"Earth & Sky"

Megan Crewe is the author of the young adult novels Earth & Sky (the first in the Earth & Sky trilogy), The Way We Fall, The Lives We Lost, The Worlds We Make (the Fallen World trilogy), and Give Up the Ghost.

She applied the Page 69 Test to Earth & Sky and reported the following:

When I checked page 69 of Earth & Sky, I was struck to discover it contains this passage, in which the alien rebel Win is sharing a recording of his group's leader with Skylar, the novel's Earthling protagonist, who he hopes to convince to join him in fighting to free Earth from his people's control:

The guy—Jeanant, this leader Win’s been talking about—appears to be no older than his midtwenties. His curly black hair drifts over the tops of his ears as he nods, the even light glowing off his bronze skin. But it’s the way he stands that fixes my gaze on him. From the straightening of his shoulders to the tilt of his head, he exudes a firm purposefulness, as if he’s exactly where he needs to be.

Then he starts to speak, in a low voice that carries through the cloth’s invisible speakers in the choppy yet rolling syllables of what could be an alien language. After a second, a computerized English translation kicks in, its inflectionless tone blending into his voice.

“It doesn’t matter where they were born, who their ancestors are, what’s written in their genetic code,” Jeanant says. “Every thinking, feeling conscious being deserves our respect. Everyone of them deserves the chance to determine the course of his or her own life, without outside manipulation. Because no matter what some of us like to tell ourselves, they have their own minds with their own unique visions of the universe, that are just as valid and meaningful as anyone else’s.”

He punctuates his point with a sweep of his hands.

“Look at these people, and remember they could have been our friends,” he says. “They could be our teachers, in a far better way than we use them now. But not until we make things right and release them from what’s all but slavery. And we can. There may not be very many of us, but if we’ve learned anything from all our centuries of study, it’s that a small group can make a difference.

Jeanant's speech (which goes on for another few sentences on page 70) is a defining statement not just for this book, but for the entire trilogy. His ideas are the reason Win has come to Earth at all. His words and his dedication convince Skylar to help the rebel cause. And the goals he relates become increasingly vital to the main characters over the course of the series, as well as hinting at the weaknesses that will cause their opponents' downfall.

This excerpt doesn't capture much of the story's action or personal drama, but from a philosophical point of view, it offers a pretty much perfect picture of what these books are all about.

Visit Megan Crewe's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Stranger"

Rachel Manija Brown is the author of the memoir All the Fishes Come Home to Roost: An American Misfit in India. Sherwood Smith is the author of many fantasy novels for teenagers and adults, including Crown Duel and the Mythopoiec Award Finalist The Spy Princess.

They applied the Page 69 Test to their new novel, Stranger, and reported the following:

From page 69:

Ross and Mia walked to a busy intersection marked with signs he couldn’t read, where they stopped for a cart pulled by armor-skinned bullocks. There were people everywhere, so many that it was impossible to keep them all safely within view, and they all either openly stared at him or pretended they didn’t. Children nudged one another and pointed. His shoulder blades crawled with the need to get a wall at his back.

“How big is this town?” his voice was soft, but everyone within earshot stared.

“Population one thousand sixteen,” Mia said with visible pride. “Including our newest citizens, Enrique and Esteban Carrillo, age three weeks.”

His attention was caught by a couple in pants and shirts the color of desert sand, walking quickly and with purpose. They bristled with weapons.

This excerpt from page 69 is representative of the setting: a post-apocalyptic frontier town built on the ruins of Los Angeles, full of mutated animals, and townspeople who rarely see visitors.

It’s also representative of the characters: Ross is a prospector (a scavenger of artifacts from the pre-apocalypse world) who is used to fighting off the many dangers of the desert by himself. He’s not scared of risking his life, but he is scared of socializing.

Mia is the teenage town engineer who has a small obsession with numbers.

What page 69 is not representative of is that it doesn’t have any action. The book as a whole is full of battles with giant rattlesnakes, people discovering their mutant powers, and romance—and that’s before the entire town has to pull together to fight off the most deadly attack yet.

Learn more about Stranger at the Viking Children’s Books website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"This Is How It Ends"

Jen Nadol grew up in Reading, Pennsylvania and graduated from American University with a BA in literature. She's lived in Washington DC, Boston, NYC and now, an old farmhouse north of the city with her husband and three sons. When she's not writing, she's probably tending to the farmhouse or the sons, reading, cooking, skiing, or sleeping.

