Vicarious BEA!!! Thanks, Sus! :D

PHXCC 2013 Report: Panel Potpourri

Here are mini-reports on a jumble of some of the other panels I attended:

The Unfettered Panel: New Tales by Masters of Fantasy

This panel focused on the upcoming fantasy anthology, Unfettered. The anthology’s editor, Shawn Speakman, was present, along with 4 other authors who contributed to it (Terry Brooks, Brandon Sanderson, Kevin Hearne, and Peter Orullian). The story behind the anthology is that Shawn Speakman was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma a couple years ago. As is often the case with writers, he had no health insurance, and over the course of his treatment has incurred a massive medical debt. This isn’t really the place for me to get on my personal soapbox about health insurance, but it’s kind of ridiculous, right? Shawn is a member of the SFF community and he runs Terry Brooks’ Shannara website (I believe), so when Terry heard about what was going on he offered to donate a short story to help cover some of those medical bills, and suggested that Shawn might ask some of his other author friends to do the same.

And a good suggestion it was! There are a total of 23 stories in the anthology, with the proceeds going to help defray the medical costs accrued by Shawn’s treatment and also to help author Dave Wolverton, whose son was in a terrible accident and is experiencing the same problems with healthcare costs. Shawn talked a little bit about the story behind the book, and then he and the other panelists discussed their stories and how cool it is that the SFF author community is able to come together to support one of their own. There was a special preview of the anthology containing the stories of the 5 panelists on sale at the convention, with the full anthology available for order here and shipping at the end of June.

I found it was very touching that the SFF community is so supportive of its own when they come up against tough times. You can read more about the anthology here on Tor.com, and they also have articles about the stories from the preview.

The Awesome Hour with Wil Wheaton

Not strictly book- or author-related, but I felt it was awesome enough that it needed to be mentioned. Wil Wheaton, actor, author, and all-around famous geek, did basically a stand-up set in the biggest auditorium at the convention center on Friday night. It cost $10 extra to attend, and it was completely worth it. He was hilarious, and also so kind and genuine. I won’t try to recap his jokes and stories here, but I do have an audio recording and I’m sure there’s video floating around the internet. After the comedy portion of the evening, he spent some time answering questions. I had wanted to ask him about what it was like to record the audio book for Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One, but did not get the chance. Next year! If you ever get the chance to see him, I would completely recommend it, and also to check out his Geek & Sundry show, Tabletop. I hadn’t heard of it until that night, and I just recently watched an episode—basically it’s Wil Wheaton playing various tabletop games with friends and famous people. Interesting and entertaining! :D

Brandon Sanderson Spotlight Panel

On Saturday I attended another Branderson panel, this time one not focused specifically on the Wheel of Time. WoT did come up (I remember a fan thanking him whole-heartedly for completing the series…awww), but he also talked about his own series and books and projects and things. He read us the prologue of his newly-released debut YA novel, The Rithmatist, and touched again upon how he really enjoys creating new and different magic systems for his books. Other points of interest include that he envisions his Stormlight Archive series to be two sets of five books, that he’s planning on expanding the world of his first published novel Elantris with a new book to take place 10 years after the first one (hopefully to be released in 2015), and that he is a fan of the BBC Sherlock. Another thing I found interesting is that he talked about how he knows how hard it is to wait for new books by authors you love to come out, which is why he has progress bars for all his projects on his website that he makes an effort to keep updated, to keep the process transparent. Very cool!

Following the panel, we naively headed downstairs to the exhibition hall to go get books signed by him, not having any idea what we were in for. And let me tell you, the line that awaited us was EPIC. I should have figured, since it was Saturday and all the people who couldn’t attend the prior 2 days would be there, but just…whoa. We were near the end of the line, and must’ve waited at least an hour. But it was okay, and we passed the time by people-watching (which takes on a whole new dimension at a comicon) and chatting with our neighbors in line. When we finally made it to the signing table, the exhaustion of the past 3 days had fully sunk in, and I am ashamed to say that when Branderson asked if I had any questions for him, I drew a complete blank and said, “Uh…no, actually, I don’t. I’m sorry. I’m very tired.” Very smooth... But he was very kind and gracious, and wrote nice things in my books and gave me cool swag. See?

