Fan Art Friday!

Sorry I’ve missed the last two Fridays, but at last FAF is BACK!

Okay, so Dalek Week is approaching over at Deviant Art. It runs from July 8 to 14, and is a seven-day challenge, each day with a different Deryn-and-Alek-y theme. (Click here for more details.) So I thought I’d start with a couple of entries from last year’s Dalek Week.

First here’s one from the estimable PrinceofParties, which reminds me of a certain schoolyard taunt (containing the line, “K-I-S-S-I-N-G”).

So romantic.

And here from Sorcaron, a sorta metaphorical image of Darwinist and Clanker angels:

Those wings of Alek’s have an interesting story behind them. When Keith and I were first conceptualizing the series, Keith wanted to start with portraits of Alek and Deryn. (Those portraits appear in the original Leviathan trailer, and will be in the Manual of Aeronautics, along with newer ones of Barlow and Volger.) He spent a lot of time on frames that signified the warring powers, and which began the notion of two distinct Clanker and Darwnist aesthetics. Then Sammy Yuen, the designer for the original Levaiathan cover, used Alek’s Clanker wings on the cover. Since then, that visual motif has become the symbol of the series. So it’s great to see it here in angelic-Alek form.

And here’s Deryn doing some Clanker stuff, and I have no idea whom this is from, or where it was created. Help me!

Update: It’s a Poptropica screenshot that reminded someone of Deryn in a walker, and rightly so.

And now some Japanese fan art! Thanks to Brita O. for sending these along.

Both from Pivix.net. I don’t know who did them, because the whole site’s in Japanese. But they’re really cool.

This one’s called “Thinking”:


Link to original.

And the text here says, “There’s no way jellyfish balloons can be that cute!”

Update: No it doesn’t. But supposedly some text somewhere around this picture did.


Link to original. Kawaiiii!

And now a great Deryn poster from SarahD:

And finally, here’s some rare So Yesterday fan art from Camilla. It’s called “French Revolution,” which will make sense to those of you who’ve read the book.

Okay, that’s it for this FAF. Now I have to pack for visiting my dad in Savannah and San Diego Comic Con. Can’t wait to see some of you there.

Don’t forget our Team Human chat on Sunday!

Okay, let’s see Max on more time:

And make sure to watch the sequel, because the next time I see Rick Riordan, I’m totally going to call him “Rick RiorDAN.”

Forum Meet-Up Transcript

Yesterday at 2PM, me and a hundred-ish fans from the WesterForum hung out for about an hour and a half, and I answered many questions. For those of you who weren’t able to attend, I’ have compiled them into this blog post, typos and all! (So. Many. Typos.)

Enjoy:

“What kind of juice do you like?”

There are many juices I love. Mango! Pear! (Especially pear cider.) Apple!

“So Scott there’s been a rivalry going on (on the forum obviously) , based on the question : If the crew of the Leviathan got in a fight with Special Circumstances who would win? What’s your opinion?”

I think in a close-quarters fight the Specials would win, because they’re too quick. But in a proper battle, the Leviathan could mess them up with strafing hawks or bat-poo without ever being in danger.

“WHATS GOING ON WITH CROY?! CAN YOU GIVE US ANY INFO ON HIM?! ”

That info will be released at Leaky Con and Comic Con. THAT’S ONLY A FEW WEEKS. But I can’t tell you anything now, except maybe . . . you will SEE HIM.

“Did you use the same models on the cover of Goliath that you used on Leviathan and Behemoth?”

Yes. Same models, same photo shoot on the same day. Sometime I’ll show you guys the unaltered photos.

“At any point in Behemoth, does Dr. Barlow know that Deyrn is a girl? It has been a topic of great debate.”

Hah! Not saying now, but you WILL learn the answer to that in Goliath.

“Have you ever met someone in real life who reminds you of your characters?
Or vice versa.”

Hmm, not really. Although sometimes I see someone and say, ‘Whoa, he/she’s a total pretty!’

“Nice to meet you, btw. (and tell hi to Justine (Mrs. Larbaleister (sp?)) for me, please!)”

