5 Minutes for Mom is giving away a copy of Red Dragon Codex today.

I think last time it was elementary or middle school.

 I’ve been swamped, as usual–two books to get to copyediting soon! So instead of hanging on my every word (because of course, you all do… :P) pop over to Cheryl Klein, where she’s discussing the author-editor relationship. I really like the analogy she comes up with.

Also, keep an eye out this month for book 3 of Hallowmere, Between Golden Jaws. Tiffany Trent just traveled down to see a library in New Orleans who won a visit from her for their Teen Read Week activities. (See here for coverage–i
t’s the second part of the piece, so scroll below the ad.)

Last month’s release, Magic in the Mirrorstone, has been getting some great reviews. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you don’t want to miss it.

Completely un-children’s lit related. I recently got a better lens for my Nikon D80 and oh what a difference it makes. So much better than the kit lens that came with my old film N55. So as I’m rearranging some folders and organizing my portfolio, I’ll share with you my latest shots.

This is in a little crepe shop in Pike Market in downtown Seattle, Crepe de France. The lighting in there is gorgeous, the service excellent, and the crepes themselves divine. It was just perfect in there for a few shots of them working as we waited for our crepes.

  

I’ve been on a Supernatural kick for the last few weeks. I think Dean Winchester is my high school sweetheart. My first boyfriend drove a green Impala (granted, Dean’s probably has better brakes), and listened to “the greatest hits of mullet rock” to use Sam’s phrase from the first episode. He did not have a mullet or hair band hair himself, mind you. I still listen to most of the 70s bands that Dean’s collection contains. Not so much on the metal–Metallica is more my brother’s domain. But give me some good Kansas and Bad Company any day.

It’s Tim, but with a brother and a shotgun, killing demons and banishing evil spirits. 🙂 

Really, the reason why I keep watching? It’s not just Jensen Ackles (Dean), who I loved in Dark Angel, nor is it just Jared Padaleki (Sam), who is cute too, and plays a smart, sweet, good guy. What really gets me is the relationship between the brothers. They go through this huge adversity–beginning with the death of their mother when Sam, the younger brother, is six months old–and live through it, and as they hunt for the demon that did this to their family, you can see their bond as brothers grow. Through some really horrible things, a lot of people’s lives are touched, they save so many people, and their family bond becomes tighter too. I think there’s some really great metaphor in that. 

And just in general the writing is great. Character development, dialogue, little SFF references (Dean knows pretty much every scifi/fantasy pop culture reference to be known)–they move the plot forward and these things matter in the course of the overall story. They have the monster-of-the-week stories, sure. It’s actually a very Buffy kind of model–monster of the week balanced against overall season arch with an overall series arch in mind. I’m not sure if that’s planned, but in watching two seasons over the course of a couple months, that’s the sense I’m getting.

Anyone else a fan?

We’ve discussed here, I believe, what a great age gap exists in YA developmentally. There’s a big difference between a 12 year old and an 18 year old–even between a 12 year old and a 16 year old.

So I found this article on PW Children’s Bookshelf pretty interesting, about an independent bookstore that has separated younger YA from older YA. Teens don’t have to walk through picturebooks to get to books that appeal to them, and tween content is separated from heavier-themed content that would appeal more to high schoolers.

What do you all think? The bookstore says it’s working for them, and I think it’s a great way of helping kids navigate books and helping parents feel safer about that navigation (tweens mature enough for the more mature topics would be able to walk over to the high school section, of course–but it helps prevent accidental stumbling). Yet at the same time, there are a number of books that would be appealing to the wide age range, and it might be hard to know where to shelve them. Should more bookstores implement such a section? 

moar humorous pics
In other news, I’m feeling a little evil genius-y myself. I’m working on a post about self-publishing vs. regular publishing (inspired by the questions of a friend), and I’ve got some great quotes on writing for children I want to share. I also have two or three other post ideas on the queue which will be coming out in the next few days. I’ll keep you posted.

cmpriest

‘s post today (scroll down to the bottom) reminded me that I also have a recent picture of a very silly cat with a discarded B&N bag, from just this Saturday.

Pictures taken by my roommate, because she had her camera on hand and he was too quick for me–by the time I got the right lens on, he was off chasing Tildrum again.

I can’t resist posting a bit from one of my very favorite movies of all time. If you haven’t seen The Court Jester, you have missed out on some of the most clever writing in comedy history.