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The surrender of Lord Cornwallis’s British army at Yorktown, Virginia, on 19 October 1781 marked the effective end of the War of American Independence, at least in North America. The victory is usually assumed to have been Washington’s; he led the army that besieged Cornwallis, marching a powerful force of 16,000 troops down from near New York City to oppose the British. Charles O’Hara, The presence of the young Alexander Hamilton, one of Washington’s aides-de-camp, who led a light infantry unit in the final stages of the siege, adds to the sense of its being a great American triumph.
It was March 17, 1776, the mud season in New England. A Continental officer of high rank was guiding his horse through the potholed streets of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Those who knew horses noticed that he rode with the easy grace of a natural rider, and a complete mastery of himself.
On Valentine’s Day, we usually think of romance and great love stories. But there is another type of love we often overlook: love between friends, particularly between men and women in a platonic friendship. This is not a new phenomenon: loving friendships were possible and even fairly common among elite men and women in America’s founding era. These were affectionate relationships of mutual respect, emotional support, and love that had to carefully skirt the boundaries of romance. While extravagant declarations of love would have raised eyebrows, these friends found socially acceptable ways to express their affection for one another. Learn more about some special pairs of platonic friends from early America, including some very familiar names.
Eloise Payne and William Ellery Channing
William was best known as a Unitarian minister and early transcendentalist, but to a bright young teacher named Eloise he was “my dear friend.” Eloise looked to William, seven years her senior, for religious and professional advice, but she wasn’t afraid to rebuke him when he became too critical. When she worried that his affections were waning after he started courting the woman who would become his wife, he replied, “You hold the same place in my heart as ever, and I can now say to you with more propriety than before, that few hold a higher.” (Photo credit: Public Domain via The Frick Collection.)
George Washington and Elizabeth Powel
George and Elizabeth met while George was in Elizabeth’s hometown of Philadelphia for the Constitutional Convention. George often spent the evening with Elizabeth and she later visited him at Mount Vernon. They had frank political discussions and exchanged gifts for over a decade. For her fiftieth birthday, George sent her a poetic tribute written by a friend of Elizabeth’s, and he signed one of his last letters to her before his death, “I am truly yours.” (Photo credit: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.)
Thomas Jefferson and Abigail Adams
Abigail Adams called her friend Thomas Jefferson “one of the choice ones on earth,” and Thomas greatly admired the wife of his long-time friend John Adams. They both lived in Paris in the 1780’s and attended plays and other events together. Later, he jokingly referred to her as Venus; he wrote from Paris that while selecting Roman busts to send for the Adams’ London home, he passed over the figure of Venus because he “thought it out of taste to have two at table at the same time.” (Photo credit: Public Domain via Library of Congress.)
Margaret Bayard Smith and Anthony Bleecker
Margaret and Anthony first met as young adults in New York City as part of the same circle of writers and intellectuals. Some twenty-five years later, Margaret wrote a novel which Anthony helped to edit. The novel’s central love story was based upon her friendship with Anthony. “Has not friendship recollections as sweet and dear as those of love?” she wrote to him. Her answer: “Yes, indeed it has—at least in my heart.” (Photo credit: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.)
John Rodgers and Anne Pinkney
John Rodgers is best remembered as a navel hero who fought the Barbary pirates and fired the first shots of the War of 1812. But while he was across the Atlantic fighting pirates, he relied on his friend Ann Pinkney at home in Maryland to help further his courtship of a young woman named Minerva Denison. Ann reported back to John on his “goddess” and was pleased to extract a confession of Minerva’s love for John which she passed along. John and Minerva married, while John and Ann remained friends. (Photo credit: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.)
Benjamin Franklin and Georgiana Shipley
Benjamin Franklin was notorious for his flirtations with women, but it’s likely that most of his flirting was merely part of playful friendships. Such appears to be the case with a teenage girl he befriended in London in 1772, Georgiana Shipley. He gave her a pet squirrel named Mungo as well as a snuff box with his portrait painted on the lid. He declared himself “your affectionate friend” and she was even more effusive: “The love and respect I feel for my much-valued friend are sentiments so habitual to my heart that no time nor circumstance can lessen the affection.” (Photo credit: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.)
