Deadline Extension!

Hi Guys! So I forgot that today is Memorial Day here in the USA. I have a feeling quite a few of you are out of town having something called . . . fun. (How could you!?! Ha.) So I'm extending the deadline for the cover contest to 11:59PM (New York time), THURSDAY JUNE 2ND!

We have quite a few FABULOUS entries so far. I'm looking forward to seeing YOURS!

I Wish I'd Found This BEFORE Mother's Day!

Instructions for making Zombie Truffles! My mother (Big K) simply adores brains.

You Guys are GOOD

The cover contest entries I've received so far are VERY impressive! I can't tell you how fabulous it is to have such talented friends/readers/correspondents.

Just to clear a few things up:

1. Let's stick to one entry per person this time. (If you send one, then come up with an idea you like even better, just let me know, and I'll make sure the right cover is entered in the contest.)

2. Feel free to use photos or art from other places, as long as they're used in a new and interesting way. But you might want to avoid celebrity photos.

3. Classic movie posters are also a good source of inspiration. (I love the one above. So simple. So arresting. Even though it's not my favorite Hitchcock film. I think the one below--a new poster for an old film--is also amazing.)

4. Have fun!

Happy Birthday!

(Above: Art by Matt Sartain)

Katy!!!

I think this will be my last birthday post for a while. So I hope you ALL have fabulous birthdays!!!!

Here's Your Contest!!!!

(Above: New covers of classic novels by Ruben Toledo.)

Lots of great ideas! Thanks, guys. But as I was reading the suggestions, I happened to stumble upon this article in the New York Times about "Book Covers That Got Away." As many of you know, we've gone through a few different covers for The Eternal Ones series. I love the cover of All You Desire, but who knows? Maybe there's an even BETTER cover idea that's stuck somewhere in a blog reader's brain!

So, here's the contest. Design an alternate cover for All You Desire. You don't have to draw it. You can use a photo, scrap art, typography, collage, needlepoint . . . just about anything. (The NYT article linked to above shows a range of different possibilities.) The cover must convey the following:

1. That it's a dark, twisted romance
2. That it's for a teen and adult audience
3. That it's part of a series

(I almost required that you make use of the ouroboros. But I'm going to leave that decision up to you.)

Entries will be judged on their creativity and how well they fit the book!


All entries must be sent to kikistrike@gmail.com by 11:59 PM, MAY 31ST!

Contest Ideas?

(Above: It may not fit the subject, but I love this poster.)

Okay, now's your chance to show the world (and by the world, I mean this blog's readers) how brilliant you are. I have two ARCs of All You Desire to give away, and I need a contest idea. So send me your suggestions!

Like The Eternal Ones, All You Desire is intended for readers 13+. But everyone is welcome to enter the contest. If you win, and you don't feel you're ready for a teen book, I will come up with another fabulous prize!

Happy Birthday!

(Above: Art by Hans Peter Feldmann.)

Isabel and Katherine!!!! Sorry this is late! The day the post was scheduled, Blogger went down. Hope you had a great birthday!

KIKIPEDIA!

Blog reader (and genius) Ju L. recently started an online Kiki Strike encyclopedia! This is a fabulous idea for many, many reasons . . .

1. With The Darkness Dwellers coming out soon, a "Kikipedia" will help refresh readers' memories. (What IS the Fu-Tsang Gang? How DO you defeat man-eating rats? Who WAS Angus McSwegan?)

2. It will keep me honest.

3. It sounds like a blast.

Want a look? Go here. Want to contribute? EVEN BETTER! All you have to do is write up a profile of your favorite character, villain, or place.

You'll have to sign up for wikia, but it's safe and takes about 5 seconds. (I did it myself!) Just make sure you have permission from the authorities!

I HAVE COPIES OF ALL YOU DESIRE!

(Above: The cover without the new blurb.)

I just received a box of All You Desire ARCs (Advance Reading Copies)! I gotta say--they look GORGEOUS!

