I've been enjoying a few days off work, so my weekend already started. But for you fellow working stiffs who need something to help make your Friday go faster, here's this weekend's links.

The pic I selected to accompany this weekend's links is a lake (might be a reservoir) outside Leadville, CO. Colorado's just an all-around beautiful place, isn't it?

The Problem of Dialect
One of the trickiest and most tempting acts of writing is to render a person's styles of speech.

What are the Essential SF Books of the Last 20 Years?
An upcoming WorldCon Panel called 20 Essential SF books of the Past 20 Years caught my eye because it sounded like an attention-grabbing post title. And it got me wondering...What are the essential sf books since 1988?

World-Building II
The single most awe-inspiring activity involved with writing is world-building. The writer who world builds becomes Master of the Universe.

Book Piracy Won't Destroy Writers
Why is it that people think so negatively about the Internet? Apparently the Society of Authors, whoever the heck they are, have spouted the doomsday report that the ever popular book group of book pirates will ruin us all.

Top 10 Greatest Robots In Movies
Everyone loved robots, and they have been the source of umpteen movies, books, and comics. In homage to the robots of film, we have picked the 10 greatest.

NOVA: Science Now: Space Elevator
Can we build a 22,000-mile-high cable to transport cargo and people into space?