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Merry Christmas from everyone at the Beat to all of you. Wishing you a peaceful, happy holiday and all the presents you asked for. If you seeking something to do between presents and turkey here are a few diversions, including a holiday greeting from Luke Cage and Danny Rand via Sanford Green. You know I […]

Kelly, which was designed by Automattic’s own Kelly Hoffman, is an inviting, fun theme for bloggers of all stripes. Its clean, one-column layout makes it perfect for text-heavy posts, but can be just as ideal for a tumblelog-like stream of images.

With bold featured images, the ability to customize the header and the background, and three widget areas in the site’s footer, you can make it your own with just a few quick tweaks. Here are some examples of the theme’s versatility.

Curated Style

Curated Style, a Toronto-centered fashion blog, makes great use of Kelly‘s out-of-the-box look. The theme’s cursive font in the header injects a stylish playfulness, while the generous white space in the posts makes the images of Toronto’s fashion scene stand out.

The blogger behind Curated Style effortlessly added a few personal touches, like a patterned custom header image, a splash of bright pink in the custom background, and an easy-to-navigate custom menu.

The Lens Less Traveled

Created by a photoblogger based in the Southeast (of the US), The Lens Less Traveled shows how radically different Kelly can look with just a few small changes.

The site uses a more neutral palette than the theme’s trademark bright greens and pinks, as well as a serif custom font instead of the default cursive. The focus is squarely on the gorgeous photography, like the picture above, taken in a state park in Georgia. The splashy featured image in each post creates a particularly striking effect, drawing viewers in and enticing them to explore more.

Lorenzo Setale

Taking Kelly in a very different direction than its default design, Italian software developer and entrepreneur Lorenzo Setale recognized the theme’s inherent strengths, and used them to create a tailor-made look for his site.

The dark background and sans serif font join forces to become a modern, clean canvas for Lorenzo’s thoughts, while the theme’s original focus on readability and balance stay as effective as ever.

Have you customized Kelly as well? Is there another theme you’d like to see featured in this series? We’d love to hear your input!

We're launching two new themes this week -- one free and one premium -- check them out!

Sarah Beth Durst, author of Cybils Fantasy and Science Fiction finalist Into the Wild, has an ongoing feature on her blog where she posts obscure fairy tales with humorous commentary. Last week she posted a hilarious version of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale, Snow White and Rose Red. If you want a good laugh, check it out!

A few weeks ago, on a rush of inspiration, I suddenly had the desire to create live-action book trailers. I'd seen some online previously that day, and they struck me as very cool for two main reasons:

1) They help promote books, which I am passionate about.
2) They have to do with acting/filming/directing, those sorts of things - all of which I am passionate about.

That night I wrote the outlines for three book trailers. Last week my friend Traci who is also passionate about the above things was visiting from out-of-state, and I said, "Do you want to make a book trailer?" So we did.

Here, then, is our by-no-means-perfect-but-my-did-we-have-fun
-making-it book trailer for Into the Wild by Sarah Beth Durst:


Music credits: Danny Elfman and Vanessa Carlton

So much more work went into it then most of you will guess at (easiest part: filming it, medium difficulty: editing it, hardest part: adding music), but at least I am happy with the way it turned out. For fun, we tried to include a copy of the book in as many shots as possible. We managed to insert it into four scenes. (See if you can spot them all!) I also tried to include as many lines taken straight from the book as possible, but obviously I had to write some of it myself.

By the way, if you liked the trailer, and if you happen to have a YouTube account, I would be very grateful if you would head over and leave a rating and/or comment on the video. Muchos gracias.

Here's to many more book trailers!

**EDITED** Razorbill (the publisher) linked here on their website! Woo-hoo! Thanks, Razorbill!

Sunday, Aug 19 4:20pm:
As I type, we’re roaring down the New York Throughway past Exit 31 to Utica, NY. Karen is blasting the Lemonheads album It’s a Shame About Ray, the album that gave us our son's name (after Evan Dando, the singer/songwriter). Outside the window, it looks and feels like we’re almost home. So far our minivan has traveled almost 12,000 miles in 54 days, with only 2 sunsets left until we’re back at our little cape house in Wayland, MA. :-)

Let’s catch up:

MICHIGAN


On Tuesday we arrived in Michigan, where we stayed with our friend and Karen’s college housemate Kelly McDonnell (no nickname—go figure). It was a quick visit of only one night, and Kelly made us a delish BBQ and we pretty much just hung out—just what we needed. Thanks, Kelly!

