I haven’t been blogging recently, and I figure this is better than not posting at all.
Just some memes
Category Archives: books
Thoughts on UFOs
When I was a teenager, I believed in a lot of fringe ideas that I’ve long since rejected by now. Never really that strongly (it only took one major failed prediction for me to stop believing in psychic prophecy), but I was “pretty sure” about a lot of things where what I’d say now would range from “very unlikely” to “definitely not”.
I never really took the specific claims of ufologists as seriously as cryptozoology or even the Bermuda triangle, but I did read a lot of UFO books and think there was probably something unexplained that people were seeing. (Technically I’d still say there are unexplained UFOs; the belief I’ve rejected is the “all ordinary explanations have been ruled out” claim.)
Authors Answer 149 – eBook Piracy
I think there are some gray areas in the area of piracy and intellectual property (rare out-of-print works; unofficial translations), but pirating just to save the few dollars that an ebook costs is definitely not one of them.
Pretty much everything that’s been copyrighted or patented has been copied. There are bootleg copies of Rolex watches, bootlegged and pirated movies, sharing of music with peer-to-peer sharing software, and eBook piracy. It’s the last one we’re concerned about. This week’s question was asked by Gregory S. Close.
Question 149 – What are your thoughts on ebook piracy – is it a terrible scourge, a necessary evil, or potentially great viral exposure?
That’s a tricky one. I mean, before ebooks were around how many times did you lend or were lent a book? We didn’t recognise it back then as piracy, but it amounts to the same thing — sharing a work you didn’t have the right to distribute. Of course, that’s small scale compared to how things are shared nowadays.
I came across one of my Kindle stories on a reading site the other day, actually…
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Authors Answer 148 – Selling Your Book’s Film Rights
And the first time anyone suggests whitewashing or straightwashing is an instant no.
Popular books are most likely to be filmed. Lord of the Rings became arguably some of the best film adaptations. The Hobbit is another matter. Jurassic Park became a fun action and special effects movie, but lost the intelligence of the book. When authors sell the film rights to their books, they have to consider who’s going to make the movie and how closely they’ll adhere to the original story of the book. Do it for money, or do it for the integrity of the story? This week’s question was asked by C E Aylett.
Question 148 – Given the opportunity, would you sell film rights to your book without question or risk waiting for the right production team to come along later down the line, even if there were no other offers on the table?
I would certainly want to wait for the right production team…
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Authors Answer 147 – Considering Economic Factors When Writing
I’m not sure I even understand the relationship between length and profitability well enough for thinking about it to accomplish anything anyway.
Creativity is probably the leading reason authors write. They want to create stories that people enjoy. But how much does economics factor into writing books? There are several factors that may figure into how a person writes, including book length and more. This week’s question comes from Gregory S. Close.
Question 147 – Do you write purely creatively, or do you consider economic factors, such as how long the book will be, and how that would effect production/distribution costs?
Purely creatively. If you approach it from the other direction you are boxing in your muse. And there’s nothing worse than a story that feels contrived to fit size (think of TV series Game of Thrones — wouldn’t we have liked a little more time to develop the Jon/ Dany relationship? Now it feels inauthentic because it wasn’t afforded the proper amount of time to develop, unlike him…
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How Long Did It Take To Write The World’s Most Popular Books? [Infographic]…
There’s something hilarious about 50 Shades of Gray taking longer to write than Twilight…
5 years and counting on my first one. At least I’m in good company.
From LifeHacker site:
Did you know it took J.R.R Tolkien approximately 16 years to write some obscure trilogy of novels called The Lord of the Rings? Clocking in at over 500,000 words, that’s no real surprise. But how long do you think it took to write some of the other popular books in human history?
This infographic comes courtesy of printerinks and is an expertly-designed look at how long some of the biggest names in literature took to write their books. Of particular interest to me is George R R Martin’s five years on Game of Thrones… No wonder Winds of Winter is taking an age. Please finish the book, George!
I also had no idea that John Boyne’s The Boy In Striped Pyjamas was written in such a short amount of time! Apparently Boyne barely even slept until he was done with the first draft. Incredible stuff. It’s not…
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Authors Answer 136 – Living in a Book
There’s a meme that says this:
“Narnia fans: We want to go to Narnia.
Harry Potter fans: We want to go to Hogwarts.
Hunger Games fans: We’re good.”
Ever want to give up your life and transport yourself into the book you’re reading? Just completely start a new life and become someone new, living in a new place. It’s quite likely a lot of people do. One of the great things about reading books is the ability of the readers to lose themselves in the book. Some are great to live in, others not. What would we choose?
Question 136 – If you could live in any book, which one would you choose?
Game of Thrones? To live in dark times where I’d probably die? No thanks. Love the books, don’t want to live there. Harry Potter? To be a wizard would fun, most definitely. Maybe in Terry Brooks’s world in “Kingdom For Sale, Sold“. The main character lives in today’s world but finds a portal to a magical kingdom. I like…
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Authors Answer 110 – Book Trailers
I haven’t exactly seen a lot of book trailers either.
Movies have trailers, right? Why not books? Well, they do. Some authors have trailers made for their books. But what exactly are they like? And should authors make them? This week, we talk about book trailers.
Question 110: Have you ever made a book trailer? If so, share it! If not, what would you like to do for your trailer?
I have not! In fact, until pretty recently I’d never even heard of a book trailer and had no idea how someone would go about making one. It was an odd concept to me when I first heard about it. If I did do a trailer for “Nowhere to Hide“, however, it would definitely be super-dramatic – the kind of trailer that blinks in and out of different scenes of the various characters looking horrified/ready for battle. And it would end with a shot of…
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Authors Answer 103 – Top Influencing Books
Still not really very sure about this one.
Authors have many influences, and it’s something we’ve talked about before. However, we never did focus on the books themselves. Authors tend to also be avid readers, and a lot of the books we read will influence us, even if it’s subconsciously. But which ones have the strongest influence on our writing and other areas?
Question 103 – What do you consider to be the book that has influenced you the most?
I can’t point to any book that has influenced me sufficiently for this. If I had to point at anything at all, it would be an anime series — Revolutionary Girl Utena — which fascinated me during my formative teen years and continues to help me get past some of my mental hang-ups. No books, though; they’re all just part of the big past pile.
Goodness, there are so many, and the…
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Authors Answer 102 – Graphic Literature
This reminds me of a few graphic novels on my to-read list.
Comic books and graphic novels are very popular. Both children and adults read them. There are comics for children, comics and graphic novel for adults. Although they are filled with pictures, they encourage people to read. But are they literature?
Question 102 – Do you consider comic books and graphic novels to be legitimate forms of literature?
I’ve never actually read one, but why not?
Yes. They are legitimate storytelling mediums with their own styles. The presence of illustration does not change this. Comics have a history of not being taken seriously, but I don’t think anyone who still holds on to this view has taken a look at a comic or graphic novel from recent times. The mediums have come a long way.
Graphic novels, absolutely so.
There’s more of a continuum than a sharp definition of distinct categories, so whether…
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On the Edge of Enlightenment 