By: Anne Bustard,
on 12/30/2009
Tiger Woods, athlete
Dec. 30, 1975-
Tiger Woods by David R. Collins, illustrated by Larry Nolte (Pelican, 1999)
Tiger Woods, the gifted young African American golfer, faced prejudice with positive character and determination as a child and as an adult. He won his first U.S. Amateur Championship at the age of 19.
Visit the Tiger Woods Official Website to learn more about this great golfer.
By: Hannah Christenson,
on 11/20/2009
By: Amy Schimler,
on 11/20/2009
Didja ever go out to a restaurant
And eat more than you should?
If so, you know just how I feel:
Stuffed, and not too good.
Could not resist the nachos,
Ate more than twice my share;
The margarita went down smooth –
I didn’t even care.
The quesadilla melted
Like queso in the sun.
I gobbled it and with each bite,
I’d only just begun.
Fajitas followed quickly;
They sizzled and they sputtered.
The meat wrapped in tortillas –
My stomach getting cluttered.
The meal was sadly finished,
But not, alas, complete;
For when I got home I did crave
A taste of something sweet.
So even though I barely
Could sustain another bite,
I scarfed a mini-Almond Joy,
A Halloween delight.
And now I pay the piper:
My jeans I must unzip;
But now that I am comfortable,
Please pass me one last chip!
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By: Mary,
on 11/20/2009
I can hear Truffaut laughing in his grave….
Close Encounters of the Redneck Kind from Marc Bullard on Vimeo. Thanks to Neatorama for the link!
| On November 19th, 2009 Victor R. Volkman and Irene Watson interviewed media release guru Paul Krupin about whether Press Releases are still revelant to marketing your books in 2009. Krupin is the author of numerous books about publicity, search engines, and other topics. His latest book Trash Proof News Releases is also available as a free eBook download. We covered a wide-range of talking points, including |
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Even though these days a lot of people might think Hamlet is what you call a small side of pork, The Shakespeare Quartos Archive and we readers know better. I must say, however, “hamlet” would be a great name for a deli sandwich, that is if you are into eating animals. It just wouldn’t work in vegan/vegetarian world. Anyway, if you long to see what a pre-1642 quarto of Hamlet looks like (the play not the pork variety), click on the link above. You can choose your edition and digitally page through it. The paging goes a little slow, but it really is cool.
And see, I’m studying digital libraries and technology in library school so I can be involved with projects like this. I suppose I’d have to have special clearance and some kind of archival certification to be able to work with Shakespeare quartos, but there are plenty of other cool things to turn digital. And who knows what the future will bring? Lordy, how I’d love to get my mitts on the Emerson archive at Harvard.
Off to have a date night. We’ve got the new Star Trek to watch and my Bookman made some sort of surprise dessert. All I know about it is that it’s chocolately. Yum!
Have a great weekend!
Posted in Books, Library
I was looking over my bookshelves today, trying to find something to read. It’s kind of like trying to find the right outfit for your brain.
No, not that, I can’t be sad today.
No, not that, I don’t want to pay that much attention.
Maybe that one, it’s funny and makes my butt look smaller.
What?
I stood there for a while, trying to talk myself out of reading anything speculative. It’s been a long time since I’ve read anything “traditional” and it’s been a REALLY long time since I’ve read anything written for adults. But as I looked over the books, nothing jumped out at me. I think the reason why is because I read to escape. There are too many things going on in my life right now and it’s nice to be able to sit down and travel to a new world. I don’t want to read about moms juggling a bunch of kids. I don’t want to read about health care reform. I don’t want to read about families in crisis, even if the characters are well-rounded and the language is well done. I even tried to watch thirtysomething and I just couldn’t do it. It was too real – not an escape, not fun to watch.
But then, I started to think about the speculative books I’ve read recently. Catching Fire, Going Bovine, The Maze Runner. These are not necessarily uplifting books! They deal with family issues, crises, conspiracies, the end of the world, even health care (sort of). So what makes it bearable to read when it’s speculative, but not bearable when it’s “traditional”? And where can a girl find some new, funny, science fiction? Is that an oxymoron?
