RIASS stuff:
Book Review: A Series of Unfortunate Events ' The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket'Rating: 
Book Review: The Land of Stories ' The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer'Rating:
Back to the books giveaway hop: Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles'(open to all)
Other bookish stuff:
What type of reader are you? Im a bit of all of these, actually. Probably a mix of Delayed Onset #1, multitasker and cross-under for the most part. I am trying to get away from the notion of books as artefacts, though (you dont even want to know how many books Ive given away/donated this year)
On creating characters that startle and surprise'Collecting the unique details of an outwardly common life arms the novelist with ammo to create compelling characters. Life'is'in the details, says Christine Nolfi.
Andrew Nette discusses how he came to write his debut novel'Ghost Money'The novel was inspired by Nettes time in Cambodia as a journalist: the political events at the time formed the backdrop to the novel, while the wider landscape of Cambodia appealed as well. I always thought Cambodia would be a good setting for a crime story. But I also wanted to capture some of the country's tragic history, the sense of a nation in transition, he says.
The MWF conversation with author David Vann summarised'I found this bit particularly interesting: He felt his writing was more important than himself, and also more important than approval of his family, and he had come to accept the resulting collateral damage of taking such a position.
Marg Bates'provides an overview of a talk with'Stephanie Laurens, Su Dharmapala and Rachel Treasure'Topics included why these authors write about love, the role of culture in their work, on similarities between the characters in their novels, and about writing male characters. Su was quite adamant that we need to get past gender divide and look more at the emotions and human needs that we have in common. Culture defines what men perceive they should be, writes Marg. The second part of the post summarises a talk given by Gillian Mears, a recently wheelchair-bound author who has long been passionate about horse-riding.
Some tips on giving your minor characters depth'There are a whole bunch of questions here to ask about your minor characters, including those about motivation, personal traits, and about playing both with and against type. The author of the article also warns against allowing minor characters to become darlings.
Amish fiction continues to be big business'Amish fiction has been best-selling stuff for a long time (I love the quote in this article about how a bonnet on the front cover equates to more sales), and its still going strong despite (or perhaps because of) the slew of S&M stuff out there.
On the difference between great and awesome films'Some interesting food for thought here about the films that'should make the film greats list vs those we'feel should make the film greats list, and also about associating familiarity and access with ongoing cultural resonance.
Nick Harkaway on fake book reviews'Harkaway notes that these fake reviews arent newthey were occurring back in the olden days when reviews appeared in newspapers (remember those?), not just on the internet. Hes also surprised by the outrage that, you know, stuff on the internet cant be trusted. After all, isnt that a given? The thing he most takes issue with is not the fake positive reviews, but rather the slew of fake negative reviews designed to pull down a competitor.
M John Harrison on the uncanny in fiction'Uncanny stories are those that attempt to open a field of vision that wasnt there before. I agree, to be honest: I seek out work that haunts me and changes me in some way.
Ken Burns on what makes a great story'We tell stories to continue ourselves. We all think an exception is going to be made in our case, and we're going to live forever. And being a human is actually arriving at the understanding that that's not going to be.
Dan OBrien talks working on both sides of the publishing fence'OBrien describes his love of writing and publishing, and also offers a few tips for authors interested in submitting to publications/publishers. In sum, read the submission guidelines, and behave professionally.
London-based literary journal Granta is moving into China with a Chinese-language edition'Editor John Freeman is hoping that the magazine will be available in 15-17 languages within the next five years.
On getting labelsand their sticky residue off books'Just be careful with that lighter fluid!
Thanks for including my link in your list today!
Pleasure, Marg!