Memeage and question

First, the memes. I was tagged by mackiedockie, so here I go:

Here are the rules:
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 4 sentences on your LJ along with these instructions.
5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.
6. Tag five people.

Okay, I was good and really did reach for the closest one:

"Carmilla was looking charmingly. Nothing could be more beautiful than her tints. Her beauty was, I think, enhanced by that graceful languor that was peculiar to her. I think my father was silently contrasting her looks with mine, for he said: 'I wish my poor Laura was looking more like herself,' and he sighed."
(from Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla in Three Vampire Tales, edited by Anne Williams)

I won't tag anyone, but if you haven't done this yet, consider yourself invited!


And one more meme, inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's birthday yesterday:
( Which H.P. Lovecraft Entity/Character Archetype Are You? )

And now, the question. Has anyone read The Tales of Alvin Maker by Orson Scott Card? If so, would you recommend them? I am particularly interested in them because of the American Indian issues, and the Shawnee characters in particular (Tecumseh and The Prophet, etc.), and I wondered how much attention these receive, and how they are handled from a historical perspective. I enjoyed Card's Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus (and of course his Ender books), but I've never read any of the Alvin Maker series. Any advice would be welcome. Thanks!


He hungered to believe in the marvelous. (Who doesn't?)
- Edgar Pangborn, "The Children's Crusade"

personal news (publishing and teaching)

Publishing News
It is done. I have signed on the dotted line and agreed to write a new book for Greenwood (my previous books for the press are here). I have long wanted to write a biography, and my editor kindly gave me my choice of subjects in their new Native American series. I chose Tecumseh (see also here); my Tecumseh: A Biography should be out in early 2008.

(And though this isn't the reason I chose Tecumseh as my subject, it just so happens that my grandfather lives in Tecumseh, Oklahoma.)

( Teaching News )

"The present is never the present," Sam said. "It's layered with persistent pasts."
- George Zebrowski, Macrolife