)
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2009/oct/29/officials-us-and-north-korea-hold-dialogue-ucsd/
Wrap...
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
Keeping An Eye On Intelligence .....
From Secrecy News...
OBAMA BOOSTS WHITE HOUSE INTEL ADVISORY BOARD
In a move that will strengthen internal executive branch oversight of intelligence, President Obama this week said that a White House intelligence oversight board will be required to alert the Attorney General whenever it learns of "intelligence activities that involve possible violations of Federal criminal laws." A similar requirement for the board to notify the Attorney General had been canceled by President Bush in February 2008. President Obama reversed that step in his executive order 13516 on the authorities of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board (PIAB) and the Intelligence Oversight Board (IOB).
The new Obama order also restores to the PIAB and the IOB some of the other teeth that the Bush Administration had removed. The order states that the Director of National Intelligence and others "shall provide such information and assistance as the PIAB and the IOB determine is needed to perform their functions." The Bush order had only spoken of "such information and assistance as the PIAB and the IOB may need to perform functions under this order." So the new order (like the prior Clinton order) helpfully specifies that the PIAB and the IOB are the ones who will "determine" what they need--not the DNI or anyone else.
The Obama order does not restore the Clinton-era requirement that all intelligence agencies heads report quarterly to the IOB. Instead, as in the Bush order, the DNI is to report to the Board at least twice a year.
The Obama order states that the PIAB membership should be comprised of individuals "who are not full-time employees of the Federal Government." Previously, they had to be "not employed by the Federal Government" at all. The basis for this change is unclear.
Strengthening internal oversight of intelligence activities is among the easiest of changes to Bush Administration intelligence policy that the Obama Administration could be expected to make. The action does not entail any increase in public disclosure or congressional reporting concerning intelligence activities, not does it infringe on executive authority in any way.
On October 28, President Obama announced the appointment of former Senators Chuck Hagel and David Boren to the PIAB, which had been vacant until then.
"We are off to a good start with this meeting by welcoming the press, which past advisory boards have rarely done," the President said. "That's a reflection of my administration's commitment to transparency and open government, even, when appropriate, on matters of national security and intelligence." But judging from a published transcript, no matters of substance were discussed and no questions from the press were taken at the meeting.
Wrap...
OBAMA BOOSTS WHITE HOUSE INTEL ADVISORY BOARD
In a move that will strengthen internal executive branch oversight of intelligence, President Obama this week said that a White House intelligence oversight board will be required to alert the Attorney General whenever it learns of "intelligence activities that involve possible violations of Federal criminal laws." A similar requirement for the board to notify the Attorney General had been canceled by President Bush in February 2008. President Obama reversed that step in his executive order 13516 on the authorities of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board (PIAB) and the Intelligence Oversight Board (IOB).
The new Obama order also restores to the PIAB and the IOB some of the other teeth that the Bush Administration had removed. The order states that the Director of National Intelligence and others "shall provide such information and assistance as the PIAB and the IOB determine is needed to perform their functions." The Bush order had only spoken of "such information and assistance as the PIAB and the IOB may need to perform functions under this order." So the new order (like the prior Clinton order) helpfully specifies that the PIAB and the IOB are the ones who will "determine" what they need--not the DNI or anyone else.
The Obama order does not restore the Clinton-era requirement that all intelligence agencies heads report quarterly to the IOB. Instead, as in the Bush order, the DNI is to report to the Board at least twice a year.
The Obama order states that the PIAB membership should be comprised of individuals "who are not full-time employees of the Federal Government." Previously, they had to be "not employed by the Federal Government" at all. The basis for this change is unclear.
Strengthening internal oversight of intelligence activities is among the easiest of changes to Bush Administration intelligence policy that the Obama Administration could be expected to make. The action does not entail any increase in public disclosure or congressional reporting concerning intelligence activities, not does it infringe on executive authority in any way.
On October 28, President Obama announced the appointment of former Senators Chuck Hagel and David Boren to the PIAB, which had been vacant until then.
"We are off to a good start with this meeting by welcoming the press, which past advisory boards have rarely done," the President said. "That's a reflection of my administration's commitment to transparency and open government, even, when appropriate, on matters of national security and intelligence." But judging from a published transcript, no matters of substance were discussed and no questions from the press were taken at the meeting.
Wrap...
Friday, October 16, 2009
The President PROPOSES....
...but the Congress disposes:
From Military.com :
Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Hold Your Breath
President Barack Obama is getting a raft of grief for his failure to deliver on a number of his campaign promises, including his pledge to end the ban on gays serving openly in the U.S. military. But what all these critics always miss is that the president can't change the law that forces gays in uniform to cover-up their sexuality. Only Congress can....More
Wrap...
From Military.com :
Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Hold Your Breath
President Barack Obama is getting a raft of grief for his failure to deliver on a number of his campaign promises, including his pledge to end the ban on gays serving openly in the U.S. military. But what all these critics always miss is that the president can't change the law that forces gays in uniform to cover-up their sexuality. Only Congress can....More
Wrap...
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Secrets Plus....
From Secrecy News:
COUNTERINSURGENCY OPERATIONS, AND OTHER STUFF
Counterinsurgency refers to "comprehensive civilian and military efforts taken to simultaneously defeat and contain insurgency and address its core grievances," a new publication from the Joint Chiefs of Staff explains. See Joint Publication 3-24 on "Counterinsurgency Operations" (pdf), 249 pages, October 5, 2009. (JP 3-24 is not to be confused with the celebrated December 2006 Army Field Manual 3-24 on "Counterinsurgency" [pdf].)
Former Bush White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan wrote a book last year in which he faulted the Bush Administration for a lack of candor in connection with the war in Iraq, mishandling of classified information in the Scooter Libby case, and other defects. A contentious House Judiciary Committee hearing on the matter was held on June 20, 2008, the record of which has just been published (pdf), with an August 2009 response from Mr. McClellan.
The Czech Republic's Security Information Service (BIS) has published its 2008 annual report (pdf).
Trinidad and Tobago signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty last week becoming the 182nd nation to have signed the treaty, which would prohibit all nuclear explosive tests.
Wrap...
COUNTERINSURGENCY OPERATIONS, AND OTHER STUFF
Counterinsurgency refers to "comprehensive civilian and military efforts taken to simultaneously defeat and contain insurgency and address its core grievances," a new publication from the Joint Chiefs of Staff explains. See Joint Publication 3-24 on "Counterinsurgency Operations" (pdf), 249 pages, October 5, 2009. (JP 3-24 is not to be confused with the celebrated December 2006 Army Field Manual 3-24 on "Counterinsurgency" [pdf].)
Former Bush White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan wrote a book last year in which he faulted the Bush Administration for a lack of candor in connection with the war in Iraq, mishandling of classified information in the Scooter Libby case, and other defects. A contentious House Judiciary Committee hearing on the matter was held on June 20, 2008, the record of which has just been published (pdf), with an August 2009 response from Mr. McClellan.
The Czech Republic's Security Information Service (BIS) has published its 2008 annual report (pdf).
Trinidad and Tobago signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty last week becoming the 182nd nation to have signed the treaty, which would prohibit all nuclear explosive tests.
Wrap...
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Big Batch of Books & Some films.....
From Publishers Lunch Weekly:
FICTION...
DEBUT:
Urban Waite's THE TERROR OF LIVING, involving a drug deal gone wrong and an unstoppable hired killer, pitched as a young Cormac McCarthy, and DEAD IF I DON'T, to Judy Clain at Little, Brown, at auction, in a two-book deal, by Nat Sobel at Sobel Weber Associates (US).
Helen Grant's THE VANISHING OF KATHARINA LINDEN, a tale of abduction, murder, gossip and childhood imagination, and THE GLASS DEMON, to Kate Miciak at Bantam Dell, for publication in August 2010, by Camilla Bolton at Darley Anderson (US).
David Rocklin's THE LUMINIST, set in colonial Ceylon amidst brewing political unrest and loosely based on the famed Victorian photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, in which a young Ceylonese man and the British wife of a colonial governor bond over their mutual fascination with the burgeoning art of photography, a sweeping historical tale about colonialism, art, war and family; pitched as in the spirit of Daniel Mason's The Piano Tuner, to Kate Sage at Hawthorne Books, by Melissa Chinchillo and Christy Fletcher at Fletcher & Company (NA).
Italian and Hebrew rights previously to Neri Pozza and Kinneret.
UK and translation: melissa@fletcherandco.com
Film: swanna@fletcherandco.com
THRILLER:
Erin Brockovich's novel about a woman who uncovers corporate and environmental crimes, to Roger Cooper at Vanguard Press, in a two-book deal, for publication in Fall 2010, by Mel Berger at William Morris Endeavor (NA).
GENERAL/OTHER:
Cara Hoffman's SO MUCH PRETTY, in which a young woman's disappearance from a rural New York town exposes the community's failure to acknowledge a murderer in their midst, ensnaring another local girl in a sickening web as a reporter looking for her "big-picture" story scrambles to reveal the truth before it's too late, to Sarah Knight at Shaye Areheart Books, for publication in 2011, by Rebecca Friedman at Sterling Lord Literistic (world).
Author of CITY OF LIGHT, Lauren Belfer's A FIERCE RADIANCE, both a love story and thriller set against the secret race to develop the arsenal of "weapons of life" -- now known as antibiotics -- that illuminates the struggle of one family to cohere amid the passions, betrayals, and triumphs of World War II, from the streets of Manhattan to the battlefields of North Africa, to Claire Wachtel and Jonathan Burnham at Harper, for publication in June 2010, by Lisa Bankoff at ICM (NA and translation).
Adam Foulds's THE QUICKENING MAZE, a Man-Booker shortlisted historical novel about genius and madness, revolving around nature poet John Clare and the young Alfred Tennyson who happened to stay at the same lunatic asylum in the mid-nineteenth century, and Foulds's Costa Prize winning prose poem, THE BROKEN WORD, about the Mau Mau uprising, to Josh Kendall at Viking, by Zoe Pagnamenta at the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency, on behalf of Anna Webber at United Agents (for the novel) and Jane Kirby at Cape/RH UK (for the poem).
NON-FICTION...
BIOGRAPHY:
BIRTH author Tina Cassidy's JACKIE AFTER O, writing how in one year, an American icon lost her husband, saved a landmark, and found herself, to Carrie Kania and Claire Wachtel for It Books, by Richard Abate at 3 Arts Entertainment (World).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Associate professor of history and public policy at the Bush School of Government & Public Service at Texas A&M University Jeffrey Engel's WHEN THE WORLD SEEMED NEW: American Foreign Policy in the Age of George H. W. Bush, examining the foreign policy of George H.W. Bush's presidency, during one of history's great turning points: the end of the Cold War, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Tiananmen Square Massacre, and the Persian Gulf War; based on interviews with the principals, and access to new documents including the heretofore classified Brent Scowcroft Papers, to Bruce Nichols at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, by Andrew Wylie (NA).
British historian and author of ENGLAND'S MISTRESS and BECOMING QUEEN, Kate Williams's MISTRESS OF EMPIRES: Napoleon's Josephine, a biography of Josephine Bonaparte, throwing new light on her childhood in Martinique, her imprisonment following the French Revolution and her years as a kept mistress and courtesan before her marriage to and long love affair with Napoleon, to Susanna Porter at Ballantine, by Zoe Pagnamenta at the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency, on behalf of Simon Trewin, and to Paul Sidey at Hutchinson, by Simon Trewin at United Agents.
Film: glewis@unitedagents.co.uk
MEMOIR:
Billy Joel's memoir, written with Fred Schruers, to David Hirshey at Harper, sold a while ago but just becoming public, by Amanda Urban at ICM.
PhD in English and Creative Writing from Binghamton University, Margaux Fragoso's TIGER, TIGER, about the author's disturbing relationship with a much older man that began at a city pool in New Jersey when she was seven and lasted until his suicide when she was twenty-two, showing vividly how a pedophile enchants his victim and binds her to him in what the publisher calls, in its own troubling way, the saddest love story you will ever hear, to Courtney Hodell at Farrar, Straus, in a pre-empt, for publication in winter 2011, by Terra Chalberg at the Susan Golomb Agency (world).
"Saturday Night Live" veteran Jim Breuer's memoir, about his unique career choices, family, fame and life in general, to Patrick Mulligan of Gotham, in a pre-empt, to Peter McGuigan of Foundry Literary + Media.
Glen Finland's NEXT STOP, about the summer the author and her 21-year-old autistic son spent riding the Washington, DC metro system together with the hope of him being able to go solo and be the first step towards his independence, to Amy Einhorn at Amy Einhorn Books, in a pre-empt, by Richard Abate at 3 Arts Entertainment (world).
Dr. Randy Christensen's ASK ME WHY I HURT, an inspiring memoir about his ten years of heroic medical outreach to homeless adolescents in Phoenix, AZ, to Diane Salvatore at Broadway with Lorraine Glennon editing, at auction, by Richard Pine and Nathaniel Jacks at Inkwell Management (world).
NARRATIVE:
Bestselling author of THE WORLD WITHOUT US Alan Weisman's COUNTDOWN, a provocative investigation into the future of humanity on the planet, following John Parsley to Little, Brown, by Nicholas Ellison at Nicholas Ellison (world English).
Andrew Blum's TUBES: A Physical Journey to our Virtual World, a narrative tour of the back-of-house of our digital lives, bringing readers to a vast hidden corner of our everyday world, the physical infrastructure of the Internet, and describing the story of its development, how it works, and the fascinating characters who run it, to Matt Weiland at Ecco, at auction, by Zoe Pagnamenta at the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency (NA).
POP CULTURE:
Richard Schickel's CLINT EASTWOOD: A Retrospective, aiming for a definitive look at the film icon, featuring rare images from the Warner Bros. archive, to Michael Fragnito at Sterling, for publication in April 2010, by Colin Webb at Palazzo Editions (world English).
French rights to Flammarion; German to Edel; Finnish to Otava.
SCIENCE:
Leading researcher Diana Reiss's MINDING DOLPHINS: A Scientist's Journey Inside the Minds of Dolphins and Whales, and My Mission to Save Them, a tour of dolphin and whale intelligence, combining stories of Humphrey the humpback whale and her many dolphin companions, with Reiss's activism to save dolphins and whales from wholesale slaughter, to Bruce Nichols at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for publication in Fall 2011, by John Brockman at Brockman (NA).
