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..
Secret!
“Were you annoyed with my pie questions at the last meet up? xD”
No!
” I love Eddie is he important in Goliath?? ”
Hmm, this is spoilery, but yes he is important in Goliath. In fact, no one just disappears.
“Is Goliath the end of the Leviathan universe? I know you are writing the Manual of Aeronautics, but that won’t have any stories in it. Is there an Extras style book planned?”
Nothing planned, but I have a “prequel” to Goliath, sort of. It was a short story I was writing and decided to dump because I wanted to do a whole trilogy. And I mean to publish it sometime.
“Any Leviathan movie news that you would like to share?”
A contract is being written. Until it is signed, I can say no more!
“Have you ever tried fencing? Would you take lessons from Count Volger?”
Yes, in college. He sounds mean as a teacher, though. I’m a lazy student at physical stuff.
“Did you name Volger Ernst because that was the name Archduke Ferdinand named his son?”
Yes! Bonus points to you! He is the Ernst I erased from history.
“And how close was Volger and the Archduke exactly? Did he name his son after Volger?”
Volger’s not historical, so your second question is a no. But in my world they were very close, though they went through a bad patch when Volger told the Archduke not to marry Sophie.
“I’m Hungarian. Do we go to Hungary next?”
Sorry, no Hungary stuff in Goliath.
“What’s Lilit’s last name?”
I don’t know. (Naming varies a lot back then, however. She probably just would have been known as ‘Lilit, daughter of Zaven.’
“Do you find it interesting when we ship characters?”
YES! I love all the fan fics.
“Oh yeah, and how’s that bloke in your closet doing?”
He’s almost done with his master’s degree, and then I think he’s getting a PhD.
(This is an inside joke at the Forum. Do not be alarmed.)
“Ok, so since the Leviathan series is almost over, do you already have another series in mind? Or is the new Croy project the next big thing?”
Not a whole series, yet. But a standalone novel is in my head and there’s the Cory project and a graphic novel I’m writing.
“What kind of copyright it the leviathan trilogy and who holds it? will there eventually be a creative commons version?”
Not sure about more short stories. Leviathan is under normal copyright, held by me, but write all the fan fiction you want.
“Any advice on worldbuilding?”
Pay attention to how THIS world works, and how complicated it is.
“And, has anyone in real life been an inspiration for a character in the Leviathan series?”
Hmm, not really, except for those historical women who really pretended to be boys.
“Scott can you imagine that if you came to our houses we’d freak out and be like the lady in ‘Misery’ the movie/book?”
Thanks for the warning!
“Oh, and are Dr. Barlow and Volger in love? Us fans would die of happiness if they were!”
Barlow is married! (But they have a special bond.)
“Will you be coming to Texas any time soon?”
YES, I’m booked at the Austin Teen Book Festival, and therefore other TX cities are probably on tour.
“Okay, I HAVE to ask–will there ever be an Uglies movie?”
Maybe! New deal in the works. Will post news when contract signed.
“Are you going to see the last harry potter movie in the theatre?”
Yes, at Leaky Con, with Maureen Johnson.
“What was the weirdest thing you’ve ever been asked to sign?”
Answered that at the last meet-up, and I can’t remember what. Does anyone else?
(Further research revealed the answer to be, “A bra.”)
“On Justine’s website she says that she doesn’t drive cars. Do you drive cars? If no, does that have anything to do with Uglies?”
True, we don’t have a car or even licenses. And it KIND OF has to do with Uglies, in that I have environmental issues with them.
I never live anywhere where a car is essential.
“Ok, guys why don’t we just wait and let him answer all the questions we’ve already asked.”
Hah! Good luck with that.
“Are we going to see some sword fighting from Alek, Deryn, or particularly Voger in Goliath?”
Yes! There are swords! And a thing that’s not QUITE a sword.
“How many chapters are in Goliath?”
Um, 44 or 45.
“Have you eaten any pie lately?”