Gilbert Stuart and Sarah Wentworth Morton
Gilbert Stuart is best known for his portraits of presidents, but his friendship with Boston writer Sarah Wentworth Morton prompted his only known poetry. Gilbert created three portraits of Sarah, one of which he kept for himself. She published a poem praising his artistry, beginning with “Stuart, thy portraits speak with skill divine.” He replied that her poetry created “a cheering influence at my heart” and that ultimately poetry was superior to painting. This was a friendship between a very talented pair! (Photo credit: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.)
Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson and Benjamin Rush
The doctor and writer Benjamin Rush had a long friendship with one of Philadelphia’s smartest women, Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson. Elizabeth wrote Benjamin frequently from her country estate but sometimes worried she didn’t receive enough letters in return. As she wrote in a poem she sent him in 1793, “One Letter a week she surely might claim,/ To keep alive Friendship; and fan its pure Flame.” He may not have written as often as she would like, but he admired her greatly. She was, he said after her death, “a woman of uncommon talents and virtues” who was “beloved by a numerous circle of friends and acquaintances.” (Photo credit: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.)
Eliza Parke Custis and Marquis de Lafayette
The Marquis de Lafayette formed a lasting bond with George Washington during the American Revolution, and his affections later extended to Washington’s step-granddaughter Eliza Parke Custis. Lafayette was a father figure for Eliza, whose own father died when she was young. Eliza confided her troubles in him and he wrote long letters in reply offering advice and affection. The pair wrote each other for years, with Lafayette conveying his “paternal love” and “most affectionate respectful attachments.” (Photo credit: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.)
Featured image: Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States, Howard Chandler Christy (1940). Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Dark Horse Comics will be publishing a “historical fiction genre smash-up” three-issue miniseries starring President George Washington.
The first installment of The Forge series will be released on April 29, 2015. The creative team behind this project includes Donn D. Berdahl, Andy Briggs, and Victor Gischler.
Here’s more from the press release: “Before he fathered a nation, young George Washington forged his legend in blood! Before he fought for his country, he killed for the king! Imbued with the mystical powers of America’s original inhabitants, George and his superpowered axe—along with his friends, a debauched, middle-aged Ben Franklin and a young, rebellious Paul Revere—must stop an evil colonial governor who wishes to rule an empire!”
. Ariel Bradley, Spy for General Washington By Lynda Durrant Joe Rossi, illustrator Vanita Books 5 Stars . Press Release: Based on a true event. The real life adventures of nine-year-old Ariel Bradley, reveals the anxieties of the Americans who needed desperately to win the battle in the first months of the Revolutionary War. It …
I am not a teacher, so I'm not fluent in lesson-plan-ease, but I do love to think up ways to use Farmer George as a jumping off point for teaching about seeds and soil, or discussing how agriculture was such an important element in creating a free nation. In this confusing time of Common Core and changing standards I hope it helps to have an author's perspective on where the information came from, how they write, and how their work fits into the larger picture. I think Farmer George can be used in social studies or science class, and I'm hoping that any teacher who uses Farmer George will let me know what they did and how it went.
Please add your voice to the discussion of how nonfiction books can be used in the classroom.
I'll be adding lesson plans for For The Birds next.
0 Comments on Farmer George in the Classroom as of 2/18/2013 11:33:00 AM
It was nearly five years from proposal to publication, but now I'm finally holding Master George's People in my hot little hands. To say I'm pleased with how it turned out is an understatement—I'm over the moon! Lori Epstein's stunning photographs are a big reason why. So is the beautiful, powerful design created by National Geographic's Jim Hiscott. Both were true collaborators on this project. Back in June, I wrote in INK about our photo shoot with Lori at Mount Vernon, George Washington's Virginia plantation. Today I asked Jim if he would share with us his process of designing the book.
What look and feel were you striving for with the cover? Jim: The initial design construct, at least in regard to the typography, came from the idea of broadsides used for the search and capture of runaway slaves, utilizing a blocky and distressed typography. In fact in the title, "Master George's People," there are two different styles that work in concert with each other, one an extended serif font and the other a condensed stencil style. The counterpoint to this is the use of a more elegant and refined condensed serif display font for the subtitle and the large cap indents that launch each chapter. The use of the distressed rules on the cover and the interior was another reference to newspapers and a graphic approach of the period.
How about the inside of the book? The little decorative doodads at the end of the picture captions have a colonial feel to me. Were you aiming to create a sense of period with this and other design elements?
