tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88923382910109375312024-03-13T17:02:58.174-04:00A Writer's BlockAngela Mageehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15025716502393219570noreply@blogger.comBlogger100125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8892338291010937531.post-21016820523552178722015-01-07T22:50:00.001-05:002015-01-07T22:50:53.398-05:00You can ask for anything. Nothing says we have to give it to you.I dusted off this blog after ages. I gathered the pertinent links. And then I closed it all down. "Not my circus, not my monkeys" ran around in my mind and I decided that I didn't really need to weigh in on the current publishing kerfuffle any more than I already had among the small group of people I'd written to/among.<div>
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And then an author chimed in with (yet another): <span style="background-color: #f6f7f8; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15.3599996566772px;">It amuses me that people apparently think we spend our advances on nothing but printer paper. Food? Clothing for children? A mortgage? WHO NEEDS THAT???</span></div>
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My head exploded, so here I am. </div>
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Of course, in my seething irritation, I began at the end, so let me backtrack.</div>
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A few days ago on Facebook, a buddy of mine posted: </div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Interesting discussions about Kickstarters on Twitter. It's common enough for pledgers to fund the production of a book - editing, copyediting, formatting, cover art, design, printing - but would it put you off pledging if the kickstarter asked you to pay their wages, too?</span></blockquote>
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I answered in my mind and kept moving. My answer, "Nah, I'd pass." I didn't think any more of it until an author on my feed posted the <a href="https://storify.com/TezMillerOz/the-kickstarter-that-was-then-wasn-t" target="_blank">storyfied version</a> of what happened. I read it (and you should if you're not already familiar with it) and then I'd foolishly responded to the only comment I'd seen at the time--someone saying that they were confused:</div>
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<span style="background-color: #f6f7f8; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15.3599996566772px;">Unless a writer is taking commissions from readers, readers don't pay writers for writing. That can change, like anything else, but it's not surprising that got annoyed. We buy the finished product. In this world that now includes crowd funding, asking for a little charity to pay for a cover or a few other things doesn't sound too outrageous. Asking us--ok, asking me; I don't like speaking for others--to pay for your personal bills is a good way to remind me that other authors aren't asking for anything. They take care of their kids, work their day jobs, write their hearts out in their spare time, then wait a long time for the submission process, and/or self publish--and never ask for anything but the fair price of their book.</span></blockquote>
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Wrong answer. I didn't mind being told 1. that's like saying I'd pay a painter for the finished painting but not doing the painting, or 2. but this is just like a traditionally published author getting an advance or 3. it's like going to a restaurant and only wanting to pay the price of the food (as opposed to the cooking and everything else that goes into the price of the finished meal). I didn't mind because it was all part of healthy discussion and because 1. I do pay for the finished painting, and if the artist includes a percent for what he paid for the canvas and supplies and his time, OK, but he doesn't ring up ahead of time and say, "Yo, I wanna paint. Finance it." 2. But I'm not your publisher and I've never heard of one who gave advances and didn't take that money out of royalties. 3. But it's not going to a restaurant and only paying for the groceries, rather the original KS seemed to me like asking me to pay for your culinary school so I can buy a meal from you.</div>
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The thing I thought from the start was that <i style="font-weight: bold;">*I* </i>wouldn't pay into this kickstarter, but there wasn't anything inherently wrong with saying, "Look, readers are asking me for this book and if you want it it done in 3 months, this is what I need." There was no need for the Twitterverse to chime in, but when you do stuff in public, there's a chance people will publicly talk about you. I'm genuinely sorry that this author felt like she had <a href="http://staceyjayya.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/apology-explanation-and-why-i-cancelled.html" target="_blank">withdraw not only from Kickstarter but also from her YA writing persona</a>. </div>
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The thing I was thinking more or more by the time I sat down to write this was, "What the fuck is wrong with you people?!" If one more author chimes in on this to let us know that artists have a right to be paid for their work and can do whatever they want with their advances....I'm going to do absolutely nothing about it, but I'm going to do it rudely!</div>
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Yes, there are assholes out there who want music, movies, and books all to be free. <i style="font-weight: bold;">They suck and that's not what this conversation is about. </i>Nobody said they didn't want to pay for her books so she should give them away for free, they said they didn't want to fund the writing. She can ask. They can say no. In a perfect world, her fans would have said yes and she's be writing the book right now regardless of what others thought.</div>
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"But if it were Neil Gaiman, it would have been funded in an hour."</div>
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Yeah, well. he used to be just Neil and just Neil wrote kick ass stories and lots of people bought them. He didn't magically jump from birth to guy-with-huge-fan-base. Maybe it will happen for you, too. J.K. Rowling famously went from welfare to being richer than the queen. Or maybe it won't, and it'll suck, but that's the reality everybody has to face when they want to go into the arts. And it's not just the arts. Maybe you want to be a world class lawyer, but your skills keep you in small claims court working for people who don't realize you don't necessarily need a lawyer for small claims. And you still need to pay your student loans. And...</div>
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....this angry rant is becoming a babble. Probably became I'm sitting here by myself instead of on Twitter where one person's "huh? what?" becomes dozens of people piling on. Maybe we'd have a few less author/reader kerfuffles is more us wrote it all out instead of fueling each other's ire.</div>
Angela Mageehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15025716502393219570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8892338291010937531.post-15434331093232360782013-08-23T18:56:00.000-04:002014-10-23T11:11:57.500-04:00Because You Don't Let the Bastards Grind You DownBack in the end of July, I posted <a href="http://www.upworthy.com/why-do-all-the-girls-who-save-the-day-only-look-a-certain-way?c=ufb1" target="_blank">Why Do All The Girls Who Save The Day Only Look A Certain Way?</a> on my Facebook page. It wasn't a huge deal. I'd been scrolling down my feed and saw that question next to a photo of Katniss, so I clicked it. I took issue with how the chart characterizes Hermione, but I appreciated the message behind all those checks and Xs: is that, as great as it is to see all these kick-ass young heroines making the movies the days, there's something wrong with the lack of diversity. I clicked "share" and moved on. <br />
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Later, when I signed back in, I saw that an author buddy had written:<br />
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<span style="background-color: #fafbfb; color: #4e5665; font-family: 'lucida grande,tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif';">I do agree that race is an issue in YA (as in much of fiction), but until people start writing it, it's going to remain an issue. And, quite frankly, a lot of non-people-of-color steer away from writing people of color because we're constantly told we "get it wrong." Which is fine, since we don't live in those shoes and we can't just make it up (I'm not a vampire, but I can pretend to be.) In that situation though, people-who-do-know need to write those characters and sell them.</span></blockquote>
This is an old argument--not between us, but in general--and I have mixed feelings. 1) I understand your fear and you shouldn't feel pressured into writing anything you don't want to write. 2) If your book takes place in the backwoods, okay. But what urban center in the U.S. has NO people of color? 3) I don't think it's wrong for fans to note that few people in their beloved genre (be it YA dystopia, UF for youths or adults, or whatever) "look like them" and I don't support the answer then is for them to become authors. <br />
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I'm not writing this to rip the author's words apart. In fact, I applaud that she does indeed have characters of color. I'm writing it because there are two sides to the bastard coin.<br />
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Follow this crazy loop in my thinking. See, like I said, this was at the end of July. I read the conversation that followed and set out to find more YA, dystopian and, since that's not my favorite, other spec fic, featuring people of color and I put a lot of stuff on my To Be Read Pinterest board. Done. Almost. <br />
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While I was looking for those books, I came across things like <a href="http://jezebel.com/5896408/racist-hunger-games-fans-dont-care-how-much-money-the-movie-made" target="_blank">Racist Hunger Games Fans Are Disappointed</a>. <i style="font-weight: bold;">What? </i>I shouldn't have been surprised because I know the racists are happy to speak out over the internet. (I love that they were named and shamed rather than fuzzed out). I cringed thinking of all the YA books (sorry, not going to search for links right now) that were whitewashed because the publishers gave in to imagined racists.<br />
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Those publishers could learn something from the inspiration of this post. I'd done all that web surfing in a month ago, so why post now? Because every time I see the Cheerios commercial with the cute little biracial girl, her white mother, and her black father, I think of the racist comments that came up around it. The cereal company refused to pull the ad, and the support has far overwhelmed the hate. <br />
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So don't let those bastards grind you down.<br />
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But what about the fear of those who will say that you got it wrong? If you're at the point where you're getting published, you've been critiqued. You probably have a crit group or beta readers. If you're not self-publishing, you've probably submitted to agents and definitely to editors. You can take criticism. Hopefully, you've also learned when and how not to take it. If you screwed up on a cultural point, accept it graciously and move on. You've learned something so you can do better next time. If the only critique is that you're white (or whatever) so how dare you, well, they're bastards, too. Don't let 'em grind you down. <br />
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More practical advice goes back to the fundamentals: write what you know. I have never been a werewoff, and don't know squat about it. I do have the ability to google wolf behavior and biology and every other little thing that might help. I have the ability to view every movie that includes werewolves on Netflix and Hulu and decide what I think they've gotten wrong and right, and them imagine up my own mythos. Why would it be so different creating the background and world of someone who's probably a lot more like me than a werewolf would be?<br />
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** For a smile on your face, check out <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/lol/kids-react-cheerios-commercial-race/" target="_blank">kids talking about the Cheerios commercial.</a><br />
***For an author kicking ass, check out <a href="http://cassandraclare.tumblr.com/post/23181390945/magnus" target="_blank">Cassandra Clare not letting the bastards grind her down.</a><br />
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<br />Angela Mageehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15025716502393219570noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8892338291010937531.post-21975304657152169142013-06-03T11:12:00.000-04:002013-06-03T11:12:11.597-04:00I've slept on it and I still want her to name namesI read Ann Aguirre's <a href="http://www.annaguirre.com/archives/2013/06/02/this-week-in-sf/#comments" target="_blank">This Week in SF</a> with my jaw dropping bit by bit until it just couldn't go any farther. I'm not unaware of sexism (and racism) in fandom...it's why it took so long to finally go to my first con and why I spend so much of my time interacting with people outside (or at least on the fringes) of my genre. I grew up surrounded by fellow sci-fi and gamer geeks and I know how awesome the guys can be as individuals and how badly they can suck in groups or behind anonymity of a keyboard. My shock was due to the behavior of Aguirre's <i>fellow professionals</i>. <br />
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Maybe there's no good reason to expect them to behave better, but I do. I wanted her to name names. I wanted to know whose careers not to support...which is fairly pointless since my readings in the genre have tapered down to the point that when my husband saw me reading <i>Grimspace</i> years ago, despite my being the one who introduced him to Julian May, he asked, "Since when do you read sci-fi?" My continuing to not buy their books would do little. <br />
