2♦sdays@the treehouse: Challenge the Third: March

Welcome back to our monthly Second Tuesday writing challenge!

From January - June, every second Tuesday of the month, we're going to post an image here on Wonderland of a Creative Commons licensed Flickr picture to which you can respond - with poetic, prose, or whatever kind of writing - and hopefully, you'll share a link in the comments below, so that we can visit your site, read your work and respond. No genre or style limit - just come and join the fun!

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Welcome back, it's March, which brings with it, famously, National Irish American Heritage Month (WHO KNEW), Purim, and the National Bubble Week celebration, which, I'm sure, is all the rage where there's still snow and ice crystals to photograph attractively over their surfaces. This month's image comes from Flickr user Philipp Rein of Augsburg, Germany. I'm intrigued by the stories which will come from this image, so without further ado:

I'm not going to bother with Inlinkz this month; just leave your link in the comments below, and we look forward to reveling in your inspiration! Happy writing!

2♦sdays @ our treehouse - 1/18 Challenge!

A few years back, B&N's Teen blog put up a post about which anthologies, in their opinion, had gotten the art of the young adult short story right. Their list included some headlining authors as well as smaller lights in the field. YA collections have always been useful for introducing lesser-known writers, which is why a couple of smart people in the industry, Nova Ren Suma and Emily X. R. Pan, have kicked off FORESHADOW. "FORESHADOW: A Serial YA Anthology is to offer a unique new online venue for young adult short stories, with a commitment to showcasing underrepresented voices, boosting emerging writers, and highlighting the beauty and power of YA fiction." This monthly anthology is the opportunity that many writers have been waiting for.

To that end, our writing group thought it would be fun to do a little exercise of our own. Through the first (technical) half of 2018, January - June, every second Tuesday of the month, we're going to post an image here on Wonderland of a Creative Commons licensed Flickr picture to which you can respond - via short story (potentially something to be polished for subbing to Foreshadow or elsewhere), poem, or just a scene polishing up dialogue, setting, characterization, or anything else you'd like to work on. Maybe you're doing Morning Pages, and writing three pages first thing. You can certainly come up with some thoughts on this image, and even some thoughts which might spur some deeper creativity. For two weeks, you can join the fun by posting a link to share. We'll keep the momentum going the following month by posting another image the second Tuesday of February, the 13th, and so on, until we take a breather for summer. We hope this will be the little kick in the pants you need to get writing, keep writing, or polish up your skills.

And without further ado, this month's image:

Harryhausen Skeletons, by Flickr user Jürgen Fauth of Berlin.

Happy Writing! Please consider sharing your link!

An InLinkz Link-up

Cybils Call for Judges AND Poetry Contest for NorCal Peeps!

It's that time of year again--and while some of us are trying to ignore this godawful heat wave (it's supposed to be 105 here today) there are indeed some welcome distractions out there, like the fact that it's also CYBILS TIME!! The 2015 call for judges was just posted today, so if you are a children's/YA lit blogger and would like to join the first and most respected (I think) grassroots children's book award in our (gasp) 10th year, go fill in the volunteer application form!

The Northern California Women's Music Festival is having a poetry contest in conjunction with the Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center, and the deadline is coming up soon--September 1. ALL poets in Northern California are eligible (dudes too) and entry for 2 poems is FREE! (Full disclosure: I'm involved in the contest behind the scenes, so you may hear about this again...) Anyway, if you fit the criteria, here's more information for you. And check out the Festival page, too--it looks like it'll be great, with headlining acts Tracy Bonham and Lita Ford.

And that's all I've got on this busy Monday. Some freelance work flooded in over the weekend, and I had a chapter to finish writing, so off I go to be industrious.

THE DARK CRYSTAL PREQUEL: SQUEES OF GEEKITUDE!!!

