Book events and reading
So the long September of book events is nearly over. I've decided not to go to the Ally Carter event this weekend. As fun as it'd be to see her again, I'm pretty worn out.
On September 19th afternoon, I went over to the National Spy Museum to see Elizabeth Wein. She was signing copies of "Code Name Verity" and the newly released "Rose Under Fire." It was a small event, so I was able to talk to her a little, how so many of my friends on twitter particularly had loved and sobbed through "Verity" but carefully hadn't spoiled me. Interestingly Wein warned me that the first chunk of "Verity" was a tough go, so wouldn't hold it against me if I didn't love it unconditionally. The Museum shop person had read "Rose Under Fire" to the underprivileged teen group she worked with and they were now reading Verity as well. Wein was bowled over by this news and all the acclaim for her work.
Tonight was the V.E. Schwab "Vicious" event at my local independent bookstore. Since the book is about superpowers and villains and heroes, the book event invited people to dress up in costume. She'd have masks (red for villain, black for hero) and a cool set of trading cards you could obtain for preordering the book or attending her signings. I'm not a natural cosplayer, but I figured I could enter the spirit when I saw this retro Black Widow t-shirt at the Spy Museum shop. (Romita doesn't actually portray Natasha wearing heels with that then new costume, I might add, but I love the style of art.) I paired it with an old goldish bracelet and OPI's "Affair in Red Square" nail polish for effect. I felt very Polyvore Black Widow. That garnered praise from Schwab, but completely ignored by the bookstore person running the cosplay "contest". Guess I wasn't dressed up enough in her eyes. The other three people were pretty off the rack too -- a Lizzie Borden in black clothes and an axe as prop, a lady in a black cocktail dress and wand as Bellatrix and another in suit jacket / name tag as Agent Jemma Simmons from Agent of SHIELD because her name actually was Simmons. Bellatrix won mainly because Schwab admitted a love for the character.
Then Schwab gave a reading from "Vicious" and answered some questions. Some were book specific, like whether there was a traditional hero in "Vicious" or not. She also talked about the storytelling format since the book covers several time periods. She wrote it in order but then had markers to tell herself where things fit chronologically. She intended the chapters to be in short chunks like panels in a comic book. (I'm picturing some of the awful DC/Marvel captions where the story starts "NOW..." to cue you and so forth.) She wrote the book over about two years in between other book deadlines and wasn't originally about Victor and Eli. She had a different leading character and she was writing the backstory on the rival gangs and realized they were more interesting than she realized. She didn't tell anyone about the project for awhile. She talks a bit about writing "Vicious" on Scalzi's blog here and Tor.com published a short story Warm Up as a lead-up to the release. (Hilariously they didn't mention it was tied to "Vicious" so some of the regular sf/fantasy commenters were confused everyone knew about some upcoming book and assumed it was spammy.)
She has now three publishers: one for middle grade (Scholastic), one for YA (Hyperion) and adult (Tor) and will publish 4 books next year. (EEP!) She was asked why Vicious couldn't be YA and it wasn't the ages as much as the tone and black humor that she didn't think fit that mindset. She hates cliffhangers, so even her series book feel like they can stand on their own. She's more of a classic Marvel comics fan, although she did her thesis on Bat-villains and how they're personifications of chaos/Batman's fears. She just prefers the Marvel shades of grey. She's an X-men fan, Magneto specifically.
What I find fascinating as a "no, no, don't tell the authors" fangirl of long standing is how Schwab has utterly embraced the fans, hoping someone will write the Victor/Eli epic of her dreams. She finds it the best compliment that someone wants to spend more time with her characters and world.
What are you currently reading?
Still reading Amanda Quick's "Crystal Gardens". What I do like about her heroines is most of them have interesting specialty/professions/etc (i.e. photographer, botanist, etc.)
What did you finish reading?
I finished Sarah Caudwell's "The Shortest Way to Hades". The extended cricket scene near the end tried to break me; I almost wish I could have Paul Cornell explaining it to me, because the terminology flew way way way over my head. And I can understand curling! But I still adore the characters. I've gone back and forth on the Tamar gender question.
My favorite quote: "My dear boy, I am an historian, my profession largely consists of speaking ill of the dead."
I've also been trying to finish some of the short stories I've loaded onto my Kindle, including Tim Prasil's Vera Van Slyke: Help for the Haunted series, featuring two women researching ghost stories/hauntings in late 19th-early 20th century America. He releases a story a month in various ebook formats and then takes them down at the end. I assume he's planning a release of all of them at some point when the series is finished up. I'm done with "An Unanchored Man".
What do you think you'll read next?
