Friday wrap, with lettuce

It’s hot in Melbourne again, and the heat combined with it being Friday and the end of the first full week of term for the school year will see us collapsing at home tonight for a meal with family and some tv. And probably cold beer.

I leave you with some links of recent Good Stuff and the news that, after cracking page 508 of The Luminaries, it started to kick in for me. I know, I know, that’s a lot of pages to persist with but I am stubborn, let this be known. (Also I’ve read about four other books, and started three, while reading this tome).

Some snippets from the week:

1. A bit of perspective on feeling ‘cut off at the knees’ – how writers need to believe in themselves.

2. Recent article in Financial Review, a local take on the state of play with book publishing. A bit depressing, a bit encouraging. Basically, no real change like forever: Brave New World of Book Publishing

3. From Louise Swinn, editorial director and co-founder at Sleepers Publishing, a piece on staying true to yourself as a writer. Sage words abound, including

Just write what you love to read – too much second-guessing can be problematic. I would say don’t write for a market, but some publishers would require you to do just that – so, don’t even start worrying about what other people want from your writing – work out what you want from it first.

Working with Words — Louise Swinn

4. The Doors, 1969. Just because.

5. Woman at beach in Iran, 1960. Also just because.

6. Piece on JK Rowling’s regret that Hermione didn’t end up with Harry.

7. Reminder to watch A Very Potter Musical, if you’ve never seen it. Here’s Act 1, Part 1. Basically it’s a bunch of University of Michigan students who performed it in 2009. It’s a parody, it’s an homage. You can thank me later.

A Very Potter Musical – The beginning.

8. Reading about this upcoming book made me a bit excited. A French novel, ‘The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair.’

9. I signed up to these podcast interviews with author Charlotte Wood. Haven’t received the links yet but I look forward to learning about her writing process. I  love Charlotte’s The Writer’s Room series of interviews with Australian writers. They are all excellent but the latest one with Joan London is particularly terrific.

10. And this. One of my literary loves Orhan Pamuk, walks around Istanbul with some lucky-fuck guy called Joshua Hammer. It’s a gorgeous read and I am INSANELY JEALOUS: Orhan Pamuk’s Istanbul.

Happy weekend all.