An Interview with Chip Kidd

Chip Kidd may be known to book design aficianados as the genius behind some of the most striking cover designs of the last decade and a half, but as it turns out, he's pretty good between the covers as well. In 2001 he published The Cheese Monkeys--his first novel--and followed it up earlier this year with a sequel of sorts entitled The Learners.

In a recent interview with CBCNews' Andre Mayer, Kidd talks about the difference between writing and designing, and how the story of his protagonist, Happy, evolved from one book to the next.

For the full interview, click here.

Interview - Anne Bishop

Two of the highlights of March's schedule for us booksellers are the appearance in pocket book size of Anne Bishop's Belladonna as well as the release of her new Realms of the Blood book, Tangled Webs, featuring Surreal SaDiablo. It also marks the tenth anniversary of the publication of her first novel, Daughter of the Blood,. With nearly a dozen books in ten years, her fans are fortunate in having an author who can keep them satisfied, while keeping them guessing. I'm fortunate that Anne has agreed to do an interview with me, via email, which I'm pleased to share with you below.

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In a Time of Treason By David Keck

With his novels In the Eye of Heaven, and the forthcoming In a Time of Treason, David Keck has delved deeply into myth, folklore and history to create Errest the Old, a world both strikingly familiar, yet tantalizingly strange. I have stated before that In a Time of Treason was one of my most anticipated books of 2008, and it didn't disappoint.

When Keck writes about knights and tournaments you can smell the armour, feel the horses thunder across the lists and you shudder with the impact of lance on shield. The quieter moments of the novel are equally powerful, as Durand Col must choose between staying true to his Lord Lamoric, or his love, Lamoric's young wife Deorwen.

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Never Mind Being Dangerous- Make Some Really Cool Stuff!

There's been a lot of well-deserved hype around The Dangerous Book for Boys, and subsequently The Daring Book for Girls.

Another book that might fall just beneath the radar deserves a good look. Howtoons, published by the creators of the magazines Make and Craft, teaches kids how to make their own cool toys. Using a graphic novel format, the book follows the exploits of Tucker and Celine, a brother and sister pair who decide to make their own fun.

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