Friday, February 22, 2008

Because every snow day needs a challenge

I'm dual-blogging this morning, working on my Omnibus post in one tab, and this in another. Anything that doesn't quite fit into Omnibus will end up over here, and Google Reader will breathe a sigh of relief as I empty it of all my bookmarked posts.

Jezebel is not usually on my reading list, but I love Fine Lines - adults look back at YA and children's books from a perspective that veers between snarky and nostalgic. A few of the highlights: The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Little House in the Big Woods, Jacob Have I Loved.

Via the Inkwell Bookstore Blog, I learned that the Doomsday Book has been posted online. Another way to both research and procrastinate at the same time!

Speaking of simultaneous research and procrastination, Boston 1775 has been a huge help to me in working on my post-Revolutionary War WIP. Last week, J.L. Bell looked into the history of Oscar Marion, Francis Marion's slave.

Also for the procrastination files: International Children's Digital Library.

At The Lady Killers, Ann Parker has started a series on 1880s-style romance. Fun stuff.

All I can say to Gail Gauthier's story is this: me too.

I've been skimming the Zombie Idol entries - one of these days I'll actually read them all.

On the to-do list: Buy Book Nerd t-shirt.

Via The Elegant Variation: the role of indie bookstores (especially black-owned) in promoting new black writers.

Microlending in kidlit: I love it.

Two stories that made me cringe: "invisible ink" for voting, and embezzling at the Oxford American.

All kinds of great writing tips:
From Writer's First Aid, a technique for writing through writer's block (and an even better one in the comments - I'm going to try this with my problem narrator).
Author2Author links to some guides to proofreaders' marks.
Lisa Chellman on naming characters.

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