*grins* I've been impatiently waiting for V.E. Schwab's "Vicious" since I heard about this project. I've read part of the excerpt and enjoyed it so far.
On September 19th afternoon, I went over to the National Spy Museum to see Elizabeth Wein. She was signing copies of "Code Name Verity" and the newly released "Rose Under Fire." It was a small event, so I was able to talk to her a little, how so many of my friends on twitter particularly had loved and sobbed through "Verity" but carefully hadn't spoiled me. Interestingly Wein warned me that the first chunk of "Verity" was a tough go, so wouldn't hold it against me if I didn't love it unconditionally. The Museum shop person had read "Rose Under Fire" to the underprivileged teen group she worked with and they were now reading Verity as well. Wein was bowled over by this news and all the acclaim for her work.
Tonight was the V.E. Schwab "Vicious" event at my local independent bookstore. Since the book is about superpowers and villains and heroes, the book event invited people to dress up in costume. She'd have masks (red for villain, black for hero) and a cool set of trading cards you could obtain for preordering the book or attending her signings. I'm not a natural cosplayer, but I figured I could enter the spirit when I saw this retro Black Widow t-shirt at the Spy Museum shop. (Romita doesn't actually portray Natasha wearing heels with that then new costume, I might add, but I love the style of art.) I paired it with an old goldish bracelet and OPI's "Affair in Red Square" nail polish for effect. I felt very Polyvore Black Widow. That garnered praise from Schwab, but completely ignored by the bookstore person running the cosplay "contest". Guess I wasn't dressed up enough in her eyes. The other three people were pretty off the rack too -- a Lizzie Borden in black clothes and an axe as prop, a lady in a black cocktail dress and wand as Bellatrix and another in suit jacket / name tag as Agent Jemma Simmons from Agent of SHIELD because her name actually was Simmons. Bellatrix won mainly because Schwab admitted a love for the character.
Then Schwab gave a reading from "Vicious" and answered some questions. Some were book specific, like whether there was a traditional hero in "Vicious" or not. She also talked about the storytelling format since the book covers several time periods. She wrote it in order but then had markers to tell herself where things fit chronologically. She intended the chapters to be in short chunks like panels in a comic book. (I'm picturing some of the awful DC/Marvel captions where the story starts "NOW..." to cue you and so forth.) She wrote the book over about two years in between other book deadlines and wasn't originally about Victor and Eli. She had a different leading character and she was writing the backstory on the rival gangs and realized they were more interesting than she realized. She didn't tell anyone about the project for awhile. She talks a bit about writing "Vicious" on Scalzi's blog here and Tor.com published a short story Warm Up as a lead-up to the release. (Hilariously they didn't mention it was tied to "Vicious" so some of the regular sf/fantasy commenters were confused everyone knew about some upcoming book and assumed it was spammy.)
She has now three publishers: one for middle grade (Scholastic), one for YA (Hyperion) and adult (Tor) and will publish 4 books next year. (EEP!) She was asked why Vicious couldn't be YA and it wasn't the ages as much as the tone and black humor that she didn't think fit that mindset. She hates cliffhangers, so even her series book feel like they can stand on their own. She's more of a classic Marvel comics fan, although she did her thesis on Bat-villains and how they're personifications of chaos/Batman's fears. She just prefers the Marvel shades of grey. She's an X-men fan, Magneto specifically.
What I find fascinating as a "no, no, don't tell the authors" fangirl of long standing is how Schwab has utterly embraced the fans, hoping someone will write the Victor/Eli epic of her dreams. She finds it the best compliment that someone wants to spend more time with her characters and world.
What are you currently reading?
Still reading Amanda Quick's "Crystal Gardens". What I do like about her heroines is most of them have interesting specialty/professions/etc (i.e. photographer, botanist, etc.)
What did you finish reading?
I finished Sarah Caudwell's "The Shortest Way to Hades". The extended cricket scene near the end tried to break me; I almost wish I could have Paul Cornell explaining it to me, because the terminology flew way way way over my head. And I can understand curling! But I still adore the characters. I've gone back and forth on the Tamar gender question.
My favorite quote: "My dear boy, I am an historian, my profession largely consists of speaking ill of the dead."
I've also been trying to finish some of the short stories I've loaded onto my Kindle, including Tim Prasil's Vera Van Slyke: Help for the Haunted series, featuring two women researching ghost stories/hauntings in late 19th-early 20th century America. He releases a story a month in various ebook formats and then takes them down at the end. I assume he's planning a release of all of them at some point when the series is finished up. I'm done with "An Unanchored Man".
What do you think you'll read next?
*grins* I've been impatiently waiting for V.E. Schwab's "Vicious" since I heard about this project. I've read part of the excerpt and enjoyed it so far.