Links: Plot Bunnies, Bluegrass, & Dogs

Workspace with computer, journal, books, coffee, and glasses.Where did October go? I blinked and – poof! – it’s pretty much November. And that means the holiday season starts to creep up on everyone. For those who dread this particular time of year, I’m with you. So let’s treat this weekly links as a way to find some peace and happiness for a few minutes.

NaNoWriMo is kicking off soon and I’m going to try my hand at it. (I’m very nervous.) However, if you’re needing a kick in the pants plot-wise, All About Romance has some amazing romantic comedy setups that are deserving of ALL THE MOVIES!

Be sure to check out the entire Twitter thread!

 

Cats get a lot of love here at the Bitchery. But what about dogs? Well, apparently there’s a Facebook page of UPS drivers bonding with neighborhood dogs. A few have even stowed away on UPS trucks to try and get more treats.

For all you history lovers, have you heard of medical historian Lindsey Fitzharris:

Fitzharris has entered a world where women are openly interested in topics that have traditionally been eschewed as too gruesome: taxidermy, true crime, hugely popular podcasts such as My Favourite Murder or Serial. Her contemporaries are also her friends: mortician Caitlin Doughty, who wrote the bestseller Smoke in Your Eyes; Australia’s Pia Interlandi, famed for her shrouds that degrade with corpses. But Fitzharris is less than surprised by the phenomenon. “It’s funny that we think it is weird because in the past, women were the caretakers of the dead and dying,” she says. “When you went home from hospital to die, women took care of you. When you died, women washed you, dressed you, dealt with the physical reality of death. Now we’re seeing women reclaim these areas and we think it is weird because it is gruesome. Hell, in the Bible, Mary went to wash Jesus’s corpse.”

Not only does Fitzharris have a book out, but she also has a YouTube series, which I’ve been watching over the last few days.

Cool romance comic Kickstarter alert!

Zara is pretty sure her dream lover, a non-binary assassin named Aderes, is just that: a dream. A delightful figment of her imagination that comes to visit every night as she sleeps — no doubt conjured up due to a distinct lack of a social life and way too many long days spent at the barre trying to hold on to her spot in the ballet company.

But when strange occurrences in her dreams start to have real world consequences, and once pleasant dreams twist into nightmares, Zara realizes that the line separating her waking and sleeping life might be blurrier than she thought…

The cover art is also done by one of my favorite artists, Jen Bartel. I have a couple of her prints hanging on my wall.

I’m a huge fan of cover songs and if you are too, let me introduce you to Pickin’ On! It’s a YouTube channel that does bluegrass covers of popular songs. So far, they’ve done classic rock, country hits, and 80s songs.

This might be my current favorite:

Don’t forget to share what super cool things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!

Comments are Closed

  1. LML says:

    Amanda, good luck with your novel writing adventure. I think this article: https://vitals.lifehacker.com/what-i-learned-from-binge-writing-nine-bad-novels-1819693609 by Beth Skwarecki had good suggestions for sitting down and getting on with a writing project.

  2. Laurel says:

    My favorite bluegrass/country cover is War Pigs by Hayseed Dixie

  3. Critterbee says:

    Amanda, I have been eyeing NaNoWriMo and am extremely nervous, too. It would be my first time.

    Are you doing longhand or using a computer?

  4. anonymous says:

    Amanda, the world needs your novel! Go, go, go!

  5. Shana says:

    The UPS Dogs page and story remind me of the UPS driver for my neighborhood when I was in high school. He told my mom he knew when we were home because the dog barked and if she didn’t bark when he knocked he knew to come back later!

  6. Ren Benton says:

    Good luck and godspeed with NaNo. May the flow of your thoughts keep pace with your word-count goals.

    I doubt I’ll even get my revision done by the end of November. (weeps softly into keyboard, hoping to be electrocuted and set free from this living hell)

  7. Nancy C says:

    Amanda and @Critterbee, let loose and have a good time with NaNoWriMo! I tried it for the first time in 2015, and now I’m hooked. I’m active in my local RWA chapter, revising my current novel, and hope to publish before long. Who knew? But really, just do it because it’s so much fun.

    And @Ren Benton, best of luck to you in revision hell. I’m in the next cubicle over…

  8. Lostshadows says:

    Good luck with NaNo! It can be a lot of fun.

    I’m on my 7th(8th? 9th?*) year. I’ve even won a couple of years. (I did not produce a finished book yet, but hope springs eternal.)

    *They completely redid the site at one point and I couldn’t recall what my what my earliest attempts were to add them back.

  9. Amanda says:

    @Critterbee: Computer!

    And if anyone else is participating, feel free to add me on the NaNo site. My username is Amanda (SBTB).

  10. Leanne H. says:

    Yay! Let’s all be NaNo friends! Or should I say… fellow sufferers? 🙂

    Anyone who wishes can find me at roamingbadger on the NaNo site.

  11. Julia aka mizzelle says:

    Welcome one and all to the Nano fold. I’ve been doing Nano since 2002 and won each time in terms of the 50K thing. Turning those into finished mansucripts is a different matter entirely.

  12. Julia aka mizzelle says:

    (I should have added — I’m under there as mizprker. Feel free to add me)

  13. Mina Lobo says:

    1. Good luck with NaNo. I’ve tried (and failed) it twice. I bought a Freewrite this year and toyed with the idea of third-charming NaNo by using it to recklessly churn out a draft but as the time draws nearer I fear I’m chickening out. Wah wah wah…

    2. A. Women have been dealing with death for forever. FFS, let them get paid well for doing it! 🙂

    2. B. I listen to MFM as a sort of continuing ed thing–I’m dismayed at how long it’s taken me (YEARS) to understand some basic self-preservation skills but with each new podcast I’ve new ideas for staying sexy and not getting murdered. Plus, I heart Karen and Georgia now.

    2. C. I’d *just* learned of that Spooked podcast, looking forward to getting thoroughly wigged out by it. In a similar vein, there’s a podcast with Irish lads (“Those Conspiracy Guys”) who frequently get into the creepy and the kooky. Plus, foxy accents and loads of cussin’! It’s all win.

    3. Not a fan of “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” but have to say, I enjoyed that bluegrass cover.

  14. Nancy C says:

    ETA: I’m fictionbrarian on the NaNo website. Add me, if you like. Seeing everyone here who is participating is getting me excited to start!

  15. […] Linkity from Smart Bitches. And more linkity from Smart Bitches. And more… […]

  16. No, the Other Anne says:

    Oh God, NaNo. I’ve been studiously ignoring the email reminders, but if there’ll be Bitchery about, why perhaps I should try again… And honestly, it’s this site and its commenters who encouraged me to think perhaps I could even try it in the first place.

    I’m eggnoggin when I bother to log in 🙂 I seem to have repressed any specific memories of how it works – the online bits, I mean, not the grueling typing-by-banging-my-forehead-on-the-keyboard, weeping-at-sad-word-count parts; can we set up an SBTB support group there?

  17. Amanda says:

    @No, the Other Anne: Great idea! I made a forum group for SBTB here.

  18. Karin says:

    Just wanted to say that @RoseLerner should have gotten the credit for those RomCom setups at @AllAboutRomance. She temporarily took over AAR’s Twitter account. And yes, they were really great!

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