"Shadow Fox"

Carlie Sorosiak is the author of the acclaimed novels Always, Clementine; I, Cosmo; and Leonard (My Life as a Cat), as well as the picture books Everywhere with You, illustrated by Devon Holzwarth, and Books Aren’t for Eating, illustrated by Manu Montoya.

Sorosiak applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, Shadow Fox, and reported the following:

On page 69, a character named Stew explains how the Night Islanders—the villains in the book—mine the earth for magic. The process is eerie, sinister, and terrible for the environment. Shadow, the main character (a fox), is shocked.

In some ways, the Page 69 Test works for my book; depicted here is the central conflict in the narrative. Later on, Shadow must use her magic to help defeat the greedy Night Islanders, and page 69 shows what she’s up against!

However, the sample doesn’t do a great job of capturing the fox voice, which is so key to the story, as Shadow narrates the book. Here, it’s mostly dialogue from a secondary character. And it’s also quite dark! The book is largely fun and lighthearted, even if the message is serious. That’s a balance that I try to strike in all of my books, and it’s not always easy. If the reader stumbled first on page 69, I’m afraid they’d be missing all the silliness. Later on in the book, there’s flying fish! Flying teaspoons! Woodsy, forest magic. And lots and lots of foxy antics.

Visit Carlie Sorosiak's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Carlie Sorosiak & Dany.

--Marshal Zeringue

"A Tribute of Fire"

Sariah Wilson is the USA Today bestselling author of The Chemistry of Love, The Paid Bridesmaid, The Seat Filler, Roommaid, Just a Boyfriend, the Royals of Monterra series, and the #Lovestruck novels. She happens to be madly, passionately in love with her soul mate and is a fervent believer in happily ever afters—which is why she writes romance. She currently lives with her family and various pets in Utah, and harbors a lifelong devotion to ice cream.

Wilson applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, A Tribute of Fire, and reported the following:

When I saw the Page 69 Test challenge I thought, “That’s not going to work.” But it did. On page 69, the history of the tribute selection is given by a historian. Two maidens will be chosen to race through a labyrinth-walled city while being hunted because of a grievous sin committed by a member of their nation in the past. The historian says, “We sacrifice to the goddess two of our treasured, precious daughters so that we may keep the rest. We know that those who are called upon to serve have the strength to endure the ordeal.”

My female main character, Lia, has bribed her way into being chosen. She intends to search for a specific relic that will save her cursed nation and the only way to get into the temple, which she can only enter by winning the race (something no maiden has done in a thousand years). She’s not happy about having to do it. Her thoughts following that statement— “This was another aspect that had always bothered me. This belief that women were special enough to be pleasing to the goddess, but that we were ultimately easy to discard and unimportant. Strong enough to be slaughtered by not important enough to fight for. And so it had fallen to me to step forward. I would fight. I would change the curse and the fate of every woman destined to follow by myself.”

The quotes above are absolutely the theme of this book. It shows Lia’s determination, her drive, her willingness to do whatever needs to be done to save her people, while emphasizing that she understands the hypocrisy and is angered by it. That these women are sacrificed every year while being told how amazing and special they are for doing so, but that because they are women, they were not important enough to go to war for. This tribute race was a real-world, historical event and while doing research about it, this was something one of the professors pointed out—that women were the sacrifices and honored for it but no one tried to stop it for their sake and this ritual lasted a thousand years. I do think page 69 is very representative of the book as a whole.

Visit Sariah Wilson's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Pony Confidential"

Christina Lynch is at the beck and call of two dogs, three horses, and a hilarious pony who carts her up and down mountains while demanding (and receiving) many carrots. Besides Pony Confidential, her new novel, she is also the author of two historical novels set in Italy and the coauthor of two comic thrillers set in Prague and Vienna. She teaches at College of the Sequoias and lives in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.

Lynch applied the Page 69 Test to Pony Confidential and reported the following:

Pony Confidential is told in two alternating points of view: a very grumpy old pony bent on revenge against the little girl who sold him twenty-five years earlier, and Penny, that now grown-up girl. On page 69, we’re in the point of view of Penny. She is incarcerated in Sticks River, a prison in upstate New York not far from Ithaca, where she and the pony last saw each other so long ago. Penny is in a dark place, awaiting trial for a murder she didn’t commit, and on this page she’s recalling how her happy childhood ended abruptly. She’s losing hope of a quick resolution to her legal problems and noticing that she and the other prisoners are treated like livestock—she thinks of horses, in particular—manhandled and subjected to violence, living only for their next meal. She’s afraid to act like a pony and rebel against the system.

