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Deborah Harkness has a number of different positions listed on her resume: historian, wine blogger, and novelist. The author concluded the All Souls trilogy with The Book of Life in 2014. We spoke with Harkness to pick her brain about research, the editing process, and her forthcoming new projects. (Photo Credit: Scarlett Freund)

Q: How did you land your deal for A Discovery of Witches?
A: My long-time agent, Sam Stoloff, took the book through the submission process. I was thrilled to work with Carole DeSanti at Viking.

Q: Can you describe your research process? Did you take a different approach with each installment or did you use the same method?
A: Much of the research for the books was done some time ago, and for another purpose entirely. As a professor of history, I’ve spent the best part of the past thirty years researching and writing about the sixteenth century and the history of science. Still there was work to be done, most notably visiting places I’d only read about previously.

As a historian, that’s not always vital, but as a novelist it is—or at least it is for this novelist! I had to figure out information that we don’t necessarily teach graduate students, like how fast a horse can travel on frozen ground in November. I also had to keep up with breaking developments in genetics as I wrote. That field moves very quickly, and the landscape looked very different in 2008 when I started the trilogy than it did five years later when I finished. Some of the hypotheses that my protagonists were working with in A Discovery of Witches were proven during that period.

Q: In your opinion, what’s the best way to self-edit?
A: For me, I have to step away from the manuscript for a day or so. Then I download it to my iPad and read it there, noting what needs work. I find that changing the way the manuscript is displayed really helps give me a sense of detachment from it.

Q: How do you feel now that you finished such a massive trilogy?
A: Tired. Satisfied, too, because I set out to write a story about Diana, Matthew, and Ashmole 782 in three parts and I stuck to that plan.

Q: What’s next for you?
A: I’m honestly not sure yet. I’m still teaching at the University of Southern California. I’m involved with the BBC’s efforts to put the All Souls Trilogy on the small screen. I’m researching a work of academic history on 16th- and 17th-century scientific and medical miscellanies. And I’m playing around with a few ideas for novels. It’s an exciting time for me, full of brainstorming and possibilities.

Goodreads has announced the winners of this year’s Goodreads Choice Awards. With 46,154 votes, Landline by Rainbow Rowell has won in the Best Fiction category.

We’ve linked to samples of all the winning titles below. Did your favorite writer make it to the end?

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

With 11,525 votes, The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling has won the Best Fiction award at the Goodreads Choice Awards. Earning 20,328 votes, Veronica Roth was named Best Goodreads Author for Insurgent.

We’ve collected all the winners below, each winner nominated and picked by Goodreads users.

What do you think of the choices?

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: July 10, 2012

Enter to win a copy of Deborah Harkness’s Shadow of Night and a specially designed “Ashmole 782” temporary tattoo and a set of 6 buttons, displaying different alchemical symbols.

Deborah Harkness exploded onto the literary scene with her debut novel, A Discovery of Witches. Now, Shadow of Night plunges Diana and Matthew into Elizabethan London and a world of spies.

Giveaway begins July 10, 2012, at 12:01 A.M. PST and ends August 7, 2012, at 11:59 P.M. PST.

Reading level: Ages 18 and up

Hardcover: 592 pages

Overview: “Together we lifted our feet and stepped into the unknown”—the thrilling sequel to the New York Times bestseller A Discovery of Witches

Deborah Harkness exploded onto the literary scene with her debut novel, A Discovery of Witches, Book One of the magical All Souls Trilogy and an international publishing phenomenon. The novel introduced Diana Bishop, Oxford scholar and reluctant witch, and the handsome geneticist and vampire Matthew Clairmont; together they found themselves at the center of a supernatural battle over an enchanted manuscript known as Ashmole 782.

Now, picking up from A Discovery of Witches’ cliffhanger ending, Shadow of Night plunges Diana and Matthew into Elizabethan London, a world of spies, subterfuge, and a coterie of Matthew’s old friends, the mysterious School of Night that includes Christopher Marlowe and Walter Raleigh. Here, Diana must locate a witch to tutor her in magic, Matthew is forced to confront a past he thought he had put to rest, and the mystery of Ashmole 782 deepens.

Deborah Harkness has crafted a gripping journey through a world of alchemy, time travel, and magical discoveries, delivering one of the most hotly anticipated novels of the season.

About the author:  Deborah Harkness is a scholar and writer specializing in the history of science and medicine. She has received numerous awards, including Fulbright, Guggenheim, and National Humanities Center fellowships. Currently a professor of history at the University of Southern California, her most recent academic publication is The Jewel House: Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution. This is her first novel. For more information, visit: http://www.deborahharkness.com/

How to enter:

• Fill out the required fields below

• Enter once daily

Giveaway Rules:

• Shipping Guidelines: This book giveaway is open to all participants with a US or Canadian mailing addresses.
• Giveaway begins July 10, 2012, at 12:01 A.M. PST and ends August 7, 2012, at 11:59 P.M. PST, when all entries must be received. No purchase necessary. See
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By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: July 1, 2012

Here’s the scoop on the most popular destinations on The Children’s Book Review site, the most coveted new releases and bestsellers.

Best Young Adult Books with Galley Smith

Summer Reading List: Summer Sports, Baseball, & the Outside World

3 Kids Picture Books that Teach Good Manners

How Picture Books Play a Role in a Child’s Development

Where to Find Free eBooks for Children Online

THE NEW RELEASES

The most coveted books that release this month:

Shadow of Night

by Deborah Harkness

(Ages 18 and up)

Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian

by Eoin Colfer

(Ages 9-12)

Big Nate Fun Blaster

by Lincoln Peirce

(Ages 8-12)

How to Train Your Dragon: Book 9

by Cressida Cowell

(Ages 8-12)

THE BEST SELLERS

The best selling children’s books this month:

PICTURE BOOKS

Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons

by Eric Litwin

(Ages 4-7)

Do negative reviews stop people from reading your books? Over at her blog, novelist Shiloh Walker disputed that claim in a passionate essay.

Check it out: “That negative review isn’t going to kill your career. Will it stop a few people from buying your book? Possibly–because that book may not be right for them. And FYI, one of the rants lately was that negative reviews discouraged people from reading … readers aren’t discouraged by ‘bad’ reviews. And guess what–that negative review may be the very thing that entices another reader to buy your book.”

We were so inspired by her work that we checked negative reviews of ten authors at Amazon–counting the massive amount of one-star reviews received by bestselling authors. Twilight topped the list with 669 one-star reviews. Read this list before you complain about your next bad review.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Do negative reviews stop people from reading your books? Over at her blog, novelist Shiloh Walker disputed that claim in a passionate essay.

Check it out: “That negative review isn’t going to kill your career. Will it stop a few people from buying your book? Possibly–because that book may not be right for them. And FYI, one of the rants lately was that negative reviews discouraged people from reading … readers aren’t discouraged by ‘bad’ reviews. And guess what–that negative review may be the very thing that entices another reader to buy your book.”

We were so inspired by her work that we checked negative reviews of ten authors at Amazon–counting the massive amount of one-star reviews received by bestselling authors. Twilight topped the list with 669 one-star reviews. Read this list before you complain about your next bad review.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.