Publishers Lunch

Here's the little blurb about my upcoming book from Publishers Lunch, the industry email where deals are announced. The first draft is finally all done and submitted so I'm looking forward to some time off before I hit the revisions. The book is due in Spring 2009. Pre-order now! Or you know, wait.Children's: Young Adult14 November, 2007The Rough Guide to Blogging Jonathan Yang's untitled novel about the misadventures of a "celebutante" who decides to shake things up in her life, to Karen Chaplin at Puffin, in a two-book deal, by Stefanie...

Hangin' Tough

My Thanksgiving was mostly spent transported back to the late 80s as Lilly introduced me to New Kids on the Block: Greatest Hits - The Videos. I don't care what you think of me after my next statement but here it is: That shit is hot. NKOTB wasn't just a boy band, they were clearly the boy band. Driving down to Lilly's in preparation for time travel, I was trying to figure out who the fifth member was."Danny," his name was Danny.Some observations:...

Lars and the Real Girl (2007)

Retarded good. While 2007's not quite over, this will probably be the movie I most enjoyed watching this year. It's absurd and really quirky but manages to fill you with true emotions -- pathos, sadness, humor. Ryan Gosling (The Believer, The Notebook) is underrated, but everyone says that so maybe he's just amazing and everyone agrees? What a difficult movie to make since it could have so easily crossed the line into farce and disaster. Go...

Stuff I've Been Reading 1

BOOKS BOUGHT:Playing for Keeps: Michael Jordan and the World He Made - David HalberstamLet Me Tell You a Story: A Lifetime in the Game - Feinstein/AuerbachThe Princess Bride - William GoldmanBookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times - Kevin SmoklerBOOKS READ:Playing for KeepsLet Me Tell You a StoryFirstborn (Dragonlance Elven Nations, Vol 1) - Thompson/CarterChildren of the Mind - Orson Scott CardBlack Hawk Down - Mark BowdenAbout a Boy - Nick HornbyHere's what I've been trying to figure out: how much should a book budget be? This past weekend...

Beowulf (2007)

"Are you not entertained? Is this not why you are here?"Do yourself a favor, pony up the extra bucks and go watch this in the theatre, with dorky 3D glasses on. There's no better way to experience this movie. While reviews said that this was more of a visual experience, I found the plot to be much deeper than in something like 300, which was just fight fight fight.In fact, I'd almost say I like this better than 300 because there was hardly a moment...

Bloggie Awards

Another year, another round of Bloggies, the Academy Awards of the blogging world. I'm a little disappointed that so many of the winners I already know about. I was hoping to find a few gems to add to my reading collection. Then again, I haven't had too much time to dig through everything quite yet. I'm also sad that the "Best Tagline of a Weblog" category is now defunct. That was always good for a laugh or two. Anyway, check'em out!What I have...

American Gangster (2007)

Denzel and Russell should make for a classic right? There's really nothing wrong with the movie but there's definitely a lack of energy about the whole thing. Scenes taken individually are well constructed but nothing held together and at times it was almost boring. The best thing about the film is that it's based on a true story and you can research the real Frank Lucas afterwards. here's "The Return of Superfly," the article that got the ball...