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But still....<br />
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I will continue to buy Ann Aquirre and Jaye Wells (number 55 in comments) books, which I enjoy greatly. I will find someone who does zombies to gift Rhiannon Frater (#92) books. I will start reading David Brin and John Abromowitz (#67) because our supporters should be supported.<br />
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...I get SF fans not liking SF Romance. Nothing bugs me more than getting paranormal romance all over my urban fantasy. In the past, I bought just enough of the latter--with the romantic relationship<b><i> too</i></b> important to the story and worldbuilding consisting of "alpha werewolves/vampires/Scottish immortals are hot"--to be cautious. There's a market for that, and more power to them, but I'm not in it. In fact, I borrowed <i>Grimspace</i> from the library (before buying the rest) just to be safe. <br />
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The answer to that, dear sexist male fans, is don't fucking buy it. You'll miss out on good stuff along with the bad, but that's your loss. You can not read it and yet still not act like fucking assholes. Not mutually exclusive. Sexist male SF writers, thinking you can behave this way toward fellow writers and fans...Aguirre didn't name names, but others will and we will happily treat you as you deserve. Or you can grow up and enter this century.Angela Mageehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15025716502393219570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8892338291010937531.post-51670718069418463212013-01-06T01:27:00.000-05:002013-01-06T01:27:15.833-05:00Free Books!<br />
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<a href="http://marataeroseroticaauthor.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Marata Eros</a> is offering the first three ebooks of her <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Druid-Breeders-Books-1-3-ebook/dp/B00AWVKB38/ref=la_B005CLHG3Q_1_23?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357400871&sr=1-23" target="_blank">DruidBreeders</a> series free for a limited time.</div>
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Amazon description: <span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This is a collection of the first three titles in The Druid Breeders series which are erotic dark urban fantasy books about vampire warriors who search for women of rare Druid witch descent. (Approx. 60,000 words total.) </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">TDB is a dark urban fantasy erotica work,</span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> <b>mature audiences only, 18+</b></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I picked up <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Reapers-Breeding-Paranormal-Breeders-ebook/dp/B005MGFJ4Y/ref=la_B005CLHG3Q_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1357447237&sr=1-9" target="_blank">the first book of the series</a> because (1) I'm interested in paranormal erotica and (2) it was free. The warning in the description didn't hurt, either. She changed the price and warning because people didn't like non-consensual content that they consensually bought? I had to check it out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">What I found was an interesting story about a young woman in peril saved by hunky alpha males who bring her more peril still. The men who would have raped her at least would have let her go after. The vampires who save her (but not, alas, her friend) realize that she's a druid, and druid women are the only ones vampire men can breed with. They don't intend to take no for an answer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The rape of her friend left me wanting to call the police--it was graphic enough for such a strong reaction and not eroticized enough to dismiss as an uncomfortable kink. Moving on from that, though, I enjoyed the story enough to get book to and find out what happened next.</span></div>
Angela Mageehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15025716502393219570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8892338291010937531.post-67297528788054232322012-12-17T10:14:00.000-05:002014-10-23T11:18:15.728-04:00The worst book I couldn't put down.<div class="tr_bq">
This book is so bad that I'm reading it again!</div>
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...Which makes it so good that I'm reading it again.<br />
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I went on an indy book streak a while back (that hasn't exactly ended, come to think of it). Self publishing has become more and more valid as the authors have put in more effort to put across well written, well edited stories--not the hot messes that we used to get when authors were rejected by publishers and yet still wanted to get their stories out there. Between their efforts and the lower prices, why not give them a shot? So I read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sterling-Mageri-Series-Book-ebook/dp/B005LHI8K6/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1355753790&sr=1-1&keywords=sterling+mageri+series+book+1" target="_blank">Sterling</a> by Daninka Dark and declared it the worst book I couldn't put down. I'm reading it again because I wanted to make sure I still felt that way before declaring that public and yes, there's plenty in it that makes me want to grind my teeth, and yet I once again can't put it down.<br />
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Book description (via Amazon):<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Zoë Merrick lived an ordinary life until late one night, she was brutally attacked and left for dead.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">She was found, covered in blood, and taken in by an ex-soldier named Adam. Zoë didn't just survive that night - she underwent a physical transformation and acquired unexplainable abilities. Severed from her old life, her frustration grows as she tries to comprehend what's happening to her.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Serendipity leads her to Justus De Gradi. He's handsome, arrogant, and not entirely human. Through Justus, Zoë learns the truth about what she is and where she belongs. A young Mage is vulnerable in this dangerous world. The only way Zoë will understand her power is by putting her trust in a stranger and accepting the protection that he offers.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">When her immortal freedom is threatened by the one man who has a right to claim her, Zoë learns the price of freedom...and the value of loyalty.</span></blockquote>
I want to launch into the excessive adjectives, the many times that the author seems to think "why just show the audience when I can show <b>and</b> tell them?", the odd interactions/uncomfortable dialog, the off use of wording, including slang gone terribly wrong....And yet the best example of why I find this book so bad is in a bit of plotting early on. Zoe's been attacked, left for dead, picked up by a sympathetic ex-military hottie, and transformed while she slept it off. She wakes up taller, with different hair and a different face--I mean, she really transformed. She establishes a friendship with Adam, who feeds her and picks up some clothes without asking too many questions since she doesn't want to give any answers. And then nothing happens for <i>two weeks</i>.<br />
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For two weeks, she doesn't search the internet for similar transformations, regardless of the fact that she would find none. She doesn't experiment to find out of she's gotten more for her trouble than killer hair. Basically, all she did in that lapsed time was chew up my suspension of disbelief and spit it out.<br />
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Yet, I recommend it. For all the book's flaws, the author created a story in which I always wanted to know "What happens next?" I read the first book, immediately bought the second, and checked her site to find out when the third would be out. Now that I'm nearly done with the re-read of the first, I'll do the same with the second before buying the now-out third and probably the novella set in the same world. <br />
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There's the bones of good story telling in these books that will hopefully grow as the author has more practice, and is still worth the read in the meantime. You should check it out for yourself.Angela Mageehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15025716502393219570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8892338291010937531.post-60260264264049391002012-11-21T11:20:00.001-05:002012-11-21T11:20:55.433-05:00Maybe New To You: Vicki PetterssonI've been reading indie books lately, not posting because I wanted to re-read one or two before commenting. In the mean time, I dusted off my copy of <a href="http://www.vickipettersson.com/about-vicki/" target="_blank">Vicki Pettersson'</a>s The Scent of Shadows. I loved this book, and quickly bought the second, but during the wait for the third to be released, I got distracted. Now five years later, the series is complete. The question isn't if I'll devour them, but if wait the time it takes to get hard copies of the last four to make the first two, or if I'll get them all instantly by e-reader.<br />
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When she was sixteen, Joanna Archer was brutally assaulted and left to die in the Nevada desert. By rights, she <i>should</i> be dead....</blockquote>
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After what she survived, Joanna had a right to become a snarky, kick-ass heroine. This could have easily been another wounded heroine more obnoxious than the last, but the situation was managed beautifully with great writing, clear-eyed secondary characters, and character growth. <br />
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By her birth, Joanna is destined to become an Agent of the Light--a superhero. Both times I read it, I loved this urban fantasy departure from vampires, were-whatevers, and fairies. (Don't get me wrong, I love the others, too, or I wouldn't be such a fan of genre; but it's nice to have something different from time to time.) If I have any complaint about the book, it's that like many superheroes, Joanna has a secret identity. The good guys are curious about it, the bad guys want to uncover it and use it to destroy her. With surgery involved, it's just a little less painfully obvious than Superman-with-the-glasses-off and Clark-with-the-glasses-on. Since I've lived my whole life with Superman movies, TV shows, and animation without rejected it, I say that's a small complaint.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=hubp04fe-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0060898917&ref=tf_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe> Angela Mageehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15025716502393219570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8892338291010937531.post-72316536629931672972012-11-12T13:54:00.000-05:002012-11-12T13:54:06.948-05:00Speaking of Star Wars...I haven't been feeling well, which explains why I was drifting in and out of sleep in the wee hours, but does not explain why my sleepy mind insisted on casting Derek Hough as Luke Skywalker, or the pitch I made to be on the new writing team.<br />
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"Sure I don't have a resume to speak of and I have a history of creating great beginnings, crappy endings, and barely-there middles, but that's why you have a TEAM of writers, right?"<br />
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Clearly, I'm crazy in the wee hours.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sTcN6b3xxX8/UKEyK3A_Z7I/AAAAAAAAAJY/CKL0xW-s7HE/s1600/luke1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sTcN6b3xxX8/UKEyK3A_Z7I/AAAAAAAAAJY/CKL0xW-s7HE/s320/luke1.jpg" width="284" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mark Hamill, the original Luke</td></tr>
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I cheered when I heard that <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2012/10/30/disney-star-wars-lucasfilm/1669739/" target="_blank">Disney bought Lucasfilm</a>. Literally. I was with my parents, who looked at me like I'd gone a bit crazier. It's not that I don't find Disney a little <a href="http://www.cracked.com/article_18511_6-true-stories-about-disneyland-they-dont-want-you-to-know.html" target="_blank">creepy</a>* or that I feel glee at the idea of George Lucas being that much richer. My joy was at the peace the payout would bring me.<br />
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See, my husband's love of Star Wars is rivaled only by his love of Star Trek and his disdain for Lucas. With the creator out of the picture, I can stop hearing about how great the books were without his interference or the many, many ways in which he screwed up the "first" three movies. Perhaps even I, a fangirl** in my own right, will be able to stop holding myself back from violence at the mention of midichlorians because <i>no one will ever mention them again</i>. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-czbUTdEVGDQ/UKE9YaZgt6I/AAAAAAAAAJo/cDhBs74n4EQ/s1600/huff2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-czbUTdEVGDQ/UKE9YaZgt6I/AAAAAAAAAJo/cDhBs74n4EQ/s320/huff2.jpg" width="223" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Derek Hough</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Randomly, some 13 (?) seasons of Dancing with the Stars ago, I first saw Derek Hough and thought, "He'd make a great Luke Skywalker. I wonder if he can act." Even more randomly, since it's weeks after the buy out, the thought is back. Only now, maybe there's a real possibility. Could we soon be treated to watching Luke Skywalker meet Mara Jade? Portraying what happens next in the saga seems a logical reason to buy the rights, though I certainly wouldn't complain if Disney went back to movies 1-3 and somehow made them not suck. <br />
<br />
Disney also owns <a href="http://abc.go.com/" target="_blank">ABC</a>, so in addition to feature films, I can fantasize about Star Wars mini series and Saturday morning cartoons. With a whole new generation of Jedi making names for themselves in the books, there's limitless material and a host of possible venues.<br />
