First off, thank you all for your kind thoughts about my daughter and her pet. She saw them all and sends her thanks as well.




This From BBC Magazine:

Comics are to be Hercule Poirot's latest incarnation. It's the latest twist to crime fiction, a genre constantly reinvented in its 170-year history.

Agatha Christie’s tales make perfect comic book fodder, which is why her publishers of 70 years, HarperCollins, hope that Hercule Poirot et al will appeal to the same young readers who for generations have lapped up the exploits of TinTin, Asterix and more recent heroes of graphic novels …





Thanks to Joss Whedon, too, for making this popular medium even more so. Speaking of which, TV Guide rates Buffy Comic. Let’s just say, they like it!!

A recent AP poll had some good news, bad news about reading. Some 25% of all adult Americans say they did not read even ONE book in the past year and on average, adults read four books in the last year…

The most avid readers are women and seniors; religious works and popular fiction are the top categories. More men than women are nonreaders, and they tend to be older, less educated, lower income, minorities, from rural areas and less religious. And those who read, read dozens of books a year. Let’s hear for the readers! How many books would you estimate you read a year?




From a Buffybud: Serenity The Collector’s Edition was released August 21. It contains all the material from the initial release, including bonus features, and adds a new cast commentary and a DTS audio track. Follow the link for a great review and description.




Something fun I picked up from Richelle Mead’s blog. Take this little test and let me know what your power element is. Here’s mine:

Your Power Element is Fire
Your power color: red
Your energy: hot
Your season: spring

Like a fire, you are full of power and light.
A born leader, you easily draw people toward you.
You are full of courage and usually up for anything dangerous.
You have a huge ego and love to be the center of attention.

I love that mine’s FIRE. Makes me feel powerful! But, of course, I don’t have a HUGE ego…and I certainly do NOT like to be the center of attention, right?

Right?

Okay, you can jump in here anytime.

For a bit of BSP: MANY BLOODY RETURNS will be on the shelves Sept. 4. From the press release:

A fun and unique story collection, edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner, MANY BLOODY RETURNS contains thirteen all new, never before published stories, each one offering a fresh take on the concept of what birthdays mean to the undead. "Toni and I had some wonderful planning sessions about the theme for the anthology," writes Charlaine Harris in the introduction to the book. "We decided to pick two apparently unrelated concepts—vampires (the dead) and birthdays (normally considered a celebration of life)—and see what different ways some very talented writers could combine the two." Contributors include: Charlaine Harris, Toni L.P. Kelner, Christopher Golden, Bill Crider, Kelley Armstrong, Jim Butcher, P.N. Elrod, Rachel Caine, Jeanne C. Stein, Tanya Huff, Carolyn Haines, Tate Hallaway, and Elaine Viets. Harris and Kelner were careful to choose an even balance of traditional mystery and traditional fantasy writers; the result is an outstanding anthology and "a fantastic introduction for new readers to some of the best-known writers in the field" (RT Book Reviews).

I understand foreign rights were sold to a publisher in Poland. Advance sales at B&N are pretty darn good. I haven’t yet seen a finished copy—I’m hoping they might be available at Dragon.Con and the Decatur Book Festival in Atlanta this weekend. Which reminds me, is anyone planning to attend either event? Please look me up if you are.

Rachel Lane sent me a photo she took at Comic-Con with her traveling companion, Frank. For some unknown reason, Blogger won’t pickup the picture, but here’s the link if you’d like a peek! Thanks, Rachel. Where are you and Frank headed next?

Okay that’s it for today—The Biting Edge is off for the long weekend so there’ll be no Friday issue. See you next week and enjoy these last gasps of summer. I, for one, can’t wait for fall…  ¶ posted by Jeanne Stein @ 6:30 AM