Katharine Beutner's Blog, page 19

Me & my first novel

Me & my novel

Originally uploaded by Katharine B.

Last week, a box of real, true, honest-to-god hardback copies of Alcestis appeared at my house. My lovely editor Katie had told me that the final copies were printed before Christmas, but I didn't know how long mine would take to arrive. My official publication date is February 1, and with the holidays and all, I didn't know when to expect them.

I was in Philly last week for MLA — a trip that went remarkably smoothly, despite the whole...

Yowch.

It's just turned from Christmas Eve eve to actual Christmas Eve, and I'm still up, having just rewatched Casino Royale for no very good reason that I can determine. (Well, okay, .) I remembered it as being much more charming than it was.

So, for a palate cleanser, some links to books by and about people who are about as different from James Bond as possible, and also know how to write endings without making them unintentionally hilarious:

Justine Larbalestier posts about the pleasure...

Recommending some recommendations

A quick thank you to the wonderful Elizabeth Loupas, who invited me to write a guest blog post about Alcestis for her blog. Elizabeth and I share our lovely agent, Diana Fox, and we both write historical fiction. (Elizabeth's The Second Duchess will be out in February 2011.) This month, Elizabeth has been doing a great series of holiday book recommendations. If you're still seeking last-minute present ideas, check out her blog for a list of suggestions. I'll be writing up my own...

Bits of book news

Just got sent the advance proof of  a nice review of Alcestis from Booklist! And there was much rejoicing.

I'm also starting to plan the book launch party, which will probably be on the afternoon of February 7 at a wonderful bookstore in Austin. More news about this as soon as the date, time, etc., are firmed up. Suggestions for launch party activities are welcome, too. It's, uh, not the kind of book that lends itself to raffles or games. Maybe I could put together an "untangle this...

Ancient Greece: not shy about sex

A quick link to an article in the Guardian about a new Athenian exhibition of Greek visual art depicting all sorts of sexuality. The author notes that Aristophanes "devis[ed:] 106 ways of describing the male genitals and 91 those of the female," which I feel is remarkable all on its own. Even more remarkable, maybe, is the sensible age limit imposed for viewing the exhibition. Museum visitors under 16 are encouraged not to enter the most graphic section of the gallery without accompaniment by ...

The beautiful undead

Okay, one more post about Twilight and then I'm done for now, I promise. I wanted to link to the best article about the books I've read so far, Jenny Turner's piece at the London Review of Books, "The Beautiful Undead." Turner hits many of the same notes that other journalists and bloggers have: there's the lament for the lost complexities of Buffy, the mention of Meyer's Mormonism, the raised eyebrow at the book's not-so-subliminal argument for chastity.

But Turner's essay is more...

'Twilight' addendum

In the comments to Justine Larbalestier's great new post on the ways that Twilight has influenced reviewers of YA fantasy, Aja posted this brilliant bingo card:

This makes me sad, but not for the reasons you might expect. Since Alcestis isn't YA fantasy, I'm afraid that I will never get a review in which the reviewer doubts my commitment to ~Sparkle Motion~.

I was thinking about connections between Alcestis and Twilight the other day, after a brief discussion of Twilight with my students...

How to be gorgeous

I'm thankful for Stephen Fry, who really is quite lovely:

Twilight girls

Today I was interviewed by a UT broadcasting student about the Twilight phenomenon and the question of how reading romances affects women (particularly young women). The student putting together the story found me through one of the students in my Women's Popular Genres class, which I know I've mentioned before, because it's been delightful. I still can't claim to know much about Twilight — I've seen the movie (at T.'s insistence!) but haven't yet read the book — but I am fascinated by the...

A monument

In Cold Blood is one of my favorite books, but I tend to forget that — as much as I love nonfiction, I always think of fiction first when somebody asks me about my favorites. Little Truman's slender book gets crushed beneath Middlemarch and Pride and Prejudice. I reread In Cold Blood this summer for the workshop I attended at the Mailer Writers Colony, though, and that reread reminded me just how profoundly Capote's book shaped the true-crime narrative. Every crappy cable show about cold...