Jim: The overall design tenet I always use, no matter the style, is to create contrasts between things, elements, no matter what they may be, as a way to create energy, impact, and tension. For this book I wanted to reflect the contrast between these two worlds—that of George Washington and the refined manners of the day compared to the life of slaves. Hard/soft if you will. And by using color on the cover as well as on the inside, it was a way to be respectful of the NGKids brand while also trying to create a look that was respectful of two periods of time—present day and the Colonial period. This all helped to give the book a certain dynamic that allowed me to present it in a strong, elegant, and sophisticated manner that hopefully feels contemporary as well.
What were the challenges of designing a book illustrated with so many different kinds of images, from archival illustrations to historical documents to reenactment photography? (By the way, the photo above was taken by yours truly and does NOT do justice to the real thing.) Jim: I know this kind of thing always causes some trepidation from the editorial side of a project. However, I look at having to rely on a diversity of visual images/styles to flesh out a visual story as an asset. Given the challenges of finding images to represent different points of the story, to me, only makes it visually richer, especially when they are framed with the use of photography of reenactments. When you speak of HISTORY many people aren't going to think of it as very interesting. I want to try to create a visual package that helps make the book engaging on one level so it is appealing for the reader to then get absorbed into the story. It also helps to have a captivating manuscript.
Why thank you, Jim. Is there anything else you'd like to share about designing Master George's People?
Jim: I loved working on this book. It was a true pleasure to be able to try and package it in a way that was respectful of the period and the story, while trying to make it visually appealing to today's readers, and to create a sophisticated book that kids would want to read, as if something really special had been created especially for them. Yes, it is a very serious topic, but that doesn't mean it can't be presented in an attractive and sophisticated way that is clean, fresh, and hopefully not so trendy as to become dated. You want a design that has as long a shelf life as possible.
Many thanks to Jim for giving us a glimpse into his creative process. And my personal thanks to him for helping me tell the story of George Washington and the people he held in bondage.
Left to right: Jennifer Emmett (my wonderful editor), me, Jim Hiscott (art director and designer) and Hillary Moloney (illustrations assistant) at Mount Vernon. Missing is photographer Lori Epstein. She's behind the lens!
I've always been interested in this piece of history too, Marfe. I even took a course called George Washington's Slaves at GMU. Can't wait to see what you found out! Whenever I talk about GW at schools, I say that George and Martha already owned 135 people back when they got married....emphasis on the word "people."
I can't wait to read this book. I assume it will be a very useful book to pair with other books about Washington as we teach children to think about history.
Just in time for the election, the match-ups include George Washington and Phyllis Wheatley (the first African-American female to publish a book of poetry), John F. Kennedy and Robert Frost (the first poet to perform a reading at a presidential swearing in event) and Barack Obama and Elizabeth Alexander.
Here’s more from the article: “Politicians campaign in poetry and govern in prose, former New York governor Mario Cuomo once said. While it’s debatable whether this epically long and tumultuous election cycle has inspired much verse, we at the Poetry Foundation would like to think that poetry has its place at the White House regardless of who emerges as the victor on November 6.”
*Historical fiction picture book for preschoolers through third graders
*Young George Washington as the main character
*Rating: George Washington’s Birthday is a clever picture book filled with all sorts of stories about GW that are probably not true, but it’s a fun book anyway–with some true facts added in about GW. Of course, this is PERFECT for Presidents’ Day lessons.
Short, short summary:
George Washington is having his 7th birthday, and no one seems to care. He is still having to do his school work. His father still wants him to work in the orchard, where of course, he cuts down the cherry tree. After he does a lot of work, he goes to his room and makes a list of ideas his father would like–still so sad that no one seems to care about his birthday. When his family calls him downstairs for dinner, they yell, “Surprise!” and George realizes his birthday is important to his family after all. Throughout the historical fiction story, several true facts about GW are given with an author’s note at the end.
So, what do I do with this book?
1. Talk about with children why we celebrate George Washington’s birthday on Presidents’ Day. Plan a birthday party for him on this day. Serve cherry-flavored treats to go with the cherry tree story.
2. Compare and contrast the facts that are presented in the book with the fiction story. Discuss why the author included certain stories and had them happen on his birthday. This will help you discuss author’s purpose, which is often an objective for students, concerning comprehension.
3. Do a KWL chart. Before reading the book, write everything you know about George Washington and Presidents’ Day in the K column on the chart. In the W column, students should write things they wonder about George Washington. After reading the book, students can fill out the L column with things they learned. Younger students can do this as a shared writing activity.
George Washington is forever etched into our minds as an old man with a clenched mouth and a powdered wig-- the same way he appears on the $1 bill. Or maybe a slightly more majestic side view from the quarter.
