nicola

i finished reading this book yesterday afternoon. it is good.

i feel a special affinity toward nicola's work because i sort of kind of know her. i met her when she was doing a reading at the bookstore where i was working at the time. she was promoting stay, which is a sequel to the blue place. (the third book in that series, always, is coming out in april 2007.) we chatted a little bit before her reading and afterwards she invited kara and me to her house for a party.

or maybe we went to dinner first. i don't remember. i know kara and i went to her house in wallingford for a party one evening, and another evening we met her and her partner kelley for dinner at a restaurant in wallingford. i just don't recall which came first.

it was exciting, hanging out with published authors. i was surprised and pleased that nicola spent so much time talking exclusively to me at the party, which was a hey!-my-new-book's-out party. their house was full of people. she gave me her full attention for a long while. she herself is an interesting person, having sung in a rock band and taught self defense. plus she's beautiful and british and has a gorgeous voice. her characters are powerful women, savvy women, impressive women.

it was exciting and, for me, a little unnerving, spending time with nicola and kelley. i felt unequal. i felt they were being generous by sharing their time with us. (this was something of a point of contention between me and kara, who did not feel similarly unworthy.) more likely, however, is that they are quite social, they like people, and they are genuinely interested in other points of view.

i like to think that if kara and i still lived in seattle we would still see nicola and kelley now and again. with more exposure to them i'm sure i would have calmed down considerably. when i started reading slow river i emailed her to let her know. she wrote back quickly and asked how i liked it so far. we had a little exchange.

slow river is set probably some decades in the future. it's about a woman from a profoundly wealthy family who is kidnapped and whose family does not pay her ransom. she escapes her kidnappers and lives underground. it's more than a science fiction story or a thriller (or queer fiction), though it's all of those.

read her books, if you haven't. do it. (i confess i haven't yet read kelley's novel, solitaire. i will, though.)

and yesterday i started reading this as a bit of a change of pace. i don't read a lot of comic novels but i'm intrigued by the quantum physics swirling around in this one. plus i've heard the author on npr. plus it's short and i bet i can get through it before november. so far i'm finding it quite clever.