Elizabeth Fama's Blog, page 4

Homemade Endpapers for Monstrous Beauty (...and a Not-So-Hidden Endorsement of Gender Neutrality in Book Design)

When I sold Monstrous Beauty to FSG, I told the art director that I thought it would be cool if the dust jacket looked like Ezra's battered leather journal, and the endpapers contained his scientific drawings of sea life and mermaids. (Now wouldn't that have been a great gender-neutral package, Maureen Johnson?)
For a recent book giveaway hosted by The Best Books Ever, my daughter made part of that dream come true. These are her homemade endpapers for the winner of an annotated copy of Monstrous Beauty.


Front "endpapers"
Back "endpapers"

Ridiculous Hair and Other Photoshop Annoyances

I was looking at the cover of Moonglow by Michael Griffo, thinking about how ridiculous the photoshopped hair is. I mean, only Totally Hair Barbie has this much hair.


Of course it reminded me of the abundant hair on the hardcover of Elizabeth Miles's Fury, which maybe makes more sense because it's supposed to be made of fire?


And then, continuing my stream-of-consciousness rampage, I remembered how the stock photo used for Fury shows a model who didn't deserve to have her freckles photoshopped out:

(The Czech version of Carrie Ryan's Forest of Hands and Teeth used a more authentic version of the stock photo.)
And I'm thinking, When will so many of our YA covers in the U.S. stop looking like magazine shoots?

Mother's Day

We're the sort of family for whom a Tumblr post serves very well as a Mother's Day gift.

boggycomics:

At the Strand Bookstore in NY, facing a veritable edifice enshrining the Twilight series, I found a cute little book with an unexceptional spine.

I've spent a lot of this Mother's Day thinking about how I gave birth to the people I most want to spend time with.

I'll be Signing MONSTROUS BEAUTY Tomorrow at the Seminary Co-Op Bookstore

Hey guys! Tomorrow, May 11, I'll be at the grand opening celebration of the Seminary Co-op Bookstore, signing copies of Monstrous Beauty. From 10:30 to 11:30 I'll be reading picture books to little kids with my dear friends, authors Carol Saller (Eddie's War) and Kate Hannigan (The Good Fun! Book, and the forthcoming Cupcake Cousins). At 11:30 we'll be signing books and chatting with customers. If you're in Chicago, please come see us!

(And here's a video that shows the bookstore being moved from its beloved former location to its beautiful new location.)

Musings on the Physiology of Paranormal Creatures

Mermaid skeleton via AFP.
This mermaid skeleton was a two-hour art installation on April 1, 2010 in Copenhagen Harbor, when the Little Mermaid statue was sent to China for an exhibition. The fanciful skeleton was created using a human torso and swordfish tail.

Why are these artistic mock-ups (and scientific hoaxes) never based on mammalian anatomy? After all, a mermaid has breasts, so presumably she gives birth to live young and suckles them.

In Monstrous Beauty, Syrenka's tail resembles that of a whale or a porpoise. Unfortunately for the artist (or hoaxer), the skeletal structure of these mammalian tails is not visually compelling—the "paddle" shape of the fluke is made of a dense, fibrous connective tissue, with no bone or cartilage, and so it's not preserved with the skeleton:


Harbor porpoise via Spyhopper.
In my opinion, a much cooler art installation would involve the lower half of a seal, with the bones of the lower leg fused and the feet filling out the fin, so that the implied evolution of the mermaid would at least make a little sense.


Harbor seal via Chickenhawk72.
In other words: can we please have plausible science with our fantasy?

The Madeleine Project

fabulousfoods.com
The brilliant Kristina Perez was kind enough to include me in her "Madeleine Project." What is The Madeleine Project, you ask? Well, she uses the Proust Questionnaire to delve into the minds and memories of writers. Check out my answers here!

Oscar Party At ALA!

(Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

I'M GOING TO PICK UP MY FIRST OSCAR!

