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| Photo by me. I’m on Instagram here. |
It has been a while!
My time has been stretched in the past few weeks due to travel and moving (to Manhattan of all places), but I am now hoping to return to a semi-regular schedule. Hello! Nice to see you.
I’ve been collecting lots of links over the past few months. Let’s see what we’ve got.
First up, this coming Saturday I’m going to be speaking at the Writers Digest Conference in NYC. There’s still time to register! I’ll be talking about staying sane during the writing process, which seems like it’s not possible but I SWEAR that if you do these things… okay yeah it’s not totally possible.
Remember when we all compiled our top 100 movie lists? That was excellent. The BBC went and did their top 100 American movies, and I have to say it’s a pretty solid list.
The BookEnds blog is back with a vengeance (well, it’s back with some smart and author-informative posts). Some recent ones I took note of are how you should think twice before granting an agent an exclusive, and how if you are seeking publication, it’s important that you don’t think of it as a hobby, but as a job. That means buckling down, setting deadlines, and pushing through, especially when you don’t have the luxury of time. And maybe you should put some thought into your query.
The juggernaut of a franchise known as James Patterson (who also I believe is the name of a writer too), is starting a children’s imprint with Little, Brown. And oh by the way Patterson’s novels have now sold over 300 million copies.
You’re probably not really done writing your book.
E.L. James has a new book out, Grey, told from the perspective of Christian Grey, natch. The sequel I’m waiting for is the novel told from the perspective of Charlie Tango, Christian Grey’s helicopter. E.L. James, I’ll get you started!
I was born in a warehouse, but I’m so much more than that. They told me I should just fly, hover, do my job reliably, and someday be sold for scrap metal after a long career. They told me I could never attract the attention of a self-made billionaire with a fondness for girls who bite their lips.
They were wrong.
I give my inner helicoptress a high five as I settled into the SeaTac tarmac, obeying Christian Grey’s skillful, artful commands. If I had a lip I would bite it and shyly mumble my appreciation.
If only they could see me now.
YOU KNOW YOU WOULD BUY THIS BOOK.
Ahem.
We all know that writing can be a solitary pursuit, and it can sometimes be tricky to get things done at home when there are things like chores and TV and people who call themselves “family members” trying to distract you. Behold, the rise of the writer’s space.
There are a lot of writing competitions out there, some more reputable than others. Writer Beware takes a look at some of the red flags.
And finally, do you want to be a beer editor? I mean, of course you do.
Have a great weekend!
Billy Wilder represent! I'm pretty disappointed there is no Elia Kazan, though. Or Wes Anderson. Or Samuel Fuller. I would move Duck Soup up higher. And take off The 25th Hour. Surprised to see Hitchcock's Marnie over some of his other ones. And no Pixar?
Was Shawshank left out because Darabont was born in France and lived there for two seconds before coming to America?
And no Paul Thomas Anderson movies? He's one of the greatest directors of our generation.
Well, at least they put some movies from the aughts in there. Most of these lists ignore everything after 1998.
There are other directors born in or from other countries. I think Shawshank is one of those movies more favorited by the people, but not often considered great. Like, I for one don't really love it that much. (I better duck. tomatoes coming!)
I hear Christian Grey's Audi SUV is writing a revenge porn version in retaliation for not getting a product placement in the movie. It's called 'Fifty Shades Of Two-Tone Pearl Metallic Grey'.