Nadol applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, This Is How It Ends, and reported the following:

From page 69:

“Hey, Loser.” Someone tapped me on the shoulder and I turned to find Matty Gretowniak leaning against the railing.

“What are you doing here?” I said, still feeling the sting of his comments about the SATs, but otherwise glad to see him. Most of the kids here were skiers or partiers or jocks. I was none of the above and neither was he, as far as I knew.

“Having a Coke. Enjoying the view. You?”

“Trolling for chicks.”

Matty laughed. “Good luck with that. I came with my sister,” he admitted. “She’s on the ski team this year.”

“Awesome,” I said. “Point her out and I’ll troll in that direction.”

“Don’t you dare.”

Trip had continued on without me and I saw him on the far side of the deck with the girls and John. “You run today?” I asked Matty.

“Are you kidding?” he said. “That course is brutal. You ever done it?”

“About five hours ago.”

Matty whistled. “Impressive. Brains and brawn.”

“You know, Matty,” I said. “You keep talking like that and I’m gonna start thinking you have a thing for me.”

“Well, now that you mention it…” he joked. “Actually, I was checking out your friend.”

“Trip? He’s got a girlfriend.”

“No, you idiot.” Matty cleared his throat, suddenly uncomfortable. “The girl. Tannis.”

“Tannis?” My eyebrows shot up. “She’s not—“ I stopped, realizing what I’d been about to say– she’s not a girl – was mean. I might rag on Tannis to her face, but I didn’t want to do it behind her back. “– not seeing anyone,” I finished.

This scene takes place at a party after the Warrior Dash, a big race that kicks off tourist season in the small, dilapidated Vermont ski town that is the setting for This Is How It Ends. While the novel centers on the dual mysteries of a murder and a strange pair of binoculars the teens find, underlying both is an exploration of friendship - how we come together with certain people, who we trust and to what extent and why. The dialogue between Riley and Matty in this scene is representative of that. Matty isn’t a big player in the story, but perhaps Riley should have chosen him as a closer friend. Instead, Riley holds fast to his childhood friendship with Trip, who he describes as “capricious, fearless, self-centered, fun and loyal when he wants to be”, though they have little in common but their shared history.

What I love about this scene is its potential energy. It’s near the tipping point of the story and the blocks that have been put in place are about to start tumbling down. Each of the things mentioned in this casual dialogue – Matty’s interest in Tannis, the Warrior Dash which Riley just ran with Sarah, his longtime crush, Matty’s earlier comments about the SATs – are all significant to how the story unfolds.

Visit Jen Nadol's website.

Writers Read: Jen Nadol.

--Marshal Zeringue

"An Unseemly Wife"

E. B. Moore grew up in a Pennsylvania fieldstone house on a Noah’s ark farm. The red barn stabled animals two-by-two, along with a herd of Cheviot sheep. After a career as a metal sculptor, she returned to writing poetry. Her chapbook of poems, New Eden, A Legacy (Finishing Line Press, 2009), was the foundation for her novel, An Unseemly Wife, both based on family stories from her Amish roots in Lancaster. E. B. received full fellowships to The Vermont Studio Center and Yaddo. She is the mother of three, the grandmother of five, and lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Moore applied the Page 69 Test to An Unseemly Wife and reported the following:

From page 69:

In the great sea of dark, she clung to the firelight. …A distant coyote yipped.

If only (Ruth) could see a moon… its mouth open as if howling, yet silent as herself. Anything to dispel the dark.

What foolishness. Wasn’t what waited beyond the fire’s light the same as she’d seen in the day, unrecognizable for now, a joy tomorrow, just as Idaho would be? All in God’s hand, a hand she knew but couldn’t see.

On page 69, Ruth’s loneliness and her desire to believe the unbelievable are at the heart of An Unseemly Wife. She was nine months pregnant, about to give birth, and against her will her husband, Aaron, bundled her, along with their four children age 11 down to 3, into a Conestoga wagon headed overland. They braved the unknown on a 2000 miles trek to claim free land in the west.

Her upbringing said, obey your husband. Their Amish religion said, obey, but not this departure, not from the Fold and safety of their valley in Pennsylvania. Leaving the Fold went against the Old Order rule: stay separate. Aaron promised they’d keep their distance from all English.

Despite this, his demand set off Ruth’s unseemly behavior, and she grew worse when they joined the dreaded outsiders. On the trail their very survival depended on being part of the English community. This included a preacher’s wife who wore grey, not the fancy colors of other women. She seemed like-minded, if overbearingly friendly. Another who crowded Ruth’s boundaries was an unnerving woman dressed in men’s fringed pants and jacket. Among them, friendships grew, even flourished until prejudice and jealousies lead to betrayal, and the separateness Ruth believed would save their souls, proved catastrophic, with the family abandoned on the trailside fighting for their lives.

Visit E.B. Moore's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Heritage of Cyador"

L. E. Modesitt, Jr., is the bestselling author of the fantasy series The Saga of Recluce, Corean Chronicles, and the Imager Portfolio. His science fiction includes Adiamante, the Ecolitan novels, the Forever Hero Trilogy, and Archform: Beauty. Besides a writer, Modesitt has been a U.S. Navy pilot, a director of research for a political campaign, legislative assistant and staff director for a U.S. Congressman, Director of Legislation and Congressional Relations for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a consultant on environmental, regulatory, and communications issues, and a college lecturer.

Modesitt applied the Page 69 Test to  Heritage of Cyador, the 18th book in The Saga of Recluce, and reported the following:

From page 69:

“Speaking of similarities – ” Lerial slides the cloth-wrapped miniature from his riding jacket, using a slight concealment to blur it, should there be eyes in the walls, so to speak, although he can sense no one near but the guard, then slips the miniature into the older man’s hand. “– there are more than a few.”

In this scene, Lerial has just met Rhamuel, the arms-commander of the neighboring duchy of Afrit, who is also the younger brother of the duke of Afrit… and, equally important and potentially dangerous, the former lover of his aunt, and the father of Lerial’s young cousin, a fact unknown in Rhamuel’s land and barely known in Cigoerne, Lerial’s duchy, a land created by the refugee descendants of the emperor of fallen Cyador. The miniature is the first portrait Rhamuel has ever seen of his daughter.

The scene is an example of all the intrigues that surround the two men, both younger brothers, although Rhamuel’s brother is the ruler, and Lerial’s is the heir. Both men are far more talented and accomplished than their siblings, and the future of their respective lands rests on their abilities in both battle and in intrigue. But all eyes are on both of them, and neither can afford to reveal that they are more closely linked than any can suspect, for both might well then be considered traitors, even though Lerial has been sent as a commander of three companies of Mirror Lancers to assist Afrit in repelling an invasion by their mutual enemy. If either fails, or is discredited, both lands will likely fall.

Learn more about the author and his work at L. E. Modesitt, Jr.'s website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Allegiance"

Beth Bernobich is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Her short stories have appeared in Asimov's, Interzone, Strange Horizons, and Tor.com, among other places. Her books include the young adult fantasy Fox and Phoenix, the fantasy trilogy River of Souls, and the newly released The Time Roads.

Bernobich applied the Page 69 Test to Allegiance, the third book in the River of Souls trilogy, and reported the following:

From page 69:

“I go to Duenne tomorrow,” he said. “Leos Dzavek is dead. Armand will know that soon, if he does not already. You can imagine what follows next. So I intend to demand a public audience before the entire council. It is my right as my father’s heir. There I will say all that I should have said years before.”

At first Emma was unable to speak. Dzavek dead. Raul Kosenmark returning to court and council. It was as though the gods had reached down and overturned all their lives. But immediately after came the thought, He dissolved his shadow court, but his spies are still at work in Károví.

She wondered what else he had kept from her and Benno.

“Will Armand listen?” Benno asked softly. “He never has before.”

Another shrug, but Emma did not mistake that gesture for indifference. “I cannot tell. I also intend to speak with my father and his factions—with any faction that will have me—so that mine is not the only voice. There are others who might dislike me, but they dislike more the idea of a senseless war. They know that Károví will not yield, if they ever do yield, without a long and bloody fight.”

More revelations. “When did your father return to court?”

Kosenmark smiled bitterly. “Another recent event. I wrote to him last month, during my absence.”

Yes, the absence that remained a mystery.

“What of Lir’s jewels?” Benno asked. “Dzavek had one. Surely—”

“I have no report about them.”

Allegiance is the third book in my River of Souls trilogy, set in the fantasy world of Erythandra, which tells the story of a young woman named Ilse Zhalina and her journey toward independence. It's also the story of two nations on the brink of war. One of the chief players is Lord Raul Kosenmark, an exiled councilor, who runs a secret organization to influence politics from afar. On page 69, he announces his intention to abandon secrecy and openly oppose the king's call for war. The decision marks a turning point not only for Kosenmark himself, but also for his allies, his enemies, and the kingdom.