The best part? A blurb from the brilliant, charming, impossibly wonderful author Andrea Cremer! There wasn't enough room for the full blurb on the cover, so my publisher trimmed it a bit, but I've posted the entire blurb below.

By turns beautiful and chilling, Kirsten Miller conjures a mesmerizing world of unsettling pasts, undying loves, and unthinkable futures. This book is a dream, wonderful and frightening, from which I didn’t want to wake.

There are few things in life that are more thrilling than praise from colleagues you admire. I am eagerly awaiting the release of Andrea's second book, Wolfsbane, this fall. (And I bet all of you who read Nightshade are counting the days as well!)

I'm going to give away a few All You Desire ARCs soon. (Perhaps as contest prizes?) But if you're one of the people to whom I've already promised a copy, please don't hesitate to remind me!

Where Are My Posts!

Blogger appears to have deleted all of my posts from yesterday. I'll see if they're somehow magically recovered. If not, I'll post them again later today. (And figure out some way to get my revenge.)

In the meantime, CHECK OUT MY INTERVIEW at the fabulous Writer, Writer Pants on Fire Blog! There's a shout-out to all my wonderful blog readers, of course. (Thanks for the interview, Mindy!)

More News from the Animal Kingdom

The horror! Apparently there's an insect in Sweden that masquerades as a bee and shoots larvae into people's eyes! This article gives you the very disgusting scoop.

Can you identify Dimples, the Rochester mystery beast? Kind of cute.

Soon, you may be able to talk with dolphins using an underwater translation device! What secrets will they share with mankind?

Why didn't anyone ever teach ME how to mummify a chicken? (The man being interviewed sounds like a pretty amazing guy.)

Fit for a Very Mad Hatter

Hey Everybody! Sorry for going AWOL for the past week. I had family visiting from out of town. But now it's back to business!

Let's start with this ADORABLE tea set. (Okay, it's a coffee set. But I'm a big fan of tea parties. If I could live on cucumber finger sandwiches and scones with clotted cream, I would.) However I'm not sure if my appetite could survive a date with this "provocative' porcelain. Though it would be rather entertaining to bring it out for guests. Too bad it's out of stock.

You're My Kind of Kid

The greatest picture of all time was taken by William West/AFP/Getty Images.

Would You Eat It?

It's kind of pretty, don't you think? And it certainly qualifies as a luxury--a kilo costs around $1600. Ancient Romans, Greeks, and Egyptians adored the earthy flavor. But would you eat it? (I'd certainly give it a try.)

A Few Things You Might Want to Know

(Above: Art by Jenny Holzer.)

1. Teenagers who read for pleasure are more likely to have good jobs as adults. Does this seem a bit obvious to you, too?

2. It recently rained worms in Scotland.

3. Technology may be wiring teens to have better brains. So that's why you're all so special. Ha.

4. My favorite word is sprezzatura.

5. Knitters are strange and wonderful people.

This is Why Boring Classes are Dangerous

The doctor in this video is super-cool. How did she know how to fix the problem? She reminds me of DeeDee, but with a great accent. (I'm an American. It's an accent to me.)

More here.

Someday the Cleaning People of the World Will Find This Man and Punish Him

I wouldn't say this is a "perfect" prank, but it's still pretty amusing. Whenever comedian Bert Kreischer checks out of a hotel, he likes to leave a little gift behind for the hotel staff.

It might be something as simple as a pair of sneakers poking out from beneath the drapes. Or an escape rope made from sheets left dangling from the window. But sometimes Mr. Kreischer gets crafty. He's turned an ordinary toilet into a blood-sucking beast. And he's fond of creating dummies and leaving them in odd locations. At first glance, an unsuspecting cleaning person might think there's a body crammed in the minibar--or a man hiding beneath a room service cart.

(Mr. Kreishcer claims he always leaves a big tip to compensate the hotel employees for the extra work.)

Very original, very weird, and very entertaining. But I really hope he doesn't prank someone with a heart condition! On a scale from 1 to 10, how do you rank this idea?