Wrap...
FICTION...
DEBUT:
Urban Waite's THE TERROR OF LIVING, involving a drug deal gone wrong and an unstoppable hired killer, pitched as a young Cormac McCarthy, and DEAD IF I DON'T, to Judy Clain at Little, Brown, at auction, in a two-book deal, by Nat Sobel at Sobel Weber Associates (US).
Helen Grant's THE VANISHING OF KATHARINA LINDEN, a tale of abduction, murder, gossip and childhood imagination, and THE GLASS DEMON, to Kate Miciak at Bantam Dell, for publication in August 2010, by Camilla Bolton at Darley Anderson (US).
David Rocklin's THE LUMINIST, set in colonial Ceylon amidst brewing political unrest and loosely based on the famed Victorian photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, in which a young Ceylonese man and the British wife of a colonial governor bond over their mutual fascination with the burgeoning art of photography, a sweeping historical tale about colonialism, art, war and family; pitched as in the spirit of Daniel Mason's The Piano Tuner, to Kate Sage at Hawthorne Books, by Melissa Chinchillo and Christy Fletcher at Fletcher & Company (NA).
Italian and Hebrew rights previously to Neri Pozza and Kinneret.
UK and translation: melissa@fletcherandco.com
Film: swanna@fletcherandco.com
THRILLER:
Erin Brockovich's novel about a woman who uncovers corporate and environmental crimes, to Roger Cooper at Vanguard Press, in a two-book deal, for publication in Fall 2010, by Mel Berger at William Morris Endeavor (NA).
GENERAL/OTHER:
Cara Hoffman's SO MUCH PRETTY, in which a young woman's disappearance from a rural New York town exposes the community's failure to acknowledge a murderer in their midst, ensnaring another local girl in a sickening web as a reporter looking for her "big-picture" story scrambles to reveal the truth before it's too late, to Sarah Knight at Shaye Areheart Books, for publication in 2011, by Rebecca Friedman at Sterling Lord Literistic (world).
Author of CITY OF LIGHT, Lauren Belfer's A FIERCE RADIANCE, both a love story and thriller set against the secret race to develop the arsenal of "weapons of life" -- now known as antibiotics -- that illuminates the struggle of one family to cohere amid the passions, betrayals, and triumphs of World War II, from the streets of Manhattan to the battlefields of North Africa, to Claire Wachtel and Jonathan Burnham at Harper, for publication in June 2010, by Lisa Bankoff at ICM (NA and translation).
Adam Foulds's THE QUICKENING MAZE, a Man-Booker shortlisted historical novel about genius and madness, revolving around nature poet John Clare and the young Alfred Tennyson who happened to stay at the same lunatic asylum in the mid-nineteenth century, and Foulds's Costa Prize winning prose poem, THE BROKEN WORD, about the Mau Mau uprising, to Josh Kendall at Viking, by Zoe Pagnamenta at the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency, on behalf of Anna Webber at United Agents (for the novel) and Jane Kirby at Cape/RH UK (for the poem).
NON-FICTION...
BIOGRAPHY:
BIRTH author Tina Cassidy's JACKIE AFTER O, writing how in one year, an American icon lost her husband, saved a landmark, and found herself, to Carrie Kania and Claire Wachtel for It Books, by Richard Abate at 3 Arts Entertainment (World).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Associate professor of history and public policy at the Bush School of Government & Public Service at Texas A&M University Jeffrey Engel's WHEN THE WORLD SEEMED NEW: American Foreign Policy in the Age of George H. W. Bush, examining the foreign policy of George H.W. Bush's presidency, during one of history's great turning points: the end of the Cold War, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Tiananmen Square Massacre, and the Persian Gulf War; based on interviews with the principals, and access to new documents including the heretofore classified Brent Scowcroft Papers, to Bruce Nichols at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, by Andrew Wylie (NA).
British historian and author of ENGLAND'S MISTRESS and BECOMING QUEEN, Kate Williams's MISTRESS OF EMPIRES: Napoleon's Josephine, a biography of Josephine Bonaparte, throwing new light on her childhood in Martinique, her imprisonment following the French Revolution and her years as a kept mistress and courtesan before her marriage to and long love affair with Napoleon, to Susanna Porter at Ballantine, by Zoe Pagnamenta at the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency, on behalf of Simon Trewin, and to Paul Sidey at Hutchinson, by Simon Trewin at United Agents.
Film: glewis@unitedagents.co.uk
MEMOIR:
Billy Joel's memoir, written with Fred Schruers, to David Hirshey at Harper, sold a while ago but just becoming public, by Amanda Urban at ICM.
PhD in English and Creative Writing from Binghamton University, Margaux Fragoso's TIGER, TIGER, about the author's disturbing relationship with a much older man that began at a city pool in New Jersey when she was seven and lasted until his suicide when she was twenty-two, showing vividly how a pedophile enchants his victim and binds her to him in what the publisher calls, in its own troubling way, the saddest love story you will ever hear, to Courtney Hodell at Farrar, Straus, in a pre-empt, for publication in winter 2011, by Terra Chalberg at the Susan Golomb Agency (world).
"Saturday Night Live" veteran Jim Breuer's memoir, about his unique career choices, family, fame and life in general, to Patrick Mulligan of Gotham, in a pre-empt, to Peter McGuigan of Foundry Literary + Media.
Glen Finland's NEXT STOP, about the summer the author and her 21-year-old autistic son spent riding the Washington, DC metro system together with the hope of him being able to go solo and be the first step towards his independence, to Amy Einhorn at Amy Einhorn Books, in a pre-empt, by Richard Abate at 3 Arts Entertainment (world).
Dr. Randy Christensen's ASK ME WHY I HURT, an inspiring memoir about his ten years of heroic medical outreach to homeless adolescents in Phoenix, AZ, to Diane Salvatore at Broadway with Lorraine Glennon editing, at auction, by Richard Pine and Nathaniel Jacks at Inkwell Management (world).
NARRATIVE:
Bestselling author of THE WORLD WITHOUT US Alan Weisman's COUNTDOWN, a provocative investigation into the future of humanity on the planet, following John Parsley to Little, Brown, by Nicholas Ellison at Nicholas Ellison (world English).
Andrew Blum's TUBES: A Physical Journey to our Virtual World, a narrative tour of the back-of-house of our digital lives, bringing readers to a vast hidden corner of our everyday world, the physical infrastructure of the Internet, and describing the story of its development, how it works, and the fascinating characters who run it, to Matt Weiland at Ecco, at auction, by Zoe Pagnamenta at the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency (NA).
POP CULTURE:
Richard Schickel's CLINT EASTWOOD: A Retrospective, aiming for a definitive look at the film icon, featuring rare images from the Warner Bros. archive, to Michael Fragnito at Sterling, for publication in April 2010, by Colin Webb at Palazzo Editions (world English).
French rights to Flammarion; German to Edel; Finnish to Otava.
SCIENCE:
Leading researcher Diana Reiss's MINDING DOLPHINS: A Scientist's Journey Inside the Minds of Dolphins and Whales, and My Mission to Save Them, a tour of dolphin and whale intelligence, combining stories of Humphrey the humpback whale and her many dolphin companions, with Reiss's activism to save dolphins and whales from wholesale slaughter, to Bruce Nichols at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for publication in Fall 2011, by John Brockman at Brockman (NA).
Wrap...
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Information vs It's Secret.....
From Secrecy News:
Secrecy News Blog: http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
** DRAFT ORDER WOULD SET NEW LIMITS ON CLASSIFICATION
DRAFT ORDER WOULD SET NEW LIMITS ON CLASSIFICATION
"No information may remain classified indefinitely," according to a draft of an Obama Administration executive order on national security classification policy.
As a statement of principle, this may seem tame and self-evident. But until now, no Administration has been willing to make such a categorical statement about the temporal limits of national security secrecy, and it may have significant policy consequences.
An August 4 draft of the executive order (pdf) was prepared by an interagency task force in response to a May 27 memorandum from the President. The draft is still subject to revision, and has not yet been formally transmitted to the White House for review and approval. Release of the "highly deliberative draft" executive order was specifically denied by National Security Advisory Gen. James L. Jones in a September 2, 2009 letter (pdf). But a copy was obtained by Secrecy News. Some aspects of the draft order were previously reported by Bill Gertz in the Washington Times on September 24.
The draft order, which does not represent anything like a transformation of the existing secrecy system, nevertheless has some valuable and innovative features, as well as some disappointing omissions, and a few retrograde steps. See this side-by-side comparison (pdf) between the August 2009 draft and the current executive order.
The draft order states (section 3.3g) that all records are to be automatically declassified no more than 50 years from the date of origin, with the sole exception of records that would identify a confidential human intelligence source. And even such intelligence records must be declassified no more than 75 years from the date of origin, with no exceptions. This is something new. An existing requirement for "automatic declassification" at 25 years would remain in place, but at the 25 year point there are still nine expansive exemptions to declassification. Under the new policy, the exemptions would diminish over time and then disappear altogether.
The draft would require a "Fundamental Classification Guidance Review," involving a continuing review of all agency classification guides in order "to identify classified information that no longer requires protection and can be declassified" (section 1.9). This is a version of a proposal advanced by Secrecy News (e.g., here and here), and among all of the potential changes to the executive order, it was our top priority. If it worked, the fundamental review would introduce a dynamic new element of self-correction into the classification process.
A National Declassification Center would be established to facilitate interagency review of historical records and to resolve quality control issues, presumably leading to more complete and expeditious access to such declassified records (section 3.7).
Other constructive if not bold steps include: new requirements for training of classification officials in avoiding overclassification; a requirement to identify by name those who derivatively classify information originally classified by others in order to improve accountability; a higher threshold for reclassification of declassified information; provisions for review of previously granted exemptions of file series from 25 year automatic declassification.
On the less constructive side, the draft order affirms that "no agency may declassify information that originated in another agency... without the consent of the originating agency" (section 3.1f). This reinforces a cherished view that agencies "own" the information they produce, and that they retain control over its release and dissemination. It is arguably the single most profound conceptual flaw in the classification system, and it immeasurably complicates the declassification and disclosure process. Even the new National Declassification Center will not possess unilateral authority to declassify information, but will only provide "timely and appropriate processing of referrals" from one agency to another.
The draft order does not make any provision for a "declassification database" that would offer easily accessible electronic versions of declassified records, or at least bibliographic data on exactly what has been declassified.
The draft does not provide enhanced oversight or declassification authority to the Information Security Oversight Office.
The draft would perpetuate the veto authority that was granted to the CIA by the Bush Administration over declassification decisions made by the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel, but it would transfer that authority from the CIA to the Director of National Intelligence. CIA's seat on the interagency Panel would be reassigned to the DNI.
Beyond the ongoing battles over parochial agency interests that are at stake in the new draft, there seems to be a growing sense that the existing secrecy system, even if it is to be buffed and polished one more time, has finally reached obsolescence.
"As soon as we complete our revision of the existing Order," wrote Gen. Jones on September 2, "I plan to begin discussions... about a more fundamental transformation of the security classification system."
Wrap...
Secrecy News Blog: http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
** DRAFT ORDER WOULD SET NEW LIMITS ON CLASSIFICATION
DRAFT ORDER WOULD SET NEW LIMITS ON CLASSIFICATION
"No information may remain classified indefinitely," according to a draft of an Obama Administration executive order on national security classification policy.
As a statement of principle, this may seem tame and self-evident. But until now, no Administration has been willing to make such a categorical statement about the temporal limits of national security secrecy, and it may have significant policy consequences.
An August 4 draft of the executive order (pdf) was prepared by an interagency task force in response to a May 27 memorandum from the President. The draft is still subject to revision, and has not yet been formally transmitted to the White House for review and approval. Release of the "highly deliberative draft" executive order was specifically denied by National Security Advisory Gen. James L. Jones in a September 2, 2009 letter (pdf). But a copy was obtained by Secrecy News. Some aspects of the draft order were previously reported by Bill Gertz in the Washington Times on September 24.
The draft order, which does not represent anything like a transformation of the existing secrecy system, nevertheless has some valuable and innovative features, as well as some disappointing omissions, and a few retrograde steps. See this side-by-side comparison (pdf) between the August 2009 draft and the current executive order.
The draft order states (section 3.3g) that all records are to be automatically declassified no more than 50 years from the date of origin, with the sole exception of records that would identify a confidential human intelligence source. And even such intelligence records must be declassified no more than 75 years from the date of origin, with no exceptions. This is something new. An existing requirement for "automatic declassification" at 25 years would remain in place, but at the 25 year point there are still nine expansive exemptions to declassification. Under the new policy, the exemptions would diminish over time and then disappear altogether.
The draft would require a "Fundamental Classification Guidance Review," involving a continuing review of all agency classification guides in order "to identify classified information that no longer requires protection and can be declassified" (section 1.9). This is a version of a proposal advanced by Secrecy News (e.g., here and here), and among all of the potential changes to the executive order, it was our top priority. If it worked, the fundamental review would introduce a dynamic new element of self-correction into the classification process.
A National Declassification Center would be established to facilitate interagency review of historical records and to resolve quality control issues, presumably leading to more complete and expeditious access to such declassified records (section 3.7).
Other constructive if not bold steps include: new requirements for training of classification officials in avoiding overclassification; a requirement to identify by name those who derivatively classify information originally classified by others in order to improve accountability; a higher threshold for reclassification of declassified information; provisions for review of previously granted exemptions of file series from 25 year automatic declassification.
On the less constructive side, the draft order affirms that "no agency may declassify information that originated in another agency... without the consent of the originating agency" (section 3.1f). This reinforces a cherished view that agencies "own" the information they produce, and that they retain control over its release and dissemination. It is arguably the single most profound conceptual flaw in the classification system, and it immeasurably complicates the declassification and disclosure process. Even the new National Declassification Center will not possess unilateral authority to declassify information, but will only provide "timely and appropriate processing of referrals" from one agency to another.
The draft order does not make any provision for a "declassification database" that would offer easily accessible electronic versions of declassified records, or at least bibliographic data on exactly what has been declassified.
The draft does not provide enhanced oversight or declassification authority to the Information Security Oversight Office.
