A Friday round-up.

Relaxing with some yerba maté, Argentinian-style
It’s been a truly fabulous two weeks staying with my parents in Colorado. The high-altitude sun has turned my skin a nice medium-brown, and I’ve finally gotten a chance to spend quality time with my two best guy friends from high school–the ones who made me who I am today and taught me that it’s okay to be a girl who likes to do guy stuff.
I decided to put off my blog post about writing racial and ethnic perspectives in lieu of a more relaxing Friday Roundup. Here are the links that made my week.
A Writer’s Guide to The Hunger Games – Though updates have mostly ceased, writer/blogger Jenna Cooper breaks down the first 8 chapters of The Hunger Games into categories of “what you can learn”: how Collins utilizes dialogue, characterization, tension and more to keep the story moving right along. Learn from a master storyteller!
An in-depth review of Daughter of Smoke and Bone – This Ain’t Livin’ dives deep into the plot of Daughter of Smoke and Bone, which I reviewed earlier this week. Check it out for a slightly contrasting opinion, and a great analysis of the Chimaera social stratification. Reminds me of India.