Posts since 3-26-2011

I fell a bit behind in the crossposting, so here's what you might have missed out on.

5 Interesting Links for 4-15-2011

Life

A sideways look at education that reflects the students’ skills and needs rather than a rubber stamp plan: Read the rest of this entry »

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Shotgun Bride by B.J. Daniels

I received this romance through the Tell Harlequin program where Harlequin sends out examples of their different lines to get feedback from readers. If I’d had my choice, I wouldn’t have taken this one because it is an Intrigue, the one line of Harlequins I tend not to appreciate because relationships formed under extreme pressure don’t feel like they have a chance of surviving past the last page. I am delighted that Tell Harlequin made me re-examine my thoughts about this line while introducing me to an extremely talented author.

Is Shotgun Bride an Intrigue? Absolutely. There’s a link to the criminal underground, there are secrets held that threaten to break families apart, there’s even a kidnapping and big rescue. All of these elements are standard thriller fare and need to be there for the novel to qualify in this line. However, they also connect into the story, layer upon layer woven together with the skills of a master despite the short number of pages, only 212. Read the rest of this entry »

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Interesting Links for 4-8-2011

Publishing

A tongue in cheek but completely accurate flowchart for getting published with a work of fiction:
http://www.katehart.net/2011/03/how-to-get-published-flowchart.html

Research

Juliette Wade pointed me to a YouTube channel of snippets of vanishing languages, something sure to offer those building a society around language some good ideas: Read the rest of this entry »

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More Fun with Art

I had a spare moment the other day and sketched a simple picture on my phone.

Then I used a different program on my computer to play with coloring it in.

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Interesting Links for 4-1-2011

Online Reads

Another fun story from Daily Science Fiction. L is for Luminous by Tim Pratt, Jenn Reese, Heather Shaw, and Greg van Eekhout is part of a series of alphabet stories. It’s short, funny, and poignant at the same time.
http://dailysciencefiction.com/story/tim-pratt-jenn-reese-heather-shaw-greg-van-eekhout/l-is-for-luminous

Publishing

A look at the current big events in the traditional vs. self-publishing debate that offers a decent analysis of the variety of things happening: Read the rest of this entry »

The Shadow Conspiracy II edited by Phyllis Irene Radford and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

The Shadow Conspiracy II edited by Phyllis Irene Radford and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff caught my eye in the LibraryThing Early Reader program because I’d met both the editors at BayCon (and had, in fact, heard both of them read). Between that and the steampunk theme, I couldn’t turn down the opportunity, and I am glad I didn’t.

This is a wonderful collection of eleven steampunk short stories by the following authors: Amy Sterling Casil, Judith Tarr, Irene Radford, Brenda Clough, Sue Lange, C.L. Anderson, Katharine Eliska Kimbriel, Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff, Nancy Jane Moore, Pati Nagle, and Chris Dolley. It contains both stories set in the more traditional arena of Europe, and ones occurring in the New World and even Africa. The characters range from society darlings, to pirates, and even on to missionaries and newspaper men. The main characters are just as likely to be male as female as well (despite the inclusion of only one male author), offering rather different perspectives on the stories and environments. The stories themselves range from psychological/philosophical pieces to adventures and mysteries.
Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for 3-4-2011

This week has a lot more entertainment than usual, though there are a few writing posts as well. Take a break, enjoy what’s below, and then maybe learn something too.

Just for Fun

Talking with my family about a TV show called Dweebs, we tried to remember the difference between a geek, nerd, or dweeb. Found this Venn diagram that explains it all:

http://laughingsquid.com/nerd-venn-diagram-geek-dork-or-dweeb/

Clearly my extracurricular Internet reading has been focused on taking breaks this week, but here’s hilarious milk commercial: Read the rest of this entry »

A catchup post

Life got a bit interesting, but I hadn't realized how far behind I'd fallen in my crossover posts. While I'm seeking a better mechanism, here's what you've missed if you don't follow my main blog on http://margaretfisk.mmfcf.com/blog/:

Interesting Links for 01-14-2010
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Online Reads

This poignant story, Flower Fairies, will only be available free until the end of the week, but Kristine Kathryn Rusch is offering a fiction story for our enjoyment on her blog every Monday, with the post staying complete for one week. Click the Free Fiction Monday tag to find the latest story:
http://kriswrites.com/2011/01/10/free-fiction-monday-flower-fairies/
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The Deconstruction of Iron Man 2
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I am in the middle of reading George R.R. Martin’s A Clash of Kings, and so though I’ve read almost a normal book’s worth, I’m nowhere near done. Therefore, I thought I’d let you in on a book-related project I’ve been working on.

While my book reviews focus on my reader reactions, I often toss in a writing observation or two if I see one. Additionally, I’ve been teaching writing classes both on Forward Motion and the Muse Online Writers Conference for a while now.

