Scott Westerfeld's Blog, page 22

Show Us Your Steampunk Winners

For the last month or so, there's been a cosplay contest happening over on FaceBook called "Show Us Your Steampunk." To enter, contestants had to dress up and hold a book from the Leviathan series. There were a ton of great entries, but there could be only three winners! (Selected not by me, but by "like" voting.)

Here they are!

The grand winner was Whimsy Dreaming, who formed a spectacular steampunk trio:

They win Deryn's actual flying goggles and hat, as worn by the models on the cover of Behemoth and Goliath, plus a signed set of the Leviathan trilogy, AND a full set of the Uglies series.

I met you guys, didn't I? (In Austin, I think. The tour all blurs together.) Well done. Plus, you should totally form a band.

And in second prize is Sarah Spitzer, with this winsomely posed picture that uses the ineffable power of CAT.

Sarah wins Alek's flying googles featured on the cover of Leviathan and Goliath and a signed set of the Leviathan trilogy.

And finally Salome Gongadze, whose hat just gets more awesome the more you stare at it.

Salome wins a signed set of the Leviathan trilogy.

Thanks to everyone who entered. You can click here to see the rest, FaceBook required.

Bonus Goliath Chapter and Art!

A bonus chapter, you say? What? Why?

Here's how this came about. While reading a multitude of fan reviews of Goliath, the last book in the Leviathan trilogy, I noted a common theme. Many of you felt as though there was just one more illustration you wanted to see.

After all, we've all spent a quarter-million words and 160 illustrations with the crew of the Leviathan. Letting go isn't easy. So I thought it would be fun to commission one last piece of art from Keith, as a sort of Hanukwanzamas present to you all.

Yes, The Manual of Aeronautics comes out next year (August 21), full of deck plans, cutaways, beasties, uniforms, etc. But that's not the same as the characters doing stuff.

Of course, what image Keith should draw was a matter of debate. Deryn at last wearing a dress? A close-up version of the final kiss? Bovril doing pretty much anything?

So I decided to hold a vote, here on this post called "One Last Piece of Art", and there was much enthusiasm. A bit more than 1200 comments' worth of enthusiasm, in fact.

I have read your comments and run them through a complex algorithm, and Keith came up with a wonderful piece of bonus art. And yet this still didn't seem like enough to repay all your enthusiasm for the series. On top of that, Keith's new illustration was quite evocative, and made me wonder exactly what was going on.

So I decided to write a piece of fan fiction to go with it. This turned out to be more than 3,000 words, longer than most of the chapters in the series, because writing those characters again was a total blast. I'd almost forgotten!

I am sorry to say, though, that this chapter and Keith's piece are bumping Fan Art Friday till next week. But there's some really awesome fan art (by real fans!) coming up then. And early next week, I'll be posting the winners of the concluded Show Us Your Steampunk contest that's been happening over on FaceBook.

But for now, at long last, here is the secret last chapter of Goliath. (Well, it's really more fan fic than a long-lost chapter. It's full of fan service and cross-dressing and all sorts of shippy stuff. And yet: By my authorial authority, I DECLARE IT CANONICAL.)

One piece of advice, don't look at Keith's lovely illustration until you get to the end. IT HAZ SPOILERS! So I hid the image way down there below the text.

Enjoy.

"This is a preposterous situation," Alek said.

"One for which you have only yourself to blame." Count Volger reclined on the hotel room's purple velvet divan, a smirk on his face. "I told you not to take that wager."

"It was a matter of principle."

"Ah, young prince—or 'Mr. Hohenberg,' if you insist—will you never learn that there are no principles when it comes to a show of arms? Only brute strength."

Alek turned from the mirror to give the wildcount a cool glance. "A show of arms? Very droll." He sighed. "But I really didn't think she would best me."

"Miss Sharp did spend several months climbing about the on ratlines. It does wonders for the muscles, I'm sure."

Alek nodded, rubbing his still sore right bicep. It certainly had been a battle. A show of arms, indeed! One moment, he and Deryn had been having a perfectly reasonable discussion on the merits of the two sexes—strength, endurance, tolerance of pain—and then suddenly he had said something unforgivable and Deryn was challenging him to an arm-wrestling contest.

