Shaken Not Stirred

I've added a new "helpful writing blog" to the sidebar.  Not just a friend of mine, not just a fabulous writer (we've workshopped together so I know), but also somebody who has her finger on the pulse of all things spec fic and YA.  Plus, she reads and reviews and recs more books than anybody else I know.

Follow Gwenda Bond's Shaken Not Stirred. (is that a great name, or what?).

She gives good blog.

Cruel hoax, oh how you sting.

Photo credit: Bogart Handsome Devil on flickr

If you aren't already following Writer Beware, you should be.

Today's horrifying entry is about a writer who was punk'd, hoaxed, tricked into believing she had not only a legitimate agent offer one morning, but a fabulous book deal that afternoon.  Why?  That remains to be seen.

I can only advise you to learn as much about the business as you can.  Follow blogs like the ones I have linked to in the sidebar. Learn what is typical, what is normal, and then it will perhaps be easier to spot that which is impossible.

Nathan Branford on Dialogue

Nathan Branford has an excellent blog.  See him in my blogroll in the sidebar. [If you note, in the sidebar I link to the best info on query letters ever; this is Nathan's info, and it's the best ever because it's what I've been teaching for twenty years. It's really nice to find I'm doing something right!]

As a former agent and a novelist, he brings insights from all sides of writing and publishing.  Check out what he advises about dialogue.  It's excellent.