Links a-plenty

I’m stuck in meetings most of the day so this will be it till the afternoon. But there’s lots of stuff to catch up on, including these links:

Another day, another piece on Curtis Sittenfeld, this courtesy of the Washington Post.  And now all I can think of is Jennifer Weiner’s wonderful skewering of the New York Times for their wide-eyed surprise the book’s doing so well when they’ve mentioned it, oh, four times at least now?

Speaking of Sittenfeld, she and Elizabeth McKenzie are engaged in a Q&A with each other over at Beatrice. Read here and here and check back during the week for more.

And of the NYT, young adult queen Francesca Lia Block is interviewed by Dinitia Smith to give some prepub attention to Block’s foray into more grownup territory.

Susanna Yager rounds up the latest in crime fiction for the Sunday Telegraph, including new releases by John Grisham, Giles Blunt, Peter Robinson, Barbara Nadel, Shane Maloney, Linda Fairstein, Peter Lovesey, Friedrick Glauser, and Vena Cork.

Also in the Telegraph, Charlie Higson explains how he decided to embark on his new, much-hyped “teenage James Bond” series of novels.

The Richard and Judy “novel-spotting” competition is over — and the 52 year old grandmother who won the 50,000 pound prize might just have herself a book deal. Interestingly, Pan McMillan, who gave out her advance, also offered deals to the 4 other shortlisted writers.

Daniel Kalla’s debut novel PANDEMIC is getting some nice notices across the country. But did you know he’s a Canadian-born and dwelling doctor who just likes to write? The Globe and Mail’s Alexandra Gill meets him.

The SF Chronicle’s David Kipen wonders why Hollywood is so auteur-driven, and tries to put the spotlight on whom he feels matters most — the screenwriters.

Carole Baron, who took over as head of Putnam and Dutton when Phyllis Grann was booted out, is leaving the joint herself. But she’ll still edit select writers, including Harlan Coben.

Salman Rushdie: get thee to an anger-management session pronto. (last item, link from Bookninja.)

And finally, it looks like Robert B. Parker’s words will grace the TV airwaves on a regular basis once again.