Skip to main content

Monday Miscellany

1. Last week, Nathan Bransford ran a first paragraph contest, where people could submit their first paragraphs and win stuff. I read all of the entries (ALL 2093485604 of them)*, and while I was doing so, there were some that really caught my eye. So I thought to myself, "Jay, you should tell these people that you liked their entries."

So I did.

Except that I discovered that some people, writers, who have blogs, do NOT HAVE THEIR EMAIL ADDRESSES ANYWHERE ON THOSE BLOGS, which is really ridiculous, because if you have a blog, and you update it regularly, and you want to be a writer, then shouldn't you have some way for people who want to talk to you about your writing to get in touch with you? Seriously, out of 29 people I wanted to email and say "hey, I really liked your first paragraph--you RULE," 21 did not have email addresses on their blogs.** TWENTY ONE! I know.

2. Something else I learned from Nathan's contest -- Nathan and I really don't have the same taste in books. Or, at least in opening paragraphs. The ones I liked and the ones he liked have, literally, no overlap.

3. It's cold here in Ohio, although it's still early October. I hate being cold above all things.

4. If you aren't reading the Monkey See blog over at NPR, you really should be, at least the posts by Linda Holmes. Her perspective on pop culture is simultaneously insightful and entertaining. Like this quote, from her post on how to name your action movie:

It's kind of amazing that the new Jamie Foxx movie is called Law Abiding Citizen, isn't it? And I don't just mean the missing hyphen, although ... there is a missing hyphen. Technically, the title Law Abiding Citizen is more like a newspaper headline announcing that the law is patiently tolerating a citizen, sigh, probably because it is the law and it has no choice. "Law Abiding Citizen; Citizen Still Kind Of A Pain In The Neck."

...Furthermore, the synopsis of the movie says that the main character takes justice into his own hands. That is not the act of a law-abiding citizen. That is the act of a law-ignoring citizen. Wouldn't it be better if they had called the movie Law-Flouting Citizen? Now that, I might have attended. Law-Flouting Citizen, with Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler!

hee! I love her.

~~~

* Actually, there were 2651 entries.
** And this doesn't count the entries from people who don't have blogs at all.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Fourth Horseman: Excerpt 6

This is all of chapter 4, in which Suzanne buys a dress and sits in a chair with Anastase.   The other excerpts can be found here: Excerpt 1 Excerpt 2 Excerpt 3 Excerpt 4 Excerpt 5 ***** Chapter Four “I was thinking,” my father said over dinner that night. “Since your mother is on the road to recovery, we could go into town for dinner next Saturday, maybe to that sushi place you like. Maybe bring Gabriel. Interested?” “Sorry, I can’t on Saturday,” I said. “It’s Homecoming.” My father dropped his fork to his plate. “You’re kidding.” “I have to go. Gabriel’s nominated.” “Do you believe this?” my father asked my mother. “Are you hearing this?” My mother shook her head, smiling. “You’ve met Gabriel, right, dear?” “Our daughter. Dating the Homecoming King!” I rolled my eyes. “He hasn’t won. He’s just nominated.” My dad fluttered his eyelashes at us. “I wished for this day, but I never thought it would come true. Will there be a limo? What a
Post a Comment
Read more

Character Post: Anastase Beryl

NOTE: This post contains spoilers for The Fifth.   Peter Murphy.  ::swoon:: Oh, Anastase, Problem Child Extraordinaire.  At the beginning of The Fifth, Anastase is terrible .  He's selfish, he's rude, he's heartless, and all of that makes him incredibly attractive to Suzanne, who has, sincerely, the worst taste in men. He's one of those guys who you know you should stay away from and yet don't want to. Originally, my conception of Anastase's physical appearance was based on the singer Peter Murphy from Bauhaus, that angular, mysterious, dangerous vibe, that people either love or hate.  A more modern approximation is actor/model Luke Eisner, although he's a little too . . . healthy looking for Anastase.  He needs to drop a little weight -- maybe pick up a teeny coke habit or something -- and then he would be perfect! :) If Luke Eisner loses 20 pounds, he is Ana.   Because he's the First of his Circle, Anastase thinks that means hi
Post a Comment
Read more

The Fourth Horseman: Excerpt 5

The latest excerpt, still from Chapter 3, in which Suzanne encounters a bully and talks about sex.  Previous excerpts are here: Excerpt 1 Excerpt 2 Excerpt 3 Excerpt 4   ***** The football team had a bye week in anticipation of Homecoming (and the fact that I even knew what a “bye week” was was a testament to how much I liked Gabriel), so Gabriel showed up at my locker after school to join me and Spencer on the walk home. “We’re so happy for you,” Spencer told him, ducking under his arm to hug him. “Are we?” I asked, sliding in under Gabriel’s other arm. “You are a terrible liar,” Gabriel told Spencer, hugging him close. “Fag,” someone muttered behind us. I snapped my head around and saw a couple of kids around Spencer’s age snickering into their hands. I took a step toward them. “What’d you say?” They scowled at me. “Nothing,” one of them answered. “No, really, what’d you say?” Gabriel asked, his voice mild and friendly, his arm still around Spencer’s shoul
Post a Comment
Read more