Hangovers Archives - Page 20 of 53

Wednesday Hangovers

1 Comment / Hangovers / By Gwenda / October 22, 2008

Justine has a very good post on writing and money (and how little most writers make). (Speaking of which, you have got your copy of How to Ditch Your Fairy, right? You won’t be sorry!)
Maud experiences Mile High Club Theater on her way back from the UK. She also has a fabulous Q&A with Hannah Tinti about The Good Thief, which I ADORED and will write more about soon. Soon!
Carolyn spots Daniel Handler rejecting realism.
Leila’s been making stuff again. WANT.
Christopher is looking for some recommendations for research reading on a variety of topics for the two awesome novels he’s working on. The best part of this dual noveling? I get to hear little snippets of each more or less every night. Anyways, go help him out, smart people. (Also, see this little piece of acid brilliance on Wal-Mart shopping.)
Blood is cool. (Via Adrienne.)

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Monday Hangovers

Hangovers / By Gwenda / October 6, 2008

Really, I’m flying, but here’s some links from the ground. (BTW, I suspect I’ll have spotty access to e-mail until Wednesday evening, since the hotel is nice and therefore the Wi-Fi ain’t free.)
Steven Millhauser contemplates the perfection of the short story.
The second installment of the Palinomicon revealed. Buy some books from Small Beer and 20 percent of the proceeds will be donated to the Obama campaign.
Kelly Link interviewed at Meeting House: "My editor at Viking, Sharyn November says that the one hard and fast rule for young adult fiction is that the protagonist has to be experiencing something for the first time, that they’re in a liminal or transitional space. The characters may be taking on new responsibilities or making new and interesting mistakes, or they might be caught between two worlds. So there’s a lot of overlap between fantasy and young adult. I once attended an publishers panel where someone asked the editors at the table what you could or couldn’t do in young adult: the editors looked at each other and then one of them said “You can’t be boring. And no bestiality."" Her previous collection, Magic for Beginners, is available for free download for a year. But you have procured Pretty Monsters, right?
Julie Larios has an excellent post for the poets among us.
Matt Cheney interviews Brian Francis Slattery.
Laura Miller’s blogging. Yay.
It’s Cybil’s time — go nominate something! (I was too busy to participate this year, but I’ll be nominating, and hope to be back at it next year. The Cybils are a thing of beauty, a massive undertaking, achieved with grace and fun.)
I want this sweatshirt.

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Tuesday Hangovers

Hangovers / By Gwenda / September 30, 2008

This American Life’s next episode will be "Another Frightening Show About the Economy," which gives me some hope of finally understanding what’s been happening. (Their mortgage crisis show was outstanding.) See also: The Planet Money blog.
Jay Walker’s beautiful library.
Nancy Werlin writes about what makes a good thriller in a 2006 issue of the Horn Book. (Thanks to one of my MFA peeps for this one!)
Read all the round-up posts about last weekend’s second annual kidlit conference and be sad you weren’t there. I certainly was sad to miss it.
Diablo Cody sings Judy Blume’s praises in EW.
Sheep! Blue sheep! So cute! (Via Scalzi.)
Amazing science news: snow on Mars and further evidence that birds are dinosaurs.
Liz Hand reviews Allegra Goodman’s The Other Side of the Island, and makes me want to read it soonest.
Nicola Griffith’s daily rules for living.

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Friday Hangovers

2 Comments / Hangovers / By Gwenda / September 26, 2008

So sorry for the lack of catching up on e-mail. This weekend? Writing, painting, and e-mail. That’s the plan. Except for tonight, which will, of course, be spent with a nice cold glass of wine in front of the debate.
David Anthony Durham gives Christopher Paolini’s latest a thoroughly charming review in the WaPo: "As an adult, I read "Brisingr" with a mixture of admiration for Paolini’s accomplishments and an awareness of the book’s flaws, which prevented me from being fully won over. But that’s hardly a slight. Had I read this novel when I was 13, it would have kept me up straight through the night. For that matter, I might have even stolen a few bits from it for D&D. And that’s a compliment."
Speaking of the WaPo, they highlight a few worthy 2008 summer books that didn’t get selected for review on the Short Stack blog. I’d love to see more book sections (the ones that are left!) do this.
R.I.P. Minx. Don’t miss Cecil‘s Janes in Love, which is sheer fabulousness.
A new book examines the mathematics of Borges’ Library of Babel, and Alberto Manguel writes about it. (Via Jenny D.)
I’m sure everyone has seen this, but it’s likely that Lucy Maud Montgomery committed suicide.
Bennett cracks me up.
All right, back to researching Argus Panoptes. (The Medea’s daughter book is getting close! so close! to being done.)