But George Washington was not always old and everyone who knew him said that no painter ever got his likeness quite right.
So... what did George Washington really look like?
The staff at Mt. Vernon wanted to find out and they wanted to make three statues of Washington-- one at 19, when he was a surveyor, one at 45 when he was a General in the Revolution, and one at 53, when he was being sworn in as the President.
The book is two-fold-- one part is history and explores who Washington was at the time-- how his actions and events shaped the man. The other part is science, technology and art-- how they determined what Washington looked like and then used that knowledge to make the statues. They couldn’t disturb Washington’s remains and just x-ray them to get a good sense of skull shape, so instead they looked at one bust that had been made from a mask taken of Washington’s face. They aged it up and down. They looked at his tailoring orders to learn about his body shape and how his clothes fit.
It’s a fascinating read. I already knew a bit about this due to a local news story (Mt. Vernon’s just a few miles away from my house) but I enjoyed learning more about the process (and now want to make the jaunt over to see the statues in person.) I think kids will be really interested to learn in more concrete terms that history’s figures aren’t perpetually frozen in time in their most iconic portraits or photographs-- they used to be kids, too and when they were, they just didn’t look like short versions of themselves. The process they went through to reconstruct Washington at different time periods is also a bit like a CSI or Bones episode, so that’s always cool.
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0 Comments on Nonfiction Monday: Many Faces of George Washington as of 1/1/1900
Write Nonfiction for Kids? Break out with a High-Concept Idea
A high concept book is one that takes a universal theme and puts a fresh, original creative twist on it. It can be explained in two or three sentences, and will leave you wanting to read the book or in the case of writers it may leave you wondering, “Why didn’t I think of that?”
When the idea of high-concepts is applied to nonfiction for kids, it can create breakout titles for an author. Carla McClafferty, author of three such high-concept books, tells us how she does it.
Question: Carla, your first book, Forgiving God, was an inspirational book dealing with the emotional crisis of the death of your child. Instead of following that with another inspirational book, you turned to trade nonfiction for kids, especially young adults. What drew you to this genre and this audience?
Carla: My path into publishing is different from most. Many writers I know wanted to be a writer since they were children. They wrote short stories and kept their musings in a journal. While I never considered the possibility of becoming a writer—and my diary was mostly empty! So I really don’t have any background that prepared me to become a writer—except for the fact that I’ve always been a voracious reader and loved books in general. My first profession is as a Radiologic Technologist.
Then my life changed forever. My fourteen-month-old son, Corey, died from a head injury after a minor fall. Losing him plunged me into such grief and despair that I had a serious crisis of Faith. I questioned everything I had ever believed. Gradually, God brought me through this dark period of my life, and restored my Faith. Then I knew I had to write about my journey through “the valley.”
I began writing the book even though I didn’t know what I was doing or what would happen to it when I was finished. Because it was emotionally difficult to write, the book took three years to write. During that time, I learned as much as possible about how book publishing works. I read writer’s magazines and books, and began attending an adult writer’s group meetings to learn as much about the way it works. I also attended local SCBWI conferences and meetings. I found so much information and help from children’s writers that it seemed to be a good fit for me.
At some point during the writing that first book, I knew I wanted to continue writing when it was finished. I realized that by reading books of all sorts throughout my life, I’d been in training to be a writer without knowing it.
By the time Forgiving Godwas published, I was already working on my first nonfiction book for young readers. Listening to the old adage of “write what you know,” I wrote about X-rays, my area of expertise. Farrar, Straus and Giroux published The Head Bone’s Connected to the Neck Bone: The Weird, Wacky and Wonderful X-ray in 2001. It was a great place for me to start.
President Obama’s attorney, Robert B. Barnett, handled the negotiations for the manuscript back in 2009. Knopf executive editor Michelle Frey edited the book. Children’s book artist Loren Long provided the illustrations.
Tis I, The Sith with the mostest, Darth Bill. First off I feel I need to counterpoint some comments, with all due respect to the commenters, from the last post about Benedict Arnold.
First Dan commented:
"Thanks for the review. I want to look for this one and share it with my kids. Benedict Arnold is a chance to study character inthe face of discouragement and frustration and injustice. He could have been a hero. In the end, he failed, not because his courage failed, but because his character failed, and embittered, he tossed his right to be a hero away. In spite of his abilities and amazing courage, he loses the character war. Character does count."
