Archive for December, 2012

Libraries Behaving Like Bookstores? Amazing.

Friday, December 28th, 2012

bcpl-1The NYT  reports today that libraries are adopting the bookstore model, by stocking what readers want and offering bestsellers in quantity.

A brand-new concept?

Hardly, as a 1979 article from Publishers Weekly about Baltimore County Public Library’s move toward the “demand-oriented, public bookstore” direction proves (click here to view pages onetwo and three in full size).

It’s a good reminder as we head into the New Year that “everything old is new again.”

Our thanks to our friends at Publishers Weekly for permission to reproduce this story. In case you are wondering, the author of the piece, Kenneth C. Davis, went on to write the “Don’t Know Much About” series.

New Title Radar, Dec. 31 to Jan. 5

Friday, December 28th, 2012

We’re on the cusp of the new season next week; one of the final titles touted at BEA arrives along with the first of the winter titles. On the Watch List, Jojo Moyes is poised for a breakout after ten titles and two Romance Novel of the Year awards. Usual suspects include Linda Howard, W.E.B. Griffin and Alexander McCall Smith. In nonfiction, a new bio of General Petraeus focuses on how he changed the military.

Watch List

9780670026609-1 Me Before You, Jojo Moyes, (Penguin/Pamela Dorman Books, Thorndike Large Print)

This novel has received kudos on GalleyChat, with one librarian calling it one of her favorite ARC’s of the year. Prolific romance novelist Jojo Moyes is a household name in Great Britain and her U.S. publisher is working to spread that magic here (the cover, which abandons the traditional trappings of a contemporary romance, signals a change in marketing). Independent booksellers picked it as an Indie Next title for January — “If you are looking for a romantic love story that will leave you in happy tears, this is the book for you! Suspend disbelief and immerse yourself in the life of Louisa Clark, who takes a job as a caretaker for a young, wealthy, disabled man. After a rocky start, Lou and Will become close, and Will urges her to expand her horizons and escape from their stifling small town.” It is reviewed in a NYT roundup of new titles this week — “Ms. Moyes’s novel boldly combines a sappy love story with the right-to-die debate.”

The Death of BeesThe Death of BeesLisa O’Donnell, (Harper)

The debut author is profiled in USA Today this week. Her novel is considered notable because, “After rave reviews in Britain, it’s a Barnes & Noble Discover New Writers pick and an Indie Next Great Reads selection.” That Indie Next annotation reads, “Beginning with two children who bury their parents in their garden, The Death of Bees had me hooked from page one. Streetwise teen Marnie and her younger, socially awkward, violin prodigy sister find their parents dead and attempt to cover up their deaths to avoid foster care, with both help and hindrance from some surprising sources. Told from the point of view of multiple characters, this lively, suspenseful, and darkly hilarious tale transfixed me from gruesome start to wonderfully satisfying finish. Brilliant, delightful, and thought provoking!”

RatlinesRatlines Stuart Neville, (RH/Soho Crime)

This the last to be released of the titles recommended at this year’s BEA librarians Shout ‘n’ Share panel. Cuyahoga’s Wendy Bartlett says Neville is “really a great writer and one that a lot of people haven’t heard about or read yet. He’s also very articulate, and would be great for an author event.” In this, the author’s fourth novel, Dublin detective Ryan faces a case that tests his love of country. As John F. Kennedy prepares to visit, a series of murders reveals that former Nazis have been living in Ireland, having eluded the Allies via “ratline” escape routes, and been given sanctuary by the Irish government.

Usual Suspects

Shadow WomanShadow Woman, Linda Howard, (RH/Ballantine; RH Audio; BOT; Thorndike Large Print)

The popular contemporary romantic suspense authors here employs a popular plot device; a woman wakes up and has no idea who she is. The publisher is touting the author’s new branding with “stunning and provocative new covers.”

Empire and Honor, W.E.B. Griffin and William E..Butterworth, (Penguin/Putnam;  Brilliance Audio; Thorndike Large Print)

The seventh title in the Honor Bound series, featuring USMC Maj. Cletus Frade, co-written with Griffin’s son, William E. Butterworth. Says Kirkus, of this post-WWII espionage novel, “Although heavily reliant on exposition, the book provides sufficient back story and works as a stand-alone read. Nothing beats a cinder-block–sized adventure novel on a winter weekend.”

The Wrath of Angels, John Connolly, (Atria/Emily Bestler Books)

The next in the popular Irish author’s series about a private eye with one foot in the standard mystery genre and the other in the supernatural. A plane wreck in the Maine woods yields no bodies, but does contain a list of people who have sold their souls to the devil, unleashing, well, the wrath of angels.

Unusual Uses for Olive OilUnusual Uses for Olive Oil, Alexander McCall Smith, (Anchor PBK Original)

Smith last novel featuring the philologist, Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld, was At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances (2004). Kirkus feels this character deserves his second billing to Smith’s more popular characters; “Gently but invincibly obtuse, von Igelfeld is too much an elephantine cartoon to inspire the love readers have given Precious Ramotswe and Isabel Dalhousie.” The olive oil? Von Igelfeld uses it to remedy the sticky wheels of a one-legged dachshund’s prosthetic device.

Childrens

The Very Fairy PrincessThe Very Fairy Princess Follows Her Heart, Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton, (Hachette/LBYR)

The fourth in the series by the ever-popular actress and her daughter. In this one, Gerry throws herself into creating Valentines. Says Kirkus, “Andrews and Hamilton’s text successfully captures the enthusiastic urgency of their impish protagonist. What truly impresses is Davenier’s ink-and–colored-pencil artwork that vividly portrays Gerry’s every emotion, whether she is over-the-top happy or utterly disappointed.”

Nonfiction

The World Until Yesterday, Jared Diamond, (Penguin/Viking; Penguin Audio)

The anthropologist and  author of Guns, Germs, and Steel, and Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, writes in this new book about how people in tribal New Guinea deal with universal issues. Diamond has whetted readers’ appetites with an excerpt in Newsweek magazine about how they handle child rearing (yes, it appears the tribal people of New Guinea, like the French and the Chinese, do it better than we do).