<br />
Disney, Lucasfilm, call me. I'll hook you up.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;">*None of that is really why I find the company creepy, it was just easier to find a quick link than expose my cyberpunk fear of <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MegaCorp" target="_blank">megacorps</a>.</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666;">**Yes, yes, I know I'm a grown woman, and I'm not likely to let anyone else forget it either. Fangirl just has a (totally incorrect) ring to it that I haven't been able to replace.</span>Angela Mageehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15025716502393219570noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8892338291010937531.post-54520128159971287372012-09-27T22:38:00.000-04:002012-09-27T22:38:33.370-04:00Not as excited for the new series of Bedlam as I want to be<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">O</span></b></i>ne of the things I like best about British TV (at least the shows that end up in the U.S. and on my TV) is that their seasons (series) tend to be a full story. This isn't always true (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bedlam-Season-1-Hugo-Speer/dp/B005F96UQ4" target="_blank">Bedlam</a>, my reason for posting, is among the rule breakers), but it happens often enough to please. It's a nice alternative to what happens far too often with U.S. TV, especially for us geeks: you get really into a great speculative fiction show only to have it canceled with no resolution. Too much of the market is watching something else, so the fans are s.o.l. Worse, the network tries to cash in on two audience types--supernatural and teen drama--and you go with it because you're still getting a paranormal fix...for a little while. (Point Pleasant, Secret Lives of Cloe King, The Secret Circle...)<br />
<br />
Of course, one of the things I hate most about British TV is that their seasons tend to be a full story. Sometimes, that means the next season is another story-kinda-- populated by all new characters. Having only caught the first two episodes of Bedlam (and having really enjoyed them) as soon I heard that series two was hitting BBC America, I went looking for the first installment On Demand., For once, I didn't end up cursing the cable company my husband talked me into switching to. I had a lovely marathon of all six episodes of the horror show, and couldn't wait for the new series.<br />
<br />
Seriously, I couldn't wait. I popped online for a preview and some little hint of how the cliff hangers would be resolved. Surely, what looked like certain death for two of the characters would somehow be averted. The zillion questions raised would be answered. Maybe we'll even examine the creepy, pseudo-incestuous moment that happened and then quickly found its place under the rug.<br />
<br />
...Or not. Gone was my resident ghost seer, whom I considered the main character due to his importance to the story, despite the ensemble feel of the other characters and subplots. Gone was...everyone but the least likable of all the residents of Bedlam Heights. OK, the ghosts who haunt the halls of the former asylum turned high end apartment building remain. And there's another ghost seer and new roommates...<br />
<br />
Basically, even it's wonderful, it'll kinda suck. Angela Mageehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15025716502393219570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8892338291010937531.post-11243626802526781702011-03-16T20:44:00.001-04:002011-03-16T20:54:36.084-04:00Interview with J.A. Campbell<div class="MsoNormal"><i><b>I'm not sure when Julie and I became friends. We've been in Kelley Armstrong's Online Writer's Group (OWG) for years. One instant message conversation turned into many, as well as mutual beta reading and a (stalled) collaboration. I was so thrilled to hear the news of her upcoming publication that an outsider would have thought that *I* was getting published, and I am proud that A Writer's Block is a stop on her promotional blog tour.</b></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Hi Angela! Thanks so much for having me today. I’m not quite sure when we became friends either, but I’m glad it happened. The IM conversations, beta reading, encouragement and friendship have been so awesome over the last couple of years.<span style="font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS', sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>For the readers who will hopefully become your fans, tell us about your Into the West series.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://writerjacampbell.wordpress.com/into-the-west/">Westward, Yo!</a> is the first of six short stories in the Into the West series. They are about Jersey teenager Tina who’s life gets turned upside down when she has to move from her close by malls, easy shopping and typical teen life to ghost town Arizona. Seriously, the nearest mall is over an hour away. She’ll only survive if she can pursue her one outdoor passion… Horses. Fortunately a local ranch lets her come ride, and then her adventure really begins.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>What makes Westward, Yo! different than other young adult books on the market today?<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal">Well, I wrote it of course. LOL, oh you meant other than that? Okay. Westward, Yo! is a fast paced modern western with paranormal elements. I’m not aware of too many teen westerns out there right now and I like to think that I bring a different voice to modern westerns since I come from a fantasy, and horse background. Oh, and I asked one of my friends for help with this question. Allie O’Connor (horse trainer) says “the author is so awesome?”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>I know you've got a lot on your plate in addition to the Into the West Series. Tell us what's happening in your writing world.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal">Into the West has six short stories, due monthly. By itself that is more than enough. I also have a young adult Urban Fantasy called <a href="http://writerjacampbell.wordpress.com/senior-year-bites/">Senior Year Bites</a>, coming out this summer and a young adult fantasy <a href="http://writerjacampbell.wordpress.com/arabian-dreams/">Arabian Dreams</a> due out August 1<sup>st</sup>. Edits for those projects are keeping me busy. I’m also hard at work on the sequels to both of those novels.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>A Writer's Block is about books--not just the ones I plug, but also my journey in getting (or not getting) published. Tell us about your road to publication from idea to...well, today! Meaning go beyond your acceptance letter to the steps that came after.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal">Well, the first part took years of writing, querying agents, writing more, sending out more queries, almost giving up a few times, rinse and repeat. Finally, on a whim, I queried too publishers directly at about the same time. I had one acceptance phone call and one acceptance email within a month of those queries. I was shocked. True, they are small press, but there are distinct advantages to small press. That is another blog post.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Once I got the contracts signed there was a bit of waiting, some edits on Arabian Dreams, more editing, learning to market, getting my name out there, and writing. Then <a href="http://echelonpress.com/">Echelon Press</a>, the publisher for Arabian Dreams, sent out an email about a short story concept. I immediately volunteered. That turned all my plans on their heads. Now I have to write short stories, and edit, and write my next novels, and I have some very tight deadlines. All of this on top of working the day job of course. Honestly it has taken a huge sacrifice of my free time, even more so than before, to keep up. All I do is write and work and sleep and play with my dog. Occasionally I make time for my friends, but that is pretty rare right now. It is completely worth it though.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So that’s what it’s like… lots of hard work <span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>The internet is full of advice for writers. Some we can use, and a lot we'll twist ourselves into knots over until we realize it doesn't work for us. What's the </b><i>worst</i><b> advice you've gotten?</b></div><div class="MsoNormal">The worst advice I ever got was “write what you know.” Followed by the other worst bit of advice, “stories don’t need fantasy to be interesting.” </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Unless there are a lot more vampires, elves, wizards, and unicorns out there than I thought, writing what you know is crap. I’m not saying don’t do your research, but if you’re writing about horses traveling to other worlds, unless you have my horse, you’re gonna have a hard time experiencing it before you write about it. (No, you can’t have her) And damn it, yes it does have to have fantasy in it to be interesting. To me. There aren’t many books without fantastical elements in it that will keep my attention for long. Or even get me to pick it up in the first place. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Author Bio:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">Julie writes fantasy novels. When she’s not out riding her horse, she can usually be found sitting in front of her computer with a cat on her lap and her dog at her</span></strong><b> </b><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">side. You can find out more at her website: <a href="http://www.writerjacampbell.com/">www.writerjacampbell.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></strong></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;"><i>Into the West #1, Westward, Yo! </i><o:p></o:p></span></strong></div><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Tina Harker is a typical teenager. She loves hanging with her friends at the malls, shoes, and manicures. More than that, she loves horses. Life is everything she wants it to be, until her father packs their family up and drags them across the world to Arizona. Does he really think she’ll be happy living in a ghost town in the middle of the desert? It’s a million miles to the nearest shopping center, not even a real mall. Her only hope for survival is finding a new horse.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Trying to make the best of her horrible situation, Tina agrees to go on her first cattle drive. When one of the calves wanders off, Tina, in true cowgirl fashion and looking for excitement, rides off to rescue the poor little thing and gets a lot more adventure than she ever expected. A cowboy she’s never met accuses her of stealing cows, bandits kidnap her, and that’s not even the exciting part.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><b>Into The West #1 Westward, Yo! Is available here:<o:p></o:p></b></div><a href="http://www.omnilit.com/product-westwardyo-521445-247.html" target="_blank">OmniLit</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Westward-Yo-Into-West-ebook/dp/B004R1Q1XS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=books&qid=1299625495&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Amazon</a><br />
<a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Westward-Yo/JA-Campbell/e/2940012182180/?itm=1&USRI=j.a.+campbell" target="_blank">Barnes and Noble</a><br />
<a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/45938" target="_blank">Smashwords</a>Angela Mageehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15025716502393219570noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8892338291010937531.post-38007997438612736862011-03-09T08:22:00.000-05:002011-03-09T08:22:29.908-05:00Blog Blahs<b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I</span></i></b> haven't dropped off the face of the earth. Sure I've got a ton of school work, and I'm behind in a couple of classes.Yes, I'm having new adventures in writing that take that much more time away from blogging. But I'm actually quiet because of the blog blahs. The format...the content...it's OK, but I need something new.<br />
<br />
