Links

Mid-Week, Hot, Sweaty, De-Caf Links

Posted on August 11, 2010 by TayariJones




wahtever works

Originally uploaded by doughboy54

You have probably noticed that I have sort of slowed down the blog during these dog days of summer. For one, it’s just too hot to think. And add to that, my air conditioner hasn’t been working. And the biggest factor is that I have given up coffee, which has cost me about 15% of my personality. I am trying to remember why I thought this was such a good idea in the first place. In the meanwhile, here are some pretty good links.

  • Big publisher? Indie? Self Publish? Moonrat breaks down all your options.
  • I, too, noticed that only when the topic is “overrated” writers, the list is really diverse.
  • Ten excellent rules for writing fiction.
  • Jericho Brown on the topic of labels, or, as he calls them, adjectives.
  • The Kindle is a cold shower?
  • Not literary, I know. But, “My Humps” in sign language.
  • Eat, Pray, SPEND. What’s the deal with Priv-Lit?
  • More Kindle hateration.
  • Lauren Cerand is the coolest person in publishing.
  • Really good interview with Aimee Bender.
  • So you want to be an agent?
  • Pretty captivating depression-era photo from Puerto Rico.
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    Honey, I’m Home Links

    Posted on August 1, 2010 by TayariJones




    Homeward Bound.

    Originally uploaded by kleopatrjones

    I’m home from the Hurston/Wright Writers Week workshops. The experience was really intense. The class was terrific– beautiful writing and beautiful spirits. But still, I am really really tired. Next summer, I am going to limit myself to just one summer course. School will be starting in a week and I’ve much to do prepare. But enough about me. Here are some juicy links.

  • Hmm… You can’t help but raise your eyebrows at this.
  • A happy story in publishing.
  • Want to keep a journal, but don’t know where to start?
  • NPR wants to know why you write.
  • One editor explains why she isn’t crazy about the present tense.
  • Stacey D’Erasmo talks about writing over the long haul.
  • Book give away! Five books given away free and clear, but if you pay for postage you can really score.
  • Romance writers raise $61,000 for literacy!
  • Sarah Manguso’s secrets of revision.
  • Helpful links for folks trying to get published.
  • Baby bookworm, Fidel speaks, Muppet Bio, $139 Kindle, and other links.
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    Money Isn’t Everything Links

    Posted on July 20, 2010 by TayariJones

  • OMG OMG OMG OMG! The Uncollected Baldwin Essays! With an introduction by Randall Keenan!!!

  • When looking at book deals, some things matter more than money.
  • Publisher’s Weekly is in love with Andrew Ervin, one of the “Amazing Eight”!
  • Rachel Eliza Griffiths who has taken amazing photographs of literary life has had her cameras stolen! Cave Canem is taking up a collection to replace them.
  • Love advice from Simone de Beauvoir
  • What to do when you accidentally revise the life of out your story
  • Lesson: You are NOT your writing. You are not “bleeding onto the page.”
  • An agent says she cool with hard-luck memoirs, but there needs to be at least a glimmer of hope.
  • Faulkner at Virginia: an audio archive.
  • Writing in Real Life remembers Harvey Pekar.
  • This is not literary, but this 1979 interview of Dick Clark interviewing Prince is hilarious.
  • Don’t mock your villains.
  • That stupid stuff you posted on facebook could cost you a book deal.
  • Are poetry and ebook format incompatible?
  • Read Olufemi Terry’s short story, “Stickfighting,” that won the Caine prize for African Writing.
  • Mo Money, Mo Problems. The drama drama drama surrounding the blockbuster, The Shack.
  • Nigerian Novelist, Nnedi Okorafor, will not be silenced.
  • LEBRON! The Musical. (I love these things. Keep em coming, Ben.)
  • Pearl Cleage interviewed at The Root.
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    Size 11 Please, Links

    Posted on July 8, 2010 by TayariJones




    I Want! Gimme!

