Bryce Moore's Blog, page 303

Technical Difficulties and the Oscars

Let's get one thing perfectly clear before I go on this short diatribe: I love living in Maine. I love how few people there are here, and how most of the ones who are here are friendly and open and willing to help a stranger or say hi to you on the street. Maine is great, and it would take an awful lot to make me want to move.



However, just as "with great power comes great responsibility," with few people comes some crappy technology. My internet speed tops out at 3 mbps as far as a reliable speed goes. That puts me on the very threshold of HD streaming. Sometimes at night, the speed bogs down, something my ISP assures me they're working on fixing. As you remember, I cut the cord to my satellite subscription a year ago, so I get all my TV through the internet or over the air. Of course, if I lived somewhere with a real population, I'd be able to get CBS, ABC and NBC pretty easily with an antenna. Where I am, I can get none of those. Naturally, the Oscars were on ABC last night. I thought I had things rigged up so that I'd be able to watch at home, but about an hour into the telecast, everything went haywire. My computers stopped working and wouldn't reboot (both laptops), by iPad was behaving strangely, my internet bogged down.



I didn't get to watch the Oscars.



I gather from Twitter and live blogs and the like that I didn't miss much. Sounds like the hosts were snoozeville, and the show in general was boring. But you know what--I love the Oscars. I want to be the one complaining about how boring it was, not the one reading about it. You see the difference? Of course this morning everything's working fine, but when I need that technology to work, it all died. And right then, I was pretty steamed at my part of the country.



Why can't I live where there's a better internet connection? My brother in DC gets something like 30mbps for the same price that I pay for 3. Why can't my TV reception be better? Why is it difficult to get to any real store that doesn't start with Wal or end in Mart?



But then I remember: it's sort of an either/or situation. If all those amenities were here in Western Maine, there'd probably be a slew of people using them. So which is more important to me--a fast, reliable internet connection, or a wonderful place to live?



Still, next year I think I'll arrange an alternate viewing setup. Because no one should have to be without the Oscars two years in a row.



Oh--and I won the Oscar pool, meaning I get to keep the Oscar the Grouch Hat of Victory.

Why I Don't Review Bad Books

I review a lot of things. Many movies, some books. But you might have noticed that I generally don't post many reviews of bad books. I don't shy away from stating my mind about movies I don't like, but when it comes to books, am I just nicer? More forgiving? Less discerning?



Well, no. At least, I hope not. But when it comes to movies, I don't have much to do with them, career-wise. I feel like I can say whatever I want, and it won't ever come back to bite me. I don't anticipate directors ever really caring what I think. Authors . . . it's a bit of a different story. I'm coming to the dinner party, and I don't particularly feel like being a jerk even before I arrive. I don't know when I might be approaching an author for a cover quote, or when what I write might end up getting to an editor I hoped to work with--who then will hold a grudge against me, since I lambasted one of his/her books. Know what I mean?



So I take the line of "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." I do read books I don't like. I just don't promote them in any way shape or form. You don't hear about those experiences--not in a permanent, archived format, at any rate. In the past two weeks, I read two separate books--finished one, started the other--that I didn't care for. The first one (the one I finished) had a lot going for it, but the execution didn't sit right with me. The second was so awful I couldn't get past the first 20 pages (and I usually make it a rule to give a book at least 50).



What didn't I like about the second, to make me put it down in disgust?



It was extraordinarily condescending to YAs. It was written by a bestselling adult author (no one I know personally, and not a friend of any friends--that I'm aware of), who was "convinced" by "fans" that she should write for YAs, too. I interpret this to mean that she decided to cash in on the YA market. It was poorly paced, overly simplistic, and just plain boring. And that irritated me. So off with its head.



Anyway--it's Friday, and I'm done editing for the day. I think I'll go watch a movie . . . Oscars this weekend!

