Linklove Friday

The kids and I have been traveling this week, which means this Linklove Friday may be a bit less book-centric than usual. Since we flew out of Vegas this time, what better way to start things off than with the magnificent Bellagio fountains? I've seen them many times, but it was super special to witness the kids' first viewing.

Of course, the evening wouldn't have been complete without treating ourselves to some divine gelato and pastries at the Jean Philippe Patisserie (which was featured just a few nights later on one of those great cake wars-type shows).

We've had all sorts of fun visiting the San Francisco Bay Area, even though it's been raining almost non-stop since we arrived. A highlight was taking the Golden Gate Ferry into the city, where we hung out in the marketplace (home to the Cowgirl Creamery and Book Passage SF among other great stores and restaurants). We also, visited Ghirardelli Square - for the chocolate and the amazing Salvador Dali and Joan Miro originals on display at the galleries.

I also discovered an amazing store in San Rafael called Liquid, which reminds me of a funky but upscale Haight-Ashbury shop north of the Bridge. Love it!

Oh! Amy McCulloch has a great blog post up today over at The Lucky 13s blog. It's all about novel superstitions, so go check it out.

Like all good things, though, Spring Break must end, and it'll be back to work in just a few days.

Have a sensational weekend!

Follow @nicole_mcinnes

Linklove Friday!

TGIF, and welcome to another Linklove Friday where I post links to various stuff of interest I've found online during the week!

"That's why I work so hard. I want things to be better." ~Samantha Garvey

This teen girl gives me hope for the future of our world.

While more and more information is being put out there about what it's like for an author to walk the road to publication, I don't think there can ever be too much of it. Veronica Roth's "A Peek Behind the PublishingCurtain" is a must-read for all aspiring authors.

In eBook news, there's a good article in the Altlantic about the ins and outs of ebook lending and what it might mean for the publishing industry. The comments are just as informative as the actual article, in my opinion.

Finally, Volkswagen's SuperBowl commercial has been "leaked." I know, I know. It makes me a minion of corporate advertising culture to help spread their ad, but come on! The At-At dog at the end kills me!

Have a great weekend, Everyone!

Follow @nicole_mcinnes

Linklove Friday!

There was some good stuff for readers and writers posted online during the past week or two. I'd like to share it here for the inaugural Linklove Friday!

To start off, Susan Dennard had a great post on her blog about fulfilling reader expectations for a compelling story

Then there was Chuck Wendig's (rather colorfully-stated) 25 Things Writers Should Stop Doing, which was tweeted by the awesome Sara Zarr

My friend (and another great writer) T. Greenwood, shared the Writers Store's "Don't Break the Chain" Calendar (and so far I haven't broken it - yay me!). It's free and downloadable, so what are you waiting for?

A former student, Chad S., from a Literature/Short Story course (one of my favorites to teach) sent a link to this article in the Paris Review about what happened when a teenage punk kid contacted several of the"biggee" writers of his day (i.e. Kerouac, Ayn Rand, Ralph Ellison, Ray Bradbury ) asking them to take part in his homemade survey. The fact that they responded at all is pretty amazing to me; the fact that so many of the responses were clearly time consuming is hard to even believe. But then, it was a different era in written communication.

Finally, there's this great list of authors and their top 10 favorite books. It was interesting to see some of the classics (i.e. Madame Bovary) make it onto so many lists.

Have a great weekend, Everyone!

Follow @nicole_mcinnes