Losing to her wouldn't have been so bad—she was Deryn Sharp, after all—but Alek had gone and made this idiotic wager.

If only this New Year's Eve party hadn't been fancy dress. What was it with the British and their love of costumes? The entire staff of the London Zoological Society has been buzzing for days about what they would wear. Most were going as beasties, of course, or great boffins of history, or modern-day buffoons such as politicians and clerics of the Monkey Luddite stripe. Others were sticking with classical costumes: angels, devils, ancient Greeks, or fairies of the wood.

New as they were to the Society, both he and Deryn had been anxious as to what they should wear. (And to Alek, frankly, the whole fancy dress thing seemed a bit common, even if he had foresworn his royal heritage.) So an arm-wrestling contest had seemed like a brilliant way to settle the matter for at least one of them. As Volger kept reminding him, the terms had been entirely Alek's idea.

It might've been most amusing, if only he hadn't lost. Then it would have been Deryn wearing a dress and not he. He had to admit, much of the motivation for his rash wager had been his own curiosity. What would Deryn look like in the proper clothing of her own gender?

Not that he minded seeing her in a jacket and trousers every day. It was part of the frisson of their romance, that he knew something about her that only a handful of others did. But still, he was as curious as any boy would be in these circumstances.

"Is this bustle in the right place?" he asked.

Count Volger snorted a little. "There's only one place for a bustle, Alek. And that's it."

"Doesn't it seem . . . unnecessarily large to you?"

"A question women have been asking for decades, I'm sure."

"Don't be impertinent, Count. I meant the bustle." Alek straightened the bows that positively covered the dress. "And I wouldn't be so ready to mock others if I were dressed up as a message lizard!"

Count Volger regarded the papier-mâché lizard snout sitting next to him on the divan. Then with a shrug he lifted the mask and placed it on his head. It was painted a mottled brown with green highlights, matching the colors of an Air Service message lizard perfectly. The count's face peeked out from between the jaws of the monstrous head-gear.

"One must always be ready to mock, Your No-Longer-Serene Highness." Volger raised his glass, maneuvered it between the jaws, and took a sip. "Otherwise, politics becomes unbearable."

Alek took a closer look at the wildcount. His cheeks were a little ruddy, and the champagne bottle beside the divan looked suspiciously depleted.

"Are you drunk, count?"

Volger laughed at this, then took another sip. "It is New Year's Eve, Mr. Hohenberg, and in order to curry favor with the world's most mysterious organization, I am costumed as the most disquieting creature in the history of fabrication. Given that I am about to throw myself into a party full of boffins and secret agents, I would not call myself drunk—merely fortified."

"Indeed." Alek turned back to the mirror, wondering how much more fortified Count Volger was planning on getting tonight.

Ever since Alek had joined the Zoological Society, the wildcount hadn't known what to do with himself. The war was winding down, the Kaiser realizing that his enemies were too numerous now that the US had joined in. There was talk of a peace conference in the early months of 1915, one that would end the battle between Darwinism and Clankers forever, or at least reduce it from a world-wide bloodbath to a healthy competition of technologies.

With no war to influence and no young prince to raise to the throne of Austria-Hungary, Volger's two purposes in life had suddenly disappeared. The Austrians would remember that he had snatched away their young heir, so going home might be tricky, and Britain was too full of godless beasties for him to stay here.

And yet . . .

"Curry favor?" Alek asked, picking up the parasol that Deryn had picked out for him. It matched the color of the dress, at least. "Why do you care what the Zoologial Society thinks of you, given what you think of them?"

"I might have need for their expertise in the future." The count sounded quite sober now. "I have a great love of nature, you know, and one day there will be a struggle between natural creatures and those fabrications who escape out into the wild. The Society may be able to help in that."

Alek raised an eyebrow. He'd never thought of Volger as a preservationist, given that the man had shot at least two hundred stags with Alek's father, the archduke. Of course, there had been vast tracks of wilderness in the heart of Europe back when Volger was a young man collecting hunting trophies. There was not so much wild left anymore.

