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I have a friend who is the leader of a church group for girls 12-18, and she asks:

I want to set up a little library for our YW. [Young Women] These are multi-cultural girls, low income, some from illegal families. I would love to get your suggestions as to good books to put in the library. Since the library will be at the church, they do need to be on the “clean” side, but the girls range from age 13-17 and I think can handle some more complicated themes.

I have a start of a list here, but would love your additions to the list. “Clean” should include nothing stronger than “darn” or the occasional “crap” or “hell,” and on-screen violence should be kept to a minimum; no sex/sexual conduct beyond kissing/holding hands (at least, not in-scene), though romance is great. That doesn’t mean that it wouldn’t handle tough subjects, though. The Maze Runner, for example, is dystopian, but still a clean read overall. Even a book that tackled rape and its aftermath, or something similarly violent, could be appropriate for a list like this depending on how it’s written.

In general, I’m an advocate for good literature over judging a book by what isn’t in it, and my friend is that kind of reader, too. But given that this is a church-associated library, the suggestions do need to be “appropriate,” if you know what I mean. Feel free to suggest titles that might not be shelved in a church library ONLY if they’re borderline (i.e., something my friend my suggest the girls look up on an individual basis if she feels they’re ready for them).

For example, The Hunger Games may not be for everyone. I love it, and would hand it to any teen I knew who didn’t have a problem with a little violence. But some teens are more sensitive than others, so it might be important in a church context to gauge just how well the reader might welcome the visuals they’d get from that book, especially when it might as easily be picked up by a 12-year-old as a 15-year-old. (Then again, given that we live in a dystopia and modern teens know it, perhaps they’d be just fine with it.) Public library, no problem. But it’s the kind of thing that a conservative church library might not be the best place for.

This is NOT a fantasy-only list. Feel free to add YA-appropriate “clean reads,” particularly but not limited to multicultural books, from any genre. I’m just biased for SFF, that’s all. It is a tough list to assemble, though, because I hate to recommend something as “clean” when I haven’t had a chance to read it myself.

• The Maze Runner, James Dashner


• The Sisters Grimm series, Michael Buckley *


• Conrad’s Fate, Diana Wynne Jones


• The Dalemark Quintet, Diana Wynne Jones


• A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L’Engle and its sequels


• Matched, Ally Condie (to be published in Nov. 2010)


• The Princess and the Hound, Mette Ivie Harrison, and its sequels


• Princess of the Midnight Ball, Jessica Day George, and its sequel Princess of Glass


• Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit, 2008, Nahoko Uehashi, and its sequel, Moribito II (this is technically a middle grade book, but the cool thing about it is that it can be appreciated by all ages–the main character is a 29-year-old woman who protects a young king)


• Wildwood Dancing, Juliet Marillier


• Book of a Thousand Days, Shannon Hale


• Flora Segunda, Isabeau S. Wilce, a
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    My students, well, the female students, were captivated by Nicholas Sparks' novels this year.  What with the movie versions of Dear John and The Last Song coming out recently, and "A Walk to Remember" and "The Notebook" out on DVD, the girls can certainly squeeze out a hanky-ful of tears right about now.  As much as they love The Clique and Alphas and other such schoolgirl fluff, it's sappy romantic fluff that they crave at the end of the day.  And Nicholas Sparks really delivers the romance.  Well, romance and fatal diseases.

    Personally, I have never read a Nicholas Sparks book.  Sure, I dig the romance thing, like all of us chicks do.  I cried my eyes out at "The English Patient."  Of course, that was back in 1996... Oh, and I sobbed during the series finale of Lost.  Does that make me a romantic or just a geek?  Whatever the case, I think I can recognize a heartstrings-puller when I come across one.

