poetry

Friday Links: The Ups and Downs of Publishing Culture

Nephele Tempest

Publishing appears to be in the middle of a cultural revolution. It makes sense. As goes the world, so go the books it produces. The Romance Writers of America are in the midst of a clash between the old, stodgy, racist past, and what we hope will be a bright, brilliant, diverse future. The fact is, there’s room for everyone at the table.

In light of all the strife going on–not just in publishing circles–I’m offering up links that highlight a variety of reading material, and the varied people producing them. I hope they inspire you to try something new, and to be accepting of other people’s culture and history. Part of what I love about what I do is how different my job can be every single day. That’s the beauty of books; there’s always something fresh to discover.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend. Happy writing!

This Week’s Links:

WTF, RWA. – Another great history of the events surrounding the Courtney Milan banning and the insanity at Romance Writers of America.

Has African Migration to the U.S. Led to a Literary Renaissance? – A wonderful look at some of the African writers now living and working in the U.S.

Ursula K. LeGuin’s Revolutions. – Addressing the author’s work from not just a political perspective, but with an eye on how she envisioned the future.

The Sound and the Story: Exploring the World of Paradise Lost. – Philip Pullman writes about the epic work and how it influenced his own writing.

Most Anticipated: The Great First-Half 2020 Book Preview. – The Millions takes their annual look at the most anticipated titles due out in the first half of the year. A hugely diverse assortment.

10 Collections from Latinx Poets You Might Have Missed in 2019. – I’m always on the lookout for new poetry because poems fit so easily into my hectic reading schedule and give me a wonderful break. A nice assortment here to check out.

Writing Characters of Different Races and Ethnicities. – A great resource. I probably linked to it previously, but it’s worth another mention.

Book Releases: LGBT YA Books of January-June, 2020. – Pretty much as described. A terrific roundup of upcoming titles.

Friday Links: Some Writing Journeys

Nephele Tempest

This week’s Friday Links include some writing journeys, because there is no single way to become a writer. Every writer follows their own path, and only through writing will you discover what works for you. So I’ve gathered a few essays and interviews with authors who share their particular journeys. I hope they inspire you and encourage you to keep writing, keep experimenting, to find your own road to success.

In addition, I’ve got the usual collection of interesting tidbits I’ve found this week. I hope you find them entertaining and/or intriguing. Have a wonderful weekend, and don’t forget to squeeze in some time for writing journeys of your own. Enjoy!

This Week’s Links:

Podcast with Jasmine Guillory. – Sarah Enni speaks to debut author Jasmine Guillory about her road to writing, and how she ended up writing a romance.

The Bodies of the Girls Who Made Me: Fanfic and the Modern World. – Author Seanan McGuire talks about getting her start through writing fanfic and the role fanfic plays in storytelling, writing, and representation.

Catherine M. Valente: Five Things I Learned Writing Space Opera. – The multi-published author discusses the things she learned writing her latest book.

In the Gap Between Writer and Reader, the Novel Come to Life. – An interesting look at how the reader’s perceptions color their experience of a book.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Remains Rediscovered in Wine Cellar. – The poet’s remains, which had been moved at some point, have been relocated.

An Interview with Jamie Ford, Author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. – The author talks about writing his debut title, and  how it reads a decade later in light of the current political climate.

Your Pocket Guide to 10 Literary Movements. – A fun little reference for anyone looking to fill holes in their literary knowledge or acquire a bit of ammo for trivia night.

Friday Links: Literary Inspiration for All Genres

Nephele Tempest

Happy Friday! This week just flew by and I’m afraid I am a tad light on the links selection today as a result. But I do have a number of good ones so I hope they will suffice to offer up some encouragement and inspiration to you all. Never can tell what will set your imagination twitching.

This weekend is the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, which I am sad not to be attending this year. I love this event and try to go whenever I can, but I’m out of the office the beginning of next week for the Futurescapes Workshop (which I’m very excited about), so I’m taking the weekend to get some things done beforehand. If you’re in the LA area, I highly recommend you swing by the USC campus to check out the book festival. It’s always a fabulous event.

With that, I’m going to move on to this week’s links. You’ll note a bit of an old school, literary bend this week, but I firmly believe that all good writing advice and all good reading applies to any type of writing efforts. Quality work is quality work, and you can always learn from it. I hope you find these interesting, and that whatever your plans for the weekend, you get in some good reading and/or writing time. Enjoy!

Ten Breathtaking Nature Poems – A little poetry in honor of National Poetry Month.

The Time I Spent the Night in Hamlet’s Castle – Author M.L. Rio shares how she won a contest, went to Denmark, and partied like it was 1599.

Charles Bock Recommends… – Tips on how to get back into the writing flow when you sit down at your desk each day.

The Notorious Legends and Dubious Stories of 10 Literary Deaths – Fanciful and odd aspects of the deaths of these famous writers.

David Mamet Teaches Dramatic Writing – Working on a play? Interested in adding dramatic tension to your work? Sign up for Mamet’s online master class.

Secrets of the Slush: An Interview with Editor and Author, Michael Nye – Some advice on how to get your writing to stand apart from the masses.