More pictures here.

Public Service Announcement! Don't Touch Armadillos!

No, seriously. Don't pet them, don't play with them, and don't eat them! They might give you leprosy. And we wouldn't want that, would we?

Library of the Living Dead

I had two reactions when I came across this "Zombie Guide" to the McPherson College Library. (Cover shown above.)

1. How cool are the librarians at McPherson College?
2. They named a library after me? I'm so incredibly honored!!!

Things Can Get Weird When You Start Paying Attention

I love this. A comic book writer/reader recently noticed something rather . . . odd. The same two police officers have been showing up in countless comic books for years. (Spiderman, Superman, Iron Man, and more.) One of the guys is a redhead with a goatee. The other is dark-haired with sideburns. The comic books in question have different writers and illustrators. They even come from rival companies!

Who are these mystery men? Who's behind this conspiracy!!!???

More here. Thank you, Scott Snyder for making my world just a little more interesting.

Happy Easter & Have a Great Passover

If anyone has any insane Passover-themed videos, I'll post them, too!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Thirteenth, Ju L!!!!!

Invasive Crochet

By Crystal Gregory. Tough AND pretty.

Big Book News!!!

Hey everyone! I have a lot of news today! Let's start with the pictures shown above. These are the new covers for The Eternal Ones and the upcoming TEO sequel, All You Desire! The paperback edition of The Eternal Ones will be out in July. And All You Desire will be out in August EARLY JULY. (There are already people reviewing the book online, which is a bit odd since no one has seen it but me and my publisher. There's a lesson there somewhere.) Regardless, I happen to think All You Desire is pretty incredible. Yes, I am a bit biased. But I promise this . . . even people who've read the first book are certain to be surprised!

As for Kiki #3, The Darkness Dwellers, it is finished! It will be in my editor's hands next week. Then she will set a release date—and I swear that you guys will be the first to know what it is. I've already made it clear that I'd love the book to come out ASAP. But as I've told many of you, I don't have much control over that process. But I promise K3 will be worth the wait. I'm very, very pleased with it. And I hear we might be doing some cool stuff with ALL THREE Kiki books when The Darkness Dwellers comes out. So there's something to look forward to!

(P.S. Here are a few of the subjects I had to research for The Darkness Dwellers . . . taxidermy and bone collecting, code breaking, royal curses, entomology, French insults, and etiquette.)

And last, but not least, I have a new book in the works. I can't give you any details, except to say . . . IT WILL BE THE GREATEST BOOK OF ALL TIME. Ha. In all seriousness, this is the book I've always wanted to write. It combines all of my passions in one dark, deranged plot. And since I enjoy being cryptic . . . Regular readers of this blog may already know a bit about the subject.

Hungry

Artist Moxie has been working on an exhibit of fiber sculptures entitled Hungry. I think it's probably obvious how the exhibit got its name. Love it.

More pics here and at Moxie's website.

They're Talking to You

Or your little sisters and brothers, nieces and nephews, daughters and sons. The Achilles Effect blog recently created a couple of word clouds that show the most common words used in ads that target boys . . . and commercials meant to sell toys to girls.

Which is the boys' cloud. Which is the girls'? What does this mean?

Are They Real . . . or Inflatable?

Pay a visit this fascinating website, and that's the question you'll be asking yourself the next time you watch any movie with a crowd scene. Very cool.

Another Installment of "I Want One of Those!"

Penguin commissioned artist Jillian Tamaki to embroider covers for three Penguin classics. I love, love, love them.

Check them all out here.

This Is Just My Opinion

If you want to eat raccoons, then you should able to eat raccoons. That's just my opinion.

(If you think that's gross, when the Prussian army invaded Paris in the 1870s, Parisians were forced to eat pretty much anything that was edible. I recently came across a passage written during that time. It describes the flavor of many of the animals Americans consider "pets." Even I was disgusted. And I'd eat almost anything.)

