I’d meant to do a book review today, but this past week–including today–ended up bursting at the seams with stuff to do, places to go, crap to haul, people to see, and public speaking to suffer through. Suffice it to say that I AM TIRED. Therefore I am offering you these enticing links to amuse and entertain you, since I lack the energy to do so myself. Please to enjoy.
- A friend of mine from college sent me a link to this giveaway and said simply “you need this.” I took one look at it and. WANT. Every writer should have a Writer’s Clock, and, gosh, it even has Adult Beverage Time on it. It’s perfect. Just look at it. And it couldn’t be easier to enter the contest. GO DO IT.
- YA author Megan Kelley Hall wrote a heartfelt piece on bullying for the Huffington Post. She talks about her fears, her growing-up years, and what we can all do to help confront bullying. “One by one by one, we will stop the bullies and we will save lives.”
- Here’s another Thing I Want: John Scalzi’s new book, Redshirts. Our blog bud Sheila Ruth wrote up a great review of it, and now I want to read it even more. (Luckily, a friend of mine has already bought it and I’ve got second dibs on borrowing it.)
- You know we loves us some Cover Chatter. Coverfail is always a major topic of conversation around here, and we particularly like it when there are good-quality, well-designed, diverse YA book covers that don’t just feature the same generic “pretty white girl” over and over again. Ellen Oh feels the same way, and contributed a must-read post for Racialicious on “Why The Pretty White Girl YA Book Cover Trend Needs To End.” Go, Ellen!
Star Trek fans have chuckled for years how, on any away mission, you can be pretty certain that the red-shirted crew members aren't coming back to the ship (at least not alive). If someone's going to die, it won't be Kirk and Spock. It'll be poor Ensign Jones in his red shirt. Scalzi pokes good-natured fun at that in Redshirts.
The novel begins with the newest crew members coming aboard the starship Intrepid to begin their tours of duty. At first, they notice how everyone seems to obsess about away missions. Then, they realize that the more-veteran crewmen seem to vanish when the officers show up to staff an away team. They also realize that a disproportionate number of their kind seem to be dying on away missions.
I read Ellen Oh's post. Excellent!!!
I love John Scalzi's sense of humor; I just know that the book will be stellar. I've enjoyed him since Colleen gave me her copy of YOUR HATE MAIL WILL BE GRADED. Excellent stuff.
Love that Writer's Clock! And thanks for pointing the way to the Ellen Oh post. I'm sick to death of the pretty white girl ya cover trend.