Archive for August 2009
Links and Things
How to prepare an author for an interview
Dire Warning to Publishers: The End of Hardbacks
Smashwords Inks Distribution Deal with Barnes & Noble
Genre v Literary: Here We Go Again
Sedalia, MO School District Bans Evolution-Themed Band Shirts
Review: `Magicians’ is story of postmodern wizard (AP)
Take Five Interview: Vikram Narayan, CEO of BookBuzzr
Hard-Boiled or Half-Baked?: A Review of Thomas Pynchon’s Inherent Vice
MORE AFTER THE JUMP
Disney Co. buys Marvel Comics for $4 billion
Breaking news: The Walt Disney Co. just announced its purchase of Marvel Comics for $4 billion dollars in cash and stock, netting the Disney ownership of over 5,000 unique Marvel characters, including Iron Man, Spiderman, and many more.
I can’t say that I’m too happy about this. I’m no fan of Disney, as I consider them shameless bloodsuckers of the highest order – not that Marvel’s as bunch of saints either. Disney’s appropriation, commodifying and copyrighting of classic children’s tales in whole or in part infuriates me, along with their lobbying for more copyright extensions on characters like Mickey Mouse, as did their “Disney Vault” marketing strategy of a few years back where they urged parents to buy movies for their children now or risk them going back into the “Disney Vault” for an unspecified number of years – presumably long enough so that their children would miss out on seeing the same films that mom and dad saw when they were children.
Well, anyway, looks like they’re acquiring more real estate in the imaginations of children around the world – and by extension their parents’ pocketbooks - and we know how valuable that can be.
By the way, check this Disney Vault parody on Saturday Night Live. (NSFWish)
Brand New Key
According to the poster who uploaded this to YouTube, it’s an 8 mm film created in the 1970s by his sister for a high school class project. Utterly charming. Song: “Brand New Key” by Melanie Safka.
All the people who died: Victorian Post-Mortem Photography
Mental Floss has blogged about a Victorian death rite that I had all but forgotten about: the practice of posing the recently deceased in life-like positions for a final photo before internment. The body would be rigged into position with wire and string, and fake pupils painted on their eye lids. Often, the living – brothers, sisters – would pose alongside the dead. Photographs were a luxury, and not everyone could afford them. This was sometimes the last and only image of a dearly departed loved-one that a family would have. Although the Mental Floss column only briefly touches upon the subject matter you can read a lot more here and here.
Some of you won’t understand this at all.
Links and Things
‘Reading Rainbow’ Reaches Its Final Chapter
If They Have Vital Signs, Get ’em Out (Hurricane Katrina and euthanasia)
The Exchange: Lev Grossman (interview)
Why chess is a perfect game for fiction
my friend just let me read her terrible novel! what do I do?
Win Zak Smith’s Gravity’s Rainbow (illustrated, that is)
The Millions Interview: Phillip Lopate
Does anything hurt vampires anymore?
ACLU Targets Facebook Apps That Access Personal Info
Lovecraft in Brooklyn (AesopRemix)
MORE AFTER THE JUMP
Hide the women and the children! Zombies!
It’s kind of weird. When I was a boy none of my friends had ever seen Night of the Living Dead, and growing up, I was pretty much the only kid I knew with a full-on zombie apocalypse fixation. Now that I’ve grown old, creaky and deeply bitter, I’ve been amazed to see one of my youthful obsessions drag itself out of the dark and grotty corners of horror fandom and shag ass right on over into the limelight. I’m not sure how I feel about it. One one hand, I enjoy seeing more zombie stuff, especially when it’s of high quality like World War Z and David Wellington’s Monster Island books, and even some of the more questionable products still amuse me. On the other hand, there’s always that sort of elitist hipster side of my personality that wants to glower at all the newcomers to zombieville. I usually try to fight that side, but it’s there.
Anyway, I was rather amused to see both a children’s book and a YA novel devoted to zombies arrive in my mail box.
My Rotten Life: Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie by David Lubar.
Ten-year-old Nathan Abercrombie is having a really bad day. First, Shawna Lanchester, the prettiest girl in his class, doesn’t invite him to her party. Then he gets picked last in gym class. Things couldn’t get any worse…until he gets doused with an experimental serum that turns him into a half-dead zombie
Nathan soon discovers that being half dead isn’t all bad. He doesn’t need any sleep, so he can stay up all night and play games online. He doesn’t feel any pain, so there’s no need to worry about Rodney the bully anymore. Still, Nathan would rather be human. Will he find a cure? Or will Nathan be half-dead forever?
