peeps

http://www.jeffvandermeer.com/2008/05/13/steampunk-on-amazon-and-steampunk-photo-shoot/

http://www.jeffvandermeer.com/?p=1057

Every once in awhile Amazon lets me do an entry on one of our projects, so long as it doesn’t mean some other book feature gets bumped. This time, it’s about Steampunk, although within the context of providing general info on the term and an interview with the Steampunk Workshop’s Jake Von Slatt.

Two days to go in the special steampunk offer (see News sidebar for more info), and we’re still holding up, despite having drawn waaay too many dirigibles, zeps, blimps, and floating beasties.

In other news, as he promised, Bob Locke, one of the winners of the Steampunk contest, has taken photos of the antho at the Swansea Industrial Museum, blogging about it. It’s oddly like some kind of fashion photo shoot, but for a book…

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/typepad/lAQV/~3/289811926/tv-is-stupid.html

http://www.jeffvandermeer.com/2008/05/13/weird-tales-weird-tale-subscriber-offer-finally-going-out/

http://www.jeffvandermeer.com/?p=1056

You may remember that I offered readers a special little haiku-like weird tale if they subscribed to Weird Tales awhile back. Well, it’s been on my list of things to do for those who responded, but fell afoul of other deadlines. As the photo above shows, however, I have assembled my supplies and the envelopes will go out soon, adorned with weirdness.

Who took advantage of this special offer? Their names are Writ in Special:

Wade Darktower Bowen
Brett Sleeperhold Callahan
Mary Manyknives Calloway
James Monster Crossley
Kate Damnright Dollarhyde
Edward Killerhands Duff
Michael Bearclaws Fitch
James Wolfman Foster
Patrick Foetidbeast Harris
Melissa Scenestealer Higuchi
Shari Growly Lipkin
Anna Neuromancer Meyers
Bart Sicko Patton
Mark Bonecruncher Teppo
Erik Daredevil Trabert
William Weremoose Vandemark
Terry Theshiv Weyna
Philip Greenshadow Winn

Originally published at Dark Territory. You can comment here or there.

Email exchange between my friend Sara and myself:

Sara: Captain America could kill a Nazi with a shrimp fork.

Me:Captain America could probably kill a Nazi with an actual shrimp.

I love that these are my friends.

When I was a wee one, I loved the New Kids On The Block for a minute. I was such a dork, though, that I got into them just as everyone else was starting to realize they sucked. But that’s okay ,because I could enjoy my love for Donnie, Danny, Joey, John and Jordon in peace. I had all the tapes (well, not that first album, which I hear sucked), and I had two concert videos, and I had posters, but I did not have the dolls. I had my limits.

And, of course, after a while I stopped thinking they were good and moved on to bigger and better things (Menudo!). I remember laughing uproariously when the group came through Cincinnati as their career was on the last leg and finding out that they couldn’t even fill up a small club, whereas just a few years before the stadium tickets were sold out in 20 seconds or something. Fame is fleeting, especially for packaged pop.

A few years ago I almost watched that VH1 reality show with the waning celebrities — The Surreal Life? — because Jordan Knight was on. But I didn’t care enough to seek the show out and I didn’t have TiVo. But right around then I heard rumors that some of the boys wanted to have a reunion. I also heard (I don’t know how I hear these things) that all but John were interested. He’d been too old for the group in the first place (originally Donnie’s little brother Mark, as in Marky Mark, as in Mark Whalberg, was supposed to be the 5th member, but he took a look at the songs and was like WTF no way, I am a hard ass! And, as it turns out, he was. So they recruited John.) and had settled into a normal life as an accountant or real estate agent or something. He was now really too old for this foolishness.

But I guess they got to him. Another VH1 show about reuniting bands decided to reunite NKOTB. I remember hearing about that, too. But it was a while ago. It must have worked, or John must be feeling that mortgage crisis, because they reunioned, and now there’s an album maybe? And also they’ll be on the Today show tomorrow.

How do I know all this? Well, I was on a social bookmarking site and found a link to someone who has been counting down to this great moment. When I saw the headline, I laughed, and then I thought “Hmm, nostalgia! Maybe I should go down there and see them. I missed out on NKOTB concerts back in the day. And maybe they are still handsome! And I always said I would marry Danny someday. If Katie Holmes can do it, so can I!”

And then I saw the picture.

Nevermind.

http://www.jeffvandermeer.com/2008/05/13/rewarding-mediocrity/

http://www.jeffvandermeer.com/?p=1055

Interesting post at the Reading Experience slapping reviewers on the wrist for their positive takes on Amy Bloom’s novel Away which Dan Green thinks is mediocre. I haven’t read the novel, so I have no opinion on it one way or the other. But I find the idea that reviewers may actually reward mediocrity and unoriginality interesting. It’s certainly true that some novels are easier for a reviewer to grok on a first read, and under the pressure of deadlines those novels may come off better than ones that require multiple reads to fully appreciate. There is a phenomenon in high schools, for example, related to the fact that writers who use a lot of symbolism are easier to teach because it’s something for the teacher to latch onto and create a discussion around. (This is, of course, a gross generalization, but I’ll throw it out there anyway.)