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Monday Hangovers

Hangovers / By Gwenda / September 22, 2008

I’m busy packet deadlining today, but I promise I’ll catch up on e-mail tomorrow. In the meantime, some little links.
The divine Maureen Johnson has created a Ning community, YA for Obama. See you there.
Colleen offers some further thoughts on book chains and the insanities we’ve come to tolerate, jumping off Greg’s essay from last week.
Paul Collins brings some links on the financial meltdown.
Payseur & Schmidt is having a mailing list only sale, including Nicola’s stellar memoir, And Now We Are Going to Have a Party for a mere $50. Run, don’t walk.
I like this quotation from Collette too: "What a wonderful life I’ve had! I only wish I’d realized it sooner." I’m ever grateful for already realizing it.
Confidential to Stephany Aulenback: Write a parenting book? Or just any kind of book you want? Please? Because I could read these posts all day.
Cintra Wilson revisits goth. I love the bat top hat in the slideshow.
Kassia on The End: "To the best of my knowledge, the sky has been falling since the sky was created. We have been in the Decline of Western Civilization since before the Roman Empire fell. And I know the following to be true: radio will kill books, movies will kill radio, television will kill movies, the Internet will kill television, and the Youth Are Out of Control."

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Tuesday Hangovers

2 Comments / Hangovers / By Gwenda / September 16, 2008

When the starred items threaten to overwhelm, a links post must be done.
So far, I prefer Carolyn’s take on the whole "woe, publishing is screwed" piece. And I’m hoping Kassia will weigh in. (Also from Carolyn over at Jacket Copy, a post on a new Claudette Colbert biography. Want.)
Jeff VanderMeer directs readers to his forthcoming Predator novel and Brian Evenson’s Alien one.
Justine’s on tour in support of her fabulous, witty-as-hell new novel How to Ditch Your Fairy. Go see her. And read the book!
Heidi at Amazon makes Siobhan Dowd’s Bog Child sound wonderful.
Terry Teachout on the announcement that Dana Gioia is leaving the NEA.
Kelley Eskridge posts memorably about Stephen King. Also, don’t miss Kelley’s recent post about vidding, which inspired Karina Melendez to put together an amazing vid for Kelley’s story "Strings." There’s a Youtube link here. More vids about books and stories, please.
I like it when Maud posts about that old-time religion.
Airship ladies at Meghan’s Tumblr.
Small Beer has just published Geoff Ryman’s The King’s Last Song. YAY. And the critics are seeing stars over Kelly’s forthcoming YA collection Pretty Monsters. Extra YAY.