Go Invent Something

I came across this . . . geez, I don't even know what to call it . . . a while back when it was published in the New York Times. I meant to post about it then, but don't think anyone will mind that it's a couple of years old.

I love the message. And I love Benjamin Franklin--the greatest American of all time. Enjoy.

Beetle Wing Dresses

I wasn't aware that "beetle parts" played such an interesting role in 19th century fashion. The dress shown above (which was recently restored) is a famous gown worn by actress Ellen Terry when she played Lady Macbeth in 1888. The dress below is from the 1850s. Both use the iridescent wings of jewel beetles in the same way one might use sequins today.

How do we feel about this? Would you wear a gown made with beetle parts?

I May Be a Little Hard to Reach for the Next Few Days

I'm busting my rump to finish a little project or two, so I may not be spending much time on the blog this week. (And it may take me longer to respond to any messages that are sent to me.) As always, this will only be temporary!

In the meantime, you might consider studying the hobo signs below. (More here.) Seems like the sort of thing that could come in handy someday.

Rome's Magic Door

The Porta Alchemica can be found in the garden of a ruined villa on Rome's Esquilino hill. It was once one of five mysterious gates that were built around 1680 by a wealthy marquis who was friends with some of the biggest names in alchemy.

According to legend, the marquis once dined with an alchemist who claimed he had discovered an herb that would turn ordinary metals into gold. By the next morning, the man had disappeared. But he left behind a few gold flakes--and the recipe he had used to create them. Unfortunately, the marquis couldn't understand the strange document, so he had its contents inscribed on five doors around his villa in the hope that some passerby might be able to interpet the symbols.

Today, only one of the doors is still standing.

My Favorite Person This Week

Mark Landis is a painter who lives in Louisiana.
He drives a big, red Cadillac.
He is a master art forger.
But he never makes a dime off his crimes.
He loves nothing more than donating his forgeries to museums across America.
He often does so in honor of relatives who have never existed.

More here.

Yes, I know he's not the country's most upstanding citizen. But Mr. Landis, you are my favorite person of the week.

Huge, Habitable Cave Discovered on the Moon

I guess it's moon week.

Indian scientists say they have discovered an enormous cavern beneath the surface of the moon. Four hundred feet wide and one mile deep, the cave is attracting attention because its climate might allow human habitation. The temperature remains a constant (if chilly) -4 Celsius, and the cave's thick walls could protect space troglodytes from dangerous radiation.

That all sounds great. But doesn't anyone realize that the moon is already occupied?

I Need a Coat of Arms

You might be shocked to hear that the Miller family (at least my branch) does not have its own coat of arms. Crazy, right?

I never really felt the need to have one until I came across the image shown above. It's known as a biscione. As you can see, it's a serpent swallowing a man. And it has been on the Visconti family crest for about a thousand years. Pretty amazing. Forget all those white unicorns and lions rampant. I want a coat of arms that inspires some serious terror.

(The biscione also serves as the logo for a car company, a soccer club, an espresso manufacturer, and the city of Milan. I should really pay more attention.)

Supermoon Tonight

Go outside after dark this evening. You might see something interesting. Even if you aren't spying on the neighbors. Tonight, the moon will appear bigger and closer than it has in almost twenty years. That's why they call it . . . prepare yourself for the mind-boggling creativity . . . a supermoon.

Enjoy.

One more thing. Take your camera with you. Snap some photos. And please send me a better picture than the one shown above!

UPDATE: I received some fantastic supermoon photos from readers, and I will post them asap! SEE A FEW BELOW, COURTESY OF DSK AND ROBERT!

Zombie-Creating Fungi! Aaaahhhh!

(A note about the video above. It is narrated by my personal hero, Sir David Attenborough. He is, in my opinion, the greatest man alive. Unfortunately, the video begins with an ad. For food, of all things. Given the nature of the video, that's pretty hilarious. But sorry that you have to suffer through it.)

Okay, let's get to business . . .

