I wasn’t posting today, but…

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February 19, 2008

8:42 pm

5 Comments on I wasn’t posting today, but…

On Writing, Random Notes and Errata

…Sometimes, the world just MAKES YOU post.

Okay: via Robin‘s blog? The cast photos of the Cullens on Stephanie Meyer’s site — ARE WRONG. First, they look more anorexic and cold than gloriously beautiful and freeze-glowing. Second, it’s just… Twilight, okay? That whole Edward-and-Bella thing that gives me hives. ‘Nough said. And can someone tell me why Edward looks so darned annoyed? We’re the ones who are supposed to be annoyed. They’re supposed to be perfect and inhumanly beautiful. They just look hipshot, cold and pissed.

Speaking of pissed, I think this goes way beyond it, into Herr Horn Book’s list of “You Are SO Going to Hell:” The NY Times ran a piece about Cathy’s Book: If Found Call (650)266-8233, the YA mysteryesque novel we ranted about quite a while back, which dropped more brand names than a mall storefront. This article also discusses a new book series aimed at the marketing demographic of “tween” (which is a neologism for between and preteen, and covers the span between ages eight and twelve), which will contain massive product placement on various levels. The article quotes a head of children’s publishing at HarperCollins who claims “corporate sponsorship or some sort of advertising is totally embedded in the world that tweens live in. It gives us another opportunity for authenticity.”

Authenticity?!

Adults in the United States are going bankrupt by the thousands per year and people, striving to find and have the best of the best of the best are going nuts trying to keep up with the newest techie gadget and living WELL beyond their means, but that’s simply not enough, apparently. Let’s roll with giving our readers aged 8-12 more authenticity. Every tween must self-identify as a consumer…. starting… NOW!

As one of the myriad kids with parents who didn’t have the money to keep me in Gap and Guess? this makes me sick — with fear, actually. Does anyone really need to encourage a generation of self-loathing tweens? Why push kids faster down the slope toward being unhappy with what they have?

Oh, wait. I remember. Money.

I’m with Roger. I’m smelling sulphur.

Finally, via Anastasia@Ypulse, employers in Oz are SERIOUSLY seeing graduating teens using text-slang and gamer-speak in their job applications. I’d laugh — this wud b such a gud joke …u kno whut? its 2 sad 2b funny.

nywayz…

All content (unless otherwise attributed) is © Copyright Tanita S. Davis and may not be reproduced in any form.

Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet : The Blogtour Continues…

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February 19, 2008

8:26 pm

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Happenings, On Writing

“New Orleans has such a deep history—from the food to the architecture, it is unique in all the world. That’s one of the reasons I set Sparrow in New Orleans—it’s a city everyone should experience at least once. After the initial outpouring of aid, the country seems to have forgotten the Gulf Coast, but they are at least ten years away from being “okay” again. I will return New Orleans again, in person and in my books, in hopes of keeping the city alive in people’s thoughts.”

Sherri’s Hot, Sour, Salty Sweet Blogtour continues today at Bildungsroman. Keep your eyes peeled for the results of our book drawing, and don’t miss the rest of Sherri’s tour:

February 21, 2008 @ The YA YA YAs
February 26, 2008 @ Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
February 28, 2008 @ The Brown Bookshelf.

All content (unless otherwise attributed) is © Copyright Tanita S. Davis and may not be reproduced in any form.

And on TOP of this, Spiderwick isn't yet showing in the UK.

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February 17, 2008

10:12 am

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On Writing, Soapbox

Okay, kids: teensy, teensy, tiny rant.
Via SF Signal, I came across a post by SF/F author Nancy Kress. Kress is a SF/F writer of some renown (her Hugo and Nebula Awarded Beggars in Spain landed highly recommended in my TBR pile), who a.] admittedly hadn’t read any YA since she was “about ll,” (since according to Wikipedia, she was born in 1948, was some time ago) and, b.] is “supposed to be thinking about a proposal for a YA SF novel.”

Okay. She’s an adult SF/F writer crossing over into YA, and is now going to read YA lit to find out what it’s about… so she can write it. Okay. She’s doing her homework. Everyone has to start somewhere.

She picks up Black Holly’s Valiant…

“Now, I was not expecting Nancy Drew. But… surely this sort of behavior isn’t very common? Is it something you’d want your ten-year-old reading? (YA is supposedly for 12-15-year-olds, but in fact younger kids who are good readers consume most of it.) Yes, fiction is about stuff that isn’t necessarily common, but is this level of brutality and the number of “unhealthy relationships” (to resort to psychobabble for a moment) typical of all YA fiction?”

I felt the need to respond, absolutely. And though I am a Black Holly fangirl to the bone, I tried to be mature and respectful and answer objectively. I encouraged her in her first impulse to read more to see what YA is actually all about. I respectfully hope she does.