    And that's exactly what The Clearing is. This novel by Heather Davis covers all of the territory that Nicholas Sparks covers- the heroine with a rocky past and a chip on her shoulder, the seemingly simple yet tragically complex boy who's hiding secrets from the girl he loves, lots of mist and rain falling on lovers who just don't care how wet they're getting as long as they're together.  The Clearing has all of that fluff. And a bit of substance, too.

    Amy needs a fresh start for her senior year.  Leaving an abusive relationship behind in Seattle, she moves to a tiny town in the Cascade Mountains to live in a run-down trailer with her great-aunt Mae.  On Mae's land Amy finds a clearing shrouded in mist, and she is drawn into the mysterious haze.  It is here that she meets Henry Briggs, a kind, polite young man who doesn't speak or dress or behave like any boy Amy has ever met.  Amy feels safe with Henry, and as he helps her to put her past behind her, the two fall in love in the clearing.

    But there is a reason Henry is so different from the other guys.  On his side of the clearing, Henry and his mother and grandfather are trapped in time, stuck in an endless summer in 1944.  Both Henry and Amy are reluctant to move forward: Amy, who has been hurt so terribly, cannot face her future, and Henry knows that a family tragedy awaits if they see the end of the summer.  Together, Amy and Henry help one another find the courage to move on with their lives, even as the unknown future threatens their love.

    The Clearing is a charming story told from alternating points of view.  Both Amy and Henry are vulnerable and afraid, but they fall hard for one another.  Their love grows in a sweet, old-fashioned way, and Davis creates plenty of very tender moments between them. She also understands the mind of a teenage girl, and she gives Amy a true, believable voice.  There's even a little twist at the end that you won't see coming, a twist that will leave you simultaneously heartbroken and satisfied.

    Is The Clearing the best book I've read recently?  No.  The whole construct of the story feels forced and is never fully e

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Summary:
After an irregular childhood and traumatic personal event, Madeline Dare accepts a post at Santangelo Academy, a boarding school for disturbed teenagers. The school is notoriously expensive and experimental and set in gorgeous grounds in the Berkshire Mountains in Massachusetts. Everyone on campus, teachers and students alike, must submit to the founder's bizarre therapeutic treatments and regimen.

Madeline responds to the demands and requirements with humor, cynicism, and good sense. While this doesn't endear her to everyone, it does make her a sympathetic and teacher and an interesting lead character.

When sudden violence erupts on campus, Madeline finds herself right in the middle of it. And as she tries to make sense of what happened and how to protect herself and her students, we get drawn into the mysteries and secrets going on in The Crazy School.

Review:
The Crazy School gives us the quirky, cynical Madeline Dare and her impressions as a new teacher in the dangerous and unusual Santangelo Academy. As a crisis emerges at Santangelo Academy, the story turns into a mystery thriller as Madeline and her students try to discover the truth behind the mysterious deaths. The Crazy School is accessible, engrossing and fun.

ISBN-10: 044619820X - Paperback $13.99
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; 1 edition (February 12, 2010), 352 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher.

About the Author, courtesy of the publisher:
Cornelia Read knows old-school WASP culture firsthand, having been born into the tenth (and last) generation of her mother's family to live on Oyster Bay's Centre Island. She was subsequently raised near Big Sur by divorced hippie-renegade parents. Her childhood mentors included Sufis, surfers, single moms, Black Panthers, Ansel Adams, draft dodgers, striking farmworkers, and Henry Miller's toughest ping-pong rival.

At fifteen, Read returned east, attending boarding school and college on full scholarship. While in New York, she did time as a debutante at the Junior Assemblies, worming her way back into the Social Register following her expulsion when a regrettable tantrum on the part of her mother's boyfriend's wife landed them all on "Page Six" of the New York Post.

Today, her Bostonian Great-Grandmother Fabyan's Society of Mayflower Descendants membership parchment is proudly displayed at the back of Read's tiny linen closet in Berkeley, California. She continues to rebel against familial tradition by staying married to a lovely sane man who is gainfully employed. They have twin daughters, the younger of whom has severe autism. Learn more at Cornelia Read's website at http://www.corneliaread.com/

Would you like your own copy? Sign up for the giveaway - ending March 21, 2010!

