monday hangovers

Franny D of Ghost Word chronicles the agents panel at Squaw Valley. Michael Carlisle of Inkwell Management divulged the following five commandments:
1) Thou shalt be original
2) Thou shalt be smart
3) Thou shalt be resilient
4) Thou shalt ask questions
5) Thou shalt not pay reading fees

Stephanie Burgis shares some interesting research for a new book: For instance, under the 19th-century reign of Emperor Francis I of Austria,

Books would often be licenced for sale only to those who carried a certificate guaranteeing their impermeability to new ideas.* (go there for source and more fun facts)

The Golden Age of Sassy. (Via Number One Hit Song.) Just the covers make me feel nostalgic.

The Millions recommends The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki.

Holly and Theo Black have been making their way through the entirety of Buffy. There was a little conversation about viewing massive amounts of Buffy at a Saturday evening mini-party at Worldcon, prompted by my embarrassing recollection of an episode (with title even) that turned out to be one I'd dreamed. It's one of the many dangers of falling into the Buffyverse until you're all caught up: you may start to have extremely detailed dreams there. Also, this post makes me laugh.

Odd door. (Via MeFi.)

Newsweek online chats with Jane Yolen. Do you test out your books on your own kids and grandkids? My husband and my writing group are the first ones to see my books. Children may be a great audience, but if they really want your attention, they'll tell you what you want to hear. Besides saying "Yuck" and "I didn't like it" or "I loved it," their critical vocabulary is not up to what I need for rewriting a book.

Cory Doctorow raves about Peeps, Scott W's latest brilliance in form of book. Check it out. As soon as possible. (I plan a little review of this too in the very near future, along with A Princess of Roumania, and any other especially wonderful book I've recently read but am forgetting about. In the midst of much hush-hush litblog co-op reading at the moment.)

I am dying of allergies. Possibly.