"I've heard of that happening," Alek said. "Parrot frogs running rampant in Australia and such, chattering in those funny accents. It does seem unsettling."

"Not as unsettling as those heels," Volger said, the seriousness of a moment before forgotten. "But a bet is a bet, Mr. Hohenberg."

The New Year's Eve party of the Zoological Society of London was downstairs from Alek's room, in the main ballroom of the Savoy Hotel. Alek was surprised, and a bit alarmed, to see how many people were in attendance. He had assumed that the audience for his humiliation would be limited to members of the Society proper—a dozen boffins and perhaps twice that many animal trainers and handlers. But the great ballroom was nearly full, with the Society's patrons, political supporters, and special agents like him and Deryn all in attendance, along with their spouses, guests, and various hangers-on.

"Oh dear," Alek said.

"Indeed," Volger muttered through the jaws of his lizard head. "Perhaps you should have worn a mask."

"That would have been cheating." Alek took a fortifying breath, shouldered his parasol as if it were a rifle, then headed down into the crowd.

He felt conspicuous and absurd, and wobbly on his heeled shoes, but somehow the entire room didn't seem to be staring at him. In an odd way, his costume was relatively tame. There were too many elaborate fabricated creatures about for one young man in a dress to cause a stir. The Society's aging director, Dr. Spencer, had an entire Huxley Ascender hovering above him, devised from some sort of painted mesh thrown over a cloud of toy balloons. The director nodded at Alek and Volger and started to come toward them, but then realized that his floating Huxley was caught on a chandelier. Several assistants rushed forward to help him disentangle the costume. Alek pulled the wildcount into a hasty retreat, just in case the balloons were full of hydrogen instead of helium.

He scanned the crowd for Deryn. It was best to get the revelation of his costume over with as quickly as possible. He wondered what she had chosen to wear, and hoped that it didn't include a mask. The thought of her seeing him dressed this way was annoying enough, without her spying on him from across the room and giggling to herself.

"Alek?" came a voice from the crowd. "Good heavens, is that the count with you?"

Alek turned and bowed. "Good heavens, indeed, Dr. Barlow."

The lady boffin was dressed as an avenging angel, with large feathered wings and a wooden sword painted sliver. She looked appropriately terrifying. Tazza, as always at her side, had a tin foil halo on his head.

Dr. Barlow eyed Alek up and down. "Perhaps a curtsey would have been more appropriate."

"Alas, my dancing master was never so kind as to teach me how."

"I'm sure Mr. Sharp could help."

The loris on her shoulder, who was dressed as a cherub, chuckled and said, "Mister Sharp."

Alek gave them both a hard look. Dr. Barlow was the only other member of the Zoological Society who knew Deryn's secret. It seemed unwise of her to make light of it, however subtly, in a room crowded with their colleagues.

"I should think not," Volger said. "Mr. Sharp is far too manly to know such things."

Dr. Barlow's eyes widened. "The lizard speaks!"

"The lizard only repeats what he is told," Volger said, tapping his ear. He extended his hand. "Would you care to dance, doctor?"

"Of course. One so rarely has an opportunity to dance with a reptile." She nodded at Alek. "Good evening, Mr. Hohenberg."

The two swirled off toward the dance floor, Tazza padding behind them after Alek gave him a pat on the head.

Now, where was Deryn? She had always been early to any party back on the Leviathan. No doubt she was hidden behind a mask somewhere, watching Alek twirl his parasol and mince about in these heels.

As Alek scanned the crowd, a strange apparition appeared before him. It had a bird-like head, and a shaggy yellow pelt and huge, cat-like claws.

"Is that you, Dylan?" he asked.

"I am not a bellman," the beaked head said in a familiar voice, then the clawed hands reached up and lifted the mask. "I am a mighty gryphon!"

Alek took an involuntary step back. Beneath the eagle head was Adela Rogers, the young American reporter who had joined the Leviathan's journey in California. But what was she doing in London, and what was any reporter doing at a private function of the Society? Especially one at which Alek happened to be wearing a dress.

At least she wasn't one of those reporters who always carried a camera, like the insufferable Eddie Malone.

