Playing catch up

Maybe I shouldn't think of this post as playing catch up. I'm simply jumping in where I can. And sharing what I like to read with you.

Anika from WriteBlack reviewed Nnedi Okarofor's Who Fears Death for White Readers Meet Black Authors, Carleen Brice's blog. My favorite part of the review is how Anika gives us touch points from other science fiction to help flesh out the protagonist, Onyesonwu. (My favorite, the reference to Sauron. I assume it's the dark lord from Lord of the Rings, which I've been seeing in pieces again over the last two weeks. Doesn't get any darker than that - Sauron is compared to Onyesonwu's father).

Erika Dreifus, whose collection Quiet Americans will be out next year, writes about pre-publication anxiety. Published authors - head over to her blog and tell her how you manage the pre-pub anxiety. Every Thursday she is writing about her pre-publication journey.

If you know me or have ever read more than one entry here, you know that I think Tayari Jones is all of that - I enjoy her novels, her online writing voice and, had the great pleasure of hearing her read once. So, just as a reminder, bookmark her blog. Today I'm linking to her post about winning the Hurston/Wright Award in 2000 and what a breakthrough that was for her. She taught at the Hurston/Wright Writers Week this summer (just last week). Two of my VONA peeps were there last week as well. I know it was amazing.