There are now FOUR fungi that are known to turn insects into ZOMBIES. No, seriously. The fungi actually take control of the insects' brains. Then they direct their zombies to perform various tasks.

For instance, one fungus instructs zombie ants to climb a tree to a certain height. (Exactly 25 cm off the ground. The humidity must be 94-95% and the temperature 20-30°C.) There, the zombie must cling to the underside of a leaf by clamping on to the leaf's main vein. What happens next is the stuff of nightmares. The fungus begins to reproduce inside the ant's head.

I'm gonna stop there. But let's just say we have the makings of an awesome horror movie.

More here.

Another Installment of "I Want One of Those!"

I'm beginning to believe that I was horribly deprived as a child. Why didn't my parents hire Steve Kuhl to build a pirate ship bedroom for ME? I would have had such fun forcing my brother and sister to walk the plank.

Oh well. I guess I lost my chance to punish my siblings in true pirate style. But if I ever build my own house, it's definitely going to have one one of Mr. Kuhl's secret slides. (See the slide and more pirate ship photos here.)

Churkey

Frankenchicken freaks me out.

A Heart the Size of a Mini Cooper

The photo above shows a replica of a blue whale heart. It's so big that a human could slide through its arteries--and so loud that its beats can be heard over two miles away.

More here.

Help Japan

I am absolutely heartbroken by the terrible tragedy that has taken place in Japan. Please talk to your friends and families and figure out what you can do. Remember: You're never too young to help!

This Prank May Not Be Perfect, But It's Pretty Darn Close

(Sorry for the brief ad at the beginning.)

Improv Everywhere strikes again. This time, the pranksters hired an actor who bears a strong resemblance to a seventeenth century Spanish king to stand in front of the ruler's portrait at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. He happily signed autographs, answered questions, and posed for photos.

It's an amazing prank, but it doesn't quite meet all three of my "perfect prank" criteria, since hiring an actor isn't free. (Last time I checked, anyway.)

Itsy Bitsy Art

A while back, I posted about "Inner City Snail"--the creation of an artist known as Slinkachu. (And it's worth another look!) I also love his "Little People" art (shown above). Thanks for the link, BC!

The Forty Elephants

(Above: You could fit a lot of swag under one of those dresses.)

For two hundred years, an all-female gang terrorized London. Known as the Forty Elephants, they were master shoplifters. While at work, each of the thieves wore a specially-tailored outfit that was riddled hidden pockets. Many made fortunes selling the goods that they pilfered. Those ill-gotten gains were then used to throw lavish parties and to fund the ladies' extravagant lifestyles. Off duty, they were known to dress in the very finest fashions. (Of course.)

Much more here.

Plan the Perfect Prank

Here are the elements of a truly great prank:

1. It doesn't cost anything.
2. It will be remembered by its "victims" for the rest of their lives.
3. No one gets hurt--and you won't get arrested.

The prank perpetrated in the video above meets all these criteria. It takes place in a hotel hallway, but most settings would work just as well. The audio is in Spanish, but it won't make a difference to those of you who don't speak the language. I have checked to make sure that the language is clean. (Thanks, Esther!) So you'll have to learn your Spanish curses elsewhere.

The action starts around the 32 second mark, for those of you without much patience.

Yet Another Installment of "I Want One of Those!"

I don't care how impractical or expensive they might be. I want a BubbleTree tent. I would haul it out to the wilderness, and then lie back and marvel at the beauty of nature. I'd watch the flowers bloom, and I'd wave hello to all the creatures big and small that would wander past my walls.

Wait a second. What about bears? Are BubbleTents bear-proof? 'Cause if they're not, I'm going to look like a plastic-wrapped picnic lunch.

Oh well. It was a nice thought.

Apparently Other People Share My Fondness for Cephalopods

UPDATE: Thanks to Clare for introducing me to the Cephalopod Appreciation Society!

Above: Shower Squid

Above: Finger Tentacles

Above: Octopus Necklace