    Originally uploaded by kleopatrjones
  • Writers on Africa. (Abani!)
  • I luuurve these Dr. Seuss chucks.
  • So, the whole internet is talking about Gary Shteyngart’s book trailer. I was watching it, envying the fact that he has to give not one whit of thought to being “universal.”
  • Author memorabilia. My fave is the locket of Jane Austen’s hair, prettier than it sounds.
  • Interesting video about an upcoming exhibition about Fela Kuti.
  • The oldest living Pullman porter looks back.
  • The women of The Daily Show say that the show isn’t a sexist hellhole.
  • Man threatens Obama in a poem. (a poem???)
  • Apparently the only black films that make money have Tyler Perry attached. So now what to do?
  • W.E.B. DuBois’ Crisis Magazine to be digitized.
  • Can the NYT bestseller list be bought? Why do I suspect that I can’t afford it?
  • Debra Dickerson wants you to chip in to help finance her new book. (She doesn’t reveal the subject, but she says she has a realy good idea for it.)
  • Broken Social Contracts, the film about rape at Spelman/Morehouse, will be released on line in six parts.
  • Jamaica Kinkaid reflects on her improbable life.
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    Shemar-less Links

    Posted on July 5, 2010 by TayariJones




    My Sweet Little Cousin

    Originally uploaded by kleopatrjones

    Hi everyone! I’ve been sort of MIA. Family reunion was held last week in Oakdale, Louisiana. (I felt like I was in a Tyler Perry script, but Shemar never showed up!) We were celebrating the 100th anniversary of my grandmother’s birth. Willie Mae Jones has been gone about fifteen years now, but her legacy lives on with almost 100 children, grandchildren, and great grands, and even great-greats. I fell head over heels with my first cousin thrice removed, Giovanna. At the tender age of ten, she is a marvel. I came back home optimistic about the future. Look at her with her Mama.

    But okay, on with the links.

  • Bernice MacFadden gives the director’s cut of her Washington Post article about black writers and the literary marketplace. I have lots of thoughts on this which I will post tomorrow.
  • Anika marks the 40th Anniversary of The Bluest Eye.
  • Lauren Hill is back, on NPR.
  • 40 writers over 40. And 10 under 10.
  • Remembering Fred Hampton and a YA novel about (Black)Panther Parents.
  • Niki Herd breaks it down from Arizona.
  • A lawyer advises writers about copyright.
  • So meta, a link-bucket within a link-bucket. (Very good stuff over there.)
  • When submitting to an editor, It’s all about the first line.
  • Octavia Butler finally inducted to the Science Fiction Hall of Fame.
  • Who’s afraid of Amiri Baraka? Writing about real people in fiction.
  • A list of book blogs.
  • Great photos of homemade soccer balls.
  • How to stay safe on public wi-fi networks.
  • Indie bookstores! Indie presses!
  • Congratulation is Tinesha Davis who is in Tuscany on the Book In A Day Fellowship!
  • How awful. Jackie Mitchard, the first Oprah author and really nice person, is wiped out by a Ponzi scheme.
  • Terrific writing advice for you at every stage in your process.
  • 55 Secret Street recognizes fabulous women, including little ol me.
    • Posted in Links | 1 Comment

    Gone Too Soon Links

    Posted on May 11, 2010 by TayariJones

  • RIP Rane Arroyo. He was one of the first people I met at my first AWP. I didn’t even know he had been ill.

  • Am I the only person who didn’t find the Bronte Sisters Action Figures to be really funny. I think I may have smiled once, sorta.
  • Reading is good for you!
  • Have budget cuts hurt your education? Write about it and win a cash prize!
  • It’s called the Capote House, but Truman just rented the basement. Anyway, it’s for sale.
  • Lena Horne: Glamorous Revolutionary.
  • I must go to Columbia to see the Gorey drawings.
  • Cool giveaway. Recommend a short-story collection in order to maybe win one!
  • Say it out loud! I write romances and I’m proud!
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    Nacireman Links

    Posted on May 6, 2010 by TayariJones

  • New Yorkers, don’t forget that SWEET: Actors Reading Writers is tonight!
  • This post about being a black woman at Harvard Law School is long, but totally worth reading.

