International Markets

I always knew that amazon.com has an online presence in various international places... I've had commissions for selling the kindle versions from amazon.co.uk, but could (feasibly) also see them from amazon.in (India), amazon.de (Germany), amazon.fr (France), amazon.es (Spain), amazon.it (Italy), amazon.co.jp (Japan), amazon.com.br (Brazil), and amazon.ca (Canada).

I was curious if the paperbacks were showing up on international (online) bookshelves... So I went searching. Here's where I found at least one of my books...

In Australia (see above):
angusrobertson.com.au
bookworld.com.au
coop.com.au

In Canada:
mcnallyrobinson.com

In Finland (see above):
suomalainen.com

In South Africa (see above):
exclus1ves.co.za

In the UK:
bookshop.blackwell.co.uk
waterstones.com
foyles.co.uk (see above)

And in the good old USA:
amazon.com
barnesandnoble.com
booksamillion.com
hpbmarketplace.com
powells.com
schulerbooks.com

It's fun to see the book show up in so many interesting places and to see prices in such diverse currencies.

It helps me the most, of course, to sell straight from vanilla-source amazon.com.

Proof

Describing The Avengers to James Hibberd in EW (8/30/2013), Joss Whedon said, "I don't think you'd look at it and go, 'This is a model of perfect structure.' You'd go, 'This is working.' I like it. I'm proud of it and I like its imperfections."

First, I love me some Whedon.

Second, I was conscious of Whedon's words when this arrived Friday:

Isn't the choice of black for the cover SOOOOOO pretty?

Whedon's last two sentences are how I feel about the S.P.O.T.D. series as a whole:
I like it. I'm proud of it and I like its imperfections.

Kindle Edition Available

It's no Target endcap, but it still makes me happy to see...

The print version should be available soon, as well.

A Final Dilemma: To Swear or Not to Swear

This happened about a week ago.

I had the entire text of SPOTD: The Final Face-Off revised, copy edited, proofread, and ready to export with Adobe PDF Presets [PDF/X-1a:2001]. Yeah, that's pretty much 5 minutes away from being ENTIRELY done (upload to LSI, order my proof copy, done).

I was stuck on one word.

I'll be vague enough to avoid spoilers. There's a short scene where Chase eavesdrops on some older kids. The older kids are angry. Older kids swear and use impolite insults and rough language when they are angry. I was writing dialogue. The dilemma: to swear or not to swear.

On the one hand, Stephen King says in On Writing that “if you expect to succeed as a writer, rudeness should be the second-to-least of your concerns. The least of all should be polite society and what it expects. If you intend to write as truthfully as you can, your days as a member of polite society are numbered, anyway.” 

On the other hand, my books are for elementary kids.

So, I brainstormed swear words and insults that would fit the sentence in question, and settled on the word asinine. It has a nice forbidden sound, without being a four-letter word per se. I could hear the speaker in question using the word.

Then I imagined my elementary teacher friend Karinda Groothuis reading the sentence aloud to her class. Would she hesitate and possible skip over the word? Um, yeah. I imagined 10-year-olds bringing their copies of the book to their parents for a definition. Would they wonder what on earth their precious little ones were reading? Um, yeah. I imagined the word finding its way onto the school bus or out to the playground. Would it be repeated? Possibly. Would that make the word a better place? Probably not.

In short, was it worth it to write the scene as I heard it, with the language the characters were screaming in my head? Again, no.

I finally decided that I would regret insulting readers and parents and teachers more than I would regret a small lapse of writer's integrity. Integrity to the dogs, I worked around the rough language by stating, "He swore." I did include the insult "stupid," which is an accurate description of the action in the scene. It took me 45 minutes to decide on this one word. I'm satisfied.

Done.

Kill Your Darlings

During my big college scholarship interview, I was asked what (who) I liked to read. My answer? An honest one: Stephen King. I had fallen for his short story and novella collections and moved on to The Stand (still my favorite Stephen King novel, tied with It) and the first book of the Gunslinger series. I credit my success (I won the scholarship) to my impassioned answer. So I trust the guy.

In his book, On Writing, King says to “kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings."

Designed by Chris Ritter

The phrase "kill your darlings" is generally attributed either to Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch or William Faulkner. It has been in the news recently, as it is the title of Harry Potter's next film. Erm, I mean Daniel Radcliffe's next film, based on the lives of the beat poets, due out in October.

In any case, it is good advice. Way back in 2007 or so, Sandra Scofield recommended the same drastic chopping to my summer writing class at the University of Iowa. What she said was, "Oh, you have a full manuscript? I suggest you throw it all away. Start over."

Harsh.