<------ Artist Rendition of Benedict Arnold
Carl also commented:
"Didn't mean to get on a soapbox, but it's true, guys. Hey, while you read the Benedict Arnold book, you ought to check out Washington at Valley Forgeby Russell Freedman. (I reviewed it on the February 16 post titled"What a Book! What a Man!"It would be a good companion to the Benedict Arnold book because it shows how Washington, facing a lot of similar frustrations and discouragements, managed to overcome them." <------ Artist Rendition of George Washington
While I do not disagree with either of them that character counts quite allot and it is a bit disappointing about some of the things Benedict Arnold did when he changed sides in The Revolutionary War, I would not go as far as to say Benedict Arnold was completely lacking in character nor that George Washington was far his superior in the department of character. One must look not through the eyes of history knowing what we know now, but look at the people and events that where happening at the time. If you read the book (and I plan on reading the one about George Washington), you will see that Arnold looked at what was happening with the Revolution at the time and from what he saw and experienced made a very difficult decision based on that. Anyway no one is perfect and hindsight is always 20/20, that's my take on it and my opinion of Arnold's "Character." Nuff Said!!!!!!
And now for something a bit on the lighter side:
Hulk The Lounge Lizard Singing "Hulk Got You Under Hulk Skin"
Wolverine First Class: Wolverine-By-Night by Fred Lente, Mark Sumerak, Francis Portela, Hugo Petrus and Scott Koblish -If you love Wolverine, you will love this Graphic Novel. The Graphic Novel collects issues "Wolverine: First Class" issues 9 - 12 and "Wolverine and Power Pack" #2. The first story included has Wolverine visiting martial art expert Shang-Chi in order to seek aid in taking on his number one nemesis Sabretooth. The second story is a two parter in which Wolverine and Kitty Pryde take on Werewolves. Things go from bad to worse when Wolverine is bitten by one of the Werewolves and becomes one of them. Luckily Kitty finds a friend in Jack Russel, a somewhat "friendly" Werewolf, to help out. The story after this one has Cyclops returning to the X-Men after a long leave of absence. Along with fighting an ancient monster trapped within a temple and keeping Wolverine and Cyclops from killing one another, Kitty must choose which one should be her mentor. The last story has Wolve inviting Power Pack to the Xavier Institute where they learn the sad truth about bigotry towards mutants when Sentinels attack. I have been very impressed with this Graphic Novel Series and highly recommend it.
Well until next time me amigos,
Peace,
Bill
0 Comments on More Discussion on Benedict Arnold, Hulk Sings and a Wolverine Graphic Novel as of 5/22/2009 2:25:00 PM
Hey, dudes, you guys voted on the What Do GUYS Love? poll and the results were overwhelming--guys love video games! No surprise, huh? It did my librarian heart good to see that "books with lots of adventure and action" came in second.
Speaking of books with lots of adventure, I just finished a book that has a true-life adventure that beats most fiction. Washington at Valley Forge by Russell Freedman is the name and it's one that you won't easily forget! What a story!! Imagine camping in the snow with no shoes on your feet. In a thin, useless tent. With nothing to eat. That's how George Washington and his army found themselves in December 1777. Things had been going badly for the Patriots, losing battle after battle against the disciplined fighting machine that was the British army. Some people didn't think General Washington was competent and spread rumors about him. Congress didn't trust him and wouldn't give him money to feed or equip his troops. Imagine how you'd feel if you were Washington! Would you feel like giving up? I know I would! But George Washington decided to stick it out. Not only that, he said he "would share in the hardship and partake of every inconvenience" of his men. Now that's a TRUE MAN for you! No wonder we celebrate his birthday 239 years later! This is an incredible book and Russell Freedman is a fantastic writer, making you feel the tension and suspense that Washington felt. You really wonder if Washington and his army are going to make it!! Get it, guys! You'll love it!
Carl
0 Comments on What A Book! What A True Man! as of 2/16/2009 5:16:00 PM
Farmer George Plants a Nation was written by Peggy Thomas and illustrated by Layne Johnson. The paintings in this picture book are exquisite.
This is one of the books we used when assigned George Washington books in the Sonlight Curriculum. Thomas takes a new and unique slant about Washington and explores his agricultural pursuits and inventions.
Washington became the head of the estate of Mount Vernon in 1759 to discover the soil was poor. He began studying farming in earnest. He made adjustments to his plows. He rotated his crops, tested soil amendments, and changed what crops he grew, from tobacco to wheat and other vegetables. He began making things at Mount Vernon instead of buying them from England.
