words

Book survey and other writing links.

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I’m reposting this because it didn’t cross post. Sorry

Here’s a bunch of links for books and writing. For starters: NPR is conducting an online survey about how they can improve their book coverage.. If you’re a listener, please do fill this out to let them know what you want.

Personally, I suggested they set aside a segment on weekend mornings for genre fiction, and have an expert in different genres (romance, mystery, sf, etc) rotate through to discuss the latest trends, awards, and best-sellers. I also reminded them that many of their readers are big nerds, and they should take notice of that.

Doing NaNoWriMo? Gosh, if only someone would write an article of writing advice for you! And if only someone else say, Laura Miller at Salon, would express some kind of disapproval of the way it’s run. Because then someone else could jump in with a misguided but completely understandable misreading of Miller’s article. And after that, Miller could write the clarification in the way she should have written the original article.

Skip Miller’s original article and jump right to the response, I say. She makes a fine point. [Update: stupid LATimes website won’t let me link directly to Laura Millers response in the comments of the Book Jacket post. You can skim through and find it at November 03, 2010 at 02:41 PM, though.]

Next, I’ll bet you thought the ebook pricing debate had already been found dead in its stable, but the CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers wants to take the whip to it all the same. He’s convinced me, but I’m not a Kindle person.

What does Jim Butcher read? Watch the video to the end to find out. Also: spoilers for his latest book, CHANGES, in that interview. (For those who don’t want to watch the video, he mentions me as an author to watch for.)

And finally, Nick Mamatas points to an editor who snatched content off the web and published it without permission in her magazine. When the writer contacted the magazine about it, the editor replied with the most amazing email fail ever. Really, it has to be seen to be believed.

This one is spreading around blogs and Twitter like a wildfire, and the magazine’s Facebook page is currently being barraged by outraged comments. Awesome.

Screampunk

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Is it really useful to point out that steampunk, as a genre, is not exactly known for hard science?

Hey, I know there are folks out there who love their sf hard. I know they think of “hardness” (as the term is used in the genre) as a virtue. And that’s fine for them. People should have their fun, especially if it makes them feel virtuous but I think its important to remember what a small subset of the overall readership these folks represent.

Most people don’t care, and wagging your finger at authors because, say, their zombies aren’t scientifically sound, just makes me shake my head and chuckle.

The political and cultural critiques of Steampunk have more weight, imo, to the degree they are fair and accurate.

Anyway, now that steampunk is pretty mainstream, it’s time for a new “-punk” sub-genre to spring up. Here are my predictions:

Pepperpunk–Set during the spice trade during the late 16th century, featuring wooden sailing ships and the sort of hostile native people we used to see “Chongo” fight on the Banana Splits. For the first few years, all novels will feature various thinly-veiled versions of Captain Jack Sparrow and humorously ahistorical references to “never having been to Singapore.” The speculative elements are deliberately fantasy, but sf fans still claim the stories (and complain about them) because–by tradition–they contain giant worms.

Tulippunk–Set in the “United Provinces” in 1630, this takes place in what is now the Netherlands. Dutch botanists make amazing breakthroughs with cross-breeding, creating gigantic tulips that fill themselves with hydrogen and have a root system strong enough to hold a basket full of people. Also featuring plant men who readily and unquestioningly accept second-class citizen status. Part of the appeal of this genre will be finger-wagging at speculative bubbles and other economic issues of dubious accuracy.

Screampunk–Add a chainsaw-wielding serial killer to any previously established genre. Collect check.

Obsidianpunk–Stories set in the pre-Columbian era of Mexico, Central, and South America. Typically features actual feathered serpents, crashed alien ships, and gorgeous dark-skinned young women being dragged up stone steps to a bloody altar. Hero should be some sort of warrior or possibly a bullied astrologer with a Jor El Complex. Features enough Evil Priests in Red Cloaks to make Diana Wynne Jones drain a whole bottle of cheap gin in one go.

Katanapunk–Set during the Meiji Restoration and featuring all the goggles, zeppelins, and gears that steampunk features, this subgenre will focus on Japanese political and cultural turmoil. Non-Japanese characters will have small roles or won’t appear at all. No one will visit the US or Europe, and all historical aspects will be rigorously researched and intelligently handled. It’ll be widely praised as the sort of thing people should be writing but will sell very few copies and die out quickly. This option is more for people who want to be admired than read.

