Category: Books

I read a post at GeekDad this morning about Beowulf and introducing mythology to kids. It reminded me of an an awesome book that I used to introduce Ryan and Nolan to mythology when they were in 3rd and 1st grade called Classic Myths to Read Aloud.

The book collects “Great stories of Greek and Roman mythology, specially arranged for children five and up by an educational expert” and divides them into two “listening levels” based on age (5 and older for Level 1, 8 and older for Level 2) which is quite handy for parents who are worried about holding their child’s interest. The myths are all retold in a way that stays true to the story while making them appropriate for children — there’s no Disney-fying the myth of Hercules here, but Zeus isn’t gong around nailing every nymph he sees, either.

The stories themselves are wonderful, but my favorite part of the book is a section called “a few words more” that goes with each myth. It gives the adult who’s reading them something related to each myth to paraphrase for their child. I loved it, because I could make the myth I’d just read to my boys relevant to their lives (with the added bonus of appearing to possess vast and mysterious knowledge about everything from the origin of the word “capital” to why a marathon is 26.2 miles.)

The book made it easy to share some of my favorite myths with my kids while they discovered favorites of their own along the way. Ryan still talks about when I read him the stories of Theseus, and Nolan loved anything related to the Trojan war. In fact, at the end of the book, there are six stories in a row that tell the story of the Trojan War including the Judgement of Paris, the Trojan Horse, and Odysseus’ journey back to Ithaca. I loved that they were serialized that way, because I could make it into a week-long event with my kids. I introduced them to the concept of a truly epic story, and they didn’t even realize it!

This book, and its sequel, helpfully titled More Classic Myths to Read Aloud (which I couldn’t find online, but have on my bookshelf, nyahh) make perfect bedtime stories for kids of all ages, and if you’re lucky, will lead to your 13 year-old asking you if he can buy Edith Hamilton’s Mythology, because “mythology is awesome.”

It’s a strange day here in Los Angeles. It’s cloudy and gray, and if you looked out a window you’d think there was a chill in the air.

But it’s 78 degrees in my back yard right now, and tonight? It’s forecast to get as low as 46, just in case anyone was delusional enough to think that Los Angeles is not in the middle of a desert.

Anyway, if you’re in the 300, I thought you’d like to know that all the domestic hardbacks — except a couple of eChecks that found their way into the wrong box and will ship tomorrow — have just been dropped off at the post office.

International orders will start shipping ASAP. I’d hoped to have everything done by today, but with my writing deadline being moved up from mid-January to Tuesday, I sort of need to put as much of my time and energy as I can into finishing the story. Please accept my deepest apologies on the delays. I wish there was a simpler way to get the goddamn customs and postage done, but unless I’m willing to charge international customers an outrageous amount of shipping, this is the best I can do.

I love SF novels, and count stories like The Forever War and The Ghost Brigades among my all-time favorites, but in the last year, I’ve grown very fond of the SF short story. Since an SF short story is what I hope to scrape out of my brains as my next writing project, I’ve been reading as many short stories as I can get my hands on, in places like Subterranean online, the Subterranean magazine, and in various anthologies.

I recently finished a great anthology called the Nebula Awards Showcase 2007, edited by Mike Resnick. In addition to some great SF from established writers, it included some fantasy (Kelly Link’s Magic for Beginners was wonderful), some poetry, and a novellette from Harlan Ellison that, while not SF or Fantasy, was probably my favorite tale in the book.

Now that I’m done with it, I’m looking for a new SF anthology. I’ve spent some time in the bookstore and on the googles trying to pick out a new one, but it’s tricky. Most anthologies are, by their nature, uneven, and some are downright garbage. I haven’t red enough to know if there’s one editor who I can rely upon more than another, of if there’s one publisher who puts out books with pretty covers and not much else.

While I wait for my sample issues of F&SF to arrive, I’m looking for a new anthology that’s not huge (some are over 800 pages, which is just too big for me to schlep around town) that focuses on speculative fiction.

Any suggestions?

I promise this isn’t going to turn into "The Happiest Days Reviews: in Exile." It’s just that I needed to come up for air for a minute, and saw this review of Happiest Days at Tech Universe:

Reading the well-written Happiest Days
was a fun experience, and you can’t help but feel like Wheaton is
telling you these stories himself . . .and these really are some happy and fun stories,
including one about his love of Star Wars action figures, or his family
run for the Susan G. Komen foundation, or his great poker game . . . or even his return to the stages
that once housed Star Trek: The Next Generation, where he played Wesley Crusher.

I
have to hand it to Wil, he brought back my own memories. I think he’s
around three years older than I am, and I fell in love with Star Wars
figures at the same time; I was stuck wearing corduroys in the late
70s/early 80s (thank God they went out of style by the time my family
moved to South Florida in 1984), and more.

Two themes are emerging in reviews and reader comments and e-mails: it feels like we’re sitting together (possibly in a nice pub, having a few pints) while I tell you these stories myself, and the stories I tell are awakening shared memories from readers who, like me, are in Generation X.

Last night, I packaged the remaining hardcover book orders. I’ll take all the domestic orders to the post office a little later today, and Anne and I will get started on the customs forms for the international orders just as soon as I get this writing assignment finished so I make my deadline a week from now. It’s a cool fiction project that I should be able to talk about relatively soon, but at the moment I’m in a serious panic over it. Once again, I wish I could stop time, or at least slow it down.

(Speaking of stopping time, is anyone else totally over Heroes this season? I haven’t been this disappointed by a series since the third season of Lost.)

My friend Dr. Pauly reviewed The Happiest Days of Our Lives!

Very few authors are able to connect with their readers, but Wil
Wheaton is not like most writers. His words are like a sleeper cell.
You have no idea they have penetrated deep inside of you, then they
spring to life and attack your senses when you least expect it.

[…]

Probably the hardest part about reading any of
Wheaton’s books is that I’m constantly day dreaming while I’m supposed
to be reading it. My thoughts drift because his words instantly trigger
flashbacks and old memories. That’s a powerful gift to have.

My
only complaint was that the book was too short. I wanted more. I equate
Wheaton’s style to Hemingway in the sense that he has an amazing
economy of words. The result is short but powerfully loaded pieces.
Although the book physically contains only thirteen short stories, the
impact is much greater. The stories, images, and memories that Wheaton
stirs up inside your head continues to fester and entertain and inspire
you long after you’re done reading his last page.

Pauly is an inspiration to me, and I aspire to write as well as he does one day. His praise of my work means a lot to me. 

I hear that a lot of the 300 are getting their books. This is awesome, and I’m happy to hear that those of you who’ve gotten your books are as excited to have them as I am for them to be in your hands. Because I’ve processed all the hardbacks out of the computer (the outstanding orders are just waiting to be sorted and filled with books), I was able to put softcovers back up for order again.

In non-HDoOL news, I just found out that a deadline was moved up from the middle of
January to December 4, so I’m probably going to be AFK (well, AFB,
anyway) for the next week or so, except when my brain demands a break
from it all and forces me to come post psychotic ramblings in my blog
about the time a Nosferatu became a Deadhead and lived out of a
converted school bus for six years, tripping his fangs off by drinking
the blood of spun out hippies in 1960.

. . . uh-oh. It’s starting already.