Yes, well, I was all set to review a great book I'm reading, but I had a little moment of SQUEE and thinking about my friend Pancha in grad school who was all things geeky with me, and enjoyed things like replotting THE DARK CRYSTAL and imagining ourselves in a sequel of LABYRINTH and knowing better how to handle an evil hot David Bowie. If I recall correctly, Pancha even had a DARK CRYSTAL t-shirt that she could still wear from grade school, of which I was heartily envious (nothing of mine from grade school fits, and since I dressed like a mini-geriatric, we're all the better for it). So. You can imagine that I dug up her email address today when I saw Galleycat's little notice about THE FREAKIN' DARK CRYSTAL SEQUEL. Oh, hear the squee:

From October 1st, 2013 to December 31st, 2013, The Jim Henson Company and Grosset & Dunlap of the Penguin Young Readers Group will be accepting writing submissions to find the author for a new novel set in the world of Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal. This author search is open to all professional and aspiring professional writers. This new Dark Crystal novel will be a prequel story set at the time of the Gelfling Gathering, between the Second Great Conjunction and the creation of the Wall of Destiny. We will be placing all known lore from this era on DarkCrystal.com, the definitive home of The Dark Crystal. There you will find all the knowledge available for you to shape and build your story—and all we ask is that you share your stories with us.

You know how cynical I am about movies messing things up - but .... but... so many people, like my girl, Pancha, have such BIG love for the series, I can't help but think that this will be the ultimate, ultimate affectionate fan-fic. I couldn't do it justice, I don't think, but I have my fingers crossed she'll take up the gauntlet, and run with it.

Cover Reveal! SUNBOLT by Intisar Khanani

I don't often do cover reveals, but I have chatted covers with Intisar Khanani before, and I know how tough getting a good cover can be for a self-published author - thus, we resume our conversation.

Some of you will remember my response when I read Intisar Khanani's Cybil nominated THORN for "A More Diverse Universe" last September. The surprisingly easy-to-get-swept-up-in book was a pleasant surprise. I recently read Khanani's FREE TODAY short story "The Bone Knife," and felt a little sad there was no more to the tale... but. More is COMING. First -- drumroll please -- there's a cover (as always, click to embiggen):

Doesn't that cover WORK? On so many levels, graphic designer (and severe book addict) Jenny Z, aka Supernatural Snark has brought an intriguing cover to life. On a gray background that resembles pounded metal, the fiery Celtic inspired knotwork pops, and are those sort of lotus-flower flames being shadowed/reflected there? What, exactly, is this book about???

Cue the blurb:

The winding streets and narrow alleys of Karolene hide many secrets, and Hitomi is one of them. Orphaned at a young age, Hitomi has learned to hide her magical aptitude and who her parents really were. Most of all, she conceals her role in the Shadow League, an underground movement working to bring down the powerful and corrupt Archmage Wilhelm Blackflame.

When the League gets word that Blackflame intends to detain—and execute—a leading political family, Hitomi volunteers to help the family escape. But there are more secrets at play than Hitomi’s, and much worse fates than execution. When Hitomi finds herself captured along with her charges, it will take everything she has to escape with her life.

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Intisar Khanani grew up a nomad and world traveler. Born in Wisconsin, she has lived in five different states as well as in Jeddah on the coast of the Red Sea. She first remembers seeing snow on a wintry street in Zurich, Switzerland, and vaguely recollects having breakfast with the orangutans at the Singapore Zoo when she was five. She currently resides in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her husband and two young daughters. Until recently, Intisar wrote grants and developed projects to address community health with the Cincinnati Health Department, which was as close as she could get to saving the world. Now she focuses her time on her two passions: raising her family and writing fantasy.

Intisar is hard at work on two new projects. The first is a companion trilogy to her debut novel THORN, following the heroine introduced in her free short story "The Bone Knife." The second project, The Sunbolt Chronicles, is a novella series following the efforts of a young mage as she strives to bring down her nemesis, a corrupt and dangerous Archmage who means to bring the Eleven Kingdoms under his control.

If you're interested - and you should be! - there are a Rafflecopter giveaway ...three ebook ARC's of Sunbolt available, to be provided to winners by mid-May.

