Blogging Buddies

A round-up of lit-related posts on other local blogs which I have enjoyed ...

Glenda Larke is shortlisted for a fantasy award (biggest congrats!) and finds herself featured in a beautiful HarperCollins diary.

Robert Raymer (below) has an interesting (and inspiring) piece on networking with others: He offers this insight:

Two things need to happen when you network. One is you have to listen. We can all talk and share our ideas with others – that’s the easy part. But how well do we listen? How well do we act upon what we hear? That’s the second part of network­ing, the most critical part, too – action. Or as Jim Rohn, the success guru for an entire generation of world class speakers and self-help motivators would say, “take massive action”. Ideas are as common as clichés about ideas, starting with “they’re a dime a dozen”. But without action, they’re just that – ideas that can sit on the back burner of your life and follow you to your grave.

And talks about how networking both in "real" life and via the blogs helped him plan a new book project.

The subject of how well films made from novels match up to the original book is one that comes up regularly on this blog and movie buff Guo Shao-Hao steps into the frey:

I've always maintained that one shouldn't be comparing apples and oranges, or mee rebus and spaghetti, when it comes to film adaptations of written works. First and foremost, they are two different mediums, and secondly, film audiences and book lovers are different targets.

He talks about the adaptations of the Richard Matheson's modern vampire story I Am Legend (Eyeris reviews the graphic novel adaptation of the book here) and Alan Moore's graphic novel V for Vendetta, as well as the recently released film version of Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass.

Ted reviews the film and isn't too impressed. (And neither is Daphne Lee.)

Elsewhere, Ted picks up a great story about a perfectly readable novel written entirely by computer software! And also the very sad announcement that the much-loved Terry Pratchett, author of the Discworld novels has Alzheimer's disease.

Dari Jiwa Rasa gets the latest consignment of publications from Dewan Bahasa (left) and reports on the award winning Malay novels for the Hadiah Sayembara Mengarang Sempena Perayaan Jubli Emas DBP.

Eric Forbes has a lengthy list of best reads of 2007 but looking at it it gives me a sicky feeling in my tum because I know I've barely scratched the surface of all the good stuff that's been on offer. (Actually I want Eric to come clean about how many he's actually read, how many he's just dipped into, and how many he's merely heard about. Maybe then I will stop feeling incredibly inconsolably guilty.)

Novelr points out that while it's all well and good putting your writing online, but asks what's going to happen to it all after youre dead? It seems he has the solution!

Adib the Reader discovers to his cost that buying too many books is not the only perilous temptation of the new Times Bookshop at The Pavillion and adds an inch or two to his waist.

Tunku Halim discovers the benefits of writing standing up. I believe Hemingway did too.

Getting the word out about our blogs is always important, and I owe big thanks to Luke Razzell and his friends who have tweaked the BlogFriends application on Facebook to make it an excellent way of discovering new voices and getting your own work read. Beats throwing sheep any day!

I thank too the team at Malaysia's Daily Voices. I'm dead chuffed that I've made it into the top 20 blogs a couple of times, particularly as most of the other top blogs are talking about the issues that should be talked about in the face of an entirely toothless press.

Blog advertising company Nuffnang introduced aggregator Innit, which I am also grateful for and I think has potential.

If I have missed anything else interesting please feel free to post a link in the comments.