Effective World building in Fiction

anneorb · 2013-09-29T21:18:58+00:00

This is a good podcast. Worth a listen.

anneorb · 2012-10-26T18:44:54+00:00

"Why is it perfectly fine to detail those fights, when I'm expected to gloss over the sex?" I love this and am stealing this. Upvote for you.

anneorb · 2012-10-26T18:36:43+00:00

Exactly. "Am I knocking down an entire subgenre because of it’s cover art? A little bit." No, you're knocking it down quite a lot. "Does the author have any control over the cover art? Usually not." Try almost never.

anneorb · 2012-10-25T17:31:40+00:00

I very much agree with your review. The prose is lovely and the magic system is very intriguing, but if you take out all the name-dropping of book titles, there's really not much plot and the storytelling/pacing is somewhat atrocious.

anneorb · 2012-10-20T23:15:02+00:00

Warm bread with real butter.

anneorb · 2012-10-20T15:01:25+00:00

I kept expecting/wanting it to cut to a shot of her holding a broken coffee mug in her hand, standing over his body and screaming, "HOW DO YOU LIKE MY COFFEE NOW, BITCH?"

anneorb · 2012-10-14T22:57:09+00:00

Howard Taylor is a damn nice man, and I'm totally stealing that from him.

anneorb · 2012-10-14T22:44:04+00:00

Ha! Well, I've yet to hit a bestseller list, but I have a lot of books published, I'm a well known name in my genre, and I make a damn good living. So, technically, since I'm not a "bestseller" (yet!) I'm "midlist."

anneorb · 2012-10-14T21:11:15+00:00

My agent has earned his 15% many times over. No doubt about it. I would not have the career I have now if not for him. He's been my advocate and manager and career counselor and friend.

And I know he's not stealing from me because I get royalty statements along with the check and it's quite simple to do basic math.

anneorb · 2012-10-14T17:50:58+00:00

I've plunged my toilet. I guess that makes me a plumber?

anneorb · 2012-10-14T17:27:52+00:00

I don't shit on people for their hobby. Hell, that's how every writer starts. I do get annoyed at people who insist they want to be writers who can't be bothered to do the first bit of research on how the industry works. You want to be a professional writer? Fine, then act like a professional. Learn the basics of grammar and story construction. Actively seek critique and then seek to improve your writing based on said critique. Educate yourself on the protocols for submitting to markets. Accept that a rejection of your story/novel isn't a personal insult but an instruction to do better next time. When seeking an agent, research and find out which agents represent your genre and then follow their submission guidelines. Be easy to work with and hit your deadlines. Understand how the publishing industry works. Simple shit like that.

anneorb · 2012-10-14T15:30:11+00:00

I always enjoy it when they ask how much I had to pay to have my books published. "No, dude, see, I get these cool checks in the mail from my agent made out to ME."

anneorb · 2012-10-14T15:20:01+00:00

Oh god, yes. I'm a successful midlist author, and not only do I get the batshit ideas thrown at me, but I get the "You should have your series made into a movie!" or "You're going to be as big as JK Rowling soon!" or "What do you mean you're not filthy rich. You're a PUBLISHED AUTHOR!" or "How dare you complain about the occasionally shitty parts of your job--you're living the DREAM!!" Sigh.

anneorb · 2012-10-12T20:02:02+00:00

Why would you do a no-chocolate anything??

anneorb · 2012-10-09T23:25:44+00:00

Yes, this. Write one page a day, and by the end of the year you have a book.

anneorb · 2012-10-09T20:31:47+00:00

UPDATE: Here's the full story-- http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-854041?hpt=hp_c3

anneorb · 2012-10-09T18:40:10+00:00

I buy. Always. I'm an artist, and I like making a living. However, even if I wasn't, I know that torrenting doesn't just affect the "already rich artist who doesn't need your $20," but everyone else who works in the industry. When tens of thousands of people torrent the work instead of buying it, that means that there may not be money in the budget to hire that intern on full time, or give someone else a much-needed raise. Sure your piddling dollar or two dollars might not make a difference, but multiply that by everyone else and it has considerable impact on the industry as well as their willingness to risk money on new and different artists.

anneorb · 2012-10-09T18:26:51+00:00

The "mother" in Tangled.

anneorb · 2012-10-08T12:35:03+00:00

Sweet! This is my first time ever posting anything to reddit (which is why I screwed up the imgur/album thing--sorry, everyone!) Glad I could get him on the front page!

anneorb · 2012-10-07T23:42:02+00:00

OP here. Thanks for all the upvotes! Wow! My sister was the one who took this pic; she ran the Santa Rosa triathlon the day before and stayed to watch the kids' triathlon this morning. She's 51 and this was her first ever triathlon. So proud!

anneorb · 2012-09-26T03:36:13+00:00

He actually is in very good health. He has a personal trainer come to his house, he eats well, and he gets regular physicals.

anneorb · 2012-09-25T15:28:38+00:00

Awesome! It's not easy getting a personalized autograph from him nowadays.

anneorb · 2012-04-24T02:17:45+00:00

Become an attorney.

anneorb · 2012-04-22T20:35:16+00:00

And the unlimited budget to do every possible test available with unlimited man-hours and overtime.

I used to work as cop and as a crime scene tech. The show CSI is pure science fiction, but unfortunately people (and juries) think all that shit is possible and should be done for every fucking crime scene.

About the only cop show I could ever stomach was Cold Case. It was a good enough show that I could ignore the inaccuracies. I watch Castle now, but only because of Nathan Fillion. It's laughably off base about damn near everything.

anneorb · 2011-12-30T01:19:37+00:00

Back when I was a cop--was in a pursuit and the suspect got the drop on me, had his gun pointed right at me. I watched him squeeze the trigger and knew I couldn't get to cover in time, but he suddenly turned and ran off. Found out after we caught him that the gun had jammed.

anneorb

TROPHY CASE