People and the United States Congress have generally been up in arms about the lead content of children's toys, ever since we started finding more and more toys with lead in them that were manufactured in China. This led, last year, to Congress passing an act saying that anybody selling anything meant for children, manufactured before 1985, had to be certified lead-free.

This includes books.

There are a lot of wonderful children's books that are in American libraries and used bookstores that were printed before 1985. These books all have to be independently certified as lead-free, and the libraries and booksellers simply don't have the money to do this. These books may be thrown away in about a year's time.

But the American Library Association is working to change that. Some people in Congress are attempting to change that.

So I'm asking you to please go to the ALA website about this, and send an e-mail to your Congressional representative, if you live in the United States. Please don't let good books get thrown away because of a too-strict piece of legislation. Please.

I've known for awhile, through the magical publishing grapevine (it does not come with singing raisins) that the last Wheel of Time book was going to be split. I didn't know why; I just knew it was running long and that was that.

And now there's apparently a press release out about it, and Brandon Sanderson has written a wonderful blog post about why it takes so darn long to write a big book. Go read it. It's good.

Because I got tired of the template I was using, I've spiffed up LIT SOUP to make it ultra-pretty.

Free Wordpress template that was modified for Blogger + my widgets reinstalled + fiddling with the LIT SOUP graphic a bit = sheer awesomeness

I am very pleased. =)

When I can't sleep because my back is aching (happens to all of us), I pull out my Kindle. And I start going down the manuscripts that I've got on there, looking for something to distract me.

I don't want to read a client manuscript because I have to be coherent to make comments on it. I've got a full and a partial for clients that are waiting revision letters, which are at the top of my to-do list on Monday. So I don't want to read one of those, because I know myself and I'm going to get out of bed and start working on those letters.

Instead, I pick a random manuscript from the bunch I've got loaded on my Kindle. It came via a friend of a friend of a friend. I never would have read it, except that my assistant happened to be one of those people in the chain of friends, and said, "Really, you have to read this. I'm telling them to send it to you"

And good lord--this random manuscript is so good that I'm sucked right into its darkness and its complexity that I get out of bed when I'm done reading the partial I have, to e-mail the author at 5 am in the morning to ask for the full ASAP.

And this is why I love my job. I get to find the stories that suck me in and make my aching back disappear. =)

I talk a lot about speculative fiction on this blog, but not so much about romance novels.

Earlier this month, I got to go to the NOLA RWA chapter conference in Shreveport, Louisiana. Not only was it a new state to visit, but the ladies there were warm and welcoming and fed me cake and cookies.

And we talked about romance: what we like and what we don't like and what the genre is in general.

One of the things that I remember saying is that to me, all romance is a love story. You are writing love stories, even if you're writing erotica, because sex (many times, although not always) is a form of love between two people too. And because romance novels are love stories, they are character driven stories.

Which then leads to the question:

If you are writing a love story, and granted, love stories have many shades and nuances--how do you make your characters stand out? How do you make them unique enough to want to fall in love with, which I think every romance reader does to a degree? What characteristics do you put in to make the reader empathize with your romantic leads?

And how do you take that characterization and turn it into something neat with an actual plot?

A lot of people disparage romance novelists, but I heartily disagree. It takes talent and tact to write a romance novel well enough that a reader can see some aspect of themselves in the book.

We read romances to see how our own love stories have been and how they might be one day. We read them to discover bits of ourselves, or escape into fantasies. We read them because we like a darn good book.

And we read them, I think, because there's a part of us that wants to believe in love and happily-ever-afters. Escapism is good for you, in measured doses.

Thoughts?

After ten weeks of doing consecutive, mostly-on-time Battlestar Galactica comment threads... I feel a bit bereft this week.

The show is over, sure. I know there's Caprica and The Plan coming sometime this year. Entertainment Weekly occasionally does blog posts on rumors of an actual theatrical movie release.

But seriously? What good sci-fi is on TV now? There's Kings, which isn't half-bad, but is admittedly sort of soapy (although I don't mind it). There's Dollhouse, which I'm told is getting better, but I'm about three episodes behind and I'm mostly watching because Helo is adorable and Victor is part of the Dollhouse.

