Rabia Gale

alchemical fantasy

linktopia

linkatopia

This is the SF&F writer edition, apparently:

Author Jay Lake on staying the course.

Agent Kristin Nelson’s assistant, Sara Megibow, is now acquiring books. What caught my eyes was this:

Science Fiction and Fantasy = This is probably my all time favorite genre. For me, it is important to create a vivid, intense world that is incorporated seamlessly into an engaging story with complex characters. No big deal, right? Here are some recent reads which I feel capture these qualities: OLD MAN’S WAR by John Scalzi, THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA by Scott Lynch and HIS MAJESTY’S DRAGON by Naomi Novik. I also love everything written by Robin McKinley and Carol Berg.

Best Colleges Online list of the Top 100 Creative Writing Sites (via Maternal Spark)

Recently discovered blogs: Science Fiction & Fantasy Novelists (am I learning from the pros or Internet stalking? you decide) and Fantasy Debut (found while doing some market analysis).

linkatopia

Agent Nephele Tempest discusses simultaneous vs. multiple submissions.

Changes in publishing? This Time article speculates.

My friend Cat (who is a writer and musician), has started a series on her blog about The Life Artistic. I love her idea about every artist creating a toolbox:

Fill that toolbox, even if it’s with things you think you’ll never use, because an artist can learn something from everyone and everything. And, without a strong foundation to stand on, an artist can’t make informed choices, and without informed choices, we’re always at the mercy of others’ taste and experiences.

Finally, a porridge that might actually go over well in our house: Cocoa-Peanut Porridge.

And, lastly, my friend Emily made this lovely double-pointed needle case. Functional and beautiful. I love the colors. It almost makes me want to haul out my sewing machine and (re)learn how to use it. (But I know my limitations, so I won’t).

Actually, one more link, for laughs: Churches or prisons? Take a look at these architectural monstrosities and decide.

linkatopia

I’m going to try something new here on this blog. Once a week or so (I refuse to commit myself to just “once a week” because we all know what the road to hell is paved with), I’m going to put up a bunch of links to posts that amuse, delight, annoy, or make me think. Many will relate to writing, but not all. If anything I link to makes you feel like you didn’t actually waste your time/lose brain cells by reading it, let me know. I am delighted to help you procrastinate from whatever it is you ought to be doing.

QueryTracker, which I’m itching to use the next time I start querying agents in earnest, has a blog.

Author Cory Doctrow gives a few tips on how to squeeze in 20 minutes of writing time, in spite of the temptations of websites, chat, forums and other forms of Internet-related distractions. Oh, and despite kids, too, but take that with a grain of salt. It is far easier to ignore the chime of IM than the ear-splitting wails of a two-year-old. Hat tip: Jo.

Paperback Writer shares how to use a word cloud generator to come up with titles. I am so using that method the next time a story refuses to be named.

Author JA Konrath once again explains that you should not pay to be published. And follows that up with some pithy FREE advice.

Agent Kristin Nelson asks why the many readers of fantasy children’s literature don’t go on to read fantasy as adults. Some interesting speculation in the comments. I was an avid fantasy-reading child who went on to become an avid fantasy-reading adult, so I don’t have a personal “why I left the genre” story to share. I’ll take a stab at it, though. i think a lot of kids read fantasy because it gives them a sense of purpose and control. Childhood seems very long and it isn’t fun, at the age of ten or twelve or whatever, to look forward to X more years of school assignments. As a child I was often frustrated by the lack of purpose in my life and my lack of control over it. In fantasy, kids can and do take on adult responsibilities; they take risks and have opportunities to be heroes, to change things. Once we’re adults and sinking or swimming on our own, we have less need to turn to fantasy for a sense of empowerment.

And that’s my two cents. Agree or disagree?

Anything interesting/funny/whatever that you’ve seen floating around online that you’d like to share?