Okay, it’s time to get rid of our protest-y black boxes, and check out the real version of FAF. My apologies for making you wait!

Here’s CatieKay’s rendition of a CERTAIN SCENE from Goliath.

Super atmospheric, with lightning! For some reason, the katakana in the lower left is defeating me. Can anybody translate? (Ka-i-ri-so? My Japanese sucks these days.)

And from Unforgiven-Unloved, check out Alek’s expression. He is in LURVE.

And the last of the SOPA-edits is AvistheArtistGeek, with her Leviathan Xmas decorations. 3-D FAF!

Just imagine little wee Deryn climbing up a Christmas tree on the tinsel ratlines. SO MUCH KAWAII.

But wait. There’s more!

Here’s a cartoon from fellie220:

There’s just not enough marker in fan art! Love the lurid colors! (Love typing “lurid,” too.)

And here’s some bonus chapter fan art, from Melissa M:

Volger looks funnier in a lizard head than I imagined him. But of course, IT’S VOLGER IN A LIZARD HEAD. (Not to mention: TAZZA WITH A HALO!)

This one’s for all of you who want the Leviathan series updated to World War II. It’s also a fandom cross-over move, with Deryn and Alek in Hetalia mode. (Hetalia is a web-comic that anthropomorphizes the countries of WWII in comical and stereotypical fashion—and, as pointed out in the comics below, has been adapted into a manga and anime.)

Interestingly, it’s actually a collaboration between top-cap and magic-the-echidna, who did half each of the image. Click here for a larger version.

And from RakWel we have an Uglies cover redux!

Everything is very manga and Japanesque today, isn’t it?

And now for a vanishingly rare species: So Yesterday fan art!

Anybody remember the purple hand scene? ANYBODY? (Seriously, SO Yesterday is my book that the least people have read. GO FIX THAT.)

We’ve seen work from Art-Band Geek a few times here, but I thought this was a touching scene:

Dalek looks happy there. Happy Dalek is a good Dalek.

And finally here’s an alternate Clanker walker from Tyler:

It’s not from the books, but it totally has that clunky Clanker look.

That’s it! Don’t forget, there will be a reveal of Tally from Shay’s Story (aka the Uglies Manga) early next week. Like, Monday or Tuesday.

Also, some slightly annoying news: The release date for Shay’s Story has been delayed a week, due to paper shortages! But that’s only because the publisher wanted to make it bigger, so you can see all the lovely art.

It now comes out March 6, 2012.

It’s Sunday afternoon here in Sydney, and late Saturday night in the US, which can only mean one thing:

Fan Art Friday!

Of course, I have an excuse for being slow, which is that I ended the week with a big reveal of Zane from Uglies: Shay’s Story, the graphic novel/manga version of how Shay met the original ugly Crims. (A lot of you thought Zane was insufficiently ugly. Of course, uglies in the Tally’s world aren’t really ugly, just normal. That is the point of the series, by the way!)

Ever since saying I was out of fan art, I’ve been deluged. So I won’t be posting it all here today. But don’t worry, if you’ve sent me something, it will show up one day soon.

Let us get started. Here are a couple of cool images from gorrin, who has a lovely pastelly style.

I love seeing the Leviathan in color, and roaring!

And here’s the rare pieces of fan art showing the steam-powered elephants of Istanbul! (Why aren’t more of you guys drawing them?)

I like these two Dalek drawings by Shirushi-sanbusaku. The first shows our pair looking a bit sozzled and having a dance:

And the other is, you know, what happens after the dance.

Note that Shirushi-sanbusaku also did Darwinist Rock on YouTube!

Here’s a piece that’s not really fan art. A fan of mine was at a show by his art teacher, John W. Bartlett, and found this drawing . . .

. . . and said, “Tazza!” and took a picture to send to me. Of course, it’s just your average thylacine, but we thought we’d show you it anyway. (With the permission of Mr. Bartlett, of course.) Tasmanian tigers are so distinctive, which is why so many of us wish they were still around.

Here’s a very cute cartoon from Levi, showing the airship/kappa/cruiser battle from Chapters 14-15 of Goliath:

I love the expression on the face of the Kaiserin Elizabeth, the Austrian cruiser. (That was a real ship, by the way.)

And here’s some more Dalek, by Carly, which shows Alek in some colorful clothes, for one. (Maybe once he’s no longer a prince, he can indulge his innate love of color!)