Because of this, I was invited to participate in the Deconstruction Seminars, a new offering on SavvyAuthors.com. I will be deconstructing the novel Iron Man 2 by Alexander Irvine, a book I reviewed on my blog here.
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Interesting Links for 01-21-2011
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Just for Fun

This is a under 5 minute video about a boy’s imagination and where it takes him on a rainy day. Lovely little break pointed out by Lynn Viehl:
http://vimeo.com/5442611
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Thinking About Author Branding
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I was commenting on a friend’s blog post about author branding (linked below), and it got me thinking. I thought I’d share some of my thoughts with you all and see what you think as readers and writers.

Since the Internet opened ways for authors to have more control of, and responsibility for, marketing their books, writers at all stages have been told to develop a brand, something that would be tied to their books in readers’ minds.

On the surface, this makes a lot of sense because you want your name or titles to come to mind whenever a particular concept is mentioned. This is what advertising attempts to do with other types of products, which has proven successful. Marketing journals often talk about how what matters is name recognition, which is why good and bad attention serves a purpose. When someone is scanning the shelves, they’re more likely to pick up the book with an author they have heard of, even if they don’t remember where or when that connection was made...
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To keep this post from getting way too long, I'll just add that there are more interesting links and a review of A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin waiting for you as well. Come on over and enjoy: http://margaretfisk.mmfcf.com/blog/

Interesting Links for 12-07-2011

This week has been a good one for discoveries, and so I bring you a broad range of areas, including a beautiful short story. I hope you enjoy them.

Anthropology

A glimpse into the death practices of an ancient city:

http://heritage-key.com/blogs/owenjarus/ancient-city-petra-tombs-reveal-61-burials-and-islamic-gold-medallion

Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for New Year’s Eve (12-31-2010)

Happy New Year’s Eve. Hope you all have wonderful plans and will have fun. Me, I’m hanging out and relaxing after enjoying a holiday trip. Everything’s pretty slow and mellow here, the reason these links are up in the late afternoon, but for those looking for something interesting to read, please enjoy.

Just for Fun

A visual delight of time-lapsed photography set to music:

http://vimeo.com/16369165
Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for 12-17-2010

Just for Fun

When I was a kid, my grandmother would take me in to New York City to look at the window displays, but they had nothing like this back then. Enjoy a YouTube video of Saks Fifth Avenue’s Snowflake and Bubble 3D holiday light show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_9AYqhaw64

Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for 12-10-2010

Editing

Weronika Janczuk offers some suggestions for how to turn familiar text into unique text so the errors stand out. I am boggled by the idea of posting something on the wall (of course I can’t reach any of my walls because of furniture), but most of her techniques are similar to what I already do except for the conversion to PDF, something I’m going to adopt.

http://www.weronikajanczuk.com/2010/12/tips-for-quick-self-editing.html

Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for 11-26-2010

Posting these a little late ’cause I’m moving slow after a fun Thanksgiving celebration. I hope each of you, whether in the US so with Turkey Day or not, had a grand Thursday.

Research

Before there was the Swiss Army Knife, there was the Roman Gourmet Utensil:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1247230/The-Roman-Army-Knife-Or-ingenuity-Swiss-beaten-1-800-years.html

Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for 11-19-2010 and 11-12-2010

Sorry for the missing week. The flu has caught me in its grip, but now you get two weeks for one.

Interesting Links for 11-19-2010

History
Renaissance Rome comes to life in the video game Assassin’s Creed through the assistance of historical scholars. Intriguing enough to make me consider whether I want to try the game.

http://www.livescience.com/culture/assassins-creed-virtual-rome-renaissance-scholar-101112.html

Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for 11-12-2010

This week has been a little crazy what with our first snow, throwing my back out, and becoming a walking, talking advertisement for Nyquil, not to mention the ups and downs of this year’s NaNo, but like the Post Office, the interesting links must go out . I found a nice range of things for you this week. Enjoy.

Anthropology
While not all Eastern or Western cultures fall into these categories, this visual representation of how the same concept can be completely different between cultures is wonderful:

http://mountainrunner.us/2008/01/differences_between_eastern_an.html

Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting links for 11-05-2010

Promoting

Some solid tips on the difference between traditional and social marketing so that your efforts to promote aren’t received the wrong way:

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/two-ways-to-transform-your-book-marketing/

Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for 10-29-2010

Life

It’s always nice to see signs that what I love has earned a place in popular culture, but this is one step further:

http://www.sfwa.org/2010/10/star-trek-cited-by-texas-supreme-court/

Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for 10-01-2010

Is it just me, or is the year flying by? This week is mainly focused on the writing side. Maybe it’s a sign, or more likely that I had very little time to search things out, and coincidentally, I’m knee deep in a massive edit.