So does page 69 represent the book? It definitely represents the political aspect of the entire trilogy, which has centered around Raul Kosenmark's efforts for peace. Ilse Zhalina herself plays an important role in those efforts, at first as Raul's helper, then as his lover and partner. While she's not present in this scene, her actions in the previous book have led directly to Raul's decision, which in turn will lead them both to the king's court and the final confrontation with their enemies.

Learn more about the book and author at Beth Bernobich's website.

The Page 69 Test: Passion Play.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Golden Hour"

Todd Moss, formerly the top American diplomat in West Africa, draws on his real-world experiences inside the U.S. Government to bring to life the exhilaration—and frustrations—of modern-day foreign policymaking. His new novel, The Golden Hour, was originally inspired by the August 2008 coup d’état in Mauritania when Todd was dispatched by Secretary Condoleezza Rice to negotiate with the junta leader General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz.

Moss is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and has taught at the London School of Economics (LSE) and at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). He holds a PhD from SOAS and a BA from Tufts University. Moss is currently Senior Fellow and Chief Operating Officer at the Center for Global Development, a think-tank in Washington DC.

Moss applied the Page 69 Test to The Golden Hour and reported the following:

On page 69 of The Golden Hour, the State Dept crisis manager Judd Ryker is sitting in his car in the CIA parking lot talking on the phone with a lobbyist who represents the President of Mali, who has just been overthrown in a coup. She’s urging him to stand up for what’s right and not allow worries over terrorism to let the US government to abandon democracy. It’s a classic dilemma faced by policymakers during real crises and a driving tension in the plot. A great window into the story!

Visit Todd Moss' website.

Writers Read: Todd Moss.

--Marshal Zeringue

"White Tiger on Snow Mountain"

David Gordon was born in New York City. He attended Sarah Lawrence College and holds an MA in English and comparative literature and an MFA in writing, both from Columbia University. His first novel, The Serialist, won the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award and was a finalist for an Edgar Award. His second novel, Mystery Girl, was picked as one of The New Yorker’s best books of the year. His work has appeared in The Paris Review, the New York Times Magazine, and other publications. He has worked in film, fashion, publishing, and pornography.

Gordon applied the Page 69 Test to his story collection White Tiger on Snow Mountain and reported the following:

From page 69:

“Good,” Nina said, hailing a taxi. “He should have died sixty-nine years ago. With me.”

I tried reasoning with her in the cab, but she just worked herself up even more, eventually turning on me, if only because I was there: I was, she declared, secretly pleased at this outcome. I had never believed her and had been snidely playing along, mocking her the whole time in my pompous, bookish way. I was completely closed off to spiritual ideas and emotionally shut down as well. I did think she was a prostitute. I had never loved her at all.

“Who do you think you are anyway?” she demanded.

I shrugged. “I don’t know. No one.”

It must have been Durel’s day off because when we got to 7402 and Nina banged on the door, a small, round Latina lady answered.

“Yes? Can I help you?”

“Liu Ping!” Nina shouted and ran past her.

“Sorry,” I said, “she’s family,” which was ludicrous. Nina looked like the pep squad captain in a cable movie about All-American cheerleaders. We followed to the alcove where Liu Ping lay dying. He was definitely dying—that anyone could see.

His shriveled head seemed no bigger than my palm, the features all folded into each other, like a fist. His body was just sticks and plaid pajamas. There was really almost nothing left of him, some skin, a few white hairs, two stunningly beautiful brown hands, and that slow breath like a wind from the other side. Instinctively we all stopped, Nina, the lady, and I. We stopped and stared, in awe, at the dark majesty of death. Then

Since this is a short story collection, the odds of a random page summing up the themes or content of the book are even slimmer than usual, but I do think there are some hints here. This passage is from a story called “Su Li-Zhen,” about a woman in contemporary New York who becomes convinced she is the reincarnation of a courtesan from old Taipei and enlists her ex-boyfriend (the narrator) in a search for her reincarnated lover. So it is a ghost story, but also a realistic, wry tale about the difficulty of creating intimacy and relationships in the contemporary world. I tried to make Nina almost like a character from a classic screwball comedy, but also there is also a more emotionally raw aspect and a darker, sadder, level that is always present, but that maybe the characters themselves don’t want to look at and I think that does relate to the collection as a whole. Or maybe it is just a random page!

Learn more about the book and author at David Gordon's blog.

The Page 69 Test: The Serialist.

