Tag Archives: friday link pack

Friday Link Pack 3/11/2016

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Hey there link likers!

I have some fun stuff in store for you today. First, let me entreat you. If you like my #FLP posts, you may also enjoy my Twitter feed. Feel free to follow me for occasional bits of random goodness. You may even get the jump on a few of the things I post here.

Alright. On to business. Link business.

WRITE-ING (Note to self.)

Tor.com Gets Mushy About Rejection
I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s repressed guilt. For whatever reason, and in a roundabout sort of way, Tor.com is telling us “It’s not personal” when they reject our manuscripts. We knew that, Tor.com. However, the article gets downright brilliant below the fold when the author starts talking about all the structural reasons manuscripts get rejected. Nice save!

TOOLS

Tabletop RPGs As Writer Trainers
polyhedralDice
Ok, this is an older article (2011 I think), but Chuck Wendig say it as only Chuck Wendig can. He lays out all the facts in his typical entertaining and CONTENT ADVISORY style. Don’t believe me? Clicky clicky, folks. Clicky clicky.

SCIENCEY

Chart of Cosmic Exploration
This chart may well be the most delightful representation of human exploration of the Solar System that I have ever seen. Don’t miss this one if you have a sciencey streak.

THINGS I LOVE

I’m Cheating Today
I don’t feel sorry. Today is their day. I used to LOVE this band. These days I only semi-aggressively like them. What can I say? It’s not them. It’s me. I’ve changed, and they didn’t. Still, nostalgia compels me.

Yesterday’s Demons Is Available For Preorder On Amazon
This is not a drill. Go directly to Amazon and order this book. I was a beta reader for it, and I’ve reserved my copy. You do the same. I’ll wait.

GIF OF THE WEEK

If I’m still learning to write consistently, this cat is still learning to cat:

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OH. YOU’RE STILL HERE. AWKWARD.

Soon, my friends (both of you), you will learn about Clah. Who or what is Clah? You’ll have to tune in next week to find out.

Friday Link Pack 2/26/2016

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It’s Friday! Link pack time. Lucky you, I recently attended LTUE (Life, the Universe, and Everything Symposium) and I’m flush with links on diverse topics. I attended sessions with various panelists such as Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Larry Correia, Steve Diamond, Kevin J. Anderson, Shannon Hale, Alan Bahr, David Farland, Peter Orullian, and the list could go on. You’re jealous. I understand.

Also, remember I’m collaborating on #FLP posts with Drew Gerken, and he had a great one last week. Check it out on his blog.

WRITE-ING (Note to self.)

William Gibson – How I Wrote Neuromancer
This is a slightly older, yet still relevant article by William Gibson on the genesis of Neuromancer. The book is one of my favorites, so this story resonates with me as a writer. You won’t be disappointed by it, I think.

The Popcorn Theory of Success
Kevin J. Anderson gave a brilliant, articulate, funny, and inspiring keynote address at LTUE. Lucky you, he gave it once late last year, and it’s on YouTube. Do not delay, my writerly friends. Watch this video.

TOOLS

Spritz For Speedreading Without Loss of Comprehension
Cool new technology I learned about recently. If you wonder how you’ll ever get through that backlog of books on writing you’ve wanted to read, try Spritz. Their technology can let even typically slow readers read up to 700 wpm and more. Of course, I haven’t tried it with fiction, because I like to savor my novels.

SCIENCEY

The Death Knell of Moore’s Law
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Guess they shouldn’t have called it a law, right? Anyway, the gist is this: computing power has been advancing at a highly predictable pace for a long time. Like 50+ years long. Yeah. So that’s over now (or very soon, rather). Computing power has virtually doubled every two years for decades, and it’s about to come to a screeching halt thanks to physics. Read the article if you want more detail. I could explain most of this, but they already did, and I don’t call this a Link Pack for nuthin’!

THINGS I LOVE

Galavant
I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed watching both seasons of Galavant recently (thanks, Alan!). I’m going to try anyway! I’ll start by warning you; the show is the funniest twenty minutes of musical heroic, comedic fantasy you will ever watch. Yes. Musical. Don’t let that dissuade you — you would regret that. In summary, regret is bad — watch Galavant.

GIF OF THE WEEK

universeye

OH. YOU’RE STILL HERE. AWKWARD.

Psssst… since you stuck around, I’ll taunt you. Part 5 of Rue From Ruin is currently out to my critique group. You’ll get it next Friday.

Friday Link Pack 1/29/2016

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Just when I thought I’d done something as haphazardly and last-minute as humanly possible — I’m writing a Friday Link Pack post at 10 PM EST on Friday via airplane wifi in extremely turbulent air bound for snowy Salt Lake City after a long week of strenuous vacationing. Oh well, here goes nothing!

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As a reminder, because I know you all read two weeks ago and remember, I’m collaborating on #FLP posts with Drew Gerken, who wrote a great one last week. Check it out over on his blog.

WRITE-ING (Note to self.)

So you want to be a writer…
This is a lovely post by Hugh Howey about writing and what it takes. For example, don’t give up before you’ve started. Credit where credit is due on finding this one: thanks, K.M. Alexander!

How To Write Super Sharable Content For Your Author Blog
Yes, I’m coming back to Lauren Sapala again. I saw this one come up on my list yesterday, and it’s pure gold. I’m going to start following this advice once I start writing again in earnest next month! Did I mention that aside from offering great advice on Twitter and her blog, Lauren is a writing coach for hire?

CREATIVITY/INSPIRATION

Bluescreen Launch Series
One of my favorite Young Adult authors, Dan Wells, has been writing a series of pre-launch posts on his blog for the first book in a new series, Bluescreen. Check this one out and if you haven’t read any of his stuff, give it a go.

