The Rental Heart giveaway!

Books and Creativity
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One night, sitting cross-legged on cushions with the lamps painting the traveller's skin in licks of honey, the empress hears a sound like a heavy curtain pulled back, and knows it is the sound of fate. She has been a beast for so long, and she is tired of trickery and glamour. She wants only this: to rest, to breathe, to live as if it were a choice.

—from "Tiger Palace"

 9781907773754frcvr.inddOne of many awesome things about my Hawthornden residency last year was getting to know Glasgow-based writer and literary editor Kirsty Logan. During our time at the castle Kirsty wrote hard and read voraciously, and I could always count on her for great book recs. (Gossip from the Forest is still patiently waiting its turn.) During our last week at Hawthornden we each read from our works in progress, and I was enthralled by the first chapter of Kirsty's novel, The Gracekeepers, the story of a floating circus in a world where land is scarce and acrobats have to perform for their food. You know I'm not a huge fan of straight-up literary fiction—as I always say, I get enough real life in real life—so dipping into Kirsty's imagination is a dark and clever treat.Twenty-fourteen has been a fantastic year for Kirsty—not only has she published her first story collection, The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales, but she also found out that The Gracekeepers will be published by Random House on both sides of the Atlantic! The novel is coming out in the spring of 2015, and I'm crossing my fingers Kirsty and I will be able to coordinate an event or two.

And in the meantime we have The Rental Heart, which subverts classic fairy tale tropes to delightfully disturbing effect. Here's an excerpt from "The Gracekeeper," the jumping-off point for the novel of nearly the same name, in which people mourn their dead for only as long as it takes a caged bird to die:

Weeks have slipped by on my chunk of land and today is the Resting I have been sickening over for months, for always. I choose the biggest grace I can find and rub at its cage until it gleams like fresh pennies, but tears are salted and I must repolish three times before it is ready. I did not visit and now I cannot look at what is in the box, to see her eyes misted over and her jaw sunken back. Instead I say the words over and over in my head until they lose all meaning.

I wonder now why other Resting parties let me say the words. They let me recite them like poems learned at school, knowing that I do not apply them to the scrap of person in the wooden box or to the burning star of their loved one's memory.

So I look down at the box, and I say the words, and for the first time I understand them. My last link to the world has gone. I know what it means to be a stranger.

I'm excited to be giving away a copy of The Rental Heart, which Kirsty signed for me at her launch event last month at Looking Glass Books in Edinburgh. Playing "this or that" with McCormick Templeman was terrific good fun, so we thought we'd do another round. (For straight-up interviews and advice for aspiring writers, check out the links on Kirsty's press page.)

Typing or longhand? Typing, because I am lazy. I do keep a longhand journal though.

Dragons or unicorns? Unicorns, because SHINY.

Faeries or mermaids? Mermaids, because they're sexy but will destroy you.

Cyborgs or astronauts? Cyborgs, because I'm too claustrophobic for spaceships.

Mojito or margarita? Mojito, because sugar plus alcohol is always good.

Wise Children or Nights at the Circus? [since Kirsty has been compared to the great Angela Carter!] Oh, tricky! Let's say a Carter omnibus containing both (cheating, I know…)

Mountains or sea? Sea, because it calms me and brings me back to myself like nothing else can.

Perrault or Andersen? Andersen, because he was a very curious man and his stories are darker than most people realise.

Invisibility or immortality? Invisibility, because I am nosy and want to know everyone's secrets.

Halloween or Christmas? Halloween, because nothing beats a truly scary story.

Castle or spaceship? Castle, because claustrophobia.

Raspberry trifle or double chocolate cake? Trifle, because all the layers mean every mouthful is different.

Time travel: backward or forward? Backward, because I don't think you could go forward and then come back home again.

(...And I'll ask this again since it elicits emphatic reactions...)

Gaiman or Pullman? Pullman, because I want to be friends with Lyra.

 P1120787 To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment answering one of the above "this-or-thats." As always, tweets, RTs, and Facebook shares garner extra entries. Contest closes Friday, May 30th at 5pm ET.Please note that because The Rental Heart is not yet published in the U.S., I'd prefer a reader outside the U.K. to have the chance to read and enjoy this lovely book. If you are in the U.K., please feel free to enter on behalf of a friend. Thanks so much! 

 Thanks so much to everyone who entered—"this-or-that" inspired some really beautiful responses!

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