Here at the Escape Club, we were really excited that one of our favourite Book Bloggers, Braiden from the Book Probe, got to meet up with one of our favourite and most reliable reviewers, Krista McKeeth (MDP: well, actually they are ALL my favourites, but Krista has been with me for a long time). They got to hang out for a bit and took this picture to send to us back home!

Some of the latest Ally Fashions cute clothes caught our eye. We like the ‘Off Duty Model’ trend. Check out some of their other ranges as well!

Krista:

Cover

The cover represents the story very well. I could clearly see Virgin as the girl on the cover: serious and always on the ready. The flying vehicles in the futuristic city look down upon the park. Very detailed and representative.

Characters

The overall feel of the characters that I got from the book was like detectives solving a crime, aiming for the same goal, yet thwarted by clashing personalities that can get both serious and hilarious.

Favorite

It’s a tie between Virgin and Sixkiller; they are the best when they are interacting (mostly bickering). They made me laugh.

Least Favorite

I have to agree with Belinda here–Detective Chance

Beginning

When park ranger Virgin Jackson witnesses a mysterious death in what she thought was a contained and locked park, her senses flare up. She has been assigned a new partner from the US Marshall service, Nate Sixkiller, and, unexpectedly, she is now seeing an imaginary animal from her childhood.

Storyline

Being preoccupied with the park and the murder, Virgin is not feeling up to being a babysitter to her new partner who seems to be hiding the true reason he has joined on at the park. But when Sixkiller shows signs of being able to see her imaginary friend, things begin to get really crazy.

Ending

With the advanced technology set up at the park, all life within it should be able to be detected through the system. Things begin not making any sense, and Virgin soon learns that her life is in danger. Along the way, she gets some help from her best friend, and some relaxation time with her stripper lover, Heart.

Thoughts

The story goes back and forth between the park and the city scenes, as we follow Virgin through her home life as well as work life: her romantic life as well as her professional. Virgin’s character is strong willed and determined, but as the story progresses she slowly lets down her guard and allows people in.

Peacemaker is a very imaginative and entertaining read. I recommend this to readers who enjoy a strong lead female character.

Quote

“My name is Virgin Jackson. Or Ranger Jackson, if you prefer. But if you call me ma’am again, I’m likely to break your face.”

Lisa:

Cover

Totally kick butt! I absolutely love how many elements the cover includes from the story! I feel like the cover of Peacemaker completely represents the story inside.

Characters: A park ranger? A cowboy? An imaginary eagle bird? Couldn’t get anymore random or anymore AWESOME!

Favorite

Without a doubt I would have to say, Virgin. She was so sassy, sarcastic, funny and knew how to handle herself well in all the situations she was thrown into.

Least Favorite

Unlike Bel and Krista I would have to say that I don’t have a least favorite. I would agree that there were some weird characters featured in Peacemaker, but I found them all to be pretty intriguing.

Beginning

Virgin thinks she witnesses a murder in the park after hours, she is partnered up with a cowboy, and she starts seeing an imaginary animal from her childhood. The beginning is of Peacemaker throws the reader right into the random craziness of the story without any sort of hesitation!

Middle

Some much is going on around Virgin, that she isn’t in the mood to take care of the cowboy that she now calls her partner. But when she discovers that he might have the ability to see her imaginary animal friend as well, she becomes MUCH more interested!

Ending

Like Bel, my lips are sealed!

Overall

I wasn’t too sure how I was going to feel about this one. I loved Marianne’s Burn Bright trilogy and was excited to get started on this one. Why was a I nervous? Because there seemed to be a lot going on. But after only a few chapters, I was suckered in, and loved it! Its SO absolutely random, but very, very good!

Bel:

Cover

Love the artwork by Joey Hifi. It represents the grit and flow of the story perfectly. Yes. Yes. YES!

Characters

Between imaginary animals and bad asses, there’re a buffet of brilliant characters to pick from.

Favourite

Marshall Nate Sixkiller. Dude has some skills.

Least Favourite

Detective Chance. Issues!

Beginning

Virgin Jackson, a ranger for Birrium Park, notices some funky stuff happening in her park.

Storyline

Virgin gets partnered unwillingly with Nate Sixkiller to sort out the funky stuff.

Ending

As with most other Book Club write ups, you’ll have to read it to find out.

Thoughts

I was so wrapped up in the plot and the characterisation; I didn’t even notice the pages flipping by. I love the world building. Virign has to come back and kick more ass.  

Quote

“You haven’t forgotten have you, Virgin?”

I sighed. “Gate 65. Terminal 21. Tall guy wearing a uniform. His name’s Nate.” – Virgin talking with Bull Hunt.

Bec Stafford interviews Tricia Sullivan about her upcoming young adult novel, Shadowboxer.

Shadowboxer incorporates fantasy, martial arts, and crime. Could you tell us a bit about your inspiration for writing this novel and how you became interested in martial arts more generally?

I started with martial arts at 13 because I wanted to be allowed out of the house by my overprotective father!  Initially, I studied Okinawan Goju-ryu karate, but they kicked me out for insubordination! I then bounced around trying different things until many years later I met Steve Morris, who eventually became my partner. He had been experimenting with anything-goes fighting since he ran a big London club in the 1970s, and it was in his small private class that I got my ass handed to me and found out karate is a pretty useless training method for fighting. I threw away everything I knew and started over. Never looked back.

