Not a great or interesting month for me and books, I have to admit.
I released:
The People Want Dance Pop on Amazon. It’s the second in my series about a bunch of musician bros, but if you’re just interested in the romance, you can skip this one as it’s coming of age angst + binge drinking.
Some interesting links:
On writing
The kinds of questions we ask ourselves by owlectomy – Riffing off an older post about the kishoutenketsu structure in traditional Chinese and Japanese narratives, and the differences between ‘Western’ and ‘Eastern’ storytelling.
Simplicity or style: what makes a sentence a masterpiece? by Jenny Davidson at aeon.
5 Writing Rules Destroyed by the Dictionary at Merriam Webster.
Identity & Narrative: A Response to Lionel Shriver by Foz Meadows. (A quick web search of Shriver + Brisbane Writers Festival can bring up the mess that Meadows is responding to. As Shriver is a privileged out of touch white person beloved by the literary establishment, some of the responses towards her speech may be fawning. Tread carefully.)
Writing Strong Women by M R Carey at Civilian Reader.
At Smart Bitches, Trashy Books: 211. Writing Emotional and Erotic Tension: An Interview With Molly O’Keefe.
The Best Female Characters Come From Books by Meg Miller at The Atlantic. Largely about film.
Let’s Talk Numbers: How Long Should Your Series Be by Travis Bach at Pretentious Title (Rachel Aaron’s blog).
Let’s Talk About Stets by K J Charles. I learned all these editing notation marks at secretarial college, which at least means (despite how hilarious people find that) it was worthwhile.
By Cyriaque Lamar at io9, a post from a few year’s ago I was just reminded of: The 22 rules of storytelling according to Pixar.
Tips for Writing Romance from A Passionate Defender of the Genre by linkeepsitreal @ Tumblr.
On the Invisibility of Middle Aged Women by Dorthe Nors at Lithub. Don’t read the comments.
On romance novels
For the ‘Oscars of Romance’, Representation Matters by by Sonali Dev at NPR Books.
Two different perspectives on gender and Mills and Boon at The Guardian – Mills & Boon romances are actually feminist texts, academic says by Mark Brown, and Mills & Boon: zero shades of feminism by Julie Bindel.
A primer on the romance genre at Tumblr. I’ve linked a reblog because it seems the original poster has deleted.
Romance Novels Brought Me Closer To My Mom, Even After She Was Gone by Adam Minter at Bustle.
On research fails in a ballerina romance by Sonya Heaney.
On writing as a career
Writing Dreams and Harsh Realities by Tim Waggoner.
On Being a Pro Writer (Hint: It ain’t all tour buses…) by Delilah S. Dawson, storifyed at whimsydark.
Does having an ethnic name affect book sales by Dilvin Yasa at SBS.
When to quit your day job by Kameron Hurley at Locus Online.
Other
On Not Reading by Amy Hungerford at Chronicle.
Grading: The Method to Our Madness at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, explaining how the reviewers came up with grades in each book review.
Why It’s Difficult For Your Library to Lend Books by Adam Vaccaro at boston.com.
Nick Offerman on middle-aged sex and what people get wrong about Ron Swanson by Marah Eakin at A V Club. It’s AV Club so you probably should read the comments, no matter how irrelevant they are to the article.
The 24 most fashion-forward characters of the ‘90s, from Alex Mack to Shelby Woo by Victoria McNally at Revelist. I dressed most like Clarissa and Sabrina in the 90s. I probably dress most like Elaine Benes and Prue Halliwell now.
Six short tales of life, death and optimism from Luna Harlow.