Reading Group Guide:

1. Maddie is the only Santangelo Academy teacher who lives off campus. How does this affect her views of what is “normal”?

2. Wiesner tells Maddie she is “too whacked to maintain appropriate boundaries” and has issues with authority. Do you agree? Does anyone at Santangelo maintain “appropriate” boundaries?

3. Maddie claims she hates Mindy because she is so shallow. What does this assessment reveal about Maddie herself? How does the generally ne

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Earlier this month, YALSA extended the deadline to apply to manage its new blog. The new blog (name TBD) will launch in 2010 and will focus young adult literature. We’re seeking candidates to manage the blog and help YALSA develop it further. The goal is to create a website that provides teens a resource – with blog posts and multimedia – for finding reading recommendations.

After the jump, read the original announcement, which includes job requirements, qualifications and information on how to apply. Questions? Contact Beth Yoke at [email protected].

YALSA is seeking a Member Manager for its upcoming YA literature-focused blog (whose exact name is still to be determined) with the mission to provide an online resource for teens to use to find reading recommendations. This blog will focus solely on young adult literature and will provide teens with a definitive web connection to blog posts, images, booklists, and videos and more all related to teen reading.  The deadline for applications is Nov. 30, 2009.

The Member Manager will lead an advisory board and together the group will be responsible for the content of the site. In addition, the Member Manager and the advisory board will solicit content submissions from the YALSA community.

List of Qualifications:

1. Excellent verbal and written communications skills, in order to develop content and communicate with potential content providers and developers. Experience in web publishing with responsibilities including but not limited to: utilizing video clips and video streaming technology, maintaining a high standard of writing, and ensuring compliance with policies created for the maintenance of the site.
2. HTML proficiency
3. Familiarity with content management software including WordPress used for administration of blog sites
4. Dynamic, self-motivated individual
5. Ability to delegate work and to manage a variety of contributors and volunteers
6. Strong organizational skills
7. Ability to set and meet deadlines
8. Experience in library services to young adults
9. Ability to work well in a team environment
10. Membership in YALSA

General Responsibilities:

• Communicate with the Advisory Board and the YALSA Office on a regular basis in order to generate ideas for content, assign tasks, discuss marketing and sponsorship strategies, and discuss site management
• Work with the Website Advisory Committee and the YALSA Blog Manager to create cross-promotion of all YALSA’s web presences
• Maintain communication with YALSA member groups whose work relates to young adult literature
• Maintain a YALSA channel on Blip.TV and YouTube to host and share video content
• With the Advisory Board review and edit audio and video content submitted to the site to make sure the quality is acceptable and that it includes YALSA branding prior to posting
• With the Advisory Board manage postings regularly to guarantee quality of content and appropriate tagging and category identification
• Manage comments and spam daily in order to guarantee that the blog content is appropriate
• With the Advisory Board recruit contributors on a regular basis, which may include but is not limited to: YALSA members, publishers, authors and teens
• Meet with and provide any necessary training to contributors as needed, including at ALA’s Annual Conference and Midwinter Meeting
• Attend the All Committee
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Via the Brown Bookshelf, John Green discusses the cover issue for Justine Larbalestier's book in a thorough way, taking into account all the changes our industry is going through.

***

Also, I've added several books to my POC booklist thanks to all the people who have been suggesting books. There are a number of fantasy books by or about people of color that I've never seen before, including new books just coming out this year. One that just came out last month, Libyrinth, features a black girl right there on the cover (which we have found in the recent discussions is really rare in YA and children's, especially in fantasy) and sounds like a really good read, so perhaps for those of you looking to read and review books for Color Online's Color Me Brown book review challenge, you might want to check it out.

