Links and Things

First off, let me just say... IT'S FRIGGIN' FREEZIN'!!! I just walked in from shoveling snow, and I had to get that off my chest. I mean, four degrees and snow?? Who's idea was that? Yuck.

Now, for the real post...

This morning as I was skipping through the blogosphere, I came across some interesting posts I thought y'all might like. For instance...

At BookEnds, Jessica shares a letter from a reader that I think any writer can relate to. Some days this business of trying to move from unpub to pub can really suck. I feel bad for the teen who wrote the letter. I mean, I started doing this at 34 and even with my self-worth firmly set, it wasn't easy. I can't imagine what it would be like at 17, when you're still pretty unsure of yourself anyway, to be getting rejection letters. Ack. All I can say to the writer of that letter is: Hang in there, kid. Oh and: Don't let the bastards grind you down.

In other news, Monica McCarty's latest hottie Highlander novel releases today. I'm not usually a fan of historicals, but this series has me wanting to inhale them all. I'll be panting in line to buy in today (if the local store has it, that is - otherwise, it'll have to wait until my next book trip).

If you haven't seen it already, there a new blog in town. Last monday was the launch post of a writerly blog called Genreality. Plenty of good authors are hanging out there, including one of my favs: Lynn Viehl (aka Paperback Writer). So far they've had some interesting posts, and I'm guessing it'll prove to be a valuable source of information in the days ahead.

Over at The Fictionistas today, Kristen Painter discusses the various words and phrases coined by The Bard himself. I don't know about any of you, but I love Shakespeare. As I said in my comment on the site, 'he's da man'.

Otherwise, I'm just reading and trying to write. In the reading category, I've got my hands on the second Dresden Files novel (or is the third?): Fool Moon. Like the Dresden books I've read before, this one is a good read. Not only that, but it's also good research (on how to write an excellent mystery) and it's good inspiration. Reading it has led me to revisit my own mystery series.

Which means I'm back to re-re-reading Cut & Dried. While it doesn't have any paranormal or fantasy elements like the Dresden novels, it has that same quick wit and gritty reality you see in the works of Raymond Chandler, Mickey Spillane and Erle Stanley Gardner. I'm thinking of billing Cut & Dried (the first JA mystery) as what would happen if Mickey Spillane and Rita Rudner had a love child who was then raised by Janeane Garofalo (without her politics, of course). So far, it's pretty funny and, I hope, fairly hard-boiled. Time will tell.

Of course, I'm still working on revising Blink. I think I'll leave it for the weekends, though, and get back to my old schedule: Write on weekdays. Edit on weekends. (Since I'm only 84 pages into C&D, it counts as new writing.)

What's new in your world? Seen any good posts?