Since we chose to wait in line for Branderson, we ended up missing the panel for Melissa Marr and Kelley Armstrong’s new middle-grade novel, Loki’s Wolves. Instead of dashing upstairs for the last 5 minutes of the panel, we stayed down in the underbelly of the convention center to wait in line for their signing. I am happy to say we were third in line this time. :) Unfortunately, exhaustion was still plaguing me, and while Marr and Armstrong seemed very nice, I just babbled at them about the hot Phoenix weather the whole time my books were being signed. I also felt bad that, a) I did not have the funds to purchase the book they were promoting, and b) I had nothing for Kelley Armstrong to sign. Oh well, I guess that’s how the cookie crumbles sometimes. Anyway, Melissa Marr signed some of my books of hers from a while ago:

And then I went home and slept, in hopes of being a little more coherent on Sunday. :)

PHXCC 2013 Report: Author Chair Dancing Panel

Author Chair Dancing

This was a panel consisting of Cherie Priest, John Scalzi, Sam Sykes, Leanna Renee Hieber, Delilah S. Dawson, and Kevin Hearne. I saw it on the PHXCC schedule and thought to myself, authors? exciting! chair dancing? hmm… I didn’t really know what to expect, and it turns out to have been basically a panel of authors who are great Twitterers and say funny things (often to each other?) on Twitter, doing what they do on Twitter out loud with mouthwords in front of a live audience. Look, here they are! (Picture borrowed from Delilah Dawson’s blog since I was too busy basking in their comedic genius to remember to take any pictures.)

It may sound a little weird, and it was, but in the BEST kind of way. These guys and gals were hilarious! John Scalzi definitely stole the show—it was kind of like a stand-up hour. This wasn’t really your traditional panel (mostly they talked about random stuff rather than their work, writing process, etc.) and it was easy to miss witticisms with people getting excited and talking all at once, but here are some things that transpired:

• Kevin Hearne apparently received an award the night before, so the other panelists plotted to have the audience applaud wildly when he arrived and was introduced, so that he would feel embarrassed and blush a lot. (This is what friends do!) This was a running joke throughout the panel—referring to him as the award-winning Kevin Hearne!!! and watching him blush.



• John Scalzi, early in the panel: “Alright, what the hell are we doing here? I mean not just in an existential sense…”



• Delilah Dawson has eaten many strange meats, not actually including capybara and guinea pig, but rather things like squirrel, cat, kangaroo, alligator…



• The most awesome 8th grade diorama ever would be the movie Seven, but with a squirrel



• There may be institutions that categorize the capybara as a fish, and the meaty-beefy peptide is responsible for making things taste delicious, or if it’s not present, like chicken.



• There was a lot of talk about cannibalism, with theories flying that bacon may taste like human



• The discussion moved into the territory of animals solving crimes, which brought us to the murder-solving sheep flock of Three Bags Full (I thought this was just a joke, but no, it is a real thing!)



• A discussion of what Kevin Wax may be, and the possibility of ceremonially rendering him down at the end of the weekend, like the Wicker Man



• A note from a secret admirer was scrawled upon the top of John Scalzi’s signing table in the exhibition hall: “I love you John Scalzi—I love you so much I’m going to turn your skin into velvet and paint a picture of us on it. – Your Secret Admirer.” (His secret admirer was Wil Wheaton, which makes it slightly less creepy. XD)



• Sam Sykes does not like cats, said, “I think they’re stupid, and I don’t have a high opinion of them.” To which Cherie Priest responded, “Which begs the question of what you’re doing on the internet, frankly.” He answered, “Not fitting in. Anywhere.” XD



• Leanna Renee Hieber has a bunny that she rescued from a laboratory, and she smells like a cotton ball. The bunny, not the author. (I assume.) This led into a debate of whether or not bunnies eat their own poo.