I'll be looking for it myself. I tend not to read new books when they're new, so here's me trying to catch up yet again! I am in the middle of reading Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit and need to get back to Where the Mountain Meets the Moon so I think I'll be meeting that challenge myself. I've got plenty of other books on my TBR list now with the booklist to reach the needed more than three reviews. The only question is whether I'll have enough time to finish these in the month of August, given all the other things on my plate right now. Even if I don't meet the challenge for prizes (and yes, there are prizes, so you guys should try for it!), I definitely will try to meet it to get myself to review books on a more regular basis.

Originally published at Stacy Whitman's Grimoire.

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I added these to my last post, because some readers pointed out that it sounded like I was defending Bloomsbury's choice of cover, which wasn't my intent at all. In fact, I was trying to point out that despite pressures from sales and marketing, the fact remains that it is very important to be aware that if you've got a person of color main character in the book and you want a person on the cover of the book (as opposed to a striking symbol, which is a current cover trend), you really have to make sure that the character represented on the cover actually matches the character described in the book. Heck, it's important all around, no matter whether the character is a person of color or not. If the character in the book is a white blonde girl, don't make her a redheaded Asian man on the cover, any more than vice versa. But it's especially important to think about, given our industry's history of whitewashing covers, when the character is a person of color.

So here are some questions that arose in my mind as I've been reading over the articles and discussion of the Liar cover:

Questions I'd love to hear addressed from the publishing end of things:

1. I've had authors tell me that their houses (houses I have not worked with) have asked them to change their characters from black to white because of this very myth that "black books don't sell" or that it forces a book into a niche for only black readers (a myth that I personally think is bunk). Why do marketing departments say this, and therefore why does this pressure on editors, especially in fantasy, exist?

I never got that kind of pressure at Mirrorstone. Our marketing department was completely excited about Star Sisterz -- a series that featured several different girls of various ethnic backgrounds as the rotating main characters, including a Jewish girl, an Indian-American, a black girl, and a Latina -- and Hallowmere, which featured a white main character to start with in the first three books, but then split up to the French girl, the Hungarian girl, the Irish girl, the black girl who was formerly a slave (remember, this is post-Civil War Virginia), and a Hopi girl was going to be introduced in book 8, a character Mara (the former slave) was going to meet on her journeys.

I was excited about this series, and never really got any kind of pushback from the market on either Star Sisterz or Hallowmere from library shows or IRA--in fact, the librarians we talked to snapped up those books, knowing their readers would *love* them. Why is there this pressure in (at least certain) NY houses over a myth that simply isn't true? And how do those environments differ from houses where they seem to welcome diversity in both covers and content (books edited by Alvina Ling and Cheryl Klein come to mind)?

2. (Somehow, this question disappeared from my previous post. Argh!!) Even with this pressure from sales and marketing, why do others give in to the pressure, rather than focusing on re-educating the marketing people? I could probably answer this one: because the marketing and sales people are worried that the biggest buyers will shelve the books in the wrong place in the bookstore (a complaint that is lodged multiple times in the comments to Justine's post about her cover). Again, I don't know what conversations went on behind the scenes at Bloomsbury, or why this cover would be decided on despite how they must have known it would have been received. I can believe that they thought that making the cover a "lie" -- i.e., as if the character had put a picture of someone else on the cover, not herself -- might have been part of the discussion, but it obviously doesn't work for readers in the intended way, if so.

I've also had local booksellers here in Utah tell me that "my customers are as white as you are, and they're not interested in multicultural literature" when I would mention that I was in the process of starting a small press focusing on multicultural fantasy and SF for YA/children. But I don't believe that's true regarding the readers themselves, and it ends up being a self-perpetuating cycle that leaves out a huge proportion of the population that probably avoid that store because they can never find books that either 1) they can identify with themselves or 2) in which they can read about other people not like themselves, if they're white-bread Utahns. Honestly, the proportion of Latinos, black people, Asians, and Polynesians in Utah is pretty strong and steadily growing, so I think it's ignorant of historically white communities to ignore the growing diversity right in front of them.

