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I was so excited to read Kelly Link’s newest story collection Get in Trouble. I read Magic for Beginners a long time ago and really liked it. It was so quirky and strange. The stories would be perfectly normal expect for the zombies. Or the rabbits. Or some other weird twist that made everything shift just a little off the reality axis.

Get in Trouble has much of the same thing going on. I am reading and the story seems ho-hum and then a small detail slips in and — wait, what, did that just say she has two shadows? But as weird as a story might get, the characters in it find nothing weird going on and they have the most banal conversations. It keeps the stories grounded and prevents the slightly off-kilter from wobbling into the absurd.

I should have liked the collection. And I did like several of the stories. There is one called “The Summer People” that manages to be both innocent and creepy at the same time. Another, “Secret Identity,” is everyday enough. A teenage girl playing online pretends she is much older than she is, hops a bus to New York City to meet the guy who likes her in person only to end up at a hotel where there are two conventions going on, dentists and superheroes. Everyone keeps asking her if she is a sidekick or there to apply to be a sidekick. And the man she is supposed to meet? Turns out he is a superhero but she never meets him for various reasons. It’s a good story about the masks we wear and who we really are underneath.

“The New Boyfriend” is also pretty good. Teenage girls and synthetic boyfriends that you can buy — take your pick between vampire, werewolf, or a few others. The ghost version is no longer on the market because there were problems. But Ainslie always somehow gets what she wants and Immy just can’t stand it any longer. Not a story so much about boyfriends, Immy has had a real boyfriend and Ainslie has not, but more about friendship and jealousy, popularity and social power.

The rest of the stories were uninteresting to me. The humor and weirdness rubbed me the wrong way. The strange was expected instead of surprising and it was even at times boring; the charm and shine faded.

Overall I was disappointed. I seem to recall other folks reading the collection and finding it lacking a bit too. Unfortunately I don’t remember who they all are. If you have not read Kelly Link before and have heard what a good story writer she is and want to see for yourself, don’t choose Get in Trouble as your collection of discovery. Go for Magic for Beginners instead.

Filed under: Books, Reviews, Short Stories Tagged: Kelly Link

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Here are some literary events to pencil in your calendar this week.

To get your event posted on our calendar, visit our Facebook Your Literary Event page. Please post your event at least one week prior to its date.

Larry Kramer and Bill Goldstein will sit for a conversation on Kramer’s book, The American People: Volume 1: Search for My Heart. Check it out on Tuesday, June 30 at McNally Jackson starting 7 p.m. (New York, NY)

The Summer in Poetry City panel will feature five writers. Meet them on Tuesday, June 30 at the Housing Works Bookstore Café starting 7 p.m. (New York, NY)

Genevieve Valentine and Kelly Link will join forces for a discussion on Valentine’s book, The Girls at the Kingfisher Club. Join in on Wednesday, July 1 at Word Bookstore (the Brooklyn branch) starting 7 p.m. (Brooklyn, NY)

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[Kelly Link will be at Powell's City of Books for a reading on Wednesday, February 18, at 7:30 p.m. Click here for details.] In a joint social media call-out, authors Kelly Link, Holly Black, and Cassandra Clare invited readers to ask them anything they wanted. Below are some of those questions and responses. Q: Where [...]

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Last night, novelist Cassandra Clare headlined a 92Y event to celebrate the launch of the sixth and final book in The Mortal Instruments series, City of Heavenly Fire. Fellow writers Maureen Johnson, Holly Black, Kelly Link, and David Levithan joined her on stage. The group kicked off the night by reading a series of voice mail messages that were recorded by the protagonists some time in between book five, City of Lost Souls, and book six. Johnson announced that this material would be featured in the print edition of The Bane Chronicles; this short story collection is due out for release on November 11, 2014. At one point during the night, Black teased that Clare plans to have "lots of fairies" in the stories of her forthcoming new series, The Dark Artifices. In addition to the first installment of Dark Artifices, Clare's fans have plenty of projects to look forward to including the middle-grade Magisterium series co-written with Black and a trilogy set in the Edwardian era called The Last Hours. What do you think? (Photo Credit: Joyce Culver)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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At Powell's, our book buyers select all the new books in our vast inventory. If we need a book recommendation, we turn to our team of resident experts. Need a gift idea for a fan of vampire novels? Looking for a guide that will best demonstrate how to knit argyle socks? Need a book for [...]

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Can the pay-what-you-want model work for the publishing industry? With six days left to purchase, the Humble eBook Bundle has already raised $855,755.

The Humble Bundle team has offered a collection of digital books from writers like Cory Doctorow, Paolo Bacigalupi, Lauren Beukes, Kelly Link and more, letting readers pay as much or as little as they want. As of this writing, they have already sold 63,441 copies of the bundle, with the average buyer paying $13.49 for the bundle.

Here’s more from the site: “Separately, this collection of fantastic novels and comics would cost around $157. But we’re letting you set the price! These eBooks are available in multiple formats including PDF, MOBI, and ePub so they work great on your computer, eBook readers, and a wide array of mobile devices … Choose how your purchase is divided: to the authors, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Child’s Play Charity, and/or the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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Today would have marked the 92nd birthday of beloved science-fiction author Ray Bradbury. To celebrate, we caught up with three writers who contributed pieces to Shadow Show: All-New Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury.

The trio of writers we spoke with include Hugo Award-winner Kelly Link, 2006 Pulitzer Prize finalist Lee Martin and bestselling novelist Jacquelyn Mitchard. We’ve included their thoughts below.