The story does inform the reader of Washington’s role in the revolution, but also explores the neglect of his farm during the war and George’s constant thoughts of his farm, collecting seeds and nuts on his travels.
As President, he continued oversight of his farm. He was the only slave-owning President to free his slaves upon his death.
In the back of the book there is a timeline and more information about Washington.
In this picture book are little known aspects of George Washington’s character, personality and pursuits. I highly recommend Farmer George Plants a Nation as a read aloud to children ages six and up (it is fairly wordy for a picture book) and as a reader for children ages eight to twelve. My ten-year-old was pleased with its content, pace and flow.
Mark Booth surveys "The Age of Freemasonry" in his new book The Secret History of the World, recently published by Overlook. Included in a fascinating chapter on the secret mission of freemasonry are some interesting bits on George Washington, whose birthday we will celebrate this President's Day weekend. Washington, Booth notes, was initiated as a Freemason in 1752, and eventually became a "Master Mason," the highest rank you can achieve as a Freemason. Who were the original Freemasons? What do they believe, and what influence have they had on the world? Find out in The Secret History of the World.
0 Comments on George Washington and THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE WORLD as of 1/1/1900
So last week Facebook announced new models of advertising, including allowing brands and products to create Facebook pages. In the past, one had to be a real person to create a facebook account, but now the spectre of monolithic corporate presence looms large over the booming social networking site.
Penguin (never backward when coming forward) has today become, we believe, the first publisher to take advantage of Facebook's largesse and we've created our own product page which you can find here. We're now busy adding pictures, videos and all sorts of other gubbins to the page to create what we hope will be an interesting, engaging and regularly updated destination for our new fans (brands and companies have fans, not friends, which makes sense really). Let us know what we could put on our page to make it more interesting, either by writing on our wall, or by getting in touch via the comments on this blog, though our myspace page, by IMing our second life avatar, on the podcast, through the website or, if you must, with terribly old fashioned phone, fax, email or snailmail. Phew.
When news of our facebook page rippled through the office reaction was mixed, ranging from total disinterest, (very) mild excitement to deep mistrust. The last response came from our most enthusiastic facebookers who feel that a company has no place muscling in on a social networking site. Facebook is a place where friends can hang with friends, tag each other in photos and catch up on news of bawdy nights out (rest assured, you will not see pictures of Penguin, passed out in a shopping trolley after one too many Moscow Mules). I was reminded from a passage from All Tomorrow's Parties where William Gibson disects the disappearance of geographic bohemias:
"Bohemias. Alternative subcultures. They were a crucial aspect of industrial civilization in the two previous centuries. They were where industrial civilization went to dream. A sort of unconscious R&D, exploring alternate societal strategies ... But they became extinct.” “Extinct?” “We started picking them before they could ripen. A certain crucial growing period was lost, as marketing evolved and the mechanisms of recommodification became quicker, more rapacious. Authentic subcultures required backwaters, and time, and there are no more backwaters. They went the way of geography in general..."
So, sorry if we are treading on your toes. We honestly won't get in your way and, after all, you don't have to be our friend, or our fan, or our follower or part of our gang. But, if you want to stay in touch, we hope to make it as easy as possible for you to find us, and connect with us, our authors and their books and other readers.
Remember that by posting a comment you are agreeing to the website Terms of Use. If you consider any content on this site to be inappropriate, please report it to Penguin Books by emailing [email protected]
The event with Susanna Clarke was lovely, except for the, oh, 45 minutes or thereabouts that all 250 of us spent standing outside on the pavement in the cold, waiting for the fire brigade to establish that the problems in the nanotech lab next door were a false alarm.
I was asked tonight who'd win in a fight -- probably a no holds barred cage match, I suspect -- between me and Bill Gibson. I said me, but my daughter Holly, who was there, just laughed at me afterwards and said she couldn't imagine me fighting anyone. Holly says that Me vs Bill Gibson would be like a fight between a baby bunny and a duckling, and she is probably right.
I'm still really jet-lagged. I feel as if the going-to-Japan and the coming-back-from-Japan crash came at the same time -- just had a completely failed conversation with my agent, who soon figured out that the communication things simply wasn't happening, and told me to call him back tomorrow.
...
