Scott Westerfeld's Blog, page 27

July Art Reveal (Voting)

It's almost July 1, and time for another art reveal! As usual, YOU get to decide which piece of Goliath art shall be unveiled.

This time we have no less than four pieces of art to vote on. Three are the former defeated contestants, just in case you've changed your minds about them, but the last is all new.

So will it be the high angle shot from the June reveal, Number 1?

Or the threatening weather vista, also from June, Number 2?

Or the also-ran from way back in March, Number 3?

Or finally, there's this new one that you MIGHT find intriguing . . . Number 4.

Leave your votes in the comment thread below. And use this space to wheedle, coax, and inveigle your fellow fans to your cause. Because democracy is good.

I shall close the polls after 250 votes.

Forum Meet-Up Transcript

Yesterday at 2PM, me and a hundred-ish fans from the WesterForum hung out for about an hour and a half, and I answered many questions. For those of you who weren't able to attend, I' have compiled them into this blog post, typos and all! (So. Many. Typos.)

Enjoy:

"What kind of juice do you like?"

There are many juices I love. Mango! Pear! (Especially pear cider.) Apple!

"So Scott there's been a rivalry going on (on the forum obviously) , based on the question : If the crew of the Leviathan got in a fight with Special Circumstances who would win? What's your opinion?"

I think in a close-quarters fight the Specials would win, because they're too quick. But in a proper battle, the Leviathan could mess them up with strafing hawks or bat-poo without ever being in danger.

"WHATS GOING ON WITH CROY?! CAN YOU GIVE US ANY INFO ON HIM?! "

That info will be released at Leaky Con and Comic Con. THAT'S ONLY A FEW WEEKS. But I can't tell you anything now, except maybe . . . you will SEE HIM.

"Did you use the same models on the cover of Goliath that you used on Leviathan and Behemoth?"

Yes. Same models, same photo shoot on the same day. Sometime I'll show you guys the unaltered photos.

"At any point in Behemoth, does Dr. Barlow know that Deyrn is a girl? It has been a topic of great debate."

Hah! Not saying now, but you WILL learn the answer to that in Goliath.

"Have you ever met someone in real life who reminds you of your characters?

Or vice versa."

Hmm, not really. Although sometimes I see someone and say, 'Whoa, he/she's a total pretty!'

"Nice to meet you, btw. (and tell hi to Justine (Mrs. Larbaleister (sp?)) for me, please!)"

It's Dr. Larbalestier, in fact.

"Can Justine cook?"

She's a great cook of Thai food, and she wants me to add that she's a good boxer too. (She's been taking lessons.)

"What TV shows do you watch?"

Game of Thrones, Treme, just finished Vampire Diaries,

"This isn't really a question, just a comment. I thought you'd like to know that I used to like history, and Leviathan made me love it again. I might even try writing something historical-ish myself. "

Yay!

"Is Lilit lesbian/bi? (Please say yes.)"

They didn't really have those categories for women back then, but she would be if she was alive today. (Strange but true fact: Male homosexuality was illegal in England back then, but female homosexuality wasn't because lawmakers REFUSED TO BELIEVE IT EXISTED.)

"In Uglies, there are many messages, some obvious, some not so much. What messages/lessons do you want readers to take away from Leviathan?"

Hmm. I think that the big theme is about how different sides of a conflict (war or just ideological/technological) see each other, and how that can change when people are forced to work together.

"What kind of music do you like? (Do you like Florence+and the machine?)"

I like minimalism and trip-hop, and I don't know of this Florence person.

"What is your opinion on the Hunger Games? (Will you see the movie?)"

Want to see the movie. Liked the first book, but didn't read the others.

"When will you go on tour?"

September 17. DON'T KNOW WHERE YET! NOT MY CHOICE WHERE.

"Would you like to join my band of Ninjas?"

I have already infiltrated your band of ninjas!

"Do you like writing about diseases? Peeps was about parasites, Innoculata had to do with a virus and in So Yesterday the main characters dad is a Epidimiologist (I think)."

I love all kinds of biology, like beasties too. Studied philosophy of biology in college. (Yes, that's a real thing.)

"Scott-la, in the Uglies series who was the most interesting character to create?"

Hmm, maybe Mr. Simpson Smith, because he talked funny and had a very different view of the world from everyone else.

"Is there a ball, wedding, or some other formal scene in Goliath?"

Yes!

"Will we ever see Deryn in a dress in the final book?

I need some hope..