The next day we were off to meet the pastor who married us eleven years ago. We hadn’t seen Father Lew Towler since September of 1996, but we called and asked if he wanted to meet us for coffee—and he said yes! So…we were psyched to drop by and say hello. :-) First, some quick background on our wedding:


We were married in Wickford, RI in the Old Narragansett Church, a tiny, 200-year-old colonial church built in 1707. The wedding took place in a hurricane (Hurricane Fran) so it poured with rain and roared with thunder and lightning and was very dramatic. For our reception afterwards, guests dressed up as either something Latin (Karen’s family is from Argentina) or something English (my family is from England). So people came as burritos, teabags, mad cows, banditos—you get the idea. Anyway, here are a couple of pictures, including one of Father Lew dressed in some kind of British military outfit (he’s on the left, next to my father). Father Lew is a fun and funny guy:


So…here we are with Father Lew eleven years later—with his dog, Bella. Lew moved from RI to Ann Arbor, MI in 2000-ish. It was so cool to meet him again. Still a warm, sweet guy. Terrific to see you again, Father Lew! :-)


By the way, Ann Arbor was great—a busy college town with a lot of coffee shops. We wished we could have stayed there longer.


ORIGAMI AND CRISPY NOODLE SNACKS IN WEST BLOOMFIELD, MI



That night we stayed with our friends Greg and Tomie, their kids Alex, Amelia, and Skyler. Here’s Evan:

EVAN: This was a very enjoyable part of the trip because we got to try Japanese snacks like chocolate covered macadamia nuts and crispy noodle snacks, and we played Japanese video games and it was very relaxing. Alex was very nice. He taught us how to make origami boxes and he played a lot of games with us. Greg and Tomie made us a very good dinner of roasted chicken and a great breakfast too.

Thanks, Greg and Tomie, Alex, Amelia and Skyler!


O CANADA!

We had a quick and easy ride passage through customs and then, on Friday, we arrived in Ontario, Canada.




LAKE HURON

We were lucky enough to spend a couple days visiting our friends Philippa and Steve and their son Dylan (Look, Daddy! Actual Canadians!) on their lake house near Bayfield, Ontario on beautiful, amazing, magical Lake Huron. It perfect and relaxing:


Here’s something weird about me: I keep a list of the very best years, months, weeks, days and hours of my life. Apart from the obvious births, weddings, etc., my list includes things like the day I spent writing in the shade overlooking a coffee farm in Costa Rica, and the three hours I spent in Tijuana in April of 1996 – these are some of the best, best times of my life. This trip will definitely go on the list, of course. But in particular I’ll also have a separate entry for the two hours I spent on Saturday morning reading on Phil and Steve’s porch. It was fantastic. I took a picture – here I am, enjoying Harry Potter 7 and just listening to the waves:



Thanks, Phil and Steve!

THE VILLAGE BOOKSHOP

The village of Bayfield, Ontario is home to a friendly independent bookstore with a devoted following of local readers. Right on the main thoroughfare of town, the store gets its share of tourist traffic, and it also hosts many author visits including big-name Canadian authors like Margaret Atwood and Jane Urquhart. Here I am with bookseller Mary Wolfe. Thanks for your support, Mary! It was great to meet you!



LUCY IS STUNG BY A CANADIAN BEE

In the park in Bayfield, Lucy was stung on the shoulder by a Canadian bee. Lucy was very brave, and screamed only briefly.  A pastry from the local bakery worked miracles.  Bzzzz, eh?  (Something to ponder:  Due to the exchange rate, are Canadian bees only 90% as painful as U.S. bees?)




TORONTO, ¿QUE PASA?

As it turns out, everyone in Toronto speaks Spanish. At least everyone I met there did. We stayed with Karen’s cousins Victor and Betty, and their lovely family—they’re all from Argentina, Venezuela, and parts thereabouts. Here’s Karen.