The draft would perpetuate the veto authority that was granted to the CIA by the Bush Administration over declassification decisions made by the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel, but it would transfer that authority from the CIA to the Director of National Intelligence. CIA's seat on the interagency Panel would be reassigned to the DNI.
Beyond the ongoing battles over parochial agency interests that are at stake in the new draft, there seems to be a growing sense that the existing secrecy system, even if it is to be buffed and polished one more time, has finally reached obsolescence.
"As soon as we complete our revision of the existing Order," wrote Gen. Jones on September 2, "I plan to begin discussions... about a more fundamental transformation of the security classification system."
Wrap...
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Some More Good Books....
From Publishers Lunch Weekly...
FICTION/DEBUT:
Meg Mitchell Moore's THE ARRIVALS, set in Vermont, about three siblings who return to their parents' home for the summer and must contend with the adult problems they've brought with them under their childhood roof, to Reagan Arthur at Reagan Arthur Books, in a pre-empt, in a two-book deal, by Elisabeth Weed at Weed Literary (World English).
Twitter phenom Matt Stewart's humorous epic of one dysfunctional family's quest for fame and power in present-day San Francisco, written in a loose parallel of the French Revolution, to Denise Oswald at Soft Skull, by Lisa Grubka at Foundry Literary + Media (NA).
Foreign: sabou@foundrymedia.com
THRILLER:
Executive producer and show runner of TV's "24," Howard Gordon's THE OBELISK, a thriller that follows Washington insider Gideon Davis as he becomes embroiled in a vast global conspiracy involving oil, terrorism, pirates, and politics, to Stacy Creamer at Touchstone Fireside (and Pocket for paperback), for publication beginning in fall 2010, plus a sequel at Richard Abate at 3 Arts Entertainment (world).
GENERAL/OTHER:
Whitbread award winner Susan Fletcher's story of a condemned witch as she describes her role in a gruesome massacre to a man who, despite being initially convinced of her guilt, begins to see the truth, to Jill Bialosky at Norton, in a very nice deal, for publication in Fall 2010, by Grainne Fox at Fletcher & Company on behalf of Vivienne Schuster at Curtis Brown, UK (NA).
A bestseller in South Korea, Shin Kyong-sook's PLEASE LOOK AFTER MOM, chronicling a family's shock and despair following the matriarch's disappearance, as the mystery of one Mom illuminates the mysteries of all moms, to Robin Desser at Knopf, in a pre-empt, for publication in May 2011, by Barbara Zitwer at Barbara Zitwer Agency (US). UK/Commonwealth rights to Arzu Tahsin for Weidenfeld & Nicolson, also in a pre-empt.
The Sixteen Pleasures and The Fall of a Sparrow author Robert Hellenga's SNAKEWOMAN OF LITTLE EGYPT, the story of an anthropology professor who becomes fascinated with a community of evangelical snake-handlers in rural Illinois, and falls in love with a woman from there who's recently shot her preacher husband, to Nancy Miller at Bloomsbury, by Henry Dunow at Dunow, Carlson & Lerner (World).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Author of THE FAMILY Jeff Sharlet's C STREET, an new investigation into religious fundamentalism and American politics, to Geoff Shandler and John Parsley at Little, Brown, for publication in 2010, by Kathleen Anderson at Anderson Literary Management (world).
Author of THE ASSASSINS' GATE George Packer's untitled book offering new perspective on post-Obama America, and INTERESTING TIMES, a collection of essays written since 9/11 (NA), for publication in November 2009, to Jonathan Galassi at Farrar, Straus, for publication in 2011, by Kathleen Anderson at Anderson Literary Management (world, excl. UK).
Spy for the CIA against the Iranian government Reza Kahlili's A TIME TO BETRAY, the story of life in Iran in the time of the last shah, the spirit that led to his overthrow in 1979, the rise of Ayatollah Khomeini, the way the ayatollah and his mullahs stripped people of their freedom, and the way some people chose to engage in a fight that continues to this very day, to Anthony Ziccardi of Pocket, by Peter Miller of PMA Literary & Film Management.
MEMOIR:
Boston University journalism professor Mitchell Zuckoff's SHANGRI-LA: The Epic True Story of a World War II Plane Crash Into the Stone Age, a story of war, survival, heroism and a near-impossible rescue mission three months before the end of the war, as an American pilot crashes in New Zealand mountains inhabited by the Dani tribesman, with the three survivors ultimately saved in dramatic fashion, to Jonathan Burnham and Claire Wachtel at Harper, for publication in spring 2011, by Richard Abate of 3 Arts Entertainment (world).
NARRATIVE:
Caitlin Kelly's RETAIL THERAPY, an eye-opening account of working in retail, from an author who, finding herself unemployed at 50, got a job at the mall and a new perspective on work and life, to Courtney Young at Portfolio, in a very nice deal, for publication in Spring 2011, by Kathleen Anderson at Anderson Literary Management (World).
PARENTING:
Former NFL quarterback Rodney Peete's NOT MY BOY!: A Dad's Journey with Autism, a look inside his journey raising an autistic son, a look that provides inspiration and help for families facing big child-raising challenges, to Barbara Jones at Hyperion, at auction, for publication in April 2010, by Jason Anthony at Lippincott Massie McQuilkin and Jennifer Gates at Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency (world English).
SCIENCE:
NYT reporter Charles Duhigg's THE POWER OF HABIT: What the New Science of Habit Formation Can Teach Us About How We Live, Work, Spend, Build and Succeed, to Andy Ward at Random House, in a pre-empt, by Scott Moyers at The Wylie Agency.
Wrap...
FICTION/DEBUT:
Meg Mitchell Moore's THE ARRIVALS, set in Vermont, about three siblings who return to their parents' home for the summer and must contend with the adult problems they've brought with them under their childhood roof, to Reagan Arthur at Reagan Arthur Books, in a pre-empt, in a two-book deal, by Elisabeth Weed at Weed Literary (World English).
Twitter phenom Matt Stewart's humorous epic of one dysfunctional family's quest for fame and power in present-day San Francisco, written in a loose parallel of the French Revolution, to Denise Oswald at Soft Skull, by Lisa Grubka at Foundry Literary + Media (NA).
Foreign: sabou@foundrymedia.com
THRILLER:
Executive producer and show runner of TV's "24," Howard Gordon's THE OBELISK, a thriller that follows Washington insider Gideon Davis as he becomes embroiled in a vast global conspiracy involving oil, terrorism, pirates, and politics, to Stacy Creamer at Touchstone Fireside (and Pocket for paperback), for publication beginning in fall 2010, plus a sequel at Richard Abate at 3 Arts Entertainment (world).
GENERAL/OTHER:
Whitbread award winner Susan Fletcher's story of a condemned witch as she describes her role in a gruesome massacre to a man who, despite being initially convinced of her guilt, begins to see the truth, to Jill Bialosky at Norton, in a very nice deal, for publication in Fall 2010, by Grainne Fox at Fletcher & Company on behalf of Vivienne Schuster at Curtis Brown, UK (NA).
A bestseller in South Korea, Shin Kyong-sook's PLEASE LOOK AFTER MOM, chronicling a family's shock and despair following the matriarch's disappearance, as the mystery of one Mom illuminates the mysteries of all moms, to Robin Desser at Knopf, in a pre-empt, for publication in May 2011, by Barbara Zitwer at Barbara Zitwer Agency (US). UK/Commonwealth rights to Arzu Tahsin for Weidenfeld & Nicolson, also in a pre-empt.
The Sixteen Pleasures and The Fall of a Sparrow author Robert Hellenga's SNAKEWOMAN OF LITTLE EGYPT, the story of an anthropology professor who becomes fascinated with a community of evangelical snake-handlers in rural Illinois, and falls in love with a woman from there who's recently shot her preacher husband, to Nancy Miller at Bloomsbury, by Henry Dunow at Dunow, Carlson & Lerner (World).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Author of THE FAMILY Jeff Sharlet's C STREET, an new investigation into religious fundamentalism and American politics, to Geoff Shandler and John Parsley at Little, Brown, for publication in 2010, by Kathleen Anderson at Anderson Literary Management (world).
Author of THE ASSASSINS' GATE George Packer's untitled book offering new perspective on post-Obama America, and INTERESTING TIMES, a collection of essays written since 9/11 (NA), for publication in November 2009, to Jonathan Galassi at Farrar, Straus, for publication in 2011, by Kathleen Anderson at Anderson Literary Management (world, excl. UK).
Spy for the CIA against the Iranian government Reza Kahlili's A TIME TO BETRAY, the story of life in Iran in the time of the last shah, the spirit that led to his overthrow in 1979, the rise of Ayatollah Khomeini, the way the ayatollah and his mullahs stripped people of their freedom, and the way some people chose to engage in a fight that continues to this very day, to Anthony Ziccardi of Pocket, by Peter Miller of PMA Literary & Film Management.
MEMOIR:
Boston University journalism professor Mitchell Zuckoff's SHANGRI-LA: The Epic True Story of a World War II Plane Crash Into the Stone Age, a story of war, survival, heroism and a near-impossible rescue mission three months before the end of the war, as an American pilot crashes in New Zealand mountains inhabited by the Dani tribesman, with the three survivors ultimately saved in dramatic fashion, to Jonathan Burnham and Claire Wachtel at Harper, for publication in spring 2011, by Richard Abate of 3 Arts Entertainment (world).
NARRATIVE:
Caitlin Kelly's RETAIL THERAPY, an eye-opening account of working in retail, from an author who, finding herself unemployed at 50, got a job at the mall and a new perspective on work and life, to Courtney Young at Portfolio, in a very nice deal, for publication in Spring 2011, by Kathleen Anderson at Anderson Literary Management (World).
PARENTING:
Former NFL quarterback Rodney Peete's NOT MY BOY!: A Dad's Journey with Autism, a look inside his journey raising an autistic son, a look that provides inspiration and help for families facing big child-raising challenges, to Barbara Jones at Hyperion, at auction, for publication in April 2010, by Jason Anthony at Lippincott Massie McQuilkin and Jennifer Gates at Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency (world English).
SCIENCE:
NYT reporter Charles Duhigg's THE POWER OF HABIT: What the New Science of Habit Formation Can Teach Us About How We Live, Work, Spend, Build and Succeed, to Andy Ward at Random House, in a pre-empt, by Scott Moyers at The Wylie Agency.
Wrap...
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Crazy Like A Fox...the book...
From the co-author:
Hello,
The publication of my book, Crazy Like a Fox: One Principal’s Triumph
in the Inner City, is almost here!
On September 1, the New American Library (a division of Penguin) will
release the hardcover version, which will be available at Barnes &
Noble, Borders, other major chains, and independent bookstores. You
can also order the book online.
For those of you unfamiliar with the content of Crazy Like a Fox: One
Principal’s Triumph in the Inner City, here’s a brief description:
“Litter-strewn and rundown with unsupervised students and horrible
test scores and attendance rates, American Indian Public Charter
School (AIPCS) in Oakland, CA, hung rightfully on the brink of
closure. Dr. Ben Chavis said he'd like to take over the school, then
referred to as ‘the zoo.’ Was Chavis crazy? After being appointed
principal, he raised the bar with an approach that would make most
educators tremble and set the school apart as one of the finest middle
schools in all of California.”
I worked for Dr. Ben Chavis in Oakland as a teacher and administrator
for four years, and during that time I developed the book idea. After
trying different stylistic approaches, I wrote the story of AIPCS’s
remarkable turnaround in Chavis’s own no-nonsense voice. In essence, I
wrote his memoir. As a result, Crazy Like a Fox is like a “celebrity”
book with author credits of “By Dr. Ben Chavis with Carey Blakely.”
Wrap...
Hello,
The publication of my book, Crazy Like a Fox: One Principal’s Triumph
in the Inner City, is almost here!
On September 1, the New American Library (a division of Penguin) will
release the hardcover version, which will be available at Barnes &
Noble, Borders, other major chains, and independent bookstores. You
can also order the book online.
For those of you unfamiliar with the content of Crazy Like a Fox: One
Principal’s Triumph in the Inner City, here’s a brief description:
“Litter-strewn and rundown with unsupervised students and horrible
test scores and attendance rates, American Indian Public Charter
School (AIPCS) in Oakland, CA, hung rightfully on the brink of
closure. Dr. Ben Chavis said he'd like to take over the school, then
referred to as ‘the zoo.’ Was Chavis crazy? After being appointed
principal, he raised the bar with an approach that would make most
educators tremble and set the school apart as one of the finest middle
schools in all of California.”
I worked for Dr. Ben Chavis in Oakland as a teacher and administrator
for four years, and during that time I developed the book idea. After
trying different stylistic approaches, I wrote the story of AIPCS’s
remarkable turnaround in Chavis’s own no-nonsense voice. In essence, I
wrote his memoir. As a result, Crazy Like a Fox is like a “celebrity”
book with author credits of “By Dr. Ben Chavis with Carey Blakely.”
Wrap...
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Interesting & Surprising Books...
From Publishers Lunch Weekly...
FICTION
DEBUT:
Former advertising executive John Verdon's debut novel THINK OF A NUMBER, about a super-intelligent killer who lures potential victims by taunting them to think of random numbers, and then, by seeming to read their minds, directs their actions toward a diabolical outcome, as well as two additional novels featuring the same protagonist, pitched as a cross between Thomas Harris and Michael Connelly, to Rick Horgan at Crown, at auction, for three books, for publication beginning in the summer of 2010, by Molly Friedrich at Friedrich Agency (NA).
Daniel Johnson's ELECTRIC, taking place in Detroit in the early 1900s; the stories explore a forgotten part of the Car and whole Industrial Revolution, to Daniela Rapp of St. Martin's, in a nice deal, in a two-book deal, by Cherry Weiner at Cherry Weiner Literary Agency.
MYSTERY/CRIME:
Stephen J. Cannell's next two books in the Shane Scully series, again to Charles Spicer at St. Martin's, by Robert Gottlieb at Trident Media Group.
