Bill Cheng's Blog, page 44
February 15, 2014
penguinteen:
When we read Seth Fishman’s debut novel, The...
When we read Seth Fishman’s debut novel, The Well’s End, it quickly became an in-house favorite. We love everything about it—the characters, the mystery, the adventure, and the writing! We also love the xkcd remix of the cover (above), custom made by xkcd creator Randall Munroe! Take The Well’s End for a test drive by reading the exclusive digital sampler, or enter to win a copy over at Reddit! Seth was kind enough to drop by today and answer a few of our burning questions about The Well’s End. Take it away, Seth!
Q: Can you tell our fans a bit about your book, The Well’s End?
On the surface, The Well’s End is about a strange virus outbreak on the campus of an elite boarding school, and the steps Mia Kish and her friends take to save the school and themselves. Mia Kish, who’s called Baby Mia ever since she fell down a well as a toddler. She’s scared of the dark, of her memories, and she must learn to use her fears to help overcome the virus. But in reality, the virus just scratches the surface. Why does it age people to death? Where did it come from? Why does Mia’s father work in an underground facility known as the Cave? I never once when writing the book ever thought of it as a virus book. In my mind, it’s about what happens when uber talented teens come against the unexpected and insurmountable - could they actually remain themselves amidst the chaos? In this case, a quarantine put in place around the school is almost an afterthought to what’s really going on, and for me, the goal was to keep sending readers further and further down a the rabbit hole until they had no idea where they were, but they were happy they came.
Q: Who in The Well’s End would you nominate for Best Supporting Character and why?
This is a tough one. My instinct would be to say Rob, the hipster genius with a sense of style. He’s dry, funny and loyal to a fault. But the dark horse here would definitely be Jimmy. For me, Jimmy was the jock who secretly liked chick flicks but still acted like himself. A big, strong, softhearted hero. Rob and Jimmy would make a good cop team ten years in the future.
Q: What is your novel-writing process? Are you an outliner, a macro planner, or do you work at the micro level, writing into the darkness?
I prefer to write at whim, knowing only vaguely where I’m heading but with no routes in place. That said, for The Well’s End, my agent sold the book on a partial, which means I had some 65 pages written and a very very detailed outline of the remainder of the book. To be honest, it was kind of weird. I’d sit down to write and look at my outline and all of the creative decisions in the plot had already been taken care of. I just had to fill in the gaps with the physical sentences. It was easier, I admit, and kept me writing, but it also lacked some of the ‘aha!’ moments that I love so much.
Q: If you were one of Mia’s buddies in The Well’s End, what would be your greatest fears?
I’d fear the death of my friends and family. I’d fear what I didn’t understand. Getting the virus was not, necessarily, a death-sentence, so that might not be my big fear. Instead, as a townie, the idea that my parents and siblings and friends could all die very quickly would be all the fear (and motivation) I needed.
Thanks Seth! You can pre-order The Well’s End here.
And Another Thing: Brooklyn
A Link Round-Up For Upcoming Brooklyn Events
Paperback Launch for Bill Cheng ‘s Southern Cross the Dog, 2/18
Bill Cheng talks about how music inspired his debut novel on NPR.
Dan Goldman presents Red Light Properties, 2/19
South Florida is the perfect location for Dan Goldman’s new…
February 13, 2014
fantagraphics:
comicsworkbook:
Santoro School grad Allen...
Justice in China: Emily Parker in conversation with Yiyun Li
Yiyun Li: I actually marked that line in your book. And I thought, Is that true? And is that true also here in America? Does justice occupy the same space in Americans’ minds? And in China, why is justice more important than freedom?
In China, your freedom is always limited, but this limitation applies to almost everyone. If someone does injustice to you, though, you have to find a way to avenge yourself—even by illegal measures. In a sense, injustice is more personal. This idea has always been in Chinese history. I think we read about freedom of speech, or lack of freedom of speech, in China so often. But I don’t think people here in America think about how justice, or the idea of justice, is so important in a Chinese setting. It’s probably more important than freedom of speech in the Chinese mindset at this moment.
Emily Parker: The blogger who told me Chinese people care more about freedom than justice was saying—to paraphrase the idea—“Look, to some people if you say words like ‘Internet freedom,’ it’s not going to mean anything. But it is going to mean something when they are not able to freely use the Internet to get justice.” In other words, some people in China don’t look at freedom of speech as an abstract ideal, but more as a means to an end.
sagansense:
scholasticreadingclub:
Reason to Read #70: Reading...