What do you guys think? How is it that the imaginary worlds (or the fantastical happenings) of speculative fiction make real life issues so much more… entertaining? Why is it not a drag to read about life and death angst when it comes from a maze, but is almost unbearable for me to read about in a contemporary setting?
I know I’m not alone here, so I’m calling you out! Let’s talk about why speculative fiction pushes our buttons without, you know, pushing our buttons.
Kari is grouchy that there’s nothing to wear in her brain closet.
By: Dudel,
on 11/20/2009
By: Debbie Reese,
on 11/20/2009
Sending you to "displaced Dene," a blog run by Tenille Campbell. She's got some things to say about the House of Night series...
Tenille Campbell is Dene (First Nations) from Northern Saskatchewan. From reading her site, I gather Campbell is studying writing at the University of British Columbia with the AWESOME Richard Van Camp. Regular readers know I think Richard's work is terrific. If I'm not mistaken, Nicola I. Campbell also studied writing with Richard. As noted earlier today, Nicola's book, Shin-chi's Canoe just won a major literature prize. So! We should keep an eye out for Tenille Campbell. She says that Richard has a new comic book out... I should follow up on that!
Translation: The chickens have flown the coop!
(the French version of Chicken Dance)
Ooh. La. La.
http://www.amazon.fr/Coq-star-Tammi-Sauer/dp/2745942093/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258435208&sr=1-6
P.S. It's pronounced COKE STAR, people. :)
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By: Moira Rose Donohue',
on 11/20/2009
Wow, I had a wonderful day at Browne Academy in Alexandria! With grades K-2, we read ALFIE THE APOSTROPHE and did some awesome magic tricks. Grades 3-4 had a fabulous punctuation bee - congratulations to Sarah who was the winner!
I had a great time talking to 6 phenomenal eighth graders, who asked fantastic, probing questions. I think a few may become writers themselves someday. And signing books at the bookfair, which was beautifully run by Bookworm Central, was the perfect ending to the day. Thanks to everyone who made it happen and to everyone who bought books!
By: Jessica Fortner,
on 11/20/2009
Here is the fourth sculpted illustration for the on-going “My Woodland, My Nightmare” series. It is titled “When Giants Meet”
Check out the sculpture.
Enjoy!
www.jessicaforter.com
By: Eric Luper,
on 11/20/2009
I got a call late yesterday from a representative from Foxwoods Resort and Casino. They are interested in me doing a few signings for both BIG SLICK and BUG BOY at their casino before the holidays. Poker book, horse racing book, perfect fit. According to the people of Foxwoods, I'll be signing in the World Poker Tour room and the Race Book rooms. Both are huge venues and I am super excited about this event.
This is Foxwoods:
Here is the wicked cool poker room:
And the wicked cool Race Book:
Not to mention the uber-famous performer who will also be there that night.
Maybe my name will be on one of those mega-big jumbo-trons! Fingers crossed.
So, here are the deets:
Date: December 5th and 6th, 2009
Location: Foxwoods Resort and Casino
City: Mashantucket, CT
Gonna be around? I'd love to see some familiar faces!
I thought Chewbacca would be happier with his good buddy Han Solo. Quick sketch from today :)
By: Ted Dawson,
on 11/20/2009
It's a little tricky, for me, to get proper values & contrast when working in color. I'm essentially a lazy artist, but have been making an effort to work out more problems like this ahead of time. This is for a picture book proposal (Jump).
Our sale is still ongoing....my sale, really, even though I have some helpers. I have moved 6,000 books at least 3 times each.
Library book sales are frustrating things. The preview night is horribly stressful, for small sales like ours--we need the dealers to come, since they are the biggest spenders, but they can be very hard to deal with, making nasty remarks about the quality of the books offered, leaving messy piles for us to put away, and generally being demanding. They weren't bad this time around, but, on the other hand, they weren't buying many books. Sigh.
And the local newspaper put in wrong information about the days the sale was open, just saying Monday, instead of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, so business is way down. A couple of people have said to me that they think the newspaper did it on purpose, because (they say) the paper supports the other, bigger, library, which is located in the more affluent part of town, and, they say, that library wants our library to close so they can have the totality of the town library budget (which might well be true). I really, really, don't want to think that the newspaper would be so mean, but I am pretty sad.
