Over on FFF, I've done a follow-up post to my poll on side stories , examining patterns in the data (both poll answers and comments). If you're curious how it all fell out, take a look over there.

Over on FFF, I'm polling people about side stories -- pieces of short fiction an author writes that are connected to a novel series. (Like, say, Deeds of Men .) If you've got any experience with those, as a writer or a reader, go over and vote. And feel free to spread this elsewhere, if your LJ readership is interested in this kind of thing. The more data, the merrier!

Over on FFF, I'm pondering the question of what constitutes a faerie, outside of Northern Europe . Head over there to offer your thoughts on how I should be defining "faerie" as the Onyx Court series opens up to include characters from the Middle East and beyond.

For the first time since I don't know when, I have bought a new book: a) that is not Harry Potter b) that is not by an author whom I have already read c) that is purely for enjoyment. Caveat: the author is Sarah Rees Brennan ( sarahtales ), whose lj I have read. I believe I found it on fangs_fur_fey . So! The book is The Demon's Lexicon . It's about two brothers, 16-year-old Nick...

Over at Fangs, Fur & Fey (a great community, by the way, for all things related to urban fantasy), the discussion is raging about what makes good author websites: http://community.livejournal.com/fangs_fur_fey/483729.html Please jump in and contribute your thoughts - a *lot* of authors are eagerly waiting to hear what people have to say! Mindy, pointing the way

I finished the first 5 Jaz Parks books by Jennifer Rardin. Yey! I love this series enough to write to the author and telling her some of the things that I like. 1. The cracktastic dialogue 2. I thought Cass and Miles are going to get together because of all the "opposite sparks," but it did not go as expected which was a bit of a disappointment for me. Then I sat back and kind of went "It didn't...

One of the things I've been really working on in my writing lately is Showing, not Telling. What an evil distinction. Now only do these two things tend to bleed into each other, but they also depend on each other to ensure a proper storytelling balance. Without showing, it reads like an expanded outline. At times, a REALLY expanded outline. You have to show to avoid this. But if you only show, you...

The Topic of the Month over on FFF is about how one decides where to start a book, and I answer with the comet book as my example.

So today I have a post up at fangs_fur_fey   on novel beginnings . It's the topic of the month, so there will be quite a few posts on the topic, so I suggest having a look over the next week or so when most will be posted. I also have a post up on sfnovelists on looking back on revising a novel after you get your editorial letter. i've been doing maynowrimo   and so far have...

quote o' the day: from a great post by Maggie Stiefvater on the fangs_fur_fey website ....that made me start thinking about how famous books and movies would be different if they shied away from hurting the characters in the way they feared the most. Imagine Little Women if Beth just got sinusitis. Star Wars if Luke didn’t have his little paternity crisis. I don't think readers like it when you...