AFTERWORDS: Fridays are for Suckers ...

So I think it's time for another roundup of links.  Most people post these sorts of things on Fridays, but I am way too cool for that.  Let's get to it ...

LINKS!

This last week marked the Book Expo of America in New York City.  But for those who could not attend, there was the Armchair Bea -- a big ol' blogging event where tons of people talked about books, blogging, participated in giveaways and were generally awesome. The last day included some nice pieces about book blogging.

On the topic of BEA, Peter Nimble made its debut there!  A few friends snapped photos of the book in my absence.  Thanks to Lisa Yee, Michael Scotto, Frank  Polito, Mercedes Fernandez, and everyone else who picked up a copy.  Hope you enjoy!  If you missed it, no fear, both Peter and I will be attending ALA this summer in full force!

I don't read many Young Adult (YA) blogs, but recently I've been enjoying Stephanie Sinkhorn's site Maybe Genius.  She does a great job of tackling big themes in the genre, such as Cliches of YA Fantasy or Using Named Characters Well.  Check it out.

A few weeks back I found The House of Automata -- an online repository of all things clockwork.  They have a workshop dedicated to pieces they're restoring, as well as some fantastic videos.  Even better, you can commission custom jobs from them.

If that's too expensive, perhaps you'd prefer to assemble your own time machine from Ikea. The folks at College Humor have created Ikea-style instructions for a variety of sci-fi treasures ... including a Jedi "Litsabbur" and the "Tjardiis." All you need is some plutonium and a hex-wrench and you're set!

Marginalia!

Mary and I recently finished reading Adam Gidwitz' A Tale Dark and Grimm aloud to each other.  Readers of the blog will know I am a big fan of his dedication.  As it turns out, I'm also a big fan of his book.  Here are some choice quotes ...

A nice bit of narrative intrusion: “Now, my young readers, I know just what you’re thinking. You’re thinking,Hmmmm. Stealing a girl. That’s an interesting way of winning her heart. Allow me to warn you now that, under any other circumstances, stealing a girl is about the worst way of winning her heart you could possibly cook up. But because this happened long ago, in a faraway land, it seems to have worked.”

A paragraph I wish I'd written: “But she wasn’t a witch. The Brothers Grimm call her a witch, but nothing could be further from the truth. In fact she was just a regular woman who had discovered, sometime around the birth of her second child, that while she liked chicken and she liked beef and she liked pork, what she really liked was child.I bet you can figure out how this happened. ”

Some lovely description: “…the little village that stood near the Schwarzwald was not dark at all. No, no: It was ringed by trees that, when Gretel arrived, had just slipped into their golden robes of autumn.”

What do you eat for breakfast?: “The next morning, the Devil arose and readied himself for another day of soul-collecting. His grandmother made him a breakfast of human fingernails — scrambled, of course — and packed up his lunch bag.”

About false apologies: “This I would not recommend. It’s sort of like sweeping broken glass under the carpet; the floor still isn’t clean, and somebody’s going to end up with a bloody sock.”

Again, jealous: “Of course, getting trapped in the stomach of a dragon is, even for a creature that cannot die, an incredibly unpleasant experience…. Though not quite as unpleasant, I would imagine, as getting out again.”

Some final wisdom: "You see, to find the brightest wisdom one must pass through the darkest zones. And through the darkest zones there can be no guide."

Now doesn't that make you want to run out and buy the book?  It should.  Also, the comments thread in last week's piece about Boardgames and Storytelling has sparked not one, but two new posts coming this week.  Stay tuned!