Courtroom Quotations

From the mouths of . . . You fill in the blank. At least when you say something stupid at work or at home people may not remember what you said. In the courtroom, you don't have that luxury. You have a court reporter.

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Totally Absurd Inventions

Creative types can be so entertaining in the early stage of developing an idea. Many of the absurd inventions fall into this category. Maybe if they pursued another draft or two, their inventions would be anything but absurd.

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StrangeUSA.com

This site contains links to the macabre and weird that have occurred in a specific area of the country. On the home page, visitors click on a state then city contained in a list, which brings surfers to the oddity that had occurred in that location: from hauntings to UFO sightings, etc.. Great for story ideas, as well as just a fun place to lurk if you enjoy learning about things that go bump in the night. I'm not talking about headboard knocking. There are other sites for that.

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Home page link: http://www.strangeusa.com/index.asp

Classic Short Stories

Found this website that lists links to many classic short stories. Hence, the title of the website: Classic Short Stories.

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All About Forensic Psychology

Another great website. That is, if this is your cup of poison.

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Psychic Detectives

This is a website definitely worth visiting if you are an armchair detective like me.

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HItman

Stumbled onto this website while doing research on my book. I'm hoping it is a joke but not sure. The subtitle on the site is: Hitman - The most trusted name in professional killings! You be the judge if this is the real thing or not. Scary . . .

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Turning Book Signings Into Profit Centers

An informative article on how to increase book sales at book signings.

Nineteenth Annual Independent and Small Book Fair - Dec 2 & 3, 2006

Small Press Center - Home

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Author Courts Book Clubs And Boosts Sales, Romance Novelist John Shors Makes Personal Calls And Visits To Book Clubs - CBS News

John Shors, author of "Beneath A Marble Sky," a romantic novel, boosts book sales by speaking at book clubs. Shors proves that a little innovation can go a long way.

Craft of writing might help art of medicine - Health Care - MSNBC.com

Interesting article. As long as the doctors are not into Horror or Science Fiction, it could be highly effective.

Craft of writing might help art of medicine - Health Care - MSNBC.com

Writing English - Proofreading and Copyediting Services

Good punctuation site if you can get past the typo in the fourth paragraph.


Writing English - Proofreading and Copyediting Services

all that's new(s) from A to Z

Counting words in a manuscript.


all that's new(s) from A to Z

Backspace-- The Writer's Place

Noah Lukeman article on plot at the link. . .

and Flannery O'Connor quote on writing below.

"'People are always asking me if the university stifles writers. I reply that it hasn't stifled enough of them. There's many a bestseller that could have been prevented by a good writing teacher."
--Flannery O'Connor"

Pub Rants

A primer on the grant of rights by Agent Kristin at pubrants. Great explanation why agents are important in negotiating a publishing contract.

Casinos to Book Lovers: Let Us Entertain You, Too

Book readings have reached a whole new entertainment level. Authors supplement their bookstore readings with appearances at fashion stores, corporate headquarters and even at car dealerships. So why not a reading at a Casino?

FictionAddiction.NET - What Do Editors Want?

A helpful article on what editors are looking for and not looking for in a manuscript.

FictionAddiction.NET - What Do Editors Want?

Backspace-- The Writer's Place

After reading a query, an agent will request a partial (first 30 pages of a manuscript). This article provides an agent's insight into how she looks at partials.

Backspace-- The Writer's Place

International Thriller Writers: The Thriller World

Found this great article, "Ten Rules for Suspense Fiction," by Brian Garfield, author of "Death Wish."

International Thriller Writers: The Thriller World

village voice > books > by Jessica Winter

Small book publishers thrive in Brooklyn, the heart of a new literary renaissance.

village voice > books > by Jessica Winter

Bookseller Chick: The Rise to Greatness: the Power of a Single Reader

Bookseller Chick's article on midlist authors.

Bookseller Chick: The Rise to Greatness: the Power of a Single Reader: "The Rise to Greatness: the Power of a Single Reader"

alg: P&Ls and how books make (or don't) money: part the first: the mass market original complete failure

This link will take you to an article written by an editor at Tor, which delineates the cost of printing a mass market book. Interesting stuff!

alg: P&Ls and how books make (or don't) money: part the first: the mass market original complete failure

Building Fictional Characters

A lot of useful information here on building characters.

