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In Lieu of the Wed Reading Meme
Jun. 10th, 2015 11:00 pmFound the perfect background shot for Doing Time on Planet Earth's Facebook page, finally. Courtesy of the Woodward Gallery, hope they don't mind. Doubtful.
It's the Brooklyn, NYC Skyline at Sunset. Taken from the elevated train on Smith and 9th Streets, Brooklyn. My old hood.
I'm not reading anything new at the moment. Re-reading a series of books that resonated for me -- in part because the author played with myths that I studied, and in part because she plays with identity, and if you've read the book I published, I'm fascinated by identity. The technology/information age in a way has redefined the idea of false identity or construction of false identities. Think about it? Do you go by your real name online? And which identity do you prefer? What is in a name?
I remember getting into a somewhat heated debate with someone on lj once - several years back - circa 2010 or thereabouts, about identity. They stated we are solely defined by those around us or by others. I disagreed. I think we define who we are, and others comment on it.
Also been pondering "reviews" and the nature of reviews. I do use them to choose films, television shows, and books. But I'm wondering if I should? It depends on the reviewer, I guess. I should probably avoid reviewers who choose to name themselves after food.
Fruitcake, cookiedough, tart might not be a good idea. Although, you are reading "shadowkat's" journal at the moment. Yet, at least that has a ring to it. I'd have used my real name, but alas, it was already taken. So too was shadowkat - hence the 67. It's incredibly difficult to find unique names or titles for things. My own name, by birth, is incredibly popular. Seriously, my parents weren't that creative in the name department. Some people are insanely creative. I'm sorry, but naming your kid Mighty is probably not a good idea. Reminds me of the Johnny Cash song, A Boy Named Sue.
I'd also advise against taking the opinion of anyone who decided to call themselves a puppy, rabid or sad, seriously. Wolf, now, maybe.
Reviews...did you know a lot of artists don't read their own reviews? And a lot of actors avoid the internet -- they let their managers patrol it instead or publicists.
I don't think Neil Gaiman does. And all comments to his blog are filtered through staff who manage it for him. GRR Martin should probably follow Gaiman's example, make his life less stressful.
GRR Martin states the following on his journal:
Yes, I know that THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER named me "the third most powerful writer in Hollywood" last December. You would be surprised at how little that means. I cannot control what anyone else says or does, or make them stop saying or doing it, be it on the fannish or professional fronts. What I can control is what happens in my books, so I am going to return to that chapter I've been writing on THE WINDS OF WINTER now, thank you very much.
He's right. Writer's have very little power over their work once it is published and out there amongst the masses. And you really have no way of knowing how people will react to it or why. I mean honestly, who could have predicted that a badly written piece of erotic fanfic "50 Shades of Grey" would become an international best-seller? (Oh by the way, apparently the British spell Grey with an "e" and the Americans spell it with an "a". I ran into this a lot when I had my book proofed. 98% of my spelling errors were Britishisms. I blame livejournal, I've picked British slang and British spellings from hanging out with Brits on the internet. My line editor fixed all the one's that were not in the character who was pretending to be British, pov.)
My book is about identity. I have a character in my book who is a former child-actor, and screwed up because of it. He's decided to create a new persona as a coping mechanism, except he's a bit inept at it. The guy is Hispanic, but he decides to adopt the persona of a British punk private eye, from various television shows and rock stars that he's seen. But he's not cool, he's inept, and quirky. Trying to prove himself in a world in which he just keeps fumbling about in. And little does he know that the heroes he worships are false. He changes his name, he changes his appearance, he changes his accent...but he does it poorly. He's pretending to be what he thinks is the cool noir private eye.
Another one of my characters is an identity thief, but only from dead people. Come on! She has principles. And she sees herself as Bugs Bunny or the Road Runner...fun, carefree, a modern day Robin Hood, with her pursuers in the role of Elmer Fudd or Wile E. Coyote.
And then there's the third character...who is just lost. She has no boyfriend. No real friends it seems outside of the people she communicates with daily on various fan discussion boards. Her best friend she met on a fan board. Thief of Shadows...who turns out to be an identity thief. No job. No identity as far as the world is concerned, outside of the one she has online -- and that just isn't enough.
There's a mystery. And a bit of adventure. And a puzzle that must be solved. But at the end of the day...it's really about who we are inside, and how we relate to each other.
But I've no control on whether you will read it, and if you do -- grok it. So far, three people did. One really really didn't get it at all. Almost as if they read a different book. Which happens a lot. We bring ourselves to what we read, and how we respond to what we read is as much a comment on what we are going through or feeling as what we've read. I think that's why James Joyce said - that he didn't want to explain his book to anyone, although he did or tried to, he just hoped someone would get it, and through it, him. His wife, Nora, never did. She didn't like his writing, and Ulysses made little sense to her. Which was tragic in some respects. But he had no control.
I think Joss Whedon must feel the same way about his works of art...from Buffy to Dollhouse...wondering why people loved some shows and not others, and never quite sure why. It's so subjective, and so hard to determine. And so very frustrating.
