National Novel Writing Month - up and running!

The writers are off - for National Novel Writing Month 2009, which runs the length of November.

There are certainly people who are down on National Novel Writing Month - this link at Pimp My Blog for example. Editors and agents are thrilled about the possibility of another mountain of submission from work knocked together in a single month. But then that's what makes their jobs so glamorous, right?

Personally, I like the fact that National Novel Writing Month treats writing like running, like a muscle you have to exercise, that you have to get comfortable with. Then you can write/run faster and probably better. That's the idea at least. What do you think?

"On a dark and story night..."

Hey, I made the runner speak!

Fridays are Fundays!

This week, I learned something important: there's no need to blog, people. No need at all. You can be successful without it and, in the case of the PMN bloggers, perhaps despite it. You can use your iPhone instead and read your eyes out, or write your novel on your cellphone for NaCePhoNoWriMo, or tweet some literary chatter. Or you can use Twitter to find Amazon products that aren't clearly marked as advertisements (FDIC, now you don't pay attention?). If you're into snippets, you can buy some books chapter by chapter from Simon & Schuster, although you might be screwing the author on e-royalties (but who knows? I have no idea—unless you're MacMillan, in which case the answer is yes).

And all you smug, hippie e-book readers—you think you're saving the Amazon rainforest with your interweb books? Nope! And as someone from New Jersey, I can say: the environment? I don't even know what that is.

Bruce Springsteen is writing a memoir, and again, as someone from New Jersey, I can say: this is better than if Jesus Christ himself came back from the dead (again or for the first time, depending on your belief system) and wrote a memoir. Because Jesus couldn't sing for shit.

People are going nuts for authors, and authors are going bananas in general. Frank Bruni's book is being turned into a TV show, someone distilled Jodie Sweetin's memoir to the good parts, Rick Riordan is starting a new series, and Jerry O'Connor is writing a book on parenting (because being a parent for like thirty seconds requires a book, if your wife is really hot).

Glenn Beck is the new Oprah for thrillers, which is fitting, since the man's life is thrilling. He had his appendix removed after collapsing on the air (cough on the radio which is less cool cough)! But who trusts the appendix-less? I demand a full organ contingent, friends. Organ-less need not apply.

Mike Huckabee is going on a book tour, and I do have to say, I love Mike Huckabee (not necessarily for his politics, but for his adorableness and jokes). AC/DC is not going on a book tour (as far as I know) but they have a book too, and are adorable. The estate of the late Stieg Larsson is having a less than adorable baby momma drama moment, which hopefully will shake out before the ghost of Stieg has to get involved. Let this teach us all: write a will. And if you don't have any beneficiaries, I am happy to fill in for you. "Laura who blogs at Pimp My Novel" is actually my legal name.

Also making ghosts confused: re-imagined Dr. Seuss covers. Ghosts are not confused by, but rather are jealous of, the continued vampire love. Gawker asks the vampire trend to please die, but this brief history of vampire literature and this book about Dracula say otherwise. EW got an except from the Harvard Lampoon satire of Twilight, called Nightlight, which I think begs the question: what person who likes Twilight is going to buy this, and what person who dislikes Twilight is going to chuck twenty bucks down the hole to let someone else make fun of it, when they have me and I charge nothing?

If you do love Twilight, and also love Barbie, Twilight Barbie is here! If you'd like to geek out about something a little less doll-creepy, XKCD has this awesome, awesome map of where different characters are throughout the story in Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. It almost makes you want to buy the XKCD book, which has an odd traditional publishing path. Geek Dad has a book gift guide for the geeky man in your life, and there's a great list of 70 facts you never knew about Marvel (the Hulk was almost red! History: rewritten).

And NaNoWriMo writers: this e-book publisher wants your NaNoWriMo romances, and this playlist will break writer's block, as you have no time for writer's block. Keep on trucking (only 24 more days!) and you, like the fake AP Styleguide Twitter guy, can be sassy and agented.
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Laura's roundup from Pimp My Novel

All Hallow's Eve, and us!