The Page 69 Test: Mystery Girl.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Sweet Sunday"

John Lawton has written seven Inspector Troy thrillers, two standalone novels, and a volume of history, and has edited several English writers (Wells, Conrad, D. H. Lawrence) for Everyman Classics. His thriller Black Out won a WH Smith Fresh Talent Award, A Little White Death was named a New York Times notable book, and his latest Troy novel A Lily of the Field was named one of the best thrillers of the year by the New York Times. His recent novels include Then We Take Berlin, the first book to feature Joe Wilderness, and the newly released Sweet Sunday.

Lawton applied the Page 69 Test to Sweet Sunday and reported the following:

Page 69 of Sweet Sunday is set in the book’s present, from which most of the rest of the novel is flashback. Oddly, it’s the scene that is most conventional – when Turner Raines meets with a detective from the NYPD and is told his buddy Mel was murdered. Conventional in that it’s a vital scene in any crime novel, odd because I never saw this as a crime novel as I wrote it. I saw it as a novel, in which crime plays a part. I’d say, if you were skimming and got to page 69, yes you’d probably read on because it is the point in the book when it most resembles the mystery it isn’t. If you’re hooked by that, then I’d like to hope the life of Turner Raines, unravelled in the next 200 pages, proves as engaging as any mystery.

Learn more about the book and author at John Lawton's website.

Writers Read: John Lawton.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Waistcoats & Weaponry"

New York Times bestselling author Gail Carriger writes comedic steampunk mixed with urbane fantasy. Her debut novel, Soulless, won the ALA's Alex Award. The following books were all bestsellers. She was once an archaeologist and is currently writing her YA Finishing School series. She is overly fond of tea.

Carriger applied the Page 69 Test to Waistcoats & Weaponry, the third book in the Finishing School series, and reported the following:

From page 69:

This seemed to trouble the professor of late, for he would sporadically attempt to rid himself of the fuzzy protuberance. Since he was immortal, this did not work, for the moment the razor was put away his mustache grew back to its exact former state.

Sometimes, like tonight, he’d only managed to shave halfway before getting distracted, so the mustache looked as if it had lost its purchase at last and slid dangerously to the side and was trying, before their very eyes, to claw its way back up. It was hypnotic and difficult not to stare because the facial hair grew as quickly as a vampire’s wounds might heal.

“Young ladies, why are you leaving my class so soon, whot? I believe we have not yet even started. Wait a moment there! Don’t I know you? Yes, I think I do, I believe you are dancers to perform this evening. Or, wait...”

Sophronia and Dimity curtsied apologetically.

“Sorry, sir,” said Sophronia, “we’re excused. There’s this masquerade, you see?”
Dimity added, “Her brother is engaged, very exciting. We have to catch transport tomorrow and we need our beauty rest.”

“Well, that is no lie,” added Preshea from her seat near the back of the room.

The vampire lost interest halfway through their explanation. “Oh, yes, well, if you insist. Don’t forget your sausage, whot.” His mustache had almost resumed full bushiness.

“Of course not, sir,” replied Sophronia with a perfectly straight face.

“I believe they are bringing Viscount Mersey, does he count as a sausage?” Preshea was inclined to be fresh.

I think this is pretty representative of Waistcoats & Weaponry, and of my style. The bit with the mustache is pretty classic Carriger (I have a thing about mustaches, they will creep into most of my writing). Also this scene features a vampire in a position of authority being silly, young women being stroppy, and a hint at romance ~ all typical of this particular installment in my young adult series.

There isn't as much of the main character, Sophronia, on this page as there is in the rest of the book, nor as much action as begins occurring once the girls leave for the masquerade. Also the rest of the story is quite a bit more steampunk. But apart from that, I think it quite representative for the Finishing School series.

I don't know if the skimming reader would be inclined to read on, I suspect that is a matter of the skimmer's taste, as it were.

Learn more about the book and author at Gail Carriger's website and blog.

My Book, The Movie: Soulless.

The Page 69 Test: Changeless.

Writers Read: Gail Carriger (November 2010).

Writers Read: Gail Carriger (February 2013).

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Firelight Girls"

Kaya McLaren is the author of Church of the Dog, On the Divinity of Second Chances, How I Came to Sparkle Again, and most recently, The Firelight Girls.

McLaren applied the Page 69 Test to The Firelight Girls and reported the following:

From page 69:

Ruby’s favorite thing about camp when she was twelve was not doing dishes. As the campers finished eating, they sang songs while they scraped their plates into a coffee can and then stacked them. And that’s when Ruby’s favorite part of the day came—when one person took the pile of plates to the little window of the dishwashers’ station, and that was it. Poof. Gone.

