May 18, 2006 | Uncategorized |
I did a bad, bad thing. I fell out of my ivory tower. I succumbed to the cable company's temptation of free installation and a reduced price package. And I'm already fascinated by Dog: The Bounty Hunter. Ha!
Anybody else watch this thing? These people are characters! If you tried to write it, no one would believe it was real.
I've lived on this island for 2 years and never seen the guy. I'd remember him if I had. Who could forget him, huh? Now I'll be on the lookout when I go downtown.
In one of the episodes I saw, he snagged a woman right next door to my friend's house. LOL! My friend's car was there and everything. I don't remember him mentioning it so I wonder if he even knew when it happened. Now I'll have to ask….
Kills me how they subtitle the locals when they speak. Is it really that hard to understand?
Anyway, company arriving later today. This visit's short though, so I should be back in a day or two. 🙂
Aloha.
May 16, 2006 | Uncategorized |
Wow, there's not a lot I can say about the brouhaha going on over at AAR. As an aspiring-to-be-published author, I'm reading with rapt attention, let me tell you. And these ladies terrify me. I'm an English major and I hope like HELL I can find dangling modifiers and split infinitives and all that jazz. But I just know that some are bound to get past me (hell, they get past me on this blog). And then what? Here's Adele Ashworth defending her book, but according to the Smart Bitches, it isn't defensible. (Bear in mind that I have not read the book, nor read a sample, so I'm not coming down on one side or the other here.)
FOR THE RECORD, every single reference you sited as incorrect, in this post and the other where you copied sentences, has been taken out of context. It's like reading a love scene aloud, by itself, over the radio or to a bunch of non-romance-reading friends. It sounds silly, and yes, maybe even pornographic. But when read as a whole, romance novels are neither. You've taken my sentences apart, and although I suppose I'm flattered that you spent so much time on it, I'm a little unnerved that, although you haven't said so in words, you're apparently touting yourself as a far better writer than I — with my sentences and words taken apart piece by piece, and most importantly, out of context. Frankly, by your comments, I seem like a totally inept writer who, along with the publishing community, is attempting to “bad-grammar” you out of your hard earned money.
Is the author responsible for every misspelled word, dangling modifier, split infinitive, etc, in her text? Does the reader have the right to demand perfection, or as near to perfection as possible, in the book she plunks down her cash for? (I know that typos irritate the crap out of me. Grammatical errors usually make me stumble, but not always. Damn, I'm doomed….). Can grammatical errors be taken ‘out of context'?
Ashworth continues….
Still, you have continued to take apart my FICTION novel as if it's YOUR duty to expose me as an incompetent writer who has written a foolish story. I have to say, I kind of resent that. If you don't enjoy my books for what they are, please don't read them anymore. Since you think you know the English language so well, please, write a book yourself. It's not as easy to do as you may think.
So what do you think? Is anyone right? Is anyone wrong? Is there a middle ground here? I don't know about you, but this stuff makes me want to hang up my pen and go play in the ocean all day. I'm already an obsessive proofreader, but sometimes it takes days for me to understand just why a particular sentence I wrote bothered me so much.
In truth, I feel for Ms. Ashworth. I also feel for the readers who demand quality and feel they didn't get it. Oh man, that ocean is looking good right now…….
May 15, 2006 | Uncategorized |
Interesting conversation on writer names taking place over at Kristin Nelson's blog. It starts here and continues for a few posts.
I have to admit that this is a purely esoteric rant because ultimately, what author name you use isn’t that big of a deal. This is purely something that annoys me and really isn’t a huge issue in the grand scheme of things.
I want to talk about author names because ultimately, promoting your work and getting published is all part of one big package of professionalism.
And, I think writers are potentially too hung up on their formal names (as in using first, middle, maiden, and last name). [Uh oh….]
I wouldn’t blame you if you are scratching your head at this moment, so let me explain. If you write literary fiction, I think using three names is fine as long as there is a memorable rhythm to it (Jonathan Safran Foer pops to mind).
Otherwise, three names is overkill and potentially not in your best interest (in terms of name recognition, ease of finding you in the bookstore, etc.) It can sound pretentious and if you are writing a big, bad thriller, it’s potentially defeatist. It’s James Patterson, Lisa Scottoline, Iris Johansen, John Grisham, Robert Crais, Lee Child. Boom, boom, boom.
Oh dear. Well, I've spent a lot of time thinking about the name I want to publish under, which is really a cart before the horse approach, but it IS a career decision and I didn't want to give it too little thought at the last minute, if that makes sense.
