readergirlz. Her novels Trickster's Choice and Trickster's Queen are our December picks! Check out the our interview with Tamora, book party ideas themed around both books, and our Reach Out project idea--as well as the awesome soundtrack Tamora's chosen for the book--on readergirlz.com.

Here's a little about Trickster's Choice and Trickster's Queen: Alianne, sole daughter of Alanna the Lioness, does not want to become a knight like her mother. She's more like her father, George, "the king of thieves." After a fight with her mother, Alianne attempts to run away but is kidnapped and sent to the Copper Isles to toil as a slave for an exiled royal family. Alone in a foreign land, Aly will need both her father's wit and her mother's courage to navigate a royal court rife with political intrigue and murderous conspiracy.

Aly's adventure continues in Trickster's Queen, when she must keep the potential teenage queen and her younger siblings safe. But Aly, who is usually adept at anticipating danger and changes, is in for a few nasty surprises.

And the buzz...


"Aly is easily among the most interesting of Pierce's heroines. Thrilling fun." - Kirkus

"Aly arrives fully formed, a snarky, talented über-heroine. Cameos of old favorites complement a rich cast of new characters." - Kirkus Reviews

"Pierce deftly weaves an unforgettable story...The plot sweeps readers along in a whirlwind of court intrigue, deception, murder, and romance." - School Library Journal

"A complex and rewarding tale." - KLIATT

We are excited to have the fantastic Tamora with us this month! Join us all month right here on the blog for discussions and mark your calendars a LIVE chat on Wednesday, December 16th at 6pm PST/9pm EST.

Happy December, readergirlz!


40 comments:

Vivian Mahoney said...

Welcome, Tamora! We're so excited to have you here this month.

Little Willow said...

Welcome to rgz, Tamora! :)

Melissa Walker said...

Yay, Tamora! So glad you're here!

Silence is Golden, But Ducktape is Silver said...

DUDES!!!! I LOVE THIS SERIES!!!! SUPER YAY!!!!

Rhiannon Hart said...

A whole month of Tamora Pierce! I'm very excited indeed :D

Tamora Pierce said...

Thanks, everyone--it's good to be here! Sorry it took me a couple of days. We drove back from a science fiction convention on Monday, and I drove a friend to Ithaca and came back this morning, and I don't really know what day it is!

Shelf Elf said...

Welcome Tamora! It's exciting that you're here. Have fun chatting with us all month long!

Lorie Ann Grover said...

Glad you got back safely, Tamora! Thanks for sharing your time with our community!

Dia Calhoun said...

Welcome Tamora! I am thrilled that you, Great Lady of Fantasy, will be here with us on readergirlz this month.

charlotte said...

WOW! I am really excited! You have been my favorite author for a while now, so cool to be able to talk to you! Thanks for doing this chat.

Damia said...

Merry meet Tamora. Your books have been the most beloved in my collection since I first read Alanna the first adventure. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to all of your adoring readers

Damia said...

Merry meet Tamora. Your books have been the most beloved in my collection since I first read Alanna the first adventure. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to all of your adoring readers

IndestructableAngel said...

I can honestly say that your Tortall series is my favourite series EVER!!!

Alex Marie said...

I have to say, I've just started reading your books last May, and I've already read all the Tortall books up to Terrior. They're really amazing, and attention-catchers!

Anyways, I have one random question that's been bothering me for months now. What's Alanna's exact height (in feet and/or inches)? From refrences in other books, I've guessed she's around 5'2" to 5'4".

Tamora Pierce said...

Thanks for so many warm greetings! I need them (it's cold and raw here)! Though Dia, I'm hardly a great lady of fantasy, not compared to Robin McKinley, or Diana Wynn Jones, or Robin Hobb, or Katherine Kurtz, or you, or Donna Jo Napoli, or Barbara Hambly!

Alex, Alanna is 5'4" tall--2 1/4 inches taller than me!

Damia said...