"I trust you recognize me now, Prince Aleksandar."

"Indeed, Miss Rogers. Though I'm afraid I am no longer a prince."

"Ah, of course. Mr. Hohenberg, isn't it?"

"At your service." Alek attempted a curtsy, but failed completely.

The reporter smiled. "Not much of a mister this evening, I see."

Alak shrugged. "A fancy dress party has its share of indignities, I suppose. But now that I am no longer royalty, perhaps a bit of humility is in order."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that dress is humiliating, Mr. Hohenberg. On the contrary, it's quite flattering."

"Thank you." Alek bowed this time. It felt more natural, even with a bustle as a conspicuous counterweight to the maneuver.

For a moment, he wondered at all the adjustments, small and large, that Deryn must have made in order to carry off her deception. The way she walked, talked, and stood, along with every social nuance, all of it had to be considered every second of every day. It was incredible to have succeeded at something so difficult, with only her brother Jaspert and her own observations of humanity to guide her.

Deryn was quite astounding, really, and entirely worth throwing away an empire for.

"But if I may ask a question." Miss Rogers produced a notepad. "Who exactly are you meant to be?"

"Ah." Alek swallowed. After the agony of his arm-wrestling defeat and amid all the palaver of finding a dress to wear, he had failed to take the question of his costume any further. He could hardly tell this reporter that he had lost a bet, and the thought that she would write in her newspaper that he had attended a party dressed simply as a woman was somehow unsettling.

He wracked his mind for an answer, and one came.

"I am dressed as one of the great Clanker boffins of the last century," he said. "Ada, Countess of Lovelace."

Miss Rogers looked perplexed for a moment. "I'm not sure I recall this countess. She was a Clanker boffin, you say? But the name sounds very English."

"She was. And yet her work is at the core of every mechanical analytic engine. The balance system of my own Stormwalker, for example." As he said the words, Alek's hands clenched imaginary saunters. It really had been too long since he had piloted a walker. He hoped his and Deryn's first mission for the Society was in a Clanker nation, where he might get a chance to.

"I see." Miss Rogers' pencil was scribbling. "Like you, she was able to cross battle lines. A subject of the queen, but a Clanker. A woman, but a scientist."

Alek bowed, relieved to have stumbled upon so apt a choice. "Just as I was born a royal and a Clanker, and yet stand before you a common Darwinist."

She smiled. "And a boy in a dress. I think I'm finally beginning to understand you, Mr. Hohenberg."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, you must know that many are perplexed by your choice of employers." She glanced about the room, at all the costumed beasts, grotesques, and monstrosities. "It seems an odd avocation to trade an empire for. In fact, that's why I'm here in London. To do some follow up."

Alek raised an eyebrow. "You mean, to spy on me."

"You might say that," Miss Rogers said with another smile. "It seems to me that something's missing in the story of Prince Aleksandar of Hohenberg, who traded his crown for a post as a zookeeper. Surely there's something you're not telling us about the Society. Or perhaps about yourself?"

Alek shrugged, and twirled his parasol.

"I shall be watching you, Mr. Hohenberg."

"It will be my pleasure to be watched, I'm sure," Alek said, bowing again. "But if you will excuse me."

He headed off into the crowd without waiting for an answer, because near the giant ice sculpture of Charles Darwin taming a lupine tigeresque, he had seen a blond head bobbing above the costumed masses. It was definitely Deryn, and she wasn't wearing a mask.

Of course, Deryn wore a mask every day, her disguise as a boy a constant in her life. By all rights, she should be able to show up at a fancy dress party in nothing more than her usual trousers and jacket.

Of course, making a point of such behavior would somewhat spoil her secret.

Alek pushed his way through the crowd, setting aside a Spring-Heeled Jack and an iron-headed Ned Kelly, the famous Outback bandit. Deryn's blond hair flashed ahead of him again, but she was moving away. Had she seen him coming and decided to lead him on a chase?

Finally, though, the crowd parted, and he came face to face with Deryn Sharp. Alek froze when he saw her costume, a look of astonishment spreading on his face.