 

A Poetic Pep Talk

Nephele Tempest

Everyone has an off day. One where the writing won’t come, the words won’t cooperate. One where you can’t even get to your writing because your kid has the measles or your boss slams you with a project that keeps you working overtime all week, and the only thing you truly want to do once you finally get a break is to fall down on your couch with a pint of ice cream and a spoon and something cheesy on TV. And that’s fine. It’s human. Just remember that the writing will be there the day after, and you will get up and go write.

For anyone struggling today, or just in case you want a bit of poetry in honor of National Poetry Month, I’ll leave you with the wondrous Maya Angelou and her words of wisdom.

 

First Times: Ben Lerner on Writing and Publishing His First Book

Nephele Tempest

As part of The Paris Review‘s ongoing series of first-time videos — interviews with authors about their first published works — Ben Lerner shares the experience of writing and publishing his first book, which happened to be a volume of poetry. Lerner writes both poems and fiction, and much of what he says here about knowing work is complete, the release of publication, and the ways in which having a finished book help make you part of a community can be applied to writing in any genre. Enjoy!

Friday Links: Hauntings of All Sorts

Nephele Tempest

Greetings from Surrey, B.C., Canada, where I’m attending the Surrey International Writers’ Conference. For those of you looking to attend an excellent, all-genre conference in the next year or two, I highly recommend this one. Great organizers, programming to meet a wide variety of interests and skill levels, and an excellent faculty-to-writer ratio.

Just because I’ve escaped to cooler climes (it’s actually autumn here!), doesn’t mean I have forgotten about Friday links. I’ve got a nice array this week, and I hope they leave you inspired and excited to read and/or write this weekend. Enjoy!

Get Booked Episode 4: Haunted by Horror – This is a relatively new podcast from the folks at Book Riot, where they recommend books in response to a few questions from readers, in this case with a great Halloween/horror theme.

How I Got Millayed – A lovely look at how the author became intrigued by the poet Edna St. Vincent Millay.

How Libraries Acquire Books – An interesting peek behind the process.

Margaret Atwood on Vampires, Gene-Splicing, and Talking Turnips – Because my going to Canada calls for an appropriately Canadian author link.

Stacy Schiff: By the Book – The author (most recently of The Witches, about the Salem witch trials) talks books, writers, and influences.

Friday Links

Nephele Tempest

This has been the sort of jam-packed week where I actually had to do a double take to make sure it was really Friday. But rest assured, I am here with links to get your weekend started in style. I hope you’ve got a little bit of time set aside to write, or at least for a good book. Personally, I’ve got a huge backlog of work reading, so I’m afraid books-with-covers need to wait a bit, which is especially difficult this time of year when there seem to be so many fun new things hitting bookstores.

But you are here for links, so without further ado, I give you this week’s selection. I hope they inspire and entertain you. Enjoy!

Giving Voice – An interview with Jacqueline Woodson, who has been named the new Young People’s Poet Laureate.

C.S. Lewis on Why We Read – Some great thoughts on the effects that books have on us.

How to Analyze Your Bad Writing Habits–and Break Free from Them – Good advice from author and editor Lexa Hillyer.

Judy Blume on Writing, Twitter, and Vaginas – Yes, really. A fun interview with Jami Attenberg.

Haunting Houses: An Interview with Angela Flournoy – A intriguing discussion about her book, THE TURNER HOUSE, and the roles of place and history in the story.

A Happy Birthday to the Bard

Nephele Tempest

We observe William Shakespeare’s birthday today, April 23rd, and since I’m only a couple of weeks back from merry old England, I feel the need to get into the spirit. So, for your listening pleasure, I offer up this video on how Shakespeare’s works would sound in the original pronunciation. I believe I posted this before, but it’s been quite a while and bears repeating. Enjoy!

Friday Links

Nephele Tempest

TGIF!! I hope you had a great week and that your plans for the weekend are even better. For those of you who haven’t heard, there’s a “Make Time to Read” Readathon taking place tomorrow, January 24th, in an effort to raise money for various educational programs through the National Book Foundation, encouraging children to read. People have been setting up to fundraise as individuals or teams for the past several weeks, but you can also make a straight-up donation if you wish, and of course all participants are welcome to read from noon to 4pm tomorrow for the official Readathon. It’s a wonderful cause, so please consider donating a few dollars if you can.

Now on to Friday Links! I’ve got a nice assortment this week, so I hope they inspire you to do a little reading and writing of your own. Enjoy!

Words You Didn’t Realize Come from Books – A fun collection of words and their literary origins.

How to Create a Killer Opening for Your Science Fiction Short Story – If you look carefully, you’ll see you can apply much of this to other types of stories as well.

The Bestselling Books of 2014 – By the numbers. Curious as to how many copies some of the most popular books have moved? This rundown will give you some perspective on the industry.

Cleaning the Dust from the Window – An interesting look at the history of poetry in Russia.

What Makes Jo Walton So Great? – In honor of the release of Walton’s latest book, a compilation of her reviews/literary musings from Tor.com, editor Patrick Nielsen Hayden discusses Walton and her approach to discussing books. A really great analysis of what makes for an intriguing, open ended literary conversation.

10 New Science Fiction and Fantasy Books to Read – A good assortment of stand-alone works that won’t hook you into yet another series.