I write short stories and poetryin the mainstream, and also in fan fiction (or -- as the writers and readersthereof call it – fanfic, or simply fic). No one asks me why I write theformer; for whatever reason, I am often asked why I write the latter.
There is no monetary reason involvedin the desire to write fanfic…in fact, fic writers know that monetary gain fromfic would actually be illegal, as it would constitute copyright infringement(without the involvement of money, it can come under the heading of what isknown as “transformative works” allowed under certain circumstances by the U.S.“Fair Use Doctrine” and the Canadian “Fair Dealings Doctrine”). The reasons Iwrite fic have to do with gains of a non-monetary nature : the pleasure ofgiving an ongoing existence to specific much-loved characters of a television showor movie, the lively interactive readership, the supportive community of fellowfic writers and fic vidders (I do also make fanvids), and the arena for polishingwriterly skills. Another very great gain, one which with the passage of timebecomes evident, is how writing fic may lead to some deep and lastingfriendships, including international friendships, between people who otherwisewould never have known each other : I have daily correspondence and standinginvitations to visit fic writers from around the world who are in my fandom.
There are, then, a number ofconnected reasons why I write fanfic…and there is the overarching reason thatconnects them all. That reason is summed up in a famous line from thepenultimate scene of a movie in my fandom (my primary fandom being the CanadianTV show “due South” [sic lower-case “d”] and my secondary fandom being thatwhich radiates out from “due South,” variously called either “Canadian SixDegrees,” “Six Degrees of due South,” or simply “C6D”) : in the “C6D” movie“Hard Core Logo,” there is famously the line “and in the end, it’s love”. So,why do I write fanfic, and why does any writer write fanfic : there are a numberof reasons, and in the end, it’s love.
As I have said many times about this series, while there are zombies here, it is not HORROR. The appeal in these books is in the thriller, conspiracy, and the average Joe taking down the corrupt government story lines. The zombie angle adds frame (and some fun zombie attack scenes).When Mira Grant began her Newsflesh series, people took notice immediately. The series is best described as David Baldacci meets Dawn of the Dead. It is set in a near future in which the cure for the common cold, mixed with the cure for cancer has caused a small zombie problem. The world is full of zombies and they are not nice. Another speculative feature of this world is that when the dead started rising, the traditional news outlets ignored the story, but not bloggers. Bloggers saved the day by working together to figure out what was going on and pass on information on how to properly kill a zombie and protect yourself. In the first novel, our three heroes run a blogger network and uncover a deadly political conspiracy. By the second, the bloggers are starting to realize the conspiracy’s roots go back to the start of the zombie plague.
For Immediate Release
Mon, 06/25/2012 - 19:40
Contact: Macey Morales
RUSA, Conference Services (cs), Publishing (pub)
Anaheim, Calif. – The American Library Association (ALA) is proud to announce the first recipients of the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction, funded through a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York. Anne Enright’s "The Forgotten Waltz" received the medal for fiction and Robert K. Massie’s "Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman" received the nonfiction prize. The medals recognize the best fiction and nonfiction books for adult readers published the previous year in the United States. The selections were unveiled during the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, Calif.
This is the first time that the ALA, which sponsors the prestigious Youth Media Awards, including the John Newbery and Randolph Caldecott Medals for children’s literature, is offering single-book awards for adult trade fiction and nonfiction. Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction winners and finalists were selected based on the expert judgment and insight of library professionals who work closely with adult readers. This is a departure from most major book awards, which are judged by writers and critics.
In Enright’s "The Forgotten Waltz," published by W. W. Norton & Company, the vicissitudes of extramarital love and the obstructions to its smooth flow—including spouses, children, and the necessary secrecy surrounding an affair—are charted in sharp yet supple prose. In a year without a Pulitzer Prize in fiction, this award becomes even more meaningful for the literary community.
Massie’s "Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman," published by Random House, an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group, is a compulsively readable biography of the fascinating woman who, through a combination of luck, personality, and a fine mind, rose from her birth as a minor German princess to become the Empress of all the Russias.
“Congratulations to Anne Enright, Robert K. Massie and our finalists,” said Nancy Pearl, high-profile librarian, NPR commentator and chair of the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction selection committee. “We are so excited to have such a talented and deserving group of authors for our inaugural awards.”
The medals are made possible by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York and are co-sponsored by ALA’s Booklist magazine and the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA).
“In many ways, librarians are the first book critics many readers come into contact with, and hence we are deeply thankful for their insight and guidance,” said Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation of New York and a former president of the New York Public Library. “The Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction take that notion one step further and place the librarians’ seal of approval on these wonderful books.”
Enright and Massie each receive a medal and $5,000, and each finalist receives $1,500.
Nonfiction finalists include "The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood," by James Gleick, published by Pantheon Books, a division of Random House, Inc., and "Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention," by the late Manning Marable, published by Viking Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (USA).
Fiction finalists include "Lost Memory of Skin," by Russell Banks, published by Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers and "Swamplandia!," by Karen Russell, published by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.
For annotations and more information on the winners, finalists and the awards please visit http://www.ala.org/carnegieadult.
