Not a whole lot happens in the publishing industry during the Holidays, so this is a great time to catch up on your reading and relaxing, and put the business end of things out of mind for awhile. Certainly many of us will continue to scribble away into the night, but I believe the helpfulness of a break is often undervalued. Take a break and take in some other things from other mediums/walks of life and I know it will go a long way toward inspiring some new ideas.

But if you have had a lethargic writing winter so far, and are looking for a goal to get back into the swing things, try January 20, 2012. That is the date of the Writer’s Digest Conference in New York. It is the perfect event if you’re looking to find an agent, sell your work, connect with industry professionals and attend seminars. So, if you are going to take a break, keep that one on your radar for a possible return to things of a productive nature. Until then, links.

Links:

– Amazon’s Best Science Fiction And Fantasy (amazon)

– New Agent Alert: Claire Dunnington Of The Vicky Bijur Literary Agency (guidetoliteraryagents)

– Writer’s Digest 2012 Conference (writersdigest)

– Nebula Awards Interview: James Patrick Kelly (sfwa)

– A Collection Of The Year’s Best Sci-fi Stories (io9)

– A 12 Day Plan Of Simple Writing Exercises (writersdigest)

– Av Club Reviews Gregory Maguire’s Out Of Oz (avclub)

– Kirkus Review: Best Nonfiction Of 2011 (kirkusreview)

– Report From The Hobbit Set (hobbitblog)

– Successful Queries Agent: Jen Rofe (writersdigest)

– The Great Alan Moore Reread ‘V For Vendetta’ Part 1 (tor)

– 10 Pieces Of Advice From Science Fiction And Fantasy Movies (io9)

– Scientists Discover Monster Black Holes (yahoo)

– Book Trailer For Michael Dempsey’s ‘Necropolis’ (sfsignal)

– Guy Pierce In The Trailer For Luc Besson’s New Space Prison Break Movie (io9)