Serving Up Link Dinner

The first day of December and officially Summer in the Southern Hemisphere and suddenly the weather remembers that it is supposed to be hot and sunny.

Of course being the first day of December the shops go mad with Christmas decorations, Christmas music and the Christmas count down.

Every Christmas I get frustrated by the lack of Summer Christmas celebration music and decorations in the town. My kids are singing Frosty The Snowman and the mall is decorated in ice sculptures for Santa...say what?

The temperature is climbing and any snowman here wouldn't last long....

I think it is time we shed the Northern Hemisphere winter solstice type celebrations and start making an effort with the uniqueness of Christmas in the Pacific...that's Christmas day BBQ's and beach cricket...or lying outside trying to get a tan while digesting Christmas dinner.

What interesting tidbits and yummy treats can I serve you up as appetizers for a Christmas dinner of links this week?

NaNoWriMo has finished and now the big edit begins. If you are scratching your head looking at your opus and wondering how you can make it better check out these writing craft links.

From The Editors Blog- no perfect characters needed.

From Bob Mayer's store of great advice- conflict the fuel of your story.

From the team at Adventures in Children's Publishing-stimulus and response.

If you are sitting down and need to dine on more substantial fare....

Publishers Weekly looks at the Amazon library mess and asks where do traditional public libraries fit in all this?

YA Highway has a thought provoking post on why Authors disappear...

The Passive Guy has a meaty post looking at the horrible clause, no compete, that is making its way into book contracts. You need to read this and digest it! 

Have a serving of 30 quick tips for speakers.

Seth Godin looks back at the year of the domino project and says what next...

Dessert, if you can fit it in....

Channelship ponders the future of book marketing

The wonderful people behind Writers Knowledge Base launched new novel writing software yesterday called Hiveword.

Jane Friedman warns writers that they are overlooking a vital skill.

For the after dinner mints...Kate Arms-Smith explores what you might need in a creative space and SCBWI has a fancy graphic on the lifecycle of the book.

Loosen your belt, stretch back and muse about all the goodies you have received....

Next week I will be away from my blog as I travel down to the South Island... this will give you time to digest your meal so you will be ready for the last serving of links for 2011. 

Changing The World...

As we head towards the end of November, the calendar starts telling you that every day is now filled up with something important. You begin to wonder how you will stretch your energy levels and/or brain cells to organise, prepare, plan, execute, remember, 1001 tasks before (insert next important date/time) tomorrow.

So here I am trying to organise my scattered thoughts coherently enough to give you a run down on what the most talked about topics in the writing blogosphere were this week.

The Amazon library lending saga goes on and on with Penguin withdrawing its books from the service and then earlier today doing an about face and then a 180. 

Yup it is all over the place. Read Porter Anderson on this issue and also the other big issue of the week….

Penguin again…this time with the launch of Book Country, their new publishing arm, for people who want help to publish. Is it vanity publishing? Opinions are divided. 

Writer Beware takes a look at what Book Country is offering writers. 

Penguin should take note that Harlequin got into deep water when they tried something similar as I commented on my blog two years ago at the very same time.

Is there something in the turkey stuffing over in America?

Thanksgiving is kicking off about now and the wonderful Jami Gold has a fun post on what to get writers for Christmas…actually some uninterrupted writing time would be great at any time…. Check out her list and start dropping hints. 

Writer unboxed has a thoughtful post on one writer and why she is thankful for her writing career.

Over Thanksgiving while you are trying to digest the huge feast your fingers will probably be getting a workout on Social Media sites. Shrinking Violet Promotions has a handy guide to how to survive Social Media if you are a writer.

The Passive Guy (writing lawyer) gathered together a list of all the posts he has done on the ethics of Agents and conflicts of interest and surprised himself with how many times the issue keeps coming up.

If you are a follower of Roz Morris, she has a wonderful post on her secret life as a ghost writer and how she ghost writes for someone who is her complete opposite. (outdoors, military…Clue sleuths are hitting the comments on this one.) 

Futurebook has wrapped up a series looking at the digitisation of the book industry in comparison to the music industry…It is an interesting read and has a big picture snapshot of what is happening and where it might go.

Over in the craft section...

Victoria Mixon has a great post on 3 characteristics of your protagonist.

Yesterday was a day of joy and sadness.

I had the great pleasure of telling a young writer they had won a wonderful writing award…who knows what the future holds for them…and it was with great sadness I heard of the death of one of my favorite writers, Anne McCaffrey. The Pern series was the first time I encountered female characters who could and did kick butt as strong protagonists. This was a wonderful thing to discover as a teen growing up in a rural area where girls actually finishing 7^th form were a rarity.  

We need our heroines to be as strong as our heroes for the hope they bring that we can change our world.

R.I.P Anne McCaffrey