Members of the 2012 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction inaugural selection committee include: Chair, Nancy Pearl; Brad Hooper, editor, Adult Books, Booklist, Chicago; Danise Hoover, associate librarian, Public Services, Hunter College Library, New York; A. Issac Pulver, director, Saratoga Springs (N.Y.) Public Library; Nonny Schlotzhauer, librarian, Collection Development/Social Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pa.; Donna Seaman, senior editor, Adult Books, Booklist, Chicago; and Rebecca Vnuk, editor, Reference and Collection Management, Booklist, Chicago.
About Carnegie Corporation of New YorkCarnegie Corporation of New York was created by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding. In keeping with this mandate, the Corporation's work focuses on the issues that Andrew Carnegie considered of paramount importance: international peace, the advancement of education and knowledge, and the strength of our democracy.
About BooklistBooklist is the book review magazine of the American Library Association, considered an essential collection development and readers' advisory tool by thousands of librarians for more than 100 years. Booklist Online includes a growing archive of 135,000+ reviews available to subscribers as well as a wealth of free content offering the latest news and views on books and media.
About Reference and User Services Association (RUSA)The Reference and User Services Association is responsible for stimulating and supporting excellence in the delivery of general library services and materials, and the provision of reference and information services, collection development, readers' advisory, and resource sharing for adults, in every type of library.
About the ALAEstablished in 1876, the American Library Association (ALA) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization created to provide leadership for the development, promotion, and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all.
Sense and Sensibility was written in the late 1790s but much revised before publication in 1811. It is primarily the story of two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood. The death of their father has left them, with their mother and younger sister, financially pressed. Both women fall in love, each in her own characteristic way --- Marianne is extravagant and public with her emotions, Elinor restrained and decorous.
The object of Elinor's interest is Edward Ferrars, brother to Fanny Dashwood, her odious, stingy sister-in-law. Elinor learns that Edward has been for some time secretly, unhappily, and inextricably engaged to a young woman named Lucy Steele. She learns this from Lucy, who, aware of Elinor's interest though pretending not to be, chooses Elinor as her special confidante.
Marianne hopes to marry John Willoughby, the book's only sexy man. He deserts her for a financially advantageous match. The Surprise and disappointment of this sends Marianne into a dangerous decline.
When Lucy Steele jilts Edward for his brother Robert, Edward is finally free to marry Elinor. Edward seems quite dull but at least her own choice. Marianne marries Colonel Brandon, the dull man Elinor and her mother have picked out for her.And that is really everything that happens in the novel, but most of you knew that already, I am sure. But what happened is not why you are here reading this post. What we discussed is the point here. Let's go.
We’ve rounded up our five favorite book references in the thriller, building a spoiler-free library for anybody who wishes they could keep reading Gone Girl…
1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Gone Girlquote: “My dating life seems to rotate around three types of men: preppy Ivy Leaguers who believe they’re characters in a Fitzgerald novel; slick Wall Streeters with money signs in their eyes, their ears, their mouths; and sensitive smart-boys who are so self-aware that everything feels like a joke.”
2. Tom Sawyer (free eBook link) by Mark Twain. Gone Girl quote: “He talks to me in his river-wavy Missouri accent; he was born and raised outside of Hannibal, the boyhood home of Mark Twain, the inspiration for Tom Sawyer.”
3. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami. Gone Girl quote: “She’d made a grim figure on the Fiji beach during our two-week honeymoon, battling her way through a million mystical pages of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, casting pissy glances at me as I devoured thriller after thriller.”
4. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury Gone Girl quote: “She is reading The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. A sci-fi girl … ‘Good book,’ I toss over to her, a harmless conversational beach ball.”
5. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury: ‘Guess what [he found] for me?’ [she] says. ‘Another book by the Martian Chronicle guy.’ ‘Ray Bradburrow,’ [he] says. Bradbury, I think. ‘Yeah, right. Something Wicked This Way Comes,’ [she] says. ‘It’s good.’
It all begins here. Suppose someone took every meaningful detail from all the books you love. Every song mentioned, every person, every food or place or movie title. And what if they did that for all the books everyone else loves, too. The ones you’ve never heard of. Suddenly you’ve got a whole world of seemingly random people, places and things, all gathered in one place.
Together they create something vast, wonderful and entirely new. A Storyverse. A place where details touch, overlap and lead you further. To new music to listen to. New movies to watch. Places to visit. People to know. And of course, new books to read. Getting started is simple. Just choose a book. See where it takes you.I have signed up and have started exploring. I have a few initial comments. What Small Demons most reminds me of are reading maps. Readers of this blog know that I have had quite a bit to say about reading maps. I will not rehash it here since there is an entire permanent page I have created on reading maps. [Also, coming soon, NoveList will be publishing an article I co-wrote about Reading Maps.]
Flynn's new book stands as the perfect illustration of this definition. Let me be clear here. This book is suspenseful, but not in the traditional fast paced sense. It is still highly literary, with a lot details that are necessary for the first 150 pages, but boy when that twist comes (and it is a big one) those details pay off.Psychological suspense refers to books which put an uneasy atmosphere at the forefront, producing a chill in the reader; however, as opposed to horror, the fear and anxiety comes from very real sources because the monsters in psychological suspense are flesh and blood individuals who are frighteningly real, not speculative. These are books filled with serial killers, stalkers, and evil masterminds. They play with the psyches of their victims and the reader. Tension in these novels builds, the atmosphere is nightmarish, the chills do not let up, and the plot resolutions are disturbing and unclear. These are fairly literary novels filled with darkness, plot twists, and obsession.