If you are looking for more Bradbury birthday celebration, SiriusXM Book Radio host Kim Alexander will talk with biographer Sam Weller, author Mort Castle and novelist Margaret Atwood about the late science fiction author tonight at 7 p.m. ET.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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You know we love steampunk at readergirlz. We had a blast with Scott Westerfeld, right? Well, how about a collection of steampunk short stories by some more of our favorite, favorite YA authors? You'll recognize many from our rgz Circle of Stars, past guests and contributors. Grab your goggles, because this collection by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant delivers!


So, what will you find in Steampunk: An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories? How about mystery, murders, and machines? Worlds of gears and steam in amazing new locations from the minds of 14 writers: M. T. Anderson, Holly Black, Libba Bray, Shawn Cheng, Cassandra Clare, Cory Doctorow, Dylan Horrocks, Kathleen Jennings, Elizabeth Knox, Kelly Link, Garth Nix, Christopher Rowe, Delia Sherman, and Ysabeau S. Wilce.


How fun to find new authors I hadn't discovered before among old friends, all writing speculative fiction which often left me with chills. This quote from Cory's short story "Clockwork Fagin" really captures the collective atmosphere of Steampunk!:

"For machines may be balky and they may destroy us with their terrible appetite for oil, blood, and flesh, but they behave according to fixed rules and can be understood by anyone with the cunning to look upon them and winkle out their secrets. Children are ever so much more complicated."

Perfect, right? With three starred reviews already, look for this release October 11th!

Steampunk!: An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories
edited by Kelly Link and Gary J. Gavin
Candlewick Press, 2011

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I can't seem to finish a story.

Oh, I've been writing them, but each disappoints in the end. I'm sure there's a few possible reasons for this:

1. I've forgotten how to write.
2. I'm more critical of my work now.
3. I'm more critical of venues to which I'll send my work.

On #1...I hope this isn't true. I still "get" it. The words are still there. I keep scribbling little notes, typing sentences, developing characters, putting them in unfortunate situations....

So maybe it's #2. I like some of what I've written lately, but I don't love it. I should love it, right?

And I know #3 is part of the equation. In the beginning, I was happy to have a "yes" from anyone. I'm just not there any more. Pay and prestige aren't the only deciding factors--I want to send something that is a fit for the magazine/anthology/etc. With more experience, I find the list of possible markets for any particular story grow smaller (and smaller).

So, yeah. Working. Writing words. I suspect I need some dedicated editing and revision time...

I've been reading, too, and falling in love with much of what Kelly Link writes. If you're unfamiliar with her work, "The Specialist's Hat" is a good place to start. Don't be surprised if you finish the story with more questions than answers.

(By the way..."Black Medicine Thunder and the Sons of Chaos" finishes this week at Red Penny Papers)

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We don’t talk enough, you and I.  About the National Book Awards, I mean.  Seems to me that the only time we pay much attention to them is when they release their shortlist, and by that point the only thing left to predict is what the ultimate winner will be.  It hasn’t quite the same press recognition of a Newbery or Caldecott, but I enjoy the NBAs.  They’re one of the few times authors have a chance to give a big award to their peers.  There’s much to be said for that, you know.

There are some interesting differences between NBA committees and ALSC committees too.  For example, while a person on a Newbery committee is allowed to give their personal opinion on a title, an NBA committee member is not allowed to give so much as a smidgen of an opinion from start to finish.  Linda Sue Park, as I recall, when asked during her tenure as to what books she liked would begin with, “Well I was really impressed by . . .” then slap her own hands over her mouth and end with, “hmmm mmm mmm hmmmm mmm.”

Another essential difference is that not all children’s and YA books are considered for the award.  In fact, they must be nominated by their publishers and each book must pay a $125 entry fee.  Yikes!  The result is that it is the publishers who pick and choose what to send it.  By this time of year they can no longer send in anything (the deadline has passed) so not only will we be predicting what the committee members like but also what the publishers feel have the best chances.

This year the NBA committee members in the Young People’s Literature category include Laban Carrick Hill, Kelly Link, Tor Seidler, Hope Anita Smith, and Sara Zarr.  Not too shabby, eh?

I’ve been watching the NBA Young People’s Literature nominees for a number of years now and have determined that the kind of books they prefer are titles that are YA, a little more obscure than those with Newbery potential, and out of far right field.  In short: Impossible to predict.

Not that we don’t like to try!  With the given understanding that I’ve never tried this before, I don’t read YA, and every NBA committee has a different vibe to it, let’s have some fun with this!

In brief, my thoughts on potential nominees would include:

The Boneshaker by Kate Milford -
Clearly this is this year’s Lips Touch sans any actual lips touching.  If any book was a shoo-in for serious consideration in the middle grade category, I’d have to hand it to Ms. Milford.  In fact, of all the books I list here, Kate’s is the only one that I would

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Ellen Datlow and Gavin J. Grant & Kelly Link have announced that 'The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror' has folded.

It's not all bad news, Ms. Datlow will be editing an anthology of the year's best horror for Night Shade Books.

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Kelly Link has created a unique collection of weird stories in Pretty Monsters: Stories. All of these stories are completely unexpected in their plots and have tidbits in them that I have absolutely never seen before! Though not necessarily a Halloween Book, Pretty Monsters is definitely a creepy, and sometimes hilarious, read.

My favorite story, simply for it's amazingly unique basis, is "The Faery's Handbag." A young girl has a grandmother that holds an entire village in her handbag! And it's a totally NORMAL thing! How crazy is that? Another great story, definitely creepy creature related, is "Monster," in which teen boys at a summer camp are stalked and ravaged by a scary beast. Another story is about aliens and yet another is about an addictive tv show....what's really going on in that show?

Incredibly unique and filled with lots of creepiness, Pretty Monsters is a great teen choice for the Halloween season. I found myself shivering half the time, while the other half I was laughing with incredulity!

If you want to learn more, or to purchase, click on the book cover above to link to Amazon.

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