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Albert Einstein’s greatest achievement, the general theory of relativity, was announced by him exactly a century ago, in a series of four papers read to the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin in November 1915, during the turmoil of the First World War. For many years, hardly any physicist—let alone any other type of scientist—could understand it.

The post Einstein’s mysterious genius appeared first on OUPblog.

Every representation of a person's life is just that—a representation. A curation. A summary. An interpretation.

I know that. I off went to see "Amy," the deeply moving documentary about the great singer, Amy Winehouse, fully aware that what I was about to witness was a life encoded by footage and recall, and not a life itself.

Still. There are some incontestable things about this British singer with a genius touch and a tortured relationship with her own talent. First (incontestable): she could sing. Second (I think it's clear): she wasn't always sure of who to trust. Third: she died too young of alcohol poisoning in a body winnowed to near nothing by too many drugs and an eating disorder.

Fourth: Winehouse never originally wanted to be famous, never thought she would be famous, never imagined herself capable of fame. She is there, in the footage, saying so. But fame became hers, fame became her, and she had to live, and die, with the consequences.

There is a dividing line between those who make things in order to be known or seen, and those whose loyalties lie with the things themselves—the songs, the films, the stories. There are those who craft themselves into a brand—who orchestrate aggrandizements, who leverage opportunities, who seek out "friendships" that will advance them, who overstay their welcome, who build cliques that further not their art but their careers, who ricochet with gossip. And there are those who (I think, in the book world, of Alice McDermott, Marilynne Robinson, and Michael Ondaatje) seek out private quiet. Yes, they cede to interviews and talks and touring when their books are released. But they also vanish from public view, and consumption, just as soon as they're able.

Fame—a seething hope for it—is not what propels them.

Watching "Amy," one wants to turn back time. To give the artist her creative space. To let her walk the streets without the blinding pop of cameras. One wants to give her what matters most—room for the everyday and the ordinary. Supremely talented, unwittingly destined, Amy Winehouse suffered. She made choices, certainly. She faced a wall of personal demons. But the media that stalked her and the fans who turned hold some responsibility for what happened.

Artists have the responsibility to do their work for the right reasons. They have responsibility to the work itself—to not sell out, to not write to trends, to not step on others in their quest for something.

But fans have responsibilities, too. To give the artists room to make, to risk, to sometimes fail. To love artists for who they are and what they do and not for whether or not, in this bracket of time, they appear to be potentially famous. To see artists as people who would be better off, who would be healthier, given some time to live with dignity instead of trailing endless glitter.

We’re all familiar with the theme of acceptance and being content with whom and what we are. It’s been relayed a thousand ways, right. But have you ever discovered self-worth with the aid of a carrot? Thelma has.  Aaron Blabey’s dazzling new picture book, Thelma the Unicorn not only deals with this theme in a […]

What matters most to young people in the 2012 election? (Facebook is calculating this in its new campaign “What Matters Most” where users rank the top three issues that are most important to them and their picture and thoughts can be featured on... Read the rest of this post

Accomplice by Eireann Corrigan

This book will be released in August 2010.

It was a perfect plan, but then it all went wrong.  When their college prep advisor tells them that it takes more than good grades and community service to get into the best schools, Finn and Chloe decide to make themselves and their college essays very special.  They stage Chloe’s kidnapping, hiding her in the basement of Finn’s grandmother’s house because she is out of town.  It was supposed to be simple, but their carefully staged deception starts to wear on Finn as she is forced to lie to everyone, carefully staging her emotions and reactions to not only keep the lie going but to make sure that they get enough attention from the media.  When CNN shows up to cover the kidnapping, Finn and Chloe know that it cannot end the way they had planned and are forced to make dreadful choices.  Don’t pick up this page turner without clearing your day first, it is impossible to put down!

With a great premise, the book opens with Finn in the midst of the situation already.  There is little time to draw breath as readers are immediately plunged into a faked kidnapping staged by two very smart but very naive girls.  The drive to have a bit of fame combined with the pressures of college applications make for a potent combination for a book. 

