1. Barry Hannah remembered in the current issue of Oxford American. I haven't read nearly enough about him.

2. Neil Gaiman writes beautifully about his friend Diana Wynne Jones, who passed away this weekend. I adore her FIRE & HEMLOCK, one of my all time favorite reads. My very tattered mass market paperback is still on the shelf wondering why there has not been a bright and shiny reissue.

3. Rolling Stone proves yet again that it is at the forefront of indepth journalism in this county. "The Kill Team" is a must read.

4. We will certainly be talking about things like this at KidLitCon this September. If you aren't following the con on twitter or FB, please do so. It is set for the weekend of September 16th and pricing & hotel info will be going up all over the place in the next week or so.

5. FYI, Chris Van Allsburg's QUEEN OF THE FALLS is wonderful - most highly recommended for kids & adults. (Talk about a story that needs a movie - Judi Dench could star!!)

6. We are lining up the school for the next Guys Lit Wire Book Fair. Looks like it will run the last week of April/first week of May. More details soon but I'm very very excited about this one and I know you guys are going to do some life changing things for a very deserving school librarian and her students.

7. Sometimes I think teasers are mean, but I do them anyway.

8. In case you missed it, the Andrea Barrett short story "Star-Crossed Lovers" is worth the cover price alone for the new issue of TinHouse. It's fantastic - I hope she is writing an entire novel with these characters.

9. Fans of the Decembrists (and really, you should be) take note that singer-songwriter Colin Meloy has a MG novel due out from HC this fall: WILDWOOD. Illustrated by wife Carson Ellis, it is a "classic tale of adventure, magic, and danger, set in an alternate version of modern-day Portland, Oregon." Here's the cover.

10. Just turned in my April column - look for reviews of WELCOME TO BORDERTOWN, THE IRON THORN, THE BUNTLINE SPECIAL and other fabulous, adventurous books. Plus true stories of death defying feats accomplished by early balloonists 'cause sometimes truth really is waaay crazier than fiction.