Nothing but links to offer today, as I've spent the past couple of days taking care of the dog, who's been quite sick -- and I fully confess, it's scared me witless. I don't often think about how old she is, but this really drove home that she's ten and....well, I'm not ready to go there yet.

Anyway, the links:

Before I get to the writing ones, I want to share one I found via Colleen Mondor's blog, Chasing Ray. I think she sums it up best: "There are no words."

Tess Gerritsen offers two fasinating posts--one on how it feels when writing itself becomes an exercise in anxiety, and another one how it feels when you know that you've become of paramount important to a publisher's bottom line. Both of these posts do an excellent job of highlighting how stressful writing can be--even for those who seem to "have it all." I was a little disappointed in some of the comments on the second post I linked to, and while I understand the desire to think that those who are successful have it easier, I think that the more successful you become, the higher the stakes are for you, and everyone around you--and that's not an easy thing to live with. Would I like to be a best-seller? Of course! But I do think that the idea that success=happiness is just as dangerous a trap as happiness=being perfect.

From the New York Times, an essay on the publication process

Melissa Marr on writing do/don't lists and subjectivity

An interview with Judy Blume

And finally, Justine Musk offers up yet another fabulously written and eye-opening essay: "After the Contract: A Manuscript grows up"