Catching Up

Haven't read GalleyCat in a while, so I found a few gems over there today.

Book Cover Mashup over at bookninja--hysterical.
Go ahead, judge a book by its cover--or at least, guess its Amazon ranking based on its cover.

Found yesterday:

This is old, but it's new to me--and gave me a laugh. How to Write a Book. My favorite step:

14. If you’ve worked hard three days in a row, take a hard-earned day off. And it looks like snow tomorrow, so you might as well take the whole weekend. But a day off from writing is not a day off from complaining!

Also a few months old, and maybe I posted it before, but I just found it in my email archives. It's funny enough to merit the risk of a double-post: Writing a Novel, a Love Story.

There. Take a break and enjoy yourself.

Daily Dose of Cute

Not much to report here--just procrastinating before I resume my daily 1000 words--but this is too damn cute.

We had a hedgehog when I was younger. Adorable little creatures, if a bit shy. And I think they're illegal in PA, or at least that's what everyone said.

Quick Check-in

Just checking in to direct you here. Found it on Boing Boing, and if you need a quick Monday pick-me-up...well, here ya go. They're better than coffee.

More later.

Back

Been a few days since I've updated. The weekend alternated between busy (company picnic in Virginia Beach, shopping trip) and lazy/malaisey (coining a word here--I'm a writer, I'm allowed).

Not much progress on the writing front, except that today I finally got past a scene that was driving me crazy. I'm very uncertain about it, and whether it's a direction I want to take, so I've been stalling and procrastinating about it. Finally just decided to freakin' do it already.

My responses from agents have slowed a bit, so I might increase my current "five at a time" method.

Some links, so maybe ya'll can benefit from my procrastination:

Writing related:

• Diana Peterfreund writes a handy primer for new writers: Part One, Part Two, and more to come tomorrow.
• Agent Kristin Nelson describes a conference encounter that, dare I say, even beats the "manuscript-passed-under-bathroom-door" story/myth/legend.
• A new blog by frequent commenter Tia, in which she reviews fantasy debuts with a fascinating "as-she-reads-it" style.
• Ever wondered if your sunrise/sunset timing is right in your writing? Say, the scene takes place at five o'clock pm, and the sun is setting...but the scene takes place in summer? It's a little inconsistency that drives us perfectionists NUTS. Here's a site to keep you from pushing me those last few steps toward the asylum =).

Sort of writing related:

• A fabulous video blog entry at Brotherhood 2.0 (If you haven't checked out John and Hank Green's yearlong video blog project, then your life is missing some awesomeness).
• Am I the only one who never knew about the Poe Toaster? That's seriously cool, although I think the new guy is kind of ruining it by making it political.

That's all I've got. Enjoy.