...Don't know what that new thing is yet.Angela Mageehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15025716502393219570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8892338291010937531.post-4090992679429824902011-02-09T17:20:00.012-05:002011-02-09T17:32:01.764-05:00<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pale-Demon-Hollows-Book-9/dp/0061138061?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04fe-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="Pale Demon (The Hollows, Book 9)" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=0061138061&tag=hubp04fe-20" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">T</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Title: Pale Demon</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Author: Kim Harrison</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Publisher: HarperCollins (22 Feb 2011)</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Genre: Urban Fantasy (alternately Contemporary Fantasy)</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Pages: 448 Hardcover</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 7.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><img alt="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04fe-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0061138061" height="1" src="file:///C:/Users/Angela/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image001.gif" v:shapes="Picture_x0020_1" width="1" /></span><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">I have a love/hate relationship with Rachel Morgan. It's mostly love, or I wouldn't be here telling you about <i>Pale Demon,</i> book 9, of Kim Harrison's Hollows series. But hate has sneaked in once more. As I'm reading the book, I'm tucking away bits of info to go into the review: it starts with recognition of the heartache that the characters (and thus we loyal fans) suffered at the end of the last book; Trent comes in early and plays a heavy role (yay for those of us who have secret Trent redemption fantasies). It didn't take me long to think I'd be pimping this with a focus on those who aren't sure they're dying for next book. <i>Believe me, you want to read this.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Then, at halfway through (my e-arc; there's not telling just where this scene will land in the edition you end up with), hate smacked me like a spell knocking me almost into the ever-after. A character did something absolutely unforgivable, and Rachel's reaction, after a bit of temper: <i>I'd done some pretty stupid things in my day, too.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Rachel could be the poster child for stupid things, so she's got me there. But this...this is the sort of thing that evil characters are made of, not an "oops" that we can forgive our friends for. And Rachel lets it go without so much as a "My bad." Unacceptable. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Why continue reading? Because Kim Harrison is that damn good a writer. I've learned that, if I give the story the chance, not only will I be entertained, but Harrison will also fill the breaks that make me go, "Wait...what?" Things that I thought were mistakes turn out to be character and world building genius. Reading more, I discover that the genius had continued in <i>Pale Demon</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">If you new and you've read all that thinking "Thanks for avoiding spoilers, but what's this all about?" read on.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Witch-Walking-Hollows-Book/dp/0061567191?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04fe-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Dead Witch Walking </a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04fe-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0061567191" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> starts off the Hollows series featuring Rachel Morgan, a "runner" (kinda like a cop) and witch in Cincinnati after "The Turn". See, the world has changed thanks to genetically modified tomatoes and the virus they spread that took out a quarter of the human population. Hidden in plain sight, supernatural races came out and stepped up, keeping society from crashing. Rachel, her pixy partner Jinx, and drop-dead-gorgeous living vampire Ivy make up a team of runners that help police the city since stand human cops are not equipped to bring in supernaturals who don't want to come quietly.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The bad news is that, if you're like me and a book or series first described as funny doesn't rock your boat, you might roll your eyes through a lot of <i>Dead Witch Walking.</i> Rachel's cases are on the sillier side of serious and I might not have made it through the first half of the book if I hadn't been so determined to see what all the buzz was about. Then the action gripped me and I was buzzing, too!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The effort to amuse is, in my mind, the worst part, and it is quickly replaced by the organic sort of humor that even we grumpy people can enjoy. The best part is the characterization. Rachel is flawed, as all good characters are. Her taste in clothes is hooker chic, she makes terrible decisions about relationships, and at the start, she doesn't begin to understand how screwed up she is. And everybody else knows it--a lovely factor in a genre where the worst personality traits are often counted as good things. Her friends see her clearly, loving her despite and because of her faults, and <i>addressing </i>them. There is adventure, action, love, and heart ache, but there's something more in the characters that makes me especially want to recommend this series. <o:p></o:p></span></div>Angela Mageehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15025716502393219570noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8892338291010937531.post-65701403515437468122011-01-26T20:01:00.000-05:002011-01-26T20:01:00.116-05:00The Iron Fey series by Julie KagawaA wonderful thing has happened: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Iron-Queen-Harlequin-Teen/dp/0373210183?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04fe-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The Iron Queen</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04fe-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0373210183" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> is out three weeks earlier than originally posted, at least in the U.S. International fans should check your local sites and stores to see if you can get your hot little hands on the book now, too. Go on. We'll wait.<br />
<br />
If you're already a fan, what you need to know is that this book is even better than the last. I'm trying to think of what I can tell you without giving spoilers, and I think I'm going to have to settle for my own reaction...I had to start dinner when I reached the climax, and I was so engrossed in the story that I took carrots, the peeler, and a little bag into the room with the computer (ah, the joys of e-reading). I just barely spared enough attention away from the book to make sure I didn't accidentally peel my fingers!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="youtube-player" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ocOq6jfYMGY" title="YouTube video player" type="text/html" width="640"></iframe><br />
<br />
Normally, I wouldn't post the trailer, but it does a good job of introducing Meghan, summing each book up shortly without giving too much a way, and doing it with lovely graphics.<br />
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I love...<br />
1. The world-building. Kagawa's version of the Nevernever is memorable, both conforming to faerie lore that long time fantasy fans will find familiar but also breaking new ground. The Iron Fey themselves come (in)organically from the dreams of humans in the age(s) of technology in a way that makes one think, "Huh, how'd I miss that?" Good, good stuff.<br />
<br />
2. The only thing Meghan Chase and I have in common is gender, and yet I spent close to no time thinking of that at all. There were a few moments of resistance when I had to remind myself that I was judging her choices from my own experience (and with a son her age, that's considerable) rather accepting her youth. But for the most part, I tagged along in her adventure joyfully.<br />
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3. Meghan Chase herself. The more-obnoxious-than-the-last heroine doesn't seem to as big a problem in Young Adult Urban Fantasy as it is in adult UF, but the genre does have more than its fair share of I-don't-think-I'm-pretty-but-the-hot-guys-love-me Mary Sue characters. Meghan isn't one of them. She's a girl who doesn't have it so easy, even before her world takes a turn for the weird, but she's full of heart and she tries. More importantly, over the course of the books, she grows.<br />
<br />
...And if you don't want to try the series out because of all that, there are, of course, hot guys.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Iron-King-Harlequin-Teen/dp/0373210086?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04fe-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="The Iron King (Harlequin Teen)" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=0373210086&tag=hubp04fe-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04fe-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0373210086" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Iron-Daughter-Harlequin-Teen/dp/0373210132?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04fe-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="The Iron Daughter (Harlequin Teen)" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=0373210132&tag=hubp04fe-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04fe-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0373210132" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Iron-Queen-Harlequin-Teen/dp/0373210183?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04fe-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="The Iron Queen (Harlequin Teen)" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=0373210183&tag=hubp04fe-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04fe-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0373210183" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />
Angela Mageehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15025716502393219570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8892338291010937531.post-35421434126885098202011-01-22T15:26:00.001-05:002011-01-22T15:27:29.669-05:00From beneath you, it devours...Maybe the title is a bit dramatic; the First Evil is not coming for me (10 pts for anyone who immediately recognized the reference). But the first day of the next semester is fast approaching and I'm looking at everything I don't have done. And my husband is the literary version of my brother's puppy. <br />
<br />
I'd seen pictures, but unlike my dad and husband, I'm not a dog person. I haven't taken trips to my brother's house just to visit his pup. Then last weekend, my brother took his family out of town and got my husband to agree to dog-sit. This juvenile Great Dane is already bigger than the full grown Dobermans I grew up with, but with all the energy of a little yappy dog. Since he's crate trained, we were able to go out around his schedule, but the rest of our weekend was punctuated by, "<i>Humans! I love you, you love me? Wanna play? I wanna play! Can I sniff your butt? Sit on your lap? Chew your house shoes? Playplayplayplayplayplay!"</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
Having put aside all that I'm working on to read the first half of his unfinished manuscript, I still had to go to bed last night/this morning (I've gotta work on my sleep schedule) to "<i>I introduced a new character! Wanna read it? This who he is and what he does and how I introduced him. Do you like him? Wanna read it now? Whatcha think?!" </i>Only to sleep in late and wake up to, <i>"You gotta read my new scene! Here's who's in, this is what they said, this is what it's leading to. Wanna read it? Whatcha think? Is it OK? Why aren't you reading it?!"</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
On the upside, my husband doesn't smell like a dog and I don't have to take him for walks in the snow. On the downside, my brother took the crate with him when he picked his pup up.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, I've got to work on my own projects because, once classes start, who knows when I'll be able to sneak in the time? <br />
<br />
Oh, but I can't go without mentioning that I was guest blogger for J.A. Campbell's <a href="http://writerjacampbell.wordpress.com/2011/01/21/friday-tea-time-and-a-guest/#comment-270">Tea Time</a>. All mentioned!Angela Mageehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15025716502393219570noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8892338291010937531.post-5231245662584608222011-01-15T23:49:00.001-05:002011-01-17T13:11:50.728-05:00So far beyond OMG!I always try to blog in a way that will be understandable to people who don't know the first thing about me, but let's be real: most of you lovelies who visit A Writer's Block know me from somewhere, if only a forum online. You know that I'm pretty down to earth, generally friendly, and not too over the top. You'd have never guessed how I'd be a total gibbering idiot in front of (but mostly, thankfully, behind the back of) one of my favorite authors.<br />
<div><br />
</div><div>OMG!OMG!OMG! O. M. Friggin'. G. I had dinner with<a href="http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/"> Kelley Armstrong</a>!</div><div><br />
</div><div>Note that I've been a sci-fi/fantasy fangirl since I was too young to know what fandom was. And I was an officer in the sci-fi/fantasy club my first go 'round in college. But I'd never been to a convention. Note also that, while I'm not particularly impressed by "special people" (as I said to my friend today, "How impressive can they be when I know they poop, too? They're only human.") I am a little starry eyed about my favorite authors. A little. I thought.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Then I got all late-registered for my first <a href="http://www.arisia.org/">con</a> ever, and my husband and I slipped into my first panel: Introduction to Kelley Armstrong. I thought, "She's so much prettier than her photo!" (She's very cute in her photos, but more than cute in person.) Then I focused, cuz I can do that. Unfortunately, I didn't think to take notes until after she mentioned an anthology, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Lite-Kevin-J-Anderson/dp/1439148406?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04fe-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Blood Lite</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04fe-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1439148406" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />, that I had never heard of. What I can tell fellow fans who have been anxiously awaiting any sort of development on a series based movie--it's off. What may or may not be on is a TV series pilot. <a href="http://www.spacecast.com/">Space TV</a> green lighted the project, but after the whole movie thing, she's not holding her breath.</div><div><br />
</div><div>If, like me, you've got all the books but <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Counterfeit-Magic-Kelley-Armstrong/dp/1596063289?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04fe-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Counterfeit Magic</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04fe-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1596063289" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> (OK, OK, I don't have <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Men-Otherworld-Kelley-Armstrong/dp/0553807099?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04fe-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Men of the Otherworld</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04fe-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0553807099" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> either, but I read most of the stories so it was easy to put off) because you won't pay $40 to $100, rejoice! If you don't hate ebooks, at least. The Kindle edition is out now for $4.99. </div><div><br />
