Monthly Archives: October 2011

Salman Rushdie is being controversial again, the Booker Prize shortlist is too readable and a headline from a parallel universe

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Cora

In a lengthy interview with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz Salman Rushdie talked about a lot of things such as the fatwah against him, the persecution of writers worldwide, the Arab Spring, the upcoming film adaption of Midnight’s Children – oh … Continue reading →

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Margaret Atwood does not hate science fiction

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Cora

At the Guardian, Margaret Atwood talks about science fiction and speculative fiction, utopias and dystopias and how she views her own work. This should hopefully put all of those “Margaret Atwood hates science fiction and thinks it’s all just crap … Continue reading →

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Of Folk Poetry and Scary Songs

Posted on October 16, 2011 by Cora

I obviously survived the family function and the event was actually rather nice, even though I’m not a party person at all. The venue was one of the nicer hotels in town and the menu was a step up from … Continue reading →

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Laterne, Laterne

Posted on October 15, 2011 by Cora

Friday was the last day of school. Now I only have to survive the family function tomorrow (I should just be rude and cancel these things), then I have two weeks of autumn holidays. Tonight was also the annual lantern … Continue reading →

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Bilingual Children and the Challenges for Non-Western Readers and Writers

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Cora

I’m still busy with a bigger translation job, plus I have to go to a family function on Saturday which will inevitably wear me out, even though I’d rather be anywhere else. On the plus side, just one more day … Continue reading →

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Writing about Colours and Mary Sue

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Cora

I’m rather busy with translation work at the moment, so here are two links to other people’s posts: Lynn Viehl offers an interesting solution for the dilemma of describing colours at Paperback Writer. Seanan McGuire takes on the overuse of … Continue reading →

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The Curse of the Eraser

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Cora

Why, oh why do our fifth grade English textbooks insist on teaching kids that this is called a “rubber”? Now “rubber” is not wrong, but “eraser” is the far more common term for the object in question. Nor is “eraser” … Continue reading →

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Linkdump, mostly German literature themed

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Cora

The 2011 German Book Award, which was created to be Germany’s answer to the Man-Booker Prize and the Prix Goncourt, goes to Eugen Ruge for his novel In Zeiten des abnehmenden Lichts, which is a multi-generation family saga set against … Continue reading →

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Another genre dust-up and the growing disenchantment with Downton Abbey

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Cora

Yesterday night, I finished the first draft of a short story called Dream Job. Most of the time, I submit new short stories to various magazines first before e-publishing them myself (all but two of my e-books are backlist stories). … Continue reading →

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A sudden temperature drop and a linkdump

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Cora

Once again, our North German weather seems to have skipped an entire season and plunged us from summer right into winter. Last weekend, we had warm and sunny temperatures of 26°C. This weekend, we have rain and daytime temperatures hovering … Continue reading →

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