Secret!

"Were you annoyed with my pie questions at the last meet up? xD"

No!

" I love Eddie is he important in Goliath?? "

Hmm, this is spoilery, but yes he is important in Goliath. In fact, no one just disappears.

"Is Goliath the end of the Leviathan universe? I know you are writing the Manual of Aeronautics, but that won't have any stories in it. Is there an Extras style book planned?"

Nothing planned, but I have a "prequel" to Goliath, sort of. It was a short story I was writing and decided to dump because I wanted to do a whole trilogy. And I mean to publish it sometime.

"Any Leviathan movie news that you would like to share?"

A contract is being written. Until it is signed, I can say no more!

"Have you ever tried fencing? Would you take lessons from Count Volger?"

Yes, in college. He sounds mean as a teacher, though. I'm a lazy student at physical stuff.

"Did you name Volger Ernst because that was the name Archduke Ferdinand named his son?"

Yes! Bonus points to you! He is the Ernst I erased from history.

"And how close was Volger and the Archduke exactly? Did he name his son after Volger?"

Volger's not historical, so your second question is a no. But in my world they were very close, though they went through a bad patch when Volger told the Archduke not to marry Sophie.

"I'm Hungarian. Do we go to Hungary next?"

Sorry, no Hungary stuff in Goliath.

"What's Lilit's last name?"

I don't know. (Naming varies a lot back then, however. She probably just would have been known as 'Lilit, daughter of Zaven.'

"Do you find it interesting when we ship characters?"

YES! I love all the fan fics.

"Oh yeah, and how's that bloke in your closet doing?"

He's almost done with his master's degree, and then I think he's getting a PhD.

(This is an inside joke at the Forum. Do not be alarmed.)

"Ok, so since the Leviathan series is almost over, do you already have another series in mind? Or is the new Croy project the next big thing?"

Not a whole series, yet. But a standalone novel is in my head and there's the Cory project and a graphic novel I'm writing.

"What kind of copyright it the leviathan trilogy and who holds it? will there eventually be a creative commons version?"

Not sure about more short stories. Leviathan is under normal copyright, held by me, but write all the fan fiction you want.

"Any advice on worldbuilding?"

Pay attention to how THIS world works, and how complicated it is.

"And, has anyone in real life been an inspiration for a character in the Leviathan series?"

Hmm, not really, except for those historical women who really pretended to be boys.

"Scott can you imagine that if you came to our houses we'd freak out and be like the lady in 'Misery' the movie/book?"

Thanks for the warning!

"Oh, and are Dr. Barlow and Volger in love? Us fans would die of happiness if they were!"

Barlow is married! (But they have a special bond.)

"Will you be coming to Texas any time soon?"

YES, I'm booked at the Austin Teen Book Festival, and therefore other TX cities are probably on tour.

"Okay, I HAVE to ask–will there ever be an Uglies movie?"

Maybe! New deal in the works. Will post news when contract signed.

"Are you going to see the last harry potter movie in the theatre?"

Yes, at Leaky Con, with Maureen Johnson.

"What was the weirdest thing you've ever been asked to sign?"

Answered that at the last meet-up, and I can't remember what. Does anyone else?

(Further research revealed the answer to be, "A bra.")

"On Justine's website she says that she doesn't drive cars. Do you drive cars? If no, does that have anything to do with Uglies?"

True, we don't have a car or even licenses. And it KIND OF has to do with Uglies, in that I have environmental issues with them.

I never live anywhere where a car is essential.

"Ok, guys why don't we just wait and let him answer all the questions we've already asked."

Hah! Good luck with that.

"Are we going to see some sword fighting from Alek, Deryn, or particularly Voger in Goliath?"

Yes! There are swords! And a thing that's not QUITE a sword.

"How many chapters are in Goliath?"

Um, 44 or 45.

"Have you eaten any pie lately?"

Not lately. But I will today IN YOUR HONOR.

"Can you give a vague description of the setting of the book after Goliath?"

Contemp US and a sort of mystical afterworld.

"Will you come to Europe?"

Yeah, but no plans at the moment. France wants me to come in a couple of years.

Where i really want to go is Brazil.

"Do you watch any anime or read any manga???"

Nana, Blood+, Monster, Princess Tutu, Moribito, Full Metal Alchemist, Pluto, 20th Century Boys.

"Why did you choose today as the meetup day? Do you like having meetups on the two year anniversary of MJ? xD"

Didn't realize.

