Harper Voyager Books

Friday Fun!

Check out this great video and the news article that accompanies it...

 

Comic Con 2009

Believe it or not, New York Comic Con is next week.  The good news is that Eos Books will be there all weekend, so come see us at Booth 1829.   

And, if coming to see us isn't enough reason to entice to you visit, we'll also be having a Wii giveaway, book giveaways, candy and more...

You'll also have a chance to meet some of our Eos/HarperCollins authors--Kim Harrison, Vicki Pettersson, Sarah Langan, Jeaniene Frost, Jocelynn Drake, Leopoldo Gout, Margaret Ronald, and Eldon Thompson...

Harry Selick interviewed about CORALINE

  The movie version of CORALINE opens next Friday (2/6/09), and today Gothamist interviews the director, Harry Selick, about the film, stop-motion animation, yoga, and more. 

You can browse the behind-the-scenes book here. And check out the very cool and guaranteed to waste time Coraline website.

-- Diana

What the Frack??

Okay, Kate here, with thoughts and brilliant insights about last week's episode of BSG.  I forgot how DARK this show is!  Just so you know me a little better, here are my favorite moments, from all past seasons, not in numerical order:

1) Starbuck/Apollo with that pyramid ball when she gets back from Caprica with the Arrow of Apollo and starts wearing her hair in that cute little ponytail.  You know what I'm talking about: No takebacks!

2) Adama giving Apollo the keys to the Pegasus, intense Titanic-sounding Irish music in background.  Seriously, I got teary.

3) Adama giving Roslin a tiny little smooch midway through Season Two, before she gets miraculously cured by Hera's spinal fluid or whatever

4) Discovering that Anders was one of the Final Five, because I really thought he would be; and discovering that Chief was, because I didn't

5) Starbuck's coming back from the dead.  I screamed.

6) When Adama rescued the refugees from New Caprica.  And shaved off his moustache.  Oh, and corollary: when Lee got skinny again.

Here's my least favorite moment:

1) When Billy got dumped by Dualla, caught her going on a date with Apollo, and then DIED.

As you can see, I like the happy moments.  Don't get me wrong -- I wouldn't trade the intensity of these final episodes for anything, and I think the first few episodes of season three, when everyone is a sad, pathetic mess on New Caprica, are some of the most powerful the show's ever done.  BUT I am a big sucker for the moments of hope and faith and personal connection (however few and far between they may be).  Sadly, there weren't too many last week, were there?

SPOILERS AHEAD.  Don't click through if you haven't yet watched last Friday's episode.

From the Desk of...

A few more pointers for novice writers on how to get your book the attention you are looking for. 

 

1. Your book will be more marketable if you are writing for a specific audience.  Maybe there are trends that are working for a field…like kick-ass heroines or exotic aliens in space?  But, also keep in mind that you need to be very clear about what makes your book new and different from everything else.  The bottom line question is why would a reader (or editor) want to pick up your book instead of the competition?

 

2. Be able to give “sound bites” about your work—aka one awesome sentence that accurately explains your work.  Once you have peaked someone’s interest, they’re more likely to want to read your work.   

 

3.  As an editor I read a lot of very good, well-written submissions every day, but to discern the good from the great, I have to ask myself a few questions.  If I put a manuscript down after reading 100 pages, am I still thinking about it 12 hours later?  Do I care about and relate to the characters?  Will I put my life on hold because the story’s world is so vivid that I simply don’t want to leave it?  Is the story so compelling that I have no qualms about letting go of “what I know” to enter a new world where anything is possible?  If the answers to these questions are “yes” the manuscript stands a good chance of being considered for publication.          

 

 

--Emily       

On Sale Today -- THE SHARING KNIFE: Horizon

Lois McMaster Bujold's The Sharing Knife: Horizon is on sale today! 

Lois will be touring for Horizon for the next week.  Check her out in your hometown:

Seattle: Wednesday, January 28th, University Bookstore, 7:00 PM

Phoenix/Scottsdale: Friday, January 30th, Poisoned Pen, 7:00 PM

Portland: Sunday, February 1st, Powell's, 6:00 PM

Minneapolis: Saturday, February 7th, Uncle Hugo's, 1:00 PM

As a reminder, you can preview Horizon here.  And click through below to read what our early readers thought of Horizon, and the Sharing Knife series as a whole!  (Caution: may be spoiler-y.)

The Year of the Short Story

Every story I've written was written because I had to write it. Writing stories is like breathing for me; it is my life.

—Ray Bradbury

 

Harper Perennial is celebrating the short story this year, and each Sunday evening during 2009 will be posting a new story from both estabilished authors and debut authors.  This year they have already published stories from Tony O'Neill, Simon Van Booy, and Mary Gaitskill.  Check it out at www.fiftytwostories.com.

 

THE GRAVEYARD BOOK wins the Newberry!

Some nice news for a Monday morning--Neil Gailman's latest novel, THE GRAVEYARD BOOK, illustrated by Dave McKean, has won the Newberry Award! CONGRATULATIONS!!

To read some of THE GRAVEYARD BOOK, click here.

-- Diana

Special Offer for THE DOMINO MEN

 Click here to enter for a Chance to Win

Enter for a Chance to Win The Domino Men Prize Pack. One Grand Prize Winner will receive:

- One (1) Autographed copy of The Domino Men
- One (1) Autographed copy of The Somnambulist
- One (1) Mini London Snow Globe
- One (1) Union Jack Flag
- One (1) Ceramic London Sights Mug
- One (1) Union Jack Keychain
- One (1) London Double Decker Bus Toy
- One (1) London Travel Guide

What the frak??

Editor May Chen’s love letter to BSG (aka the second best sf/f series after Buffy the Vampire Slayer—shout out to SMG if you’re reading this!!)

Full disclosure, I was a late comer to this show and only started watching it when an obsessed colleague, ahem editor Kate Nintzel,  insisted I borrow her DVDs of season 1 last summer.  Despite the first couple of dull and sloooow  mini-series segments, I forged ahead anyway and watched the actual episodes.  Frakking whoa.  I don’t know when I first realized that I loved the show (maybe when it was revealed that not only was there Boomer, but also Boomer Boomer, her cylon clone?  When Super Admirable Adama proved to be so strong in the face of absolute chaos?  Or when Lee/Apollo dropped his towel??  Yes, when Apollo dropped his towel…)

In any case, I’ve had many months to catch up on BSG before last Friday’s first episode of season 4.5.  (I finished watching the last few dvds the week before the airing and my video store guy who I call “Dude” said to me, “Dude, you’re so lucky, dude, to be finishing up 4.1 right when 4.5 is about to start.  Like, dude, I had to wait a whole frakking year.”  Awesome, right?)

Note, some SPOILERS ahead if you’re not caught up with season 4!!