but it really does have a bunch of interesting posts there. More OKCupid data in convenient graph form, this time about how men and women rate the appearance of the opposite sex.
No kidding, but this is interesting. Be sure to look at the race post and the religion post.
1) Yet another reason I’m glad I’ve given up screenwriting. As bad as the credit situation is for writers now, it’s better than it was before the WGA negotiated the right to determine the credit. In the old days, a producer could leave the writers’ names off entirely and give the credit to a girlfriend, if they wanted.
2) A modern-day Jesse James? If Jesse James had 15,000+ Facebook fans, I guess.
3) Upcoming Nicolas Cage projects! aka, some guys with Photoshop put Nic Cage’s face on Davros, Wayne (of Wayne and Garth), and everyone else.
4) I am shocked shocked to discover FBI agents misused the power to conduct warrantless searches! Apparently, the agency has described this lawbreaking as “technical.”
5) Myths of online dating photos: The folks at OKCupid run statistics on their online dating services. What photos get the most interest? What photos turn people away? There are more posts on other topics in the sidebar, including matching people by religion and race.
6) Ta-Nehisi Coates on Jews and basketball.
7) From 10 Strangest Books on Amazon.com: How to Good-bye Depression: If You Constrict Anus 100 Times Everyday. Malarkey? or Effective Way? I should mention, this book also has a better sales ranking than mine, but how can I top a quote like “Besides shooting out a big blank from your buttock, you can feel as if your root chakra leaked sweet hot mucus.”
The NY Times has a lengthy profile of bestselling (co-)writer James Patterson. I have to say, whatever you think of Patterson’s books (and I haven’t read them based on how they’re described) it’s fucking fascinating.
Dude started out reading high-brow work, and won an Edgar Award for his debut novel–a noirish crime thriller with (as described in the article) no real hero. After that he dabbled in different genres, trying to find his footing, and eventually came into his own with his thrillers.
He also stopped worrying about sentences. Referring to that award-winning novel:
“The sentences are superior to a lot of the stuff I write now, but the story isn’t as good. I’m less interested in sentences now and more interested in stories.”
Which reminds me of something Lawrence Watt-Evans has said (and I paraphrase and hope he corrects me if I got it wrong) more than once that there are good reasons to write well, but sales isn’t one of them because most readers don’t care.
On top of that, he insisted on a TV commercial when standard wisdom was that TV doesn’t sell books, and when his publisher balked he produced one himself. He insisted on releasing several books a year, despite his publisher’s concern that he would dilute his brand. He works in several genres, despite concerns that he would turn off fans of his thrillers. He did targeted book tours, hired co-authors on his own dime, cut back on the amount of description in his books so the action would come to the forefront.
At this point, he has four or five employees at his publisher who handle his books and his books only. When he meets with his editorial staff, they do it in his living room. His current crop of books start with a 50-page outline which is sent to his co-writers, then he edits and revises the chapters as they write them.
One telling line is this one, though:
For all of his commercial success, though, Patterson seemed bothered by the fact that he has not been given his due — that unlike King or even Grisham, who have managed to transcend their genres, he continues to be dismissed as an airport author or, worse, a marketing genius who has cynically maneuvered his way to best-sellerdom by writing remedial novels that pander to the public’s basest instincts. “Caricature assassination,” Patterson called it.
Despite what the article said, this bothered Stephen King for a long time, too, didn’t it? No matter how much public acclaim, writers ache for critical acclaim, too.
And I have to admit that I’m skeptical of the claims that publishing’s focus on bestsellers makes it hard for new writers to break in. I certainly broke in. Others have. I’m sure it makes it hard for writers to stay in if they don’t have early success, but that’s a more nuanced point.
I was also startled by the comparison of Patterson’s co-authoring process to writing television. It’s true, isn’t it, that good work can come from collaborative work. But in a novel? I’m not sure how ready I am to accept the legitimacy of that.
Still, it’s interesting to read about all the work he put into promotion, especially since my own efforts have revolved around reposting amusing videos and complaining about my feet.
Last night, on the bus ride home from work, the bus driver said something unexpected:
“A pedestrian just ran into my bus!”
Now, when I heard that, I was immediately reminded of all those accident descriptions on insurance forms, where drivers claim that trees suddenly jumped out in front of them, or that old men leap onto the hood of their moving cars. But as it turned out, that’s just what happened.
As the bus was driving down the street in the right lane (I’d say it was going about 30-35 mph) a guy jumped off a retaining wall, sprinted across the pavement and slammed himself into the side of the bus.
I didn’t hear the impact. (Ironically, I was reading Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why.) I’m told he survived–an ambulance came for him quickly, and someone who’d seen him said they couldn’t tell how badly he’d been hurt, because he was covered with blankets. I didn’t go near him, because I didn’t want to see anything nasty. I have enough anxiety as it is.
Was it a drunken, mistimed suicide attempt? Was he trying to injure himself to spend a night at a hospital? It did happen just downhill of a long-term homeless encampment.
I’ll never know, I guess.
There are still 30 copies of BATTLE FOR TERRA waiting to be given to anyone who donates at least $25 bucks to The Red Cross for their relief efforts in Haiti. The film’s producer says they’ve raised $2700 so far. See details for how to collect on his web site.
2) Sushi Etiquette.
3) Crowd-sourcing: tool of evil. At some point later I may want to talk about this in more depth, but I’m not sure how I’d approach the subject. Maybe what I’d like to see in the hypothetical example is people gaming the TURK system by choosing the least likely matches–they’d earn those same pennies while giving bad information; downside: I’d hate to be the guy who looks least like the person Iranian authorities are trying to ID. Hmm.
5) Translucent concrete. So cool. That blog has a number of interesting items there. via email.
6) Run Linux without Windows?? Preposterous!!! I suspect some of you are going to look at the main URL for that link and start combing your delete folder for some emails to submit. You know who you are.
7) If I lived a different sort of life, I would already own one of these. And I would love it.
Author Kage Baker is very ill.
“If we are lucky, the therapies will win her a few months; if we are incredibly lucky, 6 months to a year. If she gets more than that, it will be a literal miracle. ”
Anyone who’s a fan of her work can find contact info at the link above and send good wishes.
Or you can donate to the Red Cross and receive a copy of BATTLE FOR TERRA from one of the film’s producers. Details here.
1) Two Gentlemen of Lebowski (I realize this has been going around, but I collect these links over time, so just assume I found it first, even if I posted it last, okay?)
2) Readers send emails to writers. Heh. My recommendation: never email a grammar question to me. I’ll just copy and paste into Word and look for a green underline. Then I’ll replay with just a blank message, so you’ll think there’s something wrong with my email client.
For the record, I’ve gotten more than a few emails from readers, and they’ve been wonderful. Thank you. Someday I’ll get a snarky or nasty one, and I promise to post it on the blog, just as I include the slam reviews in my review round-up.
3) All of Great Britain cries out: “Atlantic Gulf Stream, come home! We miss you!”
4) Biosphere 2, falling into ruin. Amazing images. via James Nicoll
5) Early notes on the origin of Superman. If you’re like me, you find Jerry Siegel’s early ideas for the character fascinating. It’s so different from what it eventually became, even if he kept the “Man of Tomorrow” moniker.
6) How long will it last? Forget about Peak Oil. We appear to have reached Peak Indium already. Like the guy I snagged this from, I curious how accurate it is. It’s a bit scary, though. via mightygodking
