Storm Day this and that

         




We're bracing for Hurricane Sandy to hit--and as they've shut down the NYC subway system, and for safety reasons, my offices are closed--although those of us who can are working from home. I'm reading manuscripts and hoping that we don't lose power. I hope those of you in affected areas (and heck, those of you who are not, too) are staying safe and dry!

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In the publishing world, we've been fascinated by the news that broke last Thursday of a potential merger/purchase of Penguin by Random House--spurring guesses on what the new company name would be (Random Penguin seems to be the universal choice. For fun, I threw in the possibility of "Little, Brown Penguin"--not that we're involved--at least, not that I know of!).

And then the breaking news yesterday was that Harper Collins may also be vying to purchase Penguin. Jeepers! A RH/Penguin merger would result in a publishing house that controls 25% of the market. A Harper/Penguin combo would control 20% of the market share.

I'd hate to see either of these scenarios happen, personally, for many of the reasons mentioned in the various articles. I guess we'll all have to wait and see how it shakes out.

UPDATE: It appears that the Random House/Penguin merger has been confirmed (pending approvals). The publishing company will be called Penguin Random House. Is this really happening?! It feels...fake, somehow. Almost like a fictional dystopian world.

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Last week's book events (that I mentioned in my previous post) were great.

At the Lemony Snicket event at Symphony Space, the highlight were the questions from kids at the end, and one question in particular stood out for me. I think it was the second-to-last question, and it went something like this:

Kid: Would you rather fight 100 duck-sized horses, or one horse-sized duck?
Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket's representative): Would I rather fight 100 duck-sized horses, or one horse-sized duck? Well, I would definitely lose either fight. I think 100 duck-sized horses would be more interesting to see, perhaps. But, what would we fight about?

How would you answer the question? It's a tough decision, but I think I'd try my luck with the duck-sized horses. They'd be cute, at least. A duck-sized horse just seems way too frightening to me. The stuff of horror movies. Speaking of, have you seen this study? I need to watch more horror films!

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Just for fun, here are the 25 Most Awkward Cat Sleeping Positions.