Monday, April 30, 2012

Hundreds flock to meet '50 Shades of Grey' author


By CHRISTINE ARMARIO - The Seattle Times - Associated Press

Young school teachers, middle-aged nurses and even the elderly flocked to a Miami book store Sunday for a chance to meet the author of the bestselling erotic romance "Fifty Shades of Grey" in the launch of her U.S. book tour.

British newcomer E L James drew more than 500 men and women at a morning book signing and spoke that evening to a boisterous, uninhibited crowd at the historic Biltmore Hotel. It was her second-ever book signing, yet the size of the crowd snaking through the store with mimosas and books in hand drew comparisons to the past response for writers such as Anne Rice and even politicians.
"This is a literary phenomenon," said Mitchell Kaplan, owner of Books & Books, the independent bookstore where James was signing copies. "E L struck a nerve, and her storytelling speaks to so many people."
In a few short months, James has snagged a seven-figure contract with Vintage Books, and Universal Pictures and Focus Films have purchased the rights to all three books in the trilogy about an unworldly college student who begins an unusual romantic relationship with a wealthy young businessman. The books have been called "mommy porn" for their sexual content and large, mostly female following, though men are signing up for autographs as well.
"I read it through lunch breaks and I'm giggling," said Laura Vargas, 31, an executive assistant at a large insurance company. "I'm like, `I can't believe she just wrote that.'"
James began writing the books as fan fiction to Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series and quickly developed a cult-like following of her own. The romance between main characters Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey is surprising because of its unconventional nature: Grey asks Steele to sign a contract, and she agrees to be his "submissive" and to partake in a range of erotic activities. The stories were first published online, and as word of mouth spread, droves of people - many of them not traditional readers of romantic or erotic fiction - began downloading them on iPads and Kindles.
"I'm staggered by this," James said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I never set out to do this."
Until recently, the affable, laid-back author had been mostly preoccupied with her work as a television executive, taking care of her two teenage sons and doing mundane house chores. She was raised in London, studied history in college and dabbled once in a while with writing, but never spent a large amount of time on it until reading the "Twilight" books.
"I tried a couple of times, but never thought I could," James said of writing novels.
Even now, she's not sure she'll be able to write another.
"It's really quite daunting," she said.
A broad swath of mostly women, of all ages and backgrounds, showed up Sunday at the bookstore in Miami's upscale Coral Gables neighborhood. A young server went around with a tray of bright-colored drinks, and fans exchanged giddy stories about their experiences reading the books.
Full story at The Seattle Times.

Certys publishes novel by prize-winning Australian author


Publisher Certys Limited, the company behind the successful Global Short Story Competition, has published its latest ebook, by prize-winning Australian writer Myra King.
The novel Cyber Rules tells the story of Anthea Stevenson, a farmer’s wife, midlife-challenged and living in isolated rural Australia. For many years, she has harboured a dark secret. Now caught up on the addictive side of the Internet, she holds another secret, one which ultimately may prove to be far more deadly.
Myra’s royalties from sales of the book will go to Médecins Sans Frontières Doctors Without Borders, an international, independent, medical humanitarian organisation that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural disasters and exclusion from healthcare. Medecins Sans Frontières offers assistance to people based on need, irrespective of race, religion, gender or political affiliation.

About Myra King
Myra King is an Australian writer, and a member of SINC, living on the coast of South Australia. She has written a number of prize-winning short stories, including first prize in the UK-based Global Short Story Competition, and has a short story collection, City Paddock, published by Ginninderra Press.
In 2010 her short story, The Black Horse, was shortlisted for the US Glass Woman Prize. And in 2011 her story, The Trousseau Box, was story of the week in Short Story America.
She has upcoming (or recent) work in Boston Literary Magazine, Eclectic Flash, Meat for Tea, eFiction, Red River Review, Fast Forward Press, Illya’s Honey Journal, San Pedro River Review, The Fiction Shelf, and The Foundling Review.
Her work has also appeared in The Pages, Herons Nest, BuzzWords, Eclecticism, Every Day Poets, Meuse Press, Dark Prints Press and A Hundred Gourds.

How to buy the book
The book can be purchased, price £2.05, by going to the Amazon site (www.amazon.co.uk) and keying the title into the Kindle store. Australian readers will have to purchase via Amazon US at www.amazon.com
If you don’t have a Kindle - free Kindle reading apps for your PC:

News from Publishing Perspectives:


China may be a superpower that enjoys a large trade surplus with many Western countries, but its book industry faces a huge deficit. 

