October 21, 2009 Links and Plugs

Arrived home at midnight and still lots of work to do!

As an ice-breaker, here's something discovered on Twitter--The Publisher-Dating Dictionary:

You say: 'I know you don't usually accept unsolicited manuscripts, but please, just have a look at this.'
Dating equivalent: 'I know you're married, but please, just go out with me once.'

And as interesting as November 18th is International Science Fiction Reshelving Day sounds, be aware that you're inconveniencing the bookstore staff (and in some cases, publishers). That's honestly the equivalent of bookstore terrorism.

And I want to highlight Anil Menon on Simpson’s Paradox In The Slush Pile. Related: Vandana Singh on Racism in SF: Two Articles.

Interviews

• Romance Bandits interviews Laura Anne Gilman.
• Rebecca Buchanan interviews Vera Nazarian.
• Jonathan Moeller interviews Melissa Mead.
• The Agony Column podcast recording of SF in SF / Litquake Panel : Jewell Gomez, Marta Acosta, and Claire Light Moderated by Terry Bisson.
• Suvudu has a chat followup with Christopher Paolini.
• Shawn Speakman interviews Esther Friesner.
  

Advice/Articles

• S.M.D. on Science Fiction's Not Dead, Fantasy is in the Golden Age.
• Laura Anne Gilman on Changing Gears, without Losing the Love.
• Jeff VanderMeer on Cory Doctorow vs Booklifenow: Vertical vs Horizontal Learning and Booklife Essentials: Knowing the Lifecycle of a Book.
• Jeff VanderMeer on Reading the Readers of VanderFiction.
• Philip Palmer on Is this the Golden Age of SF (and if not, WHY NOT?).
• Meanjin On Writing and the Day Job.
• Clint Harris on Thoughts about Publishing.
• Helen Stringer on Grave Digging.
• Dear Author on Reclaiming Your Copyright After Thirty-Five Years.
• Richard Nash on The fog begins to lift…
• Jennifer Mattern on Freelance Writers: How to Make Your Own “Dumb Luck”.
• Maria Schneider on DIY Publishing: What’s Worth Paying for?
• Rachelle Gardner on Back to Basics.
• Justine Musk on To Develop Your Writer’s Intuition, You Must First Read Like A Maniac.
• Janice Hardy on Pickup Lines.
• Nicola Morgan on A True Story of a Struggling Writer.
• Nathan Bransford on Writers and Sensitivity.
• Pimp My Novel on This Week in Doom: Walmart.com.
• The Intern on author websites part 1.75: what not to blog.
  

News

• Swords & Dark Magic - Table of Contents.
• Auction: Terry Brooks Character Name.
• 2009 Nominations: Fantasy/Science Fiction for Cybils 2009.

Sad it's now one anthology instead of two, but still: I want I want I want.

The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy, 2009 Edition edited by Rich Horton