Linktopia, Super Happy Fun Time Edition

Surfing the best of the writers' blogs so you don't have to.

This is for the rash of bloggers this week who are sick, out-of-town, enmeshed in graduation/mother's day/BEA/pre-summer funks. Hope it cheers you up. My apologies if it annoys you. I don't read Japanese either, so I hope the text isn't obscene.

Finally want to get paid for writing? Writer's Digest is now accepting entires for its 75th annual writer competition. The grand prize winner receives $3000 and a trip to New York to meet with agents and editors. Might make it worth hauling out that short story you played with last year. If that fails, the Picolata Review is looking for new stories for launching their magazine. Unlike other literary magazines, they are open to genre fiction (hat tip Metaxu Cafe).

Evil Editor eviscerates another query letter . . . . not to be outdone, Miss Snark explains the difference between plagiarizing and "being influenced".

More after the jump

Crawford Kilian rightly points out that the NYT's list of best works of American fiction in the last 25 years speaks more about the anxieties and tastes of the listmakers than anything else . . . GOB also weighs in . . . . Victoria has the latest on the AuthorHouse's smackdown in courts and the future of PODs . . . . Canadians are rejoicing over the prospect of a weaker dollar, thus making books cheaper (HT Nienke) . . . Slushpile has an interview with former Kensington editor Jeremie Ruby-Strauss . . . . at Murder She Writes, a depressing look at the nexus between promo and sales . . . .

For an antidote, the Bitches post a reply from Laura Kinsale and her take on the symbiosis between writing and art. It's a great read and highly recommended . . . . as usual, Ray has some useful goodies for us . . . . John Baker has what he bills as Outtakes, but could rightly be viewed as great hooks . . . . somehow, Jack Slyde manages to be a new daddy, post an excerpt of one of his novels online, and become an Australian citizen . . . .

I end with a link to Gerard Jones' indespensible website, Everyone Who's Anyone, which has just been updated for the 2006 year. I must check to see if MY agent rejected GINNY GOOD.

Write on.