The story is told from Finn’s point of view as she deals with attending school and lying to everyone in her life, including Chloe’s parents and her own. Finn is in denial about a lot of things throughout the book, facing complicated feelings about her best friend.  This tension about their relationship and what is at the heart of it makes the book even more compelling as Finn tries to navigate a situation of her own making.

This riveting novel is tightly written.  The book builds tension as Finn struggles with her emotions and with the fallout from the kidnapping.  It is not breakneck paced, rather it is woven into an intense read. 

Ideal for booktalking to teens, this book will have everyone right from the premise.  It completely lives up to its promise as a thrilling look at lies and fame.  Appropriate for ages 14-17.

Reviewed from ARC received from Scholastic.

My oldest sister recently told me about a good book she’d read, Me & Emma, by Elizabeth Flock. I read it and liked it, too, but a few scenes puzzled me. The back of the book listed an e-mail address for the author, so I sent her my questions. She responded promptly with a letter of explanation. This, from a New York Times bestselling author.

“That was really nice,” my sister said. “I’m surprised she’d take the time to do that.”

I appreciated the time Elizabeth Flock took to respond but wasn’t overly surprised. Authors are more accessible than they’ve ever been. Even the most famous allow for direct reader contact through their Web sites or social networks. 

I sometimes wonder if all of this accessibility builds an artist’s fame or limits it. I think about Elvis Presley and how carefully Colonel Tom Parker controlled his public image and access.  So few people saw into Elvis’s day-to-day life.  Would so many fans have been clamoring at the gates of Graceland had they been able to e-mail Elvis or chat with him on Facebook?

I have to believe the old saying “Familiarity breeds contempt” bears some truth. Inaccessibility can add to the allure and mystique of a person. It’s easy to be awed by people whose foibles you never see. And you’re less likely to see those foibles the less direct contact you have with them.

I may be in the minority, but I still haven’t signed up to receive tweets from Ashton Kutcher or President Obama. I’d really like to keep it a mystery what they ate for dinner.

But, as an author, I would like to know the effect increased accessibility has on fame. What do you think?

Ahhhh, chicklit. Every now and again it's just what the doctor ordered, and yours truly, Lucy B. Parker - girl vs. superstar is pretty much all you could ask for!

It's the beginning of sixth grade, and Lucy is in a rut. She has just been friend-dumped by her BFFs Rachel and Missy, she barely survived the "hat incident", super annoying Marissa has decided to befriend Lucy now that Rachel and Missy are gone, and now Lucy's mother decides that now is the right time to tell her that she has been dating! And where does Lucy's mom decide to drop this bombshell? Only at Barbara's Bra World, which is pretty much Lucy's version of, well...you know.

So, who could this mystery man be? Is it the barista from the coffee place? One of Lucy's teachers? No. It's Alan Moses, the father of teen sensation Laurel Moses (who happens to be responsible for the hat incident). Laurel's in town shooting, and Lucy's mom has be tutoring her, and before she knew it, she was dating Alan.

Lucy cannot imagine anything worse. Not only is Laurel tall and beautiful, but all of the kids in Lucy's school are obsessed with her. Lucy sees a future of being seen as second best.

But, things are not always as they seem, and sometime perfection on the outside belies an imperfect inside.

Robin Palmer has written a delicious piece of chicklit that has a heart. Yes, there are mean girls (trust me...mean girls exist in real life too), but there is lots of charm as well. Lucy is a quirky girl (complete with a fascination with all things menstrual)and her parents are interesting and present. Sixth grade life is represented well complete with the emotional roller coaster climbing to fun loving and plummeting back down to despair in a real time tween fashion. This is the first in a series, and I am looking forward to watching Lucy grow!

Tempted by Fame and Fortune

There are lots of distractions on the internet on any given day. This week, I’ve been distracted by a couple writing competitions

$5000/month for six months.