"Do you have a pic of the cool shoe lacing from So Yesterday? I hvent been able to find a pattern like that anywhere…"

One of my foreign editions has it. Search for So Yesterday on all my blog posts and go through them.

(I looked for this ,but still can't find it.)

"Shuffling through some old blog posts I saw that you had posted about the possibility of a 'So Yesterday' movie. Is there still a chance it might be a movie?"

No, that fell apart. (But I got some money. Yay!)

"Do you like emilie autumn? muse?"

Don't know them

"What is your favorite book you wrote?"

Hmm, Peeps was the most magical experience. Like, every time I had a plot problem, parasites solved it!

"Is Lilit gonna get married as a part of a plot in Goliath? (guessing this due to the April Fools joke pic). The plot due to the knife and the fact that Lilith obviusly wouldn't get married for love anyways (i don't think). 'Specially since we know now she's gay/bi. (not saying gay/bi people shouldn't get married, just saying I hihgly doubt it was legal back then)."

Heh, I will say that she's a part of the book, but THAT IS ALL.

"Do you like the television show House?"

Never saw it. I don't watch much realism.

"Have you ever watched A very Potter musical???"

No.

"Does the Leviathan have a tail?"

Yes! You will SEE it and we will GO back there in Goliath.

"(If no one disappears in your books) what happened to Croy?"

He is saving himself for May/June 2012.

"will there be any good makeout scenes in goliath ??"

Yes there will be kisses . . . BUT WHO?

"Will volger die 'cuz his first name meens fight to the death?"

EVERYONE DIES IN GOLIATH. (Not really.)

"My twinbrother would like to know: will there be new awesome warmachines or beasties?"

BOTH.

"Last time, you mentioned Newkirk doesn't have a first name. Can you make one up now?"

Um, I leave that to you guys.

"We know that 'Hearst' from the Goliath Word Cloud is William Randolph Hearst, but who's 'Rogers'?"

Um, I can't remember.

"I want deryn to tell alek so badly… you dragged it out for so long! why? why?"

The tears of my readers keep me young.

"My brother also wants to know if we'll see anything with the clanker dirigibles?"

YES.

"How do you feel about people torturing your characters in fan fics and fan art, i.e. making them stupid, confused, killing them, and/or maiming them?"

Go for it.

"Ok, so is that Goliath prequel your next big thing or is there another new series?"

Like I said, there's a standalone novel, and the Croy project, and a graphic novel.

"Is the Croy project really about Croy? Or is that just what you're calling it?"

That's just what I'm calling it. BECAUSE YOU ARE ALL OBSESSED WITH CROY.

"Eugene William Newkirk for the win! *fistbump*"

IT IS DECIDED.

"How did David get his eyebrow scar? Or is that one of those questions that you leave for the fans to decide? (I have already written a fanfic on it )"

Revealed in the Croy project!

"Will there ever be a Leviathan video game?"

I hope so, but no plans yet.

"Do you want a pet message lizard?"

Hmm. Hard to take care of, going back and forth between Sydney and NYC.

"Do you like Berry Burst Icecream Oreos?"

THEY SOUND INTRIGUING!

"Will there be a Russian revolution in the Leviathan-verse?"

We don't get all the way to 1917, so not in the books.

"ALSO ….. my mother wants to know if there is another Risen Empire coming soon???"

Alas no.

"And if you have: Can you tell us just the last word? Not the last sentence, just the last word."

It is . . . 'allies'

"Will anyone go to the US?"

YES.

"Will there ever be a Leviathan Lego kit? "

This came up in my last marketing meeting, and I said I will sign any paper necessary to make that happen. But nothing brewing yet.

"And have you ever tried the 'real' Bovril (the edible kind)?"

No. I'm a vegetarian.

"Have you finished Goliath yet?"

Yup!

"How do you feel about this forum as a whole?"

I think it's great how big it is! But I haven't read that much of it. It's kind of you guys's thing, not mine.

"If you could have one machine/beastie from Levi exist in our would, what would It be?"

The Leviathan itself. I would fly on it!

"Do you have skype and so would u like to come to our after meet up skype party?"

I don't skype much, and I must do WORK.

"Do you ever base your characters off yourself or family members? (My first serious question beside the Croy questions!)"

Not really. Maybe little bits of them, like not liking chocolate or a turn of phrase.

"Will there ever be a creative commons attribution non-commercial share-alike license?"

Maybe if I ever get around to it. I'd almost rather throw it all into the public domain. Simpler that way.