The thing is, there seemed to be… an attitude of disdain and some sort of moral… somethingitude in that post that set me on edge. (Contempt? Contempt prior to investigation?) Upon what does she base her assertion about good middle grade readers “consuming most of it,” especially as she’s not been into the genre for over forty years? I am not yet sure if the author was even asking a genuine question; there was a mincing superiority in the tone, as if she examined the distastefully unhealthy YA genre from a distance. She said nothing about the plot, characterization or story arc. She said nothing about Holly Black’s writing. I got a big feeling of “eew!” from the whole post, and thought, “Why, then, does she even want to take on this project?”

And so, my tiny rant: when so many people want to get into YA lit, or break into print in SF/F, to hear a writer who is having an opportunity handed to her read one book and then turn up her nose — at all of YA?!?! Annoys me.

It just does.

All content (unless otherwise attributed) is © Copyright Tanita S. Davis and may not be reproduced in any form.

And on TOP of this, Spiderwick isn’t yet showing in the UK.

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February 17, 2008

10:12 am

7 Comments on And on TOP of this, Spiderwick isn’t yet showing in the UK.

On Writing, Soapbox

Okay, kids: teensy, teensy, tiny rant.
Via SF Signal, I came across a post by SF/F author Nancy Kress. Kress is a SF/F writer of some renown (her Hugo and Nebula Awarded Beggars in Spain landed highly recommended in my TBR pile), who a.] admittedly hadn’t read any YA since she was “about ll,” (since according to Wikipedia, she was born in 1948, was some time ago) and, b.] is “supposed to be thinking about a proposal for a YA SF novel.”

Okay. She’s an adult SF/F writer crossing over into YA, and is now going to read YA lit to find out what it’s about… so she can write it. Okay. She’s doing her homework. Everyone has to start somewhere.

She picks up Black Holly’s Valiant…

“Now, I was not expecting Nancy Drew. But… surely this sort of behavior isn’t very common? Is it something you’d want your ten-year-old reading? (YA is supposedly for 12-15-year-olds, but in fact younger kids who are good readers consume most of it.) Yes, fiction is about stuff that isn’t necessarily common, but is this level of brutality and the number of “unhealthy relationships” (to resort to psychobabble for a moment) typical of all YA fiction?”

I felt the need to respond, absolutely. And though I am a Black Holly fangirl to the bone, I tried to be mature and respectful and answer objectively. I encouraged her in her first impulse to read more to see what YA is actually all about. I respectfully hope she does.

The thing is, there seemed to be… an attitude of disdain and some sort of moral… somethingitude in that post that set me on edge. (Contempt? Contempt prior to investigation?) Upon what does she base her assertion about good middle grade readers “consuming most of it,” especially as she’s not been into the genre for over forty years? I am not yet sure if the author was even asking a genuine question; there was a mincing superiority in the tone, as if she examined the distastefully unhealthy YA genre from a distance. She said nothing about the plot, characterization or story arc. She said nothing about Holly Black’s writing. I got a big feeling of “eew!” from the whole post, and thought, “Why, then, does she even want to take on this project?”

And so, my tiny rant: when so many people want to get into YA lit, or break into print in SF/F, to hear a writer who is having an opportunity handed to her read one book and then turn up her nose — at all of YA?!?! Annoys me.

It just does.

All content (unless otherwise attributed) is © Copyright Tanita S. Davis and may not be reproduced in any form.

Born To Set Margins

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February 16, 2008

7:00 pm

1 Comment on Born To Set Margins

Ethnicity and YA Literature, On Writing, Random Notes and Errata, Writing Daze

natalie deenataliedee.com

Happy Weekend!
Just a few dispatches from booknerd central:

Via SF Signal, those who review SF/F books will want to take note of a writer’s project. S.M. Duke requests: What I’m asking is this: For every book you read in the SF or F genre, take a note of which ethnic, religious, social groups are present within a work in a significant way. What this means is if the main character or a significant character is White, Black, or Asian, then write that down. The same applies to religions and significant social groups (feminists, ACLU types, etc.). They must be significant presences, not just a mention. If there is a strong Catholic presence, say so. If you don’t know what religion is present, but there is one, just say unknown…I’d like to address gender too. Mention main characters that are male or female and secondary, but significant characters that are male or female (make them separate to differentiate). This will allow me to gather as much data as I can on this.

A lot of time is spent talking about racial disparities in literature, especially SF/F. Could it be that someone now is going to do something about it? Hmmm!

Meanwhile, Jen Robinson now has eyes!

All content (unless otherwise attributed) is © Copyright Tanita S. Davis and may not be reproduced in any form.