Skiing at Saddleback

Took a break from editing today to drive up to Saddleback and go skiing. TRC has been taking ski lessons, and I'd say he's pretty much better than me by now. (Not that that would be terribly difficult). Denisa has been teaching DC, and by the end of today she was skiing with the help of a harness. (DC was--not Denisa.) DC thought it was the coolest thing in the world, and she was clearly very proud of herself--even singing as she skied. (The tune to Elmo's World. I have no idea what the connection there was in her head.)



In any case, there were only a few spills (one scary one when TRC and I fell down getting off a lift. I thought for sure he'd broken something for a bit there, but he got over it. Thank goodness). Saddleback has some fun little moguls and trick areas on the easy slopes, and TRC had a great time going off those. It's been about two years since I went skiing, and it was a blast to do it again. Now that our kids are getting bigger, I'm hoping we'll be able to go as a family more regularly, especially since it's so inexpensive up here in our neck of the woods. We paid $58 total for this trip today. For Denisa and me to go to the movies and dinner and get a sitter, we'd pay about the same. Very nice. It helps that we all have our own skis, and that kids 6 and under ski free at Saddleback.



Anyway--I'm home now, and the time has come to go back to the edit. Cut an entire chapter this morning. Thwack. Whole thing. Gone. Saving it for the extended edition. :-)



Happy Thursday, everybody!

How I Managed to Lose Track of Which Revision I was Working On

If you've been following my Twitter or Facebook feeds for the past day or so, you've no doubt noticed that I've been frantically trying to iron out exactly which version of Vodnik I was editing. Since it's hard to describe the problem in 140 characters of less, allow me to give a rundown for you of exactly what went wrong.



For starters, realize that I'm an electronic hoarder. I despise giving up information, and so when I work on a book, I keep each draft saved separately. I mean, digital information takes up no space, so why not hold onto it? I save the drafts according to revision number. So I have Lesana 1.0 (that was the original codeword for the book, before it had a title), Lesana 2.0, Vodnik 3.0, Vodnik 4.0 and now Vodnik 5.0. (As I've said before, I might have missed a draft in the Lesana to Vodnik name transition, so it might be that I'm working on Vodnik 6.0 now. But who's counting?)



I was true to this pattern until last September, when suddenly changes were coming in as I worked frantically to revise Vodnik and get it ready for potential purchase by Tu Books. I had my third draft and various copies of the fourth draft--each of them saved by date. Vodnik 9.28.10, Vodnik 9.30.10. Add to that the emailed files and edits Stacy (my now editor) was sending me, and there were a whole lot of Vodniks flying around. Some of the emailed edits were just for the first three chapters, and so there were partial files, too.



Nice.



Anyway, cut ahead four months. Stacy sent me a printed copy of the manuscript with her notes on it. I read that copy and made further notes on it. I took those notes, opened up Vodnik 4.0 on my computer, and started editing. Five chapters in, I realized there were a few passages in my electronic version that didn't match Stacy's printed version.



Not good.



I looked at Vodnik 9.30.10, Vodnik 4.0 emailed, Vodnik First Three Chapters--Bryce's Edits. All sorts of Vodniks. And I compared them to Stacy's printed version, but they just didn't match up. Some versions had some edits but not others. Others had different edits. Some edits I couldn't find in any of my electronic copies. It didn't help that it had been four months since I worked on the book, so it was all murky in my mind.



Four hours later, I've finally identified the problem.



Vodnik 9.30.10 was the most recent draft of mine. I failed to save it as Vodnik 4.0 to make it the final draft. However, the first three chapters were further edited, and I failed to incorporate those edits into Vodnik 9.30.10. The final twist was that the version Stacy sent me didn't incorporate those final edits to the first three chapters, either--they just incorporated her edits to my draft. I'd made edits to those edits.



Clear as mud?



