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Laini Taylor

@lainit

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NYT & Sunday Times bestselling author. Inventor of gods, eater of mangoes, killer of darlings, mother of yetis; she/her; Portland OR

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I’m so, so thrilled that my first two books are getting a new life, 18 years later!!! Coming September 23 from @abramskids, woooo!!!!

#dreamdark #guardiansofdreamdark #windwitch by @lainit

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a year ago

Have you met Lazlo Strange? War orphan, junior librarian, lover of stories, believer in magic, and big-hearted cinnamon roll obsessed since childhood with the mythic lost city of Weep, Lazlo is my homage to fantasy readers, and to the power of fantasy to teach us how to dream, and by dreaming, make a better world.

Little known fact: Lazlo wasn’t meant to be the hero of this book! It was supposed to be a stand-alone called “Muse of Nightmares,” about…the muse of nightmares! But as I was exploring this character as a way to enter the story, I wrote the narrated passage above and just like that, I knew this was his book. It was the “nose broken by a falling volume of fairy tales” line that did it. Here was this guy *literally* shaped by stories—humble, NICE, and the absolute last person who would try to seize the spotlight. But he was a dreamer, and it turned out that was just what was needed.

“He was used to hiding behind books or in shadows. It was midsummer, midmorning, in the full light of day. There were no books to hide behind, and no shadows—only Lazlo Strange in his worn gray robes, with his nose that had been broken by fairy tales, looking like the hero of no story ever told.
“Or. No story *yet* told.”

Check out the award-winning, internationally bestselling duology Strange the Dreamer and Muse of Nightmares for more on dreamers, lost cities, and the left-behind half-human children of murdered gods.

If you’ve read them, who would you recommend them to? If you haven’t, are you intrigued?
❤️❤️

Links in bio.

Art included:

-@illumicrate edition, currently on sale!
-the Mexican edition
-French publisher’s promotional art
-the @litjoycrate edition

#strangethedreamer #museofnightmares #sff #fantasyliterature #bookrec #bookrecommendations #dreamers #readthis by @lainit

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3 years ago

Who is the Daughter of Smoke & Bone?

She’s an art student whose tattoos repel angels. Her name means “hope” in the language of monsters—and she may well be the only one who can end a war that’s been going on for a thousand years.

Read her story in the global bestselling trilogy Daughter of Smoke & Bone (links in bio) ❤️

Art by:
@jimdibartolo
-Dutch edition
@chestoffandoms edition
@merwildandco for @illumicrate
@lesyablackbird
-Japanese edition
@jimdibartolo
@blackgoldsun for US @lbyr 10th anniversary edition

#daughterofsmokeandbone #karou #sff #fantasybooks #readfantasy #lainitaylor by @lainit

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3 years ago

I’m so crazy about these new Daughter of Smoke & Bone editions from my glorious UK publisher @hodderscape ❤️❤️❤️ They’re available in paperback *and* exquisite hardcovers with ALL the bells & whistles 😍😍

Daughter of Smoke & Bone was my breakout book, the one that made all my writer dreams come true, and if you haven’t read it—I totally understand! There are so many books!! But I would love if you considered giving it a try now! 🙏🏼 I mean…LOOK at it!!!

Check out the @hodderscape website to order hardcovers, and any UK retailer for the paperbacks. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!

Cover art by @jannaphia ✨ by @lainit

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3 days ago

Astonishingly, my annual Patreon writing retreat is upon us again, and it’s in France this year 😃😃😃 This is the 4th one, and I’ve made a sticker to go with the others. That’s the chateau we’re renting in the background ❤️ (I didn’t make a sticker for year 1, Quebec, but I need to do it retroactively, for the set.)

