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Thursday Hangovers

2 Comments / Hangovers / By Gwenda / February 4, 2010

Cornelia Funke shows up in the comments over at Roger Sutton's to discuss the collaborative process for her new book.
Tune in to the #genderinYA discussion going wildfire today over at twitter, kicked off by Maureen Johnson.
Katherine Langrish has a dead interesting post about magical rooms in kids' and YA fiction: "A room of one's own. Many children do not have one. They share with brothers or sisters. They lead lives ruled by adults. A room of one's own, for a child, is a place where it can be in control. It's also a place to start out from: the firm base of safety from which a child can explore the world. Rooms in children's or young adult fiction, therefore, often reflect the desirable qualities of a perfect personal space."
A YA best of 2009 list with some books I haven't seen discussed as much over at Flashlight Worthy. (I absolutely adored Eyes Like Stars.)
Karen Healey on the pleasures of Bones. (Also: Hodgins and Angela belong together!)
Dave Elzey is sharing his VCFA grad lecture on building better boy books in several sections. The first installment is up.
One of my favorite people, the extravagantly wonderful Lauren Cerand, is answering questions about freelance publicity over at Justine's today. Go ask her stuff.

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Tuesday Hangovers

4 Comments / Hangovers / By Gwenda / February 2, 2010

Up to third of children and young adults in the UK believe at least one of their teachers is inhabited by an alien. (Via Sarah)
Betsy reviews Rita Williams-Garcia's One Crazy Summer (so awesome!) and highly recommends it.
And the Book Smugglers have a rave for N.K. Jemisin's The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms.
Laura Miller weighs in on the e-book subject and the latest war with some intriguing thoughts about pricing, e-book readers and the like. Worth checking out. (By the way, as Scalzi points out, Macmillan authors' books are still being held hostage by Amazon, so offer them (and other authors!) your support by purchasing elsewhere.)
Yet more fascinating research on team body and team brain.
Colleen Lindsay hosts Rick Bowes' remembrance of the impact The Catcher in the Rye had on him, when a smart librarian let him check it out even though he was under the requisite 18 years of age. (This photo Ellen took of Rick and I apparently threatening to use our psychic powers on each other is my favorite from C and Andy's KGB reading.)
Roger Ebert tells the story of "The Man Who Didn't Sleep."
And another great piece over at the Quarterly Conversation about "Macedonio Fernandez: The Man Who Invented Borges."

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R.I.P.

2 Comments / Books, Goodbyes / By Gwenda / January 31, 2010

This time for Kage Baker, who won't get nearly the amount of ink of other writers who've passed away recently, and whose work I love more dearly than any of theirs. I first read her in 2004, it turns up through a little googling, and immediately became a devotee. It does not feel just that there won't be anything more, after her next book publishes in March. I can only hope her books continue to find the new readers they deserve, and she lives on in that way.

Her work will always be the best kind of alive for me. I expect I'll go back and reread the Company books sometime soon. I just ordered The Hotel Under the Sand, her only novel for children, from last summer, which I managed to not read yet somehow.

I feel this frustratingly inexpressible sadness–for those who knew her, because she must have been amazing and I'm sure she will leave a large hole in their lives, and for all the books and stories we will not get now that she might have written, and for the fact she was not more feted while she was here.

Discover her work, if you haven't.

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War of the Book Barons

Books / By Gwenda / January 31, 2010

Everyone has seen the links to smart commentary on the Amazon vs. Macmillan skirmish from Scalzi and Toby Buckell, et. al. I'm sure, but I wanted to put a pointer to Caleb Crain's "Clash of the Titans" post, which is exceedingly worth your time:

Newspapers have no one to blame but themselves for having taught the public that they have a right to read newspapers online for free. Publishers, on the other hand, have woken up to the unpleasant discovery that the value of their work is being cheapened in the public mind by a third party: Amazon.

Seriously, if you're interested in this stuff, go read the whole post. (via Laura Miller on twitter.)

Updated: Also read Scott's post on the matters at hand.

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Saturday Hangovers

Hangovers / By Gwenda / January 30, 2010

Brought to you by my annual winter sinus infection. Boo.
In what appears to be a game of giant corporate chicken, Amazon has apparently yanked all Macmillan books off its site because of an e-book pricing dispute (meaning the publisher wants the ability to set more favorable pricing, just as it will have in the new iBookstore). See: Scalzi's spot-on commentary and more from Carolyn at Jacket Copy. I think we all remember from such classic films as Footloose and Grease that chicken played because of desperation/iPad rage/bullying never ends well for the instigator. Also, anyone know how much of Amazon's pie even comes from books these days?
Liz Hand on Patti Smith's new memoir Just Kids at the Wash Post.
Real time blogging from the SCBWI conference taking place this weekend, full of great tidbits.
More reminders about why the ocean is a terrifying place full of MONSTERS. (We should really explore that place–we barely even know what's down there.) (MORE MONSTERS.) (Although ghost shrimp is pretty cute.)
Via Leila some news about the third Monster Blood Tattoo book, along with the news that the series is being renamed and repackaged here in the states (sifting through the fan site, I believe the new overall title is Tales from the Half-Continent). These are wonderful books, and I hope it works. There was a small discussion about repackaging on twitter awhile back centered on Derek Landy's also wonderful Skulduggery Pleasant books, which haven't found as large an audience here yet as they have in the UK. (And which were part of a pricey deal.) Anyway, what I began to wonder is: Does this same kind of rebranding effort ever happen with fairly recent releases in adult books? Or if an adult book/series doesn't do as well as the publisher hoped do they automatically just write it off as a flop and then give it a new cover and smaller run in paperback or not put it in paperback at all? I couldn't think of any adult book examples of this type of repackaging off the top of my head. Which actually says good things about children's lit as a marketplace to me, as it indicates less of a willingness to bolt and a greater confidence in the material. But perhaps I'm being naive (and yes, I know that some books just get written off as flops in kid lit too, but I'm glad to see at least two series I love getting the extra effort). Also, wonder if these repackages ever make a big difference? Your comments and conspiracy theories welcome.