I quite like this Dalek pairing by TheLanguidClown:

And finally, for you My Little Pony fans, here’s a mix between Rainbow Dash and Deryn, by Agehachou. I’m not sure if this is a real reference to Deryn, or whether it’s just generic steampunk/My Little Pony crossover. (Because that happens all the time.)

Still, check it out:

Just noticed that this week’s FAF was all Leviathan. Does any Uglies fan art exist based on Steven Cumming’s drawings for Shay’s Story? If so, send it my way!

Okay, that’s it for the moment. There is more fan art in the shed, and it will be here in a week. (Less than that, really.)

After my continent-spanning tour for Goliath, I did what’s called a “radio tour” for the book. This phrase may sound mildly glamorous, but what it really means isn’t so much “tour” as “sit in a room and talk on the phone to strangers at weird hours of the day.”

Alas, some of these strangers will be drive-time yuck-meisters who talk in their funny radio voices EVEN WHEN NOT ON THE RADIO. It is churlish to complain about any form of publicity, but those guys hurt my brain.

Them: “So what ABOUT that World War I, huh? It was a PRETTY BIG DEAL!”

Me: “Yes. About fifteen million people were killed, and another thirty million succumbed to the Spanish flu cause by the dislocation of–”

Them: “So, are they gonna make a MOVIE?”

Rest assured, though, that many of my interviewers were articulate hosts who’d read the book and had cool questions. I thought I’d share one of the resulting interviews, from Texas Public Radio’s Some Books Considered. The host is Dan Skinner.

(And yes, it DOES sound like I have a lisp. I think that’s my crappy phone’s fault. Well, not MY phone. I don’t actually have a landline, and had to borrow one. Because, excuse me, LANDLINE? Sorry, but 1993 called and asked to have their communication protocols back, so I sent them all the twisted copper in my house.)

Click here to listen to the interview at TPR’s site.

And now for some FAF.

Two weeks ago, I said that Helen Yoon’s lovely piece of fan art would make a good poster for Goliath, the Musical. And someone did it . . .

Remix by is by Margaret E. Original art by Helen Yoon.

And here are two chibi pieces from Helen. Lil’ Lord Alek:

And the mighty Deryn Sharp, of the Clan McSharp:

Chibi versions of a character allow us to see into the true soul of that character. Of this I approve.

And from one of my rather younger readers, Jeremiah, here’s a Clanker vs. Darwinist battle!

I can’t tell you how many things like this I used to draw as a kid. But it was always either World War II or aliens vs. tanks. But I never did any drawings with a bat-poo attack. No, we didn’t have bat-poo warfare in my day. We used to lie awake at night, dreaming of bat-poo warfare. You kids don’t know how lucky you are.

And here’s a sketch from Eli, clearly inspired by the Goliath bonus chapter:

I can see there’s going to be more Alek in a dress stuff. And why not?

And here’s something for those of you who’ve been asking for more Newkirk. Here he is! On an old-school motorcycle!

And finally, this steampunk scrapbook by fanpireashley:

It is a beautiful thing.

For the first time in a year or so, my coffers are slightly low on fan art. Maybe it’s because the series is *sniffs* over. But feel free to send some my way.

Two things before we get to Fan Art Friday:

1) Next Thursday, December 8 at 7PM EST, I’m going to be part of a Figment.com chat called “Forget English Class; What We Want to Do Is Write!” I’ll be joined by David Levithan, Robin Wasserman, and Lauren McLaughlin, whose book Scored inspired the panel.

This chat will be online, so ALL OF YOU CAN COME! Just click here for details.

We’ll be talking about how high-stakes testing warps education by taking holistic enterprises (like writing, thinking, and comprehension) and slices them into testable skills (like syllogisms and five-paragraph essays).

To prepare for this chat, Lauren and I actually took the essay section of the SAT, and had ourselves scored by a professional examiner. I haven’t seen our scores yet, but all will be revealed at the chat! (I think Figment are even putting my essay online. Yeesh.)

You can also click here for more about Scored, which is out now. It’s set in a dystopian world where every kid gets a Score when they turn 18, determining their prospects for the rest of their life.

2) There’s less than one week left in the Show Us Your Steampunk contest! Just take a picture of yourself in a steampunk outfit holding a copy of one of the Leviathan books, and you’re in. Click here for details.

Even if you don’t want to dress up, you should head over and check the contest out. There are some really awesome costumes and poses. (It’s a FaceBook thing, though, so you have to have an account.)

And now it’s time for FAF!

We begin with this Deryn chibi, by Jett-Wolfe98:

That is some cute stuff.

