NIGHT ROAD, by A.M. Jenkins

NIGHT ROAD, by A.M. Jenkins, (HarperTeen 2008 )(ages 12+). Cole is a "hemovore," a virally-infected being who subsists on blood and who is apparently immortal (hemes heal rapidly from almost any injury, although exposure to sunlight can result in permanent mental disability). To all outward appearances a teen-ager of about 18, Cole is really more than a century old, which has given him perspective: On how to combat the Thirst and avoid killing when drawing blood from "omnis" (as mortal humans are called); on how to avoid becoming too attached to particular omnis; and on how to stay below the radar of omni authorities.

For years, Cole has held himself aloof from the community, but now he's called back to handle an "accident:" an accidentally-created and newly-formed heme named Gordo. Together, Cole and his easy-going friend Sandor take Gordo on a cross-country expedition to teach him how to become a heme, without killing any omnis or inflicting eternal, debilitating injuries upon himself.

In NIGHT ROAD, Jenkins provides a rich and atmospheric urban fantasy world and artfully juxtaposes Gordo's and Cole's experiences coming to terms with being eternal. NIGHT ROAD is another winner from the author of the Printz honor book REPOSSESSED.

The Perfect Crime...

Remember that old joke that goes something like "A plane crashes on a state line. Where do you bury the survivors?"

Well, I recently came across a pair of articles by Brian C. Kalt, a professor of law at MSU, that address a far more interesting question: Is it possible to commit the perfect crime in the non-Wyoming portions of Yellowstone National Park? In other words, could you commit murder and get away scot-free (no matter what) due to one or more constitutional loopholes? Kalt argues the answer is "yes":

Here's the premise: Let's say you're in the western sliver of Yellowstone National Park (the part in Idaho) and you want to kill someone, say, a fellow hiker. You pick up a rock, bash his head in, and are ultimately arrested by the federal authorities (The feds have exclusive jurisdiction over Yellowstone). Ordinarily, you'd be hauled to the federal courthouse in the state in which the crime was committed, in this case, Idaho. However, Yellowstone National Park has been assigned to the District of Wyoming, so you'd be sent to Cheyenne to stand trial.

Now, Article III of the Constitution provides that "[t]he trial of all crimes...shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held in the state where the said crimes shall have been committed." This then is the first problem: Wyoming is not the state in which the crime was committed. You'd think that this would be easily remedied, of course: the feds could just take you to court in Idaho, right?

Sure. But, the Sixth Amendment includes a jury vicinage clause, which states that "[i]n all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district where in the crime shall have been committed..."

This is the second problem: In this case, the jury has to be from the Idaho portion of Yellowstone National Park (Because it has to be drawn from the state of Idaho and the District of Wyoming). The difficulty arises because the Idaho portion of Yellowstone National Park has a population of precisely zero. Therefore, no jury is possible and, since no jury is possible, no trial is possible. Don't let the courthouse door hit you on the way out. Fun, huh?

The original article apparently made quite a splash a couple years ago (i.e., it was covered by NPR, the BBC, and the National Enquirer); a follow-up article that describes Kalt's attempts to get Congress to fix this loophole was recently published by the Georgetown Law Journal and is available here.

What does this have to do with fiction writing? Well, the idea was also used as the basis for the best-selling novel Free Fire, by C.J. Box.

THE UNDERNEATH, by Kathi Appelt

THE UNDERNEATH, by Kathi Appelt (Atheneum 2008)(ages 10+), is a gripping story of cats, dogs, cruelty, love, and ancient and contemporary evil.

A pregnant calico cat is abandoned by the side of the road in the piney woods and swamps of east Texas. Before long, she comes upon Ranger, a bloodhound who's been chained to a stake by his cruel master, Gar Face. Despite Ranger's warnings about his master, they become the only friends each has known in years. The cat gives birth to a pair of kittens, Sabine and Puck, who are likewise instructed to stay "underneath," i.e., beneath the porch so that Gar Face won't ever catch them. But, of course, kittens are curious...

A thousand years ago, "Grandmother" Moccasin, a giant lamia, was captured and placed into a jar buried beneath a giant loblolly pine. Today, she is seeking to escape and wreak vengeance on those who captured her and stole her daughter...

