Robin Black shares criteria for deciding whether an MFA is right for you, and they’re not all precisely what you might expect. I think Black’s right to say that student temperament is incredibly important (though maybe difficult to self-evaluate, which is why it’s always helpful to talk to advisers and friends about this choice). I would put even more emphasis than Black does on the cost of the degree, though. Repeat after me: you should NEVER go into debt to get a graduate degree unless you’re certain it will lead to a decent-paying job upon completion. If you’re in the humanities, you simply can’t be certain. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go to grad school — I’m very glad I did! — but that, as Black suggests, you should know the costs and benefits involved in your own situation.

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Second: a link to another great post, or essay, really — Seth Fischer’s “Notes from a Unicorn” at The Rumpus. Seth is bi; so am I. This is one of the best and most thoughtful approaches to the topic I’ve read, illuminating not only the author’s own experience of bisexual identity as a man but the ways bisexuality is often obscured by straight people and gay rights activists alike. Whatever your sexual orientation, please go read this.

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And finally, a quick announcement: I’ll be reading at the University of Texas on March 21, at 4 pm in Parlin 301. I’ll talk a bit about Alcestis, since some of the audience may be students who are currently reading it in class, but the reading will focus mostly on Killingly. If you’re in the Austin area, I’d love to see you there. (And if I know personally, email me and we’ll talk dinner plans.)

Also, mysterious Mayan calendar predictions aside, isn’t “twenty-twelve” just so much more satisfying to say than “twenty-eleven”?

I didn’t get as much work done on Killingly this year as I meant to, mostly for the above-mentioned personal reasons, plus that whole “first semester of teaching” thing, which is pretty time-consuming. But I did get some work done! And I’m delighted to say that I’ll have a student assistant helping me to dig up more research material this spring. If all goes well, I hope to finish the book in summer 2012. I’ve also been writing some nonfiction, partly inspired by the reading I’ve done with one of my IS students.

In March, I’ll be back in Austin briefly to give a reading at UT before zipping down to San Antonio to present a paper at ASECS 2012: “Delarivier Manley Understands the Ladies Better than You: The Female Wits and Feminocentric Satire.” I’m also hoping to attend Wiscon this spring. Anybody else planning to be in Madison?

I meant to post a multitude of things in the last month or so, some still open in tabs from the first time I read them. (I prune my tabs regularly, but still, it’s no wonder my Firefox loves to give me the spinny rainbow wheel.) Here are a few of them:

• Lev Grossman on what fantasy is.
• An insightful post on Anne McCaffrey and her work.
• The Guardian’s obituary for Russell Hoban.
• Kristin Cashore on reading like a writer.
• Katha Pollitt on Christopher Hitchens.
• NPR’s top 5 YA novels of the year.
• A call for papers on Georgette Heyer at the Journal for Popular Romance Studies.
• A Vintage Smith College tumblr.
• Diana Peterfreund on love triangles in YA and love diagrams of Jane Austen novels.
• The Band of Thebes Best LGBT Books of 2011 list (with recs from me).
• Rachel Signer’s piece at OccupyWriters, my favorite there so far.
• What Middletown Read.
• Miette’s podcast of “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas.”
• Boing Boing’s 2011 gift guide: a little late, okay, but still full of interesting stuff, including many books.
• Shauna Ahern’s basic ratio method for converting wheat-based cookies to gluten-free, plus a molasses cookie recipe I’m planning to make soon. (My mother and I made date pinwheel cookies and quinoa flake jam cookies for Christmas.)

And finally, something that makes a dreary January day a little brighter, at least if you grew up with the Buffy kids and still like a good vampire show now and then. 2011 would not have been possible without yoga and Netflix streaming.

A very happy new year to you all.

1. Sitting in a room full of students who are working intently on a writing exercise. Some of them are usually frowning. But they’re all creating.
2. Discussing writing ideas or revision plans with my senior Independent Study advisees, then having them return the next week with surprising, original, clever work inspired by our conversations. I feel unbearably and excessively proud of them.
3. Hearing my first-year seminar students voluntarily refer to Riddley Walker, a book many of them struggled through, as we discuss other texts.
4. Seeing my first-year seminar students walking around campus together.
5. Watching familiar names pop up on my course rosters for next semester as registration progresses. If you’ll pardon a warm-and-fuzzy Internet emoticon moment: <3!

You can also see a list of other books that are scheduled for future chats, or are being considered for scheduling, on the Feminist SF wiki.

Hope to see some of you on Twitter discussing the book!

The Hairpin has a great interview with Kate Beaton, who talks smartly about many things, including dramatizing history in comic form and why people reacted so weirdly to her calling-out of sexism in comics. And for your enjoyment, a recent Hark! A Vagrant strip sure to delight c18 nerds: Fop Gun.

Thriller writer Will Lavender describes his path from writing literary fiction he wasn’t satisfied with to writing what he loves.