Someday, we're going to get George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire on HBO, and that will be the time when I subscribe to it again (I haven't had an HBO subscription since Sex and the City went off the air).

But in the meantime, what should I be watching?

And on a more general note--why is it so hard to make good speculative fiction TV shows? Part of it is budget-reasons, that I get. But part of it has to be that something is not working for the general viewing public....

So, I was playing around on Blogger for a bit tonight, looking whether there were any new comments to unmoderate... and I noticed that there was a link that was titled "Monetize".

Which basically, once I had clicked the link and read all the relevant information, offered to put Google AdSense on my blog.

I have deep misgivings over doing this. I get enough readers that I would, in all honesty, probably earn a couple of dollars a month. Hell, maybe I'd earn $100 and get paid something decent for ads. But the least invasive options says that "ads are placed below each post", and that just feels so totally invasive to me.

I don't like the idea of making my readers look at random ads; I've always been sort of proud that this blog has been relatively ad-free, with the exception of the Amazon affiliate links that I put in when I feel like it. (LibraryThing generates auto-Amazon links for the LibrayThing founder guy, unless you have your own Amazon account, so I created one in order to put the widget up. I think I earned $5 last year.) I know that ads are ever-present in the internet, and I've gotten to the point with the ones on Gmail that I just ignore them totally.

And as far as I know, the Google AdSense ones are just as innocuous as the ones in Gmail. But it just feels... not right.

What are your thoughts, guys? Opinions of any kind are welcome!

ETA: I have experimented with putting them in a tiny horizontal row at the very bottom of the page. Do they look horrible? Have I sold out? Maybe I should take them off again..

Again.

As always this time of year.

Except this time I have a kick-ass accountant who I love, who is making me compile everything into nice spreadsheets, to aid her magical tax powers. So this week is taxes around here at The Rappaport Agency.

But that doesn't mean that the rest of you have to stop talking! I think you should all talk, and I'll just pop by periodically to read the conversation and unmoderate comments.

Here, I'll throw out some random questions for you all to answer, but don't feel that you need to be restricted to these:

1. Do you like teapots?
2. Do you like trail mix? If so, do you prefer the kind with chocolate in it?
3. Do you share my love of Cadbury creme eggs?
4. If you were running the world, would you invest the world's money in interplanetary exploration and colonization? Explain your answer and be sure to show all of your work. =)
   

I've been meaning to write down all the books I read in February and the beginning of March, and life has just been demanding that I do other things... like you know, catch up on work. =) So my grand plans of telling you how fabulous all of these books are foiled, but rest assured that THE GRAVEYARD BOOK is made of awesome, and Lynne Jonell's two volumes remind me strongly of an American Roald Dahl. Which is a very high compliment on my part, and I recommend that any of you with children pick up copies of her two books. And Neil Gaiman needs no endorsement, of course. And honestly, every book on this list is just plain good. =)

7. THE GRAVEYARD BOOK by Neil Gaiman
8. EMMY AND THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING RAT by Lynne Jonell
9. EMMY AND THE HOME FOR TROUBLED GIRLS by Lynne Jonell
10. HA'PENNY by Jo Walton
11. HALF A CROWN by Jo Walton
12. FIRST COMES MARRIAGE by Mary Balogh
13. SKINNED by Robin Wasserman
14. LIVING DEAD GIRL by Elizabeth Scott

An advisory note for LIVING DEAD GIRL: The book is good. It is, in fact, something close to masterpiece. But it is about a highly potent topic, so I feel the need to give the same warning that the editor who gave it to me passed along.

LIVING DEAD GIRL is about a girl who was kidnapped when she was ten years old, sexually abused, and is still living in her kidnapper's clutches at the age of fifteen. It is dark and it is disturbing, but I couldn't put it down once I picked it up. Elizabeth Scott's writing is gorgeous, and she masterfully uses various POVs to tell the story. At times, it's almost like reading a prose poem. It made me cry. I didn't want to read about what happened to the little girl, but I couldn't stop because the writing was *that* good. I can't recommend it highly enough, but if you read it, you should know what it's about.

(I'm probably forgetting some book or other here, so expect it to be added on later.)

