Tag Archives: Friday Links

Our hyperlink farmers have been working hard all week, harvesting raw HTML and sifting through it for the choicest morsels. And there you sit, like some emperor at your computery throne, sparing a glance at their efforts here and there, clicking occasionally on what pleases your imperial fancy, waving the rest away. Well, I hope you’re happy.

Er – I mean – thanks for reading my blog, and here are some links. 🙂

First up, since yesterday’s post was a story written for Chuck Wendig’s weekly challenge, I’ll link to his new challenge for this week: unicorns. I’ll give it a shot if I have time!

You’ve probably already heard that Borders is officially liquidating. I actually got an e-mail from them this morning, in which their CEO Mike Edwards says thank you and talks about “the true and noble cause of expanding access to books and promoting the joy of reading.” Whether he wrote that himself or copied it from someone in PR, it sums up the way I feel about book stores too. There’s no Borders in my town, so I rarely shopped there, but I’m still sorry to see them go.

Turns out, Borders owes some publishers a lot of money, and they won’t be getting it all back. Penguin alone is apparently owed over $41 million. Fewer bookstores, more cautious publishers – sounds like a great time for a new author to break in!

Here’s a nice little post about rejection statistics. The author looks at some numbers for literary agent Weronika Janczuk and concludes “If you query Ms. Janczuk, your chances of getting an offer are about 1 in 2000 (all things being equal, which of course, they are not.)” That last point is important: the long odds aren’t odds, they just tell you how many other queries you’ll leave in the dust if your writing is good enough.

INTERN announces International Sh*tty First Draft Week (asterisk hers). Next week she will feature authors who reveal excerpts from the sh*tty first drafts of their successful work, and on Friday, she’ll ask all her readers to contribute their own sh*tty first drafts. Who knows…I may see what kind of contribution I can dig up.

This comic is pretty much how I feel about my own writing ability.

Moving on to non-writing-related links…first, you’ve probably heard about the famine in Somalia. I’d encourage you to donate to Doctors Without Borders, or some other worthy organization. Even $5 or $10 would help.

This – well, this is just really cool. The Internet of Things.

And finally, this comic makes me happy and sad and smarter at the same time. (Warning: although that particular comic is safe for work, the rest of the archive is not. Click responsibly.) I love SMBC.

Truly, that is all I have. Here’s hoping that your weekend shines with the ineffable quintessence of the transcendent – or, failing that, here’s hoping your weekend is pretty good! See you Monday.

This week we’ll drive straight into the links without any preamble. Well, except for that sentence, I guess that was a little bit of a preamble. And that one. And that one. And that – ahhh infinite loop it’s all going dark

*Deep breath.*

Last week I mentioned, with the high grammatical standards you’ve come to expect, that Borders “done got bought.” Apparently that deal was not as final as it originally sounded, and is now falling through. At the moment, the most likely prospect seems to be liquidation, i.e. no more Borders book stores.

It seems J.K. Rowling has not been sitting idly on her throne of cash. She says she’s been hard at work writing ever since Deathly Hallows was published. The new works include a non-fantasy book for adults, as well as “a political fairytale for slightly younger children.” Admittedly the young children who love politics demographic has been under-served of late.

Snookie is coming out with another novel, to be titled Gorilla Beach. I feel this news is like a Zen koan. It cannot be grasped with the intellectual mind; it simply is.

I’ve had critiques on the brain a lot lately, so this post about how to avoid over-polishing a manuscript really resonated. The gist is that if you try to take all advice, you end up watering down your vision. I think that’s true. On the other hand, “I’m being true to my vision” is often just a crutch to support defensiveness and unwillingness to change, so you have to be very careful.

On a more philosophical note – wait, come back, philosophy is good for you, dammit! Er – anyway – the legendary Nathan Bransford has a great post about the nature of stories. In everyday life, the mind constructs stories as a barrier between itself and the great, terrifying abyss of actual reality. This is the closest I’ve ever seen Nathan come to writing something “dark,” so check it out.

Finally, in the category that I know is everyone’s favorite – “Not Related to Writing but So Funny I Had to Share” – I present: Stealth Dad.