Wenguang Huang's memoir The Little Red Guard, is an authentic and edifying depiction of China in the 70s and 80s as goes through massive societal upheaval.
Roger Tagholm interviews Chinese author Ah Yi about his career change from policeman to blogger to novelist. Read more »

Download a report on the Chinese publishing industry produced by China Publishers Magazine for the London Book Fair 2012.

Dom Testa, author of the popular Galahad series has created the Big Brain Club to help persuade young people that "smart is cool." 

Oliver Jeffers NZ visit


Yesterday I posted a Q&A with Oliver Jeffers from the Sydney Morning Herald.  A few weeks ago the Listener ran a great article by Guy Sommerset about Oliver Jeffers, whom he was lucky enough to interview a few weeks earlier. The interview is now available to view on the Listener website: http://www.listener.co.nz/culture/books/interview-childrens-author-oliver-jeffers/

Oliver will be partaking in his first NZ author tour in May, visiting Wellington and Auckland.  Oliver will be doing an ‘in conversation’ event in Wellington on Tuesday 8 May.  Tickets are almost sold out, but a few are still available: https://secure.ticketdesq.com/book/index.cfm?fuseaction=main&TicketDesqID=571&OrgID=7993

He will also partake in the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival.  As well as partaking in the Schools Programme, Oliver is also included in the New Zealand Listener Gala Night.  On Saturday 12 May he will be doing an event for families.  Oliver will draw live onstage, supported by storyteller and comic strip artist Dylan Horrocks, speak about his books and answer questions from the audience.  Tickets are still available for this event and it is sure to be hit with the kids!

The Chaperone



Penguin NZ advise:

With The Great Gatsby film remake, post war Downton Abbey, the hit HBO prohibition series Boardwalk Empire returning to our screens and flapper-esque clothes in the high street, it’s the ideal time to escape into the glamorous 1920s through the eyes of the inspiring Cora Carlisle. The Chaperone has just been optioned to be made into a film, so we eagerly await big things for author Laura Moriarty.

New Zealand is in the unprecedented position for Penguin Group (NZ) for being the first country in the world to release The Chaperone and we are also releasing our edition of the book with this really striking cover. The rest of the world will have a completely different cover to our version. This has not happened for Penguin with an international title in our market before.
The Chaperone is our current must-read book for Mother’s Day.

This is an extraordinary story of self-discovery, heartbreak and love in its many forms, with a few dark elements, all set against the glittering backdrop of New York in the roaring 20’s, The Chaperone follows a trip that changes the lives of two women for ever.

Children’s Book Festival Brings Nation’s Stories To Life



Some of our best writers and illustrators take to the streets, parks, libraries and schools all over the country next week in celebration of this year’s New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards.

Twenty of this year’s Awards finalists will visit towns and cities - from Whangarei to Invercargill - from the 7th to the 16th of May. They’ll be entertaining children of all ages; from tiny tots to teenagers with events as diverse as pyjama parties, scavenger book hunts, bi-lingual readings, carnivorous plant competitions and book character dance shows.

Book Awards Governance Group Chairman, Sam Elworthy says virtually every corner of New Zealand can look forward to events where books and their characters come to life.
‘Books spark people’s imaginations, and this year there are some stunning visual and story-filled events for littlies and teenagers to take part in.’

This year’s New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards finalists are on tour as part of this annual nationwide festival of children’s reading and literature. Now in their 16th year, they are the nation’s most prestigious awards, celebrating writing and publishing for the country’s young people. 
The celebrations culminate in the announcement of the winners in Wellington on Wednesday 16 May.

Some of this year’s highlight events are:

Northland: Sunday 6 May 10 am – 12.30pm Whangarei Central Library. FREE!
Storytime Character Hunt. Search the nooks and crannies of Whangarei’s fabulous library and  adjoining Caler Park to find your favourite storybook characters.  You must then ask each of them ‘WHAT’S YOUR STORY?’ to qualify for a stamp on your entry card. And when you’ve found all the hidden characters, return to the Children’s Room of the library to parade with our very own Pied Piper!

Auckland: Saturday 12 May, 1.00-2.30pm Band Rotunda, Cornwall Park, Greenlane
Rain venue - Panmure Library, 7-13 Pilkington Road, Panmure
Do you have what it takes to complete our quest? Pick up a map to hunt the book characters and complete all the mini challenges. For every challenge you complete,
you will get a stamp. Collect all the stamps and you could be rewarded with one of our fantastic prizes.

Tauranga: Saturday 12th May, 11am-12.30 pm Katikati Library.  Free 
Fairy, Pirate, Wizard, Cat, Winnie, Dora, Tintin, Pat, What’s your story? - get the look, Dress as a character from a book... Prizes for age groups 0-6, 7-15, 16+

Gisborne: Wednesday 8 May, 10.00am.Free. H. B. Williams Memorial Library
Toddler Time Dinosaur parade. Come and listen to stories about dinosaurs and colour in your own dinosaur footprint. Celebrating picture book finalist Stomp!

