Pride and Prejudice board game! From the makers: "Play Pride and Prejudice the game…Pick a couple from the novel, answer trivia questions, then race to the church to get married." It looks like they only have the '95 mini version</a>. *cries* And I'm so tempted! I can see myself making my dad play. Fun stuff!

Ten Strange Things People Said to a Writer at a Book Signing Awww. After working in a bookstore and being asked if we had any books once a week, I was expecting more stupidity.

USA TODAY'S Book Buzz Highlights include: Janet Evanovich's book-signing injury; Denis Leary publishing a self-help book in which he addresses, in part, his lack of love for Dr. Phil; the next big hit by an "unknown" author.

Q & A with Diana Wynne Jones In which she speaks of Crestomanci, her new book, House of Many Ways, and people wanting to marry Howl. Also: Her next book! And! She might meet a giant insect one day!

Deborah Crombie (TX)
Jeffrey Deaver (AZ) (x 2)
Carolyn Haines (AL)
Deanna Raybourn (TX)


( A relatively short list )

Authors Herein:
Bob Adamov
Freya Katrina Ashby
Naomi Black
Rhys Bowen
Deborah Carr
Kathryn Casey
Megan Chance
Les Combs
Deborah Crombie
Jeffrey Deaver
Jo Dereske
Barbara Ehrenreich
Robert Friedman
Kathleen George
Patricia Probert Gott
Carolyn Haines
Julie Halpert
Erick Lyle // Iggy Scam
Nicole Mones
Gervase Phinn
Tyler Ramsay
Deanna Raybourn
Steve Roberts
James Rollins
Candi Sparks
Mark Stein
Robert Thurman
David Wroblewski

( Sign, sign, sign )

Tags: author signings

I don't know if anyone here might be interested, but Books-A-Million (and likely other bookstores) are now selling advance tickets for Christopher Paolini's Brisingr and Stephanie Meyer's Breaking Dawn. It also looks as if there will be Harry Potter-style parties when the books come out, much to my managers chagrin.

Just be sure to purchase the ticket (You can get the books up to 40% off this way). One of my coworkers handed a ticket to someone without realizing it was a stand-in for the book, and thus didn't scan the ticket into the computer. So come the release date, at least one person with a ticket isn't getting a book. DON'T LET IT BE YOU.


(And of course, if you hear of any author/book events, don't hesitate to post them. I rarely have the chance anymore. Anyone want to give me money for doing nothing but browsing online all day? No? Darn.)

Just a small news round-up.

Even though it's unlikely to do any good and by now Susan Cooper fans are only taking embarrassing photos of Walden Media employees (or just John Hodge and David L. Cunningham) to post online later (because at this point, the only thing we haven't done to express our displeasure over that travesty of an adaptation is rented a plane to write "HELL NO" in the skies above the Walden Media headquarters), there's a message board for the movie on Walden Media's own board where there's a bit of a poll — Should Walden Media adapt the rest of the books in the series? With The Seeker's poor performance in theaters, there's a chance that the future adaptations don't have a snowball's chance, but on the other hand, if the DVD does relatively well, WM could decide to make adaptations that would go straight to DVD. Of course, these adaptations would have to be very cheap.

Besides, whether it does much good or not, it still makes me feel better to vote. So no matter what you decide, here's the link. (Note: You will need an account with Walden Media to vote.)

As luck would have it, WM has another movie out soon, called Nim's Island. Here are some HQ photos. And we mustn't forget The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, where we don't just have yet more photos, we have news that Eddie Izzard will be voicing Reepicheep!

And one of the things I found in my Internet wanderings is this community dedicated to Tamora Pierce's books. If you like Tamora Pierce and Lolcats, this just might be your idea of heaven.

And scottishfae has found an entry other than the one I posted earlier. So while I'm researching the one I posted earlier, trying to find out if it's still on, here's one that's a definite, up on the college website and everything:

Nikki Giovanni
February 1, 2008
Foy Student Union
7:00 - 9:00 pm

In other news, it looks like Marion Cotillard will be joining Johnny Depp and Christian Bale in "Enemies," based on the book, Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-43, by Brian Burroughs. (Source)

Tags: nikki giovanni, susan cooper, tamora pierce

Finally, one in the South! Nikki Giovanni is heading to Auburn University February 17 (thanks to scottishfae for letting me know). Read more about it in our updated Author-Appearance post!

I found Tamora Pierce's blog(s) after looking for the release date for Terrier. I suspect she's a little like me during the writing process (i.e., easily distracted by the Internet). Her blog, as well as those you guys told me about, have been posted to the Authors' Blogs past.