"But I . . . ," he sputtered. "You won the contest, not me."

"Aye, of course I did." She made a muscle with her bicep. "But we never said the winner couldn't wear what they wanted. And we reckoned you'd feel less awkward if you weren't the only lad in a frock."

Alek looked her up and down. Deryn was in the sort of evening dress that fashionable young women-about-town wore, with a fringed back and a broad belt high on her waist. Long beaded necklaces were draped around her neck, tucked into her belt or hanging to her thighs. Perched on her head was a close-fitting hat, a long fabricated peacock feather jutting almost straight back from it.

Alek looked down at his own dress, so formal and old-fashioned with its fussy bows and bustle. He suddenly felt frumpy, whereas Deryn was positively stylish. Her short hair and slim figure, the core of her disguise as a midshipman, no longer looked masculine at all.

He wondered if there would ever come a time when women wore their hair so short. Surely such a thing would never happen, but he had to admit that it looked quite fetching.

Then he realized what Deryn had said. "'We'?"

"Aye, both of us." She snapped her fingers, and Bovril waddled out from beneath the ice sculpture table.

Alek's eye widened further. The perspicacious loris was in costume as well, in a backless dress that looked distinctly French. Indeed, the creature resembled a tiny Pierrot doll.

Bovril looked up at Alek, then said with a giggle, "Lad in a dress."

Deryn shook her head. "Frankly, Alek, I thought you'd come up with something a bit more up-to-date."

"You chose the parasol." Alek twirled it. "I had to find a dress that matched!"

"Aye, but you're not as fetching as I expected." She tsped a few times. "Still, it's nice to see you in something besides yours old Clanker gear. You really should be dressing up in new clothes, now that you aren't a barking prince."

Alek raised an eyebrow. "You mean, you would have been happy with a new jacket? You might have said."

"Aye. Anything that doesn't look like an old cavalry uniform!"

Alek sighed. Since renouncing the throne, he had no money to speak of, only the small income the Society provided. He doubted his granduncle the Emperor would be sending him an allowance anytime soon. So all he had to wear were his Hapsburg Guard uniforms and the formal wear that Mr. Hearst had provided him. And, of course, a few things he'd bought in Istanbul, which were hardly suitable for London. The dress he had on now had been provided by a wife of one of the Society boffins, and not the youngest or most fashionable.

"I must say that you look stunning, though," he offered with a bow.

"Aye. It's not as bad as I remember, being stuffed into a dress." Deryn extended her arm. "Shall we go?"

Alek knelt and snapped for Bovril, who leapt up into his grasp.

"Of course. But where?"

"There's a wee changing room off to the side, where some of the boffins left their regular clothes. It's locked up, but I've got the only key." Deryn looked him up and down again. "And bottle of champagne, if you're not too much a lady for a drink alone with a former sky sailor."

"I assure you, Mr. Sharp," Alek said. "I have no concerns about your intentions."

"That's good to hear, Mr. Hohenberg. For my intentions are clarity itself." And then she was leading him away from the throng of monsters, beasts, and freaks, toward someplace private and safe. A place where it didn't matter who was wearing what.

Bovril, riding on his shoulder, giggled one more time.

"Mister Hohenberg," the creature said.

CLICK HERE for a bigger version!

Also, you can pre-order the first Uglies graphic novel, Shay's Story, right now right here.

Bonus Art Will Post Friday

Keith and I have come up with the winning image concept, and it is SEASONALLY APPROPRIATE. And Keith has done such an awesome job with the art that as a bonus to the bonus, I'm going to write a piece of fan fiction to go with it!

Now, debatably this won't be fan fiction, because I am not a fan of me, technically. (I mean, I think I'm fairly cool, but I AM me.) But if Middleman-creator Javier Grillo-Marxuach can write Middleman fan-fic, then surely I can also fanboy my own oeuvre.

Besides, I declare this piece non-canonical, so it has to fit SOMEWHERE in the endless fan-fictional definitional matrix. I'll be posting both the story and the art on Friday, along with some fan art by you guys.

Oh, and starting next week, I will be doing a weekly Uglies Manga reveal from now till the first book comes out. We will start with the characters. Keep your voting hats on.

