Guest Post: “All Children ... Grow Up”—and So Do Their Authors

Starting this week and continuing into the future, readers of the Winged Elephant can expect to see some new authors making guest appearances on the blog as Overlook staff members stop by to share their wit and wisdom on the latest news and trends across the publishing industry. Today's post on crossover authors from teen and children's lit comes courtesy of sales and marketing associate, Sasha Karlins.

As I'm sure just about everyone has heard by now, J.K. Rowling has written a book for adults. Of course, her previous books, a series about a boy named Harry Potter (of which you may have heard) were read pretty extensively by millions of adults worldwide. So what makes this new book "for adults"?

The answer is that there is no answer, at least not yet. In the two weeks since the book was announced, all that has been revealed is the publisher (Little, Brown) and that yes, the book is in fact for adults. When previous authors of children or teen books have made the jump (or perhaps small step) to adult books, the differences have been clear, if for no other reason, because the author emphasized them.

In 2008, in the midst of Twilight series madness, the author Stephenie Meyer published The Host. The Host was also published by Little, Brown and to much less attention than any of the Twilight books, while still debuting at number one on The New York Times bestseller list and being optioned for a feature film. The main thing that sets the book apart from her bestselling teen series in terms of age demographic is the age of its heroine. The target audience seems to be the same as her teen books—older teens and younger grownups, primarily females interested in romances. Neither Meyer nor reviewers emphasized much distinction besides reiterating the nominal one.

Eoin Colfer, author of the bestselling Artemis Fowl books, took an opposite approach when publishing a book for adults, Plugged, published by Overlook. From the tagline—“If you liked Artemis Fowl…it’s time to grow up”—to the content, everything about the book announces that this is an adult book. Colfer broadcasts that Plugged isn't for the same age demographic as his middle grade series by highlighting the cursing, sex, violence, and drugs in the book.

Both Colfer and Rowling left their children-focused publishers for their adult books, and both originally write for a younger demographic than Meyer. However, it is hard to imagine the far less sarcastic Rowling writing a book about a balding bouncer in New Jersey. Without even a genre announced, however, anything is possible.

Halloween Week: A Glance at the Book of English Magic!

Looking for a book Harry and Hermione might have studied at Hogwards, or interested in the history of occult practices in England? Look no further--it's Halloween week, and we're bringing you some excerpts from THE BOOK OF ENGLISH MAGIC.

Here's a history of how the detection of witchcraft used to occur. Scary. For more, check out the book, or check back to the blog this week--we'll be posting additional spells and excerpts!

Some physicians and surgeons, as well as gypsies and exorcists—both lay and clerical—offer to unbewitch clients. But cunning-folk provide the widest range of techniques to combat witchcraft, including preventative charms and the identification of the offending witch, as well as cures for their ‘maleficium’ (evil-doing).

For diagnosis, some wizards used the herb vervain, known since classical times as the ‘Enchanter’s Herb’ and reputedly used by the Druids. A decoction of vervain is used to wash the patient. If the run-off from this washing was filled with hairs or changed colour, witchcraft was clearly afoot!

Bubbles in urine were often taken as signs of bewitchment, and urine-crying can be used to determine the culprit. In the seventeenth century, for example, Joan Peterson, a cunning-woman from Wapping, used the following method to determine whether a client’s cow had been bewitched: she boiled some of the animal’s urine and scryed one of the bubbles produced in this way, seeing within it the face of the woman the cow-keeper already suspected.
As well as diagnosing bewitchment, many cunning-folk offer protection from witches’ spells and the influence of evil spirits. To do this they often made ‘witch bottles,’ which they buried outside a property, under the hearth, or plastered into the walls. The bottles were usually small—3 inches high and made from blue or green glass—but larger bottles were also used, known as ‘Greybeards’ or ‘Bellarmines,’ which were about 9 inches tall, and made from glazed stoneware decorated with fierce bearded faces designed to ward off evil. Inside the bottles, the hair and urine of the person who needed defending are mixed with nails, thorns and pieces of sharp glass. The idea is that the witch or spirit will be attracted to the hair and urine in their search for their victim, and would then be injured by the sharp objects. In addition, the bottle is symbolic of the witch’s bladder, and through sympathetic magic it is designed to inflict excruciating pain on the offending witch.

To treat the results of witchcraft, the most common cures are a combination of written charms and herbal medicine. Fumigants of bay, rue, sage and rosemary are sometimes used, and for internal consumption concoctions of marigold, rosemary, angelica, true-love and St John’s wort. In 1854 it was recorded that a Somerset wizard prescribed an unbewitching ointment of sage, wormwood, jack-in-the-hedge and lard, to be applied to the back of the ear.