It’s Dr. Larbalestier, in fact.

“Can Justine cook?”

She’s a great cook of Thai food, and she wants me to add that she’s a good boxer too. (She’s been taking lessons.)

“What TV shows do you watch?”

Game of Thrones, Treme, just finished Vampire Diaries,

“This isn’t really a question, just a comment. I thought you’d like to know that I used to like history, and Leviathan made me love it again. I might even try writing something historical-ish myself. ”

Yay!

“Is Lilit lesbian/bi? (Please say yes.)”

They didn’t really have those categories for women back then, but she would be if she was alive today. (Strange but true fact: Male homosexuality was illegal in England back then, but female homosexuality wasn’t because lawmakers REFUSED TO BELIEVE IT EXISTED.)

“In Uglies, there are many messages, some obvious, some not so much. What messages/lessons do you want readers to take away from Leviathan?”

Hmm. I think that the big theme is about how different sides of a conflict (war or just ideological/technological) see each other, and how that can change when people are forced to work together.

“What kind of music do you like? (Do you like Florence+and the machine?)”

I like minimalism and trip-hop, and I don’t know of this Florence person.

“What is your opinion on the Hunger Games? (Will you see the movie?)”

Want to see the movie. Liked the first book, but didn’t read the others.

“When will you go on tour?”

September 17. DON’T KNOW WHERE YET! NOT MY CHOICE WHERE.

“Would you like to join my band of Ninjas?”

I have already infiltrated your band of ninjas!

“Do you like writing about diseases? Peeps was about parasites, Innoculata had to do with a virus and in So Yesterday the main characters dad is a Epidimiologist (I think).”

I love all kinds of biology, like beasties too. Studied philosophy of biology in college. (Yes, that’s a real thing.)

“Scott-la, in the Uglies series who was the most interesting character to create?”

Hmm, maybe Mr. Simpson Smith, because he talked funny and had a very different view of the world from everyone else.

“Is there a ball, wedding, or some other formal scene in Goliath?”

Yes!

“Will we ever see Deryn in a dress in the final book?
I need some hope..

France Is Next

I’ll be in France the next couple of weeks, so here’s my schedule there:

Utopiales Festival
Nantes, France

Jeudi 11 Novembre
13 h 00 pm : conférence : Littérature adulte et Littérature jeunesse : Quelles frontières
14 h 00 pm: dédicace

Vendredi 12 Novembre
10 h 00 am : conférence avec les jeunes lecteurs
11 h 15 am : interview en anglais par des adolescents
16 h 30-18 h 00 pm : Conférence
18 h 00 pm : Dédicace

Dimanche 14 Novembre
11 h 30 am: conférence : L’Uchronie : un genre européen ?
13 h 30 pm : Rencontre
après-midi : dédicaces

Apparition Publique à Paris, France
Mardi le 16 Novembre
16 h-18 h
Virgin Megastore
Centre commercial des Quatre Temps
92 La Défense
Métro: Grande Arche de la Défense

Also, So Yesterday is out in Italian now, under the awesome title Fashion Killers.

anteprima-fashion-killers-di-scott-westerfeld-L-lifNtc

That’s the busiest cover for SY in a while, but it’s kind of cool.

And here’s a video review in Italian:


Ganked from here

Can anyone translate this? To do so would make me happy.

New York Trilogy Repackaged

Before I sink completely into Leviathan-mania, I want to point out that it’s now possible to buy my New York trilogy in their shiny new packages. The covers were designed by Rodrigo Corral, who designed the Uglies series, and they are beautiful.

Check them out:

newsoyesterday

newpeeps

newlastdays

I really like the urban poetry of these covers, and the odd palettes as well. Each one has its own interesting mix of colors. The other cool thing is that the new books are a sweet small size, 7″ x 5″ (17.8cm x 12.7cm), and thus are very cute little paperbacks.

I’m not sure if you can order these online yet, because it’s hard to make sure what you’ll cover you get on the internets. So the best bet is a bricks-and-mortar bookstore if you want. (You can use Indie Bound to find the nearest independent.)

