I’m feeling very “Squirrel” like when it comes to the blog this week. It’s not that I don’t have anything to say… I ALWAYS have SOMETHING to say, it’s just none of it is a full blog. So taking some tips from other blogs around – like Jay Lake‘s – I’m going to do one of his “link salads” or as another person I know calls it “link sausage” – with some commentary.

First off, congratulations to my friend, Maureen McHugh. Her book, After the Apocalypse was ranked on the Publisher’s Weekly Best Books of 2011 list. Before Tina Fey even. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer person and band roadie. She is quite deserving of this honor.

Second, the AntiSpec movement–though right now it’s primarily for designers, it’s for all creatives. Spec work isn’t “just” an art/design thing. It’s something writers have fought for years without really realizing it, and its’ becoming more prevalent with ebooks. Especially when you have Keynote Speakers at the Frankfurt Book Fair quote as saying: “As the value of content approaches zero,” Stein said, “people will pay for context and community.” We all have to fight to be paid AT ALL in this industry – much less fairly – let’s try to keep the money flowing to the author.

And speaking of being paid fairly… Clifford Pickover, a physicist I have read and follow on Twitter, posted this link about the death of the Midlist (mostly geared toward non-fiction, but applies to fiction) and how advances have shrunk. At least the author of the piece is looking for someone to take up the slack.

And to elevate some of the dire… Tiger Pens posted a link to this blog. If you run a writer group with people struggling with writer’s block, or are a teacher looking to encourage students to write, or want a good game for a writer’s group, check this link for Fall Writing. This is a creative way to get writers of all ages to think.

If you want more of a “game”, I received Rory’s Story Cubes for Christmas last year. http://www.storycubes.com/ This is a Boggle-like game where there are images on dice, you roll the dice and make up a story based on the images. And I just found out… there’s an app for that. I may just have to download it – I see a bar game at SF conventions.

And there is your NaNoMo distraction for the week. If you’re participating, go forth and write. If you’re not participating…go forth and write. I MUST remember to put up an archive post this week. I don’t have THAT many left.