KAREN: Wow! I never expected to do a US road trip and to find myself in Toronto at a “Parrillada” with my extended family from Argentina! It was awesome! For those of you who don’t know, a Parrillada is a giant barbecue with beef, sausages etc (many types of meat are cooked in a special Argentine way and are very, very tasty!) I officially vote my cousin Victor as the Supreme Parrillada Chef!! I met my cousin Andrea who lives in Montreal (Victor and Betty’s Daughter…Ana, Andrea’s sister is in Belgium..hi Ana!). I also met Andres, a cousin that I haven’t seen since I was a wee little child! There were lots of other cousins there too. We all ate, drank lots of wine, and spoke in Spanish. Mark held his own really well, did you know that he speaks Spanish too? I can’t wait to go back! Besos a todos!!




Another trip through customs--including a looooong, sloooow traffic jam to get across the border--and we’re back in the U.S.A! :-)


NEW YORK



NIAGARA FALLS

We stopped in Niagara Falls this morning. It was rainy and crowded, and the surrounding streets looked disturbingly like Las Vegas. But you can’t see that in the photo:



This part was written the following day...Monday, Aug 20 6:30pm:
FLYING PIGS FARM



We arrived last night in Shushan, NY on the far eastern border of the state. It's a green, hilly area that looks like something out of the old sitcom where Bob Newhart used to run a hotel. (I know, I know…that was Vermont not New York--but Vermont is almost literally a stone’s throw away!). It’s also the home of Flying Pigs Farm, which is owned and run by my friends Jennifer Small and Mike Yezzi—I grew up with Jennifer in Barrington, RI and have known her since kindergarten. We were lucky enough to spend a day there. It truly felt like something out of Dick and Jane Go to the Farm. There were pigs and cows and roosters and all the other usual suspects. Evan even got to do some chores, and we all stepped in plenty of animal poop. It was so much fun! Here’s Evan:

EVAN: There were lots of pigs and chickens and three cows. I got to collect the eggs from the chicken roosts. Some of the chickens were vicious, but I wore a glove to protect my hand. One of the chickens pecked at an egg in the egg basket and ate the inside. That chicken was a cannibal! Or was it a chicken-ibal?!



It was great to see you, Jen and Mike! Thanks for a memorable day on the farm!


VERMONT


NORTHSHIRE BOOKSTORE

We've just finished our final official book stop—Northshire Bookstore is a fantastic, big independent in Manchester Center, Vermont. They obviously had one heck of a Harry Potter event because in addition to having an entire “stone” entrance to Hogwarts, they also had a giant Sorting Hat and an absolutely humungous spider. Here I am with event coordinator Linda Ellingsworth and general manager Chris Morrow. Thanks, guys, for making my last official bookstore stop so much fun!



But hang on…we’re still not quite done with the trip yet! There’s one more day to go!

Next blog entry: The Berkshires, home, and deep questions like, “Oh my God! Did We Really Just Drive 13,000 miles?” and “Holy Crap, Was It All Worth It?”

Best,
--Mark

LEMONADE MOUTH (Delacorte Press, 2007)
I AM THE WALLPAPER (Delacorte Press, 2005)
www.markpeterhughes.com

I have a desk! Which I suppose means it's time to stop writing checks and start writing books and freelance articles again.

For your viewing pleasure, I thought I'd show you some before and after photos of my basement writing lair. Bear in mind I still don't have most of my office furniture (ie, the filing cabinets, the hutch and printer unit thingie) but at least...at least I have a desk :>)

1) So here's what the basement looked like when I did my building inspection back in March:



2) and here it is from a different angle:



3) and here's me wondering where the heck I'm going to put all my books:




Ok, so here's the not yet completed but we're getting there photos:

1) My desk (same wall as picture one above)



2) Bookshelves! not to mention Gorgeous Daughter!!! (same wall as picture 2 above)



3) MORE BOOKSHELVES!!! (same wall as picture with me wondering where I'm going to put my books)



I'm looking forward to getting the rest of the office furniture so I can finish unpacking boxes. But the desk is the critical thing.

