Books, books and more books

Hi friends-- back from RT...sleep deprived but in one piece. Mario is disappointed.

Lots of book tidbits today. This one in particular caught my eye:



It's always amazing to me when a treasure shows up in someone's attic or basement. Why can't it happen to me? I have an attic and a basement.

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And speaking of "found" items:

FOUND: Gene Roddenberry's original 1964 pitch for Star Trek!

From: blastr

A pop culture blog called Between the Pages has a link up to an online copy of Roddenberry's initial outline for the series, dated March 11, 1964. The show itself premiered on Sept. 8, 1966, and in the intervening two years, a whole lot changed. For instance:

♦ Roddenberry's original captain was not James Kirk or Christopher Pike, but Robert April;
♦ The ship was first called the U.S.S. Yorktown;
♦ The navigator was not a young Russian hotshot named Pavel Chekov, but a young South American hotshot named Jose Ortegas;
♦ Spock was the "first lieutenant" and described as having a reddish complexion and, of course, pointed ears, and was probably "half Martian."

Roddenberry's 16-page outline also contains his now-famous description of the show as a sort of sci-fi Wagon Train, and does not mention anything like a transporter beam; the crew would land on planets via small recon vehicles. Early ideas for communicators, universal translators and phaser weapons can also be found within.

Most fascinating, however, are the story ideas that Roddenberry includes—many of which formed the basis for or at least planted the seed for classic episodes like "Charlie X," "Shore Leave," "A Piece of the Action," "The Return of the Archons," "The Savage Curtain," "Mirror, Mirror" and what eventually became the show's first pilot, "The Cage." Some of his dicier ideas—like a planet where slavery is the norm, except that whites are the slaves—never made it to the show at all (probably just as well).

So if you thought you knew everything about Star Trek, this document might hold some surprises for you. Either way, it's an essential read—after all, these 16 pages are where a legendary science fiction franchise began!

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From Shelf Awareness and the New York Times :



The estate of James Jones has made an agreement with Open Road Integrated Media to issue 10 titles by the author in e-book form, including an edition of the classic From Here to Eternity that restores "explicit mentions of gay sex and a number of four-letter words" that were deleted by his publisher, Scribner, when the book was originally published in 1951, according to the New York Times. James had fought the censorship, arguing to his editor that "the things we change in this book for proprietary's sake will in five years, or ten years, come in someone else's book anyway."

It only took fifty years.

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Okay, this goes out to my author friends who have children. How perfect is this? A book you can sleep in! From Flavorwire :



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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2



Love this poster. It's sad and exciting all at the same time to think we've come to the end of the journey. Remember the Harry from The Sorcerer's Stone?


Wow!

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One more bit of crazy before I get to some personal news. Here are 20 Insanely Creative Bookshelves from Buzzfeed



And you'll see right away why I like this one so much:


Do you recognize the little character? It's Mario...yes, a Mario shelf!!!!

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Now for some BSP--
First off, Sunday is the Englewood Library's Meet the Faces Behind the Books gig. Over 60 fiction, nonfiction, YA, Children's authors and illustrators will be in attendance. Including moi.Here are the details:


Readers young and old are invited to the Library's 12th Annual Colorado Author Open House on Sunday, April 17, 2011. 1 - 3 pm. Books will be available for purchase.

1000 Englewood Parkway
First Floor • Englewood Civic Center
Englewood, CO 80110
303-762-2560


A reminder about Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers May event including a chance to get a critique by me on two pages of your own writing.

Saturday, May 21 8:00a to 4:00p
at Renaissance Hotel, Denver, CO
Price: $70 early registration; $85 after April; $95 at the door
Phone: (970) 497-6452
Age Suitability: None Specified

Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers is sponsoring a one-day workshop featuring Kirt Hickman, author of Revising Fiction: Making Sense of the Madness. The workshop will be held at the Renaissance Hotel on May 21st. Colorado authors Carol Berg, Jeanne Stein and Betsy Dornbusch will be on-hand to answer writing-related questions or critique the first two pages of your manuscript. For more information please see Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers' website at rmfw.org or contact Vicki Law at (970) 497-6452.

More details here



On the book front-got an email from pal Toni Kelner who said in the next issue of RT Book Review Magazine Hexed was reviewed. Not only got 4 1/2 stars but was a top pick!!! Anthologies don't often get that nod so I'm thrilled.

And a gentle reminder that Crossroads is available for preorder from Amazon your favorite Indie , and/or Barnes and Noble