Weapons of Class Destruction

Watching Ben Stein's Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed on TV at the moment; watched it with my sister last year but I just happened to turn the channel to it right when he's visiting Hadamar, one of the Action T4 extermination sites. It's the first time, other than my sister's book obviously, that I've seen T4 addressed in popular culture and not only is it easy to be horrified and awed by the Nazis careless disregard for life, but it's intensely moving to see Ben Stein's own quietly emotional reaction. We hear so much about the actions of the Nazis that when we interact with a part of it on a very personal level, the depth of their corruption and degradation is still shocking.

And that's my deep thought of the day. I know, gentle flisters, that I've been rather FAIL lately regarding LJ. I am reading, and I try to comment where and when I can, but I find myself feeling rather... wistful as of late, suffering from a bit of the ol' ennui. I've been inundating you with Porn Battle IX entries and for that I apologize! I've really been hoping to shake myself out of the 'blahs' by cranking out a few fanfics.

My original Porn Battle goal was to write a story a day, but from the beginning I knew that wasn't going to happen, and also, if I tried, the quality was going to suffer a bit. Now, I think people have been exceedingly nice and generous to me and I've gotten dynamite feedback, but being the little A-type perfectionist I myself am, I'm a bit disappointed with some of my own writings. On the other hand, I think I've at least approached, danced around the edges, of some of my best work. So I'd call that a win!

I'm particularly proud of my Inglourious Basterds piece (and eternally grateful to lastwordslinger for giving me the inspiration for it!) and a little pissed at the fact that whoever archived that page of original posts somehow seemed to have skipped right over it. Sighs. So, my favorite of my pieces is now nearly impossible to find or even for someone looking to realize it exists! Poo.

Working on a Susan Pevensie/Caspian fic today. Trying desperately not to make it too dark. And not really succeeding, LOL! Yes, I'm one of those who have more than a slight problem with Lewis' treatment of Susan and that keeps sort of leaking into it. I still want to get that Lancelot/Morgana one done before PB ends as well. Heather Dale's Exile (also the prompt - exiles) is making for the perfect muse but i think I might actually be smutting myself out, bwahahahaha!

Peace, Ghani

Sharing is Caring
For one week, recommend/share:

Day one: a song
Day two: a picture
Day three: a book/ebook/fanfic
Day four: a site
Day five: a youtube clip
Day six: a quote
Day seven: whatever tickles your fancy


Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan
A retelling of the classic "Snow-white and Rose-red" fairy tale. But, unlike most retellings, this doesn't have some sort of gimmicky hook; it's not modern day or without the magic. It's just a different and very psychological take on the story. It's also interesting that the US is the only country it's being marketed as a young adult novel because it's... really not. To say I'm not easily shocked is a given, so when I tell you the climax almost blew my brain out, don't take it lightly. You don't read about rapists getting magically bummed to near death every day, I'll tell you that! The prose can be a bit dense, but the overall experience of the book, I wouldn't trade that for anything.


T4 by Ann Clare LeZotte
Oh, you knew this was coming! A simple story eloquently told in simple free form verse but with all the emotional impact of denser prose (perhaps, in some ways, more). And, yes, the author is my sister and trust me, she has more good stuff on the way!

Peace, Ghani

This past Sunday, my sister was featured in The Gainesville Sun. You can find the article(along with a very nice picture) here.

Admittedly, we had a bit of a giggle about the way it was written, just because it sounded like a piece of, well, press and not necessarily like Ann. But cool nonetheless!

Peace, Ghani

An interview with Ann about T4 can be found over here on Deaf Characters in Adolescent Literature @ Blogger.com (and more pics--and some fun anecdotes--of my sis as Carrie White on that wonderful Halloween Eve can be found right here on this, my very own journal!)

Peace, Ghani

I think I've posted the news here before, but it deserves repeating so: My sister's book, T4, will be published on September 22nd, two days before her 39th birthday, hooray! No links to show off yet, like from Amazon.com or anything, though I think Borders has it listed without info, but we've noticed that Houghton Mifflin hasn't updated even their spring catalog so they wouldn't have done their fall yet either.

She's started--and in truth, has gone through it so quickly she's almost finished--with a sequel, The Signing Island. She's...not so encouraged anymore because both her fantasy, The Silent Census, and her picture book to help kids learn about sign language have been turned down by her publisher, but I think she has a much better chance this time. I keep telling her that and she won't entirely listen; she tells me, Yeah, well, you like it but T4 is the holocaust so that made it saleable, blah blah blah. But The Signing Island is American history--it's about Martha's Vineyard in the late 18th Century--it's about deaf history and it's a straightforward story quite like T4. I think it's what her editor was looking for from her as a follow-up.

I mean, let's use Gregory Maguire as an example, because she was just showing me personal pics she took of him and his partner Andy back when they were at an artist colony together and because he gave her a quote to put of the jacket of T4. So, Gregory is big juju with kids books already when Wicked is published, so we'll put those aside for the mo and focus on his adult books: As a follow-up to Wicked, he chose to do Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. Now, I happen to know that he got a truly pitiable advance for the latter novel (my sister met him when he was working on a finalized draft of it) but he was able to sell it to them because it was essentially in style if not content a follow-up to Wicked. Would he have been able to sell his next book at all if it had been, say, a serious nonfiction account of, say, how the sandwich was invented? My guess: probably not.

As much as I loved my sister's other work, and I do believe she'll be able to sell The Silent Census once T4 is published, I really think The Signing Island is the follow-up they want from her. Plus, it's a pretty bitchin' book, and I've only read part of the initial draft. Then again, I do like the period in American history and it's something I knew nothing about, so she's right in saying that I would like it!

Let's see, what else has happened since I last updated. Well, Charlton Heston passed on, which I found amazingly sad, and not just 'cause my mom wasn't around to point out, once more, that they have to change his last name in Greece because, according to her, it means 'shit on you' in her native tongue. Mr. Heston, you provided me with hours upon hours of pure, shameless entertainment and some of the greatest movies ever made, especially for a sci-fi aficionado such as myself. You will be greatly missed, sir!

Oh, and most importantly, I missed big sistah's birthday, DOH! So, lindsaygirl58, this one's for you:

( As always, an inappropriate but delightful birthday wish behind the cut! )

Peace, Ghani

ETA: Hopefully soon, I'll be able to put my thoughts for the new season of Doctor Who down to LJ. Yes, they are highly favorable, but then again, I've always been one of Donna's biggest fans so it's not entirely surprising!