The Insurgents Fred Kaplan, (Simon & Schuster)

Just as Patraeus is fading from news headlines, this assessment of his legacy arrives. Reviewing the book in the NYT this week, Janet Maslin says “The title of The Insurgents is a clever reference to the rebellious, Petraeus-led faction within the American military, not to the guerrilla fighters American soldiers fought abroad. And it is a painstaking, step-by-step account of how these insurgents’ ideas bubbled up into the mainstream.” Don’t look for details on his relationship with Paula Broadwell. Maslin says, “Mr. Kaplan has tacked on a one-page coda” about that indicates”Ms. Broadwell is only one of the miscalculations that an admirable but dangerously unrealistic Mr. Petraeus has made.”

Movie Tie-ins

Parker: Movie Tie-in Edition, originally published as Flashfire, Richard Stark, (University Of Chicago Press)

Based on the character featured in 24 novels by Donald Westlake, writing as Richard Stark, the movie Parker, directed by Taylor Hackford and starring Jason Statham and Jennifer Lopez, opens Jan. 25

Librarian Favorites, 2012

Thursday, December 27th, 2012

Mr. Penumbra9780316098793-1 9780062088147-3

Librarians have spoken, picking their favorite books of the year (#libfavs2012). Hundreds of librarians from across the country tweeted nearly 700 votes for over 400 titles during the twelve days of the challenge.

While the top two titles (Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl and John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars) have appeared on many other Best Books lists, title number 3 was picked by just one of the other sources we’ve been tracking:

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, Robin Sloan, Macmillan/FSG  — “a great book for bibliophiles and technology lovers,” attests LibraryScoots (and, how about that glow-in-the-dark cover?)

Tied at #4 with Karen Thomas Walker’s The Age of Miracles is a title that hasn’t appeared on the other lists so far:

The Rook, Daniel O’Malley, Hachette/Little, Brown — a darkly humorous thriller about a paranormal version of Britain’s MI5; “think X-Men meets Jane Bond” says librarian and PrincessOfTheWorld from Mission, KS.

Tied at #5 is:

A Land More Kind Than Home, Wiley Cash, HarperCollins/Morrow — one of our favorite debuts of the year (see the summary of our TwitterChat with the author). Linda Johns of Seattle PL (LJBookie), one of the organizers of #libfavs2012, says she loves to tell readers about this debut.

There’s plenty more titles to discover on the full list and the list of top titles, with links to descriptions.

Thanks, again, to GalleyChat regulars Robin Beerbower, Salem [OR] Library, Stephanie Chase and Linda Johns, both of Seattle Public, for starting and shepherding this project. Thanks to Janet Lockhart, from Wake County P.L. (NC), for tabulating votes into the wee hours.

The “Right” Books for Young Readers

Thursday, December 27th, 2012

lisabadge

The New York Times asked several authors, teachers and librarians (including Fuse 8′s Betsy Byrd and me) to weigh in on “What’s ‘Just Right’ for the Young Reader? — How do you know the age at which to introduce children to certain books that might have ‘big kid’ themes?”

My view is “Let Them Read What They Want

Please tell us what you think; post your comments here.

Pennie Picks RULES OF CIVILITY

Wednesday, December 26th, 2012

Rules of Civility“If you’ve ever wondered what 1930s New York City was like, Amor Towles, through his debut novel, Rules of Civility (Viking, 2011;  Books on TapePenguin Audio; audio on OverDrive; Large Print Thorndike; released in Trade Pbk, in June) is one of the best tour guides around,” says Costco’s head book buyer, Pennie  Clark Ianniciello, describing her  January book pick in COSTCO Connections.

In the accompanying interview, Towles recounts his journey from a successful 21-year career as the co-founder of an investment fund to full-time writer and says he can’t wait to start his next book

The book spent one week in the top 15 of the NYT Hardcover Fiction after its release in 2011 and 9 weeks on the trade paperback list this year. Reviews praised it for its evocation of the novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Edith Wharton. NPR added kudos, calling it a “stylish, elegant and deliberately anachronistic debut novel.”

Earlier this year, it was announced that Lionsgate closed a deal with Towles to adapt Rules of Civility. It was noted at the time that several others in Hollywood had been courting Towles, but he was recluctant because, as “the principal of a big hedge fund, Towles didn’t need Hollywood option money and was wary of trusting Hollywood with the book he’d always wanted to write.” No news has emerged since on when, or if, production will begin.

Some libraries still showing holds.

THE Best Books of the Year

Monday, December 24th, 2012

The Daily Beast is checking the best books lists to see which titles get the most picks. According to their current calculations, the winners are:

Fiction — Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

Nonfiction —  Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo

Dozens of American and UK sources are included, from Publishers Weekly to Vogue. So far, Library Journal‘s recently-released Top Ten, plus sixteen More of the Best, is not.

 By the Iowa Sea    Gillespie and I     A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar

At this point, we’re finding the unexpected choices more interesting than the consensus titles. LJ is the only source to pick Joe Blair’s memoir By the Iowa Sea (S&S/Scribner). They think so much of it that they make it one of five nonfiction titles in their Top Ten and describe as “startling, bleak, and thoroughly honest.”

Unique picks on LJ‘s More of the Best include Jane Harris’s paperback original novel, Gillespie and I (Harper Perennial), which sounds delicious (read Carolyn See’s review in the Washington Post) and a librarian favorite, Suzanne Joinson’s A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar. They like that one so much they picked it twice (as both a reviewer’s historical fiction and an editor’s pick).

We’ve now wrapped up all the lists we are tracking (not as many as the Daily Beast; we’re focused on professional sources plus the most influential consumer sources) and will add Booklist’s picks when they are released in January. You can use the lists for end-of-the year ordering and to discover new readers advisory titles (there’s RA gold in those unique picks).

Adult Fiction Best Books, Collated

Adult Nonfiction Best Book, Collated

Childrens Best Books, Collated

FALSE PRINCE To Movies

Monday, December 24th, 2012

The False PrincePicked as a best book by both the NYT Book Review and Publishers Weekly, Jennifer A. Nielsen’s The False Prince (Scholastic, April), is being adapted as a film by Paramount.

Runaway KindThe book is the first in the projected Ascendance trilogy. The second title, The Runaway King, is scheduled for release in March.

Adding some glitz to the announcement is the news that the executive story editor for HBO’s Game of Thrones, Bryan Cogman, has been hired to write the screenplay.

