The Good News: A new writer is taking over Green Arrow/Black Canary and doing a whole epic storyline centering around Ollie and Roy.

The Bad News: The new writer is the same one who did Blackest Night: Titans and it's spinning out of Justice League: Cry For Justice. There's also precious little said about what role Dinah will play in all of this.

The Hopeful News: In listing what he thinks are the best Green Arrow stories of all time, Krul goes out of his way NOT to mention Judd Winick.

Original Story

Interview With J.T. Krul

Christmas photos are taken for the FMA fandom cards. I am getting lazy so there might not be anything SS501 for those fandom cards (and I have a MinJoon fic to write for SS501 of which I have about 2 paragraphs done, I so laaaaaaaaaaaazeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!) Anyway, if you want a card you can comment HERE and I will send you one.

we have our first winners for
the annual inkies giveaway extravaganza!
this is what ellen oh said, who was
kind and brave enough to tally all entries:

We had 143 different entries into the contest.
Of which the two top winners tweeted, facebooked,
blogged, ninged, and everything else!
How's that for spreading the word?

our first two winners really deserved
their prize packs!

congratulations to grand prize winner
NIKKI who chose the ANCIENT CURSES,
MODERN GHOSTS, POST-APOCALYPTIC pack.
she also won a $25 giftcard from powell's
and ICE by sarah beth durst.

our second prize winner is ELIE!
and she chose the FAIRY TALES AND FOKLORE
prize pack.

and PIPPA is our final winner, who
entered by simply answering one of two
fantasy reading questions. she receives
the ADVENTURE AND WITCHCRAFT prize pack!

congratulations to all winners and thank
you to all the inkies (old and new? =)
who participated! here's to many more
fun contests and awesome discussions about
our favorite fantasy books in the future!

( Spoilers and a Scan Behind The Cut! )

The Final Verdict: It is too early to tell if this can be skipped but given that this issue ends with Diana flying off to a battle we already know the result of (See Blackest Night #5, True Believer!), it's a little anti-climactic. Scott's artwork is strong as ever, though, so you Secret Six fans might give this a look-see for that reason alone.

( Spoilers and a Scan Behind The Cut! )

The Final Verdict: Despite a big whopping spoiler for the end of Flash: Rebirth, a must read for any and all fans of The Rogues and The Flash. Just wait for Flash:Rebirth #6 before you open this one up.

Tweaks and enhancements

• As a number of you reported, a service interruption impaired sending and receiving notifications for a couple of days. This was due to an avalanche of snowflake cookies. We've removed the free snowflake cookie and unclogged the pipeline. Timely notifications should resume shortly. Please note that there's a backlog in our queues, so you'll be getting earlier notifications first. For more details, check out this post at lj_maintenance.
• In anticipation of the new year, we've embarked on a self-improvement kick to boost our backend (pun semi-intended). This will allow us to offer you a holiday promotion in the next few weeks (yes, we're listening and working very hard to make it happen). We sincerely appreciate your continued patience and support.

Holiday vgifts are here!

We've added some fantastic new vgifts to help you spread holiday cheer. We also hope you'll honor AIDS Awareness Month by purchasing virtual red ribbons. Priced at $2.99, we'll donate 100 percent of gross proceeds to IAVI.org (the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative) to support the development and global distribution of an affordable HIV vaccine.

Introducing: LJLimericks

We cordially here do invite you
To craft a fine limerick. Might you?
Each week, a new theme,
Then a poll, that's our dream
Winner posted on news to delight you!

In honor of all the brilliant writers on LiveJournal, we've created a brand new community: ljlimericks! Each week, we'll enter a handful of limericks into a poll (which we'll tuck snugly under an LJ-Cut). The winning poem will be published in the following newsletter. In addition, the author will receive a virtual blue ribbon! If you have the time, come drop us a rhyme. Please keep the "Nantucket" stuff on the downlow, since this is a youth-friendly community. Our first prompt is: Insomnia in winter.

Photos of the week

We're back with more incredible images from our global photography community. Congratulations to sempre_marseeya, who has been awarded a virtual blue ribbon as the winner of our second lj_photophile poll.

We hate to squelch your creativity, but, as a courtesy to other users, please post only one photo at a time and keep the main photo no larger than 350x350 (so images display properly via mobile and on friends pages). You can link to a larger image and/or post photos under a cut. Just so you know, we select photos for the poll blindly, based on user comments and staff feedback. Please continue to vote, comment, and, of course, enjoy. You can check out the week in pictures and view more awesome user content after the jump!

( Read more... )

Curtains

Thanks, again, for joining us. Stay warm and safe out there!

doorwindowwall
A stunning collection of images sure to delight anyone with a penchant for architectural elements, this talented community, largely from New York, is hoping to attract new members from around the world. Featuring an eclectic variety of photos depicting doors, windows, and walls, there's an interesting balance of interior and exterior shots, many from urban streets, some from ramshackle rural farmhouses. Wonderful!

1) Answer interview questions.
2) Snorgle the bunneh.
3) Package up bookplates.
4) Snorgle the bunneh.
5) Write study guide questions for the paperback release of ELS.
6) Snorgle the bunneh.
7) Write a pile of words for theater book 3
8) I think you see the pattern here.

This is for the awesome (and so totally patient, animanga_maniac ) HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HOAR!!!


Z!Roy: Welcome to the finest hotel in Amestris!
Roo!Ed: Yeah, I could tell how upscale it was by the fact they charge by the hour. Classy, Mustang, real classy.
Z!Roy: Only the best for you, my love!

