I know it's been about a hundred years since this blog has been updated, but much has transpired. Check back periodically for its inevitable return! In the meantime, watch this fabulous video about Twelve's upcoming novel, Rich Boy.
Recently, one of Twelve’s own authors, the one and only Matt Richtel (Hooked), was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting!Matt was selected, to quote www.pulitzer.org, for “a distinguished example of reporting on national affairs, in print or online or both,” and his series of New York Times articles on the dangers of “distracted driving” are thought provoking, informative, and perhaps most of all, alarming.
“Driven to Distraction,”the aptly named title of Matt’s now Pulitzer-winning article series, focuses on the dangers of driving while using a cell phone (among other devices). Driving while chatting on your mobile, texting a friend, or as will be seen in the near future, browsing the web, is remarkably dangerous – based on a Harvard study, 570,000 car accidents a year are caused by “cell phone distractions.” Matt’s articles cover all areas of this issue, with well-rounded reporting that incorporates car companies, software companies, mobile manufacturers, congress, and protest groups.The “Driven to Distraction” section even includes a nifty little game that simulates a texting-while-driving situation.It’s an excellent and slightly disturbing way of showing just how distracting texting can be. (I failed miserably, but fortunately, like any conscientious person, I don’t use my cell phone while driving.)
Funnily enough, Matt Richtel (under the pseudonym Theron Heir) is also a cartoonist for the hilarious comic strip, “Rudy Park.”Since we’re on the topic of the evils of texting, I thought this accompanying comic would be fitting.
P.S. Here’s a link to Hooked: http://ow.ly/1EkW6. Embedding it causes Blogger to spontaneously combust.
Über producer and Hollywood mogul Jerry Weintraub's new book, When I Stop Talking, You'll Know I'm Dead was released this past Wednesday. It's a truly wonderful book, filled with amazing stories about George Clooney, Led Zeppelin, Frank Sinatra, George H.W. Bush and many, many more. As one might expect, Jerry has a lot of moxie, and it shows in this book. It's great to see how a Brooklyn-born son of jeweler made it to the top, becoming one of the most influential figures in show biz.
Jerry was on Imus in the Morning yesterday, where he regaled Don Imus with stories of Elvis and John Denver. It's a fabulous interview, so fabulous that I saw fit to include it here. Jerry starts talking about Denver at around the 6-minute mark, and at approximately 7:30, he very candidly discusses his slightly unusual marital situation.
Click here to learn more about When I Stop Talking, You'll Know I'm Dead. As Don Imus says, "It's so much fun to read, it's ridiculous."
The eagerly anticipated iPad has finally been released, and since everyone else on the internet is writing about it, I thought it only right to say a little something myself. Feel free to comment, critique, and/or correct.
To me, despite the hype and the sales figures, it all comes down to this: Is the middle place between laptop and phone really a space we’re dying to fill— or will the iPad fall through that metaphorical hole?
On the entertainment side of things, the iPad does have a lot of advantages. If you’re looking for a portable entertainment device that’s more engrossing than your mobile and, well, not as heavy as your living room’s entertainment unit, the iPad seems like a good bet. However, I have to question some of the “benefits” I’ve seen reviewers praising. Many cite the iPad’s twitter and texting functionality as a huge plus to the gadget, but this seems dubious. I can’t see how texting or tweeting would be made easier or more fun with an iPad, when a phone is so much more portable. Indeed, the cell phone remains the ultimate Twitter device: you can pull it out of your pocket the next time a random something inspires a text/tweet. What would you do with an iPad? Pull it out of your bag? Balance it on our knees while typing in your flash of inspiration? Maybe we’ll see an iPad utility belt in the future...
Of course, considering this blog is for a publishing imprint, I’d be remiss if I didn’t discuss eBooks. At this point, I think nearly everything that can be said about eBooks on the iPad has already been discussed ad nauseam. In my opinion, the eBook library interface on the iPad is an improvement on what the typical eReader provides, and I’m thankful for that. Seeing all of your eBooks on a brilliantly colored ‘shelf’ may well fill your heart with gladness. Somehow, I suspect that those people who love their new device and all the great, fun things it does, will also love that they can read excellent books on it.
In sum: the iPad certainly seems to offer a fun and entertaining experience for those who hope to use it for those reasons. It seems like just the right device for a long car ride, or for a living room that has had its TV commandeered by someone who wants to watch opening day of baseball season.
Recently, Hachette Book Group announced its plans for an enriched eBook of David Baldacci’s Deliver Us from Evil. As Jason Boog of GalleyCat writes in his article, it certainly seems to promise an “enriching” reading experience. To me, it sounds a lot like a special edition DVD, with behind-the-scenes video, deleted content, and other windows into the creative process.
After perusing some author websites, it occurred to me that the enriched eBook really is a promising idea. For those who are interested in how their favorite author crafts his tales, the EE will be able to include, say, audio Q and A, or video of the author’s office, or scans of story outlines and the like. For the curious/voracious reader, deleted passages from the manuscript could be included to provide more insider info on characters, lost subplots, or even, as in the case of the Baldacci EE, alternate endings.
All told, this seems to enable a slightly more active reading experience (at least in some ways) without being invasive. The special features can be looked at when the reader decides to look at them (and turned off/ignored when the reader doesn't). For example, let’s say you’re reading a new thriller EE, with supplementary images of exotic terrain and fancy new vehicles. You can choose to have a look at the Gobi Desert while you’re reading (so you know what it looks like), or after you’ve finished the book (so you’re not interfering with what you’re imagining).
From a social point of view, I think this also signals a move in an intriguing direction – a direction in which our reading and our conversations about reading are merging together. With EEs like Baldacci’s we can immediately learn what the author thinks of his novel, how it compares to his vision, and how he may want the reader to approach it. Perhaps someday, what with the imminent popularity of all-in-one devices like the iPad, our e-reading experience will incorporate IMs/texting (presumably about the writing) while reading. Which makes me wonder, is that a good thing or a bad thing?
Yesterday (March 17), Sheena Iyengar was featured in a delightful article in the “Home” section of the New York Times. In the article, we learn a bit more about how Sheena, an expert on choice and author of this month’s The Art of Choosing, makes choices in her own life.
“We’re born with the desire, but we don’t really know how to choose,’ [Sheena] said. ‘We don’t know what our taste is, and we don’t know what we are seeing. I’m a great believer in the idea of not choosing based on our taste. I could wear makeup today, and one person would say it looks bland, another would say it looks fake, and another might tell me I look really natural. Everyone is convinced their opinion is the truth, and that’s what I struggle against. But doesn’t everyone? What I do is aim for consensus. That’s my rule of how to choose.”
In addition to the need for consensus that Sheena suggests above, the article also discusses how paralyzing too many choices can be, how simply having a choice can make us happier, and the best way to approach buying furniture for your own home.
Awards abound! Congratulations this week go to Dave Cullen – his book, Columbine has been named the 2009 Discover Great Writers Award winner in Nonfiction. Columbine is also a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.
In other Cullen news, Dave posted an essay on The Daily Beast from the Afterword to the paperback edition of Columbine revealing the secret meeting of Eric Harris' parents with his victims' kin—offering a rare glimpse into how they saw their son. It’s truly a heart wrenching and perplexing read.