Hawke’s Bay: Tuesday 15 May at Waipawa Library: Fascinating Facts on World War 1.
Yr 5, 6 & 7 representatives from our local schools will be visiting the Waipawa Library to hear a blend of first-person accounts and raw facts of war from the non-fiction finalist book Nice Day for a War.

Wanganui: Sunday 13th May, 2.00 pm, Davis Library. MOKOPUNA  READ-ALONG. Multi-generational story-time.  Aunty or Grandpa can share stories with the younger family members at this special Mother’s Day storytime celebrating this year’s finalist books.

Taranaki: Tuesday 8 May.  Hawera Community Centre 10am-2pm. Taranaki Secondary School Literary Challenge. Come support the teams for the Paper Plus Trophy Challenge. Teams answer quiz questions about the finalist books in the Non Fiction and Young Adult categories.

Wairarapa: Meet our Weta Workshop Life-Size Model of a Tuatara!
Celebrate Betty Brownlie's Finalist Book, The Life Cycle of the Tuatara by visiting the tuatara display at Hedley's Bookshop. A range of activities including sketching the tuatara model and answering a quiz on offer.
Upper Hutt: Carnivorous Plant Drawing Competition at the Upper Hutt Library. Based on the finalist book The Flytrap Snaps. What would your Carnivorous Plant look like? Winning entries receive a prize.

Porirua: Friday 11 May. Mastermind 2012 hosted by Plimmerton School. Quiz based on the picture book, non-fiction and junior fiction finalist categories with Quiz Master Jason Pine for Years five, six, seven and eight.

Wellington: Friday 11 May. South Wellington Intermediate School students are treated to a writer’s workshop with award-winning author, and one of this year’s finalists, Fleur Beale.

Nelson: Monday 7th - – Thursday 10th May. Free.  Motueka Township
Catch the Cat Competition.  How many pictures of cats in their pyjamas can you spot in the Motueka shops?  Collect entry forms from Motueka Public Library. Entries must be returned by 1pm Friday 11th May. Winners to be announced at the Illuminated Pyjama Party on May 11th.

Christchurch: Thursday 10 May. 6:30-7:30pm. Free.  Age: 4-8 years. Shirley Library
Cat’s Pyjama Party!  Come dressed in your pyjamas and enjoy stories, games and a paper aeroplane competition.  There will be spot prizes and everyone will get a mug of Milo before home time.

West Coast: Help Create the World’s Longest Dinosaur Poster!
Come help us at the Library to make the world’s longest dinosaur poster. This will be running throughout the week, with the final display going up in the Library.

Southland: Friday 11 May 2.00pm Southland Museum and Art Gallery
Afternoon Tea with Henry the Tuatara. Celebrating Betty Brownlie’s finalist book, The Life Cycle of the Tuatara.
  
For full details of the hundreds of events happening in your region, and around the country, and for a full list of finalist books go to www.nzpostbookawards.co.nz

Limited edition published by Gumtree Press

brachiation - two sequences - Orchid Tierney


This book of verse has been hand set, hand printed and hand bound by the Gumtree Press in a limited edition run of 35 numbered copies - rrp $55.



The Gumtree Press
The Gums, 199 Osbourne Road Purakanui
Dunedin 9081
Otago NZ
Ph: 0064 3 4822259 Mob: 0210 264 9914
Email: info@thegumtreepress.co.nz




Pounamu Pounamu 40th anniversary edition



This anniversary edition of Witi Ihimaera's Pounamu Pounamu celebrates the 40th year in print of one of New Zealand's most seminal works of fiction.
When Pounamu Pounamu was published in 1972, it was a landmark occasion for New Zealand literature in many ways. It was the first work of fiction published by a Maori writer, it was the first collection of short stories that looked at contemporary Maori life and it launched the career of one of New Zealand's best-known authors.
The Pounamu Pounamu 40th Anniversary Edition is a beautiful hardback collector's volume. It features a foreword by Dame Fiona Kidman and a commentary by Witi Ihimaera on each of the stories. In these author's notes Witi Ihimaera looks back to events from his own childhood that inspired Pounamu Pounamu and the experience of writing and launching the book as a young man in the early '70s.
Penguin Books have done the author proud with this handsome new hardback edition.
I still recall the huge impact this book had on me way back in 1972 when I was a young bookseller in Napier.
I look forward to re-reading the stories although continue to be baffled by Ihimaera's wish to rewrite his early work. I mean if George Orwell was still alive would he rewrite 1984?

