Hot Men of Children's Literature: Part 25 In a Series

You know, I bitched about it for a while, but if GalleyCat wants to go on and take over the whole Hot Men of Children's Literature thing from the publishing side, they are more than welcome to do so. Why this sudden jolt of diplomacy? I think it may have something to do with the fact that they have pretty good taste in the matter. For example, we all remember when the site came up with their own Hottie of Publishing, Men's Division, right? They had some smokin' blokes, no question. Unfortunately, the voters of that particular site had little to no taste. The win went to a Mr. Stephen Barbara, who looks in his picture as if he's afraid that someone is going to shoot him once the photo-taking process is complete. I am sure Mr. Barbara is a very nice guy and who calls his mother regularly, yadda yadda yadda. When you consider, however, the competition, there was really only one choice, and he's today's hot man. I bring unto you now:

Michael Stearns

Here is how MediaBistro chose to describe him:

Michael Stearns got the nod for being "one of the few single, straight men in children's publishing"—a rare feat, indeed. An editorial director with HarperCollins' children's division, Stearns got props for his "Paul Bettany-esque" looks—with "blue eyes, perfectly sculpted nose, high cheekbones, and long lean body"—but the extra points stem from his wit—and his "martini-glass-through-the-nose" stories...

Most important of all, this is the man that brought America my beloved Best Book of 2006 novel Fly By Night. Those of you who have still yet to read this book, I know who you are. You have 24 hours to correct this anomaly before I start parceling out the cans of whoop ass. READ IT.

Back to the Stearns man. He has yet to come up with a blog of his own, but should you happen to run into him in NYC he's just (according to all known sources) the nicest guy. I had a chance to meet with him at a book signing not too long ago and I totally chickened out of the whole "talking" thing. Hopefully I'll be able to gather my guts together should the incident ever repeat itself.