Blog Archives

Writer Links

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I hope you enjoy the author links I’ve compiled for you this week.  In return, I ask a tiny favor:

See the shiny, new, red RSS feed button in the sidebar?  Click it, use it, tell your friends!  I’ll love you for it.  Now, on to the links…

John Fox does a little amateur research on book piracy at his BookFox blog, while Kelly Morgan discusses the art of sleepwriting, or trying to write when you’re way too tired to being writing.

Joe at The Sharp Angle lets us in on his “Short Story Process from Idea to Submission” while Lydia explains the Number Nine quality of a prosperous writer: Saleability.

Jade Smith offers up a taste of her new short story, “The Arcanum.”   I am particularly intrigued, because Jade echoes one of the writerly dynamics I am exploring in my “Story Behind the Story” series:

I usually know the ending of a story before I begin it. I thought I knew this one, but as it turns out, the story shaped itself beyond my limited expectations. When a tale gets its own voice, that can be a good thing.

I completely agree!  An inestimably good thing.

Finally, author/agent Lucienne Diver presents author Kalayna Price’s advice on “How Not to Write A Book,” author Vicky Dreiling’s advice on “How to Make a Reality Show in Regency England,” and author Diana Orgain’s “Top Five Lessons Learned.”

The Amalgam Poems

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amalgamThe fever of Amalgam’s holy rage
has now become a warm and quilty faith;
the gods who trampled devils on the stage
are now a single, silent, subtle wraith.

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Literary Agents Talk (And I Link 'em!)

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I haven’t posted links to literary agent blogs for a while — in fact, not since I separated them from the author and publisher links — so this will be my first solely agentish link soup!

So, let me introduce my new “literary agent icon,” a detail from Literary Pursuits of a Young Lady by Alexei Harlamov.  The idea was to represent someone who might say, “I would like to read for a living when I grow up.”  On to the links!

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The Amalgam Poems

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amalgamA period of silence stood between
Amalgam’s two most valiantly fought wars.
During those decades, nothing had been seen:
a sea of _____ between two lettered shores.

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Category: Amalgam

Archaic Definition of the Week – Ballicatter

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ballicatter n, usu pl. Variants chronologically arranged: ballicadoes, ballacarda, ballicater, balacadas, batlicaders, belly-carders, ballicatters, ballycatters, belly-catter, batlycadders, ballacarters, ballycater, ballaclauters, ballacaters, ballacatters, ballacader

1 Ice formed by the action in winter of spray and waves along the shore-line, making a fringe or band on the landward side.

2 A narrow band of ice formed in winter in the salt water along the foreshore or ‘landwash’; … ~ ICE; large slabs, chunks and fragments of this ice after break-up.

3 A floating ice-pan.

4 Frozen moisture around the nose and mouth.

Dictionary of Newfoundland English edited by G. M. Story, W. J. Kirwin, and J. D. A. Widdowson.

Editing and Publishing Links – First Independent Edition

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As you may have read last time, I am going to start posting my link soups in three categories: writers, agents, and publishing types.  I know, there’s a lot of overlap, particularly among authors who are also editors or agents.  But, I’m going to try.

And today?  Links from publishers and editors.  Enjoy!

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Writer Links – Naked Souls, Tough Times, and Virtue

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After yesterday’s announcement about writer Mandy Morgan, I thought I would follow up today with some more writer links — partly to catch up on my link souping, and partly to begin dividing up my link soup posts into authors, agents, and editors so that they aren’t so overloaded.

And, introducing my latest thematic icon, specifically for author link soups!  Major points for whoever recognizes the writer without having to cheat.

First up to bat, Jade Smith tells us about her latest published work, “Gallows Tree,” and addresses the odd dynamics of vision and social expectation by asking “Is your soul naked?

Marie Mutsuki Mockett tells us about being a debut novelist in hard economic times.  (Thanks to Editorial Ass for pointing me toward that one.)

In other authorial news: Kelly Morgan receives Lesa’s Bald Face Liar “Creative Writer” Blogger Award, and Lydia Sharp discusses the writerly virtue of “Containment.”

Enjoy!

Mandy Morgan Snags An Agent!

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Last October I stumbled over a writer who had posted a bit of supernatural fiction online with an idea so … neat, I think is the best word … that I just had to tell my readers about her.  The story was Mandy Morgan’s “The Sky Goes Black.”

Mandy then posted a teaser for a young adult novel called Zombie Is An Inflammatory Word (And I Resent That).  Now, I am not a fan of supernatural YA (don’t get me started on Twilight) but Mandy’s concept was so intriguing and funny that I included it in my Christmas link soup posting, and again after the New Year when she added another teaser.

Well, I am happy to announce that Mandy is now being represented by Mary Kole of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency!

And, to be totally honest, I do feel a bit of narcissistic satisfaction that I recognized her talent “back in the day.”

Archaic Definition of the Week – Belly

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BELLY

What the educated call an abdomen, the uneducated a stomach, and the puerile a tummy.

Belly is a good practical word of Anglo-Saxon derivation which is being edged out of use by the over-sensitive.  It is closely related to bellows: their common ancestor being a Saxon word for bag. It

The Wordsworth Dictionary of Obscenity & Taboo by James McDonald.

Category: ADOTW

The Amalgam Poems

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amalgamA savage from the village over there
came to Amalgam in his savage dress.
We stripped him down to nothing in the square:
he then looked native, no more yet no less.

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Category: Amalgam