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Today is John Green's birthday. We made him a video. You can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4YySUmDQ1c Happy birthday, John. We miss you lots. Now, I must go sponge the constant ABBA track from my mind.

Thanks so much for all the thumbs-up about the outtakes. I’m glad you likee. You guys rock. ☺ I’m lucky to know you. I just got some disturbing news. My pal, Maureen Johnson, has been fighting the good fight over the censorship in Bartlesville, OK, of her novel, The...

Now that The Sweet Far Thing is nearly finished (just waiting for copyedits to come back), I thought perhaps I should make good on my promise to post some outtakes from it. These are odds 'n' ends that didn't make the final cut or were abandoned early on. I'll try to...

One of my favorite movies of all time is Terry Gilliam's "Brazil." If you haven't ever seen it, I'll give you a quick primer. The movie is set in a future dystopian English society in which bureaucracy has run amok and a simple typo starts a Kafkaesque plot into...

The last time I pulled an all-nighter was in college, final exams time, when I drank an entire bottle of Mountain Dew by myself and vibrated for hours while pretending to study Biology. (I had to rely on my Latin to get me through, and I think I managed to pull a C....

INT. THERAPIST'S OFFICE DAY (A comfortable office painted in soothing greens. Chairs have been arranged in a semi-circle. A THERAPIST sits in a large leather chair with a notepad. Her group is comprised of VARIOUS FICTIONAL CHARACTERS from a book long in progress, THE...

You know those horrible chain emails you get? The ones that say something like, "You're the reason I smile! I love you! You're special! Hope I made your day! Send this to 800 of your closest friends before the sun goes down, and you'll never have to wear deodorant...

The first disappointment I can remember came courtesy of Baskin-Robbins when I was about six. I hocked my mom and dad to buy me a double-scoop on a sugar cone. I mean I was relentless. (Wheedling and pleading--just two of the many services I offer, free of charge.) I...

This weekend was Book Expo America (BEA) weekend here in NYC. Many booksellers, librarians and authors trekked to our fair metropolis to see what's coming out from publishers, grab galleys and free stuff, and just generally have a good time. Thursday night, my...

I have long been a fan of Joss Whedon's, i.e., He Who Created the Ass-Kicking Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but never more so than now. Today, he has posted a statement about the brutal, horrific stoning death of Dua Khalil Aswad in Northern Iraq. You can read it and his...

Must not jump the shark with book. Must not jump the shark with book. Must not jump the shark with book. Must not pull a Bobby's-in-the-shower-it-was-all-a-dream-St.Elsewhere-is-really-inside-the-head-of-an-autistic-kid-thing. Ways I could make this novel jump the...

I meant to blog last week, but I found the Virginia Tech shootings so upsetting that I could not think of a thing to say that didn't feel cheap and meaningless. So many promising lives cut short. I was also saddened to see that Kurt Vonnegut died. RIP, Mr. Vonnegut....