If you want to check out more of Rodrigo Corral’s work, just click here.

MBW Formation

Those of you who’ve read my book So Yesterday may remember the following scene in chapter 2. A focus group of cool-hunters has just been shown a new sneaker advertisement, and they all seem to agree that it’s awesome.

That is, until Jen speaks up . . .

“I was kind of bugged by the missing-black-woman formation.”

Mandy blinked. “The what?”

Jen shrugged uncomfortably, feeling the eyes on her.

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” I said, even though I didn’t.

Jen took a slow breath, collecting her thoughts. “You know, the guy on the motorcycle was black. The guy on the bike was white. The woman was white. That’s the usual bunch, you know? Like everybody’s accounted for? Except not really. I call that the missing-black-woman formation. It kind of happens a lot.”

It was quiet for another moment. But gears were spinning. Tina Catalina let out a long sigh of recognition.

“Like the Mod Squad!” she said.

“Yeah,” Hiro chimed in, “or the three main characters in . . . ” He named a certain trilogy of movies about cyber-reality and frozen kung-fu, whose title ends in an X, counts as a brand, and therefore will not grace these pages.

The floodgates broke. More comic books, movies, and TV shows tumbled off everyone’s lips, a dozen stuffed-full pop-cultural memory banks rifled for examples of missing-black-woman formations, until Mandy looked ready to cry.

She smacked the clipboard down.

“Is this something I should have KNOWN ABOUT?” she said sharply, sweeping her eyes around the table.

An unhappy silence fell over the conference room. I felt like an evil genius’s henchman when something goes wrong in a certain series of secret agent films—as if Mandy might push a button on the control panel and we would be ejected, chairs and all, out the roof and into some lake in Central Park.

I noticed only yesterday that we’re living through a nation-changing MBW formation right now. (Gloria Steinem may have jogged my brain on this point.) So let’s all take a moment to appreciate the predictive, productive, and representative powers of pop culture.

We have a way of becoming the stories we tell ourselves.

modsquad.jpg

modsquad2.jpg

modsquad3.jpg

Just to be clear: I’m not mocking what’s going on here in the US. Having a woman and an African-American man as serious contenders for president is momentous. It’s great to see.

Still, I didn’t want to let a missing-black-woman formation as epic as this one pass by unnoticed.

And for you younger folks, here’s the scoop on the late-1960s TV show The Mod Squad.

Update: To comply with Federal Election Commission equal time rules, I am also required to display a picture of the Republican candidates . . .

modquad4.jpg

Ciao, Seattle

Had a great time in Edmunds last night. We got up at 4:55AM to catch our plane to Lexington and I AM SO TIRED.

But before I pass out, check out Cyndy (and friend!) in her Special Circumstances tats:

specialstats.jpg
Picture by me.

And the cool shoelaces from So Yesterday actually walked in! I never got this to work, myself. And I’m so sorry I can’t remember your name, Shugrrl, but my brain is totally Swiss cheese.

syshoes.jpg
Picture by Justine Signature by moi.

And Laura sent me a picture of her shirt from the Shoreline appearance:

notasurgemonkey.jpg

The quote isn’t from the books, but from a dream she had. That’s so kewl.

Thanks to all you guys for making my signings full of surprises and vast ego boosts.

One more before we head back to NYC:

Monday, Oct 15
7:00pm
Joseph-Beth Booksellers
161 Lexington Green Circle
Lexington, KY 40503
Reading/Signing

More Fan Art

At our reading at Books Inc. tonight, we ran into more awesome fan art. Long-time commenter Liset came in with this retro Team David shirt:

teamdavid.JPG

And note the Midnighters-y line on the botttom: “With love for Flyboy too!”

On top of which, I scored this awesome piece of So Yesterday-themed art:

coolmaven.JPG

Thanks for all these little touches of sweetness to offset the rigors of touring.

