Quote of the Week

"Dreams pass into the reality of action. From the actions stems the dream again; and this interdependence produces the highest form of living."

--- Anais Nin

Another (e-book) Party Heard From

In the midst of all this e-book hoopla that has been appearing in articles, web sites and blogs, Barnes and Noble, world's largest bookstore chain, announced that they would be opening a "mega e-book store" on their site, bn.com.

According to the NYT article: "In an announcement on Monday, Barnes & Noble said that it would offer more than 700,000 books that could be read on a wide range of devices, including Apple's iPhone, the BlackBerry and various laptop or desktop computers. When Barnes & Noble acquired Fictionwise in March, that online retailer had about 60,000 books in its catalog."

Me personally, I'll always have this thing for paper books. Call me a sentimentalist. And I think the other reason that e-readers are not a bigger percentage of book sales is the cost. Most readers are still around $300 and above, as opposed to mass-market paperbacks which are generally all $7.99. Still a little high for a mass market book, but still readily affordable to many more people.

Now, I realize, I'm far from the first person to mention e-books, and I certainly won't be the last. But I'm curious to know, what do you all think of the whole e-book thing in general? Is it the true future of publishing? Will it make the printed book a thing of the past? How will this affect authors and the publishing industry as a whole?

Anyone who comments on this within the next week or so, will be entered in a drawing for two $25 gift cards. One for Barnes and Noble and one Visa for just about anything you'd like.

Quote of the Week

"I am thankful for laughter, except when milk come out of my nose."

--- Woody Allen

Frank McCourt Passes Away

Frank McCourt, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir Angela's Ashes, as well as New York City school teracher of almost thirty years, passed away yesterday from cancer at the age of 78.

McCourt had been treated for melanoma but then became seriously ill with meningitis. He died at a hospice in New York City, according to his brother Malachy.

McCourt considered himself to be a late bloomer in the publishing world. Angela's Ashes was published in 1996 when McCourt was 66.

That's the Way It is

Walter Cronkite, the voice of broadcast journalism for more than a generation, --- who covered such news stories as the Kennedy assassination, Vietnam, the moon landing and Watergate --- died yesterday at his home in New York. He was 92.

Walter Cronkite tells the story of his "That's the way it is" sign-off line.


Announcing the Death of JFK

Forever Young

Have you ever noticed that, generally speaking, superheroes and villains in comic books never seem to really age? Sure they may look different from when they were firs created, but over all, they always seem to be in the same age bracket. Take Superman for example:

Early 1930's


Today

Notice the huge difference in the way The Man of Steel is drawn, but they look to be around the same age.

But what if as the comics continued, superheroes and villains aged? Italian cartoonist Donald Soffritti shows us what the results could be.

The Reason We Have Laptops

Go into any Starbuck's and something you're likely to see are people with their laptops, busily typing away. Whether they're writer's, students or business people, all of them are tapping at those keys. Which begs the question: "What if the laptop never came to be?" The fun people at Improv Everywhere attempt to answer that for us.



And for more fun, be sure to check out the "Missions" section of their website. Some of my other favorite "missions" include Best Buy, Surprise Wedding Reception, Frozen Grand Central and Food Court Musical.

Quote of the Week

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

--- Voltaire

Happy Birthday Franz

It was this day that writer Franz Kafka was born in 1883. Franz Kafka is the writer of such works as The Metamorphosis and The Trial.

And now as a special treat, here's a special look at Franz Kafka: The Rock Opera.

Quote of the Week

"The worst enemy to creativity is self doubt."

--- Sylvia Plath

Quote of the Week

"Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without."

--- Confucius

Quote of the Week

"Write your first draft with your heart. Re-write with your head."

--- From the movie Finding Forrester

Kindle Goes "Big Time"

Think of it as the large print edition for the Kindle.

This past Wednesday at Pace University, Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos introduced the new Kindle DX (that's deluxe). Designed primarily for reading book pages, this latest version of the Kindle has a screen that's two and a half times larger than the regular Kindle. Bezos stated also gave limited information about deals with partnerships whose goal it is to put Kindles into the hands of more university students and newspaper readers.

Of course, this new Kindle comes with a new hefty price tag: $489.

