Kyle Michel Sullivan's Blog: https://www.myirishnovel.com/, page 172
September 16, 2017
In Toronto...
Everything went according to how it should, with the packing and finalizing of the shipment, then I spent the night in a full-fledged hotel instead of a B&B...and it felt so comfortable, I didn't go into London. Would've been a nightmare, anyway, what with that bomb that sort of went off at Parsons Green.
I've taken the District line. It runs down to Wimbledon, where I've done two packing jobs. You have to wonder what kind of devil lives to convince some idiot to try and kill people who've done nothing to him. Just slaughter anyone you can because some religious freak tells you to. I'm beginning to think civilization will be destroyed by the proliferation of the stupidly weak.
And I apply this to all religions, not just Islam. Christians have been killing each other for centuries, as have Hindus and Jews and even Buddhists. Once people reach the point of "my God is better than your God," it's the end of the line. The only real way to stop fanatics is to kill them, because if they're weak-minded enough to be won over by some butcher, then won back over by some enlightened soul, they'll have the capacity to revert to slaughter-scum, again.
Of course, Czar Snowflake tweeting never helps, especially when he sends one tweet about the bombing then gets back to whining about CNN or ESPN or MSNBC in his childish, adjective-laden way. I'm to the point where I honestly hope he has a stroke and doesn't die; I want him to live in his body for a long time and see if he thinks about his actions.
Rant over. Had a decent flight from Heathrow to Pearson. Wound up with a window seat; how, I have no idea. But I also watched most of Season Ten of The Big Bang Theory because there was a squalling baby on board that did not want to shut up. No writing done, but that's the way it goes.
Now I've got a headache and just want my bed.
I've taken the District line. It runs down to Wimbledon, where I've done two packing jobs. You have to wonder what kind of devil lives to convince some idiot to try and kill people who've done nothing to him. Just slaughter anyone you can because some religious freak tells you to. I'm beginning to think civilization will be destroyed by the proliferation of the stupidly weak.
And I apply this to all religions, not just Islam. Christians have been killing each other for centuries, as have Hindus and Jews and even Buddhists. Once people reach the point of "my God is better than your God," it's the end of the line. The only real way to stop fanatics is to kill them, because if they're weak-minded enough to be won over by some butcher, then won back over by some enlightened soul, they'll have the capacity to revert to slaughter-scum, again.
Of course, Czar Snowflake tweeting never helps, especially when he sends one tweet about the bombing then gets back to whining about CNN or ESPN or MSNBC in his childish, adjective-laden way. I'm to the point where I honestly hope he has a stroke and doesn't die; I want him to live in his body for a long time and see if he thinks about his actions.
Rant over. Had a decent flight from Heathrow to Pearson. Wound up with a window seat; how, I have no idea. But I also watched most of Season Ten of The Big Bang Theory because there was a squalling baby on board that did not want to shut up. No writing done, but that's the way it goes.
Now I've got a headache and just want my bed.
September 13, 2017
Turned out good...
The flight over to London was good and my trip to Devizes was easy enough. I ran into one snafu, where a bus driver refused to accept my ticket and I had to get a supervisor to tell him to. But I got there easily enough, and am in a small hotel that has uneven floors. Literally.
This job is all packed and ready for pickup. I'm heading to London the day after tomorrow to finalize the transportation then home on Saturday. I'm ready. I've got an assistant, here, who does not believe in silence, so it's been rough.
The job went a lot smoother than I expected or feared. They were ready for us and had lots of room to work in. Very helpful. England is expensive, even in a small town...a small town where everything but the restaurants and pubs closes at 5pm.
After tomorrow's pickup, I'm going wandering, if the weather permits. It looks like there's a lot of history, here. Aged buildings and a market square in the town center and churches with spires that are fascinating. The countryside is green and rolling hills predominate...as do cattle, horses and corn fields.
I'm itching to get back to The Alice '65. I got some great feedback from a contact in England, and I want to start work on my book cover, as well. If the others I sent the story to can come back soon, that would be great. But so far it seems the story is solid and it's merely detail work needing to be done.
Devil's in the details.
