Two items caught my eye this past week, both from Galleycat.
WTF!
First, The Publishing Contrarian, Lynne Scanlon got a not so glowing comment in response to an email Lynne sent out regarding her new synopsis/query consulting service. Now, as any blogger knows, not all the comments you get are going to be warm and fuzzy. This one certainly wasn’t, bordering as it did on the violent. But the thing that makes this particular comment so interesting, not to mention ironic, is who it was from: The vice president of the PEN New Mexico board of directors Nancy Fay, who just happens to be the co-editor of a poetry anthology titled, are you ready for this, The Practice of Peace. Being a newly transplanted New Mexican, I find this a tad tough to take. Maybe Nancy needs to cut back on the caffeine intake just a notch.
Since the content of the comment has shown up on several blogs now, I have taken the liberty of putting Nancy’s words into a poetic format (the typo is hers, btw). I think it flows rather nicely, don’t you? Maybe she could include it in The Practice of Peace II.
Why the fuck
am I suddenly receiving
junk mail from you?
Stop it.
I am not interested in your crap.
Stop sending me email
or I will hunt you down.
I found your website and I’ll find you.
This is your warning
crazy asshole.
Stop send crap
to my address.
Girls In Love
The other Galleycat eye-opener concerned Alan Moore, he of Watchmen fame. Seems Alan’s latest project has cause a hissy-fit among the folks at the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children. Why? Well, seems the project is a tad pornographic, which would probably go unnoticed by those folks were it not for the fact that one of the main characters of this work happens to be Wendy from Peter Pan, the rights to which the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children controls. The work, titled Lost Girls, includes such literary luminaries as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz and Alice from Alice in Wonderland. Seems the girls are out on the town, telling nasty stories and getting all touchy-feely with each other. Admittedly, this invokes some rather interesting images, though I can’t help but imagine Judy Garland and wonder what poor Todo is doing while the lovefest is going on. Not to mention giving a whole new meaning to “I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date”. The more you think about it, the kinkier it gets. Here’s a link to the story in the TimesOnLine.
Damned If You Do Or Don’t
This one comes via Backspace (the greatest writers site on the Internet), though it’s shown up on a number of other blogs. Seems that Barry Eisler, he of John Rain fame, got into a bit of an email discussion with an independent bookstore owner after Barry, who was signing his latest book, The Last Assassin, left the store to go sign books at the local B&N chain. It’s a pretty long discussion but quite interesting and worth the time to read. Check it out here: Independents, Chains, and Drive-By Signings.
In POD Space, No One Can Hear You Scream
A lot can be, and is, said about Publish-On-Demand (POD), most of it, from writers of my acquaintance, bad. Most seem to have this knee-jerk, negative reaction to the idea of side-stepping the oft times insane road to traditional publishing (TP), much in the same way children react to cooties. I don’t have those same feelings for it, but that’s for another, longer, post. Christopher Meeks, author of The Middle-aged Man And the Sea, posted his “A Guide to How to Get Your Book to More Than Just Friends and Family” on the Pod-dy Mouth site. It’s a must read if you’re even thinking of PODing a book.
While In Roswell, Everyone Can (though the gov will say they heard nothing)
For you UFO aficionados, The Roswell UFO Festival is coming up soon in Roswell, NM. The fun frivolous festivities begin June 30. You can visit the crash site (well, the one approved by the Chamber of Commerce anyway), attend an Abduction Panel, join the Alien Motorcycle Rally or dress pretty for the Galactic Costume Contest. Plenty of lively entertainment, besides those attending I mean, and plenty of music. Friday night features the Alien Oldies Concert. Saturday night is otherwise usurped by the Lights In The Night parade and the Street Dance that follows. Things will mellow out a bit on Sunday with Celestial Country Concert while Monday will close with the Terrestrial Tejano Concert. Be sure to bring your plastic and your tin-foil hat.