At the time, I did not have a manuscript to delete. But I scoffed at the idea that some day, when I did have words on paper, I would willingly hit the backspace key or send the file to the trash.

My mind has changed on this matter.

In the past three weeks, I have copy edited (again) and proofread volume 3 of Super Power of the Day (both print and digital versions), which means I've read it through several times, quickly. It turns out that when I "catch" on a line or phrase that I want to smooth over, it's usually in a sentence or section I've already revised and just can't get right. When this happens, I have found it most productive to simply cut the sentence. After all, my revising mantra is"simplify."

So the past few weeks have been replete with the killings of darlings. The voice at the back of my head saying "But I love that line!" has been comforted, and then hushed. The red pen has ruled the day.

Thanks, Uncle Steve.

Eating Words

I've been delving into a little detective fiction lately. Among others, I read my book club's August choice: Janet Evanovich's hilarious One for the Money.

One thing that struck me in a visceral way was all the coffee the characters drank. Perhaps I was fixated on coffee because I've recently given up caffeine, and a decent decaf is a bear to find. Reading as characters gleefully slurp away at their java? Distracting.

But the truth is, I am sensitive to food in novels. I find myself craving whatever it is they happen to be eating. This is probably why I cook a nice seven veg curry stew to feed to my students whenever I teach Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart.

Nearing the End

A few minutes ago, I stumbled upon this brilliant comic:

Check out Magical Game Time to see more.

Thank you, Zac Gorman. You have perfectly summed up the ending of Super Power of the Day. In fact, you've summed up the theme of the entire series.

And in a way, the process of writing the series.

In her book The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin discusses the connection between growth and happiness, arguing "it isn't goal attainment but the process of striving after goals–that is, growth–that brings happiness" (67).


My sister and I had a conversation about her contention last week.

I thought I agreed with Rubin. I usually prefer the striving part of a project. Planning a lesson. Building a house. Writing (editing) a book. Or three. It has truly felt like going on an adventure.

Cindy pointed out that it depends on the project. If the "work" part is unpleasant, the striving is NOT the happy part. Yeah, she's a runner.

In any case, I will finish my (hopefully final) copy edit of SPOTD: The Final Face-Off within hours of writing this blog.  It could have been done days ago, but I don't want it–the happiness of the striving–to end. I rather enjoy puzzling out the exact wording or design to tell my story in a simple, beautiful way.

My story about saying yes to adventure.

(The next part is marketing. I suspect that will feel more like a 10k.)

PIRATES!

My favorite books leave me shaking my head. In a good way. Mostly my head waggles when I am awed by talented authors' ability to arrange words and ideas in ways I couldn't conceive myself. Cinnamon and Gunpowder is one such book by one such author.

Here's what I liked about the novel:

1 An ingenious conceit: A pampered gourmet chef is kidnapped by a fearsome female pirate. WHAT?!? (Trust me, it works.)

2 A first person narrator who begins as a stereotypical person "of his age" but develops complexities as his worldview changes, all the while speaking clever, but always clear, 19th century English.

3 A classic quest -- with our hero finding not what he seeks (freedom), but knowledge of himself and his world (a different sort of freedom).

4 Attention to language. What I especially love is the way Wedge unerringly sees the world through his culinary eyes and nose. Each simile, metaphor, judgment, and proverbial summing up is based on shopping for, preparing, or enjoying foodstuffs. Here's a taste (pun intended):

"I had once seen a fox trot up to a picnic on the grounds of Asford Manner and, despite the crowd of revelers, make off, more or less unnoticed, with a string of sausage. Such are the rewards of brazenness. With the sentinals of the Royal Navy searching for the Flying Rose in the Indian Ocean, here she was, quietly anchored not a mile from English grass."

And another:

"I will spare myself the needles of remembrance. My survival depends on being present, focusing all of my energies on dodging the captain's threat. I must not linger on the sweet memories of my beloved Elizabeth, rest her, laughing with a jasmine candy in her cheek, nor of good men sharing a glass of port; not will I linger on the softness of my down pillow back in London, nor on clean undergarments, nor on the view of the orchard from my kitchen window, not on eggs--oh, eggs!"

When I began SPOTD, this was my goal as well. I wanted my narrator to see the world through a clever youngster's eyes. I consciously attempted to use analogies that a 12-year-old boy (not a 40-year-old woman) would use. Alas, these are sprinkled more sparsely than I intended. Perhaps as I continue to revise and edit this week I'll be able to add a flavorful phrase or two along these lines. So to speak.

But wait.

There's another fantastic feature of Cinnamon and Gunpowder.