SCIENCEY

Sweat Puns Galore!
I could write several. More than several. What I can’t do is make this stuff up. Soon we will have wrist-attached sweat analyzers that can detect things like hydration levels, glucose, sodium, and body temperature. Imagine the applications just for diabetics.

GIF OF THE WEEK

Hoping for a landing less interesting than this:

Friday Link Pack 1/15/2016

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HERE I AM — writing comments on other people’s blogs instead of writing my own posts. I mentioned recently that I’m planning to recommit to posting here in February. Let’s jumpstart that a bit.

It's Alive

Beginning NOW, I’ll be posting a Friday Link Pack every other week opposite this fine fellow. Drew is a friend and a member of, not one, but two of my writing groups. He’s a super talented writer and an all-around fantastic individual. You should follow his blog: Write Brained Ramblings. I would be totally remiss if I didn’t mention that Mr. Gerken and I didn’t come up with this idea entirely on our own. Our fellow writing group member, and considerably more accomplished friend (and… cheerleader?), K. M. Alexander has written 100 (ONE HUNDRED!) Friday Link Packs over the past couple years. As his writing career has put him in a place where many of his readers are now fans and not just other writers, he has passed the torch on to us. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t follow K. M.’s blog. I’ll cheat and link to one of his recent posts below.

Anyhow, here is last week’s installment in case you missed it: Friday Link Pack: 1/8/16

WRITE-ING (Note to self.)

Self Critique and the Road to the End
Fellow writer and friend, J. Rushing said all the right things to motivate me today. He has a delightful blog and his reminisce/advice here is beautiful prose in and of itself aside from its obvious extrinsic value. Looking forward to more from him soon.

Cildaire, a Fledgling World: A History
Nope. I don’t think I’ve linked to Drew enough. Why do you ask? Just one of his many talents, Drew Gerken, is a master worldbuilder. Check out this first post in a series that promises to keep your creative juices flowing.

CREATIVITY/INSPIRATION

David Bowie on Stardust
Going back to the father of the link pack on this one. Great way to send him off, K. M. What a week. Bowie and Rickman. A couple of gentlemen I admired for years. Bowie, though, was an inspiration as an artist AND a creative. Rest in peace, fellas.

SCIENCEY

NASA’s Propellantless EM Drive
The article is a little dense; click at your own risk. The gist is this: a drive for spaceflight that doesn’t require propellant means we could create generational extra-solar colonization spaceships. We could send people to other planets! It would take multiple lifetimes to get there, but we could do it! This is not science fiction, folks.

Nadine the Human Robot
It’s a good thing this needs no words because I have none.

GIF OF THE WEEK

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Friday Link Pack 8/28/2015

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Welcome, visitors from the blog of K. M. Alexander. I’m humbled and honored to post today following K. M.’s tradition of the Friday Link Pack.

To the three regular readers of my blog, you need only know two things:

  1. K. M.’s blog and the novels in his Bell Forging Cycle are fantastic.
  2. I probably won’t be writing regular Link Pack posts because K. M. already does such a great job of it. Enjoy it today!

So without further hullabaloo, I give you first I Write Sci-Fi Friday Link Pack!

Writing Links

Things You Might Not Know About Orwell’s Animal Farm
I was still in elementary school the first time I read Animal Farm. Here are a few things you might not know about it. For example #2 – T.S. Eliot rejected it.

The 2015 Hugo Awards
In case you missed all the drama at WorldCon, this is a full replay of the ceremony. It was a strange, sad year as there were many excellent nominations who probably deserved to win but ended up without a rocket because of the way they were nominated. Check out Dan Wells‘ view on the fallout. It mirrors my own.

The Answers You’re Looking For Are Not On The Internet
Lauren Sapala has a great article I read where she talks about why the writer culture on the Internet is broken. Just a little. She suggests we unplug and read more books. I’ve been doing more of this lately myself, and there is merit in the idea!

Soundtracks For Books Using Booktrack
As I write, I often think about the music that would put me in the mood to write the kind of stories I want to tell. Then I’ll make playlists on Spotify or SoundCloud to get me going when I am struggling for inspiration. A. C. Starrling takes the idea of soundtracks for books one step further in her detailed article over at The Creative Penn.

Random Links

Get And Stay Healthy
As a writer and a programmer, health is a constant concern. I spend way too many hours sitting at a desk every week. Reading through Darya Rose’s bio gave me some new ideas and the community on Summer Tomato is incredible.

A Female Doctor? Yes Please!
Hayley Atwell of Captain America and, of course, the EXCELLENT Marvel’s Agent Carter fame wants to be the next Doctor Who. This needs to happen, world. Make it happen.

If You’ve Ever Wondered Why Wikipedia Is Not Recognized As A Primary Resource
I’m sure this is news to precisely no one, but contentious topics (particularly in the realm of science) tend to change a lot on Wikipedia. Check your sources folks!

Beautiful Bookcases
If you’ve ever seen my office or living room, you would know that I’m a fan of books. My home is covered in them. Walls are filling up with shelves, and shelves are filling up with books. These are some interesting and unique ideas for storing those beautiful dead trees.

GIFs of the Week

I’m a fan of GIFs, so you get TWO this week. The first is my impression of myself posting a Link Pack that K. M.’s readers will read. He does the hard work of creating great content and cultivating followers, and then you all come here and read my post. So thank you all and thanks to K. M.!

iFinishFirst

The second is Tom Cruise (yes it is, look it up if you don’t believe me). This guy is one of the biggest movie stars in the world and yet he isn’t afraid to make a fool of himself. I admire that.

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