Fill-Me-In Friday

 


Welcome to the new Friday feature--Fill-Me-In Friday where I share some of the best links I've come across during the week.


On the web...

 


Sherrilyn Kenyon's keynote speech from RWA - Totally made me cry when I heard it in person. If you ever want to get whiny about writing, go read this and kick your own ass.

 

 

thefaultinourstarscovers:photo credit here[submitted by Jen]
*not actual cover, check out others here*

A Social Media Marketing Success Story via Anne R. Allen and the post she's talking about: An Unfinished Book Hits Number One

 

Things Learned at RWA 11 via Dear Author - I linked to it on Wednesday, but if you didn't check it out, go now. :)

Romances Don't Have Enough Condoms and Have Too Much Fantasy - Smart Bitches, Trashy Books take on the latest study blaming all of life's woes on romance novels. All of the stuff that is blamed on romance novels makes me tired. Really, really tired. (And for the record, I would say 99% of romance novels I read tackle the issue of protection. The only ones who don't are historical novels where birth control methods weren't exactly available.)

Forget Everyone Else by Jessica Faust - On writing the story you want to write.

There's going to be a Q & A with author Maya Banks on Dear Author on Sunday- Everything you were afraid to ask about publishing. Maya is both e-pubbed and traditionally pubbed and is now venturing into self-pubbing. You can go submit questions still and she said not to hold back! :)

 

Kristen Lamb is giving her intitial thoughts on Google+ and is generously going to test it out for those of us who are wary of entering yet another social media zone.

 

 

What Separates Man From Penmonkey by Chuck Wendig - Warning: If you haven't read Chuck before, his posts are hilarious and insightful, but rated R. There, you've been warned. :) Now go read it.

 



What You Missed on my Author Blog:

 


And if you missed Monday's post, I'm still looking for people willing to host me for a spot on my blog tour for CRASH INTO YOU. If you're interested, please sign up here.

 

And last bit of personal pimping--I've been interviewed for the Writer's Knowledge Base newsletter. Check it out here! And if you haven't already, subscribe to this super helpful free newsletter. Lots of good info each month.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! What was your favorite link of the week? Have you read any of the ones above yet?

  All content copyright of the author. Please ask permission before re-printing or re-posting. Fair use quotations and links do no require prior consent of the author. ©Roni Loren 2009-2011 |Copyright Statement|

Things I Learned This Week

 


I had a couple of articles I read this week that I wanted to blog about, but instead of doing individual blog posts, I figured I would summarize and then provide you with the links.  And, for those of you who aren't doing the Twitter thing yet, you're missing out on a lot of good info.  Most of these articles came to me by way of tweets.  (Btw, if you want to follow me, click on the flying birdie on the right.)

 

Alright, so things I learned this week...

  • First, blogger has a PAGES feature now!  I have to thank Jody Hedlund for bringing this to my attention.  If you're not sure what I'm talking about, look at the top of this page.  See that?  Other links to other pages within this blog!  So, now we can make our blogs be more like websites.  Of course, I find this out right after I built my professional website, but that's okay.  I'll maintain both for now.  Feel free to click around above and let me know what you think of my new pages.  (To add this feature to your own blog, add the pages gadget in your layout.)
  • The action opening isn't all it's cracked up to be.  This is one of the things that has come up in a few of the Beta Club critiques--help me know the character so that I care that she's/he's in danger in the first place--but this article explained it's much better than I could:  The Biggest Bad Advice About Story Openings (thanks to @elizabethscraig for the tweet)
  • For some reason writers continue to put down other genres.  Why can't we all just get along?  Here's a quote, but the full article is here. (thanks to @Gwen_Mitchell for the tweet) 
Nicholas Sparks has no love forpeople who call his stories "romances."   "If you look for me, I'm in the fictionsection. Romance has its own section," he says toward the end of a long conversation.
  • I'm capable of writing large amounts when I put my mind to it--7000 words this week baby! *happy dance*

Alright, so that's all I've got.  How about you?  What did you learn this week?

 

 
 
 

*Today's Theme Song**
"You Learn" - Alanis Morissette
(player in sidebar--go ahead, take a listen)


 

Getting the Inside Scoop

 

I mentioned last week that I've organized my blog reading into folders on Google Reader so that I can get a better handle on my reading.  Well, when I tweeted that one of my folders is for industry blogs, a few people asked me which ones I follow.  So I thought today I would list some of those.  These are the blogs that help me stay on top of industry news and trends and also give killer advice for writers.  Hope you check them out!

 

Agents/Agencies

 

 

Publishers

 

 

Editors

 

 

Author

 

  • Stacia Kane (excellent writing related posts, great blog series on how to write love scenes as well)

 

Bloggers who Provide Industry Related Service

 

  • Query Tracker
  • Miss Snark's First Victim (has regular Secret Agent contests, where an agent crits fifty 250 word submissions on the site.  She gets big agents to do this and often the winner gets a request from the agent.   The March contest is about to start, so click over to check out how to submit your entry.)
  • The Intern
  • Public Query Slushpile (post your query for feedback)

 

Alright, those are my must reads, go forth and follow.  What are some of your must-read industry blogs?  Feel free to leave the link in the comments.

**Reminder: Tomorrow is the debut of the Fiction Groupie Crit Project! (I need a better name for it, not loving that one, let me know if you have a suggestion.)  So, make sure and stop by with your encouraging words and your red pens for our first brave author!**

 
 
 
 

**Today's Theme Song**
"I Will Follow You Into the Dark" - Death Cab For Cutie
(player in sidebar--go ahead, take a listen)