Standard disclaimer, blah blah blah--spoilers ahead.

My thoughts will be in the comments.

This post is to discuss Battlestar Galactica, the series finale, and anything else related that you would like.

DO NOT CLICK THE COMMENTS, IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW HOW THE SHOW ENDS.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Here's more deal announcements, which I just put up yesterday. I'm particularly proud of them because they're among some of the first deals that were done just under The Rappaport Agency name!

		March 19, 2009
		Fiction: Horror		John Joseph Adams's THE LIVING DEAD 2, a sequel to THE LIVING DEAD anthology, featuring a mix of original and reprint zombie stories by bestselling and award-winning authors, to Jeremy Lassen at Night Shade Books, in a nice deal, by Jenny Rappaport of Rappaport Agency (World English) jenny@rappaportagency.com
		March 19, 2009
		Fiction: Sci-Fi/Fantasy		Editor of THE LIVING DEAD John Joseph Adams's THE IMPROBABLE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, a reprint anthology of Sherlock Holmes literature that includes both mystery and fantasy short stories about the great detective; featuring stories by Stephen King, Sharyn McCrumb, Naomi Novik, and Anne Perry, among many others, to Jeremy Lassen at Night Shade Books, in a nice deal, for publication in September 2009, by Jenny Rappaport of Rappaport Agency (World English).

Besides FEDERATIONS by John Joseph Adams and LIBYRINTH by Pearl North, both of which I've blogged about already, there are several more books that I've sold which are coming out soon (or have already come out).

We'll go in roughly alphabetical order here, for the sake of equality. =)

First up are a couple more anthologies edited by John Joseph Adams.

There's BY BLOOD WE LIVE, which is a wonderful vampire reprint anthology. I love the black and red scheme of the cover. It's coming in August 2009.

There's also THE IMPROBABLE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, which is a lovely mix of mystery and fantasy short stories about Sherlock Holmes. It has the usual great lineup of authors that John Joseph Adams manages to produce by magic. (I'm not sure how he does it myself.) That book hits store shelves in September 2009!

From Gord Rollo, we have CRIMSON, which is another horror novel that he had up his sleeve. That one is out already, available for your purchase.



From Jordan Summers, we have the second book in her paranormal romance trilogy, SCARLET. She's got a CRIMSON too, but that won't be out for a bit, as it's the third book in the trilogy I sold for her. She's represented by the lovely Ginger Clark now, so you'll have to pop over in that direction for any further Jordan Summers news. I know she's still writing books! =)

Last, but not least, we have the wonderful sequel to THE MIRRORED HEAVENS. THE BURNING SKIES by David J. Williams makes the first book seem like a highly-civilized tea party. It's brash; it's bold; it's completely action-packed. Yet amid the action, there's still turn-twisting politics that keep you guessing who's on which side--it's still the espionage thriller story that I fell in love with when I signed Dave. Go forth and order it, because you'll be in for one hell of a ride! It drops into stores on May 19, 2009. And I'm making the cover for this one large as well because I absolutely love the colors and the design on it!

Ok, second part of my belated blogging duties. I don't think enough attention has been drawn to LIBYRINTH by Pearl North, which is the awesome new YA novel that my client Pearl North has written. It's coming out in July, and trust me, you want to read it.

Here's the little blurb I wrote up about it, to entice you all!

LIBYRINTH is a story about the power of reading. Haly lives in the Libyrinth, a giant maze-like library of books that are tended by Libyrarians who work to preserve their world's small store of knowledge.

She hears the voices of the books and knows their stories without reading them, but has hidden the ability for years to avoid ridicule.

Yet, now trouble is coming in the form of the Eradicants, the illiterate enemies of the Libyrarians who trek across the desert each year to burn a predetermined number of books from the Libyrinth--to erase the "dead words". Militant and on the move, the Eradicants have conquered all but one of the world's nations. When they claim that she is their one true Redeemer, Haly must convince them of the power of the written word and save the Libyrinth before her world is consumed by all-out war.

The cover is gorgeous, and the book is incredibly good.

You can pre-order it at Amazon now!

Lots and lots of belated blogging to catch up on!