There's more SUNBOLT on:

GoodReads,
Intisar’s Website,
& on Facebook.

A Chance to Give Back, and other Linky Goodness

You've probably heard of the Kidlit Cares: Superstorm Sandy Relief effort already, but if you haven't--you can go check it out on Kate Messner's blog and bid on a wide range of fabulous items like critiques, signed books, swag, Skype author visits and more, all to benefit those in need after the ravages of the storm(s) on the Eastern seaboard. Proceeds go to the Red Cross, so if you haven't donated yet, this is a great way to give back and get something nifty for your efforts.

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It is, of course, NaNoWriMo, and while this year is yet again a total bust for me as far as participating, I know some of you are--and if you're working on a YA novel, remember that the Serendipity Literary Agency is holding their Young Adult Novel Discovery Competition again this year--go read about it here.

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Last but not least, an interesting article via the SCBWI Expression newsletter: in the Guardian, YA/MG author Frank Cottrell Boyce is critical about the way literature is often taught. He says that if you teach it the wrong way, you risk putting kids off reading forever, rather than showing them that reading can be fun. Definitely some food for thought, and should make us reflect a bit on how we teach literature in the U.S., too...

Also from the same newsletter, a fascinating look at the ethical questions raised by the translation of children's literature. The article starts this way:

Since a language inevitably embodies the norms and ideologies of a culture, to impose the ideas of one culture on another through the medium of a translated book is an act of violence. Even more intense dynamics can arise from the history that these cultures share...

Very, VERY thought-provoking stuff. Happy reading!

A Poetry Contest and Other Goodies

I love the idea of a Poem Drive, and YARN (YA Review Net) is hosting one this year for sweet-Halloween-treat-themed poems. Those of you who write poetry (AHEM, Ms. T) should go check out the 3rd Annual Fall Treats Poetry Drive and Contest (now through Oct. 28) and enter to win a $25 Gift Certificate to the local, preferably independent bookstore of your choice. And, of course, YARN is open to all sorts of YA-friendly submissions year-round (and I'm glad they reminded me of that fact...I've got a story I need to work on!)

October's Bullying Awareness Month, too, and Open Road Media has an anti-bullying video to share, including Newbery-winning author Patricia MacLachlan.

Author/illustrator Aaron Zenz's wife is recovering from brain surgery and their family could use your help--the Kidlitosphere's own Julie Danielson of the 7-Imps has helped set up a site where you can donate to the cause.

There are some really awesome interviews on GraphicNovelReporter.com right now, according to their latest newsletter: an interview with Diana Thung about her upcoming August Moon, which looks fantastic; an interview with Ben Hatke, author of 2011 Cybils winner Zita the Spacegirl; and an interview with Raina Telgemeier on her new book, Drama, which was yesterday's featured review on the Cybils blog.

And--AND--just a tiny personal plug--yesterday I officially revealed the cover for my next book, due out in June!! Yahoo! Check it out and let me know what you think.

Contest Alert, Plus a Little French Humor

First, the CONTEST ALERT! Actually, there are two opportunities for you YA writers out there. Firstly, the diversity-friendly publishing company Lee and Low, who pioneered the New Voices picture book award, are now presenting the New Visions Award for unpublished MG and YA authors! The award is

for a middle grade or young adult fantasy, science fiction, or mystery novel by an author of color. The Award winner will receive a cash grant of $1,000 and our standard publication contract, including our basic advance and royalties for a first time author. The deadline this year to submit manuscripts will be October 30, 2012.

Unpublished authors of color, GET OVER THERE and submit your manuscripts!

The second opportunity is not so much a contest, but it IS a publication, and it's new, and they welcome writing for young readers. Antioch University Los Angeles's MFA program has a new literary magazine, Lunch Ticket, and they're currently accepting submission for their second issue. The call for subs said they're ESPECIALLY on the lookout for good writing for young people, so GO! Submit your short fiction, essays, poetry, etc. And check out the poem by G. Neri in their first issue, posted online. There's also an interview with Francesca Lia Block, for you Weetzie Bat fans. (Hat tip to our occasional co-blogger, Jennifer, for finding this one.)