It's been a busy, busy weekend chez saraclaradara My sister and brother in law were out with the kids, and it was my nephew Big D's 3rd birthday. We had a barbecue with the neighbors Saturday night and then went to the beach today with Grandma and Grandpa followed by a rather wonderful Cars cake. I'm just a bit exhausted because my 9 month old nephew slept in my bed with me (joined at 2am by his mother when he started crying) and then the birthday boy came in at 6am. As the mother of a previously early bird teenager who now has to be forcibly pried out of bed at 10:30, I'm not used to these hours anymore.

Plus I stayed up till 1:30 finishing "Suite Francaise" by Irene Nemirovsky, which I HIGHLY recommend. Irene Nemirovsky was an accomplished Jewish writer of Russian origin whose family emigrated to France during the Russian revolution. Suite Francaise was supposed to be comprised of five parts, but she'd only written the first two, "Storm in June" (about the fall of the Maginot line and the German defeat of the French in 1940) and "Dolce" about the early part of the Occupation in 1941 up until the Germans invaded Russia.

Although she'd made extensive notes about the other parts, in 1942 she was sent to Auschwitz where she perished.

When I finished this book early this morning I felt the same sense of loss and anger that I felt when I re-read The Diary of Anne Frank for the umpteenth time, but this time as an adult. The insight. The exquisite writing. The depth of this talent...lost. All lost. It makes me want to cry right now writing about it. I want to read the three additional parts of Suite Francaise Irene Nemirovsky had planned. I want to know how she would have ended it if the Nazis hadn't murdered her.

Knopf are publishing a newly discovered, unpublished novel of hers in Fall 2007 called "Fire in the Blood". I can't wait to read it. I'm sure I'll be filled with these feelings of loss and regret and anger all over again when I do.

On a happier reading note, I'm about 2/3 the way through the arc of "Zen and the Art of Faking It", Jordan Sonnenblick's new novel, which I'm enjoying tremendously. As always, Jordan's created a really likeable character with great voice.

After that I'm going to read Debby Garfinkle's Stuck in the 70's, which I've been dying to read and which has an awesome cover IMHO, and then Into the Wild by my TADN friend Sarah Beth Durst. So many books! So many boxes still to unpack! So little time!!

Into the Wild
by Sarah Beth Durst

Julie is just an ordinary teen, except for a few tiny things. Like the fact that her mother is Rapunzel, her brother is Puss in Boots and her grandmother is a Wicked Witch. And where most teens might have dirty clothes under their bed, Julie has The Wild - a tangle of vines which is all that remains of the fairy tale world after the fairy tale characters escaped. The Wild may be confined, but it's not tame - it constantly seeks to find a way to escape and grow and take over. So when someone makes a wish, The Wild escapes, and chaos and mayhem ensue. Julie's mother and grandmother are missing in the Wild, along with many of the residents of the town. Julie ventures into The Wild to rescue her family. Julie has to try to find a way to defeat The Wild before she, too, becomes trapped in a fairy tale forever.

Into the Wild is an amazing, wild, romp of an adventure. There have been a spate of fairy tale related YA novels in recent years, but Into the Wild is a truly unique entry in the genre. Like many of the others, Into the Wild, is humorous: imagine Cinderella as a bottle-blond named Cindy, who drives an orange Subaru and wears clear plastic jelly shoes. But the humor isn't what distinguishes Into the Wild. What really sets it apart is that Durst truly gets - and truly conveys to the reader - the darkness in the old fairy tales, not only the obvious darkness of having to dance in red-hot iron shoes, but the darkness of happily ever after. Imagine being trapped in a destiny that you can't change, of being unable to determine your own course no matter what you do. It's that destiny that makes marrying the prince as horrifying a fate as being cooked in an oven. Into the Wild makes clear the difference between true happiness and happily-ever-after.

Julie is a wonderful protagonist. She's likable and spunky, smart and brave. She comes across as a real teen, which is crucial to set the contrast with the two-dimensional fairy tale world.

Durst is a talented writer and I think she has a bright future ahead of her (but hopefully not happily ever after!) The book has already received rave reviews from numerous other sources. I'll be looking forward to other books by her in the future.

Into the Wild will be released on June 21, 2007.