I think Pony Confidential passes the Page 69 Test—that page does uncannily get to the heart of what the book is about. That said, it’s one of the more intense and unfunny pages in a very funny novel, so it’s also not representative of the book’s overall tone. But the themes—how trauma permeates our lives, how badly we sometimes treat incarcerated people, how badly we sometimes treat animals, how our justice system does not match our ideals, is all there on that single page. That cluster of pages is in fact the central turning point of the novel for both characters!

The Penny murder story was a later addition to the novel, and I quickly realized I didn’t know exactly what actually happens when you’re accused of murder. My privilege in being so isolated from that part of American life did not go unnoticed, especially because my own grandfather was tried—and found guilty—of murder in 1911 and sent to the notorious Sing Sing. I also live in an area of California that's home to many prisons, so there was a lot of the personal in what I say on the page: “the wheels of justice don’t seem to turn as smoothly as she was led to believe in sixth-grade civics.”

Visit Christina Lynch's website.

My Book, The Movie: The Italian Party.

The Page 69 Test: The Italian Party.

Writers Read: Christina Lynch (April 2018).

My Book, The Movie: Sally Brady's Italian Adventure.

Writers Read: Christina Lynch (June 2023).

The Page 69 Test: Sally Brady's Italian Adventure.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Libby Lost and Found"

Stephanie Booth has an M.A. in English from the University of New Mexico and an MFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College. Her work has appeared in Cosmopolitan, Real Simple, O, Marie Claire, The Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times. Booth has been a contributing editor at Teen People and an advice columnist for Teen, and she has helped with casting for MTV’s award-winning documentary series, True Life.

Booth applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, Libby Lost and Found, and reported the following:

From page 69:

Once she's able to detach herself from the cold fat neck of the toilet, Libby hurls Dr. Whatsit's pills into the trash. But the insomnia and nausea don't immediately disappear. And the following night, when she finds herself tossing and turning in bed so vehemently that Rolf actually growls at her to stop, Libby gives up. Wrapping herself in one of Vernice's blankets, she goes into her office and sits at her desk.

On her computer, the Falling Children website, with its state-of-the-art animation, lights up like a carnival. There is a lush, interactive rendering of Pompou's four-story Toy Emporium, with its funny thatched roof and arched windows that serve as its eyes. Children around the world click in and out of the cozy rooms that evoke Santa's workshop if the Mad Hatter had been in charge. Visitors can design a stuffed animal that best houses their soul, help Benjamin make a pan of magical fudge (hoozleberry or buttered licorice?), learn to curse in Teddy Bear, or take a quiz that declares which Falling Child they're most like.

Libby has taken this quiz four times, three times intentionally lying, and each time she has been dubbed a Huperzine.

I'd never heard of the Page 69 Test before, but will now be curiously flipping open to the 69th page of every book I pick up at the bookstore. The 69th page of Libby Lost and Found gives a pretty good glimpse into what this book is about: Libby is obviously struggling with an illness that doesn't have a straightforward cure. There's also a magical element to her life: the Falling Children books that she writes under a pseudonym, and which have captured not only her imagination, but that of readers around the world.

But what feels most important to me about this page is the sentence about Libby taking a quiz (four times) and lying to try to get a better result. If I were picking up this book for the first time, I think that's what would move me closer to the cash register. Not just because it raises questions about Libby (What result is she hoping to get?) but because I cherish the use of humor in dire situations. It's like switching on a tiny flashlight in an underground tunnel. I hope that potential readers will feel the same way and want to follow that little light a bit further.

Visit Stephanie Booth's website.

Q&A with Stephanie Booth.

My Book, The Movie: Libby Lost and Found.

--Marshal Zeringue

"This Motherless Land"

Born in Bristol and raised in Lagos, Nikki May is Anglo-Nigerian. Her critically acclaimed debut novel Wahala won the Comedy Women In Print New Voice Prize, was longlisted for the Goldsboro Glass Bell Award and the Diverse Books Award, and is being turned into a major BBC TV drama series. May lives in Dorset with her husband, two standard Schnauzers and way too many books. She should be working on her next book but is probably reading.

May applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, This Motherless Land, and reported the following:

From page 69:

‘Come to the pool,’ he said. ‘It’s way too nice to be stuck indoors. What do you say, Kate?’

