Lisa Albers

The future of fiction? A 'digi-novel'

Zuiker has created “Level 26,” a crime novel that also invites readers to log on to a website about every 20 pages using a special code to watch a “cyber-bridge” — a three-minute film clip tied to the story.

via blog.newfiction.com

The ultimate fiction mashup--a combination book, movie, and Web site. Now if they could just add in a little interactive game....

Kennedy memoir discusses 'terrible decisions' he made at Chappaquiddick

The account by Mr. Kennedy, who died on Aug. 25 at age 77, adds little to what is known about the accident and its aftermath but recounts how they weighed on him and his family. The book does not shy from the accident, or from some other less savory aspects of the senator’s life, including a notorious 1991 drinking episode in Palm Beach, Fla., or the years of heavy drinking and women-chasing that followed his 1982 divorce from his first wife, Joan.

via www.nytimes.com

The NYT obtained a copy of the 532-page memoir in which he owns up to his mistakes and faults. It will also shed light on his decision to shy away from the presidency. It's being published by Twelve, a great press (which published a book about the Titanic I reviewed last year). This will be on my wish list, as it promises to give rare insight into the past 50 years in U.S. political history.

Career trajectory

I began working at the age of 15 as a commissioned sales associate at J.C. Penney. Numerous other part-time jobs rounded out my collegiate years, but what I mostly spent my time on was politics. Eventually, I chaired what was at the time Missouri's largest environmental organization. We helped pass the Clean Air Act nationally, and legislation for pollution penalties and energy efficiency at the state level. In 1991, I went to DC as the arms control and media intern for Union of Concerned Scientists.

Lisa Hickey, Twitter poet

A poet I originally met in an online workshop (Blue Light Press) is making smart use of Twitter as an outlet for observations so astute, she should use them in her poetry. Or maybe what we're seeing here is a new medium for poetic expression. With 1,181 followers on Twitter, Hickey already has more of an audience than many books of poetry receive.

Twitter does lend itself well to the poetic form. Since the update field is only 140 words, you're forced to self-edit, to be erudite and succinct.

Here are some sample updates from @lisahickey:

REVIEW: Seattle signals an interest in style, or at least, in two books about style

• How to Have Style, by Isaac Mizrahi, Gotham Books, 2008, 221 pages
• The Lucky Guide to Mastering Any Style, by Kim France and Andrea Linett, Gotham Books, 2008, 306 pages

Seattle's library-lending public has effectively voted for two must-have fashion books from 2008, both by Gotham Books: one by designer Isaac Mizrahi and another by two fashionistas on the masthead of Lucky magazine. Kim France and Andrea Linett's The Lucky Guide to Mastering Any Style is currently at 67 active holds on 16 copies in the Seattle Public Library database. Mizrahi's How to Have Style beats that in popular demand with 79 active holds on 19 copies.

Both books favor "style" over mere fashion, opting for the long view rather than the trend of the moment. That both books are in high demand suggests a hunger, at least in Seattle, for a timeless, highly individualistic approach to dressing well.