Category: Happenings

Lev Grossman at DBF

Another event on my “absolutely must see” list at the Decatur Book Festival is author Lev Grossman at 2:30 on Sunday.  I loved his wildly inventive novel, The Magicians.  Check out my glowing review.  Just make sure that you get behind me in the book signing line.  Thanks.

Laurel Snyder at DBF

Laurel Snyder may be the hardest working author at the Decatur Book Festival.  The one-woman powerhouse will be part of events on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  She is the author of several books that are worth noting.

Her children’s picture book Inside the Slidy Diner is a favorite with the young reader in my home and introduced the family to our adopted catch phrase “Clatter and din! Hullabaloo!”  We’re actually able to work that into conversation more often than you would think.

Her novel for middle readers Any Which Wall was just named one of the 25 Books that all young Georgians should read.

On the occasion of the release of another novel for middle readers, Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains, Laurel Snyder took the time to submit herself to a BGB interview, which you can check out here.

Her most recent picture book (just out last week), Baxter, The Pig Who Wanted to be Kosher, is awesome and was instant classic over at my house.  While waiting for the bus, Baxter meets a man who is headed home for Shabbat. Baxter is so enamored by the man’s descriptions of the upcoming celebration that he wants to join in, too.  Hilarity ensues as Baxter sets out to become kosher.  He doesn’t know what “kosher” means exactly, but he’s a determined pig.  He eventually learns from a young rabbi (a female rabbi, no less) what Shabbat is all about and finally gets an invitation to join in.  The illustrations are wonderfully comic and offer knowing chuckles for adult readers.  Snyder dedicates the book to “anyone who has ever felt excluded, which is to say…everyone.” It’s a wonderful story of inclusiveness and a great introduction into Jewish religious ideas for young readers.  Buy it for the glossary alone.

And if that weren’t enough, Snyder has another novel for middle readers coming out later this month, Penny Dreadful.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie at the DBF

So far this week, we’ve been subtly referencing some of the goings-on at this weekend’s Decatur Book Festival.  Those days are over.  The remainder of the week will be given over to “OMG, I can’t wait to see this” fanboy posts.

One of the events that I am truly looking forward to takes place on Saturday at 1:45PM.  Author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie will be in conversation “Tavis Smiley-style” about storytelling with Lain Shakespeare of the Wren’s Nest. Adichie is the author of the brilliant Half of a Yellow Sun (read our reviews here and here) as well as the novel Purple Hibiscus and the short story collection That Thing Around Your Neck.

The best part of this event is that BGB is totally responsible.  You can read all about how awesome we are at the Wren’s Nest Blog.

BGB Interview: Tom Key

A Confederacy of Dunces is one of my favorite books of all time.  Full stop.  When I heard that Tom Key, Executive Artistic Director of Atlanta’s Theatrical Outfit, had written a stage adaptation of the book, I was beside myself with anticipation.  A few years ago I wrote about Mr. Key:  ”If you’re not from Atlanta, there is a simple way to tell if a play here is going to be any good – check to see if Tom Key has anything to do with it.  If so, your odds are pretty good.” That assessment still stands.  Tom Key is a pillar of the Atlanta arts community, and I couldn’t be happier that he agreed to field a few questions from the likes of us.

Tom Key (left) and Director Richard Garner (right) – Photo James Christerson

Baby Got Books interview with Tom Key, author of the Theatrical Outfit’s stage adaptation of A Confederacy of Dunces

Baby Got Books: Can you tell how us how the idea to adapt A Confederacy Of Dunces came about?

Tom Key: When I first read it in the early 80s I knew it would make a great stage adaptation because the character of Ignatius is as profound a creation as Shakespeare’s Falstaff, and the dialogue tells the story for a stage audience as effectively and with as much hilarity as the most classic Theater farces.

BGB: How did your team go about adapting the novel into something that would work on the stage?

TK: I was able to attain the rights to adapt the novel and to produce it this fall here in Atlanta at Theatrical Outfit.  The next step was to hire the right director, design team for set, lights, costumes, sound and props, and then, to cast the right company of actors.  I chose Richard Garner, Artistic Director of Georgia Shakespeare Festival, because Toole’s novel is as complex as Shakespeare, and I knew Richard could take that kind of an epic script and create Theatrical combustion.  We had a series of production meetings discussing the design elements, particularly the set, designed by Sarah Ward who is from New Orleans, and how it all had to evoke 1964 New Orleans while at the same time allowing the actors to go from scene to scene in an instant.  Casting was done in about two days auditioning close to 70 actors. We knew we had assembled a comic “Who’s Who” of Atlanta, and we also knew that Aaron Munoz, a classically trained actor and Improv comedian, is perfect, and I mean, perfect for the role of Ignatius J. Reilly.  Once casting was completed everyone’s energy went up a notch because there’s a lot of confidence and excitement created when you know who exactly is going to be incarnating these incredibly funny and insane characters, and know they are going to be doing it so well.  After I heard the actors read the script the first time, and with the help of our Dramaturge, Michael Evenden of Emory, I completed another draft of the script.  Then after I saw it all the way through with all the staging completed I did another draft and now we’re literally in technical rehearsals putting all the elements together for our opening next week.

