AMAZON'S GIANT NEW warehouse in Swansea may be the size of 10 football pitches, but bulk stock of various best-selling Hachette group titles are still not to be found inside as the retailer's dispute with the publisher continues. As PN went to press, 'Buy New' buttons for Kate Mosse's Labyrinth(Orion), Stephen King's Duma Key (Hodder), James Patterson's The 6th Target (Headline) and Michael Connelly's The Overlook (Orion) had still not been reinstated, more than a month after they were first removed. However, the 'Buy New' button for Richard & Judy pick No Time for Goodbye (Orion) had reappeared, demonstrating, perhaps, that Hachette has the upper hand: this title is too important to be left to Amazon Marketplace.
Amazon dispute: New warehouse but 'battle of buttons' rages, Publishing News online
27 June 2008
In Today's News:
A rock'n'roll book club
But Franz Ferdinand have always been different. It's not like they are flamboyantly intellectual, but in a world where it's alleged that Noel Gallagher has read just one book, they are not afraid of literature, and books have even influenced their songwriting. Love and Destroy a B-side to Michael was inspired by The Master and Magarita and singer Alex Kapranos has published a collection of food writing (taken from his Guardian column).
A rock'n'roll book club by Penny Anderson, The Guardian, 24JUN08
A rock'n'roll book club by Penny Anderson, The Guardian, 24JUN08
26 June 2008
Random Question #9
Or not so random. We're currently halfway through the year. Where do you stand with your goals and objectives?
Do you periodically step back and evaluate where you are with the goals and resolutions you made at the beginning of the year? Why or why not?
Do you periodically step back and evaluate where you are with the goals and resolutions you made at the beginning of the year? Why or why not?
25 June 2008
Addictive Stories
People are often surprised by the things that I read or watch on television. Apparently, my tastes are supposed to be much more high-brow than they are. Actually, I do like the finer things. I enjoy reading Shakespeare and listening to classical music and going to see live performances at the theatre. Many people do. I also enjoy pop culture. I like watching television shows that have no redeeming qualities whatsoever (think reality TV) other than the fact that they’re fun to watch and I enjoy them.
And then there are the things that exist between pop culture and high brow entertainment. These are the things that I, personally, in my egotistical moments, think everyone should experience. For the most part, things in this between category masquerade as pop culture -- because let’s be honest, that’s where the bucks are -- but have subtle layers that just make you laugh with delight. Sometimes, they’re evil. Sometimes, they’re insidious. Always, they are captivating and I can’t wait for the next page, the next episode, the next installment, because I absolutely, positively must know what happens.
In short, as reader, viewer, audience member, I am hooked.
Joss Whedon’s short-lived Firefly was one such. I only caught glimpses of it when it was on television, but after it was canceled, a friend bought me the DVD package as a present. I watched it all and spent the better part of a year griping at him for getting me hooked on something that was already canceled. He was very glad to be able to tell me when Serenity came out.
Books with this quality are the ones I stay up until three or four in the morning, when the alarm is set to go off at six or seven, reading and only stop reading when I can no longer keep my eyes open or my head upright. When I’m not able to read, I spend the time wanting to be able to read, to get back to the story and it’s characters and the world because I have to know what happens next. It becomes a moral imperative.
I sometimes beta for an author who writes books like that. Liam Jackson’s Offspring was a book that I could not put down. I had to read it and know what happened next. Back in January, I was introduced to Girl Genius, an online comic. I’ve found I feel the same way about it. When I was first introduced to it, it was in mid-story. I spent several days going back and reading all the back episodes, to get myself up to speed. While it started slow -- as comics often do -- I did feel compelled to read about the character and then… something shifted. The artist and storyteller took things up a notch and I became a Girl Genius addict. Everything else went by the wayside while I read at every available opportunity. When I reached the end of the archived material, I had the moment of saying, “That’s it? But what do I do now?” Other addicts laughed at me. They told me I would just have to wait for new material to be released like everybody else. Humph. Cruel, merciless people.
Naturally, I want to write something that people are addicted to like that. I want to write something that makes friends call one another up, read the open paragraph to prove that they go the newest release first, cackle maniacally, then hang up the phone. I want to write something where people have to know what happens next.
I’ve looked at Liam’s work and I can almost see how he does it. It goes beyond any individual component. It’s not about character or plot or genre. It’s not even about story. It, and this is just me working this through in my own mind, is more about the way the story is told. First, the author has a passion for it. Yes, they may enjoy the story itself, but there’s a passion that infuses the writing, the words, the way the things come through. It’s alive and vibrant and there is more, much more, than just the surface story going on. It’s layering but not in a deliberate, meta, I’m proving how smart I am sort of way. It’s a layering that reaches through time, through space, and adds depth to the work. The work is connected not just to the story being told, but it also has work from the past to act as its foundation. The canon of literature is interwoven throughout it. It’s also True, not real, but True. It speaks to the soul, to the essence of what it means to be human and it… I don’t know. I’m still puzzling it out.
