haikujaguar on self-perception and how the things you say can, over time, influence the things you think and believe.
haikujaguar again on our personal Playlists of Fail and how they hurt us.
nojojojo on the so-called race card and the cost–and need for–anger.
When people talk about kids not reading SF, they inevitably also talk about how this is in contrast to the old days, when kids devoured Heinlein’s juveniles. So I was interested in jonquil‘s asking whether contemporary teens read Heinlein. Some interesting responses there. (The short answer seems to be: maybe a few readers still do, but even some of them find the cultural gaps between his writing and our world hard to bridge.)
One of the original duck and cover videos, complete with creepy sing-song optimism. Because surviving an atomic blast is all a simple matter of being prepared. (On the other hand, points to the video for admitting there might not be adults around when bad things happen–not sure the modern version of this video would include that.) (Via jenlight.)
If you’re about to face down a dark lord, surely a little drinking isn’t out of line? It’s the same problem I have with reactions to cussing in books, in a way–it can be overdone (and, as was once pointed out to me, it sounds louder on the page than in real life), but there are certain situations–when a dragon or warriors with swords are bearing down on you, say–when “oh, darn,” just isn’t realistic. (Via gwendabond.)
sarah-prineas shares a pet peeve about reviews and talks about reviews in general: No. YOU were not reviewed in Kirkus. Your BOOK was reviewed in Kirkus. The reason I get pettish is because when writers conflate themselves and their work, they tend to take comments about their work personally. If a reader dislikes the book, the reader also dislikes the writer, when in fact the reader probably couldn’t care less about the writer most of the time.
ETA: I left this one out at first, because I assumed everyone’s seen it by now, but if not, Justine Larbalestier’s account of how her next book, which has a black protagonist, wound up with a with a white girl on the cover is well worth taking the time to read.