Random Linky Links

Helen Keller describes the view from the Empire State Building. Damn did that woman have a way with words. Deaf and blind she described a view that was picturesque and poetic. Just because she was deaf and blind didn’t mean she couldn’t see and hear.

For anybody who loves Tarot cards, either reading them or simply collecting them, there is an awesome Kickstarter campaign going for an Urban Tarot Deck. The pieces that are already done are simply gorgeous and I would love to see this come to fruition.

Seanan McGuire has an awesome post up about why inclusiveness in fiction is so important. And she gives some really great book recs. Now my To Buy list has grown even longer.

And going along with the theme of inclusive fiction, Elizabeth Bear’s new book, Range of Ghosts, is John Scalzi’s The Big Idea. Range of Ghosts is an epic fantasy set in an Asian landscape rather than the more popular European one. Another book added to my To Buy list.

Jim C. Hines has an excellent post on dealing with online haters.

And another book to add to my To Buy list is Stacia Kane’s newest Downside book Sacrificial Magic. Oy, my budget for the month is going to be shot at this rate.

 

Also, I find it amusing that the very first related article that WordPress recommends is my own post about Seanan McGuire being harrassed for Discount Armageddon being released early. That book, BTW, was AWESOME! I can’t wait for the next in the series.

Link Souffle

Why am I calling it a link souffle? I have no idea. It’s just what popped into my head as I was typing the header.

First off, I really need to step away from ancestry.com. My best friend has an account and she’s letting me build my family tree on it. I’ve literally spent the last three days doing nothing but building my family tree. Or trying to at least. I can get just about every line OUT of the United States, but as soon as I’m across the pond all of the trails turn to dead ends. It’s very frustrating. Especially since my best friend has gotten her husband’s lineage all the way into the 300’s. Back to the Roman legions stationed in Britain. I am jealous.

The first thing on my list of links comes from Ilona Andrews. She’s posted the first chapter of Gunmetal Magic (Andrea’s story) up on her blog. It’s in two parts, so make sure you click both links.

Jim C. Hines has an excellent post up about Amazon and their E-book Pricing. It’s a good reminder that Amazon is not looking out for authors, they’re looking out for Amazon.

J.K. Rowling has signed a deal with Little Brown for her adult novel. As much as I love Jo and the Potter-verse, I’m going to reserve my squeeing over this until I actually read the book. Just because she wrote one of the best children’s/YA series I’ve ever read doesn’t mean she’ll be able to make the leap to adult.

Chuck Wendig has another 25 Things list up. This one is for the “aspiring” writer.  His words aren’t just for the so-called aspiring writer, though. Go forth and read him. Warning: Do not read his blog while drinking any sort of liquid unless you are okay with needing to buy a new keyboard.

Also, I would just like to note that I started writing this post at 5PM on Sunday and it is still light outside. I love this time of year.

And don’t forget to enter here for a chance to receive a copy of Seanan McGuire’s Discount Armageddon!

Link Stew

I have a new story (yes, yet another new story) eating my brain, so today’s post is just going to be a bunch of links to other people’s intelligent babblings.

Jim C. Hines talks about how being a Black Belt and Writing are similar. I’ve been seriously considering taking up some form of martial arts, so this was a very interesting post for me.

Over at Black Ink, White Paper Eden Baylee talks about Rude Behaviour on Twitter. Social media can be a new and confusing place for a lot of people. It would be so much better for everyone if people just followed her simple suggestions.

This story from the Atlantic Wire about An Unpublished Novelist’s Week as Fake Cormac McCarthy is a perfect example of what not to do on Twitter.

Yesterday, Ilona Andrews talked about Inspiration and her trick for becoming unstuck from writer’s block. It’s actually a suggestion I’ve never seen before, so next time I run into a wall, I may just employ this technique.

Kameron Hurley talks about Self-Sabotage:

Failure is always easier than success. It’s easy to say that you failed because of some external thing. It’s harder to get up, dust yourself off, and say, “Next time, I’ll do better.”

Amen, sister. Amen.

And, as usual, Mr. Chuck Wendig has several fabulous posts up. The first is last week’s post about 25 Things Writers Should Know About Agents.  This week he talks about 25 Things You Should Know About Story Structure.

Jim C Hines Strikes A Pose

There’s a reason I love Jim and it’s not just because he writes strong, kick-ass female characters who are three-dimensional. Today he posted pictures of himself mimicking the postures from fantasy covers. Head on over to his blog and take a look, but just be warned — if you’re drinking or eating anything while reading his blog, neither he or I will take responsibility if said comestibles end up ruining perfectly good technology.

Thinkerly Thoughts — Shutting Down the Blog

I’ve been going back and forth in my head about whether or not I want to continue with this blog. I know “everyone says” that having a blog is integral to becoming successful as a writer in this age of social media, but I don’t do a very good job of keeping up with it and I think that might be more of a hindrance than a benefit. I’m not a talkative person and I’m finding it very hard to force myself to be talkative online. It goes against my nature. It also rubs up against my perception that nobody really cares what I have to say so why say it. (Please note that this isn’t a plea for sympathy, I’m simply giving all of the reasons why I’m contemplating this.)

I never have anything I want to talk about or that I think people would be interested in me talking about. I lead a very uninteresting life and I’m pretty sure that me talking about my cats, my husband, or the never-ending home remodel we’re engaged in would get boring very fast. I also don’t think people want me waxing on and on and on about my writing (which is very boring as well). I’m at a point in the publishing process where I can’t really talk about what’s going on for fear of alienating the wrong person by saying the wrong thing so I can’t even blog about that.

There are some people who can make their trip to the grocery store sound exciting, I’m not one of them. Yes, I’m a writer and if I put the effort into it I *could* make it exciting, but I’d rather put that effort into my actual writing. Unless I’m making an effort, I’m not somebody who can be flowery and poetic. I’m more prosaic and matter-of-fact in how I approach things.

I wish I could be more like Lilith SaintCrow or Jim C. Hines or John Scalzi or Cat Valente or Chuck Wendig. They all rock their blogs. I can only dream about being that witty and engaging.

I haven’t decided on a course of action yet, but I’ll definitely post about it here once a final decision is made.

*Insert Witty Title Here*

Jim C. Hines has a fabulous re-post up today about Reporting Sexual Harassment in SF/F Circles. I love Jim, he’s a wonderful author and an even more wonderful person. If you haven’t read any of his books, I highly recommend his Princess books. Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Cinderella never kicked this much ass in the Disney cartoons.

Chuck Wendig has a hilarious post up listing 25 Reasons You Won’t Finish That Story. Chuck is absolutely hilarious and I love reading his blogs and tweets. I don’t always agree with him, but when I do, I really really do! Also, somebody has decided that Chuck’s “Wendigisms” deserved to be cataloged. Reading over that list you definitely see how… umm… creative Chuck gets with the English language.

K.B. Wagers posted this stunning video of Elizabeth Gilbert’s TED talk about Nurturing Creativity. It’s about twenty minutes long, but well worth it. My brain is still trying to process everything she said. All I gotta say is that the “notion of fairies following people around, rubbing fairy juice on their projects” is a wee bit kinky and intriguing.

K.B.’s guest post, btw, is the third highest viewed page on this blog. You all apparently like her more than you like me. I see how it is… *pouts*

Okay, enough of that. I’ve finally fallen into the groove of this story and need to get more written. How do I know I’m in the groove? My dreams are getting weirder. And they seem to be full of Neil Gaiman for some reason. Not that I’m complaining about that. Not at all. Neil can come talk to me in my dreams any time he wants.