BGB: New Orleans accents are unique and have been notoriously botched on screen.  How will your adaption tackle this problem?

TK: It was very important to us to get the authenticity of those dialects.  So, we hired a dialect coach, Kathleen McManus, from New Orleans, and to our great advantage, she has also been cast in the role of Mrs. Reilly.  All of our actors are incredibly gifted at dialect and it certainly adds to the fun.  Toole wrote a lot of the dialect in the novel and I adhered to that as I extracted his dialogue for the script.  With some characters there are clues by their names whether or not they might have, for example, an Italian (Battaglia) or Spanish (Gonzales) influence in their speech and our actors have certainly taken that and run with it.

BGB: Various attempts to adapt A Confederacy of Dunces to the screen have failed.  However, there have been a few well received adaptations for the stage. Is there something about the novel that lends itself better to the stage than the screen?

TK: I don’t believe one medium is superior to the other, but I do think there are certain advantages and limitations that both have, and in the case of A Confederacy of Dunces, I think the Theatre has two advantages.  One is some readers have found Ignatius so offensive that they can’t finish or really get the book.  So, I think meeting him in person onstage gives someone the maximum advantage to not just encounter this bombastic personality but to begin to understand him, empathize with him and eventually root for him.  In our day to day life, we have a much better chance of understanding someone different than ourselves if we can be with that person face to face, and I think this is an advantage for grasping such an iconic kind of literary character as Ignatius.  Second is that the Theatre tells the story in language whereas the dominant story telling element in Film is image.  A film version I’m sure would be hilarious and can, unlike the Theatre, show the audience a real setting.  But a screenplay simply could not contain as much of this rich dialogue and narration as a Theatre version.  Obviously adapting a 400 page novel I have to leave out a lot!  But, a screenwriter on this story would really have to delete much more of Toole’s writing for a movie.  I imagine it could be tempting to settle for the visual comedy inherent in this story for the film, but I think it would be a real mistake if the audience just laughed at Ignatius as a sight gag.  To me, what is crucial in dramatizing this story, is to make sure the audience comes to care, and to care deeply what happens to him.  Whether he is ultimately received with violence or with compassion is, on one level, the larger drama of the human condition.

Aaron Munoz is Ignatius J. Reilly

BGB: Several of the other characters are about as politically incorrect as they could possibly be. Do you have any worries about portraying, say, Burma Jones, in a city with a history of racial discord?

TK: No, on the contrary, because Toole has created such complete characterizations, I think one of the virtues of sharing this story in a group experience will be that it will help to build bridges of understanding through laughter.  What’s offensive is when a character is presented to an audience as a stereotype, a reduction or a one note representation of a category.  That’s an insult.  It honors our diversity for an author as observant as Toole to render our humanity with the complexity it deserves.  In my experience, I have seen political correctness segregate us out of fear into fractions rather than to unite us in community.  Common courtesy is what is needed in all successful relations.  It’s interesting to me that the people in this story who are fundamentally courteous of Ignatius, or at least tolerant, end up well, whereas those who try and negate him, attack him or in someway get rid of him do not fare well.

BGB: What can you tell us about the cast you have lined up?

TK: I will just say that I am a firm believer in the Theatre wisdom, “There’s no such things as small parts, only small actors”.  I’m very proud of the fact over the years that Theatrical Outfit has developed a reputation for hiring excellent actors in all roles.  We are a professional theater company associated with the union Actors’ Equity Association.  If every single cast person is strong than the production will add up to being greater than the sum total of its parts, and I can assure you that is certainly happening with this production.  After I saw the first run through I was exhausted that night from all the laughing I had done.  Their dialect work, their skill with physical comedy, their skill for characterization, their capacity to work as an ensemble and, in some cases, their ability to portray a dazzling variety of characters within this one play, are talents on a world class level.  I couldn’t be prouder of the talent pool here in Atlanta.

Be sure to check out the short clip about the play at the Theatrical Outfit’s web page.

