Hey, its February! How about that? January went by in a blink, it seems to me I was just in Nashville. I have it on good authority that this month is going to be a good one, full of new ideas and energy. But first, let’s wrap up January with a look at some of the posts I read over the last week.
Contests, Submitting, Etc.
Okay, I was all proud of myself because I had an interview with the editor of the New York Times column, Modern Love. But now I can’t find the link. So I went in search of it and found this and this. I think that last one was the one I originally had in mind–some good tips for submitting there. And here are the submission guidelines from the Gray Lady herself.
If you’re interested in free-lancing, here’s an article for you.
Women’s fiction writers, here’s a contest for you!
Odds and Ends About Writing
Taming the green-eyed monster. (Who me? Jealous?)
Plotting. If you’re like me, its a big bugaboo. Janice Hardy offers good advice.
Comedy writing secrets. (Here’s a tip: its hard! My first novel, Emma Jean’s Bad Behavior, was funny, but that wasn’t entirely purposeful, its just the way it came out.)
What to do in the empty spaces between books.
Other Items of Interest
Knitting is good for you! (And thanks to Jenni for sending me this link.)
Breakthrough moments. (And I got this link here.)
Achieve more by doing less (or, multi-tasking is bad for you).
Finally, I offer this link to the NYT book review of Fates and Furies, by Lauren Groff. I mentioned in my Friday post that I had started it and wasn’t quite sure of it. But now I’m totally absorbed and loving it. The author plays with narrative structure and viewpoint in a way that is unique and would usually annoy me but for some reason doesn’t. Its a dense book, but one I think is really worth reading.
What have you been reading/thinking about/perusing this week?
Photo by plattmunk.
J.D.
When you shotgun us with links, I always find a couple that I love. The beta readers link is great. Finding those folks has been a struggle for me. Any dip I take into self publishing will magnify the problem. First get the cart looking up the horse’s butt: I must have words for the beta readers to read! Thanks for the info and I saw your subtle reference (the pic) to St. Valentine’s Day. Before you get carried away, I read that St. Valentine, as part of the events leading to his canonization, commanded Judge Asterius to fast for three days.
Charlotte Rains dixon
I wonder if there was chocolate at the end of his fast? Ha! So are you thinking of a foray into self publishing now? And also, I agree about the beta readers, they are hard to find, which is why I loved that article.
Dyoung
The beta reader link has me intrigued as well. Of course- I need to finish something before I can hand off to one of these, honest, smart, and trustworthy individuals. I like the link you provided. It gave me some things to think about that I hadn’t yet considered. Of course- I know there are many more jewels within this post. A few tempting that one finger click. Indulging is in my near future!
Charlotte Rains dixon
So glad you are finding helpful links! And I will have more on Monday. That seems to be my new day for posting Otherwhere.
By the way, when I click on your blog url on your comment, it doesn’t take me anywhere. You might want to edit it so we can all go visit your blog!
Dyoung
http://thirteenpointrun.blogspot.com
How’s this?
Charlotte Rains dixon
That works! Thank you!