• Last time Sam Sykes interviewed John Scalzi, Sykes claims Scalzi made a girl laugh at him. They were going to dinner with Sykes’ mom after the signing and he was arranging things over the phone, and some woman overheard him. So she went to get her book signed by Scalzi, and while she was waiting she said, “Have fun with your mom.” XD (It was not until later, when I was reading online about the books written by the authors on this panel, that the vast knowledge of the interwebs informed me that Sam Sykes is apparently the son of Diana Gabaldon, of Outlander fame. I feel this context makes me enjoy the story on a whole different level. XD)



• Stainless steel Sharpies exist.



• Tyromancy is the art of divination through the coagulation of cheese, and clearly needs to be a series of books, beginning with The Tyromancer’s Cheddar. After thinking a moment, the panel decided that Brandon Sanderson is probably already writing about magical cheese, and it’s a 10-volume series.



• In addition to author/panelist John Scalzi, there is a weatherman named John Scalzi. There is also a John (B.) Scalzi Award for Masonry Science. Who knew?

As a result of this amusing panel, I ended up picking up a couple books by some of the panelists I hadn’t heard of before. More padding for my TBR pile! :)

In Which I Return from the BEA

Hello again, bookworms and moths! I’ve returned from the event of the season, Book Expo America, with a book haul to end all my previous presumptions of having impressive library hauls. Plus several new book blogging friends (Paper Reader, Girls in Capes, Dead Book Darling, and Headstrong-Tomgirl —all of them have much more established blogs with incisive reviews, so check them out!), and answers to most of my questions about American Girl books.

Anyway, for everyone as clueless as I was before I registered for this shindig, the BEA is to the publishing industry what NY Fashion Week is to the garment industry.

NYFW	BEA
Dress is extremely fashionable	Dress is power-lunch or power-walk
Runway shows with next season's clothing	Galley proof giveaways of next season's books
Stars are mobbed for autographs	Authors are mobbed for autographs
Editors spew theories about "upcoming trends"	Editors spew theories about "upcoming trends"

Totally the same thing! Except with people happily eating cupcakes at parties, and a focus on books instead of clothing...

Trend Report

YA Dystopian is Dead. Long Live YA Contemporary, Diversity, and Melded Genres

Editors from Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic, Candlewick Press, The Atlantic, and Disney-Hyperion proclaimed that the YA Dystopian trend is over, but every few minutes they seemed to decide another buzzword was the future of the YA market. I can’t remember if different publishing houses were predicting different trends, but it seems like the YA book world could be spending the next season in transition before a new real trend emerges. Let’s face it, diversity and melded genres cannot be a fad the way that vampires/werewolves/angels/corrupt futuristic governments have been because something that’s offering novelty at every corner is not going to gain the trust of reluctant readers. (Unless you distill “diversity” into a trite common theme of “I’m different but I love myself for it!” which I very much hope doesn't happen.)

Based on the galleys I picked up and the books I heard about at the panel, transcending time is a theme, whether through literal time travel (the much-hyped All Our Yesterdays), genetic immortality (Wake Up Missing), or ghosts (Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer; Plague in the Mirror; Raven Boys quartet; These Broken Stars).

As for the editor-observed diversity theme, maybe there’s a Native American Indian moment coming this fall (Ghost Hawk, If I Ever Get out of Here, Sorrow’s Knot), but it looks like there’s a long way to go still.

Welcome Back, Stand Alone Novels!

The editors on the YA panel said that they are “weary” of the trilogy craze that has dominated the market for years. We can only hope that readers agree, and that John Green gets some healthy competition on the NYTimes YA Bestsellers list.

New Adult Fiction

This is the latest buzzword, and it seems to describe YA-like books with late teen / early twenties main characters who have more sex than normal YA characters. I think I picked up two that may qualify (Left Drowning and The Art of Falling). The only thing truly interesting about New Adult is that there’s no consensus on whether it exists.

I think it may work like imaginary numbers, so when a publisher has only one manuscript that seems like New Adult, it gets marketed as YA; but two manuscripts get farmed to genres, three claim a mature YA designation, and if there are four then the publisher can announce that New Adult is real. (Yes, the math on this is not just imaginary but wrong.)