LEFT BEHIND, The Movie

Monday, December 24th, 2012

Left BehindThe day after the world did not end, it was announced that Chad Michael Murray (of the CW TV series, One Tree Hill) is in talks to star in a new adaptation of the first in the Left Behind series of best selling novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins (Tyndale House). He will be joining Nicholas Cage who signed earlier to star in the film, which is set to begin production next spring.

Three low-budget films based on the books were released in 2000 through 2005.

Jack Reacher Comes Up Short

Monday, December 24th, 2012

Sorry — that headline was so good that we had to steal it from the L.A. Times‘s roundup of critical assessments of Jack Reacher, which opened over the weekend.

Jack Reacher Tie-9nA chorus of such consternation arose when it was announced that Tom Cruise would play Lee Child’s 6′ 5″ hero, that the author himself spoke out in defense the choice.

Critics, however, feel the role was too much of a stretch. Movie goers also turned a cold shoulder to the film based on Child’s One Shot (Random House, 2005).

Unless there’s a big turn around over the holidays, don’t expect a sequel.

TWELVE TRIBES on NYT Best Seller List

Monday, December 24th, 2012

Twelve Tribes Oprah StickerThe second Oprah 2.0 pick, The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, by Ayana Mathis, arrives on the NYT Hardcover Fiction best seller list this week at #10 (oddly, the annotation does not mention the Oprah connection —  “Fifty-some years in the life of an African-American family, starting with Hattie Shepherd, who leaves Georgia for Philadelphia in 1923.”)

It rose to #41 on the USA Today list from #95 last week.

Mathis received another strong endorsement after the Oprah pick, in the form of a rave from the NYTs difficult-to-please critic, Michiko Kakutani. The Washington Post’s Ron Charles is also impressed, but there are at least two dissenting voices, including the Wall Street Journal and a particularly scathing review in the L.A. Times, which says the book is,

…a callow work by a writer of still unpolished talents. Our great novelists give us fully rounded characters whose lives reflect the limitations, the possibilities and the wonder of the times in which they live. Mathis gives us a one-dimensional portrait of their suffering — and little else.

GATSBY Gets A New Trailer

Monday, December 24th, 2012

 Gatsby Poster    Gatsby - Daisy Poster    Gatsby - Nick Poster

It won’t hit screens until May 10 of next year, but we already have the second official trailer for Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby, (the first one was released in May, back when the movie was still scheduled for this Christmas).

Luhrmann again pairs modern music with an older story (as he did for Moulin Rouge and Romeo + Juliet). The sound track features Kanye West and Jay-Z’s No Church in the Wild, Florence + the Machines’ Bedroom Hymns and the Turtles’ Happy Together, covered by Filter.

The film stars:

Leonardo DiCaprio … Jay Gatsby

Carey Mulligan … Daisy Buchanan

Tobey Maguire …  Nick Carraway

Isla Fischer …  Myrtle Wilson

Joel Edgerton … Tom Buchanan

Elizabeth Debicki … Jordan Baker

New Title Radar — Dec. 24 to 29

Friday, December 21st, 2012

With the Christmas holiday arriving next week, it’s amazing that any new books will be shipped, but a few are on the way. Dick Wolf, creator of the TV series Law & Order, makes his fiction debut. Simon Garfield, whose book on fonts was a surprise hit, turns his attention to maps and the tie-in to a “zombie rom-com” movie arrives.

Intercept The Intercept: A Jeremy Fisk Novel by Dick Wolf, (Harper/Morrow; HarperAudio; Blackstone Audio)

Wolf, the creator of the TV series Law & Order introduces NYPD anti-terrorism detective Jeremy Fisk, in this, his first novel, planned as the beginning of a series. Expect heavy promotion for this one. It is already connecting with booksellers, who put it on the  Indie Next List for January. Prepub reviews were enthusiastic about the tense plot, but not so much about the writing or character development.

On the MapOn the Map: A Mind-Expanding Exploration of the Way the World Looks, by Simon Garfield, (Penguin/Gotham)

Garfield fed the growing fascination with fonts in his book Just My Type. Now he turns  to a subject with even more enthusiasts, cartography. Published earlier  this year in the UK and in several university library collections, this is a “fully Americanized edition” (besides taking out all those pesky u’s, we’re dying to know what that means).

Warm Bodies Tie-inWarm Bodies: Movie Tie-in by Isaac Morton. (S&S/Atria/Emily Bestler)

Billed as a “zombie rom-com,” the movie is based on a book that was originally a self-published success. Set  in America after a zombie apocalypse, it features “R,”  a young zombie who communicates mostly via grunts and moans. His favorite food is human brains, which give him a side of memories. After eating the brains of a suicidal teen, R falls in love with the boy’s girl friend. One hitch; her father, played by John Malkovich, is the country’s leading zombie killer.

Official Web Site: WarmBodiesMovie.com
 

People, USA Today Top Ten

Thursday, December 20th, 2012

Two major Top Ten Books lists landed today — People magazine’s (not available yet online) and USA Today’s.

Neither includes E.L. James’s trilogy, but both feature the author (USA Today as “Author of the Year,” People as “Game Changer”). USA Today says, in a version of, “at least they are reading,” that James’s series “has proven that the novel — whether in print or e-book pixels — remains a heavyweight in the boxing ring of popular entertainment.” People calls the series a “soft-porn phenom.”

Gone GirlBoth top ten lists include Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, and Katherine Boo’s Behind the Beautiful Forevers, but that is where similarities end.

People is one of the few to not include Hilary Mantel’s Bring Up the Bodies, which has been the year’s big winner, both in sales and the number of best books picks (see below).

People‘s #1 pick, Alice Munro’s Dear Life, has appeared on many longer lists, but is not on any other top ten. The same is true of USA Today‘s top pick, Flight Behavior, by Barbara Kingsolver.

After the jump, the titles on each list, with notes on titles that received other top ten picks to date (LJ‘s list is due some time today).

