Category Archives: Links I Love

Oddly enough, most of my links this week revolve around words and language. Who’d a thunk it?

1. A Guide to Proper Comma Use – I’m sure I still make egregious comma errors, but I have no problem declaring to the world that I am a staunch supporter of the Oxford comma.

2. Hilariously Terrible Novel Sentences You Need To Read – Ever wonder how your writing stacks up? Just be sure it’s not reminiscent of these efforts… Unless, of course, you’re trying to carve out a space for yourself on their list.

3. How To Write a Successful Query Letter: Think Like An Agent – As I get ever closer to actually drafting a query letter and sending my book out in hopes of publication, advice articles like this catch my eye. Do you have useful advice?

4.  Shakespearean Insults To Unleash In Every Day Life (now with cats!) – Neighbors being pests? Drivers around you sending you into road rage? Get creative in your responses by delivering such tasty gems as “Thou art as loathsome as a toad.”

5. The Quote Investigator – Want to make sure the insult you just hurled really did originate from Shakespeare? Check here! Very useful for ensuring that Abraham Lincoln didn’t really suggest something negative about your mother.

6. Hours Spent Reading Books Around the World – For fun, here’s info on how many hours per week the average person from various countries spends reading books. My average was way higher before the advent of the internet. Just sayin’.

7. Creative Ways to Ask Your Neighbors to Stop Having Loud Sex – Fitting for a romance novelist to find these amusing, isn’t it?

My favorite internet links of the week – some have to do with writing, others do not. Enjoy!

1. Study Shows Men Feel Bad Around Smart, Successful Women

I quoted this title to my husband, and he immediately responded, “Not me!” Gotta love him. Maybe I’ll ask again after I achieve bestseller status. Bwah ha ha! ;p

2. 101 Blog Topic Ideas – Molly Greene

Stuck on what to write about this week? Sometimes I am, too, so I was delighted to stumble across this list from Molly Greene. Now I’m set for quite a while. Hopefully you’re thrilled to hear that. (Don’t forget, you can subscribe to my ramblings so you never miss a scintillating update – find the subscription box over on the right side of the blog).

3. Why I Like the Term Author-Publisher – Chuck Wendig

I’ve got not one, but TWO blogs from Chuck Wendig on the list this week. I absolutely love his blog and envy his hilariously creative, engaging writing style. Here he tackles the negative connotations of self-publishing and proposes a new, more apt title, that of author-publishing.

4. 25 Steps to Edit the Unmerciful Suck Out of Your Story – Chuck Wendig

Oh yes, I’m neck-deep in editing my first story. Since it IS my first novel, it’s the first time I’m attempting this slog-through-it-fix-the-crap stuff. It’s hard, dude. So I’ve been scouring the net for advice on this whole editing process. Here Mr. Wendig dissects it with verve and wit and, well, truth. And hey, this blog post hits #1 on his list of suggestions!

5. 9 Tips for Writing a Really Good “Shitty First Draft” – Lisa Cron

Wow, people love lists, don’t they. 10 steps of this, 5 steps to that. But this is a really good list for those of us not in the editing stage, or already past the editing stage and on to the next project. The two phrases I’ve heard the most often since starting this writing thing are “Kill Your Darlings” and “All 1st Drafts Are Shitty.” That’s  been hard to accept – all that work and it’s crap? But it’s O.K. – this blog helps us to figure out ways to make that first effort slightly less a steaming pile of horse poop. (Thanks to friend Sarah, aka @meta_murph_osis, for alerting me to this post!)

5. 19 Jokes Only Grammar Nerds Will Understand

Yes, I’m one of those people. You know the ones. We’ll mock your grammatical boo-boos on Facebook or trash talk your spelling snafus with our besties. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Especially since it’s not like I’ve been officially TRAINED in grammatical guruness. See there? Guruness isn’t even a word. I’m sure I’ve misplaced a zillion commas. And I’m pretty sure that while I excel at it, one is really not supposed to start sentences with conjunctions. Who cares? These jokes are funny, man. Funny.