Not lately. But I will today IN YOUR HONOR.
“Can you give a vague description of the setting of the book after Goliath?”
Contemp US and a sort of mystical afterworld.
“Will you come to Europe?”
Yeah, but no plans at the moment. France wants me to come in a couple of years.
Where i really want to go is Brazil.
“Do you watch any anime or read any manga???”
Nana, Blood+, Monster, Princess Tutu, Moribito, Full Metal Alchemist, Pluto, 20th Century Boys.
“Why did you choose today as the meetup day? Do you like having meetups on the two year anniversary of MJ? xD”
Didn’t realize.
“Do you have a pic of the cool shoe lacing from So Yesterday? I hvent been able to find a pattern like that anywhere…”
One of my foreign editions has it. Search for So Yesterday on all my blog posts and go through them.
(I looked for this ,but still can’t find it.)
“Shuffling through some old blog posts I saw that you had posted about the possibility of a ‘So Yesterday’ movie. Is there still a chance it might be a movie?”
No, that fell apart. (But I got some money. Yay!)
“Do you like emilie autumn? muse?”
Don’t know them
“What is your favorite book you wrote?”
Hmm, Peeps was the most magical experience. Like, every time I had a plot problem, parasites solved it!
“Is Lilit gonna get married as a part of a plot in Goliath? (guessing this due to the April Fools joke pic). The plot due to the knife and the fact that Lilith obviusly wouldn’t get married for love anyways (i don’t think). ‘Specially since we know now she’s gay/bi. (not saying gay/bi people shouldn’t get married, just saying I hihgly doubt it was legal back then).”
Heh, I will say that she’s a part of the book, but THAT IS ALL.
“Do you like the television show House?”
Never saw it. I don’t watch much realism.
“Have you ever watched A very Potter musical???”
No.
“Does the Leviathan have a tail?”
Yes! You will SEE it and we will GO back there in Goliath.
“(If no one disappears in your books) what happened to Croy?”
He is saving himself for May/June 2012.
“will there be any good makeout scenes in goliath ??”
Yes there will be kisses . . . BUT WHO?
“Will volger die ‘cuz his first name meens fight to the death?”
EVERYONE DIES IN GOLIATH. (Not really.)
“My twinbrother would like to know: will there be new awesome warmachines or beasties?”
BOTH.
“Last time, you mentioned Newkirk doesn’t have a first name. Can you make one up now?”
Um, I leave that to you guys.
“We know that ‘Hearst’ from the Goliath Word Cloud is William Randolph Hearst, but who’s ‘Rogers’?”
Um, I can’t remember.
“I want deryn to tell alek so badly… you dragged it out for so long! why? why?”
The tears of my readers keep me young.
“My brother also wants to know if we’ll see anything with the clanker dirigibles?”
YES.
“How do you feel about people torturing your characters in fan fics and fan art, i.e. making them stupid, confused, killing them, and/or maiming them?”
Go for it.
“Ok, so is that Goliath prequel your next big thing or is there another new series?”
Like I said, there’s a standalone novel, and the Croy project, and a graphic novel.
“Is the Croy project really about Croy? Or is that just what you’re calling it?”
That’s just what I’m calling it. BECAUSE YOU ARE ALL OBSESSED WITH CROY.
“Eugene William Newkirk for the win! *fistbump*”
IT IS DECIDED.
“How did David get his eyebrow scar? Or is that one of those questions that you leave for the fans to decide? (I have already written a fanfic on it )”
Revealed in the Croy project!
“Will there ever be a Leviathan video game?”
I hope so, but no plans yet.
“Do you want a pet message lizard?”
Hmm. Hard to take care of, going back and forth between Sydney and NYC.
“Do you like Berry Burst Icecream Oreos?”
THEY SOUND INTRIGUING!
“Will there be a Russian revolution in the Leviathan-verse?”
We don’t get all the way to 1917, so not in the books.