Our retreats are not for profit and we don’t do formal instruction/programming, so even though they’re fully catered they’re less than half the cost of other creative retreats I see advertised. Our community is incredible, and I can’t wait to see everyone! by @lainit

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8 days ago

Currently reading:
this gorgeous book by @andrea_eames_author, whose writing is *exactly my taste*—the perfect blend of gorgeous prose, curious imagination, and pathos. Her last book, A Harvest of Hearts, pays homage to Howl, our favorite diva wizard, and this one is Rapunzel-flavored ❤️❤️❤️❤️

(Those sprayed edges are the 🍒 on top.)
Check it out!
Last pic: Clementine is currently reading a new Rapunzel book too! by @lainit

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9 days ago

17 years ago, almost exactly, my second book came out! Then called Dreamdark: Silksinger, it continued the faeries’ quest from Dreamdark: Blackbringer: to find and awaken the immortal beings who had woven the Tapestry of Creation, because it’s not in great shape, as it turns out, and could fall apart, tipi g the world into the nothingness that was before! It takes us to a new part of the world and introduces new characters—new heroes, new foes—as well as bringing back some we know already.

The original Dreamdark covers were done by…@jimdibartolo!!! My super-talented husband! And I love them still so much ❤️❤️❤️ But it’s very cool to get new looks for new readers—and returning readers 🥰 Thank you to everyone who’s kept Dreamdark alive in their minds these past 17 years, I adore you 🥹🥹 New readers, I hope you’ll join us. There are monsters and flying carpets, faerie markets, loyal friends, crows, fart jokes, jealousy, persecution, heroism of all kinds, and so much more!

US edition @abramskids; cover by @sijahongart
UK edition @hachettechildrens
Available where books are sold! by @lainit

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9 days ago

Looooook at thaaaaaat 😍😍😍😍😍 SO SHINY, eeeek! by @lainit

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15 days ago

THE BOOK STORK CAME!! Look what was waiting on my porch this morning 😃😃😃😃 SO. SHINY. 😍😍😍😍😍😍

This is the hardcover special edition of Guardians of Dreamdark: Silksinger, from @abramskids ❤️❤️❤️ It’s available alongside the also-beautiful-but-less-fancy paperback, and I love that there’s that choice! Thank you to the whole team at Abrams, editor @maggielehrman especially, and artist @sijahongart for the glorious cover!

I hope you’ll read it and fall in love with my babies, Whisper and Hirik 🙏🏼 by @lainit

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15 days ago

Happy birthday Silksinger!! To celebrate with me, join the Dreamdark community by getting your own FAERIE NAME!!

Give me your [first initial, last initial, birth month] in comments, and I’ll tell you who you are 🧚‍♂️❤️

(Bonus celebration: get your own copy of Silksinger, yay!!!) by @lainit

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17 days ago

Today’s the day! Guardians of Dreamdark: Silksinger is in the world and I hope you will read it and love it and give it a home ❤️ Silksinger has a special, tender place in my heart, as my “lost book that became, through no fault of its own, very hard to find for, like, a decade 😭😭. I think it’s SO GOOD, so fun and dreamy and imaginative and intense, and it killed me that it didn’t get the love it deserved.

Now it has another chance but the book biz has changed a lot and the algorithm sucks and you probably won’t even see this. But if you DO, please like, save, send, boost, and help give Whisoer and Hirik a chance 🙏🏼 (And read it! I hope!)

THANK YOU!!!! by @lainit

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17 days ago

You know all the cool art challenges for October? Inktober, @peachtober, @hello.nestober, #slavtober, etc? Well here’s one for writers!

We’ve been talking about developing your authorial voice in my Patreon, and I believe with my whole brain that writing exercises are the best way to do that. They used to be more of a thing? In my younger writing days, pre-social media, when we got our information from magazines and telepathy, it was out there: writing for writing’s sake. Writing to play with language and become bolder and more confident in your prose. Writing to get out of your head and accidentally start sounding more like yourself. Writing wildly to discover your weirdest ideas. Writing playfully to recover from burnout. But not anymore? At least, I never see/hear it come up. But I’m a true believer. It worked for me!

We do a lot of exercises besides prompts, but they’re a great standby. Have you ever tried them? If you haven’t, would you? If not, why not? I have other past prompt lists on my Patreon too. (Actually, coming up with prompt lists is a great creative challenge in its own right.)

Oh, and I made this fabulous typewriter printable to go with the prompt list. It has a little slot you can put the list in, in your notebook :) I’ll post the download before Oct 1 ❤️

(Patreon link in bio.)
#promptober26 by @lainit

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18 days ago