Winning children's books

Neil Gaiman's Newbery-winning The Graveyard Book has won the UK's prestigious Carnegie Medal.

The equally illustrious Kate Greenaway Medal for an illustrated children's book has gone to Australian illustrator Freya Blackwood for Harry & Hopper (with story by Margaret Wild). Published in the UK and Australasia by Scholastic, the book is not available in the US.

ONE BOOK-ONE STORY WRITERS

For those who don't know it, it is the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of one of America's greatest novels, To Kill a Mocking Bird.

In Reno, Nevada, small press publisher Jacqueline Church Simonds of BEAGLEBAY BOOKS was interviewed by a local paper for comments on the enduring success of the American classic.  I was very interested in her observation that Harper Lee appeared to have only one book in her, though one that turned out to be one of the greatest modern novels written.

It reminded me of another American writer, Richard McKenna, who produced just one great book, The Sand Pebbles, and (in my opinion) just one great story, "Casey Agonistes."

Both appealed to me because of their gritty, authentic maritime content.  McKenna, unable to afford university fees because of the Great Depression, joined the US Navy, and served in the Far East as a machinist's mate.  While the story of The Sand Pebbles takes place in 1920, ten years before his service began, life in the engine room of the rusty river boat San Pueblo rings with truth, partly because McKenna listened to the salty tales old shipmates told him, and he had a very good ear.  It comes as no surprise to learn that the book won the 1963 Harper Prize.

"Casey Agonistes" reflects the same lingo and philosophies of the lower deck, with characters that leap off the page. A handful of sailors and soldiers in the isolation ward of a servicemen's hospital fight death and depression with the help of an ape ... an imaginary ape?  Hit the title (above), read the story, and make up your mind for yourself.

Critics compared these, McKenna's earliest publications, to Melville and Hemingway. However, while a story, The Secret Place (published posthumously), won a Nebula Award, McKenna is seldom remembered now.

Changes at the top in Penguin NZ

Publishing director of Penguin NZ quits job.

One of New Zealand publishing's leading figures, Penguin's publishing director Geoff Walker, has quit after 25 years with the firm.

The one time television current affairs broadcaster had become the country's top publisher, initially with AH and AW Reeds in Wellington.

In a statement he announced it will "move on to pursue other opportunities".

Penguin say that under Walker's direction Penguin's local list grew to become one of the most acclaimed and respected in this country, winning pretty much every major award for outstanding fiction and non-fiction. He is credited with bringing into the stable the likes of Patricia Grace, Lloyd Jones, Maurice Gee and Michael King.

Walker says he has mixed feelings at leaving.
"It's been an incredible thrill to be associated with some of New Zealand's best writers. But it's time for me to change direction and try something new - and perhaps do a little less of it than a busy publishing life usually
permits," he said.
"I won't be retiring in any sense, just moving on from the corporate publishing life and doing a few things that interest me. I still plan to be around the publishing world....
"I want to thank all the wonderful authors I've worked with. It's been a joy to be your publisher."

MOST RESERVED BOOKS

Not so long ago, I tinkered with the idea that listing the most popular holds in public libraries was as good an indicator of bestsellers as the bestseller lists.  Maybe even better, being less skewed by the data collection method.  I also wondered what the reserved list was like at our own public library in Wellington.

To my astonishment I opened our community paper, The Wellingtonian, to find a story by Rebecca Thomson called WAITING FOR A GOOD READ.  She had interviewed collections manager John Stears, and he had supplied a list of what Wellingtonians sign up to take out.

Eighty-three people are waiting to read The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest -- so many that the budget has been stretched to ordering more copies.

Others in great demand are The Girl Who Played With Fire (76 requests), and Andre Agassi's biography, Open (51 reserves).  Following close behind are:

Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris
House Rules by Jodi Picoult
Gabriel Method (Revolutionary Diet) by Jon Gabriel
So Much for That by Lionel Shriver
Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

The most popular children's book is Water Blaster by H.I. Larry.

The most popular CD is Heligoland by Massive Attack
And the most popular DVD is season four of the TV series How I Met Your Mother.

SLUSH PILE HELL

So long ago, I can't even find it, I posted hints about how to write a query letter to an agent.  Now, courtesy of Jason Boog at GalleyCat at mediabistro.com, I enjoyed a hearty breakfast-time laugh reading a new blog, SlushPile Hell. 

It is headed, "A grumpy literary agent wades through query fails."  I believe this is misleading.  The snippets from queries and the supplied ideal answers is the product of someone with a really great sense of humor.

A couple of favorites:

I want an agent who's confident to get me a 7 figure book deal or high 6 figure deal, not some bull crap deal.

Funny, that's exactly what I say to editors when I send them a proposal.  Works every time.

I was told by someone from Simon and Schuster that having an agent is a necessity in today's market.  What do you think?

