I’m on the road in Wales, and on a very dodgy mobile internet connection, so here are the links that grabbed me up until Thursday or so this week.
The Kill Zone is a dream team blog. Mystery/thriller junkies probably know all about it already.. but I bounce around the literary and SF categories, so it’s new to me. The posters, who take a day each, are all established thriller writers, and they know their stuff. Right now they’re critiquing a series of first pages. No-one’s getting an easy ride here, and there’s vicarious pleasure to be had in the scathe-fest. More importantly, there’s much to be learned. Here’s one I caught this week, but there were two last week as well.
Oh, and later on James Scott Bell provided this particularly constructive and useful critique.
In the Guardian Imogen Russell Williams’ review of Stephanie Meyer’s latest teen vamp effort was deliciously scathing.
Any readers frustrated by the mundane suburban detail of Meyer’s previous Twilight books – vampires who play baseball, drive Volvos and give each other tasteful, thoughtful gifts – might be tempted to perk up. Sadly, it’s a folorn hope.
I think she hit an artery.
I’ve been poking around the Roman world of late, so I was interested in this io9 post by David Daw that listed some alternative history novels in which Rome never fell. My favourite premise, though, came from a comment by AmishJohn:
Don’t forget Lance Parkin’s Warlords of Utopia, where every parallel universe where Rome never fell goes to war with every parallel universe where Hitler won World War II.
For the Guardian’s Book Club series John Mullan is discussing different elements of The Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. This week, connections. Last week, interruptions.
Incidentally, over at The Literary Lab, Scot GF Bailey has been discussing linked stories in genre fiction. He’s ruled The Cloud Atlas off topic because of its literary pedigree, but I think there’s a case to argue. If we get into that we’ll be here all week, though.
In io9 Marc Bernardin interviewed US TV writers on the secrets of the writers’ room. Fascinating and scarily corporate at the same time. Reminds me of everything about meeting rooms and management snacks I work at home to avoid.
Anna Staniszewski has been outlining with index cards.
The New Yorker looked at dystopian kids fiction. Are post-apocalyptic horrors really only a step away from the reality of children’s lives?
Charlie Stross was was working on the wrap-up that follows his current novel’s climax and struggling to find closure.
I didn’t place in the latest hilobrow.com competition. On we go. I’ll post the story here shortly, nonetheless.
And what do you want to read right before your morning writing session? Is it evidence that that the SF short story magazines are drowning in unsolicited submissions? If it is, then luckily Paul F Newman, guest posting on Write Anything, obliged this week. Still, looks like the article is about five years old. Maybe the competition have all given up since then.
io9 linked to a competition for a full length story about disability defeated. Incidentally, looks like Redstone Science Fiction is a new market too. Duly bookmarked.
Oh no! Jane Anders has gone and done it now. She posted in praise of writing by the seat of the pant. There will be blood.
