Online bookseller is approached by a little old lady while he's scouring the used books at Goodwill. Would he like her recently deceased husband's collection? The books turn out to be worth not so much, but he buys them anyway to be nice to the woman. When he takes stock of the stock, many turn out to be hollow. Contained within are hundreds of Poloroids of said husband in flagrante delicto...
Given my respect for the field and for its readers and writers, I understand the disappointment with the gender balance of the contents for Eclipse Two. The truth is that under the pressure of needing to deliver and of my other work, I overlooked gender balance as an issue in the closing couple months of preparing Eclipse Two for publication.
"Here's the problem. If you donate the otherwise-thrashed book somewhere, someone might read it. OK, maybe that person will read one more book in life but more likely that book will substitute for that person reading some other book instead."
Cowen elaborates on the calculus of when it's a good idea to get rid of a book for the sake of humanity and when it isn't.
We love independent filmmakers and musicians, and celebrate their maverick spirit, so why don't we want independent writers?
Good question. Maybe it’s because there are so many crappy, wannabe writers out there turning out crappy, wannabe books? Or perhaps it has more to do with the snobbish attitude of the literary industry and its rejection of anything not introduced by the big houses.
Now you can conveniently find out which books are protected by copyright. Says Google:
…we believe this is the best and most comprehensive set of renewal records available today. These records are free and in the public domain, and we hope you're able to use them to determine the copyright status of books that interest you.
Well, it’s the thing that inspired David Wroblewski's The Story of Edgar Sawtelle and Lin Enger's Undiscovered Country, both of which are obvious takes on Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Yes, it’s a timeless plot, but it’s somebody else’s timeless plot…and an overdone one if this keeps up.
“For me, as a literary experience, they are akin to sloppy seconds, a salad bar in a staff canteen at the end of a hot weekday, or a recently-vacated cubicle in a public toilet. I've lost count of the amount of times that I've been confronted by the dried-up bogey of the previous owner, smeared across one of the pages.”
I’m a little less keen on them myself now, thanks Chas.
This article outlines helpful web apps that can be used to create random character names. It's a great article for writers struggling to name that umpteenth character. The free web apps outlined are also sweet for writers needing crazy sci-fi names or even mundane names for a corporation or a storefront, etc.
Discussion of the sometimes-uneasy balance between the writing process itself and the finished product. What happens when you're having so much fun with your characters and story that you don't want to finish writing?
"Without the hard work and discipline you'll never finish anything, but without indulging yourself in your ideas and dreams you'll never have anything worth finishing."
The rules of grammar can seem impenetrable to some and arbitrary to others. When is strict grammar of the king's english necessaary and when are certain grammatical rules a matter of style?
After seeing another list of S.F. by White Men about White Men, the Feminist SF blog requests your nominations for good but obscure genre fiction that features ignored groups.
"I believe we should come up with our own list of obscure but superb science fiction novels. One in which we can list authors and books that are by/about groups that are generally still ignored in Sci-Fi circles."
With the number of literary awards and bookish bonanzas growing every day, the introduction of a little action into the proceedings seems like a good bet for increased publicity. Indeed, when it comes to the promotion of literary awards these days, if William Hill haven't opened a book on it, the chances are the PR department isn't doing its job properly.
Submitted by Phil Lanuto on Tue, 2008-05-20 21:08.
A great book Static Mayhem won TheNextBigWriter's Strongest Start Novel Competition. I gave it a read and it is worthy of the win. If you like post-apoc stories, this one is for you. The winner gets a full manuscript critique which they say is valued at $2,000.
We love Sex and the City for one reason: they represented stereotypes of single women that most women can relate too. This is the reason why it became such a hit, because it represented a little bit of every woman in America.
Which young adult sf/f titles, if any, would you recommend to an adult reader who would not otherwise consider reading YA fiction because they think it's only suitable for kids?
A lot of standards appear, but Scott Westerfield shows up in many answers from the all-star panel.
"If Spielberg, Poe, or another great came to you would you blow them off too? Without knowing what geniuses they are? IF SO; I'm surprised there are any writers at all with your agency. Are they related to you?"
Some stories we love hearing over and over again. Folktales told worldwide over the centuries have amazing similarities of theme, style and even in presentation. Some of the most dramatic fairy tales capture our hearts and imaginations even today.
We threw a going away party for Matt and I have to say it was one of the best parties ever. Of course, there was a lot of sentimentality but I guess that goes with getting all happy and drunk.
I suppose we could have used the title 'not safe for anyone' many times already, but I thought it would be especially pertinent here because in this show Richard and Hans illustrate the many situations in which the C-word is perfectly appropriate.
