The New York Times released their “10 best books of 2007″ list, which includes five novels:

• Man Gone Down by Michael Thomas
• Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson
• The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño
• Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris
• Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson

View the full article (which includes a brief descriptions of each of the books) here.

Cory Doctorow of BoingBoing writes:

Vernor Vinge has put the entire text of his magnificent, prescient, mind-alteringly good novel Rainbows End online as a free download. This was one of the best books of 2006, a book that practically defines what “post-cyberpunk” really means: stories about what happens when the world (and not the street) finds its own use for technology.

The book is in html format, which means that it can be converted to any number of formats (.txt, .pdb, .pdf…) and read on any open platform - palm pilots, phones, computers, ebook readers et cetera.

Link to html file; link to Rainbows End’s Amazon page

Lots of recent articles on the Bad Sex in Fiction Award.

BBC News: “‘Bad sex’ winner to be announced”

The winner of the annual Bad Sex in Fiction Award for the most awkward description of an intimate encounter is to be announced later. […] Now in its 14th year, the prize is awarded by Literary Review magazine in an attempt to discourage authors from writing such accounts.

Times Online: “Sex in Ian McEwan’s novel is not bad enough to impress judges”

Weeks after his novel about a young couple’s unconsummated wedding night was beaten to the Man Booker Prize, Ian McEwan will be feeling relieved that On Chesil Beach has failed to make the shortlist for the Bad Sex in Fiction Award.

Guardian Unlimited: “Bad Sex Award 2007 shortlisted passages” (No, we’re not going to post a snippet, but excerpts of the award contestants can be found at the link.)

We also reported on the award last year:

• Stiff competition on bad sex shortlist
• Debut novelist Iain Hollingshead wins bad sex prize

From BBC News:

A “spooky” image of a priest executed for treason over the Gunpowder Plot has appeared on a 17th century book thought to be bound in his skin, it is claimed.

Auctioneers said the face of Father Henry Garnet could be seen peering from the cover of the “rare and macabre” book about the Jesuit priest’s death.

“Claimed” and “thought to be” or not, that does sound rather rare and macabre. Full story here.

From CTV:

A new study finds that chick flicks can be man magnets if they follow a few simple storytelling rules.

Jennifer Argo, an associate professor at the School of Business at the University of Alberta and one of the authors of the study, said she found that men are much more likely to enjoy ‘chick flicks,’ if they know they’re watching a fictional story.

Story here. In theory, the same principles could be applied to chick lit - though I’m not wholly convinced of the study’s merit.

The Newly Released Books feature has always been one of the most visited sections of our site. Though we haven’t been keeping up with new books as they go on sale for a few months, we’ll try to do better in the future.

To start things off, there are two new releases for today:

• The Darkest Evening of the Year by Dean Koontz. From the book’s wiki page: “A fast-paced and emotionally devastating suspense novel from the master storyteller. Amy Redwing’s risk-taking on behalf of desperate dogs is legendary. With money she inherited from a source she will never discuss, she founded and runs a group that rescues abandoned or abused golden retrievers.”
• Dreamsongs: Volume II, a collection of short stories by George R. R. Martin. (He’s best known for his fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire.)

It’s almost the beginning of the new month, so here’s the regular glut of contest deadlines coming up on the 1st:

Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize
Prize: $3000 and publication
Eligibility: Poets who have not have published more than one previous collection of poems.
Website

W. Y Boyd Literary Award
Prize: $5000 and a 24k gold-framed citation of achievement
Eligibility: Published novel set in a period in which the US was at war.
Website

Doris Bakwin Award
Prize: $2000 and publication
Eligibility: For short stories, a novel or memoirs written by a woman
Website

Center for Book Arts Poetry Chapbook Competition
Prize: $1000 and publication
Eligibility: Open
Website

Willis Barnstone Translation Prize
Prize: $1000
Eligibility: For translated poetry
Website

Beatrice Hawley Award
Prize: $2000 and publication
Eligibility: For US residents
Website

Anna David Rosenberg Award
Prize: At least $750
Eligibility: For a group of poems on the Jewish experience.
Guidelines (pdf)

Lambda Literary Foundation Debut Literary Awards
Prize: $1000
Eligibility: For published debut books of fiction by gay or lesbian authors.
Website

Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize
Prize: $1000
Eligibility: Open
Website

Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award
Prize: $500 and an all-expenses-paid trip to NYC to meet with writers, editors, publishers, and agents.
Eligibility: Poets and authors from Washington D.C. who have published no more than one full-length book in the genre in which they are applying.
Website

SFAI Poetry Translator Residency
Prize: Residencies of up to 4 weeks and a stipend
Eligibility: Poets over 25
Website

Slipstream Press Poetry Chapbook Competition
Prize: $1000, publication and 50 copies of the published chapbook
Eligibility: Open
Website

As you’ve probably noticed, we have a new design on WritingNews.org. The old one was getting a little - well, old - after fifteen months of use, and I think it’s time for something different.

More information:

• We’ll continue to revise our new look based on any feedback received.
• Site tested in Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 7, Firefox, Opera, and Safari. (The 30% of our visitors who still use IE 6, though, should consider something else - it’s a pain to code for, and there are many better options available.)
• We’ve modified styles that others have made in the past, but the new design was made from scratch for WritingNews.org.
• It’s also valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional - that is, the design itself is. It won’t technically validate until I take the time to clean up a few posts and sidebar items.

For reference, this was our old design:

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