The new Imaginator Press edition of Ratha and Thistle-Chaser: The Third Book of the Named is now available! Here's the beautiful new cover featuring original artwork by Lew Lashmit. The huggable cub on the back is little Mishanti! Isn't he adorable?

As most of you know, my company, Imaginator Press, acquired the rights to publish new editions of three of the Ratha books, Clan Ground, Ratha and Thistle-Chaser and Ratha's Challenge. I'm excited to announce that the new edition of Clan Ground featuring spiffy new cover art is now available!

So, today is Clare Bell's birthday, and I've already wished her Happy Birthday on Twitter, Facebook, and the Ratha and the Named forums. But Ashy suggested posting a forum here, and I realized that I didn't post anything on my own site. *headslap* So everyone wish rathacat a Happy Birthday! I know this is a little late, but hopefully not too late since she's on Pacific time.

Sheila

Clare Bell / @rathacat will be interviewed live tonight, Friday, April 24, at 5:15 pm Pacific by Irma Arkus, on the HiSciFi.com radio show on CJSF in Vancouver. Listen live on their web site: http://www.cjsf.ca/ or subscribe to the podcast http://www.cjsf.ca/pguide/grid/description.php?ID=38

Sheila

The final nominees for the Ursa Major awards were announced yesterday, and Ratha's Courage is one of them! Yeearooo!

Ratha's Island, a Twitter novelette by Clare Bell, author of the Ratha or Named series.

Prepared for Twitter by Sheila Ruth and Clare Bell. Inspiration by Sheila Ruth. Copyright 2009

The Twitter search tag or hashtag for the story posts is #rathafic

Story archive pages are #1 The Scratching Log http://www.rathascourage.com/scratchlog.html

And #2 The Ratha Series Forum http://forum.rathascourage.com/index.php?showtopic=156

Archive pages will have text links to photos and blog posts about creatures in the story. You can also leave comments.

* * *

Ratha, female leader of the Named cat clan, paused on the meadow trail, one forefoot raised.

To one side, the small three-toed horses that the Named called dapplebacks, huddled nervously.

On the other, the three-horned deer stamped and shook their heads.

The deer stabbed up with their forked nose-horns, as if at an invisible enemy only they could see.

Even the sky, choked with low clouds, seemed a threat. Ratha lifted her head, narrowing her eyes.

Just below the clouds two shapes circled.

Yes, they were birds, probably eagles, but she had never seen eagles this large.

Hi everyone,

Clare Bell, known here as rathacat, has been working on a secret project and we're finally ready to announce it. She's been writing a brand new Ratha story which will be posted on Twitter and Facebook starting on March 14! The story is called Ratha's Island, and it finds Ratha on an adventure far from Clan Ground, where she makes some startling discoveries.

Clare Bell (rathacat on Wands and Worlds and elsewhere) was interviewed on January 11, 2009, by Barbara Gray on WVXU in Cincinnati on their "Around Cincinnati" program. WVXU has given us permission to post the interview as an mp3 file, and you'll find it below as an attachment link. You can also download an mp3 file from WVXU's web site:

I'll be talking about the Named series and the new Ratha's Courage with Barbara Gray of NPR station WVXU Cincinnati. The 10 minute interview is scheduled as part of WVXU's "Around Cincinnati" program, airing tomorrow (Sunday 1/11/09) at 7 PM EST.

Here's the link:

http://www.wvxu.org/scheduleprogram.asp?id=Around+Cincinnati

Listen online: http://www.wvxu.org/listen/streams.asp

Hi people!

This is a sample of an RP that has been running on the Ratha Series forum site.

http://forum.rathascourage.com

Some of the participants are WW members, others aren't.

I thought this might be intriguing because I'm the series author, and I'm in the RP (playing the herding teacher, Thakur)

I just thought I'd post an intro and some links for the new members of Wands and Worlds.

I'm an author, Clare Bell, and I write a series about intelligent prehistoric big cats struggling to survive and create a society. I thought Warriors readers and fans might enjoy the Ratha series, so that is why I came to WW.

(For Spirit, who loves raptors. Also, anyone who has read Courage, please skip to the middle for the paleontological stuff.)

For purposes of fun and silliness, I have given the Named clan cat characters the ability to temporarily teleport from their home in the California Miocene so that they can peek into our human world and remark upon what they see. This, of course is not to be regarded as 'canon', i.e. in the storyline of the actual books. Think of it as sort of an alternate universe version.

Write a limerick about Books with Bite for a chance to win Ratha's Creature, Clan Ground, and Ratha's Courage! See my blog for details:

http://www.wandsandworlds.com/blog1/2008/10/book-giveaway-for-teen-read-...

Sheila

Every year, the young adult division of the American Library Association publishes a list of the "Best Books for Young Adults" (BBYA) for the year. Getting on the list is a big deal.

Ratha's Courage is now available for purchase exclusively on AuthorsBookshop.com!

http://www.authorsbookshop.com/rathascourage/

Author's Bookshop is an online store dedicated to independent publishing, run by a friend of mine and fellow Baltimorean, Brad Grochowski.

Ratha's Challenge and Ratha's Courage introduce a mammoth-hunting cat tribe. These hunters are very different from the Named, as they are not fully conscious, as the Named and modern humans are. Instead they walk around in a a sort of dream-state, guided by their leader, True-of-voice, who is the source of something called "The Song"

Some of you know that in addition to being a co-admin of Wands and Worlds, I also have a small publishing company, Imaginator Press. I'm very excited to announce that Imaginator Press will be publishin

Book industry blog GalleyCat is running a Most Adorable GallleyCat contest, and our own Rathacat, aka Clare Bell, author of The Named series, has a cat in the running!

Click here to see rathacat's adorable cat DannyCat:

Clare Bell and I have created the official Ratha and the Named forum. More members are always welcome. We have general chat, fanchat, fanart, and a Named RP. We invite all Ratha fans to join us. Enjoy!

The transcript from the Clare Bell author chat has been posted. You can find it here:

http://wandsandworlds.com/community/node/4831

Sheila Ruth

On May 30, 2008, we held an author chat with Clare Bell, author of The Named series, which includes:

Ratha's Creature

Clan Ground

Ratha and Thistle-chaser

Ratha's Challenge

Ratha's Courage

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity. Most unrelated chat was removed, and the order of some items was changed, moving things around as necessary to make the transcript easier to read.

People started gathering before the chat:

I just thought I'd post an intro and some links for the new members of Wands and Worlds.

I'm an author, Clare Bell, and I write a series about intelligent prehistoric big cats struggling to survive and create a society. I thought Warriors readers and fans might enjoy the Ratha series, so that is why I came to WW.