"Thanks, Scott!!!!!!! I can't wait for all these new projects. Will the graphic novel be from the same illustrator that does Levi?"

No. Keith's too slow and complicated to do a graphic novel.

"Will this place ever have feeds or something like identi.ca."

I don't know what that is.

"Who do you like better, Alek or Deyn?"

Deryn's more fun to write, because she's basically happier and better adjusted. But Alek's a bit more thoughtful.

"Is there any reason that I couldn't request a friend of a friend to make me a t-shirt to be made that said 'Team Cable' or 'Special Circumstances' or 'I don't want to hurt you but I will if I have to' or other quotes from Uglies on it?? Because I don't want to get in any trouble for making one if it's not legal–so is it okay to make an Uglies themed t-shirt for myself?"

Rock out! For personal use is okay with me.

"will this forum ever be in real-time?"

Hmm, I don't know exactly what that means, so not soon. I'll ask my webmistress.

"Would you consider writing another steampunk novel?"

Not for a while. Wouldn't want to repeat myself.

"What is your favorite type of Leviathan Fan fiction?"

The more weird and unexpected, the more I like it.

"is the Goliath a beastie or a clanker machine?? dying of curiosity here!!"

Machine!

"Do you like bugs?"

Yes, but not in my food.

"Are you heading to the MA area anytime soon?"

Probably not.

"Have you ever used an IRC?"

Not for a long time.

"Has anybody ever recognized you and freaked out?"

An elevator full of librarians did once at ALA (a librarian conference) and they screamed!

"If I mentioned pie if I ever saw you, would you recognize me as Allie-wa?"

Lots of people ask me about pie, but I would still know it was YOU.

"Scott. MOST important question EVER…….Do you…own a blue bucket?"

I did, but it was stolen.

"Okay, so when Volger said that Dr. Barlow was an 'interesting woman,' he wasn't declaring his undying love for her?"

He's cagier than that, I think.

"does anyone important in the series die in goliath?"

People die, and I bet THEY think they're important.

"Do you look at xkcd comics?"

Love them.

"I'm eating a kiwi gummy."

Sounds yummy.

"How tall Is Deryn?"

Rather tall for her time. 5'10″ or so.

"What color are Deryn's eyes?"

Don't know. Brown, I think. (Further research revealed that they are BLUE.)

"Will you come to central Europe?"

Would love to. Let's hope Leviathan does well in Germany.

"Are you a Nerdfighter?"

Not really. But I know and love many, and I try not to forget to be awesome.

"And how much shorter is Alek??? (than Deryn)"

Two inches-ish.

"In all your books and short stories, what scene was the funnest one you've ever written and why?"

Peeps. See earlier answer.

"What was the most annoying question you've ever been asked?"

Argh. Maybe this one.

"I know you are team zombie-but if there was a zombified Unicorn……..would you be team Zombicorn?"

I'd still be Team Zombie. I don't want to shoot a horsey.

"Would Eddie use a camera kinda like this? [photo attached]"

Yes. But his camera's in an illustration in Goliath, isn't it?

"Will there ever be a live meetup??"

How would this work? Suggestions?

"What was your favorite part of Leviathan?"

Tossing out the gold.

"What was your favorite part of Behemoth?"

Maybe the sultan's palace? Or the kiss.

"What was your favorite part of Goliath?"

The part where everyone DIES. (heh) Or maybe a certain KISS.

"What is your favorite Beastie?"

Bovril or the poo-bats.

"What is your favorite machine?"

The Stormwalker.

"I did my shoes with the lacing pattern from So Yesterday!! Ill have to post it."

DO IT!

Okay, that's it! Hope some of you Forum-shirkers come to the next one.

Fan Art Friday

At last! Here is another edition of Fan Art Friday for your art-viewing pleasure.

But first . . . it's time for another meet-up on the Forum. For those of you who don't hang out there, the Forum is roughly 99% of this site. It has over 30,000 members and about half a million posts. And once every couple of months, I hang out there and answer ALL the questions.

So let's do one next Saturday, June 25, at 2PM, US-EST. (Sorry, I know that's the middle of the night for Australia.) Come one, come all, and I shall try as always to answer as many of your questions as humanly possible.

And now to the fan arts . . .

As previously moaned about, I have read a bajillion fan fics, and it's really too hard to choose just a few, because so many are so good. But I will choose just ONE, because it was quite off-center and unexpected. Even original.