Yeah. Now you have an inkling of how I've felt for the last two days. Now imagine this: you've discovered the error, you've figured it out, but you've already now made extensive changes to an old draft, and it's going to be almost impossible to turn back the clock and figure out what other changes should have been made to that draft before you started changing it in the first place. Sheesh.



Thankfully, Microsoft Word has a very nice "compare" feature, and with a bit of electronic wizardry, I've ironed it all out. All is right with the world, and I can continue on my edit in peace.



Sick of hearing about this yet? Well you're in luck--I'm sick of writing about it. Have a nice rest of your Wednesday, all. Back to the editing room I go . . .

Thoughts on The King's Speech and Historical Accuracy in Hollywood

Just got back from an afternoon date with my wife. We went out for lunch and then to see The King's Speech. Hence the late post here. (I'm taking the week off from work, so you might see me online a tad less than normal. I'm sure you're heartbroken.)



Thoroughly enjoyed the movie. A fantastic story, well executed, without too much schmaltz. Is it historically accurate? No. Do I care? No. What is 'history'? In the end, it's an agreed upon story. It's impossible to recreate it, and if you did, it would be insanely boring. Any time any film is made of history, it automatically won't be accurate by default. It'll be limited to a few points of view.



If you ask a room full of people what happened at a place and time last week, you're bound to get a room full of different answers. Is any one of them more 'accurate' than the others? History is tinted by our perceptions of it, and one of the worst reasons to watch a Hollywood movie is to get a history lesson. Movies tell stories. Film strips and documentaries take stabs at history. Stories require pacing, characterization, drama, plot, conflict--at all parts of the story. That's the lifeblood. Lose those elements, and you lose your audience. So to make a successful movie based on history, you need to condense some parts, create others--even fabricate events at times.



In the end, I'd say this movie seems pretty close to history, but it's taken liberties. It doesn't matter. If it makes you curious to find out more, you can. Don't be disappointed when 'reality' is different than what you watched. If you had seen reality first, you might well have not been interested to find out more.



In any case, I loved the movie. Four stars for me, and I'll not be displeased at all if it wins Best Picture on Sunday. Of course, I haven't seen The Social Network, so I can't say one way or the other who I want to win.



Anyway--back to my edit . . .

Presidents Day Edit: Slash and Burn

And so the edit begins. It took me three hours today to get through the first three chapters. That's not a terribly good sign, although I guess now that I look back at it, that's just an hour per chapter. It felt like a lot more. Then again, I have 36 chapters, and 24 writing days (I don't do Sundays) until my deadline. Once I'm done with the more global changes, I'd like 6 days or so of writing time to look at some smaller level issues--switching up word choice, tightening descriptions, etc.



There's a lot still to be done. Kind of scary.



The trick at this point is that I'm really familiar with the material. It gets pretty tricky to know if I'm cutting too much or not enough. I know what I want the final product to look like--what sort of a feel it should have, what sort of pacing. But how do I tell if something is really boring, or if it just seems slow because I've read it so many times now?



You can always cut more information from a story, just like you can always add. If you keep cutting, Lord of the Rings turns into "Some small furry creatures didn't like jewelry." If you keep adding, "Why did the chicken cross the road?" turns into War and Peace. So what you choose to put in a story is just as important as what you keep out.



That said, in my read through of Vodnik this time, there were still chapters that thoroughly entertained me. I know those are working. I'm still quite pleased with the ending, and I'm strengthening plot lines in ways that I think will make it even better--strengthening the weak parts in the middle and tying the story together more. But none of that happens here at the beginning. Right now, the main problem is that the book takes too long to get to the good stuff. It needs to go faster. I started with 6600 words and ended with 5100. So about 23% cut, which should hopefully end up making that beginning whir along speedily. I'll need to set it aside for a while and then read it again to see if it makes sense.



But then that'll be my sixth time reading the beginning. When you start to doubt your doubts, you've gotten way too meta.



It's at times like these that I'm really glad I have an editor.