Hope your weekend is rewarding, deeply fulfilling, and tasty. See you Monday!

Listen up peeps! We got a lot of links today and not enough time to click ’em, so I’m gonna move fast, and I don’t want no backtalk. Not even when I say “peeps” and “backtalk” in the same paragraph. Savvy? Let’s do this.

First thing: maybe you’ve heard about Borders and its financial, ahem, difficulties. Well, they done got bought. You want analysis? Ask Wolf Blitzer. Let’s keep it moving.

This picture (warning: language NSFW) tells you what kind of e-reader to buy. One of the funniest things I’ve seen this week.

Anyone who does this, I will find out where you live, don’t think I won’t. If we have not punctuation, we have not civilization.

This author announced to his one million plus Twitter followers that everyone who preorders his next book will get a signed copy. Everyone.

I think we’re all pretty excited about the next big movie to be based on a beloved story. Harry Potter, what? No, I am talking, of course, about Kafka’s The Metamorphosis.

Speaking of Harry Potter, though, J. K. Rowling is dumping the literary agent who made her a superstar, Christopher Little. Hey, Mr. Little: looking for a rebound client?

If you’ve ever felt stupid or discouraged about your writing, this is for you.

Also, this: How to Become an Author, in 5 Incredibly Difficult Steps. (Language NSFW.) Favorite quote: “Editing is just like writing, except hateful, and in reverse.” No doubt, son, no doubt.

Here’s a beautiful post about how actually living a real life will make you a better writer. Wow, that was an awful description. Trust me though, it’s good stuff.

Tired of getting rejection letters? Send some to editors instead. (Note: do not actually do this.)

And finally, not related to writing, but too good not to share: Birds With Arms wins the Buckley Award for Most Aptly Titled Web Page.

It’s, uh. It’s not a very prestigious award.

Have a fantastic weekend! I mean “fantastic” in the sense of “wonderful,” but don’t let that hold you back. If you want to have a weekend of or relating to fantasy, man, you don’t need my permission.

See you on Monday!

Welcome, Hypothetical Reader, Happy Friday to you! You’ve got a mouse and I’ve got links, and you know that can’t be wrong. Let’s do this thang.

First, midlist author Ellery Adams gives some interesting personal statistics, a revealing snapshot of what it’s like to be an author. Average annual income: $18,000. Ye-ah. If we wanted to be rich, we’d be consultants.

So it looks like Levar Burton is going to lead a Reading Rainbow flash mob in singing the theme song! I’ll keep my eyes open for this, and if it happens, you’d better believe I’m posting the video.

Something cool I found: a reverse dictionary. You type in a description of the word you’re looking for, and it gives you back a list of candidate words. Great for those oh-shoot-what-is-it-called moments. I’ve given it a few test runs with specific words, and it’s worked very well for me so far.

Have you ever heard of “yugen”? It’s a Japanese term related to aesthetics, and as usual with such cases there’s no easy translation, but roughly it seems to mean “profound subtlety.” The link is to a description on Wiki. I find this kind of thing fascinating. How would our own art be different if we had words for such mysterious concepts?

Finally, not new but hilarious: a video of Doris Lessing reacting to the news that she’s won the Nobel Prize in Literature. When I get my Nobel, I’m totally doing this too.

Have a totally excellent weekend.

I tell you, hypothetical reader, I’m in an especially good mood this morning. It’s Friday, it’s Jeans Day at the office, I’m getting tons of great feedback on The Counterfeit Emperor, and this blog’s readership seems to be steadily growing. Oh, and a good friend lent me some Green Lantern comics, which I’m halfway through devouring already. (Metaphorically – he hopes.)

On to the links!

First we have nine wicked sweet book covers for your perusal. I think We Are The Friction is my favorite.

Now hear this: the 30 harshest author-on-author insults in history. Mark Twain says of Jane Austen: “Every time I read ‘Pride and Prejudice,’ I want to dig her up and hit her over the skull with her own shin-bone.” Meanwhile Nabokov’s hating on everybody, even though Nabokov is a little punk. You can quote me on that.

