Things That Should Not Happen No. 198
Negative 23 degrees.
Enough already with the cold. We get it.
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Lucky Days
I know, I know. I'll try to get a proper type of post up tomorrow. Just dropping in to say that all day I've felt an overwhelming and perhaps slightly corny surge of gratitude to be here in this amazing community of writers. There's no place like it, and at some point I do mean to write in greater detail about the program, but if you want to write for children or young adults, it's worth looking into and making sacrifices to come.
::end corniness for today (I'm tired, people!)::
Today in short: Cynthia Leitich Smith is a most excellent workshop leader and all-round smartypants. Also, her new book, Eternal, the sequel to Tantalize, is going to be AH-mazing, based on her reading tonight. Actually, all the readings were wonderful, but I have to tell you–and, of course, this is all I can tell you–that when the incomparable Martine Leavitt's next book comes out, it'll be the best thing you've read since forever. SRSLY. She is a genius. Not to mention a wonderful person and a wonderful mentor. And we got to squeal in tandem, in person, about my fabulous new agent.
::Apparently, there was still some corniness left.::
And Julie Larios gave a typically brilliant and funny lecture about poetry and sound. (One little paraphrased tip from it: If asked what something in a poem symbolizes, apparently death is always a good answer.) And Carolyn Coman generously gave of her time and wisdom to a group of us over dinner. And there were special guests floating around — oh, and I FINALLY got to meet Jo Knowles in person. (I can confirm, she really is a doppelganger for Pam!) A good day, is what I'm saying.
And a typical one for a residency.
Tomorrow looks fairly quiet though, and I'm hoping to sneak in some actual writing. And, y'know, a post.
p.s. And, of course, the sad, sad, sad news is out that there will be no more YBFH in its current incarnation, at least covering 2008. Everyone involved with this series has done the SFF field a great service over the years, and I can only hope some smart, committed publisher picks it up as things improve. It's too important to just get lost; let's keep our fingers crossed things aren't so bad now that there's no room for these important books.
En Route
I'm on my way to Montpelier for my final MFA residency and graduating and such. Posting will resume, to some extent, once I'm safely ensconced at Chez Betsy's.
Lookee Over There
At the post in which Christopher finally gets to announce that this year he'll be writing a work-for-hire novel for Wizards of the Coast set in a fictional world he grew up reading about and gaming in. It's fairly rare we as adults get to do stuff that our teen selves would completely approve of, and I have to say, I think Teen Christopher would be thoroughly blown away. And current Christopher's pretty excited too, to say the least. Go congratulate him!
And, also, yay for the other novel he's working on, Sarah Across America, which gets more fabulous with each new word he types.
We're having a pretty good year, so far, we are.
Twilight Stimulus Package
The NYT story about the doom and gloom numbers of holiday retail contains this nugget:
Specialty teenage retailer Hot Topic — which struck gold by selling merchandise inspired by the cult-hit vampire film “Twilight” — had a 4.3 percent sales increase.
It appears that Stephenie Meyer really is keeping the economy afloat at this point. I say we make her the poster girl for bringing back the Works Progress Administration for writers.
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Bon Chance
The wondrous Lauren Cerand is launching a new and thoroughly exciting publicity project to save Jonathan Baumbach's novel that came out a year ago, YOU, or The Invention of Memory, and got a little attention before the small indie publisher it was out from folded.
Lauren's taste is great without fail, so I can't wait to read it.
Tuesday Hangovers
- Leila's going to read 11 V.C. Andrews books this year. I salute you, dahlink. I hope your editions have those peekaboo covers, which I thought were dead cool as a preteen, with the menacing family portrait on the inside flap.
- Orbit's launching a new $1 e-book promotion, featuring a different discounted title every month. They've been doing some really interesting books, and it's nice to see a publisher giving something like this a try. (Orbit also does truly fabulous design work on all their books.)
- Strange Horizons' reviewers from last year offer some thoughts on their favorite things of 2008. I really have to see Let The Right One In as soon as humanly possible.
- Abigail Nussbaum offers some interesting comparative thoughts on Octavian II and Tender Morsels. Well worth checking out.
- Patrick Ness in the Guardian, writing on being called a health hazard in the Daily News f
or The Knife of Never Letting Go. (Via Niall.) - Bennett on mommy panic. (Yay, let us hope that he keeps his resolution to blog more often this year.)
- The story of Beryl and Wol, the soap opera-loving dog and owl, is my favorite story ever. (Via Nicola.)
Fail
No video on Youtube* of the Judybats doing "Convalescing in Spain"–proof that, in fact, footage of anything you want at any moment is not yet on the tubes!
*There are a few Judybats videos, but that's Not What I'm Looking For.
Sunday Hangovers
- I love these long-crowing roosters.
- Sarah Prineas is looking for your darlings; those lovely passages that just have to go in revision.
- Annalee Newitz writes about the future, and science fiction, in the WaPo.
- Stacy Whitman is compiling a list of excellent middle grade fantasy. She is also posting extremely funny videos summarizing "Becoming Jane."
- F&SF is going to an every-two-months publishing schedule later this spring.
- Rebecca Skloot's latest piece is everywhere–maybe because unusual helper animals are AWESOME.
(Un)Perks of Dog Ownership
If you have ever owned a dog, I don't have to explain that moment of horror when you see your dog start to grind and roll on something on the ground when they're off lead. It takes you a moment to get there and pry the dog(s) in question away from the often dead and nearly always disgusting thing they've discovered, and cries of "No! Leave it!" are willfully ignored during that moment. It is during these lost seconds that they absorb more scent than seems strictly possible in such a short time.
This happened earlier this afternoon on a rich kid school playground that we let the dogs off lead to race around in sometimes, when it's not inhabited by playing rich kids. Almost as soon as he was free, Puck the dog went to town in a pile of leaves near the fence. Emma came over to investigate, but I was mostly able to keep her away. My own shoes? Not so much.
You do not want to know what it was. I'll just say that the phrase "awful offal" was bandied about on the way home. I'm not thinking too closely about it, although it's still on my shoes.
The dogs have both been bathed–against their extremely strong wills–and, paraphrasing the immortal words of Gillian Welch, have shaken like chorus girls, like holy rollers, like their souls were at stake, like hurricanes, like to make it break (actually, a vase-type thing did break).
But now they are mostly quieted, and they look funny with spiky wet hair. Their collars and a whole bunch of towels are soaking in the washer. The cat is hiding out, and everything is back to normal.
At least until the next time this happens.
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