Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, March 15-21, 2015

March 26, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

There’s a whole lot of thoughty going on!

What kind of geek is Delilah S. Dawson? The kind that has to defend herself far too often.

The part of bravery people struggle with most. Michael Hyatt.

Things that introverts would never tell you. Higher Perspective.

Gideon Lichfield of The Atlantic explores the science of near-death experiences (NDEs).

I’ve been curious about trying absinthe since I was that the liquor store was selling it. I checked it out this weekend, though and it’s a little expensive for my taste. Maybe for a special occasion. This article on The Daily Beast on the resurgence of absinthe piques my curiosity, though.

Four reasons you should invest in a standing desk. Michael Hyatt.

Six things you should know about how you learn. The Next Web.

Neil deGrasse Tyson’s new late night television show will premiere April 20! The Verge.

This new Tesla battery has the power to take you off the grid 🙂 Inhabitat.

Since I live in the city, I didn’t get to see these, but apparently it’s been a very good week for aurorae 🙂 CBC.

What colour is the universe? It’s okay to be smart.

What your genes can and cannot determine. The Guardian.

How did an Arabic inscribed ring end up in a 9th century Viking grave? i09.

Oppression by omission: The women soldiers of the Civil War. Brainpickings.

Jane Goodall is still wild at heart. The New York Times.

Horses never forget their human friends. NBC news.

Check out this video of killer whales feeding in the Dodd Narrows in BC. CBC.

Fawn rescue:

Cookie Monster, life coach:

Office cats from AFV:

ViralNova wants to fill your cute cup to overflowing with these adorable animals!

I hope you were inspired by some of this edumacation 😀 Edutainment?

See you Saturday!

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, March 15-21, 2015

March 24, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 3 Comments

K.M. Weiland introduces the Story Structure Database, and excellent new resource for writers. You can contribute to it, too!

Roz Morris shares how writer’s block became an opportunity.

Anne R. Allen shares ten social marketing no-no’s.

Jamie Raintree shares her experience in finding her agent on Thinking through our fingers.

Shawn Coyne explains his second draft that is not a draft theory on Steven Pressfield’s blog.

Janice Hardy’s month-long revision workshop continues with day 15: clean up description and stage direction.

Christine Frazier offers lessons for writers from her analysis of The Dark Knight. The Better Novel Project.

Porter Anderson offers Amish Tripathi’s Shiva series for our consideration on Writer Unboxed.

The series of representation on SFF guest posts on Jim C. Hines’s blog continues with Sarah Chorn’s discussion of disability in SFF.

Need some visual inspiration? Here’s the Fantastical Women site featuring lots of fantasy art by women artists. Gorgeous!

Canva shares this list of 40 books on creativity. When I die, I suspect it will be because I was crushed by my pile of unread books (!)

18 perfect short stories. i09.

Fast Company presents an infographic on banned books and some of the reasons they were banned.

SF Signal interviews Tanya Huff.

Lightspeed interviews Patrick Rothfuss.

What happens when a fundamentalist Christian marries an atheist author? Sally McBride guest posts on WarpWorld.

Now there are some consumable readables! Nom-a-nom-a-nom . . .

See you Thursday!

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, 8-14, 2015

March 19, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 4 Comments

Because it was daylight savings last week:

This is how I feel EVERY time we shift. Admittedly, it’s worse in the spring, but still. It messes me up.

A related article: how our circadian rhythms shape out waistlines. NPR.

Science debunks the myths of the midlife crisis. Scientific American.

Huge tomb of a Celtic prince unearthed in France. The Daily Mail.

This church isn’t abandoned anymore. LittleThings.com

I enjoy fart humour, so here are some humorous fart facts from i09.

Candid shots of actors behind the scenes of your favourite movies. Distractify.

You are what you listen to. The Creativity Post.

Why chameleons really change colour. Vertiasium.

Murmurations are so soothing to watch. i09.

An old dog toy is left out for a coyote to find. Super Cute on Imgur.

I guess I wasn’t much on the thoughty this week, but there you are. Blame it on the time change 😛

Be well until Saturday.

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, March 8-14, 2015

March 17, 2015March 18, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 4 Comments

Sir Terry Pratchett passed away last week.

Here’s Neil Gaiman’s very worthwhile talk at JCCSF. It basically turned into a tribute to his friend.

Here is BuzzFeed’s ranking of Pratchett’s Discworld novels.

Sir Terry will live on in the words of his books and in the hearts of his readers.

K.M. Weiland’s Sunday blog and podcast is dedicated to writers on the verge of writing spectacularly complex characters.

Why is your awesome protagonist boring readers to death? Katie’s Wednesday vlog.

Janice Hardy’s month-long novel revision workshop on Fiction University continues. Here’s day eight.

Jodie Renner guests on Anne R. Allen’s blog with this step-by-step guide to writing a prize-winning short story.

Therese Walsh explores multitasking further on Writer Unboxed. Snakes on a brain.

Veronica Sicoe posts on how to clean up your manuscript formatting in MS Word.

Kameron Hurley muses on the virtues of becoming a professional writer.

