First, just curious but what demographic group do you get placed in if you are a 25 year old African American Catholic blue collar woman who is college educated? Does religion trump race? Or does job trump education? And does gender trump age or is everything trumped by the fact that you are terrified of late night phone calls?

Obama and Clinton might be happy to keep this election going but I swear it is going to suck the very life out of me.

Moving on, to combat an unreasonable amount of negative pointless election coverage, I read Hilary McKay's latest Casson family novel, Forever Rose. It's lovely and smart and manages to be covertly political while also celebrating family, in all its unconventional ways, just as the previous entries in the series did so winningly. Consider this one highly recommended for the MG-YA crowd.

Okay, I realize that I am one of the few people to actually write negative comments about Sloane Crosley's essay collection on the life of a modern twenty-something, but is anyone else starting to wonder just what relationship she has with the folks at Galleycat? FIVE mentions of Crosley and her book yesterday??? What the hell? Even if you love this book, it's not significant on any level. It's just one of those breezy titles about the life of a young chick in the city. It's not going to change the world on any single level. With all its many readers this is the single book that Galleycat has chosen to push? Lest you think I'm blasting them for a particularly Sloane-heavy day, she was there on the 18th, she was there on the 14th, she was there on the 11th. In February Emily Gould, who is now blogging for Galleycat, interviewed Crosley for Radar , and then she talked about that interview (with yet another lovely picture of Crosley) over at Fishbowl NY on March 6th. Oh and Crosley was also mentioned at FishbowlNY on April 1st.

And that's just from ten minutes of google searching.

Galleycat can write about whatever and whoever it wants, but there's a point when you start to wonder just how much coverage is about who you know and not what you write. There are other authors out there; it would be nice to see a post or two about one of them. (And yes, I get that she is friends with Galley Cat's former Editor-in-Chief but is that what it takes to get major coverage at the site? You must be BFF?)

In other publishing news: Sexy Buffy tarot deck (with sexy Angel, sexy Spike, etc.).

Sounds like Oni Press has a winner for kids with Salt Water Taffy Vol. 1.

I am requesting a copy of The Legend of Colton Bryant because it sounds important and far too likely to be overlooked. Booklist gave it a starred review and it certainly looks to be a classic American story - with an all too common 21st century ending about big business and big mistakes:

Fuller’s re-creation of the brief life of Colton H. Bryant is the story of a third-generation oil-patch worker in Wyoming. Spotlessly capturing the distinctive scenes from his life, Fuller takes readers into the Bryant family and the small-town community and oil rigs they inhabited. To know Colton, who “has a way of tearing out of the chute, firing with all hooves at once,” one must experience him, and Fuller, with pinpoint detailing and a deadeye aim on Wyoming dialect, teases out a portrait of a young man that is staggering in its spareness, and heartbreaking in its tenderness. But, “like all westerns, this story is a tragedy before it even starts because there was never a way for anyone to win against all the odds out here.” The stacked deck belongs to the oil companies, of course, and the lesson learned from Colton’s life and death is that human life is small change and protecting it isn’t in the best interest of profit. Although it’s little consolation, Fuller’s deeply moving celebration of Colton’s life is bursting with humor, love, and tragedy, like all that is best in life, and without ever having met him, you won’t soon forget Colton H. Bryant.

That's the kind of life we need to be learning more about in America; it's the kind of death we need to be actively working to prevent.

I promised my agent 50 additional pages on my memoir (which totally finishes it) as she has interest but would like to hold out for the final product. I also promised an essay on the myths surrounding the doomed Franklin expedition for the end of the month.

I have much writing to do - but I'm not complaining. This is the fun part!