Poetry Friday: Love…Word

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February 15, 2008

12:15 pm

10 Comments on Poetry Friday: Love…Word

On Writing, Poetry Friday

“To His Lover, That She Be Not Overdressed”

And why take ye thought for raiment?
—Matthew 6:28

The lilies of the field
That neither toil nor spin
Stand dazzlingly revealed
In not a thing but skin

And in that radiant state
Sheer essences they wear.
Take heed, my fashion plate.
Be so arrayed. Go bare.

© X.J. Kennedy, The Lords of Misrule: Poems 1992-2002
(Johns Hopkins University Press).

There probably isn’t a better gift for a logophile or linguist than witticisms and wordplay – the clever kind or the chocolate version of such. Verbal calisthenics are usually more fun than the physical kind, and poet X.J. Kennedy’s wry disingenuity makes me chuckle. How can I not like a guy who published his own science fiction magazine, Terrifying Test-Tube Tales, at age twelve?

Eat. Words. Love. Yum. Found the cool chocolate at Fritinancy. More mouth-watering poetry to be found at Hip Writer Mama‘s. Have a great weekend and enjoy ferreting out the last of the chocolate hearts… you must eat them all before it’s time to hide the chocolate eggs, after all. (!)

All content (unless otherwise attributed) is © Copyright Tanita S. Davis and may not be reproduced in any form.

VD

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February 14, 2008

10:54 pm

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Soapbox

Ah, Valentine’s Day. A day of the year which, when I am forced to go out among my fellow man, I can look upon them freely with unmitigated disgust. At least in the UK nobody is wearing pink or anything foul like that. Elle calls today “VD,” and it ever puts me in mind of a class of diseases…

*Sigh* Is it so wrong that I’ve had so much fun with this heart generator? I have a feeling I have far more conversational epithets to hurl… All for a good cause, though, right? I mean, it’s Valentine’s Day…

Slings 'n' Arrows

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February 14, 2008

10:12 am

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On Writing, Random Notes and Errata

You know, I love the blogosphere because it provides the belief that there’s someone else out there who is cranky like me. Big A little a had to fortify herself with espresso whilst wearing all black in order to review the floridly floral looking Bloom, which, as Jules assured us yesterday, is delightful. On this day of ultimate goopiness, I, too, take refuge in an all-black wardrobe, lots of coffee, and, well, you know, sarcasm. The only BitterSweet “conversational” candies I’ve approved of come in flavors such as Banana Chalk, Pink Sand and Fossilized Antacid (because isn’t that what all of those nasty candies taste like anyway?). I’m just not in love with love, Hallmark-style, y’know? But that’s okay.

‘Cause I AM in love with a good story. And have been waiting eagerly to see the results of the 2007 Cybils Awards, which have been announced. The people who were on the SF/F panel suffered through all of this in December — but CONGRATULATIONS Shannon Hale and Adam Rex, from all of us on SF/F Nominating Panel! It was SO hard for us to choose — Judges, you did the REALLY hard work, and you rock, hard.

By way of one of Miss Erin’s great lists of “things making me happy right now,” I stumbled across crazycool author Lisa Graff beauty experiment, and have watched in amused horror as treats her acne with… eyedrops? and soaks her feet in …soymilk? and other bizarre things. She dropped by Miss Erin’s on Tuesday, and don’t miss her at MotherReader’s on Wednesday and continues to chat about her new book and other random stuff (including The BERNETTA WALLFLOWER Con Artist Giveaway) today at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.

Via Jen Robinson’s Book Page I’ve found a great podcast with Mark at Just One More Book! – he’s interviewing the author of the Anne prequel. Ach, the sacrilege! Oh, okay, fine, maybe it’s not quite sacrilege per se, but I’m making a whole bunch of you read the prequel before I do. (I’m looking at you, Little Willow. You too, Jen.) If the new book ruins everything, I don’t want to look.

This is surprisingly happy news indeed: Black Holly and Tony DiTerlizzi are HAPPY WITH THE WAY SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES CAME TO FILM. Could this be a first!?!? There’s hope, then, for the rest of great kid’s books turned into film, then. Maybe. According to Sci-Fi Wire, Holly believes they got the family dynamics right, and added, “We actually did get to see all the scripts and give our feedback and give our thoughts, and they listened to us. And when they agreed with us, hopefully we were in some ways useful.” The film opens, for you lucky ducks in the U.S., today. No spoilers ’til I’ve seen it, ‘kay? (Via ReadersRead Blog.)

If you love, love, LOVE Meg Cabot (and okay, in your secret romanticizing heart of hearts — you know you do), run on over to the Three Librarians – she’s in the hot seat over at the YA YA YAs.

And, via SF Signal, if you love your comic and graphic icons, check out SF Universe’s list of 10 Greatest Black Superheroes. Yay, Green Lantern! Whoo!

