Writing News and High Wire Walking

Here are a few writing notes and two fun videos I thought you all might enjoy... 

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Author and former literary agent, Nathan Bransford, is planning to self publish a guide to writing a novel. He's going to blog about the self publishing process along the way. I can't wait to read both the guide and the posts!

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Here's another wonderful Robin LaFevers post, The Play's the Thing, from over at Writer UnBoxed. It's all about the need for play in our writing. She includes some excellent examples of what she does, like making collages and writing travel journals in a character's voice.

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About a month ago, Nik Wallenda did a high wire walk over downtown Sarasota. He was about 200 feet up, walking on a wire the width of a nickel , with wind gusts of about 25-30 MPH. No net. No tether. My husband went to watch - along with about 10,000 other people! 

But, for all of us who weren't there, check out the following two videos.The first one shows what the walk looked like from the audience. The second one shows what it looked like from Nik's point of view! He had cameras on the pole he carried. Plus, you can hear the conversation between Nik and his father and team as Nik walks.

Book News and Funny Stuff

Here are two pieces of exciting book news I thought you all might be interested in: 

The first, courtesy of Galleycat - Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl, among other dark and creepy tales will be writing not only a new adult novel but also a YA novel! Can't. Wait. Also, The Book Case has a post called Fun Facts from Gillian Flynn - interesting stuff, including the tidbit that she's writing the screenplay for the movie!

The second, courtesy of The Book Case - Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, will have a new book out in May 2013 called And the Mountains Echo. If you haven't read his two previous yet, please give yourself that gift this holiday season.  

And now, if your idea of a workout after eating too much turkey is a good laugh, then check out this Ellen Degeneres YouTube video I came across over at Pam's blog, The Empty Nest:

For all those who celebrate Thanksgiving, I wish you a very happy and healthy one! Enjoy!

Fun Finds

An eclectic post for you. Enjoy!

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For fans of the late Maeve Binchy - don't despair! Her last book, A Week in Winter, will be available in the US in February 2013. For more information and a brief synopsis, check out this post on The Book Case. I can't wait to read it!

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I can't let the week go by without mentioning the amazing Season 3 premiere of AMC's The Walking Dead this past Sunday. Loved. It. And do you know what else I love? AMC is running the entire episode online! Only for a limited time, though, so don't wait too long if you want to check it out. (Keep in mind that if you miss it, they do tend to run the previous week's episode right before the new one on Sunday nights.) Here's the Season 3 Comic-Con Trailer for a taste:

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Have you all seen the movie trailer for Yann Martel's Life of Pi? I might actually have to get myself to the theater to see it instead of waiting for DVD.