I sort of missed it, but yesterday was Ada Lovelace Day!
Ada Lovelace, of course, is the patron saint of Dess, the hypernumerate character from my Midnighters series. She’s also one of the towering figures in the history of computing, given that she wrote the world’s first computer program . . . back in 1843. This achievement is as amazing as it sounds, given that the computer didn’t exist back then, except in theory. But that didn’t stop Ada.
It’s stories like this that make me realize that history itself can be quite steampunk. That is, ideas and technologies don’t all appear in a neat, predictable order. Sometimes theory gets ahead of practice in ways that are profound and mysterious, and imagination is never limited by the engineering capabilities of the present.
That’s a good thing to remember, so happy belated Ada Lovelace Day.
Also thanks to everyone at Marrickville High School, where I had a great visit yesterday. About 40 students (mostly Year 9s, or what us USians call freshmen) were stuck with me for about two hours. That’s a long stretch, but they all stayed focused and smart and full of brilliant questions.
Thanks for a great day, Marrickvillians, and good luck with your NAPLANs.
The Alpha Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror Workshop for Young Writers is an annual retreat for twenty young writers (ages 14-19) who spend ten days working with professionals to improve their craft. It’s an awesome workshop, especially this year, because Holly Black and Tamora Pierce are two of the tutors.
Now, you may be thinking, I’d like to do that some day! Indeed you can, but not this year, because applications are already closed. However, you can support those who have been accepted this year, a few of whom need financial aid. The organizers are trying to raise a modest $2500 by selling a delightful zombie book called Ned and Zane Jane.
Zombies. Young writers. Brains. What more could you ask for?
Click here to learn more, chip in, and help spread the word. And here to learn more about Alpha.
Make sure to bookmark the spot. Maybe it’ll be you going there next year.
In other charity news, check out Maureen Johnson’s recent post on the work the Harry Potter Alliance is doing. Very awesome stuff.
All times USian. In Australia, we’re talking Thursday, noon Sydney, 9am Perth.
And don’t forget I’ll be hanging out at Readergirlz all month.
In other news, check out the cover of Uglies in its Brazilian Portuguese version.
I missed a couple of walker Wednesdays there, so here’s a lovely bit of Lego fan art. It’s one of the German scout walkers from Chapter 18 of Leviathan:
Cool, huh? It’s by Jonathen Haney.
It makes me stupidly happy that this piece is roughly the same scale as the Lego Stormwalker I showed you here back in January, because they both use the same-size little Lego peoples! So they could, like, fight each other.
I have much more Leviathan fan art waiting to get shown, so here are a couple of bonus pieces. WARNING, some have been ganked from the internets without permission!
Here’s Deryn, as drawn by Deviant Art’s Comicker Girl:
In terms of composition, these are taken pretty much straight from the book, which makes it kind of interesting to see how the two drawing styles differ. I like how all the clothing details pop in this version.
Here’s Alek and Deryn, by Deviant Art’s Polymath13:
I assume this is Chapter 35, where Alek tells Deryn how his parents met. The funny thing is, Keith and I had considered illustrating this scene. But it got very tricky, emotion-wise, which is why we went with the more abstract pocket watch image. It’s great to see someone draw this sort of missing scene.
And now for you Midnighters fans, this is a lovely piece by giuly chan, a little ariel kissing between Jonathan and Jessica:
Make sure to click here for a bigger version.
Starting today and for all of March, Leviathan will be the featured book on Readergirlz.
For those of you who don’t know the site, Readergirlz is a YA and middle-grade book reviews, chats, and inside scoops. Read their manifesta page for more.
For the whole month the site will have features about me and Leviathan, and I’ll be doing a chat there on March 17 (US time):
Hope you get a chance to check it out.
In other news, Leviathan has been short-listed for the Andre Norton Award for outstanding young adult science fiction or fantasy book published in 2009. w00t, and congrats to all the other nominees:
Hotel Under the Sand, Kage Baker
Ice, Sarah Beth Durst
Ash, Malinda Lo
Eyes Like Stars, Lisa Mantchev
Zoe’s Tale, John Scalzi
When You Reach Me, Rebecca Stead
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland, Catherynne M. Valente
Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld
And breaking news: Leviathan has also been short-listed for the Indie Next Book Award for 2010. Let the w00ting be redoubled!
Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
Going Bovine, by Libba Bray (Delacorte Books for Young Readers)
If I Stay, by Gayle Forman (Dutton Juvenile)
Leviathan, by Scott Westerfeld, Keith Thompson (illus.) (Simon Pulse)
Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater (Scholastic)
Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson (Viking Juvenile)
Reminder: Don’t forget, Sydneysiders, that I’ll be launching Foz Meadows‘ debut novel, Solace and Grief this Sunday, March 7. Click here for details.
As you can see, my website has had its first makeover in many years. This is to celebrate the fact that my first new series in years, Leviathan, comes out this autumn. (October 6, to be exact.)
Things may be wonky for a while as we play around under the hood. But I hope you enjoy the new look. Let me know what you think!
Click here to contact Scott Westerfeld.
Jill Grinberg
Jill Grinberg Literary Management
info@grinbergliterary.com
