More writerly geekery, embedded video & links

So, I'm a big fan of a writer called Neal Stephenson, as anyone who's delved into the darker recesses of this blog archive will know. He writes long books that are complex and (I think) tell good yarns, but perhaps readers of Ian McEwan (for instance) may find them off-putting. However, given my views of that author's books, particularly Atonement and Saturday it may not be so very surprising.

Anyway.

Google, in their infinite wisdom, have an ongoing series of talks for authors, helpfully called Authors@Google, in which unkempt introverts discuss the voices that chatter inside their heads and how that pays the bills. There are lots of writers on the YouTube channel - go have a look. I don't check it regularly, but it turns out Stephenson did a Q&A at Google HQ last September as part of the book tour for Anathem, his most recent work.

I found it fascinating. You might also. You might not, in which case you have my apologies. Perhaps you may need to consider reading another blog. There are quite a few about, I hear.

Here's Neal Stephenson:

- With thanks to Harry, who I would link to, if he'd ever hurry up and get published, or start a blog, or something.

A quick links post

The dangers of mixing music & politics, or why white male voice choirs and hip-hop is both reckless and amusing:




Advertising - the new driving menace:



Finally, a 40-odd minute seminar by Neal Stephenson on speculative fiction. How it's different from literary fiction, what makes a good SF actor, et cetera:







If that floats your boat, here's a link to his somewhat famous Beowulf & Dante writer analogy, which he did on Slashdot some years ago. It's interesting. Sometimes I find Stephenson more cerebral than I can cope with and he certainly seems like a fearsome interviewee if you are as intellectually undisciplined as I am, but it's a good idea and worth sharing:

Dante & Beowulf

Okay, back to figuring out tax forms. I've got a column to do, but I'll write a blessay (to steal from the great Stephen Fry) soon.