I must be really be scraping the bottom of the barrel if I’m writing about words I hate. Just kidding (nervous laughter)! Actually, this can be an interesting topic because the English language is very much a living one, and is always evolving. Words that are slang today, might find their way into the dictionary tomorrow. Thus it’s no surprise that the Oxford English Dictionary adds about 1000 new words each year (source).

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It has been a while since I added new links (and deleted some old ones) to my Top Post page. But today I finally forced myself to sit down and get it done. I try to feature posts that ranked high in my analytics program, the result of a lot of good "buzz" around the net.

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Another Friday, another week gone by. As much as I love Fridays, it is almost scary at how fast time can fly sometimes.

Now that summer is starting to wind down, my posting frequency should start increasing. Generally, during the summer months I don’t post nearly the amount of material that I do during the fall/winter/spring months. As a result, readership drops as well. But many bloggers will say that the summer is slow no matter how much they post.

Anyway, I hope you are as relieved as I am that Friday is finally here. Enjoy the links below and, as always, have a happy and safe weekend!

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When American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald died on December 21, 1940, he had seen incredible success as a novelist and short story writer, but had failed to leave a mark on the movie scene in Hollywood. He wrote several screenplays, mostly in an effort to try to pull himself out of financial troubles (read more here).

Fast forward to 2008 and Fitzgerald is still trying to make it big in Hollywood – or, at least, his estate is. According to this article from Publishers Weekly, his estate is trying to turn some of his famous novels and even a few short stories into movies:

In December, audiences will see Brad Pitt and Cate Winslett appear in the David Fincher-helmed adaptation of the author’s little-known short story, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." And, with Hollywood options on several other Fitzgerald properties, there may soon be a swell of material about, and by, the romantic and doomed Jazz Age writer.

But it keeps getting better:

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I recently came across this interesting blog post by Nathan Bransford, a literary agent. The post is basically a question for readers. Here’s a brief excerpt:

Is a publisher morally responsible for the content they publish, or should the publisher respond to public demand, stand back, and let the public and marketplace determine the merits of the books they publish?

The question stems from two recent controversial decisions in the publishing world: The first was the decision by Random House canceled the book The Jewel of Medina by Sherry Jones over concerns an Islamic scholar raised about the possibility of violence because some might find the book offensive. For those of you that don’t know, The Jewel of Medina, is a book about the bride A’isha, the bride of the Prophet Muhammad (read more about the book here). This, of course comes in the wake of the cartoon fiasco which did lead to violence and even a death or two.

The second incident is a book published by Simon and Schuster called Obama Nation (aff link), which has been highly criticized as a blatant smear against the Democratic front runner for the Presidential nomination.

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This might seem like one of those posts that I just threw together because I had nothing better to write. Nothing could be further from the truth. As absurd as it seems, this is one of those writing tips that, for me at least, has been a "hidden gem". I know this works because some of my most inspired, creative ideas and writing sessions have resulted from what I’m about to share.

This might seem very counterintuitive, but writing while tired does produce some great work. Why? My own theory is that when you are in a tired state, the mind turns off that "inner editor" and you can explore ideas and/or concepts that, when fully awake, would never even come to you.

So what do I mean by being tired? I do not mean when you are so sleep deprived you can no longer function at all. I’m talking about those times when your eyes are heavy, it’s hard to concentrate on anything that takes logical thought (this appears to be key), and you are very much ready to go to sleep. Well, don’t sleep just yet. Take out a notebook or boot up your computer and put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard). Write what comes to your mind. You’ll be surprised at what you have written when you are awake and fully aware.

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You can read books written by your favorite classic authors, you can even read their biographies and study other works written by them. But if you really want to get into the head of your favorite writer, then why not visit the place where they wrote their best works?

I came across an interesting snippet from the Guardian about taking vacations to famed literary spots around the world. And for those of us here in the United States, it doesn’t necessarily mean a trip overseas either:

For those keen to immerse themselves totally in the world of literature while on holiday, there’s a company in the States (www.literarytraveler.com) which offers literary tours.

