Good Links: January Edition/New Blogs Edition

Hi. Well, there goes January, eh? Spring is on the horizon, groundhogs rearing their funny shaped heads, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, whatever. Pull me out of my cave when the sun starts shining again.

As it turns out, I didn’t end up with a ton of good links for January. However, a nice handful of AQers (Agent Query members–writers) started blogs in January (or a month or two previous to that), so instead of sharing writing links this month, I will honour these brand new bloggers.

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Kid’s Book Junky by Charlie Eve. This kids book review and news blog is not yet one month old, but will quickly become a resource for kid lit writers seeking industry news, as well as mothers seeking a good book for their youngsters.

Layinda’s Blog. This is another developing blog that is under a month old. Layinda discusses writing, contests and everything writing.

The Forever Blog by Shawna. Inspiration, motivation, technical aspects of writing and much more.

Random Thoughts to String Together by Lisa Gibson. The name expresses it all as writer Lisa pulls random writerly thoughts together as blog fodder.

Writer/lawyer Pete Morin’s blog. The man shares what is on his mind. Burst pipes, writing and the law, short stories, and more.

RS Mellette’s Dances with Blogs. A handy blog for filmmakers (and that includes screenwriters) who are wondering what recently submitted trends might be as well as more information on the Dances With Films Festival.

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There you have it. Six young blogs worth checking out. As well, you will find more great writing blogs on my blogroll to the right.

Thank you everyone!

Good Links: December Edition

Was Santa Claus good to you this year? He was very good to me. I must have been a very good girl. Okay, this is sounding a bit off to me.

<clears throat>

Moving on… I haven’t spent as much time on the Internet this month as I have in the past, but I still managed to find some great writing sites and links to pass on for December.

Writing:

Details make the character. Good details make a character memorable and bad details that don’t fit… well, yikes! Read the full article over on Behler Blog.

From Roz Morris’ Nail Your Novel blog the post on making the reader care about the message from December 9th is quite good. It has great tips on how to make the reader care about the message your scene is trying to convey.

Are you blocked? Stumped? Frozen with indecision? Don’t know what to write next? Mind blank? Try Women On Writing’s Beating Writer’s Block tips.

Querying:

Ulysses shares a most excellent query critique from The Rejectionist.

J. Martin weighs in on how to write a perfect(ly dreadful) query. Funny. You’ll actually find yourself picking up some good how-not-to tips.

Networking:

7 Ways to Create a Professional Twitter Presence. Good tips for the beginner. I’m not down with posting your phone number though. Unless, of course, your Twitter account is for a separate business. (What I’m saying: Don’t post your home number, but do post a business number if appropriate.)

Tips on how not to commit social networking suicide from PR guru Sasha Muradali. This should be a must-read for anyone thinking about using online social networking.

Fun:

Liana Brooks reposted my quiz on whether you are a book slut. As it turns out, I am also a plot whore as per Liana’s quiz. Cool beans. Are you?

Ten Gifts to Give a Writer by Margaret Atwood as well as commenters suggestions as well. Who knew she had a blog? It’s for her new book. Cool.

Kreativ Blogger Pass Along

Yesterday I mentioned I had been awarded the Kreativ Blogger Award. I also mentioned that I was having troubles figuring it out. However, I failed to mention that I am a good sport and would be passing along the honour.

Therefore, I participate to the best of my abilities.

Here’s what I have to do:

1) Copy the Kreativ Blogger Badge onto my blog.
2) Thank the person who gave it to me and link to their blog.
3) Write 7 things about myself that my blog readers don’t know.
4) Choose 7 other bloggers to pass the award to.
5) Link to those 7 other bloggers.
6) Notify my 7 bloggers.

Sooo…without further ado:

1)

2) Thank you to Jemi Fraser and Cate Woods. I appreciate you both thinking of my blog. I’m flattered, to tell you the truth.

3) Seven things you don’t know about me:

I still have baby teeth (in my mouth). My favourite colour is blue. In my years as a volunteer at the Humane Society, I used to let all the cats loose in the back room. Freedom! They all got along remarkably well, believe it or not. My favourite board game as a kid was Trouble. I hate shopping for clothes. My favourite flower would be daisies because they are unassuming and beautiful, as well as cheery. And finally, I’d rather have a few really good, true friends than many false friends.

4 & 5) Seven great writing blogs for you to discover. Some have been around a long time, some are new:

Amy Sue Nathan –A chick lit and women’s fiction.

J. Lea Lopez — A commercial fiction writer.

Matt Sinclair — A writer, editor and freelancer with several blogs.

TK Richardson — YA author.

Rhonda Stapleton — YA author and one of AgentQuery’s first chat guests.

Robert K. Lewis — I think this badge will look lovely on his gritty, noir blog.

Prairie Chicks Write Romance — I have no clue how they will handle part 3 of this as it is a communal blog–and a cool one at that.

Enjoy!

Good Links: October Edition

Happy Halloween everyone! It’s that time again. No, not trick-or-treating. Good links time!

Here are a few good posts, articles, etc I came across this month. I hope they help you out.

Writing Tips:

Tighten up that manscript, folks. Here are some words to be on the lookout for, courtesy Rachelle Gardener.

I love the name of this blog: Writinghood. What’s more to love, how about writing tips on creating curisoity, empathy and anticipation.

Another cool blog name: Men with Pens. Har, har. Anyhoo. They help you think about story theme and its importance.

What the heck is narrative anyway?

Character names, they aren’t just for newborns anymore. 15 tips on how to select a good one.

Career:

Hey, woman, get a job. A freelance job. Check out WOW’s (Women on Writing) job board.

Be realistic! Yes, you want to write, you want to publish, you want film deals. You want to read this and get your cart in order.

Take your heart pills before reading this one. All about the money. Well, and also about rights and royalties for ebooks, traditional publishing, self publishing and basically some numbers that will make you want to put your head in your hands and cry like a little baby. Or, come up with a game plan to make you millions. One or the other.

Thinking of making an author website? Be sure to check out this one. There is a great list of things any great author website should have.

Fun:

Challenging road signs. It is said a good, challenging road sign makes better drivers of us all because we have to actually think about them. Come on folks, think and drive.

And finally, because most writers have a cat, I thought I had better share this with you. Please, take care and read carefully.

Good Links, August Edition

Puttering around on the Internet this month…okay, actually, I have to admit, most of these links were sent to me by other aspiring writers. Here they are:

Looking for the right word? Try this thesaurus. While I couldn’t get it to load up on my computer, and therefore found myself promptly distracted from the task, others have found it to be an amazing tool.

Looking to fix up your dialogue? Michael Stearns has a great article on the Upstart Crow Literary website that discusses how to improve that dialogue. Click on ‘Dialogue, Some Basics’.

Dang it! Rejected again? Check out this list of reasons for getting your work rejected. Maybe you can identify your ‘issue’ and get your work ‘accepted’.

Thinking about the money in books? Maybe you have an agent, or are talking with an agent/editor and thinking, ‘hey, maybe I can quit my day job’. Well, not so fast, according to Jeaniene Frost.

Have an agent? Negotiating your author-agent contract? Check out this list put together over on Writer’s Digest. While some of the tips may be familiar, #4 got me thinking.

Published? Pub date coming up? Check out this blog post over on The Blood-Red Pencil talking about blog tours. It has some great ideas on how to ensure your tours don’t get stale or repetitive.

How about a publicist for that book you’ve got, hot off the press? Do you need one? Check out this blog post by Bookends Literary.

And lastly, for fun…who are you? Type in your name and see what it comes up with. (Good for checking out possible pen names as well.)

Enjoy!