The authors you mentioned are wonderful but you rank just as highly in my mind and im sure in the mainds of many other readers. Your stories are easier to connect to than alot of other authors

Alex Marie said...

Thanks! Actually, that's taller than I thought. That's, I think, 4 1/2" taller than me (fear math). LOL, I love being short.

Diane said...

Hello Tamora, found you through Nano, just finished Terrier and Bloodhound, looking forward to Mastiff and your other books. Thanks!

anne said...

I love Tamora Pierce’s Alanna the first adventure!! It is my all time fav book.I’ve basically memorized it.

I have always loved the thought of sword fights and adventure, but Hated how it was always a boy dressed in shinning armor. That is why I love your books, great and daring adventures and GIRL POWER.

I also love the constellation cat, named Pounce in the Beka Cooper series. Have you ever thought of writing a series from his perspective? I think that would make a great book.

When I moved to Illinois, You had recently visited Anderson’s bookshop in downtown Naperville. Do you plan to visit again? I hope so, it would be a dream come true to meet you.

I want to be a writer when I am older, but I can’t seem to finish any of the stories I start. I get a great idea, right 5 pages then move on to a new idea. Do you have any tips to help me finish a book?

fantasy lover said...

This is so cool!
Do you think you'll ever write a another book/series in a world other than your current two?

See said...

Tamora, I hope you read this -- I LOVE YOU!!! You have changed my life with Kel (and all the others). I've become a strong independent woman with a will to help the world. Was that too sappy?

Tamora, you make me laugh, you make me cry, you inspire me and lift me up from tough times. I saw you once in 2004, got my books signed too. One of them said, "Be your dream" and that simple message gives me a sense of purpose everyday.

If there is ever a chance that I could buy you lunch/dinner/take you out snowboarding and pick your brain, I would love to do so. If I could be your "gopher" for a week (my expense) in order to just follow you around, I would feel like I died and went to heaven. Please give your adoring fan girl any sign at airwanderer [at] hotmail.com .

To show my loving devotion, I'm still going to try to catch your live chat regardless of your answer. Cheers

fantasy lover said...

When does the chat go 'til?
I can't find the answer anywhere.

Tamora Pierce said...

Damia, what a splendid compliment! Thank you!

anne, I hadn't thought of books from Pounce's view. It might be hard, since his way of looking at things is kinda alien. Hmmm . . .

As for starting things you don't finish, that was true of me well into my thirties--I think I finished one story or book for every 20 things I started. Just keep going. The more you do, the better you get, and the more you build up your skills at layering ideas to extend a story to a finish. It may just take a while.

And I always end up in Naperville if I'm in the Chicago area--Anderson's always invites me to visit!

fantasy lover, I would like to do something outside my two universes and have done short stories in other places. For the time being, I'm pretty much in Tortall and the Circle universe. Who knows what the future holds? ;-)

Anonymous said...

You are my favorite fantasy series writer, and I am so excited to here you are on here, now!

Tamora Pierce said...

See, thank you so much! Let's see what we can work out--I have been known to go to lunch with fans when I'm in the vicinity!

talkingtomyself said...

Hey Tamora, you might remember me from the chat last night. -maybe- It's Audra! I was just wondering if you would ever be interested in reading one of my short stories.
It was amazing getting to talk to you last night, and it still blows my mind that you might actually read this comment of mine.
I wish you a very merry Christmas!
Audra

Purzel said...

Hey Tamora,
I was wondering if I might get a totally Tortall-unrelated question answered? (Well, actually it's two questions, small things that have been bugging me for some time now, as I've been putting a lot of work and effort into the Tamora Pierce Wiki lately) At the wiki we've come across the problem of Duke Vedris' sons. There are three we certainly know of from your books: 1. Gospard
2. Lady Inoulia's husband (by the way: do yo have a name for him?)
3. Frantsen/Franzen, who has been cited once as the youngest and once as the oldest
My actual question now concerns number (3), Frantsen/Franzen: What is his name really spelt and is he in fact the youngest or oldest son? While I'm at it: Does Vedris have other sons besides those and what was his late wife's name?

