You need to make a WILL

Yes, YOU.

You need to make a will.
To make sure that your partner/ spouse/ children/ etc. understand what your wishes are so they can make decisions.

Especially, if you are a writer, you need to have a will that spells out who should handle your literary estate.  You probably will still have royalties coming in.  Your executor needs to know who to contact to inform them of your death and where to now send royalties.  Yes, some of your books will still be earning income long after your death.

Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon, published in 1947, is still gathering royalties. Yours might not stay popular that long, but still - there will be rights and royalties that have to be handled by your executors.

Neil Gaiman has suggestions for you, plus a link to a PDF of the form you will need.
Click and read and learn.

And Make A Will.

Writer's Quotes

Neil Gaiman quote:

"Google can bring you back 100,000 answers.
A librarian can bring you back the RIGHT ONE!"

Writer's Quotes - Gene Wolfe

Neil Gaiman has a book called The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction and it's so full of good quotes that I might have to buy the book so I can refer to them from time to time.

Here's one he says Gene Wolfe told him about the act of Writing:
"You never learn how to write a novel.  You just learn how to write the novel that you're writing."

Truth.

Rules for Writing

Wow.
Here's a link being passed around on Facebook:
Rules for Writing by the award-winning author, Neil Gaiman,
8 Rules for Writing
A Path to Publishing.

Neil Gaiman reveals the Secrets of Successful Writing

Advice from a Newbery Medal winner and multi-published author:

Neil Gaiman was John Green's surprise guest at An Evening of Awesome last night at Carnegie Hall. Here's Neil's advice for aspiring authors -- and good advice for all of us:

"Read everything.
Write.
Do not hope that elves will come in the night and write your novel for you.
They NEVER do.
I've tried, and it's a waste of time.
And finish things, just whatever it takes to finish,
finish, and then get on with the next one.
You will learn more from a glorious failure than you ever will from something you never finished."

(I think I need to get this engraved in a plaque to put right over my writing desk.)
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Videos from ALA

(Funny how we still call these things 'videos' when the video tape format is long gone. What do we call it on the internet? Streaming video?)

The School Library Journal blog, Neverendingsearch, is featuring videos of two speeches by the Newbery and Wilder winners. A taste of Neil Gaiman about writing and a bit of Ashley Bryan as he got the crowd excited about poetry and sharing his first experience with bookmaking.

Just click here and enjoy.
-wendieO