Hi Meg Cabot fans!

So I was looking at the blog's stats today and realized that Meg Cabot linked to us from her blog! YAY! I love Meg Cabot, and I'm very very honored that she likes our blog. And she has about a bazillion million fans -- especially younger readers, which is awesome because she is getting the word out to younger readers about Mary Stewart.

So, Meg Cabot fans, welcome! Here are a couple links for you:

A complete listing of Mary Stewart's books
A blog post with suggestions for which Mary Stewart book you might want to read first.

Anyone have a favorite Meg Cabot book? I really loved the Princess Diaries books (come on, who doesn't?), but I also really liked her Mediator series. They're about a girl who sees ghosts, but not in a scary way like the movie. She sees the ghosts when they need her help resolving some unfinished business here on earth. They're really funny.

Mary Stewart's signature?

Hi Mary Stewart fans! I am hoping someone can help me out here -- does anyone have a copy of Mary Stewart's signature?

[Sidenote: I've always meant to write her a letter, but honestly it's a little intimidating. I mean, what do you write to your favorite author of all time? Hi. I really really like your books. I don't want to be lame! It's MARY STEWART!]

The reason I'd like to have her signature is because I am getting married in April, and instead of plain old table numbers for the reception, I'm going to name each table after one of my favorite authors. (Plus a couple of my fiance's favorites.) I'd like to incorporate images of their signatures somehow (either on the table number signs or the escort cards).

Here are the other signatures I've found so far:

Can you read that last one? I'm struggling with David McCullough too -- he's my fiance's favorite, but his signature is totally illegible!

So, if you've ever gotten a letter from Mary Stewart or have a book autographed by her, would you consider scanning it and sending it to me (jenniesizemore@gmail.com)? I'd really appreciate it!

If I get anything, I'll share it with everyone. :)

Off the Page -- Video interview with Mary Stewart

Myrna-nora left a comment on the blog ages ago directing us to a YouTube video of Mary Stewart! It's a great interview from a TV program called Off the Page, which apparently featured a different Scottish writer every week. It's about a half hour long and so lovely! It was filmed in 1992, just after the release of The Stormy Petrel.

One tidbit that I thought was interesting -- Mary Stewart says that when she was writing the scene in The Moon-Spinners where Nicola swims in the Bay of Dolphins, she decided that her next book would feature a dolphin as a sort of hero. Of course, This Rough Magic was next (and is my absolute favorite Mary Stewart book).

I really hope that the interview was set at Mary Stewart's house in Scotland. Because I like to think of her enjoying her retirement in such a beautiful place!

Mary Stewart ebooks

I've recently fallen in love with my Kindle. I never thought I'd jump on the ebook bandwagon, but in the last year or so it has seemed more and more inevitable. And I'm astonished by how pleasant the reading experience is on my Kindle. I still miss the idea of having all my physical books around me -- though even this seems less important now that I am approaching yet another move to a new city.

Every so often I cruise Amazon's Kindle Store to see if they've released Mary Stewart's books in ebook format. There's still nothing in the U.S. store, but the U.K. seems to have the full line of her romantic suspense books! Hopefully this means that the U.S. editions are on their way.

I couldn't find any of the Arthurian series on the U.K. Amazon. Surely they are working on those?

Anyone have any info about Mary Stewart ebooks in other formats besides Kindle?

New UK covers!

Emily, a fellow Mary Stewart fan, let me know about these beautiful new editions that Hodder is publishing in the UK in March. Oooooh, LOVE! The illustrations are great -- especially because the women are wearing such fabulous clothes and looking as posh and capable as any Mary Stewart heroine should.

If I had the money, I'd buy the whole set! You can get them on Amazon UK.

A Mary Stewart appreciation

Writer Unboxed has a lovely post up about Mary Stewart. Sophie Masson, the author, marvels that though she first discovered and loved Stewart as a teenager, the magic of Stewart's books is undiminished as she re-reads them as an adult. I absolutely agree! Her stories are timeless. Here's a quote from the post:

I was struck by the clarity, beauty and intelligence of her style, and the way it manages to wear its learning so lightly. For there are many, many literary and historical allusions in Mary Stewart’s books; her love of Shakespeare and of Greek and Roman classics and Celtic myth, especially, shines through, enriching the books whilst never being overbearing. Her evocation of place, of landscape and architecture and atmosphere, is superb. She effortlessly bridges the so-called gap between ‘literary’ and ‘genre’ fiction, proving you don’t have to use tortured ‘literary’ constructions to write well, and neither do you need to write ‘down’ in order to tell a rattling good story.

The comments on the post prove again to me how many people were given Stewarts' books as a teenager by their mothers (as I was), and have read and reread them for years. Also striking is how many authors quote her as the inspiration for their becoming writers themselves.

Photo Gallery: This Rough Magic

Finally a second installment of our photo gallery feature, where we bring you pictures of the fabulous settings from Mary Stewart's novels! (Our first photo gallery was for Madam, Will You Talk.) Today we're showing photos of Corfu, the setting of This Rough Magic.

Corfu Island
photo by Robert Louden

"Perhaps I should explain (for those who are not so lucky as I) that Corfu is an island off the west coast of Greece. It is long and sickle-shaped, and lies along the curve of the coast... At its northern end the island is broad and mountainous, tailing off through rich valleys and ever decreasing hills into the long, flat scorpion's tail of the south from which some think that Corfu, or Kerkyra, gets its name."

photo by Helen Parker


photo by Marite2007

"The bay was small and sheltered, a sickle of pure white sand holding back the aquamarine sea, and held in its turn by the towering backdrop of cliff and pine and golden-green trees."


The Albanian coast
photo by theoldsmithy

"Away northward, across the dark blue strait, loomed, insubstantial as mist, the ghostly snows of Albania."


Corfu Town
photo by whl.travel


Palm Sunday procession in Corfu Town
photo by mbavinton

"Presently, from somewhere, a big bell struck, and there came the distant sound of the bands starting up. Thevast crowd fell almost silent, all eyes turned to watch the narrow mouth of Nikephoros Street, where the first banners glinted, slowly moving up into the sunlight of the square. The procession had begun."


Keeping Godfrey entertained at the Achilleion
photo by Ava Babili

"I remember very little now of my tour of the Achilleion. I am sure Godfrey was a good guide; I recollect that he talked charmingly and informatively all the time, and I must have made the right responses; but I was obsessed with my new hatred of him..."


Lucy's dolphin
photo by fotolen

"Far out in the bay a curve of blue fire melted, rolled in a silver wheel, and was lost under the light of day."

*All quotes are from This Rough Magic, copyright 1964, by Mary Stewart