It's set many years before Alek or Deryn were born, when the Archduke Ferdinand and his wife-to-be Sophie first met. Now because there are historical characters, this might not have been a Leviathan fan fic at all. But there is a big WALKER at the beginning, so it totally counts.

Check it out, "Prague", by fanfiction.net's Cardboard Edward.

And while we're talking fan fic, here's some fic-related art, a cover created by LinnetLove for a piece of fan fic by Victorian Bombshell (Hah, I got two fics in there):

From Brazil, here is Irwin Dias' dyptich of disturbing delight, featuring Dr. Cable and Special Tally:

Scary Special teeth are scary!

And now for a big bunch of pencil pieces. First, from Mercedes, here's a picture from the ever-popular (and complicated) theme of The Lilit Triangle!

A cool split personality Deryn from Michelle, The Clanker, and color pencil sketch by her:

From Angel Sun, a CUTE manga-style Deryn and Bovril:

And finally from Ellyn, here's a pre-crossdressing Deryn, looking discontent in her non-uniform!

It's actually kind of weird to think of Deryn in address, isn't it? And that's the way it should be, too.

Enjoy your weekends!

Various Cons and Walker Wednesday

Hey, all. Sorry I haven't been posting much, but I've been acclimatizing to New York and getting rested for a summer (and fall) of travel and appearances! The Goliath tour will start a few days before September 20, when the book comes out. I DON'T KNOW YET where I'll be going on tour, but I'll post here when I do, and in the meantime I'll be doing a few events on my own.

Event 1

I'll be at Comic Con in San Diego, July 20-25! As always, it is sold out. But for those of you coming, here's what I'm doing:

Sunday, July 24

11:15-12:15AM Building the World of Leviathan, an Illustrated Steampunk Series. Bestselling YA author Scott Westerfeld (Uglies, Midnighters) discusses how illustrated adventure novels disappeared in the early 20th Century, and how he worked with artist Keith Thompson to create one for the 21st, Leviathan, a steampunk re-imaging of WWI. Lots of visuals (and some secret news about Uglies).

There's another panel about teen comics that I'll be in, but it's not confirmed yet. It will probably be Thursday, July 21, 4:30-5:30.

Event 2

I'll also be at Leakycon in Orlando FL, from July 13-17. I'll be appearing there for Lit Day, July 13, a YA-fest run by the tireless Maureen Johnson.

Sorry, but Lit Day also appears to be sold out! For those of you who are coming, here are the bits with me:

All Wednesday, July 13

10:00-10:50AM

Let's Talk about Vampires: Let's just do it. Let's just talk about vampires. Why do people love these toothy freaks? Is there any new territory? Will they ever go away? Do we really want them to? We're just going to talk about vampires, because someone has to. (GT I)

With: John Green, Scott Westerfeld, Robin Wasserman, Barry Goldblatt, Jennifer Laughran Moderator: Maureen Johnson

11:00-11:50AM

The Scott Westerfeld Experience: Scott Westerfeld discusses working with an artist to create his illustrated steampunk series, Leviathan. He reveals hitherto unseen artwork from the final book in the series, Goliath, and from his latest top secret project. (AT I)

12:30-1:20PM

Love and Romance: What's the deal here? Common wisdom says girls demand these things in their books and boys dislike them… but is that true? How do authors decide how to handle the squishy bits of life? How is LGBTQ literature bringing a fresh perspective? How far can scenes go? Is there really a difference between a love story and a romance novel? This panel wants to be in a relationship with you on Facebook, so you know it is serious. (GT II)

With: Ally Carter, John Green, Kate Schafer-Testerman, Scott Westerfeld, Stephanie Perkins, David Levithan Moderator: Robin Wasserman

1:30-2:20PM

I Was a Teenage Author: Think all published authors start out writing works of pure, undiluted genius? Think your work is terrible and you'll never get anywhere, ever? Be prepared to be amazed. Authors read actual works from their tortured teenage years, giving you hope and inspiration to keep going. (TT IV)

With: Scott Westerfeld, David Levithan, Libba Bray, John Green, Robin Wasserman, Stephanie Perkins Moderator: Maureen Johnson

And at 2:30 I'll be signing. (Dude, Maureen is a harsh taskmistress. WHY ARE THERE NO BREAKS?)

And finally, it's time for another Walker Wednesday, the extremely infrequent feature on this blog where I share images of Clanker-ish or not walking machines. This one is from Japan's Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, and has the lovely name "HRP-4C humanoid."

