What Readers Think Vs. The Truth

[Christina]

You were warned!!!

[Melissa]

Dwayne wrote: "Christina wrote: "I was informed that word has an utterly different meaning in the bronie world and if you don't know what it means, for goodness sake, DO NOT LOOK IT UP!!! "

I looked it up. I was..."

I suggest viewing as many images as possible for as long as possible of puppies and kittens. It helps... sometimes *twitches*

[Christina]

Melissa wrote: "That I enjoy the pain and suffering of others. Which, of course, I don't. I'm a sucker for characters comforting other characters after a major ordeal, which means having to put those characters th..."

Ah yes! I quite forgot that I apparently have a real problem with happy families. If I haven't killed off one or both parents, I'm making them terrible humans.

[Dwayne, Head of Lettuce]

Riley wrote: "Don't listen to him Dwayne, don't leave the Darkside, we have cookies and pie!"

Dark side? No, no, no! Those ponies were just one of many things created in the eighties or so that just -- everything went wrong after that. Pink and purple and squeaky squawky voices. Kids were more into cartoons that were marketed to sell them crap than in quality cartoons.

In my day we had Bugs Bunny and Fat Albert and Hong Kong Phooey. Suddenly everything was Rainbow Brite and Strawberry Shortcake. Bland, boring, soulless junk peddled to kids that no longer knew what real entertainment was.

And there are adults that are still into it. Really into it. It's just... frightening.

[Dwayne, Head of Lettuce]

Melissa wrote: "I suggest viewing as many images as possible for as long as possible of puppies and kittens. It helps... sometimes *twitches* "

You can't fight cute with cute. I washed it from my mind with a couple of episodes of "My Name is Earl".

[Riley, Viking Extraordinaire]

Dwayne wrote: "Riley wrote: "Don't listen to him Dwayne, don't leave the Darkside, we have cookies and pie!"

Dark side? No, no, no! Those ponies were just one of many things created in the eighties or so that ju..."

I was saying come to the darkside because they wanted to wash the images from your head. I agree, and I grew up in those times! I'd rather watch Bugs and Hong Kong Fooey any day! And Ricochet Rabbit, one of my favorite cartoons!

[Riley, Viking Extraordinaire]

V.M. wrote: "It's amazing how entertaining those Bugs Bunny cartoons are, even half a century later..."

Wtb a like button.

[[deleted user]]

Looney Tunes were the best. Yosemite Sam and Daffy Duck.

[Dwayne, Head of Lettuce]

Ken wrote: "Yosemite Sam and Daffy Duck."

Two of my three favorites. The other is Pepe LePew.

[Dwayne, Head of Lettuce]

V.M. wrote: "I think my favourite has to be Roadrunner/Wile E. Coyote"

When I was a kid, they were my least favorite. It wasn't until I grew up that I finally caught the joke behind it - it's a spoof of nature films. I can be a little... um... what's that word... uh...?

I'm hungry. I wonder if I have any pretzels.

[Christina]

Dwayne wrote: "I'm hungry. I wonder if I have any pretzels."

Have a Twinkie. :D

[Dwayne, Head of Lettuce]

Christina wrote: "Have a Twinkie. :D"

*gulp* *turns green*

[Maurice]

A note for those that will choose to read my debut fiction novel, The Budapest Experiment, when released in May. Though the main character, Michael, may appear to be a lot like me back in 1991, the truth is I never was a sex maniac. It's just those seductive powers unleashed by Eastern European women (the eyes will get you). All the characters in the novel maintain possession of their limbs and extremities (spoiler alert!), but this thread has given me inspiration for the sequel. :)

[Lorine]

Dwayne wrote: "Riley wrote: "Don't listen to him Dwayne, don't leave the Darkside, we have cookies and pie!"

Dark side? No, no, no! Those ponies were just one of many things created in the eighties or so that ju..."

There was a Bugs Bunny Marathon on this weekend on Boomerang and I think I watched nearly every episode! :-)

[Lorine]

People assume that the story behind my book is based on truth and when I tell them it is totally fabricated, they are shocked. As if I would really go around murdering folks. I may hear voices in my head, but I am not that crazy!

[Christina]

Lorine wrote: "People assume that the story behind my book is based on truth and when I tell them it is totally fabricated, they are shocked. As if I would really go around murdering folks. I may hear voices in..."

Well to be fair, if you were a murderer, it would be okay because you're an author too, so folks will weigh the odds of being murdered vs. the chance to rub elbows with someone who murdered their way to the bestseller list.