Reason to Read #70: Reading helps you live a full life.
What’s your Reason to Read? Share it at: bit.ly/ReasonstoRead
Notice that says favorite and not FACE
rachelfershleiser:
clmporg:
GET LIT with CLMP & Lit Crawl...
GET LIT
with CLMP & Lit Crawl NYC
Raise a glass with us on Tuesday, February 18th at Solas in the East Village as we celebrate our new collaboration with Lit Crawl NYC—a monthly (and roaming!) series of interactive literary events, curated by CLMP member publishers and your favorite bookish orgs. Our kickoff party is guest-hosted by the lovely folks at Electric Literature & Bodega, plus Tumblr’s Rachel Fershleiser (and author of eagerly awaited ‘zine #StockTips), as well as the writers behind two of this spring’s most hotly anticipated titles (we’re looking at you Lizzie Harris and Scott Cheshire).
What: A party. Plain and simple.
Where: Solas (upstairs), 232 E. 9th Street, NY, NY
When: 7:30pm until late!
Who: Bodega Magazine, Scott Cheshire (High as the Horses’ Bridles), Rachel Fershleiser (Tumblr), Lizzie Harris (Stop Wanting), Halimah Marcus (Electric Lit), Benjamin Samuel (Electric Lit), PLUS YOU!
In the next couple of weeks we’ll be releasing a form so that CLMP members can submit their event ideas to us directly. But before that’s set, if you’re interested in curating a GET LIT event, please email Julie Buntin (jbuntin@clmp.org). Or better yet, come to Solas on Tuesday, Feb 18th and pitch to us in person.
A joint project of Lit Crawl NYC and the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP), GET LIT presents New York City’s reading (and fun-loving) public with monthly events that are smart, spirited and surprising.
RSVP by email (clmporg@gmail.com) is strongly encouraged, though not required. Or RSVP on Facebook!
I will be helping to host this party on Tuesday! God-willing, it will be the very next time I leave my house. See you there?
File under: things that make me feel like I am hallucinating
The Korean translation of Heft arrived today.
I wish I could read it. One of the weirdest parts of having the book translated has been putting my faith in the (very talented, I am certain) people the publishing companies hire to translate. Sometimes—especially when it’s in a language that…
Three cheers for Christine Parkhurst who is on my personal...
Three cheers for Christine Parkhurst who is on my personal leaderboard for contributing to @narrative4’s crowdrise fundraiser!
http://www.crowdrise.com/narrative4/fundraiser/gillbench
Donate $25 or more and you’re entered to win some autographed books with some Narrative4 authors.
Additionally, if you’re the person who contributes the highest gift first through the above link then I promise to either:
give you notes on any short story of yours (under 4,000 words)
write you a personalized short short story (under 1,000 words) about anything you want.
February 12, 2014
sagansense:
oupacademic:
What better way to celebrate the...
What better way to celebrate the birthday of Charles Darwin than by checking out some must-read books about the life and theories of this revered scientist?
On the Origin of Species, Revised Edition. By Charles Darwin; edited by Gillian Beer
Evolutionary Writings: Including the Autobiographies. By Charles Darwin, edited by James A. Secord
Darwin: A Very Short Introduction by Jonathan Howard
Evolution: A Very Short Introduction by Brian Charlesworth
Darwin and His Children: His Other Legacy by Tim M. Berra
Alfred Russel Wallace: Letters from the Malay Archipelago by John van Wyhe and Kees Rookmaaker
Darwin the Writer by George Levine
Darwin in the Archives: Papers on Erasmus Darwin and Charles Darwin from the Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History and Archives of Natural History by E. Charles Nelson and Duncan Porter
Darwin’s Camera: Art and Photography in the Theory of Evolution by Phillip Prodger
Living with Darwin: Evolution, Design, and the Future of Faith by Philip Kitcher
In Darwin’s Shadow: The Life and Science of Alfred Russel Wallace: A Biographical Study on the Psychology of History by Michael Shermer
Erasmus Darwin: Sex, Science, and Serendipity by Patricia FaraHappy reading! But most importantly—happy birthday, Darwin!
