Endicott Redux

Remember when blogging was new and you could catch up on your favorite blogs over morning coffee? Now there's so much good stuff out there that there's no way in heck to keep up with it all (though syndication feeds are certainly a help), and I'm even falling behind on keeping up with blogs by friends. Case in point: I only just found out that Kim Antieau has been posting wonderful little interviews with other mythic-arts writers on her newly re-designed blog; she's got interviews with Alice Hoffman, Charles de Lint, Joanna Harris, Jane Yolen, and poet Jimmy Santiago Baca so far. She has also posted an intriguing interview with herself in which 60 writers, editors, family members and friends asked the questions. You can read some good snippets from the interviews below, and go here to check them out at full length. They are little gems.

Kim to Alice Hoffman: Like many fairy tales, your stories often begin with catastrophe. Terrible things happen to your characters and to the people around them. Is it difficult to be a witness to these tragedies, as the writer? Is this emotionally draining for you as you are writing it? Or is it cathartic? Or neither?

Alice: It's cathartic to take straw and make it into gold, or as close to gold as you can get it. Also to transfigure reality and expand it. Terrible things happen in all fairy tales -- why not? They are the most honest of all literature.

Kim to Charles de Lint: Are you ever unsure of yourself or your writing?

Charles: All the time. I think a good writer is a mix of confidence (sure that what they’re writing is going to appeal to their readers) and uncertainty (what if all these words are crap?). If you’re too confident, you get an attitude that seeps through into your writing, affecting the characters and the story. If you’re too uncertain, you’ll never finish anything.

Kim to Joanne Harris: Alice Hoffman says you can tell something about a person by which book they prefer: Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre. Which book do you prefer? Why?

Joanne:Wuthering Heights; partly because I live within a stone’s throw of the place, and the landscape has shaped my childhood, and partly because of the raw poetry of the writing and the extraordinary insight the author shows into the darker mysteries of the human heart – an at such a tender age. Fantastic.

. . . And on another subject entirely, there's a good article posted on Salon.com today about Ursula Le Guin's new mythic novel, Lavinia.

Green Man Review celebrates 20 years of Years Best Fantasy and Horror

The Green Man Review librarian Iain Nicholas Mackenzie has put together a terrific collection of reviews, interviews, and personal responses to celebrate the past 20 years of The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, edited by Ellen Datlow, Terri Windling, Kelly Link, and Gavin Grant. There is a rare and wonderful interview with artist Tom Canty, who designed the wrap around covers, always a beautiful combination of elegant fantasy and smoldering horror. There is a lively interview with current editors Ellen Datlow, Gavin Grant, and Kelly Link here, and, holy cats, there are reviews for every volume produced.

*Art banner above by Tom Canty.

Winter Blog Blast Tour:

Once again, here's the list of today's Winter Blog Blast Tour and where to find the interviews. I have to say that I was particularly thrilled with the Elizabeth Knox interview -- a writer I really I admire for both her adult and young adult novels.

Thursday:
David Mack at Chasing Ray 
Paul Volponi at The Ya Ya Yas
Elizabeth Knox at Shaken & Stirred
Ellen Emerson White at A Chair, A Fireplace and A Tea Cozy
Jack Gantos at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
David Levithan at Not Your Mother's Book Club
Micol Ostow at Bildungsroman
Laura Amy Schlitz at Miss Erin
Kerry Madden at Hip Writer Mama
Sherman Alexie at Interactive Reader

Winter Blog Blast Continues

I hope many of you are taking advantage of these terrific interviews -- so  many in one week! It feels like being an insider-guest at a fabulous book convention, where one doesn't have to wait in line, or sit in the back of the room, straining to hear and see the author. Here's the list of today's writers and blogsites:

Lisa Ann Sandell at Interactive Reader
Christopher Barzak at Chasing Ray
Julie Halpern at The Ya Ya Yas
Micol Ostow at Shaken & Stirred
Rick Yancey at Hip Writer Mama
Jane Yolen at Fuse Number 8
Shannon Hale at Bookshelves of Doom
Maureen Johnson at Bildungsroman
David Lubar at Writing & Ruminating
Sherman Alexie at Finding Wonderland

All of them are terrific!

Winter Blog Blast Tour

Once again, with special thanks to Colleen Mondor for organizing this Winter Blog Blast Tour of Young Adult Author interviews on multi-blogs, let me present the the offerings for Monday:

Perry Moore at The Ya Ya Yas
Nick Abadzis at Chasing Ray
Carrie Jones at Hip Writer Mama
Phyllis Root at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Laura Amy Schlitz at Fuse Number 8
Kerry Madden at lectitans
Tom Sniegoski at Bildungsroman
Connie Willis at Finding Wonderland

I've spent the morning reading these incredible interviews and now have a new list of authors whose work I am so looking forward to reading.

Go here to see the full schedule for the entire week. Colleen, you're the best ever.

"Instructions" and more...

Midori has been valiantly covering this blog solo while I've been down with a truly nasty flu -- and as I'm still shaking the last of a rattling cough out of my lungs, my posting may be a bit sporadic over the next week or so.

