Wordstock 2009: saturday

PART ONE: (I split this in half because it was long. Part two soon.)

Wordstock! Unlike years past, there wasn't really anybody that I was dying to see. I did a tiny bit of research beforehand, but I was pretty much willing to see where the day took me - here's where the first half of Day 1 went:

10/10 SAT 12:00: SCOTT WESTERFELD/ Powell's Books stage. I didn't know about Scott Westerfeld, but Bec wanted to see him - she'd read about his book on Boing Boing and was intrigued. Westerfeld is best known for his YA series Uglies/Pretties. They've sold lots of copies and made lots of money - he knew that his pull with the publisher was at its apex, so he determined to use his "Uglies power for good." He wanted to do an old-style Boys Own Adventure novel, and he wanted it to be illustrated. By this point he'd won me over, not just because he was funny and enthusiastic, but because I love the old-style illustrated novel (Oz books, hello!) and this particular Boys Own Adventure has an adventuresome kick ass girl in it. (although she has to disguise herself as a boy...)

He did a brief history of the illustrated novel (with slides) and pointed out how illustration used to be such a huge part of the culture at large: Catalogs, newspapers, adult novels, kid's books, everything! Illustrators were in demand and influential. Did you know Sherlock Holmes' famous deerstalker cap was actually an invention of the illustrator? Neither did I! Westerfeld wanted his new book to be an adventure, he wanted it to be illustrated on heavy paper, and he wanted it to be Steampunk because he likes the aesthetic of "just because you have a raygun on Mars doesn't mean you don't dress for dinner." The result is his novel Leviathan, a steampunk alternate history beginning right at the crack of WW1 with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie - this Youtube book trailer gives you the particulars of this alternate world and a nice look at the art.

Since Wordstock I've read Leviathan and enjoyed it, particularly Keith Thompson's very fine illustrations. The Clanker/Darwinist (Central Powers/Allies) divide is well imagined and I like that I was vaguely creeped out by the Darwinist "beasties." The cooperative, whole ecosystem nature of the idea is appealing, but it still has a mad science/ Island of Dr. Moreau/this could go terribly wrong vibe. Shades of grey!

That said, this book seems to be on the younger end of the YA spectrum - more Hugo Cabret than King Dork. (I love both of those so it's not a criticism, just an observation.) I was a little put out that the novel ended on a cliffhanger - it's obvious NOW that it's meant to be part of a larger series, but I would have liked to have known that when I started. (So I'm telling you - it's just part one of an eventual three! Behemoth comes out next year.) All in all, this was an excellent way to kick off Wordstock. I learned a lot. Read Leviathan if you like that sort of thing, or even if you think you might like that sort of thing.

10/10 SAT 1:00: JOYCE MAYNARD/Columbia Sportswear stage. I'm not sure how we ended up here, other than I remember reading Maynard's column way back when it ran in the Oregonian. She started off saying that she never understood the advice that you should write what you know - she thinks you should write about what you want to know, or what you want to know better. This is how she came to write a book from the p.o.v. of a 13 year old son of a single mother.

She finished writing the book in ten (TEN) days. She talked about how publishing has changed so much in recent years - she had to find an agent again since she was primarily known for her non-fiction, sales of which had dropped like a stone. When she did find an agent, s/he promptly suggested that they submit her book with no name attached since at this point being Joyce Maynard might hurt more than it helped. This was hard to hear, but it turned out to be a very shrewd decision. The mystery generated gossip column buzz that the book was written by James Franco. (!) There was a bidding war and she got a very good price for her novel. (is there anything James Franco can't do?)

Then my notes say "do you want to get lunch?" because once the specter of Franco had been raised I wished it was him at the podium reading this story from the p.o.v. of a 13 year old son of a single mother instead of Ms. Maynard. Sorry, Joyce! Bec and I walked up the street to Burgerville and beat the crowd. My cheeseburger was excellent as always.

part 2 to follow.