Links for everyone! Links for writers!

OMG LOKI I KNOW RIGHT.

As always, there are so many things I want to tell you about! But I'm still post-travel running around in circles. In the meantime, please enjoy some linkage.

[UPDATE: Mary sent me this link that explains the above picture. Adorable!]

FOR EVERYONE:

• "Icelandic politician moves 30-ton boulder onto his property so he can hang out with elves." The elf thing is one of the many, many reasons why Iceland is my favorite country.

• This assassin bug wears its victims' corpses as armor. Yeah. I'm totally stealing that for a future fantasy villain.

• YA author Stephanie Kuehnert wrote this moving piece for Rookie (my favorite!) about surviving bullying.

• "How to be a fan of problematic things" provides some much-needed advice.

• If you like cute comics about The Avengers, you should definitely be following Noelle's Tumblr.

FOR WRITERS:

• "Publishing is not all six-book mega-deals and twenty-year olds winning national book awards." The INTERN's healthy reminder is a must-read for struggling novelists.

• Never respond to a bad review. Unless you are MCA.

• Agent and bookseller Jennifer Laughran put together a comprehensive guide to bookstore events for published authors. As a former bookseller and current author, I found myself nodding enthusiastically in agreement throughout this entire post.

• Jennifer also wrote this helpful post about what information authors should include on their website to help booksellers.

• The discussion about race in YA literature is, thankfully, fervent and loud. Author Sarah Ockler wrote a good one here.

• "Ten Things I've Learned from Anne Lamott." Lamott is the author of Bird by Bird, the ultimate modern creative-writing classic. This is an excellent refresher.

• The Guardian wrote an important piece about why authors need to respect their followers.

• S. Jae-Jones, editorial assistant at St. Martin's Press, has a great article (featuring gifs of David Tennant) that explains what's happening inside a publishing house during the dreaded acquisitions process. The basic idea? LOTS. Lots is happening. 

(Published authors, have you thanked your editor lately?)

(THANK YOU, JULIE!)

Advice From One of My Role Models

"And remember that a no is free. Ask for what you like, and get used to being turned down. Rejection is hard, but to get acceptance you have to put up with a lot of rejection. If you really like something, don’t ever think, Can I do this? If you think Can I? you won’t. You have to say, "I’m gonna do this, and nobody’s gonna stop me!" But you have to believe that, you can’t just say it. It might take really a long time, because people never say you’re good at first. Or if they do, you’re a flash in the pan and it’s over."

— John Waters, Rookie interview