This post is to let y'all know that there is now an "Endicott Studio Channel" on YouTube, where we'll be putting videos that we think will be of interest to fans of mythic arts -- such as the Mythic Journeys documentary from the good folks at the Mythic Imaginations Institute, Ben Okri discussing his approach to writing, an A&E biography of J.K. Rowling, a little film on artist Paula Rego, the great June Tabor singing Child Ballad #191: "Hughie Graeme,"  and more. (f you come across other good videos on YouTube, send us a note and let us know.)

The video above is of Neil Gaiman reading his fairy tale poem "Instructions" at Cody's Books in Berkeley, California. Considering his voluminous output of work over the last several years, Ellen Datlow and I will forgive him for forgetting that he actually wrote the poem at our request for our children's fairy tale anthology A Wolf at the Door, where it was first published in 2000. It's my favorite of all his poems, and a real treat to hear him read it.

(While you're on YouTube, if you're a martial arts fan, check out this little video that Howard Gayton made of a tournament/demonstration of our Kung Fu teacher's school, The Dragon Temple, in our village hall in rural Devon.)

Kinetic Sculpture

This little video is simply amazing:

You can see a slightly larger version of the video here. And yes, the guy is a genius.

(With thanks to Alan Lee for sending us the link.)

Summer Blog Blast of interviews with authors of Young Adult fiction

Just a reminder that the week is speeding by and there are quite a few great interviews out there in the blogosphere. For instance, don't miss Gwenda Bond's interviews with Ysabeau Wilce, Cecil Castelluci, and Holly Black over at Shaken & Stirred.

You can see the full schedule of interviews at the organizing host's website: Colleen Mondor's Chasing Ray. It's been a great week!

Charles Vess: Modern Master

 

With all the excitement surrounding the Stardust movie and the unveiling of the stunning trailer, I’d say it’s the perfect time to mention the latest volume in TwoMorrows Publishing’s Modern Masters series. Modern Masters Volume Eleven features none other than Endicott contributor and longtime friend, Charles Vess!

The Modern Masters series “[celebrates] the lives and work of the greatest comic book artists of our time.” With a career that spans over 30 years and a huge body of visual narrative work in at least four mediums (painting, illustration, sculpture, and, of course, comics), Vess is a perfect choice for such a distinction.

The 120-page book concentrates on Vess’ work in the comics field, with lots of art samples from Heavy Metal, Epic Illustrated, Spider-man, Swamp thing, The Books of Magic and, of course, Sandman and Stardust. In addition to a generous selection of the work we know and love, there are some delightful, offbeat Vess rarities here, including a Transformers cover and a commissioned sketch of Spiderman in a kilt (!). I always get a kick out of checking out my favorite artists’ earliest works, and there are a few of those as well. The depth and true diversity of Vess’ talents are truly striking in this presentation.

The heart of the book is a lively, entertaining interview in which Vess gives us a backstage peek into his career, including his humble beginnings as a lonely young comics fan in 1950s Virginia, his experiences as a struggling artist in New York City, his breakthrough work with DC Comics and his current work on the STARDUST movie. It’s an absolute hoot to read, with Charles’ warmth and kindness shining from every page. As one of those sensitive writer types, I tend to stockpile interviews such as this one – they’re the amulets I reach for when the demons are messing with my creative spirit. (On that note, for another great doldrums-busting interview with Charles, check out The Comics Journal #218 – back issues are available on the cheap at their website).

If you’ve never had the pleasure of taking in a Vess slideshow (Mythic Journeys 2004, World Fantasy 2005), you’ll definitely not want to miss the influences section in this book. I also enjoyed reading the stories of collaboration for Charles’ self-published comic series The Book of Ballads and Sagas (now available in its entirety from Tor).

If I could change just one thing about the book, I’d beef up the color portfolio. But I suppose I can’t be too grumpy about that – a 200-page Vess art book by Dark Horse Comics is scheduled for release in August (Drawing Down The Moon: The Art of Charles Vess).

You can read an excerpt of the Modern Masters volume in this thread at Newsarama. Be sure to check in with Charles periodically at his blog, where he often posts new art. Also check out Terri Windling’s grand Vess appreciation and the fairy sketchbook in the Endicott gallery -- and for more on his influences (and his thoughts on genre-crossing art), be sure to read Charles’ essay at the Interstitial Arts Foundation.

The Question of Copyright

As a follow-up to Jonathan Lethem's excellent article on creative influence and copyright issues in Harper's Magazine (which we discussed here on February 15), I recommend Amy Benfer's interview with Lethem published in Salon this week -- which ranges from copyright issues to discussion of Lethem's terrific new book, You Don't Love Me Yet. Regarding the relationship of a writer to his or her audience (and to the commercial marketplace), Lethem says: "I'm very persuaded by the image that Lewis Hyde offers of an artist who is, by definition, in whatever medium, or whatever level of success or whatever culture, in the practice of culture-making; participating in culture by making stuff is inherently a gift transaction and a commodity transaction. And it always will be. The question is how do we affirm and clarify this relationship? Because it's a very weird one -- making commodities that are also gifts."

You can read the full interview here.