If you're in the UK, remember that next Tuesday, Oct 2nd is the big event at the Criterion:
Tuesday 02 October 07 Event 422 at 18:00
Neil Gaiman in conversation
Featuring: Neil Gaiman
Exclusive event-only book signing afterwards, at Waterstone's Piccadilly
Don't miss this one-off London appearance by one of the world’s greatest imaginative minds, and author of many bestselling novels, including American Gods, Anansi Boys, and the cult novel Stardust . The film of Stardust, directed by Matthew Vaughan and starring Claire Danes, Charlie Cox, Sienna Miller, Ricky Gervais, Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert De Niro, premieres in London on Wednesday 3 October at Odeon Leicester Square. We have a pair of tickets to the premiere: all ticket-holders to the event will be entered into a draw and the winner will be announced after the performance.
I think I'll probably do a reading from Stardust as part of it. If you want to come, it's always wisest to order tickets early -- there will probably be seats on the night, but you can never be too sure.
Mr. Gaiman,I live in Beijing and your CCTV interview just aired (Sept. 25). I was really impressed that you could follow her random questions. I was disappointed that you were not deemed important enough to get the male reporter who usually interviews heads of state. I wanted you to know that the piece had aired and may air again Sept. 26. Thanks, Kade
Not to worry. I'm not a head of state.
Neil, Neil, Neil, Neil! Reading your blog can be so bloodly frustrating! What was your opinion of that Lolita restaurant? What do you, as a father of a young teenage daugther on the threshold of her maidenhood thinks of those young women exploiting the idea of pedophilia?
I'm not comfortable enough with the by-roads of Japanese pop culture to be able to say what exactly was going on in that place, but it didn't seem to be about paedophilia, not in any way I understand the term. It seemed to be about a whole set of cultural cues that I wasn't really able to read -- the clientele were about 60/40 male to female, most of the men were the same age as the girls working there (early 20s), and I got the impression it was much more about the girls getting to exercise their fantasies of being maids, whatever maids were in this context, and the customers of both genders seemed to enjoy playing rock, paper, scissors with them. My opinion was one of, mostly, complete bafflement and bemusement, and I was there because the guide felt that, like the fish market and the Meiji Shrine and the modern art museum, going to one of the maid cafes was one of the unique things about Tokyo.
Hi Neil, I have a quick question about agents and the submission process... Months ago, shortly after completing my first novel (YA fantasy), I drew up a list of agencies that I thought might be a match. Several envelopes were dispatched to said agents. Fingers were crossed.I waited.Three weeks later, the replies began trickeling in. A few were form rejections; others had some decent comments, but were rejections all the same.Then an unfamiliar envelope fell through the letterbox. It turns out that this was the reply from my Dream Agency (why not aim high?). The gist of the letter was this: Your writing shows great promise, but this is not yet ready for representation. Send us your next project. Here is my question:My second novel, which I think is a stark improvement on the first, is almost ready. Should I send it exclusively to my new contact at The Literary Agency Of My Dreams? Or should I treat the process exactly as I did first time round, and send out simultaneous submissions? Many thanks for your time.
I don't think there are any rules. If it was me, I'd send it to the new contact who thought you had potential, with a letter saying, you said to send you my next project and this is it, and I'm not showing it to anyone else until you've seen it, because they were nice, and deserve something for that, and if they feel they grew you from a bean they will work harder for you. But there aren't any rules. And if it was me I'd be sending my book to editors and not to agents anyway.
...
Why am I typing? Why aren't I sleeping?
0 Comments on Criterion reminder as of 9/25/2007 5:16:00 PM
William Gibson says, “I make black marks on a white surface and someone else in another location looks at them and interprets them and sees a spaceship or whatever. It's magic.It's a magical thing. It's very old magic, but it's very thorough.” Read more of his thoughts in The Washington Post , including whether books are dead.
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Putting their enthusiasm for William Gibson to good use, science fiction fans have re-invented the critical wheel.
BookNinja reports how some webby readers created a carefully tagged collection of criticism that acts more like an A.I. Book Reviewing Machine than a boring old archive of reviews.
"an aggregator of sorts that organizes searchable critical reception on his new novel, Spook Country, into a “cloud” of responses that record reading paths through the novel. The article’s author thinks this could be the future of literary criticism. I am getting sort of dizzy thinking about it."
SlushPile has some simple advice that most writers don't think about until it is too late. BACK UP YOUR WORK!