Continuing with what is apparently our theme of Article Titles With Numbers, here’s the illustrious Chuck Wendig with 25 Things You Should Know About Writing A Novel. (Not that I know anybody doing that.) Says Chuck: “Your first and most important goal is to finish the shit that you started.” Amen, Wendig.

And finally, it occurs to me that there are a lot of awesome things on the Internet that I fail to share just because I assume everyone’s seen them already. And that’s sort of sad, isn’t it? So here: if for some reason  you’ve never seen the Discovery Channel Boom-De-Yada commercial, click it now. The phrase “made of awesome” was made for that. You may say: Brian, that’s not related to writing. I say: Oh yes it is.

That’s all, friends and neighbors. Have a phenomenal weekend.

Welcome, hypothetical reader! Here’s hoping you’re not as tired as I am on this cloudy Friday morning, because I’ve got a one-way ticket to Linksville, and that means you can click some links, and then…come back? I don’t know. Look, I said I was tired.

First: Richard Dreyfuss does a dramatic reading of the iTunes license agreement. Trust me, it’s even funnier than it sounds, and I thought it sounded pretty funny.

A comic about revising a novel. Like a Boolean variable declared as a constant, it’s funny because it’s true.

The Rejectionist, who these days has turned from rejecting to writing, reflects on cynicism and the beauty of storytelling.

I’m linking to this one for sheer chutzpah: Frank Delaney has started a podcast series called Re:Joyce, the goal of which is “deconstructing, examining and illuminating James Joyce’s Ulysses line-by-line, in accessible and entertaining five-minute broadcasts, posted each week on this website. The project is estimated to run a quarter of a century.” I’m not even a fan of Ulysses, but, I mean, damn.

Remember that iPad app about T.S. Eliot’s poem “The Waste Land” that I told you about last week? Well, it’s totally kicking ass. Readers, a reminder: I am open to receiving gifts of all kinds, such as iPads. It’s not bribery if I don’t do anything in return.

Unpublished authors love to talk about how to get an agent, but there seems to be minimal Internetary discussion of what it’s like to have an agent. As the Intern explains, it’s kind of weird.

And finally: I’ve mentioned before that my fascination with David Foster Wallace borders on the obsessive, so imagine my delight when a new DFW interview surfaced! I was interested to see he shares my view that factory farming is one of the “great unspoken horrors” of modern America. Smart people agreeing with you, what more can you ask on a tired Friday morning?

That’s all there is, lectores. See you Monday. Have a great weekend!

I’m excited. Lots of really great stuff to show you this morning.

It’s hard to get people to click on links. I know; I’m picky about the links I click, too. Your time is valuable, and I completely get that. At the same time, I feel like a little kid hopping up and down because he just found a buttload of pirate treasure and he’s like omg it’s pirate treasure and you’re like man, I’ve got a hair stylist appointment in thirty minutes and I’m all but there’s a gold ruby-studded peg leg over here!!!

Anyway. Here’s what we’ve got:

I totally heart this picture because it captures the entire reason I love books so much, and hence the entire reason I blog.

This guy is drawing a picture of every H.P. Lovecraft monster ever, and he’s really good, too. (Some pictures NSFW.) If you want an example that is safe for work, here’s his amazing rendition of Cthulhu.

A friend sent me this short film called “Validation.” I am a fairly cynical guy, but I found it very touching, especially since so much of the writing and publishing process is tied up in the idea of validation vs. rejection. The film is sixteen minutes long; the whole thing is worth your time, but if you only have a couple of minutes, the beginning alone is good for a click.

Not new, but (most likely) new to you: a great Paris Review interview with Salman Rushdie. He talks about his own ongoing struggles with writing. “Writing’s too hard, it just requires so much of you, and most of the time you feel dumb. I always think you start at the stupid end of the book, and if you’re lucky you finish at the smart end.”

Great article about an author who finally got an agent after months of rejection. Stories like this are everywhere. Skill, luck, and persistence: you need two out of three to get published, and guess which two you control?

Given my recent speculation about Norman Mailer’s scumbaggery, I found this Salon article “When bad people write great books” particularly interesting. Also, it’s just cool that Salon people are taking their article ideas from my blog, which of course is the only possible explanation.