The folks who make Sam-e a natural mood enhancer are looking for a Good Mood Blogger. It’s a promotional thing, of course, designed to get the maximum number of people to visit their website. You must apply, then get your friends to go and vote for you. The top 20 will then be judged by their writing, again with public voting, and the top person is offered a six month run blogging.

250-500 words per day, five days a week, $5000/month for six months. $30,000 is more than many writers make in a year! Hard position to get because you must harness your social network to get the votes. And no guarantee that the best qualified WRITER gets the gig, just the most popular, fairly good writer. Great promo idea, not so great for writers to apply for. If you want to, though, hurry: It closes October 23.

Prestige and $200/week for 13 weeks.

Or, if you prefer, go for the Washington Post’s promo campaign, and become America’s Next Great Pundit. That’s right, if politics is your thing, here’s your “reality show,” newspaper version.

You get only 400 words to impress the editorial staff at the Washington Post. This time, the writing comes first as the Post staff chooses the top 10 entries. Then, there is a three-week test of skills needed to succeed as a pundit today, including working to deadline, holding your own on video, and field questions from Post readers. (Clearly – any children’s book author could do this! Consider our deadlines; the need for book trailers today; fielding questions from kids at a school visit. We’d all be great at this!) Contest entry due by October 21.

The prize is a 13-week column, paid at $200/column. The real prize, of course, if the fame. Heck, you’d probably get a book deal out of it, if you played it right.

Tempting?

Of course. My husband hopefully asked, “Does the Good Mood Blogger have to be in a good mood all the time?”

Well, the regular income would certainly help that vacillating mood.

About the Post gig, DH asked, “Are you sure you’d want to be on video?”

A cameo, I could do; thinking-on-my-feet debating would be unthinkable. Literally.

All of which brings me back to why do I write and what are my writing goals? Fame? Would I want to be the next Pundit (Hindi word for a learned man)? Would I want to be the Good Mood Blogger so I could encourage others to live a happier life, or would I just be doing it for the money?

Why do you write? Do things like this tempt you? Fame? Fortune?

Related posts:

1. Appreciation

Last night I watched the "music video" from the upcoming remake of "Fame." Those of you who know me well, may know that the original "Fame" is one of my favorite movies of all time, so I'm really struggling with this particular remake (vs. say "Ice... Read the rest of this post

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Karen Schneider has a great post that is just now crossing my radar because I’ve been ignoring my RSS feed for a while and spending more time cooking. It’s called How To Be Famous and there are two things I like about it a great deal.

First, when I scanned it the first time I was like “Oh this was great but she forgot…” and then on a second read I realized she didn’t forget a thing, at least as I see things. Second, she wrote this list so I don’t have to. People in libraryland ask me what I do or did to travel and speak like I do — less than most but more than many others — and I let them in on my little pair of secrets which is 1) you have to want to do it to be able to do it, which already rules out a ton of people with other obligations or who just hate travel, public speaking or, frankly, other people. 2) I can manage to do what I do because I live a very small and simple life in rural Vermont with no pets or children and only a few peaked looking houseplants. The town rolls up the sidewalks at eight and most evenings I noodle away working. I am lucky to have a job, or a few jobs, that are flexible enough to allow me to travel and I’m equally fortunate to actually enjoy schlepping around and meeting other people.

The most important things I would point to on Karen’s list are these. The importance of taking care of yourself or as she says “pace yourself.” Not only are you no good to anyone if you haven’t gotten enough sleep or down-time, but being continually on-the-road exhausted is a lifestyle problem at some level. If you’re a brain surgeon, this may not be true. If you’re a librarian, it definitely is. Also, I believe strongly in helping up-and-comers and mentoring people newer to the profession or even people just considering the profession. People were there to answer my million questions when I was an early WLA and ALA member, I figure I can do the same for early bloggers and facebookers and whoever. Time and effort you invest in other people, for the most part, is time and effort well-invested.