If I don't watch it, this place might start to look vaguely organized!

One of the questions we get sometimes at the bookstore is "When is that third dragon book by that kid coming out?" And now, we've finally got an answer: The kid (who is now an adult), Christopher Paolini, has named the third book Brisingr, and it's due out September 20, 2008. Apparently, people are hoping there will be a Harry Potter-esque release party, so the publishers are releasing it at 12:01 on a Saturday morning. The first printing will be 2.5 million copies. Let's hope that's enough, and that things go better for Paolini than the movie adaptation. (Source.

Want dolls of some of your favorite literary characters? Check out this site, where you can get everything the The Golden Compass dolls action figures (they went with the movie, not the book, so no raven-haired Mrs. Coulter) t0 Nancy Drew.

Following the Cassie Edwards and the ferrets debacle, Nora Roberts offered to match any amount up to $5,000.00 that readers from Smart Bitches Who Read Trashy Books donated to the Defenders of Wildlife. The $5,000.00 has been raised and matched. It's nice to see something good coming out of plagiarism.

A new date (February 23) added to the Meet Some Authors schedule. The authors are Nora Roberts, Lisa Scottoline, Lani Diane Rich, Susan Fraser King, and Elaine Fox.

Does anyone want to help me post stuff here? They gave me more hours as the bookstore, and I won't always have time.

Tags: christopher paolini, inspired by authors, nora roberts

I have a ton of links to post that I haven't been posting, mostly because I've been at work. Which is kind of funny, since after posting these, I'm going to call work and ask why they haven't given me my paycheck (pay is a constant problem. Let's just say I'm looking for another job).

New Stills and Article for Prince Caspian.

Ken Watanabe joins Cirque du Freak.

Karen O talks about the soundtrack for Where the Wild Things Are. Normally I wouldn't have posted this one because it's so short and doesn't really say much, but that picture is hypnotic.

Hayden Panettiere cast in I Love You, Beth Cooper

Open Casting Call for Twilight. Then again, since I'm so horrible and posting this link, if you know anyone who might be interested (and hasn't seen the link in ONTD *kicks self*), get them to send in a tape. You never know.

(And now for some that haven't been brought to you by ONTD.)

Philip Pullman writes articles for The Guardian paper, discussing His Dark Materials.

Sex, class and exposing the heart of Jane Austen Andrew Davies tries to emphasize the physicality of the characters, because it's all about the sex(ual motive).

Inkheart will be delayed. I've updated the 2009 movie adaptations list accordingly (and, just as accordingly, forgot to update the 2008 movie adaptations list, drat it).

J.K. Rowling to deliver commencement speech at Harvard. Obviously, I went to the wrong school and graduated too soon. DARN IT.

And thanks to ashkitty, we have this, which is quite possibly the best translation of T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland I've ever read. LOL in your bed, makinz teh kiddles.

Off to get my pay sorted out, then my insurance, and then clean the house and then try to do a better job blogging. *has grand plans and no time*

Care to read blogs that actual authors have? Here's a list of some of the blogs I've found you might like:

( FUN STUFF )

I'd add more, but I'm tired right now, and I'm going to Auburn tomorrow to help out with an anime convention. If you're interested, stop by. It's free. It starts at ten in the morning and ends at ten at night.

In the meantime, if you can think of any blogs I've missed, feel free to mention them!

Tags: dave barry, diablo cody, e.e. knight, laurell k. hamilton, maureen johnson, meg cabot, neil gaiman, shannon hale, tamora pierce

Herein:

Libba Bray
Elaine Fox
Nikki Giovanni
Martha Grimes
Shannon Hale
Susan Fraser King
Lani Diane Rich
Nora Roberts
Lisa Scottoline

( My baby loves a bunch of authors... )

If you know of any others, let me know and I'll be sure to add them!

Tags: elaine fox, lani diane rich, libba bray, lisa scottoline, martha grimes, nikki giovanni, nora roberts, shannon hale, susan fraser king

OMG, two posts in one day? Why, yes. We've already done plagiarism today, so I thought we'd do some banned books today as well.

The latest banned book is Meg Cabot's Princess Diaries: Princess on the Brink. Most of you who know about the Princess Diaries series are probably asking if this is for real, because who would bother? Yes, the books have sexual themes at times (sexual themes tend to happen when the characters are high-school age or older), but all the books in the series I've read so far have had good (if neurotic) characters. So why the banning? It is "immoral" and has "untraditional values."

HA! I can't wait to read it.

I guess the immorality pertains to a character's ethical dilemma (and come on, how often does Mia do anything truly immoral?) and "untraditional values" has to do with a gay character. Or a transexual.