And it walks kinda like this:

(via io9)

Hmm. Not quite Uncanny Valley, and not quite human-like. Just sort of . . . disturbingly careful.

There's a weird thing about walkers, whether they have a face or not. Because they walk, like us humans do, we see their walking in human terms. Their movements look angry, or jaunty, or drunken to us, in a way that cars (or anything else with wheels) never quite do. And as a novelist, that expressiveness makes walkers more interesting to me than other kinds of machines.

Not that you can't write an evil car, like Steven King's Christine, but it's still very different, dramatically and novelistically speaking, when a machine stands up.

I think the world will get much more weird when more of our devices start to walk around.

June Art Reveal

Here is the Goliath art reveal for June, based on your voting!

I was going to wait until 300 votes had come in, but by vote number 222 one of the illustrations had achieved an unassailable lead! Here's what I mean:

Illustration One: 125 votes

Illustration Two: 17 votes

Illustration Three: 29 votes

With 78 votes left to be counted, even if Illustration three got all of them, number one was still going to win. SO I STOPPED COUNTING, which I'm sure would be cool with the Supreme Court, who are all, like, whatever about this stuff.

So here we have it, Illustration One!

Click the image for a bigger, zoomable version.

Now, some of you may have noticed that it is time for Fan Art Fortnightly, but I have cleverly stomped on it with this art reveal. Why? Is it because I hate fan art?

NO. I LOVES ME SOME FAN ART. But I had foolishly promised to do a Fan Fic Fan Art Fortnightly (AKA FFFAF) and it's been impossible to choose from among the bajillion weird and wonderful fan fics out there. So why don't you guys help me out?

Use this comment thread to suggest to each other any awesome fan fictions you've found, from any of my books.

And in a week or two I'll put up some more drawings, because that's easier.

New Update

Leviathan just sold in Japan! So we'll be seeing the Japanese version in a year or so. Cool, huh?

Art Reveal Democracy

It's June 1, time for another art reveal! And it's time to decide which of the fifty-something pieces of art in Goliath should be unveiled next. Which will have the perfect mix of mystery and appetite-whetting spoileriness?

It is up to you, the readers, to decide . . .

Will it be the enigmatic interior of illustration Number 1?

The extreme high angle of image Number 2?

Or the threatening weather vista of Number 3?

Leave your votes in the comment thread below. And don't just vote. Debate! Squabble! Cajole! Enjoin others to your cause!

And enjoy.

Also check out this fanmade countdown timer to the Goliath release! (Man, that's a long time from now.)

Update!

The splendid librarians of Seattle have launched Steampunk Summer, which means they've hidden copies of both Leviathan and Cherie Priest's awesome Boneshaker in s3krit locations around the city. If you live in Seattle, check out the comments thread here for clues on how to find them!

Then read the book, initial the back, and pass it to a friend or re-hide it.

Then go back to the Steampunk Summer comments thread and leave clues where you hid the book (and where you found it, what you thought of it, etc.).

Then claim a free book at the Library as your prize!

This sounds like fun.

The Curious Case of Klout

Because I wrote Peeps, everyone emails me the latest news on parasites. Thanks to writing Uglies, I'm always up on hovercraft and tattoo technologies. And thanks to the Leviathan series, I get a lot of mail about walking machines.

Being the author of Extras means I hear a lot about Klout.

Klout is a company that generates face-ranks of Twitter users. They have software that constantly scries the "Twitter firehose"—the sum total of everyone's tweets—and boils them down to a set of rankings. Basically Klout behaves like the city interface in Extras. People following you, retweeting you, mentioning you, and using twitter to converse directly with you makes your score go up. People ignoring you makes your score go down.

Unlike Aya's city, Klout doesn't give everyone their own unique number, but gives everyone a score between 1 and 100, with higher scores representing more influence. The scale is logarithmic, like the richter scale, so the distance from 10 to 30 doesn't mean a lot, but the distance from 80 to 100 is vast.

Here are some examples of Klout scores:

Scott Westerfeld: I bounce between 60 and 62

Youtube Magnate John Green: 71

YA Twitter Queen Maureen Johnson: 74

US President Barack Obama: 88

Genuinely Famous Person Lady Gaga: 94

As you can see, Twitter Klout and real-world clout don't necessarily match up. I mean, Lady Gaga can't dispatch Navy Seal teams . . . yet. And possibly running the federal government doesn't leave a lot of time for @replying with your pals. But a high Klout score is a measure of one sort of celebrity, notoriety, fame, and influence. And the idea of scoring everyone in the (online) world is so inherently Extras-like that I knew you guys would be interested in it, so I took a closer look at what Klout were doing.

Last week I had a short phone conversation with the Klout CEO and Co-Founder Jed Shearer. Here are some interesting factoids he unleashed on me:

1) The Twitter firehose that goes into your Klout score includes direct messages. (Note to self: DMs aren't as private as I thought.)

2) The overall scores listed above are the tip of the analysis iceberg. Klout also scores people with regard to specific subject matter. For example, you could have a big sports or literature score, but a crappy cooking or politics score.

3) Klout keeps that more specific data secret, and then sells it to marketing companies, who want to find Twitter "influencers." For example, if you are the biggest manga expert on Twitter, you might get invited to the opening of Akira. (This is actually more So Yesterday than Extras.)

4) There's only ever one person at a time with a Klout score of 100. Basically, they're like Nana Love in Extras, or Christopher Lambert in Highlander. And at the moment that person is . . . Justin Bieber. (Of the clan McBieber.)

There's obviously a lot to talk about here, but it's nice (for me) how the themes in Extras keep popping up. I've seen articles about people with higher Klout score getting hotel upgrades, and of some tech parties only allowing in people with a certain Klout score or above. This is a very mild equivalent of what happens in Aya's city, where your face-rank determines how big your apartment is, how many resources you can consume, etc. Perks for influencers is very old, of course.

My social media expert friends tell me that people have begun "gaming" Klout. That is, they change their online social practices with the sole intent of boosting their score. Some of you may recall the Reputation Bomber clique in Aya's city, who chant one member's name all night to spike his or her face rank. Same basic thing.

Klout seems to me to be simultaneously silly and the first stage of something important. We humans are social creatures, so it's a survival skill to determine the status of the people around us, especially when we're in an unfamiliar environment (or an environment that is being newly created, like Twitter or the internet in general).

You will remember this scene from pretty much every high school movie: The new kid arrives at school, and is led on a social safari by a savvy new friend. Usually set in the cafeteria, this scene often contains the dialog "That's the jocks' table over there." Like Klout itself, these little expository set pieces are an oversimplification, an exaggeration, and a kind of a joke, but they're also useful for learning the lay of the land.

Using math to improve survival skills (the whole Klout enterprise is about computers crunching numbers) is what the last few centuries of human culture has mostly been about. So I'd be surprised if the world didn't wind up with many tech companies whose sole purpose was the tracking, scoring, and gaming of reputations.

So where did I get the idea for the face-rank culture in Extras? From a much simpler source: authors sitting around and checking their books' Amazon rankings. (Amazonomancy is the technical term for this.) A humble beginning, but in a way Amazonomancy is more grounded in reality than anything Klout does.

Book sales are, after all, a reputation marker you can eat.

On Twitter? You can look yourself up here. Or check out my detailed score here.

Fan Art Friday, Now Fortnightly

Yes, having missed fifty percent of the last few Fan Art Fridays, I hereby declare Fan Art Friday to be Fan Art Fortnightly. (It's not easy being a lazy blogger, okay?)

This part 2 of the Non-Drawn Fan Art trilogy, guaranteed to have zero paintings or drawings, but with lashing of tattoos, cosplay, and photography. (Fan fic will be the concluding edition, in two weeks.)

First up we have tattoos, which are the most flattering/disturbing medium of fan art, because they're, like, PERMANENT. This should go without saying, but I'll say it: Do not get fan tattoos without serious consideration!

And yet, kind of awesome.

For all you Midnighters fans, here's an awesome mindcaster tattoo on a fan I met in Florida. I have forgotten his name! (Sorry, dude. But I follow you on Twitter.)

And showing even more commitment, here's an unknown rockstar in Russia who is obviously a huge fan of Keith's!

Photo by Theodor Melmoth.

Note that this isn't from Leviathan, and is Westerfeldian in no way. But as you all love Keith as much as I do, I thought you'd want to see it.

Finally, here are a couple of non-real facial tattoos. (Non-real being the way to go with facial tattoos, I'd say.) The first is from Rachel, and is a mix of Special Tally and the cover of my (very) adult book, Evolution's Darling:

And here's another (fake) Special tattoo, spotted on the Behemoth tour last October:

By the way, if you want to read an academic paper on tattoos and body modification in the Uglies series, click here.

