First a reminder that August 14-15 is the WriteNow! Conference in Phoenix. The line up is pretty amazing (Sara Paretsky, Simon Wood, Jenny Milchman, Hilary Davidson, Michael Koryta, Deb Ledford) and this should be an excellent workshop on writing and marketing for authors of all types. There are still some spots open, so register now on the Desert Sleuths Sisters in Crime website.
Here are some posts I enjoyed around the web this week:
Socrates the dog is hard at work on his memoirs also, but so far the text reads zzzzzz…. Thanks, as always, to Janet Rudolph for the literary cartoons! Click here for Mystery Fanfare “Cartoon of the Day Memoir”
A while back, I was talking about how Greek and other ancient statues were painted. An excavation in northern Greece, ancient Pella, home of Alex the Great, has found a Hellenistic statue of Silenus, one of Dionysius’s followers with “sporadic traces of the original paint.” Take that, inaccurate images of the ancient world! I do like this guy’s face in the photo. I guess following a crazy drunken god around could give you a pained look. Click here for “Marble Statue of Silenus Unearthed at Pella” on Archaeology News Network.
How to use your logline, tagline and pitch to create a stronger story. A good post on using parts we often think of as marketing after thoughts to write a better book from the start. Good advice from Marcy Kennedy. Click here for “How to Use your Logline, Tagline and Pitch to Create a Better Story” on Marcy Kennedy
Some writing (or reading perceptively) inspiration today from Donald Maas: “In other words, to take us inward to something inchoate it is best to detail something outward that stands in for that inner state. Nameless feelings swirl when characters project themselves onto things other than themselves.” His post on writing feelings without names was practical despite its elusive goal. Whether you’re looking at the art of writing as a reader or trying to create art as a writer, a worthwhile read. Click here for “Feelings without Names” by Donald Maas on Writer Unboxed.