</div><div>I'm not going to list her favorite authors, and that's the end of my notes, so back to my geekdom! After the panel, we followed her out and introduced ourselves. Or at least, I meant to introduce myself. What I actually did was hold up my badge and explain (perhaps in spasms, I'm not sure) that I am An, Avangyline, Angela who moderates her writing forum so she may remember telling me to do stuff sometimes.</div><div><br />
</div><div>She very kindly did not respond as though I were the lunatic I present myself as. And she asked if we wanted to meet for coffee. Now, I was expecting coffee...<a href="http://beasbooknook.blogspot.com/">Bea</a> had contacted her in advance and then contacted me. <i>But Kelley Armstrong asked me to go for coffee!</i> I gracelessly got out of the way of other fans and the husband and I went in search of Bea, then in search of the next panel. Sure, I'd finally gotten my butt to my first con because it's in my city and Kelley would be there, but it was shear coincidence that she was a part of the next panel (Vampires,Gender, and Sexuality--Oh, My!), but good because Bea was able to confirm for coffee while I stood there like a nut...a silent, star-struck nut. </div><div><br />
</div><div>We had lunch, hung out more since there was no room at one panel we wanted to attend, staying in place so we could catch seats the next, Fail! (about, of course, <a href="http://fanlore.org/wiki/RaceFail_'09">Racefail</a>--linked for Bea's benefit)...and then it was time.</div><div><br />
</div><div>I called on all my years of theatre training to only be a little bizarre. We made it through dinner, and talked about Kelley's books, books in general, my own writing (she scolded me; *squee*) and my husband's...yah know. Stuff. Then dinner was over, we took a coupla pix, talked some more, and said our good-byes. And when Kelley was out of sight, I geeked out so hard that I looked like a giant 12 year old freakin' out over Justin Bieber. </div><div><br />
</div><div>And I am only a tiny bit sad for my lost dignity because that, my friends, was so far beyond OMG.</div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div>Angela Mageehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15025716502393219570noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8892338291010937531.post-36059144498795143912011-01-01T03:12:00.000-05:002011-01-01T03:12:17.968-05:00Drunken New Year's MusingI love urban fantasy because it makes anything possible right here, right now. I realized this as my husband and I walked home from my cousin's house. We paused to speak to a gorgeous woman who could have been Eshu (harkening back to my <a href="http://www.white-wolf.com/">White Wolf </a>days [and look, totally sauced, I still found yahs a link]--think African storytelling fae) and sidhe/shee by the look of her, or Eshu and pooka, by my desire to have at least one good pooka showing up at any time. The dark woods nearby most certainly held sluagh (or an urban gang of young werewolves for those not following me and my love for fae). Near the bottom of my hill is a house that can't decide if it's a Cape or a Tudor, and there is most certainly something magical going on within. Two houses up from that is a brick Victorian that has definite opinions about its new occupants, though it hasn't shared them with me.<br />
<br />
Considering all this I thought, "And any black car that passes might be a horse in its natural form." Sure enough, a black car slowly rolled down the street.<br />
<br />
There was a world of mythic possibility just avoiding ice patches a few blocks on the way home from a party. I like to see that world reflected in what I read.Angela Mageehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15025716502393219570noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8892338291010937531.post-75387060505209736932010-12-22T14:05:00.000-05:002010-12-22T14:05:46.173-05:00Jumbled assumptionsThe last day of class was Monday (before last, as this has sat here progressing paragraphs at a time), so, despite having a take home final and a rather large paper due this upcoming Monday (no past; someone should have talked me into just revising this completely), I've been an almost total slacker. I'm doing laundry as I type. I've taken care of mommy things. And I've stretched my wee budget to do some Xmas shopping. But I've done none of the fiction writing I promised to do as soon as I was "free" of academics, nor the academics I should finish to be really free. Maybe it's the guilt from scholarly procrastination that got me thinking of a class from last semester, and kid in it that I dubbed Mr. Whiner. <br />
<br />
I'd blame his attitude on his youth, but since we attend a public, commuter university, the classes are a mix of old folks like me (and older by decades) returning for their degrees, and young, first time college students like him; he's the only one I've met with the attitude. And it wasn't just the class (which he could have transfered out of in the early weeks, or withdrawn from for quite some time after) or the perfectly lovely teacher (again, it was one of those classes with a bazillion sections from early morning to late night because every student who enters below the grad level must take it, so he could have left if they didn't click)...In addition to ridiculously loud music, he filled my mornings with other complaints like how his dad wouldn't just sell the family business already since he was sick of working there on the weekends. <br />
<br />
My edited response was, "You should appreciate what you have." My inner voice said, <i>"Get a grip, you little twerp! Someday, when your dreams of being the next celebrity DJ fall through, you're going to be glad your parents worried more about your future than their own early retirement. Enjoy getting into clubs you're otherwise too young for and the free tickets to more concerts than most folks with real jobs could ever afford; it'll only last so long.</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
I told you all that to tell you this: Mr. Whiner came to class one day more out of sorts than usual. I don't remember if I asked or he just assumed I'd receive his venting. He'd been on the commuter rail, making his way into the city, and dropped his pass. By the time he realized it and went back, the pass was gone. He'd been sitting near a black lady (no offense), and now he was out $100+...<br />
<br />
Yeah, I was offended. If I am to be drafted to represent "black ladies" everywhere (offensive in and of itself), how come we're the thieves? Did she come from a special suburban ghetto and was commuting to her job as crack whore in the city? (And who visits crack whores at 8am?) Are all the white suburbanites magically immune to greed? <br />
<br />
Never assume--it makes an Ass out of U, though it has relatively little to do with Me. <br />
<br />
It's a side note, since he was already wrong without it, but at the start of the next class, he tried to sell his commuter rail pass. The woman had indeed seen the pass left where he had been sitting, and tried to locate him to return it. Like a modern romantic comedy, they must have just missed each other, but came so close to the meeting that would have changed the course of the story before it became tedious to its audience. <br />
<br />
No, he did not apologize to me about his accusations toward her, which I would have accepted as the representative of black ladies everywhere.<br />
<br />
The original plan, in keeping with this being a writing themed blog (as opposed to my free-for-all LiveJournal or the blog I should open for non-writerly things), was to write something witty about assumptions in fiction, and then turn that into a launch pad for why I love <a href="http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/">Kelley Armstrong's</a> books...<br />
<br />
But I came across Elif Shafak's "The Politics of Fiction" and thought that fit so well:<br />
<br />
<object height="326" width="446"><param name="movie" value="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><param name="bgColor" value="#ffffff"></param><param name="flashvars" value="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/ElifShafak_2010G-medium.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/ElifShafak-2010G.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=917&introDuration=15330&adDuration=4000&postAdDuration=830&adKeys=talk=elif_shafak_the_politics_of_fiction;year=2010;theme=the_creative_spark;theme=a_taste_of_tedglobal_2010;theme=master_storytellers;event=TEDGlobal+2010;&preAdTag=tconf.ted/embed;tile=1;sz=512x288;" /><embed src="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf" pluginspace="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" bgColor="#ffffff" width="446" height="326" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" flashvars="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/ElifShafak_2010G-medium.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/ElifShafak-2010G.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=917&introDuration=15330&adDuration=4000&postAdDuration=830&adKeys=talk=elif_shafak_the_politics_of_fiction;year=2010;theme=the_creative_spark;theme=a_taste_of_tedglobal_2010;theme=master_storytellers;event=TEDGlobal+2010;"></embed></object>Angela Mageehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15025716502393219570noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8892338291010937531.post-61569627162801477912010-11-14T20:34:00.000-05:002010-11-14T20:34:52.713-05:00::whimper::I want to curl up in a ball and just stay there.<br />
<br />
For a week, I was sick. I have lupus, it's a fact of life, blah-blah. I couldn't concentrate so I struggled to be just a little behind on school work (technically, I'm not behind in the two classes that I dreaded it most in...I just <i>feel</i> behind). My professors for the two classes I most worried about were great--understanding that it's a chronic illness, and if I could manage my work, so be it. In my 3rd class, it hasn't been an issue. It's just once a week on Mondays--I am a paper behind, but I've been averaging an A and the last class was canceled anyway. Now worries...<br />
<br />
...X's "stomach virus" put him in emergency surgery to remove his appendix. (I wrote that and remembered this is not my journal and not everyone reading this knows that X is my husband. Now you know.) It was horrible. I was a little scared by the time that I got him into my brother's car to go to the hospital, but at that point, it was 1am; I needed to get my daughter and nephew to school in the morning and get myself to class, and I still believed that he'd get IV fluids and better meds than I'd gotten him over the counter. He called at 5am to tell me that his appendix had burst and they were about to prep him for surgery.<br />
<br />
I was so not going to class. I explained the situation to the lovely two professors mentioned above with my assignments attached. They were great about it. So I foolishly didn't think to get anything on hospital letterhead explaining what happened. I was worried about how weak he looked, how I needed to feed him. They only kept him one more night, but he was so much stronger that I didn't question that. All I cared about was what I needed to know for his post-op care. So guess what Professor #4 wants to not smash my grade over my absences? <br />
<br />
Hopefully, it will be easier to get in touch with <i>someone</i> who can give me <i>something</i> on hospital letterhead once the weekend is over. My bitchy-self says, "Or I'll just show her all the post-op info sheets and she can take 'em or leave 'em." My regular self is tired...tired from being so worried about my partner...tired from being worried about my grades...tired from my lupus flare...<br />
<br />
I want to call in dead for the rest of the semester.<br />
<br />
And I want to write.<br />
<br />
In all the stress, I turned to fiction. Having read an *almost* satisfying novel, I want to put my own words on the page as though I might make a million and one mistakes, but I've been inoculated against those that made that piece of work *almost*. And that fear from suddenly learning that X was going into surgery and the awareness of what can go wrong even in simple procedures is with me in a little ball that I can't throw away despite it all ending well. I want to fictionalize it so it has a place outside my body.<br />
<br />
But I can't phone the semester in so I'm going to hit the books.<br />
<br />