But if we could control it - then there would be no free will. And what would be the fun in that? Also...I'm not sure I'd want someone controlling what I liked or didn't like as if I were some puppet, and they pulled my strings.
It's the Brooklyn, NYC Skyline at Sunset. Taken from the elevated train on Smith and 9th Streets, Brooklyn. My old hood.
I'm not reading anything new at the moment. Re-reading a series of books that resonated for me -- in part because the author played with myths that I studied, and in part because she plays with identity, and if you've read the book I published, I'm fascinated by identity. The technology/information age in a way has redefined the idea of false identity or construction of false identities. Think about it? Do you go by your real name online? And which identity do you prefer? What is in a name?
I remember getting into a somewhat heated debate with someone on lj once - several years back - circa 2010 or thereabouts, about identity. They stated we are solely defined by those around us or by others. I disagreed. I think we define who we are, and others comment on it.
Also been pondering "reviews" and the nature of reviews. I do use them to choose films, television shows, and books. But I'm wondering if I should? It depends on the reviewer, I guess. I should probably avoid reviewers who choose to name themselves after food.
Fruitcake, cookiedough, tart might not be a good idea. Although, you are reading "shadowkat's" journal at the moment. Yet, at least that has a ring to it. I'd have used my real name, but alas, it was already taken. So too was shadowkat - hence the 67. It's incredibly difficult to find unique names or titles for things. My own name, by birth, is incredibly popular. Seriously, my parents weren't that creative in the name department. Some people are insanely creative. I'm sorry, but naming your kid Mighty is probably not a good idea. Reminds me of the Johnny Cash song, A Boy Named Sue.
I'd also advise against taking the opinion of anyone who decided to call themselves a puppy, rabid or sad, seriously. Wolf, now, maybe.
Reviews...did you know a lot of artists don't read their own reviews? And a lot of actors avoid the internet -- they let their managers patrol it instead or publicists.
I don't think Neil Gaiman does. And all comments to his blog are filtered through staff who manage it for him. GRR Martin should probably follow Gaiman's example, make his life less stressful.
GRR Martin states the following on his journal:
Yes, I know that THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER named me "the third most powerful writer in Hollywood" last December. You would be surprised at how little that means. I cannot control what anyone else says or does, or make them stop saying or doing it, be it on the fannish or professional fronts. What I can control is what happens in my books, so I am going to return to that chapter I've been writing on THE WINDS OF WINTER now, thank you very much.
He's right. Writer's have very little power over their work once it is published and out there amongst the masses. And you really have no way of knowing how people will react to it or why. I mean honestly, who could have predicted that a badly written piece of erotic fanfic "50 Shades of Grey" would become an international best-seller? (Oh by the way, apparently the British spell Grey with an "e" and the Americans spell it with an "a". I ran into this a lot when I had my book proofed. 98% of my spelling errors were Britishisms. I blame livejournal, I've picked British slang and British spellings from hanging out with Brits on the internet. My line editor fixed all the one's that were not in the character who was pretending to be British, pov.)
My book is about identity. I have a character in my book who is a former child-actor, and screwed up because of it. He's decided to create a new persona as a coping mechanism, except he's a bit inept at it. The guy is Hispanic, but he decides to adopt the persona of a British punk private eye, from various television shows and rock stars that he's seen. But he's not cool, he's inept, and quirky. Trying to prove himself in a world in which he just keeps fumbling about in. And little does he know that the heroes he worships are false. He changes his name, he changes his appearance, he changes his accent...but he does it poorly. He's pretending to be what he thinks is the cool noir private eye.
Another one of my characters is an identity thief, but only from dead people. Come on! She has principles. And she sees herself as Bugs Bunny or the Road Runner...fun, carefree, a modern day Robin Hood, with her pursuers in the role of Elmer Fudd or Wile E. Coyote.
And then there's the third character...who is just lost. She has no boyfriend. No real friends it seems outside of the people she communicates with daily on various fan discussion boards. Her best friend she met on a fan board. Thief of Shadows...who turns out to be an identity thief. No job. No identity as far as the world is concerned, outside of the one she has online -- and that just isn't enough.
There's a mystery. And a bit of adventure. And a puzzle that must be solved. But at the end of the day...it's really about who we are inside, and how we relate to each other.
But I've no control on whether you will read it, and if you do -- grok it. So far, three people did. One really really didn't get it at all. Almost as if they read a different book. Which happens a lot. We bring ourselves to what we read, and how we respond to what we read is as much a comment on what we are going through or feeling as what we've read. I think that's why James Joyce said - that he didn't want to explain his book to anyone, although he did or tried to, he just hoped someone would get it, and through it, him. His wife, Nora, never did. She didn't like his writing, and Ulysses made little sense to her. Which was tragic in some respects. But he had no control.
I think Joss Whedon must feel the same way about his works of art...from Buffy to Dollhouse...wondering why people loved some shows and not others, and never quite sure why. It's so subjective, and so hard to determine. And so very frustrating.
But if we could control it - then there would be no free will. And what would be the fun in that? Also...I'm not sure I'd want someone controlling what I liked or didn't like as if I were some puppet, and they pulled my strings.