What I Am Reading

I’m currently reading Infamous by Suzanne Brockmann which reminds me once again why my husband is willing to read romance novels by her. Brockmann is extremely talented and has established herself well enough to get away with the first person POV of a dead man in a romance novel. I can’t wait to get to the end, and I’m dreading it being over.

Fair Ladies by Theodora Goss (on Apex Magazine) is a melancholy, compelling story about young men and changing times. Very powerful.
http://apexbookcompany.com/apex-online/2010/08/short-story-fair-ladies-by-theodora-goss/

While not a story in traditional terms, Five Rules for Commuting to the Underworld by Merrie Haskell (on Strange Horizons) takes the traditions of Greek mythology and offers a fun look at them, all in the name of serious warnings of course ;).
http://www.strangehorizons.com/2010/20100823/underworld-f.shtml

Science

Alien first contact on the horizon according to the Drake Equation:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38727371/

New interpretation of evolutionary pressures that points to science being an endless source of possibilities:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11063939#story_continues_1

Submitting

A glimpse into the mind of an agent reading slush:
http://dglm.blogspot.com/2010/08/from-vault-reading-explained.html

Tips on constructing a powerful query letter:
http://writeoncon.com/2010/08/writing-a-query-letter/

Environment

Creativity deserves to be rewarded, and the point in this video is beautifully made. Watch it and pass it on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLgh9h2ePYw&feature=player_embedded

Promoting

This post may not provide hard and fast answers, but it speaks to an important aspect of using Twitter that resonates with me as a reader. I go to more people’s blogs and check out what’s happening because of Twitter than ever before, but there are some people who aren’t on Twitter, or who don’t link there when they post, and those blogs fall off the radar:
http://isabeljoelyblack.wordpress.com/2010/08/04/some-thoughts-about-the-ickiness-of-self-promotion/

Life

It’s a little long, but so positive it’s worth it :).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbk980jV7Ao