RIASS stuff:
Book Review: Arkie Sparkle Treasure Hunter ' Code Crimson'Rating: 
Book Review: Ada's Rules by Alice Randall'Rating:'
Excerpt and Giveaway: Big Sky Mountain by Linda Lael Miller'(open to US/Canadian readers
Other bookish stuff:
Classic covers in 8-bit format
An interview with Karl Taro Greenfeld'on journalism and journalistic standards, including the increased likelihood of fraudulent behaviour being called out.'Because unlike in space, on the internet, everyone can hear you misbehaving. (audio)
Ten surrealist books you must read'Heck yeah, Im going to check those out.
Vale Australian critic Robert Hughes'Hughes made his name as an art critic for Time magazine, and was known for his sometimes scathingly honest reviews.
Illustrator Jane Dyer has been injured in an attack in her home
Gore Vidal on childrens author Edith Nesbit:'Publishers attribute her failure in these parts to a witty and intelligent prose style (something of a demerit in the land of the free) and to the fact that a good many of her books deal with magic, a taboo subject nowadays. I love the description of Nesbits child characters being so superb because, as someone who disliked them, she wrote them in an entirely human manner.
Is publishing ready for an Agile methodology?'My techie husband, who uses Agile, is probably floating on cloud 9 at this suggestion. Hes long bemoaned the ridiculous red tape, lengthy processes, and long-cycle feedback that characterises publishing.
On the design process behind'The Weight of a Human Heart
On writers block, that fancy term for I dont feel like working
If you dont use exclamation marks when writing on the internet, youre clearly not excited enough about life. Some interesting analysis of the over-exuberant stand many of us takes when it comes to expressing our enthusiasm (or even just lack of passive aggressiveness) on the internet. I particularly like the suggestion that we need to add increasing amounts of exclamation marks just so that our sentences sound normal. Its like an exclamation mark high. And perhaps also a sign of our tendency to super-size stuff.
Margaret Simons takes issue with parts of Tony Abbotts media freedom speech'She argues that although she does not agree with the recommended measures in the Finkelstein Inquiry (It is obnoxious to contemplate a regime under which an editor could be jailed for conscientiously standing by, and refusing to correct a story she believed to be true and fair.), something must be done about the slack and mendacious window dressing approach to self regulation and standards that has characterised the industrys approach to the Australian Press Council over recent decades.
A David Sedaris short story is being turned into a film.
On writing transitions in fiction'Using several examples, the author looks at how a mere paragraph break can be enough to transition between scenes, offering a breathing space, and also as a way of slipping between dialogue, backstory, and the current narrative. An interesting point is that white space shouldnt be used as a way of skipping over something youre too wimpy to write.
What can grown ups learn from kids books and their characters?'All the secrets of the world by the sound of it. Its no surprise that'The Little Prince, a meditation on adulthood and everything we lose sight of in its name, is touched on in depth, not to mention'Alice in Wonderland, (which Im reading right now, in fact), and its meditation on the nature of being and knowledge, and of course'Winnie the Pooh, with its roll call of key character archetypes. Its a curious thing reading these books as an adult, and certainly worth the effort.
Togather releases a tool designed to ensure that authors doing signings are not sitting all by themselves in a room with only their mum looking on.
Seven books you have to read before you finish university (or else youll fail?) Yike. Id better do some remedial reading of some of these.
Send to Kindle
Follow us on Blog Lovin'