BWAHAHAHAHA!  My evil plan to brainwash all S&S employees into recommending agents to authors is working!

**

This is a blog I will be following ...

CRIME IS IN THE AIR

Suddenly, it seems, there is an insatiable demand for crime fiction.  Jason Boog, on GalleyCat, announces today that Little, Brown, is launching a new crime imprint, called ""Mulholland Books" after a famous crime-chase street in LA.

The editor, John Schoenfelder, and marketing director, Miriam Parker, expect to publish twenty-four books a year.  First to hit the press will be mysteries by Marcia Clark, Lawrence Block, and Duane Swierczynski. 

Publisher Michael Pietsch is marvellously upbeat about the venture.  "There is an extraordinary body of suspense fiction being written today," he says.  While the aim is to entertain, there will be the extra factor of "surprise at all costs," and everyone at Little, Brown is excited to be part of the project.

And the winner is ... a new crime fiction writer

On Graham Beattie's book blog today:

The winner of the inaugural NZSA/Pindar Publishing Prize announcement

‘Judging the inaugural NZSA/Pindar Prize for an unpublished manuscript was a fascinating and challenging exercise,’ reports novelist and short story writer Graeme Lay,(pic left), one of the three judges of the award. The other two judges were Mia Yardley, Editorial Manager of Pindar New Zealand and Linda Herrick, Arts and Books editor of the New Zealand Herald.

For the exciting result of this competition, read more.

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, by Stephenie Meyer

Amanda Craig, children's book reviewer for The Times, and first British reviewer of the first of the "Twilight" series, which has sold 6.8 million copies in Britain, reviews the spin-off novella.

When the much-hyped new “ Eclipse novella” arrived, my teenage daughter asked, “So does it suck as much as the last one, then?” She had been one of the very first British teenagers to read the original Twilight, as I had been the first British critic to review it, and we had both enjoyed the unknown Stephanie Meyer’s original take on romance with a vampire very much.

But what a difference five years and multi-million pound sales can make ...  Read more.

OLIVE KITTERIDGE

My good friend Roberta (Canoes of Kupe) McIntyre and I were talking book groups, and the book her group is reading at the moment sounded so intriguing that I headed for the library.

Olive Kitteridge, by Elizabeth Strout, was the winner of last year's Pulitzer for fiction (2009) -- which meant I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  Would it be over-written, highbrow, and boring, or would I be startled by its novelty? 

"Startled" came first.  Intriguingly, I found that it is a collection of thirteen short stories, as I had not been aware that short stories were eligible.  Additionally, at least six have been published before, in magazines ranging from The New Yorker to O: The Oprah Magazine, which has meant slight, but discernible, disparities in style. 

But that didn't matter, as I like the short story genre.  Additionally, important strands link them into a cohesive whole -- all save one are set in Crosby, a small town in coastal Maine, and the character of Olive Kitteridge features in them all, though often just as a mention.

Then I was riveted, because of the nature of the protagonist.  Even when just a footnote, Olve Kitteridge is a compelling character.  The maths teacher from some childhood hell, she should be an awful woman -- contemptuously rude to the gentle, submissive husband who loves her despite all the odds, often angry, abrupt in speech, intolerant of neighbours, absolutely incapable of expressing her adoration of her only son -- and yet I came to care about her.  In one particularly telling story, where Olive overhears her catty new daughter-in-law discussing her demeanour and dress, I was angry enough to spit on her behalf.

Otherwise, there were reasons I should not have liked this book.  The themes are universally depressing -- the tired challenges of a reluctant retirement, marriage that seems more like bondage than a partnership, the inability to communicate love, the terrors of old age, the awful threat of loneliness after the death of a partner, a piercingly acute depiction of anorexia.  So why did I love it, instead? 

First, Strout is a wonderful story-teller.  The book is a page-turner, a compulsive read.  I had great difficulty putting it down, and finished it within two days. 

Second, the writing scintillates.  I did have problems with the one chapter set outside Crosby, Maine (a difficult story that took place in Brooklyn, New York), but her depiction of daily existence in a small town in Maine rang with a sense of utter truth -- in this, Strout reminded me of another great describer of American daily life, Willa Cather. 

Strongly recommended, a wonderful pick for the prize.  Now to ask Roberta what her book group thought ....

TYPE ONTO YOUR COMPUTER WITH A TYPEWRITER

Yes, it is the human interest story for the day: you can now connect an oldfashioned typewriter to your computer for a mere five hundred bucks.

GalleyCat on mediabistro.com ran the headline that intrigued me.  Tired of pecking away on a midget laptop keyboard?  Miss the old IBM?  Well, an innovative artist, Jack Zylkin, has the answer -- a gadget that connects a typewriter to your computer via a USB port. 

It could be the answer to repetitive strain syndrome, too, as well as providing that nostalgia rush.  It could be dangerous to get used to zipping the carriage back at the end of every line again, though ....