► Perhaps like me, you've seen this type of advice/encouragement before, in which we are reminded how often even the most successful writers get rejected. I don't get tired of hearing it.
►Every industry has its niche jobs of course, but international literary scouts? Who knew. Interesting, though less glamorous than it sounds.
► It's that time of year for lists: 50 great literature blogs.
► J. Robert Lennon, in the LA Times, takes a tongue-in-cheek look at how much of a writer's time is truly spent, you know, writing. Ann Patchett adopts a more serious tone in this Washington Post piece, and resolves to write more in 2010 by making one significant but often overlooked change: spending more time actually writing. Huh.
► An agent laments the "damage" Stephanie Meyer has done with her story behind how she wrote/sold Twilight, you know the one that goes, gee-I-didn't-really-plan-to-write-a-book, golly-it-just-came-to-me-in-a-dream-and-I-wrote-it-down, gosh- I-didn't-really-think-about-what-I-was-doing, yup-I-only-sent-it-to-one-agent, gee-whiz-aren't-I-lucky.
► The more realistic among us will probably get more useful advice from the group blog What Women Write, where six aspiring and soon-to-be-published authors tell the real story.
►Think you've seen some awful book titles? Think again.
►Yes, Virginia, you can sync up your Facebook and Twitter updates, and set up the equivalent of Google alerts on Twitter. Check the Twicks of the Twade.
► Interesting article on Lorrie Moore over at the Chicago Tribune.
►This kid makes me think back to how I spent my free time while in college.
► And finally, every December on the last page, instead of the Lives column, the New York Times Sunday Magazine runs an illustrated list of selected patents granted during the year. On this year's gloriously assorted compilation are the hopeful-sounding "patient friendly stethoscope," the useful-to-some "visor with hair" (hey, baldies have rights too), and the probably useful-to-all "functional shoe." But what I like best are the more dubious items – such as "a method for making partially popped popcorn," the "combination handbag and towel," and especially the "human shaped toilet stationery organizer."
Have a great weekend.
2 comments:
Hi lisa, I love your blog. It is a present to me every time I open it up. Your short essays are a pleasure to read over breakfast. But what I appreciate most is what comes out of your fridge on Fridays. My "Favorites" is full of links to which you have led me. I am not writing nearly as much as I would like these days, and you provide a much needed connection to that world. Happy holidays, Mary
Hah, that Daniel Lippman. I almost got kicked of my house at Michigan when my roommates found that I had edited the local paper (affectionately known as The Ann Arbor Snooze) in red before they got a chance to read it. I should have done what Daniel's doing.
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