So how can we show the whole chain, from booksellers on back to publishing houses, that the readers are there if they'd just acknowledge them?

3. This relates to the questions raised last week about letting our boys be book bigots, but in this case, I think it's more decisions made on the parts of adults prior to the books getting into the hands of young readers. Have we ever done any kind of market research (even if it's just a survey to librarians) about what readers like to read about? (Actually -- we did such a survey at some point at Wizards.) I'm pretty sure that most middle grade and YA readers across a wide range of communities would count action, adventure, mystery, romance, fantastic magic, and other story elements way above the race of the character, except that they'd probably like to see more diversity, because exploring the world of the character is a fun thing for most readers. I'd love to see PW or some other independent body publish something on this--or to see an academic study on readership.

Originally published at Stacy Whitman\\\\\\\'s Grimoire.

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YA author, Tanita Davis has a shiny, beautiful, new website, Tanita S. Davis :: {fiction, instead of lies}

Tanita is an outstanding citizen of the KidLitosphere. She is a generous commenter and blog booster.

Do read her interviews at The Brown Bookshelf and Seven Imp and Chicken Spaghetti! Aside: How do those people come up with such intelligent interview questions?

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Margo Raab's essay in the NYTimes Sunday Book Review, "I’m Y.A., and I’m O.K." takes on the blurry line between adult and YA fiction and the confusing marketing decisions that deem if a book is for grownups or young people. She also addresses the condescension towards YA literature that still exists. I loved this quote from Sherman Alexie.

“A lot of people have no idea that right now Y.A. is the Garden of Eden of literature,” said Sherman Alexie, whose first Y.A. novel, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” won the National Book Award for young people’s literature last year. Even the prestige of that award didn’t make him impervious to the stigma. “Some acquaintances felt I was dumbing down,” Alexie said in a phone interview. “One person asked me, ‘Wouldn’t you have rather won the National Book Award for an adult, serious work?’ I thought I’d been condescended to as an Indian — that was nothing compared to the condescension for writing Y.A.”

I LOVE the end of the essay. I think such heartfelt response from young readers would be so satisfying and moving. But, I spend my working hours with young folks, helping them make book selections and talking about books and caring if they read so maybe my point of view is dodgy.

I heard Scott Westerfeld speak once about his pride at seeing his adult fiction on the bookshelf at a bookstore but then mentally zooming out and viewing the store in its entirety and noting that his book was one amid thousands. As a YA writer, he said he is overwhelmed by the army of advocates his work enjoys as librarians and teachers promote, support and lead young readers to his books. That is something he never experienced as a writer for grownups.

I think folks who sneer at YA fiction are just jealous. I watch Book TV and I rarely see crowds at those book signings like I've seen for Rick Riordan or Eoin Colfer.

Do read the whole thing.

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Some of Richard Peck’s Awards and Honours:

2005 Winner of the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction

2003 Finalist for the National Book Award

2001 Newbery Medal Winner for A Year Down Yonder

2001 National Humanities Medal

1990 Margaret A. Edwards Award (for lifetime achievement in YA writing)

1990 National Council of Teachers of English/ALAN Award for outstanding contributions to

            YA literature

1988 Newbery honorable mention for A Long Way from Chicago

Biographical and Autobiographical Sources: 

Campbell, Kimberly. (2007). Richard Peck: A Spellbinding Storyteller. Enslow Publishers.

Gallo, Donald. (1993). Presenting Richard Peck. Laurel Leaf.

Peck, R. (1995). Anonymously yours. Toronto: HarperCollins.

Peck, R. (2002). Invitations to the world. Teaching and writing for the young. Dial Books Young Readers.  

