tuesday hangovers

I woke up in the middle of the night with She Wants Revenge's "Out of Control" worming its way through my head. That is some catchy shit.

Jennifer Crusie (who I really have to read sometime; too many smart people are into her work for it not to be good) on planning a career as a writer. (Via Stephanie Burgis.)

Buy a Friend a Book Week, coming October 1. (Via Morrow Planet.)

Abigail Nussbaum on The Baroque Cycle.

Jeff Ford on Anna Tambour's Spotted Lily.

Sarah on being a good panel moderator.

Cynsations has a short interview with the wonderful writer MT Anderson, on his new book Whales on Stilts (want!). (Excerpt here.) How can you resist an interview which ends thus:

Frankly, I can't stand rendering fats in the cold of the Antarctic. That intense chill just makes me want to return to my sleigh and flee to someplace warm, like the jungles of Thailand -- a pung-ward pang, or even, I suppose, a pung-ward, Ping-ward pang.

As you can see, if there are any psychological challenges to writing, I am clearly not up to them.