For alot of us, it's an excuse to be in the cold, at the edge of a huge fire, considering night among stars and smoke and empty tree limbs.

Best. Fairytale. Ever.

I shall have to settle for bloomers, for Catherynne Valente has succeeded in charming the pants right off me.

Word.

Several folks told me I simply had to read this book. They were right. If you love Cirque du Soleil, Tim Burton films or Terry Gilliam films, or even if you love perusing old book shops in search of something frivilous and decandent from the art nouveau era, get this book. Silas and I have a collage that sits in our studio that reads "They Met at the Circus." This could have been the site of our original meeting somewhere in time.

As a testament to the unplannedness of it all, our camera is still in the shop, so all these were snapped with an Iphone. Strange but true.

That was five plus years ago, before Laini had published her first book. Now she's up to number four, and her latest Daughter of Smoke and Bone is nothing short of extraordinary. Word on the Internet street is that it's been optioned by Universal to become a film. Move over Stephanie Meyers. Laini's come to the playground and her writing boots have spurs.