Well, I see that these are already more than two questions, but I've still one not concerning Vedris or any of his family, at least not directly: Where does Lark come from? All we know about her is that she has dark skin and travelled a lot when she was younger but as far as I can remember her origins were never mentioned and especially for her it would be highly interesting to know.

I hope I'm not breaking any to me unknown rules by posting questions so totally unrelated to Aly's books, but I just couldn't help myself and I'm so very curious about those things (they've been bugging me for quite a while now).

The Teenager said...

Hi Tamora

I was just wondering if you were going to write anymore about Aly, and whether we'll hear anything more about Kalasin?

Clara said...

Happy holidays, Ms. (Mrs.?) Pierce!

Your books and stories inspire me so much! And they let me understand things better in the "real world." In the past couple weeks I seem to be able to relate everything to Aly, even though I last read the Tricksters books over the summer (and heard of this blog today)! We were talking about freedom fighters versus terrorists in Texas history (of course my mind immediately went to Aly and her crew) and at dinner multiple times we've talked about the same subject.
All of your books, when someone asks me if another one is as good as any of yours, I say no. I can't even explain it, but they just seem attached to my heart. Just in November my friends were politely teasing me about how I read Alanna: the First Adventure (yes, this is true) ten times in one weekend (other than that, they tease me about having read all of your books).
Out of curiousity, are you coming to Texas any time soon? When you were here before, my ma made me do some nerdy thing that she made me sign up for long before I knew that you were coming.

Rock on, Ms. Pierce!

-Clara

Unknown said...

Well met, Mrs. Pierce!

First, allow me to say, "Happy Holidays!"

I'm glad to note that you stop by Naperville whenever you're in the area! For the past five years, your books have been a source of inspiration and comfort for me. I thank you for this. I could go on forever, I'm sure, describing how each character has affected me, but I figure that would take just a little too much time....

I do wish to thank you for one character in particular. I believe that most of my "diplomacy" is inspired by my nickname and oft penname of Thayet. I admire Thayet's ability to maintain both strength and tact that are so vital in her world and ours.

I also admire your ability to draw not only from your life but also from history. It seems like we so often forget how the past is the gateway to the future, so your subtle reminder is quite refreshing.

After all this praise which is well earned and completely earnest, I think I will stop rambling and ask my question:

1. Can you elaborate on what is taught at Tortall's Royal University and anything else about the university? (Maybe this questions stems from all the college app essays I have written in the past six days..?)

2. I know that you use existing places as your model for the locations in Tortall (for example the Chitral Pass exists between Pakistan and India and the Yamani Isles is the Tortallan Japan).

What was your inspiration for the Copper Isles?

3. Also, who inspired Thayet (because I admire the character so much... hehehe)

Thank you!! I look forward to your next books (esp. Numair's books)

Em said...

Tamora, In the circle universe, will Sandry be ruler of Emelan after Duke Vedris dies?

See said...

<3 Tamora, that would be wonderful if we would be able to work something out! ... I'll just have to find a way to get to one of your scheduled events wherever/whenever I can get to it in the near future. So if an Asian girl comes up to you and asks you out on a date, fear not, that could be me. Hope you don't mind. And hopefully you'll be free too. *squee*

Applejiali said...

Wow...Tamora Pierce? Really? O_O
I am a huge fan of your books! I love how the girls can show that they really are strong, and I've read pretty much all your books! ( I think) My favorite series is the Provost's Dog- I got Terrier 1 or 2 Christmases ago, and I still read it often, and haven't gotten tired of it yet! Can't wait to read Mastiff!

I do have a question...does Rosto really like Beka? He seems to be showing some signs of affection, but it seems really hard to read him!

Keep Writing! :D
Tiffany

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