Words Around the Web

Some really thoughtful posts out there today -- first a bit of news: Author Terry Pratchett gives his first interview about his Alzheimer's diagnosis, his writing, life, etc., and puts the heart back into tons of Discworld fans. "There's humor in the darkest places," he says, and his writing has always made that true. Whatever else happens, he's not going out quietly.

Via Jezebel's Fine Lines, an excellent KUOW, Seattle podcast interview with 71-year old Lois Lowery, talking about her life as a YA author, and the importance of YA fiction and her newest novel, which is a black comedy. Remember the Anastasia books? Completely different from The Giver, and also completely different than A Summer to Die, but it's all Lowry, and this great lady - who incidentally doesn't read YA literature, hmmm! - has been publishing now for thirty-one years. Did you know she took the photographs for a lot of the novels, including Number the Stars? A fascinating interview that's about an hour long -- a treat for me to turn on and potter around the house, listening.

Oh, my, my. The Dr. Who geek-out cup overfloweth. People: behold, the Sonic Screwdriver. It's exactly like the one on the show. Exactly.

What About Minx? Chasing Ray wants to know why it's overlooked and underselling. Some excellent points discussed, check it out.

Ooh, Miss Erin's Novel Challenge is on! (And did she not make a cute little icon for it?) The point is to achieve a specific writing goal by the end of June 2008. This is appealing on myriad levels -- as both of us at Wonderland are in the middle of revising novels and beginning to think in terms of creating new plots. We'll be thinking about what goal we could aim for -- hope you're thinking too! Check in with Miss Erin and let her know if you'd like to participate!

Hat tip to Miss Cellania @ the mental_floss blog, for today's time-wasting obsession... well, it's only time wasting if you don't learn anything, right? The FABULOUS Questionaut, which was invented by the BBC -- an adorable interactive game during which you progress if and only if you can answer the questions correctly. Also try out Samorost -- when you're done revising your chapter for today, of course...