Building Fictional Characters

WSJ.com - Publishers' Solution to Slow Sales: My Story (And His, Too)

Great news for memoir writers in the Washington Post article. Despite James Frey's deception, the memoir market still thrives and did not explode into a million little pieces.

WSJ.com - Publishers' Solution to Slow Sales: My Story (And His, Too)

Fresh And Original

Agent Kristen at Pub Rants posted this exceedingly relevant article about having an original story line. It is relevant because last night I had attended a MWA Mentor Panel in New York City with agents, an editor and authors. One of the topics of conversation was having an outstanding hook. Kristen echoes this sentiment. I would strongly recommend reading her post at http://pubrants.blogspot.com/.

How code-cracking treasure hunts and pre-dawn press-ups have made Brown the bestseller he is

Ah, behind every successful man there is a good woman. In Dan Brown's testimony while under cross-examination, he admitted that his wife carried out much of the research for The Da Vinci Code.

Read about Dan Brown's climb from obscurity to household name.

Business Analysis: Women's weeklies back in vogue as publishers cash in

May be a good market for subbing.

Writers Watch Your Backs!

The James Frey effect. Tsunami or ripple?

The Slush God Speaketh: Slush Annoyance of the Day: 2/28/06

Blog hosted by Assistant Editor, Fantasy & Science Fiction.

The Slush God Speaketh: Slush Annoyance of the Day: 2/28/06

Almost Done with the Novel? Read this.

This is excellent advice from an agent about finishing a novel. Please read it and learn as I did.

http://misssnark.blogspot.com/2006/03/almost-done-with-novel-read-this.html

Rejection

It's nice to know that writers aren't the only people in the world that receive rejections. The above link shows how the other half lives and also receives rejections.

It's not often that we get to see this perspective.

Miss Snark: The Index

Drum roll . . . Introducing the Snarkives -- An index of Miss Snark's archived posts, now accessible by topic. If you haven't yet sauntered over to http://misssnark.blogspot.com/ test drive the index and see her invaluable resource in a more organized format. Once you have stuck your toe into the cool waters of literary reason, dive into http://misssnark.blogspot.com/ -- and go mad.

Miss Snark: The Index

alg: Pitching and Catching. (Hahaha, thanks, SerialKarma.)

How to pitch an editor at a writer's conference, as written by an editor.

alg: Pitching and Catching. (Hahaha, thanks, SerialKarma.)

Romance novels for women get frankly sexual - Yahoo! News

More sex in books. The sheet hits the fan!

Romance novels for women get frankly sexual - Yahoo! News

Pub Rants

Another great agent blog to bookmark. It's fantastic that these agents take the time to post their thoughts to help writers. Really, anything you glean from these sites is gold.

Pub Rants

Contest Tip Sheets

Thought this was a useful article.

Contest Tip Sheets

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Mockingbird author steps out of shadows

Great article about Harper Lee, author of "To Kill A Mockingbird."


Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Mockingbird author steps out of shadows

From The Belly of The Blog

Want to get inside a literary agent's head? Mosey along to Miss Snark's blog and read "The Tipping Point." 10+ reasons why she passes on manuscripts.

The Biggest of 2005: The 200 Bestselling Books of the Year

The Biggest of 2005: The 200 Bestselling Books of the Year

Coal Miners Deaths

In honor of the twelve coal miners who lost their lives and the one who lays in a coma, I wanted to post this quote by George Orwell.


"The comforts of civilisation, the light and heat we take for granted, depend on men toiling deep below the earth's surface to mine narrow seams of coal."


My heart goes out to the families.

Publishers toss Booker winners into the reject pile

Interesting experiment conducted by The British Sunday Times.

Typed manuscripts of the opening chapters of Naipaul’s In a Free State and a second novel, Holiday, by Stanley Middleton, were sent to 20 publishers and agents.

None appears to have recognised them as Booker prizewinners from the 1970s that were lauded as British novel writing at its best. Of the 21 replies, all but one were rejections.