Peadar Ó Guilín's Blog, page 29
October 17, 2011
Мои твиты
Пн, 08:03
: @mollydot I won't make the dead dog :-( Sorry I missed you. hope it's fun
Пн, 10:26
: RT @lilsisorcha: A Must See! An INTENSE moment of TRUTH with MAINSTREAM Media http://t.co/klcSUgut #ows #occupydamestreet @occupyinfo #OT
October 16, 2011
October 15, 2011
Мои твиты
Пт, 12:09
: RT @AngieMcKeown: Spear hunting, weird creatures, cannibalism, nanotech, grey goo, virtual reality all in one book? The Deserter by Pead ...
Пт, 17:58
: Lisa Hannigans New Album: Not even slightly disappointing http://t.co/zEXz4e56
October 14, 2011
Lisa Hannigans New Album: Not even slightly disappointing
WARNING: This post is a metal free zone.
O Sleep, come for me,
I will come willingly,
Like a leaf from a tree,
In October...
Lisa Hannigan's First album, See Sew was so perfect, I feared the second, Passenger, would soon lose itself in the CD stacks. How happy I am to report another ten beautiful songs sweet enough to calm even the most savage of Norks. My current favourite also features the voice of Ray LaMontagne. Give it a listen!
O Sleep, come for me,
I will come willingly,
Like a leaf from a tree,
In October...
Lisa Hannigan's First album, See Sew was so perfect, I feared the second, Passenger, would soon lose itself in the CD stacks. How happy I am to report another ten beautiful songs sweet enough to calm even the most savage of Norks. My current favourite also features the voice of Ray LaMontagne. Give it a listen!
October 12, 2011
The Magicians, Short Successes
The Magicians
I'm one of those weirdos who didn't particularly like Harry Potter. I know, I know, I'm a scum-sucking fool. It all felt like wish-fulfillment to me and I hate wish-fulfillment.*
Lev Grossman might agree, because he's created a Hogwarts for grown-ups. In his version of the secret college of the Arcane, the practice of magic is appallingly tedious. Students spend all of their time studying obscure languages and learning endless lists of "conditions" and "exceptions" by heart. The teenage characters too, are every bit as dull and self-absorbed as some of their worst real-world counterparts.
So yes. What we're dealing with here is a blend of several children's fantasies with the charm deliberately leeched out of them.
None of which is to say that the book itself is dull or charmless or lacking in wit. Au contraire! It brims over with twisted, adult wonders. Particularly memorable for me were the incident with the geese** and the awful story in the middle about the girl who willingly left the school.
Definitely worth a read.
Another Sale
Just last week, I was happy as a skating cow to report a sale to Lore Magazine. This week, my story "Heartless" has been accepted by that amazing repository of Secondary Worlds known as Beneath Ceaseless Skies. BCS is a wonderful market that I've been trying to get into for some time.
Hurray! And many thanks to Gabrielle Harbowy for test-reading this one.
*Unless the wish is mine, of course.
**No spoilers here!
I'm one of those weirdos who didn't particularly like Harry Potter. I know, I know, I'm a scum-sucking fool. It all felt like wish-fulfillment to me and I hate wish-fulfillment.*
Lev Grossman might agree, because he's created a Hogwarts for grown-ups. In his version of the secret college of the Arcane, the practice of magic is appallingly tedious. Students spend all of their time studying obscure languages and learning endless lists of "conditions" and "exceptions" by heart. The teenage characters too, are every bit as dull and self-absorbed as some of their worst real-world counterparts.
So yes. What we're dealing with here is a blend of several children's fantasies with the charm deliberately leeched out of them.
None of which is to say that the book itself is dull or charmless or lacking in wit. Au contraire! It brims over with twisted, adult wonders. Particularly memorable for me were the incident with the geese** and the awful story in the middle about the girl who willingly left the school.
Definitely worth a read.
Another Sale
Just last week, I was happy as a skating cow to report a sale to Lore Magazine. This week, my story "Heartless" has been accepted by that amazing repository of Secondary Worlds known as Beneath Ceaseless Skies. BCS is a wonderful market that I've been trying to get into for some time.
Hurray! And many thanks to Gabrielle Harbowy for test-reading this one.
*Unless the wish is mine, of course.
**No spoilers here!
Мои твиты
Вт, 13:47
: The Inferior paperback edition on sale from today in North America! http://t.co/SaohMZyg
Вт, 14:30
: @mollydot @e_eric thanks for the retweets, guys!
Вт, 14:35
: RT @gutterbookshop: Voting for Irish Bookshop of the Year closes this wk! If you haven't voted yet pls help us get shortlisted http://t. ...
Вт, 17:32
: RT @DFB_storyhouse: Just getting ready to go to the Night Circus launch party... #extremelyexcitededitor
Вт, 23:17
: RT @iannmcdonald: First Planesrunner review: http://t.co/B51cvjFq I think he liked it.
October 11, 2011
Мои твиты
Вт, 13:47
: The Inferior paperback edition on sale from today in North America! http://t.co/SaohMZyg
Вт, 14:30
: @mollydot @e_eric thanks for the retweets, guys!
Вт, 14:35
: RT @gutterbookshop: Voting for Irish Bookshop of the Year closes this wk! If you haven't voted yet pls help us get shortlisted http://t. ...
Вт, 17:32
: RT @DFB_storyhouse: Just getting ready to go to the Night Circus launch party... #extremelyexcitededitor
The Inferior paperback edition on sale from today in North America!
The headline says it all: The Inferior, long only a hardback in North America, today gets its paperback release.
