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
A visit to one of the most beautiful bookshops in the world
Guest post:'Best BFFs in Young Adult Fiction'by Sarah Billington
Guest post: a few of author Nicola Moriartys favourite things
Book review:'Barry and the Fairies of Miller Street: 1950s suburbia meets the fantastic
Other bookish stuff:
Details about JK Rowlings new book The Casual Vacancy
Interview with Grieg Beck:'When people find out you are an author, you tend to get a lot of suggestions for stories, scenes, characters ' normally, I file them away, but rarely have the time to think too much on them. However, when your young son comes up behind you and taps you on the shoulder and says: 'Dad ' book idea ' giant wolves ' they're like knights or Vikings ' and they're at war'. As he said it, I could see it all!
An interview with Alan Hollinghurst:'I suppose one of the things that appealed to me about the gappy structure of the book was that I could get the reader sharing in the uncertainty or ignorance of the characters themselves' There's so little that we know for sure about the lives of those around us, and so much inevitably exists at the level of hearsay or supposition'particularly in people's private lives. We just don't know what other people get up to behind closed doors. And I think fiction can too easily give an impression that everything is knowable.
Book list: historical fiction for teens
Reading questions for ML Stedmans The Light Between Oceans'(which Ill be reviewing shortly)
Rick Riordan is going on tour
US publishers turning backs on Amazon
Fashion-forward classics (and an interview with the illustrator):
Literary awards: what are they good for? Apart from the big international awards like the Man Booker, local awards that actually stimulate people to go into a bookshop and buy the prize-winning book are actually few and far between. The Miles Franklin Award (the 'longlist' for which was announced last week) has an impact. So too do the'Children's Book Council of Australia's Children's Book of the Year Awards (the'shortlists'for which were released this week). Most others are scarcely noticed by the general public, and do little to sell books.
Can short fiction take us to China?
Are self-published authors happier?'It seems to me that writers who self-publish are happier than those going through the conventional route.'Maybe it's the motivation that comes from finally doing something ' and being liberated from waiting for calls/emails that don't come. Maybe it's the anticipation of knowing a long-cherished project is within sight. Or perhaps they are just enjoying being the client of one of the highly professional self-publishing firms that today offer expert guidance through the options available, and whose attention they can confidently claim'because they are paying.
Pin your perfect library Pinterest contest
Want to work at the State Library of Victoria?
Amazing fairy tale photography (via Jami @ Absurdly Nerdly)
Meet the author: Nick Earls
Sneak peek at the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid'film
Interesting look at the stages of writing a novel, with a focus on the planning stage
Movie trailer for The Monk:
How to make it in childrens publishing:
Thanks for the link! Ill be interested to see who wins the Pinterest contest.
Pleasure, Jami. Me too!