Literaticat is in need of …affirmations. Send them, won’t you please? (Try and spell them correctly, though.)

FRIDAY IS THE DAY we close the comments for our Tuesday book giveaway. Drop by our conversation with author Sherri L. Smith, and be sure to put in your thoughts. We’ve had some really interesting dialogue on the topic of race and ethnicity in writing, about “representing” and being genuine. What say you?

And speaking of affirmations, we’re really lucky to be in the middle of the cool, bright, opinionated, talented people like yourselves, people, who like a. fortis and me, are accomplished at making stuff up. So, go on and give yourself one of those nasty chalky hearts, from us. Make one here (oh, stop bellyaching, they DO have them in nausea-inducing pastels, too) or pulverize a few and see if they aren’t more useful for drawing stick figures on the sidewalk.

All content (unless otherwise attributed) is © Copyright Tanita S. Davis and may not be reproduced in any form.

Slings ‘n’ Arrows

by

February 14, 2008

10:12 am

8 Comments on Slings ‘n’ Arrows

On Writing, Random Notes and Errata

You know, I love the blogosphere because it provides the belief that there’s someone else out there who is cranky like me. Big A little a had to fortify herself with espresso whilst wearing all black in order to review the floridly floral looking Bloom, which, as Jules assured us yesterday, is delightful. On this day of ultimate goopiness, I, too, take refuge in an all-black wardrobe, lots of coffee, and, well, you know, sarcasm. The only BitterSweet “conversational” candies I’ve approved of come in flavors such as Banana Chalk, Pink Sand and Fossilized Antacid (because isn’t that what all of those nasty candies taste like anyway?). I’m just not in love with love, Hallmark-style, y’know? But that’s okay.

‘Cause I AM in love with a good story. And have been waiting eagerly to see the results of the 2007 Cybils Awards, which have been announced. The people who were on the SF/F panel suffered through all of this in December — but CONGRATULATIONS Shannon Hale and Adam Rex, from all of us on SF/F Nominating Panel! It was SO hard for us to choose — Judges, you did the REALLY hard work, and you rock, hard.

By way of one of Miss Erin’s great lists of “things making me happy right now,” I stumbled across crazycool author Lisa Graff beauty experiment, and have watched in amused horror as treats her acne with… eyedrops? and soaks her feet in …soymilk? and other bizarre things. She dropped by Miss Erin’s on Tuesday, and don’t miss her at MotherReader’s on Wednesday and continues to chat about her new book and other random stuff (including The BERNETTA WALLFLOWER Con Artist Giveaway) today at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.

Via Jen Robinson’s Book Page I’ve found a great podcast with Mark at Just One More Book! – he’s interviewing the author of the Anne prequel. Ach, the sacrilege! Oh, okay, fine, maybe it’s not quite sacrilege per se, but I’m making a whole bunch of you read the prequel before I do. (I’m looking at you, Little Willow. You too, Jen.) If the new book ruins everything, I don’t want to look.

This is surprisingly happy news indeed: Black Holly and Tony DiTerlizzi are HAPPY WITH THE WAY SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES CAME TO FILM. Could this be a first!?!? There’s hope, then, for the rest of great kid’s books turned into film, then. Maybe. According to Sci-Fi Wire, Holly believes they got the family dynamics right, and added, “We actually did get to see all the scripts and give our feedback and give our thoughts, and they listened to us. And when they agreed with us, hopefully we were in some ways useful.” The film opens, for you lucky ducks in the U.S., today. No spoilers ’til I’ve seen it, ‘kay? (Via ReadersRead Blog.)

If you love, love, LOVE Meg Cabot (and okay, in your secret romanticizing heart of hearts — you know you do), run on over to the Three Librarians – she’s in the hot seat over at the YA YA YAs.

And, via SF Signal, if you love your comic and graphic icons, check out SF Universe’s list of 10 Greatest Black Superheroes. Yay, Green Lantern! Whoo!

Literaticat is in need of …affirmations. Send them, won’t you please? (Try and spell them correctly, though.)

FRIDAY IS THE DAY we close the comments for our Tuesday book giveaway. Drop by our conversation with author Sherri L. Smith, and be sure to put in your thoughts. We’ve had some really interesting dialogue on the topic of race and ethnicity in writing, about “representing” and being genuine. What say you?

And speaking of affirmations, we’re really lucky to be in the middle of the cool, bright, opinionated, talented people like yourselves, people, who like a. fortis and me, are accomplished at making stuff up. So, go on and give yourself one of those nasty chalky hearts, from us. Make one here (oh, stop bellyaching, they DO have them in nausea-inducing pastels, too) or pulverize a few and see if they aren’t more useful for drawing stick figures on the sidewalk.

All content (unless otherwise attributed) is © Copyright Tanita S. Davis and may not be reproduced in any form.