Friday Links

There’s a new kids’ book about Jimi Hendrix. I suspect that there will be some editing involved.

Speaking of editing, there may be an editor in need of a job very soon. A woman recently contacted Cook’s Source Magazine when she found that they had posted one of her original recipes (with some editing) without her permission. Instead of apologizing or paying her, the editor of the magazine responded with this:

“…honestly Monica, the web is considered ‘public domain’ and you should be happy we just didn’t ‘lift’ your whole article and put someone else’s name on it!… If you took offence and are unhappy, I am sorry, but you as a professional should know that the article we used written by you was in very bad need of editing, and is much better now than was originally. Now it will work well for your portfolio. For that reason, I have a bit of a difficult time with your requests for monetary gain… We put some time into rewrites, you should compensate me!”

Do not mock the internet! A Facebook page has turned into a clearing house for tracking all the other recipes that were copied directly by the magazine. The taunts on the magazine’s Facebook page are hilarious, too.

The American Library Association, the folks that hand out the Newberry Award and the Caldecott Medal, has added a prize for best gay and lesbian book for young people. Cue the vitriolic right wing outrage in 3…2…1.

Atlanta author Laurel Snyder has had a recent brush with this kind of intolerant outrage. Her new book for young readers, Penny Dreadful, includes a character with two moms. They are minor characters in the book but they nevertheless prompted this response from a reviewer:

The only problem is, being a lesbian is not normal. It’s not something that “just happens” to people, like being poor or brave. In fact, when you look through Biblical glasses, homosexuality is, well, an abomination.

Characters like Willa and Jenny, however, with their happy little family, show elementary-age readers that Christian beliefs are hateful and silly. Add these characters to the full-blown assault of politically-correct propaganda that is molding America’s children.

Got that? Portraying lesbians as happy in a book is an assault on children. Check out Snyder’s thoughtful response.

Library Journal’s list of the top 10 books of 2010. Which still has two months left. I’m just saying.

This trailer for Rainn Wilson’s is great. I still don’t know what the book is about, but it looks cool.

Creeped out by those MY Baby Can Read! commercials? Me, too. Check this out.

On the TV: I am LOVING the first season of Sherlock on PBS’s Masterpiece Mystery. You must tune in this week if you haven’t seen it yet. Fantastic.

Also on the TV: I tuned into the first episode of The Walking Dead, the AMC adaptation of the popular zombie comic book series. I’m not sure that I would have tuned in they didn’t film a scene on my street, but I’m glad that I did. Also featured in the first episode: numerous houses in my neighborhood, our neighborhood park, my office, and the area around my office in downtown ATL. I kept an eye out for zombies while walking to lunch yesterday.

Books | Tim | November 5, 2010 9:16 am

4 Comments

By Anne, November 5, 2010 @ 10:20 am

Nice response, Ms. Snyder. The blogger should probably go hang out with the politician in Colorado who thinks homosexuality is like alcoholism.
By Laurel Snyder, November 5, 2010 @ 1:32 pm

Thanks, guys. I appreciate the support. Been a weird week here.

xoL
By Pete, November 5, 2010 @ 3:03 pm

Re Hendrix: for one thing, Cynthia Plastercaster will probably never be mentioned.
By Stephanie, November 6, 2010 @ 9:31 pm

Thanks for all the nice links =) Some are really funny.