Saturday, June 26, 2010

My Brain Does Not Wander...

My brain does not wander… it trespasses.

On the subway, one hears, “If you have been the victim of unwanted sexual contact, please notify a police officer or MTA employee.”

So I got to thinking, what is lawful sexual contact? Can you do it on the subway? Should I ask those sitting next to me before I engage in lawful sexual contact? Is it okay if I take pictures of others engaged in lawful sexual contact? Is it unlawful if they ask for money? Or play music?

Friday, June 25, 2010

ALA Friday Night Lite

Okay... there was a "preview" of the exhibit floor, from 5:15 (opened late) to 8 PM.

First, there was a buffet (YES, an actual spread of food), but I had just eaten lunch, so I just grabbed a can of Coke.

Trina Robbins has a new book out with Lerner, so I took a quick detour to their booth. Just arrived (due out in August), she writes middle school detective story titled "The Drained Brains Caper", illustrated by Tyler Page. Then's there's the second volume of Colleen AF Venable's Guinea PIg, Pet Shop Private Eye, titled "And Then There Were Gnomes"!

Scholastic caught me off guard with Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer teaming up again for "The Odious Ogre", a picture book. I've never been a fan, haven't read the book, but the film of The Phantom Tollbooth, directed by Chuck Jones, actually put me to sleep. Now, The Dot and The Line... that is one of the ultimate nerd romances ever written! I first saw the Oscar-winning short, and then years later found the original hardcover. (It's since been reprinted.)

Then I ventured to the graphic novel pavilion, and eventually wound up at the Drink and Draw. Free wine, five artists drawing crazy suggestions from the audience (a person, a place, a situation). The three challenges:
  1. Sarah Palin, cooking a bundt cake, at the Grand Canyon
  2. Albert Einstein, doing the long jump, on the Moon
  3. A dwarf, performing heart surgery, in the middle of a road
One drawing was raffled off, the others will be auctioned off by ALA.

Oh, and some BIG news. The Dabel Brothers have a new business, titled Sea Lion Books. Three initial authors: L. A. Banks, Richelle Mead, and...
(let me but it up in lights so you won't miss it...)

PAULO COELHO

Yeah, my jaw dropped. That's a BIG name, an author who writes regular literary fiction, not some author known for genre work. Then they showed the book cover:

The Alchemist


Yes. THAT book. A book which has been been in print since 1987, and still sells tremendously (currently #316 among all books on BN.com). A book translated into 67 languages, and which has sold over 41 million copies worldwide.

Not much information available, although it is scheduled for November, 2010.

I'll let others discuss the Dabel's previous publishing history. This graphic novel is being published via HarperOne, which has the rights to the prose novel. The other two books seem to be under the Sea-Lion name, with an EAN prefix of
978-0-9828186.

No listing yet in Books In Print, but here are the first five EANs from Sea-Lion:

978-0-9828186-0-2 Shadow Walker by L. A. Banks
978-0-9828186-1-9 (nothing in Google)
978-0-9828186-2-6 (nothing in Google)
978-0-9828186-3-3 (nothing in Google)
978-0-9828186-4-0 Storm Born by Richelle Meade

Very interesting... and this is just Friday evening!

ALA Friday

So, I’m on my way to Washington, DC, for the annual conference of the American Library Association. It’s already started, and runs until Tuesday.

This year, there will be an actual Graphic Novel pavilion on the exhibit floor.
If you’ve attended a comic-con, this would be where all the publishers and dealers would be located. ALA actually offers a variety of passes. I could spend $300 to get the full package, which includes various panels and such, or I could spend $25 just for the exhibits hall. Since I’m a stealth librarian (cataloging books and what-not for Barnes & Noble), I opted for this pass.

Like I said, the GN pavilion is on the exhibits floor, it’s a mini comic-con within the bigger librarian conference.
Lots of publishers promoting graphic novels, lots of librarians seducing other librarians with graphic novels, and everyone having a grand time.

I’ll be staying at the AYH youth hostel, where I used to live and work.
Dormitory beds, bath down the hall, but it’s super cheap, has free wi-fi, a kitchen, and is a short walk from the convention center. North of the convention center is a Giant Foods store (once considered massive, now just a regular grocery store) so I’ll probably dine there instead of partaking of the overpriced dining options.

Oh, and unlike a regular comic-con, there will be lots of free books handed out!
Librarians are on the front lines of advocacy. We’re kind of like bloggers without blogs. People ask us what’s good, and we recommend what’s good. If we really like something, we give it an award, which is a Seal of Approval for books, which publishers love.

What was the last good free book I read?
It was a book set in middle school. A weird kid makes an origami Yoga finger puppet. Other kids start asking Yoda for advice, advice which turns out to be really good. It’s a fun book, teaches a soft lesson, and even includes easy, do-it-yourself origami Yoda instructions! (Advice not included.)

(Sorry, I’ll try and find the exact title information later.
No wi-fi on the hoi polloi Boston-DC trains, only on Acela.

[Edit:
Here it is: The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, by Tom Angleberger.]

That’s all for now.
Just left Wilmington. Four more stops.