Last time on the blog, I talked about how much I enjoyed doing author visits in the Mississippi Delta in March. But there’s one thing I didn’t mention, because it deserves its own post. I finally got to meet Mallory Woods, a.k.a. DarkshireWarlock! There we are in the picture above.

Mallory is the first person to have made Order of Odd-Fish fan art after the book came out. Here’s when I posted about it, from way back in November 2008. I’ve repeated the art below: on the left, Jo dressed in costume armor as Aznath, the Silver Kitten of Deceit, and on the right Fiona dressed in costume armor as Ichthala, the All-Devouring Mother:

Mallory lives only two hours or so from Indianola where I was presenting, so she drove in and I got to meet her in real life. It was a treat for me! Mallory sometimes threatens to make an Aznath costume. To that I can only say, YES MA’AM BRING IT ON. Such a development would probably be enough to make me throw another Dome of Doom fan art show / costumed dance competition party so she could show it off.

Mallory also brought to Indianola surprise treat: an Odd-Fish OC (original character) she created. The name: Cassia Hemingway, of the Order of Wormbeards. Mallory gave me the art and sent me the character description later. I was so pleased and impressed with this I got Mallory’s permission to reprint it all on the blog. Enjoy—this is a brilliant and well-thought-out addition to the Odd-Fish universe!

Mallory, take it away:

Her name is Cassia Hemingway; I figured she’d be one of the older characters, somewhere between 15 and 17. She’s a Wormbeard, but she doesn’t get into the whole vs. Odd-Fish attitude because she simply doesn’t see a point in it.

She has artisan sewing skills and, on a good day, can sometimes hand stitch as fast as a machine. This is her primary skill among the Wormbeards, as she’s often sewing dueling costumes for the other members, though on occasion she gets commissions from Eldritch City civilians. When Cassia started sewing outfits for Fiona, the latter insisted she attend her Dome of Doom battles. Cassia found herself somewhat enjoying the “colorful” atmosphere and became a regular attendee as a result, even when Fiona wasn’t dueling. It was here she met Dugan, and while the two did not get off to a good start, they had a silent agreement to not cause trouble for one another, and they eventually got on better terms with one another. Cassia was also noticed by Oona Looch for one of the outfits Cassia had made for herself to wear at the Dome, and was quickly appointed to be Oona’s personal designer and seamstress (a paycheck Cassia couldn’t disagree with and a client even the dumbest tailor wouldn’t think of refusing).

Though sewing is Cassia’s primary skill, her true passion is making perfume, with a dream of opening a shop that sells scented items such as perfume, soap, and candles. However, she has limited space in her room to work on both hobbies, so she usually has her perfume-making supplies tucked away, unable to touch them for months at a time.

Cassia for the most part has a very dry, sarcastic personality. She comes off as antisocial, and on some level is. As hard as she is to approach, Cassia can be friendly and helpful to whoever needs it, though her kindness is often hidden behind a shell of apathy. She’s just noted for having a very serious work ethic, and since she’s usually working most of the time, her personality’s never had the chance to waver into anything short of diligent and no-nonsense.

Her parents are Brandon and Azalee Hemingway, also members of the Wormbeards. Azalee’s family specialized in flower arrangements, a profession passed down from several generations since before the founding of the Wormbeards. Brandon is a highly skilled calligraphy artist, and is responsible for most of the signs seen around Eldritch City.

Brandon is very protective of Azalee and Cassia, and when he was younger he was known break noses and declare duels if anyone was dumb enough to upset Azalee (though he has since then mellowed out, mainly because people have learned not to mess with his loved ones by the time Cassia was born). Azalee is a very soft-spoken, kind individual who is most known for never getting angry and being a doormat, but she doesn’t seem to mind as long as people are somewhat respectful. She is not entirely weak, however, as in order to obtain the more exotic flowers for her business she occasionally has to travel far into the wilderness, and has gained the ability to navigate difficult terrain and fend off predators with ease.

The incredible success of both of their professions come from the same source, which results in a mysterious trip the duo would take every few months or so, and they started bringing Cassia with them once she was old enough, though the where they go was a complete mystery to everyone except the Hemingway family.

This mysterious place is a town called Navalla. It is a harbor city and is located one and a half days away from Eldritch City if traveled on foot. Navalla is estranged from Eldritch City because its residents, the birdmen, did not believe in the story of Eldritch’s 144,444 gods, and as such the two cities have refused to have any alliance or negotiations with each other.

Brandon and Azalee stumbled upon Navalla in their younger years during a traveling period of their lives. While the birdmen were reluctant to have humans in their city, Brandon and Azalee’s tolerance of their society’s views and culture lead them to quickly become accepted by the town’s residents.

It was here that Brandon finally found the mythical rainbow squid, a species of squid whose ink comes in one of the seven colors of the rainbow and, when mixed with a special solution, the ink never fades. Azalee also took advantage of the city’s fauna to take and use for her arrangements. During their first stay, they became friends with the Cazador Corvo, a squid merchant, and his wife Seda, a fabric weaver. The Hemingway family stay with the Corvo’s whenever they visit Navalla, and their son, Shinzo, is just a few years older than Cassia. Shinzo is very quiet, calm, and a diligent worker, but he sometimes shares his father’s hardheadedness. After the Itchthala’s rebirth, the birdmen saw the truth in the 144,444 gods and helped rebuild Eldritch City after the attack, and the two cities have more or less been brought to good terms with one another.