Well, not quite, but it feels like it! I've been invited to attend the Odyssey Award ceremony at ALA Chicago, where Katy Kellgren and the audio team at Macmillan will receive the honor award for Best Audiobook for Monstrous Beauty.

Here's the crazy idea I've been kicking around for a few weeks now, since Colby Sharp inadvertently planted the idea in my mind: I want to have an ALA After-Party. It'll be a full-blown Oscars-like dinner-and-champagne event, at my house. And I want all of you to come. Well, all of you who are my bookish-industry friends: authors, agents, editors, publishers, librarians, teachers, and bloggers. I live a very short five miles down Lake Shore Drive from McCormick Place. The cab ride, split a few ways, is practically free. The food and drink will be free.

I looked at the ALA schedule, and I think Saturday, June 29th has no other special award dinners. But I'm not sure the online schedule is complete, and I don't want to interfere with real events. Are any of you going to ALA? Does Saturday seem good? WILL YOU COME? I want to meet you!

If the event gels, I'll need to approve your attendance—I might even send you a ticket to print out, and have my son's burly friend act as bouncer at the door—but I really want this to be inclusive, merry, and full of industry professionals. If it turns out to be too big for my house, which has comfortably fed 40 in the past (buffet style), I'll set up a tent in the yard and we can have double that many people.

Tell me what you think! (But don't bother saying I'm insane. That I know.)

Oscar Party for ALA!

(Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

I'M GOING TO PICK UP MY FIRST OSCAR!

Well, not quite, but it feels like it! I've been invited to attend the Odyssey Award ceremony at ALA Chicago, where Katy Kellgren and the audio team at Macmillan will receive the honor award for Best Audiobook for Monstrous Beauty.

Here's the crazy idea I've been kicking around for a few weeks now, since Colby Sharp inadvertently planted the idea in my mind: I want to have an ALA After-Party. It'll be a full-blown Oscars-like dinner-and-champagne event, at my house. And I want all of you to come. Well, all of you who are my bookish-industry friends: authors, agents, editors, publishers, librarians, teachers, and bloggers. I live a very short five miles down Lake Shore Drive from McCormick Place. The cab ride, split a few ways, is practically free. The food and drink will be free.

I looked at the ALA schedule, and I think Saturday, June 29th has no other special award dinners. But I'm not sure the online schedule is complete, and I don't want to interfere with real events. Are any of you going to ALA? Does Saturday seem good? WILL YOU COME? I want to meet you!

If the event gels, I'll need to approve your attendance—I might even send you a ticket to print out, and have my son's burly friend act as bouncer at the door—but I really want this to be inclusive, merry, and full of industry professionals. If it turns out to be too big for my house, which has comfortably fed 40 in the past (buffet style), I'll set up a tent in the yard and we can have double that many people.

Tell me what you think! (But don't bother saying I'm insane. That I know.)

Bridget Zinn's POISON

Tuesday, March 12, marked the debut of Bridget Zinn's YA novel, Poison. I personally can't wait to read it. The professional reviews use words like "romping," "twisty," "tongue-in-cheek," and "frothy confection," which all add up to literary magic. Even the cover begs: Wanna inject a little joy in your reading life? 
I didn't know Bridget, but she was an effervescent presence on the Internet. I think she would have been a charming and humble self-promoter. I wish she were here to tell you about Poison herself, and to enjoy her richly-deserved launch week with friends and family.
You can find the goodreads summary of Poison here.And check out Bridget's web site (with snippets of reviews) here.

PAPERBACK COVER FOR MONSTROUS BEAUTY!

I'm so, SO pleased to present to you the paperback cover for Monstrous Beauty, on sale October 1, 2013 (Square Fish/Macmillan).

I think it's absolutely arresting. And it's totally appropriate for a certain somber passage in the book.

Many, many thanks to the design team at Square Fish! What a lovely gift to me!