She liked the way he said Kate. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad name. It was better than Katherine, at any rate. Funke made sense in Lagos but maybe it didn’t work here? Maybe Grandpa was right. Maybe becoming Kate was the way to fit in.

I confess I was slightly nervous about this. What if my page 69 was rubbish? What if I’d filled that page with adverbs and filler words? I opened my book apprehensively. But whoop! I love page 69. It takes readers directly to the heart of my book: belonging, twisting yourself out of shape to fit in, to be accepted.

When Funke’s mother dies in a tragic accident, she’s forced to leave Lagos, move to England, and live with her maternal family in Somerset. It’s not the most welcoming of places – she finds the estate dilapidated, the weather gray, the food tasteless. And worse, her mother’s family are cold and distant. Faced with condescension and neglect, she strives to fit in, determined to be one of them. But that, according to her new family, means changing her name. Because Funke just won’t do – this is England, we have proper names here.

On page 69, Funke reluctantly decides that becoming Kate is the way to fit in. But, unfortunately, it’s not enough. Nothing ever would be.

I think the Page 69 Test is genius and from now on, I’ll make sure all my page 69’s are good pages. I can’t vouch for all the other pages though!

Visit Nikki May's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Nikki May & Fela and Lola.

--Marshal Zeringue

"An Age of Winters"

Gemma Liviero is the author of the historical novels Broken Angels and Pastel Orphans, which was a finalist in the 2015 Next Generation Indie Book Awards. In addition to novel writing, her professional career includes copywriting, corporate writing, writing feature articles and editorials, and editing. She holds an advanced diploma of arts (writing) and has continued her studies in arts and other humanities. Liviero lives with her family in Queensland, Australia.

She applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, An Age of Winters, and reported the following:

From page 69:

distracted by the arrival of the executioner carrying a torch. Master bent his head to speak to the accused with what I assumed were words of absolution. Though Kleist had been imprisoned before Zacharias’s arrival, it was clear now that the decisions about the execution were connected to the latecomer. He would be remembered as the one who changed the execution from hanging to fire.

Not since our first discussion had he returned to the kitchen to sit and speak with me, but sometimes when I passed the doorway to the sitting room, he would call me in with queries that seemed harmless enough. Where first I’d been reluctant, stories ran off my tongue, told in part out of fear but more to impress him. I had told him about the drunk men down by the river, and the fight between two wives over a piece of gristly meat at the market, the pulling and twisting of hair. I had commented on those people who gossiped about anyone who kept to themselves, and those who were unruly. Standing in the crowd, I wondered then about the motive behind the questioning and watched him view Kleist with detachment. Zacharias stood still, not a tremor about him. He appeared not to notice the cold, unlike many who blew on their woollen-less fingers.

There was some difficulty lighting the fire. The crowd moved forward, thirsty for death, before they were ushered back by guards. Kleist was aware now of impending death, his expression all at once changing as he looked fearfully at the doings of the man who held the torch. He clenched his jaw and eyed the crowd. He hated everyone. Next, he turned to Zacharias Engel. It seemed he hated him the most.

The fire took to wood as thunder rumbled once again and ice crystals peppered the condemned man’s head. There were murmurs, not joyous this time. The fire whooshed upward, caught his rags for clothes that fused with his skin, then spread like crawling ants towards his head. Kleist screamed words as he burned, but I could make no sense of them. Smoke from burnt flesh spread above the crowd and dusted us with ash.

I squeezed and released the folds of my skirt several times to stop my tremors.

I was curious enough about the Page 69 Test to give it a go. It did not work for all my books, however, for this one it does set the dark tone that underlies much of the novel. An Age of Winters explores a brutal period in history that was driven by fear of diabolism and resulted in many executions. Perhaps page 69 will also help readers determine whether they might enjoy such a story and the themes written.

Katarin, a maidservant and one of two narrators, details the fate of a nobleman. This scene reveals a change in executions from hanging to burning, in order to destroy a ‘witch’. As well, this event is expected to ward off further heinous crimes and cure the village of famine and disease. The villagers, who up till then had speculated about strange climatic events and the accused’s crimes of murder, now dread that ‘witchcraft’ is in their midst and that authorities will stop at nothing to be rid of it. This execution makes it known that anyone from any background is a potential suspect, and from this point the villagers callously guard their own survival.

It is a significant moment for Katarin also as she recognises that she may have been an unwitting accomplice to the enigmatic Reverend Engel, and that his presence is more than just investigative or soul-saving. With both infatuation and fear, she yearns to know more.

Visit Gemma Liviero's website.

--Marshal Zeringue