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Lastly, for your amusement, via the Expression Online newsletter comes TERRIFYING FRENCH CHILDREN'S BOOKS. Jenny Colgan has blogged about several of them on Storify and they are something to behold. Evidently the Roald Dahl aesthetic is quite popular there...so go, be entertained and/or disturbed.

Toon Thursday and Random Notes

Greetings! Today's toon is on a familiar topic...the range of cartoons I can write on the subject of rejection seems inexhaustible somehow. Wonder why that is? Anyway, as always, click to view the cartoon larger.

On a separate note, some good links have come my way over the past few days. From Doret over at Happy Nappy Bookseller comes a list enumerating MG/YA books published by authors of color during 2011, as an addendum to a post by Zetta Elliott on the topic of books published by African American authors over the past year. Interesting reading (and fodder for TBR piles, too)...the numbers are pretty thought-provoking and I'd love to see someone crunch them in relation to the total number of books published by all authors.

If you're looking for gift ideas, MotherReader has released her annual list of 150 Ways to Give a Book. There are ideas for all ages--and I especially love that Tanita's A La Carte is on the list.

Speaking of giving books, there's still some time left for the Guys Lit Wire Ballou Holiday Book Fair--buying even one book would help these kids' school library more than you can imagine.

Looking for someplace to send your writing? There are a few contests going right now. With a Dec. 15 deadline is the She Writes Young Adult Novel Contest, to benefit Girls Write Now. All you need to do is sign up for She Writes (which is free) and your 2,000-word excerpt could be eligible to win valuable feedback and guidance from writing and publishing pros. And, if you're up to writing an essay, you could win a 50-page critique in a contest from the Book Wish Foundation. Some great authors and agents are involved in both, so get cracking!

Get Discovered!

It's time once again for the YA Novel Discovery Competition! From Serendipity:

Young Adult Novel Discovery Competition
Get in Front of Top YA Editors and Agents with
ONLY the First 250 Words of Your YA Novel!
No query? No pitch? No problem!
Serendipity Literary Agency, in collaboration with Gotham Writers' Workshop, is hosting its Third Annual Young Adult Novel Discovery Competition for a chance to win a one-on-one consultation with one of New York's leading YA literary agents!

If you've written a novel for young adults—or have an idea for one that you would like to write—we invite you to enter our contest. Simply submit only an enticing title along with the first 250 words from the opening of your original YA novel. Go here: http://bit.ly/YAContest.

GREAT PRIZES
The Grand Prize Winner will have the opportunity to submit an entire manuscript to YA literary agent Regina Brooks and receive a free, 10-week writing course, courtesy of Gotham Writers' Workshop, plus a collection of gourmet teas from Possibili-teas.com.

The Top Five Entrants (including the Grand Prize winner) will receive a 15-minute, one-on-one pitch session with Regina Brooks, one of New York’s premier literary agents for young adult books. They will also receive commentary on their submissions by editors at Scholastic, Disney, Harlequin Teen, Random House, Viking, Roaring Brook Press, Sourcebooks, and Kimani Tru and receive a one-year subscription to The Writer Magazine.

The First 50 Entrants will receive a copy of Writing Great Books for Young Adults by Regina Brooks.

Enter to win http://bit.ly/YAContest - right here. Here's the kicker: the contest ends November 30, 2011, so if you're doing it, DO IT NOW.

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Even though sometimes we find that author contests are somehow deceptive - either with hidden costs inside or hidden scams or something else, this one seems to be the real deal. Regina Brooks is an actual agent and this is a way for her agency to find new authors and enjoy tea and the attention of editors at the same time. In fact, we at Wonderland can honestly endorse this contest because we know someone who placed in the Top 5 last year, and she's really enjoyed having an agent and having her work read and critiqued in preparation for publication. We know that someday soon her very nuanced, detailed, and exciting fantasy will burst onto the scene and find itself many more fans.