Because I was running Steve’s website for years, I got exposed to the MMA culture and I saw the obstacles women face in training and fighting—it’s a tough, tough sport and women have been discouraged from fighting. In the early years most of the women in MMA who got media attention were ring girls. In the martial arts, women are encouraged to do traditional forms or no-contact sparring, or we’re fobbed off with ‘self-defence’ which is usually really ill-conceived stuff. I got more and more interested in women not as students or disciples (or victims) but as fighters. That’s what switches me on.

I probably channelled a lot of my wishful thinking into Jade. When I started Shadowboxer, I was having babies and breastfeeding. I was full of oxytocin and doing all the nurturing stuff you do with small children, but some part of me wanted to write about an angry young woman who fought. Realistically. Not Buffy, not superpowers, not kung-fu gymnastics or mystical trickery—but real fighting. That’s where Jade comes from.

I’ve read that you’re passionate about the status of women in the SF world, Tricia. What are 3 pieces of advice you’d give an upcoming female SF writer?

1) Be you. Seriously. Don’t try to imitate or live up to anyone’s expectation of what your work is supposed to look like.

2.) Keep your writing and editing processes separate. Don’t judge when you’re writing. Write when you’re writing. Judge when you’re editing. When you’re writing, let it out freely.

3)  Do the work. Do it with passion and commitment. You might be tempted to over-listen to online talk about industry politics or marketing/sales; there are some fascinating conversations. New opportunities are beginning to appear for women. But if you want to take advantage, you have got to have the chops. So no matter what happens, good or bad, keep working. Because in the end, your work is all you have, both as an artefact and as a process. The more you work, the more capable you will become, and this brings an internal power that the world can’t give you and the world can’t take away.

As well as being an acclaimed SF writer, you write fantasy under the pseudonym Valery Leith and are mum to 3 children. What’s it like juggling your many roles, and have your work habits changed much over the years?

I wrote the fantasy novels before I had children, so time wasn’t a problem back then. Right now I’m on a degree program in physics, and I write in the spaces around that.

I think what happens is that you learn to adapt. I wrote my first novel in five months of weekends while working full-time teaching middle school in New York City. I thought that was hard, until I found myself writing in one-hour-a-day slots around a very difficult baby, and then two more babies, with sleep deprivation, and isolation, and lack of money. That went on for years.

I won’t lie: it was tough, and I know that my writing suffered because there was so little of me to go round. That said, I now know how hard I can work, and it’s harder than I thought possible! Writing is really a psychological game you play with yourself. It took me a long time to develop confidence and to understand how to get the best out of myself. After twenty years, I’m finally starting to feel like I might know what I’m doing.  A little.

Which of your fictional characters Burns Brightest in your mind and why?

Jade is my favourite character that I’ve ever  written. Inside she’s hurting, and she’s unsure, and she feels things acutely, but she keeps up this hard exterior because that’s the only way she knows how to survive. She has this wordless fire burning in her all the time, driving her on even when the situation she’s in seems impossible. I love that about her.

Jade Barrera is having a bad day and it’s about to get worse. Nursing a hang-over and a black eye from the previous night’s MMA fight is nothing compared to breaking the nose of Hollywood action star Tommy Zhang. If Jade has any hope of redeeming herself, she’s going to have to pick up her training in Thailand and wait until things blow over.

Mya is used to escaping into her sanctuary, the spiritual forest, a place that she and other children alone could find. That was until her guardian, Mr Richard, discovers how to enter the mystical realm with Mya as his guide. His plans for her and the forest are becoming increasingly sinister and, when Mya is drawn into his attempt to kill a man, she knows that she has to escape.

Shadowboxer is the first young adult urban fantasy novel from acclaimed sci-fi author Tricia Sullivan. She has developed a richly layered dual world in which our reality lies alongside the mythical Himmapan forest of Thailand. Told alternately from Jade’s and Mya’s perspectives, Sullivan weaves these very different stories into one.

At first Shadowboxer has an incongruous feel to it. Jade is quick to anger and even quicker to turn that anger to violence. She’s a fighter both in and out of the ring, constantly on the defensive and looking for openings with anyone that upsets her. Mya is calm and less sure of herself. When confronted, she looks to escape, not to fight back. Rather than asserting herself in the physical world, her serenity allows her to open a doorway into a spiritual world. The differences in these stories complement one another; Jade’s world adds the action while Mya’s raises the questions that move the plot along. As the novel progresses, everything begins to balance out. Jade calms down, becoming more open to spirituality, and Mya realises that taking action is sometimes necessary.

The world building is wonderful. Not just the Himmapan forest but the atmosphere of the fights and MMA training, the oppressive heat and pollution of Bangkok, and the cultural richness of America. The story is told by those who usually stand in the margins. Jade is of Dominican Republic descent, Mya is Burmese, and both are female. They carry the story perfectly, neither conforming to any stereotype and both making decisions that push the plot forward.

Shadowboxer is a sumptuously layered novel with complexities that would appeal to fantasy aficionados. Never travelling the path most taken, Shadowboxer blazes its own trail. For a new take on a spectacular traditional myth, a wonderful set of characters, and brilliantly drawn insight into the world of MMA, this is a must-read.