Bookish News and Publishing Tidbits 28 May 2012

RIASS stuff:

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Calling all bookish Melburnians! RIASS and some bookish buddies are planning a night out at the Astor Theatre on the 9th of June. All welcome, so if you're a local (or wish to commute), feel free to drop by. Details'here.

A giveaway of'Revived'by Cat Patrick'(ends 2 June)

Chekhov's Gun: is it time to take it off the mantelpiece?'Has our love of Chekhov and his ubiquitous literary device had a less than positive effect on the books being written today?

Other bookish stuff:

An interview with China Mieville about his new book Railsea: The book is not intended to be a retelling at all. It takes a couple of aesthetic and philosophical tropes and a basic narrative hook look for that big, weirdly colored animal and it goes off and does whatever it wants. There are books that retell particular stories in different settings. You have a retelling of'The Odyssey'or'Beowulf'in a different setting but that wasn't my aim; its not a structure that particularly interests me. (see our China Mieville reviews)

A wonderful discussion of the work of Diana Wynne Jones'Anyone who comes to a novel by Diana Wynne Jones thinking they're knowing what they're getting on'any'level is in for trouble. She destroys the arrogance of the good reader, by being'better. Better at story, and better at knowing people and what they are capable of'their capacity for casual wickedness and stupidity as well as their capacity for great love, kindness, forgiveness and intelligence. Diana didn't suffer fools, not gladly, not at all, and neither do her books. (see our Diana Wynne Jones reviews)

An interview with Josephine Angelini about her new book Dreamless: I grew up reading mythology and fantasy and books about dragons and fairies and whatnot (I'm especially fond of dragons) so I have tons of stored-up 'geek glossaries' in my brain to work off of when I write. 'I'm not a classics expert by any stretch of the imagination; I just chose to write about something that I've already spent a good deal of time reading up on over the course of my life.' It worked out pretty well.' So for any budding writers out there my advice is write what you know'especially for your first series.'(see also our Josephine Angelini reviews)

An atlas for the blind, designed in 1837:

On the use of a letter as a narrative kick-starter: Most stories require an incident that disturbs the status quo to get them started. 'Something has to happen to shake the characters involved out their everyday existence or why would we want to hear about them.The same kick off point can lead to any number of variations in the case of a game of football and the same is true for a story. 'What does that letter contain? 'Is it an invitation, a threat, good news, bad news? 'The possibilities are endless.

Wodehouse: whats his story? Unusually for a comic novelist, Wodehouse generally wielded commentary upon direct speech, rather than the speech itself. He was fundamentally an observer. This hints at a certain passivity, but as these letters show, he could turn his observations into gold. As Bertie was fond of remarking, It takes all sorts to make a world.

Hey, look, its a holiday, and you get to spend all that quality time with'all your family and friends! Maybe you should bring a book.

Like breakfast? Like books? Heres a handy-dandy design that might suit you'(via'Reading with Tea)