And a wife who hasn't read this book yet--so she'll be able to read the beginning, and we can talk about it. Fresh eyes are always a bonus.



Anyway--enough. Today is a vacation day, after all. I'm heading over to a friend's house to play Axis and Allies and eat too much food. Happy Presidents Day, all!

Book Review: The Warded Man

The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett



My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I'd been hearing a lot about The Warded Man for the past few months, and I've finally had the chance to give it a read. I'm really glad I did--the book was absolutely fantastic. Fast-paced, great world building, intriguing characters and good mysteries to drive the story on.



The setup is simple: the book takes place in a world where demons come out at night to terrorize humanity. Centuries ago, humans knew ways to fight the demons, but today, all they have is the knowledge of some basic runes that will repel the evil. If the runes fail--if they're not drawn correctly, or if they're obstructed somehow--then the demons win. Each night, they lie in wait outside, constantly testing the runes, always looking for weakness and easy prey.



One boy on the fringes of society sees humanity cowering and is infuriated. He loses his mother to the demons (corelings), and vows to fight back any way he can. There are rumors of ancient runes--runes that give better defense or actually allow humans to go on the offensive. Arlen dreams of finding those and taking back the night for humanity.



In the meantime, there are two other plots going on--one focused on a girl learning to become a wisewoman, and the other on a boy who aspires to be a jongleur. I found all three plots captivating, and I breezed through the 416 pages in no time. Really, I think that's the best gauge of a great book. If a book is good, I'll finish it eventually. If it's great, I'll finish it as fast as humanly possible.



The Warded Man is a great book.



View all my reviews

Marital Rating Scale from the 1930s

I got a kick out of this "scientific" marriage rating scale from the 30s. A researcher interviewed 600 husbands and 600 wives to find out what traits were important for their spouse to have to keep them happy. He then gave each trait a certain weight according to an approximate 100 point scale. Some traits are positive, so earn you points, while others are negative--so you lose points. You go through, add up all the points and get a final rating. 0-24 is a failure, over 76 is Very Superior.



Naturally once I saw this, I had to take it for Denisa and me. (Of course, since I was evaluating myself, I'm guessing I rated myself higher than Denisa would have.) I ended up with a 106, and I gave Denisa a 90--although it seemed to me while taking it that there were more total points available to the husband than to the wife (likely because husbands would be appalled if their wives outscored them on something). Denisa--what do I get when you take the test? What do you get? It'd be interesting to see. (There should be a new positive trait for wives: read husband's blog. 5 points.)



Anyway, there you have it: scientific proof for why Denisa and I have a happy marriage. She doesn't do dope, and I don't smoke in bed. :-)



So here's the challenge, readers--take the quiz for yourself and your spouse, and post your results. It would be interesting to see a test like this done for today's generation. Why is red nail polish a demerit? What about purple? Or blue?

Edit Update

Not a lot of time for me today--too deep in the throes of library work for me to find much time to post. However, I wanted to let you know how the edit of Vodnik is going. I've been rereading it, making notes on the copy my editor sent me (which she had made extensive notes on already). One thing jumps out at me:



There's still so much I want to change.



How is that possible? I'd just edited the thing less than half a year ago, and I was really happy with it then. And that was the fourth major edit of the book! So how is it that my pages now have so much purple (her notes) and red (my notes) scrawled all over them?



I'd always heard authors talk about how they didn't like reading their old books, because they'd see so much they wanted to change, and I hadn't really understood that. I think I might be catching a glimmer of it now, though. I'm sure there will be pieces of this that I just don't like once it's printed, but in a way, I think it's like a house. When Denisa and I saw our new house, we loved it. There was just so much to like. But once we moved in, we started noticing the things we didn't like. The details that we wanted to fix. We can go on fixing and tinkering for years to come, but that doesn't change the first impression the house makes on people. That first impression is still largely the same, because an outsider doesn't see the details--not right away.



