So, last fall we introduced you all to the Weekly Writer - a spoooooooky online story started just for the Weekly Reader by Stephen King and waiting to be finished up by you ... (You still can add to it. C'mon, do it today.)

Now, I'm excited to tell you about NOISY OUTLAWS, UNFRIENDLY BLOBS, And Some Other Things That Aren't As Scary, Maybe, Depending on How You Feel About Lost Lands, Stray Cellphones from the Sky, Parents Who Disappear in Peru, a Man Named Lars Farf, and one Other Story We Couldn't Quite Finish, So Maybe You Could Help Us Out. (Talk about a long title!!!)

NOISY OUTLAWS is a new collection of short stories for "wise young people and immature old people" brought to us by the editors of McSweeney's. It features stories written by all-star authors such as Nick Hornby, John Scieszka, Jonathan Safran Foer, and many others, plus really cool illustrations.

Some people like short stories, and others ... well, they don't. I'm usually more of a novel person, but I loved this book. Besides bringing us into the imaginary worlds of some really talented authors, it also does two very generous things. 1) All proceeds from purchases go to benefity 826nyc, a writing center in Brooklyn, NYC offering free classes to students between the ages of 8 and 18. 2) It offers readers the opportunity to take part in a nifty contest.

Here's the deal: Lemony Snicket started a story that appears on the inside of the dust jacket. It's up to you to add your own "thrilling, joyful, or disgusting ending." The jacket then folds up into a snazzy envelope, and you mail it back and wait ... McSweeney's editors' favorite ending will receive some fabulous prizes ("a complete set of A Series of Unfortunate Events signed by Lemony Snicket himself; 11 pounds of chocolate; a Venus flytrap; six hundred tiny glass bottles; and a large sack of dirt from Winnipeg") -- and be published in a future book and at their website.

I told you it was pretty cool!

The deadline to enter is April 1, 2006 and the winning entry will be announced on June 1, 2006.

Take a stroll to a bookstore near you and check out Noisy Outlaws. Maybe you have what it takes to give Lemony Snicket a hand.

2006, eh?

Word.

Yes, it is true that we have been gone for quite some time. The holidays allowed us to recharge our creative batteries with lots of sleep and tons of food. I must loosen my belt just remembering... Did you all have a good holiday break? Are you back in school now? You must be. We're back at work. And let me tell you, it wasn't easy to trudge in here yesterday. Half the state was blanketed in snow. Not us. We only got rain. Am I really blogging about the weather now? Wow, I really am out of practice.

Well, rest assured, we are here and although this is a pretty ridiculous way to start off the new year in BLOG LAND, writing always takes a little bit of warming up before anything meaningful comes out. Sometimes, nothing comes out at all and that's OK, too... so you keep writing.

Argh.

OK, well, whatever... in the coming days (weeks?) we will be changing a few things around here. The most important change is that we are going to begin posting Student Writing here on the blog... as entries! So submit often, visit us often, and um... write more often than not!

2006, eh?

Happy New Year.

I recently had a chance to interview William Mosely (Peter) and James McAvoy (Mr. Tumnus) from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Here's what they had to say about the movie and their experience filming it. William Moseley plays Peter, the oldest brother in the Pevenise family. James McAvoy plays Mister Tumnus, a fawn and Lucy Pevensie's first friend in Narnia.

A deep and dark closet. Four children. A game of hide-and-seek. Put all of these ingredients together, and you have the beginnings of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the beloved children’s classic by British author C. S. Lewis.

Now, more than 50 years after its publication, the fantasy adventure tale has finally made its way to the big screen. The much-awaited movie The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe opened on Friday, December 9, amidst roars and flurries of excitement in book and movie circles alike.