  • Jason Pinter says Men Don’t Read and everybody is freaking out over it.
  • Congrats to Nam Le on wining the Pen/Malamud Award.
  • I’m looking forward to the new Anne Lammott novel, Imperfect Birds.
  • Anne Patchett remembers the Nashville flood of 1974.
  • Friday, Saturday 15, come see and discuss “Black Boy”, a documentary on the life of Richard Wright. (Washington, DC BB&P, free.)
  • The men of Alpha Phi Alpha move their convention from Phoenix! #boycottarizona #whatamanwhatamanwhatamightygoodman
  • “Fela” and “Fences” score big with Tony award nominations.
  • John Edgar Wideman on why he decided to self-publish.
  • The 4th Annual August Wilson Monologue Contest.
  • Do you need an MFA? The debate continues.
  • Happy Birthday, Bernadette.
  • Stunt Writing is when a writer does something crazy and writes about it. Here’s how to do it.
  • I love this little girl. So smart.
  • Song of Solomon, banned. Really?
  • Pearl Cleage’s newest play, “The Nacirema Society Requests The Honor Of Your Presence at a Celebration of Their Fist One Hundred Years,” is opening this fall in Atlanta.
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    Sensitive Links

    Posted on April 29, 2010 by TayariJones
  • Are you a sensitive poet?
  • Ten questions to ask an agent before you sign
  • I don’t really get “poem in your pocket day”, but I do love this one by Frank O’Hara.
  • Ever wonder how Cave Canem got its name?
  • Nikki Giovanni is leaving the rights to all her books to Virginia Tech.
  • Can you blog and write at the same time?
  • Writing and smoking? Peanut butter and jelly.
  • Bernice MacFadden reads from Glorious.
  • Weirdly cool
  • Watch the Story Awards reading.
  • ZOMG! Anne Franks’ diary on display.
  • Happy 162nd Birthday, Roget’s Thesaurus.
  • Felicia Pride takes a hard look at the black self-help genre.
  • The new Carribbean Review of Books website has just gone live.
  • The Langston Hughes home is for sale. (pictures)
  • It’s not nice to use Amazon to get revenge.
  • Using hiphop to build vocabulary?
  • Back off parents. Let your kids pick their own books.
  • The new rules for a successful blog.
    • Posted in Links | 2 Comments

    If You Want Me To Stay Links

    Posted on April 21, 2010 by TayariJones

  • Ben Greenman is still feeding his Sly Stone obsession and Sly always gives him something to chew on. (That’s Ben’s book cover over there on the right.)

  • Seeking an incredible talented little girl to play the role of Octavia. I’ve seen her in my dreams, but where is she??
  • How to pronounce authors’ names correctly so you will seem smart at cocktail parties. [via]
  • The gorgeousness of Rita Dove.
  • Lizze Skurnick reads for Girls Write Now!
  • Janice “Girlbomb” Earlbaum gives a sneak peak at her new work.
  • Why some authors fail.
  • When I saw this, I thought my mind was in the gutter.
  • Author-on-Author cage matches.
  • I love stationery stores like this.
  • An author mourns the passing of her agent, the one who rescued her from the slush pile.
  • Who will take over the Schomburg now that Dodson’s retiring?
  • Top with crushed black people pepper. Oops.
  • How Terrance Hayes writes a poem.
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    Cathing Up With the Links

    Posted on April 14, 2010 by TayariJones
  • Good news about Leaving Atlanta: The Movie.
  • America’s most amazing libraries.
  • The authoress returns.
  • The Autobiography of Malcolm X gets three new chapters.
  • Tax tips for writers.
  • How do publishers pick the lead title?
  • Natalie Merchant sings 18th century poetry. Lovely video, if you like that kind of thing, and I do!
  • Look at our handsome Dwayne Betts on the cover of Mosaic!
  • A writer who is a highschool teacher writes about the murder of one of his students.
  • Mark Doty skipped AWP this year, for all the right reasons.
  • Students rate their famous writer professors.
  • When a great writer is a total jackass.
  • Essence magazine lists its favorite poets. (No Natasha Trethewey? Really, Essence?)
  • Harlem School for The Arts closing down?
  • Everybody loves John Murillo.
  • How ghostwriting works.
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