February 2012
48 posts
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“I like to imagine storytelling as a somewhat similar process—of dipping one’s...”
– By author Dr. Sayantani DasGupta
From her article Story Water:The Cultural Wellsprings of Storytelling
An insightful look at the art and traditions of cultural storytelling
HungerMountain
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Ghost Writer : Ludwig Wittgenstein →
Wittgenstein once said he felt as though he were writing for people who would think in a different way, breathe a different air of life, from that of present-day men. Perhaps he was speaking of our Editor-In-Chief, Carlos J. Cortes?
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World Book Day : 1 March 2012 →
World Book Day is a celebration of authors, illustrators, books and… (most importantly) it’s a celebration of reading.
It is the biggest celebration of its kind, designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and marked in over one hundred countries all over the world.
This is the Fifteenth year there’s been a World Book Day.
Thursday, children of all ages will...
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Anthony Horowitz: Do we still need publishers? |... →
I think we do still need publishers, and I’m certain they will survive the great ‘digital-divide’.
… and so does author Anthony Horowitz.
It’s been almost 600 years since Johannes Gutenberg produced the first printed books, and although Ars Minor, the excellent Latin primer by Aelius Donatus, has now dropped out of the bestseller lists, I like being part of that...
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Sci-Fi Invasion: A Weird, Brilliant Vision Of... →
Back in 2007, I read a wonderfully entertaining Middle-Grade Sci-Fi novel written by Adam Rex called The True Meaning of Smekday.
It’s comforting to know that I wasn’t the only one whose life would remain touched by this delightful tale.
Over at NPR Books, Author Gin Phillips talks about the impact this story had on her life and family.
One way I judge the impact of a book is...
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Are Your Social Media Followers really yours?
The question that the courts are being asked to answer, in a suit brought by an employer against a former employee, is;
Does an employee who leaves a job that involves working with social media have the right to take his or her Twitter account and followers along?
According to Ron Barnett, a writer for USA TODAY,
That’s the question at the heart of a case unfolding in U.S. District...
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Kay Manning, Peyton Bradshaw, Kristal Singletary,... →
There is a word in German… Backpfeifengesicht, literally a face looking to have a fist put in it… which come readily to mind when I read things like this.
There’s has been extensive coverage of the increase in plagiarism that has plagued Amazon’s self-publishing arm since the beginning of the new year.
Over at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, SB Sarah writes:
...
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Thrilling Stories of the Railway →
Detective stories written by Victor Whitechurch and read by Benedict Cumberbatch. Duration: 15 Minutes
BBC Radio 4 Extra
Episode One -
The Affair of the German Dispatch-Box
Monday 20th February - 20.30
Link to Episode One on BBC iPlayer
Episode Two -
Sir Gilbert Murrell’s Picture
…
Re-blogged from lilpippi
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WAYZGOOSE (noun)
A Wayzgoose was at one time an entertainment given by a master printer to his workmen each year on or about St Bartholomew’s Day. It marked the traditional end of summer and the start of the season of working by candlelight.
Later, the word came to refer to an annual outing and dinner for the staff of a printing works or the printers on a newspaper.
In modern parlance it is an annual...
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The Dark Side: Generosity Marketing Is Not... →
In which Author Scott Nicholson talks about The Dark Side of Free eBooks.
Free books often get to people who don’t want them and don’t value them. They will write negative reviews like (yes, this is real), “I got this because it was free but I don’t like ghost stories” and the new manifestation, the “Blame the author One-Star” where someone is mad...
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The New and Improved iTunes-U →
Apple’s iTunes University, which has been around for a number of years, is an amazing collection of Free educational courses, both audio and video, that can be downloaded for use on iPods, iPads, iPhones or via iTunes on the Mac or PC.
Among the hundreds of colleges, universities, and elementary and high schools on iTunes U, you’ll find Stanford, Yale, MIT,Oxford, and UC Berkeley,...
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“If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest...”
– - Dorothy Parker
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Speaking in Tongues
Anyone who can play an instrument can play the notes of a musical composition, but to become a musician… To make people want to listen to what you have to say? You have to feel them in your heart and hear them in your soul, before you can make your instrument speak.
A wise old musician spoke those words to me way back when I first began to learn to play an instrument. They’ve...
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Wishing You Much Shit →
OFW Editor-In-Chief and master linguistic contortionist, Carlos J Cortes sheds light on the difficulty of figured speech.
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“So, does it give it away that I’m a children’s author if the...”
– Author Marsha Diane Arnold
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Did You Know reCAPTCHA Makes You A Translator? |... →
If one pays attention to the little things that go on in the world around them, it is possible to learn something new every day about the things we come to take for granted or the effect we have on the world by seemingly innocuous actions.
