RIASS stuff:
Book Review: The Lost City of Z by David Grann'Rating: 
Book list: Peter Pan retellings
Interview: Leigh K Cunningham on channelling Oscar Wilde and the importance of writing in earnest
Giveaway: The Last City by Nina D'Aleo'(open to all last day to enter!)
Other bookish stuff:
Peggy Blair on the never-ending writers angst'Blair talks about shifting goal posts and expectations, and about how writers are always stressing about that next step on the totem pole to authorial achievement. Angsting over finishing a manuscript turns into angsting over getting an agent, then getting a publisher, then dealing with reviews, then worrying about whether ones merely a one-hit-wonder.
A Q&A with Kenneth Oppel'on writing about Frankensteins monster: The creation of a monster usually involves a pre-existing flaw or vulnerability being acted upon by some external forceEveryone has cracks in their character ' and even though everyone reacts differently to adversity, every reader can empathise with a character who suffers, or is tempted, or who failsAnd this is one of the great things about the Frankenstein myth.
A helpful breakdown of childrens publishers and their imprints
A collection of vintage advertisements for books
Short story writer? Consider submitting to the Costa Book Awards
On finding jobs in publishing. Is word of mouth still key?'Book Machine is a new London start-up designed to connect people in the publishing industry.
Agent Sarah Megibow chats with author Roni Loren about the romance genre'First of all, I have a womens studies and feminism degree from Northwestern University, so I politely explain that the romance genre is pro-woman and written for intelligent readers. Second, I point to the bank and smileThe short answer is, yespeople do give me a hard time[but] its always people outside the industry.
Jane Austen, ideological heroine?'Should Austen become a favourite of conservatives? Or should we remember that authors are products of their times?'She's neither on Team Feminist nor Team Conservative. We're all just on Team Jane, says Sarah Seltzer.
On sex, desire, and fan fiction'The'fact that the vast majority of fan fic writers are young females is highly relevant here, says the author. Its little surprise that women, whose sexuality has been vilified for years, seek out channels that cater to them (fanfic etc, which is largely written by women) rather than debasing them (ie, mainstream pornography). Sexually explicit fanfic allows for mutual desire, and follows characters with whom the reader/writer already identifies and has feelings about, and where an attraction has already been established.
Bookish school backpacks!'(well, a bit. I think theyre reaching a little, a la that bikinis and books website)
What happens to books when theyre pulped?'Book recycling has changed since the introduction of wood pulp (as opposed to fabric rags) into paper and the subsequent reclamation of goods in the post-war era. Apparently approximately 13% of the paper in new books comes from recycled or reclaimed materials.
Adrian Tchaikovsky on the nature of heroism in fantasy novels'Most fantasy heroes hit things: its modus operandi and raison d'etre in one. However, perhaps it's true that the heroes who stand out most, and are admired most, are those who have the depth and the sympathy to find another way around the problem, says Tchaikovsky.
Small demons and the connected world of books'Ever wanted to go beyond the pages of a book to explore the people, places, food, and music contained inside? This new website is aiming to do just that.
Its Lovecrafts 122nd birthday, and Galleycat has put together some spiffy writing quotes to encourage readers and writers.'(For my part, I couldnt manage to get through'At the Mountains of Madness. But that was possibly because I was reading it on the tram, and a strange man kept trying to talk to me.)
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