5 PIRATES!

I think this will be the Summer of Pirates, in fact. I've already polished off Peter Pan and Wendy, in anticipation of a fall production.

While in Florida last week, I purchased a Jolly Roger flag and several pirate-y belts. And I intend to hit up as many garage sales as possible this summer looking for pirate-worthy striped clothes.

So...

I'm currently scrounging for great pirate reads to continue the Summer of Pirates, 2013. I've read the four book graphic series Hook. 

And I've checked out Michael Crichton's Pirate Latitudes.

Any more suggestions? They don't have to be particularly literary. It is summer, after all.

My Summer Reading

This morning I made a perusal of my “Media Doc” file, in which I keep a list of all the books I have read cover to cover, movies I have watched opening to credits, and plays I have attended curtain to curtain. I suspected that there would be a pattern to my summer reading. There is.

Summer is when I have time to read middle grade and young adult fare, both classic and new, most of which I check out from my local library. As I recalled each beloved story, visions of myself reading in the warmth of summer flooded my senses. I wonder: Do I love these wonderful novels more given the stress-free settings in which I read them? Probably. But they are, indeed, wonderful reads. I especially recommend the following, any of which I would reread in a heartbeat.

Even though it's a chore for me, I've peppered my summer reading with nonfiction. To be honest, no matter how interesting the nonfiction selection, the only way I make it to the end is if I listen to the audiobook. Each of these favorites was enjoyed via audiobook from the library.

Of course, summer is the time to feast on whatever is new and popular. I've read too many best-sellers over recent years to list even my favorites. This summer began with Robert Langdon running around Italy.

But I suspected, and it turns out to be true, that I’ve had themes running through my summer reading choices. This is fascinating to me.

In 2008, I tackled the entire Hornblower series by C. S. Forester. Hotspur ended up in SPOTD.

In 2009, the stacks next to my bed were full of Neil Gaiman. Sadly, a student borrowed my Sandman: Dream Country and swiftly thereafter quit school and moved away, taking it with her.

The summer of 2010 was the Summer of Thieves. (Note: I love Turner’s The Thief so much that I’ve read it more times than any other book, exclusive of the novels I teach. Whenever I finish a novel and head over to my unread books shelves to scope out my next read, I am invariable tempted to head back to Gen and his world.)

I read through Kinney’s Wimpy Kid series in 2011. I admit, I envy Kinney's success. But I began reading mainly to ensure that I hadn't accidentally copied his covers' color scheme order. I discovered too late that his first two are, in red and blue, the same colors as my first two covers. 

Volume 3 of SPOTD will not be green. 

It will be black. 

Last summer (2012) was devoted to George R. R. Martin. I’d started the Game of Thrones series earlier, but polished off books 3 to 5 before school started in the fall. Reading while in Ireland, Scotland, and England was a treat beyond measure.

I've also read piles and piles of prospective plays for fall play production, along with their original sources. Yes, CG, it's true. I have yet to stage a fall play that isn’t an adaptation of other source material. Which leads me to this year’s summer reading theme: PIRATES.

To be continued…

Hello summer! Hello Lenovo Yoga!

Spring snows, a cool spring, and too many cloudy days have combined to confuse all of us here in Minnesota into thinking that nice summer weather will neeeeeeeeever arrive. But no matter. It's not the weather, it's the day job hiatus that marks the beginning of summer for teachers.

And I'm officially done until August.

So how did I spend my first day of summer freedom? After a long morning (8:30 to 2:00) of yard work, a tick-drowning and muscle-soothing shower, eating an entire pizza and more ibuprofen than recommended for my inevitable sore back, and some random-style-wandery-shopping, I'm watching a little Table Top on geekandsundry while writing my first blog post in... too long.

I'm gearing up for intense editing, design work, and proofing of SPOTD Volume 3. To provide inspiration, I've added a toy, I mean tool, to my life: Lenovo Yoga 13.

Here's a l'il pic.

Hello, Windows 8.

It's a full laptop with touchscreen. The cool part is that the keyboard flips all the way around, effectively turning the device into a tablet. I like that this type machine is called a "convertible." That sounds apropos for summer (hiatus!). I'm waiting for the first time I reach for the screen on my Mac desktop to select a botton or close a window. Sort of like the left foot clutching in my Jeep (automatic transmission) after having driven my stick shift pickup to the compost site. It'll happen.

So far, I like the keyboard. It's more Mac than usual PC-like. For some reason the backspace key is one off from where my right hand ring finger reaches to hit it. I suppose I'll adjust in time. I appreciate the "end of line" key, which is a nice substitute for command+right arrow. 