In THE UNDERNEATH, Appelt expertly weaves these seemingly-disparate threads together in a compelling and highly satisfying fashion. Told in a voice that resonates with the rhythms and timbres of east Texas, THE UNDERNEATH is sometimes dark, yet is also heart-warming and profound.

COMMENT: THE UNDERNEATH is a Writefest novel; Cyn and I are deeply honored that it was dedicated to us.

THE POSTCARD, by Tony Abbott

THE POSTCARD, by Tony Abbott (Little Brown 2008)(ages 8-12). In this fun and quirky novel, Abbott delivers mystery, humor, suspense, and a touch of nostalgia.

A week into summer vacation after eighth grade, Jason is sent down to St. Petersburg, Florida, to help his father settle his recently-deceased grandmother's affairs. After the funeral (which is attended by some truly bizarre individuals), and while going through his grandmother's papers, Jason discovers a magazine of pulp mystery-adventure serials. Then, after a mysterious phone call, he finds a postcard connecting his grandmother's never-talked-about past; the author of one of the (never-completed) serials; and a grand old hotel (featured in the postcard). Joined by Dia, a neighbor girl, Jason must discern fact from fiction as he attempts to untangle an intricate web of love, family, deceit, obsession, and, yes, postcards.

Never dull, often funny, THE POSTCARD offers a sophisticated mystery without stinting on character development or relationships. Highly recommended.

GENIUS SQUAD, by Catherine Jinks

GENIUS SQUAD, by Catherine Jinks (Harcourt 2008)(ages 10+). In EVIL GENIUS, Catherine Jinks introduced Cadel Piggott, a child prodigy and son of arch-criminal Phineas Darkkon. At age seven, Cadel has already shown an aptitude for criminal endeavors and psychological manipulation. Through his father's influence, Cadel is placed into the Axis Institute for World Domination. By age 13, he's a star pupil and yet he -- in part through outside friendships -- becomes increasingly uneasy at the immoral nature of his activities.

In GENIUS SQUAD, Cadel is placed into foster care after the downfall of the Axis Institute. There, he is approached by and asked to join the eponymous secret organization. Soon, however, he begins to suspect there's a secret agenda...

Both novels are fun, entertaining, and suspenseful. Cadel is portrayed in a genuine and engaging fashion (even when undertaking rather appalling "pranks", i.e., felonies.). In GENIUS SQUAD, Cadel is less the anti-hero and more well-rounded and human, as Jinks successfully establishes his growth as a person. The novel additionally provides a suspenseful cliff-hanger to the forthcoming Book 3.

It was a dark and stormy night...

Greetings from Austin.

So. This morning at around 12:30, we were awakened by rain and what sounded like someone dropping rocks onto our roof. Then the wind came, and there was a loud crash as something broke the window in Cyn's office. The cats fled under large pieces of furniture... We couldn't see across the street due to the rain.

As we were gathering to move downstairs, we turned on the cable news station and heard the weatherperson use the reassuring phrase, "I've never seen a thunderstorm this bad before." Admittedly, she was young, and had the night shift, but still. :-). Then they started showing pictures of baseball-sized hail.

According to the weather maps, the storm formed two angry purple lobes, one just to the north and one just to the south of our house. Fortunately, we kept power throughout and our trees are still standing (one of them lost a small branch).

By the time the storm blew through (it took only about fifteen minutes where we are), most of the neighborhood to the north of us (one of many, I gather) was without power, and hundreds of trees were down. The streets and sidewalks were a green carpet of leaves and branches. So far as I can tell, there were no actual tornadoes, although there were wind gusts of up to 70 mph.

This morning, the schools in our neighborhood are closed due to power outages.

More here from the Statesman. And Time Warner. And KXAN.

Writer Conferencing

Last weekend was the Spring conference of the Austin SCBWI chapter. Speakers included editors Alvina Ling and Deborah Wayshak; agent Erin Murphy; artist's agent Christina Tugeau; writing professor Peter Jacobi; and retired educator Naomi Pasemann. Many thanks to Regional Advisor Tim Crow and all the volunteers for their hard work!

Cynthia and I had the pleasure of co-hosting the Friday night reception for speakers and volunteers. Alvina blogs about the weekend at bloomabilities, while Cynthia has more at spookycyn.

