Annie Cardi's Blog, page 90

That Old Black Hole

Love this video of a second grader asking Neil deGrasse Tyson about black holes colliding:

I like that he takes the question seriously and talks about how cool the physics of this situation would be without condescending to this boy. Kids at that age are just starting to learn about the universe, and it’s a great time to get them inspired by astronomy. I remember doing an astronomy unit in second grade and it was the best. More funding for science and space research/education, please!

Also, now I have this song in my head:

Do the black hole, everybody!

(via swissmiss)

Links Galore

Lots of good links this week:

Just try not to get your heart warmed by this story of a boy who donated his writing content winnings to his school library.
What’s in a standard publishing contract.
Love Maggie Stiefvater’s home library. Plus her latest cover reveal!
And it was all a dream…probably one of the biggest writing pet peeves I’ve heard the most.
Very important for bloggers to know how to protect themselves from domain theft.
BookRiot is giving away a map of dystopian future novels. Stake your claim!

Style Manuals Clash Over Titles

Whether in high school English class or on your blog, I’m sure you’ve run into this question: how do you indicate book titles? Are you supposed to underline them? Italicize? Put them in quotation marks? Make them sparkle?

The answer is…debatable. And you thought grammar was all about hard and fast rules.

I tend to go with the Chicago Manual of Style on most grammar-related questions, so I italicize. But AP claims you should use quotation marks. So far I haven’t come across any style manual that suggests sparkles, but I’ll keep looking.

How do you denote titles?

The Art of Self-Help

I love artist Kent Rogowski’s Everything I Wish I Could Be, which uses self-help books to explore communication and development. An example from this collection:

Make sure to check out the rest of the collection as well. I also really like Rogowski’s Bears, which uses inside-out teddy bears.

(via Design Crush)

Links Galore

A few more links to get you through the day:

Author extraordinaire Kate Messner is hosting a virtual summer writing camp for teachers and librarians. Sign up now!
This week’s Tip Tuesday at Literary Rambles is all about name backgrounds and databases. Really useful and fun. Names from , anyone?
Baz Lurmann had better watch out. This silent version of The Great Gatsby from 1926 looks pretty jazzy.
An excellent post over at The Book Smugglers about maintaining integrity and independence as a blogger. Part of the Unconventional Blog Tour.

All the Literary Devices You Need to Know

Who’s using their Foreshadow Puppets today?:

Also, Onomatopoeia Engine would be an awesome band name. Musicians, get on that.

(image: Incidental Comics)

The Eureka Moment and Why Breaks Are Important

You know how you can sit in front of your computer, struggling to figure out how to get your main character from point A to point B, and then it hits you when you’re in the middle of brushing your teeth that night? A new study confirms you’re not alone.

Apparently, study participants were given a challenging task. Some participants were allowed to have a break, and others weren’t. The ones who had a break performed better at the task afterward than the ones who had to work straight through the allotted time. This suggests that breaks are actually helpful in getting your mind working in new ways.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you can skip the work, just take breaks, and expect results:

“The implication is that mind-wandering was only helpful for problems that were already being mentally chewed on. It didn’t seem to lead to a general increase in creative problem-solving ability,” says [research team leader Benjamin] Baird.

So get to work, but also feel free to give yourself a little time away from the desk if you’re stuck on a particular issue.

Links Galore

A few more links to close out Memorial Day:

The children’s literature world lost another wonderful voice this weekend. I didn’t know Peter D. Sieruta personally at all, but these posts about him are very moving.
Redivider, the literary journal I worked on in grad school, is celebrating their 10th anniversary with the Beacon Street Prize. Literary fiction and poetry writers, submit your work!
I think I need a writing treehouse (and other writing spaces).
Wellesley Books shares their picks for summer reads. (YA fans, see here.)
In other favorite local bookstore news, Brookline Booksmith is having a YA Debut Author panel on Saturday, June 2. Who’s going to join me?
Even more cool bookstore events: the New Dominion Bookshop in Charlottesville, VA is hosting an exhibit of two of my favorite photographers and their work for Beyond the Flavor.

Tips for Writing Conference Success

Great post at YA Highway about how to enjoy and get the most out of your conference experience. They have very helpful suggestions like “bring snacks” (I’d also add “bring mints” because they’re perfect for sharing) and “talk to agents like they’re human beings.” My favorite:

“Be cognizant of other attendees. During workshops, try to ask questions that apply to other attendees – not only your specific book. During group pitch sessions, don’t talk about your project the whole time – let everyone else have a chance, too.”

This is my biggest pet peeve from any kind of Q&A session. If you need to preface it with a very specific story from your very particular experience, it might not be a worthwhile question to ask during a group session. If you really want to go into something specific, wait until after the session and ask in private.

A couple of other suggestions I have for conferences:

Only going to conferences that have specific draws for you. If you want to talk to a particular agent or hear a particular writer talk, that’s a good reason to go. Attending a conference just because you like books in general might not be worthwhile. There are a lot of conferences out there, and they can be expensive.
Don’t get conference burn-out. It can feel like you need to see absolutely everything, but it’s okay to skip a session and take a walk, call a friend, or nap.
Get pumped on the writerly energy and actually write. Maybe wake up a little early and work on that outline that’s been frustrating you, or try a new writing exercise.
Don’t take more free materials and books than will fit in your bag. Seriously. You probably won’t read all of them right now anyway.

And remember, conferences should be fun and energizing. You want to act like a professional, but writing is also a really awesome profession filled with lots of awesome people. Take advantage of being around a bunch of cool writers and readers all in one place. Ride that wave of literary enthusiasm!

Books and Bell Jars

Love this use of books as decor:

It reminds me of an old laboratory or curiosity shop. Very cool!

(image: Therese Maring for Apartment Therapy)