The Random I-Have-Too-Many-Tabs-Open Edition:

Blast from the Past: Apparently, they’re remaking “V”. I have fond memories of the time my sister and I convinced our mom to let us have the TV in our room so we could watch “V” episodes at 1 am. It must’ve been during summer vacation, because I can’t imagine Mom agreeing to it otherwise! It looks a little cheesy (giant face in the sky, oy!), but I’ll watch it anyway, for nostalgia’s sake.

Is Kindle the New Publishing Frontier? JA Konrath experiments. And elaborates. Interesting discussions in the comments. I’m with the commenter who fears that the Kindle store might get flooded with self-pubbed books of ahhh…. dubious quality, thereby burning out the readership and lowering the effectiveness of this strategy. Yeah, I’m a skeptic, but then I don’t own a Kindle. I’ve never seen one in person… er, gadget, even.

In a Creative Rut? Come join me, and wallow. Or else, try these tips for breaking out of it.

Look at these sweet watercolor sheep. They’ll look really nice next to the black-and-white spotted cows the kids made last week.

The writer mom edition:

Christina Katz on how her writing schedule changed as her child grew up. I’m going to check out her book: Writer Mama: How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids. It’s geared more towards non-fiction, but I love the subtitle and I’m ready to see if article-writing is at all my cup of tea.

Literary Mama: An e-zine for maternal units.

Maternal Spark accepts flash fiction submissions. Also see this handy-dandy how-to for writing flash.

As for this writing mom, I’m bouncing between finishing the first draft of a fantasy short and writing up a kindergarten-level minimum course of study to send to the state for my oldest this weekend. Both are fun, and tortuous, in their own ways.

Happy writing.

The Random Edition:

Myths about the Middle Ages: Interesting discussions in the comments. Also via the same blog, Spiderman rescues an eight-year-old boy.

JA Konrath guestblogging on the cumulative effect of self-promotion efforts. Here he is on yet another blog (*grin*) talking about what not to do when promoting your books. (And here you can find an excerpt of his latest book, Afraid, which I am far too chicken to read.)

Found this nifty size conversion chart while Jo and I were discussing clothes shopping woes.

And (because there has not been enough space devoted to chocolate on this blog recently): The chocolate chip scones I made for breakfast on Saturday. Just make sure to add more OJ than the recipe calls for to get the dough wet enough. Scrumptious.

Astronomy Picture of the Day: Sir I. is into planets these days, so he and I have been watching related videos, reading relevant books and checking out the planetary landscapes exhibit at the children’s museum together.

Agent Jessica Papin at DGLM: Confessions of a thrifty bibliophile. I have no compunctions about the books I buy at used stores or check out from the library (instead of buying new). I do support writers by buying their books new from brick-and-mortar stores, but we also have to buy food, pay our mortgage and clothe and educate our children on one income. Unless they’re pirating books, I don’t think anyone needs feel guilty about how they acquire their literary entertainment.

Southern Fried Chicas has a roundup of agent comments on the State of Publishing in Today’s Economy. Surprisingly (or not), agent Kristin Nelson has noticed a dramatic increase–not decrease–in queries. Unemployed peopple have turned to novel-writing? She also gives hope to unpubbed writers: editors are still buying books!

I just heard about FlyCon, an online specfic convention happening this weekend. Won’t be able to attend, but it looks really cool. They have a bunch of neat panels I’d have been happy to check out. Mannesrist Fantasy and Georgette Heyer. Fairy Tale workshop. Families in Fantasy. I’d better stop looking at the schedule of events or I’m going to be seriously bummed about missing this. Here’s their blog.

I’m late getting this out. Had a really busy weekend, and now my husband is sick, poor guy.

Onwards:

Kelley McCullough on Waiting for Godot Inspiration, a play that is considerably shorter and less frustrating than the Samuel Beckett one. I laughed out loud at the moral lesson at the end. It just might become my new mantra.

David Coe on the different ways creativity manifests itself in his life. I love how different artistic and creative endeavors inform and interconnect with each other.

Marie Brennan likens writing flash fiction to building an arch. A timely post for me, since I was bludgeoned over the head with an idea for a short-short two nights ago. A spooky scary idea that I don’t like to think about in the middle of the night because it still gives me the shivers.

Tia at Fantasy Debut announces a weekly Discovery Showcase for self-pubbed and unpubbed writers.

Agent Nephele Tempest has been keeping an eye on the controversy over Facebook’s Terms of Service.

This is the SF&F writer edition, apparently:

Author Jay Lake on staying the course.

Agent Kristin Nelson’s assistant, Sara Megibow, is now acquiring books. What caught my eyes was this:

Science Fiction and Fantasy = This is probably my all time favorite genre. For me, it is important to create a vivid, intense world that is incorporated seamlessly into an engaging story with complex characters. No big deal, right? Here are some recent reads which I feel capture these qualities: OLD MAN’S WAR by John Scalzi, THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA by Scott Lynch and HIS MAJESTY’S DRAGON by Naomi Novik. I also love everything written by Robin McKinley and Carol Berg.

Best Colleges Online list of the Top 100 Creative Writing Sites (via Maternal Spark)

Recently discovered blogs: Science Fiction & Fantasy Novelists (am I learning from the pros or Internet stalking? you decide) and Fantasy Debut (found while doing some market analysis).

Agent Nephele Tempest discusses simultaneous vs. multiple submissions.

Changes in publishing? This Time article speculates.

My friend Cat (who is a writer and musician), has started a series on her blog about The Life Artistic. I love her idea about every artist creating a toolbox:

Fill that toolbox, even if it’s with things you think you’ll never use, because an artist can learn something from everyone and everything. And, without a strong foundation to stand on, an artist can’t make informed choices, and without informed choices, we’re always at the mercy of others’ taste and experiences.

Finally, a porridge that might actually go over well in our house: Cocoa-Peanut Porridge.

And, lastly, my friend Emily made this lovely double-pointed needle case. Functional and beautiful. I love the colors. It almost makes me want to haul out my sewing machine and (re)learn how to use it. (But I know my limitations, so I won’t).

Actually, one more link, for laughs: Churches or prisons? Take a look at these architectural monstrosities and decide.