Stuff

Just a few things I feel are worth mentioning...

Check out GirlOnDemand's blog site POD-dy Mouth to see the POD books that made it into the finalist category for her Needle Awards (alas, The Vicarious Liver wasn't one of them). And check in on March 22 to see who the winners are. Congratulations to all the writers who managed to rise to the top of the POD pile.

And if you have a few hours to waste and want some cheap entertainment, check out these web sites, all of which highlight some creative folks who decided to beat the Nigerian scammers at their own game, or at least yank their chains a bit. My favorite based on the results and pure ingenuity is The Adventures of Wendy Willcox and her dog Willis (you just gotta love the pictures!) but the Brad Christensen Exhibit at the Quatloos! site and the Ebola Monkey Man are both tied for second.

A belated congratulations to Josh Olson aka BadCog, who used to cruise some writer boards I frequented on AOL, on his Oscar nomination in the screenwriting category for the History of Violence script. Nicely done!

And finally, could it be that PublishAmerica is finally starting to crumble beneath the weight of its own deception? Ever since the successful arbitration hearing launched by one disgruntled author, contracts are being released right and left and there are rumors afloat that more arbitrations and perhaps a class action suit are coming. Posts on PA's own message board questioning the dismal royalty payments that were just sent out get yanked almost as fast as they appear. And the influx of disillusioned and angry PA authors to other message boards is growing by leaps and bounds. To get a feel for just how nasty this company can be, check out the rather lengthy PA threads on the Absolute Write site and read some of the "tone" letters these morons have sent to the authors who dared to question their tactics and practices.