Link Pack – Page 15 – K. M. Alexander

Page 15 of 17

February 7, 2014

Friday Link Pack 02/07/14

It’s time to share a few interesting links I have found throughout the week. 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 year? Let me know!

Giveaway:

The Stars Were Right Giveaway #2!
That’s right, I am doing another giveaway for five signed copies of The Stars Were Right on Goodreads. (US only.) There’s already a bunch of folks signed up, winners will be selected Feb 11th. Sign up today!

Writing:

Genre fiction and literary fiction
This was the best thing I read all week. Mike Carey, one of my favorite authors, makes some solid points in the whole genre vs. literary fiction discussion. Read it, it’s good.

The secret about advice is knowing when to ignore it
The National’s Bryce Dessner writes a great piece about when to embrace the advice of others and when to ignore it.

Art:

“Here Amid The Wild Woods” New Works by Kari-Lise Alexander
My wife, Kari-Lise, is having a show at Auguste Clown Gallery in Melbourne, Australia. If you’re in Melbourne on February 21st stop in a say hello at the opening, we’ll both be there.

The Art of Laurent Durieux
Mondo Gallery is showing some cool reimagined movie posters by illustrator Laurent Durieux.

Fore-edge paintings hidden in books
In a technique dating back to the 1650s artists hid beautiful paintings in the edges of old books. The results are stunning.

Random:

Real-Life Locations That Would Make Badass Supervillain Lairs
Mountain villas, bunkers, abandoned naval bases, and even a private islands, get inspired by these actual supervillainy locals.

35 Behind-The-Scenes Photos From The Original Star Wars Trilogy
Peter Mayhew who played Chewbacca started tweeting out these incredible photos because #nostalgia and #tbt. Great stuff.

Cashemonet.com
Just go there. (With headphones.)

Lovecraft Story of the Week:

Azathoth
“Of the name and abode of this man but little is written, for they were of the waking world only; yet it is said that both were obscure.”

Farewell Gif of the Week:

Do you have your tickets to the gun show?

January 31, 2014

Friday Link Pack 01/31/14

Writing:

Mapping the world of Mark Twain
It’s no secret that Mark Twain is one of my favorite authors. I was excited when this showed up in my RSS feed. When I saw the map, I was blown away.

10 Key Fantasy Literature Terms
Nice write up covering the terms for the various sub-genres of fantasy. Everything from Portal Fantasy, Secondary Worlds, to the New Weird (technically the subgenre The Stars Were Right falls inside). It’s good info and worth checking out.

A Novel List of Atypical Sci-Fi from the Seattle Public Library
My home town’s Library compiled a nice list of solid science fiction. There’s a lot of good stuff on here, some of my favorites: Neal Stephenson’s Diamond Age and China Mieville’s The City and The City.

Art:

Joao Ruas’ “Verso”
Thinkspace gallery is featuring the work of one of my favorite artists: Joao Ruas. If you live anywhere near Culver City, California get yourself over to see this stuff. His work is incredible.

I Am Hello Kitty
Very beautiful and fascinating look into the people behind the iconic characters in New York’s Times Square.

Random:

So the new Space Shuttle is amazing…
Meet the next Space Shuttle. It’s tiny. It only needs one rocket, and it can be towed behind a pickup truck.

Art of the Title: Black Sails
Art of the Title interviews the creators of the Black Sails title sequence. I love it, the music, the motion, basically everything. It’s awesome to know the creators were inspired by Kris Kuksi.

Please Advise
Letters of Note shares this quick memo sent in 1969 by record producer Teo Macero to executives at Columbia Records over Miles Davis’ album: Bitches Brew. (In my humble opinion: one of the best jazz albums ever.)

Lovecraft Story of the Week:

The Temple
A german u-boat and its cruel captain face terrors under the sea.

Farewell Gif of the Week:

Mine! Minemineminemineminemine...