Take reCAPTCHA for example.
We’ve all been to websites that challenge us to read and enter the words in the box… to prove we’re human and...
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Prospective: A Journal of Speculation
Pages For Small Wages offers a warm welcome and best wishes for success to our friends at Loyal Stone Press and Prospective: A Journal of Speculation.
Prospective: A Journal of Speculation is a quarterly chapbook that hopes to provide a home for the best speculative fiction in both prose and poetry.
Loyal Stone Press is an upstart company and will be offering royalties for single author...
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“What does it take to be a writer?
A visitor to a certain college paused to...”
– Source: ePublish a Book (http://s.tt/15vnH)
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Writer Rewind: The Sniglet*
Barfiage: The act of effortlessly spewing the perfect poem, short story, or chapter in one writing session.
The act of effortlessly spewing a fabulous poem, short story, or chapter that needs absolutely no revision is called a Miracle.
-Author Unknown
* A Sniglet, snig’ lit: is any word that doesn’t appear in the dictionary, but should.
Sniglets are neologism’s that were...
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Underachieving Profanities | On Fiction Writing →
OFW Editor Renee Miller loves her profanity, and trust me when I tell you she knows how to use it.
According to Merriam Webster, “profanity” refers to words that have been debased by a wrong or vulgar use.
So really, any word could be considered a profanity, depending on how you use it. If you cut me off in traffic, I could yell “Coffee off! You’re a fluffing pants!” and right there, coffee,...
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Ten Signs that Guy Next to you is Batshit Crazy...... →
by OFW Editor Katrina Monroe
1. We talk to ourselves.
All the time. Out loud. Sometimes we answer ourselves.
But don’t worry, it’s part of the creative process according to my doctor.
Check out the other 9 signs of a writer or mental patient at On Fiction Writing. And…stop eating the paper. It’ll bung up your system.
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“Getting your taxes done is a bit like Thanksgiving: you spend forever preparing...”
– Author Carrie Gordon Watson
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James Joyce Children's Book Sparks Feud | BBC
A children’s story by James Joyce has been published for the first time by Ithys Press, a small press in Dublin.
The Cats of Copenhagen was written in a letter to Joyce’s grandson in 1936 as a “younger twin sister” to the already published story, The Cat and the Devil.
The story tells of a Copenhagen in which things are not what they seem.
However, the Zurich...
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Introducing: The Writers Playground →
Does your muse amuse, entertain, enlighten, infuriate, or simply leave you with more questions than answers?
OnFictionWriting.com has brought the Writers Playground to
Be a muse or simply be amused. We invite you to come along and play with us.
Oh, and I call dibs on the rocking horse.
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Happy Birthday, 'Charlie' Dickens →
Charles Dickens would have been two hundred years old today. Having been a reporter, I imagine he gave little thought to literary immortality.
And yet, I wonder what he might think about not only the enduring popularity of his works, but their enduring applicability to issues that continue to face modern society.
At the link above, you’ll find a rather well done biography of this literary...
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You Might Be a Writer If | On Fiction Writing →
Do you know the difference between a real writer and a hobbyist?
by OFW Editor-In-Chief Renee Miller
Fact is, you can write to amuse yourself and still call yourself a writer.
There’s little difference between someone who writes occasionally and someone who writes daily. Time or quantity is not the defining factor, folks.
Read the Top Ten Signs that you might be a real writer at...
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Domestic violence blighted my home. That's why I... →
Women who live in fear are being abandoned by the government, whose cuts are devastating charities like Refuge
In an article written by Patrick Stewart, he talks about growing up in a home darkened by domestic violence and the need to continue funding places like Refuge.
Forty years ago Refuge opened the world’s first safe house for abused women and children in Chiswick, west London....
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Lists of Note: Henry Miller's 11 Commandments →
In the early-1930s, as Henry Miller wrote what would become his first published novel — the hugely influential Tropic of Cancer — Henry Miller wrote a list of 11 commandments, to be followed by himself.
COMMANDMENTS
Work on one thing at a time until finished.
Start no more new books, add no more new material to “Black Spring.”
Don’t be nervous. Work calmly, joyously,...
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What's In A Name... or, A Funny Thing Happened On...
In ancient Greece, the Agorá was the centre of athletic, artistic, spiritual and political life in city-states. The literal meaning is “Gathering place” or “Assembly”.
Since Greece was also the centre of ancient civilisation and the fountainhead of learning, it is apropos that we chose Agora over it’s Latin sibling, Forum, as the place-name to find learned...
