Blooker Prize Blog

"Julie & Julia" on tour

Yesterday (September 21, 2006) was the first day of Julie Powell's tour for the paperback edition of Julie & Julia. This edition has a new cover design and new subtitle--"My Year of Living Dangerously." Her first stop was at Olsson's Book and Records in Washington, DC, and the tour will take her to many venues all across the country.

Tuesday, September 26	The Tattered Cover (Colfax, Ave)	Denver, CO
Wednesday, September 27	Left Bank Books	St. Louis, MO
Thursday, September 28	Davis Kidd Booksellers	Nashville, TN
Friday, September 29	The Regulator Bookshop	Durham, NC
Saturday, September 30	Books & Books	Miami, FL
Thursday, October 12	Texas Conference for Women	Austin, TX
Saturday, October 14	Twin Cities Book Festival	Minneapolis, MN
Tuesday, November 14	Spoken Interludes	Harrison, NY
Thursday, November 16	Woodstock Opera House Speakers Series	Chicago, IL

There is at least one other reading that's not on the above list--Sunday, October 22 in Branford, CT. However, I don't know were the reading will be held. If I find this out, or the dates and locations of any additional Julie Powell events, I will post them here.

Since the hardback edition won the inaugural Lulu Blooker Prize, and Julie is one of the judges for the 2007 Prize, we commissioned a special tour t-shirt to be handed out at each venue. We have also provided Blooker buttons, stickers, and informational brochures (I know that last one is exciting!). However, quantities are limited, so if you want some Blooker swag, you should get there early!

Three new entries

It seems as though I have exhausted all my cleverness a few posts ago, at least when it comes to the titles of these posts (not that they were really all that clever to begin with). Slow Dirty Education? The Spirit of Home Goes Bad? Yeah, neither of those seem particularly appropriate. Oh well, I guess I'll have to let my imagination recharge. But please don't let my failings alter your perception of today's three Blooker entries.

A Dirty Old Man Goes Bad: John Cowart's 2005 Blog
by John Cowart - www.cowart.info/blog

$16.95 (Blue Fish Books/Lulu) Buy it

Blooker category: Non-Fiction

"A Dirty Old Man Goes Bad records the humor and happiness of a frustrated writer. John’s daily blog, Rabid Fun, bears the caption, 'A befuddled ordinary Christian looks for spiritual realities in day to day living.' Sounds like a downer. Yet, over 104,000 readers from 102 countries visited his website in 2005. A Dirty Old Man Goes Bad reveals John’s happy joys as well as his struggles with temptation over bitterness, resentment, pornography, Microsoft, depression, laziness, Google, Blogger, pettiness, sloth, Krispy Kreme Donuts, and anger. All in all, this is a real-time love story told day by day by a man who loves reality."

The Spirit of Education
by jeff white - www.spiritofeducation.com

$20.00 (Dirt Sheep Press/Lulu) - Buy it

Blooker Category: Non-Fiction

"What is education? It's a term we use every day to describe the process of putting 25 or 30 young souls into a cinder block room and filling their heads with what-all over the course of the first quarter of their lives. But is that education? If it's not, what is it? And what are its consequences? Education--true education--is not a process of pouring in from without, but of calling forth what is within. It's not a process of memorization or socialization or instillation, but a process of nurturing, of allowing, of evoking. It's a process of bringing forth the person one is meant to be. The Spirit of Education attempts to begin anew our conversations about education: what it is, and where it might take us."

Slow Road Home: A Blue Ridge Book of Days
by Fred First - fragmentsfromfloyd.com

$15.95 (Goose Creek Press) Buy it

Blooker category: Non-Fiction

"Following the sudden realization at fifty-four that his working life had left him unfulfilled in those needs that mattered most, First leaves that world behind. Tracking the quit turns of solitude's seasons, these short essays capture the daily miracles of an extraordinary time in a beautiful place. First finds himself home at last in the Blue Ridge Mountains of southwest Virginia...Why, he wonders, do some places call to us so strongly that we cannot ignore their pull?"

Adversity and Hope

Our next two entries are a pair of emotional memoirs from opposite sides of the world. From South Africa, we have one woman's account of her struggle to overcome infertility, and from Canada comes a father's story of his son's battle with cancer and his family's determination to make the most of the time they all had left together.

So Close: Infertile and Addicted To Hope
by Tertia Albertyn - www.tertia.org

R130.00 (Oshun) Buy it

Blooker category: Non-Fiction

"What happens when you start trying for a family...and trying, and trying some more? How Far do you go to achieve your dream of having children? So Close is the heart wrenching, exhilarating, devastatingly funny story of Tertia Albertyn's battle with infertility...During Tertia's journey everything that can go wrong does go wrong. Until, finally, everything goes just right."

Ya Can't Let Cancer Ruin Your Day: The James Emails
by Syd Birrell (with Forward by Tom Hanks) - www.jamesfund.ca

$16.95 (Green Train Books) Buy it

Blooker category: Non-Fiction

"Syd Birrell is a man with a mission. In fact, make that two missions. His goal is to inspire families to cherish each other, living each day as if it were their last together, and while he's at it, he'd like to find a cure for cancer--specifically, for neruoblastoma, the deadly childhood cancer that claimed his son, James, at the age of eight. When James was diagnosed with the disease that killed him, Syd, his wife Pam and their family didn't retreat, withdraw or give up. Instead they set about realizing as many dreams as possible with whatever time they had left with James...the result was an all too short life lived to the fullest and this book, a loving testament to his son and words of encouragement and hope for anyone who ever faced adversity."

The Quill Book Awards

Voting is open for the second annual Quill Books Awards (aka The Quills), and Julie Powell is one of five nominees for Debut Author of the Year. Julie & Julia is also a nominee for the Cooking category, and since all Quill nominees are also in the running for Book of the Year, that's three awards Julie could win!

The Quills are a "consumer-driven award created to inspire reading while promoting literacy," and are backed by a few large media companies such as NBC and Reed Business Information (parent company of Publishers Weekly). Voting for all 20 categories takes place online, and anyone can participate. However, voting closes on September 30, so time is running out if you want to participate.

Go there now and vote for Julie!

By the way, Julie & Julia isn't the only blook up for a Quill. Eisner Award winning Mom's Cancer, by Brian Fies, is one of the nominees in the Graphic Novels category. It hasn't been entered in the Blooker...yet (hint, hint).

Although it is still being developed, we plan to officially announce "The People's Blooker" later this year. Like the Quills, anyone will be able to participate in the voting, but the big difference is that the nomination process will also be open to all. I'll share more details once we have the process worked out a bit more.

Dating by the blook

Just in time for a lonely Friday night, our next two entries delve into the world of dating. First we have a witty and candid memoir of a serial dater, and that is followed up by a collection of relationship advice that spans 20th century.

Dating Amy: 50 True Confessions of a Serial Dater
by Amy DeZellar - www.datingamy.com

$12.95 (5 Spot) - Buy it

Blooker category: Non-Fiction

"Here to give hope to smart single women everywhere is Amy DeZellar, who bravely dedicated two years of her life to debunking common dating myths and documenting 50 of her dates. Each of the 50 chapters in this book is dedicated to a different date, and includes the kinds of tips and sharp observations that only someone on the front lines can offer. Get ready to laugh, cry, and commiserate with Amyand learn, as she did, a few things about finding the perfect man."

Miss Abigail's Guide to Dating, Mating, & Marriage: Classic Advice for Contemporary Dilemmas
by Abigail Grotke - www.missabigail.com

$14.95 (Thunder's Mouth Press/Avalon) Buy it

Blooker category: Non-Fiction

"Let Miss Abigail Help! Since 1998 her website has provided time-warp words of wisdom to over 500,000 of those in need. Drawing from her collection of more than 1,000 classic advice books, author Abigail Grotke uses your mother's grandmother's, and great-grandmother's advice to solve your modern-day dilemmas!"

Blooks from down the street and across the sea

Man, the entries have really started to pile up since I last did one of these posts! So far, there have been ~50 entries logged through the online form, and 20 of those have already arrived here at Blooker Central. That's a marked improvement from the way things stood after the first month of the 2006 Blooker. Here are the next four submissions, and, once again, I am amazed by the sheer varitey of blooks we are getting in this year.