( HOtel Doraville )

1. I did get my comics last week.

2. I haven't written any reviews because I also got Batman: Arkham Asylum last week and I've been too busy solving The Riddler's clues to write about last week's Knights of the Dinner Table.

3. I will get ONE review posted later today, unless the stomach virus I think I have makes it completely impossible for me to get out of the bathroom.

It's voting time! For those of you who are members of SFWA (and under the new rules, ALL members of SFWA can vote), Nov. 15-Feb. 15 is the voting period for the Nebula Awards -- and for the Andre Norton Award, which covers young adult speculative fiction published in 2009. (more info at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andre_Norton_Award)

Needless to say, a lot of the books featured on the Inkpot this year qualify for the Andre Norton Award. This, the first of two round-ups, lists the high fantasy books we’ve featured that qualify.

And of course, these are only a few of the many great books that are eligible -- so if you have other favorite YA books that you think belong on the ballot, mention them in the comments and we'll feature them in a third post.

I know I am going to get shit for posting this trip when I haven't even posted pics from AWA or Hawaii!!! I am useless, what can I say?!?!?! Anyway, I went to NYC for 4 days and here are some pictures from the trip! And yes,animanga_maniac zakai_ , (and everyone else), the live R/E will be posted this week!! I PROMISE!!!

One strange thing - it was colder in Dallas on Thursday and Friday (the 30's) than it was in NYC (the 40s.) THAT'S JUST NOT RIGHT!!

Thursday - December 3, 2009

Our first night in NYC, we went to the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular featuring the Rockettes.

( Picture pages... )

Colonel Roy "No-Nuts" Mustang meets Jungmina of the Small Sweeties 501 Brigade. Look at the back and tail...she's so fierce, just like her namesake!! And she has a home to go to in a few weeks!! \o/

The First Annual Inkies Giveaway Extravaganza is closed. Thanks to all for participating. We will announce the winner on Friday so stay tuned!

Now don't forget to go back to "Getting Funny with Fantasy" below.

Ah, well, it's only my sanity, right?

Meet the Duchess of Whimsy (and no, that's not a stuffed animal.)

SOURCE:Marvel Comics's Secret War On Women

Seriously? Secret War on Women?

Not much of a secret, is it?

How secret can it be when the Editor In Chief told a female reader who was concerned about the blatant sexism of the Marvel Divas series that "...if you’re Marvel reader and truly feel we’re sexist, then why are you reading our books? Now, perhaps you’re not a Marvel reader, then if that’s the case, I’m not quite sure what you’re criticizing if you don’t read our books..."

Or, in more coherent and gramatically correct language, Why are you reading our books if you think we are sexist? And if you are not reading our books, why are you complaining about them?

Feh. If anyone needs me, I'll be rereading Wonder Woman: The Circle.

**FINAL EDIT Thu Dec 10 02:15:47 UTC 2009**

So there is the final update... Over the past day we have processed around 11 million jobs out of the 12 million that were in queue at that time. Please bear in mind that over this past day, more jobs for notifications are also created. So while the queue has been dropping, we are still not fully caught up at this point, due to backlog and new jobs. We have roughly 3 million jobs still pending that involve the notification system in some manner. We had hoped we could have fully cleared the queue in a day, but unfortunately we can't clear it too quickly, since we need the rest of the site to operate normally. From our current perspective on the amount of jobs that are left in queue, and how many it has processed thus far, we believe it will take around another 8 - 12 hours to process everything.

And finally some answers to some questions:

( Read More and Get Some Answers... )

I'm having a hard time deciding which workshops to take at the SCBWI Florida Conference in Miami from January 15-17. I'm already signed up for the Novel Intensive with Kathleen Duey and Jennifer Rofe. I wish I could attend all the workshops, but have to choose one from each group. Any suggestions?

9:00 - 10:30 am Workshop 1 (choose one)
____ A. Richard Peck: Settings
____ B. Kadir Nelson: Q & A with Kadir Nelson
____ C. Jen Rofe: Revising with an Agent
____ D. Lauren Hodge: The Ultimate Picture Book Recipe: Reviewing the Key Ingredients
____ E. Brenda Bowen: The Long and Baffling Letter: How to Work with an Editor on Revisions

10:45 AM - 12:15 pm Workshop 2 (choose one)
____ F. Alexandra Flinn: Plotting
____ G. Jill Santopolo: Narrative voice and how to make it work for your character
____ H. Michael Grant: Building the Series
____ I. Henry Cole: An Hour and a Half With Your Very Own Personal Trainer for Picture Book Illustration
That Could Change Your Life!
____ J. Kathleen Duey: Building, Growing, Designing, Outlining, Dreaming up, Mapping, Plotting,
(add your favorite verb here) A Story

I hope to see many LJ, Blueboard, and Facebook friends there! The deadline for paid critiques is December 12, and early registration ends on December 20th, so there's still time to sign up.

freeskiers
While some of us long to escape the cold, dark stretch of winter for hot tropical beaches, for others, there's nothing quite like whoooooshing down those shimmering sugar alps. If you're fond of freestyle skiing, get ready to slide down the slippery slopes in good company. This passionate, international community shares travel/gear tips, anecdotes, photos, and videos for those who can't get enough of the sweet stuff.

seasonal_icons
Need some extra twinkle to decorate your place? Check out these dazzling holiday-themed icons. If you're an artist, you can post your own creations, provided you abide by the simple rules (which is to say, all cheer and no politicking). Be sure to comment and give credit if you wish to borrow a little spirit (no direct links, please). If you're feeling a touch of humbug this season, this is an instant shot of festivity.