For Halloween we went out, taking approximately 30 seconds to get our costumes together. All Hallow's Eve is a big deal in the USA - definitely worth stepping out, as some of the costumes can be amazing.

We saw a 16 foot skeleton, with an 8 foot armspan, red eyes, and he was actually frightening people. The clocks actually went back the same night, so it was double-time for the witching hour!

Here we are as...er...a girl in a purple wig, and I'm a pirate without the costume, more resembling an abused husband!

Bruce Springsteen and "an immigrant song"!

Having recently received my Green Card, I particularly enjoyed this song. At long last, I got to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in Washington, DC last Monday. "We'll make our home in the American Land"!

Enjoy!

Guy Fawkes Night, UK and New Zealand

Guy Fawkes Night (often referred to as Bonfire Night) is celebrated with bonfires and fireworks on November 5, or the closest Friday or Saturday night.

Until the nineteenth century there was a special Church of England service for this commemoration in the Book of Common Prayer. Guy Fawkes Day became a public holiday in 1606 when it was proclaimed by an Act of Parliament. In commemoration of the Gunpowder Plot on this day in 1605, when Guy Fawkes and his comrades tried to blow up King James I and the whole English Parliament, English people still burn a 'guy' in effigy.

Traditionally the guy's cap was made of paper and knotted with ribbon-like paper strips. The dummy carried matches in one hand and a dark lantern in the other. Children would go around the streets asking for money, saying “Please to remember the guy!” In 1850 in Britain there was a strong wave of anti-Catholic sentiment, and the guy was often in the likeness of the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster!

Happy Bonfire Night, England!

Facebook in Reality!

If Facebook were in the real world...Oh yeah, it is!

'Twitter lists' expand author networks!

Twitter recently launched a lists function, which will help users separate followers into categories that other Tweeters can follow with the touch of a button.

Mashable wrote an article about Twitter lists (still in Beta) in mid-October. Twitter announced the move in a blog post in September.

When I first started exploring the lists function today, I thought it would be a terrific tool to meet new authors, publicists and publishers, and others who have similar political views as myself.

After working with it a while, though, I wasn't sure just how it would fit into my daily Twitter life. There are some highlights - and functionality that could help authors with Internet promotions. There are also some drawbacks.

Pros:

When I logged on today, I found myself already on 14 lists. By the end of the day, it was nearly 20. I went to each of the lists to see who thought I was cool enough to add. Then, I made sure I followed them. I also checked out the others on the list and added those I liked to my own network. I may not have found these contacts otherwise.

The most lists you are on, the broader your network. That means more people can find you. This works for me well, as I want to expand my network, particularly with authors and publicists.

It is terrific at sorting tweets. As with some third-party applications, you can group your followers into categories. You click on each category for a limited list of Tweets just from these folks. This is much more manageable than the current @replies system.

Lists have their own URL, so you can share these on your blogs and Web sites to direct readers to your favorite Twitter users. For example, a paranormal romance author could create a list of other authors in the genre and share it with readers.

On the flip side, you can see which other authors link to you in lists. This will give you a good idea of different readers to target with marketing efforts.

Cons:

As with most things new to Twitter, the function is not user-friendly. It takes a LONG time to add folks to one list. I don't have hours to create lists; I have minutes. Twitter needs to devise a way to make it easier to sort through followers and categorize them appropriately - especially those with several thousand.

If you already sort your followers on Twitter programs like TweetDeck, this may be too little, too late. However, it is worth a look if you visit the actual site daily, rather than access it via a third-party application.

It appears that you can be put on a list without actually following, or being followed. That could lead to some issues for authors who have a very strict genre brand.

As with anything, the most lists you have, the more Tweets you check. I have several lists already and, of course, will want to check them. I will also want to check out the new lists I am on, just to see who likes my stuff.

Have you used the new Twitter list function? If so, what are your thoughts? How does this function compare with those in third-party applications?

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