Friday's Interesting Links

Life

I normally display the links in the order that I discover them (though once a category is made, I put them in chronological order under that). Why is this relevant? Because I'm breaking that pattern to bump this link to the very top. I don't care whether you are a creative type, a conservative type, a free-thinker, or a true believer. Read this link. Seriously. It doesn't matter what you're conforming to; it matters that you know who you really are. You don't have to be wild to be non-conformist; you don't have to be edgy or out there. To be non-conformist, you need to figure out how you want to live and live that way. It's hard, really. Everything pushes us to conform. Aid organizations want us to conform to their ideals of helping, radicals want us to conform to their ideas of what's wrong, conservatives want us to conform to their ideas of what's right, and so on. And each of these groups, regardless of where they fall on the social spectrum, have members who are being who they are, who they want to be. One friend of mine is breaking with tradition by becoming a gentlewoman farmer. Another is both a slum lord ;), and advocate for those without a roof over their heads. I have religious friends, and friends who do not think any belief system has value. Still more... I could go on. I have friends from all walks of life who have made all sorts of choices. The ones that are happy (which is not the same thing as secure, balanced, or comfortable) are the ones that have chosen to follow their hearts instead of becoming what everyone expects us to be, whatever that expectation may be. Me, I'm still struggling with the whole secure, balanced, and comfortable side, but when I ask myself if I'm happy with the choices I've made? Yeah, I am :).
http://procrastinatingwritersblog.com/2009/07/23/non-conformist/

Reading

This had to be listed if only for the last line of the article. A cautionary tale for people all thrilled about web-enabled ereaders. The fallout from this is still ongoing, no surprise to most of us, so search for more if you're interested.
http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/17/some-e-books-are-more-equal-than-others/

And for those just starting out with ebooks, here's some to tempt you:
http://www.suvudu.com/freelibrary/

Promotion

A solid list of ways to gain name recognition on the web:
http://sixsexysirens.blogspot.com/2009/07/e-publishing-promo-on-web.html

Odd marketing choice here, but it has a long-standing tradition in another form, where the book appears to be co-authored but really the "headline" author barely gave the book a blessing. The difference being that readers know they've been taken in? Not sure about this because I discovered a lot of writers I now love because they "wrote" with MZB.
http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/book-publishers-exploit-stars/3002638.article

I'm including this article not because I've read the book or know the author (not that I wouldn't but that it hasn't crossed my radar yet), but because this is a scary bit of info. I need to pay more attention when I'm in the bookstore next time. I spend most of my time in the spec fic sections where people are blue and green even, but in the general sections, this is one more sign that we haven't grown up as a people. One more reason that recognition of people as people keeps showing up as a theme in my writing :p.
http://justinelarbalestier.com/blog/2009/07/23/aint-that-a-shame/

Writing

Contracts can be confusing and weighty. This article highlights the critical ones to look for:
http://www.genreality.net/must-have-contract-clauses

State of the Nation...of Romance Publishing:
http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2009/07/21/the-state-of-romance-post-rwa-nationals-2009-its-rocky-out-there/

The secret to getting published:
http://writerunboxed.com/2009/07/22/the-secret/

A solid list of things to look at when revising:
http://www.deadlinedames.com/?p=1359

Social

People have laughed at me for reading romances going back as far as when I was 14 or so, but I've held out for the concept of the happy ending...and found it in my own life. However, my relationship had nothing like the barriers depicted here...and this is truth, not fiction:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/devon/8158822.stm

Science

A vision of the future of space flight from those who have actually been there. I can't see much to disagree with here, and I love the footprints to stepping stone progression of the moon.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17488-apollo-astronauts-advocate-trip-to-mars.html?page=1

Most alien landscapes on Earth. Some of these photos are incredible.
http://matadortrips.com/photo-essay-the-most-alien-landscapes-on-earth/