(more…)

Live Chat with Kristopher Jansma

Wednesday, December 19th, 2012
 Live Chat with Kristopher Jansma, THE UNCHANGEABLE SPOTS OF LEOPARDS(12/19/2012) 
3:53
Nora - EarlyWord: 
I see some folks gathering for our live online chat with the Kris Jansma, author of THE UNCHANGEABLE SPOTS OF LEOPARDS, coming in March from Viking. We’ll begin chatting at 4:00. While we are waiting to begin, here’s the cover of the book:
Wednesday December 19, 2012 3:53 Nora - EarlyWord
3:53
Nora - EarlyWord
Jacket for THE UNCHANGEABLE SPOTS OF LEOPARDS by Kris Jansma
Wednesday December 19, 2012 3:53 
3:56
Nora - EarlyWord: 
The book has been getting some pretty impressive reviews.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 3:56 Nora - EarlyWord
3:56
Nora - EarlyWord
Wednesday December 19, 2012 3:56 
3:56
Nora - EarlyWord
Wednesday December 19, 2012 3:56 
3:57
Nora - EarlyWord
Wednesday December 19, 2012 3:57 
3:59
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Chat participants -- you can send your questions through at any time. They'll go into a queue, and I’ll submit as many of them as I can to Kris before the end of the chat. Don’t worry about typos – and please forgive any on our part.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 3:59 Nora - EarlyWord
4:00
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Those of you joining us today will be able to enter to win a boxed set of PENGUIN SELECTS -- ARC’s for six books coming out in the upcoming season. We will tell you how later.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:00 Nora - EarlyWord
4:00
Nora - EarlyWord
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:00 
4:01
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Penguin encourages Today’s participants to leave their own reviews here -- http://bit.ly/YlMDLz -- or tweet a review using #PenguinSelects
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:01 Nora - EarlyWord
4:01
Kristopher Jansma: 
Hello everyone and thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me and Nora this afternoon! I work with a lot of librarians, so I know how busy many of you are at this time of year, but I’m glad we have a chance to talk a bit about The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards!
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:01 Kristopher Jansma
4:01
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Hey, Kris, thanks for joining us.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:01 Nora - EarlyWord
4:02
Kristopher Jansma: 
Hi Nora!
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:02 Kristopher Jansma
4:02
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Kris, We’ve seen how others have described your book – how would you describe it?
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:02 Nora - EarlyWord
4:03
Kristopher Jansma: 
Well, there are a lot of ways to describe The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards… I always have trouble thinking of where to begin. First, it’s a book about a friendship between two writers. But it is also a love story, and a journey around the world…
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:03 Kristopher Jansma
4:03
Kristopher Jansma: 
In many ways it is sort of a book about books. What makes us want to write them, and what does it cost the people who write them?

At first I was nervous to say that, because it's a bit of a cliche I guess, to write a debut novel about a would-be novelist! But at its heart, I think this is a book about people who love stories, and who wonder if people can really change or not, the way they do in stories.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:03 Kristopher Jansma
4:04
Nora - EarlyWord: 
The advance reviews have been pretty amazing [see above]. That must feel pretty great. Were there any surprises in what they said?
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:04 Nora - EarlyWord
4:04
Kristopher Jansma: 
Hah, yes, many surprises...
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:04 Kristopher Jansma
4:05
Kristopher Jansma: 
I’ve been very heartened by the reviews so far. When I was writing the book, I really didn’t know if it would appeal to a wide audience or not. Because I’m an English professor, I had big ambitions to write something really literary, with this cagey narrator and all these nested stories…
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:05 Kristopher Jansma
4:05
[Comment From Lucy Lucy : ] 
Coming in a bit late but looking forward to the chat session.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:05 Lucy
4:05
Kristopher Jansma: 
but at the same time I wanted to write something adventurous that everyday readers, like many of my students, would sincerely enjoy. And I sort of believed that it should really be possible to do both things at the same time. And I think the biggest surprise so far has been that the book seems to have genuinely moved readers in both crowds, and that makes me very happy.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:05 Kristopher Jansma
4:05
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Hey, Lucy, Welcome!
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:05 Nora - EarlyWord
4:06
Nora - EarlyWord: 
The advance reactions can be summarized with the word “inventive.” (Mira Bartok, author The Memory Palace, says your protagonist is “Houdini, Tom Ripley and Hemingway rolled into one.”) What were some of your inspirations?
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:06 Nora - EarlyWord
4:06
Kristopher Jansma: 
That was such a great quote! Mira is one of my favorites, to be sure...
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:06 Kristopher Jansma
4:06
[Comment From Sue D Sue D : ] 
In my opinion with a beginning writer if the reader feels immediately comfortable and 'lost' in the writer's world, that is a major accomplishment.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:06 Sue D
4:06
Kristopher Jansma: 
And she's right on there. Tom Ripley is a terrific character, and one who was definitely in my mind as I wrote. I’m a big fan of both Patricia Highsmith’s original Ripley and of the interpretation that Anthony Minghella did in the film with Matt Damon…
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:06 Kristopher Jansma
4:07
Kristopher Jansma: 
I have always had a big thing for unreliable narrators – from the unnamed speaker in Henry James’s The Aspern Papers, to Holden Caulfield, and Ellison’s Invisible Man. The fun thing about writing this narrator is that he’s very different from my actual self. For one thing, I’m a terrible liar in real life, which might be why I love to write characters like this who can lie with impunity!
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:07 Kristopher Jansma
4:07
[Comment From BethMills2 BethMills2 : ] 
Really liked the opening chapter--it pulled me into the story right away--and loved the way story circled back to the same setting at the end.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:07 BethMills2
4:07
Kristopher Jansma: 
Thanks Sue! I know I certainly got lost in it myself, and I'm glad that comes through to the reader as well!
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:07 Kristopher Jansma
4:08
Nora - EarlyWord: 
You also mentioned some paintings and photos that inspired you,
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:08 Nora - EarlyWord
4:09
[Comment From Kelly C Kelly C : ] 
I just started reading the book yesterday in anticipation of today's chat, and I could not put it down. My to-do list was tossed aside!
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:09 Kelly C
4:09
[Comment From Anne Anne : ] 
I am some intrigued by the narrator's voice that I am finding very hard to put the book down to get some work done.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:09 Anne
4:09
Kristopher Jansma: 
Beth - that's great to hear. I actually wrote that beginning very late in the process, trying to think of a way to frame it all... and I got the idea from another great book: The Madonnas of Echo Park, where the author, Brando Skyhorse uses a technique of that type of Author's Note, which is really part of the story.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:09 Kristopher Jansma
4:11
Kristopher Jansma: 
Kelly and Anne - that's great! People have been telling me their holiday shopping may not get done because of my book. I sure hope that doesn't happen!
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:11 Kristopher Jansma
4:11
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Here's a question that came in advance from Audra --