...Screw it. I'll hit the books after writing for half an hour.Angela Mageehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15025716502393219570noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8892338291010937531.post-51410478705980018732010-11-08T07:23:00.000-05:002010-11-08T07:23:05.175-05:00Strange young adult kinda dream<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>I was young, pretty, white. I loved him and he was gone, my only lead--only REAL lead--a phone number. So I dialed and found this weird network like nothing I ever experienced before. And it wasn't him, but I was closer. I dialed again and again, til I had to take a break. I didn't like going out of his room, seeing his family trying to be normal while I was a stranger in their home so nothing could be normal. Mom cooked, twin boys tried to play only to freeze when they saw me. He got his parents to say yes to my coming by promising I'd stay in the kid sister's room, but I haven't done that since he disappeared and she looks at me with this longing like I'm still supposed to still stay up late braiding her hair and whispering Older Girl secrets. Kid brother's worst of all cuz he's just a couple of years younger than us, all punk rock/skater hot and getting closer to me while we looked for HIM.</b></span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>I'm getting out of that house and freeing us all, but just one more round of calls. I hide out in the bathroom upstairs and dial. There's an answer, it sounds like a party, and I thinking YES! I'll be pissed when he answers, demand why he didn't just say that things were too intense...or no, I love him so much I can let him go without that scene if he just picks up the phone....But I see IT, one of the visions I'd had through all the phone calls, this a repeat of the first where he's walking along the shoulder of a dark road and van pulls up, he gets in, and vanishes...</b></span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>There's a clicking sound on the phone and the party noises disappear. The phone pressed to my ear rings as though I'd just dialed a number, and I can hear the echo of a phone ringing somewhere in the house. My stomach seems to drop, an shadow of the sinking feeling felt throughout my soul. Both rings stop and I'm already moving to hang up before I hear the little sister answer the phone.</b></span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>There's a knock. "Come in." I'm scrubbing at my eyes when kid brother walks in, seriously hot, but not the one. He holds up a portable phone. "Were you...calling the house phone from a house phone? How is that possible?"</b></span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>.....That last bit's not true. It's already morphed in the recording. It WAS the same number, so the best I should have gotten would have voice mail, but that's not what he said. It had been something about Lucy thinking I might need something...I said, "Um? Toilet paper?" and we both looked at the roll--not full, but full enough so that if I needed more I was probably about to go through something no one wanted in their bathroom. I shared a smile with him, but it was almost like there were two of me--the one sharing a moment with him and the one still totally engrossed by the search for HIM.</b></span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>The dream ended with flashes of vision and...a Damien Rice song playing on loop. </b></span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>______________________________________________</b></span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></i><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The dream that I had left this page open to write about was kind of like that. In a way, it was totally different--the woman I was in then was more solidly grown, a woman of color. There had been less urgency with no missing lover. But it was the sort that, upon waking, I knew was a story, not some sort of working things out from real life. I'd gotten up from that dream and wrote about it in a hard copy note book. Then, I'd set about trying to build a plot around the character study I'd been given in my sleep.</span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">That was about two weeks before <a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node">NaNoWriMo</a> had started. We're a week into and I'l still trying to build a plot, plodding along well behind writing schedule.</span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There's still lingering urgency from this morning's dream. I feel like I could figure out what was up with that phone network, and spend the day writing the book, each bit missing from the dream unraveling as I reach. Reality's throwing cold water on that fantasy. Having a lupus flare, I phoned in all of last week, so I cannot skip class today. If I did, I would probably end up spending hours just trying to make sense of the phone thing alone, hours writing the opening (if I dove right in rather than hours spent outlining), and I'd hit the middle and run out of steam.</span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But it's recorded (shifts in tense and any other flaws) so <i>I</i> can come back and revisit this if I ever need/want to and <i>you </i>can see how this kinda, sorta works for me. Sometimes.</span></b>Angela Mageehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15025716502393219570noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8892338291010937531.post-81952759301163327292010-10-29T00:38:00.001-04:002010-10-29T00:40:14.661-04:00What the hell am I doing?!<i><b>I</b></i>t's that time again...or, several times again. Halloween is just days away; beyond the anticipation of dressing the Wee One up, another Halloween means another year of staring at a computer screen at the moment--Eastern Standard Time--that October becomes November. November, of course, is <a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/whatisnano">National Novel Writing Month.</a><br />
<br />
I do it every year, even when I shouldn't, like this year. I've done almost no writing that wasn't academic since the semester began. On the one hand, I've never "won" NaNo so what's one more time of not reaching the goal? On the other, I need the pressure I put on myself during NaNo like I need...something more creative than a hole in my head. <br />
<br />
And thinking about it has me back in this place of, "What the hell an I doing? I'm not a novelist."<br />
<br />
I <i>am</i> a writer. We've established that, right? I write great openings and decent endings, and shitty middles that never seem to get revised no matter how often I sit down to revise them. When do I say enough?<br />
<br />
...Apparently not now. I had this great dream a few weeks ago; it was basically an introduction to a character--a woman who lets lost souls pass though her into...well, wherever they go. I dig her, dig the relationship with her sister and the potential relationship with the man I dreamt her meeting in a dark alley before a rift in the fabric of reality. All of my non-academic time has been spent between learning the <a href="http://www.savagemojo.com/tiki-index.php">Savage Mojo </a> material for a project I've been tapped for and <i>failing</i> to build a story around this woman.<br />
<br />
I create enjoyable characters. Sometimes, I string words together nicely. Whatever made me thing that would translate into being a novelist?<br />
<br />
In a week when I've carved time out from my studies and I'm writing, I'll feel better. In a month when I've got a neat beginning, a character I enjoy with a pretty cool supporting cast, and nowhere to take them...I'll be right back here wondering what the hell I'm doing.Angela Mageehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15025716502393219570noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8892338291010937531.post-68915205579836605282010-10-13T22:07:00.000-04:002010-10-13T22:07:14.313-04:00Rethinking self-publishing<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">We've covered this. Self-publishing is a good thing...for Other People. If you're like me, you've grown up wanting to see your books published by the same folks who publish your favorite authors. You may or may not get over that; for me, the dream is still being published by Tor or Ace, but the goal (sometimes my dreams and my goals don't match) is to write for a living. This meant accepting, first, that my work (when finally ready) might find a home in at a small press. Eventually, I accepted that I may become an e-book writer. Self publishing was out of the question...until now.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Some great books have been self published, but their numbers are eclipsed by the many, many crappy books self published because no agent or editor would consider them. The list of self pubbed books that made the big time--sometimes remaining self published, but often bought by a big house--is nice and long...until you realize how many hundreds of thousands are never seen outside of the author's circle of friends and family.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">And then there's the industry pressure. I've heard/read "Agents and publishers won't even bother with your work if they've learned you've self-published" enough that it's not worth looking for links. Even if your self-pubbed novel gets a serious readership, you're not eligible to join many of the writing associations that you may want to. <a href="http://www.sfwa.org/join-us/who-is-eligible/">The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America</a> association doesn't come out and say NO SELF-PUBLISHING, but they give a list of what makes you eligible and Lulu isn't on it. <a href="http://www.horror.org/memrule.htm">Horror Writer's Association</a> are longer and more involved, and at the end of the active membership regulations (as opposed to associate or affiliate), they let you know that any non-comic book self-published author need not apply. And so on.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">None of that matters if you just want a story "out there." But if your goal is to quit your day job, the emergency medical fund, insider track for future publication, and other benefits are pretty damn important...</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Yeah. I can go on and on about why self-pubbing is my second to last choice. The above doesn't even touch on marketing and other such issues. So why rethink self-publishing at all? My friend Julie.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">I have the urge to write about how fabulous she is as a writing buddy, how smart, how dedicated to her craft...What matters more, though, is <a href="http://mardel-rabidreader.blogspot.com/2010/09/senior-year-bites-and-more.html">praise for her work</a>. When I read that post, I thought, "Wow, how fabulous! Too bad it's utterly useless!" </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">The chances of an agent stopping by, reading that review, and asking for the manuscript seem ridiculous to me, regardless of my sucking at math. IF she were putting that book out herself while her other manuscript is in agent limbo, it would be another story. Apparently, Julie thought so, too. She revamped her long idle <a href="http://writerjacampbell.wordpress.com/">site</a> (love that logo!), added the <a href="http://writerjacampbell.wordpress.com/docs-stories/">Doc storie</a>s that are getting a following of their own, and put serious research into the details of what it would take to publish <i>Senior Year Bites</i> herself.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Rather than thinking of all the reasons for why she shouldn't, I immediately thought of why she should. Critiquing selected chapters of <i>Senior Year Bites</i>, I was impressed by Julie's talent and skill, but I didn't love it the way that Rabid Reader does (if you didn't click the "praise for her work" link, go take a look). </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Young Adult books start with a strike against them when it comes to me, and SYB is "light" while my tastes run toward "thick" if not "heavy". It's a totally irrational bit of personal taste that I mentioned before with published authors Anton Strout and Mark Henry. I was randomly thinking the other day how Strout's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Me-Anton-Strout/dp/0441015786?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04fe-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Dead To Me</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04fe-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0441015786" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> has my all time favorite opening scene, though I'm not crazy about the book. Less randomly, I just reminisced about how fabulous parts of Henry's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Happy-Hour-Damned-ebook/dp/B0031W1DWI?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04fe-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Happy Hour of the Damned</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04fe-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B0031W1DWI" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> were, though I gave up on reading the whole thing early on.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">These books are well loved by other people, but were I an agent deciding whether or not to rep them, Henry would have gotten an encouraging "But it's not for me" letter and Strout would have gotten a request for the full manuscript, only to have to change major elements or to move on to someone else to represent him...</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Industry pros will tell you, "That's the process" and "if the story's good, it will get published." I've swallowed that whole. But I've also watched Julie revise and fine tune <i>Arabian Dreams</i>, send it out, and learn that there aren't a lot of agents interested in young adult equestrian fantasy books. The chapters I critiqued were great, agent response reflect that, but alas...</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">I thought, "Send it to publishers that don't require you to go through an agent! It would fit right in with the <a href="http://www.eharlequin.com/storeitem.html?iid=12506">equestrian adult fantasy published by Luna</a>." Except that they don't publish YA books. "<a href="http://ebooks.carinapress.com/DFF9B330-A87F-4E8E-84F2-DAD68FDB0C6C/10/134/en/Default.htm">Carina</a>! They seem to be looking for everything that doesn't easily fall into other categories." Except for YA books. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Maybe the idea should be "if the story's good, readers will read it." I'm not advocating doing away with agents (do you know how to navigate international rights? me neither), but in the days of social networking, more book blogs than you can shake a magic wand at, and relatively simple (so I'm told) tech to make great-looking trailers, why can't you write a good story, edit the hell out of it, and get it out to the would-be fans without:</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">~~~~~Shopping it to agents and waiting months between each for a "cool, but no thanks"?</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">~~~~~Waiting for where you fit into the schedule IF you get an agent who finds you a publisher?</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">~~~~~And still having to do a lot of the marketing yourself because you've just made the bottom of the mid-list?</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">To Julie, I say, "Go for it!" For anyone else (maybe myself included one day), I say put in the time for researching how to do this right. If the pros outweigh the cons, rock on with your bad self!</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">(Link of encouragement: <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2010/09/konrath-ebooks-sales-top-100k.html">Konrath ebook sales top 100K</a>)</span></span><br />
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</span></span>Angela Mageehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15025716502393219570noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8892338291010937531.post-86175097468486794932010-09-04T18:44:00.000-04:002010-09-04T18:44:19.730-04:00CharactersMy son's young personality was pretty much set before he ever met the man who would become his stepfather, so I'm constantly amazed at how alike they are. They fall into these patterns...for instance, they love to communicate while apart, which is most of the year since the boyo lives with his dad in a distant state during school. Then they spend the summer bumping heads, so much alike that living together makes them batty. Now I know what my relationship with my dad must have looked like from the outside.<br />