According to an article in the New York Times, six colleges and universities -- Pace, Arizona State, Case Western Reserve, Princeton, Reed College and the University of Virginia -- would begin testing the "large print" Kindle with students later this year.

In another agreement, three major newspapers -- The New York Times, Boston Globe, and Washington Post -- offered the KDX at a reduced price in exchange for long-term subscriptions, but only in areas where the print editions were not available.

I can understand the goal of wanting to save the environment as well as being a convenience so that we don't have to carry around numerous tomes with us everywhere we go, but I believe that Amazon, as well as other companies who are pushing a "paperless society" with their e-readers are overlooking a very : There are MANY people who can't pay the large price. In a society that has sky high rates on essentials (such as health care and education), a high homeless population, and people who have to live check by check, these pricey e-readers are not accessible to the masses, unlike a newspaper or paperback book.

You've all heard my opinions on this before, so, what do you think about this whole Amazon/e-reader thing?

Anyone who leaves a comment will get the chance at a gift card from Barnes and Noble. I'll announce the winner within the next few days (or posts) from now.

(Sorry, I'm one of the masses who can't afford the Kindle DX to offer as a prize)

Apologies in advance if i don't answer right away. I'll be on the road for most of the day.

Quote of the Week

"The walls of books around him, dense with the past, formed a kind of insulation against the present world and its disasters."

--- Ross MacDonald

And the Edgar goes to:

Here are the winners for this year's Edgar Awards:

Best Novel

• Missing by Karin Alvtegen (Felony & Mayhem Press)
• Blue Heaven by C.J. Box (St. Martin’s Minotaur)
• Sins of the Assassin by Robert Ferrigno (Simon & Schuster - Scribner)
• The Price of Blood by Declan Hughes (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
• The Night Following by Morag Joss (Random House – Delacorte Press)
• Curse of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz (Simon & Schuster)

Best First Novel By an American Author

• The Kind One by Tom Epperson (Five Star, div of Cengage)
• Sweetsmoke by David Fuller (Hyperion)
• The Foreigner by Francie Lin (Picador)
• Calumet City by Charlie Newton (Simon & Schuster - Touchstone)
• A Cure for Night by Justin Peacock (Random House - Doubleday)

Best Paperback Original

• The Prince of Bagram by Alex Carr (Random House Trade)
• Money Shot by Christa Faust (Hard Case Crime)
• Enemy Combatant by Ed Gaffney (Random House - Dell)
• China Lake by Meg Gardiner (New American Library – Obsidian Mysteries)
• The Cold Spot by Tom Piccirilli (Random House - Bantam)

Best Critical/Biographical

• African American Mystery Writers: A Historical and Thematic Study by Frankie Y. Bailey (McFarland & Company)
• Hard-Boiled Sentimentality: The Secret History of American Crime Stories by Leonard Cassuto (Columbia University Press)
• Scene of the Crime: The Importance of Place in Crime and Mystery Fiction by David Geherin (McFarland & Company)
• The Rise of True Crime by Jean Murley (Greenwood Publishing – Praeger)
• Edgar Allan Poe: An Illustrated Companion to His Tell-Tale Stories by Dr. Harry Lee Poe (Sterling Publishing – Metro Books)

Best Fact Crime

• For The Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb and the Murder that Shocked Chicago by Simon Baatz (HarperCollins)
• American Lightning: Terror, Mystery, the Birth of Hollywood, and the Crime of the Century by Howard Blum (Crown Publishers)
• Havana Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba and Then Lost It To The Revolution by T.J. English (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
• The Man Who Made Vermeers: Unvarnishing the Legend of Master Forger Hans van Meegeren by Jonathan Lopez (Harcourt)
• The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale (Walker & Company)

Best Short Story

• "A Sleep Not Unlike Death" - Hardcore Hardboiled by Sean Chercover (Kensington Publishing)
• "Skin and Bones" – Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by David Edgerley Gates (Dell Magazines)
• "Scratch a Woman" - Hardly Knew Her by Laura Lippman (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
• "La Vie en Rose" - Paris Noir by Dominique Mainard (Akashic Books
• "Skinhead Central" - The Blue Religion by T. Jefferson Parker (Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown and Company)