Go, Writers!

Call for Submission, Scary, Scary Booklists, etc.

Wild Onion Press is offering $500 and publication of a story that fits their mission of Books Starring Kids with Physical Differences. This prize is inspired by Grace Mary McClelland, whose award-winning picture book educates, inspires, entertains and engenders compassion in all readers as it changes perceptions of physical difference.

The Prize Committee is made up of Wild Onion Press editors, illustrators, book designer, educational consultants as well as Grace McClelland and her family who will review the recommended final three.

Manuscripts may be of any length in the genres of picture book, chapter book, middle-grade or young adult memoir or novel. The main character must be in a heroic role in which a physical difference is not a disability but merely an outstanding characteristic. The winning manuscript will be available for sale on the Wild Onion Press website and through online booksellers, including Amazon.com

Deadline January 1, 2012. The winning manuscript will be announced May 1, 2012 with publication following.

Go to www.wildonionpress.com for more information and instructions on how to enter.

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Hilariously, via the MarySue, a list of books which made the staff, as young readers, absolutely terrified of puberty. Sylvia Plath? Check. Maya Angelou? Check, check, check. I snickered that they included Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman in there, butchaknowwhat? Yeah. It fits. Any book which includes the girl running away to avoid marriage made me kind of cringe-y back in the day. Read the whole list here.

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Would you pay $300K for a wee tiny book... if it were written by Charlotte Brontë? Well, someone one. The book, written when Charlotte was just fourteen, is a teensy replicated men's 'zine with hand-cut and lettered pages, made for fun for her sisters to enjoy. It's adorable, tiny, and the 19-page story is suitably nutso, involving, as it does, Mr. Rochester's first wife, Bertha, murder, and insanity. Good fun, that. It's pre-Jane Eyre Brontë. I'm sure somewhere Edward and Bella are bidding madly.

Toon Thursday: The Mathematics of Revision

Hey, kids! It's time for Toon Thursday. Before I vomit forth my toon like some sort of crazed monkey with Photoshop, though, I'd like to say this: don't miss Diversity in YA's Diversify Your Reading Challenge this summer:

This summer, we’re challenging readers to read books that feature a diverse world, to read beyond their comfort zones, and to just plain dive into some wonderful stories. Our challenge will have two components: one for libraries, one for readers and book bloggers. At the end of the summer we’ll be giving away some wonderful book prizes donated by publishers.

Just check out the prize list--you won't want to miss this. Libraries, readers and book bloggers are all eligible. Sounds both worthwhile and fun!

With no further ado, here's your toon. As always, click the cartoon to view it larger.

Don't You Dare! They're All Mine!!

It's TGIFBM over at Cindy Pon's blog. What does that mean? It means a fabulous giveaway of TWO ARCS I DESPERATELY WANT. Cindy is giving away Nova Ren Suma's Imaginary Girls and Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke & Bone. How awesome is that?

I'll tell you how awesome it is. It's so awesome that I'm going to shamelessly plug it here in order to get an extra contest entry. And, well, okay, I guess you can go enter the contest, too. :) But I'm not afraid to arm wrestle for books. Just sayin'.

Psst. If you're a homeschool-esque person...

...you might want to head over to Tanita's personal blog.

As you were.

The Foundling's Tale, Part Three: Factotum...and a Contest

If you're a fan of D.M. Cornish's unique and astoundingly detailed world of the Half Continent, as portrayed in the Monster Blood Tattoo trilogy—now known as The Foundling's Tale—you'll be pleased to know that A) the third book, Factotum, is out THIS MONTH, and B) it's a truly satisfying end to the tale of foundling-turned-lamplighter-turned-monster-fighter's-assistant Rossamünd Bookchild.

