Today I’m guest posting at Louisa Bacio’s blog–A Peek Into Geekdom–where I share some memories from a sci-fi/fantasy/pop culture convention I attend every year–Dragon*Con! If you’ve read the opening of my new release, BEER AND GROPING IN LAS VEGAS, you’ll recognize the photo on the left š I share more memories and photos that were inspiration for the fictional ConVegas that took place in the background of the story.
All posts tagged geek
A Peek into Geekdom
Posted by Angela Quarles on December 28, 2012
https://angelaquarles.wordpress.com/2012/12/28/a-peek-into-geekdom/
Author Interview: Michael R. Underwood, author of “Geekomancy”
Today I’m so pleased to welcome Michael R. Underwood, author of the super fun and super geeky book GeekomancyĀ (Pocket Star, July 10, 2012). I read it this past summer and loved it, and reached out to Mike via Twitter. He was gracious enough to answer some questions about his book, his writing process, path to publication, and what’s in store with him for the future!
First, the blurb for the book!
ClerksĀ meetsĀ Buffy the Vampire the SlayerĀ in this original urban fantasy eBook about Geekomancersāhumans that derive supernatural powers from pop culture.
Ree Reyesās life was easier when all she had to worry about was scraping together tips from her gig as a barista and comicshop slave to pursue her ambitions as a screenwriter.
When a scruffy-looking guy storms into the shop looking for a comic like his life depends on it, Ree writes it off as just another day in the land of the geeks. Until a gigantic āBOOM!ā echoes from the alley a minute later, and Ree follows the rabbit hole down into her townās magical flip-side. Here, astral cowboy hackers fight trolls, rubber-suited werewolves, and elegant Gothic Lolita witches while wielding nostalgia-powered props.
Ree joins Eastwood (aka Scruffy Guy), investigating a mysterious string of teen suicides as she tries to recover from her own drag-your-heart-through-jagged-glass breakup. But as she digs deeper, Ree discovers Eastwood may not be the knight-in-cardboard armor she thought. Will Ree be able to stop the suicides, save Eastwood from himself, and somehow keep her job?
Hi Mike, thank you for being here. (I then attempt to do a virtual geek secret handshake/fist bump thing–Represent!–and promptly mess it up. Mike’s giving me a weird look). Ahem, moving along… Right when I saw the cover and blurb for your book, Geekomancy, I instantly bought it. How has the response for your book been so far from fellow geeks?
Iāve been overwhelmed by the love Geekomancy has gotten from geeks from all walks of life. When I set out to write Geekomancy, I wasnāt specifically intending it to be a love letter to geekdom, it just kind of ended up that way and I ran with it. Every time I see a recommendation or review come across Twitter, it hits me again how special it is to have been able to get out a story that connects with people and their passions. Iām very lucky to have gotten a chance to share the story, and even luckier that the response has been so positive.
What was your inspiration for the book? Was it one ‘a-ha’ little seed that then grew through a series of ‘what-ifs’ or did it come to you some other way?
Geekomancy started as a distraction. I was busy working on another novel, Codenamed Metaphysical Fencing Academy, and was having some trouble figuring out what to do next. My brain, industrious and insidious as it is, took this delay as a chance to pipe up with an idea about an urban fantasy where the magic came from pop culture. I took the Thanksgiving weekend to let the idea play out while hanging out with my girlfriend (as she worked on her thesis for grad school) and before I knew it, Geekomancy had totally taken over my attention, demanding to be written first.
This is more a comment than a question, but I, of course, loved the Firefly references. Thank you for including them! It made me feel like it was indeed a legit geek thing, making it into a book geared to fellow geeks š
Of course! Iāve been a Whedonite since the early days of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer show, and I loved Firefly most of all, with the fun slang, the great characterization, and the amazing community which built up around the show and the story. It was only natural to work Firefly references in, especially once I figured out Eastwoodās voice (and his cursing style in particular).
