Linktopia

Surfing the best of the writer blogs so you don’t have to…

Da Vinci Code plagiarism suit is keeping the writer blogs hopping. Booksquare, All Kinds of Books, Salon (free subscription required), Grumpy Old Bookman, Galley Cat.

Melly reminds us of Elmore Leonard’s rules for fiction writing. Note to self: no more use of “suddenly”….in more Elmore Leonard news, Sarah tells us that he’s received the Diamond Dagger award…Over at Risky Regencies, a debate rages between the Pantsers and the Plotters….Miss Snark doesn’t make authors feel any better about form rejection letters

….at Quantum, Eric discusses the necessity of getting focused…Nienke talks about the importance of finding a balance in researching and writing…Astrology for Writers has more predictions for the coming year.

The preternaturally productive Paperback Writer blogs about the Beloveds….Slushpile scores a great interview with John Grisham….Candy and Sarah have us rolling with laughter over their collection of Scottish Hunk covers….Publishing News has a great article on Google’s latest charm offensive to publishers

Since he was kind enough to mention our blog on his, we checked out Quantum and found Eric von Rothkirch’s SF/F blog to be a gem. We’ll be keeping an eye on this blog….Melly discusses the latest on Google Book Search and its implication for writers. Something’s happening in the collision between the Web and publishing, what it is we don’t know, but it’s enough to have us reaching for the Alkaseltzer….This week, Nienke interviews Christian book author Brenda Coulter….Shannon over at Hook, Line, and Stinker is not impressed with Steven King’s latest….
At Flogging the Quill, Ray discusses one of the tools writers can use to create sympathetic characters…MJ Rose gives space and kudos to Author Buzz, a marketing service for novelists….The rise and decline of private investigator-centered crime fiction is being blogged over at Confessions….Candy and Sarah interview…wait for it….Laura Kinsale who also as something to say about this upcoming Google Book Search trainwreck…the inimitable Miss Snark blogs about exclusives and conference pitches.

Miss Snark reminds writers yet again that flipping the bird to your agent is not a good business practice…Victoria Strauss busts a few myths about new writers…Nienke posts a nice interview with author Michelle Rowan…Ray gets down with show not tell, and as usual I want to rush back to my wip and fix a few things…

Booksquare examines the month-old Folio Literary Management team and likes what she sees…Galleycat takes stock of the cover art used for a variety of Muhammad Ali biographies, and comes up with some telling conclusions…Paperback Writer has been using the Random Title Generator blog to hilarious results…Melly muses about the difference between literary artistry and writing more commercial fiction…