The Confidant by Helene Gremillon - reviewed by Nicky Pellegrino


The French get away with a lot when it comes to their literature and cinema. We indulge their tendency to be hyper-romantic, wildly improbable and artily offbeat, expect it even. The Confidant by Helene Gremillon (Text, $37) is very French. It’s a wartime romance brimming with grand passions, great betrayals and deep secrets, a hit in Gremillon’s home country and now being published around the world. I found it lightly reminiscent of that other French bestseller, The Elegance Of The Hedgehog but won’t say exactly why as that would spoil the ending.
The story, set in two time frames, opens in Paris in the mid-seventies. Camille is busy reading her way through the notes of condolence that have arrived following the death of her mother. Amongst the usual platitudes, she finds one that is different. Handwritten and several pages long, the letter tells of a young village boy’s love for a girl called Annie just before the outbreak of the Second World War and is signed with the name Louis. Since she doesn’t know either of these people, Camille assumes it has been sent to her by mistake. But every Tuesday another note arrives from Louis, each continuing the story, full of confessions and secrets.
Intrigued, Camille begins looking forward to the mysterious letters as a distraction from the problems of her own life. Since she works in publishing, she suspects Louis might be an author trying to win her attention by sending his manuscript in episodes. Then the letters take a dramatic and unexpected turn with one that tells of Annie’s decision to have a surrogate baby for an older friend known as Madame M. The more of these letters Camille reads, the more she finds unexpected links to her own life. Swinging from fascinated to fearful, she begins to wonder if she is the intended recipient after all.
Mostly set between 1939 and 1943, this is a debut novel for Gremillon, a Parisian former newspaper journalist. It isn’t perfect by any means. In fact, taken as a whole, I found it pretty far-fetched. The plot strains at times and the Russian doll-effect of stories within stories can get a little confusing. But, since it’s French, it seemed easy enough to shrug my shoulders and allow myself to be seduced by its charms – and it has plenty of them.
Wartime romances are common enough but The Confidant is no formulaic boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl affair. In fact, Louis is only ever a cipher, this is above all a story about women – strong, tenacious women driven by desire.
Sensitively written, it is a suspenseful, absorbing tale about the power of history (both of world events and small lives) and how it plays on the present. A stylish novel with vivid characters and a quirky denouement. Very, very French.
Footnote:
Nicky Pellegrino,(right), a successful Auckland-based author of popular fiction is also the Books Editor of the Herald on Sunday where the above piece was first published on 29 April, 2012.
Nicky is chairing Tastings & Tiaras with Kathy Lette at the Auckland Writers & Readers Festival on Saturday May 12. Tickets still available. Use link.



Crafty Girls’ Road Trip -beautifully packaged revised edition of this much-loved classic


Nothing beats the sense of anticipation, piling into the car for a girls’ weekend away... Crafty Girls’ Road Trip shares New Zealand’s best craft places as well as providing 10 craft projects to get stuck into.
Aimed at those who get warm fuzzies just walking into a wool shop, those who simply have to stroke the fabric at the quilt store, and those who long to touch the textiles at museums, this round-up of New Zealand’s craftiest places will go down a treat. Organised by region, it’s essentially a guide to the many places in New Zealand where you can buy everything you need to make your own textile-based crafts.

Crafty Girls’ Road Trip lists treasure troves for fabric lovers, embroiderers, patch workers, knitters, spinners and other crafty types to find not only materials but inspiration on the road.  And because they need frequent cups of coffee to fuel their journey and somewhere to lay their head, the book includes some favourite places  to stop in at and to stay at along the way. Thoroughly researched, there are also handy lists of great crafty blogs, books, magazines and suppliers — as well as events!

This beautifully packaged revised edition of this much-loved classic has gorgeous map illustrations by Lorraine Smith and photography by Deborah and Mark Smith.And special mention must be made of designer Pieta Brenton.

Ann Packer fell in love with textiles as a child in Hawkes Bay, where her extended family included crafty aunts and a dressmaking grandmother. She learned to sew from her mother at the kitchen table and has played with wool since plucking tufts from fences to stuff dollies’ quilts. She cannot resist rescuing fabric from op shops – along with old china and the occasional designer garment – and she loves to shop for fabric and fibre, with plenty of coffee breaks.

Ann has always enjoyed crafting and is still quilting and knitting but has done many of the other crafts and at various times in her life she has been a knitter, spinner, weaver, dyer and embroiderer.  Ann is also a travel writer so it seems perfect that these two talents should combine and come together to form this travel/craft companion.

 A Wellington-based freelance journalist, Ann writes arts, house and travel stories for The Dominion Post, Stuff and New Zealand House & Garden, and contributes a monthly children’s book review page and occasional craft reviews to The New Zealand Listener and textile stories to New Zealand Quilter.

