RIASS stuff:
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Book Review: Beach Season by Lisa Jackson et al'Rating: 
Interview: author Karly Lane on why we can't get enough of rural romance
Other bookish stuff:
Why books in Australia cost more:'While we have the land mass of the USA we have, of course, a far smaller population than the USA. Therefore we dont enjoy the economies of scale that arise from shipping books to ten times as many people over the same area. We have a small population for such a big place. If we were shipping 10 000 copies of each book to Perth instead of 1000, economies of scale dictate that wed be paying less for each copy of that book. But were not. (see also this post)
The pleasures of reading, and the long history of resistance to womens literacy'Of all women's reading the novel has been the most controversial. As soon as it started to be read more widely and the reading of poetry went into something of a decline, concerns were expressed in strong language.
Lesser-Known Lit: Seeking Summers Hidden Gems
An interview with Amy Waldman, author of'The Submission: [I would]'think more before I started writing, about voice, style, character and structure. I literally had a window of time, decided to try this idea Id been harbouring for years, and plunged into writing the next day, with no planning. I figured a lot out by writing, which was perhaps essential, but also time consuming and dispiriting. Although perhaps it was good that I didnt over-think it ' I might have chickened out.
Jean Cocteau, The Art of Fiction No. 34'After you have written a thing and you reread it, there is always the temptation to fix it up, to improve it, to remove its poison, blunt its sting. No'a writer prefers, usually, in his work the'resemblances'how it accords with what he has read. His originality'himself'is not'there, of course.
Im a Book Shark: Audio Book Week Narrator Interview with Tavia Gilbert''I admit that I do most of my voice creation on the fly, meaning that I don't prepare my voices before production begins. Because I so often record work in my own studio, I have the luxury of a figuring out during the recording session what works, what feels right, and what will be sustainable and pleasurable over a long number of listening hours.
Letter from Australia'by'Sam Twyford Moore'If you walk into a bookstore in Australia, you will most likely find that the local fiction segregated from the mass of other 'world literature' titles. Australian Literature typically sits on the shelf by itself, isolated in the Pacific region of the roomPeter Carey, probably the most famous of our American-based novelists, at least has the politeness to set part of his post-U.S. novels in America.
Talking with Dave Eggers about A Hologram for the King
Angry Robot Books offering DRM-free, multi-format eBooks to independent booksellers
In praise of Elizabeth Lhuede, Australian Women Writers and The Stella Prize'(see also my article at Australian Women Online)
Year eight student gets Seventeen Magazine to stop photoshopping pictures of girls
72 journalists have been killed so far this year, making it one of the deadliest years ever'Impunity is winning, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression Frank La Rue told journalists.'Sadly, he's right, and if governments around the world don't take immediate and strong action to curb violence against the press, 2012 will be remembered as the deadliest year in media history.
Do Your Characters Sigh Too Much?'In thirty years as an editor, I've found the same words blight and bloat the style of many authors. One of them is 'sigh'.'In real life, people who constantly sigh soon get on our nerves. Few folks enjoy the company of sighers. The same applies to fiction: readers don't like characters who sigh a lot.
And on a similar note (excuse the repetition), a thread on avoiding repetition
So true about the sighing! In real life and in books, people who sigh a lot get on my nerves. When I sigh a lot I get on my nerves! :D
I do the odd angry sigh when Im trying to navigate peak hour traffic, but thats about it!
I think its because sighing is such an easy short-hand for emotionauthors are terrified about telling rather than showing, and a sigh is a quick and easy way of getting a particular feeling across.
And nodding and head-shaking, too. My characters are like bobbleheads before I go and do a find and replace!
I do think sighing can be used effectively, occasionally. Just like bobby of the head, etc. I think any too often used expression to portray an emotion is what is not as effective. But like you said, there is always find and replace!
*nods* I agree. *sigh*