Excuse me while I SQUEE for a moment, as I just sent in the PDF of my creative thesis (novel, abstract of critical thesis, and full bibliography) and have been informed it's all formatted appropriately. (All I have left now is the residency, and all I have left to do in preparation for that is send some emails begging for wisdom from a few people for my lecture, select a passage for my reading, and some miscellaneous stuff for various graduating student traditions. We are big on the traditions, we Vermont College types. But then, after all that, I will have mastered the fine arts!)
Anyway, earlier this week Orbit sent along a lovely advance copy of Jo Graham's The Hand of Isis, which reminded me I hadn't read Black Ships yet. So I pulled out Black Ships and, boy, this is the perfect novel to read when you're just leaving the headspace of your own contemporary mash-up with ancient Greek life and times. Graham is working with some of the same material, but staying in the period, like a modern Virgil retelling the mysteries. I'd really like to get my Persephone and Graham's young oracle Gull together in a dream.
Bonus: Like all Orbit's books, it's beautifully designed. Isn't that a gorgeous cover? Hand of Isis
is equally lovely.
I swear formatting is harder than anything else. (Eee! Congrats!)