THRILLER:
Dana Haynes's CRASHERS, in which a jetliner crashes in the lush lovely Willamette Valley of Oregon, triggering a response from the NTSB team of "crashers"-the investigators; usually they have months to find the cause of the crash; this time it's 70 hours, to Keith Kahla at Minotaur, in a two-book deal, for publication in Spring 2010, by Janet Reid at FinePrint Literary Management (world).Film: Brendan@fineprintlit.com
GENERAL/OTHER:
Another 17 books by James Patterson, covering publication through 2012, including eleven adult titles for hardcover publication by Little, Brown and paperbacks by Grand Central, with new installments in the Alex Cross, Michael Bennett, and Women's Murder Club series, and his previously-announced collaboration with Scandinavian crime writer Liza Marklund, plus six titles for young readers from Little, Brown Children's, including new titles in the Maximum Ride, Daniel X and forthcoming Witch & Wizard series, but also including stand-alone novels, summer thrillers, nonfiction books, and "other surprises," by Robert Barnett and Deneen Howell at Williams & Connolly (NA).
CHILDREN'S/PICTURE BOOKS:
Former SNL star Molly Shannon's TILLY THE TRICKSTER, introducing Tilly, a mischievous trickster who loves April Fool's Day; when Tilly takes one of her pranks too far, hard lessons are learned (but only kinda), to Tamar Brazis at Abrams Children's, by Tina Wexler at ICM (NA).
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day author Judith Viorst and Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator of The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales Lane Smith's LULU AND THE BRONTOSAURUS, to Namrata Tripathi at Atheneum, by Robert Lescher of Lescher & Lescher for Viorst, and Steven Malk of Writers House for Smith.
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Eric Jay Dolin's FAR EASTERN FORTUNE: THE AMERICAN CHINA TRADE IN THE AGE OF SAIL, a history of 80 years of nautical, commercial, and cultural adventure that laid the groundwork for today's complex relationship with China, to Robert Weil at Norton, for publication in 2011, by Russell Galen at Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary Agency (NA).
Foreign: barorint@aol.com
LIFESTYLE:
Santa Monica-based interior designer Tim Clarke with Jake Townsend's COASTAL MODERN, a photography book of residences that demonstrates how to achieve the sense of comfort and ease of a beach house in an elegant, sophisticated, and modern way, by the designer who started his career working with Michael S. Smith and who has now designed homes for Ben Stiller, Portia de Rossi, James Spader, Matthew Perry, and more, to Aliza Fogelson at Clarkson Potter, by Jason Anthony at Lippincott Massie McQuilkin (World).
Tim Gunn's GUNN'S GOLDEN RULES: Life's Little Instructions for Making It Work, applying old-world values to modern situations, from the lost art of etiquette to practical advice, showing how to navigate life and unflappably rise to any occasion, to Patrick Price at Simon Spotlight Entertainment, for publication in June 2010, by Peter Steinberg at The Steinberg Agency (world).
MEMOIR:
Gourmet.com blogger W. Hodding Carter's WITHIN OUR MEANS, in which the author and his family of six aims to live on their actual yearly income instead of the more than three times that amount they have been, growing their own food, raising chickens and goats, hunting and fishing, converting their car so that it runs on French fry oil, chopping wood to fuel a stove and giving up luxuries like coffee, wine and processed foods, to Kathy Pories at Algonquin, by Sally Wofford-Girand of Brick House.
Ozzy Osbourne's I AM OZZY, the heavy metal pioneer's outrageous story in his own words, for the very first time, to Ben Greenberg at Grand Central, by Diane Spivey at Little Brown UK.
NARRATIVE:
Travel + Leisure editor Luke Barr's PROVENCE 1970, a narrative portrait of the brief but seminal moment in world food history when, in the fall and winter of 1970, Julia Child, Simone Beck, James Beard, Richard Olney, and Barr's great aunt, M.F.K. Fisher, lived as neighbors together in the south of France -- cooking, eating, talking, writing, and forever changing the culture of American cuisine -- to Doris Cooper and Emily Takoudes at Clarkson Potter, at auction, by David Kuhn at Kuhn Projectss (world).
SCIENCE:
Astronomer, NPR host, and Farmer's Almanac science editor Bob Berman's THE STRANGE HEARTBEAT OF SUN, contemplating the sun's fascinating, fundamental role in crop yields, weather vagaries, human health, life on Earth - and other unexpected facts arising from scientists' 400 year-old study of Earth's closest star, to John Parsley at Little, Brown, in a pre-empt, by Al Zuckerman at Writers House (World).
Wrap....
FICTION
DEBUT:
Former advertising executive John Verdon's debut novel THINK OF A NUMBER, about a super-intelligent killer who lures potential victims by taunting them to think of random numbers, and then, by seeming to read their minds, directs their actions toward a diabolical outcome, as well as two additional novels featuring the same protagonist, pitched as a cross between Thomas Harris and Michael Connelly, to Rick Horgan at Crown, at auction, for three books, for publication beginning in the summer of 2010, by Molly Friedrich at Friedrich Agency (NA).
Daniel Johnson's ELECTRIC, taking place in Detroit in the early 1900s; the stories explore a forgotten part of the Car and whole Industrial Revolution, to Daniela Rapp of St. Martin's, in a nice deal, in a two-book deal, by Cherry Weiner at Cherry Weiner Literary Agency.
MYSTERY/CRIME:
Stephen J. Cannell's next two books in the Shane Scully series, again to Charles Spicer at St. Martin's, by Robert Gottlieb at Trident Media Group.
THRILLER:
Dana Haynes's CRASHERS, in which a jetliner crashes in the lush lovely Willamette Valley of Oregon, triggering a response from the NTSB team of "crashers"-the investigators; usually they have months to find the cause of the crash; this time it's 70 hours, to Keith Kahla at Minotaur, in a two-book deal, for publication in Spring 2010, by Janet Reid at FinePrint Literary Management (world).Film: Brendan@fineprintlit.com
GENERAL/OTHER:
Another 17 books by James Patterson, covering publication through 2012, including eleven adult titles for hardcover publication by Little, Brown and paperbacks by Grand Central, with new installments in the Alex Cross, Michael Bennett, and Women's Murder Club series, and his previously-announced collaboration with Scandinavian crime writer Liza Marklund, plus six titles for young readers from Little, Brown Children's, including new titles in the Maximum Ride, Daniel X and forthcoming Witch & Wizard series, but also including stand-alone novels, summer thrillers, nonfiction books, and "other surprises," by Robert Barnett and Deneen Howell at Williams & Connolly (NA).
CHILDREN'S/PICTURE BOOKS:
Former SNL star Molly Shannon's TILLY THE TRICKSTER, introducing Tilly, a mischievous trickster who loves April Fool's Day; when Tilly takes one of her pranks too far, hard lessons are learned (but only kinda), to Tamar Brazis at Abrams Children's, by Tina Wexler at ICM (NA).
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day author Judith Viorst and Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator of The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales Lane Smith's LULU AND THE BRONTOSAURUS, to Namrata Tripathi at Atheneum, by Robert Lescher of Lescher & Lescher for Viorst, and Steven Malk of Writers House for Smith.
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Eric Jay Dolin's FAR EASTERN FORTUNE: THE AMERICAN CHINA TRADE IN THE AGE OF SAIL, a history of 80 years of nautical, commercial, and cultural adventure that laid the groundwork for today's complex relationship with China, to Robert Weil at Norton, for publication in 2011, by Russell Galen at Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary Agency (NA).
Foreign: barorint@aol.com
LIFESTYLE:
Santa Monica-based interior designer Tim Clarke with Jake Townsend's COASTAL MODERN, a photography book of residences that demonstrates how to achieve the sense of comfort and ease of a beach house in an elegant, sophisticated, and modern way, by the designer who started his career working with Michael S. Smith and who has now designed homes for Ben Stiller, Portia de Rossi, James Spader, Matthew Perry, and more, to Aliza Fogelson at Clarkson Potter, by Jason Anthony at Lippincott Massie McQuilkin (World).
Tim Gunn's GUNN'S GOLDEN RULES: Life's Little Instructions for Making It Work, applying old-world values to modern situations, from the lost art of etiquette to practical advice, showing how to navigate life and unflappably rise to any occasion, to Patrick Price at Simon Spotlight Entertainment, for publication in June 2010, by Peter Steinberg at The Steinberg Agency (world).
MEMOIR:
Gourmet.com blogger W. Hodding Carter's WITHIN OUR MEANS, in which the author and his family of six aims to live on their actual yearly income instead of the more than three times that amount they have been, growing their own food, raising chickens and goats, hunting and fishing, converting their car so that it runs on French fry oil, chopping wood to fuel a stove and giving up luxuries like coffee, wine and processed foods, to Kathy Pories at Algonquin, by Sally Wofford-Girand of Brick House.
Ozzy Osbourne's I AM OZZY, the heavy metal pioneer's outrageous story in his own words, for the very first time, to Ben Greenberg at Grand Central, by Diane Spivey at Little Brown UK.
NARRATIVE:
Travel + Leisure editor Luke Barr's PROVENCE 1970, a narrative portrait of the brief but seminal moment in world food history when, in the fall and winter of 1970, Julia Child, Simone Beck, James Beard, Richard Olney, and Barr's great aunt, M.F.K. Fisher, lived as neighbors together in the south of France -- cooking, eating, talking, writing, and forever changing the culture of American cuisine -- to Doris Cooper and Emily Takoudes at Clarkson Potter, at auction, by David Kuhn at Kuhn Projectss (world).
SCIENCE:
Astronomer, NPR host, and Farmer's Almanac science editor Bob Berman's THE STRANGE HEARTBEAT OF SUN, contemplating the sun's fascinating, fundamental role in crop yields, weather vagaries, human health, life on Earth - and other unexpected facts arising from scientists' 400 year-old study of Earth's closest star, to John Parsley at Little, Brown, in a pre-empt, by Al Zuckerman at Writers House (World).
Wrap....
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Running for Congress....
Sunday..9/13/09:
Just had a phone call from Budd McLeroy. Budd is an Army Master Sgt, Iraq vet, former firefighter, and did it all with one leg. You'd never know because if there's anything he's not, it's disabled. He's also a Republican.
In any case, he's an old friend. He'll be pulling his papers and entering the race for Congress, running against Dem Bob Filner. Both are from the Chula Vista area, just south of the city of San Diego, CA.
I've never known Budd to back down from anything, so if he says he's going to run for Congress, he surely will.
I wished him luck, but as a Democrat, I hope he loses. But narrowly.
Wrap...
Just had a phone call from Budd McLeroy. Budd is an Army Master Sgt, Iraq vet, former firefighter, and did it all with one leg. You'd never know because if there's anything he's not, it's disabled. He's also a Republican.
In any case, he's an old friend. He'll be pulling his papers and entering the race for Congress, running against Dem Bob Filner. Both are from the Chula Vista area, just south of the city of San Diego, CA.
I've never known Budd to back down from anything, so if he says he's going to run for Congress, he surely will.
I wished him luck, but as a Democrat, I hope he loses. But narrowly.
Wrap...
Thursday, September 10, 2009
A Selection of Books...
From Publishers Lunch Weekly...
FICTION...
DEBUT:
Jacob Ritari's TAROKO GORGE, the story of three Japanese girls who go missing and the international cast of characters left to figure out what happened, to Fred Ramey at Unbridled Books, in a nice deal, for publication in spring 2010, by Eve Bridburg at Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency (world).
GENERAL/OTHER:
Fiction author of AGAINST GRAVITY and winner of the Faulkner Society's annual award Lucy Ferris's THE WOMAN WHO BOUGHT THE SKY, set in Albany, New York 100 years before the American Revolution, in which a woman who to keep her family secure stays in an unhappy marriage and turns away the love of her life rather than risk losing precious, hard-worn land holdings, to David Hartwell at Tor, by Al Zuckerman of Writers House (NA).
CHILDREN'S/MIDDLE GRADE:
Tricia Springstubb's FOX HEART, pitched as in the vein of Kate DiCamillo, the story of a girl's extraordinary summer, when her neighborhood and family change forever, to Donna Bray at Balzer & Bray, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in Fall 2010, by Sarah Davies at the Greenhouse Literary Agency (NA).
Foreign: info@rightspeople.com
CHILDREN'S/YOUNG ADULT:
Stephanie Perkins's ANNA AND THE BOY MASTERPIECE, in which American Anna Oliphant spends a year in a Parisian boarding school and falls for her multi-national classmate, plus a companion novel, LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR, to Julie Strauss-Gabel at Dutton Children's, in a very nice deal, at auction, for publication in Fall 2010, by Kate Schafer Testerman at kt literary (World English).
NON-FICTION...
BIOGRAPHY:
Author of Black Gold: The Lost Archives of Jimi Hendrix Steven Roby and journalist Brad Schreiber's BECOMING JIMI: From Southern Crossroads to Swinging London, the Making of a Musical Genius, a look at the seminal five-year period of Jimi Hendrix's life, from 1962 to 1966, in which he played on the "chitlin' circuit" -- cutting his chops playing with such legendary acts as Little Richard, Ike and Tina Turner, Sam and Dave, Wilson Pickett, the Isley Brothers and dozens of bar bands -- in the segregated Deep South, followed by cult buzz in coffeehouses in Greenwich Village, and finally contrasting with the superstardom he would soon find in London, to Ben Schafer at Da Capo, by Matthew Carnicelli at Trident Media Group (world English).
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE:
Former WSJ economics reporter and now US economics editor for The Economist Greg Ip's untitled book on economics, to Debra Englander at Wiley, in a pre-empt, by Howard Yoon of the Gail Ross Literary Agency (world).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Pulitzer Prize-winner, Philadelphia Daily News writer and author of TEAR DOWN THIS MYTH Will Bunch's REBELS WITHOUT A CLUE: The Threat to America from an Armed, Apocalyptic Right-Wing Minority, a chronicle of a new American dystopia of extreme talk and extreme actions in the Obama era, to Matt Harper at Harper, at auction, for publication in 2010, by Will Lippincott at Lippincott Massie McQuilkin (NA).
MEMOIR:
Actor and screenwriter Marianne Leone Cooper's THE RUNNING MADONNA, a loving memoir of raising her son Jesse, a nonverbal child afflicted with cerebral palsy, with her husband, actor Chris Cooper, to Priscilla Painton at Simon & Schuster, by Colleen Mohyde of Doe Coover Agency.
Emmy award-winning actress who played Mary Ingalls Melissa Anderson's memoir of "Little House on the Prairie," to Erin Turner of Globe Pequot, by Laura Dail at Laura Dail Literary Agency (World English).
SCIENCE:
Shing-Tung Yau and Steve Nadis's THE SHAPE OF INNER SPACE: Surveying the Geometry of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions, an argument, by the leading mind behind the mathematics of string theory, for the fundamental importance of geometry to our understanding of our universe, to T.J. Kelleher at Basic, in a good deal, for publication in Fall 2011, by John Brockman at Brockman (NA).
Psychologist Matthew Hertenstein's PREVISIONING: Thin Slicing and the Surprising Truth About the Power of Prediction, a look at how we can use subtle clues to predict human behavior, from who'll get divorced to who'll win an election, to T.J. Kelleher at Basic, in a very nice deal, for publication in Summer 2011, by Shannon O'Neill at The Sagalyn Agency (World).
TRUE CRIME:
John Glatt's story of the abduction of Jaycee Lee Dugard in 1991 by registered sex offender Phillip Garrido, to Charles Spicer at St. Martin's, by Peter Miller of PMA Literary & Film Management.
Wrap...
FICTION...
DEBUT:
Jacob Ritari's TAROKO GORGE, the story of three Japanese girls who go missing and the international cast of characters left to figure out what happened, to Fred Ramey at Unbridled Books, in a nice deal, for publication in spring 2010, by Eve Bridburg at Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency (world).
GENERAL/OTHER:
Fiction author of AGAINST GRAVITY and winner of the Faulkner Society's annual award Lucy Ferris's THE WOMAN WHO BOUGHT THE SKY, set in Albany, New York 100 years before the American Revolution, in which a woman who to keep her family secure stays in an unhappy marriage and turns away the love of her life rather than risk losing precious, hard-worn land holdings, to David Hartwell at Tor, by Al Zuckerman of Writers House (NA).
CHILDREN'S/MIDDLE GRADE:
Tricia Springstubb's FOX HEART, pitched as in the vein of Kate DiCamillo, the story of a girl's extraordinary summer, when her neighborhood and family change forever, to Donna Bray at Balzer & Bray, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in Fall 2010, by Sarah Davies at the Greenhouse Literary Agency (NA).
Foreign: info@rightspeople.com
CHILDREN'S/YOUNG ADULT:
Stephanie Perkins's ANNA AND THE BOY MASTERPIECE, in which American Anna Oliphant spends a year in a Parisian boarding school and falls for her multi-national classmate, plus a companion novel, LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR, to Julie Strauss-Gabel at Dutton Children's, in a very nice deal, at auction, for publication in Fall 2010, by Kate Schafer Testerman at kt literary (World English).
NON-FICTION...
BIOGRAPHY:
Author of Black Gold: The Lost Archives of Jimi Hendrix Steven Roby and journalist Brad Schreiber's BECOMING JIMI: From Southern Crossroads to Swinging London, the Making of a Musical Genius, a look at the seminal five-year period of Jimi Hendrix's life, from 1962 to 1966, in which he played on the "chitlin' circuit" -- cutting his chops playing with such legendary acts as Little Richard, Ike and Tina Turner, Sam and Dave, Wilson Pickett, the Isley Brothers and dozens of bar bands -- in the segregated Deep South, followed by cult buzz in coffeehouses in Greenwich Village, and finally contrasting with the superstardom he would soon find in London, to Ben Schafer at Da Capo, by Matthew Carnicelli at Trident Media Group (world English).
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE:
Former WSJ economics reporter and now US economics editor for The Economist Greg Ip's untitled book on economics, to Debra Englander at Wiley, in a pre-empt, by Howard Yoon of the Gail Ross Literary Agency (world).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Pulitzer Prize-winner, Philadelphia Daily News writer and author of TEAR DOWN THIS MYTH Will Bunch's REBELS WITHOUT A CLUE: The Threat to America from an Armed, Apocalyptic Right-Wing Minority, a chronicle of a new American dystopia of extreme talk and extreme actions in the Obama era, to Matt Harper at Harper, at auction, for publication in 2010, by Will Lippincott at Lippincott Massie McQuilkin (NA).
MEMOIR:
Actor and screenwriter Marianne Leone Cooper's THE RUNNING MADONNA, a loving memoir of raising her son Jesse, a nonverbal child afflicted with cerebral palsy, with her husband, actor Chris Cooper, to Priscilla Painton at Simon & Schuster, by Colleen Mohyde of Doe Coover Agency.
Emmy award-winning actress who played Mary Ingalls Melissa Anderson's memoir of "Little House on the Prairie," to Erin Turner of Globe Pequot, by Laura Dail at Laura Dail Literary Agency (World English).
SCIENCE:
Shing-Tung Yau and Steve Nadis's THE SHAPE OF INNER SPACE: Surveying the Geometry of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions, an argument, by the leading mind behind the mathematics of string theory, for the fundamental importance of geometry to our understanding of our universe, to T.J. Kelleher at Basic, in a good deal, for publication in Fall 2011, by John Brockman at Brockman (NA).
Psychologist Matthew Hertenstein's PREVISIONING: Thin Slicing and the Surprising Truth About the Power of Prediction, a look at how we can use subtle clues to predict human behavior, from who'll get divorced to who'll win an election, to T.J. Kelleher at Basic, in a very nice deal, for publication in Summer 2011, by Shannon O'Neill at The Sagalyn Agency (World).
TRUE CRIME:
John Glatt's story of the abduction of Jaycee Lee Dugard in 1991 by registered sex offender Phillip Garrido, to Charles Spicer at St. Martin's, by Peter Miller of PMA Literary & Film Management.
Wrap...
Sunday, September 06, 2009
We want HEALTH CARE...
But one thing seems to be forgotten:
THE PRESIDENT PROPOSES
THE CONGRESS DISPOSES
Got that? So...come Wed evening, the President is going to speak to Congress and PROPOSE.
Once that's done, guess what the Congress is gonna do. It's gonna DISPOSE. And there's no way in hell to know what the outcome will be until the votes are counted.
If Health Care with a public option doesn't pass it will be the fault of the Congress, not the President. He can only sign or veto.
Wrap...
THE PRESIDENT PROPOSES
THE CONGRESS DISPOSES
Got that? So...come Wed evening, the President is going to speak to Congress and PROPOSE.
Once that's done, guess what the Congress is gonna do. It's gonna DISPOSE. And there's no way in hell to know what the outcome will be until the votes are counted.
If Health Care with a public option doesn't pass it will be the fault of the Congress, not the President. He can only sign or veto.
Wrap...
Monday, August 31, 2009
Keeping or Telling Secrets...
From Secrecy News:
Secrecy News Blog: http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
INTERAGENCY SECRECY REVIEWS DRAW TO A CLOSE
Two 90-day interagency reviews of government secrecy policies that were ordered by President Obama on May 27 are now essentially complete.
A review of the current executive order on classification policy is finished except for a few "sticky" issues pertaining to intelligence agency authorities, according to one participant in the interagency process. The recommendations of that review have not yet been transmitted to the White House. A separate review of procedures for handling "controlled unclassified information" (CUI) produced recommendations that were sent to the White House last week, though the contents have not been disclosed.
Both reviews were the subject of considerable public comment, and the resulting recommendations include at least some proposed changes that are directly traceable to public input, the participant said. But he also cautioned against overly high expectations for the outcome, especially given the insular character of the deliberative process, which was dominated by agency classification personnel. "You've got a bunch of foxes designing security for the henhouse," he said.
The recommendations that were produced by the interagency reviews must still be reviewed by the White House and then approved or modified, a process that could take months. A decision on whether to invite additional public comment has not yet been announced.
Wrap...
Secrecy News Blog: http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
INTERAGENCY SECRECY REVIEWS DRAW TO A CLOSE
Two 90-day interagency reviews of government secrecy policies that were ordered by President Obama on May 27 are now essentially complete.
A review of the current executive order on classification policy is finished except for a few "sticky" issues pertaining to intelligence agency authorities, according to one participant in the interagency process. The recommendations of that review have not yet been transmitted to the White House. A separate review of procedures for handling "controlled unclassified information" (CUI) produced recommendations that were sent to the White House last week, though the contents have not been disclosed.
Both reviews were the subject of considerable public comment, and the resulting recommendations include at least some proposed changes that are directly traceable to public input, the participant said. But he also cautioned against overly high expectations for the outcome, especially given the insular character of the deliberative process, which was dominated by agency classification personnel. "You've got a bunch of foxes designing security for the henhouse," he said.
The recommendations that were produced by the interagency reviews must still be reviewed by the White House and then approved or modified, a process that could take months. A decision on whether to invite additional public comment has not yet been announced.
Wrap...
Friday, August 28, 2009
Two Films & Lots of Books On The Way....
From Publishers Lunch Weekly:
FICTION...
WOMENS/ROMANCE:
RWA Golden Heart winner Darynda Jones' FIRST GRAVE ON THE RIGHT and two subsequent novels featuring a heroine who is a private investigator and has a side job as a grim reaper, to Jennifer Enderlin at St. Martin's, in a pre-empt, by Alexandra Machinist at Linda Chester (NA).
GENERAL/OTHER...
PEN-nominated author of UNDISCOVERED GYRL Allison Burnett's DEATH BY SUNSHINE, concluding his B.K. Troop trilogy with this story of a flamboyant, aging New York City bon vivant who visits Los Angeles for the first time and finds himself embroiled in a murder case, to Don Weise at Alyson Books, for publication in Fall 2010, by Eric Myers at The Spieler Agency (World English).
Dave Madden's THE AUTHENTIC ANIMAL: Inside the Odd and Obsessive World of Taxidermy, an intriguing look at the relationship between animals and the humans who painstakingly preserve them in life-like form, to Michael Flamini at St. Martin's, in a nice deal, by Gail Hochman at Brandt & Hochman (world English).
CHILDREN'S/YOUNG ADULT...
Kerstin Gier's RUBY RED trilogy, in which a 16-year old discovers her family's time-travel gene when she mysteriously lands in the last century, to Laura Godwin at Holt Children's, by Alex Webb at Rights People, on behalf of Arena Verlag (NA).
FILM...
Winner of the 2008 Commonwealth Writers' Prize Lawrence Hill's THE BOOK OF NEGROES, to producers Damon D'Oliveira and Clement Virgo, who will also direct, by Ellen Levine of Trident Media Group in association with Jody Hotchkiss of Hotchkiss & Associates.
Tish Cohen's INSIDE OUT GIRL, optioned to writing/producing team Steven Pearl and Allison Burnett, by Kassie Evashevski at UTA, on behalf of Daniel Lazar at Writers House.
NON-FICTION:
BIOGRAPHY...
John Jenkins's REHNQUIST, a biography of the most influential, and least understood, chief justice in the court's modern era that will probe the origins of Rehnquist's conservatism; show his hand as a young justice intent on approving the death penalty and slowing the spread of abortion rights; and draw vivid pictures of his presiding role in the most important judicial decisions of our time, to Clive Priddle at Public Affairs, by Jane Dystel at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (NA).
Case Western Reserve University comic book scholar Bradley Ricca's SUPER BOYS: JERRY SIEGEL, JOE SHUSTER, AND THE CREATION OF SUPERMAN, the first-ever biography of the creators of Superman, detailing the complex lifelong collaboration and occasional betrayals, private dramas and public struggles, that accompanied their creation of perhaps the most iconic fictional figure of the 20th century, to Michael Homler at St. Martin's, by Scott Mendel at the Mendel Media Group (World English).
Translation: scott@mendelmedia.com
UK: kerry.nordling@stmartins.com
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE...
43Folders.com founder Merlin Mann's INBOX ZERO, exploring the popular myths about "email organization," and provides an inspiring blueprint for managing our attention and making things that matter, to Julia Cheiffetz at Harper Studio, by Pilar Queen at McCormick & Williams Literary Agency (world).
HEALTH...
UCLA cardiologist Dr. Barbara Natterson Horowitz and journalist Kathryn Bowers's ZOOBIQUITY, describing a new, species-spanning approach to health which explores the surprising overlaps between animal and human disease, and encourages collaboration between veterinarians and human doctors to the benefit of both, to Jordan Pavlin at Knopf, in a pre-empt, by Tina Bennett at Janklow & Nesbit (NA).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS...
Journalist and editor for Foreign Affairs, Newsweek International, and Foreign Policy William Dobson's book on the changing nature of modern dictatorship, telling the story of the hidden, unconventional battle between 21st century authoritarians and the dissidents that target their tyranny, arguing that authoritarian regimes have evolved amidst new technologies and changing definitions of political liberty, to Kris Puopolo at Doubleday, in a pre-empt, by Will Lippincott of Lippincott Massie McQuilkin (World).
UK...
Willard professor of classics, professor of history and fellow of the Archaeology Centre at Stanford University, and author of the forthcoming WHY THE WEST RULES...FOR NOW Ian Morris's WAR: WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR, combining history, current affairs and cultural evolution, to explain that in the long-run, war has made us richer and safer, but the next 20 years will be vital to the planet as a race develops between a war to end all wars, and technological changes that may allow us to manage war successfully, to Daniel Crewe at Profile, by Arabella Stein at Abner Stein, on behalf of Sandy Dijkstra at Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency (UK).
Wrap...
FICTION...
WOMENS/ROMANCE:
RWA Golden Heart winner Darynda Jones' FIRST GRAVE ON THE RIGHT and two subsequent novels featuring a heroine who is a private investigator and has a side job as a grim reaper, to Jennifer Enderlin at St. Martin's, in a pre-empt, by Alexandra Machinist at Linda Chester (NA).
GENERAL/OTHER...
PEN-nominated author of UNDISCOVERED GYRL Allison Burnett's DEATH BY SUNSHINE, concluding his B.K. Troop trilogy with this story of a flamboyant, aging New York City bon vivant who visits Los Angeles for the first time and finds himself embroiled in a murder case, to Don Weise at Alyson Books, for publication in Fall 2010, by Eric Myers at The Spieler Agency (World English).
Dave Madden's THE AUTHENTIC ANIMAL: Inside the Odd and Obsessive World of Taxidermy, an intriguing look at the relationship between animals and the humans who painstakingly preserve them in life-like form, to Michael Flamini at St. Martin's, in a nice deal, by Gail Hochman at Brandt & Hochman (world English).
CHILDREN'S/YOUNG ADULT...
