Happy Friday, everyone! And happy summer, too, since we’ve officially kicked off the season this week. Have you put together some writing goals for the summer? Figured out how to get your pages done despite family vacation time and the lure of long, sunny days? If you haven’t, you might want to take an hour or so this weekend to give it some thought, particularly if you’re going to have kids under foot over the school holidays. (I recommend trips to the library; your kids can choose their books and give them a “test read” while you get some writing done.)

Meanwhile, I offer an assortment of links to entertain you, including some pages geared toward stirring your imagination and inspiring your writers’ brains. Enjoy, and happy writing!

How to Build a New York Times Bestseller (or Maybe Not) – John Scalzi on his most recent release, and why he thinks he hit the bestseller list.

Let’s Talk about Blog Tours – A good discussion of the pros and cons.

Sword Fighting: Not What You Think It Is – An interesting look at accurately describing an activity that frequents novels (primarily fantasy or historical) but has vanished from everyday life.

What to Do with a Bad Review – A look at reviewers’ approaches to diversity in the books they review.

Le Guin’s Hypothesis – Ursula Le Guin on “literary” versus “genre” fiction.

Fantasy Photos – Gorgeous fantasy-themed photographs in memory of the photographer’s mother, who died from brain cancer.