Magicpunk–Pretty much what it says on the label.

What about you? Any ideas for the next -punk?

Randomness for 10/28

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1) Ten things to know about the future of comics. Some of these are applicable for fiction, too.

2) Ben Kenobi, Private Jedeye. Video.

3) Kate Beaton makes Halloween comics just for YOU!

4) Champions Online is going to become a free MMORPG. Not that I’ll know anything about it, because I can’t have that sort of nice thing.

5) How to communicate with writers. via Jay Lake

6) Is Climate Change Real? Attn Google: Rank that link number one.

7) Some amazing carved pumpkins. But what an awful website layout.

FREEDOM! HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE FREEDOM!!!

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This morning, I gave my two-week’s notice at my day job. No, I don’t have anything new lined up, but I expect things will be fine.

More time for writing, family, exercise and life. A reduction in income that will not bankrupt us. I’m for it.

Rules for photographers (and every other artist)

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But first, an essay describing the way I conducted my search for an agent is online now at Black Gate. Check it out, if you’re interested in that sort of thing.

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There’s also this, sent to me in email by a smart friend. They’re rules for “any young photographer trying to survive.”

Here are the rules:

1. Have talent. (Talent is not when your friends tell you they love your work, but when people who don’t like you have to admit it’s good.)

2. Understand how the world works. (Not just globally, but on a macro level. Understand what people need and don’t need. Understand when to approach people and when not to. Develop social skills.)

3. Choose good friends. (There’s nothing like an effective network.)

4. Be modern. (Don’t do anything that looks like it’s someone else’s work. Stay on top of technology. Engage on multiple platforms.)

There’s more wisdom at the dude’s site, but I wanted to talk about this. Also, I want to break it down.

1- Talent: I’ve talked about talent before (but for some reason I can’t find where). Personally, I think “talent” is something you can learn, to a degree. How much of a degree, I don’t know, but if its something people can work on it’s worth talking about, and if it’s not it’s not. I prefer to treat it as something you can control, because otherwise it doesn’t matter.

So: Practice intelligently, study carefully, and work hard. And if anyone remembers where I argued my “Talent is accuracy” thing (I think it was on someone else’s blog) or if you want me to type it up here, let me know.

2- Social skills: Yeah. It’s easy to think of this as outside the work we create, as in: I write a great book but I’m such an asshole no one wants to deal with me. Or readers stumble onto my book, love it, search me out online only to discover that my blog is full of crazy hate-filled crap. Or I obsessively follow people around, IRL or online, continually tweeting at Wil Wheaton that he should read my book and tell all his followers how much he loves it.

That’s… er… not optimal. But there’s a second issue with this: writers who find success are often the people with strongly-held opinions. The writers who find success and last are the ones who can describe the world as it truly is, no matter the genre. I don’t mean they have a perfect understanding or that they’re without flaws, but that their books reflect some insightful understanding of how the world works.

Of course, most everyone thinks they understand how things work…

3- Friends/Networking: This is the one I expect most people would object to, especially the way the author puts it. No one really thinks you should try to make friends because you think they’ll be useful, but it’s also important not to make friends who drag you down. Your friends should make your life better, on the whole. Sure, there are times when you’ll need to support them through a rough patch–hopefully they’ll do the same for you–but if the friend hurts your ability to make your art, you should probably restructure the relationship.

Better is to have friends (and I mean real, actual friends that you enjoy being with) who are doing exciting things. Actually, let me put it this way: Your friends should be good for you. And getting that sort of friend is pretty simple: Be that kind of person yourself.

Have projects! Help people! Do exciting stuff. If someone is doing something that sounds cool, chip in. Maybe a friendship will develop. Maybe not. At least you’ll have done something cool. As the old saying goes, the best way to find someone to love is to be someone worth loving.

You’ll notice I said it was simple, not easy. I’m terrible at this sort of thing and already feel like I’m stretched thin. Maybe someday when I have enough sleep.

4- “Be modern”: This is the one I have the least to say about. Don’t write an 80’s-style fantasy or a ’40’s-style science fiction unless you’re prepared to do something very modern with it. As for platforms, what can I say? I’m always behind the times on new opportunities. I don’t even have a cell phone or a twitter account. Maybe someone else can jump in with useful advice there.

Randomness for 10/23

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1) Dog Superhero Costumes. Yeah, you read that right. Now click through and blow your own mind.

2) Why I will always support the serial comma.

3) America’s contempt for expertise, part six million and two.

4) A congressional candidate’s wife does a political ad… for his opponent. Has to be seen to be believed. Video. Burn! via Jen Busick

5) Cripes. Bad enough you dress up your dog in a costume. But you have to put him in a mask? And done your own matching Na’vi cat lady costume? And make a crazy video for the web?

6) OMG, I don’t care if this is real, I’m going to pretend it’s photoshop so I can sleep at night. Be sure to look at the picture gallery. Supposedly, they released this thing after the pictures were taken. I assume it was down a long chute from a truck with the engine running. via Danny Grossman

7) Manuscript rejection notice from a silent-era movie studio.

Poetry for rugrats

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My somewhat precocious 8yo son is in need of some poetry for his reading edification. He’ll be reading The Hobbit soon, but I want to give him a chance to read outside the so-called invisible style many kids books are written in today before I set it in his lap.

Anyone have any recommendations?

Funny poetry would be best. Spooky or weird would be good, too. Also, as a kid, if he doesn’t like the first taste it’ll be hard to get him to try again, so nothing too mature.

Thank you.

NaNoWhaNow?

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NaNoWriMo is coming up, and as usual I won’t be playing along. I’ll explain why at the end. For those who don’t know, “NaNoWriMo” stands for National Novel Writing Month, an annual November game where people try to write a 50K word novel in one month.

Odds are that *some* of the people reading this will be taking part, some for the first time. For those of you who write solely because you like to write, maybe share your work online, I think it’s awesome. Good luck with your word counts and be interesting.

For those of you who would like to write professionally but haven’t reached that goal yet, I think it’s awesome (redux). Good luck with your word counts and be interesting. I’ll add something else, though: If you’re not already writing at this pace, consider this essential practice for how you will work year-round. 50K words in 30 days is only 1,667 (to round up) per day. Call it 1,700 to give yourself a cushion for those days Mad Men is on.

That’s not a lot. Many professional novelists would consider that a Meh day, and many others would feel like slackers. If 50,000 words in one month seems like a huge goal, take the NaNoWriMo game as an opportunity to stretch yourself and your conception of what you’re capable of.

I’m talking from experience here. I’m a poky writer myself, and 1,700 words a day would be a difficult pace to maintain. You know what? It holds me back, and I’m trying to improve my productivity by limiting distractions and prepping better for each session. Hell, I might even try Write or Die, as suggested by Naomi Novik here.

So have fun and do good work. Also, take the opportunity to challenge the limits you believe you have. It doesn’t have to be one month a year.

While I’m in training all morning, I give you this:

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Ten classic sf novels that were originally considered failures. What does it say about my knowledge of the genre that I haven’t even heard of some of these books? Also, must remember not to sell a book to a publisher owned by a bookstore. Yeesh.

I’ll be in training all morning and taking calls in the afternoon. I expect today to be worse than yesterday. Oh well.

Randomness for 10/15

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1) A terrific book trailer for Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned. Video

2) Where good ideas come from. Video.

3) ‘Damn. Are we that different from people?’ I can’t think of any way to summarize this profile of Insane Clown Posse except to say that it’s really, really interesting. They’re evangelical Christians? (Added later: the SNL parody. Video. My reaction to that spoof: SNL is still on the air?)

4) Buy artificial hands to touch your baby. Hey, it’s not as creepy as this teddy bear made from a placenta! Hello, horror movie that is the real world.

5) Animator vs. Animation III. Video.

6) McDonald’s burgers can TOO grow mold on them, says McDonals.

7) Sir Ken Robinson talks modern education. Video. This is another RSA Animate video, and I love it. (Let’s ignore the Ritalin error)