As for software, I'm using Office 2013 Word, and tapping the screen in the middle of a text sometimes brings the cursor to that spot, sometimes not. I keep expecting it to work just like texting on my phone, which turns out to be more reliable/intuitive. Who would have guessed?

In any case, once I had my work PC all washed up, unplugged, and bagged on Thursday afternoon, I was able to use the Yoga to finish up stuff over at the day job. Which (have I mentioned?) is now on hiatus. 

Letting Her Go

I've been reading Will Schwalbe's The End of Your Life Book Club since January. It is taking me a long time to read.

Why?

Most profoundly, I've enjoyed reading this one in courses, taking the time to digest what I've read before tasting more. Schwalbe's sentiments on reading and being someone's child are especially thought provoking. For example, from pages 31-2:

"These two books showed us that no matter where Mom and I were on our individual journeys, we could still share books, and while reading those books, we wouldn't be the sick person and the well person; we would simply be a mother and a son entering new worlds together."

I love to enter new worlds together with others. George R. R. Martin with my brothers. John Sandford with my dad. Classic novels and Shakespeare plays with my students. Current hot writing, old favorites, and global/historical novels with my book club. Nonfiction with my own mother. It's my favorite part of reading, entering a new world. And to do so with others is icing on the cake.

But, of course, I always feel guilty reading-for-pleasure when there is reading-for-work (editing, scoring) to be done. And as soon as the pile of student essays and such becomes manageable, it grows again like mold. Noxious, stifling mold. This is not only why the Schwalbe has been slow going, but to a great degree the reason SPOTD volume 3 is on the back burner despite my hopes that I'd be able to finish it by January 1, 2013.

Finally, and perhaps most subtly, there is the book itself. I'm not willing to let Mrs. Schwalbe go. I'm pretty sure that hospice is a few turns of the page away for the fierce mother, grandmother, activist, and all-around amazing lady. If I stop now, she can continue her fight against pancreatic cancer and never succumb.

This is not my first time hesitating to approach a climax. While I'm perfectly happy to continue reading Romeo and Juliet beyond 3.4's morning of nightingales and larks, letting them stumble their way toward their dooms, I remember a book (though not the title) where the romantic couple were blissfully happy, and I left them honeymooning in Italy for almost a year because I knew the sweetness would be short lived without my intervention.

Sigh.

Square up? Check.

The Wild Rumpus book signing last weekend was delightful. Thanks to all who made the trip to Minneapolis to hug and browse and listen and pet and chat.

Our first visitor, Cousin Gabi, with Jordan and me at our table.

Thanks to my helper of the day, Jordan, I can now accept payment by credit card through the Squareup device on my phone. Slick device. I feel professional!

Now if I can just figure out how to renew my company website hosting contract without paying renewal rates (instead of the intro rates)...

Blizzard.

It may not have been so horrid in the Twin Cities, but out here on the plain, people pretty much stayed home last weekend. And thus, our event was cancelled.

And I have to admit, I loved it.

Curses on those of you looking forward to spring and all its mud-lusciousness, warmer temps and the getting outside again, the disappearance of all this wonderfully clean and bright snow. The world is white, the fireplace is on, and I can be found under my coziest blanket, nose-deep in a new book.

The book signing at the Wild Rumpus has tentatively been rescheduled for next weekend, the 24th, from noon to 5:00. Hope to see many friends there!

The Blizzard, or No Blizzard?

Tomorrow is my planned book reading and signing from noon to 5:00 at the Wild Rumpus in the Linden Hills neighborhood of Minneapolis.

I'll be sharing the "stage" with wonderful Lake Harriet Community School middle school ensemble musicians and, of course, Trini Lopez the cat, Ethel the chicken, Amelia the chinchilla, and all the other kid-friendly pets who reside at the store.

Although I shouldn't be, I'm nervous...

Not for the reading. Reading aloud? It's what I do. Most recently, the climactic (or anti-climactic) ending moment of "The Lady, or the Tiger?" in English 9 class, Holden Caulfield's chapter 26 final assessment of sharing his story in English 12, and the poem "A Blessing" by James Wright in AP English. But also Easter program narration at my church, grand march names at MHS prom, a quote for Shannah Anderson's Native American literature presentation at the 2013 MELT. Whatever, wherever.

As long as I have a script, I love to give voice to words.

Not for the venue. It's such an adorable, purple-doored space. And what book lover wouldn't thrill to visit an actual independent bookstore these days, much less be an invited guest?

Not for the company. Several college roommates, Facebook friends I haven't seen face to face in years, my nephew Jordan, and random strangers are expected. Come one, come all!

