If you're reading this...

[cleolinda]

Why aren't you at Stardust ? No, I'm not going to leave you alone until you go see it.

Anyone from Savannah here? Sister Girl is going to spend most of next week there, just for fun, so if you have any touristy (or foody or even drinky) suggestions, let me know. And yes, she is aware that she picked one of the worst areas in the country to visit in the middle of Satan's Heatwave, but at least she'll have some damp heat for variety.

Australian bookstore chain attempts to shake down small publishers for several thousand dollars each; Tower Books' Michael Rakusin, in turn, takes the bookstore chain to school. As Teresa Nielsen Hayden herself says, "I just hope Rakusin autographed Rimmer's ass before he handed it to him":

I have to say that my initial response on reading your letter as to how you propose to “manage” your business in the future was one of voluble hilarity, I literally burst out laughing aloud. My second response was to note the unmitigated arrogance of your communication, I could not actually believe I was reading an official letter from Angus & Robertson on an Angus & Robertson letterhead.

[...]

Six years ago we were allowed to send reps to your company stores and do stock checks. Then these were “uninvited” and we had to rely on monthly rep calls to your Buying Office. Subsequently even that was too much trouble; your Buying Office was too busy to see us, so we were asked to make new title submissions electronically. Every few months the new submission template became more and more complex. This year, we have been allowed quarterly visits to your Buying Office at which we were to be given the opportunity to sell to all your Category Managers. At the first, we did indeed see all of the Category Managers - but they didn’t buy any of the titles offered. At the second, one Category manager was available, and again no purchases resulted. At the last (only last week), two Category managers attended. Through all of this, your overworked and under resourced Buying Department never got to see, let alone read, an actual book. While one may be forgiven for believing that Angus & Robertson is actually a company purveying “Sale” signs, I do believe you are still in the book business?

[...]

That the contents of your letter of 30 July are both immoral and unethical, I have no doubt. That they probably contravene the Trade Practices Act, I shall leave to the ACCC to determine. [...] If you wish to discuss any of the contents hereof you may call my secretary for an appointment at my office in Frenchs Forest. I shall be marginally more generous than you and at least allow you to pick a convenient time.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the world:

Weird treadmill may help brain-injured. It's the "weird" that threw me, honestly.

Drew Carey injured on the set of The Price Is Right. Meanwhile, Merv Griffin in critical condition.

Grunberg Hosts NBC Preview. Aww, it's Greg Grunberg! Hi, Greg!

AT&T censors Pearl Jam. "During the live Lollapalooza Webcast of a concert by the Seattle-based super-group, AT&T muted lead singer Eddie Vedder just as he launched into a lyric against President George Bush. 'What happened to us this weekend was a wake up call, and it’s about something much bigger than the censorship of a rock band,' Pearl Jam band members stated in a release following the incident."

A cat macro that's up there in my top ten.

The tween Anne Rice: Stephenie Meyer. My first reaction to this headline was kneejerk repulsion, mostly because I read that as "tween-aged writer" rather than "writes for tweens," and... I have issues with publishers who put out books by teen authors to capitalize on the novelty of Hey, Someone Really Young Wrote This!, regardless of whether the product is actually any good. It's often more of a disservice to a growing writer, in truth; there are days when I want to get down on my knees and thank God that I only had a few short stories published when I was younger, because I feel like it's only recently that my ability has caught up anywhere near my actual ideas. Also, the two novels I wrote were horrible. Fortunately, Stephenie Meyer seems to "an absolutely delightful lady who, since literally dreaming up the plot of the vampire love story at the heart of her trilogy in 2003, now writes books at breakneck pace, loves indie rock (especially Muse), skips R-rated movies, is humble about her success, and is grateful to all her fans." Rock on, ma'am.

Jonathan Strange 's Clarke Collects Stories.

Peter Jackson to Return for The Hobbit ? Or, Bob Shaye Eats His Words Upon Realizing That It Would Be Financially Advisable to Do So.

Stephen King: The last word on Harry Potter (DH spoilers). "Talent is never static, it's always growing or dying, and the short form on Rowling is this: She was far better than R.L. Stine (an adequate but flavorless writer) when she started, but by the time she penned the final line of Deathly Hallows ( [spoiler redacted] ), she had become one of the finer stylists in her native country — not as good as Ian McEwan or Ruth Rendell (at least not yet), but easily the peer of Beryl Bainbridge or Martin Amis." OH YES HE WENT THERE.

More good Stardust reviews! 'Stardust' a 'Shrek' for grownups; 'Stardust' sprinkles on the charm; Cinematical's review.

Stardust 's Vaughn Helms Thor.

HBO Sucks Up True Blood : "HBO has officially picked up the vampire series True Blood from Six Feet Under's Alan Ball, based on Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire novel series, Variety reported."

ACTUAL PICTURE FROM SWEENEY TODD ZOMG. Hey, it's Bellatrix!

James McAvoy to star in upcoming Frost Flowers ?

"It's a Lion! It's Huge!": An actual Voltron movie that is not Cloverfield is being made.

'Rome' sets burning. Noooo! Those sets were fantastic! And they even wanted to save them and reuse them!

A snippet from Elle about Dakota Blue Richards, chosen from 10,000 aspiring Lyras for The Golden Compass. Plus, three articles on how TGC fits into studio trends, including viral marketing, which apparently includes the "Meet Your Daemon" quiz on the official movie site. It actually saves your daemon on a unique-URL profile page now--it either didn't do that or I didn't save the number when I originally took it, so my ocelot Themius is lost to the ether, I fear. I've taken it twice since then, and got a fox and a snow leopard. Since I am, in all honesty, not as hardcore as Lord Asriel more spontaneous than assertive, I'm going to have to go with the fox, I think, unless anyone can convince me otherwise. Also, they generate desktop wallpaper and an AOL icon for your daemon, which is nice.

Trailers From Hell ("The world battle for survival! Ready to destroy humanity! Prehistoric monsters return to Earth! And that's just one trailer!").

Comments

[word-herder.livejournal.com]

I promised my sister I'd see it with her, but she won't be here until the 18th! I am poor and cannot justify seeing it twice. WOE.

[ministry-victim.livejournal.com]

I've read the book, and you're telling me the movie is worth seeing?

So rare, that.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

You are excused. Hee.

[word-herder.livejournal.com]

Whew. I was worried there. I promise, though--it's killing me.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Very much so--I saw it at a preview last Friday. They changed and added several things to create more physical action, but they kept a surprising amount of the spirit and tone of the book, I thought. My understanding is that Gaiman was very involved (http://www.cinematical.com/photos/stardust/344805/) with the production, so I like to think that he approved all the changes, or possibly even came up with a few himself.

[glass-radical.livejournal.com]

cleo, the Greg Grunberg link goes to the Merv Griffin story.

[casirafics.livejournal.com]

Not at Stardust yet because I am eating some lovely chocolate mousse and THEN shall see it. Best of all worlds!

[plazmah.livejournal.com]

R.L. Stine? OH THE MEMORIES! Granted, he was no Christopher Pike, but entertaining nonetheless. ;D

[gannet-guts.livejournal.com]

Fucking Angus and Robertson.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

*facepalm*

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Excellent! I am appeased.

[naeelah.livejournal.com]

Hrmph! Some of us have perfectly good reasons for not being at Stardust tonight. ;) A friend just had surgery and won't be able to be up and out of her house until next week, at earliest, so I agreed to wait and go see it with her then. Not to mention I'm exhausted myself and want to just stay home and read the book first.

In Savannah, she'll want to visit River Street sweets, which is in the historic district. Just follow the sugary smell. They're famous for pralines, salt water taffy, etc, and it's all delicious, especially if you hang around and snag some pralines while they're still warm.

If she likes movie filming location scouting, there have been a lot of movies done in Savannah. The famous Forrest Gump bench scene was done in Savannah, but good luck figuring out which square it is. (If she's like me and my parents, she'll spend the whole trip wandering around asking, "Is that where Forrest Gump sat?" which will progress into something like "This is the house that holds the bench were Forrest Gump was shot by General Sherman...")

There are lots of old houses for touring, if she likes that kind of thing. The big cemetery, Bonaventure, is also really interesting, again, if she likes that sort of thing. The walking ghost tours can be fun, since they combine some history and guided tours of landmarks.

TELL HER TO TAKE BUG SPRAY. Being outside all day in the marsh land in summer = mosquitos liek who4h. Especially in places such as the cemetery.

If she wants to see alligators, you can drive out to some larger areas of marshland and see seas of alligators. I can't recommend a particular location, but if she asked around, I'm sure she could get recommendations for a good site for alligator spotting.

