And it took! (At least with my son–my daughter rightfully thought Princess Buttercup was useless.) Herewith my son doing an exceptionally cute Inigo Montoya. :-)

[See post to watch Flash video]

ETA: Was chatting with a friend just now and was able to put voice to why so many kids movies are lacking in characterization these days: They tend to rely on big-name actors for voice-overs as shorthand. Wall-E actually bothered to develop the characters. Really, it was lovely.

I am more honoured than I can say. This is a wonderful time for YA fiction, and it has been incredibly exciting to be part of that scene: to receive this is really humbling. My huge thanks to everyone who worked on Un Lun Dun–especially Chris Schluep, Harriet Wilson, Lauren Buckland, Deanna Hoak, Mic Cheetham, and Simon Kavanagh–and to all the authors to whom this book is a homage. I want to dedicate this award to the memory of my mother, Claudia Lightfoot, who gave me books, and would be unspeakably proud today. Thank you all so much again.

It’s rare for copyeditors to get that kind of thanks, and I’m always elated when authors are so happy with my work that they think I deserve it.

He even had a mate:

Aren’t they lovely?

I serve it to him in bed with four forks, and we all dig in:

It seems to start his Father’s Day off well.

I hope all you dads are enjoying your day. :-)

I remarked upon it when the boy left, and she rolled her eyes: “I saw him.”

“You might as well get used to it,” I said. “You’re a very beautiful girl.” She smiled at me and squeezed my hand.

The boy swaggered back a moment later, to stand beside her. “You should see this! I just found a dead mole with all his intestines hanging out.”

She gave him what I can only describe as a withering look (I actually feel sorry for the boys when she does this, though her father grins–odd how the empathy works the opposite direction there), and he mumbled something unintelligible and left. (I wanted to post a picture of the look, but she has forbidden me.)

I quirked my lips at her. “Sadly, the lines don’t usually get much better either.”

She buried her head in her hands.

That’s…um…Well. “Go meat” indeed.

The placement of that sausage she’s putting the tongs to? And the top grill line on it? And the tiny shadow at the tip? Really. I’m astounded it doesn’t leap out at everyone. Must be the grill that interferes with some folks’ subconscious. ;-)

However, since it was clear that my little family and I could not eat these oysters alone, I invited over a neighbor and her kids tonight; we both shucked about an hour (this is a first for us–be patient); and I made a pot full of oyster stew that produced many bowls like this:

Mmmm. See all that butter? Yeah. No margarine there, nosirreee.

Here’s what I did:

Sauté roughly these amounts:
2 sticks butter (BUTTER, I tell you!)
3/4 c. minced shallots
1 1/2 c. minced celery
2 grated Yukon Gold potatoes

When those are nice and soft, pour in
2 1/2 quarts of half-and-half

Spice with salt, pepper, and cayenne. When it’s just on the edge of boiling, add in

100 oysters, with juice

Stir it up, then add in

two handfuls of chopped fresh parsley

When the oysters curl at the edges (hardly any time at all) pour it in bowls and serve.

Damn, it was good. Best stew I’ve ever had, if I do say so myself. :-)

Man, are they good, too.

Here are the ones I haven’t managed to eat yet, spread across my kitchen counter:

And here’s a close-up, in case anyone knows what kind of oysters they are and can ID them for me. :-)

Whatever they are, they’re amazingly good.

It’s about seven dozen oysters. While I’ve been busy shucking and eating, I’m clearly going to need some recipes. Anyone have any favorites they’d like to share?