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Friday Hangovers

10 Comments / Hangovers / By Gwenda / January 29, 2010

R.I.P. J.D. Salinger, and here's a few Salinger links: Sarah Weinman at Daily Finance on what might happen in terms of publication of his later work now, and with some additional thoughts at her own site; David Levithan talks at the WSJ about Catcher's influence on the development of the YA genre (undeniably huge); the Washington Post has a piece on the last publishing deal Salinger ever entered into (but which didn't come to fruition, obvs); and, finally, Jo Knowles served the man coffee at a charity dinner. There are lots more interesting things out there to read, of course; nothing like a recluse to generate stories and press. (I couldn't help but think during the NPR commentary where various writers talked about his influence on American letters and Rick Moody summoned up Huck Finn and Holden Caulfield as quite possibly the two hugest influences on American authors, with Nick Carraway as the third, where our famous girl character voices are in that continuum? What would they be?)
HarperTeen launches Inkpop, a new social networking-style site for teens to post their own writing.
Justine on the phenomenons of mansplaining and whitesplaining.
And, finally, the FABULOUS Stephany Aulenback and her brother collaborate on "Things Dorothy Parker Might Have Said, Had She Been a Mother" over at McSweeney's.

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Thursday Hangovers

Hangovers / By Gwenda / January 28, 2010

At this point, I'm just trying to see if I can actually post every day for a week. (Tentatively optimistic.) Am beginning to make progress with ye olde inbox, too.
R.I.P. Howard Zinn, one of the good guys.
Janni Simner offers some basic ground rules for writers on balancing online time and presence.
Karen Healey has a most excellent post discussing the recent cover contretemps and the development of the Australian/New Zealand cover for her first novel (CAN'T WAIT) Guardian of the Dead, which releases in April.
How did I forget to mention this yesterday? Huzzah and congratulations to Jedediah Berry for winning the Crawford Award (given annually to a debut fantasy novel) for The Manual of Detection, which is also out now in paperback. It is one of the best books I read last year. You will love it. Trust me.
Leila points to some truly wonderful cover art on a new Ellen Potter book. I have not read Potter, but will be checking this one out.
If this story doesn't make you cry or at least tear up, well, why not?
YAY YAY YAY: Small Beer Press is bringing (with a lovely new cover) Ted Chiang's AWESOME collection Stories of Your Life and Others back into print. Preorder today.

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Wednesday Hangovers

6 Comments / Hangovers / By Gwenda / January 27, 2010

The BBC and the British Museum partner on a new serialized radio program "A History of the World in 100 Objects."
An interview with Kristin Cashore over at the Enchanted Inkpot, and video of the author trapezing at ALA. (It looks like soooo much fun. Want to do.)
Tiffany has some thoughts about antagonists.
A list of unsung YA titles.
Zora Neale Hurston's manuscripts were almost burned as garbage. (Via @andevers.)
The Gratzs uncover the existence of Bond Girl Barbies.
Margaret Ronald stops in at the Big Idea on the occasion of her second Evie Scelan novel, an urban fantasy series I wholeheartedly recommend.
Yep, they named it the iPad. Part of me still wants one.

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Don’t Sneeze!

Science Project / By Gwenda / January 26, 2010

Aliens may already be among us! Britain's Royal Society is on the case:

One astrobiologist says the best place to look for aliens may be right here on Earth. Paul Davies of Arizona State University said Tuesday that extraterrestrial life may have found its way to this planet at several different times.

If so, Davies says, the aliens could be "right under or noses — or even in our noses."

Boy, how much do you think they hate that this story is on the wire*? Will no one take the nose ETs seriously?!

*Suspected conversation: "Why do we keep inviting Yanks to our events?" "Because they know how to say crazy enough things to ensure a wire story?"

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Tuesday Hangovers

Hangovers / By Gwenda / January 26, 2010

I still haven't begun the Great E-mail Catch-Up Project. But soon, soon.
A couple of features worth your time over at the Millions this week: Patrick Brown's "Nobody Wants to Go Home: A Unified Theory of Reality Television," examining The Real World and its influence on shaping the genre, and Max Magee's "Confessions of a Book Pirate," in which Max interviews said pirate and inspires convos all over the place.
One of my favorite Holly Black stories, "The Coldest Girl in Coldtown," is up at the BSC Review as promotion for her forthcoming collection from Small Beer, The Poison Eaters. I can't wait to nab it and read the shiny new stories.
Speaking of Holly, Justine mulls the Omnivoracious list of most influential YA writers of the decade, and suggests she'd be a fine addition (which I wholeheartedly agree with). Go leave your own additions at J's place.
A list of cheery things at the Guardian, including the fact that yesterday was officially the most depressing day of the year–mathematically speaking. (Via Liz Hand.)
Cherie Priest on what is and isn't in the author's control.
A good interview with crime novelist Derek Nikitas. (Via @roncharles.)
Dungeons & Dragons play BANNED at Wisconsin prison for promoting gang activity. The jokes write themselves. (Via @snurri.)

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