I'm nervous because of these words. Take it, Intellicast:

...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 6 PM
CST SUNDAY...
...BLIZZARD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM SUNDAY EVENING THROUGH
MONDAY AFTERNOON...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN HAS ISSUED
A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM
MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 6 PM CST SUNDAY. A BLIZZARD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT 
FROM SUNDAY EVENING THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON.

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS: 8 TO 12 INCHES.

* TIMING: SNOW WILL BEGIN LATE SATURDAY NIGHT...BECOME HEAVY ON
SUNDAY...THEN TAPER OFF TO SNOW SHOWERS SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY.
BLIZZARD CONDITIONS WILL THEN BEGIN SUNDAY NIGHT AND PERSIST
THROUGH MONDAY AS NORTHWEST WINDS STRENGTHEN TO AROUND 30
MPH...WITH GUSTS NEAR 40 MPH.

* MAIN IMPACTS: HEAVY WET SNOW WILL CAUSE POOR DRIVING CONDITIONS
ON SUNDAY...AND THE STRONG WINDS WILL LEAD TO CONSIDERABLE
BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW...RESULTING IN WHITE OUT CONDITIONS IN
SOME AREAS SUNDAY NIGHT. TRAVEL WILL LIKELY BE DIFFICULT THROUGH
MONDAY.

So, yeah. They are recommending no travel except in emergencies once this thing begins. Still, you never know exactly where or how a storm will hit. One local forecast for my hometown says just 1-2" of snow. It's Minnesota. That's nothing.

And I do have a 4-wheel drive vehicle.

But another forecast says 12-16" of snow and high, visibility-blocking winds. In other words, a full on blizzard.

The plan:

Although I could head to Minneapolis today to get in ahead of Orko (the storm's given name as dubbed by The Weather Channel), I think I'll wait until morning to make the call. If roads and the forecast look decent, I'll be on my way. And if  the weather picks up and I get stranded in the Cities, I'll just have to miss work on Sunday night and school on Monday.

In preparation, I've left lesson plans on my desk. But the truth is, if it's too nasty for me to travel home Sunday night or Monday morning, there's a good chance it'll be too nasty to have school Monday anyway.

We'll have to wait to see what the end of this story is. The Blizzard, or No Blizzard. Climax, or anti-climax.

Good thing I'm a glass-half full person. No matter the ending, it'll be a blessing.

Progress on New Year's Resolutions

January is almost over, and it's time to revisit my New Year's Resolutions.

1: No-TV January has been a success! I cheated one time, to see the end of Project Runway All-Stars (while fortuitously clearing a bit of space on the DVR). But I'm holding firm on avoiding television into the last week. Next Friday night and Saturday morning will probably find me birthday-weekend-binge-festing on shows I've taped.

But the truth is, I wouldn't be too sad if my DVR fritzed out and all the shows were lost. There are only only two programs I'd seek on DVD later: Downton Abbey and Merlin. I'd survive fine not knowing what happened on the others.

I've spent my newly found free time watching movies (including all the Hornblower, Firefly/Serenity, and Lord of the Rings discs from my shelves), reading for enjoyment (the stack of books I bought in August has finally been conquered), looking at various sites online (Ted lectures, Crash Course videos, and Lynda.com training videos), and correcting student work (editing major papers in all 5 classes, some using Google docs, which takes FOREVER). The reading, especially, has been a revelation. I always feel like I don't have time to indulge until summer. Turns out I do.

I don't think I've made a life changing decision akin to the "Start my own publishing business!" of February 2011, but lately I've come across quite a few inspirational quotes and stories that encourage me to continue teaching with enthusiasm, knowing that the work I do with kids is important. Not so much the teaching of grammar and reading strategies, more the importance of personal contact and impact outside of the Language Arts curriculum. Where I usually lose my focus in that respect during the dark months of winter and feel like I'm deep in the school year tunnel, no light to be seen until the March thaw, I am heads-up happy to be face to face with the new generation. (Most days.)

2: Better habits regarding my nails. Epic Fail.

3: Using my treadmill desk every day. Three valiant efforts, and then Epic Fail.

4: Learning Illustrator and/or Photoshop. Semi-successful. Here is a show and tell to prove it:

I made invitations to my birthday party, using Adobe Illustrator to create the balloons. I have to admit to defaulting to Adobe InDesign (I love you, ID) for the overall design, but I couldn't have done the little twisties on the balloons without Ai.


5: Posting more regularly on this blog. Once a week! Yeah!

Although I suppose 50% is not considered passing in most realms, I consider my 2.5/5 a stunning success. I plan to continue Resolution #4 and #5 into February, so maybe I'll share more art on this blog as I create it.  I hope your New Year's Resolutions are going well and you find yourself bravely creating and impacting the lives of others!