Sunday, February 25, 2007

Addictive - but proactive?

Terrible things are afoot. Instead of writing a really cool short story riffing on Icelandic folk tales, I've discovered Squidoo via the lovely people at Artsphere, who offer the persuasive argument that if I Squidoo, I will make money, find a job, be elected president of the Galaxy and not be such a late adopter when it comes to social networking...

So far, so non-literary. But I think Squidoo could be a pretty good tool for writers looking to do lo-fi promo, and readers looking to pick up new titles. No-one's really cracked how to make the internet work for writers - don't buy the lulu hype - but maybe this self-generating, soapbox/storefront will be the way forward?

Sunday, February 11, 2007

One R out of 3 Ain't Bad

Long time coming... But really, I've been doing more writing than reading of late (in the fun sense). I have been wearing grooves in the seats at the British Library and the BFI library, but somehow reading Derrida just isn't that fun anymore... Although I have been re-reading a lot of Ursula Le Guin, and thinking about why she's so amazing. How can you not love someone who reads and reviews so brilliantly and justly. I'm hoping that a little of her hard-earned charms will rub off on me...

Thankfully, for the time being, my writing is actually making waves. "They like me, they really like me!" [You can hear the parodic Hollywood hysteria there, right?]

So this is an utterly self-disinterested posting plugging the wonderful Stride magazine where I may have some poems in a recent online issue.

Look out for a familiar name cropping up in new issues of Seam, Staple, Equinox, Frogmore Papers, Interpreters House, Avocado, IOTA and Velvet.

Thanks to the lovely folks at the Poetry Library, Staple, Equinox, Frogmore Papers, Interpreter's House and Iota - along with other excellent magazines - can be read for free online.

Most small magazines are put together by volunteer editors, and most can't afford to pay their writers. If you can afford to buy or subscribe to any of these magazines, you're not only helping sustain a publication, but an entire community. But reading online and enjoying is all to the good :)