Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

ByJohn Brown

I had business in Vegas and decided it was time to take the family to Zion’s National Park. We could drive down from the northern tip of Utah (Laketown) to the southern tip (St. George) together. Then I’d take a rental to Vegas, do my business, and hook up again with the fam to hike the canyons for two-days. (Hiking Kolob, folks, was incredible, but that’s another post.)

So I ask Nellie what she’s got to read to me as we drive down. She pulls out Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney and says all the kids in her classes said she had to read it. 

I think, hey, it’s got pictures. Any book with pictures gets one shot at the very least.

I’m happy to say I can’t tell you how many times she had to wait so I could stop laughing. We almost wrecked only once. And if I’m going to wreck I’d rather do it while laughing than asleep. Kenny has written and illustrated a wonderful, fun book. And now we have a new word in the family vocabulary–“Fregley.”

What is that? You’ll have to read to find out.

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    One of Orson Card’s best essays

    ByJohn Brown

    Scott Card recently wrote “Marriage needs lots of humor.” It’s an awful title for one of the best articles of his that I’ve ever read.

    I’m not going to spoil it for you. But I will say that I’ve found that it’s the small things that seem to make the biggest difference in relationships. And this is one of those small things that packs a HUGE punch. But not until this article did I realize it.

    And for you writers who are wanting insights on what makes characters interesting and sympathetic–there’s a little treasure trove here for you as well.

    Enjoy!

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  • Awakening by Christy Dorrity

    ByJohn Brown

    Art is a huge part of what draws me to science fiction and fantasy. I still have the Hildebrant LOTR calendars I got back in the early eighties.

    On the web you can browse awesome work on DeviantArt.com and CGHub.com. But something that’s been around for much longer is Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art. It’s an art annual released each year that highlights the best art produced that year in Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror, and the Surreal.

    This year will mark the 21st year of publication.  Spectrum has become the broadest distributed art annual in the world. Having art included in Spectrum is top honors for artists around the globe.

    So why am I telling you this?

    Well, Devon Dorrity, the guy who helped me pull together my covers,  not only had his sculpture “Queen of the Seas” included in a past annual, but he’s just won a spot in this year’s annual with the cover he created for his wife’s book, Awakening. It’s a big honor.

    Here’s the description of how he put it together.

    For the book cover for Awakening by Christy Dorrity, Devon Dorrity selected the cover model, Shelbilee Lee, from hundreds of local models.  Jason Morrison, a photographer friend, was hired to do the photoshoot.  Devon purchased the wig, fingernails, and props from Amazon. Then Dennis Dorrity, Devon’s brother, did an illustration of the photo selected from the photoshoot.  Devon then composited the illustration and the photo together blending the two to emphasize the best of both pieces.  After applying various effects and custom color, the piece was finished.

    After the book’s publication, Devon submitted the cover to Spectrum with Dennis Dorrity listed as the Artist.  Dennis did the illustration that plays such a heavy role in the finished piece.  Devon was listed as the Art Director/Designer.  Spectrum announced in the end of March that the Awakening book cover was selected for inclusion in The annual.  Spectrum 21 will be released in November 2014.

    Awakening: Book One of The Geis is itself a clean young adult fantasy filled with Celtic mythology, magic, romance, and mystery. And it’s been getting great reviews.

    “Dorrity invites her readers to a céilí that will quicken the pulse of anyone with Ireland in their blood! AWAKENING will draw you deep into the mysteries of the Celtic worldview—and leave you wanting more of McKayla and her fascinating Aunt Avril!”
    – KERSTEN HAMILTON, author of Tyger Tyger and the Goblin Wars books

    “I thoroughly enjoyed AWAKENING, a captivating and unique debut novel that creatively integrates Irish dance.”
    – CHRIS NAISH, Riverdance member and Creative Director of Fusion Fighters Irish dancers.

    5 Stars! “AWAKENING is an exciting mashup of fantasy, action-adventure, and mystery, with a touch of romance thrown in for good measure.”
    – KATE MCCURRY, top 100 Amazon reviewer

    How many authors do you know who have unlocked the achievement of having someone from Riverdance plug your book? Awakening right now is free. If you like YA fantasy with a bit of romance, this is the perfect time to give this new author a go.

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  • |

    Update and Fage

    ByJohn Brown

    I passed the 90% mark today on SERVANT. It’s been wonderful going back through this story, remembering why I loved these characters so much. The cover too is coming along. I’m looking forward to revealing it in the near future. Right now everything looks like it will release on target, although that may change.

    While you’re here, you know I have been on a quest for delicious low-sugar yogurt for some time. I have found it at last. Behold.

    Fage 2 percent yogurt

    No Greek yogurt has a better taste or texture. And there’s no added sugar. Add some fruit and it’s heaven.

    It’s pronounced “fa-yeh.” Except, how do you pronounce that? Who comes up with product names nobody can pronounce? 

    But it doesn’t matter how you pronounce it. We luvs it, Precious.

     

     

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  • Top 200 YA Authors of 2010

    ByJohn Brown

    On Thursday I posted the top 200 YA  novels of 2010. Today I’m happy to share the top 200 authors. You might be wondering: if we already have a top 200, why post this? Because yesterday was about individual titles. Today’s post is about authors. Some authors might not have any books that are checked out in huge numbers. But because they have a lot of books available, the numbers of checkouts they do have add up. Yesterday’s list showed you the volume for individual books. Today’s list shows you the volume for each author. You’ll see it does result in a different ranking.

    This list is based on the same dataset as the previous list. And so while I can’t claim it represents the top YA authors for the whole United States, it does show who is being read in this neck of the woods. It’s a great list for those wanting to find YA authors to try.  Please be aware that these are YA books as defined by the library, which takes its cue from places like Booklist and School Library Journal. Other books like the first three Harry Potters, Brandon Mull’s Fablehaven series, and some of Dashner’s stuff are considered Middle Grade and so do not appear on this list. Later, I might do a combined list.

    There were 1,283 authors on the list. “Times Checked Out” is the sum of all the times any of the author’s books were checked out. “Number of Titles” is the number of different titles the author has that were checked out. “Avg Check Outs per Title” is the average number of times each title was checked out. “%” is percentage of total checkouts. Rank is rank. Another way to sort this would be by the Avg Check Outs per Title to see who’s getting the highest number of readers per book. But I’ll let you fiddle with that on your own. Again, I’m very happy to see a number of Utahans on the list. Kudos to the following (ranking in parentheses):

    • Stephenie Meyer (4)
    • Shannon Hale (5)
    • Jessica Day George (10)
    • Chris Heimerdinger (18)
    • Jack Weyland (38)
    • Lisa Mangum (55)
    • Mette Ivie Harrison (56)
    • Aprilynne Pike (71)
    • Brandon Sanderson (73)
    • Ally Condie (82)
    • James Dashner (94)
    • Bree Despain (110)

    EDIT: 1/15/2011 12:57 AM. Okay, okay here’s the list by average checkout: Top 200 YA Authors of 2010, Part 2. A number of people drop off, new names appear, and positions shuffle.

    EDIT: 1/16/2011 9:32 AM: Informed that Bree Despain is also a Utah author.

    The List

    Author Times Checked Out Number of Titles Avg Check Outs per Title % Rank
    Rick Riordan 989 8 124 2.68% 1
    Suzanne Collins 888 3 296 2.98% 2
    Tamora Pierce 634 26 24 1.60% 3
    Stephenie Meyer 529 5 106 1.56% 4
    Shannon Hale 517 6 86 0.96% 5
    John Flanagan 413 9 46 0.93% 6
    Meg Cabot 396 37 11 0.58% 7
    P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast 393 7 56 0.37% 8
    Scott Westerfeld 354 12 30 1.19% 9
    Jessica Day George 328 6 55 0.99% 10
    D.J. MacHale 328 15 22 0.32% 11
    L.J. Smith 326 22 15 0.15% 12
    J.K. Rowling 318 4 80 0.30% 13
    Darren Shan 313 24 13 0.14% 14
    Cassandra Clare 309 4 77 1.25% 15
    Lisi Harrison 304 23 13 0.40% 16
    Eoin Colfer 302 11 27 0.13% 17
    Chris Heimerdinger 280 16 18 0.50% 18
    Cameron Dokey 271 9 30 0.74% 19
    Anthony Horowitz 260 24 11 0.46% 20
    James Patterson 257 8 32 0.23% 21
    Angie Sage 246 6 41 0.11% 22
    Joseph Delaney 240 9 27 0.33% 23
    Richelle Mead 202 6 34 0.21% 24
    Christopher Paolini 191 3 64 0.10% 25
    Alyson Noel 188 9 21 0.10% 26
    Garth Nix 182 11 17 0.21% 27
    Sara Shepard 181 8 23 0.41% 28
    Hilari Bell 178 12 15 0.10% 29
    Michael Scott 165 4 41 0.61% 30
    Gary Paulsen 163 26 6 0.20% 31
    Ellen Schreiber 160 9 18 0.20% 32
    Patricia C. Wrede 158 9 18 0.78% 33
    Frewin Jones 155 8 19 0.19% 34
    Melissa de la Cruz 154 7 22 0.28% 35
    Maggie Stiefvater 153 4 38 0.09% 36
    Ally Carter 152 5 30 0.37% 37
    Jack Weyland 151 11 14 0.09% 38
    Suzanne Weyn 150 8 19 0.09% 39
    Sarah Dessen 150 9 17 0.37% 40
    Margaret Peterson Haddix 144 8 18 0.46% 41
    Libba Bray 136 4 34 0.82% 42
    Rachel Caine 134 9 15 0.09% 43
    R.L. Stine 132 43 3 0.09% 44
    Caroline B. Cooney 132 30 4 1.07% 45
    Kelley Armstrong 131 3 44 0.27% 46
    Gerald Morris 129 10 13 0.09% 47
    Diana Wynne Jones 128 6 21 0.26% 48
    Jean Ferris 127 13 10 0.17% 49
    Anna Godbersen 127 5 25 0.17% 50
    Cecily von Ziegesar 126 24 5 0.17% 51
    Janette Rallison 125 10 13 0.08% 52
    Markus Zusak 124 4 31 0.08% 53
    Lurlene McDaniel 124 47 3 0.17% 54
    Lisa Mangum 124 2 62 0.91% 55
    Mette Ivie Harrison 123 4 31 0.08% 56
    Ann Rinaldi 119 31 4 0.72% 57
    Kate Brian 118 21 6 0.08% 58
    Carolyn Meyer 115 12 10 0.08% 59
    Cinda Williams Chima 113 5 23 0.38% 60
    Amelia Atwater-Rhodes 112 11 10 0.08% 61
    Frank Beddor 110 3 37 0.08% 62
    Heather Brewer 108 5 22 0.08% 63
    Laurie Halse Anderson 108 8 14 0.30% 64
    Herbie Brennan 106 5 21 0.30% 65
    Kristin Cashore 105 2 53 1.91% 66
    Robin McKinley 105 6 18 0.07% 67
    R.D. Henham 104 7 15 0.21% 68
    Donna Jo Napoli 104 15 7 0.14% 69
    Catherine Jinks 101 10 10 0.21% 70
    Aprilynne Pike 101 2 51 0.21% 71
    Louise Rennison 101 10 10 0.55% 72
    Brandon Sanderson 100 4 25 0.34% 73
    Debbie Viguie 100 6 17 0.46% 74
    Melissa Marr 99 4 25 0.07% 75
    Catherine Fisher 98 8 12 0.13% 76
    Jonathan Stroud 97 6 16 0.99% 77
    Lauren Brooke 95 26 4 0.33% 78
    L.A. Meyer 95 8 12 0.13% 79
    Lisa McMann 94 3 31 0.13% 80
    Simone Elkeles 93 7 13 0.39% 81
    Ally Condie 93 6 16 0.32% 82
    Lynne Ewing 91 18 5 0.06% 83
    Donita K. Paul 90 6 15 0.06% 84
    Carrie Jones 88 3 29 0.06% 85
    Lois Lowry 86 3 29 0.06% 86
    Kenneth Oppel 80 4 20 0.19% 87
    Mary Hoffman 79 7 11 0.06% 88
    Philip Reeve 78 9 9 0.57% 89
    Jen Calonita 78 6 13 0.12% 90
    Holly Black 78 5 16 0.12% 91
    Laurie Faria Stolarz 76 7 11 0.06% 92
    Catherine Gilbert Murdock 76 4 19 0.24% 93
    James Dashner 75 2 38 0.06% 94
    Diane Duane 75 9 8 0.06% 95
    Philip Pullman 73 9 8 0.18% 96
    Gordon Korman 72 16 5 0.18% 97
    Neal Shusterman 72 9 8 0.47% 98
    Jerry Spinelli 72 8 9 0.17% 99
    Jane Yolen 71 14 5 0.06% 100
    N.D. Wilson 70 3 23 0.23% 101
    Ellen Hopkins 70 6 12 0.06% 102
    Carrie Ryan 69 2 35 0.45% 103
    Becca Fitzpatrick 68 2 34 0.05% 104
    Lesley Livingston 68 3 23 0.05% 105
    Esther Friesner 68 6 11 0.05% 106
    Megan Whalen Turner 68 4 17 0.43% 107
    Alex Flinn 68 3 23 0.48% 108
    Elizabeth Knox 67 2 34 0.48% 109
    Bree Despain 66 2 33 0.32% 110
    Bryan Davis 66 8 8 0.11% 111
    Patrick Carman 66 5 13 0.84% 112
    Nancy Werlin 65 6 11 0.05% 113
    Ann Brashares 64 4 16 0.05% 114
    K.A. Applegate 64 18 4 0.05% 115
    Rachel Cohn 64 9 7 0.05% 116
    Linda Buckley-Archer 63 3 21 0.05% 117
    Cornelia Funke 63 2 32 0.05% 118
    Ted Dekker 62 7 9 0.05% 119
    Vivian Vande Velde 62 13 5 0.21% 120
    Nancy Springer 62 7 9 0.05% 121
    Carolyn Keene 61 49 1 0.15% 122
    Kieran Scott 60 6 10 0.10% 123
    Robin Palmer 59 3 20 0.45% 124
    Claudia Gray 59 3 20 0.30% 125
    Victoria Hanley 58 4 15 0.55% 126
    Carl Hiaasen 58 3 19 0.15% 127
    Philip Pullman  57 2 29 0.15% 128
    Lauren Kate 57 2 29 0.29% 129
    Marilyn Kaye 57 29 2 0.05% 130
    Lili St. Crow 56 2 28 0.14% 131
    Sharon Shinn 56 5 11 0.05% 132
    T.A. Barron 55 6 9 0.05% 133
    Marissa Doyle 55 2 28 0.05% 134
    Celia Rees 54 6 9 0.05% 135
    Alane Ferguson 54 6 9 0.05% 136
    Ridley Pearson 54 4 14 0.05% 137
    Elizabeth Scott 54 4 14 0.05% 138
    Clare B. Dunkle 53 6 9 0.05% 139
    Jaclyn Moriarty 52 4 13 0.05% 140
    James A. Owen 52 4 13 0.05% 141
    Justin Somper 52 5 10 0.05% 142
    David Klass 52 11 5 0.19% 143
    E. Lockhart 51 6 9 0.24% 144
    Cornelia Funke  51 1 51 0.09% 145
    Rachel Vail 51 3 17 0.28% 146
    Susan Beth Pfeffer 49 4 12 0.09% 147
    Rachel Vincent 49 3 16 0.14% 148
    K.M. Grant 49 7 7 0.27% 149
    Michael Grant 49 3 16 0.14% 150
    Maureen Johnson 48 4 12 0.05% 151
    Terry Pratchett 48 5 10 0.05% 152
    Kay Lynn Mangum 48 3 16 0.05% 153
    Sarah Mlynowski 48 5 10 0.05% 154
    Judy Blundell 48 1 48 0.05% 155
    Wayne Thomas Batson 48 7 7 0.05% 156
    Christopher Pike 47 19 2 0.05% 157
    David Lubar 47 8 6 0.05% 158
    Janet Lee Carey 46 3 15 0.40% 159
    Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl 46 2 23 0.31% 160
    Lene Kaaberbol 45 4 11 0.54% 161
    Alison Croggon 45 4 11 0.98% 162
    Tera Lynn Childs 45 3 15 0.13% 163
    Lois Duncan 45 13 3 0.13% 164
    Carol Lynch Williams 44 3 15 0.09% 165
    Louis Sachar 44 2 22 0.17% 166
    Laini Taylor 44 3 15 0.13% 167
    Martha Finley 44 14 3 0.08% 168
    Kimberly Pauley 43 2 22 0.04% 169
    John Grisham  43 1 43 0.04% 170
    Beth Fantaskey 43 2 22 0.04% 171
    Guillaume Prevost 43 3 14 0.08% 172
    Margaret Mahy 43 5 9 0.04% 173
    A.J. Butcher 42 5 8 0.04% 174
    Lauren Conrad 42 3 14 0.04% 175
    Justine Larbalestier 42 5 8 0.04% 176
    Deb Caletti 42 4 11 0.13% 177
    Joan Lowery Nixon 42 16 3 0.04% 178
    Aimee Friedman 42 3 14 0.04% 179
    Gloria Whelan 41 10 4 0.04% 180
    Anne Osterlund 41 2 21 0.04% 181
    Philip Caveney 41 3 14 0.04% 182
    Eva Ibbotson 41 2 21 0.04% 183
    Michael Carroll 41 3 14 0.04% 184
    Francine Pascal 40 14 3 0.04% 185
    Walter Dean Myers 40 11 4 0.13% 186
    Gillian Shields 40 3 13 0.08% 187
    Isobelle Carmody 40 7 6 0.46% 188
    Fuyumi Ono  40 4 10 0.12% 189
    Stuart Hill 39 3 13 0.12% 190
    William Sleator 39 14 3 0.08% 191
    Michael Cadnum 38 11 3 0.08% 192
    Timothy Zahn 38 6 6 0.16% 193
    Sharon M. Draper 38 9 4 0.16% 194
    Peter Abrahams 37 5 7 0.33% 195
    Madeline L’Engle 37 11 3 0.12% 196
    Jenny B. Jones 37 3 12 0.28% 197
    Kimberly Derting 37 1 37 0.92% 198
    William Nicholson 37 3 12 0.20% 199
    Susane Colasanti 36 3 12 0.94% 200
    Ben Mikaelsen 36 5 7 0.08% 201
    Jacquelyn Mitchard 36 5 7 0.08% 202
    Richard Peck 36 9 4 0.04% 203
    Tim Green 36 6 6 0.04% 204
    Marilyn Reynolds 36 8 5 0.04% 205
    Sarah Miller 36 3 12 0.04% 206
    Sara Zarr 36 3 12 0.04% 207
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  • How to be a hero in your own house

    ByJohn Brown

    I have four daughters.

    My four daughters have long hair.

    That long hair finds its way into our drains. (Yes, despite our telling them to get it into that thing called a waste basket.)

    Said hair might flow down the pipes. But said hair does not. Life is not that easy. Instead, some evil house spirit catches the hair just as it begins its voyage and turns it from a luscious thing of beauty into a gunky demon of drain death.

    You would think that Drano could defeat this black magic. But Drano gets its butt kicked every time. Drano is in the pee-wee league against this thing. Drano is like a kitten. And gunk demons don’t listen to kittens.

    So for the last few years, we’d blast with Drano and then still have to stand up to our calves in water when we took a shower. Or wait as the sink decided it might finally slowly empty and leave soap scum, whiskers, and toothpaste on the sides for everyone’s viewing pleasure. And then we had to do the slow clean (I hate the slow clean).

    Recently, I was strolling along in a hardware store and saw this.

    Zip-it drain cleaning tool

    Click on the picture. Get a good look. I bought ye handy yellow flex sword. And I did verily slay the monster lurking in every drain in our  house.

    I am the MAN!

    If you have drain issues, let me suggest you be the hero and buy your own sword. It’s called the Zip-It drain cleaning tool. If you’re a weird-o, in addition to being the hero, you can also use it to draw forth disgusting things to scare nieces and nephews with. Just saying.

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  • Good Stuff! 3 Remakes That Will Go Down Into Your Bones

    ByJohn Brown

    Sometimes a remake of a song is better than the original. Or if not better, different and equally as good. I have three that I think fit that bill.

    First is a mix of “The House of the Rising Sun” by The Animals and “Amazing Grace.” It was sung by Jerry Lawson and the Talk of the Town on NBC’s The Sing-Off, which used to be one of the best music competitions on TV. It was all voice, all a’capella, and the things some of the groups did were simply amazing. But then NBC decided to shorten it all into a one-night competition and basically ruined it by removing the multi-week build of the competition and, more importantly, letting us get to know the groups and hearing a range of songs. Oh, well. At least we got this. Turn up your speakers and let it fill you.

    You can get the single here on Amazon.

    The next is a remake of “Go Down, Moses” by The Lower Lights, who have taken this old choral and infused it with a new folk, soul, revival-style groove that makes me think this is probably how the song was originally sung.

    Every time I hear it, it goes down into my bones and calls forth this desire to sing. You can get it here on Amazon.

    The last is a remake of “Glorious” by Stephanie Mabey. This one was part of Meet the Mormons and sung by David Archuleta.

    You can get the exclusive free download of the single here.

     

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