Performances of A Confederacy of Dunces

August 11 – September 5, 2010

Wednesday – Saturday at 7:30 pm
Sundays at 2:30 pm
Saturday Matinee on August 21 at 2:30 pm

Kathryn Borel Jr Uncorks in the ATL

Atlantans, mark your calendars.  There’s a very cool reading in town this weekend that you’ll want to check out. Kathryn Borel will be reading from her memoir Corked on Saturday evening at the Savi Urban Market in Inman Park. There will be free wine.  Free. Wine. And I trust Savi to bring the good stuff.

I first became aware of Borel when Boing Boing posted a video of the author demonstrating how to open a bottle of champagne with a sword.  That’s a skill you can use.  They posted another Borel video titled How to Sample Wine Without Looking Like a Clown.  That one’s fairly self-explanatory.

I’ve been meaning to check out Corked ever since. I was alerted to Borel’s upcoming Atlanta visit by Russ Marshalek, sometime BGB contributor and the hardest working man in books.  Russ sent an impassioned e-mail to his Atlanta friends and associates urging us all to drop everything and check out Borel’s reading.   Well, I’ll let Russ speak for himself…

(Dramatic interpretation of an an original e-mail by Russ M created by the Baby Got Books Thespian Society.)

The reading is at 5PM on Saturday March 6. A Capella Books will be there to hook you up with a copy.  Here are the directions.  You remembered the part about the free wine, right?

New Edition

I am informed that Tim and Jen have successfully completed a collaborative project: a healthy baby boy. They haven’t named him yet, so I’m sure they’ll appreciate seeing your suggestions in the Comments.

I’ll put in a plug for Inman: not only does the name evoke one of Atlanta’s nicest neighborhoods, it’s the handle of one of the most memorable literary characters of the past twenty or so years, the protagonist of Cold Mountain.

Mazel tov, y’all.

Neil Gaiman Yall

In local news, Neil Gaiman is coming to Atlanta (well, Decatur, but still…) on December 14th.  The world’s greatest children’s bookstore, The Little Shop of Stories, won an appearance by Mr. Gaiman for winning a Halloween party contest promoting his Newberry Prize-winner, The Graveyard Book.   The appearance will be hosted at Agnes Scott College and is free.  But you have to have a ticket.  You can pick up free tickets today, in person, at The Little Shop – one per person.  On Monday Dec. 7th additional tickets will also be made available by phone.  I’m dashing over there today to pick up my ticket and knock out some holiday shopping.  See you there.  Check out The Little Shop’s Event Page for all of the details.

Scenes from a bookfest

The Decatur Book Festival, which ended on Sunday, was so overwhelmingly excellent that is took me almost half of a week to recover sufficiently to write about.  Where to start?  This year’s fest seemed to be the best attended yet.  There were lines snaking down the street for several author events, the children’s stage was always hopping, and the vendors booths were better than ever.

As seen on the poster, “Bookzilla” was the official mascot of this year’s fest.  #bookzilla was the official Twitter hashtag of the weekend (but I really don’t know what that means).  The giant inflatable Bookzilla towering over the old Decatur Court House served notice that this is not a book festival that takes itself too seriously.  Books are fun!

Vendor/exhibitor tents lined Ponce de Leon and the Square.  By my totally subjective count and remembrance of year’s past, there were many more vendors/exhibitors this year.  I was happy to see McSweeney’s was back in the mix, and I happily gave them a pile of my money.  An interesting new vendor to the fest (new to me anyway) was the Dust-to-Digital tent.  Dust-to-Digital are a local (and Grammy-winning) record label that specializes in releasing “rare and essential” recordings of American music.  They have a new book out, Take Me to the Water: Immersion Baptism in Vintage Music and Photography 1890-1950, that looks very cool.

One of the highlights of the weekend for my family was checking in with Skippyjon Jones, the Siamese Cat who thinks he is a Chihuahua.  Judy Schachner (Skippyjon’s author and illustrator) sang, drew, and read at her packed appearance.  Skippyjon himself made an appearance at the signature table.   He needed the Friskies, because he was there for a long, long time.

Schachner signed books at her table for at least 3 1/2 hours after her reading (and she had signed books at an author brunch earlier in the day, too).  Aye, Carumba!   One reason why she may have been there so long is that she drew a picture of Skippyjon in each book she signed.

This inscription started a two day debate over the proper spelling of the word moustache/mustache.  (The author used my preferred spelling.  Who Moustache is a whole other story.)

The offices of Lenz Marketing, the gang responsible for the look and feel of the festival, displayed some of the artwork that made onto this year’s promotional materials and signage (besides Bookzilla).  I am partial to this book-carrying gorilla that I didn’t see anywhere else.

I also dug the studious Book Worm.

Speaking of art: The world’s greatest children’s bookstore, The Little Shop of Stories was mobbed all weekend long.  On Sunday James Dean, the illustrator for the wildly popular local children’s book Pete the Cat: I love my White Shoes, was painting a new Pete the Cat canvas.  Kids were beside themselves.

