A Few Things

Are you an aspiring short story writer but can't seem to get published anywhere? You may have a chance with Swink. Maude Newton has a great write up about them today. However, if you're a crappy writer I don't think even Swink can help you. Sarah Boxer at the NY Times has her undies in a bunch and complains that blogs, in particular lit blogs, are nothing but lists of lists and reveiws of reviewers whose "main purpose, it seems, is to get noticed and linked to by more popular blogs." Yup, that's what I'm all about here, trying to work my way up from little fish to big fish. My blogging has nothing to do with the fact that everyone I know (except my husband but even he can only take so much) thinks I'm a freak because I read so much and, like, you know, want to talk about books instead of the lateset episode of Survivor. At least online I am a freak among freaks. (link via Maude Newton) Ian McEwan, prize-winning, bestselling author and - -terrorist?

McEwan's diplomatic woes began a year ago when U.S. officials turned him away from entering the country in error. But that error has remained on the books to haunt him still. "Once you have been refused entry to the States, you go into the computer and you are regarded with suspicion," McEwan told Reuters in an interview. "It is a matter of enormous irritation." "I only got in this time by the skin of my teeth. This could well be the very last time I ever get in," said the writer known for his books "Enduring Love," "Amsterdam" and "Atonement". He is often hailed as the greatest living British author. Despite having received "a very fulsome apology" from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security last year, McEwan's visa to enter the United States this time took nine months to obtain. It was granted just hours before his departure.

Be careful, he might be hiding a bomb in his pen! Or maybe he'll be signing all those books with poison ink! And for all you Don Quixote readers out there, I am planning a bit of a silly surprise. I hope to have it up by tomorrow evening so stay tuned...