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RIASS stuff:
Book Review: The Mighty Crashman by Jerry Spinelli'Rating: 
My first (but not last) Spinelli, and by which I was pleasantly surprised.
Book Review: The Inn at Rose Harbor by Debbie Macomber'Rating: 'A feel-good read about inns, cookies, and healing that falls flat on a prose level.
Giveaway: A Brief History of Montmaray by Michelle Cooper'(open to all)
Other bookish stuff:
Five things you can do to help debut authors'These include spreading the word, requesting the authors book at your local library, and buying the book within the first three months. This last is because most books are only given a few months to shine on the shelves. If they dont, then its unlikely that more copies will be ordered.
Hal Duncan on how to write a sentence'(this is the same Hal Duncan whose sentences are a page long and dont contain punctuation, right?) Notable sound bite: style is not apatina (expletive removed to protect the innocent.)
Rebecca Maizel on writing a 592-year-old vampire character in her book'Infinite Days'Maizel notes that her characters history extends across several hundred years and several continents to boot, and that it was important to focus on historical events that affected her character, rather than those deemed major events. Her character was living in England during the time of the French Revolution, for example, which is why the Revolution doesnt play a major role in the book.
Why you shouldnt throw away your writing'Jennifer Echols talks about an idea that just wouldnt quit, and how it eventually, after much languishing on hard drives and being resurrected in various forms, was signed to be published.
Writers and their favourite punctuation marks'Ellipses? Em-dashes? Parenthesis? Peter Sokolowski likes his colons:'This dictionary uses a boldface character recognisably distinct from the usual roman colon as a linking symbol between the main entry and a definition.'It stands for an unexpressed simple predicate that may be read is being here defined as (or by). It indicates that the supporting orientation immediately after the main entry is over and thus facilitates a visual jumping from word to definition.
26 Beatnik and slang phrases we should all start using. Really.
On submissions, rejections and keeping the faith'There are times when our chosen life as writers seems so fraught, so political, so against us. I have actually seen writers label their submissions things like more poems you won't ever read. It makes me want to reach through the screen, pat the writer on the arm and say seriously, it's going to be okay. If you write well, work on your craft, and keep submitting in a professional and consistent manner, you will eventually publish. (Um, I assume be published is meant here)
Ten of the creepiest ghosts in literature'Ooh, this includes Kelly Links wonderful'The Specialists Hat. I highly recommend'this collection of short stories'if you havent read it already.
Book bloggers are killing literature, says Booker Prize head judge. Oops. The ubiquitous book blog is apparently strangling proper criticism, and literature is suffering for it. Of course, the imbalance in ratio of book bloggers to professional critics surely has nothing to do with the fact that basically all of the newspapers have heavily culled their book review sections. And surely Mr Stothard doesnt believe that a little blog like mine is actually in competition in any way or shape with that of pro critics who have merely moved online because of the absence of print review options? If thats the case, then someone needs to have a chat with him about audience and influence. Because bloggers serve completely different readerships, and largely have entirely different goals from professional critics.
What do teens want when it comes to crime fiction?'Author Tanya Byrne argues that crime fiction for teens shouldnt be diluted and inoffensive, but at the same time, teens dont want the same things out of their crime fiction that adults do. The stakes are different because of the age of the protagonist, and characters will act differently because of their age and relative inexperience.
Seven rules for bookshop flirting'Most important: dont interrupt. Why do people always do that when Im reading a book? And also, dont be a wanky book snob. (Or at least, do it on your own time.)
Books about Japan or by Japanese authors are being pulled from bookshelves in China'in the wake of the Senaku Islands dispute.
How gorgeous are these Jules Verne covers from Faceout books?
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