On a lighter note, a copy of Twilight showed up in the donations for the First Time! Harry Potters showed up within months of their releases, so I guess the people of my town love Bella more, in that they are so unwilling to part with her...
And I did already get to spend $350 of the dollars buying legos for the library's new lego club, which was fun.
But still. I am thinking of making my oldest dress in a book costume and dance at the intersection tomorrow, to bring in more traffic. If only I had a book costume on hand...Ninja, yes, but that is not Useful...
By: Roz Fulcher,
on 11/20/2009
YAY! The day is finally here. Emily and I took a ditch day to see it , hoping to miss the lines and the plan worked. I did schedule a dental appointment to at least validate a day off of school but really it was a ditch day all the same. =o)
If you are a Twilight fan you will enjoy it, regardless of the poor acting (no worse than the last one but still very much the same level as a soap opera- not to be mean- still loved it). Plus, they stayed true to the book again which is always great.
What made the first movie really work for me was the soundtrack so I was praying they'd pull it off again with this one, and they did for the most part. Not as much of a moody, ethereal style that appealed to me in the first but enough to make me want to get the soundtrack.
Anyway, it was a fun girls day out for sure!!!!
* OH! Don't know if any of you have read, "The Lovely Bones" but I was so surprised and excited to see that it has been made into a movie (they showed previews today). I enjoyed the book -except one area that I thought was totally unnecessary and took away from the story for me personally- but I'm hoping they'll omit it from the film version.
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By: Kate Messner,
on 11/20/2009
This morning started with a walk to the Philadelphia Convention Center under sunny blue skies (Finally - yay!) to see the panel discussion called "Fractured Classics" about using well-known archetypes to create stories for middle grade and young adult readers. It included fellow Bloomsbury/Walker authors Shannon Hale and Suzanne Selfors as well as Malinda Lo and Diane Zahler, all of whom were funny and brilliant. Here are some of my favorite moments:
Diane Zahler, author of THE THIRTEENTH PRINCESS (Harper Collins):
"Fairy tale retellings allow heroines to take charge of their lives and break out of the passive princess role."
Suzanne Selfors, author of SAVING JULIET (Walker) about a girl who goes into the story of ROMEO & JULIET to try and save Juliet's life. (She's also the new YA COFFEEHOUSE ANGEL, which I got a signed copy of today!):
"Before Edward and Bella...Romeo and Juliet were the world's most famous teenagers."
Malinda Lo, author of ASH (Little Brown), a retelling of Cinderella in which the main character is gay:
"It's really a story about grief and love, things we've all experienced."
She also reminded us that LBGT stories can be a great comfort to teens.
"When I was a teen, if I'd read ASH, I might have figured things out a little sooner, and it wouldn't have been so scary."
Shannon Hale, author of GOOSE GIRL, RAPUNZEL'S REVENGE, and more (Bloomsbury) talked about how the fairy tales that infuriate her are the ones that inspire her to write. She ranted a bit about the prince who visits Rapunzel repeatedly in her tower in the traditional fairy tale.
"Does he EVER think to bring a ladder?? There's no excuse for this prince!"
After the panel, I met up with Loree Griffin Burns to talk about our afternoon panel and explore the exhibit hall a bit. My editor Mary Kate took the train in from New York so she could be there for our panel, which made me so, so happy! 
The brilliant MK also shared some cover sketches for SUGAR ON SNOW. They are gorgeous, and thinking about a cover makes the book seem that much closer. It's scheduled for December 2010. We had lunch across the street from the convention center, here...
This is Reading Terminal Market, an enormous indoor market with every kind of food and treat you could imagine. I had a chicken burrito plate that was so big it seemed like the plate was still full no matter how much I ate.
Then it was time for some book-stalking (and author spotting!) in the exhibit hall. How many faces & covers do you recognize?
Mallinda Lo, signing copies of ASH.
Jenny Moss, signing ARCs of SHADOW (Scholastic, 2010). Jenny and I will both be signing at the Bloomsbury/Walker booth from 9:30-10:10 tomorrow morning.
Gene Luen Yang, whose books I love...but I didn't have a chance to get one signed because it was time for our panel, "Stories & Standards: Pairing Fiction & Nonfiction." Here we are:
From left to right, Jenny Moss, Loree Griffin Burns, Teri Lesesne, Tanya Lee Stone, & me.
