Hello from Edinburgh!

The busiest month of my years has begun. The past week has been spent preparing for the Edinburgh International Film Festival, where I’ll be working and writing round the clock from Wednesday 18 – Sunday 29 June.

In the meantime, I’ve some fresh new links for you – some of mine, some from elsewhere.

Enjoy!

–– ON ROBOTNIC.CO ––

Too Old; Didn’t Read – On Mainstream Shaming: a title of which I am very proud.

My May Reads – better late than never, right?

Is Katniss Everdeen Actually a Strong Female Character? – not my headline, but my words beneath. A chapter from my book appeared in Huffington Post Books.

& in related: Win a copy of my book on Goodreads!

 

–– ARTS & CULTURE ––

“Crossing Manic Pixie Dream Girl DNA with a teenage boy results in a fiercer predator than anything in Jurassic Park.” – The Case Against Augustus Waters. (Or, It only takes one Manic Pixie Dream Guy to make a think piece).

This advert screened during the NBA final – a rallying cry against the Washington NFL team.

In related, here’s more on the dangers of cultural appropriation, in Aeon Magazine: Is nothing sacred?

An Interview with Karina Longworth – whose amazing podcast, You Must Remember This, is well worth listening to.

 

–– DIGITAL ––

This incredible talk – The Internet With a Human Face – popped up in my feed almost 2 weeks ago and I keep and keep and keep going back to it.

These big collections of personal data are like radioactive waste. It’s easy to generate, easy to store in the short term, incredibly toxic, and almost impossible to dispose of. Just when you think you’ve buried it forever, it comes leaching out somewhere unexpected.

 

In related: The Internet loves? The Internet hates? No! The Internet is not a person.

A little history of autocorrect.

 

–– &c. ––

15 Cities for Creative 20-Somethings That Aren’t New York or Los Angeles. Our sights are set on Portland, OR. What about yours?

“There are few overnight successes and many up-all-night successes.” – Creative People Say No. I should try this sometime.

What have you been reading this week?

 

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Happy Friday and happy Reading Week #10!

This week I’ve mostly been finishing up contracts and getting ready to move on with my life and with my business.

I spent the last 2 days at the Small is Beautiful conference, and it was just the best. Great speakers, tons of amazing advice, a little dash of over-sentiment, and – above all – fantastic people to talk to about our small business work and ambitions. If I hadn’t been there as an organiser I’d have attended as a delegate. And I really feel like I found my tribe of fellow creative wee business-owners.

With that in mind, I have a question for you: It also gave me a lot of space to think about merging my online work. If robotnic.co became a place where I discussed business and writing and online content, would you be interested in reading it? Does robotnic make sense to you as an extension of my professional and nerdy-cultural self, or do you like it the way it is? I’d love to hear your feedback!

Onward to the links…

 –– ROBOTNIC.CO ––

Win a copy of Fan Phenomena: The Hunger Games (by me!) over on Goodreads!

–– ARTS & CULTURE ––

Inertia is the Antithesis of Creativity.  Austin Kleon + 99U = <3. His new book, Show Your Work, is great.

Death to Writers’ Festivals.

*If you’re writing non-fiction, get out of the house. Stop reading Slate and Jezebel. Stop watching Youtube. Journalism is about “hanging out” with others. And not writers. Stop hanging out with other writers. Your authority will come from practice, not parties. Your authority will come from a generous engagement with the world—the actual world, not cocktail circuits.

 

–– DIGITAL ––

Ladybits’ First & Last Year on Medium. I know the author is walking a line here, but is it just me or did they just get totally fucked over then thank them for it?

 

–– LONGFORM / JOURNALISM ––

Recent Jeopardy champion Arthur Chu wrote this great piece on nerd culture, how mainstream media portrays it, and its many dangers. Your Princess Is in Another Castle: Misogyny, Entitlement, and Nerds.

 

–– &c. ––

For the curious:

Small is Beautiful Live Blog – Day 1

Small is Beautiful Live Blog – Day 2

& ALL of the Small is Beautiful live tweets.

Currently reading: The Secret History by Donna Tartt – and I swear I’ll have a new answer soon.

 

What’s making you happy this week?

 

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