A lot of bookworms would be surprised that many literary figures didn’t live in large cities like New York or Chicago or even Los Angeles (as many writers seem to migrate to today). In fact, according to the Guardian article, Concord, Massachusetts, a humble town of only about 15,000, can brag about being home to the likes of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Louisa M. Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson and others!

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When I was getting ready to put together today’s Link Love post, it occurred to me how cyclical the writing can be. I go through periods of time when I do an amazing amount of writing. And I go through periods of time when I’m lucky to write anything at all on any given day. Right now I’m suffering through the latter. I’m just having a hard time sitting down to write anything (yes, even blog posts). But I’m not worried because I always come out of these little "slumps" on my own. In fact, I’m starting to believe that it is during these dry spells when my brain "recharges" its creativity. Whether or not that is true, I have no idea.

Whatever I might be suffering through, at least it is Friday! Two days of freedom and relaxation lay ahead of me and I’m planning on taking full advantage of it. With that said, I hope all of you out there enjoy these links I spent all week scouring the internet for. Oh yeah, and have a happy and safe weekend!

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Yeah, I love my iPhone (1st generation)! And over the last month it has gotten even better. When Apple opened up the iPhone and iPod Touch to third-party native applications (also called "apps") I was excited because I knew there would be a lot of apps for reading ebooks coming out. A few looked really good, and believe it or not, an ebook reading app wasn’t the first thing I put on my iPhone. After mulling it over, reading the reviews and doing a cost-benefit analysis (totally kidding), I came to the conclusion that the app that is simply called eReader would work the best for me. And so for it has met and/or exceeded all my expectations.

The Basics: Why I Decided on eReader

First, let me say that eReader is made by the same cool folks who bring you the Fictionwise website – a large online store for ebooks. For me, that was a big plus. I don’t have a lot of time to scour the internet searching for an ebook I want to read. Fictionwise has a great selection and their prices seem fair (of course, they could always be cheaper). Just as a comparison, I also have the Sony Reader P-500, and have been disappointed by Sony’s ebook store’s slim selection.

Another big plus was the fact that eReader was a free app to download to my iPhone. And I’m not just talking about the free-to-try-but-to-get-the-cool-stuff-you-have-to-buy type of free either. It was just free, plain and simple. Another ebook reading app I was looking cost almost $10 and I would have had to download special software (which I tried and couldn’t get it working, despite my best efforts) onto my computer. That brings me to my next point…

Ease of use! The description of eReader and many of the reviews said it was a very easy, intuitive app to use. In other words: No technical skills needed. My experience with eReader has confirmed what many other users are saying as I have found it a breeze to use.

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After a bit of a vacation, Friday Link Love is back! For the last week I was in Idaho visiting family and taking a vacation from the grind of every day life. I was born and raised in the great metropolis of Boise, until about the age of 15, when my family packed up and moved to the Chicago area where I still reside.

The vacation also gave me a chance to try out my favorite new third-party native application for my iPhone. It’s called eReader and comes from the same company that runs Fictionwise. I was able to read a complete book during the trip, and even bought and began reading another book. I’ll write a more detailed review later, but I thought it worth mentioning now because I enjoyed reading on my iPhone (1st generation) so much.

Well, the weekend is here and I’m getting back into the swing of things after being gone. It is always hard to come back from a vacation, especially for me, as I’m not one to jump right into my usual routines. I need time to adjust, decompress (yes, even vacations can be stressful, especially if flying the friendly skies is involved), and slowly work myself back into my own little world.

This week’s Link Love post is a little different. Rather than posting the links and then making short comments underneath about what I’m linking to, I’m just going to post the link and leave it at that. It is an attempt to save a little time, but I also want the links to speak for themselves. So please enjoy this week’s Link Love. And as always, have a safe and happy weekend.

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