[Melissa]

Some writing friends and I sometimes joke about the NSA possibly putting us on some kind of list for the things we research.

"I swear I'm not trying to buy black market weapons or dispose of a body... but my character is."

[Lorine]

Christina wrote: "Lorine wrote: "People assume that the story behind my book is based on truth and when I tell them it is totally fabricated, they are shocked. As if I would really go around murdering folks. I may..."

Lol....good point!

[Christina]

LOL, yep! One of my searches was 'government offices under the Dept of Homeland Security' paired with several searches on use of and modification of semi-automatic weaponry. No one has come for me yet. ;)

[Lorine]

The searches I did for the next one that I am writing was so bad, I thought for sure it had sent up several red flags.

[Joselyn]

Being a reader, I don't really think like that. However I do appreciate the effort all writers put on investigating this things to give us a kind of realism to it.

[Owen]

Dang, I missed this one too. I'm not sure what readers think of me vs. the truth, but I did recently learn what Google thinks. (I have no Google accounts.)

It turns out that if you flag an ad here on GR, a little link to set your ad preferences shows up, and if you click it, Google displays your "profile", which it makes up if you don't have a Google account.

Google thinks I'm a 40-ish woman who is most interested in adventure games (I played Advent once and Myst a few times), and air travel (I hate flying).

This makes me quite happy.

[Charles]

That made my day Owen.

[Riley, Viking Extraordinaire]

Owen wrote: "Dang, I missed this one too. I'm not sure what readers think of me vs. the truth, but I did recently learn what Google thinks. (I have no Google accounts.)

It turns out that if you flag an ad her..."

Hahaha, that's awesome...now I want to keep all my online presence except google and find out what it says about me!

[Quoleena]

Christina wrote: "That I have an amputation fetish. Seriously, I didn't plan to hack limbs off of all of my main characters, it just kind of happened."

Spoiler! ;)

[Owen]

Riley wrote: "Hahaha, that's awesome...now I want to keep all my online presence except google and find out what it says about me! "

It was definitely fun. It also explains the ads I tend to see here.

Charles wrote: "That made my day Owen."

Glad to hear it. Now I'm trying to figure out how I can use this as an alibi.

[Amanda]

I add a touch of who I am maybe, but most is made up. Two of my books have murder/suspense and you hear the killer's thoughts. When my mother-in-law read it she said, "I didn't know you had such a dark side." Me either until I started writing. It's fun to creative like that and a little twisted sometimes. I thoroughly enjoyed reading these posts. I got a good chuckle out of some:)

[Rachael]

After reading my books, people apparently come away with the idea I'm ultra kinky and emo, never mind that these are the characters' preferences, not mine. In real life I prefer humorous books and so-called 'family' films - what gives? Shows such as Game of Thrones, where the cast seems to be decimated every season, hold absolutely no appeal; gore and sexual violence are a real turn off.

Another thing that mystifies me is that a few readers have taken my story's framing device at face value, and believe I'm adapting an obscure Victorian melodrama. I thought I'd made the play's dialogue as hackneyed as possible, and even had the author explicitly identified as one of the characters, but writing a scholarly Author's Note seems to have given it a badge of authenticity! Never mind.

[Riley, Viking Extraordinaire]

Rachael wrote: "After reading my books, people apparently come away with the idea I'm ultra kinky and emo, never mind that these are the characters' preferences, not mine. In real life I prefer humorous books and ..."

Haha, that sounds like the exact opposite of me...I Love myself some graphically gory violence and sex in movies, but reading it in words just makes me feel dirty!

[Michael]

So far, I haven't been charged with anything. ;)

[M.E.]

I wrote a zombie gamebook, right? Sort of a light horror/humor deal. So people naturally assume I'm a bit of a goth-y gore-fest kind of girl.

I have a confession: I'm too scared to watch horror movies. I watched Dawn of the Dead mostly through my hands, and I stopped watching The Walking Dead after the first episode because of that one zombie that was just an upper torso with a spinal cord (bleah! But I did READ a bunch of the recaps). I'm a zombie reader...but I just can't handle the movies.

I figure one of the ways I'll promote my book is by doing a blog series on the movies--as reviewed by a chickenshit writer--but I expect nightmares for months!

[Jenycka]

I write explicit menage erotica. So I assume people think I must have a really weird and wild sex life.

I don't.

I just have a vivid imagination.

[Anita]

I write family sagas... yeah, I have a family and we have lots of stories... I guess I am what I write, sorry guys.