If you weren't there, don't feel left out... You can click here to see our presentation and download our handouts on the Teachers page of my website. And our facilitator, the wise and bookish Teri Lesesne, aka ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
professornana , also tweeted our workshop while it was happening, so you can click here and scroll down to read her posts.
Here's my schedule for tomorrow:
9:30-10:30 Signing THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z. in the Walker/Bloomsbury booth. (and they're offering books at a 50% discount, too!)
11:45-12:15 Being interviewed for the ReadWriteThink podcast for IRA
2:30-3:40 Middle Level Mosaic - which I understand to be sort of an author speed-dating event. It sound like fun!
I have more to blog, but right now it's time for tonight's publisher dinner with a bunch of bookstore people and NCTE folks. I actually made a joke about not being able to attend because I needed to stay back in my room to read all my ARCs. No one was particularly amused, so off I go. More tomorrow....
Read the rest of this post
By: Valerie Walsh,
on 11/20/2009
I have created many music-related images for record labels, bands, The San Diego Chamber Orchestra and I even painted a music house. This image is for the music blog I am a member of called "Kings of Maybe."When our fearless leader Asperezas asked me to make a new header for the 1 year Anniversary, I knew I had to make a crown of buildings. Our group is small but good and they have turned me on to some great music that I LOVE! My new fave is Just Say Yes by Snow Patrol posted by flor. I am lucky to be part of this wonderful tribe and hope for many more years of good music and inspiring videos. This is our new honorary member and crown model :)
copyright 2009 valerie walsh
please click on to the highlighted links
By: Connie McLennan,
on 11/20/2009
In preparation for the little show I'm in next month, I thought I'd throw a few things in frames today--always so much more of a production than expected, what with drilling holes, sealing the backs, etc. Even though a couple of my frames are about as cheap as they come, I hated to risk ruining them with my own enhancements. Nevertheless, I took the plunge and followed these instructions (scroll down) Stapleton Kearns posted back in August for toning mass produced metal leaf frames. I'm so glad I tried it!! I still have to add the butcher's wax, but already the result is beautiful--so much richer looking and quite an improvement on the original gold, $17.99 Simpleton Plein Air frame from Blick:
Because the middle value looked sort of blah on my mostly middle-value painting (hmmm, some improvement needed there), I also painted on the black border. Should have gotten Blick's black Simpletons with gold liners, but didn't see them when I ordered, and probably wouldn't have wanted to spend the extra $7.50 per frame for them, anyway. I think this will do.
Posted on 11/20/2009
For your weekend reading pleasure, here some publishing news briefs...
Oprah Winfrey announced today that she will end her popular show in 2011, closing the televised side of the most influential book club in America. Author Edwidge Danticat told the Wall Street Journal why she will miss the club: "When she calls to tell you that your book has been selected for the book club, she sounds so excited that you feel as though she's both your ideal reader and your biggest cheerleader."
To write its embargo-breaking scoop about Sarah Palin's memoir (which has reportedly sold 300,000 copies already), the AP ripped, scanned, and mined the text for juicy tidbits.
Kat Meyer interviewed Angela James, the executive editor for Carina Press on Twitter for her weekly Follow Reader Twitter chat. Read the whole exchange at #followreader.
Why author and literary blogger Maud Newton is writing a novel instead of a memoir.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
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By: Stacy DeKeyser,
on 11/20/2009
I like peeking into other people's work spaces, so I thought, in the spirit of getting up and stretching, I'd take photos of my office bookshelves*:
*Notes:
1. The TV is ONLY there for breaking news, announcements of school closings, and very important baseball games.
2. Binoculars for trying to see what the dog is barking at outside.
3. Wall shelf is for favorite picture books. I really like that shelf.
What do YOUR bookshelves look like?
By: Debbie Reese,
on 11/20/2009
By: Ruth,
on 11/20/2009
Today was a good day, but what day at NCTE isn’t? Since we just finished our last session and have dinner plans in a few minutes, you’re getting a list of swirling thoughts. Expect more blog posts about NCTE in the future.
Choice matters. Today I’ve been inspired to stand up and defend student choice in [...]