And there were authors everywhere.  Did I mention that?   Many were getting the rock star treatment with lines down the block.  Sadly my pictures of these events mostly feature blurry and poorly lit blobs at a podium.

Hats off to Directors Tom Bell  and Daren Wang for putting on what, for me, was the liveliest and most fun Decatur Book Festival yet.  I’m looking forward to next year already.

Decatur Book Fest

Hey, yall, the Decatur Book Fest is this weekend.  That kind of snuck up on me, even though I’ve been keeping up with the news almost daily.

There are over 300 authors descending on Decatur Square, make sure you check the list and then check it again to make sure that you don’t miss anyone.  There are at least four Pulitzer-winning authors in the house.  Local author Collin Kelley will be debuting his new novel Conquering Venus. Gazillion-selling Water for Elephants author Sara Gruen will add to her sales. And on and on.  Seriously.  Check out the whole list.

I’ll be spending huge chunks of time with my young reader at the Kids’ Stage, where it is always happening.  This year’s children’s authors include Jon Scieszka (The Stinky Cheese Man, Cowboy and Octopus), Judy Schachner (Skippyjohn Jones – I am muey excited), Kate Dicamilo (The Tale of Desperaux, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Because of Winn Dixie), Atlanta’s own Laurel Snyder (Any Which Wall, Inside the Slidy Diner), and… really, check out the children’s author list.

And speaking of the kids, be sure to pick up a copy of The Wayfarers Diary from the Wren’s Nest booth.  Atlanta area high school authors have been working hard all summer to bring their top notch literary journal to the fest, which is kind of the coolest thing ever. Last year’s edition was very cool, and it’s for the kids.

There are also plenty of special events on tap, including a Literary Death Match – check out the events schedule.  Of course, there is also A Book Market and Street Fair.  McSweeney’s will be there again.  Last year they were giving huge “sweaty guy discounts” – and I still dropped a truck load of cash.  Check out the list of vendors.

I’ll be there all weekend toting a hundred pound sack of books that I didn’t know that I needed.  BGB contributor Russ Marshalek, making his triumphant return from the Big Apple, will be taking a victory lap around The Square.  It’ll be a party. If you see us, say howdy.

2 Dudes Talking About Books

Last week’s Solar Anus Reading Series (a Georges Bataille reference it turns out)  was very cool.  Colin Kelley followed some poems with a nice reading from his new novel, Conquering Venus.  Chicago author Ben Tanzer read some short pieces that will appear in an upcoming collection.  His “quasi-nonfictional” story about Ira Glass was hilarious.  The host, author Jamie Iredell, says the series runs monthly-ish, so be sure to check it out sometime.

After the reading and over a couple beers, Ben Tanzer interviewed me for a podcast that he’s posted over at This Blog Will Change Your Life. I’ve never been on the receiving end of interview questions before, so you’ll hear some mumbling, long pauses, and the occasional “uh…” on my end of the conversation.  I’ve helpfully annotated our discussion with some handy links.

You’ll need to go here to listen.

Helpful links for some of the items discussed:

Many thanks to the always happening Ben Tanzer for the fine excuse to be out and about on a school night.

Dubiously titled reading tonight

Atlanta author Jamie Iredell hosts his regular “Solar Anus Reading Series” tonight with featured authors Collin Kelley and Ben Tanzer.  Kelley has a new novel, Conquering Venus,coming out soon that he may read from according to the Facebook. Chicago’s Ben Tanzer is the author of the very hip Most Likely You Go Your Way and I’ll Go Mine.  All of the cool kids will be there.

Details:

Thursday, August 6, 2009

7:00pm

Beep Beep Gallery

Russ Hosts Social Media and Future of Publishing Panel

BGB contributor Russ Marshalek moderated a discussion about publishing, social media, and the future at last week’s 140 Characters Conference (#140Conf). Really! And we have the video to prove it. The new media/old media dream team assembled includes Richard Nash (formerly of Soft Skull Press/current literary folk hero) and Ryan Chapman and Ami Grecko (Macmillan). Check it out if only to hear Nash’s controversial opening statements.

(via Galley Cat)

DBF09

Last night my wife and I ran over to Decatur for the press preview of the 2009 Decatur Book Festival.  Due to a house full of guys fixing things that have broken in my house all at the same time, I missed most of the festivities.  The event was held at Eddie’s Attic, and it was packed when we eventually rolled in.  Here’s what I can tell you:

The book fest is Labor Day weekend, September 4-6.  The very cool poster looks like this:

The list of authors that will be appearing at this year’s fest can be found here.

