Contest Alert! and Weekend Wanderings

Don't miss the contest at Lisa Yee's. It's a short one... a really short one. As in, write a 25 word story. Sadly, I am already stumped.

Meanwhile, the Disco Mermaids, together with their agents and the folks from Razorbill, want you to come play. Theirs is a hilarious contest helping the less fortunate... that is, celebrities without ideas... and help them to write... a children's book. Because really - don't they all want to? So that they can follow the A#1 writer's rule of Write What You Know, your instructions are to give them a title for a book only they could write. Their example makes William Kotzwinkle's Walter, the Farting Dog turn into: Al Gore's Walter the Ozone-Depleting Dog. Despite the DM's inexplicable prejudices against French hens and turtle doves, this is an awesome contest - and has some awesome prizes. Do check it out!

Chasing Ray offers a plethora of writing inspirations... I am more than willing to try the chocolate. The axe? Not so much...

(As you may have noticed...) Books that include food are a big draw for me. My carb-addicted soul still loves the toast description in The Wind in the Willows of hot buttered toast. Ratty's buttery toast is second to none, not even hot, buttered popcorn (yum...) Ahem. Anyway, from The New Yorker comes theories about what the food means, and the question of what the draw is of imaginary or real food in our favorite novels.

Over at Fuse#8, the dreaded question of author photographs arises. Where/how/who takes those? And, like Fuse, I won't mention names, but some of them, er, stump me. My first two short novels (very out of print), the author pic was taken by the husband of the registrar of the school at which I taught. He is a photographer for PG&E (and who knows why they need photographers?). He took two rolls of B&W and color, and I found four I liked -- in B&W. Needless to say, the publisher wanted color, of course. It was, I felt, revolting, but whatchagonnado? The question thus far has not yet been broached with my current publisher and book designer... and I don't think it will, thankfully. Trying not to angst about the COVER (although I have a FABULOUS cover designer) is bad enough.

The Potter bloggers reminisce about this heady time in their lives, and wonder what to do next. Meanwhile, via Fuse, I shudder to think of the Harry Potter Theme Park. Oy. Just... oy.