As you were writing The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards, was there a particular scene or character that surprised you?
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:11 Nora - EarlyWord
4:12
Kristopher Jansma: 
Great question, Audra. Actually, the book was really constantly surprising me. I wrote it one chapter at a time, but not always in order. So sometimes I would suddenly feel like I understood something new and important about the characters, and have to write a new chapter that happened before the others, to set that up...
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:12 Kristopher Jansma
4:13
[Comment From Lucy Lucy : ] 
Love the quotes at the beginning of each chapter. Nice setting of the stage...
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:13 Lucy
4:13
Kristopher Jansma: 
But two big questions I didn't know the answer to until the end were, one, if Julian would recover, and two, if the narrator really loves Evelyn/The Princess or if it was just a fantasy.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:13 Kristopher Jansma
4:13
Nora - EarlyWord: 
I agree with Lucy and noticed how many were about truth, which is clearly an obsession of yours.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:13 Nora - EarlyWord
4:14
[Comment From readingenvy readingenvy : ] 
So you are saying that even you don't know what to think of your unreliable narrator? Ha!
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:14 readingenvy
4:14
Kristopher Jansma: 
Yes, that's very true (hah). As I was writing, I was grappling with a lot of questions about fiction. I'd heard so many people dismiss fiction as "made-up" and I really believed (and still do) that it can be more truthful than non-fiction sometimes.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:14 Kristopher Jansma
4:15
[Comment From Lucy Lucy : ] 
But 'truth' is at the center of the novel, so again, very apt quotes ...
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:15 Lucy
4:16
[Comment From Kelly C Kelly C : ] 
Reviewers have mentioned all the literary references woven into your book, but I think the reader can enjoy the story without catching all those references. (I must admit I'm not seeing them all but love the book anyway!) So it reaches a lot of different levels of readers.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:16 Kelly C
4:16
Kristopher Jansma: 
Thank you. Yes, those quotes really helped me figure those ideas out.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:16 Kristopher Jansma
4:16
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Kris -- The book is set in many different places. Does this represent your own love of travel?
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:16 Nora - EarlyWord
4:17
Kristopher Jansma: 
Kelly - That was really important to me. I wanted people to read it and, if they didn't get some of the references, to still enjoy the book but also to maybe go and read up on the things they hadn't understood.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:17 Kristopher Jansma
4:17
Chris Kahn: 
I'm here now! Was watching on the site.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:17 Chris Kahn
4:18
Kristopher Jansma: 
Nora, yes, I do love to travel, as does my wife, and we both wish we had the time to do more of it! Since I was a little kid, reading has always been a mode of transportation, and that’s why I wanted to set the book in so many places. The more I travel, the more I feel the world connecting to itself – and that’s also something great books can do.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:18 Kristopher Jansma
4:18
Kristopher Jansma: 
Hi Chris, glad you could make it!
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:18 Kristopher Jansma
4:18
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Had you been to all the places you describe?
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:18 Nora - EarlyWord
4:18
Kristopher Jansma: 
Oh, I wish I had been to all those places! Unfortunately I haven’t… at least not yet! I have spent time in North Carolina, although I did not grow up there, and I have been living in New York City for the past nine years…
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:18 Kristopher Jansma
4:19
Kristopher Jansma: 
I did get to go to Ghana with my in-laws, who are both Professors and once spent their sabbaticals teaching at Kwame Nkrumah University in Kumasi. But I had actually already written the “Doppelganger” chapter before I went to visit them. All the research I did the hard way, online and in (several!) libraries. But once I got there I was able to check my facts and found, to my delight, that I’d gotten pretty close to the real sense of the place…
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:19 Kristopher Jansma
4:19
Kristopher Jansma: 
After I sold the book, my wife and I traveled to Luxembourg and I was able to check a lot of facts for the last chapter, but only after I’d already written it. I still haven’t been to Sri Lanka, but a friend of mine from college who has family there was able to help me with that chapter. And my in-laws took a trip to Iceland and I got to look at some of their pictures, so that helped with the Writers’ Colony chapter.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:19 Kristopher Jansma
4:19
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Ah, Ha! You hadn't been to those places ... that makes you a little unreliable yourself. What happend to "write what you know"?
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:19 Nora - EarlyWord
4:20
Kristopher Jansma: 
Haha. You know, that is some advice that I have always found very limiting! I tell my students to write what they want to know.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:20 Kristopher Jansma
4:20
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Here's a photo of you in Ghana with your wife...
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:20 Nora - EarlyWord
4:20
Kristopher Jansma: 
Then you have a good excuse to go and learn something new!
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:20 Kristopher Jansma
4:21
Nora - EarlyWord
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:21 
4:21
[Comment From Lucy Lucy : ] 
It seems that 'the narrator just keeps getting caught up in his own lies and the stories to which they led.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:21 Lucy
4:21
[Comment From Kelley Tackett Kelley Tackett : ] 
I love the cover of the book. I would have picked it up regardless of the story. The cover is so visually appealing.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:21 Kelley Tackett
4:21
Nora - EarlyWord: 
It was a brilliant idea to turn the leopard’s spots into typewriter keys for the cover. [show jacket] Did the jacket go through many iterations?
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:21 Nora - EarlyWord
4:22
Kristopher Jansma: 
Yes, there we are outside of Kumasi. Those children are students, part of an orphanage that my father-in-law was volunteering with. They really helped me understand a lot about Ghana.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:22 Kristopher Jansma
4:22
Nora - EarlyWord
Jacket for THE UNCHANGEABLE SPOTS OF LEOPARDS by Kris Jansma
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:22 
4:22
Kristopher Jansma: 
Yes! It is a beautiful jacket – I am so lucky that Alison Forner at Penguin had this idea for the typewriter keys / spots. It actually was the first jacket they showed me, and I couldn’t stop staring at it. I put it up on my bookshelf at home and it just fit right in. Then I went around to every bookstore I could find over the next few days and started taking pictures of it on the front table, with all the other books, and it just seemed perfect.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:22 Kristopher Jansma
4:23
Nora - EarlyWord: 
One of our participants sent in an advance question asking how involved you were with the jacket design.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:23 Nora - EarlyWord
4:24
Nora - EarlyWord: 
And it sounds like you answered that -- you just fell in love with the first design!
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:24 Nora - EarlyWord
4:24
Kristopher Jansma: 
Well, I sent in a lot of images that had inspired me when I was writing the book, and the art department looked at those. But from there, they took off with it! I know well enough to leave it to the experts! :)
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:24 Kristopher Jansma
4:24
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Another advance question comes from Donna Zmrazek:

How easy is it for you to change back and forth between your writing formats (from blogs to short stories to essays to novel)?
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:24 Nora - EarlyWord
4:25
Kristopher Jansma: 
Great question. I’ve always had a hard time with short fiction because I inevitably want to just keep writing more and more. I feel the same way when I’m reading short stories, to be honest—if it is a great story, I wind up wishing that it was a whole novel. When I’m writing a story, it’s sometimes hard not to get carried away. Sometimes they come out obscenely long, and then I have to cut them back down again, which is never easy…
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:25 Kristopher Jansma
4:25
Kristopher Jansma: 
Switching to non-fiction is also tough. It’s a lot harder for me to be direct about what I’m trying to say. With fiction, I can ease into it, but with non-fiction you have to come straight to your point. But as with fiction, I usually start by doing a lot of research, and then usually some idea comes out from whatever I’m learning about.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:25 Kristopher Jansma
4:25
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Donna also wanted to know how has writing a blog influenced your novel writing.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:25 Nora - EarlyWord
4:26
[Comment From Lucy Lucy : ] 
I liked that the texture of the spots/keys is different than the rest of the cover (except for the spot with the words 'A Novel"). Slick like the keys on a typewriter - very clever.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:26 Lucy
4:26
Kristopher Jansma: 
Tremendously! This is a little bit of a long story, but I think a good one if you can bear with me a moment...
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:26 Kristopher Jansma
4:26
Kristopher Jansma: 
For several years I was working hard on several novels that, for various reasons, weren’t quite working out. I was making endless revisions and doing rewrites, but I couldn’t get them to work. So in 2009 I decided that I wanted to get back to short stories. I hadn’t written one since leaving my MFA program. So I set up a blog online called Forty Stories and I told all my friends that I would be posting a new short story each week, for three weeks in a row, and then I’d take one week off to revise. And if I kept to my schedule I would have 40 new stories by the end of the year…
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:26 Kristopher Jansma
4:27
Kristopher Jansma: 
Because it was shared online, I felt obligated to meet that deadline each week, and it pushed me to search for material and to write about things I’d always avoided writing about. And if I was ever late, I knew that some friend would email me and ask where the new story was...
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:27 Kristopher Jansma
4:27
Nora - EarlyWord: 
While you are finishing your thought, I will announce how to enter our contest...
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:27 Nora - EarlyWord
4:28
Nora - EarlyWord: 
To enter to win a boxed set of PENGUIN SELECTS -- send an email right now to:

Catherine.Hayden@us.penguingroup.com

We will announce winners at the end of the chat.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:28 Nora - EarlyWord
4:28
Kristopher Jansma: 
And “The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards” was the 13th story I wrote for that project. Immediately afterwards I wrote “Anton & I” and then, off and on, that whole year, I wrote other stories and many of them ended up coming together to become the first draft of this novel. So to answer the original question, without that online process, I don’t think I could have written this book at all.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:28 Kristopher Jansma
4:28
Kristopher Jansma: 
(Thanks! That's the whole answer!)
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:28 Kristopher Jansma
4:30
Nora - EarlyWord: 
And an excellent one.

The promo of you book is making use of social media. For instance -- I saw this:

Snap a photo of your copy of TUSOL someplace & tweet it w/ ‪#leopardspotting‬ & we'll add it to ‪http://spottedleopards.tumblr.com ‬–

People have started responding
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:30 Nora - EarlyWord
4:30
Nora - EarlyWord
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:30 
4:30
Nora - EarlyWord
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:30 
4:31
Nora - EarlyWord
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:31 
4:31
Nora - EarlyWord
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:31 
4:31
Nora - EarlyWord: 
How is social media changing book promotion and how authors interact with readers?
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:31 Nora - EarlyWord
4:32
Kristopher Jansma: 
Yes! You can take a photograph of your copy of the book anywhere interesting and if you tweet about it with the #leopardspotting hashtag, they will add it to spottedleopards.tumblr.com