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I call my daughter "My Little Demon." She's a planet sized ball of willful energy squished into a skinny six-year-old package. Even when she's being good, she's pushing. She's completely her own person, yet shares a lot of traits with her brother that, I'm told often, were not inherited from her father.<br />
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My mind holds all these little facts, like any parent's, about my kids with no effort at all. I don't have to think hard to recall that, while the Wee One (my girl's other nickname) likes tomato slices and loves fried pickles, the Boo Man (a name he's outgrown, but I haven't, and that serves well enough to not spread his identity around the internet) hates tomatoes and thinks fried pickles are the grossest things he's heard of that don't come from an animal. I know their strengths and weaknesses, the music they like, the shows they are likely to watch...<br />
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It's like that with my characters, too. Or, rather, it's like that with the <i>protagonists</i>. I haven't written out what Quinn did for his tenth birthday, but I know him well enough to guess (can't really be wrong since I did make him up, but you know what I mean). I haven't taken the time to figure out Wade's favorite food, but just thinking the question, I know immediately that this chick is meat eater. The spicier, the better. <br />
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My antagonists, on the other hand, tend to be closed books to me. <br />
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Stories usually come to me from the character; some voice that isn't mine will seem to speak to me, or a physical/psychological quirk will stick in my head and I'll end up building a person around it. Then I'll discover what story they belong to. Unfortunately, that often leaves me with "insert bad guy here", with which I create a story that's never fully cooked. <br />
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Realizing that is a good thing in a G.I. Joe sort of "knowing is half the battle" way. But even when I was a kid, I always responded to that with, "Yeah, but it's the easy half." Figuring that out didn't mean that I could fix it. Trying to redo my villains following the hero template just made me feel bad for them; I couldn't help but want to write kinder, gentler versions....<br />
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I may have gotten the reality check that I've needed during last weekend's drunken celebrations. <br />
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Long story short, the liquor flowed and conversations turned to places they might not go while everyone is sober. I learned that my ex had told a nasty little lie about me, and to my family no less. The truth is simple yet complicated, and illustrates the character flaws of each of us. The narrative he created manages to paint him both as victim and hero, and makes me a bad, bad person.<br />
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In a life that I've gone through great pains to make drama free, he became my villain with that stupid, selfish act. <br />
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As a woman, I was furious. As a writer, something clicked. <br />
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Here's where my thinking gets convoluted, but if you've followed me this far, hold on! When I was a kid, my game of choice was D&D {<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Rulebook-Roleplaying-Slipcased/dp/0786934107?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04fe-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Dungeons & Dragons Core Rulebook Set (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Three Book Slipcased Set)</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04fe-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0786934107" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />} with it's character alignments that dictated behavior. Lawful good characters were basically the white knights with good intentions. Lawful evil finds it's modern equivalent in the corrupt district attorney, following the law, but happily putting it to bad ends for a profit. And as good opposed evil, lawful personalities found their opposite in chaotic alignments. Chaotic evil characters were the baddest of the bad with no regard for anything but their own desires. Think serial killer, but not Dexter (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dexter-Season-Michael-C-Hall/dp/B000Q6GUW0?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04fe-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Dexter: The First Season</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04fe-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000Q6GUW0" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />) since he does have a code--a sense of being more lawful evil--to live by.<br />
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I was once invited to a different game that I, alas, never became too familiar with. But it did introduced to a different way of viewing alignments; a system not so much of good vs. evil, but varying degrees of selfishness. I hadn't thought about that for years. Decades. Til my ex's lie was exposed.<br />
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Let's use him to build a better bad guy!<br />
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He's a regular guy. He's got his good qualities and bad. Yeah, he did plenty to contribute to the break up of our marriage, but that's enough water under the bridge that, after a few days' of deliberation, I accepted his Facebook friend request. The fact that he also friended my dad and brothers is creepy, but no biggy. The lie he told makes him an asshat, but not the biggest in the world. Not much of a bad guy in real life. But <i>fictionally</i>, those things are just the start.<br />
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Maybe he plays the part of the old-lover-turned-good-friend so well that, when little things start to go wrong in our heroine's life, she thinks it's all a coincidence. One small, self-serving act that he got away with leads to another; he's sure that he's right all the while, never seeing the has crossed the line until the climatic end. It can be all about recovering his lost love--psychological thriller; romance if his misdeeds are the obstacle between her and her new hero. Maybe befriending her was just a means to get to a family member--mystery or mainstream. Or maybe there's a supernatural element behind his selfishness--horror, urban fantasy.<br />
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OK, so the genre stuff is, perhaps, a red herring. The nut that I needed to crack was that I start at the end, with them filling in the space of evil; knowing how they get to that point might breath new life into my antagonists.Angela Mageehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15025716502393219570noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8892338291010937531.post-53090076534181413122010-08-21T19:34:00.001-04:002010-08-23T18:59:12.652-04:00No matter what I do, Friday keeps comingSoon, school will begin again. I'll need to get up around the time that's been passing as a bed time for me, and the whole cycle of not-sleep-enough, get up, get the kid ready for school, somehow manage to get myself ready for school, come home study/cook/find time to write then not-sleep-enough will begin on Monday. I will join all the others who breathe a sigh of relief on hump day and eventually get to thank God it's Friday. <br />
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But for now, whether I settle onto the blog window or not, Friday means I'm looking at my writing productivity and lack of it.<br />
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....And, like now, sometimes that means I quickly do something else until Saturday.<br />
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That's not true, really. It's not that I go into avoidance mode, it's that I get stuck in what I *have* to do--and how silly is that when I don't have to post here at all? I don't have a boss who will pay me or not depending on what I produce. Can't tell you how much I appreciate my recurring readers, but I don't think your weeks are incomplete until you check out my latest babble on reading and/or writing.<br />
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Theoretically, I could write about anything (hopefully, but hell, not necessarily within the scope of the blog). Yet, I don't. I think "I have to get this down" or "I've gotta tell them this" and "ugh, I haven't mentioned that project in a long time..."<br />
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And since I don't give a crap about any of that at the time, I go on to read someone else's blog(s) and watch a season of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Femme-Nikita-Complete-First-Season/dp/B00008ZL4Q?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04fe-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">La Femme Nikita</a>, or something. <br />
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My writing is like that, too. <i>The Hidden</i> (generally known as Quinn's story to all you lovelies who have read chapters), might end up really being my first published novel....or it'll be the one in the bottom drawer forever (it doesn't suck, but it's got a fatal flaw that I may or may not be able to fix). My need to have it ready for the world and sent out is a good one. No one ever got published by leaving a work unrevised on her hard drive. But being unable to fix that flaw and unwilling to move on means nothing gets done.<br />
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Solution? Do <i>something.</i><br />
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Not just any something, since for me, that can mean playing three hours worth of Plants Vs. Zombies. But if I'd written down all the ideas that have come at any given time while I wasn't blogging, I'd have enough to post for the next two months. While I was running around like a nut before my MiL came, I (in the true spirit of procrastination--in this case doing something productive to get out of doing something else productive) started two stories, each in a (slightly) different genre. <br />
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My new trick will be to build on that. The next time I've got the kid in bed with hours to go before the spouse expects attention, and I'm NOT revising <i>The Hidden,</i> I'll be writing something else. Anything else, so long as it's meant to be shared..no, <i>sold</i>. I have a funny resistance come up when writing that, which tells me that I need to call on my inner Harlan Ellison*. <br />
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I am, have always been, a storyteller. This is a truth of my being whether I ever make a living at it or not. It's like being right handed; it just...is. That gets all mixed up when the notion of money comes into play. "You should be focusing on the work, the craft, your ability to entertain and, in the right circumstances to enlighten" meets "What? Are you doing this for the money now? If it's about money, you should just quit!"<br />
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Bullshit. Yeah, the initial work needs to be for me, for the fun of a good story and the other joys I get from writing. But if I *can* succeed at it, I *deserve* to be paid for my work, just like a builder or doctor. Too many of us artsy types let ourselves believe that our work is worth less. I'm officially taking myself out of that trap.<br />
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So...If three hours are scheduled to write fiction in hopes of a sale, then that's what's going to happen for three hours. No blogging, gaming, or whatever instead. If it's time to blog, then I'm blogging. No fixating on blogging something I don't want to be bothered with because I got it stuck in my head that I HAVE post about that. Got it? Good.<br />
<br />