Kerstin Gier's RUBY RED trilogy, in which a 16-year old discovers her family's time-travel gene when she mysteriously lands in the last century, to Laura Godwin at Holt Children's, by Alex Webb at Rights People, on behalf of Arena Verlag (NA).
FILM...
Winner of the 2008 Commonwealth Writers' Prize Lawrence Hill's THE BOOK OF NEGROES, to producers Damon D'Oliveira and Clement Virgo, who will also direct, by Ellen Levine of Trident Media Group in association with Jody Hotchkiss of Hotchkiss & Associates.
Tish Cohen's INSIDE OUT GIRL, optioned to writing/producing team Steven Pearl and Allison Burnett, by Kassie Evashevski at UTA, on behalf of Daniel Lazar at Writers House.
NON-FICTION:
BIOGRAPHY...
John Jenkins's REHNQUIST, a biography of the most influential, and least understood, chief justice in the court's modern era that will probe the origins of Rehnquist's conservatism; show his hand as a young justice intent on approving the death penalty and slowing the spread of abortion rights; and draw vivid pictures of his presiding role in the most important judicial decisions of our time, to Clive Priddle at Public Affairs, by Jane Dystel at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (NA).
Case Western Reserve University comic book scholar Bradley Ricca's SUPER BOYS: JERRY SIEGEL, JOE SHUSTER, AND THE CREATION OF SUPERMAN, the first-ever biography of the creators of Superman, detailing the complex lifelong collaboration and occasional betrayals, private dramas and public struggles, that accompanied their creation of perhaps the most iconic fictional figure of the 20th century, to Michael Homler at St. Martin's, by Scott Mendel at the Mendel Media Group (World English).
Translation: scott@mendelmedia.com
UK: kerry.nordling@stmartins.com
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE...
43Folders.com founder Merlin Mann's INBOX ZERO, exploring the popular myths about "email organization," and provides an inspiring blueprint for managing our attention and making things that matter, to Julia Cheiffetz at Harper Studio, by Pilar Queen at McCormick & Williams Literary Agency (world).
HEALTH...
UCLA cardiologist Dr. Barbara Natterson Horowitz and journalist Kathryn Bowers's ZOOBIQUITY, describing a new, species-spanning approach to health which explores the surprising overlaps between animal and human disease, and encourages collaboration between veterinarians and human doctors to the benefit of both, to Jordan Pavlin at Knopf, in a pre-empt, by Tina Bennett at Janklow & Nesbit (NA).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS...
Journalist and editor for Foreign Affairs, Newsweek International, and Foreign Policy William Dobson's book on the changing nature of modern dictatorship, telling the story of the hidden, unconventional battle between 21st century authoritarians and the dissidents that target their tyranny, arguing that authoritarian regimes have evolved amidst new technologies and changing definitions of political liberty, to Kris Puopolo at Doubleday, in a pre-empt, by Will Lippincott of Lippincott Massie McQuilkin (World).
UK...
Willard professor of classics, professor of history and fellow of the Archaeology Centre at Stanford University, and author of the forthcoming WHY THE WEST RULES...FOR NOW Ian Morris's WAR: WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR, combining history, current affairs and cultural evolution, to explain that in the long-run, war has made us richer and safer, but the next 20 years will be vital to the planet as a race develops between a war to end all wars, and technological changes that may allow us to manage war successfully, to Daniel Crewe at Profile, by Arabella Stein at Abner Stein, on behalf of Sandy Dijkstra at Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency (UK).
Wrap...
Thursday, August 27, 2009
You ain't heard it all yet...Listen & watch...
Received this in email. As a writer friend said, "This wingnut has had his threads stripped." I'd say his brain is contaminated and needs bleaching...tho that probably wouldn't help. Try to watch without gagging.
http://la-gun.Com/manning/obama3/
Wrap...
http://la-gun.Com/manning/obama3/
Wrap...
Friday, August 21, 2009
New Books On the Way....
From Publishers Lunch Weekly:
FICTION...
DEBUT:
Volume rights to Shane Jones' LIGHT BOXES, a short novel about a small town that wages war against February that was just optioned by Spike Jonze (who is collaborating with Jones on the screenplay), to Tom Roberge at Penguin, by Bill Clegg at William Morris Endeavor (NA).
UK rights to Simon Prosser at Hamish Hamilton, in a pre-empt.
Stegner Fellow and Stanford/UCSF creative writing professor Alice LaPlante's TURN OF MIND, pitched as having a Patricia Highsmith-esque mystery at its heart, in which the narrator, a brilliant surgeon with Alzheimer's-related dementia, is suspected of killing a neighbor who was her best friend and most worthy adversary, to Morgan Entrekin and Elisabeth Schmitz at Grove/Atlantic, for publication in Winter 2011, by Victoria Skurnick at the Levine Greenberg Literary Agency (world).
Foreign rights to Goldmann in Germany and Orlando in Holland, in pre-empts. ahundley@groveatlantic.com
David Hilton's KINGS OF COLORADO, in which a man reflects back on his childhood when, at age 13, he stabbed his abusive father in the chest and was sentenced to two years at a boys reformatory ranch in Colorado, where corruption was the norm, and troubled boys learned to fend for themselves as they cared for and broke wild horses that were just as willful and untamed as the boys themselves, to Kerri Kolen at Simon & Schuster, at auction, by Laney Katz Becker at Folio Literary Management (NA).
THRILLER:
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of the Ethan Gage historical fiction series (NAPOLEON'S PYRAMIDS, THE ROSETTA KEY, THE DAKOTA CIPHER), William Dietrich's next two novels, THE SHAMBHALA IMPERATIVE, alternating between the 1930s and the present, combining occult Nazi theories, neo-Nazis and contemporary science elements in an adventure revolving around a government conspiracy, and another novel continuing the adventures of 19th century American adventurer Ethan Gage, again to Rakesh Satyal at Harper, by Andrew Stuart at The Stuart Agency (world).
NON-FICTION:
ADVICE/RELATIONSHIPS...
Michelle Cove's SHAKE UP THE FAIRYTALE!, a guide that helps single women deal with all stages of "singlehood" and gives them the tools they need to navigate through a changing culture and social order that is still based on "couples," while reassuring single women that happily-ever-after is a lifelong approach to nourishing their sense of well-being, to Gabrielle Moss at Tarcher, at auction, for publication in Fall 2010, by Laney Katz Becker at Folio Literary Management (world English).
BIOGRAPHY:
Professor of French at Boston University Elizabeth Goldsmith's THE CARDINAL'S NIECES, on the adventures of Marie and Hortense Mancini, privileged sisters raised in the court of Louis XIV who fled their husbands and children to travel throughout Europe, gaining notoriety for their roles as gamblers, cross-dressers, mistresses to various kings, and pioneering women writers, to Lindsay Jones at Public Affairs, for publication in Fall 2011, by Erika Storella at The Gernert Company (world).
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE:
Retiring Los Angeles chief of police William J. Bratton's business book about the strategic importance of collaboration in today's networked world, co-authored by management expert Zachary Tumin, to Roger Scholl at Broadway Business, for publication in spring 2011, by Alice Martell of Alice Martell Agency.
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Yale historian and author of The Dynamite Club John Merriman's THE PARIS COMMUNE OF 1871, the first account for the general reader of the dramatic uprising in which the working class of Paris took up arms against the French government, inspiring Marx, Engels and Bakunin at the time and later Trotsky, Lenin, and Mao as a model of the 'dictatorship of the proletariat,' to Lara Heimert at Basic, in a pre-empt, to Melissa Chinchillo at Fletcher & Company (NA).
Samuel Johnson Prize-winning historian Antony Beevor's one-volume history of World War II, to Geoff Shandler at Little, Brown and Weidenfeld & Nicolson in the UK, for publication in 2012, by Andrew Nurnberg at Andrew Nurnberg Associates (world English).
Marie Claire editor Yael Kohen's WE KILLED: The History of Women in American Comedy, a first-ever oral history of women in American comedy, constructed from interviews with more than 50 of the nation's most prominent female comedians, recounting the trials, tribulations, and thrills of being a woman in the male-dominated comedy world from the 1950s to present, to Sarah Crichton at Sarah Crichton Books, at auction, by David Kuhn of Kuhn Projects (NA).
SCIENCE:
Science policy expert Roger Pielke, Jr.'s NO REGRETS: A Common-Sense Approach to Climate Change, an important look at how to get our response to climate change back on track after more than a decade of failure, to T.J. Kelleher at Basic, in a nice deal, for publication in Fall 2010, by Kris Dahl at ICM (World).
24-year-old Brown grad Brian Christian's book about artificial intelligence and communication framed as an inquiry into what makes us human, to Bill Thomas at Doubleday, at auction, by Janet Silver at Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency.
GENERAL/OTHER:
Former Nation editor and regular Harper's contributor JoAnn Wypijewski's untitled book on class in America, a cross-country road trip (pitched as in the merged spirits of de Tocqueville, What's the Matter with Kansas? and On the Road) to get at the heart of the strained-and-cracking class structure that defines and divides America, to Eric Chinski at Farrar, Straus, by Bill Clegg at William Morris Endeavor (NA).
Kevin Birmingham's THE MOST DANGEROUS MASTERPIECE, an account of the writing of James Joyce's Ulysses and the subsequent fight over its publication, with appearances by Ernest Hemingway, Sylvia Beach, Nora Barnacle, the obsessed censor Anthony Comstock, and the devilishly crafty Bennett Cerf, to Nick Trautwein at the Penguin Press, for publication in Fall 2012, by Suzanne Gluck at William Morris Endeavor.
Wrap...
FICTION...
DEBUT:
Volume rights to Shane Jones' LIGHT BOXES, a short novel about a small town that wages war against February that was just optioned by Spike Jonze (who is collaborating with Jones on the screenplay), to Tom Roberge at Penguin, by Bill Clegg at William Morris Endeavor (NA).
UK rights to Simon Prosser at Hamish Hamilton, in a pre-empt.
Stegner Fellow and Stanford/UCSF creative writing professor Alice LaPlante's TURN OF MIND, pitched as having a Patricia Highsmith-esque mystery at its heart, in which the narrator, a brilliant surgeon with Alzheimer's-related dementia, is suspected of killing a neighbor who was her best friend and most worthy adversary, to Morgan Entrekin and Elisabeth Schmitz at Grove/Atlantic, for publication in Winter 2011, by Victoria Skurnick at the Levine Greenberg Literary Agency (world).
Foreign rights to Goldmann in Germany and Orlando in Holland, in pre-empts. ahundley@groveatlantic.com
David Hilton's KINGS OF COLORADO, in which a man reflects back on his childhood when, at age 13, he stabbed his abusive father in the chest and was sentenced to two years at a boys reformatory ranch in Colorado, where corruption was the norm, and troubled boys learned to fend for themselves as they cared for and broke wild horses that were just as willful and untamed as the boys themselves, to Kerri Kolen at Simon & Schuster, at auction, by Laney Katz Becker at Folio Literary Management (NA).
THRILLER:
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of the Ethan Gage historical fiction series (NAPOLEON'S PYRAMIDS, THE ROSETTA KEY, THE DAKOTA CIPHER), William Dietrich's next two novels, THE SHAMBHALA IMPERATIVE, alternating between the 1930s and the present, combining occult Nazi theories, neo-Nazis and contemporary science elements in an adventure revolving around a government conspiracy, and another novel continuing the adventures of 19th century American adventurer Ethan Gage, again to Rakesh Satyal at Harper, by Andrew Stuart at The Stuart Agency (world).
NON-FICTION:
ADVICE/RELATIONSHIPS...
Michelle Cove's SHAKE UP THE FAIRYTALE!, a guide that helps single women deal with all stages of "singlehood" and gives them the tools they need to navigate through a changing culture and social order that is still based on "couples," while reassuring single women that happily-ever-after is a lifelong approach to nourishing their sense of well-being, to Gabrielle Moss at Tarcher, at auction, for publication in Fall 2010, by Laney Katz Becker at Folio Literary Management (world English).
BIOGRAPHY:
Professor of French at Boston University Elizabeth Goldsmith's THE CARDINAL'S NIECES, on the adventures of Marie and Hortense Mancini, privileged sisters raised in the court of Louis XIV who fled their husbands and children to travel throughout Europe, gaining notoriety for their roles as gamblers, cross-dressers, mistresses to various kings, and pioneering women writers, to Lindsay Jones at Public Affairs, for publication in Fall 2011, by Erika Storella at The Gernert Company (world).
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE:
Retiring Los Angeles chief of police William J. Bratton's business book about the strategic importance of collaboration in today's networked world, co-authored by management expert Zachary Tumin, to Roger Scholl at Broadway Business, for publication in spring 2011, by Alice Martell of Alice Martell Agency.
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Yale historian and author of The Dynamite Club John Merriman's THE PARIS COMMUNE OF 1871, the first account for the general reader of the dramatic uprising in which the working class of Paris took up arms against the French government, inspiring Marx, Engels and Bakunin at the time and later Trotsky, Lenin, and Mao as a model of the 'dictatorship of the proletariat,' to Lara Heimert at Basic, in a pre-empt, to Melissa Chinchillo at Fletcher & Company (NA).
Samuel Johnson Prize-winning historian Antony Beevor's one-volume history of World War II, to Geoff Shandler at Little, Brown and Weidenfeld & Nicolson in the UK, for publication in 2012, by Andrew Nurnberg at Andrew Nurnberg Associates (world English).
Marie Claire editor Yael Kohen's WE KILLED: The History of Women in American Comedy, a first-ever oral history of women in American comedy, constructed from interviews with more than 50 of the nation's most prominent female comedians, recounting the trials, tribulations, and thrills of being a woman in the male-dominated comedy world from the 1950s to present, to Sarah Crichton at Sarah Crichton Books, at auction, by David Kuhn of Kuhn Projects (NA).
SCIENCE:
Science policy expert Roger Pielke, Jr.'s NO REGRETS: A Common-Sense Approach to Climate Change, an important look at how to get our response to climate change back on track after more than a decade of failure, to T.J. Kelleher at Basic, in a nice deal, for publication in Fall 2010, by Kris Dahl at ICM (World).
24-year-old Brown grad Brian Christian's book about artificial intelligence and communication framed as an inquiry into what makes us human, to Bill Thomas at Doubleday, at auction, by Janet Silver at Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency.