This job is all packed and ready for pickup. I'm heading to London the day after tomorrow to finalize the transportation then home on Saturday. I'm ready. I've got an assistant, here, who does not believe in silence, so it's been rough.
The job went a lot smoother than I expected or feared. They were ready for us and had lots of room to work in. Very helpful. England is expensive, even in a small town...a small town where everything but the restaurants and pubs closes at 5pm.
After tomorrow's pickup, I'm going wandering, if the weather permits. It looks like there's a lot of history, here. Aged buildings and a market square in the town center and churches with spires that are fascinating. The countryside is green and rolling hills predominate...as do cattle, horses and corn fields.
I'm itching to get back to The Alice '65. I got some great feedback from a contact in England, and I want to start work on my book cover, as well. If the others I sent the story to can come back soon, that would be great. But so far it seems the story is solid and it's merely detail work needing to be done.
Devil's in the details.
September 8, 2017
Off on another job...
This one, I have no idea how it's going to go. I'm not dealing with books or the usual archives and only have a few photos that don't seem to cover everything that's being packed. Plus it's out in the middle of the English countryside, not far from the border with Wales, so no way I can order more supplies if I've underestimated or gotten the wrong sizes of box. But that 's half the adventure.
I'll be there a week with God only knows what kind of wifi access. And no time, really, for jaunting through London. Dammit. But what the heck; the farthest west I've been -- not counting taking the train from Holyhead to London off the Dublin Ferry, 12 years ago -- is Salisbury and Stonehenge. Should be interesting.
I've corrected the errors found by a couple of editors into my hard copy of The Alice '65. The story's still holding up, it seems. I also noted what ellipses and dashes I'd like to get rid of...which is a lot of them. Commas work just as well, as does making short sentences out of those bits. What's fun is how each editor found different mistakes. I'd say they both noted 80% of the same typos, then one caught a few that the other did not, and vise versa. And I found two that neither of them noticed, not to mention an inconsistency in one part of the story's details.
That's why I like getting as wide a response as possible. Makes it far more likely to catch everything. It's also interesting to get their different takes on punctuation. For example, one wants to remove as many commas as possible while the other despises semi-colons.
As regards commas, I do tend to be more old school about that. I use them for clarity, and while that can become a bit overly emphatic, it's not a killing point. Plus, I started learning grammar in England, so I may have the Oxford comma branded into my brain. I do know it took me years to get to where I didn't automatically spell "color" or "honor" with a "U", and I still sometimes say la-BOR-atory.
At least I'll be in a part of the world where no one will laugh at me for it, next week.
I'll be there a week with God only knows what kind of wifi access. And no time, really, for jaunting through London. Dammit. But what the heck; the farthest west I've been -- not counting taking the train from Holyhead to London off the Dublin Ferry, 12 years ago -- is Salisbury and Stonehenge. Should be interesting.
I've corrected the errors found by a couple of editors into my hard copy of The Alice '65. The story's still holding up, it seems. I also noted what ellipses and dashes I'd like to get rid of...which is a lot of them. Commas work just as well, as does making short sentences out of those bits. What's fun is how each editor found different mistakes. I'd say they both noted 80% of the same typos, then one caught a few that the other did not, and vise versa. And I found two that neither of them noticed, not to mention an inconsistency in one part of the story's details.
That's why I like getting as wide a response as possible. Makes it far more likely to catch everything. It's also interesting to get their different takes on punctuation. For example, one wants to remove as many commas as possible while the other despises semi-colons.
As regards commas, I do tend to be more old school about that. I use them for clarity, and while that can become a bit overly emphatic, it's not a killing point. Plus, I started learning grammar in England, so I may have the Oxford comma branded into my brain. I do know it took me years to get to where I didn't automatically spell "color" or "honor" with a "U", and I still sometimes say la-BOR-atory.
At least I'll be in a part of the world where no one will laugh at me for it, next week.
September 7, 2017
"The Fire Next Time"
I'm reading James Baldwin's book about his life in the 30s, 40s and 50s, and it's interesting to see how little has really changed. It's not extremely detailed as regards actions, but his thoughts and comments are precise and intense. One struck me hardest.
It's when he's discussing the Nation of Islam's growing influence and white America's shock at the horrors of the Second World War. To his mind, what happened in a Christian nation like Germany destroyed any pretense that Christians or Christianity were superior to others. He could easily see it being done to African Americans in the US -- since it was still the pattern in the South, before, during and after the war -- and it's summed up in his understanding that civilizations are not destroyed by the wicked, but by the spineless.
It resonates today because he saw that Hitler did not really seize power, in Germany; he was allowed to have it. Same for the horrors that followed. Germans weren't stupid people; they knew what was going on...but far too many of those who thought the Holocaust was wrong and evil weren't willing to try and stop it. Some did, but when you're surrounded by cowards and fools, it's hard to get any traction on an honest resistance.
We have a similar albeit less defining occurrence happening now, with that diseased SOB in the White House being allowed to do as he damn well wants by the spineless Republicans as his attack dogs howl at those who fight back against him. What's more, they deride anyone who opposes his vile actions by heaping their own beliefs onto them -- calling ANTIFA and BLM racist and violent even as their side carries Nazi flags and spits racist chants while carrying assault rifles and wearing Kevlar vests.
And the spineless media goes along with it. Even FaceBook helps them. It's been revealed that company allowed ads filled with lies and propaganda from Russia supporting that excuse of a man who's now president to be spread on its pages in exchange for money. No vetting. No care taken. And we're only just now getting a basic, "Oops," followed by a so-what shrug. They're too big to punish or fail, and too few people are willing to take them to task.
On top of that, when some right wing vermin complains about you for any reason, FaceBook suspends you, without a second's thought. But it lets Nazis post swastikas and KKK symbols and nothing happens unless the company is shamed into it. Tells you where their sympathies really lie.
I don't know what to do about that. Americans have become too much like Germans prior to the war. "Just leave me alone and let me live my life, and I won't care about what happens to anybody else." James Baldwin saw it for what it was -- a dead conscience.
And I'm not sure it can be revived.
It's when he's discussing the Nation of Islam's growing influence and white America's shock at the horrors of the Second World War. To his mind, what happened in a Christian nation like Germany destroyed any pretense that Christians or Christianity were superior to others. He could easily see it being done to African Americans in the US -- since it was still the pattern in the South, before, during and after the war -- and it's summed up in his understanding that civilizations are not destroyed by the wicked, but by the spineless.
It resonates today because he saw that Hitler did not really seize power, in Germany; he was allowed to have it. Same for the horrors that followed. Germans weren't stupid people; they knew what was going on...but far too many of those who thought the Holocaust was wrong and evil weren't willing to try and stop it. Some did, but when you're surrounded by cowards and fools, it's hard to get any traction on an honest resistance.
We have a similar albeit less defining occurrence happening now, with that diseased SOB in the White House being allowed to do as he damn well wants by the spineless Republicans as his attack dogs howl at those who fight back against him. What's more, they deride anyone who opposes his vile actions by heaping their own beliefs onto them -- calling ANTIFA and BLM racist and violent even as their side carries Nazi flags and spits racist chants while carrying assault rifles and wearing Kevlar vests.
And the spineless media goes along with it. Even FaceBook helps them. It's been revealed that company allowed ads filled with lies and propaganda from Russia supporting that excuse of a man who's now president to be spread on its pages in exchange for money. No vetting. No care taken. And we're only just now getting a basic, "Oops," followed by a so-what shrug. They're too big to punish or fail, and too few people are willing to take them to task.
On top of that, when some right wing vermin complains about you for any reason, FaceBook suspends you, without a second's thought. But it lets Nazis post swastikas and KKK symbols and nothing happens unless the company is shamed into it. Tells you where their sympathies really lie.
I don't know what to do about that. Americans have become too much like Germans prior to the war. "Just leave me alone and let me live my life, and I won't care about what happens to anybody else." James Baldwin saw it for what it was -- a dead conscience.
And I'm not sure it can be revived.
September 5, 2017
Too clever for my own good...
Well, it seems a stylistic choice I made is falling flat, and I can understand why. In The Alice '65 I used ellipses to indicate pauses in the storytelling, and they're not going over well with anyone who's commented on it. The consensus is, it slows down the momentum and takes you out of the story. I thought it was clever, but it turns out to have been rude, crude and totally misconstrued.
It's not as if I'm wedded to it. I can take them out. Sometimes they're needed, but nowhere near to the extent I used. And reality is, I was already thinking they'd become overwhelming. This just backs up my inner critic.
This isn't a first, for me. I once got into the habit of putting a period after dashes at the end of a sentence and have no idea why, because nowhere can I find that as being justified. I will put a question mark, still, for clarity, but I'm getting rid of the nonsensical dot.
The latest comments also mirror those made earlier -- that the story's sluggish in the first two chapters. It doesn't really get going till Adam is on the plane. I need to address that, because it's one of my failings. I need the info in there but have to work harder to make it palatable and natural, and right now it isn't. It took me a lot of work to get that handled in The Vanishing of Owen Taylor; A65 is just as worthy of the focus.
On the positive side, they all like the story and seem to care about Adam. No real comments on Casey, yet, but it is much more his story than hers. And no one has come forth to say I've mucked up this or made no sense with that.
The latest job in San Francisco is done and ready to ship. Then Saturday I'm off to the UK. Looks like I'll miss all the fun of Hurricane Irma. I was going to do a job in the Florida Keys; it now looks entirely possible that will be blown away by a record-breaking storm. But the right wing says that climate change is a hoax.
Goddamned idiots.
It's not as if I'm wedded to it. I can take them out. Sometimes they're needed, but nowhere near to the extent I used. And reality is, I was already thinking they'd become overwhelming. This just backs up my inner critic.
This isn't a first, for me. I once got into the habit of putting a period after dashes at the end of a sentence and have no idea why, because nowhere can I find that as being justified. I will put a question mark, still, for clarity, but I'm getting rid of the nonsensical dot.
The latest comments also mirror those made earlier -- that the story's sluggish in the first two chapters. It doesn't really get going till Adam is on the plane. I need to address that, because it's one of my failings. I need the info in there but have to work harder to make it palatable and natural, and right now it isn't. It took me a lot of work to get that handled in The Vanishing of Owen Taylor; A65 is just as worthy of the focus.
On the positive side, they all like the story and seem to care about Adam. No real comments on Casey, yet, but it is much more his story than hers. And no one has come forth to say I've mucked up this or made no sense with that.
The latest job in San Francisco is done and ready to ship. Then Saturday I'm off to the UK. Looks like I'll miss all the fun of Hurricane Irma. I was going to do a job in the Florida Keys; it now looks entirely possible that will be blown away by a record-breaking storm. But the right wing says that climate change is a hoax.
Goddamned idiots.
September 3, 2017
First notes on The Alice '65...
Mainly dealing with typos, punctuation and missing or extra words. The only real comment was, the opening chapters are a bit too long. Which I can understand, and I will try to trim them, but I need the opening bits for later reference as Adam's world changes. And at the end, to show how much it's changed.
Something commented on, and which I'm contemplating changing, is my use of ellipses and dashes to indicate pauses and hesitations. I'd already cut back on them, some, but I can see their point that they slow down the read. It might be better to get rid of a lot more and make shorter, Hemingway-like sentences to replace them. I'll have to think about it.
I've already noted the needed corrections in my printed copy. Now I'm just awaiting more comments to see what to do, next. Hopefully, it will be along the same lines, but you never know till you get them.
Tomorrow I'm off to San Francisco to collect another author's archives, to ship to a University they've been donated to. This will give me time to think about what I'm going to do with Place of Safety. Brendan's not going to put up with more delays...and I don't blame him.
I'd be irritated with me, as well.
Something commented on, and which I'm contemplating changing, is my use of ellipses and dashes to indicate pauses and hesitations. I'd already cut back on them, some, but I can see their point that they slow down the read. It might be better to get rid of a lot more and make shorter, Hemingway-like sentences to replace them. I'll have to think about it.
I've already noted the needed corrections in my printed copy. Now I'm just awaiting more comments to see what to do, next. Hopefully, it will be along the same lines, but you never know till you get them.
Tomorrow I'm off to San Francisco to collect another author's archives, to ship to a University they've been donated to. This will give me time to think about what I'm going to do with Place of Safety. Brendan's not going to put up with more delays...and I don't blame him.
I'd be irritated with me, as well.
September 2, 2017
Could it be...?
I wonder if I'm still avoiding Place of Safety, but this time using the idea that once I get started, if I have to shift back to A65, it will kill my momentum and hurt what I'm aiming to do? It's an important project, to me...one I'd rather not stop and start on, like I have so many others. And today, I woke up thinking of the dozens of other projects I want to write, once P/S is done...and that depressed me. Going at the rate I'm going, I'd have to live to be 95 and be at least as sharp as I am, now, to get them all done. Not sure about that.
Since no one wants my screenplays, I've been aiming to shift them into books. Like I'm doing with The Alice '65 and did with The Lyons' Den, and started to do with Bugzters and The Golden Sea. I've got 23 original scripts I've done...well, original for me; no one else involved in the writing. By that measure, it includes my adaptations...except for Straight On Till Morning, since I don't have the rights to that pair of books.
Of these, four would work best as stage plays, if I can sit myself down to do them right. Two of those I'd want to do as musicals -- The Cowboy King of Texas and Cyber-tribes...something I've never done before. That would definitely mean collaborating with someone who writes music, which would be a lot of work unto itself.
Of the rest, they would need a fair amount of reconfiguring, and couple just plain wouldn't work, as they currently stand. We-come, for instance; totally conceived to be a low-budget sci-fi horror movie. I just can't see that as a book.
And then there are the projects I've had in the planning stages forever. Like The Six Days of Jemmy Tee (which would do better as a book) and Uplanders (which really should be a movie). However, Blood Angel would do nicely as an erotic romance. Same for Carli's Kills. So...
So either I shut the fuck up and get my ass to work, or I blow all of them off and die with nothing but regrets.
Oh, that would not be the way to go.
Since no one wants my screenplays, I've been aiming to shift them into books. Like I'm doing with The Alice '65 and did with The Lyons' Den, and started to do with Bugzters and The Golden Sea. I've got 23 original scripts I've done...well, original for me; no one else involved in the writing. By that measure, it includes my adaptations...except for Straight On Till Morning, since I don't have the rights to that pair of books.
Of these, four would work best as stage plays, if I can sit myself down to do them right. Two of those I'd want to do as musicals -- The Cowboy King of Texas and Cyber-tribes...something I've never done before. That would definitely mean collaborating with someone who writes music, which would be a lot of work unto itself.
Of the rest, they would need a fair amount of reconfiguring, and couple just plain wouldn't work, as they currently stand. We-come, for instance; totally conceived to be a low-budget sci-fi horror movie. I just can't see that as a book.
And then there are the projects I've had in the planning stages forever. Like The Six Days of Jemmy Tee (which would do better as a book) and Uplanders (which really should be a movie). However, Blood Angel would do nicely as an erotic romance. Same for Carli's Kills. So...
So either I shut the fuck up and get my ass to work, or I blow all of them off and die with nothing but regrets.
Oh, that would not be the way to go.
September 1, 2017
Stasis, again...
Well...my glorious plans to be working on Place of Safety are staying just that -- plans. I'm caught in a total block. Can't focus on anything for more than an hour or two. I get one project done and then mind shuts down. I'm lucky I did anything at all with anything...and I know why. I'm waiting.
I thought I could just send The Alice '65 off and shift my attention to at least reading up on what I need for P/S...but no. Something in me is saying, "Not yet, buddy. Keep your eye on this story till it's done...then you can shift gears." Meaning wait till you've got feedback and keep making your notes for ways to improve the story. So all I was able to do was sort out my books and contemplate the paperwork that's already been done on P/S.
I was able to push some more awareness of The Vanishing of Owen Taylor. It's up on "Publishers Weekly" and it's gotten a couple of sales, again. It had pretty much gone flat. Plus, I am caught up on my financial paperwork and I've got everything in line for my next packing job...so I guess I'm doing good.
But there's no way I can start writing anything else. At all. And I shouldn't be surprised; I've done this before. Hibernation till ready to move on. I just keep thinking this time I can do it differently. No such luck.
Dammit.
I thought I could just send The Alice '65 off and shift my attention to at least reading up on what I need for P/S...but no. Something in me is saying, "Not yet, buddy. Keep your eye on this story till it's done...then you can shift gears." Meaning wait till you've got feedback and keep making your notes for ways to improve the story. So all I was able to do was sort out my books and contemplate the paperwork that's already been done on P/S.
I was able to push some more awareness of The Vanishing of Owen Taylor. It's up on "Publishers Weekly" and it's gotten a couple of sales, again. It had pretty much gone flat. Plus, I am caught up on my financial paperwork and I've got everything in line for my next packing job...so I guess I'm doing good.
But there's no way I can start writing anything else. At all. And I shouldn't be surprised; I've done this before. Hibernation till ready to move on. I just keep thinking this time I can do it differently. No such luck.
Dammit.
August 31, 2017
Off to SFO
Seems I'm traveling to San Francisco to handle a pickup and pack job instead of Chicago. The latter one got pushed to the end of September, just as I'm coming back from the UK. Not unacceptable, but in researching the possibilities of the trip happening later in the week instead of on Labor Day, I learned I could fly Norwegian Airlines from Oakland to Gatwick for a little more than it costs to fly from Buffalo.
I also found out Norwegian is flying from an airport in eastern New York, south of Albany, to Dublin for $200, each way. Which is half what it costs to fly from Buffalo to San Antonio. It's insane...and I'm seriously thinking about it.
I'm waiting to hear back from a couple more people to see if they will read A65 and give me feedback. I figure this will give me as wide a selection of opinions as possible. May make things harder to deal with, once I get back to writing it, but better to know that be told after it's available.
That happened with Porno Manifesto. One reviewer pointed out something that I was leading up to then didn't follow through on...and he was right. I didn't see it till he pointed it out, but by that point it was done and in circulation. Granted, it's not the kind of book you want your more genteel friends to read, but feedback would have helped. It certainly did on The Vanishing of Owen Taylor.
I have started some preliminary publicity for A65, with "Publishers Weekly" and a couple of other spots. And I'm reading some articles on how to better launch the book that I hope will help it do well. This isn't going to be something my usual readers will go for.
I did a proof to see how the current version would work once it's set for hardcover, and it came out to 149 pages of story, and a total of 164 pages in the book. That, I can post at $24.95 and still make a little on it. I don't charge a lot for my books because I don't want them priced out of the market. Not many people will plunk down $30 for a book written by someone they don't know. So I keep my margin low but on the positive side.
It's helped, a few times.
I also found out Norwegian is flying from an airport in eastern New York, south of Albany, to Dublin for $200, each way. Which is half what it costs to fly from Buffalo to San Antonio. It's insane...and I'm seriously thinking about it.
I'm waiting to hear back from a couple more people to see if they will read A65 and give me feedback. I figure this will give me as wide a selection of opinions as possible. May make things harder to deal with, once I get back to writing it, but better to know that be told after it's available.
That happened with Porno Manifesto. One reviewer pointed out something that I was leading up to then didn't follow through on...and he was right. I didn't see it till he pointed it out, but by that point it was done and in circulation. Granted, it's not the kind of book you want your more genteel friends to read, but feedback would have helped. It certainly did on The Vanishing of Owen Taylor.
I have started some preliminary publicity for A65, with "Publishers Weekly" and a couple of other spots. And I'm reading some articles on how to better launch the book that I hope will help it do well. This isn't going to be something my usual readers will go for.
I did a proof to see how the current version would work once it's set for hardcover, and it came out to 149 pages of story, and a total of 164 pages in the book. That, I can post at $24.95 and still make a little on it. I don't charge a lot for my books because I don't want them priced out of the market. Not many people will plunk down $30 for a book written by someone they don't know. So I keep my margin low but on the positive side.
It's helped, a few times.
August 30, 2017
Aimless couple of days
I haven't gotten much done the last two days, half because I'm not sure what to do next, half because I don't want to lose focus on A65, and half because I'm just a bit too lazy. I know the math doesn't work out, but it does in my head. So I lazed most of my time away reorganizing my shelves of books on Northern Ireland and watching videos of Irish history and dealing with emails and Facebook and basically being a slug.
I did lay the groundwork to try and get a review for A65 out of "Publishers Weekly." Once I've got the next draft done, I'm doing the e-book format, first, and sending it to them to see if they'll look it over. Nothing guaranteed, but it doesn't cost anything...and I can post about the book on their associate page -- "Booklife." Get a bit more awareness of it.
And I now have 13 people reading this draft of the book to give me feedback -- people who are editors and/or writers, and people who just read for fun. As much of a cross-section as possible. And that includes some family members. God knows how long they'll take to get back to me, but I have it printed and ready to go to incorporate my notes, and am able, so far, to keep my grubby red pen off it.
Of course, I'm going through the usual writer's paranoia -- "OMG, I got it to them 2 days ago and they haven't responded? They must hate it!" That's the second-hardest part of being a writer -- learning patience and accepting the fact that other people have lives of their own.
I'd watch one of the Miss Marple episodes on Acorn to get my mind off it, but I'm finding them problematic. I haven't read all of Agatha Christies' works, but while these movies are supposed to be based on their actual stories, I know things have been added to "update" them...and the additions don't work.
One I watched was A Murder Is Announced and it was ludicrous. The writers put a lesbian couple into the story (NOT something Agatha would have allowed) and a son with a Oedipal complex (that is strictly a maybe), and when the murderer is revealed, it was preposterous because of the timing involved and one amazingly stupid detail -- the killer was female with her salon-coiffed hair in perfectly sprayed 1950's condition...after having committed a murder in the pouring rain only a short while prior. No way in hell could that have happened, let alone having the killer know she had to be there at that particular time to kill that particular witness.
The last one, Sleeping Murder, relied on a young woman not remembering she'd lived in England for a couple of years, as a toddler. I don't have the best memory, but I can recall being in my grandmother's back yard when I was 2 or 3. It also required the child to say nothing to her father about witnessing a murder...not asking about it, not referencing it, nothing until she returns from India as a 21 year old woman about to be married and begins having visions. Didn't buy it, at all. And on top of it, an incestuous angle? PUH-lease.
Oh, well...I guess they can't all be Hetty Wainthropp.
I did lay the groundwork to try and get a review for A65 out of "Publishers Weekly." Once I've got the next draft done, I'm doing the e-book format, first, and sending it to them to see if they'll look it over. Nothing guaranteed, but it doesn't cost anything...and I can post about the book on their associate page -- "Booklife." Get a bit more awareness of it.
And I now have 13 people reading this draft of the book to give me feedback -- people who are editors and/or writers, and people who just read for fun. As much of a cross-section as possible. And that includes some family members. God knows how long they'll take to get back to me, but I have it printed and ready to go to incorporate my notes, and am able, so far, to keep my grubby red pen off it.
Of course, I'm going through the usual writer's paranoia -- "OMG, I got it to them 2 days ago and they haven't responded? They must hate it!" That's the second-hardest part of being a writer -- learning patience and accepting the fact that other people have lives of their own.
I'd watch one of the Miss Marple episodes on Acorn to get my mind off it, but I'm finding them problematic. I haven't read all of Agatha Christies' works, but while these movies are supposed to be based on their actual stories, I know things have been added to "update" them...and the additions don't work.
One I watched was A Murder Is Announced and it was ludicrous. The writers put a lesbian couple into the story (NOT something Agatha would have allowed) and a son with a Oedipal complex (that is strictly a maybe), and when the murderer is revealed, it was preposterous because of the timing involved and one amazingly stupid detail -- the killer was female with her salon-coiffed hair in perfectly sprayed 1950's condition...after having committed a murder in the pouring rain only a short while prior. No way in hell could that have happened, let alone having the killer know she had to be there at that particular time to kill that particular witness.
The last one, Sleeping Murder, relied on a young woman not remembering she'd lived in England for a couple of years, as a toddler. I don't have the best memory, but I can recall being in my grandmother's back yard when I was 2 or 3. It also required the child to say nothing to her father about witnessing a murder...not asking about it, not referencing it, nothing until she returns from India as a 21 year old woman about to be married and begins having visions. Didn't buy it, at all. And on top of it, an incestuous angle? PUH-lease.
Oh, well...I guess they can't all be Hetty Wainthropp.