If you’d like to volunteer for this year’s fest, check in with the DBF here.

Much more info about all things book fest will be coming as the event gets closer. Stay tuned.

BGB @ BEA: Day 4

Russ Marshalek, our man in the field, brings us the news via a running diary from Day 4 of Book Expo America in NYC. If you’re just joining us, you can check out Russ’s previous missives –  Day 1 – Day 2Day 3.  An according to the LA Times’ book blog, Russ’s BEA tweetup party was the place to be.  Here are Russ’s texts from the very last day of the Expo:

  • 8:33 last day of bea. Kinda want to say ohthankgod but this has actually been a great, great weird set of days. Rushing to get to javits for a session on the google book search and archive and what it means for publishing (rights, etc), the 11 am session is beyond full so a 9am one opened. Probably not going to make it in time. If I do, it will mean sacrificing coffee, and dear reader I will not.  I’m going to have to miss one of the big things I wanted to do this weekend: luis urrea reading from his amazing into the beautiful north at kgb bar tonight.  I can’t sing the praises of that book enough. Another gorgeous day in new york, another battled hangover, and it does feel like the last day of school: you know you’ll see some of these people again. Some of them you’ve no desire to ever again talk to. Some of them have become real friends but now disperse across the country. Someone should be playing “don’t you forget about me”
  • 8:54 dammit not going to make it to the most controversial session here
  • 8:57 ah well. Going to miss session. Getting coffee and reading catching fire instead. Can I call it catching fireyah?
  • 9:25 feel better. No one could find session. Want to make joke about google archiving rights, but can’t think of one. The exhibit hall is full of books being thrown at attendees. No one wants to lug anything back to polatka.
  • 9:38 google session is hot secret ticket. Going to bumrush the 11am session
  • 10:16 stephenie meyer doesn’t believe in fun
  • 10:24 discussing splitting up neil gaiman and amanda palmer. Can’t tweet about that.
  • 10:31 bumrushing the 11am google session. Rumor of food.
  • 10:33 ppl lining up at 10:30 for a noon nicholas sparks signing? We know where the housewives are (ed: zing!)
  • 12:04 google session had to compete w nicholas sparks signing next door. Was fascinating and overwhelming. I don’t mean sparks
  • 12:07 basically, w google archiving content, new distribution methods mean new and added value for titles if rights can be worked out
  • 12:57 never gonna pay 10 bucks for rice and beans again
  • 1:26 final missive. Big top closing. Don’t don’t don’t you forget about me bea, ill always remember you. Stay sweet have a good summer.

Closing remarks:

Here was the thing with my first BEA ever-it was incredible. I know folks felt like this was a lesser/off year, but maybe it was the sheer childlike magic that is the inexplicable “social networking” , but I found myself surrounded, on the whole, with really, really good people. You know that obnoxious Kerouac quote about “the only people for me are the mad ones”? Yeah, Javits was, since Thursday, filled with those people-the mad ones. The ones mad for books and literature and in love with the written word in many forms, driven by fear and by need but also by desire and by love. This is a generalization, of course, but it’s true enough with those I encountered, either randomly or purposefully, that everyone wants to not just save publishing but revolutionize it, everyone has an idea, everyone’s so hungry for change, for improvement, for more.

I never, at all, heard anyone utter the phrase “I hate my job” and mean any more than “I hate having to go back to the hotel to get my wallet”. I challenge any industry to top that.

It’s weird-I’m so tired. SO tired. Tired to the point where last night, in a cab back from Brooklyn, I had an utter breakdown to 2 trusted compadres. About life, the universe, everything. And as we crossed the bridge, and I saw the city lights, I realized exactly how full of life the past few days have been. The hunger, the love, the joy that was in that stupid “Catching Fire” line, the publisher of SoHo press, the oldest and also sharpest human being in the Google Book Search discussion session, laying on the table for everyone exactly who we need to realize is dictating the online content pricing rules-it’s all been a whirlwind haze.

I am known for over-emotionalism. (It’s a word, deal with it). But what I saw at BEA 09 was a lot of hope. that may be, I concede, because I don’t surround myself with those who are afraid of the future, but with those who seek to embrace it. I know for a fact that doesn’t include everyone in publishing, but I’ve met enough now where I feel like, should we need to form an army, we could do it.

Now I have to get these books home. All four bags of them.