GENERAL/OTHER:
Former Nation editor and regular Harper's contributor JoAnn Wypijewski's untitled book on class in America, a cross-country road trip (pitched as in the merged spirits of de Tocqueville, What's the Matter with Kansas? and On the Road) to get at the heart of the strained-and-cracking class structure that defines and divides America, to Eric Chinski at Farrar, Straus, by Bill Clegg at William Morris Endeavor (NA).
Kevin Birmingham's THE MOST DANGEROUS MASTERPIECE, an account of the writing of James Joyce's Ulysses and the subsequent fight over its publication, with appearances by Ernest Hemingway, Sylvia Beach, Nora Barnacle, the obsessed censor Anthony Comstock, and the devilishly crafty Bennett Cerf, to Nick Trautwein at the Penguin Press, for publication in Fall 2012, by Suzanne Gluck at William Morris Endeavor.
Wrap...
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Carrying On....
Thought it about time I say something in this space. Sure is enough going on in the world to talk about...little of it good.
No matter. Good comes first. In my case, good is breakfast on Acapulco's sidewalk patio. Arrived there this morning, LA Times and San Diego Union-Tribune newspapers in hand as always to find that Castro had already parked a thermos pot of hot coffee, a mug and an ashtray on my usual table.
Now that's what I call special. The staff at Acapulco about spoils me to death.
Anyway, I settled in, pulled the Sports pages out of both papers...I'm not interested in sports...and put them on the far side of the table for whichever manager was on duty, then settled in to begin reading the front section of the Times.
Shortly, Castro came with breakfast. Since I have exactly the same thing every morning, it's not necessary for me to order. Staff already knows what I want and how I want it. I tucked money under the menu caddy and he made change. Works like a charm.
The Health Care plan argument rages on, as does the situation between the Kurds and the Iraqis over that slice of land between them, so the US forces are gonna try and keep the peace there until there's some kind of a mutually agreed arangement between the two areas. This is good, but hope they get it settled soon so our people can come home.
Storms off the Florida coast. Have friends and family both who live down there. Hope they're well prepared in case one of those storms gets to hurricane size.
Arizona idiots are carrying weapons to places where President Obama is speaking. Serious weapons like AK-47s. Are they that unsure of their manhood that they need to flaunt weapons to show how tough they are? Just pathetic. Also dangerous as hell. "Because I can" one of them said. The NRA ought to be outlawed far as I'm concerned. This shit goes too far. Drives the Secret Service and law enforcement people nuts.
Robert Novak, newsman, has died of brain cancer. Onery as he was, he's a loss to the country. And Dan Rather...royally screwed by CBS as far as I'm concerned. I'm very glad he's not giving up the fight.
US Rep Michelle Bachmann is about as nuts as Sarah Palin. Be a cold day in hell before either of those two ever are elected president..and I don't give a damn what they think God wants them to do. They belong in asylums where their demented rants and raves won't disturb the public airways.
Wrap...
No matter. Good comes first. In my case, good is breakfast on Acapulco's sidewalk patio. Arrived there this morning, LA Times and San Diego Union-Tribune newspapers in hand as always to find that Castro had already parked a thermos pot of hot coffee, a mug and an ashtray on my usual table.
Now that's what I call special. The staff at Acapulco about spoils me to death.
Anyway, I settled in, pulled the Sports pages out of both papers...I'm not interested in sports...and put them on the far side of the table for whichever manager was on duty, then settled in to begin reading the front section of the Times.
Shortly, Castro came with breakfast. Since I have exactly the same thing every morning, it's not necessary for me to order. Staff already knows what I want and how I want it. I tucked money under the menu caddy and he made change. Works like a charm.
The Health Care plan argument rages on, as does the situation between the Kurds and the Iraqis over that slice of land between them, so the US forces are gonna try and keep the peace there until there's some kind of a mutually agreed arangement between the two areas. This is good, but hope they get it settled soon so our people can come home.
Storms off the Florida coast. Have friends and family both who live down there. Hope they're well prepared in case one of those storms gets to hurricane size.
Arizona idiots are carrying weapons to places where President Obama is speaking. Serious weapons like AK-47s. Are they that unsure of their manhood that they need to flaunt weapons to show how tough they are? Just pathetic. Also dangerous as hell. "Because I can" one of them said. The NRA ought to be outlawed far as I'm concerned. This shit goes too far. Drives the Secret Service and law enforcement people nuts.
Robert Novak, newsman, has died of brain cancer. Onery as he was, he's a loss to the country. And Dan Rather...royally screwed by CBS as far as I'm concerned. I'm very glad he's not giving up the fight.
US Rep Michelle Bachmann is about as nuts as Sarah Palin. Be a cold day in hell before either of those two ever are elected president..and I don't give a damn what they think God wants them to do. They belong in asylums where their demented rants and raves won't disturb the public airways.
Wrap...
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
And Still More Books...
From Publishers Lunch Weekly:
FICTION:
DEBUT...
Rainbow Rowell's FLAGGED, a fresh take on the office comedy in which a shy but endearing I.T. guy whose job is to monitor the company email falls in love with a girl in his office whose emails are constantly flagged, to Erika Imranyi at Dutton, at auction, by Christopher Schelling at Ralph M. Vicinanza.
MYSTERY/CRIME:
Journalist Hilary Davidson's debut THE DAMAGE DONE, about a travel writer who is called back to New York when her estranged sister is murdered, only to discover that the body belongs to a stranger who'd stolen her sister's identity, and that her sister has vanished, to Paul Stevens at Forge, in a two-book deal, for publication in October 2010, by Judith Weber at Sobel Weber Associates (NA).
GENERAL/OTHER:
Bloodroot author Amy Greene's LONG MAN, set over fifteen days in the Tennessee Valley during the Great Depression, propelled by the search for a missing little girl, again to Robin Desser at Knopf, by Leigh Feldman at Darhansoff, Verrill, Feldman (NA).
NON-FICTION...
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE:
New-media guru, founder of MarketWatch, and advisor/board member to ten major media and other companies, Larry Kramer's TALESPIN, on the current revolution in communication, the four factors that govern it, and how businesses can survive and thrive amid the changes, to Ben Loehnen at Harper Business, for publication in 2010, by Fredrica Friedman of Fredrica S. Friedman and Company.
DIET:
Host of The Biggest Loser and star of Days of Our Lives, Alison Sweeney's THE MOMMY DIET, not just a weight-loss book, but a "diet" of nutrition, fitness, and self-care that women can follow to look and feel well, before and during pregnancy, and after giving birth, to Cara Bedick at Simon Spotlight Entertainment, for publication in October 2010, by Jane Dystel at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (world).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Senior foreign policy writer for the NYT editorial board, David Unger's THE EMERGENCY STATE: How to End America's Obsessive Quest for National Security and Reclaim our Democracy, a wide-ranging work of history and political economy which looks at how the foreign policy arrangements and international economic structures originally developed to fight the cold war are still in place, and have not only become obsolete but now threaten our democracy at home and our international economic position, to Laura Stickney at Penguin Press, at auction, by Andrew Stuart at The Stuart Agency (NA).
Jerusalem-based historian and journalist, author of THE ACCIDENTAL EMPIRE and THE END OF DAYS Gershom Gorenberg's THE UNMAKING OF ISRAEL, a penetrating look at Israel's current internal strife, its roots, and its sobering implications for the nation's future, to Tim Duggan at Harper, by Lisa Bankoff at ICM (NA).
HUMOR:
Syndicated radio host and TV personality Adam Carolla's THIS YEAR IN RAGE, a collection of funny, insightful, and outrageous anecdotes, philosophies, and rants by America's foremost complainer, spanning sports (steroids in baseball, etc.), the economy, bloggers, dining out, religion, politics, movies, social networking sites, dating, flying/homeland security, and sex, to Suzanne O'Neill at Crown, for publication in Fall 2010, by Dan Strone at Trident Media Group and manager, James Dixon of Dixon Talent (NA).
MEMOIR:
Founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure (named for her sister), the world's largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists, and former US ambassador to Hungary Nancy Brinker's story of two sisters, Nancy and Suzy, their loving bond from childhood through adulthood, the cancer that took one sister's life and threatened the other's, and the passionate promise made that has gone on to transform, and save, the lives of million of women and to raise billions of dollars for cancer research and community outreach, to Diane Salvatore at Broadway, for publication in October 2010, by Dorian Karchmar at William Morris Endeavor (world English).
Gunter Grass's FROM GERMANY TO GERMANY AND BACK AGAIN, the diary he kept in 1990, as the Berlin Wall fell and Germany changed forever, to Drenka Willen at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for publication in Fall 2011, by Steidl Verlag (NA).
lori.glazer@hmhpub.com
NARRATIVE:
Bio-acoustician and pioneering musician Bernie Krause's THE GREAT ANIMAL ORCHESTRA: Searching for the Voice of Nature and the Origins of Music, a narrative journey into the author's visionary theories about animal sounds, their orchestral-like relationship to one another, their influence on our own music, their vital importance to our ecological and emotional health, the dramatic losses they've endured due to encroaching human noise, and the damage that is occurring as they go extinct, to John Parsley at Little, Brown, at auction, by Gillian MacKenzie of the Gillian MacKenzie Agency (world).
Wrap...
FICTION:
DEBUT...
Rainbow Rowell's FLAGGED, a fresh take on the office comedy in which a shy but endearing I.T. guy whose job is to monitor the company email falls in love with a girl in his office whose emails are constantly flagged, to Erika Imranyi at Dutton, at auction, by Christopher Schelling at Ralph M. Vicinanza.
MYSTERY/CRIME:
Journalist Hilary Davidson's debut THE DAMAGE DONE, about a travel writer who is called back to New York when her estranged sister is murdered, only to discover that the body belongs to a stranger who'd stolen her sister's identity, and that her sister has vanished, to Paul Stevens at Forge, in a two-book deal, for publication in October 2010, by Judith Weber at Sobel Weber Associates (NA).
GENERAL/OTHER:
Bloodroot author Amy Greene's LONG MAN, set over fifteen days in the Tennessee Valley during the Great Depression, propelled by the search for a missing little girl, again to Robin Desser at Knopf, by Leigh Feldman at Darhansoff, Verrill, Feldman (NA).
NON-FICTION...
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE:
New-media guru, founder of MarketWatch, and advisor/board member to ten major media and other companies, Larry Kramer's TALESPIN, on the current revolution in communication, the four factors that govern it, and how businesses can survive and thrive amid the changes, to Ben Loehnen at Harper Business, for publication in 2010, by Fredrica Friedman of Fredrica S. Friedman and Company.
DIET:
Host of The Biggest Loser and star of Days of Our Lives, Alison Sweeney's THE MOMMY DIET, not just a weight-loss book, but a "diet" of nutrition, fitness, and self-care that women can follow to look and feel well, before and during pregnancy, and after giving birth, to Cara Bedick at Simon Spotlight Entertainment, for publication in October 2010, by Jane Dystel at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (world).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Senior foreign policy writer for the NYT editorial board, David Unger's THE EMERGENCY STATE: How to End America's Obsessive Quest for National Security and Reclaim our Democracy, a wide-ranging work of history and political economy which looks at how the foreign policy arrangements and international economic structures originally developed to fight the cold war are still in place, and have not only become obsolete but now threaten our democracy at home and our international economic position, to Laura Stickney at Penguin Press, at auction, by Andrew Stuart at The Stuart Agency (NA).
Jerusalem-based historian and journalist, author of THE ACCIDENTAL EMPIRE and THE END OF DAYS Gershom Gorenberg's THE UNMAKING OF ISRAEL, a penetrating look at Israel's current internal strife, its roots, and its sobering implications for the nation's future, to Tim Duggan at Harper, by Lisa Bankoff at ICM (NA).
HUMOR:
Syndicated radio host and TV personality Adam Carolla's THIS YEAR IN RAGE, a collection of funny, insightful, and outrageous anecdotes, philosophies, and rants by America's foremost complainer, spanning sports (steroids in baseball, etc.), the economy, bloggers, dining out, religion, politics, movies, social networking sites, dating, flying/homeland security, and sex, to Suzanne O'Neill at Crown, for publication in Fall 2010, by Dan Strone at Trident Media Group and manager, James Dixon of Dixon Talent (NA).
MEMOIR:
Founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure (named for her sister), the world's largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists, and former US ambassador to Hungary Nancy Brinker's story of two sisters, Nancy and Suzy, their loving bond from childhood through adulthood, the cancer that took one sister's life and threatened the other's, and the passionate promise made that has gone on to transform, and save, the lives of million of women and to raise billions of dollars for cancer research and community outreach, to Diane Salvatore at Broadway, for publication in October 2010, by Dorian Karchmar at William Morris Endeavor (world English).
Gunter Grass's FROM GERMANY TO GERMANY AND BACK AGAIN, the diary he kept in 1990, as the Berlin Wall fell and Germany changed forever, to Drenka Willen at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for publication in Fall 2011, by Steidl Verlag (NA).
lori.glazer@hmhpub.com
NARRATIVE:
Bio-acoustician and pioneering musician Bernie Krause's THE GREAT ANIMAL ORCHESTRA: Searching for the Voice of Nature and the Origins of Music, a narrative journey into the author's visionary theories about animal sounds, their orchestral-like relationship to one another, their influence on our own music, their vital importance to our ecological and emotional health, the dramatic losses they've endured due to encroaching human noise, and the damage that is occurring as they go extinct, to John Parsley at Little, Brown, at auction, by Gillian MacKenzie of the Gillian MacKenzie Agency (world).
Wrap...
Saturday, August 08, 2009
A Selection of Interesting Books....
From Publishers Lunch Weekly:
FICTION:
DEBUT...
Radio show host, magazine writer and frequent contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle Tony DuShane's CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE JESUS JERK, loosely based on his experience growing up a Jehovah's Witness, to Anne Horowitz at Soft Skull, by Mollie Glick of Foundry Literary + Media.
Rights: sabou@foundrymedia.com
O'Henry Award-winner and Stegner Fellow Eddie Chuculate's CHEYENNE MADONNA, linked stories of the Native American experience past and present, to Susan Barba at David R. Godine, by Alex Glass at Trident Media Group (World).