The second round of Jim C. Hines’s guest posts on representation in SFF begins with this post by LaShawn Wanak on false narratives.

Grammarly presents the strange origins of English idioms.

Grammarly (again) offers ten quotes from Winnie the Pooh that will make you smile.

BuzzFeed weighed in with these 31 quotes from children’s books.

Vanity Fair analyzes the Game of Thrones season 5 trailer.

And HBO is doing a 30-day countdown. Here’s the first instalment: Who are the sand snakes?

Tor.com shares 13 fantasies that are based on myths from the British Isles.

Lessons for writers from Bavarian Fairy Tales. The Take Away.

See you Thursday!

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, March 1-7, 2015

March 12, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 5 Comments

How gardening, and specifically the microbes in soil, can make you happy. Gardening Know-How.

How healthy gut flora (bacteria) can also have an antidepressant effect. Scientific American.

Empathy might lead to social anxiety. Spirit Science and Metaphysics.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) affect your health. Includes an informative self-test. NPR.

More about your ACE score and a resilience quiz (as a bonus). ACES too high news.

And a supporting article from IFLS: childhood trauma affects the brain.

Surrender doesn’t mean defeat. OM Times shares the seven habits of surrendered people. It’s related to resilience.

How physicians and psychiatrists are medicating women rather than treating the underlying issues. Some of us don’t need prescriptions. Or we don’t need the prescriptions they think we do . . . The New York Times.

For the other side of the story, Emily Landau states that she has been helped immeasurably by prescription medications and that she doesn’t believe they’ve affected her adversely. CBC.

Eleven things introverts want you to know. Elephant Journal.

Last week, I shared the Desiderata text. For those of you who were curious, here’s the version set to music by Les Crane:

Stop procrastination by asking one question and considering the answer for three minutes. Inc.

Most consistently successful creative people say ‘NO.’ Business Insider.

The strange world of felt presences links Shackleton, sleep paralysis, and hearing voices. The Guardian.

Did the human alliance with dogs drive the Neanderthals to extinction? National Geographic.

New human fossil offers more detail for our family tree. National Geographic.

Here’s what scientists think methane-based life might look like (if they find it on Titan). From Quarks to Quasars.

Ancient Mars may have had an ocean. The New York Times.

Scientists have discovered another earth-like planet. Higher Perspective.

More on what’s coming up for Neil deGrasse Tyson. The Wall Street Journal.

Cats see things that are invisible to humans. Higher Perspective.

I’ve shared posts or videos about the rabbit island and the fox village in the past, now The Atlantic features some great pictures from a Japanese cat island.

I love crows and ravens and so this story about crows gifting the girl who’s fed them since she was four made me #furiouslyhappy.

This video shares an important message about equality and diversity.

It was a thoughty week!

Hope you find something to exercise your grey matter.

Until Saturday, be resilient 😉

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, March 1-7, 2015

March 10, 2015 / Melanie Marttila

I’m beginning to think that the universe is trying to tell me something 😉 Between Tipsday and Thoughty Thursday this week, you’ll see a definite theme developing. Or not . . .

K.M. Weiland continues her common writing mistakes series with part 39: referencing characters by title rather than by name.

In Katie’s Wednesday vlog, she discusses the reasons why avalanches, wolves, and lightning storms may not be the best way to begin your novel.

Roz Morris posts about resilience. I love the image she found—a bear on a trampoline 🙂

In her series on debut author lessons, Mary Robinette Kowal tackles the topic of writing full time. Important to know: as a self-employed professional, if you’re not writing, you are unemployed.

Poet Mary Oliver inspired Anna Elliott to write a post for Writer Unboxed with this line: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

Steven Pressfield writes about self-doubt and what the soul knows about keeping you on the true path.

Janice Hardy has started a month-long revision workshop on Fiction University. Start here with her March 1st post and follow along. Great step-by-step analysis of every aspect of your novel.

Here’s a post outlining the principles of ergonomics for writers from the World’s Greatest Book blog.

And because it’s related, here’s the TED-ed video that explains why sitting too much is bad for us:

What Alice in Wonderland reveals about the brain. This could go either on Tipsday or Thoughty Thursday, but because the book is the basis for the article, I’m placing it here. BBC.

When George R. R. Martin was asked how he could write female characters so well, his answer was, “Well, they’re human beings, aren’t they?” When I saw the title of Kate Elliott’s post for Tor.com, I knew it was going to be interesting: writing women characters as human beings.

Women artists re-envision images of their favourite SFF characters. i09.

39 misused words and how to use them correctly. Time.

How Catriona Balfe nailed her audition with one line. TV Line.

Pets who’d rather you pet them than read. The Dodo.

That’s a wrap!

See you Thursday 🙂

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Feb 22-28, 2015

March 5, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

Sadness of the week: Leonard Nimoy’s death. The New York Times.

What Mr. Nimoy taught Tobias Buckell.

Getting grief right. The New York Times.

A friend posted a lovely little bit from Desiderata. I wanted to share the whole piece with you, so here it is:

The pink kitchen that got lost in time. Little things.