What an epic! A worthy and inspiring addition to the Odd-Fish world. I want to hear more about this Navalla in particular . . .

Thanks so much, Mallory! I’m glad I finally got to meet you for real.

The last time I checked in, I had just arrived in Indianola, Mississippi after a 12-hour drive from Chicago. I spent a wonderful three days in the Mississippi Delta, appearing at the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center, and at the Drew Public Library, doing theatrical readings from The Order of Odd-Fish and leading a “Dome of Doom” writing hootenanny / costumed dance party freakout. I collected some pictures of the fun in the collage above. I loved the enthusiasm of the kids—they really got into the costumes, the writing exercise, and the dance-fighting. They made me feel so welcome! I’d go back to the Delta in a heartbeat!

And oh, oh, the food! Shrimp and grits! Catfish! The best steak I’ve ever had in my life at Doe’s Eat Place! My host and guide throughout my stay was Mary Ann Stone, whom I met at the American Library Association conference in New Orleans last year. When she floated the idea of me visiting the Delta, I leaped at the chance. I’d never been there before; I had no idea what to expect. She said I’d have the time of my life and she was right. There’s Mary Ann on the right, when we were hiking up some ancient burial mounds. On the left is me with a squirrel that she had nursed back to health.

When I texted the squirrel picture to Heather at home, she showed it to my daughter Lucy who said, “Why is that cheeky squirrel crawling on Daddy?” Cheeky? Where does she pick up such terms living in Chicago?

I never knew Jim Henson was from the Mississippi Delta. The beginning of The Muppet Movie, when Kermit is playing the banjo in the swamp, makes total sense now. I learned this and more when I got to go to the Jim Henson museum:

There was so much more: going to blues bars, meeting the hilarious and inquisitive kids, and long car rides which went by in a flash as Mary Ann told me stories (for instance, such as when the river flooded and her house was mostly underwater, and she had to take a boat to work.) I couldn’t have asked for a better guide or host.

Thanks, Mary Ann—and thanks to everyone in the Delta who made it so much fun! After Easter, I’m heading out east for another leg to my springtime author frolics—this time, to Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., and Charlottesville. Including the school at which I used to be a science teacher from 1995-96, St. Catherine Laboure! More to come . . .

March 9 was my birthday. That makes me thirty-nine years old now. When I was a kid—say nine years old—what did I think I’d be like when I was thirty-nine? Honestly, I don’t remember. But I never suspected how happy it would make me when Heather and I had kids. I mean, I knew I’d be happy, but I’m unreasonably happy. There’s Lucy and me to the left, when she painted both our faces. And of course Heather and Ingrid to the right.

But right now I’m about 700 miles from them all! On Wednesday morning I jumped in the car and drove 12 hours, from Chicago to Indianola, Mississippi. Why? Because on Thursday I’m appearing at the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center as part of their “Spring Fling” program. I’ll be doing theatrical readings from The Order of Odd-Fish and leading a “Dome of Doom” writing hootenanny / costumed dance party freakout. Then on Friday I’ll do the same thing at the Drew Public Library in Drew, MS.

I’ve been visiting a lot of schools and libraries this spring. If I’m lucky, sometimes the students I speak to give me Order of Odd-Fish fan art like this one below from Alyssa. It’s of Sefino in full butler mode. Great job, Alyssa!

ITEM! Remember how the German translation of The Order of Odd-Fish came out last October? It’s called Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge (that literally translates as “The Order of Weird Nerds”) and it’s been fun reading the reviews. I can’t read German, so I just use Google translate, which comes out rather nuttier than perhaps intended. I loved this positive review from nahaufnahmen.ch, in which the reviewer has one reservation. Google Translate, take it away:

“The only thing that gives reason to frown, the author of the affinity for cats, or better, dead cats. Again and again it is important that kittens should be murdered or to have a villain, the blood of cats.”

Well, that’s a pretty fair assessment, actually. Here are other Google-translated German reviews from literaturemarkt.info and media-mania.de).

Speaking of the German edition: Sondra Eklund of the book blog Sonderbooks (who’d written a great review of Odd-Fish here) has started a strange and fascinating project: a line-by-line comparison of the English and German versions of Odd-Fish! This is intense. In each installment, Sondra unearths new delightful German phrases for us to learn while reading along in the book. Here’s the first installment, the second installment, the
third installment, and the fourth installment. Each Sunday she adds a new episode.

Click over to learn marvelous words like “Flusskrebs” (crawdad), “Schaltern und Schiebereglern” (dials and switches), or “Papperlapapp” (balderdash). Papperlapapp! Delicious. In some places the translator, Wolfgang Thon, even outdoes the original text: “dangerous companion” translates to “Gefährlichen Gefährtin,” and Sondra says “this is a case where the translation trumps the original by at least ten points.” I have to agree, that’s a lovely and quite Odd-Fishian phrase. But the best part is the discovery that the Belgian Prankster is translated as “der Belgische Scherzkeks.” Which basically “Belgian joke-cookie.” BELGIAN JOKE-COOKIE! I love it. Thanks for doing this, Sondra!

OK, I’ve been driving for 12 hours and I need to sleep before tomorrow’s hoo-hah. Good night!