Okay, that's it. Hope you're having good almost-Hanukwanzamas-break times!

High-Stakes Testing Chat Tonight

Tonight (Thursday, December 8th) at 7PM EST in the US (4PM in California and 11AM on Friday morning in Sydney), I'm doing a chat about high-stakes testing and how schools teach writing. Are those five-paragraph essays going to turn you all into novelists? And how about those syllogisms on the SAT?

I'll be joined by David Levithan, Robin Wasserman, and Lauren McLaughlin, whose book Scored inspired the panel.

Click here for details.

To prepare for this, Lauren and I took the essay section of the SAT, and had ourselves scored by a professional examiner. You can read our essays and see what grades we got here at the Huffington Post. (Note that we had exactly 25 minutes to write those essays! Just like you guys did/will!)

Click here for more about Scored, which is out now. It's set in a dystopian world where every kid gets a Score when they turn 18, determining their prospects for the rest of their life.

Hope to see you all tonight! (Tomorrow morning for me.)

Double-Plus FAF

Two things before we get to Fan Art Friday:

1) Next Thursday, December 8 at 7PM EST, I'm going to be part of a Figment.com chat called "Forget English Class; What We Want to Do Is Write!" I'll be joined by David Levithan, Robin Wasserman, and Lauren McLaughlin, whose book Scored inspired the panel.

This chat will be online, so ALL OF YOU CAN COME! Just click here for details.

We'll be talking about how high-stakes testing warps education by taking holistic enterprises (like writing, thinking, and comprehension) and slices them into testable skills (like syllogisms and five-paragraph essays).

To prepare for this chat, Lauren and I actually took the essay section of the SAT, and had ourselves scored by a professional examiner. I haven't seen our scores yet, but all will be revealed at the chat! (I think Figment are even putting my essay online. Yeesh.)

You can also click here for more about Scored, which is out now. It's set in a dystopian world where every kid gets a Score when they turn 18, determining their prospects for the rest of their life.

2) There's less than one week left in the Show Us Your Steampunk contest! Just take a picture of yourself in a steampunk outfit holding a copy of one of the Leviathan books, and you're in. Click here for details.

Even if you don't want to dress up, you should head over and check the contest out. There are some really awesome costumes and poses. (It's a FaceBook thing, though, so you have to have an account.)

And now it's time for FAF!

We begin with this Deryn chibi, by Jett-Wolfe98:

That is some cute stuff.

Also pinning our kawaii meter is this young-and-old diptych of Deryn by danakairi:

Yes, it's Deryn in a dress. But it's TINY WEE Deryn in a dress.

And to complete this chibi trifecta, here's a lovely image of how Alek really feels about the air beast, from LilyFlowerG:

Okay, let's leave the cute behind and switch to dark and brooding. Check out this moody picture of Alek in his engineering finery, from peibee-an-jay:

I always love seeing his princeliness covered in grease. Heh.

Now here's some cosplay from Ben, who spent this Halloween as a rigger.

You have to like the humble cosplayer who's not a particular character, just a rigger with an air rifle and a candy bag.

And here's a couple of sketches, this Aya Fuse from . . . I don't know whom!

And here's a comic one of Alek and Volger from Ian:

From Laura, we have an Alek's-eye-view image from the raging storm scene in Goliath. With bonus thumb!

From Clare, here's a cool profile of Alek, proving that he doesn't suffer from the Hapsburg chin:

Okay, I have a few more in the shed, but I always like to keep a reserve for next week. But if you've sent in some art in the last few months and haven't seen it here, feel free to resend.

Hope to see you all at the chat next week!

Oh, and you can also keep voting on the BONUS piece of Leviathan art!

One Last Piece of Art

Okay, so the novels of Leviathan are done. Finished! We will probably have to wait for some major change in medium (movies? comics?) to see more stories from that world.

This is sad, of course, even though we still have the Manual of Aeronautics coming out next August! The Manual will have dozens of pieces of art showing the machines, beasties, uniforms, and equipment of the world of Leviathan. And it's all in COLOR!

