I'm going to write 50,000 words this month...
... just not all on the same topic. Next year? I'm not committing to anything yet, but I really want to.
What about you - anyone participating in NaNoWriMo? Hosting NaNoWriMo at the bookstore? Wishing this otherwise very cool event had come up with a more pronounceable abbreviation?
From San Francisco, via PW, a great birthday celebration from Green Apple Books: They're giving out $10 in store credit to every third-grade student in the city. Not only is it generous (and great marketing), it's also a reminder that you don't inspire a love of reading by handing out basal readers and sitting kids in front of computers that track their reading levels, you do it by handing them actual books. (See this recent discussion at the New York Times.)
I've never read one of Pat Conroy's books, but he's just moved higher up my TBR list. In response to challenges to Beach Music and Prince of Tides, he sent a scathing letter to the Charleston Gazette. Go read the whole thing, but start with this:
"I heard rumors of this controversy as I was completing my latest filthy, vomit-inducing work. These controversies are so commonplace in my life that I no longer get involved. But my knowledge of mountain lore is strong enough to know the dangers of refusing to help a Hatfield of West Virginia. I also do not mess with McCoys."
More controversial topics? But of course. Roger Sutton took note of the gender imbalance in notable picture books, sparking a discussion that's managed to include both statistics and Fuse #8's Hot Men of Children's Literature. 52 comments and counting - go add yours.
On a related note, Daniel Seidel wrote a Slate article celebrating the Internet's revival of the rant. How this ties into fiction I'm not sure, but it's part of Slate's Fall Fiction Week.
Any booksellers interested in going to China? From Lance Fensterman's blog: "I've been contacted by a publishing trade magazine in Beijing about identifying some booksellers and librarians to come to Beijing in January to discuss there respective roles in the U.S. book industry. More on this, but know of anyone who's been dying to see in January? Do let me know!"
If you prefer to travel without getting up from the computer, the Winter Blog Blast Tour Schedule has been posted at Chasing Ray. Author appearances start Monday.
"A novelist's politics arise from his imagination -- his ability to imagine himself as someone else," Orhan Pamuk said in an address at Georgetown University. I'm still not sure I understand everything he said (yeah, I know - my professors are sending me dirty looks all the way from Massachusetts), but the man has a way with language.
Finally, pay a visit to Wordsmiths blog, where Zach writes about the chaos of bookstore ownership - and the fact that he wouldn't trade it for anything. If you can sympathize, drop him a line.
Posted at 01:32PM Nov 03, 2007 by Sarah Rettger in General |
