Kickstartin’ across the universe!

So I have mentioned Judith Tarr (aka ) a time or three on this blog. I met Judy because of our mutual publisher, Luna Books, back when I was a brand-new fledgling author, and she was, well, Judith Tarr, author of a zillion amazing historical fantasies. The first half dozen times I emailed with her, even in the context of the mailing list we were all on, my hands were cold and shaky and my stomach was in knots, because holy crap, what was I doing in the company of Judith Freaking Tarr!?!?!

I got over that after a while (because as it turns out she is not in the least bit scary), and even moved on to where I was bold enough to refer to her as “Judy” in casual conversation, but what I have not gotten over is the woman’s incredible talent. As a reader I find her books transporting; as a writer, I find them a master class in writing skills. I don’t think I’ve read a single one of her books where at some point the writer part of my brain hasn’t gone, “…well, shit, so that’s how you do that elegantly…!” And I know I haven’t read any of them without my reader brain being surprised, delighted, triumphant, and ALGHGLGHGLY! throughout.

So a few weeks ago when she mentioned a young adult novel she’s got that needs revisions before going to print through Book View Cafe, I said, “Ooh! Are you gonna Kickstart that?” ’cause hey, I wanted in on the groundiest of ground floors for a brand-new shiny Judith Tarr novel.

And now she’s Kickstarting it! She’s already posted the un-revised first chapter to the backers, and the voice is new, shiny, totally unlike her other books I’ve read, and she’ll be doing a compare-and-contrast of how the old chapters become the new ones, and all sorts of exciting things to let her patrons really see the process of revision. So quick, come join the fun, because it’s going to be wonderful!