A long piece in the Atlantic about the development of the current YA market.

And a lovely review in PW for my friend Merrie Haskell’s forthcoming middle-grade book, The Princess Curse.

Then read Kari Kraus’s op-ed in the Times about digital preservation and archives, which opens by discussing Bruce Sterling’s donation of his archive to the Ransom Center.

I also liked this post by Molly Wizenberg, talking about the kind of writing-avoidance we all practice sometimes. (You can tell me that you don’t, but I won’t believe you.)

This summer is full of transitions, professional and personal, and I’m trying hard to get a bunch of writing done before the semester begins — so I may be a bit quiet around here. I hope to have time to post more about the courses I’m teaching this fall, though.

One quick bit of news: a few days ago, I was delighted to see this recommendation of Alcestis at After Ellen’s Across the Page. It makes me really happy to know that readers are continuing to discover the book.

Ann Patchett:

I don’t believe in writer’s block. I think writer’s block is just a myth that was invented by people who either don’t want to work or people who aren’t ready to get an idea down on paper. So if I can’t write, if I’m stuck, it’s because I’m trying to figure something out. The other thing is my husband, who is a doctor, goes to work every single day, and he doesn’t get ‘doctor’s block’. He doesn’t just say, “I don’t have any idea what this patient has, and I’m just gonna go home and lie on the couch and stare at the ceiling and eat popcorn.” Which is what writers do. It’s like we have this built-in ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card going called Writer’s Block. But if you work, you just work, and sooner or later, you’ll get through it.

And The Intern, “on finding beauty again“:

You can’t remember what inspired you to write your novel. It’s a vicious ugly cold-hearted thing and it’s eating you alive. You’re a vicious, ugly, cold-hearted thing too, an evil plumber with a bag full of tools. You couldn’t find the pulse of your novel if you tried. It’s turned into a dead thing—or a thing towards which you’ve become dead.

“Writing is hard work,” you reassure yourself.
“Don’t tell me to take a break,” you snap at your well-meaning loved ones.

You fight your way grimly through the brambles.

Meanwhile, the world goes on lush and sun-filled just outside your field of view.

Second: Diane Havens, the wonderful narrator of Iambik’s audiobook of Alcestis, answers five questions, some of which make me blush. Iambik is offering Alcestis at a 50% discount in June — enter the code “#jiam2011″ at when prompted at checkout.

Third: #YAsaves. I wish I had time to write up a full and thoughtful post about this, but since I’m swamped with moving preparations, course prep, and writing, I’ll just direct you to this excellent overview at Publishers Weekly and to Sherman Alexie’s heartbreaking and inspiring piece in the WSJ in response to Cox Gurdon’s classist stupidity. (It’s not just that Cox Gurdon dismisses teen readers who aren’t sheltered and privileged — it’s that she doesn’t even seem to know that other kids, less lucky kids, read. Or exist, for that matter.)

Today I cleaned out — well, 95% cleaned out — the cube I’ve been sharing with T. since 2005, our second year in grad school. Then I stopped at the co-op and ran into Rita, who sold us Lahrs the Saab. I’ve been experiencing a lot of serendipitous meetings lately, even though many of my friends from graduate school have decamped for other cities. It’s strange to be getting ready to leave myself. I’ve been living here for seven years now, and I’m going to miss it terribly, excited as I am about my new job in Wooster.

And now, links to share!

First of all, the fabulous Malinda Lo recommended Alcestis (as well as books by Jacqueline Carey and Robin McKinley) in a short piece she did for NPR last week. This was up on NPR’s Facebook page, as well, which resulted in a number of my friends leaving “holy crap, I know her!” comments on the NPR post. Sometimes social media does give one a warm and fuzzy feeling!

On Thursday night, the 2011 Lambda Literary Awards were announced. Alcestis didn’t win its category, sadly, but it sounds like it was a great evening, and all the winners deserve many congratulations!

250 books by women all men should read. (Also all people, but this is a response to an unsurprisingly dude-dominated reading list from Esquire.)

The opening of Jeffrey Eugenides’s upcoming The Marriage Plot. I want it now.

A Times travel piece on Lake Geneva, emphasis on the Byron/Shelley/Polidori era of its history.

A super sensible piece on ebook piracy by Cecilia Tan.

A Q&A by lovely Austin bookstore BookPeople with Robin Black, primarily about her short stories.

The real origins of Memorial Day.

For some less-heartening news, “worst carbon emissions ever leave climate on the brink.” And Laila Lalami posts Tom Lutz’s open letter to his UC Riverside colleagues and students about the demolition of the UC system. I’m not sure which of those links is scarier.

I’m still finalizing my reading lists and syllabi, which means that I’m still reading post-apocalyptic novels, though now I’m back to some I’ve read before. At the moment I’m re-reading Riddley Walker. I’d forgotten just how virtuosic it is. I wish everybody who loved Cloud Atlas knew about this book, too.