February 2012
25 posts
Diagram Prize shortlist revealed →
It’s that time of year again. Here’s the shortlist:
A Century of Sand Dredging in the Bristol Channel: Volume Two by Peter Gosson (Amberley). A book that documents the sand trade from its inception in 1912 to the present day, focusing on the Welsh coast.
Cooking with Poo by Saiyuud Diwong (Urban Neighbours of Hope). Thai cookbook. “Poo” is Thai for “crab” and is Diwong’s nickname.
Estonian...
JK Rowling's first novel for adults goes to... →
Neil Blair, Rowling’s agent:
We didn’t auction. J K Rowling’s choice wasn’t about money but rather led by a desire to choose creatively how to pursue the next stage of her career with a new genre and new direction.
Big News.
'We’re starting to do some things differently' →
Mountain Lion. Wow. Did not see that coming. How nice to go back to the days of genuine surprise.
This is a great piece by @Gruber too.
#
The hashtag is the clitoris of the Mac.
On The Implausibility Of The Death Star's Trash... →
Sound, compelling argument by Joshua Tyree.
(via @TheMichaelMoran @scottEweinberg)
Shoreditch House Literary Salon now has its own... →
14 great writers to download to date. If you love literature, subscribe now.
'Why sit on the bus in relative comfort and safety... →
Hilarious piece by the fabulous Nicki Le Masurier for The Huffington Post.
1 tag
The Bookish Half Dozen {Juliet Pickering}
Juliet Pickering is an Associate Agent at AP Watt, the longest-established literary agency in the world. She studied English Literature at the University of Surrey and was a fiction buyer for Waterstones before joining the agency in 2003. This is her Bookish Half Dozen:
Favourite books? We Have Always Lived In The Castle by Shirley Jackson, because no matter how often I read it it...
Tweetbot for iPad →
One word: finally.
'Instagram isn’t in Twitter’s old office, it’s in... →
Inside Instagram: Great piece by Gizmodo.
(via @DaringFireball)
'Same action, same song, one makes money for the... →
Fascinating piece on how Apple is creating money “out of thin air” for copyright holders with iTunes Match.
Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo gears up for first... →
Wow.
'My Vacation,' a poem by Neil Armstrong
lightthiscandle:
Nine summers ago, I went for a visit,
To see if the moon was green cheese.
When we arrived, people on earth asked: “Is it?”
We answered: “No cheese, no bees, no trees.”
There were rocks and hills and a remarkable view
Of the beautiful earth that you know,
It’s a nice place to visit, and I’m certain that you
will enjoy it when you go.
-from the children’s...
'Bring Your Book to Market' →
There’s only a couple of places left on Faber Academy’s ‘Bring Your Book to Market’ course, 17-19 February 2012:
The digital publishing revolution has transformed self-publishing from a last resort into an ever-expanding world of opportunity that writers at all stages of their career can take advantage of. This hands-on, three-day course is aimed at writers who want to...
What does it feel like to get your first book... →
A rather wonderful piece by @niccicloke on what it really feels like to get a book deal (contains good advice too).
I love this for so many different reasons
nasalove asked lightthiscandle:
Favourite Gemini mission/crew? I know that’s a hard question because they’re all so great but I’m in a Gemini mood right now :)
That IS a hard question! :) It would probably be Gemini 3, for several reasons. Gus and John, for starters. Then the corned-beef sandwich, Gus redeeming his good name, the Molly Brown/Titanic issue, the first computer...
January 2012
24 posts
The Costa short story prize is not enough →
Great piece by Stuart Evers, writing in The Guardian. He’s right, too.
(via @steeevemesser)
'You don't really 'watch' Mad Men: you lie back... →
Mad Men is one of those rare shows you just don’t want to end. Thankfully its pace is so languid, it almost doesn’t start, let alone finish. 85% of each episode consists of Don Draper staring into the middle distance through a veil of cigarette smoke. Sometimes so little appears to be happening, you have to fight the urge to get up and slap your TV to make the characters start moving...
Less on being seen, and more on being heard →
Thomas Brand reviews the major highlights of 2011, “Apple’s greatest year.”