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Tuesday Hangovers

2 Comments / Hangovers / By Gwenda / August 26, 2008

Why are network executives so infuriatingly determined to screw up anything that remotely works or has its own voice? Why? Prompted by this USA Today story about Pushing Daisies’ return: The show’s unabashed quirkiness was, to worried ABC officials, off-putting. When Daisies went back into production in June, some recalibration was in order. "The first part of (this) season was really tough," Fuller says. "They were like, ‘Let’s ground the show a little more; it can’t be a cartoon. We can’t have the show be weird and not get an audience.’ And we were like, ‘We can’t have the show be boring and not get the people back we had last year.’ The challenge to me was to make sure the fundamental DNA of the show didn’t change." (Via Medialoper.)
The multiple ceremony life of many of today’s gay married couples. Such a sweet column.
Lisa Yee has yet another writing computer catastrophe–this has got to be a record!She endures with such aplomb.
Lizzie finally tackles Flowers in the Attic at Fine Lines. I’ve been saving this as a post-packet treat, which means I get to read it now. Yay!
Tod Goldberg on writing tie-ins. Must watch Burn Notice, and then write obnoxious letters to Parade Magazine about it.
A teacher advocates a more thoughtful approach to pairing teens with books teens actually like and get. What a concept. (Via Colleen.)
This picture deserves a story. Or several.
Karen Healey announces the Con Anti-Harrassment Project.
Michael Chabon (yet again) on border-crossing and genre. This q and a, though, is worth a look: When I’m 7 years old and reading Batman and Fantastic Four, I’m reading Greek myths and Norse myths, and I’m finding the mighty Thor in the pages of Marvel Comics, and it’s all just completely connected in my mind. It was all coming from the same place, as far as I was concerned.
F&SF survey about online fiction and the almighty dollar. See also: Matt Ruff on same. And Chris Barzak says don’t miss the current issue of F&SF, cause it’s packed with good stuff.
Cringe is a great title for an anthology with an even greater concept. Erin quotes editor Sarah Brown as saying: "The more dramatic, embarrassing or excruciating the writing, the better. A good test to determine whether or not your material is Cringe-worthy: when you read it to yourself, do you physically cringe? Then for the love of god, it needs to be in this book. Seriously. You are going to be so glad you did this. Cheaper and better than therapy."
The lovely and fabulous Lauren McLaughlin’s new YA Cycler gets Boing’d. I’m really looking forward to this one.
Jules and Kelly’s joint review of Adam Rex’s Frankenstein Takes the Cake makes me resolve that this is the year we finally decorate the house right for Halloween. Also, makes me want to read it. And eat Frankenstein’s cake.
Carolyn on a cool photo concept courtesy of her cousin–neighborhoods redefined as planets. Me like.
I’ve really got to get my hands on Irene Gammel’s new L.M. Montgomery book, Looking for Anne of Green Gables—especially after reading Stephany’s post.
And now I will answer some e-mails. It’s been so long, I’m not sure I remember how.

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Thursday Hangovers

1 Comment / Hangovers / By Gwenda / August 14, 2008

Real posts (and e-mails answered) sometime soon. The Busy Fairy has struck again, and it’s no good when she’s paling around with the Revision Fairy.
Cynthia Leitich Smith talks to A.M. Jenkins and the description of the book she’s working on caught my eye: I’m finishing up a fun, fast-paced, midgrade/YA adventure that I think of as Alexandre Dumas with a manga series sensibility. That sounds FABULOUS.
The second volume of Greg Frost’s acclaimed Shadowbridge series isn’t being stocked in Borders. Purchase elsewhere accordingly. I hear great things, and am very much looking forward to getting around to these. Fitcher’s Brides is one of my all-time favorite novels.
Nicola Griffith on the science of how fiction makes us better people, more or less.
Stephany has the goods on a massive pop-up book collection being donated to the Bowdoin College Library. Aside: I loved the whole "Pop-Up Pin-Ups" bit on the Pushing Daisies episode about the scratch n’ sniff-related murder.
The Millions has a new quiz for its contributors about the first book that really engaged them with reading. The answers are fun reading.
Debate literary fantasy. You know you wanna.

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Wednesday Hangovers

1 Comment / Hangovers / By Gwenda / August 13, 2008

Scientist Diana Beresford-Kroeger’s bioplanning concepts are intriguing.
Ann Hornaday meditates on George Lucas’s flaws as a storyteller.
And the Nietzsche Nihilism Parody Award goes to… (Via Jenny D.)
Speaking of Jenny D, she was recently on the Bat Segundo Show.
Twilight trailer spoof fun.
I remain convinced that The Dark Knight’s political subtext is so muddled and accidental as to be irrelevant, but enjoyed Emily Colette Wilkinson’s thoughts at the Millions anyway.
And the current hand-wringing issue of the week: the aging of Hugo winners (and Nebula winners) over the years. See here, here and here for more.

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Monday Hangovers

Hangovers / By Gwenda / August 11, 2008

Ellen Kushner circulates word that a summer employee at the Horn Book is gathering data on the intersection of fanfic and kidlit. She has a survey up at her LJ and is seeking responses.
Meghan McCarron has a new Tumblr. Set your feeds accordingly.
Over at Discovery News, Jennifer Viegas has an article enticingly titled, "’Dancing Plague’ and Other Odd Afflictions Explained." (Via Jeff Ford.)
Hugo winners announced. Yay, Ted! And everybody else! Rocket ships, whee!
More quotes from John Crowley’s 1975 copybook.
A couple of interesting posts by Sherwood Smith: thoughts about popularity vs. award-winning and what makes a compelling hero.
Benjamin Rosenbaum’s new collection available FREE FREE FREE. And you can buy it too. And you should.

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