- There should be one more stop coming on the real-life imaginary places tour sometime this week, and I have the aforementioned convo with Kim to post here, but today links. Because time is short.
- I was ecstatic to find The Woken Gods in truly marvelous company on io9's Most Essential SFF of September list yesterday. Yay. And a gentle request to please spread the word if you're reading and enjoying the book: word of mouth is a beautiful thing.
- Quick reminder for local folks that I will be at Morris Book Shop at 6 p.m. on Saturday to read and chat and sign–and I'll be bringing cupcakes. So. Be there! It should be a fun time.
- I absolutely love Paolo's Big Idea essay for Zombie Baseball Beatdown, a book which sounds like it will be as much a blast to read as it was to write. I've mentioned here before that Christopher and I have been writing a book together this summer, and it has been just this kind of invigorating in creative terms. This spring, I was feeling pretty burnt out after finishing The Woken Gods at a fever pitch and entering the time of waiting for it to come out. But circumstances conspired to give us an idea that came at just the right time, with a few months where I (and C) could play around without worrying about imminent deadlines or dropping the ball on something else. It's so easy to lose that sense of play. Now I remember why it's important not to. Collaborating has been a great experience, and it's a little odd now that I've also been working on something new solo again (and soon circus edits!). Anyway. Go read Paolo's essay.
- J.L. Bell on narrative momentum.
- Katherine Langrish on witches in children's literature.
- Charlie Jane Anders has a brief but potent new story in Tin House, "The Skunk," which is odd and funny and a little sad and well worth your time.
- I loved this account by Diane Zahler of her publishing journey. That is commitment.
- A great post you've probably already seen by Madeline Ashby, but pointing to it here in case you missed it. Snippet: "YA is what Clayton Christensen would call a “disruptive innovation,” a product that addresses the needs of a neglected customer segment not being served by the dominant incumbents in power. That some of the fiction isn’t terribly innovative doesn’t matter. What was innovative was treating teens like the serious market demographic that they are: a tightly-connected, actively social group in possession of disposable income who want books about the characters that nervous agents and major publishers won’t touch, like queer characters, non-white characters, and girls." Go read it all.
- Speaking of which, Malinda Lo considers why adults read YA from a slightly different vantage than the usual.
- Drunk History's Dolly Parton segment. I heart Dolly. Forever.