Check out some Richard Peck information websites:

Random House author spotlight 

EPA Biographical essay

Featured author: Richard Peck

The River Between Us

References:

Burch, R. (1973). The new realism. In V. Haviland (Ed.), Children and literature views and reviews (pp. 281-287). Dallas: Scott, Foresman, and Company. 

Donelson, K. & Nilsen, A. P. (1997). Literature for today’s young adult (5^th ed.). NY: Longman.

Egoff, S. (1980). Thursday’s child: Trends and patterns in contemporary children’s literature. Chicago, American Library Assocation.  

Hamilton, M. (1988). Aurora Online with Sheila Egoff: Outspoken critic and companion of children’s literature. Aurora Online. Retrieved March 4, 2008 from http://aurora.icaap.org/index.php/aurora/article/view/42/55. 

Peck, R. (1992). Problem novels for readers without any. In Monseau, V. R. & Salvner, G. M. (Eds.), Reading their world: The young adult novel in the classroom (pp. 71-76). Portsmouth: Boynton/Cook Publishers.

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The world is causing me to shred rope this morning. With my teeth.

I am cranky and have decided to share my crank with you my gentle and not-at-all cranky readers. I know that I’ve written this rant in different forms already. I fully expect to write it again. Here goes:

Ever since I because a YA writer I have been hearing certain people accusing me and my colleagues of writing books solely for the sake of being as dark/bleak/shocking/perverted/[insert your own personal bugbear in adjectival form here]. “Why did you have to put x into your book?” is a question that almost all of us seem to hear at one time or another.

It drives me nuts.

YA writers who write about anything that isn’t considered to be squeaky clean or uses language stronger than, “Oh, bother!” get this a lot. We’re often accused of writing “dark,” “edgy,” “controversial” books in order to increase our sales.

Newsflash: the inclusion of swearing and sex and drugs and the other things that render YA books less than squeaky often, nay, usually, has the opposite effect. Book clubs won’t pick them up, Wal-mart and Target won’t stock them, nor will many school libraries, and lots of conservative parents won’t let their teens buy them.

Sure, you can point to teen books that have sex and swearing and drugs that sell; but there are just as many that don’t. It is not the automatic sales shot in the arm that so many people are convinced of.

I have never written anything for the sake of being “dark” or “edgy” or anything else. The YA writers I know think long and hard about including anything “controversial” because nine times out of ten it will reduce their sales, not increase them.

Valiant by Holly Black is often accused of being deliberately shocking; it’s her worst-selling book.

Of all the YA books I’ve read, Valiant is the closest to my teenage experiences. I recognised so much in that book. I found it moving, honest, beautiful, scary, dark and brilliant. It made me weep in sadness and, by the end of the book, in joy. I’ve read it four times so far and each time it has gotten better.

I’ve been wondering what it is about the book that bothers people. Perhaps they don’t like it because they didn’t recognise anything from their teenage experiences, therefore the book seems to them deliberately and inexplicably dark. They grew up safe and happy behind their white picket fence and weren’t interested in reading about teens that didn’t. But my friend Diana Peterfreund disagrees because she had a white-picket upbringing and she adores Valiant.¹

Maybe the Valiant haters recognised too much and that made them uncomfortable?

I should point out that these are all adult complaints about the book: The teens who don’t like Valiant are mostly annoyed because it isn’t a direct sequel to Tithe.

All the adult complaints I’ve heard about books like Valiant and Looking for Alaska seem to stem from discomfort with the reality of some teen lives. Have they forgotten how traumatic teenage years can be? Have they forgotten that many teenagers swear, that they not only think about sex, but some of them have it, some of them drink and take drugs? I’ve met and talked with enough teens over the past three years² to know that many of them are extremely grateful to have their experiences reflected back at them in the books we write—whether those experience are dark or light or a mixture (which is most people’s experience). Once I would have argued against problem novels because I personally don’t like them. But I’ve heard too many teachers and librarians tell me tales of students finding comfort and guidance in a book about child abuse, or a teen with alcoholic parents, or anorexia or whatever.