“ALSO ….. my mother wants to know if there is another Risen Empire coming soon???”
Alas no.
“And if you have: Can you tell us just the last word? Not the last sentence, just the last word.”
It is . . . ‘allies’
“Will anyone go to the US?”
YES.
“Will there ever be a Leviathan Lego kit? ”
This came up in my last marketing meeting, and I said I will sign any paper necessary to make that happen. But nothing brewing yet.
“And have you ever tried the ‘real’ Bovril (the edible kind)?”
No. I’m a vegetarian.
“Have you finished Goliath yet?”
Yup!
“How do you feel about this forum as a whole?”
I think it’s great how big it is! But I haven’t read that much of it. It’s kind of you guys’s thing, not mine.
“If you could have one machine/beastie from Levi exist in our would, what would It be?”
The Leviathan itself. I would fly on it!
“Do you have skype and so would u like to come to our after meet up skype party?”
I don’t skype much, and I must do WORK.
“Do you ever base your characters off yourself or family members? (My first serious question beside the Croy questions!)”
Not really. Maybe little bits of them, like not liking chocolate or a turn of phrase.
“Will there ever be a creative commons attribution non-commercial share-alike license?”
Maybe if I ever get around to it. I’d almost rather throw it all into the public domain. Simpler that way.
“Thanks, Scott!!!!!!! I can’t wait for all these new projects. Will the graphic novel be from the same illustrator that does Levi?”
No. Keith’s too slow and complicated to do a graphic novel.
“Will this place ever have feeds or something like identi.ca.”
I don’t know what that is.
“Who do you like better, Alek or Deyn?”
Deryn’s more fun to write, because she’s basically happier and better adjusted. But Alek’s a bit more thoughtful.
“Is there any reason that I couldn’t request a friend of a friend to make me a t-shirt to be made that said ‘Team Cable’ or ‘Special Circumstances’ or ‘I don’t want to hurt you but I will if I have to’ or other quotes from Uglies on it?? Because I don’t want to get in any trouble for making one if it’s not legal–so is it okay to make an Uglies themed t-shirt for myself?”
Rock out! For personal use is okay with me.
“will this forum ever be in real-time?”
Hmm, I don’t know exactly what that means, so not soon. I’ll ask my webmistress.
“Would you consider writing another steampunk novel?”
Not for a while. Wouldn’t want to repeat myself.
“What is your favorite type of Leviathan Fan fiction?”
The more weird and unexpected, the more I like it.
“is the Goliath a beastie or a clanker machine?? dying of curiosity here!!”
Machine!
“Do you like bugs?”
Yes, but not in my food.
“Are you heading to the MA area anytime soon?”
Probably not.
“Have you ever used an IRC?”
Not for a long time.
“Has anybody ever recognized you and freaked out?”
An elevator full of librarians did once at ALA (a librarian conference) and they screamed!
“If I mentioned pie if I ever saw you, would you recognize me as Allie-wa?”
Lots of people ask me about pie, but I would still know it was YOU.
“Scott. MOST important question EVER…….Do you…own a blue bucket?”
I did, but it was stolen.
“Okay, so when Volger said that Dr. Barlow was an ‘interesting woman,’ he wasn’t declaring his undying love for her?”
He’s cagier than that, I think.
“does anyone important in the series die in goliath?”
People die, and I bet THEY think they’re important.
“Do you look at xkcd comics?”
Love them.
“I’m eating a kiwi gummy.”
Sounds yummy.
“How tall Is Deryn?”
Rather tall for her time. 5’10″ or so.
“What color are Deryn’s eyes?”
Don’t know. Brown, I think. (Further research revealed that they are BLUE.)
“Will you come to central Europe?”
Would love to. Let’s hope Leviathan does well in Germany.
“Are you a Nerdfighter?”
Not really. But I know and love many, and I try not to forget to be awesome.
“And how much shorter is Alek??? (than Deryn)”
Two inches-ish.