In the meantime, however, I've noticed that a few people felt like SOMETHING was missing from the trilogy itself. Like, they needed ONE last illustration of one sort or another for the series to feel totally complete. So Keith and I have decided to create a final piece of art to satisfy your whims. (Yes, we all know that your whims are infinite and will never be satisfied. But we can PRETEND, can't we?)

We aim to please, after all.

So you will be voting on what this image should be, Keith will be drawing it, and I shall post it here as an early Hanukwanzmas present to you all!

After extensive research into comment threads, Westerforum discussions, and random reviews of Goliath, I have identified four illustrations that the Leviathan trilogy didn't contain, that you most want to see:

1) Deryn in a dress.

Many of you have expressed a need to see this image, for a certain kind of closure, I suppose. After all, Deryn literally starts out the series by putting on boy's clothes, so you want to see her come first circle. I doubt she would approve, but Alek would, so we'll put her in a dress if you want!

2) Alek in a dress.

Because you just want this. Needless to say, Alek wouldn't approve either, but it would be pretty darn amusing. And Deryn would approve!

3) The Kiss, but a close-up.

There were many complaints that the illustration of a Certain Event at the end of Goliath was from a SLIGHTLY wide angle. Some of you clearly want that image to be shown in close-up. I doubt that either Alek or Deryn would approve of SNOOPING, of course, but it's not like they don't do a lot of snooping themselves.

4) Bovril in a dress, or a goatee, or just doing whatever's funny.

Everyone approves more Bovril, I assume. Including the wee beastie itself.

Vote for the one you want in the comment thread below. Feel free to use this space to cajole, debate with, and pressure your peers! (Despite what they tell you in health class, that's what peers are for: pressuring!)

Also, if I'm missing anything, say so below. Write-in candidates are welcome.

Fan Art Friday (catching up edition)

I'm finally catching up on my FAF backlog. There were two weeks of tour-FAF with a Halloween FAF in between, a missed week due to the Shay's Story cover (and laziness), and of course all those weeks I missed during tour. But at long last FAF is moving forward!

Here's one image that was given to me on tour, but was forgotten because it was handed to me on an iPhone, then emailed. (It's made of PIXELS.) It's from Alli, is called "NOOOO!" and is a Tesla's-eye-view of a certain climactic event in Goliath.

Yes, the end of a tesla-sparkle-cane looks like an ouchy place to be.

I like this one of Deryn by Hillary, called "Miss Sharp." Clearly she's in female clothing, but this must be a bit after the Great War ends, because it's 1920s-looking. (I think.)

Really cool clothes, actually. I think Deryn will look excellent in the '20s, which will also be her 20s. (Alek and Deryn were both born in 1899, after all.)

I LOVE this whale-o-plane combination of Leviathan and How to Train Your Dragon by Adventaim!

It just makes me smile.

And here's some hydrogen-sniffer love from ladygreyembyr:

I like the texture on this one. But man, hydrogen-sniffers are anxiety-making when you really look at them. That's what I like about Keith—he's not afraid to draw some disturbing stuff.

And for you Uglies fans whose ears just perked up, this just missed the Halloween cosplay edition. Specials!

I must say, that line never gets old. I know someone who's getting it tattooed on their arms, so we may be seeing it here on FAF soon.

Okay, that's only five FAs, but Friday in the US is drawing to a close, it's done here in Sydney, and I need to make lunch!

See you early next week for a special poll. (You will enjoy it.)

Fan Art Friday (at last)

Oops.

I sort of didn't do FAF last week, because I was all excited about the Uglies manga AKA Shay's Story cover. (And lazy. Also because I was lazy.) But here is a FAF for you all! And because I'm in Australia, it's a day early for you North and South Americans.

This post completes the job started back on October 29, which is showing you all the art I've received while on tour. Next Friday (promises, promises) I'll get back to posting the art I've received since tour started.

So here we go, starting with something that's not quite fan art, but is pretty cool to look at.

One of my favorite things on tour is when people give me books to signed that are obviously well read. Like, in-the-bathtub, on-the-bus, under-the-covers read. Sometimes readers apologize for their tattered copies, but I take it as a compliment. And especially excellent are the signs of notations and post-itting.