[sphynxlike.livejournal.com]

I went, I saw, I liked. It's so rare that I see a movie without reading the book that I get a "no! no! bad nerd!" feeling when I do...

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Aww, I hope your friend feels better soon. I'll be thinking good thoughts for her.

[jaded-lady.livejournal.com]

i saw stardust on your recommendation, and i LOVED it - even though i am not a claire danes fan. i am, however, a michelle pheiffer fangirl like whoa. :D

[sphynxlike.livejournal.com]

And I can't give much about Savannah, since the last time I lived in the area (Statesboro) was almost 10 years ago, but there used to be a real live pirate running around this restaurant (http://www.thepirateshouse.com/index.htm), though I can't find out if the pirate is still there.

[whisperwords.livejournal.com]

*HOWLS* RL STINE! LOL. Oh, Stephen King, you are far funnier than people give you credit for.

I'll be seeing Stardust tomorrow, as my sister won't let me go without her and she's having a slumber party. *annoyed*

[naeelah.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :)

[elendiari22.livejournal.com]

I'm waiting to see Stardust until Monday, when my best friend is coming up to see me. It'll be more fun than going alone.

People here (I'm in Salt Lake) are absolutely bonkers about Stephanie Meyers, which cracks me right the hell up, because I'd never thought I'd see the day when one of us good mormon girls sat down and wrote a vampire novel, let alone one with such a following. Rock on, Ms. Meyers, you have five stars in my book for sheer awesomeness. :)

[jigglykat.livejournal.com]

I went to school in Savannah for four years. If she wants to do touristy stuff, and I do mean full out touristy, there's plenty! For food and drinks, she can hit up River Street (easy to find, it's down along the river!) where there are plenty of both. There's the City Market that has a few restaurants and bars. Sadly, I don't know many restaurant names off the top of my head, I can only recognize them.

She can skip going to the Lady and Sons. It's famous and insanely popular, but highly overrated.

There's plenty of tour groups. Walking tours, horse carriage tours, bus tours, walking ghost tours at night (I did one of those). They all go by the big landmark sorts of places, namely the Mercer House (as seen in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil which is THE HOLY BOOK of that city). I have a few friends on LJ that drove the horse carriage tours, so I usually recommend those.

My personal favorite place is the Pirate House. A wee bit touristy, yes, but it's good food, delicious bread, and it's called the PIRATE HOUSE. What more do you need, besides Jack Sparrow being your waiter?

There's the Bonaventure Cemetery, which is an absolutely gorgeous place. I've gone on a few walks there. It's so peaceful and beautiful, in that morbid sort of way.

[jigglykat.livejournal.com]

The famous Forrest Gump bench scene was done in Savannah, but good luck figuring out which square it is.

I could tell you, but I'm horrible at remembering the names of the squares. What irks me is watching Forrest Gump after being in Savannah and realizing that the traffic moving around the squares is going in the opposite direction.

[emisi.livejournal.com]

Now that is a smackdown letter for the ages. How could a bookseller honestly think they would get away with something like that, when places like Amazon.com are shutting down brick-and-mortar stores? Idiots. They should be making nicey-nice with publishers.

Also, I adore Stephenie Meyers. I have the latest book sitting right here next to me, but I can't start reading until I finish The Historian. Which ought to be made into a movie. That would rock.

[chrryblssmninja.livejournal.com]

loves indie rock (especially Muse
aww shoot. I have been resisting the books (I just have this weird tendency to avoid anything that's hyped everywhere) but SHE LIKES MUSE. I am not rational.

resistance is becoming more and more futile...

[auror-lib.livejournal.com]

The arrogance of A&R is just astounding but I can't say I'm surprised - the vast majority of the stores I've been to have a very limited range.

The fact that they won't be stocking Carpentaria is unbelievable - I just hope Alexis Wright doesn't suffer for it, because the book is amazing.

On a lighter note, my uncle's shop is a part of LEB and he said this was doing the rounds:

http://blogs.smh.com.au/entertainment/archives/undercover/014994.html

[trash-addict.livejournal.com]

This Angus & Robertson nonsense really shits me. I'm hoping to get into publishing in the near future, and it sort of pains me to see how the publishing houses are treated, considering how badly Australian fiction is going in general - they could really use some help from booksellers.
That said, A&R aren't the only booksellers around. A boycott wouldn't really be all that difficult if customers had the balls to do it. There's usually another bookshop a short stumble away.