Ann wrote the first Crafty Girls’ Road Trip in 2004, revising it in 2006.  Her book Stitch: New Zealand Textile Artists, won a Montana award in 2007.

Crafty Girls’ Road Trip
Author: Ann Packer
RRP: $34.99
Random House NZ 


MADE WITH LOVE - special picture book

A warm and magical tale of love


There is something different about the Gingerbread Woman. The Snowman feels it too. When you make things with love something special is bound to happen. 
From the award-winning author of The House That Went To Sea and The Were-Nana, this enchanting picture book is beautifully illustrated by Gabriella Klepatski. Melinda's magical gingerbread recipe is included.
This book is a winner!


Duck Creek Press - Hardback, 32pp, 210 x 255mm, $29.99, ISBN 978-1-877378-53-9

An invitation to Wellington poetry lovers............


Please join us to celebrate the publication of:

Dear Heart: 150 New Zealand Love Poems
Our finest love poems, written from the 1930s onwards

6.00pm, Wednesday 9 May
Meow Café, 9 Edward St, Wellington, ph 385 8883

Editor Paula Green will be joined by a list of esteemed contributors:
Jenny Bornholdt, James Brown, Lynn Davidson, Dinah Hawken
Ingrid Horrocks, Anna Jackson, Bill Manhire, Gregory O’Brien
Chris Price, Helen Rickerby, Harry Ricketts  Chris Tse

Books will be available for purchase and
signing on the night, thanks to Unity Books




The Basin’s Amazing New Jukebox


Wellington poet and publisher Mark Pirie reports for Beattie’s Book Blog from the Basin Reserve in Wellington on their new touch screen interactive display incorporating players, broadcasters, cricket music, comedy and poetry.


The Basin’s Amazing New Jukebox

If you’re looking for a place with an amazing jukebox, check out the New Zealand Cricket Museum in the Old Grandstand at the Basin Reserve.
I was there last weekend to see the new interactive sound display that has just opened. The new display is much like a jukebox in that you touch the screen to select what you want to hear. The kiosk contains a menu of options: Players, Broadcasters/Commentators, Music, Comedy and Poetry. For cricket tragics it is cricket heaven.
As a music fan and former dee-jay I spent most time in the Music section. A lot of time has gone in to scouring You Tube in Google searches for cricket songs. The list of tracks you can hear includes the seminal cricket songs like 10CC’s ‘Dreadlock Holiday’ and Sherbet’s ‘Howzat’ as well as a punk tune from Half Man Half Biscuit, reggae from Gypsy, folk from Victory Calypso, pop from Duckworth Lewis Method (‘Meeting Mr Miandad’), Dave Stewart, and Paul Kelly, rap from Mr B The Gentleman Rhymer (‘Straight Outta Surrey’) to the fan songs of the Barmy Army. Their video for the 2004 Ashes song was hilarious with Australian captain Ricky Ponting chased by Barmy Army supporters. It ends with Ponting put on a hot air balloon and sent back down under.
For those of a more serious historical disposition on the game, there are many recordings gathered including commentators like Jim Reid, Cyril Crawford, and Peter Sellars commenting on various games. Recent broadcasters like Bryan Waddle, Jeremy Coney and Peter Sharp are also included.
The Comedy section features some fine moments including a recording of one of Don Bradman’s speeches, and a segment from TV3 of the Beige Brigade Awards. This is the clip where former Black Cap Lou Vincent receives a fielding award. Vincent dives near the boundary to collect the ball and is unlucky to find his pants rolled down near his ankles. He gets up and fires the return in before adjusting his trousers naturally.
Perhaps the most significant entry into the jukebox is Poetry as it’s unusual for a cricket museum. David Mealing, the museum director, thinks it could be a first in the cricket world. It wasn’t until my anthology, A Tingling Catch, appeared that the museum had knowledge of New Zealand cricket poetry. They have taken to the book with aplomb, and have featured many poems from the book in the touch screen interactive.
Most of the poem recordings are by a studio voice and trained actor who makes a wonderful job of the Rasta muffin lyric ‘When Hadlee Bowls the Ball’ by Colin Croft and the Maiden Overs. They asked me to read my own poems: ‘To Bert Sutcliffe, Master Batsman’, ‘The Record’ (on Martin Crowe), ‘A photo of Martin Donnelly and Keith Miller at Lord’s’ and ‘At Lord’s’ for the recording. Wellington poet/publisher Helen Rickerby gave her voice to the female poet’s poems by Jenny Powell and Elizabeth Smither. Other poem recordings are by David Mealing.
Some of the other poets included are Kevin Ireland, Robin McConnell, Ian Donnelly, J H E Schröder, Brian Turner, Harry Ricketts, Whim Wham, Graham Lindsay, Ron Riddell, David Mitchell, Jack Perkins and Des Williams. Williams’s excellent Glenn Turner poem ‘One Hundred Tons of GMT’ sent into the museum is not in A Tingling Catch.
Other exciting features of the new interactive are photos of players like Bert Sutcliffe, John Reid, Geoff Howarth, Evan Gray, Shane Bond, Chris Harris, Ken Wadsworth, Sir Richard Hadlee, Glenn Turner, Mark Richardson, Martin Donnelly, Martin Crowe and Jeremy Coney. Their player profiles and statistics are included on screen, and another innovation is that by touching their photos, the interactive brings up options relating to the players, i.e. poems, photos, commentary and video footage, if and where available. If you look up Glenn Turner, his brother Brian Turner is on the screen with him, and you can listen to Brian’s poem for Glenn, a nice touch. For Crowd Goes Wild presenter Mark Richardson, there is funny footage of him falling over at the crease from cramp. Shane Bond’s video clip shows his bowling highlights set to the James Bond theme tune.
An enormous amount of work and funding ($52,500 mostly from the Museum’s operating budget, New Zealand Community Trust and the Wellington Cricket Trust) went into putting the display together. David Mealing undertook much research in tracking down archival footage of players, photos of players, broadcasters and poets, recordings of music and match reports, and approving copyright.
David deserves congratulations. It really is perfect for school groups and young people to whet their appetite for cricket history. He has compiled a perhaps unprecedented display in cricket museums worldwide. We are very lucky to have it in our own country and for public use at the Basin’s New Zealand Cricket Museum.