So check this out:

This was only DAYS after Goliath came out, and already the book was festooned with post-its and notes. NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL READING.

And in case you think this is a unique event, I got a whole set of the trilogy receiving the same treatment at my Books of Wonder event:

So yeah. That's cool.

Here's a painting of the Leviathan in its friendly I'm-a-whale mode.

It's interesting how for some readers the airbeast is a big, scary monster thing, but others see it more as a friendly animal. Clearly, for some people beasties are always a win.

Here's a happy sketch of Tazza that makes the same point:

Another type of fan art that I only see while on tour is the GREAT BIG SIGN. As in this one:

Now, you can see why I might like this sign in particular. But all signs are cool.

Also popular with me? Cookies.

The Austin Teen Book Festival folks did these cover cookies for all us authors, but I'm still counting it as fan art. (And, reader, I ate it.)

Here's a piece of Midnighters fan art! A flame-bringer symbol rendered in clay.

That's it for the tour fan art. I guess there's a bit of space left here, and you didn't get any FAF last week, so let me round up with a cool bunch of images from Lego-master Tyler, who won a prize for this series of Leviathan-inspired works.

The Stormwalker!

The Ottoman Scorpion!

The German monoplane!

The Huxley!

And finally, the Tesla cannon.

Pretty nice work, huh?

Congrats to all you NaNoWriMoers who are more than halfway home. In case you missed them, here are a set of tips that Justine and I did two Novembers ago.

Good luck for the rest of the month, and see you all next week!

Uglies Manga Cover

Hey, all. It's Friday and time for FAF, but I'm delaying my weekly fan art feature till tomorrow.

Why? Because it's time to reveal the cover for the Uglies manga, also known as Uglies: Shay's Story!

The image is by Steven Cunmmings, the interior artist. It's a picture of Shay herself, presumably just emerging from being made pretty. She has that pretty vacant look in her eyes. Of course, the book starts way before that, several months before the novels before the novels, in fact!

Click here for an interview with me and Devin Grayson, my co-writer on the manga, with Girls Read Comics Too. You'll also get some images from the books.

Click here for my own FAQ, answering your questions about the books.

And here for the original announcement about the series back at San Diego Comic Con. More art to look at!

And finally, here's the back cover of Shay's Story, with all the promo copy.

See you tomorrow for Fan Art Friday (um, on Saturday).

Fan Art Friday, Cosplay Edition

Hey, everyone! I am headed to Sydney in a matter of days. DAYS!

But it's almost Friday, so instead of packing I've spend the morning on this Hallowe'en FAF, starring you guys in wonderful steampunk and Uglies costumes. (Sorry if I'm missing a few names. I had a lot of these pics around.)

Let's start with this awesome Stormwalker contraption:

That is one cool cosutme, though I fear it would be less than optimal for dancing. (Note that the kid on the right is wearing a Whoopie Cushion costume. Hmm.)

And here's an awesome Mr. Sharp pumpkin:

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I have a theory that the internets have improved pumpkin carving, because the potential audience for pumpkins is so much larger. Instead of mere dozens of people seeing your carving work, thousands will!

Here's Dr. Barlow by Jett, complete with dog-with-streaked-fur-as-Tazza!

And now for a plethora of Deryns!

Sarah:

Lauren:

Sabrina:

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Dixie:

And Lizzy:

And, because I am disorganized, another anonymous!

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Julia sent me this goggle-gif:

And here's a Deryn and Alek pair, anonymously (as in, I forgot the names) from Twitter. Wear your steampunk geekery with pride! At work!

A quartet of steampunkers from Mallory, because more is better!

And this comic from (argh, can't find the name!, showing what Alek and Deryn dressed up like this Halloween:

The dialog is, of course, a joke about Alek's sticky-outy ears.

Finally, a Special Tally-wa from Ally-wa, complete with hoverboard:

Don't forget, the Show Us Your Steampunk contest is still happening over on FaceBook. Just take a picture of yourself in a steampunk outfit holding a copy of one of the Leviathan books, and you're in. Just click here for details.