Friday's Interesting Links

Books I Recommend

Note: Trying something new since I'm so slow in writing up book reviews. The books/magazines I list here may show up in a more complete review later, but I want to share the ones I really enjoyed.

ShadowLight by Lynn Viehl - I've already reviewed this, but it still deserves a mention. This wonderful dark fantasy is coming out in October and is worth the trip to get it :).

Hawkspar by Holly Lisle. My life has been complex enough in the past few months that I let this gem slip into my to-be-read pile and get buried. Where I think Holly stretched and grew with Talyn, Hawkspar shows the maturity of that development. It's political, philosophical, sociological, and romantic all mixed into a grand, nail-biting adventure...with ships! Seriously, I started reading and got so sucked in that I came up with excuses to read just a little longer.

A Most Lamentable Comedy by Janet Mullany. I won this book in a blog contest that I joined because I had to know how a romance centered around scoundrels would turn out. The answer is a lovely, funny, poignant Regency romance that is not what you'd expect at all, and yet it just works. I'll be seeking out more of Janet's writing for sure.

Reading

If all the different "punk" genres have gotten confusing, here's a clarification:
http://scifiwire.com/2009/09/guide-to-sci-fi-punks.php

Publishing

Guess I should be focusing on the Urban Fantasy I wrote, eh?
http://www.timholman.net/posts/urban-fantasy-confirmed-undead/

An in-depth look at digital publishing:
http://booksquare.com/how-i-spent-my-summer-vacation/

A look at young adult literature:
http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=blog&id=54897

And a behind the scenes look at the printing press process:
http://www.stevelaube.com/book-manufacturing/

Information on Creative Commons
http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2009/09/13/creative-commons-what-is-it-and-how-can-it-benefit-you/

Explanation of book sales numbers by Noah Lukeman:
Link to his newsletter

Just what is women's literature as opposed to romance novels?
http://www.writing-world.com/romance/craig.shtml

Lucienne Diver's take on the state of publishing:
http://varkat.livejournal.com/117113.html

Promoting/Submitting

Colleen Lindsay breaks down query letter failures:
http://theswivet.blogspot.com/2008/11/why-i-may-have-rejected-your-query.html

A look at what the issues around an author blog are:
http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/2009/09/14/ShouldYouBlogAndIfSoWhatAreBestPractices.aspx

Why you should promote your book:
http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/2009/06/why-you-should-help-sell-your-book.html

A look at how to choose your genre when starting out:
http://www.bigbadbookblog.com/2009/09/10/walk-the-line-seven-guidelines-on-genre-and-market-trends/

Clear breakdown of how to write a great query letter from agent Noah Lukeman
http://www.writeagreatquery.com/

Writing

A good, quick list of making description character focused (highlight to avoid the black background):
http://www.socialpolitan.org/articles/entry/DESCRIPTION-How-To-Filter-Description-Through-Your-Characters

A series of posts about writing for the Harlequin Presents line:
http://www.lynnrayeharris.com/2009/08/28/so-you-want-to-write-for-harlequin-presents/

While I don't believe in the write every day rule, this analysis of writer's block is solid to my experience:
http://www.lilithsaintcrow.com/journal/2007/10/no-such-thing-my-dears/

I believe passive voice has its place, even in fiction writing, but this post makes a good case for why it should be avoided...at least most of the time.
http://www.plottopunctuation.com/blog/show/20

Writing dialogue (note that I think people talk to themselves more than most people admit to, but besides that, solid advice :D).
http://www.socialpolitan.org/articles.php?action=viewarticle&articleID=770

Good breakdown of basic story structure and plot:
http://www.musik-therapie.at/PederHill/Structure&Plot.htm

Three breakable grammar rules, along with why. And yes, I agree with all of them :D.
http://3000messagesblog.com/2009/09/14/three-grammar-rules-that-are-okay-to-break/

This article segues nicely sums up something I told another writer recently. It's important to remember why you write:
http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/2009/09/16/YourFriendsFamilyAreWrong.aspx

Social

How to protect your valuables:
http://lifehacker.com/5357929/top-10-tactics-for-protecting-your-stuff

Science

Apparently they have found the part of the brain that contains the "what if?" ;). Actually I'm kidding, but it's an interesting study still, though would have been more compelling with very young children.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17796-human-brains-better-tooled-up-than-monkeys.html