Good Writer Links

The Read ...

Was deep into Ilona Andrews' second Edge novel Bayou Moon ... where one of the bad guys was lying in wait for the MC ... when I picked up Charlaine Harris' new Harper Connelly mystery, Grave Secret.

Granted the book is long with much more than enough description to convey character, setting, and action than needed (IMHO) ... still the book doesn't deserve to be put back in the to read pile.  The setting stands out from the run-of-the-mill paranormals.  The characters are well defined.  The creatures/inhabitants are not all Celtic fae, werewolves, and vampires -- actually they aren't in the book at all ... though magic  workers abound.  I'll be going back to it ... after I read the four or five other books I just bought.

If you are looking for a good example of how backstory and world building can be done without an info dump, the book is worth picking up.

Web and Other Stuff ...

In the process of setting up some priorities, I decided to make my second post of the week mostly about links.  These are highly selective as to what has interested me most about what I've read.  Either they have helped me with some problem I'm facing ... or they amused me.

So, I'll start out with a NaNoWriMo blog Let the Writers Begin.  This comes from Jennifer Duddy Gill at "From the Mixed-Up Files", a middle-grade writers blog where she tells us the tale of students who are writing novels for NaNo month.  Click the link to see how young the aspiring novelists are.  Maybe there's hope for the publishing world.

Then, for those who often wonder why they blog [like me], Milo James Fowler gives some encouragement in his blog Anniversary for "in medias res".  [While I don't have his publishing record (you have to submit), this blog has helped me clarify my thoughts.]

Then,  there's that idea thing:  What the heck am I going to write about?  Steve Tremp gives us an interesting take on using news items to create a novel for a guest blog on mystery author Pat Stoltey's blog:  My Journey as a Writer.

Back to Promotion of what you write.  One of my favorite sites, 1st Turning Point, has author Michael W. Davis rating promotion venues:  Comparison of Promotion Avenues.   Click to find out what worked best for him.  [I bookmarked this for future reference.  Even though I'm a grump, I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think one of my novel manuscripts might actually get published someday.] 

Then, there are the uncommon agent links.

When I first sort of got serious about writing, I bookmarked a lot of agent websites.  Some of the agents have quit blogging ... or their wisdom has been absorbed in a combined blog.  Still, I thought I'd go back as see what I have looked at since I started my blog roll for my mutterings.

If you are thinking of doing the cross-over thing with romance, the Ellora Caves [publisher] crew offers a "Romance Recipe for Success" on their Redlines and Deadlines blog.

Then, for the heck of it:  Rachel at Dystel and Goderich Literary Management gives all of us a reason to be glad we don't have to commute in New York City in "My Life Would Make a Boring Memoir".

Progress ...

My critiques are caught up.  The critiques given are sitting in folders for me to work on them later.  The problem of having four manuscripts ready for revision.

Have decided to concentrate on revising Dark Solstice yet again.  Only as soon as I made the decision my days went kafluzzie and I haven't gotten back to it.  I've also got the free short story lanquishing in the wings.  We won't talk about the dragging artwork.

Trivia ...

Spent another night ... searching for artists.  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.