[Iffix]

The readers may think I have an overactive imagination. But the reality is... Hmm... This is harder than I thought.

[Micah]

Dwayne wrote: "I looked it up. I was feeling lost by this conversation. I looked up "bronie", "clopping", "'Murica"..."

So you didn't look up Merkin? **sinister laugh**

[Micah]

As for what readers might think about me that isn't true...I suspect it would be that I actually have readers.

;(

[Marcelle]

I've actually already experienced this a few times: A lot of my readers and clients I edit for think I'm white. Not everyone comes out and says it (it doesn't bother me when they do) but its priceless to see the look on their faces when they realize not all black authors write "urban" novels.

[C.M.]

Riley wrote: "G.G. wrote: "Riley wrote: "G.G. wrote: "Riley wrote: "That I have an unhealthy obsession with unicorns. Seriously, there's one in every book so far. Secretly I think they're the least majestic of t..."

I agree Riley! that show messed with my head ;)

[C.M.]

Christina wrote: "Oh my, you went there, didn't you?

I have a dog who is very old and makes a weird clucking noise that my husband and I call 'clopping.' I was informed that word has an utterly different meaning i..."

I had to look it up, I couldn't resist! I did however, have the restraint to not look at pictures....

[Igzy]

Dwayne wrote: "In my day we had Bugs Bunny and Fat Albert and Hong Kong Phooey."

I miss the #1 Super Guy who was quicker than the human eye.

[Dwayne, Head of Lettuce]

Igzy wrote: "Dwayne wrote: "In my day we had Bugs Bunny and Fat Albert and Hong Kong Phooey."

I miss the #1 Super Guy who was quicker than the human eye."

Me, too, Igzy. Me, too.

[Dwayne, Head of Lettuce]

Marcelle wrote: "...its priceless to see the look on their faces when they realize not all black authors write "urban" novels."

What do you write, Marcelle?

[Marcelle]

Dwayne wrote: "Marcelle wrote: "...its priceless to see the look on their faces when they realize not all black authors write "urban" novels."

What do you write, Marcelle?"

I write mostly fantasy. Sometimes I'll do religious stuff if I'm feeling philosophical, but even then it bends toward fantasy.

[Dwayne, Head of Lettuce]

Marcelle wrote: "I write mostly fantasy. Sometimes I'll do religious stuff if I'm feeling philosophical, but even then it bends toward fantasy."

Ah, cool. I like fantasy now and again.

[Micah]

V.M. wrote: "I'm with you Marcelle, I've experienced that as well.

It's usually the "Oh well you don't sound Indian... and I just think.. really?!

It's unfortunate, but alot of the authors with ethnic names are writing about things directly related to their culture. Fairly certain no-one would pick up my books if my real first name was on the cover..."

Actually that's one of the great things about indie publishing. You can write what you want and not have to bow to what an editor, agent, or publisher thinks they can sell.

Women have a problem with this all the time. I read someone like Kristine Kathryn Rusch, or Madeline Ashby (I just read vN by her and it's highly recommended for those into action-based SF of the nano-robotics variety)...and I can't tell any difference between what/how they write and how male authors write. Yet if left up to big publishers, books written by women are usually stuck between "feminine" book covers, prejudicing all readers.

Expecting anyone to write only from the narrow point of view of ethnicity or social background or socio-economic setting acts as a kind of marginalization: authors are seen only in light of those terms, rather than as complex, multi-faceted human beings with a wealth of experience and feeling and thought. Our creativity goes far beyond those narrow-minded labels.

All that said, I did write a story about a man trapped in a lesbian's body, so, uh...sometimes we have to explore personal stuff like that too, you know? **wicked grin**

[Denise]

Micah wrote: "As for what readers might think about me that isn't true...I suspect it would be that I actually have readers.

;("

OUCH. I think I'm in that boat. Except, well, nobody knows we're here but the two of us and maybe our moms. :-)

[Denise]

Marcelle wrote: "Dwayne wrote: "Marcelle wrote: "...its priceless to see the look on their faces when they realize not all black authors write "urban" novels."

What do you write, Marcelle?"

I write mostly fantasy..."

I write fantasy also, sometimes in realistic settings, sometimes in unrealistic settings.

[Micah]

Denise wrote: "OUCH. I think I'm in that boat. Except, well, nobody knows we're here but the two of us and maybe our moms. :-) "

Not even my mom. She passed away 5 years ago, before I'd self-published anything (not that I would have told her about it...she would not have been impressed!)

[Denise]

Not even my mom. "

I'm sorry, Micah.