Author News and Book Reports

Cory Doctorow scores points with booksellers and goes 'For the Win' at BEA 2010
With cameras clicking away, perhaps hoping to catch 'Fergie' in a less than flattering pose, Sarah Duchess Of York Ferguson took the stage at BookExpo America 2010 and gracefully introduced Canadian blogger (Boing Boing), journalist (Popular Science and Wired), and award-winning, bestselling novelist for young adults Cory Doctorow, who began his presentation with a detailed review of his family background and development as writer from childhood, including his favorite books, movies, and a hat tip to his favorite contemporary writer Daniel Pinkwater. Reflecting on Pinkwater's definition of adolescence as a dangerous period in life where kids take bold risks untempered by experience or advance knowledge of the consequences, Doctorow introduced his new novel for young adults, For The Win (Tor; May, 2010), about a near-future, brutal world of video gamers. Doctorow then pointed out that adolescent readers are different from adult readers in that adolescents who criticize a book are not judging the book so much as searching for identity with the book and it's characters. Using his bestseller Little Brother as an example, Doctorow called for looser copyright laws to allow readers to turn books into more personal experiences through digital re-mixing of storylines, which brought a big cheer from the booksellers in the audience, and closed by giving thanks to his two year old daughter and expressing his hope that his work inspires kids.

Book and Author Headlines

Lily Renee enjoys the spotlight as the first woman in comic art: Lily Renee tells the story of how she broke the gender barrier in the 1940's to become the first woman in the world of comic artists.

Mitali Perkins takes the long way home to the land of 'Bamboo People': Bestselling children's author Mitali Perkins traces her journey through childhood from KolKata (Calcutta, India) to Queens, NY, and the west coast, where her family settled, through books and writing, before returning to her family's lost home in Burma, where she became inspired to write 'Bamboo People.'

Sarah, Duchess of York, lends a 'helping hand' on touchy subjects for parents and children: Sarah, Duchess of York, Ferguson takes the stage at BEA 2010 to remind parents of the three C's--communication, compromise, and compassion.

Geoff Johns leads the Green Lantern team from 'Darkest Night' to 'Brightest Day': The mastermind behind the resurgence of the long-running Green Lantern comic books series brings his creative team to the first ever C2E2 convention in Chicago to discuss the dawning of 'Brightest Day' after 'Darkest Night.'

BEA 2010 brings out the stars of children's and young adult literature: The Duchess of York wasn't the only children's book author at this year's BookExpo America (BEA).

Kids authors flock to NY for a week of reading, writing, and a little arithmetic: The annual migration of book people to BookExpo America brings over 1,000 authors, including one of the largest gatherings of children's authors,together with booksellers, publishers, and distributors from all over the world to talk about books of all kinds and all formats.

Geoff Johns leads the Green Lantern to new universes in the Silver Age of comics: The creators, writers and illustrators of the Green Hornet celebrate the 50th anniversary of the birth of Hal Jordan and the Silver Age of comic books.

Grant Morrison brings Batman and Robin back from the future: The Scottish playwright and master of the universe of comic creator's Grant Morrison shocks and awes his fans at the 2008 New York Comic Con.

John Ringo, Kelly Link, and China Mieville bring sci-fi and fantasy down to earth: Three emerging voices in the sci-fi and fantasy world bring the realities of writing in their respective genres down to earth.

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