J. Scott Savage's Blog

I don't discuss politics on this blog. There are two main reasons for that. One, I tend to be too liberal for my conservative friends and too conservative for my liberal friends, and I'd like to keep all of them as my friends. More importantly though, I'm a fiction author. Presumably you come to this blog expecting me to post something about writing, reading, or other authorly (is that a word?) type stuff. There are plenty of sites either promoting or criticizing whatever your political views...

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I mean really, is there anything more to say?


Okay, maybe this!

What, you were looking for something to do with writing? Come on didn't you know that sports relates to everything?

Okay, I've got you covered.

First quarter: McKay Jacobson is playing front of all his famiy and friends since he is from Texas, where the game is taking place. In front of a national audience, broadcast on a giant screen that goes from twenty yeard line to twenty yard line, he fumbles a punt reception. Not only does h...

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I know, blogging three days in a row! What's up with that? It certainly isn't that I don't have enough other projects going on. Must have hit a hot button with the agent thing or something. After my last post, I received an e-mail asking about rejection. Basically her point was that if you tell yourself you are the best writer ever, how do you handle it when your manuscript is rejected by an agent or editor?

Good question! This is actually one of the biggest conundrums of being an author. You hav

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I know, I know. I just posted yesterday. But a friend of mine sent me a message about the article that made me have to write again.

Here is her message:

I read the interview with those four child-like agents, and now I'm so depressed I can barely look at my keyboard. What were you thinking? What was I thinking in believing I could compete in a world where a single grain of sand on an endless southern California beach needs to stand out so significantly just to be published ... or at least know som

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So I had a great post I was going to write today about finding and working with the right agent. Then I came across this interview and went, "Here is pretty much everything you need to know." Imagine sitting down for dinner with four, young, exciting agents and asking them everything you always wanted to know about the industry. Well this is it. It ran February of 2009, so it's even fairly up to date.

Read it and let me know what you think.

http://www.pw.org/content/agents_and_editors_qampa_four_y

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It's been over three months since my last school assemblies. But tomorrow I start up again. I'm really looking forward to visiting two elementary schools, a middle school, and doing a book signing at the Morgan library. But tonight it suddenly dawned on me. "Wait! Do I still remember my school presentation? Long 45 minutes if I don't. I'm hoping it's like riding a bike, but I'll let you know when I get back tomorrow."

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A few days ago I did a link to a movie trailer where a Sci-Fi author talks about how to come up with fantasy names. Jessica Day George (whose hair really isn't big) sent me the clip because it's hilarious and it's a question we get asked a lot. The thing is, I got a ton of hits from people wanting to know how to come up with fantasy names. So what the heck, I thought I'd do an actual post on creating fantasy character names.

Creating names can really be as simple or complex as you want to make it

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I love creamed onions. Little ones about half the size of a golf ball. My wife makes them every Thanksgiving, mostly at my request and I scarf them down. But even though they are one of my favorite vegetables, I wouldn't bring them as a side dish if I went to a friend's house for dinner. That's because not everyone likes creamed onions. In fact, most people I mention creamed onions to give me a funny look—like maybe I'm talking about something really odd; say chocolate zucchini mousse with potat

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Hey all, heading out for one last weekend of camping, so I post again on Monday. But Kirk Shaw, a good friend and great editor, forwarded me this review of Water Keep that Cindy Hannikman just put up at Fantasy Book Critic. These are the kinds of things that make you sing and dance all day as an author—when someone really "gets" your book. Have a great weekend and I'll try not to sink our new six person raft!

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The charming, witty, and lovely, and large-haired Jessica Day George, pointed out this hilarious movie trailer to me a couple of days ago. We especially liked the part where he teaches the students how to come up with fantasy names, because we get asked that a lot. I like combining his endings with common household items. For example, Tosteranous.

How about you? What cool fantasy names can you come up with by combining common household items with his endings?

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