*Ellison is famous for a lot of great spec fic writing, infamous for a couple of minor scandals that I don't currently care to seek out and link to, but perhaps best well known to me (besides for <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Deathbird-Stories-Harlan-Ellison/dp/1585867985?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04fe-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Deathbird Stories</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04fe-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1585867985" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />) for being out and loud about getting <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj5IV23g-fE">paid as a writer</a>.Angela Mageehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15025716502393219570noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8892338291010937531.post-59627704505039933572010-08-14T02:55:00.003-04:002010-08-14T02:59:25.918-04:00Links! Some yah gotta get before they're gone!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">"</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">The law isn’t about justice, Malcolm. It’s about the law." ~Anita Blake</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span> </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">If you've been thinking about checking out </span></span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ardeur-Writers-Anita-Vampire-Hunter/dp/193377147X?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04fe-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Ardeur: 14 Writers on the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Series (Smart Pop)</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04fe-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=193377147X" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />, the Melissa Tatum article on </span></span><a href="http://www.smartpopbooks.com/1463"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Anita and the law</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> is available for free reading just until Tuesday the 17.</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span> </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Great </span></span><a href="http://theagilmore.net/welcome.cfm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Thea Gilmore video</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">. Even if the music style isn't to your taste, take a few minutes to imagine along.</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span> </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Are you a U.S. or Canadian citizen with a young adult novel that's done or will be between October 1st and December 31st? If it's not under consideration from other publishers or agents, you might want to send it to the </span></span><a href="http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/writingcontests/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Delacorte Press Contest for a First Young Adult Novel</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> Makes me wish I'd paid more attention to </span></span><a href="http://writeoncon.com/about/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">WriteOnCon</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">.</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span> </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">I'd forgotten around Heinlein's business rules:</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">1) You must write.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />2) You must finish what you write.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />3) You must not rewrite unless to editorial demand.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />4) You must mail your work to someone who can buy it.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />5) You must keep the work in the mail until someone buys it.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span> </span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">I just found them again at Dean Wesley Smith's </span></span><a href="http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/?page_id=860"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">. There's a lot more that I'm going to check out in there before bed. Take a look!</span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">ETA: Something weird has happened to the formatting so the links look like regular text (of course this happens in a post all about links, right?). Wave your mouse on other the whole thing, or the bits that are likely to be links.</span></span></span></span>Angela Mageehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15025716502393219570noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8892338291010937531.post-71602088112747825382010-07-31T01:26:00.001-04:002010-07-31T01:27:27.706-04:00Friday on Facebook, or at least the fun parts.If you really know me, there are some things that you are aware of.<br />
1. I'm not a social creature. <br />
2. Time only has real meaning to me when you are interrupting mine.<br />
3. I'm a lousy housekeeper.<br />
<br />
These factors have me running around today in a haze of <i>OMG, my mother in law is coming! I can't stand yet another party right now, so what are we going to do for the Wee One's birthday? Crap! It's the 30th, and I haven't done any of my critiques for the writer's group! <b> Oh my friggin' gaaaaaawd, </b>my mother in law is COMING HERE!!!</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
With that playing on loop in my mind, I came up from the basement, put away some things that I purposely placed in my computer chair to force myself to not leave them where they should not have been, and thought: "I watched reruns of <i>The Vampire Diaries</i> and <i>Moonlight </i>last night, so it must be Friday again."<br />
<br />
Ugh. Friday again, and I haven't done the research for the post that would cover not only Kelley Armstrong's books, but also what tidbits I could pick up from her on writing and the industry without reproducing the major posts on plotting and etc. she's put up for the writing members of her site (cuz she rocks like that). <br />
<br />
Having skipped the last Friday post, I felt like I <i>had</i> to produce something. I thought, "Hey, I can scan Facebook for all the author news that people not on FB--or who are on but not following a lot of authors--might not know. <br />
<br />
Ah, the best laid plans....I believe I mentioned that I'd finally given in to FB and followed <a href="http://tezmilleroz.wordpress.com/">blogger Tez</a> and <a href="http://kelley%20armstrong/">Kelley Armstrong</a> over to the site, only to be "friended" by a bunch of authors who, either assumed I had to be good people if I hung with them...or who at least thought maybe I'd buy their books. Some of the others from the writing group friended me and introduced me to those obnoxious FB games that we all complain about when we're not playing them. To advance in those games, you often need a large number of fellow players, so I found myself adding hundreds of people that I don't actually know to my friend's feed. To be able to keep up with those I do know, I created a filter for friends and authors...<br />
<br />
......I've got dozens of authors in that filter, but, I realized as I went searching for updates to post, there are also tens of second cousins twice removed and scores of people from my high school....<br />
<br />
And then, the author posts are sorted out, they aren't all or even mostly about writing. Do you really want to know that Devon Monk (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Bone-Allie-Beckstrom-Devon/dp/0451462408?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04fe-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Magic to the Bone (Allie Beckstrom)</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04fe-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0451462408" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> ) wrote: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cccccc;">Great. Mutant spider's on the loose on my desk. Sprayed it w/bleach, didn't faze it. Think it flipped me off as it skittered under computer. </span></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><i><br />
</i></span><br />
Yeah, so do I! Maybe it's feeling like your favorite authors are accessible, or the joy of glimpsing the person behind the words, but I enjoy the status updates I get daily on Facebook and when I remember to log in to Twitter. So let's have some fun!<br />
<br />
Gerrie Ferris-Finger (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/End-Game-Gerrie-Ferris-Finger/dp/0312611552?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04fe-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The End Game: A Mystery</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04fe-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0312611552" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />) linked to <a href="http://bookavore.tumblr.com/post/871178080/e-books-article-drinking-game">The E-books Article Drinking Game</a>. In my defense, I was also sick of the articles, but had to add my two scents when I got an e-reader of my very own.<br />
<br />
Mark Henry (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Happy-Hour-Damned-ebook/dp/B0031W1DWI?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04fe-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Happy Hour of the Damned</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04fe-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B0031W1DWI" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />) turned friends and fans on to <a href="http://www.markhenry.us/sokay/">funnies</a>. <br />
<br />
RG Alexander did a cyber Snoopy dance over a pic of her (?) new release shelved early at a certain Borders. It's much like these other covers.... <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lux-Shadow-Children-Goddess-ebook/dp/B001CMQ766?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04fe-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="Lux in Shadow: Children of the Goddess Book 2" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B001CMQ766&tag=hubp04fe-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04fe-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B001CMQ766" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Twilight-Guardian-Children-Goddess-Alexander/dp/1605045632?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04fe-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="Twilight Guardian (Children of the Goddess)" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=1605045632&tag=hubp04fe-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04fe-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1605045632" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> that are all primed and ready for me to put up, so you get the idea. I'm going to stop scanning updates because I feel a rant building. I mean, why aren't more covers like this? Not that I need all my books to be stamped with muscular men....one or two will do nicely. But if they're going to keep telling us that Urban Fantasy is a woman's genre, what's without all the female body parts on the cover? I'm rereading <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dime-Store-Magic-Women-Otherworld/dp/0553587064?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04fe-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Dime Store Magic (Women of the Otherworld)</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04fe-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0553587064" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />, which now has a nifty new cover. But I'm reading the original:<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Store-Magic-Women-Otherworld-ebook/dp/B000MAH7G8?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp04fe-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="Dime Store Magic (Women of the Otherworld, Book 3)" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B000MAH7G8&tag=hubp04fe-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp04fe-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000MAH7G8" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />What the hell? Not only does the leg not make the book more appealing, but if you read just a chapter or two, you know that sure as hell isn't the narrator's leg! Poor Paige, replaced by some skinny witch. I'm not going to make the post too image heavy, but the urge is to show the sea of midriff and tramp stamps, broken up by the occasional over sized breasts or sexy thigh. <br />
<br />
Humphf. Rather than talk about the mixed messages of kick-ass heroines that have to look like sex kittens (even when they don't), I'm going to head over to R.G. Alexander's <a href="http://www.rgalexander.com/">webpage</a> to try and figure out if any of the paranormal romances come close enough to urban fantasy...or look sexy enough to keep me distracted from the fact that my mother in law is coming!<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><i><br />
</i></span></span>Angela Mageehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15025716502393219570noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8892338291010937531.post-21325562608641360562010-07-17T16:26:00.000-04:002010-07-17T16:26:11.461-04:00Bad analogy, good ideaTwo Christmases ago, the regular Spades players in my generation of family taught me to play. We've pulled out a deck of cards at most social gatherings, and until recently, my team has always won. Sure, my teammate is always more experienced than I am, but I make dumb mistakes. Not to mention that I'll play with others and still cream whomever had won with me. I've beaten people in my generation who have been playing for at least a decade, and my parents generation who started playing a good decade before I was born. Until two weeks ago, I was undefeated, with little skill and nothing to explain it but beginners luck.<br />
<br />
I thought of that the other day when agent Nathan Bransford asked <a href="http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2010/07/you-tell-me-why-is-it-so-hard-to-tell.html">why it's so hard to tell if our writing is good</a>. Writing to me, is like that in a way. I've talked to a lot of creative people who are natural storytellers, but when you talk about writing, they're so sure they can't because their grammar sucks or they can't spell to save their lives. And others have gotten beyond that and learned the grammar, embraced word processing with spell check, but hold on to the "I can't" mentality that keeps them from finishing or sending out their work. (I may resemble that.) On the other hand, I've searched my soul for diplomatic critiques and some sort of honest encouragement for people--sure that they're the next big thing in fiction--whose work makes me think, "Dude, really? There's a story in this mass of words and semi-colons?"<br />
<br />
OK, written out like that, the analogy is ridiculously thin... <br />
<br />
But people from either group can fill in for me, never really sure of strategy, forgetting to count the cards that came before, but applying themselves and kicking ass. We don't know if we're good...or bad...because there's no real measure. We can't count adjectives like spades (I got on this metaphor and I'm gonna ride it til the wheels fall off, damn it!) and declare that we're "trump tight." So some of us sit on creative goldmines sure that no one will like our work while others come up with the lamest excuse for a story and know we'll be the next big thing.<br />
<br />
I think we should take a page for the (in their own minds) writing superstars. They finish their stories and <i>send them out</i>. So what if an agent or editor doesn't like their work? The next one will. Since this is advice that I'm really force feeding myself, sure there will be lots of rejection, but the superstars are on to something. When the boy I feel in love with in college dumped me for a so-called friend because she put out, <b><i>that</i></b> was rejection. I lived through it. A few dozen, "sorry, this isn't for me" notes could hardly compare.Angela Mageehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15025716502393219570noreply@blogger.com7