Also pinning our kawaii meter is this young-and-old diptych of Deryn by danakairi:

Yes, it’s Deryn in a dress. But it’s TINY WEE Deryn in a dress.

And to complete this chibi trifecta, here’s a lovely image of how Alek really feels about the air beast, from LilyFlowerG:

Okay, let’s leave the cute behind and switch to dark and brooding. Check out this moody picture of Alek in his engineering finery, from peibee-an-jay:

I always love seeing his princeliness covered in grease. Heh.

Now here’s some cosplay from Ben, who spent this Halloween as a rigger.

You have to like the humble cosplayer who’s not a particular character, just a rigger with an air rifle and a candy bag.

And here’s a couple of sketches, this Aya Fuse from . . . I don’t know whom!

And here’s a comic one of Alek and Volger from Ian:

From Laura, we have an Alek’s-eye-view image from the raging storm scene in Goliath. With bonus thumb!

From Clare, here’s a cool profile of Alek, proving that he doesn’t suffer from the Hapsburg chin:

Okay, I have a few more in the shed, but I always like to keep a reserve for next week. But if you’ve sent in some art in the last few months and haven’t seen it here, feel free to resend.

Hope to see you all at the chat next week!

Oh, and you can also keep voting on the BONUS piece of Leviathan art!

I’m finally catching up on my FAF backlog. There were two weeks of tour-FAF with a Halloween FAF in between, a missed week due to the Shay’s Story cover (and laziness), and of course all those weeks I missed during tour. But at long last FAF is moving forward!

Here’s one image that was given to me on tour, but was forgotten because it was handed to me on an iPhone, then emailed. (It’s made of PIXELS.) It’s from Alli, is called “NOOOO!” and is a Tesla’s-eye-view of a certain climactic event in Goliath.

Yes, the end of a tesla-sparkle-cane looks like an ouchy place to be.

I like this one of Deryn by Hillary, called “Miss Sharp.” Clearly she’s in female clothing, but this must be a bit after the Great War ends, because it’s 1920s-looking. (I think.)

Really cool clothes, actually. I think Deryn will look excellent in the ’20s, which will also be her 20s. (Alek and Deryn were both born in 1899, after all.)

I LOVE this whale-o-plane combination of Leviathan and How to Train Your Dragon by Adventaim!

It just makes me smile.

And here’s some hydrogen-sniffer love from ladygreyembyr:

I like the texture on this one. But man, hydrogen-sniffers are anxiety-making when you really look at them. That’s what I like about Keith—he’s not afraid to draw some disturbing stuff.

And for you Uglies fans whose ears just perked up, this just missed the Halloween cosplay edition. Specials!

I must say, that line never gets old. I know someone who’s getting it tattooed on their arms, so we may be seeing it here on FAF soon.

Okay, that’s only five FAs, but Friday in the US is drawing to a close, it’s done here in Sydney, and I need to make lunch!

See you early next week for a special poll. (You will enjoy it.)

Hey, everyone! I am headed to Sydney in a matter of days. DAYS!

But it’s almost Friday, so instead of packing I’ve spend the morning on this Hallowe’en FAF, starring you guys in wonderful steampunk and Uglies costumes. (Sorry if I’m missing a few names. I had a lot of these pics around.)

Let’s start with this awesome Stormwalker contraption:

That is one cool cosutme, though I fear it would be less than optimal for dancing. (Note that the kid on the right is wearing a Whoopie Cushion costume. Hmm.)

And here’s an awesome Mr. Sharp pumpkin:

I have a theory that the internets have improved pumpkin carving, because the potential audience for pumpkins is so much larger. Instead of mere dozens of people seeing your carving work, thousands will!

Here’s Dr. Barlow by Jett, complete with dog-with-streaked-fur-as-Tazza!

And now for a plethora of Deryns!

Sarah:

Lauren:

Sabrina:

Dixie:

And Lizzy:

And, because I am disorganized, another anonymous!

Julia sent me this goggle-gif:

And here’s a Deryn and Alek pair, anonymously (as in, I forgot the names) from Twitter. Wear your steampunk geekery with pride! At work!

A quartet of steampunkers from Mallory, because more is better!

And this comic from (argh, can’t find the name!, showing what Alek and Deryn dressed up like this Halloween:

The dialog is, of course, a joke about Alek’s sticky-outy ears.

Finally, a Special Tally-wa from Ally-wa, complete with hoverboard:

Don’t forget, the Show Us Your Steampunk contest is still happening over on FaceBook. Just take a picture of yourself in a steampunk outfit holding a copy of one of the Leviathan books, and you’re in. Just click here for details.