Writer Unboxed

Kathleen and I are thrilled to announce the latest contributor to join Writer Unboxed: Sophie Masson. (See her page HERE.) Sophie–who lives in Australia now, but was born in Indonesia to French parents and spent much of her life in France–has published many historical YA novels as well as some adult fantasy. Stay tuned to learn more about Sophie, and look for her first post on January 16th. A big thanks to Juliet Marillier for recommending her to us.

Have you heard that the Golden Globes were cancelled over the WGA strike? Did you know there’s a new agency in town? Have you read about the Cassie Edwards scandal on the front pages over at Smart Bitches? Did you know that SOHO press will soon launch a new mystery imprint, or that HarperCollins and MySpace have a joint venture going? Have you seen the clip Neil Gaiman put on his site for his upcoming video animation of his novel Coraline? Then click yourself over to Google Notebook for some of the latest books and business news.

Sometimes, when compiling links for Google Notebook, I stumble across a great article or site that, while not right for the Notebook, is still interesting. Here are a few links to things I think you might like:

Publishers Weekly article on 15 Trends to Watch in 2008

Why We Write, a new blog full of essays from the striking TV and film writers

The fabulous Anne Harris’ latest pubbed short story, The Bear Child, free to read HERE (note: PDF file)

Lake Superior State University’s 2008 List of Banned Words

Dear Author’s Best of 2007 E-Book List, HERE

This article began with some fighting words for romance readers–In the literary world, Mills and Boon has long been the black sheep. Its books – to call them novels would be to raise them far above their station – are lightweight, the plots recycled and the endings predictable and to read them is a waste of precious life–but turned into an interesting piece on the importance of escapist fiction.

And here, a YouTube clip of Susan Sarandon and Chazz Palminteri, demonstrating what they’re capable of without writers, in support of the strike:

Last but not least, we want to thank Wordswimmer for nominating us for the Shameless Lion Award (details HERE, but the main components of the award are Innovation, Truth and Humanism). We feel humbled and grateful for this nod, and we’d like to nominate five sites we also think bring these things to the table:

1. Flogging the Quill
2. Time to Write
3. Ask Allison
4. Quantum Storytelling

And here, a new blog to watch:

5. Journey of the Scribe

Write on, all!

Photo courtesy Flickr’s Davespilbrow.

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