BGB @ BEA: Day 3

Our intrepid reporter Russ Marshalek continues to send missives by text message from the floor of the Javits Convention Center in New York City. Will he survive another day of Book Expo America, the publishing world’s biggest to-do?  Will he have to check in to rehab?  Here’s Russ:

  • 6:41 ohmygod im still alive. Keys? Debit card? Phone? Oh, thank god, all here-so utter success. The BEA tweetup last night was amazing and insane and awesome, full of loudness and vodka and I am still not sure at all how I got home….or what that pounding in my head is. Is someone playing drum and bass? Ohwaitno that’s from the vodka on an empty stomach. Dinner of champions! I am up early to get to javis for the early bird promotion publisher little, brown is doing. Ohgodthatmeansihavetomove.
  • 7:33 shower. Shave. Feel a little better. Want a bagel sandwich. Know this will not , in fact, happen. Coffee would be nice. Waiting to see if anyone wakes up to walk to javits w/ me or if it is me with the new Phoenix album on my ipod to let “1901″ put a spring in my step.
  • 7:41 oh and while I am thinking about it: been trying to read marlon james “book of night women”. Can’t get into it, which I know is blasphemy to the book community. Further blasphemy? A cocktail at the tweetup was called the michiko kakutini.
  • 7:54 hit the pavement as phoenix kicked in to find a gorgeous ny day. Having a really happy moment.
  • 8:17 ppl lined up to get into exhibit hall. Like this is a day after xmas sale.
  • 8:33 me, to person in line next to me: you waiting for the littlebrown giveaway? Person next to me: no, julie andrews. Me: oooooooooooooooooh.
  • 8:36 oh f@ck. Realizing the awesome littlebrown promo is for a james patterson book.
  • 8:49 still can’t get over this great awesome campaign is for a james f@cking patterson book…and I bought into it. Ughhhhhhh I need a drink.
  • 9:09 got my damn patterson book. Tshirt too.
  • 9:25 trying to find scholastic booth to get a copy of catching fire. Found waffles instead
  • 9:40 line for catching fire wraps around the  booth. Was asked by girl in front of me if everything here is this obnoxious.
  • 9:49 we are still waiting. We are not amused.
  • 10:02 got catching fire. Yessssssssssssssssssss
  • 10:07 pondering going to a session on YA books. It advertises having “live teens” though. That sounds like another conference entirely.
  • 10:12 stopped in at akashic booth. Thinking about bagels. These two things? Not related
  • 10:15 hey atlanta?  Don’t worry. Ppl go batshit nuts over karen slaughter up here too
  • 10:22 to go to the 11am session on teen marketing or not…
  • 10:30 11am is an NBCC session on the future of book reviews, w 2 rooms reserved. Thinking it will be a madhouse
  • 10:33 hi laurel k hamilton, nice black and gold bodysuit  w matching cape
  • 10:37 was wondering what author was signing and creating a madhouse in the lobby. It was actually just the line for starbucks.
  • 10:46 at book reviews future session. Tempted to start reading catching fire
  • 10:54 hot topics at bea 2009 apparently, if this sessions attendance means anything: twitter. Book reviews. Free stuff.
  • 11:02 capacity crowd for book review future panel
  • 11:04 going to wait to summarize
  • 11:11 this panel is totally in the bag for goodreads and so am i
  • 11:12 twitter said once!
  • 11:23 panel is essentially saying that the future of book reviews is evolving constantly, and reviewers must evolve or die. Also twitter. Af@ckinggain.
  • 11:41 thinking about food
  • 11:47 moral of story is that book world is still afraid of user generated content
  • 11:52 shit. Need phone charger. Brb yall
  • 1:04 getting food before heading back to bea. Um…thatsaboutityall
  • 1:38 why can’t I get a f@cking smoothie
  • 2:01 headed back to javits. Missed the live teens on stage. Damn
  • 2:19 there are fights at random house for alan furst!!!
  • 2:30 may need some champagne
  • 2:31 hey lilbrown yr galley closet is open
  • 2:47 how to make mad cash at bea: sell power outlet space.
  • 4:02 blogginslowly. Need coffee
  • 4:45 the marvel comics booth has an open bar. Best thing evvvvvvvvver
  • 5:09 bea shutting down. One more day yall. One. More. Day. A story of love loss and triumph

BGB @ BEA: Day 2

BGB’s man-in-the-field reports from Book Expo America, the book industry’s largest US convention, armed only with a venti mochachino and his wits. Missives from the field:

