12 Authors We Lost Too Soon in 2016
2016 feels like a garbage fire for a lot of people, in large part because we lost so many amazing artists, musicians, and writers (David Bowie and Prince in one year? What were you thinking, 2016?). I doubt 2017 or many of the coming years will be much better–the baby boomer generation is getting older, and those are the artists many of us grew up with. But before we hold our noses and see what 2017 brings, let’s remember Umberto Eco, Katherine Dunn, Anna Dewdney, Natalie Babbitt, and of course, Harper Lee.
Nancy Drew Re-imagined as Femme Fatale
In what is an almost offensively bad idea, Nancy Drew is being re-imagined as a femme fatale who “aids” the Hardy Boys in their crime solving in a new comic from Dynamite Entertainment. First of all, re-imagining a teenager as a sexy noir femme fatale is gross. Objectively, that’s icky. Secondly, way to take one of the few characters girls my age grew up with who had her own series and possessed agency and make her a side-kick to a bunch of dudes. And while I am at it, can we please find new ways to re-imagine things that isn’t just “take this light-hearted thing and make it gritty“?
Pantsuit Nation Gets a Book Deal
Libby Chamberlain, founder of Pantsuit Nation, the “secret” Hillary Clinton-supporting Facebook page with millions of members, has gotten a book deal for the page. Not everyone is happy about it–people who have posted on a private group are concerned that their stories will now be published for literally the whole world to see, probably with no compensation. Until more details about how the page’s members will be paid (if at all) and their permission obtained (if at all), criticism will likely continue.