19 creepily gorgeous abandoned places in Canada. Buzzfeed.

Would any of these designs be feasible? Cool? Yes. Gizmodo.

Do we really want to know if we’re alone in the universe? The Washington Post.

Bill C-51 is Canada’s anti-terrorist legislation. This piece on CBC’s The Current is an interesting listen. Critics sound out, including professor of literature, Allan Weiss, who discusses the dystopian implications.

What the Oscars can teach us about the craft of being good. Fusion.

Empowering women means empowering humanity. The UN Women channel on YouTube.

This was my Friday: I can’t adult today. PandaWhale.

Looking forward to the weekend already!

See you on Saturday for the Next Chapter.

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Feb 22-28, 2015

March 3, 2015 / Melanie Marttila

Roz Morris asks the question, can writing be taught?

In a related article . . . things Ryan Boudinot can say about MFA programs now that he no longer teaches in one. The Stranger.

Now, this started up a bit of a kerfuffle. Though the following two posts by Chuck Wendig belong to the current week, I’m offering them as a counterpoint to Boudinot’s. Some people agreed with Boudinot and some with Wendig. Some took exception to the whole conversation. You may judge for yourselves.

K.M. Weiland explores the six elements of an effective story premise in her weekly post and podcast.

And her Wednesday vlog: how to drive your readers wild with hints and hooks without frustrating them. It’s a delicate balance.

Dan Blank posts on becoming a student of your own writing process on Writer Unboxed. I love process-y stuff. This was “in my wheelhouse.”

Heather Webb explores the science of character creation (lots of resources). Writer Unboxed.

The Kobo Writing Life podcast: Mark Leslie interviews Kristine Kathryn Rusch.

This one goes along with my post on Gatekeepers, rejection, and resilience: Ten of the reasons your manuscript might be rejected. Ruth Harris on Anne R. Allen’s blog.

And . . . 12 famous authors on literary rejection. Aerogramme Writers’ Studio.

Tor.com’s Ilana C. Myer deconstructs the strong, female character in SFF.

Okay, I’m gonna link dump here, but each one of these posts on Jim C. Hines’s web site on the topic of representation is well worth the read. Expand your brains.

How to know if you’re really a writer. Authors Publish.

The ALLi watchdog examines the merits of Amazon versus Apple.

May 2, 2015 will be the first ever Canadian Authors for Indies Day. Publisher’s Weekly.

30 books that were challenged by censors. Infographic on CBC Books.

Why How to get away with murder is TV’s most progressive show. The Daily Beast. It’s great storytelling. Also, I watch TV and movies for craft. This belongs in the writing tips post. So sez me.

And that’s all the Writerly Goodness I gots for this week.

See you Thoughty Thursday!

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Feb 15-21, 2015

February 26, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 1 Comment

Emojis for introverts, brought to you by The Huffington Post.

Why we’re part of a sexual spectrum, not a dichotomy. Nature.

Why even reasonable people still doubt science. National Geographic.

Pain really is all in your head. NPR.

More wonderful abandoned places from PBS Newshour.

And pictures of an abandoned Ontario house brought to you by HGTV.

Kids reacting to rotary phones:

Hilarious dog fetch fails:

Zoo babies from The Smithsonian Channel:

A Muppet classic for you:

Absolutely loving Florence + the Machine’s latest:

And that, she be it ’til Saturday.

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Feb 15-21, 2015

February 24, 2015 / Melanie Marttila

Roz Morris wrote a guest post for K.M. Weiland on Friday the 13th. Though it’s more than a week ago, I didn’t get around to sharing this gem until Sunday (!). So here you go: Four reasons you might be missing out on your best plot ideas.

Katie’s Sunday post and podcast: The crucial way you can figure out how much time your story should cover.

And her Wednesday vlog: Why a killer hook may not be enough to sustain reader interest.

Anne R. Allen offers nine considerations we should all review before we send our first novel out into the world.

Adventures in YA publishing offers this story concept worksheet to help you nail your story’s concept.

Chuck Wendig delivers another excellent post on writing strong women characters. This caused quite the discussion on the SF Canada listserv.

One of those members, Ada Hoffmann, made i09 with her Twitter mini-rant on agency. A cogent summation of the issue.

The second of Nina Munteanu’s posts on rejection. This time: how rejection can help you as a writer.

Dan Blank wrote this wonderful piece for the National Endowment for the Arts on risk in writing. Everyone needs to read this. It’s awesomesauce.

And on the sad side, here’s Oliver Sacks’s piece for The New York Times about what he’s decided to do now that he knows he doesn’t have much time remaining.

Jamie Raintree shares her experience with Storyist on Thinking through our fingers.

Chuck Sambuchino’s definitive guide to manuscript lengths.

Ten authors who took themselves way too seriously. ListVerse.

The writing habits of famous authors, an infographic shared by BookBaby blogs.

The three roles of the shapeshifter archetype. The Better Novel Project.

Buzzfeed shares 21 reasons why the Harry Potter series was the cleverest ever.

So, this priest decided to adapt Leonard Cohen’s “Allelujah” for a wedding: