Kevin's comments (member since Mar 11, 2008)

Kevin's comments from the Writerpedia group.

Don't use headphones.

I'm a real dunce when it comes to anything like audio recordings, so I really have no clue how well it works on XP. All i can say is to try it.

All I did for vista was plugged it in, and spoke into it. It came out perfect! A little TOO perfect for what I was doing lol.

But for you it'll probably be awesome.

btw, thank you for that link it's an awesome link I will save it ^_^

The word fantasy simply means anything of the fantastic imagination - requiring some romantic view on various aspects within the literature.

Yes, TG does put forth a lot of romanticising in his writing.

Not anymore and not with my Mic :D

here's the mic I have:
http://www.labtec.com/index.cfm/gear/det...

No outside sounds. It's got a directed sound feature. In fact, while trying to duplicate the muffled and breaking sounds of a 1950s mic, I had to manipulate my recording. I spent several hours comparing the sounds before I got the right trebble to a 1950s studio recordings you'd hear on the radio.

Prior to that it was a crips clean recording using Windows Sound Recorder on my vista machine. The only trick you need to have is not to blow into the mic. You have to position the mic above your breath line.

I had a radio going on in the background too (on purpose), but could never get the recording to pick it up.

It literally took me 5 minutes to make my first recording and convert it for youtube using Windows Movie Maker. I'll post a do it yourself instruction for those who are interested.

I am using Vista, so if you guys are using another operating system such as xp it might not work as well.


When you get right down to it though, even a messed up recording with a human voice is far superior to electronic readers most blind men and women have to use in order to brows the net. So, even if you suck at reading, even if your computer sucks at recording, if you're doing it for the sole purpose of enabling accessibility for the visually impaired, it is literally better than nothing ^_^

My teeth hiss - almost like I've got a viper sitting on my shoulder saying my "S"es. I have a gap upper and lower that I can't close thanks to a jerk dentist who messed my mouth up ten years ago. But it's still better than having nobody speak at all.

fantasy and paranormal all seem to depend on how you present it. So if it's more of a paranormal/psi-factor feel to it then yeah. Fantasy would be like being wrapped up in the romance of it all. Paranormal tends to be a more paranoid look.

Example: Conan is really called High Adventure (and it was appropriately coined that way by Howard) because there's no romance to Howard's writings. He's nasty about everyone except Conan. Some people have tried to say Howard was racist against the Khitai but if you pay attention, Howard's really nasty about Conan's own people too (which would technically be Romanian - not to mention the Red/Blonde Haired Northern Tribes). There's a reason why Conan doesn't like Cimmeria and moved away. The only people that are in high regard in Conan's Hyboria were the dark skinned priests of Isis/Ibis - the counters to the Setite snake cult.

If it were Fantasy, Howard would have had kind words for everyone and their religions, giving them all adolations and cozy warm feelings.

Instead what he gives us are rapings, butcherings, mercenaries, sacrificial altars, and Conan's comment about all theological philosophers as being "touched in the head".


So, it's all about presentation.

i don't like the term urban for anything, it's the most generalized term of recent history. But I do know it appeals to the young white kids - yes, the demographics are young white urbanite kids (or so i read).

It was a same article that talked about twilight and its appeal.

so I imagine anything that has a "homey" house on every corner with a picket fence feel to it.

Stephanie wrote: "Lol, Kevin, that's pretty cool. Just make sure you don't flunk biology like Stephenie Meyer did. She went into the chromosome thing and it got really weird, and now there are a ton of posts on the ..."


wow yeah I don't think chromosomes work in that way.

I tried to base my models more on the genetic coding than anything, I still leave some blanks and you need to make a small leap of faith but that's true with all science fiction before it loses the fiction.

One of my science things for my sci-fi universe though does wind up into a major conflict with hawking physicists, but considering that I've been vindicated multiple times by real science in the last 5 years, I've got no regrets challenging the Hawking Theories of Thermodynamics }]D


Marc:
Then you're really in the Fantasy side of things. Contemporary Fantasy is one of many genre titles I've seen that covers what you're talking about. Also seen Fantasy Horror. etc...

Shakespeare was very "scientific" throughout portions of his work in so far that he compared his creatures directly to real life constants. It "looks like prose" but did you know you can actually calculate how fast Puck can run?

I call it Poetic Science. He also used a lot of historic values in his prose, so maybe Historic Poety is another useful term.

;D

Check out Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare! It's on my bookshelf if you want to click the link and order it from wherever that book order links.

For those who are curious- Shakespeare inadvertantly states that Puck can indeed travel at 37,500mph ^_^

awesome.

So far it seems pretty easy to just make a simple recording but I'm still stuck on the distribution end.

Thank you for your information M.L. I will go visit smashswords.com ^_^

I am sorry for your troubles :(

How many of you have considered publishing your book content so it's viable for the visually impaired.

This means recording readings of your writing.

Now selling tapes is difficult, but producing youtube videos or other audio mediums and embedding them on your website isn't.

I'm seriously considering creating such videos or audio files and incorporating them on my website for the visually impaired. I'm calling around to various organizations to find out the best way to accomplish this feature.

But I want to know if you've considered it?

Ok well I have to post a warning against mobipocket. I've had several major issues with their corporate side, they lost one of my sales (the only one I had and the only one I know for a fact that I had), they screwed with my tax information, and they have also caused problems with payment information.

MobiPocket has an excellent converter to the downloadable ebook reader format, but I have to start warning people away from MobiPocket and Amazon.com

They are not playing by the rules nor their own contracts you sign.

Marc wrote: "Pretty much. My latest novel has werewolves, ghosts, lunar colonies, and romance, but I can't describe it. My published novels are fantasy, but with the same problem."

it depends on how it's presented.

I have "wolf people" in my books, but they are scientifically explained, and not the anne rice or world of darkness crap of "spiritual exchanges etc..."

Rather, in both my superhero world and my sci fi world, "wolf people" are merely people who have either evolutionarily developed or were genetically manipulated to have 40%-60% of their "normal bone skeletal structure" comprised of cartilage and tightened sinew and muscle. All of which bends or relaxes upon "transformation". Unlike supernatural "were wolves" my "wolf people" do not gain in size. That would be a physiological impossibility. Rather they shrink (which is in accordance with everything written pre 1980 back to the greeks). Their body hair is agitated due to a chemical flush through their skin. Hair on the head is lost when the skin tightens and opens up. It "regrows" when stimulated (rubbed on the head) after the chemical flush that brings them back to human appearance.

Obviously there's a little bit of a leap of faith with it, but I try to explain more of the biology than even the best warp core engine explanation for star trek ;D


If it's a fantasy oriented "werewolf" then it would just be science fantasy, or if it's like mine I just keep it as regular science fiction.

Sometimes I call my superhero stories : Superhero Sci-Fi or High Adventure (depending on whether or not I have science in that story).

So don't rely on the labels created by the publisher. Know your own label, own your own label and people will respect you as an author and your work far more!

I love introductions because a good introduction is like a firm but welcoming handshake to your reader or to the author :D

I just think that if an author knows the genre of their work, and explicitly describe it to their reader in the introduction, it will further strengthen the relationship between the author and the reader.

In the end, the Publisher and the Retailer have 0 say in what the Author puts in the introduction.

So if I wanted to say:

This is Science Detective Fiction Novel, you will see forensic science used by the main character.

as the first sentence of the introduction, the reader will instantly know the concept of your writing and your book. This will make it far easier for picky readers to appeal to your writing ^_^

You do realize that a niche is a label, right? :)

See I just don't buy that. Writers should own their labels. Writers should own our labels, know what we're talking about, be upfront with our readers.

Rowena wrote: "Orson Scott Card's book How To Write Science Fiction and Fantasy gives a first rate, and astonishingly broad definition of the genre, and if everyone read it, they'd save themselves a ..."

If the science is even a theory it's acceptible to me. However, if the story has nothing in any relation to any kind of science - sociological, psychological, physical, mathematical - then I won't consider it science fiction.

The most recent incarnation of Doctor Who was Harry Potter fiction 90% of the time, lacking any and all scientific elements, while relying on the magic wand "sonic screwdriver".

I love Doctor Who but most of the RTD Doctor was simply fantasy.


Every single book is part of a genre. The fact that people mislabel the genre of the book is what causes the problems. Genre simply means a descriptive term for the situations covered within the book title.

Hope this is the right section.

This is basically a rantingly informative post about genre to spark discussion.

Essentially I'm tired of writers who don't know what a genre is.

I've grown tired of picking up books, or watching movies, where the artist doesn't know their own genre. I have a lot to say on the subject but right now I'll leave it short:

Science Fiction does not mean flashy lights and the word spaceship. Science Fiction means a body of fiction which relies upon and addresses actual science. Yes, that means that you can have a Criminal Science Fiction story. OR Science Fantasy.

Fantasy - well quite frankly anything applies here which includes the fantastic. A Wrinkle in Time is a fantasy story just as much as star wars or the coming of the king. Anything that's fantastic or a dream. Could be horror or pleasant or none of the above.

Other major and sub categories with which people seem to have problems are "Romance" - "Historical Fiction" - "Noir" - "Nihilism" - "Classical" - "Epic".

Romance is a pretty big one for me too. Romance really seems to have two major divisions. The trash novel fabio stuff, and the actual romantic love stories. Though I do admit I've seen a rise in recent years that is leaning towards separating them into two distinct categories of Romance and Romantic.

I'm sure some people have something to say about this topic, so feel free to discuss. I'll comment more later on so I don't bombard you guys with a 10 page post.

well I added some new writing but it's not on goodreads, it's on my alternate site:
http://thelibrary.ninjanezumi.com/journe...

I'll take critiques if you have them :) Also there's a contest going on with it so if you want to check that out it's on my new goodreads.com group (you can locate that on my profile).

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 / 7:20pm - 12 days, 8-14 hours per day, and I finally converted the largest writing project I've ever attempted into web format.

!YAY!

http://thelibrary.ninjanezumi.com/journe...

Btw, there is also a contest associated with the writing project! Just visit this website for more information: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1741...
AND THAT'S NOT ALL! I've also got a mousepad for sale on my cafepress.com website (store links) featuring my linework and Mary Mak's coloring entitled "Konekomimi's Fields" (C)2008-2009 Kevin Conner. It's the cover picture for "Journey to Tokushi". The sides are a little clipped to give a near full fill of the pad. Keep watching the spot as I plan on having Mary Mak's wonderful coloring on my linework available for sale through Deviant Art in print form.


Don't forget friends neighbors and fiends, I get money from ad revenue so if you like it, pls click a google ad or two :)

thank you very much:


Without Wax

Kevin Conner