Justification for my existence

Yikers. It might not be a bad idea that I do the blogging on Nancy's behalf. Here's a great article on Salon about writers, and specifically Alice Hoffman, reacting badly to critics.

Which isn't to say that Nancy's few critics don't occasionally, um, peeve me. And they might actually provoke some sort of response from me (it has nearly happened, and Nancy actually had to talk me out of it). Still, I'm confident that the extra level of emotional indirection is just enough to keep me from the sort of wretched excesses exhibited by some of the writers described in the article. Which seems like a good thing.

Hometown heroine

The 9th Annual Massachusetts Book Awards have been announced, and Impossible has been tabbed as an honor book in the Children's/Young Adult Literature category.

It's nice that Nancy is being recognized locally. There are only three books that receive awards or honors in each of four categories, which means that there aren't many to go around, and there are a lot of terrific books from a lot of terrific writers in Massachusetts.

One Hen by Katie Smith Milway was the award winner, and The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry earned the other honor.

More cover coverage

Betsy Bird includes the new Impossible cover in her blog at School Library Journal, after seeing it it at the Penguin fall librarian preview event. Scroll halfway down the page to see it.

Werlin, Dickens, and Obama

What do Nancy Werlin, Charles Dickens, and Barack Obama have in common? They all inspire poetry. Some more than others, though -- I've never written a line about Dickens or Obama.

YA defined

Cheryl Klein provides what seems to me to be a very good definition of young adult literature in her blog, Brooklyn Arden. I'm not sure that the enumeration is particularly helpful, but the words are spot on.

Buzz: Impossible in paperback

Impossible is coming out in paperback! It'll be out in bookstores and other retail outlets on August 11, and it's got a new look (see right). The basic composition of the two covers is quite similar, but the feel is entirely different.

Already the blogosphere is abuzz with discussion of the merits of the new cover versus the old one. As you can see if you follow the link, early returns are pretty clearly in favor of the paperback version, but the hard cover has its proponents as well. Got two cents to put on the subject, either here or there?

The power of the writer

There's a good XKCD this week, in which the power of the internet meets the power of the writer, which can be used for good or evil...