October 10, 2011
Where To Find Me Next Week And May God Help You All
Probably everybody left in Ireland is sick of me by now, but that's too bad. I get off on really, really annoying decent people like yourselves. And with that in mind, here are a list of events I'll be attending next week. You might need protective gear of some kind.
On Friday Night at the National Library of Ireland, I'll be participating in a YA Dystopian panel on behalf of Childrens Books Ireland. Among those who will have to put up with me are Sarah Rees Brennan, Ilsa J. Bick and, as moderator, David Maybury. This free event starts at 5:30pm. All are welcome.
For the rest of the weekend, I'll be attending Octocon and taking part in a plethora of panels on a whole variety of topics, including: "Meeting Your Heroes" and "Nobody Wants to Pay for Anything". I'll also have an entire hour to read to an empty room. I'm going to choose a few particularly exciting passages so that I don't fall asleep.
Yup. That sums it up, I think. More soon.
On Friday Night at the National Library of Ireland, I'll be participating in a YA Dystopian panel on behalf of Childrens Books Ireland. Among those who will have to put up with me are Sarah Rees Brennan, Ilsa J. Bick and, as moderator, David Maybury. This free event starts at 5:30pm. All are welcome.
For the rest of the weekend, I'll be attending Octocon and taking part in a plethora of panels on a whole variety of topics, including: "Meeting Your Heroes" and "Nobody Wants to Pay for Anything". I'll also have an entire hour to read to an empty room. I'm going to choose a few particularly exciting passages so that I don't fall asleep.
Yup. That sums it up, I think. More soon.
October 9, 2011
Disappointing TV? Writer Blaming Edition
Oh, TV executives, when will you learn to fire all of your writing minions to hire me in their places? Seriously, I'm amazing and the last few weeks have only confirmed how badly you need me.
Why? You ask. Why?
Where do I start?
Terra Nova
A new series from Steven Spielberg, no less, with enough dollars spent on it, that even one minute's worth, would have secured my services and saved this drama from drowning in its own cheese. Dreadful plotting; worse dialog; characters worthy of the nearest mincing machine. Beam me up, Scotty. Beam me far away from this steaming pile of dinosaur poop.
The Fades
Nowhere near as awful as TN, this British horror/fantasy effort manages to make some of the same mistakes. It's very obviously plotting by numbers in the first episode and a half, which was all I managed to watch. Worse, its characters are done by the numbers too. You can almost see the little tick-boxes above their heads. "Supposedly Humorous Sidekick", "Love Interest", "Messiah". Not the worst thing I've ever seen, just not worth the time to watch it.
The Borgias
Now, I quite like this one, up to a point. It gets an awful lot right, it really does. The characters are good. Some of the actors give great performances. Jeremy Irons, in particular, plays the part of Pope Alexander every bit as well as you would expect. The visuals too, if you forget about some terrible CGI here and there, are absolutely lush. Interior scenes could have been taken straight from Vermeer*. Sadly, the script, lets it all down in silly, easily mended ways. For example, in one episode, the King of France tells us of the horrors of war again and again and again. All right! We get it! We got it the first time, your majesty!
There are dozens of script problems from the annoying to the outrageous. I won't bother listing them all, but it is such a shame. Still, I haven't given up on it and will probably watch the entire series.
Something I like -- This is Jinsey
It's not all bad in TV land. Sometimes there are writing jobs out there I wouldn't dare apply for, for fear of destroying something rare and creepy and funny.
This is Jinsey is an insane little comedy series from one of the writers who brought us the extraordinary The League of Gentlemen. Jinsey, a tiny island with its own insane customs and bizarre inhabitants, is... is... Well, I'm not sure I can describe the place, so I'll let it speak for itself in this delightful tourist video.
*Yes, I know he's the wrong period, but that's what it looks like to me.
Why? You ask. Why?
Where do I start?
Terra Nova
A new series from Steven Spielberg, no less, with enough dollars spent on it, that even one minute's worth, would have secured my services and saved this drama from drowning in its own cheese. Dreadful plotting; worse dialog; characters worthy of the nearest mincing machine. Beam me up, Scotty. Beam me far away from this steaming pile of dinosaur poop.
The Fades
Nowhere near as awful as TN, this British horror/fantasy effort manages to make some of the same mistakes. It's very obviously plotting by numbers in the first episode and a half, which was all I managed to watch. Worse, its characters are done by the numbers too. You can almost see the little tick-boxes above their heads. "Supposedly Humorous Sidekick", "Love Interest", "Messiah". Not the worst thing I've ever seen, just not worth the time to watch it.
The Borgias
Now, I quite like this one, up to a point. It gets an awful lot right, it really does. The characters are good. Some of the actors give great performances. Jeremy Irons, in particular, plays the part of Pope Alexander every bit as well as you would expect. The visuals too, if you forget about some terrible CGI here and there, are absolutely lush. Interior scenes could have been taken straight from Vermeer*. Sadly, the script, lets it all down in silly, easily mended ways. For example, in one episode, the King of France tells us of the horrors of war again and again and again. All right! We get it! We got it the first time, your majesty!
There are dozens of script problems from the annoying to the outrageous. I won't bother listing them all, but it is such a shame. Still, I haven't given up on it and will probably watch the entire series.
Something I like -- This is Jinsey
It's not all bad in TV land. Sometimes there are writing jobs out there I wouldn't dare apply for, for fear of destroying something rare and creepy and funny.
This is Jinsey is an insane little comedy series from one of the writers who brought us the extraordinary The League of Gentlemen. Jinsey, a tiny island with its own insane customs and bizarre inhabitants, is... is... Well, I'm not sure I can describe the place, so I'll let it speak for itself in this delightful tourist video.
*Yes, I know he's the wrong period, but that's what it looks like to me.
