Book reviews, new books, publishing news, book giveaways, and author interviews

Bookish News and Publishing Tidbits 9 April 2012

book news Bookish News and Publishing Tidbits 9 April 2012

RIASS stuff:

I'm in Argentina right now, but will endeavour to pop in with bookish updates. Until then, it's scheduled posts galore! If you'd like to contribute something while I'm away, drop me a line at readinasinglesitting AT gmail.com

Guest post: Kate Forsyth's list of'Rapunzel'retellings

Guest review:Entwined'by Heather Dixon'(review byJami Zehr)

Guest post:'A blight on the memory of Enid Blyton'by Peta Jo

'Other bookish stuff:

Interview with Thomas Morrissey author of Faustus Resurrectus: I don't really have any 'quirks' or routines I go through when I write, although after reading'The War of Art'by'Steven Pressfield, I'm thinking of how to appease the Muse every day. Maybe offerings of dedication, hard work, focus, and Red Bull would be best. Or chocolate.

How to ask a question (one for those book launch audiences!): This isn't a matter of a deficit in 'critical thinking.' It is a problem of recovering a lost art. Television and radio producers acknowledge this by filtering questions in advance or asking would-be questioners to submit their interrogatories in writing. We lose something important in this filtering. The questions that get asked are the ones moderators pick out to make their own points. We would be better served if people could ask their own coherent and pertinent questions.

The rise of Eastercon: the SF/fantasy convention with community spirit: Its a community, very simply, says agent John Jarrold. I dont think there is any other genre in literature where the fans are given such easy and free access to their favourite authors. Writers will come and stand in the bar, have a drink with their readers. Its wonderful.

The Potential of Paratext in the Criticism of Fantastika'That may sound like fancy academic-speak, but if we want to facilitate critical conversations that engage more readers, present the range of interpretations of works and discourses with more finesse and resonance, and understand the effects we create and produce in the field of literary production, we need to think and imagine towards that reconsideration. Applying popular literary theories or general methods to the study of fantastic literature only reveals some of its facets and leaves out considerations and linkages that can heighten our appreciation of what the literature evokes in our imaginations. We need to bridge the literary and ethnographic spheres, and one approach that might accomplish this goal is to more consciously bring paratexts into the critical conversation.

Ray Allen on his love of books:''It almost seems like time just blinks,'' Allen said. 'Because when you have a great book, that's the first thing you want to do. No matter what's happened in my day, I want to get back to that book.''

A rare Chinese Literary Fiction event not to be missed

Poem of the day podcast

A fish poem from author Caragh OBrien

Win a great Penguin Collection prize

Soup, and the Making of a Novel: I'm Carol Wolf.'Summoning, my first published novel, is about a girl who is one of the wolf kind, who can change form at will. I've been asked half a dozen times this month where the novel came from, and I keep think about making soup. Because it's not made of one thing, of course, but of many things, all cooked up together.

The 100 Outstanding Journalists in the United States in the Last 100 Years

20 Phrases You Can Replace With One Word

A Stephen King and John Mellencamp musical?

The Hipster Games:

pixel Bookish News and Publishing Tidbits 9 April 2012

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