Here are some shiny things that caught my eye recently:
♦ What poems have you been reading lately?
The fourth and fifth poems in Tor.com’s series in honor of NPM are “What the Dragon Said: A Love Story” by Catherynne M. Valente (April 21st) and “Jane Austen Among the Women” by Jo Walton (April 22nd).
Here’s a poem I really, really like: “Death Comes to Me Again, A Girl” by Dorianne Laux (I can’t stop reading it aloud).
♦ In honor of Cameron‘s birthday, why not check out to see which fictional character shares your birthday? Jin Kazama of Tekken was born today in 1986. Alas, if Cameron had been born a few days earlier, he’d share his anniversaire with Dale Cooper. Hmmm. Now I want some cherry pie. Via.
♦ I am unapologetically a book nerd, which is why Book Mania! has become one of my new favorite blogs, and this recent post—pairing Kyle Thompson‘s photograph and the Sagan quotation below—is a perfect illustration of why.
“Books break the shackles of time, proof that humans can work magic.” ― Carl Sagan, Cosmos
Here’s another perfect illustration of why:
The private bibliothéque of the Château de Groussay, Montfort-l’Amaury, France
♦ I really like Thomas Allen’s artwork. Some people might cringe at cutting up books, but when it’s for art this cool, I’m all for it. He has some new art up on his blog (he also reveals some of his process), but here are my two favorites (click to see larger):
Rhyme and Reason by Thomas Allen, 2011
Watchdog by Thomas Allen, 2011
♦ I thought this Wondermark strip was so funny because the conflict is so true for me. Well, minus the regret.
♦ Book Nook.
Holy smokes, this is cool—Astronomical by Mishka Henner: “Twelve 506-page volumes printed-on-demand, representing a scale model of our solar system from the Sun to Pluto.” I would totally buy this set just because it’s so nuts. Check out the video below that pages through volume one (the Sun to the Asteroid Belt).
I feel like Wallace Yovetich and I should be friends. Her posts on BookRiot are my favorites and she likes library porn as much as I do. Check out her most recent post on Mouth-Watering Book Nooks (and they are), and here’s a teaser to whet your appetite:
♦ Writers’ Corner.
Chuck Wendig shares 25 things you should know about transmedia storytelling.
I thought The Rejection Generator Project, which “rejects writers before an editor looks at a submission,” would be funny, but my final verdict was that it was cute. Via.
My friend Matt blogged about writing again, at long last.
The Editor’s Blog addressed how long your story should be. Via.
♦ Michael Paulus makes some creepy but cool art with his skeletal studies of cartoon characters. Check out Buttercup of The Powerpuff Girls:
♦ This video is by the Book People Unite movement, which helps “get books in the hands of kids who need them the most.” You can see a full list of the literary characters on youtube.
♦ Over at SFCB Blog, Naomi Bardoff posted this video of a pop-up Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral by paper artist Sheung Yee Shing (click on the link for Yee’s webpage for more pop-up architecture—and, yes, I did just order the book!). Also, check out the SFCB blog for some gorgeous still pictures.
