In my previous post I suggested ending your book in the same way you would consider ending a party.  Today, I decided to continue the party analogy by looking at how to best begin your book – by being fashionably late.

The expression ‘fashionably late’ is likely familiar to most of us.  It’s is used to refer to someone who shows up at an event, such as a party, after the time the event was scheduled to begin.  This doesn’t, however, apply to those who simply got mixed up and arrived late by accident.  Being fashionably late is something done on purpose.

Okay, so why would anybody want do that?

One possibility is to create the impression you’re too busy and important with other social engagements to be anywhere on time.  However, I’d like to believe most people aren’t so self-important as all that.  The reason I’m sticking with for people to show up late is that it’s more fun.

Anyone who’s ever attended a party knows it takes a little while for the guests to loosen up.  It starts with people clustering into small groups, eyeing the refreshments, and wondering who’s going to be the first to break the ice.  While this might be a nice setting for an intimate chat with a few close friends, it doesn’t sound much like  a party.  Experienced partygoers at this stage might not even stay for the h’orderves.

Being fashionably late then means waiting to show up for the party until after the ice has broken, the music is hot, and the people aren’t just staring at the snack bar – they’re eating and drinking freely out on the dance floor.  Everybody’s already having fun!

So how does this apply to my book?   . . . Continue Reading

(This post was inspired by a recent post on Magical Words about book endings.)

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve heard when throwing a party is to end it while the guests are still having fun.  This may seem counter-intuitive, but in truth it makes a lot of sense.  If people leave the party feeling good they’ll want to come back again next time. If you milk the party until its all fun is gone, concerned your guests will miss out on something if you don’t, their last experience won’t be of fun at all.  It will be of that awkwardness that comes from trying to figure out how to politely get their coats and slip away when no one’s looking because they’ve had enough. Probably not quite the lasting impression you were hoping for when you planned the party to begin with.

The same can be said with your book. . . . Continue Reading

An Italian court has convicted three current and former Google executives of privacy violations stemming from a 2006 incident involving students at an Italian high school who uploaded a video of they made while bullying a schoolmate with Down syndrome.  You can read more on that story on NPR or at the New York Times.

In essence, the charge alleges privacy violations by Google in connection with the posting of the video.  Google says it took down the video within two hours of being notified by police and that it cannot be held responsible to monitor all uploaded content by users given that approximately 20 hours of video alone are uploaded worldwide every minute.  The Italian court argued that while the video topped the “most entertaining videos” category with 5,500 hits and 800 user comments, Google should have noticed the video sooner.  Google further argued no one would file charges against the mail carrier for the content of letters delivered or against a telephone operator for what’s said during a telephone call.

So who’s to blame? . . . Continue Reading

If you haven’t already seen this beautiful and powerful public service announcement for seat belt safety, you’ll want to see it now.

Anna Staniszewski posted a link to a very funny commercial on her blog today.  I’ve copied her and done the same here.  Watch it first so the rest of this post will make sense.

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Read this first to get caught up on the latest news, then come back here.

With regards to the Google Book Settlement what concerns me about any future negotiation which still allows for an “opt-out” clause is the precedent this will set for future uses of copyrighted material by entities other than Google. This would put the burden on the copyright holder to monitor the world stage for any and all possible declarations of intent to use their protected material in order for the copyright holder to ensure they have opted-out.
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This week’s YA Highway – Road Trip Wednesday is about The Best Book No One’s Ever Heard Of.  I’m a bit late, but after commenting on the site I decided to post this to my blog too.

I could probably recommend plenty, but the one I went with is Wisdom Hunter by Randall Arthur.  I chose this one because I thought I remembered it going out of print, but it is listed right now on Amazon and has apparently gone through two covers since I read it on its first publication.  So, it’s not so likely no one’s ever heard of it.  Nevertheless, here are my thoughts.

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I read Wisdom Hunter more than 15 years ago, but I still remember how much it impacted me.
It was recommended to me by a good friend and so I decided to read it sight unseen. I don’t like movie trailers (and other spoilers) so I value the recommendation of someone I trust over product marketers trying to convince me of what I’ll like. And I loved it.

This is a story about journey.

It opens with a pregnant young woman, disowned by her father, a conservative, legalistic pastor and a real a$$hole – Jason Faircloth. She tragically dies in childbirth in a traffic jam, but her baby girl survives and is raised the baby’s father (I can’t recall if the two were married), who subsequently takes the baby and moves away. Jason is completely unaware this has happened.

The main character is . . . Continue Reading

I know at times I’m a terrible dreamer.

Some days this is more true than others.  On my good days that inner voice, the one that tells me I need to stay grounded in reality and not let myself get too far ahead of what I can “see”, is just a quiet whisper on the breeze.  On my bad days that voice is like thunder.  And on those in-between days, which can seem as infrequent as leap year or a blue moon, the coast is clear without a cloud in the sky and I can see all the way out to the edge of the horizon (and perhaps a bit beyond it).

Our dreams touch on our innermost, secret selves.  It takes courage to . . . Continue Reading

Until today, I had never heard of a manuscript style sheet.  I was introduced to this term in a post by Mary Robinette Kowal about her upcoming book: Shades of Milk and Honey (Tor, 2010).  While you’re there, why not visit the rest of Mary’s site to learn more about her and her work.

In the world of information technology a style sheet is a master file used to easily manipulate the look-and-feel of an entire graphical user interface system (e.g. a blog, website, certain software applications), but in the world of publishing the style sheet (a.k.a. “style guide”) serves as a . . . Continue Reading