“In all your books and short stories, what scene was the funnest one you’ve ever written and why?”
Peeps. See earlier answer.
“What was the most annoying question you’ve ever been asked?”
Argh. Maybe this one.
“I know you are team zombie-but if there was a zombified Unicorn……..would you be team Zombicorn?”
I’d still be Team Zombie. I don’t want to shoot a horsey.
“Would Eddie use a camera kinda like this? [photo attached]”
Yes. But his camera’s in an illustration in Goliath, isn’t it?
“Will there ever be a live meetup??”
How would this work? Suggestions?
“What was your favorite part of Leviathan?”
Tossing out the gold.
“What was your favorite part of Behemoth?”
Maybe the sultan’s palace? Or the kiss.
“What was your favorite part of Goliath?”
The part where everyone DIES. (heh) Or maybe a certain KISS.
“What is your favorite Beastie?”
Bovril or the poo-bats.
“What is your favorite machine?”
The Stormwalker.
“I did my shoes with the lacing pattern from So Yesterday!! Ill have to post it.”
DO IT!
Okay, that’s it! Hope some of you Forum-shirkers come to the next one.
A few things:
THING ONE
Over the last couple of weeks, Holly Black and I have been blogging over at Babel Clash, discussing Zombies Versus Unicorns, mostly. Here are the last four posts we did:
“The Meaning of Versus,” by me.
“Passing Between Worlds,” by Holly.
“Ten Reasons Why Robots Are Better than Monkeys,” by Holly.
And of course “Ten Reasons Why Monkeys Are Better than Robots,” by me.
THING TWO
I didn’t attend many of the Forum meet-ups last year, but I want to do better this year. So this Saturday, January 22 at 7PM, Eastern Time (in the US), I shall be at the Forum! That’s 11AM Sunday in Australian Eastern Time, and midnight between the two days in London. (Sorry.) Come and ask questions and hang out!
THING THREE
Via BoingBoing.net, some cool footage of an actual thylacine, like Tazza in the Leviathan series.
As you know from the Afterword of Leviathan, Tasmanian tigers are real creatures, or were until they went extinct in 1936 or so. So when writing Tazza, I had to use old footage like this to figure out how they would act and move. It’s kind of wondrous and sad, watching a movie of an extinct animal.
Over on the Babel Clash blog, Holly Black and I are debating Zombies Versus Unicorns. You should go check it out. We slay us.
Holly on why unicorns are better than zombies.
Me on why zombies are better than unicorns.
Holly about why we love teams. Jacob vs. Edward, cake vs. pie. You know. And then holly tells us what teams she’s on.
Me on how just adding zombies makes everything fun.
Holly on why hope is a good thing.
But my latest post at Babel Clash is a bit more serious, because it’s about apocalypse survival. You’ll see at the bottom why it’s so important at the moment, so I repost it here:
______________________
In my last post we discussed the zombie-survival-suitability of various architectural masterpieces, in particular Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin. But what happens if the zombie apocalypse goes down while you’re reading Zombies Versus Unicorns at home? ARE YOU PREPARED?
Take a moment to look through your abode, and rate it for zombie-survival characteristics. Do you have food? Water? Weapons? Strong doors? Better to find out now what you’re lacking, rather than waiting for the zombie apocalypse or the (relatively unlikely) natural disaster/terror attack/meteorite strike.
I’ve done a quick survey of my Sydney flat, to help you get started:
WATER
Remember the old saying: humans last three weeks without food, three days without water, three minutes without oxygen. How much water do you have around?
I’ve got two liters of water in the fridge, and 17 bottles of wine. (Um, good for disinfectant.) But the bathtub can be filled before city water dribbles to a halt, and the average bathtub holds about 200 liters (when full to the brim).
Minimum survival requirement are 3 liters per day per person, but I’ll say 4 for cooking that pasta (times two of us), so we have about 25 days after the apocalypse before we are forced to go outside, plus whatever rain we collect. With a bit of scrimping, we can JUST make the 28 Days Later scenario.
