Friday Link Pack 05/22/2015

It has been a week in the Alexander household and I am so glad today is Friday! That means it is time for the Friday Link Pack where I share a few links I’ve found over the last few days. Some of these I mention on Twitter, if you’re not already following me there, please do! Have a link I should feature in the upcoming link pack? Click here to email me and let me know! (Include a website so I can link to you as well.) Let’s get to it…

Writing:

To Win Big, You Have To Enter The Race
I thought this was a fantastic bit of encouragement for anyone who is struggling with their writing. The quote from Kevin J. Anderson really rang true to me: “If you want to attract lightning, be a lightning rod.” Work hard and keep at it, you got this.

The Master Outline
What do the YA novels Harry Potter and The Sorcerers Stone, Twilight, and The Hunger Games have in common? The Better Novel Project lays it out in this enormous outline that somehow works for each of them. [Thanks to Christine for finding this, very cool.]

Pros And Cons Of Being An Indie Author
Novelist Joanna Penn lays out the good and the bad of going it on your own. If you’re unsure of the direction you want to go, I recommend starting here.

Red Litten World Cover Reveal Is Coming June 4th
Hold on to your butts. The cover for the third installment of my Bell Forging Cycle is being revealed in a few weeks. Those readers who subscribe to my newsletter will get to see it a few days before it’s posted. Make sure you sign up today →

Art:

The Art Of Syd Bee
Seattle-based painter and illustrator Syd Bee, is doing the cover for my upcoming fantasy novel (which I am still being coy about). However, I want to introduce her work to my audience and what better way to start than using the link pack! Check her work out and expect to see more around here in the days to come.

Classic Art Heroes In Modern Day Situations
Artist Alexey Kondakov takes characters from classical paintings and photoshops them into scenes we tend to take for granted. The result… well, you’ll just have to find out…

Poll Finds 1 in 25 US Citizens Unsure If They Own Art
Question: Do you own any paintings, sculptures, or other art works?
Answer: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Random:

In Flight
In this article from the New York Times, we get a pilot’s perspective en route from London to Tokyo. A great read.

23 Brilliant Life Lessons From Anthony Bourdain
I love Anthony Bourdain, I like his honesty, his candidness, and his no-nonsense approach to life and writing. (If you haven’t, go read Kitchen Confidential you’ll thank me later.) So yeah, I think these little bits of wisdom are great.

When The Victorians Used Microscopic Photography To Look At Porn
But yeah, the headline. Victorians hid naughty imagery viewable only with a magnifying glass inside random gadgets. This was a thing they did. [Warning: Saucy Victorian Nudity.]

NASA Captures Best Photo Yet Of Strange Lights On Dwarf Planet Ceres
Something shiny is on the surface of Ceres, the tiny dwarf planet that orbits with the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. But what could it be…

Random Wikipedia Article of the Week:

Rural Purge [Nice find from my friend, Jedrek.]

“The “rural purge” of American television networks (in particular CBS) was a series of cancellations between 1969 and 1972 of still popular rural-themed shows with demographically skewed audiences, the majority of which occurred at the end of the 1970–71 television season.”

Lovecraft Story of the Week:

The Little Glass Bottle
A short story that serves as an illustration showing us that that not every idea is a good one.

Gif of the Week: