Three words: Spider-man: The Musical.

Over the last three months, I have learned a lot about a particular niche in the blogosphere, the existence of which was previously unknown to me. At its best, this niche is a collection of bibliophiles who expend considerable time and effort championing the cause of youth literacy--gratis.

At its worst... well. This particular niche is the grand Web-Two-Point-Oh intersection of authors, aspiring authors, librarians, teachers, hobbyists, and (rarely) actual teens, all specializing at some level in some form of inspiring, communicating, discussing, or peddling teenage drama.

So maybe that gives you some idea of what it is, at its worst.

The toddler is crying. It is Brennan's fault. But his parents witnessed nothing.

"What did you do?" we ask.

"I don't want to tell you."

We ask his sister. She thinks there was hitting involved.

"Brennan, did you hit your brother?"

"It was not a hit!'

"Then what did you do to make him cry?"

"It was a clap of peace."

Remember how my wife is a #1 New York Times best-selling author?

Well, Disney optioned her film rights, with Miley Cyrus attached to star and the producers of Twilight attached to produce. This has been in the works for months, and we've been just itching to tell everyone! Well, the announcement just went public this evening, so there you have it. Not that any of them read my blog, but I want to publicly thank the many, many people who worked hard to make this happen for Aprilynne. You are a talented bunch.

Oh, and just FYI, this doesn't mean the movie will necessarily get made--and even if it does, there's no guarantee that it will ultimately star Miley Cyrus (though hey, how cool would that be, right?). Film options are time-limited and just that: options. But the chances of going to production are a lot better now than they were this time last year! So if you haven't read Wings yet, I suggest you go pick it up so you can say you were a trend-setter. d^_^b

Sorry, we've been in Utah and Idaho for a while and internet access has been sporadic at best. But Aprilynne is done touring now, so I'm back! I will try to get some actual content up here later this month, but in the meantime, here's some mandatory viewing material for President Obama, who I would assume is a regular reader of my blog.

In this episode: telemarketers, Kubuntu 9.0.4, and 3L grades!

Wings:
by Aprilynne Pike

So, many of you already know that my wife's authorial debut hit #1 on the New York Times Best Seller List for Children's Chapter Books. Am I proud of her? Indeed I am. Has this been an incredibly positive experience for our family? Yes, it has. Am I an impartial observer in the process? Not by a nautical mile.

But who is? Neutrality is the grand illusion of Western thought. One is never truly impartial. Furniture is impartial. Rocks are impartial. But people? People are inevitably biased. Everyone who judges Aprilynne's book does so with their own set of biases, and I see no reason to privilege theirs over mine. If you think my opinion is somehow inferior because I have a stake in Aprilynne's success, then stop reading now. And if you're still reading anyway, go get someone to slap you in the face until you stop feeling so smug and self-important. I'm not here to assuage your confirmation bias. I'm going to tell you why my wife's book is awesome, and along the way I'm going to say some interesting things about the writing community.