American Girls Historical Book Questions

(because you know you had them too)

Why did Elizabeth Cole (Felicity books) become a blonde, and did someone simply Photoshop all the images of her to keep girls from learning she originally had beautiful dark brown hair?

At the time of the Elizabeth Cole BFF doll creation, American Girl determined that they had overrepresented brunettes, and for the sake of balance they needed another blonde. I really enjoyed talking to the American Girl editor, but it is INSANE that the American Girl/Mattel people thought that blondes should be 40% of their visual image.

As for how such hair changes are done, the illustrator was asked to rework some pictures. There may have also been some Photoshopping involved, but it was mostly done by hand.

Why wasn’t Ivy the main character of the Julie/Ivy 1970s pair? Did American Girl really need another blonde?

The process of making an American Girl historical character starts with brainstorming issues or events that the company would like to address, matching these to a time period, and fleshing out further themes for the series. The company then commissions an author, who develops the character’s personality and stories. After that, the company determines what the character looks like (by figuring out what color hair they need, as we saw above).

In the case of Julie/Ivy, author Megan McDonald wrote a draft of Meet Julie that described Ivy. The production team loved Ivy so much that they hired an additional author, Lisa Yee, to write a separate book about Ivy in time for the Julie launch.

I still think it’s weird that American Girl’s efforts towards showing the diversity of experiences and circumstances in American history, as well as the unity of family and friendship bonds, hasn’t led to an AAPI main character in the historical line. I can only guess that the story the editor told me about Ivy’s inception means that American Girl legitimately didn’t realize it was ignoring the AAPI community, and when they saw Ivy in the Julie draft, they decided to create an Ivy doll before drawing too much attention to their oversight.

Why did they stop giving all the books formulaic names beginning with Kaya?

Booksellers HATED that the titles for each girl were essentially the same. Family members who didn’t fully understand the concept of a series of different girls would get confused and buy the wrong books for presents. And the original Pleasant Company had never expected they would have so many characters that the repetitive titles would become a problem.

What’s up with new girls not having stories that take place during a year ending with 4 (earlier books were set in 1904, 1864, 1774, etc.)?

Pleasant Rowland, founder of the company, created the original characters as a way for girls to connect with history. Ms. Rowland had a background in education, and figured that by making all the years end with a 4, children would have an easier time remembering the century and decade. But in order for the 4 to fit all the later stories, some finagling on the part of the production team was necessary. The Julie books were intended to be about the bicentennial celebrations in 1976, but to keep the year 1974 the first book had to take place two years before the celebration book. When the company wanted to use the events of the 1853 New Orleans yellow fever epidemic, they decided it would be extremely confusing to talk about the year in the books but put 1854 on the covers. Thus, they freed themselves from their final digit restriction.

The Haul: Phoenix Comicon 2013

And now for a break from all my text-heavy posts with some pictures of pretty books I either acquired at PHXCC, or already owned and dragged along with me to get autographed there!

PHXCC 2013 Report: Brandon Sanderson and the Wheel of Time

On Friday afternoon of the con (5/24), I decided to check out the panel on Brandon Sanderson and the Wheel of Time. The Wheel of Time is an epic fantasy series by Robert Jordan that one of my cousins got me hooked on in…late junior high? Early high school? Somewhere in there. As the series progressed and the books got longer and more doorstop-like I was still enjoying them, but it got to a point where there was a book that focused on all the characters who had grown irritating to me (at least that’s how I remember it), and I put it down and never picked it back up. I’ve often meant to get back to it and finish out the series, but just haven’t for one reason or another. Robert Jordan passed away in 2007 and Brandon Sanderson ended up being the author selected to finish writing the series (more on that later, as it's something he talked about at the panel).