Over the weekend, author Peter Sacks has a heartbreaking and inspiring essay about the mid-list authors who toil in the thankless corners of the publishing industry. It's a reality-check for all fledgling writers:
"Meanwhile, a thousand splendid authors, working in relative obscurity, have written a thousand splendid books that you will never hear about. We splendid authors dwell on the dark side of the publishing world, clinging to our precious bones of good news."
I spent much of yesterday doing something a publisher should never have to do - buying skin for an author in preparation for an book launch. But when this event takes place in the virtual world of Second Life and when the author is William Gibson, normal publishing activity leaps out of the window.
The author of Neuromancer, Pattern Recognition and the just released Spook Country has legions of fans in Second Life and four hours before the event they had began to gather to await his arrival. Indeed so many arrived early that William Gibson himself could not get into the sim (the virtual space where the event was taking place) leading to a brief evacuation to allow the author to sneak in through the virtual fire escape. And then we were reminded that Second Life is still very much a world in its infancy by a video which failed to play - hopefully not too many were disappointed by seeing the quicktime logo for a few minutes!
But when William Gibson took to the stage, descending from the heavens in a customized shipping container, everything came good. He read from the opening portion of Spook Country and answered a series of very fine questions from the audience who hung onto his every word. Audio was beamed in from the MDM campus in Vancouver to the riversrunred studios in London, and out to Second Life. What made me happy about this event was that it gave people from all over the world a chance to be in the same space as one of their favourite authors, and during the event I was receiving goodwill messages from people thrilled to see him.
Should he return to Second Life he will find lots of friends, old and new, and I guess that this is what virtual worlds and social marketing is really all about.
Jeremy Ettinghausen, Digital Publisher
PS Pics, audio and video from the event will be available very soon and there is a nice piece about it here.
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Last night saw the first event in our virtual campaign for the launch of William Gibson's SpookCountry - a screening of his 2001 film No Maps for These Territories. We had a gratifyingly full sim, some interesting discussion and all, I think, learned a little more about William Gibson and his writing. There is a full set of pictures here (thanks to Kronos Kikorian for these) and there will be another screening as part of the programme of activities on Sunday at 11am SLT. More info available by joining the Penguin Readers group...
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"Cyberspace. A consensual hallucination experienced daily by
billions of legitimate operators, in every nation ... A graphic
representation of data abstracted from the banks of every computer in
the human system. Unthinkable complexity. Lines of light ranged in the
nonspace of the mind, clusters and constellations of data. Like city
lights, receding."
In 1984 William Gibson invented the word cyberspace in his seminal novel Neuromancer
and today, nearly 25 years later, a growing and significant number of
people are spending increasing amounts of time and money inside
'computer generated constructs', whether they be perhaps the most
analogous to Gibson's idea of cyberspace (Second Life), game-like
(World of Warcraft) or social (facebook).
So when we first started dabbling in
Second Life we quickly realized that something interesting Penguin
could do would be to bring William Gibson into this strange new place,
a place he seemed to have predicted and described years ago (though
he disputes this). Unsurprisingly many of the older residents of Second Life are hardcore sci-fi and cyberpunk fans and dotted around the virtual landscape are a number of sims with a
suitablydystopian
theme. And perhaps now we have a great opportunity to connect an
author and his fans in a totally new, and in this case totally
appropriate, environment.
Over the next few weeks - to celebrate and, yes, promote his new novel Spook
Country - we're planning a range of William Gibson activities in Second Life; we're screening his fine and strange movie No Maps for These Territories;
there's a competition to design an avatar for the man himself; we're
giving away shipping containers packed with Gibson goodies and at the
beginning of August, William Gibson himself will be coming into Second
Life to read from Spook Country and answer questions.
If you want to join in, log into Second Life,
join the Penguin Readers group or get in touch with me virtually by
sending an IM to Jeremy Neumann. We're looking forward to sharing a
consensual hallucination with you.
Jeremy Ettinghausen, Digital Publisher
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Dark Horse Comics will be publishing a “historical fiction genre smash-up” three-issue miniseries starring President George Washington.
President 
Farmer George Plants a Nation was written by 
Congratulations, Marfe. Five years is a long time, but it looks like the final product was well worth the wait.
I've always been interested in this piece of history too, Marfe. I even took a course called George Washington's Slaves at GMU. Can't wait to see what you found out! Whenever I talk about GW at schools, I say that George and Martha already owned 135 people back when they got married....emphasis on the word "people."
I can't wait to read this book. I assume it will be a very useful book to pair with other books about Washington as we teach children to think about history.
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