This interactive iPad version of T.S. Eliot’s poem “The Waste Land” sounds totally boss. I’ve read The Waste Land before, but most of it was over my head. A version that explains all his crazy literary references as I’m reading? Yes please. Now all I need is an iPad…

Finally, this isn’t writing-related, but a friend of a friend made this website and it’s too great not to share: Yacht-or-Not.com. It is exactly what you think it is.

That’s all the pirate treasure I have for today. Have a great weekend!

Wow – this is Post #50 already! Time flies when you’re having fun, eh? Any suggestions for Post #100?

Anyway, I’ve got some great stuff for you today, so let’s get started.

First, some advice from the spouse of a writer, on how to Be There for your sweetie when he/she goes through the “Revision Apocalypse.” With fun sketches!

We love lists, right? Here’s a list of the top ten short stories of all time, according to…I don’t know, that blog I guess. I was intrigued to see that I recognized half the authors on the list but had never heard of, much less read, any of the stories. I think that’s an indication of how biased our modern reading culture has become toward novels.

With Big Literary People like Philip Roth proclaiming the death of the novel, I was pleased to find this neat (and accurate) summary of the issue: IsTheBookDead.com

And finally, a hilarious collection of weird stuff customers say in book stores. If you like those, there’s a Part 2 as well. Apparently she’s going to make this a regular feature on her blog.

That’s it, no tengo más. Have a great weekend, everybody!

Woo! So much cool stuff to show you today.

We’ll start with twenty awesome literary tattoos.

Scientific evidence of metaphor’s impact on the brain; lest you ever forget how powerful your words are.

When my book gets published, you’d better believe I’m doing a First Book Happy Dance too.

Looking for inspiration? Try this project for June: 30 Days of Creativity. It’s simple – you do something creative every day for 30 days. Go wild!

This is my new favorite photo.

It seems the Kardashians have “written” a “novel.”

How should you deal with rejection? Simple: be like this guy and keep on trucking. Dick Wimmer’s novel was rejected 162 times before it got published and the New York Times started raving about it.

Here are eight other books that were no stranger to rejection. From the article: “Basically, what I’m trying to say here is that you’re going to get shot down like a one-armed biplane pilot staring down a squadron of F-15E Strike Eagles, and every time you hop back in the cockpit and resolve to succeed or die trying, you’re staring down a phalanx of jackasses who are determined to make sure the end result is the latter.” Epic.

Oh, and Ursula K. Le Guin still has her rejection letter for The Left Hand of Darkness. You can read it too. Think she gets a little chuckle every time she looks at it?

Friends and neighbors, that is all I have. Live long and prosper.

I was going to call this post “Art Linkletter” or something else equally clever (get it? Linkletter? Shakespeare used puns too, you know). But I think that gets sort of confusing, especially for new readers. So I’ll just stick with “Friday Links” for a while.

A lot of good stuff this week. First up is an article on Emily Dickinson’s mysterious “Master” letters. It seems the poet wrote three letters (never sent) to someone she only calls “Master.” Maybe this was someone she knew; maybe it was God. Nobody knows. I think the article’s author gets pretty carried away with his analysis, but if you just read it for the facts, it’s very intriguing.

Next we have a gallery of actual rejected book covers. I think these are cool because they do look like covers you’d see in a book store, but you can usually identify some aspect that makes you think, “Nope, that’s not going to work.” Also a useful reminder that writers aren’t the only ones in the industry dealing with rejection.

Now we come to something that isn’t new, but I only discovered it this week, so it’s new to me. There’s a literary journal called “The Paris Review” that’s done a series of interviews, over the past sixty years, with some of the biggest names in the literary world: Ernest Hemingway, Robert Frost, Harold Bloom. I want to particularly recommend this one with John Steinbeck, which is actually more a collection of his thoughts than a proper interview. Lots of really wonderful material for aspiring authors. And I loved this quote about his own fame: “Little presses write to me for manuscripts and when I write back that I haven’t any, they write to ask if they can print the letter saying I haven’t any.”

Also, this just made me laugh.

Finally, this has absolutely nothing to do with books or writing, but I’d be sad if I didn’t link to it, so here you go. Marcel the Shell. Nope, I have no idea either.

Have a good weekend, everybody!