December 2011
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On Fiction Writing: A Brief History | Pages For... →
by Gwendolyn McIntyre
Several years and millions of words ago, an idea was borne from thought to reality by the efforts of handful of writers who believe in their craft: a place where people serious about the craft of fiction writing could gather and discuss issues close to their heart and relevant to their work.
As every good idea does, it needed a home in a place where writers and books and...
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From the Trenches:The best and worst moments of... →
If you haven’t read The Daily Dot then you’e missing something.
This is newspaper for the world-wide-web done right.
At the link, CEO and founder Nicholas White tells us what he thinks they’ve done right… and wrong, with this new News venture.
I’m a daily reader and a fan of what they’re doing, so I wish them the best of luck.
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Humor – Answer to a Rejection Letter | ePublish a... →
Dear Mr. So and So,
Thank you for your letter of December 15th. After careful consideration I regret to inform you that I am unable to accept your refusal to publish my book.
This year, I have been particularly fortunate in receiving an unusually large number of rejection letters. With such a varied and promising field of outlets it is impossible for me to accept all refusals.
Despite...
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Mike Royko: Mary and Joe’s story, Chicago-style |... →
Editor’s note: The Chicago Daily News first ran this classic column by Mike Royko on Dec. 19, 1967, and then again at Christmastime many years until the paper folded in 1978. We missed reading it. For that matter, we miss Royko, who died in 1997. We thought we’d run the column one more time.
Mary and Joe were flat broke when they got off the bus in Chicago. They didn’t know anybody and she was...
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Jane Eyre, Or: The Bride of Edward 'Crazypants'... →
I love Jane Eyre and indeed Rochester. I think he and Jane have great chemistry in the book. I love seeing people fall for each other through conversations. I think he’s a compelling character and he brings out the best in her, she sparkles around him. It’s just a big problem that HE’S AN INSANE PERSON. One day Mrs Jane Rochester is going to come home from the modiste’s...
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7 Surprise Twists I’d Rather Live Without [or The... →
From The Over-Used Plot Department…
by Rebecca Joines Schinsky
A truly surprising surprise twist—the kind that makes you gasp or clutch your pearls or reexamine everything you thought you knew about a book—is a thing of beauty, especially when you’re the kind of reader for whom suspending disbelief doesn’t come so naturally. (Who’s with me?)
When it works, I can love it, but in...
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SF Signal: [GUEST POST] Daniel Abraham's Private... →
A Private Letter from Genre to Literature
I saw you tonight. You were walking with your cabal from the university to the little bar across the street where the professors and graduate students fraternize.
You were in the dark, plain clothes that you think of as elegant. I have always thought they made you look pale. I was at the newsstand. I think that you saw me, but pretended not to. I...
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Prospective: A Journal of Speculation by Lauren... →
Our friend and fellow author Lauren Stone’s journal is 63% funded. Only four days left.
Prospective: A Journal of Speculation hopes to provide a place for quality speculative fiction in both prose and poetry. This will not be your grandmother’s journal. We hope to expose readers to new voices and worlds they have only dreamed about reading.
Pink Martini - Santa Baby | VideoBam →
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‘A Mutiny in Time,’ by James Dashner, to Be First... →
I’m excited to share this news because my friend Jennifer Nielsen, author of The Underworld Chronicles (Elliot and the Goblin Wars, Elliot and The Pixie Plot) and the forthcoming The False Prince) has been selected to be author of one of the Infinity Ring series novels.
Scholastic, the American publisher of the Harry Potter novels, is set to introduce another major successor to that...
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Is that all you can do when somebody dies? Tweet?... →
By Pablo Villaça
We’re human beings, not a news channel. A few days ago, a famous and young Brazilian blogger died after fighting a chronic health problem. I didn’t know him nor read his blog, but the reaction to his departure caught my attention. In a moment, dozens (maybe hundreds) of tweets started spreading messages such as: “SoandSo has died! So sad! #SoandSo...
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“Caution: Be careful with these books. Wear protective clothing at all times....”
– Lev Grossman -
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In Memoriam:Christopher Hitchens, 1949–2011
By Graydon Carter
Christopher Hitchens was a wit, a charmer, and a troublemaker, and to those who knew him well, he was a gift from, dare I say it, God.
He was a man of insatiable appetites—for cigarettes, for scotch, for company, for great writing, and, above all, for conversation. That he had an output to equal what he took in was the miracle in the man.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a...
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The Seduction Of Self-Publishing | Terrible Minds →
In “THE SEDUCTION OF SELF-PUBLISHING (or WHY I’M GLAD I DIDN’T HAVE THE OPTION FIVE YEARS AGO)” author Chuck Wendig, a successful self-published author, takes a honest and dispassionate look at self-publishing… and why it’s maybe not such a good idea that everyone does it.
The option to self-publish is a compelling one. Seductive, in many ways. On the one hand — holy crap!...
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Six Shortcomings of Small Presses | LitReactor →
I’ve blogged before about the downside of first-time authors forgoing the traditional publishing route, eschewing agents and going Small Press.… and about the real out-of-pocket costs (time, travel, paying for editing services and the cost of marketing material in order to do self-marketing, self-distribution, etc…) of getting published, getting your book into Indie bookstores...
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Watchadvocatenews:
WATCH: The Speech You’ve Been Waiting For
Hillary Rodham Clinton’s address before the United Nations in Geneva will be remembered by history, with the Secretary of State unabashedly arguing to the world that LGBT rights are human rights.
Read the Complete Transcript of the Speech, as Provided By the State Department:
SECRETARY CLINTON: Good evening, and let me express my deep...
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Lego Christmas tree unveiled at St Pancras |... →
A 12.2m-high Christmas tree made entirely of Lego bricks has been unveiled at London’s St Pancras station.
The tree took two months to build and is made from 600,000 bricks.
More than 1,000 Lego baubles have been used to decorate the 172 branches.
It is the tallest tree made using the toy building bricks, according to Lego.
The tree has 1200 baubles.
Photograph: David Parry/PA
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