HOWEVER: In summer, Sydney can get up to 35C (95F), a temperature at which daily water requirements double. Pray for a winter apocalypse!
FOOD
Ten cans of beans and tomatoes, and cans last FOREVER. (Save them for currency!)
Several kilos of polenta, pulses, and pasta. Well done, me.
Lots of cheese and vegetables to eat before the pasta and polenta diet begins.
An astonishing amount of herbs and spices, and some mango chutney. Don’t laugh. For 300 years in the Ottoman Empire, the price of pepper was fixed at its weight in gold. In the post-apocalypse, Tabasco will be liquid platinum!
A “vanilla butter luxury cake” made last night.
Cinchona bark for making home-made tonic water. Full of quinine! No malaria here, dudes.
Overall, our food will run out more or less when the water does. But we’ll probably want to make a run for it in three weeks or so, while we still have the strength to clobber.
WEAPONS
Um, not so good here.
A set of Furi knives that are great for chopping, not so much for braining.
Two CO2 canisters for carbonating home-made tonic. Can swiftly be converted into short-range rockets, unless Mythbusters has lied.
PHYSICAL DEFENSES
Excellent news here:
Top floor of eight-story building.
Security gate on apartment door.
Stairwell door well locked.
Elevator needs electronic fob to activate.
Only one other tenant on floor. Easily subdued. (He listens to Elton John. I can take him, especially if he’s already dead.)
OTHER
Short-wave radio, for listening to those last transmissions from Julia Gillard’s bunker or the Center for Disease Control.
Lots of remotes with half-used batteries in them. (WELL DONE, SIR!)
Meade 8″ Telescope, for street recon from the balcony. (And for calculating the equinox after the calendar notebook gets lost.)
A garage full of cars to steal for our eventual getaway to zombie-free Tasmania!
SUMMARY
In all, I think we have a chance. So what apocalypse provisions and defenses do you have at your humble abode? ARE YOU PREPARED?
REALNESS
As I write this, it so happens, people up in Queensland, Australia are experiencing a real apocalypse, flooding that has killed eight people, displaced tens of thousands, and had dire economic consequences. So yes, this survival stuff can be real. To help them out, go here and donate.
Here’s a special XmE* edition of Fan Art Friday. Yes, it’s already Friday here in the eastern hemisphere, and summer down here in the southern! (I double win at life.)
It’s been awhile since I did a Fan Art Friday, and I know there are many of your efforts waiting in the queue. But I’m about to start working on the second draft of Goliath, so for this FAF I’m drawing my inspiration from all the fabulous Leviathan fan art out there, in particular the Deviant Art group known as the Leviathaneers!
So check these out.
Warning: If you haven’t finished Behemoth, the last piece is spoilery!
First up is the regal “Boffin and Count,” from KoniraThax:
Next is the dynamic and gritty “Hostage Situation,” by ComickerGirl.
The handy blog-badge: “Clanker Have Hearts Too,” by bnt800.
The mangalicious and shipper-tastic “Fly,” by WeasleyTwin.
And finally from Deviant, the quietly romantic “Sketching” by Irrel:
This is only a TINY FRACTION of the cool stuff at Leviathaneers. Go check out the rest!
And we’ll end with one last piece, not from Deviant but still fabulous. It’s the spoilery one, so if you haven’t read Behemoth . . .
turn
away
your
eyes . . .
“Just Curious,” Allison B. Thomas.
Heh. So that’s it for me. I’m going back to being lazy now, and then working on the second draft of Goliath. Thanks to everyone for a great year of fannishness!
Happy holidays, and see you in 2011.
____________________
*Christmas Eve, duh.
Today is the official release date for Zombies Versus Unicorns, an anthology that includes short stories from me, Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Maureen Johnson, and Carrie Ryan (all Team Zombie) as well as Meg Cabot, Kathleen Duey, Margo Lanagan, Garth Nix, Naomi Novik, and Diana Peterfreund (Team Rainbow Farts).