First up, the second of the Odyssey Podcasts they made out of my lecture last summer is up now.

I am Podcast #24.

It's that time of year again, when all good Sesame Street fans must bid Big Bird a Happy Birthday, as he is now perpetually six again!

And this year, since I share the same birthday as Big Bird, I'm 28. =)

The title of the blog post comes from the fact that when I started in this business, four years ago, I was only 24. And that fact threw so many people, including prospective clients. I was told how young I was! I was told, "Why surely, you're too young to be an agent!" I was told by prospective clients, and I kid you not, "What a baby you are!" And while I am sure that every single person who ever mentioned this was incredibly well-meaning, the idea has gotten stuck in my head that perhaps I will be considered respectable when I turn thirty. Two more years to go!

In the meantime, I'm greatly enjoying the fact that I still look younger than 28 (most times), and so I thought I'd throw up a picture that was taken of me ten years ago, when I was 18. I've shown it to my friend and loyal webmistress, Laurel, who tells me I look all of 13 in it. I feel so loved. =)

The provenance of the picture is June 1999 and it was taken on the last event of our senior week in high school, which was a cruise around the NYC Harbor on the Circle Line. By some freak chance, the World Trade Center is in the background. I'm the one on the far right in the black and white dress. I'm young. And thin. Oh, so very thin. =)

....with the sound of Hugo nominations....! =)

None of my clients made it on the list this year, but I knew that was happening about a week ago when tiny rumors about the nominees being contacted made it my way.

And I am extremely happy because not only is my writing group, Codex, just totally rocking with THREE NOMINEES (read em and weep, people, we have Mary Robinette Kowal, Aliette de Bodard, and Tony Pi)...but the rest of the Hugo ballot is filled with people I deeply respect and admire.

So overall, it's going to be a lot of fun voting this year! =)

I am tired and a wee bit cranky, and I apologize if this comes out snarky.

Someone just asked on a blog post, somewhere, that I can't find... "Should I address my query to Jenny or to Jodi, since Jodi reads the queries first?"

The answer: ME

You address them to Jenny. I am the agent. Jodi is wonderful, but she is not the one who will be representing your book, and if she ever decides to stop being my assistant... the queries should still be addressed to me.

Repeat after me:

"Dear Jenny" or "Dear Ms. Rappaport" or "Dear Grand Poobah of The Rappaport Agency".

Random House sold the worldwide Spanish rights to THE MIRRORED HEAVENS last year, and it's finally coming out.. next week! Isn't this cover delightfully freaky? =)


From my limited knowledge of Spanish, you seem to be able to buy the book here. But as it's worldwide rights, anywhere that speaks Spanish should theoretically be getting copies...

This is a post to discuss the penultimate episode of Battlestar Galactica. Next week's episode will be TWO HOURS long, so please remember to check your DVR accordingly. We will be kicking ours into making it work right (our cable company has crappy DVR software).

And the usual disclaimer:

If you want to discuss the ninth episode of the Final Episodes of Battlestar Galactica, please feel free to do so here.

This is a spoiler-filled thread.

You have been warned. Do not click on the comments, if you do not want to be spoiled. I will put my thoughts in the comments. I have lots of thoughts this week.

I know, I know, I owe you guys a BSG post and other stuff. But today is Pi Day and also the birthday of Albert Einstein... and also the birthday of my grandmother, who passed away last June when I was sick. So now I'm just sort of melancholy, and I think I'll spend the rest of the day reading.

But all of you guys better be eating some pie for me! =) We had some wicked-good french toast here for dinner, courtesy of my husband being inspired by the Food Network. Cornflakes on french toast==incredibly delicious.

Almost two years ago, I wrote about a book I had been searching for that I was never able to find. This is the post about my missing book.

Today, I got a comment in my moderation queue from someone named Zarantha. She or he had gone through my archives, come across my missing book post, and KNEW WHAT BOOK I WAS TALKING ABOUT.

I use all caps because I really don't think you understand how incredibly happy I am to know the identity of this book. I almost had a heart attack, when I read the comment, and then checked out the links that Zarantha had left, and then realized, oh good lord, that was my book.

