Archive | October, 2015

Belva Plain (b. October 9): “Read the best there is and thereby learn.”

9 Oct
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Belva Plain (9 October 1915 – 12 October 2010) was an American author. Over 30 million copies of her novels were printed in 22 languages. 21 of her novels appeared on the New York Times best-seller list.

Six quotes about writing:

  1. I’m an early riser, and morning is my work time. I have a special workroom where no one interrupts me except my dog.
  2. I write in longhand on a yellow pad. I don’t use a computer because I like to take time to think about what I’m saying. 
  3. I think it’s as difficult for me to describe the process of inspiration as it would be for a composer to tell how a melody took shape in his/her head. 
  4. My advice to would-be writers? READ. Read the best there is and thereby learn. And keep trying. Writing isn’t easy. It’s very hard work, requiring a lot of blood, sweat, and tears.
  5. I wrote Evergreen because I had to. I had no real idea that it might be published. I know how competitive the world is and I didn’t want to become the sad victim of false hopes.
  6. I thought it was time to write about the kind of people I know. I got sick of reading the same old story, told by Jewish writers, of the same old stereotypes – the possessive mothers, the worn-out fathers, all the rest of the neurotic rebellious unhappy self-hating tribe. I wanted to write a different novel about Jews – and a truer one.

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John Lennon (b. October 9): “Possession isn’t nine-tenths of the law…”

9 Oct

Lennon

“Possession isn’t nine-tenths of the law. It’s nine-tenths of the problem.”

~ John Lennon, b. 9 October 1940

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SOMA COUNTY: New Age Noir no.3

8 Oct

NewAgeNoir3A

It’s coming. The third installment in Alan Annand’s NEW AGE NOIR series, featuring astrologer extraordinaire Axel Crowe, will be released Fall 2015.

With rave reviews from The Mountain Astrologer, Stephen Forrest, Dell Horoscope, Michael Lutin and Horoscope Guide, this series delivers literary and esoteric crime fiction unlike anything else you’ve ever read.

The 5-star reviews: https://www.pinterest.com/alanannand/scorpio-rising/

“Annand portrays an investigator using an esoteric toolkit – astrology, palmistry, numerology – in a serious and effective way that shines new light on the so-called occult arts. Sherlock Holmes with a horoscope. ” ~ an Amazon reviewer

 

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Michael Korda (b. October 8): “Finish your first draft and then we’ll talk.”

8 Oct
Korda

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Michael Korda, born 8 October 1933, is an English-born writer and novelist who was editor-in-chief of Simon & Schuster in New York City.

Quotes about writing:

  1. Finish your first draft and then we’ll talk.
  2. Ask a book publisher how many copies a book has sold, and he or she, presuming you’re not the author, will probably try to remember the size of the first printing, then double it. If you’re the author, the publisher will try to remember the number of copies that were shipped and cut that in half in order to avoid encouraging you to expect a big royalty check.
  3. Escapism sold books, to be sure, but not nearly as many as were sold by exposing America’s flaws and making the average American reader (and book club member) look closely at his or her most cherished social assumptions. Americans might not be eager to accept integration, feminism, homosexuality, juvenile delinquency, and the drug culture – or to shoulder the blame for the existence of these problems – but they were certainly willing to read about them.

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I’m sorry for all the things I said…

8 Oct

ME-rx-regrets

…when Mercury was retrograde

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William Zinsser (b. October 7): “Writing is a craft not an art” & other quotes on writing

7 Oct
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William Zinsser, born 7 October 1922, is an American writer, editor, literary critic, and teacher. He is best known for the book, On Writing Well.

10 quotes on writing:

  1. Writing is a craft not an art.
  2. You learn to write by writing.
  3. Clear thinking becomes clear writing; one can’t exist without the other.
  4. Rewriting is the essence of writing well: it’s where the game is won or lost.
  5. Writers must constantly ask: what am I trying to say? Surprisingly often, they don’t know.
  6. Examine every word you put on paper. You’ll find a surprising number that don’t serve any purpose.
  7. Nothing has replaced the writer. He or she is still stuck with the same old job of saying something that other people will want to read.
  8. The reader will notice if you are putting on airs. Readers want the person who is talking to them to sound genuine. Therefore a fundamental rule is: be yourself.
  9. Clutter is the disease of American writing. We are a society strangling in unnecessary words, circular constructions, pompous frills and meaningless jargon.
  10. Many people assume that professional writers don’t need to rewrite; the words just fall in place. On the contrary, careful writers can’t stop fiddling.

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Simon Cowell (b. October 7): “Ending the animal trade would leave more time to trap popstar wannabes.”

7 Oct

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“The end of the animal trade would leave more time to trap or beat to death pop star wannabes.”

~ Simon Cowell, b. 7 October 1959

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Last week to bite someone…

6 Oct

Bite & blame MErx - crop

It might not be true, but you heard it here first.

Sextile.com

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Thus Spoke Kamasutra: “By getting a hand under her, you will get a leg over her.”

6 Oct

nietzsche

“By getting a hand under her, you will get a leg over her.”

~ THUS SPOKE KAMASUTRA, Friedrich Nietzsche

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Clive Barker (b. October 5th): “Horror is the wild-dog genre” & other quotes on writing

5 Oct

barker

Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is an English author, film director, video game designer and visual artist known for his work in both fantasy and horror fiction. He is best-known for his short stories which were adapted for film as the Hellraiser and Candyman series. He has also written 18 novels.

Eight quotes about writing:

  1. I firmly believe that a story is only as good as the villain.
  2. Books should make somebody look at how they feel, be honest with themselves.
  3. Nothing ever begins. There is no first moment; no single word or place from which this or any other story springs.
  4. Gather experience… Look at what you should not look at. A feeling of anxiety is the sure and certain evidence that you should do this.
  5. Horror fiction shows us that the control we believe we have is purely illusory, and that every moment we teeter on chaos and oblivion.
  6. By and large, horror fiction is the most difficult to domesticate because part of the point is that it’s one step ahead – or behind – everybody else’s taste. And I’m not really convinced I’d like it to change. There’s something very healthy about horror fiction being always a little bit on the outside. It’s the wild-dog genre.
  7.  One of the things I’m trying to do over and over again in my books is create new mythologies, create new ways to understand the complexity of the world. I think what mythology does is impress upon chaotic experience the patterns, hierarchies and shapes which allow us to interpret the chaos and make fresh sense of it.
  8. Movies are much more fascist than books. They tell you what to feel, when to feel it. Popular movies manipulate you. Music tells you when it’s a sad part and when it’s a happy part. You’re obliged to watch them at the speed the filmmaker has created for you. That, I think, is one of the reasons why they’re so popular – because you don’t have to think very hard. The filmmaker has done all the thinking for you.

 

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