One of my favorite aspects of this trilogy is the fact that the world Cornish has created is so rich and so utterly unlike anything else, down to the use of language at the individual word level. It's not just that characters and places are named in an unusual way (like J.K. Rowling, he's got a talent for naming people), but even the terminology for technology and social structures in this semi-industrialized setting is unique to this book. Words are put to use in new and connotative ways, related to the meanings we might already be familiar with, but not quite the same, with a pure enjoyment of the very sounds of the words themselves. The words are decontextualized, but somehow all of this adds to the feeling of atmosphere in these books—and, as an unrepentant word nerd, you'd think that would annoy me, but instead, I'm happy to go along for the ride.

I don't want to give too much away about this book, but the one of the central themes revolves around the definition of what is, in fact, a monster—and whether in fact all monsters are nefarious and to be universally reviled, or if there may be some (as we learned in book 2) that help humankind and coexist peacefully.

Via Tor.com: The Carl Brandon Society

The Carl Brandon Society, an organization dedicated to racial and ethnic diversity in speculative fiction, will hold a prize drawing of five eReaders to benefit the Butler Scholarship, a fund that sends two emerging writers of color to the Clarion writers workshops annually.

::wait, hold up::

Did YOU know there was an organization dedicated to racial and ethnic diversity in speculative fiction??? Me neither! Color me thrilled! Carl Brandon was imaginary, a pretend African American speculative fan-fiction writer a couple of Caucasian authors made up in the 1950's. A pretend voice, so that African Americans would eventually have a voice in the field. As made-up as James Tiptree (who was really a woman), and just as important, the Carl Brandon Society exists to make sure that the future we imagine is one that is multicultural.

Established in 2006 after the author’s passing, the Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship provides funds to writers of color accepted to the Clarion and Clarion West writers workshops.

Read the rules and find out where to buy tickets for the eReader drawing. Support ethnic diversity in steampunk, science fiction, fantasy, and all speculative fiction! Remember the awesome that was Octavia Butler, and go read one of her books.

Happy Weekend.

Now's Your Chance! The Contest, The Challenge, The ...earrings.

via Smart B's, Trashy B's:

Harlequin Publishing is launching an online search for new writing talent called So You Think You Can Write. For the first five days of November (that'd be 1-5, FYI), Harlequin editors and authors will be hosting outreach and educational events on various social media platforms designed to both seek out new writers and instruct folks on what goes into writing a quality romance. Submitted manuscripts from unpublished writers will receive an examination from Harlequin editors, and you can follow the week of events on the Harlequin blog, and on Twitter at hashtag#sytycw. The Rules! The Blog.

Podcasts, blogs, and discussions with expert editors and current authors will make this a valuable experience for writers who've wanted to break into the genre, and for anyone who's ever thought, "Heck, I could write a better romance than that!" -- ? Well, money + mouth. You know the drill.

via Anne's Really Cool Agent™, by way of Tameeka at Serendipity Literary Agency:

With just 250 words, you can have a chance to get your writing read by editors at HarperCollins, Penguin, Harlequin, Random House, and Sourcebooks. In honor of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo.org)—an international event where aspiring novelists are encouraged to write an entire novel in 30 days the YA Discovery Contest is meant to encourage the aspiring YA author (THAT'S YOU!) to get started on that novel by offering an incentive for completing the first 250 words.

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS: The top 20 submissions will all be read by a panel of five judges comprised of top YA editors at MacMillan, Scholastic, Candlewick, Harlequin, Sourcebooks and Penguin. The first 100 will receive free autographed copies of Writing Great Books for Young Adults by Regina Brooks, Anne's Cool Agent™. Of the 20, they will pick the top five submissions and provide each author with commentary. These five winners will also receive a free ONE YEAR subscription to The Writer magazine. ONE Grand Prize Winner will win a full manuscript reading and editorial consultation from Regina Brooks, Anne's Cool Agent™ and a free 10-week writing course courtesy of the Gotham Writer’s Workshop.

