A million writers wanted for a million penguins

This 'wiki' thing is going a bit too far. Granted, it's a brilliant piece of software, which maximises the output of a collaborative effort. But can it be applied to writing? I mean, people buy a Harry Potter book because it's written by J.K. Rowling. Would you buy the eighth Harry Potter book if it was written on a Potter fan site modelled after wikipedia? And how would it compare to the previous seven by Rowling? I have no friggin clue, but the Penguin publishing house is about to find out.

A million writers wanted for "A Million Penguins"
"'Wiki' software, the force behind online encyclopedia wikipedia.com, will allow budding writers to write pieces of fiction together from all around the world.
The publisher says the goal of the software is to see if strangers can create a piece of legitimate piece of fiction together."

Go figure!

Obamamania is in full swing. The Weekly Standard, has a magnificient book review or reviews ( since it's a tale of the rise and fall of Obama as a writer between his two books ), by Andrew Ferguson. I would, under normal circumstances, avoid linking to something which belongs to Bill Kristol. But this one is different. It's poignant. It's a naked plea. A plaintive call for Obama ( The writer ) not to be buried under the weight of Obama ( The politician ).

"Has there ever been a better display of the destructive effects--the miniaturizing effects--of professional politics? For the only thing that separates the writer of the one book from the writer of the other is ten years of life as a politician..."

Generally, when I read the first few lines of an article, I know exactly where it's heading. But somewhere mid-way through the 2nd page is where this book review grabs you by the scruff of your neck and gives you a powerful jolt of the electricity which is more commonly known as 'Obamamania'. To Washington, Obama is a politician. To Andrew Ferguson, he's a writer. Now you know what that this means. "People had a way of hearing what they wanted in Mr. Obama’s words..."

In other news, Darren Zenko, writing for The Star, CA, relates a tale of reality TV, where he meets his wife. "When the clock coughed up those final minutes, the manuscripts had been handed in, the champagne had been poured and our stretched-tight psyches snapped back and launched us back into the world, we dropped back to earth on the 200-count sheets of a double in the nearby Delta, falling impossibly in love."

Ack! Tell you the truth, half-way through the piece, I kind of lost the plot. I'm still trying to figure out what's reality, what's TV and what's the story. But never mind, so long as he's a writer who went to a reality show for writers, met his future wife there, ended up in bed with her and he's now happily married to her. And all's well that ends well.

A delightful take on writers writing by Andrea Doty, writing for the Kingston Reporter. "Their creative inner writers were bursting forth, while mine was shrinking further into oblivion, contemplating a plot dominated by me curling up in bed beneath layers of down duvets, sipping a hot toddy to the sounds of my rhythmically purring kitties..."

Read the full piece. Instant cure for writers block. Guaranteed.