Suburban Diva: From the Real Side of the Picket Fence
by Tracey Henry - www.backwash.com/content.php?id=274

$13.99 (Ephemera Bound Publishing) - Buy it

Blooker category: Non-Fiction

"Tracey Henry writes about her adventures living family values in today's world. And although it may not always be as glamorous as it sounds, it is always hilarious. Suburban Diva’s stories from the real side of the picket fence are the chick lit postscript: insights for the woman who has already won her romance battles and finds the spoils are as humorous and entertaining as the pursuit."

The Switzer's Guide to Hamlet
by Darran Foxon - www.switzersguide.com

$9.99 (Lulu) - Buy it

Blooker category: Non-Fiction

"What is it like to be an extra with the world-famous Royal Shakespeare Company? Eight ordinary residents of Stratford found out in the summer of 2004. They played Switzers (Swiss mercenaries) in Mr Michael Boyd's production of Hamlet starring Toby Stephens in the title role. "The Switzer's Guide To Hamlet" is a comic account of their experiences."

Albert The Third
by Slim Palmer - www.althought.com

£9.99/$15.99 (Exposure Publishing) - Buy it: UK /US

Blooker category: Fiction

"Albert The Third sees our hero  encounter Witches, Time Travellers and Gargoyles in the further adventures of Albert 'I am NOT a snail' Aiten. The stories are based upon Albert's meetings, adventures, imagineerings and characters from his website. It is the illustrated follow up to The Albert Tales and Albert Tales Too."

Across The Sea
by Max Vande Vaarst - www.king-of-dragons.com

$8.95 (Lulu) - Buy it

Blooker category: Fiction

"The quintessential story of a crestfallen young man struggling to capture some semblance of direction in his life. A tale of self-destruction, American style."

Classifying blooks

Although I'm evidently at risk of getting brutally punched in the face for it, I'm going to talk a bit about blooks--specifically, how they are being classified. The Blooker gets awarded in three broad categories (fiction, non-fiction, and webcomics...but you all know that by now, right?), but the line that separates them is often fuzzy at best. For all you blauthors out there (I wonder if I'll get for that? A kick to the neck?) who have memoirs with fictionalized parts, stories based loosely on actual events, or even fiction based on a webcomic, I suggest you use your best judgment as to which Blooker category you submit your blook to. If the review committee feels that a particular blook should be considered for a category other than the one listed in the entry form, it will. (The entry will not be disqualified.)

Obviously, categorization isn't an exact science, and there are always going to be alternative schemes. In an article on the growing phenomenon of blooks, SpokesmanReview.com recently defined four primary categories (with examples) into which most blooks can be can be placed.

1. "High-concept nonfiction derived from quirky, humerus sites" (Julie & Julia by Julie Powell)
2. "Political broadsides" (How Would a Patriot Act? and Bush Agonistes, both by Glenn Greenwald)
3. "Novels inspired by blogs" (Anonymous Lawyer by Jeremy Blachman, Dog Days by Ana Marie Cox--the original Wonkette)
4. "Memoirs based on blogs" (Belle de Jour: The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl, Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog From Iraq by Riverbend, Abandoned: The True Story of Girl Who Didn't Belong by Anya Peters, New York Hack, and Waiter Rant)

It's good to see two of last year's entries included, as well as two that have been already been entered (but not yet submitted) for this year. Hopefully, we'll see all the rest of the blooks on this list (and a whole lot more) in the contest by January 15!

I know that all of this pigeonholing is merely an academic exercise, but I would also add at least two more major categories to the above list: novels serialized in blogs (Hackoff.com, Four and Twenty Blackbirds, Gus Openshaw's Whale-killing Journal--just to name a few), and books based on webcomics. Also, it is not entirely clear to me the difference between categories 1 and 4, but I suppose there's not much I can do but sit back, jaw clenched, and wait for the flurry of punches that are surely racing across the Atlantic at this very moment to deal out righteous judgment.