What do you think? What work have you read that you think everyone should experience? What work have you become addicted to not as a writer but as a member of the audience?
And then there are the things that exist between pop culture and high brow entertainment. These are the things that I, personally, in my egotistical moments, think everyone should experience. For the most part, things in this between category masquerade as pop culture -- because let’s be honest, that’s where the bucks are -- but have subtle layers that just make you laugh with delight. Sometimes, they’re evil. Sometimes, they’re insidious. Always, they are captivating and I can’t wait for the next page, the next episode, the next installment, because I absolutely, positively must know what happens.
In short, as reader, viewer, audience member, I am hooked.
Joss Whedon’s short-lived Firefly was one such. I only caught glimpses of it when it was on television, but after it was canceled, a friend bought me the DVD package as a present. I watched it all and spent the better part of a year griping at him for getting me hooked on something that was already canceled. He was very glad to be able to tell me when Serenity came out.
Books with this quality are the ones I stay up until three or four in the morning, when the alarm is set to go off at six or seven, reading and only stop reading when I can no longer keep my eyes open or my head upright. When I’m not able to read, I spend the time wanting to be able to read, to get back to the story and it’s characters and the world because I have to know what happens next. It becomes a moral imperative.
I sometimes beta for an author who writes books like that. Liam Jackson’s Offspring was a book that I could not put down. I had to read it and know what happened next. Back in January, I was introduced to Girl Genius, an online comic. I’ve found I feel the same way about it. When I was first introduced to it, it was in mid-story. I spent several days going back and reading all the back episodes, to get myself up to speed. While it started slow -- as comics often do -- I did feel compelled to read about the character and then… something shifted. The artist and storyteller took things up a notch and I became a Girl Genius addict. Everything else went by the wayside while I read at every available opportunity. When I reached the end of the archived material, I had the moment of saying, “That’s it? But what do I do now?” Other addicts laughed at me. They told me I would just have to wait for new material to be released like everybody else. Humph. Cruel, merciless people.
Naturally, I want to write something that people are addicted to like that. I want to write something that makes friends call one another up, read the open paragraph to prove that they go the newest release first, cackle maniacally, then hang up the phone. I want to write something where people have to know what happens next.
I’ve looked at Liam’s work and I can almost see how he does it. It goes beyond any individual component. It’s not about character or plot or genre. It’s not even about story. It, and this is just me working this through in my own mind, is more about the way the story is told. First, the author has a passion for it. Yes, they may enjoy the story itself, but there’s a passion that infuses the writing, the words, the way the things come through. It’s alive and vibrant and there is more, much more, than just the surface story going on. It’s layering but not in a deliberate, meta, I’m proving how smart I am sort of way. It’s a layering that reaches through time, through space, and adds depth to the work. The work is connected not just to the story being told, but it also has work from the past to act as its foundation. The canon of literature is interwoven throughout it. It’s also True, not real, but True. It speaks to the soul, to the essence of what it means to be human and it… I don’t know. I’m still puzzling it out.
What do you think? What work have you read that you think everyone should experience? What work have you become addicted to not as a writer but as a member of the audience?
20 June 2008
Not Forgotten
Hi, everyone.
I haven't forgotten this place. Or you. The last couple of months have been very busy. In May, it was the end of the semester, with all that entails, and the publishing of The Alchemist Review, the corresponding festival, etc. This month, I've been finally, and diligently, working on my thesis. After meeting with a professor who is finally giving me the direction and assistance I've been needing, I've abandoned the creative writing project in favor of an analytical thesis.
At this point, most of my conversation is involving fairy tales and Cinderella in particular, because that very much features into my thesis. There are so many versions of Cinderella littering my kitchen table, that it's not even funny. Not only that, there are more on their way to me.
Did you know that Cinderella is cited as the most widely known fairy tale with the most versions scattered across the world?
It's all very fascinating. You can expect more babbling about it, and other things, here. Aren't you excited?
I haven't forgotten this place. Or you. The last couple of months have been very busy. In May, it was the end of the semester, with all that entails, and the publishing of The Alchemist Review, the corresponding festival, etc. This month, I've been finally, and diligently, working on my thesis. After meeting with a professor who is finally giving me the direction and assistance I've been needing, I've abandoned the creative writing project in favor of an analytical thesis.
At this point, most of my conversation is involving fairy tales and Cinderella in particular, because that very much features into my thesis. There are so many versions of Cinderella littering my kitchen table, that it's not even funny. Not only that, there are more on their way to me.
Did you know that Cinderella is cited as the most widely known fairy tale with the most versions scattered across the world?
It's all very fascinating. You can expect more babbling about it, and other things, here. Aren't you excited?
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