Editing

Here is a nice list of four common problems manuscripts have, along with examples and resources to explore them in more depth:
http://joanyedwards.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/look-for-four-writing-errors-when-you-revise/
Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for 9-17-2010

Here is the first installment of my newly focused blog posts. Below, you’ll find links, links, and more links, each with a little explanation and/or commentary as it suits my mood. I hope you’ll see something interesting, and would love to hear back from you if you’re so inclined. Heck, you could even offer up a favorite link of your own, but be warned that I might prod you for a website review at Vision: A Resource for Writers (http://visionforwriters.com/) if it looks like it has potential.

Publishing

The steps necessary before a book gets accepted by a publishing house:

http://www.stevelaube.com/book-contract-or-rejection-who-decides/

Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for 9-10-2010

Note: I’m moving the mini reviews to Wednesdays in a grand effort to focus my blog posts. I’ll post full reviews there too as they come available.

Writing

I couldn’t have asked for a better follow up to my posting of Karen McGrath’s stages of editing on Monday if I’d contracted one. A view from the other side of the revision letter:

http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/2010/09/more-on-revision-letters.html

Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for 9-3-2010

What I Am Reading

I finished Infamous by Suzanne Brockmann. She manages to bring everything together in the thriller plot, paranormal plot, and romance plot for a satisfying and fun read.

I’m reading On the Edge by Ilona Andrews, another wonderful urban fantasy offering from this writing husband and wife team. This one focuses a little more on the romantic aspects than the early ones in the Magic series, but at the same time, it’s not the sum total of the book. There are many levels to the story, all of which I’m enjoying.

Grammar

A good list of many (but not all) the times it is appropriate to use commas, with a focus on the problem of comma overuse:

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/commas.htm

Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for 08-20-2010

This week vanished too quickly, and I’ve had little time for research or reading on line. What this means is that the links are incredibly spare, but that also gives you the opportunity to read all of them rather than having to choose based on your own limited time.

What I Am Reading

I have finished Elizabeth Bear’s All the Windwracked Stars, and not surprisingly, I’m happy to discover there’s more in the series. That’s not to say she didn’t manage to pull this one off, because she absolutely did, but there’s more to be told in this world, and this place and time. I find it amazing to end the book with the feeling of more to come when it starts at the end of the world. Her talents as a storyteller continue to delight me.

Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for 08-13-2010

Welcome to Friday the 13th. Hope you’re all having a magical, rather than mundane, day.

What I Am Reading

Nearing the end of Elizabeth Bear’s All the Windwracked Stars, and so far it’s holding up well. I’m interested in seeing how she’s going to pull this all together in the end.

Just finished Public Affair, Secretly Expecting by Heidi Rice (part of a Harlequin reader reaction program I’m in). This one is from one of their “hotter” lines, which clearly plays a big part in the story, but at the same time, there’s a surprising complexity in the history of both main characters, affecting how Juno and Mac interact, and driving their interpretation of circumstances. I enjoyed this story a lot.

Life

Not sure where to place this one, but I wanted to share. It has suggestions for writing, for project management, and for a focus on success. Well worth the time to read this analysis of Pixar’s process:

http://www.copyblogger.com/pixar/

Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for 8-6-2010

Sorry folks. Forgot to crosspost this for those of you who link to me on blogger.
What I Am ReadingElizabeth Bear’s All the Windwracked Stars is proving to be a complex and rather fascinating read.

A Stroke of Dumb Luck By Shiloh Walker, on Tor.com, is a fun urban fantasy story that does an excellent job of establishing the world all the while maintaining tension:

http://www.tor.com/stories/2010/07/a-stroke-of-dumb-luck.

Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for 7-30-2010

What I Am Reading

I finished Demon Hunts by C.E. Murphy this week. It was everything I’ve come to expect of her writing and more. I’ll try to get my comments up next week.

I also finished the Irlen book. A lot to think about, but nothing that changed my mind about going forward with the lenses. If just having my monitor tinged green has helped my focus and online reading, how much more will having that ability all the time?

This has not been a heavy reading period for me because I’m writing a complex computer program that tends to grab what concentration I have, but I don’t last long without reading something .

Publishing

Tips on how to study the market for a manuscript:

http://chipmacgregor.typepad.com/main/2010/07/how-to-study-the-market.html

Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for 7-23-2010

Not as many links as I’d hoped to offer, but once again, I’m on the road (and this time not fast enough to post ahead of time. Still, there should be something of interest for pretty much everyone in the mix I’ve included. Enjoy.

What I Am Reading

While I’m still reading the Irlen book, I’ve also started Demon Hunts by C.E. Murphy. Not surprisingly, I’m enjoying this continuation of the Walker Papers, but what she’s done with this one is fascinating, because it offers old readers something new while grounding new readers in the world.

I also just finished listening to Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan, which I started listening to in Audio Book for all the way back in December of 2009. I don’t have much opportunity to listen to longer works because when I’m on a long drive, it is generally with someone else in the car who wouldn’t appreciate coming in on the middle of the book. On the other hand, it says a lot about the book that I was able to pick up right where I’d stopped with no loss of place or story.

Read the rest of this entry »