People have been seeing ZvU in stores for a few days now, because the contagion cannot be contained!
Here’s a cool interview with the cover artist. And click here for awesome Zombie vs. Unicorns wallpapers!
(Of which this is merely one example:)
And don’t forget the ZvU debates, one in New York on Thursday and one in Baltimore on Friday!
Thursday, September 23
6:00PM
Symphony Space, Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater
2537 Broadway at 95th Street
New York City
Zombies v Unicorns Debate
Team Zombie: Libba Bray, Maureen Johnson, Scott Westerfeld
Team Unicorn: Holly Black, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Naomi Novik
Compere: (the totally impartial) Justine Larbalestier
$15; Members $12
Friday, September 24
6:30PM
Baltimore Book Festival
Children’s Bookstore Stage
Zombies Versus Unicorns!
Justine Larbalestier, Scott Westerfeld, Carrie Ryan, Holly Black, Diana Peterfreund & Kathleen Duey
Click here for more details.
Come one, come all!
Tomorrow, I’ll be unleashing the Behemoth countdown timer, so see you soon!
Check it out:
In case you didn’t already know, Zombies Vs. Unicorns comes out September 21. It’s a collection of short stories—half zombie, half unicorn—by some YA authors you may have heard of, including me!
Team Zombie: Cassandra Clare, Libba Bray, Maureen Johnson, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Carrie Ryan, and me.
Team Unicorn: Meg Cabot, Garth Nix, Kathleen Duey, Diana Peterfreund, Naomi Novik, and Margo Lanagan.
There will also be a LIVE ZVU DEBATE here in NYC, at Symphony Space on September 23. Here are the details.
In Other News, Uglies fans might want to check out the free-this-week essay over at SmartPop. It’s called “Team Shay,” and is by Diana Peterfreund.
That’s it from me, except to say send in some fan art! Don’t let another Fan Art Friday go by in sadness!
Those of you who enjoy delicious zombies might want to check out this debut by Carrie Ryan, called The Forest of Hands and Teeth.
I would tell you more about it, but I already wrote a signature review for Amazon, which starts like this:
Teenagers love a good apocalypse. Who doesn’t? All those annoying rules suspended. Society’s pretenses made irrelevant. Malls to be looted. School out forever.
But in The Forest and Hands and Teeth, Carrie Ryan’s marvelous debut novel, the post-apocalypse is defined more by constraints than freedoms. The book begins seven generations after the Return, an undead plague that has ended civilization as we know it. Of course, a zombie outbreak usually means shotguns and mall looting–the very essence of freedom. But more than a century on from the Return, the malls have already been looted, and shotguns are a distant memory. The novel’s heroine, Mary, lives in a village surrounded by one last vestige of industrial technology: a chain-link fence, beyond which is a vast forest full of shambling, eternally ravenous undead–the forest of hands and teeth. No villager ever goes outside this fence, unless they want to die. (And given this bleak scenario, some do.)
Mary’s world is bounded not only by the fence but by the archaic traditions of her people, which are enforced by a religious order called the Sisterhood. Marriages, childbirth, death, every stage of life must be controlled to sustain the village’s precarious existence. Even the houses are circumscribed–literally–with passages of scripture carved into every entrance to remind the inhabitants of the rules that sustain human life amid the horrors of the forest.
After so long an isolation, the village is beginning to forget . . .
Click here to read the rest of my review.
That’s it, except . . . it’s only 13 more days until Extras comes out in paperback. W00t!
In case you haven’t been following the zombie-versus-unicorn thread on the internets, it has come to a mighty climax with the announcement of:
The Zombie Versus Unicorn Anthology! A collection of zombie and unicorn short stories to settle the issue for good, co-edited by Justine Larbalestier (aka, my Justine) and the fabulous Holly Black.