BUT WAIT, KIDLITOSPHERE. THERE'S MORE!
Because the really cool agent is Anne's? As in, Anne Boles Levy, freelance novelist and news writer whose book reviews have appeared in the Los Angeles Times? Who is in my writing group, and has an astonishingly brilliant SF novel in process and leads the heck out of the Cybils and kicks kidlitosphere behind? She's throwing in a pair of handmade, original earrings from her Quartz Trail Studio store to the top 20 subs. (If a guy wins, I'm sure she can flex on that, so don't panic, gents. Or, hey: Christmas is in the bag! Early!)

You know you have to enter. Go. Now.

Sit Down and Write Already! But Read This First.

It's still warm in California, but all signs point to fall. Aside from my being allergic to things, it's one of my favorite seasons. I'm hoping to channel some of the general sense of well-being that autumn brings me into my writing--whether the motivation goes into my current work-in-progress, or whether it's new projects like that short story percolating in the back of my head, this fun Halloween Short Story Contest at Literary Asylum, or even a new novel for NaNoWriMo. (Yes, I've got something percolating for that, too...) Maybe I'll even send a story or two to new markets I just heard of, like Read Short Fiction, which advertises their stories on Facebook in order to build a larger audience. (An interesting strategy.)

In any case, I'll continue to remind myself to keep my Butt In Chair, let my imagination go, and, as writerjenn notes, skip the boring parts.

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If you're still having trouble getting motivated to write, here are a few sources of additional procrastination. (I help; I hinder.) Barb Langridge of A Book and a Hug has an exhaustive and fabulously searchable database of children's and YA book reviews. Toy with it here. (Maybe one day I'll devote enough time to my OWN procrastination to see if we can get our reviews linked. Though, judging from how often I contributed to the Children's Book Reviews wiki...erm...ahem.)

Okay. Still procrastinating. Why not check out the latest installment of The Secret of Donotalado, the ongoing interactive story brought to you by the Hazardous Players?

Or, get even more incensed in preparation for Banned Books Week: the Stockton, MO school board voted 7-0 to ban Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. And then counter that tidbit of infuriating news with this excellent article by Jim Blasingame, president of ALAN (Assembly on Literature for Adolescents), talking about Native American literature for teens, and including Sherman Alexie's comments on censorship and writing for young adults. (Kudos to my mom for forwarding those links in her latest NCTE newsletter.)

SSF Awesomeness

Et nous? Et Tu! By now you've heard the JOYOUS news that Tu Publishing, about whom we spread the love in December, during their fundraiser kickstart, is now TU BOOKS - an imprint of the one and only Lee & Low. There's been a lot of interviews and publicity in the kidlitosphere, including at The Enchanted Inkpot, where we hear from Tu's editorial director, Stacey Whitman.

Tu is a fairytale in and of itself -- a group of upstarts decide to publish multicultural science fiction and fantasy for kids, raise a startling amount of money, catch the attention of a larger house, well-established house, and voila - dream comes true.

Tu Books: we can't wait to see what you've got!

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I can't believe I haven't posted about this yet -- it's for LIBRARIANS ONLY, and THERE'S STILL TIME TO ENTER:

Librarians, you have small budgets and there's a world of SFF out there your kids haven't read. So, to honor the amazing Joni Sensel, please join her birthday giveaway, and enter to win these fine books:

1. INCARCERON by Catherine Fisher (hardback)
2. SACRED SCARS by Kathleen Duey (hardback)
3. THE BOOK OF NONSENSE by David Michael Slater (hardback)
4. THE BOOK OF KNOWLEDGE by David Michael Slater (hardback)
5. THE SECRETS OF THE CHEESE SYNDICATE by Donna St. Cyr (paperback)
6. HOUSE OF THE SCORPION by Nancy Farmer (paperback)
7. THE EMERALD TABLET By PJ Hoover (hardback)
8. NAVEL OF THE WORLD by PJ Hoover (hardback)
9. THE SEER #1: DON”T DIE DRAGONFLY by Linda Joy Singleton (revised large issue with short story bonus)
10. THE FARWALKER’S QUEST by Joni Sensel (hardback)
11. THE TIMEKEEPER’S MOON by Joni Sensel (hardback)

HOW TO ENTER? Simply send The Spectacle your library’s name and your professional e-mail address. You can leave that info in the comments here or e-mail it directly to joni AT jonisensel.com. Librarians earn an additional chance at the prize if they repost the contest and/or tweet the contest and let Joni know with the link.