Tomorrow is insane, between a school visit, a signing, and flying to Seattle, so there may well be no blogging. But don’t forget the last few dates of la tour:

Wednesday, Oct 10
3:00pm-4:30pm
Hicklebees
1378 Lincoln Ave
San Jose, CA 95125
School event followed by in-store reading/signing

Thursday, Oct 11
7:00pm
Shorecrest Performing Arts Center
15343 25th Avenue NE
Shoreline, WA 98155
Books will be sold by Third Place Books
Public presentation and signing.

Friday, Oct 12
4:00pm
Edmonds Branch Library
650 Main St.
Edmonds, WA 98020
Books will be sold onsite by Barnes & Noble

Monday, Oct 15
7:00pm
Joseph-Beth Booksellers
161 Lexington Green Circle
Lexington, KY 40503
Reading/Signing

Ciao for now.

Quick Note: If you’re commenting about the book Extras, please be kind to your fellow readers and use the Extras Spoiler Page.

So Yesterday in Brazil

International Cover Month concludes with the brazillionth version of So Yesterday. (Okay, there haven’t really been a brazillion yet, but this one is from Brazil.)

The paper doll theme is brilliant, and you can really appreciate the concept when you fold out the entire jacket—front, back, spine, and flaps:

But what’s really fun is the webcard for the cover. I dare you not to giggle while watching that.

Oh, and here’s the publisher’s site for all you Portuguese speakers.

I’m pretty sure that tao ontem means “so yesterday” in Portuguese, so it’s one of the rare direct translations of the title. I wonder if it means the same thing in Brazil.

Okay, no more furrin’ covers for a while. I’m going to be blogging about Extras pretty obsessively for the next 23 days, which is how long till Book 4 comes out.

Next week, I’ll be unveiling the Extras Countdown Timer!

Chinese So Yesterday

The next entry in the ongoing International Covers Week (Month? Year?) is the following:

It’s the complex Chinese version of So Yesterday.

“Complex Chinese?” you may ask. “Isn’t all Chinese pretty complex?”

Here’s a factoid that I didn’t totally get until I started to be translated: There are two written types of Chinese. Allow me to explain.

Complex Chinese is the traditional written form of the language. It goes back millenia—way before our Roman alphabet, way before anything else currently in use. But people still use it in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau. On the other hand, simplified Chinese was created in the last century, when the Chinese government was trying to make all those ideograms easier to learn. It’s used in mainland China, Singapore, and Malaysia.

Luckily for us authors, these two kinds of Chinese are usually sold to different publishers. We get to sell the same book twice! For example, Jelei in China owns the simplified rights to Uglies, and Sharp Point in Taiwan owns the complex rights for the same book.

So Yesterday is published by a Taiwanese company with my favorite name ever: Meowbus. Check out this cool feature on their site: behind-the-scene photos of the cover shoot.

What a great idea, especially for a teen imprint! This is the sort of thing that might actually make someone want to go to a publisher’s website (even if it is in complex Chinese).

Yay, Meowbus! (Okay, I just wanted to type “Meowbus” again.)

Slo Yesterday

I got a cool package yesterday, the Slovenian version of So Yesterday! Check it out:

Now, Slovenia is not a place I know much about. The Wikipedia article tells me it has a population of two million, less than 1% that of the US, less than Brooklyn. So they must read a lot per capita, otherwise I can’t see how they’d make money with translated books. I mean, what percentage of those two million are teenagers to begin with?

Below is the first page—of Chapter 1, not Chapter 0. It’s clearly a Slavic language, but even knowing the text, I can’t figure too much out. But I love the word inovatorka for “innovator.”

Annoyingly, I’m not finding any Slovenian translation tools that work, so I leave it up to you guys to translate the title. Something about “cool”?

Of course, it occurs to me that I shouldn’t be so clueless about this place. Parts of my next trilogy, Leviathan, will take place in Slovenia. Or rather, what’s now called Slovenia, and was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire back in 1914.

For Slovenian speakers and crazed compleatists, here’s the website where you can buy Lovci na Kul.

And in other news, The Last Days has been long-listed for an Inky over at Inisde a Dog. Yay!