Bloggy bits: February 2008 Archives

The New York office today is a cafe on Franklin Street in Tribeca called Pecan, which has -- huzzah! -- free wifi. And conveniently located power outlets. Although I have not yet located the restrooms, which, considering the amount of tea I have already consumed this morning, might be a problem. I tried Starbucks first, but the wifi was NOT FREE (for shame!) and the free connections I could make kept going in and out. Very annoying.

My plan for the day, between meetings, was a close, long look at my queries in a way that I'm not often able to do at work during regular office hours. There's always something else that needs being done, another phone call to make, etc. Here, I can't be distracted by a pile of filing to do, although, it may be argued, sitting in a bustling cafe isn't the most peaceful of spaces.

I like it, though.

Tonight, I have drinks with a client, and then some good old-fashioned non-work related socializing. After all -- I'm in New York! Even though I lived here for most of my life, there's always something new to see, favorite stores and buildings to visit, and shopping to do. On a short trip like this one, that means a lot of running around, but it's part of the bustle of the big city.

Flew in from Denver late last night/early this morning to the New York office for a few days of meetings with editors and such. Fellow Denver Agent Kristin Nelson is also in town, blogging about her meetings with editors. Why are we here?

Well, while it's true that as agents, we can get tons of work done remotely, either by phone or email, there's times when you just want to sit face to face with an editor. We need to do this to refresh our memories about their tastes, learn about recent acquisitions, or just hear about updates in their lives that may affect what we want to send them. This is a business of relationships, and frequent trips to New York are, for me, part and parcel of that. Even if it means I have to take red eye.

Hopefully, I'll also have time this weekend to catch up on my reading -- my inbox is getting stuffed with your submissions. If you've sent material and haven't heard, please remember my time frames -- two weeks for a query, one month for a partial, one month more for a full. I'm a little behind right now, with lots to read if I want to keep to that "one month for a partial" deadline I've set for myself, but I'm doing my best!

After the other week's brouhaha about the NY Times review putting down the entire genre of sci fi and fantasy for young readers, along comes an article about James Patterson's Maximum Ride series (may require registration). Way down at the bottom of the two page article, there's this stellar quote:

Mr. Patterson said that if he simply wanted to make more money, he would have developed another adult series. "I just am convinced that there aren't enough books like this -- books that kids can pick up and go 'Wow, that was terrific, I wouldn't mind reading another book,' " he said of his "Maximum Ride" series. "The most important thing to me is that more kids read these."

I have to tell you, readers, this just makes my blood boil. I have no beef with Patterson as an adult thriller-maker (I hesitate to use the term writer, since almost every one of his books has a co-writer, credited or not, who seems to do most of the heavy lifting). He writes forgettable page turners that have been a huge success for his publishers around the world. Bully for him.

And sure, I understand the impetus to get involved in the YA world -- his adult publisher has a YA division, YA books are big business right now, and he can craft plots for younger readers in the same amount of time it takes him to write up an outline for an adult book, maybe even less. What BUGS me, though, is the offhand comment that "there just aren't enough books like this." Oh really? REALLY?

I'm sure we can come up with a long list of fantastic, page-turning adventure novels for YAs. Most of which probably don't benefit from Patterson's giant name on the cover, or his publisher's personal phone calls to bookstores requesting front-of-store placement. I'll start:

John Marsden's TOMORROW, WHEN THE WAR BEGAN series
SKULLDUGGERY PLEASANT by Derek Landy
KIKI STRIKE by Kirsten Miller (which had several editors I know waxing poetic with love)
The Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter
and just about anything by Scott Westerfield

What else?

After yesterday's post about book related love stories, it seems only fitting to ask about your favorite romances. Are they traditional romance novels, classics, or a relationship in an altogether different genre that stood out for you? I expect lots of votes for Jane Austen novels, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that my all time favorite love story is "The Princess Bride." To be fair, it's also my favorite adventure novel, pirate novel, swordfighting novel, and comedy. What's yours?