Iowa MFA and University of Houston PhD Amber Dermont's PROSPER, set in the privileged world of a New England prep school, follows the handsome, wounded Jason Prosper, who arrives at the academy for his senior year after the suicide of his best friend and sailing partner, only to realize the darkness of his past has followed him, and DAMAGE CONTROL, a story collection, to Lindsay Sagnette at St. Martin's, for publication in Spring 2011, by Ethan Bassoff at Inkwell Management (NA).
MYSTERY/CRIME:
Christobel Kent's A TIME OF MOURNING, the first in a new series featuring an ex-cop turned PI, to Daniela Rapp at Minotaur, in a nice deal, in a two-book deal, for publication in Spring 2010, by Kimberly Witherspoon at Inkwell Management (Na).
GENERAL/OTHER:
Some Deals
As usual, here are about 20 deals from last week's report of about 140 deals in all. We have added another 70 new ones again at our site since Monday. To see the complete deal flow (including entire categories generally omitted from this version) and get a complete deal round-up every week (with more pricing information) instead, sign up now for our full service.
Click to register
https://www.publishersmarketplace.com/register/
The Key
As usual, the handy key to our Lunch deal categories. While all reports are always welcome, those that include a category will generally receive a higher listing when it comes time to put them all together.
"nice deal" $1 - $49,000
"very nice deal" $50,000 - $99,000
"good deal" $100,000 - $250,000
"significant deal" $251,000 - $499,000
"major deal" $500,000 and up
Deal Reports
Just e-mail to deals@PublishersMarketplace.com if you aren't using the online form linked below.
Report a deal using the online form
FICTION
Debut
Robin Becker's BRAINS: a zombie memoir, the first-person account of a college professor-turned-zombie who retains his sentience and recruits others like him on a heroic quest to fend off the living while searching for the meaning of un-life, to Gabe Robinson at Harper, in a nice deal, for publication in Summer 2010, by Janet Reid at FinePrint Literary Management (NA).
Ann Garvin's ON MAGGIE'S WATCH, about the deep friendship between best friends, the pressure that loss puts on a marriage, and our deeply human desire to control - no matter how absurd and impossible - everything in our lives to make the world as safe as possible for ourselves and our children, to Jackie Cantor at Berkley, for publication in November 2010, by Eve Bridburg at Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency (World).
Kristen Wolf's THE WAY, a cinematic and fantastical re-imagining of the world's greatest spiritual figure, pitched as THE MISTS OF AVALON meets POPE JOAN, to Suzanne O'Neill at Crown, by Susan Golomb at the Susan Golomb Agency (NA).
Radio show host, magazine writer and frequent contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle Tony DuShane's CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE JESUS JERK, loosely based on his experience growing up a Jehovah's Witness, to Anne Horowitz at Soft Skull, by Mollie Glick of Foundry Literary + Media.
Rights: sabou@foundrymedia.com
O'Henry Award-winner and Stegner Fellow Eddie Chuculate's CHEYENNE MADONNA, linked stories of the Native American experience past and present, to Susan Barba at David R. Godine, by Alex Glass at Trident Media Group (World).
Iowa MFA and University of Houston PhD Amber Dermont's PROSPER, set in the privileged world of a New England prep school, follows the handsome, wounded Jason Prosper, who arrives at the academy for his senior year after the suicide of his best friend and sailing partner, only to realize the darkness of his past has followed him, and DAMAGE CONTROL, a story collection, to Lindsay Sagnette at St. Martin's, for publication in Spring 2011, by Ethan Bassoff at Inkwell Management (NA).
Mystery/Crime
Christobel Kent's A TIME OF MOURNING, the first in a new series featuring an ex-cop turned PI, to Daniela Rapp at Minotaur, in a nice deal, in a two-book deal, for publication in Spring 2010, by Kimberly Witherspoon at Inkwell Management (Na).
General/Other
Jennie Fields's THE AGE OF ARDOR, inspired by the facts of Edith Wharton's life -- a miserable marriage and difficult love affair -- the novel introduces Anna Bahlmann, Edith's lifelong conscience and confessor, her former governess turned literary secretary and first critic who previewed every word she penned, in a portrait of two vastly different women responding to changing mores, whose relationship was sorely tested when Edith threw caution to the wind in pursuit of the wrong man despite Anna's opposition, and whose friendship, even so, was able to flourish, to Pamela Dorman at Pamela Dorman Books, in a pre-empt, by Lisa Bankoff at ICM (World).
Nobel Prize-winner Jose Saramago's THE ELEPHANT'S JOURNEY, based on the real-life journey of an Indian elephant from Lisbon to Vienna in the 16th century, translated again by Margaret Jull Costa, to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for publication in fall 2010.
NON-FICTION...
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Historian David Fromkin's NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM, showing how tensions between Britain and the Nazis over the Middle East prior to and during World War II set the course for that area's political history, moving back to Andrew Miller at Knopf, at auction, by Suzanne Gluck at William Morris Endeavor.
MEMOIR:
Leigh Newman's A SAFE PLACE IN THE WILDERNESS, about the author's life spent growing up in (and moving between) two vastly different American terrains and cultures -- East (blue blood Maryland with her mother) and West (rugged and wild Alaska with her father), and how she built a life across seemingly impossible divides, to Jennifer Smith at Dial, in a pre-empt, for publication in Fall 2011, by Emilie Stewart at Emilie Stewart Literary Agency (NA).
POP CULTURE:
GQ staff writer Alex Pappademas's HERE COMES TOMORROW, featuring essays and insights into how comics, superheroes, science fiction, and other "nerdy" entertainment has become a dominant force in pop culture, to Zack Wagman at Vintage, from Farley Chase at the Waxman Literary Agency (NA).
REFERENCE:
Daniel Mendelsohn, international bestselling and award-winning author of The Lost: A Author of The Lost: Search for Six of Six Million, Daniel Mendelsohn's ODYSSEYS, a literal and figurative voyage in search of the meanings of the greatest of the Classics, from Homer to Aristophanes and beyond, moving to David Rosenthal at Simon & Schuster, with Sarah Hochman editing, for publication in 2012, by Lydia Wills at Paradigm (world English).
SPORTS:
Sister Madonna Buder and Karin Evans's IRON SPIRIT: The Wisdom and Inspiration of Sister Madonna Buder, World Champion Triathlete, about the 79-year-old nun and Ironman competitor known on the circuit as the Iron Nun, to Marysue Rucci at Simon & Schuster, at auction, by Elisabeth Weed at Weed Literary.
Wrap...
FICTION:
DEBUT...
Radio show host, magazine writer and frequent contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle Tony DuShane's CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE JESUS JERK, loosely based on his experience growing up a Jehovah's Witness, to Anne Horowitz at Soft Skull, by Mollie Glick of Foundry Literary + Media.
Rights: sabou@foundrymedia.com
O'Henry Award-winner and Stegner Fellow Eddie Chuculate's CHEYENNE MADONNA, linked stories of the Native American experience past and present, to Susan Barba at David R. Godine, by Alex Glass at Trident Media Group (World).
Iowa MFA and University of Houston PhD Amber Dermont's PROSPER, set in the privileged world of a New England prep school, follows the handsome, wounded Jason Prosper, who arrives at the academy for his senior year after the suicide of his best friend and sailing partner, only to realize the darkness of his past has followed him, and DAMAGE CONTROL, a story collection, to Lindsay Sagnette at St. Martin's, for publication in Spring 2011, by Ethan Bassoff at Inkwell Management (NA).
MYSTERY/CRIME:
Christobel Kent's A TIME OF MOURNING, the first in a new series featuring an ex-cop turned PI, to Daniela Rapp at Minotaur, in a nice deal, in a two-book deal, for publication in Spring 2010, by Kimberly Witherspoon at Inkwell Management (Na).
GENERAL/OTHER:
Some Deals
As usual, here are about 20 deals from last week's report of about 140 deals in all. We have added another 70 new ones again at our site since Monday. To see the complete deal flow (including entire categories generally omitted from this version) and get a complete deal round-up every week (with more pricing information) instead, sign up now for our full service.
Click to register
https://www.publishersmarketplace.com/register/
The Key
As usual, the handy key to our Lunch deal categories. While all reports are always welcome, those that include a category will generally receive a higher listing when it comes time to put them all together.
"nice deal" $1 - $49,000
"very nice deal" $50,000 - $99,000
"good deal" $100,000 - $250,000
"significant deal" $251,000 - $499,000
"major deal" $500,000 and up
Deal Reports
Just e-mail to deals@PublishersMarketplace.com if you aren't using the online form linked below.
Report a deal using the online form
FICTION
Debut
Robin Becker's BRAINS: a zombie memoir, the first-person account of a college professor-turned-zombie who retains his sentience and recruits others like him on a heroic quest to fend off the living while searching for the meaning of un-life, to Gabe Robinson at Harper, in a nice deal, for publication in Summer 2010, by Janet Reid at FinePrint Literary Management (NA).
Ann Garvin's ON MAGGIE'S WATCH, about the deep friendship between best friends, the pressure that loss puts on a marriage, and our deeply human desire to control - no matter how absurd and impossible - everything in our lives to make the world as safe as possible for ourselves and our children, to Jackie Cantor at Berkley, for publication in November 2010, by Eve Bridburg at Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency (World).
Kristen Wolf's THE WAY, a cinematic and fantastical re-imagining of the world's greatest spiritual figure, pitched as THE MISTS OF AVALON meets POPE JOAN, to Suzanne O'Neill at Crown, by Susan Golomb at the Susan Golomb Agency (NA).
Radio show host, magazine writer and frequent contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle Tony DuShane's CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE JESUS JERK, loosely based on his experience growing up a Jehovah's Witness, to Anne Horowitz at Soft Skull, by Mollie Glick of Foundry Literary + Media.
Rights: sabou@foundrymedia.com
O'Henry Award-winner and Stegner Fellow Eddie Chuculate's CHEYENNE MADONNA, linked stories of the Native American experience past and present, to Susan Barba at David R. Godine, by Alex Glass at Trident Media Group (World).
Iowa MFA and University of Houston PhD Amber Dermont's PROSPER, set in the privileged world of a New England prep school, follows the handsome, wounded Jason Prosper, who arrives at the academy for his senior year after the suicide of his best friend and sailing partner, only to realize the darkness of his past has followed him, and DAMAGE CONTROL, a story collection, to Lindsay Sagnette at St. Martin's, for publication in Spring 2011, by Ethan Bassoff at Inkwell Management (NA).
Mystery/Crime
Christobel Kent's A TIME OF MOURNING, the first in a new series featuring an ex-cop turned PI, to Daniela Rapp at Minotaur, in a nice deal, in a two-book deal, for publication in Spring 2010, by Kimberly Witherspoon at Inkwell Management (Na).
General/Other
Jennie Fields's THE AGE OF ARDOR, inspired by the facts of Edith Wharton's life -- a miserable marriage and difficult love affair -- the novel introduces Anna Bahlmann, Edith's lifelong conscience and confessor, her former governess turned literary secretary and first critic who previewed every word she penned, in a portrait of two vastly different women responding to changing mores, whose relationship was sorely tested when Edith threw caution to the wind in pursuit of the wrong man despite Anna's opposition, and whose friendship, even so, was able to flourish, to Pamela Dorman at Pamela Dorman Books, in a pre-empt, by Lisa Bankoff at ICM (World).
Nobel Prize-winner Jose Saramago's THE ELEPHANT'S JOURNEY, based on the real-life journey of an Indian elephant from Lisbon to Vienna in the 16th century, translated again by Margaret Jull Costa, to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for publication in fall 2010.
NON-FICTION...
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Historian David Fromkin's NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM, showing how tensions between Britain and the Nazis over the Middle East prior to and during World War II set the course for that area's political history, moving back to Andrew Miller at Knopf, at auction, by Suzanne Gluck at William Morris Endeavor.
MEMOIR:
Leigh Newman's A SAFE PLACE IN THE WILDERNESS, about the author's life spent growing up in (and moving between) two vastly different American terrains and cultures -- East (blue blood Maryland with her mother) and West (rugged and wild Alaska with her father), and how she built a life across seemingly impossible divides, to Jennifer Smith at Dial, in a pre-empt, for publication in Fall 2011, by Emilie Stewart at Emilie Stewart Literary Agency (NA).
POP CULTURE:
GQ staff writer Alex Pappademas's HERE COMES TOMORROW, featuring essays and insights into how comics, superheroes, science fiction, and other "nerdy" entertainment has become a dominant force in pop culture, to Zack Wagman at Vintage, from Farley Chase at the Waxman Literary Agency (NA).
REFERENCE:
Daniel Mendelsohn, international bestselling and award-winning author of The Lost: A Author of The Lost: Search for Six of Six Million, Daniel Mendelsohn's ODYSSEYS, a literal and figurative voyage in search of the meanings of the greatest of the Classics, from Homer to Aristophanes and beyond, moving to David Rosenthal at Simon & Schuster, with Sarah Hochman editing, for publication in 2012, by Lydia Wills at Paradigm (world English).
SPORTS:
Sister Madonna Buder and Karin Evans's IRON SPIRIT: The Wisdom and Inspiration of Sister Madonna Buder, World Champion Triathlete, about the 79-year-old nun and Ironman competitor known on the circuit as the Iron Nun, to Marysue Rucci at Simon & Schuster, at auction, by Elisabeth Weed at Weed Literary.
Wrap...
Friday, August 07, 2009
An R.N. For Reform....
From R.N. For Reform...
So far, most politicians, constituents and the public in general agree on one fact: healthcare is a right, not a choice.
Given that definition, and given that we are trying to effect reform, why do most proposals seem bent on leaving insurance coverage tied to the workplace?
Why not strip coverage from being a workplace responsibility and/or availability and provide coverage on a per citizen basis, not on a per worker basis? If we're thinking streamlining, why not go all the way?
Wrap...
So far, most politicians, constituents and the public in general agree on one fact: healthcare is a right, not a choice.
Given that definition, and given that we are trying to effect reform, why do most proposals seem bent on leaving insurance coverage tied to the workplace?
Why not strip coverage from being a workplace responsibility and/or availability and provide coverage on a per citizen basis, not on a per worker basis? If we're thinking streamlining, why not go all the way?
Wrap...
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