And now for some cosplay! Here's Saiyuki-15, playing multiple roles:

Yes, that's some awesome costuming AND jewelry making.

Here's an intense Dr. Barlow, from FlyingBicycle at Deviant Art.

And now some photography from Zvaella, featuring a page of Leviathan:

Our last piece of FAF is photography plus Photoshoppery, from Ponylov. It's one of my creations that amuses me the most, Shay's eye-clock from Pretties:

It appears to be showing five o'clock, given the angel of the eye and the fact that Shay's clock runs backwards.

So here's a mind-bending question for you: Why does Shay's eye-clock run backward? Yes, it's partly because pretty fashion is always silly, but there's also a perfectly reasonable answer. Bubble-headed Tally and Shay never figure out in the books, but I bet you guys can. First correct commenter gets a virtual fist-bump from me.

Okay, that's it for today. Come back in a fortnight for the all fan-fic Fan Art Fortnightly! Sorry to take so long, but there's a lot to organize.

In the meantime, those of you in the New York City area should remember that my Book Expo America events are coming up next week! Hope to see some of you there.

Blue Mountains

We had a great time in the Blue Mountains, so I thought I'd share some snaps and movies with you guys.

The Blue Mountains' most famous landmark is probably the Three Sisters, which are not in fact siblings but three sticky-uppy rocks. Early-rising tourists are rewarded by seeing them backdropped against the awesome mist coming up from the Megalong Valley.

Yes, it's called the Megalong Valley, but not because it's mega-super-duper-long. The name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning "Valley Under The Rock." (Well, it was thought by early European explorers to mean "Valley Under The Rock," but early European explorers don't really have a good track record with this stuff. Megalong could also mean, "Why are you asking me all these stupid questions, easily sunburnt invader?")

In any case, the Three Sisters are cool:

As you can see, the valley is almost completely unspoiled. No roads in, so you descend into it with a vertiginous walk down among the Sisters.

Yes, that walkway looks crowded, but the valley below is huge. Even mega-huge. So it's easy to find yourself completely alone after walking down a few paths. Well, alone except for the ubiquitous bellbirds, so named for their bell-like cries.

Turn up your volume and put on headphones for this video, the bellbirds make a strange and awesome sound. This is only two singing here, but when the whole forest is full of their cries, it makes for a mesmerizing soundscape.

This is my new iPhone wallpaper, because I love me some Australian bark:

We also saw a lyrebird. They are excellent mimics, but this one was quietly digging for grubs, and so did not mimic, or even taunt us.

For those of you who worry about such things, the collective noun is "a musket of lyrebirds." They have cool tails.

As we climbed out of the valley, I got this shot, proving that the Blue Mountains is beautiful. Not bad for a place only 90 minutes from Sydney.

Click here for the bigness!

That's it for now. See you on Friday.

New Uglies Covers

I'm headed out to the Blue Mountains for a weekend of birthday fun, so there will be no Fan Art Friday this week. Instead, allow me to belatedly roll out the new Uglies covers!

They've been around on the internets for a while, but I haven't shown them here. The new covers are finally leaking into stores, though, so now is a great time to show them.

Click here for the bigger and zoomable version.

Of course, whenever new covers appear online, they create dissent and controversy. Fans mostly don't like new looks for books, because the old covers are the ones they're used to. If you're a fan, after all, that old look was probably the reason you picked up the books in the first place!

So really, the new covers aren't for fans at all. You guys already HAVE my books, after all. These are for all the people who've never picked up Uglies because the old covers looked boring or stupid to them. Maybe they never even noticed the series on the shelves. It's for non-fans (who probably don't read this blog) that this new look exists.

So feel free to complain!

For me the Original Style covers are still classics, but I get why S&S has to hit the refresh button after, what, six years? And you have to admit that these new covers are very lovely indeed, and are unified in a way the Original Flavor ones weren't. (Pretties had a different designer than the other three, in fact. You can tell.) The new ones also have a cool, clinical feel that nails a lot of what the series is about.

But I will take this opportunity to express my appreciation to Rodrigo Corral for his awesome work on the first cover of Uglies. Covers matter, and a lot of you, possibly many thousands, would never have seen the Uglies series without his strokes of genius. And that would mean less food, clothing, and shelter for me. And I like food, clothing, and shelter.

So, thanks, Rodrigo. The rest of you should click here for an archive of his other work. I think you'll agree that the dude rocks.