Museum hours: 10.30am-3.30pm weekly until 31 May. Winter hours: 10.30am-3.30pm weekends only or by arrangement. Ph: (04) 385 6602.

The interactive content will be available on the web in the near future.

Mark Pirie is a Wellington poet, writer, editor and publisher. He is currently involved in co-organising the Poetry Archive of New Zealand Aotearoa (PANZA) and researching early or forgotten New Zealand poets. His books include editing A Tingling Catch: A Century of New Zealand Cricket Poems 1864-2009 and a new edition of Michael O’Leary’s cricket novel Out of It in 2012, both through HeadworX.

 Photo Left: David Mealing with Mark Pirie outside the entrance to the New Zealand Cricket Museum, Old Grandstand, Basin Reserve, 2010 by Madeleine Marie Slavick

Photo above: The Basin Reserve in Summer - AR Collins

3M Cloud Library Lends Not Only E-Books, But Also E-Reader Hardware



3M hops into the e-book lending and hardware market with Cloud Library. Photo: 3M


Scotch Tape manufacturer and Post-It inventor 3M is jumping into the world of e-book lending. The 3M Cloud Library went beta Wednesday at select libraries, allowing patrons to borrow e-books via digital kiosks in the library or online.
It’s not an entirely new concept. A system called OverDrive already facilitates e-book lending at many public libraries. But what sets 3M’s offering apart is that libraries can purchase 3M-branded e-readers, and lend the hardware to patrons who don’t have e-readers of their own. Patrons would check out the readers like they would a book or any other piece of hardware the library may lend.
3M says it has 40 publishers backing Cloud Library, and that more than 100,000 titles are ready to go. These e-books are compatible with Nook e-readers as well as iOS, Android, Windows, and OS X devices running the Cloud Library application. (Amazon’s Kindle is noticeably absent from the list.) To help expedite book lending, 3M is setting up on-site kiosks to help patrons search and check out available books.
Full story at Wired.

Stephen King cover competition

Hachette advise:


If you entered the competition (or if you know of anyone who has entered) to have your face on the cover of Stephen King’s new book, the website to see if you made the cut is now live.  All you have to do is enter your email address.  Even if you haven’t made the cut you can enlarge the image until you start seeing faces pop up if you want to see how many they actually got on the cover.  It’s very cool!

  

Jackson defends movie's look


MICHAEL FIELD - DomPost -  29/04/2012

Sir Peter Jackson
Photo - ANDREW GORRIE/The Dominion Post

48 IMAGES PER SECOND: Peter Jackson says people just need to 'settle into' the new technology.

Hobbit czar Peter Jackson has rejected criticism of his movie’s new look after a 10 minute trailer showing in Hollywood was criticised.