6.  25 Worst Haircuts of All Time

Let’s end the list of links on a high note. Or a low note, depending on your point of view. But I guarantee at least one of these haircuts should strike a funny chord with you – unless perhaps you were one of the people who actually HAD one of these haircuts. O.K., maybe even then. (My favorite’s #13, by the way…)

1. 21 Jokes Only History Nerds Will Get – My husband and I guffawed at a number of these. He enjoyed scissors beating paper, while the Latin jokes had me chortling. Yes, yes, we embrace our geekiness.

2. Stunning visual imagery of the earth – Feeling discouraged lately about the troubles ailing our planet, in whatever form? I am. So watching this gorgeous video reminded me of all the beauty in the world, and how grateful I am to be alive. It’s that wonderful.

3. Ethnicities with largest ancestry in the US – Fascinating map showing much of our ethnic heritage here in the USA. Although I do want to know – what the heck is “American”, historically speaking?

4. What if Emily Dickinson Attended a Writing Workshop? – Feeling discouraged about your work? Facing a mound of edits, either yours or those suggested by others? This might just cheer you up – a look at what Emily Dickinson might have faced if she attended a writing workshop.

5. Eleven Untranslatable Words From Other Cultures – Language fascinates me. That we can communicate our own personal thoughts, beliefs and experiences with another human being is nothing short of astounding, isn’t it? Even more so when we can learn a foreign language and communicate across cultures. Occasionally, however, there is simply no way to translate a word, to capture its essence in any language other than its own. Here are 11 marvelous ones.

6. Iron-Age Sweater – And we thought they only wore furs. Totally cool garment that has been preserved by ice, up until now. But what I want to know is, did they have the crazy kind of holiday sweaters people love to wear today?

7. Gut Feelings: The Future of Psychiatry – It’s not all in your head. A lot of our troubles are in our gut, too. Great look at the connection between physical health and mental health.

8. BMI not the best measure of health – For those of us challenged in the, uh, height-to-weight ratio department, this is nice to hear – although probably not surprising, either, since BMI has never taken body fat percentage or any other number of factors into consideration. I include it here as a reminder to myself that no one measurement – pounds, BMI, inches – can give a true estimate of health. And to keep walking and eating well, no matter what the numbers may be.

My addiction to Facebook, Twitter, and the Two Nerdy History Girls leads me to numerous fascinating articles every week. I thought it would be fun to pass along some of my favorites – weekly if I’m on top of things, less often when I’m not. But here are my top 7 finds as of late:

1. Not Dead Yet: Historical Romances are Still Alive and Kicking – by Jennifer Porter

Thank goodness, since this is my writing genre of choice. Wonderful article refuting many recent claims that historical romances are gasping for their last breath.

2. Molly Greene’s 10 Tweets You Should Never Send

Yes, please. Does anyone respond favorably to the DMs received after following someone that entreat you to buy that someone’s book?

3. Ackermann’s Repository from July 1812 – December 1812

For Regency enthusiasts like me, there’s nothing like seeing the real thing – on a screen, at least. Here is a wonderful scanned archive of Ackermann’s famous Regency magazine, depicting the July – December 1812 issues, with numerous illustrated plates. Happy browsing!

4. The Spider Barometer

O.K., even though Charlotte’s Web is my favorite children’s book, I remain not so much a fan of spiders. But this tidbit from 1815 about how they predict the weather has me reconsidering them with new respect, especially if a) the information is true and b) they’re more accurate than the local weather people.

5. 32 Books that will actually change your life

How many have you read? Did they change your life? I’m embarrassed to say my number is only 5 (Hey, I’m a romance addict, after all), but can attest that The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time and Life of Pi have stayed with me long after I read the last word.

6. Those Amazing Romans Were Nanotechnology Pioneers

I love ancient history. I love medieval history. I love Regency history. O.K., I sense a pattern here. But still, it’s amazing to me that a) we can know as much as we do about people who lives thousands of years ago and that b) we keep learning that they were often more advanced than we are today.

7. This Is How Much Time Your (O.K., My) Internet Addiction Actually Wastes

I, uh, hate to think what my true numbers are, as I’m pretty sure they’re higher than, well, yours. Are they?