We Are the Champions!

Tuesday marked the last day of Nanowrimo, also known as November to those who didn't spend the last 30 days writing. Seattle's Hydrophobic Ducks did their hometown proud, coming in first in Total Word Count for the sixth year in a row with 57,839,962 words. I'm sorry (not really) to say that in our average word count battle with the Atlanta Pandas we crushed them: Seattle came in at 3,254 more words per WriMo than A-town. Who's hot now, Hotlanta? Ssssss...

The Emerald City also brought in the most donations, once again, despite unemployment and recession. Seattle gave $10,004 to the Office of Letters and Light, our contribution to keeping Nanowrimo and the Young Writers Program going for another year. Donations are always being accepted, so consider giving in the name of the writers in your life this holiday season, or donate to Richard Hugo House. Hugo House runs year-round programs for writers, hosts readings, and provides space and facilities for youth and adults to write, connect, and learn. (/PSA)

Speaking of holidays, gifts, and being flat broke, cult crafter Twinkie Chan is in town this weekend to promote her deliciously whacked-out book Crochet Goodies for Fashion Foodies, available in bookstores November 2. I love this book like cooked foods, mostly because after 16 years (16!) of trying to teach my partner to crochet with zero success, Twinkie Chan managed to get her hooking within minutes, which means that I will not spend December hearing my dearly beloved shout, "Hey, can you make me a starting chain..." every time she begins another knitting project that requires basic crochet skills. Not that I'm bitter or anything.

Twinkie Chan will be at Third Place Books in Ravenna at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, December 3. December 4 at 12:00 p.m. and December 5 at 2:00 p.m., she can be found at the Urban Craft Uprising 2010 Winter Show at Seattle Center. The Fiber Gallery in Greenwood will be hosting Twinkie Chan from 4:00-6:00 p.m on Sunday, December 5. Go, pet yarn, and learn how to make a cupcake hat, because who doesn't need a cupcake hat?

In other news, Portland-based puppeteer and writer Mary Robinette Kowal has been nominated for Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award for Best Fantasy Novel of 2010. Shades of Milk and Honey is Ms. Kowal's first novel. She's up against Kage Baker, who sadly passed away from uterine cancer in January 2010, and Canadian SFF heavyweight Guy Gavriel Kay, among others. I think this truly is a case in which it's an honor just to be nominated.

Also sorely missed is John Steakley, author of the novels Armor and Vampires, who passed away November 27 in McKinney, TX. Mr. Steakley was not a prolific writer, but his work was disproportionately influential. John Carpenter made Vampires into a movie (remember?), but it was 1984's deeply compassionate and thoughtful Armor, superficially a military SF novel, that arguably made the biggest impact on readers and future writers. Requiescat in pace, John.

On November 17, President Obama's children's book Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters hit bookstores, instantly igniting a conservative tempest in a teapot for his inclusion of Sioux medicine man Sitting Bull. Proceeds from the book will be donated to a scholarship for the children of killed or disabled American service-members. Is that irony, or what?

Locally, Mayor Mike McGinn has nominated Theresa Fujiwara, currently strategy and policy adviser for the White Center Community Development Association, to the Seattle Public Library Board of Trustees. The City Council's Regional Development and Sustainability Committee will review her nomination on November 30. Ms. Fujiwara has previously served as site liaison for the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and worked for Mayors Paul Schell and Norm Rice. The Trustees serve five-year unpaid terms; Ms. Fujiwara would replace Michael Parham, whose term ended in April.

I seem to be late to the party on this item, but better late than never: Starbucks is offering free e-books to cafe loiterers. This week's featured books include How to Read the Air by Dinaw Mengetsu and Where Good Ideas Come From by Steven Johnson, as well as An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin and Greg Bear's Hull Zero Three. As much as I might mock Starbucks, that is an excellent selection of titles, so props to their book buyer.

Finally, please accept my holiday best wishes with this charming clip from The Dakota Sessions, featuring Danny Michel, with Kevin Breit and Rob Carli. Peace and joy to you and yours, now and always, and don't forget the pie. It's not a real ritual sacrifice unless there is pie.