Hi
all,
I
finished the first draft of a short story that I have been slowly plugging away
on for a few weeks. My main character’s voice had evolved by the end of the
story, so I immediately started rewriting it. The story is only 5100 words at
the moment, which is small for me, hopefully it doesn’t get too much bigger.
finished the first draft of a short story that I have been slowly plugging away
on for a few weeks. My main character’s voice had evolved by the end of the
story, so I immediately started rewriting it. The story is only 5100 words at
the moment, which is small for me, hopefully it doesn’t get too much bigger.
I
wrote every day of the last week – spending more time writing than the previous
week.
wrote every day of the last week – spending more time writing than the previous
week.
Torchwood
Torchwood:
Miracle Day, finished on the weekend. I very much enjoyed it, although the
episodes varied in quality. The first few episodes were all action as the
characters fought for their lives. There was not a lot of character development
or back story until midway through the series when we got an episode concentrating
on Captain Jack Harkness’ past.
Miracle Day, finished on the weekend. I very much enjoyed it, although the
episodes varied in quality. The first few episodes were all action as the
characters fought for their lives. There was not a lot of character development
or back story until midway through the series when we got an episode concentrating
on Captain Jack Harkness’ past.
I
found the episodes that concentrated on Oswald Danes (Bill Pullman) the least enjoyable
because they did not seem to be moving the plot forward. I also had a hard time
liking Rex, the CIA agent.
found the episodes that concentrated on Oswald Danes (Bill Pullman) the least enjoyable
because they did not seem to be moving the plot forward. I also had a hard time
liking Rex, the CIA agent.
A
lot of familiar faces from science fiction popped up during the mini-series,
Nana Visitor from Deep Space Nine, John de Lancie (Q) from the Star Trek
franchise and Francis Fisher from Eureka.
lot of familiar faces from science fiction popped up during the mini-series,
Nana Visitor from Deep Space Nine, John de Lancie (Q) from the Star Trek
franchise and Francis Fisher from Eureka.
The
final episode satisfactorily brought the mini-series to a conclusion. There was
a final twist, which I think most people would have seen coming.
final episode satisfactorily brought the mini-series to a conclusion. There was
a final twist, which I think most people would have seen coming.
Torchwood
vs Doctor Who
vs Doctor Who
Doctor
Who really pales in comparison to Torchwood. At the moment, Doctor Who generally lacks suspense
as it lurches from problem to solution in quick succession. The most recent episode, Night Terrors, was a tad more suspenseful
and had a bit more tension. I was glad it had moved from the “death of the
doctor” story line. As we know the Doctor will not die, so I find no suspense
in their continual harking back to him being zapped in the first episode of
this series.
Who really pales in comparison to Torchwood. At the moment, Doctor Who generally lacks suspense
as it lurches from problem to solution in quick succession. The most recent episode, Night Terrors, was a tad more suspenseful
and had a bit more tension. I was glad it had moved from the “death of the
doctor” story line. As we know the Doctor will not die, so I find no suspense
in their continual harking back to him being zapped in the first episode of
this series.
Those
Evil…
Evil…
Read
this quote in an article in the Age Good
Weekend about censoring video games:
this quote in an article in the Age Good
Weekend about censoring video games:
“the
increased prevalence of gross forms of wickedness is due to a general poisoning, mental and physical, which fills
the minds and the veins of its victims with a more deadly venom than we have
hitherto known.” This was written in 1869 by US Methodist Reverend J.T Crane
and he was referring to novels in general.
increased prevalence of gross forms of wickedness is due to a general poisoning, mental and physical, which fills
the minds and the veins of its victims with a more deadly venom than we have
hitherto known.” This was written in 1869 by US Methodist Reverend J.T Crane
and he was referring to novels in general.
Authors
Losing Contracts Due to Collapsing Retail Market
Losing Contracts Due to Collapsing Retail Market
According
to the Bookmarks column in the Age, mid-list
Australian writer Peter Klein had a publishing contract for his next book
cancelled by Pan Macmillan because of insufficient orders to justify a print
run. Two other authors have suffered the same fate. The publishing director at
Pan Macmillan said that 20 per cent of the market had gone with the closure of
Borders and Angus and Robertson, shops that consolidate mid-list authors. Supermarkets
are not interested in writers who sell less than 5000 copies of a book.
to the Bookmarks column in the Age, mid-list
Australian writer Peter Klein had a publishing contract for his next book
cancelled by Pan Macmillan because of insufficient orders to justify a print
run. Two other authors have suffered the same fate. The publishing director at
Pan Macmillan said that 20 per cent of the market had gone with the closure of
Borders and Angus and Robertson, shops that consolidate mid-list authors. Supermarkets
are not interested in writers who sell less than 5000 copies of a book.
This
is something to consider before buying books online from the UK or US.
is something to consider before buying books online from the UK or US.
0 Responses
"This is something to consider before buying books online from the UK or US."
OTOH, were it not for Amazon etc there would be nowhere to buy books now Borders and A&R hav gone. Dymocks hasn't many branches and the small local shops tend not to stock a lot of SF.
I agree about Dr Who. I'm also sick of hearing about the Doctor dying!
Hi Satima,
I try to support Australian bookstores, but it is getting harder and harder to.
We have a Collins bookstore in Wangaratta that had only four science fiction books in it last time I was in there (I wrote in a previous blog post that it was three, but I then discovered that the China Mieville novel was actually sci-fi). I bought one of the four books, so they then had three.
I intend to still look in Collins for other genres besides science fiction.
If I lived in a major city, like Melbourne, I would visit some of the specialist speculative fiction shops and buy there.
I recently used the Book Depository for the first time to buy a book by Adrian Bedford which is not published in Australia.
The less writers and readers support Australian retailers, the less those retailers will support Australian publishers and the less those publishers will support Australian writers.
The question is, will Australian writers be able to get their books noticed among the millions of other books on overseas online book sites? I hope they do, but I think most Australian authors will struggle much more than they do now to get noticed.
The market is going to change drastically in the next decade. I still reckon the biggest publishers will soon be Amazon, Google, Apple and possibly Facebook.
Well done on getting your story done.
Will have to look out for the new Torchwood. Where did you see it again?
That's really bad that our authors are getting dumped. Rather than getting rid of them they should be offering more web services such as Print on Demand and get away from the traditional print runs, which are fraught with problems in today's market. They are cutting off their noses to spite their faces. Those big old publishers are going to die off and as you say, the new guys will have the market.
Scary days for writers. Great ones for readers.
Anthony, Torchwood was on the BBCTV channel on Austar/Foxtel.