“In the Blogosphere” is a weekly series, which lists links to writing-related blogs I’ve stumbled upon throughout a given week.  Most posts will be from that week, but if I find some “oldies but goodies,” I’ll throw those up here as well.

I never find as much time to read blogs as I want, but here are a few posts that struck me this week.

FOR MENTAL HEALTH

Here’s a handy-dandy little post to bookmark for those rainy days of rejection.  On Inkygirl.com, freelancer Debbie Ridpath Ohi lists famous/successful authors whose famous/successful works were rejected—maybe even more than your manuscript!

WRITER’S DIGESTers

Here, Dana Girard of Novelists Inc. talks literary agents and publishing with my “sort-of” boss, Chuck Sambuchino of Writer’s Digest (editor of Guide to Literary Agents, Screenwriter’s & Playwright’s Market, and Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript).  Chuck is gracious enough to give me the opportunities not only to interview agents for the GLA blog but also to write pieces for the 2011 editions of GLA & SPM, so I def wanted to give him props.

In this post on her blog, Jane Friedman, also of Writer’s Digest, discusses how getting professional headshots taken can affect your writing career.  It really struck me, as one who hasn’t quite gotten around to doing that yet…but she makes a good point, and it’s something that might not automatically occur to one.

Here, WD’s Friedman is at it again–only this time, she discusses a big mistake many writers make in story openings.

If you don’t get Writer’s Digest (what’s wrong with you??), here’s an article that ran in the October 2009 issue in which literary agent extraordinaire Donald Maass talks passion in writing.

RESOURCES

This is Plot to Perfection’s first post in their six-part series on character revision.  Although the series is geared toward NaNoWriMo survivors, it’s great info for anyone who wants to examine character in terms of: dialogue, mannerisms, physical attributes, attitudes, and personal growth.

As I reviewed the next URL for this next post on what YA literature needs more of (cultural diversity), I realized I bookmarked another post about the same video. I may have been out of it this week, but apparently, I’ve been consistent as well! Fellow aspiring author Simon C. Larter captured the essence of what I was thinking, but if you just want to watch the video on Kickstarter.com and learn how to support an independent publishing company actively seeking kids’ multicultural books, here you go.

Because I have a name people misspell, mispronounce, and misunderstand, I’ve long been interested in names.  I never really thought about pen names, but in this post, literary agent Nathan Bransford outlines the pros and cons of using a nom de plume.

**Incidentally, another “Ricki Schultz” (who IS. NOT. ME.) has published a poem online.  It’s somewhat difficult to find—especially now that my name comes up a bit more on the Internet because of this blog and my agent interviews—but I always worry someone is going to think I wrote the poem.  Which I didn’t.  Did I say that already? Perhaps I should create a pseudonym.  Any suggestions? 😉

WHAT DO YOU MEAN, he wasn't a real doctor??