SPACELING by Doris Piserchia is the book I've been looking for all these years.

This is a summary link, which still doesn't do it justice.

This is a very bad description of it on Fantastic Fiction.

It's coming to me from a used bookseller on Amazon.

I do believe my life is now complete. =)

I am very pleased and proud to announce that the new and revised version of The Rappaport Agency website is live! Much credit and thanks goes to Laurel Amberdine who did all the coding, and Chrissy Ellsworth who did the graphics (and also my wonderful business card--she's for hire!).

If you see any errors, please let us know, and we'll correct them as soon as possible.

http://www.rappaportagency.com/

The news is now out everywhere it seems, so let me feel free to link my page to you for Brenda Novak's Diabetes Research Auction.

I'm offering a critique of a proposal, meaning the first three chapters and a synopsis. I'll be giving editorial feedback on it, as well as possibly doing line edits. It depends if the material needs those or not. =)

The bidding starts at $2 and you can bid on me here.

Bidding starts May 1, 2009. Bookmark the page for now!

Anybody is eligible for this, even if we've passed your novel over via the slush process. It's for a very good cause, and I know that there are about 5000 of you who read this blog every month... so start bidding, please!

Now, I love all the anthologies John has done so far, from the small SEEDS OF CHANGE one, which I still recommend you read, to the much larger WASTELANDS and THE LIVING DEAD. But what's coming out in May is even more interesting...

Meet FEDERATIONS.


It is an incredible anthology composed of reprints and original stories from some wonderful authors. It takes the concept of interstellar societies and "federations", and explores it in new and unique ways. It's a mix of fine writing, even better storytelling, and the classic space stuff that we have loved since Star Trek and Star Wars first came about.

And Wil Wheaton likes it. How much more geek cred can a book get, if it's liked by Wil Wheaton? =)

You can pre-order your copy from Amazon NOW. I highly recommend it. It's good. It's worth it. You'll want to read it.

Coming April 2009.

Because we're all about controversial subjects today on Lit Soup. I twittered the link to this article last night, but I think it deserves to get read more widely.

An article that must be read

It is an amazing, outstanding piece of journalism, and incredibly true. When I told Chris about it, he said, "Oh god, do you know how many times I forgot my viola when I was in high school? You'd kill me, if I forgot our baby."

And I would kill him. Which is why we will be getting some sort of sensor when we have kids, to remind us that the baby is in the car still. I know it can happen, so I will be prepared for it.

If you read almost any blog in the science fiction fandom community, you will be vaguely aware of the debate that has been raging around called RaceFAIL. To me, the debate has gotten incredibly toxic, on both sides of the argument, and I am not going to recap it for you. Google has wonderful search features for this reason. In fact, people on both sides of the argument--people I respect--have started doing such hateful things in defense of their position that I feel that their arguments undermine their positions. Hence, my name, PeopleFAIL.

In brief summary, RaceFAIL revolves around whether people of color are marginalized in science fiction fandom, as well as in fantasy and science fiction literature.

I have not wanted to speak out because at this point, I feel that my voice will never even be heard. I am a white female. What does my opinion count for?

But a friend of mine said that she would like to hear what I have to say... so here it is.

I have no personal experience with being marginalized due to race. As I said, I am white. I cannot help what genes I have, or who my ancestors were. I do not doubt that people of color have felt that they are marginalized; with all due respect, they are probably still marginalized, and this is something that everyone should work to combat.

But because the color of my skin is white, it is often assumed that I have no experience with prejudice of any sort. And that's when I feel incredibly uncomfortable piping up and saying, "Um, hello, I'm Jewish. Have been Jewish my entire life. Would you like me to list the immediate history of my prejudice?" Because I do not like having to play the religion card to get my opinion listened to.

I do not want to be treated as special because I am Jewish. I want to be treated as *me*. I do not want to walk around wearing a sign that says, "Look, I'm part of a marginalized religion!." I do not want to have to tell you about what abuses my personal family has suffered, in a ploy to get your respect. For the record, I have lost 53 immediate relatives in the Holocaust; many more in pogroms; have a pair of cousins who watched their parents and younger brother get executed by the Nazis in front of them when they were hiding in a barn, who my grandparents later were able to bring over to the United States in 1946; and oh yeah, there's the 2000 year history of the Jewish diaspora.

So I have very little sympathy for people who play the race card, the way that has been happening in this debate. I do not tell you my personal family history to garner your sympathy; I tell it to you because it is part of what forms my personal opinion.

I hold the personal view that the color of a person's skin does not determine their worth. Their sexual orientation does not determine their worth. Their religion does not determine their worth. The content of their character is the only thing that matters to me.

We live in a society that will never be free of prejudice in any form. We live in a world where there is constant prejudice against people of all groups and types. We live in a community where minorities of any type are underrepresented in fiction of any type.

So change that, if you feel that you are mistreated that way. Teach me about how to write about your particular culture or group or race; teach me how to write about them, so that I am doing them justice. Teach me how to be a better person and a better writer by including characters of any type of diversity in my own work. Teach me about how I can change this, so your children will not feel marginalized.

But do not beat me over the head with how marginalized you are, since you instantly lose my respect that way. Talk to me. Teach me. Reach out your hand and show me kindly how I can do something different.

Comments to this post are moderated, as usual, and if they are in any way toxic, I will close them. I do not have the energy to expend on toxic behavior.

Well, not a sale of my making...

But Elise, whose jewelry I love, is having a sale. I particularly love some of her lighter linked necklaces, and I own several sets of earrings from her. Go forth and peruse the shinies. =)

And if you purchase something, tell her I sent you.

Here is this week's BSG Spoiler Thread.

You are reading this while I'm at the Written in the Stars Conference in Shreveport, LA. Hello from Shreveport!

If you want to discuss the eighth episode of the Final Episodes (as SciFi Channel is calling them) of Battlestar Galactica, please feel free to do so here.

This is a spoiler-filled thread.

You have been warned. Do not click on the comments, if you do not want to be spoiled. I will put my thoughts in the comments.

I won't get to watch this until March 8th, but don't let that stop you from leaving comments!

It seems like I have to make this post every six months or so, but let us try again.

I have an assistant.

Her name is Jodi Meadows.

She works very, very hard, reading my slush pile, and allowing me to do things that make actual money--such as marketing film rights, talking to foreign agents around half the world, and working on selling books to US publishers. Without her help, my response times to slush would be vastly increased. I am only one person.

Hiring Jodi is the smartest thing I ever did as an agent.

So it distresses me when people think that she is somehow not good at her job. In particular, in this post, there are a handful of comments from people saying that she's rejected their query, but if *I* had read their query, I would have asked for their novel.

That's not true.

If Jodi rejects your query or your partial, she's rejecting it for me. She knows my tastes incredibly well. We talk every day. We discuss slush, almost every day. We confer on things together. She is an extension of my brain, when it comes to slush-reading.

So if she's rejected your query or your manuscript, then it is the exact same thing as if I rejected it. Do not second-guess her judgment, because in essence, you are second-guessing my judgment.

And frankly, I don't have the time to deal with the endless queries I receive for things that I don't even represent. The screenplay queries; the queries for picture books; the queries for the best non-fiction that's about a subject I couldn't care less about. We get queries for all of that material, along with the material that I do actually represent. We've had almost 100 queries this week already, if not more. I'll get the current count tomorrow morning, when Jodi wakes up.

Please respect my assistant's judgment, because she is very good at her job, and she helps me be good at mine.

And all of you who are assistants out there, in any field? You have my undying respect and gratitude. You deserve a round of applause. =)

Just a reminder that I'll be at the Written in the Stars 2009 conference this weekend!

Louisiana, here I come! That's another state off my list to visit. I want to go to all fifty one day, and there's a lot of them that I'm still missing. =)

This is when I make everyone feel really, really old. =) I figure it's only fair, since I'm turning 28 on March 20th, and *I* feel totally old. It's been ten years since I graduated from high school, almost, and we're planning my 10 year high school reunion... oy.

Anyway, I've been promising Cheryl Morgan that I would write up a post about who I would love to see as author guests at future Worldcons. There's apparently a rule that the author guest must have been active for the last 25-30 years, which basically means I'm looking at people who have been writing at least as long as since I was born. Hence the making everyone else feel old part.

This is the list I'm going off of, for people who are already past/committed Guests of Honor and won't be eligible for my dream list. I'm going to just do the list as bullet points, because really, I'd love to see any of these people be Worldcon Guests of Honor. I'll try to put dates where I can, of when people first published stuff.

• Robin McKinley (BEAUTY-1978). Now, granted, Robin has ME which can be a bitch of a health condition, and she has two ailing hellhounds to care for. But she's local to the UK, so all you people planning UK Worldcons? Get me Robin McKinley as your GoH and I will love you forever.
• Sheri Tepper (KING'S BLOOD FOUR-1983). I love her books; I love everyone on this list's books, by the way.
• Diana Wynne Jones (various novels in the 1970s). She's not in great health, but oh wow, I love her stuff.
• William Gibson (NEUROMANCER-1984). It's William freaking Gibson, people.
• Orson Scott Card (various publications in the 1970s). Yes, Scott Card is a reactionary figure in the world of science fiction, particularly in terms of his political views. Despite that, he's a great writing teacher, and ENDER'S GAME *is* a classic which I dearly love. Even, ahem, if he is retconning it now...
• Tamora Pierce (ALANNA: THE FIRST ADVENTURE-1983)
• Kazuo Ishiguro (A PALE VIEW OF THE HILLS-1982). I just think he would be interesting to have and I couldn't think of another male author. =)

Ok, people, your turn now. Who has been writing for at least 25-30 years, has not been a Worldcon GoH, and has made some sort of decent contribution to the field, enough that they could warrant being a GoH?

I figured, it's a snow day, I'm enjoying my 8" of snow (picture of my backyard forthcoming!), so why not do a silly iTunes meme as I work. Since I have iTunes blaring most of the time anyway, I'll just write down what comes along.

And here are the results, some of them are roughly translated from Japanese...

IF SOMEONE SAYS 'ARE YOU OKAY' YOU SAY?
2 Dai no Piano Notameno Rachmaninoff - Sergei Rachmaninoff (from the Nodame Cantible soundtrack)

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF
Dam Dariram - Dance Dance Revolution

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Barbie Girl - Aqua (in German for some reason!)

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Hump'em n'Dump'em - Wheatus

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
The River - Bruce Springsteen

WHAT'S YOUR MOTTO?
Fisherlid - Itzhak Perlman

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Dream Police - Cheap Trick

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Yeroushaliam Chel Zahav (Jerusalem of Gold) - Schindler's List Soundtrack

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Catapult - REM

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Chihiro no Warutsu - Spirited Away Image Album

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Mr. Radio - Electric Light Orchestra

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
This Time - Tracy Chapman

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
HAL - Keiko Kurubushi (PRIDE drama soundtrack)

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Brand New Love Song - The Pillows (FLCL Soundtrack #1)

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
Halo - Oleander

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Long Distance Wander Around - Ayashi No Ceres Soundtrack (I can't get the Japanese to translate better; it's an instrumental piece)

WHAT DO YOU WANT RIGHT NOW?
Lounge - Hirasawa Susumu (Paprika Original Soundtrack; yes, the Satoshi Kon film)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Truth (Counting Sheep) - NeXXyZ

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Time Will Tell - Hikuru Utada

I'd like to note that this took an hour and a half of listening to stuff, as well as taking phone calls in the interim. =)

Ok, I promised this post last week and then never got a chance to write it--or it might have been the week before that--but here we are in March and it's time to get rolling with this. Numbered list time! Remember, this is my current dream wish list of books that people will send me to represent. That does not rule out books that are not covered by this description.

1. NOT the next TWILIGHT. I don't care how popular TWILIGHT is, I don't like it. If your book is the next TWILIGHT, I am not the right agent for you. There, we got that out of the way.
2. I want the next John Green. By which I mean, I want funny, poignant books about intelligent teenagers. Mainstream YA novels, obviously. But I want to read books about teenagers like me, in high school. I don't want to read about the always popular bitchy sluts, because you know what? I wasn't a popular bitchy slut, and that type of story never has and never will appeal to me as a reader. I know there's a market out there for it, but I am not the right agent for the Gossip Girls series, unless *your* Gossip Girls series is written so well that I fall instantly in love with your writing. (Never say never.)
3. I want an epic fantasy novel that thinks outside the box. This can be done in a number of ways, but the most obvious one is not to do a direct rip-off of Robert Jordan or George R. R. Martin. You don't need an innocent farmboy saving the world to have a wonderful epic fantasy novel. Epic fantasies can have different ideas and yet be incredibly good. I want you to write me one that's *different*. One recent epic fantasy that I adored was THE NAME OF THE WIND by Patrick Rothfuss, which has plenty of standard fantasy tropes, but totally twists them on their head, especially with his innovative narrative structure. Stories within stories within stories. I want your epic fantasy novel to completely surprise me and overwhelm me and make me believe in the power of the epic fantasy novel to sweep me out of my everyday world. Can you write me one? =)
4. I want an urban fantasy. I don't have enough urban fantasies on my list, and I'd like one. Perhaps it would be better to say I want a contemporary fantasy. It doesn't necessarily need vampires or werewolves, because I think those are somewhat played out now. But I would love to see something like WAR FOR THE OAKS by Emma Bull. I would love to see a novel that takes contemporary fantasy in a different direction, like the new series my writing friend sold to Tor, which involves a contemporary female blacksmith and magic.
5. I always will have a soft spot for hard SF, but it's also hard to sell it. Keep sending it though.
6. I adore anything Regency related. Send me your Regency romance (although not a sweet one, since those don't sell), your Regency YA novel, your Regency fantasy, your Regency mystery... the list could go on. I don't have enough of any of those, and there's always a market.
7. Speaking of Regency romances--I don't have enough romance, period. I want witty contemporary romances like Jennifer Crusie, who I adore. I want sexy historical romances. I want paranormal romances that make me love the characters and the worldbuilding behind them. I want science fiction romances. Send me your romance novels! (And here is where we cue Jodi groaning over the incoming romance query influx, but really, I don't have enough on my list, and I need more.) The most important thing to remember when sending me your romance novel is that I want there to be a solid plot behind the romance. That's one of the most important things for me, that the novel can stand on its own, even if we remove the sex. Some favorite authors of mine that I have mentioned before: Eloisa James, Julia Quinn, Lisa Kleypas, Mary Balogh, Jennifer Crusie, Georgette Heyer.
8. I would love to see a slipstream novel. There are very few out there. I think there could be more. Show me what you've got.
9. I'm still looking for a great historical fiction novel to fall in love with. Haven't found it yet. Keep sending more.
10. In general, I love books that are dark. Dark in nature, dark in tone. I adore books that are dark and creepy and good. I also love things that are light and funny. I am eclectic in my reading tastes, as you'll see by clicking on the label for 2009 books.
11. I don't have a good steampunk novel. I like steampunk. I would like to see a book with steampunk in it.
12. I am still looking to add more YA novels to my list, as well. See point #2 and also know that I like YA fantasy. I would love to find a female-oriented YA SF novel.
    
13. Because this is a baker's dozen list! Let's throw out a random book description, and see if anyone can write it for me: I want a superhero novel--give me your version of Dr. Horrible in book form with your own original villians and superheroes and plot. Be creative. =)
    

Another direct link for my mom and those who'd like to read it.

Twitter Story #3 by Jenny Rae Rappaport

Also, on the same page, is the beginning of the #DrGnome Serial that's being written by my friend, Alethea Kontis. It's funny! I would read it, if I was you. =)

This BSG Spoiler Thread is brought to you by John Joseph Adams and the fact that he owns a significantly bigger and cooler TV than me. Thank you John, for Rock Band and BSG on Friday night. =)

Also, John owns a puppy, Echo. Echo loves me. I would link to a picture of Echo who is tiny and adorable, but I can't find one online.

And the usual disclaimer:

If you want to discuss the seventh episode of the Final Episodes of Battlestar Galactica, please feel free to do so here.

This is a spoiler-filled thread.

You have been warned. Do not click on the comments, if you do not want to be spoiled. I will put my thoughts in the comments.