As you all know, my super power is choosing pets from the Internet.* Meet Emma’s new little (little!) brother Puck (his name was Puff, but we hate that, and it’s enough of a sound-alike to not confuse him**).
For those who don’t like videos that feature an interlude of the cameraman’s jacket, here’s a photo:
C has more pictures and another video*** (also featuring Hemingway the Book-Hiding-Behind Cat).
*Not that I do it often; bizarrely, last Monday, I felt the tug to look, then kept looking again at this picture of this weird little dog, then kept discussing with C whether he thought Emma would like having another dog around. So … it was meant to be.
**His name was going to be Falcor, because it was the only thing we could agree on–but he actually knew Puff, so we caved. Sorta.
**Yes, yes, we’ll get a real video camera at some point.
…and doesn’t say the word scrotum. Simon and Schuster is launching a campaign for The Higher Power of Lucky, including a short video featuring words of support from various authors and an interview with Susan Patron. Check it out. Good on S&S. (Via Fusenumber8.)
A little clarification: I’m not against lengthy critical essays, but I mostly don’t think blogs are the right venue for that. Five thousand words is LONG. Longer than most of the posts you might be thinking of as Really Long Posts. When I want that, I prefer to get it on paper in a magazine or, um, not at all. The idea that to say something meaningful you have to be verbose is ridiculous, like the other arguments in play here.
I just heard from Veronica mastermind and showrunner Rob Thomas, who tells me, "If we’re cancelled, I certainly don’t know about it."
And according to CW insiders, the CW has not officially canceled Veronica Mars. However, here’s the catch: They are currently considering a different format for the fourth season. From what I hear, that format would leap four years into the future and focus on Veronica Mars as an FBI agent. Aside from returning star Kristen Bell (duh), the rest of the cast is yet to be determined, but it isn’t likely that many of her current co-stars would be on board.
Okay, so this seems highly unlikely, but I would love to see the show attempt to pull this off.
Thanks to Jon Armstrong for stopping by here yesterday and providing content (while I did Other Things — I truly understand why guest bloggers are so fabulous now).
Back in November, I read Grey on an airplane (right after The End of Mr. Y) and thought it a completely distinctive debut. At the time, I said: "… it was an extremely pleasant surprise to read such a strange, elaborately written (but brief) science fiction novel." The star-crossed main characters of Grey obsessively follow a fashion magazine called Pure H — recreating its surreal, bizarre scenes in their "looks"; Pure H feels like a real magazine but could never really exist (think The Library television show from Kelly Link’s "Magic for Beginners"). Like a phantom magazine ad, Grey lingered in my thoughts, coming back to me at odd moments. I highly recommend giving it a try.
So, yesterday Jon proposed a contest and you can win a copy of Grey:
Get a Free signed copy of my novel, Grey! –Yes, we’ve come to the shameless self-promotion part of this post. I’m announcing a book giveaway. You can find Chapter 1 here. The contest is: write the first sentence of Chapter 2 and leave it in the comments (be sure there’s a way for me to reach you). Best one wins a copy of Grey. Plus, I’ll sign it however you wish, including the always useful: Congratulations ebay Highest Bidder!
Packet finished a day early and the advance copy of Nicola Griffith’s Always (an Aud novel!) to read. A snippet from an early chapter:
Self-defense is not just a skill, it’s a worldview. Like the scientific method–or religion, or motherhood, for that matter–once you accept its precepts you see things differently. I didn’t intend to tell my students this. Just as you don’t try to interest six-year-olds in natural history by discussing physiology and adaptive evolution–but take them, instead, to a pond to watch tadpoles turn into frogs–on the first day of class you don’t tell grown women to change their lives. You show them how to punch a bag.
So good and so full of moments that make me want to stop and read them to whoever is nearby.
