First, some odds and ends. Sci Fiction is a great venue for science fiction short stories online, edited by Ellen Datlow and posted on the SciFi Channel site. For whatever weird reason, the channel has decided to discontinue it however. It's so odd, because science fiction is so dependent upon short stories, far more than pretty much any other genre and if the SciFi channel doesn't get that, then what is the point? Anyway, there's been a great movement online to send SciFiction off with a bang. If you haven't already, then hit this site and read about it and then pick a story from the archived list and write a brief appreciation of it. Basically, it's a chance to show the folks at the channel how much we all loved SciFiction, and it lets Ellen know that her efforts were not under appreciated. I wrote about Jason Wittman's "On Bookstores, Burners and Origami", a very cool alternate history tale starring Edgar Allen Poe.

Also, there is an auction going on over at Ebay of books and other items donated by young adult authors. All the proceeds go to kids affected by Katrina (there is a website over there for the foundation that will benefit so you can check it out). If you know anybody who is a fan of these authors, the stuff posted at the auction is the sort of perfect Christmas gift idea that you rarely come across. So hit it for your shopping needs and help some kids.

Yesterday I met with Seth Kantner and will be writing about Ordinary Wolves this week. It was interesting discussing Alaska as a literary topic and picking Seth's brain on how he came about crafting this story. I had a really good time.

And I also met with Bruce Rutledge and we talked about Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans and all sorts of plans for publicize the book over the blogosphere. I hope it does well - it is such a very cool thing and I can't help but think that if more folks knew about the book, they would want a copy for themselves. (And believe me, I will be writing about it incessantly as the pub date in February gets closer!)

Finally, Rebecca West. I have never read anything by West although I have read about her before. For my birthday this year my brother bought me her novella about WWI, The Return of the Soldier. This is one of those quietly devastating novels that it seems writers from 75 years ago were so much better at writing than anyone current. Nothing much happens in this book in an obvious way - a soldier comes home from the trenches, he suffers from shell shock, the three very different women who love him (wife, cousin, old girlfriend) all react and respond in different ways. And then a decision is made about what to do with him. The whole thing is beautiful, from start to finish - it is practically perfect in every way. This is the sort of book (and I add A Very Long Engagement to it and also Vera Brittain's amazing memoirs) that shows just how awful war can be without relying on the more traditional methods used in battlefield stories. They're not about the awful moments when a soldier first realizes someone is trying to kill him, they are about afterwards, about how much home changes, how nothing fits together the same way ever again. Just by chance while I was reading West's book, The Best Years of Our Lives was on tv the other night and we watched it. It's about the end of WW2 and three soldiers who struggle to readjust to life on the homefront. It stars Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Dana Andrews and a bunch of others - it is amazing and particularly when you realize it was made in 1946. It was the perfect complement to the book and definitely a movie I need to own. There were happily ever afters in the movie, but none of them the way anyone thought they would be and that's what ever yone always seems to get so confused about - they want it all to be the same, and it's not, it's not ever going to be the same.