Your protagonist is female. What made you decide to have the main character be female? And thank you for doing that, as it was refreshing not to have it be a boy geek…
Iāve seen a lot of stories about male geeks. And even more about white male geeks, and straight white male geeks. And I know many female geeks, geeks of color, and queer geeks. So when I picked my protagonist, I wanted to feature a protagonist to partially represent the diversity in geekdom. It also let me give myself the challenge of writing a tight-POV with a female lead, which I will talk about in the next question.
How hard was it, as a guy, to write from a female POV?
Great follow-up question! I tried to make Ree a person who was female more than a female person. I didnāt want her to be female first, and for that to somehow be my brainās overriding control on interpreting how sheād act. My female friends and family, when compared to one another, are just as diverse as my male friends and family, so I just used my experience of female friends, how they talk, act, and respond to things, grabbed a few characteristics, and then tried to stay consistent to my internal conception of who Ree was as a character, merits and flaws, skills and talents, and go from there. I made sure to consult female friends as first readers and critique partners to make sure I wasnāt going off the rails, and made a number of tweaks based on their feedback.
Your B.A. is in Creative Mythology. That sounds totally awesome and cool, but then my head tilts and I wonder what that exactly means, specifically the ‘creative’ part?
I blame Joseph Campbell. I was a perfectly happy freshman intent on declaring an East Asian Language and Culture major, then I read The Power of Myth and The Hero with a Thousand Faces
, and had a huge lightbulb moment. I wanted to go all the way down the mythology and storytelling rabbit hole, and rather than triple majoring in Folklore, Creative Mythology and East Asian Studies (because at the time you couldnāt triple major at IU), I found the Individualized Major Program. It required a lot of legwork, but ultimately it let me build my own course list and synthesize classes from all over to inform my writing. My approach for creative mythology was to learn about how various world cultures formed worldview using mythology and folk narrative, then try to apply that same structural approach to write new myths that would symbolically resonate/inspire contemporary audiences. In reality, I just learned a bunch about worldview and storytelling, which helped me a great deal, maybe just not in the ways I originally intended.
You also have a Masters in Folklore, which I also think is tres cool, I concentrated in folklore studies for my Masters in Heritage Preservation. How much did your BA and Masters influence your writing? Hmm, just realized your whole book could be an example of Creative Mythology… (am a little slow on the uptake this morning, takes me a while to fully awaken since I don’t do caffeine).
My writing very much flows out of my academic work. Geekomancy is quite directly informed by the work I did at my masterās program, studying tabletop RPG groups and geek culture, since it was that work that got me to really start seriously thinking about what geekdom meant, why people invested in these clusters of hobbies, why those hobbies overlapped, and what this overall āgeek cultureā thing was, especially as various aspects of geek culture were becoming very prominent in mass culture (Superhero movies, the seemingly-unstoppable rise of video games, continued tech ascendance, etc.)
The other major academic -> writer influence is my general folklore and mythology background, which prepares me to be more effective in fabricating non-earth cultures with some sense of authenticity. I know how cultures fit together, how tradition clashes with and adapts to innovation, and I have a big bucket of tradition, ritual, folk narrative and cultural stuff to draw upon, mix together, and apply for my own work. This means that I generally lean more towards fantasy than SF, but both of my published short stories so far are SF, so who knows.
Your book is chock full of nerd and geek references– I described it once to someone as Nerd Porn, as there’s one fun reference after another. Did this make it more difficult or easier to find an agent and then an editor?
My path to publication for Geekomancy is a very non-standard one, but I think that this era of rapid change in publishing is making stories like mine radically more common.
If Iād submitted Geekomancy as a first novel the traditional route, I think it might have. But I got very very lucky.
Shortly after I finished the rough draft of Geekomancy, I posted the first few chapters on a site called BookCountry.com, which is a writing and critiquing community for genre fiction writers. Iād posted a previous project there, and gotten good feedback, so I decided Iād post the rough draft for Geekomancy and share my whole revision process on the site. Make it a Thing.
I got a few reviews, and started revising based on that and other feedback. Then in January of 2012, I got an email from Adam Wilson at Pocket/Gallery that heād read my excerpt at Book Country, liked it, then found a post on my blog saying that Iād just finished a full draft and could he see it?
Despite my trepidation about submitting a barely-revised super-rough-I-mean-like-bleeding-raw-rough draft to an editor, I did it. And just over a week later, I had an offer for a book deal. I took the window of consideration he could give me on deciding on the deal to go out and try to find an agent, and did a Lightning Round of agent searching, drawing on my experiences trying to get an agent with a previous project. I sent out around a dozen full manuscripts to agents per their requests, ended up with two offers of rep, and happily signed with Sara Megibow of the Nelson Literary Agency.
I think that some agents probably ended up passing because it was so All-Geek-All-The-Time, but I had a passionate and supportive editor who was willing to sign a debut author off of a 2nd draft, and found an agent who was willing to jump in on a deal that had already started being made because she was that invested in the project and in my work.
Your agent is the fabulous Sara Megibow. How did you go about ensnaring her? A lot of my blog readers are fellow writers and would love to get a little peek into your journey.
This is mostly covered in the previous question, but I can give a little more detail. Sara said that Nelson Literary gets 2-3 queries a month for authors that have deals on the table, but that mine was the first time either she or Kristen Nelson, the founder of the agency, has ever offered rep on such a query. I believe that I snared her with a query letter that was reflective of the voice of the novel (sarcastic, very verbal, comedic, and geek-tacular) and then delivered the kind of voice and kind of story that I promised in the letter, and that she connected personally with the character and the story, being of the Geek persuasion herself. When we talked on the phone, we got on swimmingly, and since then itās just been marvelous. Iām working on notes for new projects now, and will be chatting with Sara about those soon, moving forward with my career as a novelist, and I couldnāt be happier to have her as my professional partner.
What has been the best experience so far, now that you’re a published author?
I said this above, but itās totally the coolest thing. The hands-down best thing for me so far has been seeing the stories from readers about how they personally connected with the novel and with Ree. Iāve gotten emails and reviews where the reader talked about their personal connection to the shows/books/movies that are referenced in the novel and how seeing that love mirrored in the novel resonated with them. The novel is in many ways a love letter to geekdom, and itās been amazing how many people in geekdom have written back to reciprocate and echo that love ā love of the stories, the characters, the worlds that bring us together.
I see a sequel is in the works. Can you share anything yet about it? What can we expect (besides awesome geekiness abounding)?
Iāll give you a bullet list of things to expect:
- Romance
- Show Business
- Rooftop chase
- An Upgraded Geekomantic arsenal
- A new magic system
- More buddy action with Drake Winters
What was your favorite part about writing Geekomancy? Was there a character that surprised you along the way?
I canāt give the singular best part, but one of the best parts was taking a lifetime of passion for and knowledge of pop culture and geek stuff and weaving it together into a narrative. I got to look at the big wing of my brain thatās labeled āGeekdom!ā and rummage through with abandon for fun jokes, plot points, cool artifacts, whatever I wanted, it was all fair game. I didnāt have to water anything down, be coy about alluding to this that or whatever. If I wanted to make a joke, I made it. Some of them would later be edited out, but that sense of freedom was really invigorating.
I found Drake endearing. Will we see more of him in the sequel?
For sure. Heās far and away my favorite secondary character in the series, and heās tremendously fun to write, especially as a straight-man to Reeās sarcastic jokester. They turned out to be a better buddy-adventure pair than Iād initially imagined, and I feel like I can get a lot of mileage out of that relationship. Especially as other parts of their relationship changeā¦
And the question always near and dear to a writer’s heart– are you a plotter, a pantser, or somewhere in between?
I live somewhere in-between, which I attribute to my time playing tabletop RPGs, specifically as a Game Master/Storyteller. As the person who had to provide an entertaining and fulfilling story for 3-6 people, I learned to make a variety of half-ready plans, then jump on whatever the players ended up choosing. This means that I do a decent bit of rough sketching, usually involving figuring out the ending and then backtracking to lay down a few way-points where the story turns, so that when I start the draft, I know where Iām going in the end, and I know what big turns I have to take to get there. But it still leaves me with big huge chunks of undiscovered territory, and even knowing the plot turns in general doesnāt mean Iāve got them totally crystalized in my mind. This means that I still get to surprise myself, and if I come up with something that I think is even cooler, Iām happy to go off the rails in certain places.
Iām hoping to experiment with a bit more structure for some future project to see how that works out, especially if I want to get to a point where I can produce two novels a year while still working a day job and having a social life. I get the sense that that pace of production would require a bit better pre-planning. But then again, I wrote the rough draft of the Geekomancy sequel in just about 6 months, so maybe I can get there as is.
Do you have any words of wisdom to fellow writers struggling to land the elusive agent?
When constructing your query, go out and find the back cover copy of a bunch of novels in the same genre, both for novels youāve already read and ones you havenāt. Figure out what the copy on the novels youāve read communicates about those books, what it draws out to tease a reader. Then look at the ones for books you havenāt read and try to figure out which ones most compel you to read more.
Once youāve done that, youāll need to re-create that marketing magic for your own novel. The absolute only thing a query letter needs to do is convince an agent to read more. But in doing so, it must also tell the truth about your novel, because if you promise one thing in the query and then donāt deliver that thing at all in the novel, chances are you wonāt hook their representation.
Again, thank you so much for agreeing to do this! Us geeks need to stick together š
Thanks for having me! In the words of our people, may the Force be with you.
———
Me again! So enjoyed this interview and his answers. Here’s more about Mike:
Hello! Iām Michael R. Underwood (I go by Mike Underwood, but the full name + initial makes Google happier), speculative fiction writer and North American Sales & Marketing Manager for Angry Robot Books. This blog was formerly called 21st Century Geeks.
I hold a B.A. in Creative Mythology (through the Individualized Major Program) and East Asian Studies from Indiana University and a M.A. in Folklore Studies from the University of Oregon.
In 2007, I attended the Clarion West Writers Workshop, which was the biggest boost to my writing career Iāve had yet. Iāve worked as a fiction reader for Fantasy Magazine, as well as writing for PopMatters.com as a DVD reviewer and essayist.
My first novel is an urban fantasy called Geekomancy (published July 2012 by Pocket Star, an imprint of Simon & Schuster). Geekomancy was inspired by stories like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Clerks, the Dresden Files, and The Middleman, as well as my experiences growing up geek. I am currently working on the sequel to Geekomancy, which will be coming in 2013.
Where to find Mike:
Where to find Geekomancy:
Amazon | iTunesĀ | Barnes & NobleĀ | Books-a-Million
Posted by Angela Quarles on November 12, 2012
https://angelaquarles.wordpress.com/2012/11/12/author-interview-michael-underwood-author-of-geekomancy/
Some Geek Romances Old and New
Since Monday Hunk Who Reads is now only once a month, I thought I would keep Mondays to topics that would interest readers. Today I thought I would share some geek/nerdy romances I’ve read recently for fellow geeks who love them some nerdy heroes š
In no particular order, well actually, let’s make it the order I read them in….
The Theory of Attraction
Ā by Delphine Dryden (Erotic Romance/BDSM–July 2012)
Love a nerdy hero? How much more nerdy can you get than a rocket scientist? And Ivan is smoking hot, and incredibly endearing. Here’s the official blurb:
Camilla can set her watch by her hunky rocket-scientist neighbor who jogs past her window each day. She relishes each glimpse of his shirtless abs, and is dying to see more. But it’s hard to connect with a man who doesn’t seem to know she exists…
Ivan feels at home in the lab, not in social situations. When he finally approaches his attractive neighbor, it’s not for a dateāhe wants tutoring in how to behave at an important fundraiser. Ivan doesn’t expect the chemistry between them to be quite so explosive, and is surprised when Cami actually accepts his proposal to embark on a series of “lessons.”
Cami soon discovers Ivan’s schedule isn’t the only thing he likes to be strict aboutāhe needs to be charge in the bedroom as well. She’s shocked at how much she comes to enjoy her submissive side, but wonders if a real relationship is in the equation…
More Than Words
, by Karla Doyle (Erotic Romance–Aug 2012)
They meet playing online dirty Scrabble, what more can I say? I’m a sucker for humor in my reads, and this one had me giggling every page when they first “meet”. I also like my contemporaries to have the men reacting a bit more like how guys would really react (freaking out, making mistakes, etc.) and poor Travis is his own worst enemy.
A brutal mugging two years ago left Calli terrified to go out after dark, and incapable of real dating. Hanging out with a resentful Chihuahua every night hasnāt filled the void, and all the sex toys from the store she owns could never replace a flesh-and-blood man. An online Scrabble site promising anonymous, flirty fun sounds like just the ticket. A like-minded geek, thatās what she needs. Unbeknownst to her, the man on the other end of the game is anything but geeky.
Tired of the party scene, Travis seeks a venue where he can meet a woman who is drawn to his mind, not his profession. Having women chase after his bad-boy musician persona has grown stale. After heating up the tiles online with Calli, he knows he must meet her in person. Touch her in person. And when he does, their chemistry is undeniable. She stimulates him, mind and body. But when he discovers her tragic past he realizes it will take more than words to win her heartā¦and her trust.
How to Tell a Lie
, by Delphine Dryden (Erotic Romance–Nov 2009)
Sexy, smart and funny! I know when I was reading this at a restaurant the other night, I was getting some funny looks because I was literally giggling out loud. I also felt like I identified with Allison so much as far as her fear of getting involved in a real relationship with potential. My only complaint was the ending seemed rushed, but it’s probably because I wanted to keep spending time with them.
Allison Moore does her psychology research from the safety of the internet, where she can study her subjects’ lying ways without the need for pesky human involvement. Online games are the perfect place to look for liars and have fun at the same time. Seth Brantley is a fellow professor who can make even economics seem sexy. When he and Allison realize they’ve been “researching” in the same game, a face-to-face meeting seems inevitable. After all, they’re practically neighbors–they’ve been working in adjacent buildings for years. Fresh from a breakup and afraid to take a risk, Allison wants to keep her affair with Seth strictly electronic–but she can’t deny their virtual antics are hot enough to melt their keyboards. Can Seth convince her to give up the safety of cybering and take a chance on passion in the real world?
None of these have cardboard cutout heroes and heroines and each really gets into the psychology of a relationship–not overtly, just that the characters and their conflicts have depth. Enjoy! I know I did š
Read any great geek romances lately? I need more…
Posted by Angela Quarles on August 27, 2012
https://angelaquarles.wordpress.com/2012/08/27/some-geek-romances-old-and-new/
Weekend Grab Bag – From Writing Tips to Gandalf skateboarding
Song playing right now on my playlist: “I Shall Believe,” by Sheryl Crowe
Writing and the Writing Life:
- Janice Hardy write a great post on verbs you use that imply assumption, but you might not have intended it that way.Ā Seems So: Are Your Characters Making Misleading Assumptions?
- This post explores the challenges of word choices when writing historicals and how reader assumptions need to be taken into account:Ā Historical Language Can BeĀ Electrifying
- Kristen Lamb shares her first conference experience and has tips on how to not do what she did and enjoy yours:Ā Writing ConferencesāBeware of Crossing Deer
- Looking for Beta readers? Jami Gold has some tips:Ā Ask Jami: How Do We Find Beta Readers?Ā She also had this great how-to post for merging all your comments:Ā MS Word Trick: Combining Changes and Comments
- Julie Musil asks if you have enough fleas in your story?Ā Wise Agent Advice: More Fleas, Please
Ada Lovelace:
Jane Austen:
In Geekdom:
- For April Fool’s, thinkgeek.com posted a Skyrim hoodie complete with dragon shouts for sale
- Check out these dinosaurs dressed in Victorian garb!
- 14 Wonderfully Geeky Easter Eggs
- Two trailers that got me excited this week: True Blood Season 5 and the remake ofĀ Total Recall
- And I’ll leave you with this:
Posted by Angela Quarles on April 7, 2012
https://angelaquarles.wordpress.com/2012/04/07/weekend-grab-bag-from-writing-tips-to-gandalf-skateboarding/
Weekend Grab Bag – From Writing Tips to Stormtroopers relaxing in a pool
Song playing right now on my playlist: “Sally MacLennane” by The Pogues.
Writing and the Writing Life:
- Writing Books is a Lot Like Competing in American Idol
- Sarah LaPolla takes a look at The Hunger Games and how movies end literary trends.Ā The Trend Games
- Are you missing opportunities?Ā Putting More Into Your Writing
- Jody Hedlund explores theĀ 7 Dialog Basics That Can Help Tighten Our Stories
- Lydia Sharp talks aboutĀ Good Flashback vs Bad Flashback
- Juliette Wade exploresĀ Completion, and Resonance: why the first chapter is like the last
- Is Your WIP in Deep Doo-Doo? 7 āBlockā Busters from Ruth Harris
- K.M. Weiland onĀ The Secrets of Story Structure, Pt. 5: Inciting Event and Key Event
Ada Lovelace:
Jane Austen:
- A Jane Austen game for the Mac and PC: Matches and Matrimony
- An Austen charm bracelet
In Geekdom:
- Read: Wil Wheaton & Simon Peggās Nerdiest Trek Chat Ever
- And I’ll leave you with this, now that it’s getting warmer outside:
Posted by Angela Quarles on March 31, 2012
https://angelaquarles.wordpress.com/2012/03/31/weekend-grab-bag-from-writing-tips-to-stormtroopers-relaxing-in-a-pool/
Weekend Grab Bag – From Writing Tips to Vader In A Kilt On A Unicycle Playing Bagpipes (I Kid You Not)
Song playing right now on my playlist: “Stray Cat Strut” by Stray Cats
Writing and the Writing Life:
- Dealing with back story in your opening chapter? Linda Clare has some tips:Ā Don’t Look Back: Dealing with Flash Backs
- Mooderino talks about getting writing advice and how you might be giving or receiving bad advice once a writers reaches a certain level: Bad Advice for Writers
- On Tuesday, agents from the Knight Agency will be hosting a lunch chat on twitter! Great chance to ask questions about the publishing process, but please don’t pitch to them!
- Jane Friedman has some great advice for marketing your book:Ā The Marketing Paradox: Start Small to Get Big
Romance Writers:
- I want to wish good luck to all my writer friends who entered the RITA and Golden Heart contests! The finalists will be notified by 2 PM CST Monday! *fingers crossed*
- I LOVED this post by Damon Suede. It’s a great tool for characterization. Instead of thinking of an adjective or noun to describe your H/h, what is their verb?Ā Add Verbs: Creating Characters that Pop Off the Page by Damon Suede
- AnneĀ GloverĀ postedĀ Regency Culture and Society: A Primer on Household Staff
Ada Lovelace:
- This art exhibit features a low-tech gadget that aims to create a crowdsourced set of images from visitors and so was named ADA in honor of Lady Lovelace
Jane Austen:
Browncoats:
- For his 41st birthday, Nathan Fillion has asked folks to donate to this charity to provide clean water
- I posted this on my Nathan Fillion Monday Hunk Who Reads post, but I don’t think I did it here. Anyway, there’s a Hey Girl, Nathan Fillion meme to follow on Tumblr
In Geekdom:
- Into Steampunk? Here’s some events lined up for April
- So cool of them– Stephen Fry and Ian McKellen to pay for the copyright license of a Southhampton pub called The Hobbit, which has been in business for 20 years and is now being served notice of copyright infringement due to upcoming movie.
- And I’ll leave you with this (h/t Katie MacAlister). It makes me giggle and it’s one of the few times where reading the comments is rewarding and not annoying. (Yes, it’s the Imperial Death March!):
Posted by Angela Quarles on March 24, 2012
https://angelaquarles.wordpress.com/2012/03/24/weekend-grab-bag-from-writing-tips-to-vader-in-a-kilt-on-a-unicycle-playing-bagpipes-i-kid-you-not/
Weekend Grab Bag – From Writing Tips to Vader Hugging a Unicorn
Song playing right now on my playlist: “Bittersweet Symphony,” by the Verve. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Writing and the Writing Life:
- Are your characters constantly trying to stand, run, smile? Well did they succeed or not? You could be weakening your prose. Janice Hardy explores this common writer crutch:Ā Do or Do Not. There is No Try: Clarifying What Your Characters Do
- I’m really enjoying this series over at Romance University:Ā Ask An Editor: Theresa Stevensā Line Editing Series
- Miss Snark’s First Victim talks about how we might be unique in the creative world:Ā On Writerly Camaraderie
Romance Writers:
- Sarah Wendell does an awesome post in reaction to 50 Shades and everyone in the media shocked to learn that women enjoy sex:Ā Romance, Arousal, and Condescension
- Merry Farmer writes an awesome post in reaction to a Philadelphia magazine article about the sorry state of the modern male which could explain why women like to read about Alpha males in romance:Ā Where Have All The Good MenĀ Gone?
- Apparently we’re hitting the fruit too much, specifically cherries and berries, when describing nipples– this post will either have you chuckling or groaning: A Description of Nipples
- Romance author Beth Dunn does an excellent and humorous overview of men’s fashion, specifically their pants, in the Regency and why some eschewed underwear (they didn’t want a panty line!) in her post at Wonders & Marvels: The Turn of the Leg
Ada Lovelace:
- Sydney Padua has a new Lovelace and Babbage Comic posted!
- Okay, weird. She gets a giant tunnel boring machine named after her in the UK
Jane Austen:
- paInk at deviantART does some awesome comic panels of the Netherfield Ball scene
Browncoats:
- Great interview with Joss Whedon at SXSW and how he still has hopes forĀ Firefly
And I’ll leave you with this:
Posted by Angela Quarles on March 17, 2012
https://angelaquarles.wordpress.com/2012/03/17/weekend-grab-bag-from-writing-tips-to-vader-hugging-a-unicorn/
Weekend Grab Bag – From Writing Tips to Vader ‘You Can’t Touch This’
Still needing some sleep, but am mostly recovered from Mardi Gras. Since I missed last week, these linkies go back 2 weeks. Enjoy!
Song playing right now on my playlist: “The Promise,” from The Piano soundtrack.
Writing and the Writing Life:
- Jami Gold has a trick for finding your POV’s voice:Ā Need Voice? Think Out Loud. She followed up with this post:Ā Can We Have Too Much Voice?
- Mooderino has this advice for starting out your novel:Ā You Don’t Put The Punchline First;Ā and to make sure your characters’ emotions are consistent:Ā Condition Of Your Transition
- A Deep POV Refresher Course with Elisabeth Staab
- Kristen Lamb weighs in with some caution on the Amazon debate:Ā AmazonāBeware of Greeks BearingĀ Gifts
- The Bookshelf Muse has advice on how to add plot in layers:Ā The Plot Thickens
- And Lydia Sharp has More Proof That Book Titles Are an Important Part of Your Query Pitch
Romance Writers:
- The only problem with ‘chick lit’ is the name
- Why Romances Are a Valid & Important Form of Literature
- Donna MacMeans ā Creating Characters for the Keeper ShelfĀ – some great stuff here. I immediately marked up my first chapter with tick marks looking for these and found ways to revise it to make my hero more accessible early on.
Jane Austen:
- Some cute P&P notebooks being sold on Etsy and bookmarks. Heck, this artist has a lot ofĀ Austen relatedĀ cool things for sale
- Now this is an awesome idea: someone’s taken a clothbound edition of P&P and converted it into an iPod/iPhone charging station!
- A S&S book purse
Browncoats:
- Best baby portrait ever!
Randomness and Geekdom:
- An LOTR “You Shall Not Pass” teacher stampĀ for grading those papers! Unfortunately it sold out, but maybe you could fave it to see if they make more
- And I’ll leave you with this:
Posted by Angela Quarles on February 25, 2012
https://angelaquarles.wordpress.com/2012/02/25/weekend-grab-bag-from-writing-tips-to-vader-you-cant-touch-this/