Fans of David Lubar’s popular Weenies short story collections—which have sold more than one million copies—will love My Rotten Life, the first of a series of hilariously rotten adventures starring Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie.
Never Slow Dance with a Zombie by E. Van Lowe
Romy and Michelle’s Hight School Reunion meets Night of the Living Dead in this laugh-out-loud debut YA novel by Emmy Award-nominated TV writer E. Van Lowe
Principal Taft’s 3 Simple Rules for Surviving a Zombie Uprising:
Rule #1: While in the halls, walk slowly and wear a vacant expression on your face. Zombies won’t attack other zombies.
Rule #2: Never travel alone. Move in packs. Follow the crowd. Zombies detest blatant displays of individuality.
Rule #3: If a zombie should attack, do not run. Instead, throw raw steak at to him. Zombies love raw meat. This display of kindness will go a long way.
On the night of her middle school graduation, Margot Jean Johnson wrote a high school manifesto detailing her goals for what she was sure would be a most excellent high school career. She and her best friend, Sybil, would be popular and, most important, have boyfriends. Three years later, they haven’t accomplished a thing!
Then Margot and Sybil arrive at school one day to find that most of the student body has been turned into flesh-eating zombies. When kooky Principal Taft asks the girls to coexist with the zombies until the end of the semester, they realize that this is the perfect opportunity to live out their high school dreams. All they have to do is stay alive….
***
So, what do you think? When you’re seeing children’s books featuring zombie protagonists is it safe to say that the trope is all played out? Do you still want to see more zombie books? Are you a new fan? Old fan? Couldn’t give a damn at all? Let me know.
Links and Things
(With apologies for the late post – things have been hectic lately)
Europe Weighs Rules for Putting Books Online
The Apocalyptic Mythologies Of Steve Erickson
Congrats to Howard Waldrop: First American to Win the Jack Trevor Story Memorial Cup
Mercenaries make sympathetic subjects
Ian Rankin’s new graphic novel: Inspector Rebus, meet John Constantine
The New Yorker Hires 26-Year-Old Amelia Lester as Managing Editor
io9 Interviews Patrick Nielsen Hayden
On being written about in childhood
Court Denies Amazon’s Motion to Dismiss BookLocker Antitrust Lawsuit
Book Notes – Daniel Kraus (“The Monster Variations”)
The Steampunk Bible and Steampunk Slideshow
Old School Occult New York Nerdgasm Alert
The Right to Write: Authors Pen Human Rights Anthology
Seeking a reader of Cyrillic text…(Gorgeous old photo)
Guardian first book award longlist
‘It was basically freak-out music’ (great article on Hawkwind)
Joyce Carol Oates on Chappaquiddick
Grapes of Wrath journey revisited
Alan Moore on Robert Anton Wilson
The last days of Aleister Crowley
DMZ 7: War Powers; kick-ass war comic on journalism and advocacy
The Perilous Illustrations of Mort Künstler
How Many Marriages Started Online?
Venn diagram of mythical creatures
Amazon Answers Questions, Sort Of, About Kindle Licenses [Buying Blind]
Star Trek Porn Parody: This Aint Star Trek XXX
Yeah. Exactly what you think it is. Video is SFW.
How do you think the Trekkers are going to react?
Links and Things
My interview with Lev Grossman at Fantasy Magazine
Leukemia Society fundraiser for artist Dave Stevens
Hugo Awards: Shaped that way for a reason (Jim C. Hines)
Hos, Hookers, Call Girls, and Rent Boys
Picture Show: Waiting for the End of the World (Pictures of Bomb Shelters!)
‘Jaws’: Celebrating Sand, Sex And A Really Big Fish
Book Notes – Brian Evenson (“Fugue State”)
Confessions of an Immature Pervert: Erika Moen Overcomes Puritanism
Literature is due a new era of sexual modesty
In appreciation of Salman Rushdie’s joyous rock novel
Open Letters to People Or Entities Who Are Unlikely to Respond (8/26/09)
What’s Urban Fantasy? What’s Paranormal Romance?
John Twelve Hawks will (not exactly) appear
Sales Down, Loss Up in “Transitional” Quarter at Borders
Nathan Rabin’s The Big Rewind: A Memoir Brought to You By Pop Culture