  • 7:54 curious as to how it is that, despite last night being my birthday, all of my own drinks were bought on my own tab. That is, at least, until I ended up at the American Bookseller Association party, which had an open bar and which also offered some of the best conversation and friendliest folk I’d seen all day yesterday. Today is the first day the exhibit hall is open, meaning publishing houses and book technology companies shilling wares, also meaning…free books.   FREE.  BOOKS.  I am imagining a scene akin to the film “Jingle All The Way”, but we will see. Recession and all that, y’all.
  • 9:48 there are 2 kinds of publishers on the exhibit floor: those handing stuff out like my grandparents w candy, and those hiding them like they were parents of a virgin on prom night. More in a bit, must explore and have a meeting at firebrand booth in ten min.
  • 9:55 Algonquin Books booth makes me feel overwhelmingly happy. Love them like a sister.
  • 10:23 I just need to find a place to sit I just need to find a place to sit I just need…
  • 10:47 Overwhelmed and inundated w/ books. Forced to grab shabby tote bag so as not to kill my back like a glue factory race horse. Jonathan Lethem is signing galleys at 1, may cry on  him
  • 11:12 dammit the new Dean Koontz is a book about his dog
  • 11:23 lil brown is doing a crazysmart marketing campaign creating a sense of urgency for a surprise book tmrw. I need lunch
  • 11:43 omg food today at Javits doesn’t suck
  • 11:51 highly satisfying lunchymunchies. Girl at other table is reading new Kate DiCamillo and sniffling into it, makes me feel like high school
  • 12:12 just accosted by author. Won’t say where. Feel gross. Trying to sweet talk book off of shelf, waiting for Jonathan the awesomesauce Lethem to show up
  • 12:29 first in line for Jonathan Lethem. Need to pee rl bad tho.
  • 1:05 where the f@ck is the coffee, bea
  • 1:14 do I dare and do I dare keep walking? Almost fell over Richard Nash. I am the worst stalker ever. Also worst walker ever.
  • 1:22 the randomhouse booth is a madhouse. Suffice to say the new lethem book is going to make mad noise
  • 1:25 omg the empress of the atl book world, esther levine, is here. Tim find and link to that ajc article on her plssssss (Tim says:  it’s the AJC we’re talking about – that link is long broken and good luck with the “archives” – but here is a link to BGB’s shout out to Esther)
  • 1:30 neil gaiman is here. Whoopeedoo.
  • 1:50 finally a coffee recharge. Carrying two bags of books, under the steamy press of underpaid publishing pros, I smell like woodpulp and desperation
  • 1:55 f@ck it yall, sitting on the floor. You know how we do.
  • 2:08 if signage is to be believed, the new Elizabeth Kostova (The Historian, great damn book) novel, in jan 2010, involves vampire swans. Sweeeet.
  • 2:20 I just figured out blues clues. They say keep caffinating.
  • 2:59 need hotel break. Taking one
  • 358 wish i knew how to disconap like the old folks do. as it is, i need a diet mountain dew, some shoe insoles and a bagel sandwich. going to recoup before heading to the Adaptive Blue panel, and then to the bea tweetup.
    SHAMELESS BEATWEETUP PLUG!
  • 4:11 oh damn. Back to javits for the only panel w an open bar
  • 4:34 late for 430 open bar. Worried all booze in the world is gone
  • 4:52 the line for this open bar is longer than the line for neil gaiman
  • 4:59 ready for a drink. Then going to have to go back to hotel
  • 5:17 reflecting on what inspires me in publishing on walk back
  • 6pm signing off dear readers. Parties to prep for. Recaps in the am.

BGB @ BEA: Day 1

Our intrepid field reporter, Russ Marshalek, tried valiantly to live blog reports from the first day of Book Expo America, the book industry’s mega confab.  Unfortunately we ran into a few snags along the way, most notably – no wi-fi at the convention center.   Follow that up with my being on the road most of today, and our up to the minute updates are now a little dated.  No problems.  Below are Russ’s hastily typed missives as they appeared in my inbox:

  • Weds 8am Too  much sake last nigth. Far too much. And with that, so begins my first-ever Book Expo America adventure. I am threatened not just by the slight pounding in the back of my head but also by the looming threat that the conference center  doesn’t have wi-fi, which would definitely put a damper on any liveblogging attempts. Doesn’t matter, though-like love, debt, disease and the circus, nothing stops a blog.For me, this has already begun to feel like a weird publishing world summer camp. The book world, despite its many outlandish, teeth-grinding flaws is one that I have loved and continue to love forever, so I am like a kid in a big obnoxious candy store.Right now I need coffee like a horse needs water. Clearly.
  • 8:54 almost left bag on the subway w everything in it. Obv need more coffee. Dammit bea have coffee
  • 9:14 um this place, the javitz center, is like an airport but scarier bc it is full of angry awake too early publishing ppl.
  • 9:40 the title of this “day of education” session is “yes we can;what the obama campaign can teach us about viral marketing”. By us I guess the title means publishing, but it may also mean ALL OF HUMANITY. We will see. Here super early.
  • 2:56 PM the last few hours have encompassed an epic fail of a session attempting to encompass the Obama campaign, social media, and publishing. Basically it was some dude trying to play a will I am video and refusing to acknowledge that the javits center doesn’t have wifi. The video would chop and stop every 1.45 secs, and he’d then attempt to contextualize the half a frame we’d seen. Finally, after 20 minutes of this, a hand was raised to inform him to, um….stop.Every BEA session on social media thus far today has been in the most laymen of terms, despite the fact that I know many, like former soft skull publisher richard nash, have quality sessions to come. In fact, after the single worst lunch ever, I am skipping richards session to….write this. I also stole a chris anderson galley.
  • 3:41 BEA vs russ: bea 1, russ 0. After not getting into the two sessions I wanted, I arrive back at the hotel sore, beaten and hungry. Tomorrow is the mad galley grab, happy birthday to me or something.(Side:I got to watch someone almost push who I think is patricia cornwell down the escalator)