Meg Cabot is actually pleased to be banned, though. At least on the surface. Here's her blog entry, describing how it feels. I enjoyed reading it.

( Good to know there's humor in the banning. )

Tags: banned, meg cabot

I swear, I'm not dead. I'm just working at a bookstore.

I've decided to make this not only a blog about authors, but a blog for authors. So useful quotes I find and anything I think might help people write/be published will be included on an as-I-can-post basis. The bright side is that if I continue posting at this rate, you'll only see a post from me once a month or so.

( To Recap what's been going on... )

And I lied. I'm going to be posting more, because this post would be too long otherwise, and that would bring flashbacks of The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising. Unforgivable!

Tags: cassie edwards, jessica seinfeld, missy chase lapine, plagiarism

- Award-winning children's author Susan Cooper explores the ways that literary fantasy helps children understand the world of adulthood. How do children understand fantasy? What does it add to their lives? Why do adults find fantasy in children's literature objectionable, even threatening? Cosponsored by the Cambridge Public Library and The Horn Book magazine with support from the Cambridge Community Foundation. Click here for audio, video, and mp3 download. (Thanks to thedarkisrising and zooey_glass04)

- If you write fanfiction, or are a fan of it, might want to check out this article, where Jessica Bridges discusses the importance of fanfiction and its interaction with the original text... I'm not describing that well. All the more reason to read the article!

- If you go here and scroll down to the "Author Newsletter Contests" section, you can win a copy of the next books from Nicholas Evans, Daniel Silva, Nelson DeMille, Joseph Finder, or Macia Muller (or even all five, if you're really lucky).

- Kathryn Tucker Windham will be signing books at Capitol Book & News on December 8 for their Holiday Open House, and then she'll have a slideshow and book-signing on December 16 at Huntingdon College, both in Montgomery, AL. I'll let you know when I have times.

- Would you like to meet Jodi Picoult? She'll be at:

Council Bluffs Public Library
400 Willow Ave
Council Bluffs, Iowa 51503

at seven o'clock pm on January 10, 2008. (I can't pull up the library page right now, so I'll just point to this as my source.)



Question: What would you guys like to hear about? Authors in the news, adaptations? I've been thinking about posting some author resources as well, as I think there might be people in the comm interested in writing themselves. What do you guys think?

Tags: fan fiction, kathryn tucker windham, susan cooper

I was Nano-safe until I remembered I'm going out of town tomorrow. Anyone who wants to post news of authors and so forth, feel free to do so!

Kristen Stewart IS cast as Bella in the Twilight series. I haven't read the books yet, but I guess I'll have to. I've been hearing about them too much to resist. And here's some more confirmation from the author's site.

Easy Rawlins of Devil In a Blue Dress fame packs up his detecting set after ten books. Walter Mosley has other ideas in the works, though.

I was remiss! News on Kristen Britain's The High King's Tomb has been so slow in coming that I didn't check the website as often. So... It came out NOVEMBER 6. I really caught that one. On the other hand, you can read an excerpt of the book here. It's the third in Britain's Green Rider series, for which she won an award for best newcomer. The first book owes much to Tolkien (you'll see if you read it, or even if you have already read it), but the second book was what kept me searching for news... intermittently.

Wow. That's actually... it. *sighs sadly, tries to finish Nano so she can go back to reading*

Tags: kristen britain, stephenie meyer, walter mosley

Changing the format, because I'm really just procrastinating my Nano, and I shouldn't be.

Anyway, the first piece of news is that I finally have Internet again. Yay! Of course, as this is author news, and I'm not published, this is irrelevant.

The real news:

Ira Levin dies. Writer of Rosemary's Baby and Stepford Wives.

Norman Mailer died as well. Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Naked and the Dead. The book has already been made into a film once, but there's another in the works now that Mailer's son has the rights.

Publisher Halts Production of the Harry Potter Lexicon. It could go to trial next year.

Borders Kicks Off First Book Donation Campaign. Donate a book or two if you get the chance, please!

First Look at Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging. Yes, I get news from ONTD. But I'm posting it just in case you're interested.

I read somewhere that The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising only had a $40 million budget. According to BoxOfficeMojo.com, they've made — worldwide — about $27 mill. It still has eight countries in which to open, but given that it made $529 in all of Sweden, and John Hamaan at BoxOfficeProphets points out that the movie likely spent more money on advertising than it made in its opening weekend. By advertising, he means "prints." He notes they likely forgot real advertising. The reviews were the real death knell for the movie, with Susan Cooper's unhappiness with the project helping to finish the movie off quickly. I'd just like to say, it was also due to fans such as yourselves, who insisted on respect or nothing at all.



