No great words of wisdom this week. For those who celebrate, we’re at the end of Holy Week, today being Good Friday and Sunday being Easter. So here is a nice assortment of links for anyone who feels like checking them out. Whatever your beliefs, I wish you a wonderful weekend and a bit of whatever makes you smile, whether that’s writing time, a good book, family celebrations, or a bit of everything. Enjoy!
A Brief Literary History of Robots – Mostly because I couldn’t resist the first image, but also for the fun reading list.
George Saunders: What Writers Really Do When They Write – One writer’s take on process.
Don’t Be a Dick: Colum McCann’s Advice for Young Writers – Some great tips, delivered with humor.
Julie Ann Walker: “I’m a Feminist and I Write Romance” – A smart look at why these two things are not mutually exclusive.
NPR on Tumblr – Some great vintage images shared in honor of National Library Week.
Salinger’s Nightmare – An unemployed actor’s attempt to acquire permission to adapt The Catcher in the Rye.
Kurt Vonnegut’s Greatest Writing Advice – Tips that still shine, ten years after the author’s death.
I wrote fiction filled with historical and contemporary feminism and, respectfully, find the article by Julie Ann Walker to miss the point. Feminism is about access to Equality. As long as women have equal access to romance, to love and to be in love then Feminism exists. Just my take.
Well, I think that’s an oversimplification of romance novels, and of the biases the genre faces. Equality — and feminism — is about far more than having the right to love the person you want to love, and the women in romance fiction are far more complicated than the question of their happily ever after. Which was kind of Walker’s point.