RIASS stuff:
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'Out of Sight, Out of Timeby Ally Carter (Aus only, ends 27 May)
A guest post with best-selling author Diane Chamberlain'about balancing writing and a second career.
Coming up later today: a review of Uncommon Criminals'by Ally Carter and a summary of a Jeff Kinney event at the Melbourne Town Hall.
RIASS is beginning a 'single sitting reads' series of guest posts. If you'd like to share your list of 5 books you've read in a single sitting, drop me a line at readinasinglesitting AT gmail.com. We're also always open to guest posts or interview requests, so don't be shy.
Other bookish stuff:
A great round-up of MG fantasy reviews and interviews courtesy of Charlottes Library
A bit belated, but here are the 2011 Nebula Award winners
Recipes and household tips from great writers
Maurice Sendak's Unreleased Drawings and Intaglio Prints
Anna Funders All that I am'wins debut novel award
Anne and'Jeff Vandermeers Kickstarter project for a proposed anthology of feminist speculative fiction
A thoughtful post on why its important to support women in fantasy and SF: I definitely think some people have ideas about books that are 'for women' and books that are 'for men' with the 'for men' category being something people are less ashamed of reading, regardless of gender. But if even some women are ashamed of reading books 'for women' or have an idea that women write 'girly' things, how much harder must it be for some men to get past these ideas?
C. S. Lewis on Why 'School Stories' and Media Distortion Are a More Deceptive Fiction Than Fiction
If aliens were to make contact, who should be on the welcoming committee?'We need Harrison Ford, because the aliens will recognize that he will shoot first. (You hear me, George Lucas? Even aliens from another galaxy know that HAN SHOT FIRST.) We need Christopher Priest, since his recent rants have demonstrated that he will be immune to any rectal probes that the aliens will attempt to deploy on us. We need Tom Cruise, because he already knows all about the Emperor Xenu and his plans for intergalactic conquest. You can't get anything past those Scientologists.'We need Joss Whedon, because aliens will need to be put at ease with snappy human dialogue.
Whats it like being a cover model?'It all began last year when Trudi [Canavan] embarked upon a secret project. Stage 1 was to make some magicians robes. Then in December last year, she revealed Stages 2 and 3. She photographed people wearing those robes to use as reference material for a series of illustrations. She is now making these illustrations available on her website as monthly calendar images to use as computer wallpaper. So, if you're a fan of Trudi's books, I'd highly recommend'heading over to her website'and collecting these calendar pages.'I feel rather special because she took some of the reference photos at my place (in the library of course), and used me and a mutual friend as models.
How not to objectively report on scholarly research: Not only is this article a poor performance in objective reporting, but it's also another sign of the dangerous re-enforcement of the 'monolingual mindset' that is a bit passe as far as the team here at Fully (Sic) are'concerned. Dr. Peaces quote hints that in the research there is a variety of opinion, not just some misplaced and undefined fear. The article gives the impression that shop owners have something to hide by appealing to non-English-only demographics, instead of helping people to understand that it's actually a common phenomenon in cosmopolitan cities the world over, and usually a sign (pardon the pun) of a linguistically and culturally vibrant society. Being monolingual isn't actually a problem (the usual disclaimer: I spent most of my life only being able to speak English), the problem is that people are taught to fear other languages, instead of accepting and celebrating the benefits that diversity offer.
An interview with best-selling author Karly Lane: Inspiration is everywhere! Sometimes a scene will just come to me and I have to figure out what it's about-who the characters are and why they're in this predicament. Other times- like the book I'm working on for next years release is actually based on a real life event that happened in my community that just grabbed me when I was given an old article from our newspaper to read by my cousin who thought I might be interested in it.
An interview with Elizabeth Evans of Jean V Naggar Literary: I always hope I'll find a great adventure story but these are tough to come by.' Anyone can describe just about any situation as an adventure if they stretch it enough, but the books I want to find focus around an unusual or unlikely quest, such as in'The Lost City of Z, or that tell a story of survival, as in'The Ledge. I also love travel memoirs as long as they are driven by a plot with a real beginning, middle, and end. I also look for remarkable love stories, or any human-interest story in which people triumph over great odds.
Neil Gaimans advice to freelancers: Do good work, deliver on time, be easy to work with (or at least some of the above).
If an agent reps a similar book to the one youre pitching, should you duel it out with fisticuffs?
Jobs and opps:
The Poetry Society is looking for an experienced Office Administrator to join their team (UK)
Audio:
A new episode of the Diet Soap podcast
Video:
Neil Gaimans Commencement Address to the University of the Arts in Philadelphia (wonky video alert):
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