The Girdle of Melian

ot some awesomesauce for you today! This is my last post before the A-Z, as I'll be skipping Sunday. I've only got eight advance A-Z posts scheduled so far; thought I'd have 'em all done by now, but I ended this round of ROW80 with a bang - edited a short story and had it betaed in time to enter a competition! Now it's back to editing Druid's Moon  in the next round. I've joined Camp NaNoWriMo , so my fellow campers can spur me on! Kait has a great challenge at the end of this ROW80 round: "I'm challenging you to change your outlook. Become, at least when dealing with your writing, someone who looks at the glass half full. At the end of each day, give yourself a pat on the back for what you DID do, even if it was just picking a new character name or plotting the next scene. Set yourself up for the positive, reinforce yourself for DOING. I promise it'll make it easier to condition yourself to work better, harder, faster." She

ey look! A new, free, story from Neil Gaiman! On the Guardian page! It's called Down to a Sunless Sea , and reminds me of Bruce Springsteen's version of Mrs McGrath: I was clearing out some old emails (I actually deleted a few, imagine that!) and came across a link to this tumblr page (from back before I had my own): Cover Spy London - covers of books being read by commuters on the London Tube! Fellow writer news - Theresa Milstein has a short piece in Twisted Endings ! Tomorrow is the first day of the new year - if you live in the Fourth Age of Middle-earth, that is. For the rest of us, it's Tolkien Reading Day ! (that map and the bottom righthand image aren't his, obviously) The theme of this year's reading day is Tolkien's landscapes . The best Tolkien landscape I've seen is Hurst Green, where I walked the Tolkien Trail . What better way to explore a Tolkien landscape than on Radagast's Rhosgobel rabbit sleigh? No, I'm

ook! A fun new book by Alan Silberberg ! I read Silberberg's cute and funny Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze a couple of years ago; right around when my niece Summer was born. Got her a copy of the book just cos one of the character shares her name - can't wait till she's old enough to read it! Watch out for DL's Blog Blitz ! "Sign up on the linky list below, making sure to record your email address, and you’ll instantly become a member of the Blog Blitz Team. Then from time to time, I will select a deserving blog (that must be part of the Blitz Team) and a specific date. I will then email the team members that information and on that date we all will go out of our way to visit that blog and leave an encouraging comment on their most recent post. I'm talking about hopefully a 100+ comments appearing out of the blue in one day!" DABWAHA voting starts tomorrow! I was confused by this award at first, but it's all spelled out he

earing up for the Top Ten Movie Countdown blogfest , hosted by Ninja Captain Alex Cavanaugh! ( I knit a Doctor Who scarf for mini-Alex, look! ): The blogfest officially starts tomorrow - can't wait to see what the other 150 participants have chosen! I find it harder to list movies than books as I don't watch as many as I read... And then I'm also wary of forgetting some important ones and doing a headslap as I make the rounds of other participants! Let's see... I think I'll go with movies that have made the strongest impression on me, rather than classics and such. Waking Ned Devine Loveliest, sweetest movie ever. I give it top billing in honour of the 190th St Patrick's Day parade of Montreal! How Green Was My Valley From Ireland, across the sea, to Wales! I watched this movie and The Corn Is Green back to back one summer day, closeted inside a room for hours, mesmerised. When I finally emerged, stumbling into the sunshine outsi

nd the winner is... Justine Dell's been on a blog tour to promote her new book and visited here last week! The winner of her giveaway on my blog is: Nutschell ! Congratulations! Here's an interesting question: How would you explain certain books to difficult parents? Speaking of books, Stacey Wallace Benefiel has a new one out! And if you're still querying, like me, Jo Bourne has - as usual - some great tips: "'My story is about several main characters. Which one do I build my query letter around?' I have answers for about anything. An ensemble cast of four, heigh-ho So let's say your story follows four characters' intertwined lives. You want to know which of these four stories to emphasize in your query letter. The really short answer is -- Any of them. Your query letter can approach the manuscript using any main character as your focal point. I don't say you necessarily can talk about this manuscript mainly

ook at this! Talli shared it on FB the other day: It's Matilda 's 25th anniversary! If you've got grade school kids, there's a contest they can enter:   ROW80 - editing is moving slowly. I didn't do much except a bit of research during the week, but have begun another read through of Druid's Moon this weekend. Now then, do you have a sinkhole in your life? Real Simple editor Kristin van Ogtrop blogged about sinkholes the other day: I've got a few myself: 1. Sinkhole next to the couch . Where all the daily papers go in one big teetering pile: books, bank statements, to do lists, printed ebooks, brochures, bits and pieces on research and craft, latest knitting project, Folio Society and Tolkien Society newsletters, Wallace letter printouts, and so on. 2. Sinkhole within the To Do list . This is the part of the list where the truly long term projects flounder, such as projects for the house, writing for the Tolkien Society

ustine Dell is here to celebrate the release of her novel All-American Girl ! At the age of thirty, with two failed marriages and a tanking writing career, Samantha Moore deals with the world with the only tool she has left: anger. And she's tired of it. When her grandmother's near-death sends her rushing back home to Vermont, she hopes for the chance to overcome the rage ruling her life. Once she's home, Lance Cummings becomes a constant source of indigestion. Lance is a single father who learned first-hand the devastating effects of a damaging relationship. He sees through Samantha's nasty temper - straight to her cry for help. He wants to help her, but he also wants to know why Samantha ran from him - and their future - twelve years before. Taking care of her Grams, dealing with an alcoholic brother, and getting Lance to remove his annoyingly attractive nose from her business is draining on Samantha. And she's only got three weeks to finish her stag