This evolved out of that other story I told, about me going around taking pictures of the jacket in bookstores!
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:32 Kristopher Jansma
4:32
Nora - EarlyWord: 
And, while we're at it, this is one of Kris's favorite leopard photos -- he just needs a copy of the book...
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:32 Nora - EarlyWord
4:32
Nora - EarlyWord
A favorite photo of a leopard -- by Peet van Schalkwyk
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:32 
4:33
Kristopher Jansma: 
To me, it’s still very strange that I can follow writers I admire on Twitter – and hear them complain about their kids, or curse about the latest Yankee game. A friend’s father was telling me recently that when he was my age, his favorite writer was John Updike, and one day he was in the library and someone told him that Updike was coming to do a reading that afternoon. He told me he ran out of there as fast as he could – he was so terrified to meet his favorite writer. It’s almost like he didn't want to believe he was flesh-and-blood…
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:33 Kristopher Jansma
4:33
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Some questions and comments are backing up -- will begin posting those now...
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:33 Nora - EarlyWord
4:33
[Comment From readingenvy readingenvy : ] 
Oh, can you direct us to your blog? Will you continue this project?
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:33 readingenvy
4:33
[Comment From Guest Guest : ] 
How interesting! I have an author friend who is doing something similar with his most recent novel - writing a chapter a week and posting it on his blog.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:33 Guest
4:33
Kristopher Jansma: 
And I get that. When I was growing up, I don’t think I really understood that writers were real people. I thought all the books already existed and I didn’t really realize anyone was making more of them. Then I got my first internet service, Prodigy, and joined a Piers Anthony fan group called “The Xanth Xone” (I was in 7th grade I think). And then one day Piers logged onto the site and started answering questions! It was very surreal. After that, I wrote him several actual letters and told him I wanted to be a writer as well, and he wrote back and gave me a lot of advice! So now I embrace it myself too, as you can see! And you can follow me on Twitter at @kristopherjans or on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/KristopherJansma
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:33 Kristopher Jansma
4:34
[Comment From Laura Laura : ] 
It's been interesting to watch his process (and his panic as he used up all the chapters he had already written).
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:34 Laura
4:34
Kristopher Jansma: 
One more thought on social networking... I really think the most incredible change is that, thanks to social media, readers and writers can connect to bookstores and other book-lovers so much more directly than we once could. So it really creates this genuine sense of community, which has always existed… we just never were so easily able to talk to one another until now!
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:34 Kristopher Jansma
4:35
[Comment From Kelly C Kelly C : ] 
So where did you grow up? And did you always know you wanted to be a writer?
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:35 Kelly C
4:35
Kristopher Jansma: 
I haven't been writing new short stories in the past few years, mostly because I've been busy with the edits to this book, but I hope to do it again in the coming months! My website is now at http://www.kristopherjansma.com
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:35 Kristopher Jansma
4:36
Kristopher Jansma: 
Laura - That's great! I think it can be really helpful. Writing can be so isolating... you have to be alone to do it and really focus, and it's nice to share it with a community of people who are going to support you and cheer you on. (And, as I learned the hard way, email you EVERY time you make a factual error!) :)
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:36 Kristopher Jansma
4:37
Nora - EarlyWord: 
You sent me a bunch of images that you said inspired you. I am impressed by how visual you are. I'm going to post a few, beginning with that great Washington Square photo. Please tell us about them.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:37 Nora - EarlyWord
4:37
Nora - EarlyWord
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:37 
4:38
Kristopher Jansma: 
Kelly - I grew up in a small town called Lincroft in central New Jersey, which is near Red Bank, which sometimes people know as the place where the director Kevin Smith works and lives.

I wanted to be a writer since I was in the 7th grade. My English teacher, Mrs. Inglis, was the first person to ever point out to me that there were people called writers who actually wrote books. As soon as I knew that, I was determined!
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:38 Kristopher Jansma
4:39
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Let's go to the next question before we go on to the images...
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:39 Nora - EarlyWord
4:39
[Comment From Trisha Trisha : ] 
Are you on twitter as well?
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:39 Trisha
4:39
Kristopher Jansma: 
Nora - That is a photograph by Imre Kertesz. When I was in college I took a class called "Landscape and Setting" with Jean McGarry, and she had us buy this book of his photographs and we wrote descriptions of the images in them. That one was my favorite, and years later it became the jumping-off point for the "Anton & I" chapter.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:39 Kristopher Jansma
4:40
Kristopher Jansma: 
Yes, my twitter is https://twitter.com/KristopherJans
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:40 Kristopher Jansma
4:40
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Here's another of your inspirations ...
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:40 Nora - EarlyWord
4:41
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Sorry! I seem to have lost it, but many of our readers will be familiar with Klimt's portrait.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:41 Nora - EarlyWord
4:42
Kristopher Jansma: 
Oh I think you want this one? http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/Gustav_Klimt_046.jpg/300px-Gustav_Klimt_046.jpg
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:42 Kristopher Jansma
4:42
Nora - EarlyWord: 
That's right!
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:42 Nora - EarlyWord
4:43
[Comment From Lucy Lucy : ] 
Does the phote by Kertesz of Washington Square have a specific name/title? Beautiful imagery and I can see the inspiration for the chapter
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:43 Lucy
4:43
Kristopher Jansma: 
It is the "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I" by Klimt and yes, it is beautiful! It is in the Neue Galerie here in New York City and it is inspiring. And covered in gold leaf!
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:43 Kristopher Jansma
4:43
Nora - EarlyWord: 
I think the following is in response to the Klimt painting -- has she spotted the character, Kris?
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:43 Nora - EarlyWord
4:43
[Comment From Lucy Lucy : ] 
Evelyn!
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:43 Lucy
4:45
Kristopher Jansma: 
Hah! Lucy, I can't say that exactly. But I can say that the museum has a very nice Austrian Coffee Shop which might be the inspiration for Ludwig's Cafe in the first chapter!
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:45 Kristopher Jansma
4:46
Nora - EarlyWord: 
This is a HUGE question, but you opened it up, so I'm going to follow through. What have you learned about the nature of truth?
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:46 Nora - EarlyWord
4:47
Kristopher Jansma: 
Nora - That is a big question!...
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:47 Kristopher Jansma
4:48
Kristopher Jansma: 
I think what I learned through writing this book is that truth can seem to be very subjective. It can appear to be malleable based on who is looking at it, and talking about it, and describing it. And this can be very frustrating. I think it can lead people, like the narrator in the middle of the book, to believe there is no such thing as truth at all...
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:48 Kristopher Jansma
4:49
Nora - EarlyWord: 
I did noticed that you didn't use one of the most famous quotes about truth and art -- "Truth is beauty..." and I wondered why.

Personally, i always found that one a bit of a cop out.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:49 Nora - EarlyWord
4:49
[Comment From Jennifer W. Jennifer W. : ] 
Late as usual, just wanted to say I'm excited to read Kristopher grew up in Lincroft....I lived in Shrewsbury as a child. My favorite part of the book was when the narrator became the journalism professor...just how awesome was that to be someone else for a while and be different.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:49 Jennifer W.
4:50
[Comment From Leah Leah : ] 
Do you think your characters have a different perspective on the truth from the beginning of the book to the end?
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:50 Leah
4:50
[Comment From Lucy Lucy : ] 
Changes with each situation/encounter/etc>? It's not alwayws what it's cracked up to be? :-)
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:50 Lucy
4:50
Kristopher Jansma: 
but slowly, and through being honest about how he really feels about Tina, and Julian and the Princess, I think he sees by the end that there is such a thing as real truth, and that maybe we can't get straight at it sometimes, with words, but it is still there.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:50 Kristopher Jansma
4:51
Kristopher Jansma: 
Nora - that's Keats? Yes, I remember that one! I think, yes, there's just much more to the puzzle than that quote indicates.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:51 Kristopher Jansma
4:52
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Ah, right! That wonderful Emily Dickinson quote about telling truth but slanted.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:52 Nora - EarlyWord
4:52
Catherine - Penguin: 
Hey everyone! Thanks so much to all who entered to win a Penguin Selects Boxed Set. Loved all the enthusiasm! Here are the randomly selected winners in no particular order:

1) Laura K from Springfield Township Library
2) Sue Dittmar
3)Trisha P. from Oldham Co Public Library
4) Sarah C from Worthington Library and
5) Sue Marie Rendll

Congrats!