I am not absolutely tied to using my real name, which really is Lynn Raye Harris. Lynn Harris is a total no go. There is an actress (nude pics available, apparently), a comedienne/author with a column on MSN, a personal injury lawyer, a gay black author (add an E. at the beginning), and who knows who else. My maiden name is worse. Hard to pronounce unless you're from Texas (there's a town of the same name, though different spelling) and just not too terribly attractive emblazoned across a book cover to tell the truth.
So I have considered a pseudonym. I have a few picked out, but actually deciding on one now and building a website–well, that really is shoving the cart over the cliff, isn't it?
Yes, I have a website (and this blog) under my real name. I mostly did that because I wanted to learn how to build a website before it was necessary. Changing things to a pseudonym isn't really that hard, and it's not like I have a ton of name recognition on the web anyway. Folks on blogs know LRH, but how hard would it be to introduce a new name if necessary? Not terribly, I think.
So, yeah, I'm open to a name change. I'll make the best business decision I am capable of. And it may be ditching the legal name for a fictional one. I haven't crossed that bridge yet, so no major decisions necessary. But I want to be prepared.
Am I upset about the idea of having books out and not having my real name on them? At least one person in the comments trail of some of Kristin's posts refuses to consider anything other than her real name. That's her decision. But I can take it. I really want to build a career, and if that means LRH may write literary fiction at some point and Betty Business will pen the romances, so be it.
What about you? To pseudonym or not, that is the question…..
May 12, 2006 | Uncategorized |
“A catless writer is almost inconceivable. It's a perverse taste, really, since it would be easier to write with a herd of buffalo in the room than even one cat; they make nests in the notes and bite the end of the pen and walk on the typewriter keys.” — Barbara Holland
Oh, indeed. It's simply amazing what one cat, let alone two, can do to interrupt the flow. But this one tends to cause the most disturbance. Ain't he cute, though?
What about you? Any pets around while you write? What other sorts of disturbances do you have? It seems that the second I get really going in something, I have to yell, “Nimitz, get down!” He's usually trying to climb something he shouldn't.
Have a great weekend! I'm off to wine and jazz at the Bishop Museum tonight, so getting a good start.
May 11, 2006 | Uncategorized |
Hey, I admit I'm envious. I harbor fantasies about someone coming along and asking me to join a group blog, a place where I only have to post once a week and where everyone is so talented and witty that I know by being included in the mix they think I'm talented and witty too. A girl can dream, right?
There are lots of group blogs out there in writerdom. Some are good, others not so good. At least one is so horribly self-congratulatory and full of self-love that I not only never go there anymore, I have developed an aversion to those authors' books. If I buy their books, they will continue to self-congratulate and engage in group hugs and I just can't stand the thought that my meager pennies have contributed to their narcissism. Perhaps they are truly nice people and my assessment is unfair, but them's the breaks.
Two group blogs I really enjoy: Murder She Writes and The Lipstick Chronicles. There are also some blogs by newly published and unpublished writers that are darn good too.
So what is it that makes a successful group blog?
Over at MSW, they pick a theme for the week and everyone posts on it. I like the discussions that ensue. At TLC, I don't believe there is a theme, just whatever the blogger of the day feels like talking about. That blog works because the women are all talented and witty and can bring an interesting spin to whatever topic each has chosen to talk about. (Who could ever forget the famous bl*wjob discussion?)
Writeminded is a fairly new group blog, and I've been checking it out. Just yesterday, Jan Kenny talked about trends, which was my topic of the day as well. 🙂
It seems as if the successful groups have a variety of writers, as in the types of things the writers write about. Self-love is kept to a minimum. Let's face it, the last thing any of us want to read about is a bestselling author's love of herself and her work. No, we love it when a successful author shares with us how her process is no different than our process, how she sometimes hates her words and thinks she's untalented, and how in spite of all that she succeeds and writes books we don't mind buying because a) they're good and b) she's one of us, in spite of her success. I'll help that author all the way to the bank because she doesn't think she's better than me.
In reality, her work may be so much better than mine that I never have a prayer of writing anything half so good. But so long as she doesn't make me feel that way, I'll keep reading her and recommending her to others.
What else makes for a successful group blog? Romancing the Blog is great, but less the sort of group blog I'm thinking about. The Smart Bitches are fabulous, but they're more reader oriented.
So what do you think makes a great group blog? And if you got any tips on how I can get invited into one, let me know. I'll offer up a room in Hawaii, and a tour guide. Uh, no, I'm not desperate. Why do you ask? 🙂
