- Time for a hangovers post, I think.
- A truly marvelous post from the divine Charlie Jane at i09, "In Praise of Seat-Of-The-Pants Storytelling." It's full of wonderful smartness like: "I'm a big believer in "narrative energy," or the kind of static-electric crackle you get from a story where the inventiveness is cranked up to maximum." Please to read the whole thing.
- Sarah Dunant says "historical fiction is the genre of the moment."
- Over at the NYT Paper Cuts blog is an interview with Katherine Dunn! Who has a section of her long-awaited novel "Cut Man" in the summer issue of the Paris Review. Oh, happy day! Bless Paris Review managing editor Caitlin Roper for coaxing it from her!
- Great Slate interview with Ira Glass about storytelling and how much of it springs from wrongness: "One of the reasons I was interested in doing this interview is because I feel like being wrong is really important to doing decent work. To do any kind of creative work well, you have to run at stuff knowing that it's usually going to fail. You have to take that into account and you have to make peace with it."
- I am loving the Ransom Center's blog.
- Nora Jemisin recommends new novels from Nnedi Okorafor, Who Fears Death, and Mira Grant (aka Seanan McGuire, which I did not know), Feed. She convinced me on both counts, and I've already plucked Feed from the TBR stack. Am really, really loving it--a smart, funny zombie-laden read for after you finish The Passage.
- Psych students diagnose fictional characters.
- Lev Grossman's great, honest posts about the interview he did with J.K. Rowling: Part One and Part Two.
- I can never resist a baby pygmy hippo on a Friday. (Or, to be honest, any other day.) Did I mention that the mom is named Marmite?
- But why leave you with that, when I can leave you with the scariest thing ever from Ben Parzybok? It's Chucky for Writers.
Feed is awfully good. Seanan's not afraid to be just. totally. brutal. I admired it a lot.
Posted by: Tim Pratt | June 11, 2010 at 13:58
I really hope historical fiction is the genre of the moment because I am so over vampires, you would not believe it! (Of course that means it will have to migrate to YA but still, Libba Bray can make it happen, can't she? She must write faster!!!!) ha!
Posted by: Colleen | June 11, 2010 at 14:00
FANTASTIC links. (Favorites: Charlie Jane, Ira, Lev)
Thanks, Gwenda!
I rarely comment, but I always enjoy your blog. Congratulations on your guest editing position at Subterranean Online!
Posted by: Stephanie Perkins | June 12, 2010 at 16:42
Hey Stephanie -- Thanks so much. :)
Posted by: Gwenda | June 22, 2010 at 09:06