Just two days ago, Ruby stood at the sink, elbows deep in suds scrubbing a particularly difficult cheese-coated casserole dish. “Why do I have to wash all the dishes all the time and Fred never does?” She glanced over at her brother who was leafing through the Sears Catalog, looking at beebee guns.

“Because your brother mows the lawn and chops wood,” her mother answered.

“He doesn’t do either of those things three times a day—or even year-round,” muttered Ruby.

“You can stop that attitude right now,” said her mother firmly.

The discussion was over. Ruby’s place as a girl was reaffirmed—she was destined to be a servant, or at the very least, a second-class citizen. At school, Fred and the other boys got to have P.E. in the shiny new gym with the nice floor, while they, the girls, had P.E. in the old gym with the warped floor. And afterward, Fred and the boys had a towel service, but the girls had to bring their own towels. After school, boys had the opportunity to participate in sports, but if you were a girl, your only opportunity was to cheer for the boys. “It’s just the way it is,” her mom had explained, but nonetheless, the injustice of it infuriated her.

But not this summer. No, not this summer at camp. Here at camp, she was a second-class citizen to no one. Here at camp, she was no one’s servant. Sure, there were chores they did after breakfast and flag ceremony, but they didn’t bother her because everyone made the mess and everyone helped clean it up. It wasn’t like everyone made the mess and only the girls cleaned it up. How she loved her one week a year of equality.

The Firelight Girls has five main characters, and Ruby on page sixty-nine is just one of them, but I think page 69 is pretty representative of the book in one important way: It examines why camp was so important to Ruby. The reason camp was important varies from person to person and some reasons, like Ruby’s, are unique to a time in history. It had never occurred to me that one reason to love camp would be to have a whole week of being a second class citizen to no one, that is until a woman from my mother’s generation said that to me when I asked her why camp had been so important to her. Ruby’s taste of equality leaves her wanting more than a husband that will treat her like a servant, so, when at her wedding reception she sees that’s exactly what he’s going to do, she runs and sets a messy chain of events into action.

Each of the characters in my book discover something profound at camp that changed their lives—their own reason camp was important. Ethel, the former camp director, discovered true love and her life’s work. Shannon discovered the limitations of competition and the virtues of cooperation. Along with that, she learned to appreciate poetry and to lighten up. Laura discovered not only her love of nature, a love that would lead her to find her husband as she hiked the Wonderland Trail, but perhaps even more importantly, she discovered peace.

All of those reasons were profound enough to lead these four women back to camp together just in time to meet Amber, a teen runaway, who discovers family at camp—something she’s never really had before.

The Firelight Girls is warm and uplifting with (spoiler alert!) a happy ending. Enjoy!

Visit Kaya McLaren's website.

Writers Read: Kaya McLaren.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Crashland"

Sean Williams is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of several novels for adults as well as the coauthor of the middle grade series Troubletwisters with Garth Nix. As a resident of South Australia—which he reports is a lovely place a long way away from the rest of the world—Williams has often dreamed of stepping into a booth and being somewhere else, instantly. This has led to a fascination with the social, psychological, and moral implications of such technology. When not pondering such weighty matters, he can generally be found eating chocolate (actually, he eats chocolate when pondering these matters, too).

Williams applied the Page 69 Test to Crashland, the sequel to Twinmaker, and reported the following:

Page 69 of Crashland contains one critical plot turn that will resonate with readers of the series, plus a number of small details that make me smile for personal reasons.

Clair’s best friend Libby, who is the driving force behind book one, has just appeared out of nowhere. What does it mean? How will Clair react? Will it change Clair’s current plan? Is it really Libby at all? These questions vex Clair all through the series, and here they all are on one page.

As to the rest.... Well, every book is at least partly autobiographical, as this page proves. Vanilla oil is my wife’s favourite perfume. Rice broth, or congee, is in my opinion the best comfort food ever invented. “Jitter-punk” is a musical genre I made up on the spot: no idea what it sounds like but I’d love to hear it. The band The Ponies refers to my best friend, who has two unrelated girl friends that he calls “Pony”. It always seemed logical to me that they should form a band. And “Pinch Me”: why not? All the best pop songs have strange/silly names. (He said, thinking that it at least might be true.)

Visit Sean Williams' website.

--Marshal Zeringue