Recognising yourself in a book—in any work of art—is extremely powerful. It’s one of the ways we learn we’re not alone.

Some teenagers grow up in very dark places. Some of them go through dark, scary times. Some teens have friends and relatives who’ve overdosed, been murdered, raped, tortured, deported, gaoled, executed. Teen lives are as varied and scary and wonderful as adults’ lives. Those stories deserve to be told just as much as the story of Anne of Green Gables.

Some of us cope with the dark times by re-reading Anne of Green Gables. Some of us cope by reading stories that touch on our own horrible experiences or that are even worse.

Valiant, however, is not a problem novel. It’s a fairy tale with the requisite fairy tale ending. It affirms that even in the darkest of times a fairy tale ending is possible. I love it; I would have loved it even more as a teen.

I know that writing for teens is a huge responsibility. I take that responsibility seriously, which is why I believe it’s my duty to write books as honestly as I can.³ Whether it be the froth and bubble of How To Ditch Your Fairy or the darkness of the Magic or Madness trilogy. Pretending that teens aren’t people with as wide a range of desires and aspirations as any adult is dishonest.

Okay, I feel slightly less cranky now. Slightly . . .

1. I should point out that my family life was great; it was my school experiences that were dark and miserable.
2. Since my first teen novel came out.
3. You know, what I also think that’s the duty of writers of adult books.

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In a world without Harry Potter, can the web bring young readers back into bookland? 

According to Portfolio.com's Mixed Media blog, publisher Nan Talese wants to build a better book review site--a bit of literary intelligence picked up at a cocktail party, even. Check it out:

"At the Lapham's Quarterly party last night, Talese, a senior vice president at Doubleday and the publisher/editorial director of her own imprint there, told me she is in the early stages of starting a criticism website, The Review, aimed at youthful readers."

In other news, my journalism students at New York University just got in the news with a survey that finds out how much it costs to buy a vote from a member of the Harry Potter generation. Politico has the scoop.

As you've seen on this site, the National Book Awards have concluded. I especially enjoyed the Library Journal's coverage of the blogged festivities. Stop by and read Wilda Williams thoughts about new media at the event:

"[There was an] increased number of literary bloggers covering the event... Confessions of an Indiosyncratic Mind's Sarah Weinman offers a terrific overview of the activity upstairs: "I was amazed at the content generated up in the press box, from print journalists scrambling to meet near-impossible deadlines to bloggers mixing mini-podcasts and videos on the fly....Content wins out, no matter what."

 

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Things will get wild and crazy next week.  

First up, we will be covering the National Book Awards along with The Litblog Army: Ed Champion and Marydell and Sarah Weinman and Levi Asher. Armed with a videocamera, laptop, and a notebook, I'll bring back as much writing wisdom as I can clutch in my skinny arms. 

The fiction nominees are pretty smart and adventurous this year: Mischa Berlinski, Fieldwork, Lydia Davis, Varieties of Disturbance, Joshua Ferris, Then We Came to the End, Denis Johnson, Tree of Smoke, and Jim Shepard, Like You’d Understand, Anyway.

Then, I'll be appearing in a panel discussion at the Hudson Valley Writers' Center on Saturday November 17th. I'll discuss "Technology: The world of writing on blogs and for e-zines" along with some big-time writers: Michelle Kung from Huffington Post and Justin Fox from Time.

The whole thing will be moderated by Jeff Gordinier, one of my favorite magazine writers. Non-fiction writer Robert Boynton (one of my writing mentors), will be moderating a panel about magazine writing.

The program is trapped in frames at the writing center website, so I've included the whole program after the jump. Come on out and meet some other writers. Continue reading...

 

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Now I like the sci-fi madness of Philip K. Dick as much as the next obsessive fan, but this is just amazing.