I thought it would be interesting to hear what he had to say on finishing off such a popular series in the place of the original author, and decided to go to the panel even though I was fully expecting to encounter major spoilers. Surprisingly enough, I did not! Brandon Sanderson said at the beginning that he would not go out of his way to talk about spoilers, but at the same time he wasn’t going to hold himself back from discussing things or the audience back from asking their burning questions. It was probably a combo of his not making a point of bringing up spoilery things, and the fact that it’s been so long since I read these books that any spoilers that did come up didn’t even register as such in my head. That being said, there may be spoilers for the whole series in this report, and since I can’t really tell whether they’re big or small ones, proceed at your own risk! I made heavy use of the interwebs to fact check and try to get spelling right, and I listened to the audio track over and over to get quotes down correctly—I apologize for any errors. This is Brandon Sanderson!

Here are some of his books:

And here are the 3 final books of the Wheel of Time series that he wrote using Robert Jordan’s notes:

So Brandon Sanderson (how should I refer to him in the rest of this post? Brandon? Mr. Sanderson? Branderson? BS?) talked for a bit about how he came to be chosen to write the final books of the Wheel of Time, and then he took questions from the panel and from audience members. Highlights:

• Robert Jordan was discovered by Harriet McDougal, who is considered one of the “great editors.” She edited the Wheel of Time, and she ended up marrying him (“to ensure narrative direction,” Sanderson joked).

• The Wheel of Time books started coming out in the ‘90s, and they were very popular. Fans eagerly awaited new installments in the series as the years passed. In 2006, Robert Jordan (which was a pen name! His real name was James Oliver Rigney, Jr.) was diagnosed with a “cancer-like disease,” and in September of 2007 he passed away. The last Wheel of Time book he completed on his own was 2005’s Knife of Dreams.

• Branderson read the books when they first came out, and 17 years later he got the call to finish the series. He wasn’t originally on any of the lists of names being tossed around of people who might finish out the series. At the time of Jordan’s death, BS had published a few novels, including Elantris and a couple of the Mistborn series, I believe. When he heard of Jordan’s death, he wrote a little eulogy on his website. A friend of Jordan’s wife and editor Harriet came across it and showed it to her. Harriet read it and something in it must’ve grabbed her, because she then contacted Tom Doherty, founder of Tor books (prominent SFF publisher, also BS’ publisher), to ask, “Who’s this kid? I want to read his books.” She read Mistborn and was impressed, and asked BS to complete the Wheel of Time, using Jordan’s notes and his own familiarity with the series as a fan. Branderson said, “I did not apply for it or anything like that—I had no idea this was coming. I just answered my phone one day and there was a voicemail from Robert Jordan’s widow. And so, at that point I did say yes. I was terrified, but I said yes.”

AGoT Read-Along: A Peek Inside the Mind of Sansa

I'm still working on transcribing all the panels and stuff from Phoenix Comicon last weekend, so only one chapter up this week!

“No, no, stop it, stop it both of you. You’re spoiling it, you’re spoiling everything!”

Sansa 1

Scene opens on Sansa having breakfast at an inn with her septa (nun/governess lady), and sneaking bacon to her direwolf Lady, who is very sweet and well-behaved. Sansa and Arya are supposed to be riding with Queen Cersei and Princess Myrcella in the wheelhouse today, and Sansa is very excited about tea, lemon cakes, and the possibility of seeing Prince Joffrey (not necessarily in that order). Arya is not at breakfast with them, so Septa Mordane sends Sansa to find her and make sure she’s acceptable to be admitted to the queen’s presence.

She finds Arya on the banks of the Trident (a convergence of rivers in the shape of, well, I’m sure you can guess), brushing mud out of her direwolf Nymeria’s fur. She tells Arya she needs to get dressed up for the royal wheelhouse ride, and Arya states she’s not going. She’s going to go search the river for the rubies Robert whacked off of Prince Rhaegar’s armor when he killed him at the Trident back during the rebellion. Additionally, she doesn’t want to go in the wheelhouse because it doesn’t have windows and you can’t see anything as you’re traveling. Sansa can’t believe her sister would rather go treasure hunting than ride with the princess and queen. And she has a point: it’s probably not very polite to reject a royal invitation. And yet, Arya also has a point: who wants to ride in a stuffy box without windows, with no Dramamine in sight?