It’s always great to be back in the city that supposedly never sleeps, although by the end of every day I’m so exhausted I never seem to have any problem falling asleep. It’s kind of amazing to visit the city in regular intervals and see what changes and what stays the same.
New: tall shiny buildings that weren’t there before!
Old: Katz’s, now under the shadow of a tall shiny building!
So far on this trip it’s also been interesting to meet with editors on both the children’s and adult side. On the adult side: people are feeling a little beaten down, they’re not going to lie. But on the children’s side they’re riding high and feeling like they made it through the worst of the recession in really good shape. Maybe more importantly, they feel like the lower price points and more varied product on the children’s side is a more sustainable model for the future.
It’s also fun to play the “[blank] is the new vampire” game, although several people I’ve talked to feel like vampire is still the new vampire.
Tamara Hart Heiner says
I want to be in on that new vampire thing too. I'm going with the strong contemporary girls.
Marianne says
Glad I'm a children's book writer. π
doctorquery says
I am the new vampire.
Doctor Query
Chuck H. says
I think the new vampire should be werehumans. Ravenous wolves turn into ordinary people during the time of no moon, eat mac and cheese with weiners, drink a few Bud lights and break up a bar or two, then slink off into the forest in the morning with a bad hangover.
Word Ver: sless – than what?
Ink says
Chuck,
You should totally roll with that.
Anonymous says
Vampires have been the new vampires since Dracula was published. We need to find the new non-vampire vampire. I'm partial to evil fat men.
Nett Robbens says
Hi Nathan,
Welcome! There's plenty to do on the east coast, and since it's Yankees vs Phillies, there's big excitement. Enjoy.
Rick Daley says
JJ-
Nor could it be visually appealing. Don't blame me, though. I just call 'em as I see 'em.
WORD VERIFICATION: dazess. A female with the propensity to dazz (slang for dazzle, which is not to be confused with -izzle, the famed Snoop Dog suffix).
Kathy Maughan says
Welcome to New York! You even caught us on a good-weather week…miracle!
Ellen's Stardust is fun but the food is not so good. Niko's on 76th and Broadway (Greek food), on the other hand….
Laura Martone says
Have fun in the Big Apple, Nathan! It's been years since I've traveled there… bet it's changed a lot.
Laura Martone says
Yep. P. Grier nailed it. Good writing should always be the new "whatever"!
And as for you, Bane, pumpkins? Really?
What about pumpkin pie – or other forms of squash? Those are in my novel! Do those count?
Anonymous says
Katz's is the BEST!! I could wax poetic all day about their pastrami and cole slaw.
Rachel Hamm says
Vampire is definitely still the new vampire. On my online writing workshop, I've read at least 4 novels with vampires as the main characters…
Rhonda says
Don't ruin my fantasy Susan. There are any number of ways a physicist with some time traveling know-how could be dangerous. π
On children's books riding it out, I'm not surprised. Kids like to OWN things. They also like to read the same things over and over, and they don't like to get rid of things, which probably leads to there being less used book choices out there. Those qualities make for good children's book consumers.
Mira says
I cast my vote for P.Grier, too! Well said, bravo!
So, Nathan, you can't go away again! I'm in withdrawal, it's just terrible. I had to go ALL DAY yesteray without a new post from Nathan. ALL DAY.
Thank god you finally posted. The world as I know it is turning on it's axis, and all is right with the world.
You may think I'm joking.
Let's pretend I am.
So, despite my terrible pain and suffering, if you're going to go away, I do hope you're having a great time of it. Hope it's not all meetings, but some fun too. New York isn't the City, but I've heard it has a few things to look at.
But even if you have fun there, and develop some useful relationships and get in touch with some tidbits of trends and some such, do hurry back.
Terry says
Have fun in NYC! And do come back and tell us the latest. Inquiring minds and all of that. Looking forward to it.
Anonymous says
If the weather is even halfway decent check out the new High Line Park and admire the building that Frank Gehry designed for Barry Diller.
Susan Quinn says
Rhonda,
Fantasy physicists can certainly bring a world of hurt: time travel, black holes, monkeying with the elementary particles of the universe.
So, I take it back.
More Faradays and less Sheldons!
We need some dashing hero(in)es to make the search for Higgs Boson and strangelets sexy, a well as dangerous!
π
Anonymous says
REESHA:
Re Children's Vampire books
See Bunnicula, a vampire bunny for the under 5 set
NATHAN: Enjoy NYC, though I always feel a little gypped when I go to New York and don't find a body like all the other tourist on Law and Order…
Jackie Brown says
While you're in NYC, come over to Hell's Kitchen (Ninth Avenue betweeen 42and and 55th Streets hosts every cuisine under the sun–and then some).
Latest NYC trend is the wine bar (second only to the Asian sandwich craze), of which there are several in the HK neighborhood: Xai Xai is a South African wine bar on 51st right off Ninth Avenue. Explore the neighborhood, you'll be glad you did.
Day or night, Hibernia Pub, on 50th Street off Ninth, reigns. Nice mix of regulars, new tourists, and returnees. Good drink, good food, good adult conversation, good crac. No one's a stranger. Tell Sean, Mark, or Aidan I sent you.
Have fun.
thoughtful1 says
I prefer the sunset district to broadway, the fog to the rainy days, and fog horns to the honking horns, any day.
Jeannie says
@ P. Grier
We had that rule in my classroom too. What IS it with 7th grade?
RLS says
Nathan,
Welcome to my hood. If you need any shopping suggestions, I'm your go to lurker.
AstonWest says
Space pirates are the new vampires…
Just sayin'…
π
Marilyn Peake says
Well, I did my part to help adult literature the past couple of days. I promised myself I wouldnβt buy any more books until I made it further through my To Be Read piles OR some really, really, really intriguing books came out. Wellllllll … I received an email yesterday, notifying me that my favorite author, BARBARA KINGSOLVER, has a brand new novel, LACUNA – her first novel in nine years!! that can be pre-ordered. No way! Way! OK, I pre-ordered it. Discovered while pre-ordering it that Michael Crichtonβs posthumously published novel, PIRATE LATITUDES, being developed as a film by Steven Spielberg, can also be pre-ordered. No way! Way! OK, I pre-ordered both books for a special $10 each pre-order price. Ummmm, I then noticed HER FEARFUL SYMMETRY by Audrey Niffenegger which I put off buying earlier. Bought it. Phew, stopped purchasing. Then today stopped in a bookstore to buy a mocha latte and some greeting cards, saw A MERCY by Toni Morrison … Bought it. I now have a lot of reading to do!!
wendy says
Sounds like you're having a stimulating time in those shiny new buildings. Photos..?
I laughed when I read that vampires are still hot.
Not. Over. Here.
In Australia the few publishing houses – and agents – mostly won't even look at fantasy stories. The focus is on mainstream fiction, literary fiction, women's fiction and crime fiction.
Marilyn Peake says
Oooops, Barbara Kingsolverβs new novel is titled THE LACUNA, not LACUNA.
Tiana says
Blank is the new vampire, eh?
Half my manuscript is blank–where's my check?
(I'M SORRY…I have to get all my bad writing out somewhere so it doesn't find its way *into* my manuscript)
Ben-M says
With teeth like theeth, the only thing I forethee thurpathing Vampireth ith good dental care.
Christina Davis says
Nathan,
Should I move my three children's books from the back burner to the front burner?
Paul Neuhardt says
I'm hoping that "middle-aged techno-geek" is the new vampire as that phrase describes both me and the central figure of my WIP.
ann foxlee says
I'm hoping Japanese historical fantasy fiction is the new vampire… π
Seriously though, since I am writing YA, it is great to hear that the children's list folks are riding high!
Thanks for the dose of good news, Nathan!!
ann foxlee says
Marilyn Peake:
Ha! I sooo can relate to your book-buying spree! Seems like I always get busy, don't make it to a bookstore for ages, then finally get to one and end up going home with 5-10 books.
I always feel like a binge drinker carting home a case of vodka… I usually even stay up all night reading after one of my trips to the bookstore.
Geez… now that I write that out, maybe I DO need help ;-P
It doesn't help matters that I live in Portland and work blocks away from Powell's City of Books.
Word Ver.: vorthless… as in, publishers think any book vithout a vampire is vorthless…
Portuguese cunt says
They're right. Vampire is still the new vampire. Although I hear fallen angels are the next big thing.
Carol Pellegrino says
NYC Great place if you're a literary agent. Went there once and my special memories are all about the cat size rats, running around all over the place after dark. You have the best blog for keeping up with what's going on in publishing, but your enthusiasm for NYC is overwhelming to a county girl like me.
Anne Lyken-Garner says
I for one has never bitten the vampire bug. I find it a pain in the neck when people go on about the virtues of these vampire tales.
Don't get it.
Susan Quinn says
Carol,
During my first and only trip to NYC I was nearly killed by a cat sized rat.
I am not joking.
My first 30 seconds in NYC entailed stepping out the door of the airport, startling at an enormous white furred creature scuttling across the street, tripping off the curb, falling into the street and nearly being mowed down by a taxicab.
The rest of the trip couldn't help being flavored by that, but was in fact fun.
I haven't been back.
π
Matthew R. Loney says
P. Grier: Well said.
I was getting my jacket and tie ready to attend the funeral of the Imagination.
For an industry where creativity is supposed to reign supreme, I wonder why so many people are championing recycled concepts.
Nona says
This guy needs an agent . . .
https://news.aol.com/article/obamas-half-brother-mark-ndesandjo/751417
Malia Sutton says
I'll be at Magnolia Bakery around noon today…lol
Marilyn Peake says
Nona β
Heβs already landed a publishing deal with Simon & Schuster, reportedly a six-figure deal, and the book comes out in 2010. π
Marilyn Peake says
Nona –
Oooops, I'm wrong. His book will be published through the self-publishing company, Aventine Press. It was George Obama, another half-brother of Obama, who got the six-figure book deal with Simon and Schuster.
DormRoomDreamer says
You know I have a feeling the vampire trend is still in for awhile at least. Many writers and readers I come into contact with mostly enjoy vampires, at least the ones who actually like fantasy or paranormal stories. There may be debate about the way they should be portrayed, but most can't get enough of those stories.
I'm 18 and some of my friends who rarely EVER picked up books seem to find the whole vampire thing well mesmerizing I suppose. If it's about vampires they'll read it. My friend won't read my manuscript since it doesn't have vampires…go figure?