Then, this weekend, Cynthia and I received and prepared the twenty-seven manuscripts for a writer's workshop we're hosting at our house at the end of next month. (We're calling it the "Awesome Austin Writers' Workshop" :-)). Author Julie Lake was kind enough to come over and help collate and package the manuscripts. Afterwards, we hand-delivered the more central authors' manuscripts, while Julie took several for delivery near her neck of the woods. Now all we have to do is read and critique the things...

A weekend of writing, dining, bicycling, and prom

Okay, so Cyn and I only did the first two of those things.

We took a working weekend at the new Hyatt Lost Pines Resort in Bastrop, just outside Austin. The place is less than two years old and features Colorado River frontage, golf (if you’re into that), horseback riding, a winding (artificial) river pool, tennis, and various gardens. Because it’s spring in central Texas, this also means an excellent array of wildflowers.

We drove up Friday afternoon and spent a few hours in the room and on the balcony working on our current projects (Cyn was doing the graphic novel for Tantalize). Then we went for a walk along the river and changed for dinner. We ate at Stories, where I had the crispy poached egg and venison, and Cyn had the tuna tartare and lobster. Service and food were outstanding. After dinner, we had a drink at the Scribes' Club.

Saturday, we got up early: Cyn went for a spa treatment at Django Spa, and I went for a run along the river path(s). Afterwards, we had brunch at Firewheel Cafe. Chicken wrap and burger were excellent. Then we worked another few hours on our current projects and went out for a late lunch/early dinner at Sheller’s. The shrimp cocktail was terrific and the “Original cheese pie” was quite good as well, although one wonders why one needs a euphemism for “pizza.” :-)

Sunday morning, we slept in, then I went for another run along the river, and we worked on novels again, before taking a late checkout.

Oh, and the other two references in the header?

It was the weekend of the BPMS 150, the Multiple Sclerosis Society fundraising bike ride from Houston to Austin. A significant number of the teams apparently decided to do the overnight at the resort rather than in sleeping bags at the La Grange fairgrounds. (When I was in grad school, I did the event once with a group of friends and, believe me, we thought staying at a hotel rather than roughing it was the height of decadence (as well as being out of our budgets). :-))

As for prom, well, it was also the weekend of the Bastrop High School Prom. Jeepers. Was I ever that young? :-)

BIG SLICK, by Eric Luper

BIG SLICK, by Eric Luper (Farrar, Strauss, Giroux 2007). Sixteen year old Andrew Lang has skimmed some $600 from the cash register at his family's dry cleaning business to feed his poker habit and bankroll his entry into local tournaments.

Unfortunately, Andrew is not as good as he thinks. He loses the $600, and is cut off by the local poker impresario/drug dealer. But he still has to put the cash back in the register before his father finds out.

After several disastrous attempts to come up with the funds, Andrew, his friend Scott, and his (hot) goth co-worker Jasmine steal Andrew's father's prized muscle car and take a road trip to a nearby Indian casino. There, they hope Andrew's skill at the poker table will allow him to make good the losses and, ultimately, square things with his father.

In BIG SLICK, first-time novelist Eric Luper presents an engaging, suspenseful, and refreshing story of teen sensibility, growth, friendship, and Texas Hold 'em. Luper's use of poker details rings true, provides realistic atmosphere, and adds to the dramatic tension. A winner.

UPDATE: Cynthia has an interview with Eric Luper here.

We are greatly vexed...

Cynthia and I were scheduled to speak March 14 at the Illinois Reading Council's 2008 Conference, titled "Unleash the Power," held in Springfield, Illinois. We were to have spoken at three sessions: For two of them, about "Humor in Youth Literature;" for the third, on "Stories behind the stories."

Unfortunately, however, when we arrived at the airport in late afternoon on the 13th, we were told our flight to our connecting city had been canceled, but that we had been re-booked for the next day(!) which, of course, was when we were scheduled to speak. We tried to make alternate arrangements, none of which were acceptable. So, we had to cancel our speaking gig. Apologies to the IRC and anyone who went wanting to hear us speak.

The airline declined several opportunities to explain why they canceled the flight. Since they're usually more than willing to blame the weather or mechanical problems, one can only conclude they canceled it because they didn't get enough passengers (which has happened to us on other airlines). In other words, they simply didn't feel like flying. Helluva way to run a business.