Check back tomorrow for Day 2

Hemon in the House

Atlantans: Aleksandar Hemon will be at the Decatur Library tomorrow night at 7:15 to read from his new collection of short stories Love and Obstacles. Hemon also wrote the spectacular novel The Lazarus Project, which was a Finalist for the National Book Award. (I really liked it, too.)

Free Comic Book Day & Buy Indie Day

Hey!  Don’t forget that tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day.  Your local comic book vendor, if they’re worth their salt, will be dispensing free comic books all day long.  Woot! – as the kids say. A complete listing of what’s available can be found here.

Atlantans, this means you need to get over to Criminal Records with a quickness.  As usual, they have a full slate of free activities lined up, in addition to the free stuff.  Here’s the haps (via Criminal):

  • 1 pm Nathan Edmondson – Writer for the upcoming comic Olympus will be discussing mythology in comic books.
  • 2 pm Jason Flowers – Featured artist in Arcana’s Velvet Rope and artist of the upcoming comic Ripped will be speaking about his first experience getting published and about his upcoming comic.
  • 2:30 pm Angela Pratt – Will be talking about and signing people up for a new comic creator’s network, the Atlanta Cartoonists Group.
  • 3 pm Nathan Edmondson – Writer of the upcoming comic Olympus will be discussing how to get into comics.
  • 6 pm Sass Parilla the Singing Gorilla – Do you really need a description? I think the name says it all. A singing gorilla, what more do you need? Yes, he has his own comic.

My daughter and I will be there waiting for the doors to open.

And today! is International Buy Indie Day. What you need to do:  “On May 1, 2009, please buy one book — paperback, hardcover, audiobook — at an independent bookstore near you.”  That’s it.  Govern yourself accordingly.

Update: Wanda just sent a note that her Free Book Stimulus Plan for indie book sellers will send you two (2) free books with a May 1 receipt. Get shopping!

Oh, Timmy Christ-an ANOINTED event

So you say that you just don’t want to attend your “average”, “every-day” book reading (yet you’d pay 30 bucks to see Amy Hempel and Chuck Palahniuk talk about sneakers)? You say you want entertainment and awesomeness and…and…Decatur’s favorite gay acoustic indie-pop folk singer Wayne Fishell, all as a part of your literary evening?

Well, by gosh by jingle, I have something for you!

As you had better know by now (because otherwise as a publicist I suck), Zachary Steele’s debut novel Anointed: The Passion of Timmy Christ, CEO is both funny AND has a very wordy title. But did you also know that he will be “in conversation” (not about sneakers) with one Wayne Fishell TONIGHT (April 23) at Bound To Be Read Books in East Atlanta?

From the write-up on the event’s Facebook page, which I wrote and is therefore brilliant promotional copy:

Zachary Steele’s book event at East Atlanta Village’s Bound To Be Read bookstore on April 23rd at 7:30 PM will find him in conversation with a fellow reader, fellow ponderer/questioner and fellow animal-lover who also happens to be a beloved, brilliant local award-winning folk-singer- Wayne Fishell, of the wayne fishell experiment. Their topics of conversation will range from Anointed’s deep, controversial and far-reaching themes of the corporation modern religious practice has become, how to market a book and what it’s like being a first-time novelist to, in fact, the best sorts of cheeses to pair with other foods. It will, indeed, be a night of a round table. Possibly incorporating an actual round table.

Both Wayne and Zachary are hilarious, offensive, witty and opinionated on their own, so this evening is certain to be informative and incendiary for anyone interested in writing, religion, or, of course, cheese. They might even duet on a rousing rendition of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”, so bring your rotten tomatoes, your communion wine and your ukuleles.

Go on. You know that little part of you that KNOWS what kind of a freak show this is going to be really, really wants to be up front and center and ask Zach things like “your character names…REALLY? Chipper? Do you ever think of things not cheese or baseball related?”

You know you want to. And you need to. Because I won’t be there to heckle him

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