Jackson, who is shooting The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey at his Stone Street studios in Wellington, has broken with the convention of shooting 24 images or frames a second and has gone to 48.
He says it creates a more life-like picture and will be easier to watch in 3D.
But when Warner Bros. showed off 10 minutes of footage this week at CinemaCon, the annual convention for theatre owners, many complained it looked more like a movie set than the atmospheric, textured world seen in The Lord of the Rings.
Smaller theatre chains are complaining that the Hobbit’s technology means they will have to upgrade projection equipment.
Jackson’s told Hollywood’s EW.com nobody is going to stop new technology in movies and critics will change their mind when they see the finished film.
''At first it’s unusual because you’ve never seen a movie like this before,'' he says.
''It’s literally a new experience, but you know, that doesn’t last the entire experience of the film; not by any stretch, after 10 minutes or so. That’s a different experience than if you see a fast-cutting montage at a technical presentation.''
What was seen in the trailer was a new experience, but it doesn’t last the entire that through the whole movie.
Jackson says that at CinemaCon the critics seemed to like the trailer as it went on.
''A couple of the more negative commentators from CinemaCon said that in the Gollum and Bilbo scene [which took place later in the presentation] they didn’t mind it and got used to that,'' Jackson says.
''That was the same 48 frames the rest of the reel was. I just wonder if it they were getting into the dialogue, the characters and the story. That’s what happens in the movie. You settle into it.''

- © Fairfax NZ News

Michael Frayn: 'I'm never going to write anything again…'


…but that's what the veteran playwright and novelist always says. And his latest novel, a laugh-out-loud farce set on a Greek island, gives no hint of being his last word

 - The Observer, michael frayn
'Hilarious': Michael Frayn at his home in Petersham, south-west London. Photograph: Richard Saker
Reviewers will often say a book made them laugh out loud, when what they mean – funny books being so bafflingly thin on the ground – is that it made them smile; their exaggeration is a symptom of their relief that it even did that. But Skios, Michael Frayn's new novel, his first for 10 years, truly does make you laugh out loud. I sniggered on the train and the bus; I sniggered in the kitchen, the bedroom and, on one occasion, in the shower. I wasn't reading the book in the shower, obviously. But I was thinking about it, and that was enough. Skios, which stars a pompous academic called Dr Norman Wilfred, a shambolic bounder called Oliver Fox, and something called the Fred Toppler Foundation, organiser of an annual thought-fest for rich people – it's like the World Economic Forum at Davos, only without the snow, the balance sheets or Stephanie Flanders – really is hilarious.
"Oh, good," says Frayn, when I tell him this. "I'm glad. It is a bit of an experiment. I wanted to see if you could do farce as a novel. In the theatre the audience is released by the laughter of the people around them. But with a novel you have an audience of only one; no corporate reaction." He pauses. "Of course, at this stage [in my career] self-plagiarism is a terrible danger. I realised recently that Skios is slightly similar to a film I wrote, Clockwise [starring John Cleese]. Though things in Skios go wrong for different reasons. The other difference is that, with a novel, you do need to know what the characters are thinking. You need to know what Oliver Fox thinks he is up to, which is, frankly, not very much."
This is true – though it's the unreliable Fox who sets the dominoes falling when he lands on the Greek island of Skios for a romantic assignation. On seeing a taxi driver holding a sign that reads "Dr Norman Wilfred", Fox decides – who knows why? – to pretend to be him, a move that provides him with the chance to enjoy a little of the Fred Toppler Foundation's hospitality, and to deliver its keynote speech. Meanwhile, on the other side of the island, a lovely young woman called Georgie Evers discovers, to her horror, that the man who has been delivered to her villa is not the gorgeous Oliver Fox but a balding, slightly podgy fellow called Dr Norman Wilfred.
Full story at The Observer

The Faceless - Vanda Symon's new book launched in Dunedin





Author Vanda Symon reports of the launch of her latest book:


The Faceless was sent off into the world in fine fashion at The University Book Shop on Friday night. A very jovial crowd of friends, family and colleagues enjoyed lots of chat, good wine and nibbles in the wonderful atmosphere there. 
We were welcomed by Bronwyn Wylie-Gibb of the University Book Shop, and The Faceless was launched by Penguin Fiction Commissioning Editor Katie Haworth before I got to be centre stage. It was a fabulous, warm and jovial evening, and a great way to celebrate foisting The Faceless onto an unsuspecting public (-:


The Bookman is reviewing The Faceless on Radio New Zealand 14 May so will write about the book on the blog after that.


Meantime here is the publishers blurb:


Bradley is a middle-aged man trapped in middle-class New Zealand. He is in a job that he hates, working day after day to support his wife and two children. One day when it all gets too much, Bradley picks up a teenage hooker in downtown Auckland. Unfortunately he can't keep it up and then she laughs at him. That was a mistake. He beats her, ties her up and takes her to an abandoned warehouse that he owns. But then he doesn't know what to do.
Max is homeless. He eats from rubbish bins, bums cigarettes from anyone and anywhere, including the footpath, and he doesn't smell that fresh. But Max has one friend and she has gone missing. If he is to find her he is going to have to call on some people from his past life and re-open old wounds that have remained unhealed for a long time.