Best Young Adult

• Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd (Random House Children’s Books – David Fickling Books)
• The Big Splash by Jack D. Ferraiolo (Harry N. Abrams Books – Amulet Books)
• Paper Towns by John Green (Penguin Young Readers Group – Dutton Children’s Books)
• Getting the Girl by Susan Juby (HarperCollins Children’s Books - HarperTeen)
• Torn to Pieces by Margo McDonnell (Random House Children’s Books – Delacorte Books for Young Readers)

Best Juvenile

• The Postcard by Tony Abbott (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
• Enigma: A Magical Mystery by Graeme Base (Abrams Books for Young Readers)
• Eleven by Patricia Reilly Giff (Random House Children’s Books – Wendy Lamb Books)
• The Witches of Dredmoore Hollow by Riford McKenzie (Marshall Cavendish Children’s Books)
• Cemetary Street by Brenda Seabrooke (Holiday House)

Best Play

• The Ballad of Emmett Till by Ifa Bayeza (Goodman Theatre, Chicago, IL)
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher, based on the story by Robert Lewis Stevenson (Arizona Theatre Company)
• Cell by Judy Klass (International Mystery Writers’ Festival)

Best Television Episode Teleplay

• “Streetwise” – Law & Order: SVU, Teleplay by Paul Grellong (Wolf Films/NBC Universal)
• “Prayer of the Bone” – Wire in the Blood, Teleplay by Patrick Harbinson (BBC America)
• “Signature” – Law & Order: SVU, Teleplay by Judith McCreary (Wolf Films/NBC Universal)
• “You May Now Kill the Bride” – CSI: Miami, Teleplay by Barry O’Brien (CBS)
• “Burn Card” – Law & Order, Teleplay by David Wilcox (Wolf Films/NBC Universal)

Best Motion Picture Screenplay

• The Bank Job, Screenplay by Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais (Lionsgate)
• Burn After Reading, Screenplay by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (Focus Features)
• In Bruges, Screenplay by Martin McDonagh (Focus Features)
• Tell No One, Screenplay by Guillaume Canet and Philippe Lefebvre, based on the book by Harlan Coben (Music Box Films)
• Transsiberian, Screenplay by Brad Anderson & Will Conroy (First Look International)

Robert L. Fish Memorial Award

• "Buckner's Error" - Queens Noir by Joseph Guglielmelli (Akashic Books)

Mary Higgins Clark Award

• Sacrifice by S.J. Bolton (St. Martin's Minotaur)
• The Killer’s Wife by Bill Floyd (St. Martin’s Minotaur)
• Stalking Susan by Julie Kramer (Random House - Doubleday)
• A Song for You by Betsy Thornton (St. Martin’s Minotaur)
• The Fault Tree by Louise Ure (St. Martin’s Minotaur)

Grand Master

• James Lee Burke
• Sue Grafton

Raven Awards

• Edgar Allan Poe Society, Baltimore, Maryland
• Poe House, Baltimore, Maryland

Congratulations to all the winners as well as nominees.

Quote of the Week

“Life is a moderately good play with a badly written third act.”

--- Truman Capote

Quote of the Week

"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me."

--- Erma Bombeck

Mankell's Wallander is coming to PBS

Kurt Wallander, the detective created by Swedish writer Henning Mankell, is coming to PBS in a series, simply titled "Wallander". The first episode is set to air on May 10th as part of PBS's Masterpiece Mystery. Slated to play Wallander is Kenneth Branagh.

Banned Book Week Founder dies

Judith Krug, the librarian who was responsible for founding Banned Book Week, died this past Saturday in Evanston, IL. at the age of 69.

Throughout the years, Krug has been a proponent of First Amendment rights for The American Library Association. She even fought to have books that she herself found offensive to be stocked on library shelves, such as The Blue Book from the ultraconservative John Birch Society.

In a 1972 interview with the New York Times, Krug said that "My personal proclivities have nothing to do with how I react as a librarian. Library service in this country should be based on the concept of intellectual freedom, of providing all pertinent information so a reader can make decisions for himself."

Quote of the Week

"I always read the last page of a book first so that of I die before I finish I'll know how it turned out."

--- Nora Ephron