RIASS stuff:
Book cover trend: butterflies, moths and lepidoptery''Know of any butterfly-smothered covers? Share them with us!
List: Young adult books about plagues and pestilence
Giveaway: The Robbers by Paul Anderson'(Aus only);'Giveaway: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley'(world); Giveaway: Dracula by Bram Stoker (world)
Other bookish stuff:
Bookish tours for nerdy lit peeps'(there are some good ones in Scotland, tooI went on a lengthy bookish tour of Edinburgh when I was there.)
Is there a way to get around having no protagonist?'The author notes that'The Phantom Menace was a failure because there was no one protagonist, and yet'The Avengers worked (erm, arguably) because the entire team acted as a protagonist.
Neil Gaimans 8 rules of writing'Remember: when people tell you something's wrong or doesn't work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.
Rachelle Gardner with 5 reasons to consider audiobooks'Have I mentioned I love audiobooks? If you havent given them a shot, get thee to Librivox'(yay, free!)'or Audible!
Keiko, Nessie, and giant squids: great'long form'stories about sea creatures'Theres also Mievilles'Kraken (see my review).
Disobeying grown-ups will lead to fun, magical adventures and/or crime-solving. Lessons from fiction.
100 YA book covers featuring multicultural characters
This is probably not something I should have looked at given that my MS is presently sitting on various editors desks.
Lesley Livingston answers the question why YA?'There is an immediacy and a vibrancy to that world that transforms the mundane into the fantastical when seen through young eyes, she says. She also notes that YA readers are engaged, passionate, and crave storytelling.
Is whom finally dead?'Since'whom'is becoming less common, many people cant use it'properly even when they are aiming for FormalThe unease over'whom'just makes people avoid it more.
More on the book bloggers vs pro critic debate'No question: the power concentrated in a few hands has, in the past, been bad for the publishing ecology. Agreed: the democracy of the blogosphere has given voice to neglected points of view.'There is, however, a case for some self-discipline, and self-consciously high standards.
Fascinating photographs of literary characters in real life
Junot Diaz hates writing short stories'The author remarks on the astonishing amount of stuff that Diaz carries around with him, and what it means for his writing. This receptivity to all the possible sources of inspiration is what makes Diaz's work both so distinctively rich and, it seems to me, so difficult for him to write. It's like trying to distill the ocean down to a glass of water.
Galleycat has a feature on book centrepieces used at weddings.'We didnt use books (what if someone spilt booze on them?), but we did use framed bookish quotes for ours.
Melburnians: at 5pm, 9 Oct, Award-winning author Leanne Hall will be speaking with Adele Walsh (The State Library of Victorias Project Coordinator for the Centre for Youth Literature), focusing their discussion on emerging and young writers. Bookings are free, and can be made here.