Justine is, of course, the head of Team Zombie, and Holly is the head of Team Unicorn.
Here’s Justine’s announcement of it, and here’s Holly’s.
Stay tuned for an amusing video on this subject.
But first, some appearance news: Justine and I will be in Austin, Texas this Wednesday night, at the awesome bookstore known as BookPeople.
Wednesday, Nov 19
7:30 PM
BookPeople
603 N. Lamar
Austin, TX 78703
512-472-5050
800-853-9757
Click here for more.
And the next night, Justine will be appearing at a Barnes & Noble in San Antonio.
Thursday, November 20
7:00PM
Barnes & Noble
Northwoods Shopping Center
18030 HWY 281NSuite #140
San Antonio, TX 78232
210-490-0411
Hope to see you there!
And now, a short video from Lauren Myracle, she of the Scare-a-thon and (sadly) a member of Team Unicorn.
Let the battle continue!
Update
A few things that I need to remind everyone about are:
Westerboard! The oldest Westerfeldian forum on the web.
Midnighters, Inc. The newest forum about my books on the interwebs.
How Bubbly Are You? A survey for everyone who comes here regularly, old or young. Contribute to science!
Over at Inside a Dog, YA writer Maureen Johnson has just extended and expanded her Insert a Zombie, Win a Prize contest.
The basic concept is that any scene in any book would be better with a zombie, a truth universally acknowledged among certain of us genre fans. (Scroll down to the blue text in this post for Maureen’s own example, featuring a zombie in Pride and Prejudice.) To enter the contest, just take a scene from any book and add a zombie to it.
For the contest’s new and improved iteration, celebrity judges Meg Cabot, John Green, E. Lockhart, and Justine Larbalestier will choose the winning entry!
Here’s my entry, though I probably won’t win, given that I’m married to one of the judges.
Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Zombies.
It was the best of apocalypses, it was the worst of apocalypses. It was an age of brain eating, it was an age of shotguns. It was the epoch of damaging the head, or of removing it from the body. It was the season of light infantry weapons, it was the season of dark pursuits through abandoned sewers. We had everything at the local mall before us, but there were too many zombies in the way. In short, the period was so far like the present period—except for, you know, all the frickin’ zombies.
Here are the roolz:
1) Keep it to one paragraph. (250 words or less. Less is better.)
2) Make sure to give the title and author, so we can know whose work is being zombified. If these are not given, the zombified work will not be considered!
3) E-mail the entry to maureen@maureenjohnsonbooks.com. Please use the subject line: ZOMBIE INSIDE! You may enter as many times as you like. (So, if you want to zombify 30 stories, you can! But they must be different ones each time.) The deadline is February 14th. You can go right up to midnight (US, east coast time).
4) All of these wonderful entries will be read by Maureen and the other judges.
Round one: this week on insideadog . . . deadline, end of day, February 14th. The first five semi-finalists will go up to voting on the 15th. The prize for winning this round is the final copy of Maureen Johnson’s Suite Scarlett.
Round two: next week on Maureen Johnson’s blog . . . all entries submitted between February 16 and February 21st, with the next semi-final on February 22nd.
This all leads up to the crowning of the ULTIMATE ZOMBIE on Monday, February 25th.
5) You know who picks the winner? YOU DO! It’s ZOMBIE IDOL!
This just in: Justine adds a zombie to James Joyce’s Ulysses.
For those of you wearying of the Great Pullman Debate, I offer a pair of podcasts to soothe the spirit.
Back in October, when I was on tour for the release of Extras, Justine and I had a chance to sit down outside of Chicago with an old pal named John Scalzi. Scalzi was writing his first YA, so his publishers thought it would be cool to record our conversation and podcast it. Well, it’s finally ready for listening.
We discuss our books, hoverboard derring-do, and of course zombie suppression.
Here’s part one and here is part two.
Enjoy!
(No Pullman arguments in this comment thread! Here is where they go!)
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
