suh-NERK!
Spike: Ladies. Come on in. Plenty of blood in the fridge, don't be shy. Dawn: You mean like, real blood? Spike: What do you think? Dawn: Mostly I think, 'Eew!'
'Potential'
The Great Write Way
A place for Buffistas to discuss, beta and otherwise deal and dish on their non-fan fiction projects.
deborah grabien - Oct 21, 2003 12:18:25 pm PDT #2400 of 10001
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.
Astarte - Oct 21, 2003 2:07:14 pm PDT #2401 of 10001
Not having has never been the thing I've regretted most in my life. Not trying is.
Woohoo, time to bring out the toys!!!
Rebecca Lizard - Oct 22, 2003 6:47:25 am PDT #2402 of 10001
You sip / say it's your crazy / straw say it's you're crazy / as you bicycle your soul / with beauty in your basket
Most of the manuscripts-- short stories (and poetry, but those are single-spaced, of course)-- I see have serif fonts, double-spaced.
I don't care what font someone submits in, as long as it's not too fancy or unreadable. But, Jesus, I hate single-spaced MSes. It's practically impossible to edit.
deborah grabien - Oct 22, 2003 7:38:36 am PDT #2403 of 10001
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.
Most publishing houses are really tight about that one, Liz. It does make sense; when you're reading through a slush pile, looking for a gem to rec, you want the content to stand out. All the deliberate attempt at quirky does is make the editor grind his or her teeth.
Waaaay back in the mid-seventies, I worked for a small childrens' educational publishing house here in SF called Troubador Press. The big thing was the illustrations, but we had the form letter that went out to everyone we were considering: "blah blah fishcakes all text doublespaced".
We were less picky about typefaces as I remember, because it was the age of the IBM Selectric and there were no home computers.
erikaj - Oct 22, 2003 7:53:06 am PDT #2404 of 10001
Always Anti-fascist!
I just thought I'd share this here. Just got done talking to Case Management Gal, who asked me about writing. Me:Yes, I've had articles published but no fiction as yet. Don't know why...tough beast. She: What stops you? Me(thinking) If I knew that would we have this conversation? No. You'd be referred to my publicist.
Betsy HP - Oct 22, 2003 9:01:57 am PDT #2405 of 10001
If I only had a brain...
erika, remind yourself that J.D. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book while on welfare.
Slap me down if I'm being sappy; I just cling to examples of people like me who succeeded. (e.g. Harriet Doerr, whose first novel, Stones for Ibarra, was published when she was 80.)
erikaj - Oct 22, 2003 9:06:29 am PDT #2406 of 10001
Always Anti-fascist!
Yes, she is "as a god" to me at the moment.
Deena - Oct 22, 2003 9:07:07 am PDT #2407 of 10001
How are you me? You need to stop that. Only I can be me. ~Kara
Betsy, no slap, but more stories like that would be encouraging. I'd heard that about Rowling but forgotten.
Betsy HP - Oct 22, 2003 11:08:09 am PDT #2408 of 10001
If I only had a brain...
Jeanne Ray was 60 when she wrote Romeo and Julie, a delightful novel about two middle-aged florists long separated by family hatred. Part of the reason she wrote it was that she was tired of not seeing people her own age in books.
Dani - Oct 22, 2003 11:38:07 am PDT #2409 of 10001
I believe vampires are the world's greatest golfers
Sorry to barge in, but Betsy is playing my favourite game; I love collecting these kinds of writers' stories too.
Mary Wesley published her first book at 70. "I have no patience with people who grow old at 60 just because they are entitled to a bus pass," she said once. "Sixty should be the time to start something new, not put your feet up."
Mary Lawson's book Crow Lake just won the Canadian First Novel Award. It was published when she was 55.