Steve Jobs Wanted To Pull A Willy Wonka, Golden Ticket And All


The Huffington Post | By  - Posted: 04/27/2012 

Steve Jobs Willy Wonka
Sure, the late Steve Jobs had a temper and a serious obsession with perfection, but that doesn't mean Apple's co-founder and former CEO didn't like to have some fun, too.

Ken Segall's newly released biography, "Insanely Simple: The Obsession That Drives Apple's Success," reveals one of Jobs' more playful ideas: He wanted to celebrate the one millionth purchase of the original iMac, Willy Wonka-style.
"Just as Wonka did in the movie, Steve wanted to put a golden certificate representing the millionth iMac inside the box of one iMac, and publicize that fact," writes Segall, according to The Huffington Post's copy of the book. "Whoever opened the lucky iMac box would be refunded the purchase price and be flown to Cupertino, where he or she (and, presumably, the accompanying family) would be taken on a tour of the Apple campus."

Apparently, Jobs had been completely serious about the idea. He had his internal creative group design an actual prototype of a golden ticket and had even been planning to meet the winner dressed to the nines as Willy Wonka.
Unfortunately, it seems California law got in Jobs' way. MacRumors reports that the state required sweepstakes contests to allow participation without the purchase of a product, meaning that Jobs couldn't limit potential winners to just iMac buyers, or any Apple customers, for that matter.
Business Insider reports that Segall, an ad exec who had worked with Jobs for 12 years, felt the Willy Wonka idea was one of Jobs' "nuttiest."
"He was cool in that he would come into a meeting and say he had this idea, but his ideas didn't always go anywhere," Segall told Business Insider. "The Willy Wonka idea -- and the fact that he wanted to dress up -- was really out of character for him. A lot of people will probably read that story and think it sounds like a pretty good idea."
Read more about Jobs in Ken Segall's "Insanely Simple: The Obsession That Drives Apple's Success," which just hit shelves on April 26.

Book Spine Poetry vol. 4: Music


by  - Brain Pickings

The essence of the universal language, distilled.
I’ve been celebrating National Poetry Month with an ongoing series of book spine poetry. Today, a short meditation of a “poem” on music.

The books:
Catch up on the first three installments, entitled The Future, Get Smarter, and This is New York.

NZSA conference, University of Gdansk

New Zealand and Europe: Borders, Nations, Identities


The 18th annual conference of the New Zealand Studies Association, together with the Department of Political Science, University of Gdansk , Gdansk, Poland

6-8 July 2012

The New Zealand Studies Association (NZSA) has a long and strong history in promoting New Zealand Studies. Building on the success of the 2006 conference in Paris, the 2008 conference in Florence, and the 2009 conference in Frankfurt, the 2012 gathering of the NZSA will be located at the University of Gdansk, Poland. This very special conference will be held near the historic city centre of Gdansk with its vibrant culture. On the Saturday, there will be a special guided tour of the city with a boat trip, followed by a conference dinner.

Keynote speakers:


Alan Duff
Professor Witi Ihimaera,
Dr Paul Latawski
Professor Michal Lesniewski
Dr Brian McDonnell
Dr Chris Pugsley
Professor Khyla Russell
Professor Jacek Tebinka
Dr Dariusz Zdziech

Proposals for 20 minute papers must be sent by 4 May to Ian Conrich (email: ian@ianconrich.co.uk) or Marcin Waldoch (marcin.waldoch@gmail.com). The conference will consider all papers that address issues related to New Zealand and Europe, within the context of any of the sub themes - borders, nations, identities. As a section of the conference, it will also consider papers on Maori identity and the Pacific. The conference fee will include annual membership to the NZSA, which for 2012 includes 2 free books. Papers from the conference will be published in issue no.3 of the refereed journal, NZSA Bulletin of New Zealand Studies. Moreover, two new book series - 'New Zealand Writers', and 'New Zealand Film Classics' - will be launched at the conference and delegates will be invited to contribute to future volumes.

The conference will accept proposals on a range of subjects including the following: warfare, land and borders; national identities; political relations between nations; migration, refugees and diasporas (refugees during periods of war or periods of political conflict); Maori identity and the Pacific, New Zealand literature or films set in Europe, or European writers or filmmakers in New Zealand; European cultural influence on New Zealand; the reception and exposure of New Zealand culture in Europe; representations of New Zealand in European museums and collections; voyaging, historical travels and expeditions to New Zealand; science and knowledge transfer; tourism.