Adaptations in Theatres:

Out now:

Martian Child - Not liked by many critics. One of the main problems readers of the book have is that the book's author/narrator is gay- not so in the movie. Even though this movie is apparently emotional slop, I still sort of want to see it.

Opening this week

Beowulf - Neil Gaiman, who is generally made of win, had a hand in penning the scipt. I'm still hesitant to see it, since I'm not particularly thrilled about animation movies that remind me of Shrek 3's moodier twin brother, but then I saw this. The highest reviews of the three adaptations. Maybe Grendel ate the critics they knew would give bad reviews? I particularly liked Prairie Miller's review— "Stressed out warriors wonder if they should turn to Christianity for better luck in life, but decide that vice is more fun."

Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel García Márquez penned the novel, but critics aren't liking the movie. It only has a %17 rating on RottenTomatoes.com. It's the first time Márquez has allowed an English-language adaptation of one of his novels, and it doesn't look like it will be around for long.

I've still got two thousand words left to go to meet my goal. *whimpers* So I'd better go. Feel free to post things in my absence, guys. Just remember to post tags.

Tags: david gerrold, gabriel garcía márquez, ira levin, j.k. rowling, louise rennison, neil gaiman, norman mailer, roger avary, susan cooper

There are several. Enough to make me suspect I'm missing a few. C'est la vie! If you find any I've missed, feel free to add it in the comments, and I'll add it to the list with credit to you.

Which posters are the best, do you think? I like the one of the compass, all on its lonesome, myself. And The Golden Compass is yet another movie to be boycotted by Christian groups. Think it'll work for them?

( The Golden Compass: Agenda Unmasked. WITH PICTURES! )

By the by, if you haven't noticed, cleolinda beats me to the punch on pretty much every single thing I consider posting. So long as her team doesn't beat mine in the Iron Bowl, though, I'm good! (Erm. Just kidding, cleolinda!) Anyway, in Nano dry spots this month, I'll try to update the blog a little more.

Not participating in National Novel Writing Month? You still can! A 50,000 word novella in 25 days? Why not? Insanity is the wave of the future. We have pamphlets.

Tags: philip pullman

Found these and hoped someone might be interested:

SUSAN COOPER and Gregory Maguire

On Wednesday, November 14, at 7:00 PM, Susan Cooper, author of The Dark Is Rising fantasy series, and Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked, will join Roger Sutton, editor-in-chief of The Horn Book Magazine, for a discussion about writing and reading fantasy for adults and young adults. There will be a reception and book signing afterwards.

This event will be held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (address: 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA) in Room 10-250.

Tickets will be available beginning October 15, and are FREE (but required). To get tickets, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope, with # of tickets requested (limit of 4) to:

Susan Cooper Event
Cambridge Public Library
359 Broadway
Cambridge, MA 02139



Libba Bray
Charlotte Public Library (Charlotte, North Carolina)
Saturday October 20th
9:30-11:00 with a book signing afterward



I'm sure most of the people in the group are hoping to see Susan Cooper, but I was asked by someone long ago to tell you she's a very soft speaker, so try and sit up close or next to a speaker. I can't say anything about Gregory Maguire (libraries here only have Son of Witch, and I want to start with his others first; hence, I haven't followed him as closely as I should).

Libba Bray has written A Great and Terrible Beauty, about a girl who has to muddle through a Victorian boarding school after her mom is murdered and she finds out she is the only surviving member of a magical group of women (I don't think they're ever called witches). Anyway, someone's looking to get the main character's — Gemma's — powers. There's definitely more to the story, and I highly recommend it. Her writing is very tight and will keep you addicted throughout that book, the sequel (Rebel Angels), and the third installment that Ms. Bray has only recently finished. If you get the chance to go hear her, please do. She did one reading once, and only one person showed up. So here's my part to help her get some publicity for her readings. She's well worth it.

Both readings are free. What have you got to lose?

Tags: gregory maguire, libba bray, susan cooper

( Movie Adaptations - 2008 )

( Movie Adaptations - 1999 )

Tags: jane austen, richard matheson, william shakespeare

( Movie Adaptations - 2000 )

( Movie Adaptations - 2001 )

Tags: j.k. rowling, meg cabot, william shakespeare

( Movie Adaptations - 2002 )

Tags: dave barry, j.k. rowling

( Movie Adaptations - 2003 )

( Movie Adaptations - 2004 )

Tags: ian mcewan, ira levin, j.k. rowling, jane austen

( Movie Adaptations - 2005 )

Tags: movie adaptations