Happy birthday month, Joni! Librarians, YOU HAVE UNTIL MARCH 25! Don't delay!

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Shannon Hale speaks on women and girls and the stereotypes which are being reinforced in movies. WORD, Ms. Hale. First, they came for the parents - mostly mothers - in Disney. Cause mothers are annoying. And then, in comedies, for the girls... 'cause girls aren't funny. Right?

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No Book Was Mangled In the Making of This Film, So It's All Good (although I don't doubt there will be book tie-ins in about four minutes): I *WOULD* say, "Do you remember TRON?" but the fact is... I can't even tell you when the original movie came out. Twenty-eight years ago in 1982? Sheesh, no wonder I only saw it about three years ago...*cough* During one of our Bad SciFi Movie nights. *cough* However, SOMEONE in this household a.) was NOT watching it for the first time, b.) didn't consider it bad SciFi and c.) is excited enough about it that I must needs share the TRON LEGACY 3D trailer with them.

Click. Here. Be happy.

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Fire up Those Mad Essay Skillz: Pyr is a SFF imprint of Prometheus Books, and they've been up and going for five whole years now! To share the love with their readers, they're sponsoring an essay contest -- "Pyr invites readers and fans to submit a short essay on the theme: Five reasons why science fiction and fantasy is important to you."

The prizes are amazing -- from plaques to books to a fully-paid trip to Dragon*Con in Atlanta. SFF-ites, polish up ye olde essay-writing skills! (Via SF Signal.)

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Because We Are, In Fact, Geektastic: Do you not love this SETI scarf from Make Magazine? Just in case you see any extra-terrestrials while you're out in about in the nippy Spring weather, you know, you can convince them this planet has intelligent life. Or something.

Enormous Timewaster du Jour: The Historic Construction Kit: Make Your Own Bayeux Tapestry... with considerably funnier storylines!

Just a Little Announcement...

~ NANOWRIMO PEEPS: HEADS UP! ~

Serendipity Literary Agency, in collaboration with Sourcebooks and Gotham Writers' Workshop, is hosting its first Young Adult Novel Discovery Competition for a chance to win a one-on-one consultation with one of New York's leading YA literary agents!

The top 20 submissions will all be read by a panel of five judges comprised of top YA editors at Random House, HarperCollins, Harlequin, Sourcebooks and Penguin. All 20 will receive free autographed copies of Writing Great Books for Young Adults by Regina Brooks. Of the 20, they will pick the top five submissions and provide each author with commentary and a one year subscription to The Writer magazine. ONE Grand Prize Winner will have the opportunity to get feedback on a full YA manuscript and win a free 10-week writing course courtesy of the Gotham Writer’s Workshop. Read all the details carefully, because you'll want to be sure and have the fine print nailed down. Once you're sure of the rules, submit here.

In honor of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo.org)—an international event where aspiring novelists are encouraged to write an entire novel in 30 days—entries for the YA Novel Discovery Contest will be accepted from 12:01am (ET) November 1 until 11:59pm (ET), November 30, 2009.

JUDGING

YA literary agent Regina Brooks, along with editors at Sourcebooks, will read all of the entries and determine the top 20 submissions. These submissions will then be read by Dan Ehrenhaft, head Acquisitions Editor at Soucebooks Fire; Alisha Niehaus, Editor at Dial Books for Young Readers (Penguin); David Linker, Executive Editor at HarperCollins Children’s Books; Michele Burke, Editor at Knopf Books for Young Readers (Random House); and Evette Porter, Editor at Harlequin. These judges will whittle the top 20 down to four winners and a grand prize winner—all five will be provided commentary on their submissions.

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So, if you were only THINKING you MIGHT do NaNo this year, here's a bit of incentive, eh? Good luck.

Hat tip to Inkygirl.