The fourth book in the Uglies 'trilogy', Extras, takes place in post-'mind-rain' Japan a couple of years after Tally Youngblood destroyed the Pretties system. Japan, along with the rest of the world, is adapting to the freedom of thought that people had so long been deprived of. New cultural norms have emerged, and Japan's 'reputation economy' is one of these. It ties wealth and fame together at a whole new level, making most everybody want fame more than anything else.

Enter fifteen-year-old Aya Fuse, who's just as desirous of fame as the next person. She's a kicker, and always has Moggle (her hovercam) by her side. She is constantly searching for a great story to kick, one that might take her out of panic-making obscurity. One that might make her famous. But with a face rank of 451,369 (out of a million), there is little chance of that happening. That is, until she stumbles upon the story of a lifetime. But she gets more than she bargained for when she kicks it, and fame ends up being difficult. And, in her case, dangerous.

For an Uglies/Pretties/Specials fan such as myself, it was awesome to return to Westerfeld's creepy future earth. I couldn't help but notice that the reputation economy makes a lot sense. Which is creepy. We're already fame obsessed enough as it is.

Extras is really quite a wonderful book. It was well tied-in with the three preceding books, but has enough new developments so as not to be repetitive. Aya is a great character. She's endearing but imperfect. And sometimes you get really mad at her.

Which means, of course, that Westerfeld has done his job very well.

Five daggers out of five.

Wanting to mag-lev surf*...

*What is mag-lev surfing, you ask? I don't think I'll tell you. Read the book.

_________________________________________________________

Dude, Extras is awesome.

And, as many of you probably know (on account of the link from his blog), we saw Scott Westerfeld talk/sign books... it was pretty darn cool, yo. Justine Larbalestier was also there (author of the Magic or Madness trilogy), which was also pretty darn cool, yo.

So... five out of five. Yep.

I give this wonderful book, the full 5 daggers.

This came in from Lenny in email, labelled Fat Charlie and Rosie at the Wine Bar.



The Criterion Event was lovely, if short, and the signing that followed was pleasant, if long. And I am now braindead, so will sleep, pausing only to refer you to Stephen Fry blogging on the nature of fame.

(Today I walked past an old friend who happens to be famous. We've not seen each other in 25 years. I recognised him as he passed me, and saw him wince at the moment he noticed someone had realised who he was. Just a tiny wince, and he hadn't recognised that I was me, and I knew that if I'd called out and identified myself we would have had a very pleasant conversation and he would have been happy to see me, but after that wince it was easier to leave him alone, walking down the street, unbothered...)

And here's an extract from Sean Tan's beautiful, haunting, dislocated book, The Arrival.

I'm still proofreading and copyediting. Today I also tackled a small heap of fanmail, some of it going back an embarrassingly long time. Meanwhile Lorraine and the new Mystery Aide were recreating the downstairs office.

You would not believe the strange things that have been found during the haul-everything-out, move-all-the-furniture, move-it-all-back process. Things believed lost for years. Things I'd forgotten I'd ever been given. Amazing, strange things... (All of them currently in plastic tubs in the hall).

The Walker event with me and Dave McKean is up on the web -- http://channel.walkerart.org/detail.wac?id=3651

I never thought I'd find myself agreeing with the UK Director of Public Prosecutions, but I do, vigorously. http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,1997397,00.html


Do I have to ask you a question? (I only asked so I could comply with the bold "YOUR QUESTION" above this field.)
I just wanted to show you some pictures (not of me, though you probably get some like that - ick, poor you) but of a doll version of Dream that I commissioned last fall. The artist has finished him, and people have been telling me I should show you. Donn, the artist, said it was all right if I did. He sculpted the doll himself and painted it, and a friend of his does the clothes. Donn took the photos. So here you go:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v442/misanthropicbliss/progress/dream_stand.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v442/misanthropicbliss/progress/dream_sit.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v442/misanthropicbliss/progress/dream_stand_clothes.jpg Not bad, eh? :)Take care.- Ceiridwen

That's marvelous. No, you don't have to ask a question (although you're more likely to get a reply if you do). And while nobody ever sends photos of themselves, they do send links to their art, and to things they've made, all of which I look at and a very few of which I post here. This one, for example, I thought was amazing:

Just in case you don't know already...Abi Sutherland, a Making Light regular, is donating a gorgeous specially bound edition of 'The Dream Hunters' to the Mike Ford Auction and Extravaganza at Boskone next month. http://evilrooster.com/items/2007/01/the_dream_hunte.html

Hi Neil,
I suspect you've been bombarded with this one, but in case you haven't this might be another reason why you need a mac http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.html
Regards,
Guy

Actually, I think the Mac to PC ratio in the house is now significantly more Macs than PCs. I'm the last PC holdout in the family, and I'm as likely as not to be found using the office iMacs -- more likely for some things. If only they'd make a Macbook that weighed next to nothing, I'd probably grit my teeth and go and find somewhere that would translate all my old WordPerfect 4.2 files into a current more Mac-friendly format, and go over to Mac laptops.

I tend to write on baby laptops that don't weigh much (this is what I've been using for the last couple of years). Sooner or later I'll pick up a new lightweight Macbook and decide I wouldn't mind carrying it through a hundred airports. But they need to make it first...

And the program looks terrific.

You are going to go back through the blog and label all the old entries aren't you? You know...in your spare time...for the sake of completeness.

Lynn

PS: Come on...ya know you want to!

Well, yes. I do want to... I'm not sure where I'd find the time, though. But I promise I'll keep labelling the new ones.


Do you enjoy fame? Reading your journal, I almost feel sorry for you as you describe a press junket, with the continual interviews and sore writing arm. But this is what writers strive for, isn't it? Huge adoring readerships, exotic locales for book signings, bestseller lists. Does fame have an effect on your writing?I saw you read when I was in college in Madison, and was inspired by this floppy-haired Brit with a sense of humor; you looked exactly as a writer ought to look. It gave me some hope that being a writer could be good. I loved Neverwhere, and I adore your effervescent prose, which seems effortless and light as a feather, but like any souffle, I suspect it's actually quite difficult to get it so. And as a separate note, having grown up in Wisconsin, thanks for the descriptions. Your bit about the House on the Rock was perfect. Cheers,-Jessie

Do I enjoy fame? No, not much. I quite like finding myself in interesting places, but I like being at home more. I like having readers, and I like meeting readers, I love reading aloud and I like that I don't have to get up early in the morning and go and do a job I don't enjoy. Making stuff up is still great except when it's not. But I'm never entirely comfortable with the rest of it. It's still weird that I live in a world in which more people know me than I know.

But mostly I don't think about it.

Hi Neil, in fact it’s not a question but a little feedback from one of your Chinese readers. I posted it on neilgaimanboard.com, and some kind people told me you don’t read that board. So I check the fqa and find here to say what I’d say. I hope it weren’t too rude, and I’m sorry if I interrupted you.
American Gods the simplified Chinese version has burst out on December, 2006. My friends and I all read and fell for it. WOW. And the translator treated your baby well. I think the Chinese version is precise and beautiful. It was said Good Omens has been on the way. So, be prepared for the rush of loving words from Chinese dreamers. ^^
...
Best wishes.
Yours,
Carmina

Which I'm mainly posting because normally people write to tell me that the translation in their part of the world is sort of disappointing, and it's lovely to hear about one that people are happy with.

and finally, a few people -- all enthusiastic fans of the site and the podcast -- wrote to let me know about this...

Afternoon Sir!
Not a question as such, more of a heads up. I love genre fiction - always have done. There is a 'podcast' I have been listening to for a while now and most recently they did a 2 part show about your goodself. It's hosted by 2 geordies who have a real passion for anything good - hence you and your work being featured! They have such a relaxed structure to the show, it's like listening to a Ronnie Corbett joke when they're in full flow!
Please give it a listen and let them know how they're doing - it'd mean a lot to them to get some feedback. The show can be found through itunes or at www.starshipsofa.com .
Thanks for taking the time to read this, I know you are busy.
Have a great week,

Alastair Webster
Liverpool.