J.K. Rowling’s new book comes out Thursday – an adult novel about a social concern

J.K. Rowling’s new book, The Casual Vacancy, comes out this Thursday – September 27, 2012 – and there’s not a spell in it. The adult novel focuses on small-town politics and poverty in southwestern England. A topic so far from her regular work that her publisher has skipped the publicity campaign. They’re just going to …

Twitter will soon release a way to retrieve your old tweets

Trying to remember that pithy, brilliantly composed tweet about the latest Wes Anderson movie that you fired off a few months ago? You’re out of luck: Twitter gives users access only to the last few thousand posts made to the site. But Dick Costolo, Twitter’s chief executive, promises that this will eventually change. “We’re working …

Netflix – Just for Kids – continues to roll-out to all devices

Netflix continued the roll-out of its Just for Kids UI to a number of connected devices this week. Upon launch, the app prompts viewers to either access the regular Netflix experience or Just for Kids. The kids section adds TV show characters as categories and allows children to find episodes of a show without relying …

22 rules of storytelling – according to Pixar’s Emma Coats

On Twitter, Pixar storyboard artist Emma Coats has compiled nuggets of narrative wisdom she’s received working for the animation studio over the years. It’s some sage stuff, although there’s nothing here about defending yourself from your childhood toys when they inevitably come to life with murder in their hearts. A truly glaring omission.   #7: Come up …

Hobbit Production Video #7 – behind the scenes at the studio

Peter Jackson has released his newest high definition HD Hobbit movie video blog from New Zealand. This time the video features Jackson at the studio and introduces many popular Hobbit characters. Enjoy!

Thoughts on writing from John Steinbeck

“Abandon the idea that you are ever going to finish. Lose track of the 400 pages and write just one page for each day, it helps. Then when it gets finished, you are always surprised.” — “If there is a magic in story writing, and I am convinced there is, no one has ever been …