I am proud to say the first four chapters of The Columbus Circle of Time were chosen as an Editor’s Choice on the Science Fiction and Fantasy Online Writer’s Workshop. When I heard at the end of last month, I couldn’t believe it but when the review came in I couldn’t stop smiling.
Here’s a few excerpts from Karin Lowachee‘s review:
This month’s EC shows a strong beginning that launches right into the action, and immediately tells the reader that this is a fantastical story: the game, the Aztec calendar, the jumping around time. There are exotic locations, an interesting culture, and a lot of the Spanish language. The Aztec mysticism lends itself to fantasy and science fiction both.
And:
The dynamic between parents and children is wonderful – Sofia and Isabel, Cristobal and Diego. You want authenticity and too often parents are absent from kidlit or are portrayed in a negative light. Here there is a realistic affection and the adults don’t talk down to the children. Sofia’s relationship with her kids reads very modern, but still sweet; Cristobal’s with Diego feels affectionate but with a realistic divide of understanding that happens between an adult and a child. The children themselves have a great authenticity to them, from Grade 9 aged Isabel to 6th Grade Diego. This is important, because nothing will make a kid put down a book faster than reading about protagonists that they can’t identify with. There isn’t a strong sense of adult authorial intrusion on the kids’ personalities, which sometimes happens in YA or middle grade literature.
Karen’s review also provided me a ton of very constructive feedback that will be useful as I launch into Draft 5 and begin the marketing of the book.
Thanks Karen. And thanks Eugene for getting me onto SF-F OWW.