January 17, 2014February 8, 2014

Friday Link Pack 01/17/14

Writing:

Two-Thirds of Kids Now Reading Digitally
Impressive new numbers regarding the ever expanding market of digital reading. In a lot of ways what we seem to be seeing isn’t a replacement of books but a whole new secondary market. Exciting.

22 Reasons Why Commas Are The Most Important Things In The World
Some very valid examples showing why commas are very important. (Thanks to Drew Gerkin for sharing this on Twitter.)

The Onion Reviews ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug’
It’s good. Watch it.

Art:

Timelapse of Austin Parkhill painting “Ringle”
Great video showing Parkhill working on his ultra-realistic paintings at an impressive scale. Beautiful work.

UPDATE: You can see higher res versions of this and more on Austin Parkhill’s website as well. Check it out at: http://www.austinparkhill.com/

Random:

So Much for Net Neutrality
As a citizen of the internet you should be educated on this subject. It’s bad for the internet and that means it’s bad for you. We’re now just one step closer to letting enormous companies monopolize our open platform.

The Seattle Archipelago
Jeffrey Linn, a campus planner at the University of Washington, has created a fascinating map showing what my hometown would look like based on a 240′ rise in sea level should all of the world’s ice sheets melt. Hummm…

The Raddest Scuba Mask Ever
Since I’ll be under water eventually, here’s a scuba mask that created breathable oxygen on it’s own. No tanks. So cool. Just in time.

Lovecraft Story of the Week:

The Hoard of the Wizard-Beast
A team up tale from H.P. Lovecraft and R.H. Barlow. Clearly weird fiction writers like to abbreviate their first names.

Farewell Gif of the Week:

What is this...I don't even.

__________________________________________________________________

Like this and want more? Sign up for my occasional newsletter: The Telegram. It’s packed full of news on my books, interesting links, reading recommendations, some writing tips, and even a few guest posts. Sign up today!

January 10, 2014

Friday Link Pack 01/10/14

Writing:

Building A Better Cover
I want to draw attention to this article I posted yesterday where I share some advice on what you can do as an indie writer to create a stunning cover for your book.

20 Most Beautiful Bookstores in the World
Flavorwire assembles a neat little list of some truly beautiful book stores. I want to go to all of them.

Novelist Error Messages
Cute little error messages that might pop up if writers were an operating system as opposed to a novelist. (Thanks to Josh Montreuil for the tip.)

Art:

Einstein’s Camera
Adam Magyar takes stunning motion photos using custom built cameras. The results are shockingly beautiful. If there’s one link you click today, make it this one. (Thanks to Erik Hedberg for the tip.)

Illusion Painting by Daniel Siering and Mario Shu
One tree and a carefully placed wrapping makes for an awesome optical illusion that is just too cool.

Photos of Families Posing With Everything They Own
As you’ll see the actual title ends with: “Will Make You Appreciate What You Have.” For some folks that might be the case, but for me this photo series made me realize many of us have too much.

Random:

The Top 20 TV Songs You Tracked Down This Year
Shazam is an app that helps you discover a song you’re listening too, it’s pretty handy. Here’s the list of the top 20 songs their users discovered last year. Clearly The Walking Dead is doing something right.

Neverending Story Characters Reimagined
Nicolas Francoeur reimagines the classic characters from the 1984 cult classic The Neverending Story if the movie were made today.

Lovecraft Story of the Week:

At the Mountains of Madness
One of Lovecraft’s most loved stories is a good read for the new year. It’s longer than most of his stuff, so if you don’t want to read it online you can get audio editions all over the place.

Farewell Gif of the Week:

Tally-ho!
__________________________________________________________________

Like this and want more? Sign up for my newsletter: The Telegram. It’s packed full of writing tips, reading recommendations, news on my books, interesting links, and even a few guest posts. Sign up today!

December 27, 2013December 28, 2015

Friday Link Pack—End of the Year Edition (2013)

Every Friday I compile a list of my favorite links I’ve seen throughout the week. Since this is the last Friday of the year I figured I’d go back and see what interested you the most and combine them into an End of Year Edition that featured the most popular links. Have a link I should feature in the upcoming year? Let me know!

