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The Hook

Submitted by Fool on Fri, 05/06/2011 - 10:04

Open with a bang, hit 'em like a hammer
It's a question we ask, how to grab a reader
Know it when you see it, it's got The Hook...
(With apologies to Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson)

     Ah, the Hook :-).
     Er… the what?
     Hmmmm. A good question. But before I even try to answer it, a word from our sponsors. Or rather, from me. As usual, let me say I don’t claim one iota of special knowledge, skill or understanding of anything that comes next :-P.

The Spinster and the Raincoat

Submitted by Fool on Thu, 04/28/2011 - 10:32

     I was writing a Query letter recently.
     Yes, I know. It’s an evil thing, the Query. But there it is. I was writing one. You are indeed allowed to feel sympathy for me :-P.
     Anyway. I was writing a Query. Now, without going into detail, there was one element of the Query, a fairly important one, that I put in at a later stage than I could have. And one of the responders loved the late positioning. And one hated it.

I can’t write – don’t ask me

Submitted by Fool on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 08:35

(With apologies to Harbach, Kern, Hammerstein, Mc Hugh, Fields and even Frank :-) )

     Recently (I won’t say where or with who, to save blushes. Mostly mine :-P) I was involved in a discussion. Well, a question. Well, a… Hmmm. I’m blethering. Again. :-).
     Someone asked a question. The question related to writing. Well, to a rather specific writing.

For any value of X...

Submitted by Fool on Thu, 01/27/2011 - 11:20

... X is one less than is required :-).
     Perhaps I should explain.
     Today I sent a Query for 'A Comedy of Terrors' to an Agent. Well, more accurately _another_ Agent. CoT is undergoing the round of echoing silences and form rejections that is Query time. I don't intend that as a negative comment in any way, either on CoT or Agents. It is but the nature of the beast. However, it is also where I came in. So I'll say it again.

For any value of X, X is one less than is required.

What’s love got to do with it?

Submitted by Fool on Fri, 12/10/2010 - 10:20

     Recently (the other day) I told someone I loved them.
     Apparently this was a really bad idea :-).
     The someone in question (someone I do in fact love dearly) got a bit worried. They went to another someone (someone I also love dearly), and asked if either of the someone-s should be concerned. After all. The whole love thing. Bad love thing. BAD love thing.
     Bloody English. That’s who I blame, see. They got lazy.

Loglines - Hate and heresy

Submitted by Fool on Fri, 10/22/2010 - 07:40

     Loglines. I hates ‘em, I does. I hates ‘em forever.
     Of course, I hate Queries and Synopses too. But I recently took part in a logline critique run by the wise and wonderous Miss Snark's First Victim (http://misssnarksfirstvictim.blogspot.com/) and it reminded me how much I hate loglines.

Why do we write?

Submitted by Fool on Fri, 10/01/2010 - 10:02

I drive my mother mad.

Yes, I know that's not exactly unusual. But every time I finish a book, and every time she reads it, she asks The Question.

' So are you going to try to sell this one?'

Whispers in the dark

Submitted by Fool on Wed, 09/29/2010 - 07:57

     SETI. The Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence. In essence, a number of very large telescopes scan the electromagnetic spectrum looking for signs of aliens talking to each other, while lots of computers analyse what they find. Looking. Why? Because looking for people talking to each other is easier and cheaper than trying to talk to people who may or may not exist. And besides. If we talked to them, they might find us.

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