Katharine Beutner's Blog, page 18
January 16, 2010
New look for katharinebeutner.com
This site now has a shiny new Wordpress theme — many thanks to T., my in-house web designer/tech support!
I've also added two new pages to the site: one contains an excerpt from Alcestis, and the other features extra bits of material related to the book. If you have any other questions, comments, or suggestions about the book, please let me know!
January 15, 2010
'Alcestis' news roundup and links
First of all: I've added a link to the online invitation to my book launch party on the Events page. If you're reading this, consider yourself invited — it'll be held at BookPeople in downtown Austin, February 7, 3 pm.
In other Alcestis news, my ARC giveaway via Goodreads ended yesterday — 1289 people requested an ARC, which is delightfully mind-boggling. I mailed out ARCs to the two winners today!
Very soon I'll also have an excerpt from the novel to share with you, as well as a recording of m...
January 13, 2010
Reminder: ARC giveaway on GoodReads
One last reminder that the two ARCs of Alcestis I'm giving away on GoodReads will only be up for another day — the giveaway ends at midnight on the 15th. As I write this post, more than 1100 people have signed up for the giveaway, in fewer than ten days. That is, quite frankly, crazypants. And it makes me very happy!
A few other links I found today, before I get back to dissertating:
Justine Larbalestier gives great advice on how to conduct an interview with an author.An equally interesting...January 12, 2010
And now for something completely different
This delightfully saucy short story by Naomi Novik, which she calls a blend of Orlando, Georgette Heyer, and the Atlantis myth. It was first published in the Fast Ships, Black Sails anthology edited by Anne and Jeff VanderMeer — an anthology of pirate stories. Everyone should love pirate stories, particularly this one, which starts off with the most charming worldbuilding:
Lady Araminta was seen off from the docks at Chenstowe-on-Sea with great ceremony if not much affection by her assembled...
January 11, 2010
Outlining and summarizing
Had to post a link to this interesting post by David Forbes about writing book proposals (linked by someone on Twitter, argh, can't recall who). I've never tried to write a series — though I did think, once upon a time, that my first, now-abandoned novel might have been the first of three — and I'm always intrigued by hearing how series-writers conceive of their work. But I wanted to link to this post specifically because I finally found someone who writes even longer and more detailed...
January 10, 2010
New Year's resolutions
Malinda Lo and Maggie Stiefvater both posted entertaining and useful accounts of their own takes on New Year's resolutions. I'm not much of a resolution-maker either, but lists of goals? Oh dear. I've been using Basecamp to manage my to-do lists since last summer, and it now contains 11 separate lists, some of terrifying length. I also have a Moleskine planner that I consider my second brain. This is what happens when you're working on a dissertation and a novel simultaneously.
I won't bore y...
January 9, 2010
Girls and fire
A brief break from Alcestis today to talk about novel #2, the one that's still a twinkle in my eye, as it were. I haven't said much about it here because I haven't begun writing it yet — I'm keeping busy with the dissertation. I've researched and outlined it, and much as I wish I could be delving right into it, I'm also enjoying the process of collecting little bits of information related to 1890s America and to specific elements of the book — a sort of mental collage. (I'm also using a
January 6, 2010
Support your local journalist
Another recommendation today, this time for a piece of journalism by Paige Williams: Finding Dolly Freed, a profile of the author of the 1970s alternative-living screed Possum Living (now being republished by Tin House).
Partly due to the continuing pseudonymity of her subject, Williams couldn't find a magazine willing to buy this article, so she decided to print it herself. She cites Radiohead's In Rainbows experiment as an inspiration; everyone on Twitter is calling it "indie journalism."...
January 5, 2010
Alcestis ARC giveaway!
Another quick post today to mention that I've put two ARCs of Alcestis up for giveaway on GoodReads. If you request one before January 15, you'll be entered to win — then GoodReads chooses two winners, and I mail an ARC to you! (And then, I hope, you love it, squeeze it, call it George, and write a review about it.)
If you haven't joined GoodReads yet, I recommend it — it's a fun voyeuristic to see what your friends (or total strangers) are reading, and there are loads of interest groups...
January 4, 2010
Quick review: Rebecca Skloot's 'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks'
In my last post, I mentioned my recent trip to MLA, the big annual convention for languages & literature academics. It's kind of an overwhelming experience: hundreds of panels, hundreds more nervous interview candidates, converging on a cold city during the worst possible travel week of the year (the week between Christmas and New Year's). I'm reliably informed that this year's MLA was pretty tame due to the poor economy — much smaller and quieter than conventions held even two years ago...
