Purgatory's Pit of Doom

Amarie · Mar 6, 2012

SteveCordero said:
Crap shoot? Of course!

Amarie, JF is a brilliant writer and time and again he proves himself to be a jackass, so I wasn't surprised by his piece.

BTW, on a tangent, but related to JF's jackassness, I originally wrote the above sentence with a "but", falling into the subconsious trap of equating a person's gifts/abilities with the content of their character. As if, "he's a great writer but terrible person." No, being a great writer has nothing to do with what kind of person he is.

/tangent

I try to separate the person from their writing, but there are a few things that really push my buttons, and pretentiousness mixed with misogyny is one of them.

Now, if a writer is dead and I find out he was a jackass when he was alive, I don't care.

I could list the other things that bug me in living writers, but I just realized it's more than a few things.

My "will not read" list is growing.

SteveCordero · Mar 6, 2012

Amarie said:
I try to separate the person from their writing, but there are a few things that really push my buttons, and pretentiousness mixed with misogyny is one of them.

Now, if a writer is dead and I find out he was a jackass when he was alive, I don't care.

I could list the other things that bug me in living writers, but I just realized it's more than a few things. My "will not read" list is growing.

I agree with, Amarie, and love the description "pretentiousness mixed with misogyny." LOL. We should've gotten a hint of that from his Opr@h fiasco years ago.

Teriann · Mar 6, 2012

Tying this in with the earlier discussion about Twitter (someone said she likes Twitter because you can really see a person's true colors) makes me even more hesitant to twitter and really makes me wonder about the new way of promoting books.

A few years ago a friend kept telling me I needed a blog, but I resisted. It works for a lot of people but didn't feel right for me. I have even more reservations about Twitter -- other than it's a good way to see someone else's true colors.

There's a maxim about how it's better to remain silent and allow people to think you're stupid then to speak and leave no doubt.

alias octavia · Mar 6, 2012

I've always liked that maxim, Teri. Totally understandable point of view re: Twitter. I've been appalled at some of the behavior I've seen there. But, it is like every other facet of the Internet to me, some people forget there are real people on the other side of that screen & a thought can travel around the world in seconds and change the way you are perceived. But, there is good too: there are opportunities, books and other information I never would have found otherwise. So, I see both sides.

This was a really good rebuttal to the JF business too. It made me laugh.

Amarie · Mar 6, 2012

Thanks for that link, Alias. It is really good.

ink wench · Mar 7, 2012

Morning, Pit. Car is back in the shop. Am hoping it's just having battery issues. Ugh.

Nothing to add to the JF fiasco. His books hold no appeal to me, and for this I'm thankful because he sounds like such a lovely human being.

SteveCordero · Mar 7, 2012

Mornin', Pit

{{{DVI}}}

Red-Green · Mar 7, 2012

Also re: JF, it seems to me that his failings as a person translate into an inability to write characters that are fully-fleshed out. I've never really connected to his work, and this may help explain why.

Roly · Mar 7, 2012

((ink))

JF. I was doing just fine pretending he didn't exist. Though, I maintain that he industrial YA model, though universally reviled, isn't exactly different from what's currently going on in YA.

Snappy · Mar 7, 2012

Morning Pitizens.

(((Ink))) May the car issues be resolved soon.

JF = never read him. No desire.

Snappy · Mar 7, 2012

Where is everyone?

Amarie · Mar 7, 2012

Snappy said:
Where is everyone?

I'm here, in between skyping with some classes for World Read Aloud Day. Fun, but it all took a long time to coordinate, and I'm still nervous something will go wrong with the webcam or link. I'll be glad when it's done and has gone smoothly.

Snappy · Mar 7, 2012

*Fingers crossed, Amarie* Hope it is smooth and productive.

Catwoman · Mar 7, 2012

I had to make the heart-wrenching decision to take one of my cats to the animal shelter. This cat (along with another) was thrust upon me by one of my friends who promised me she'd take them back when she found her own place. Well, one of the cats disappeared after a few months, and the other one my friend decided she didn't want anymore. (B**ch)

Problem with this cat is he bullies my other 2 cats to the point where they run away and/or won't come in my house anymore. Once I even had to readopt one of them because he was trapped and brought in to the shelter. I had this cat for almost a year and things never got better. I felt it wasn't fair to the other two that I had first.

I know I'm rambling, but I feel like the absolute worst person on the planet. I feel soooo guilty and so sad.