Writing:

Random Story Title Generator
The name says it all, while the results are often silly I do find it great for brainstorming. Let me know when your first edition of: “Madman Fights Desert” hits bookstores. I’ll be at the front of the line.

12 Real Life Inventions That Science Fiction is Neglecting at its Peril
One of my favorite bloggers, Charlie Jane Anders, compiled a list of real life inventions that has been neglected by modern science fiction. If you’re looking for some inspiration for your own project look no further. There’s a lot here.

The Best Symbols To Throw Some Scare Into Your Story
I am a huge fan of symbolism. I think it can add an extra layer of depth for the readers willing to do the leg work. It also creates a richer experience overall. In this post Lauren shared a few spooky symbols you can add to your own writing. No surprise this made the list. Lauren’s posts are always amazing.

Art:

Jason Thompson’s “Lovecraft’s Dream Quest”
There was a lot of interest in this visual retelling of Lovecraft’s Dream Cycle. Not only is it beautiful but Thompson’s style has a level of detail rarely seen in the webcomic space. Worth spending time with.

Sean Cumiskey’s Fan Art for The Stars Were Right
I loved this piece when Sean sent it to me. I still love it today. Dark, moody, engaging. Apparently you all liked it as much as me.

Heath Lewis’ Wowly Heck
Heath Lewis (who created some awesome fan art) also started Wowly Heck—his experimental blog featuring new spins on some amazing monsters that you all loved. Very cool stuff.

Random:

Behold, the Moon as you’ve never seen it before
It’s a rad animated gif of the Moon! Who doesn’t love the moon!?

8 Ruined Cities That Remain a Mystery to This Day
io9‘s list of ruined cities is not only fascinating but also a great way to awaken your inner Indiana Jones. (Like your inner Indiana Jones was ever asleep.)

Medieval & Renaissance Cartographic Sea Monsters
BibliOdyssey’s great post exploring the subject of monsters on old maps. It includes some great high-resolution scans of the creatures: Renaissance-style dolphins with strange ducks bills, horned whales devouring ships, even the elusive marine chicken.

Lovecraft Story of the Year:

Unda; or, The Bride of the Sea
I was feeling a bit nautical when I selected this poem, apparently you all were as well. Out of all the “Lovecraft Story of the Week” it generated the most interest.

Farewell Gif of the Year:

Good ol' Ford

__________________________________________________________________

December 20, 2013

Friday Link Pack 12/20/13

Writing:

The best literary spats of 2013
The Guardian rounds up the best literary fights of this year. From Jonathan Franzen to Bret Easton Ellis.

What To Do BEFORE You Reinvent Yourself In 2014
Lauren Sapala offers some simple advice on how to set yourself up for the approaching new year. Good stuff.

The Moral Villain
Want to give your antagonists a bit more edge? Becca Puglisi shares some good advice on how to create a moral villain.

Art:

Fancy Lad’s Old Timey Book Faces
Fun redesign of classic book covers. My favorite’s probably Moby Dick. So good.

One Room Transformed Into 14 Surreal Fantasy Landscapes
Foregoing photoshop Korean artist Jee Young Lee creates stunning photographs in her tiny studio. It’s beautiful stuff.

Random:

Matt Gemmell on Gamers
I love games, but lately there has been some concerning behavior coming from a repulsive vocal minority regarding the treatment of women. Matt Gemmell writes a sharply written article about how some gamers treat women in their industry. I couldn’t agree with him more. It’s time for some gamers to grow up.

Tió de Nadal or the Christmas Log
Move over Krampus, this log with a face that you beat with sticks until it poops treats might be my new favorite weird Christmas tradition.

Lovecraft Story of the Week:

Christmas
It’s very short and pretty cheesy but fitting for the season I suppose.

Farewell Gif(s) of the Week:

Walter was the nicest guy. He always got such joy in brining kittens to his friends.
__________________________________________________________________