Christopher Buckley did turn out a writer. I wonder if he was afraid to come home if he didn't... He's sort of funny...for a conservative.
Get up...get up, you stupid piece of... What did you do that for? What's wrong with you? Didn't you hear a word he said? All of you! You think there's someone just going to drop money on you?! Money they could use?! Well, there ain't people like that. There's just people like me.
Jayne ,'Jaynestown'
The Great Write Way
A place for Buffistas to discuss, beta and otherwise deal and dish on their non-fan fiction projects.
erikaj - Jan 11, 2004 8:58:02 am PST #3018 of 10001
Always Anti-fascist!
Strix - Jan 11, 2004 9:01:00 am PST #3019 of 10001
A dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman but loose enough to flee from zombies. — Ginger
Oh, there are exceptions, I'ms sure. It's just that...most of them SUCK.
erikaj - Jan 11, 2004 9:03:16 am PST #3020 of 10001
Always Anti-fascist!
Wrod.
P.M. Marc - Jan 11, 2004 9:12:17 am PST #3021 of 10001
So come, my friends, be not afraid/We are so lightly here/It is in love that we are made; In love we disappear
I remember reading one of Tabitha King's books once and suspecting her technical chops were much better than those of the hubby, but it's been a while, and that's all I really remember about it.
Christopher Buckley, however, I remember as being a freaking brill writer, all political differences aside.
erikaj - Jan 11, 2004 9:20:43 am PST #3022 of 10001
Always Anti-fascist!
I asked this question in fic, but I'll leave it here too. Whenever I start out to write something "about" something, it's a struggle. A lot of times the piece fails. But sometimes the things I expect to be brain-candy are about stuff. Am I uptight? Or is that the nature of the beast? Will I get control with time or is that the wrong thing to even think of?
victor infante - Jan 11, 2004 10:24:36 am PST #3023 of 10001
To understand what happened at the diner, we shall use Mr. Papaya! This is upsetting because he's the friendliest of fruits.
Christopher Buckley, however, I remember as being a freaking brill writer, all political differences aside.
"Thank You For Smoking" is hysterical.
deborah grabien - Jan 11, 2004 10:40:14 am PST #3024 of 10001
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.
Yup, Buckley has something his reptillian daddy doesn't: genuine humour. Mostly I want to poke him in the ass with a salad fork for his opinions, but he writes very very well indeed.
erika, you know my take on characters' journey: it's what makes or breaks a book. Plot is mechanics, but allowing realised characters to walk their own road, and not be afraid of where they end up or (most important) where they take you as their creator/interpreter, is to me the defining factor in what makes a book worth reading.
Victor, I left feedback at your livejournal, as well.
As are WHITE HOUSE PET BOOKS
Except Millie, because she had a clearer mind than any of those stupid Bushies. And if the current dog at the White House wrote something, I would expect it to be all about how he shoved that prat Shrub off his Segue.
erikaj - Jan 11, 2004 10:50:13 am PST #3025 of 10001
Always Anti-fascist!
"Aw, isn't that cute! It looks like he's reading..." Man, I can just be a huge bitch. As well as a Bitch. But I'm not taking it back:P
P.M. Marc - Jan 11, 2004 11:11:45 am PST #3026 of 10001
So come, my friends, be not afraid/We are so lightly here/It is in love that we are made; In love we disappear
Deeeeeeeb!
The tree ate my brain. Reached up last night on the way home from Jilli and Pete's and ate it. Sucked away everything else I was working on, and grabbed me with cranky fingers by the throat.
Note to self and other cycling female writers: when you have a capital A Angry character, really, all it takes is cramps to get her going.
Susan W. - Jan 11, 2004 11:18:26 am PST #3027 of 10001
Good Trouble and Righteous Fights
Susan, it sounds like your rejection letters are pretty encouraging, actually! I'm so excited for you. I mean, you wrote a book! And it's THERE for people to reject!
Yeah, I'm not at all discouraged yet. I'll get there, if not with this book, with the one after it or the one after that.
At the conference in October, among the speakers two stand out in my mind--Julia Quinn and a category author (i.e. Harlequin/Silhouette) whose name I don't recall offhand. JQ published her first novel. The other writer submitted something along the lines of 20 manuscripts over 18 years before she actually got published. I figure I'll be somewhere in between, though I'm still cocky enough that I expect to be much closer to the Quinn side of the continuum.
Victor, I left a comment on LJ, too. Really liked it.