K. Taylor · Mar 7, 2012

As long as it's a no-kill shelter, Cat. Some personalities just don't mix, even in animals.

Red-Green · Mar 7, 2012

I'm trying to make my new phone work. *headdesk*

Snappy · Mar 7, 2012

(((Catwoman))) Don't feel bad. I'm sure he'll find a good home.

ink wench · Mar 8, 2012

(((Cat)))

Red, good luck. Took me a while to get comfortable with mine, and I still don't use most of its features.

Red-Green · Mar 8, 2012

Catwoman said:
I had to make the heart-wrenching decision to take one of my cats to the animal shelter. This cat (along with another) was thrust upon me by one of my friends who promised me she'd take them back when she found her own place. Well, one of the cats disappeared after a few months, and the other one my friend decided she didn't want anymore. (B**ch)

Problem with this cat is he bullies my other 2 cats to the point where they run away and/or won't come in my house anymore. Once I even had to readopt one of them because he was trapped and brought in to the shelter. I had this cat for almost a year and things never got better. I felt it wasn't fair to the other two that I had first.

I know I'm rambling, but I feel like the absolute worst person on the planet. I feel soooo guilty and so sad.

Cat, as someone who also had animals thrust upon her, take it from me, you're not the worst person on the planet. When we end up with animals not of our choosing, out of an act of kindness that ends up thrown back in our faces, sometimes we have to stop. Sometimes it doesn't work. Sometimes we just have to accept that our happiness is more important. So don't beat yourself up. Get your own kitties back and settled. The person who dumped that cat on you is the bad person. She should have taken the cat to the shelter, but was too cowardly. You were just a delaying tactic for the inevitable.

Amarie · Mar 8, 2012

(((Cat)))) Red said it better than I could

SteveCordero · Mar 8, 2012

Mornin', Pit

{{{Cat}}}

May the Force be with you, Amarie

Amarie · Mar 8, 2012

Thanks, Steve! It went well, except one kid asked how much I got paid for a book. I didn't want to wither his little heart, on the one hand, but I didn't want him to think he should decide on writing as a lucrative career path, so I fumbled the answer, basically saying it varies so much, I don't want to say. I did stress the importance of going to college to study something that will get you a job which pays.

I've been trying to follow the apple/publishers ebook lawsuits and here's an article that describes it in an understandable way:
link

Catwoman · Mar 8, 2012

Thanks everyone for making me feel marginally better. Now instead of the worst person on the planet, I only feel like crap that someone scrapes off the bottom of their shoe.

Ink -- did you get your car fixed?

silver -- that is so fabulous! Did your agent submit your book to the mag? Or did you?

QUESTION: Do you think the prices of e-books are fair? Should they be lower or higher?

Roly · Mar 8, 2012

Silver, I Pmed you.

US Department of Justice is threatening 5 major US publishers with legal action over their pricing of ebooks! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17300074

Woah....thoughts?

Edit: Lol okay, you guys are already talking about it

I'm late to the party, but...I dunno, I feel stupid trying to wrap my head around this. What do you think of the 30% for agents? And what does this mean for writers? Is Amazon the devil, or do publishers want us to think that?

I've been thinking about small presses like Musa et al. But I feel like I've been brainwashed by blogs not to consider that as a valid option. Would you go for small presses over self publishing?

Amarie · Mar 8, 2012

Cat, I think the real question is more how much should an author earn for a book? If you write a book that a publisher wants, and say you write at least one book a year, should you be paid enough to make it a full-time job? Even a low-paying full-time job?

The amount of effort a writer puts into a book, whether it comes out in ebook form, hardback or paperback is the same, so for me it's hard to talk about ebook pricing unless you talk about royalty rates too.

Purgatory's Pit of Doom

carpe libri

Pit Livin' & Purgatory Dreamin'

optimist

smooshed

carpe libri

ray of motherf#%&ing sunshine

Pit Livin' & Purgatory Dreamin'

KoalaKoalaKoala!

silly puppy monster

A new year, a new avatar

A new year, a new avatar

carpe libri

A new year, a new avatar

And your point is...?

Bah Humbug

KoalaKoalaKoala!

A new year, a new avatar

ray of motherf#%&ing sunshine

KoalaKoalaKoala!

carpe libri

Pit Livin' & Purgatory Dreamin'

carpe libri

And your point is...?

silly puppy monster

carpe libri