Please send me a follow-up email at catherine.hayden@us.penguingroup.com to let me know that you saw this and include your library's address so that I can send you the box!
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:52 Catherine - Penguin
4:52
Kristopher Jansma: 
Jennifer - I know Shrewsbury well! And yes, the part about the journalism professor was a LOT of fun to write. It was so incredibly different from how I actually am in a real classroom!
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:52 Kristopher Jansma
4:53
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Congrats to the winners! Thanks for enterting (and for joining us today).
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:53 Nora - EarlyWord
4:53
Nora - EarlyWord: 
We're getting close to the end of the chat -- I've been holding this question...
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:53 Nora - EarlyWord
4:53
Kristopher Jansma: 
(Leah, I hope I answered your question there in my previous answer! Great question)
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:53 Kristopher Jansma
4:53
[Comment From Wendy Wendy : ] 
Leopards seems to play around with a lot of genres and subjects. Besides literary fiction what story-styles appeal to you most?
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:53 Wendy
4:54
Nora - EarlyWord: 
I'd add -- to that -- how about film and TV as a way of telling stories?
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:54 Nora - EarlyWord
4:55
Kristopher Jansma: 
Wendy - I love detective fiction. I taught a class once on classic Hardboiled Detective novels from the 20s and 30s. I've tried writing in that style but so far it doesn't quite turn out right. Maybe someday! But I really admire writers who can do genres and make it literary too. My all-time favorite living writer is David Mitchell, who does that better than anyone.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:55 Kristopher Jansma
4:55
[Comment From Kelley Tackett Kelley Tackett : ] 
I love memoirs from "average" people - they have real problems.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:55 Kelley Tackett
4:55
Nora - EarlyWord: 
That leads us to what may be our final question -- what are you working on next?
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:55 Nora - EarlyWord
4:57
Kristopher Jansma: 
Nora - I am a huge TV addict, for better or worse. My friends always joke that I've "come to the end of television" because I can never find anything new to watch. But we are living through a real special time in the history of television. Shows like The Wire and Breaking Bad are doing things that only novelists ever tried to do before. They really try to provoke us and make us think. It's so much more than the easy entertainment that television was when I was growing up.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:57 Kristopher Jansma
4:57
Kristopher Jansma: 
Nora, well first let me say thank you to you and to everyone! I've really enjoyed this!...
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:57 Kristopher Jansma
4:58
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Thanks, Kris and thanks to all the First Flights members for joining us.

We hope you’ll enjoy recommending THE UNCHANGEABLE SPOTS OF LEOPARDS when it is published in March. This chat is now available in the archive; tell your colleagues to check it out.

And, remember, Penguin encourages you o leave their own reviews here -- http://bit.ly/YlMDLz -- or tweet a review using #PenguinSelects
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:58 Nora - EarlyWord
4:58
Kristopher Jansma: 
Currently, I am very hard at work on my next novel. It actually also evolved out of some stories that I wrote several years ago, about some very different characters from these. Since I moved to New York City nine years ago, I wanted to write a whole novel that took place here, and so that’s what I’m trying to do now...
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:58 Kristopher Jansma
4:59
Kristopher Jansma: 
I can’t say too much about it yet, but I will say that it’s turning out to be a much longer book, and I’m really excited because so far it is all holding together very well. I think readers who’ve enjoyed The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards will love this one as well.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 4:59 Kristopher Jansma
5:00
Nora - EarlyWord: 
We're looking forward to it!
Wednesday December 19, 2012 5:00 Nora - EarlyWord
5:00
[Comment From Lucy Lucy : ] 
I agree. Who would have ever thought television could be creative again... :-)
Wednesday December 19, 2012 5:00 Lucy
5:00
[Comment From Sue Marie Sue Marie : ] 
Thanks for another great chat!
Wednesday December 19, 2012 5:00 Sue Marie
5:00
[Comment From Lucy Lucy : ] 
Thank You, Kris for chatting with and Thanks, Nora for hosting. Great fun! And HAPPY HOLIDAYS, everyone!
Wednesday December 19, 2012 5:00 Lucy
5:01
Kristopher Jansma: 
Thanks Nora! I can't wait to keep working on it! And thanks again to everyone who joined us! A very happy holiday season to all.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 5:01 Kristopher Jansma
5:01
Nora - EarlyWord: 
RIGHT -- thanks for the reminder, Lucy -- Happy Holidays everyone!
Wednesday December 19, 2012 5:01 Nora - EarlyWord
5:01
[Comment From Sue D Sue D : ] 
I appreciate everyone's efforts and thanks for a good discussion.
Wednesday December 19, 2012 5:01 Sue D
5:01
Kristopher Jansma: 
And don't forget to take some pictures of your copies! You can also email them to viking.marketing@us.penguingroup.com and we'll add them to the Tumblr page!
Wednesday December 19, 2012 5:01 Kristopher Jansma
5:03
[Comment From Trisha Trisha : ] 
Thanks this was great
Wednesday December 19, 2012 5:03 Trisha
5:03
[Comment From Colleen Lashway Colleen Lashway : ] 
Great story! Loved it!
Wednesday December 19, 2012 5:03 Colleen Lashway
 
 

DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE Closer to Screen

Wednesday, December 19th, 2012

Daughter of Smoke and BoneA year ago nearly to the date, it was announced that Universal had acquired the rights to Laini Taylor’s award winning YA novel, Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Hachette/LBYR).

The studio has now signaled that they “see the project as a priority,” according to Deadline.com, by signing Joe Roth (Snow White and The Huntsman) to produce it.

The second in the planned trilogy, Days Of Blood & Starlight, (Hachette/LBYR), came out last month.