A short while ago my friend Noah had his first novel, Bleeding Heart Yard, published, and has since decided that he wants to read my first novel – the only trouble with that being that I haven’t finished it yet (although I have many half-finished attempts). He says he’s going to pester, hassle, harrass, and kick my ass, if it will help me finish – assistance for which I will be grateful – and I’m hoping that having someone to whom I can be ‘accountable’, even if it is only in my mind, will help me to keep on track.

Along with finishing a manuscript (and editing and submitting it) I’m also going to try to do more interesting things with the blog. I’m not going to make foolish promises that I can’t keep, but I’d like to make at least one interesting, useful, insightful, and/or timely post per month. More would be great, but if not, I’m okay with that.

And lastly, I’m going to try to remember to stop every once in a while and smell the damn roses. Last year I spent the first four months going hard with the writing, to the detriment of everything else in my life. Basically I had no life. All of my other pastimes (archery, reading, chain maille) went by the wayside and I think it’s safe to say that I burned myself out, because all my angst about being a ‘good little writer’ and getting my butt in the chair took the fun out of writing for me, and I had no other ways of recharging myself. But, recently, I’ve rediscovered the joy of photography, and am hoping to integrate that (along with my other neglected hobbies) into a more balanced creative existence. Wish me luck – I’m going to need it.

Skyla’s in, and Tiff said she might go for it as well. Anyone else crazy enough to join us?

Over at Skyla’s blog, here’s the latest How Not To Be A Douche Bag Author.

I could have sworn that I linked this one up already, but apparently not, so check out Write or Die: Putting The Prod Back In Productivity.

Over at The Last Word, here’s Ten Things New Writers Need To Know.

And for a little humor, here’s Top Ten Tips For Becoming A Better Husband.

I think part of the reason it’s such a great workshop is that it does cost something to join. Paying probably helps to weed out the people who are just writing for the praise (even when they don’t deserve it). Also, so you don’t get over there and get a shock, the site works on a points system. In order to post a story for critique you have to have 4 points. You get 4 when you sign up, so you can post one piece right away, and then you get 1 point for each review you do for other writers. And they can’t be empty, ego-stroking, “Loved it, you rock, keep up the good work!” critiques, either, because if someone gets caught doing that too many times, the admins will boot them from the site.

So, if you don’t have some friends to read your work for you, or even if you do and would just like a totally unbiased opinion, swing on by and check it out. It’s well worth the time.

Over at Skyla’s blog, the latest edition of How Not To Be A Douche Bag Author 101.

JA Konrath has a great post on How Not To Write A Story.

And inspired by JA’s post, Sarah-Jane Lehoux has started a contest for all the people – like me – who, when they are told don’t do this, hear instead I double-dog dare you.

To get the party started, here’s Skyla’s latest How Not To Be A Douche Bag Author 101.

Here’s a post on how Twitter can help writers.

And on a similar note, Rachelle Gardner has a post on The Dreaded Author Platform. And another one on Writing Contests.

Lilith Saintcrow explains why A Good Book Ain’t All You Need.

It’s not one of the genres I read, but I thought someone might be interested in a writing competition put on by Harlequin.

And for a little bit of fun that has absolutely nothing to do with writing, here’s Jaws in 30 Seconds with Bunnies.

And second, a really useful post about promotion and branding over at the Mundania blog.

Now it’s late, and the typos are beginning to outnumber the… um, non-typos – it took me four tries to spell Mundania right – so I am going to bed. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz…