Bad sex – for this they give an award?

Yes, and it’s given to authors!  England’s Literary Review has been giving the Bad Sex in Fiction Award for several years, and it isn’t the kind of trophy for which you’re likely to be lionized.

It is hard…damn! I meant to say difficult – to write about the awards without lapsing into double entendre, and as one reads about them the mind teems with sophomoric jokes and snigger-inducing puns. For instance, Guardian.co.uk‘s headline is “Alastair Campbell outlasts Tony Blair in bad sex awards. Former spin doctor beats off stiff competition from ex-PM to reach shortlist for prize honouring clumsy prose about coitus.” And surely someone with a schoolboy prankster’s sense of humor booked the venue for presentation of the award at the In & Out Club in St James’s Square.

We can’t even discuss how the awards were conceived – see what I mean? – without smirking. But let’s try. Ironically,” we read in a posting in The Independent by Arifa Akbar, ” the bad sex awards were originally conceived, in 1993, to celebrate good sex, before the editor, Auberon Waugh, was advised by co-founder, Rhoda Koenig, that this might be ‘less interesting’ than plucking out the clichéd and the corny. Waugh went with her suggestion. ‘For something like 15 years I had to review a novel a week in various publications,’ he explained in an article for The Erotic Review, “and bit by bit I noticed how practically every novelist had taken to including a sex scene which had nothing to do with the plot and added nothing to the enjoyment of the narrative. Nobody could possibly have been aroused by these awkward, perfunctory couplings.”

For some witty and insightful articles from the British viewpoint about sex in literature, read  Bad sex please, we’re British: Can fictive sex ever have artistic merit? and Is it Difficult to Write Well about Sex?

The nominees for the 2010 are as follows (the publishers listed are British):

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen (4th Estate)
The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas (Atlantic Books)
The Golden Mean by Annabel Lyon (Atlantic Books)
Maya by Alastair Campbell (Hutchinson)
A Life Apart by Neel Mukherjee (Constable & Robinson)
Heartbreak by Craig Raine (Atlantic Books)
The Shape of Her by Rowan Somerville (W&N)
Mr Peanut by Adam Ross (Jonathan Cape).

We don’t yet have the offending passages nominated for this year’s prize but here they are for 2009: extracts from the 2009 prize shortlist. Please let’s not all groan at once.

Ironically, Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom was not nominated for a National Book Award but it is a candidate for a Bad Sex one. Will he attend the award ceremony?  Has he prepared an acceptance speech?

Richard Curtis

Techno-addiction is creating a generation of students with hypertrophied thumbs and  atrophied intellects. That seems to be the gist of Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction by Matt Richtel of the New York Times.  They may be dazzling multi-taskers but many cannot read, write, or calculate.

This comes as no surprise here, where we’ve posted a number of articles warning about the potentially destructive allure of screens (see below). But as the first fully wired crop of youngsters comes on stream the harmful impact of digital technology on academic performance is manifesting itself with a vengeance.

“The risk,” Richtel reports, “is that developing brains can become more easily habituated than adult brains to constantly switching tasks — and less able to sustain attention.”  He quotes Michael Rich, executive director of the Center on Media and Child Health in Boston: “Their brains are rewarded not for staying on task but for jumping to the next thing… The worry is we’re raising a generation of kids in front of screens whose brains are going to be wired differently.”

The article focuses on a California student described as one of his school’s brightest. His digital skills and passion for videos earned him an A in film critique.  But he also got a D+ in English and an F in Algebra II, netting him a grade point average of 2.3. It took him two months to read 43 pages of an assigned book last summer. Nor has he gotten much exercise. The senior says “I haven’t done exercise since my sophomore year.” Books? He prefers YouTube, where “you can get a whole story in six minutes. A book takes so long. I prefer the immediate gratification.”  And just how well does he handle multitasking? In fact, even that’s a problem: “I’m doing Facebook, YouTube, having a conversation or two with a friend, listening to music at the same time. I’m doing a million things at once, like a lot of people my age. Sometimes I’ll say: I need to stop this and do my schoolwork, but I can’t.”

Another student, who exchanges 27,000 text messages every month (!!!), reflects the same inability to focus on task: “I’ll be reading a book for homework and I’ll get a text message and pause my reading and put down the book, pick up the phone to reply to the text message, and then 20 minutes later realize, ‘Oh, I forgot to do my homework.’ ”

Researchers confirm what these stories tell us: “Several recent studies,” Richtel writes, “show that young people tend to use home computers for entertainment, not learning, and that this can hurt school performance, particularly in low-income families.”

A teacher puts it more plainly: “It’s a catastrophe.”

Read Matt Richtel’s Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction. And for additional background about the negative  impact of screen technology see Watching Books, The Medium is Screens. The Message is Distraction and More Evidence that Screens=Distraction.

Richard Curtis

Every Blogger owes a debt of gratitude to newspapers and magazines. This posting relies on original research and reporting performed by The New York Times.

A starship hurtles through the emptiness of space. Its destination—unknown. Its purpose—a mystery. Its history—lost.

Now, one man wakes up. Ripped from a dream of a new home—a new planet and the woman he was meant to love in his arms—he finds himself, wet, naked, and freezing to death. The dark halls are full of monsters but trusting other survivors he meets might be the greater danger.

All he has are questions—Who is he? Where are they going? What happened to the dream of a new life? What happened to the woman he loved? What happened to Hull 03?

All will be answered, if he can survive. Uncover the mystery. Fix the ship. Find a way home.

Multiple Hugo and Nebula award-winning science fiction master Greg Bear’s fantastic new novel, Hull Zero Three, published today, is an edge-of-your seat thrill ride through the darkest reaches of space.

In a starred review, Publishers Weekly described Hull Zero Three this way: “Not for those who prefer their space opera simpleminded, this beautifully written tale where nothing is as it seems will please readers with a well-developed sense of wonder. Booklist calls it “One of Bear’s most thought-provoking and well-crafted novels to date.”

And Dan Simmons, Hugo Award-winning author of the classic Hyperion science fiction quartet, says, “Greg Bear’s voice is a resonant, clear chord of quality binding some of the best SF of the 20th Century to the short list of science-savvy, sophisticated, top-notch speculative fiction of the 21st. More than a grace note, Hull Zero Three is a compelling allegro in the growing symphony of Greg Bear’s finest work.”

See the gripping trailer for Hull Zero Three below.

Have you caught up on all your Greg Bears? To view his rich E-Reads backlist, visit Greg Bear’s E-Reads author page.

And if you loved his near-future FBI thriller Quantico you won’t want to miss the sequel Mariposa, just published in paperback.

RC

Aaron Elkins’ thriller Loot takes us from contemporary Boston to Nazi-occupied Austria in the waning days of World War II when looted masterpieces of incalculable value are being hidden in a remote Alpine fastness.  Decades later a murderer plies his deadly trade to protect the Secret of the Lost Truck.

In April 1945, The Nazis, reeling and near defeat, frantically work to hide the huge store of art treasures that Hitler has looted from Europe. Truck convoys loaded with the cultural wealth of the Western world pour in an unending stream into the compound of the vast Altaussee salt mine high in the Austrian Alps. But with the Allies closing in, the vaunted efficiency of the Nazis has broken down. At Altaussee, all is tumult and confusion. In the commotion a single truck, its driver, and its priceless load of masterpieces vanish into a mountain snowstorm.

Half a century later, in a seedy Boston pawnshop, ex-curator Ben Revere makes a stunning discovery among the piles of junk: a Velazquez from the legendary Lost Truck. But with it come decades of secrets, rancor, and lies, and the few who know of the painting’s existence have their lives snuffed out one by one by an unknown assassin. Revere must travel back to the grand cities of Europe to unravel the tangled history of the lost truck and its treasures before fifty years of hatred, greed, and retribution catch up with him.

If you love Loot you’ll want to read E-Reads’ trove of Elkins mysteries and thrillers including his Gideon Oliver detective series.

Richard Curtis

Anything can happen under a Christmas Moon. Even a miracle that the Three Kings would have appreciated.

Pregnant, unwed and down on her luck, history teacher Emma Carlyle is facing the worst Christmas of her life. Needing some research for her master’s thesis on legendary Wyoming lawman J.D. McNulty, she makes a Christmas Eve drive to South Pass City, where J.D. was buried. But…

Heading home, she loses her way in a storm. After her car vanishes, she ends up in 1870, half-frozen and in labor, on the doorstep of a remote mountain cabin. When J.D. himself opens the door with a pistol in one hand and a bottle of whiskey in the other…well, let’s just say that sparks start flying. These two lost souls are clearly meant for each other. But there’s one problem. Emma has studied everything about J.D.–and she knows he has only a few weeks to live.

Maybe, until then Emma didn’t believe in miracles.  But this is the time of the Christmas Moon , and, as we said, anything can happen.

Author Elizabeth Lane has penned a sensual time travel romance with an inspiring message that will send chills down your spine.  Christmas Moon is an E-Reads original, never before published.  For other Elizabeth Lane novels visit her author page.
RC

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro is the first woman to be named a Living Legend by the International Horror Guild and is one of only two women ever to be named as Grand Master of the World Horror Convention (2003). In 1995, Yarbro was the only novelist guest of the Romanian government for the First World Dracula Congress, sponsored by the Transylvanian Society of Dracula, the Romanian Bureau of Tourism and the Romanian Ministry of Culture.

Yarbro is best known as the creator of the heroic vampire, the Count Saint-Germain. With her creation of Saint-Germain, she delved into history and vampiric literature and subverted the standard myth to invent the first vampire who was more honorable, humane, and heroic than most of the humans around him. She fully meshed the vampire with romance and accurately detailed historical fiction and filtered it through a feminist perspective that both the giving of sustenance and its taking were of equal erotic potency. E-Reads is happy to bring Yarbro’s St. Germain novels back into print  including Blood Games.

In Blood Games, set in the reign of Nero, Saint-Germain makes his way through the political turmoil of the time and becomes the lover of the incomparable Atta Olivia Clemens.

And check out The Palace: Renaissance Florence provides the background for this story of the collapse of the artistic and literary life of the city after the death of Saint-Germain’s friend Lorenzo the Magnificent, followed by the rise of the fanatical Savonarola.

RC

Here’s a communication just released by Dorchester Senior Editor Chris Keeslar.
**************************
Dear Authors:

You may have gleaned this information from the previous emailed press release regarding Dorchester’s new CEO, but several exciting changes are happening at the company. In addition to Mr. Robert Anthony’s appointment, the imminent revamping of our Web site and release of Winter 2010 titles, our old printer and warehouse, Offset Paperback Manufacturers, has agreed to once again distribute single-copy sales of our inventory.

What this means to you:

· Your fans will be able to buy your books. All of your mass-market paperback books that were in stock before the August 7 shutdown are back in stock. If you have readers who are interested in purchasing your books, direct them to either www.dorchesterpub.com or to the Telecenter at (800) 481-9191. These books will be accounted for individually and appear on your May royalty statement.

· You’ll be able to set up book signings. Bookstores can once again order your books, provided they are willing to do so on a non-returnable basis. Because of the caveat, depending on the number of copies they are willing to buy, they will be granted a scaling discount. They should call the Telecenter to set up orders. These books will also show up on your May royalty statement.

· You’ll continue to be able to purchase any stock you desire. Special offer author discounts continue to apply, on a sliding scale dependent on volume.

Things you should know:

· If your rights have reverted, Dorchester is still able to sell these books. A caveat of our reversion notice allows for sales of all pre-existing stock. Be assured that we are not going back to press on any of these books in order to sell them at a discount.

· There will be a slightly longer turnaround time on all orders. Allow a day or two longer for shipments, as some changes have taken place at the warehouse that will slow fulfillment.

All in all, though, this is great news. Dorchester looks forward to providing your fans with your books for as long as we have stock and the rights—and we wish you the very best of luck in the continuance of your careers. We hope to be part of them.

Our other current project is generating up-to-date royalty statements and developing a payment plan to see that everyone gets what they are owed in as timely a manner possible. The staff is revitalized and working through each and every problem as it pops up. Any questions, please let me know. I will be out of the office all next week for the holiday, but will be checking my email whenever possible.

Best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving,

Christopher Keeslar
Senior Editor

Tim O’Reilly famously said, “Obscurity is a far greater threat to authors and creative artists than piracy.”  That’s very witty, but anyone who’s had their property hijacked by pirates will fail to see the humor. Take Colleen Doran, a cartoonist and illustrator with hundreds of major credits. She would gladly opt for obscurity if it meant getting compensated for the 3000 hours of work stolen from her.

“Like many artists,” she blogs in The Hill.com, “I’ve seen my sales figures chipped away as the print market shrinks due, in no small part, to rampant online piracy. I tried to count the number of pirate sites that had my work available for free download, but when I hit 145, I was too depressed to go on.”

Doran’s poignant story is all too familiar to a surging list of authors, artists and musicians. She spent two years – she calculates 3000 hours -  researching and drawing a graphic novel for DC Comics/Vertigo. “The minute this book is available, someone will take one copy and within 24 hours, that book will be available for free to anyone around the world who wants to read it. 3,000 hours of my life down the rabbit hole, with the frightening possibility that without a solid return on this investment, there will be no more major investments in future work.”

Though her ire is directed at pirates, she has some choice words for file-sharers and other enablers. “Distribution is the only concern. Readers care about the gadget that gives them the goods, and have no connection to the goods at all, or who made them. But without desirable content, there’s nothing to distribute.”

She saves her best shot for those who promulgate a culture of entitlement: “Pirates and impecunious fans inform me that pirating my work is great publicity, for piracy isn’t nearly as dangerous to an artist as obscurity.”

It’s easy to mouth witty platitudes about the benefits of piracy when your pocket has never been picked – or you can easily afford a team of high-priced bulldogs to take perpetrators down. But for Colleen Doran and countless other copyright owners who have been ripped off, O’Reilly’s quip leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

Read The “real” victims of online piracy by Colleen Doran.

And for a complete archive of posts about piracy, visit our Pirate Central feature.

Richard Curtis

Back in July 2009 USA Today began tracking Kindle bestsellers. Now the New York Times will provide an e-book bestseller list commencing early next year.  It will include not just Kindle sales but sales in all formats. We’re not sure how the listmakers will weight Kindle vs. iPad vs. Sony vs. Nook etc., and if the Times‘s secretive selection process for print book bestsellers is carried over, we’ll never know how it’s done for e-books, either. But you can try asking Janet Elder. She’s the editor at the newspaper tasked with surveys and analyses.

Julie Bosman, who covers the book biz eat for the Times, reports that the paper “will also redesign the section of its Sunday Book Review that features the best-seller lists.  She quotes Sam Tanenhaus, the Book Review’s editor: “To give the fullest and most accurate possible snapshot of what books are being read at a given moment you have to include as many different formats as possible, and e-books have really grown, there’s no question about it.”

Details in Times Will Rank E-Book Best Sellers.

Richard Curtis

Every Blogger owes a debt of gratitude to newspapers and magazines. This posting relies on original research and reporting performed by The New York Times.

In the war on piracy you would think that porn filmmakers would be unlikely champions of righteousness.  In fact there may be no more stalwart enemies of pirates than outfits with names like DogFart, Lords of Porn, Pink Visual  and Naughty Bank. “The film and music businesses couldn’t stop file-sharing, but the porn industry has a plan to drive piracy into the shadows in 15 months or less,” writes Nate Anderson of Ars Technica, and when you follow the pornsters’ reasoning you’ll see why.

The first thing you need to know is that the porn film industry is even more vulnerable to copyright theft than the so-called legitimate movie business. “Porn,” explains Anderson, “is highly dependent on individual sales to home users” and “doesn’t have the theatrical revenue stream.”

Second, many pornographers are not afraid to sue individual filesharers and downloaders – the poor schnooks that one day get slapped with a subpoena and included in court papers as “John Doe”.  In this respect porn makers are like their cousins in mainstream film business, which recently named some 14,000 independent film pirates in a notable lawsuit (see This Academy Award Envelope Had a Subpoena in It).

But the real kicker is that those who get sued for filesharing porn films are likelier to wave the surrender flag sooner than others. “Pornographers,” writes Anderson, “might be in a better position to coax people into settling quickly for a few thousand dollars. As Pink Visual president Allison Vivas told Agence France Presse in September, ‘It seems like it will be quite embarrassing for whichever user ends up in a lawsuit about using a popular “she-male” title. When it comes to private sexual fantasies and fetishes, going public is probably not worth the risk that these torrent and peer-to-peer users are taking.’”

Antipiracy makes strange bedfellows, but if the pornster logic is correct, we may see a lot of redfaced – and redhanded – downloaders rushing to settle and seeking softer targets – such as the e-book industry.

Read Porn pros hope to squelch online piracy by 2012

Interested in piracy?  Visit our complete Pirate Central archives here.

Richard Curtis