Gone are the days of the candy coloured iMac. Apple’s new approach is a timeless elegance that does not need to be updated every year. Not a single Apple hardware product saw a significant redesign this year, and yet Apple still showed record profits. Today’s Apple relies less on being seen, and more on being...
Here’s what Jon McGregor knows about buying and... →
Apparently, the last typewriter manufacturer recently closed down. So no more new typewriters. Luckily, if you’re interested in getting hold of one, the typewriters which were built throughout the 20th century were built to last: mine was made in 1945 and works a treat. Show me your MacBook Air in 2075 and let’s compare notes.
The nation's favourite Dickens character →
Vote here! You have until the end of the month.
1 tag
The Bookish Half Dozen {Jacqueline Burns}
Jacqueline Burns was commissioning editor at Random House and editorial director at HarperCollins prior to setting up as a literary agent and publishing consultant. She runs the London Writers’ Club with agent Kirsty McLachlan and has co-authored two ebooks on writing. She also wrote a series of humorous books for young women, The Handbag Book of Girly Emergencies, under a pseudonym. This...
Costa will be awarding a "Short Story" prize →
A big deal.
A letter to my mum #1
thesubaltern:
We found the food you left at the back of the freezer. It was sweetcorn dhal. We also found the frozen bhajias you made. I can’t carbon-date when you did make them from how much they were frozen but all I can tell you is, we found them.
We had to take a decision. If we ate your food, that was it. That’s the last of it. That’s all there is. That’s all there would be. And we would...
1 tag
The Bookish Half Dozen {Anna Watkins}
Anna Watkins works as rights manager for literary agency David Godwin Associates. She also manages the company’s social media accounts and occasionally enjoys alphabetising the bookcases. Before working for DGA she studied English literature at UCL and interned at Aitken Alexander Associates. Here’s her Bookish Half Dozen:
Favourite books? All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy,...
1 tag
The Bookish Half Dozen {Essie Fox}
Essie Fox’s debut novel, The Somnambulist, is a Victorian gothic mystery which has recently been selected as one of the ten ‘Best Reads’ for Channel 4’s TV Book Club. Before taking up writing, Essie was a professional illustrator, and before that she worked for The Telegraph Sunday Magazine, and the publishers Allen & Unwin. She’s currently writing a second Victorian novel – Elijah’s...
Nothing says 'I love you' like a string of random... →
Young couples have long signaled their devotion to each other by various means — the gift of a letterman jacket, or an exchange of class rings or ID bracelets. Best friends share locker combinations.
The digital era has given rise to a more intimate custom. It has become fashionable for young people to express their affection for each other by sharing their passwords to e-mail, Facebook and...
Why is Faber running a self-publishing course? →
A publisher running a self-publishing course? At first glance that sentence may look a little odd. We don’t think so.
Fascinating blog by Ian Ellard from Faber Academy for FutureBook.
1 tag
The Bookish Half Dozen {Ed Wood}
Ed Wood is the editor of We Love This Book, a quarterly magazine (and website) for book lovers from the team behind The Bookseller. He’s also the co-author of the 100 Must-Read Guide to American Novels, published by A&C Black. Here’s his Bookish Half Dozen:
Favourite books? If I had to pick one to read until the world ended, it would be The Great Gatsby. A more perfect book...
Writers' Desktops: Louise Doughty →
I remember the arguments about whether using a “word processor” was good for a writer’s prose style. When they were first launched, there was serious discussion about whether, because it made writing easier and quicker, it would lead to “baggy prose”.
Writers’ Desktops continues with Louise Doughty.
The iPhone: Five years on →
Five years ago, Steve Jobs stood on stage at Macworld Expo and unveiled the iPhone.
Nice retrospective from MacWorld
(via Daring Fireball)
The Art of Fielding →
It took ten years to write and was turned down by numerous agents. But The Art of Fielding, by first-time author Chad Harbach, is the latest work to capture the dreams and insecurities of provincial America.
Great piece in The Guardian by Ruaridh Nicoll. Well worth reading.
'Twitter is all about relationships' →
I’m quoted in WalesOnline today, talking about Twitter.
12 Writers Who Still Refuse to Use Computers →
This is great.
(via one of them: @leerourke and @MiltonCrawford)
December 2011
25 posts
