Hello again. Seems like the time off I took from writing and thinking about writing has paid off. I've got a bunch of ideas percolating for fixing up the novels I've been having trouble with, along with an idea or two for new stuff to write. I guess my fiction-writing brain needed to reboot itself.

But more on that in a bit. First I wanted to share a bunch of links I've come across that I felt were worth sharing, from slightly goofy to serious.

Lostpedia: a "wiki" for the TV show "Lost," one of the two shows I'll make time to watch ("The Office" is the other one), though we usually skip the 10 p.m. time slot on Wednesdays and download the shows to the iPod to watch on the TV. (No commercials! Though the shows have gone from 48 minutes to 43 minutes lately.) In any case, this is a fun site to get caught up and explore your "Lost" theories. Personally, I'm losing interest in the show -- it's all drama and no real payoff for the mysteries -- but I'll keep watching a bit longer.

"I love my hat": Just because I can't help but share this short movie. Check out those lyrics, eh?

The State of Things: This is a local radio program from Chapel Hill's WUNC Radio, and in the past few weeks, host Frank Stasio has talked to a handful of writers. You can listen to his chats with Lionel Shriver (what a cold fish she is!), my NCSU Writing Program classmate Pam Duncan (discussing her 3rd novel, which sounds pretty cool!), horror writer Scott Nicholson (talking about his sixth novel! Way to go, Scott!), and a very interesting chat with Algonquin founder and editor Shannon Ravenel (who talked about not being able to NOT edit -- a really interesting interview). If I was really ambitious, I'd contact Mr. Stasio to see if he wants to do an interview with me, since he seems really interested in area writers. Maybe in a few months, closer to when my Wannoshay novel comes out...?

Electric Velocipede #12: Over on editor John Klima's blog he shares the very nifty art for the cover of the next issue of his zine, which includes my All Nations story. Here's a smaller version (click it to see a bigger version):


"Still-Life" by Don DeLillo: I'm reading this story right now, and it's quite fascinating -- all about the immediate aftermath of the fall of the towers on 9/11. The dialog in the second scene is fascinating and well-done: two people trying to make sense of what happens but unable to say what they really mean, and still focused on mistakes of the past instead of the present. I'm trying to read more stories these days, maybe even one a day if possible, and this is a good start.

The other journal: And finally, I started jotting down my thoughts about my various writing projects over here, just because I like to just throw down whatever comes into my head, and that's an easier site to do (it's tricky to format stuff here, because I've got to use HTML for every little thing, even paragraph breaks). Plus, those entries are more for me than anyone else, and I can't imagine they're all that interesting to read... But I'll link to 'em when I do 'em.

And that's all for now. Better get some work done. Later!

UPDATE: Forgot to add the following link:

Wheatland Press 2 for 1 Sale: Until the end of April, you can buy one book from this fine small press, and get the second one free! So click on over and try one of the Polyphony anthologies, or one of their other titles, like The Nine Muses or the zeppelin anthology. Check 'em out! A great value for great stories.