A film company has just bought three-year, first-look rights to the entire collection of Dick stories and novels that have yet to be turned into movies. It is a rare writer who can inspire this kind of commitment from fans. Just listen to this:

"Based on material from Dick's vast body of work, co-productions may include film adaptations, as well as television and other media projects. Details of the production slate are forthcoming. Dick's works include more than 120 short stories and 45 novels."

SF Signal readers are talking about why Dick's stories lend themselves so well to other media, as well as proposing new films. 

If you want something a bit more down to earth, PeteLit has nice, well-written list describing his favorite lit-bloggers. Find some new reading material. 

Over at the MFA Blog, Daryll Lynne Evans has some grim professional advice for writers thinking about MFA's. The readership is already chiming in over the great career debate:

"I've got a fresh, if alarming, take on what's out there. First you need to understand that you're not getting the MFA to learn a job skill or walk into a paying career. No "precise job opportunities" are attached to the MFA." 

 

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According to Michael Rosen more people are working as writers, musicians, and artists than ever before in the United States. This is good news for aspiring writers--people earning a living writing have increased 30 percent by Rosen's stats. (Thanks to After the MFA for the link)

Pinkyspaperhaus christens a new compound webby word: "litmagblog." There's a new resource for readers overwhelmed by the crowded lit magazine rack. Check it out and start reading: "Luna Park was launched earlier this month in an effort to focus attention on magazines from the Paris Review to Post Road and many more. It is fed and watered by one Travis Kurowski, a veteran of literary magazines like Tin HouseOpium."

The Poetry Foundation has been matching up poets and graphic artists for a recent series called "The Poem as Comic Strip." These artists are doing some beautiful things with text, like Ron Rege, Jr's take (see image above) on the poem "The Snow Is Deep on the Ground." For extra credit, read series editor Ed Park's essay about "heightened language." (Thanks Poetry Hut!)

Publishing Spotted collects the best of what's around on writing blogs on any given day. Feel free to send tips and suggestions to your fearless editor: jason [at] thepublishingspot.com.

 

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Aggggghhhh!

It finally happened. A publisher is taking solitary novelists like you and me and building a reality television show around scoring a book deal. Go visit The Ultimate Author if you think your literary brain can handle the camera. God bless Galleycat for the link.

Litblogger Daniel Green weighs in on the "litbloggers aren't qualified" debate by burying critics under a pile of professional qualifications. Like I said, you can't generalize about lit bloggers. (Thanks, Elegant Variation)

We here at The Publishing Spot central are very very very sad to see that Miss Snark has retired from the blogging business. Luckily, her blog archive remains, chock full of book agent wisdom that can save your next novel from the slush pile. She will be missed!

Publishing Spotted collects the best of what's around on writing blogs on any given day. Feel free to send tips and suggestions to your fearless editor: jason [at] thepublishingspot.com.

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Litbloggers are buzzing about a LA Times article that declared book reviews should be left to professionals, where Richard Schickel wrote: "Criticism — and its humble cousin, reviewing — is not a democratic activity." That carefully calculated sentence will undoubtedly float a thousand blogged counterattacks. Start with Edward Champion's impassioned response and write your own answer...

Over here at The Publishing Spot, we love short short stories and we love writing contests. Today, Smith Magazine offers us both: "What comes between six and 100? Fifty-five (more or less). The editor of Bird and Moon, a creative enterprise that includes comics, art, birds, and 55-word stories, tells us: '55 Words seeks stories that are 55 words long. Stories must have all that story goodness: character, setting, and a beginning, middle, and end.' To submit, click here."

You want to become a better editor? You can learn form the best over at A View from the Top. This week they are interviewing Susan Henderson, one of our favorite writers in the blogosphere. Check out LitPark's discussion of near death experiences for more. 

Publishing Spotted collects the best of what's around on writing blogs on any given day. Feel free to send tips and suggestions to your fearless editor: jason [at] thepublishingspot.com.

 

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