To someone reading my book for the first time, they'll just have that first impression. The little details and bumps that are hopefully all that's left to annoy me by that time won't stand out to them. The goal is to get as many of them out of the way as I can before it's published.



Anyway--I'd guess I have about three or four more days of reading and making notes, and then I'll start the actual writing again. I have until the 21st--plenty of time.



Famous last words, right?

Christmas Present Reviews: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

So Christmas has come and gone, and it's easier to look back on all the presents my family got and tell which ones seemed to be worth the money, and which ended up being big duds. (Note: Boxes are never duds. Often, the Amazon box something came in ends up providing more entertainment than the toy itself.) I provide this list mainly because I know what a jam it can be to try and find presents for birthdays and such--maybe this list will give you some ideas for an upcoming special occasion. (And as always, if you happen to click on one of these links and buy it through Amazon, I get a cut. Just sayin'.)



So, what were the best gifts? TRC definitely liked Snap Circuits a ton, and I love it whenever he plays with them. Basically it's a collection of electronics experiments that teach how circuits work. So he learns, is occupied for a while, gets to build things and have fun, all at the same time. Definitely a great toy.



Denisa got a pressure cooker, and that's been a huge success. She had been really reluctant to get one, since it sounds like she'd had one growing up and was scared to death of the thing--never knowing when it might just explode. This one is electronic and has none of the random hissing and spitting of a traditional pressure cooker. You just plug it in, punch some buttons, and let it go. Beans go from dry to done in about 15 minutes. Incredible. Denisa uses it every week, often multiple times in a week. Big time good gift. This cookbook has been a good one, too. They go well together.



The Pyrex storage dishes are also a favorite. Much better than the standard plastic ones. They microwave great, store things in the fridge great, don't stain. Good stuff.



TRC's Beyblade set and Bakugan figures were popular for a bit, and he still plays with them, but I could take them or leave them. It didn't help that some punk kid at school swiped a part to his Beyblade, so now they don't work. Sheesh.



TRC and I play Magic the Gathering together a lot now--he really gets into it, and it's been a lot of fun. The theme decks are a good place to start, it seems.



The spy gear comes in handy for TRC from time to time, but not as much as I thought he'd play with it. Still, he does take it out fairly regularly and enjoys being sent on secret missions.



Creationary, which the family got, is a fun game, but you could probably homebrew this one pretty easily, assuming you have some Legos on hand (and if you have a young boy, then I'm betting you do.) Just make up some cards with different objects on them and take turns drawing cards and trying to build what comes up. It's really simple, but fun.



DC plays with her dress up sets a lot, but doesn't do much with her dolls. Maybe she plays with them up in her room--I'm not sure. Haven't been up there in a bit to find out. Who knew that a collection of different pairs of shoes would prove to be so popular? (Note: that's not the exact thing she got. Close enough.)



I still haven't played Ghostbusters 3 yet. There was a time when any new video game I got would get a lot of playtime. Buying presents for me was easy--video games and movies. Now that I have apps on my iPad which costs a few dollars each, and Netflix . . . I just don't need those things anymore.



The pretend kitchen set is used a lot--and I made a small "oven" out of a cardboard box and duct tape, which is also popular. I don't think splurging on a whole toy kitchen would be worth the space it takes up in your house or the expense. Cardboard boxes, my friend. Cardboard boxes.



I also use my bluetooth keyboard for my iPad quite a bit--makes typing on the thing much easier and faster, and it's small and easy to store.



Actually, in looking back on the haul, we did pretty well. There's nothing we got that I feel like was a total waste, and almost everything is used and enjoyed. That said, we could have stood to save a bit more than we did. I get caught up in the Christmas spirit (the one that involves TOYS!!!!), and get carried away each year. Not hundreds of dollars carried away--more like tens of dollars. But still--tens of dollars add up over time. :-)



How about you--any toys you've really liked? Any suggestions to make to others? The floor is yours, folks.