Random Monday Tidbits

Just tuning in with a few links on a lazy Monday--lazy because we're in Hawaii, at our friends' house on the Big Island, enjoying a much-needed vacation. Sadly, I did bring some work with me, but only a minimum of such, which, for me, is pretty good. The importance of our trips to the Big Island--besides visiting good friends--is getting the chance to slow down our pace for a while. That is not normally my strong suit.

Anyway, I've saved up a few interesting items for your perusal:

•  First, a few writing-related articles from the Writer's Digest newsletter: a rather useful set of tips on how to avoid and fix word repetition (I am extremely guilty of overusing "just" and "really"...) and some thoughts on writing a satisfying ending.
• Recently, we interviewed the authors of the graphic novel Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong and asked them five questions about the process of writing and crafting. For another inside peek, and a very different set of questions, check out David Elzey's interview with them on Guys Lit Wire.
• Lastly, I got an e-mail announcement regarding the launch of the new Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination at the University of California, San Diego: "The center will honor the late author and innovator, and will be an interdisciplinary center where researchers in the arts, sciences, medicine and technology will come together to unlock the mysteries of imagination." How cool does that sound? I so wish I could check out some of the launch events, but I suppose I'll have to content myself with planning some sort of future visit next time I'm in SoCal.