Gig Harbor is a lovely place. Went there by boat a few times when I lived in Washington. Good to see you on the mainland! I probably missed the story of how that came about.
527 2015-12-08 20:31:17
Re: POP COP QUIZ #20 Christmas Criminals (2 replies, posted in Cop Shop)
1. Reindeer Games
2. (This sounds familiar but I can't remember it.)
3. The Ice Harvest
5. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
9. Die Hard
10. The Long Kiss Goodnight
528 2015-11-22 17:10:13
Re: Netgalley reviews (5 replies, posted in Marketing Your Writing)
My publisher arranged for a NetGalley run. Lots of requests for the book resulted in only two reviews. So you did much better than I, SP.
529 2015-11-19 22:37:35
Re: Suggestion for inline review points (69 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Well said, CJ!
530 2015-11-17 22:02:09
Re: True Detective or The Killing (3 replies, posted in Cop Shop)
Ha! Doivetails with my post for another thread in this group today. I watched True Detective (the second season) and couldn't make it all the way through the first episode. Last year's series was good, but this one wandered way too much and was incoherent, IMO. But I thought Vaughn did a credible job in a serious role.
Never saw The Killing. But I like Seattle!
531 2015-11-11 23:56:07
Re: editing a pdf (6 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
I had the same trouble, even after I bought the translation software.
532 2015-11-10 15:37:41
Re: Yogi, gone but not forgotten (12 replies, posted in Thriller/Mystery/Suspense)
When I was a kid, Mel Allen was the voice of the Yankees. Then Garagiola replaced him, and I resented that. But Joe went on to be a great broadcaster.
533 2015-11-05 23:45:24
Re: Punctuation (296 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Perhaps my use of "sneering" was a bit much, but that was the impression I got. I didn't intend to disparage other viewpoints on the piece, only to inquire why those who thought it was a bad example of writing thought so, since I didn't see it. It's supposed to be a discussion, not a vehicle for ad hominem comments.
534 2015-11-05 23:41:02
Re: Punctuation (296 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Dill Carver wrote:
jack the knife wrote:Jeez, a gazillion posts since the recommendation to preview "The Martian" and see how bad the writing is. Well, I did that this morning. And I didn't find anything outrageous or outre. It was a log, and I thought it read like a log would. No "showing" or dialogue applied. I don't get the sneering. But I only read a few pages. Does the author lose all sense of literacy further on? Just curious, since I didn't see anything, even if it were written by a TNBW author, to nit about.
A piece of commercial writing is reviewed objectively by individuals who then subjectively express their individual opinions about it for the purpose of a discussion (as you do). Why are the opinions that don't conform to your own, labelled sneering? Are you the ultimate authority upon the official quality of prose? It is totally okay that you liked it; that's the point of the discussion. The opinions that are pro or con are valued equally. Nobody is going to call you a shallow minded cheerleader or some such for having an opinion of your own, but why be aggressive and attack other legitimate points of view as sneering? It comes across as if you hold any opinion other than your own in contempt?
There is a broad span of personal taste, opinion and preference when it comes to any art form or media product. Can this community not hold an open minded discussion upon literature and the art or writing within the bounds of respect, understanding and civil minded debate? Where is the professionalism and camaraderie? Why must aggression be injected and points be made with snarky digs at people with opposing views? That kind of behaviour discourages others from entering into a conversation because it is not friendly and not conducive to an open minded community.
535 2015-11-05 21:33:42
Re: Punctuation (296 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Oh, and what's this about closing the thread (presumably because of the increasing vitriol) and then reopening it? I don't get it, Sol.
536 2015-11-05 21:29:46
Re: Punctuation (296 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Jeez, a gazillion posts since the recommendation to preview "The Martian" and see how bad the writing is. Well, I did that this morning. And I didn't find anything outrageous or outre. It was a log, and I thought it read like a log would. No "showing" or dialogue applied. I don't get the sneering. But I only read a few pages. Does the author lose all sense of literacy further on? Just curious, since I didn't see anything, even if it were written by a TNBW author, to nit about.
537 2015-11-02 19:10:21
Re: Omniscient third person. (8 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Consistency is the key. You shouldn't switch back and forth from one form of POV to another. And while that might be deemed a "writing style," it's not one an editor would likely accept. I've been there.
538 2015-10-30 21:15:56
Re: Yogi, gone but not forgotten (12 replies, posted in Thriller/Mystery/Suspense)
Oops. Good one, Max! Got me!
539 2015-10-25 18:32:18
Re: Build it and they will come...sorta (6 replies, posted in Fight Club)
I was going to suggest they come over to the Fight Club, but all sides dispute they're fighting! It's to laugh.
540 2015-10-23 22:19:20
Re: DELETE (55 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Norm d'Plume wrote:
jack the knife wrote:Charles has a point. There's a difference between deleting those words from narrative and from dialogue, which naturally includes them.
I write my narrative the way we would naturally tell a story. No words are banned, although I try to mix it up a little. Don't get me started on "stand up" and "sit down". I use them quite freely.
Assume the upright position. Fold yourself into that chair. Kinda silly, I agree.
541 2015-10-23 22:16:23
Re: DELETE (55 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Thanks, Rebecca. I can see your issue, now. I guess we each have our own demons to expunge. 
542 2015-10-23 18:38:57
Re: DELETE (55 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
I'm reading a Lee Child book now. If all his "was" words were highlighted, the page would look like a sheet of polka dots! Okay, he's a bestseller, and I would never submit a MS to a publisher written in that fashion, but it serves as a counterpoint to all the supposed axiomatic rules of writing. Rebecca, I'm curious about your "come" bane. Can you give an example of how you tend to overuse that word?
543 2015-10-23 13:32:08
Re: DELETE (55 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Charles has a point. There's a difference between deleting those words from narrative and from dialogue, which naturally includes them.
544 2015-10-15 21:10:48
Re: Yogi, gone but not forgotten (12 replies, posted in Thriller/Mystery/Suspense)
Jeez, I just saw this post, Max. Too kind, my friend! Would that it were true!
545 2015-10-03 23:42:38
Re: Ask the Expert. (62 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Murphy, in addition to being an actor after he returned from the war (Yes, Tom, playing oneself is quite an exception. In fact, I can't recall another who did that, not counting cameos, a la Babe Ruth in Pride of the Yankees.), he was also a songwriter. He died tragically in a plane crash at the age of 47. Jack
546 2015-10-03 16:05:08
Re: Ask the Expert. (62 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Alvin York is a good example of a backwoods type who becomes a hero when thrust into war. Another would be Audie Murphy, born of a sharecropper family in Texas, who lied about his age to be accepted in the Army during WWII, and who received just about every award given to soldiers, including two Silver Stars and the Medal of Honor.
547 2015-10-01 10:58:48
Re: Chapter Word Length (26 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Linda - Thanks for the input re your personal experience, though it surprises me that agents would advise altering a chapter based solely on word length. My experience differs, having dealt with editors of three different traditional publishers. In no instance was chapter length an issue, and my chapters have ranged from ~ 1000 words to well over 3000. I've yet to deal with agents though, and your experience makes me think that's been a good thing.
548 2015-09-30 18:31:05
Re: Chapter Word Length (26 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
JP - If there were "rules," I'd follow them. But there aren't, and I challenge anyone to substantiate a rule for chapter length. In your competition, though, I see the need for a length sufficient to show your stuff.
Linda - You state that "nearly all" agents and publishers have accepted norms for chapter length, depending on genre. Do you have any evidence for this? Because my research reveals just the opposite - that chapter lengths depend on the story context and can vary widely. Now novel length is a different story. There are "norms" for those, depending on genre. The rule of thumb, though, is to shoot for 80 - 90K. Exceptions: Sagas (think Michener) in this range are likely to be rejected out of hand, and thrillers way above this range will be given the boot, too.
549 2015-09-29 21:08:42
Re: Chapter Word Length (26 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
JP - Was this supposed to be a chapter contest you entered? Then I could see that requirement. But otherwise, I can't. A chapter is what it is: you have a beginning and an end. If it doesn't have an "end," then it doesn't constitute a chapter, in my view. There has to be at least a pause at the end, hopefully a hook, to prod the reader to the next chapter. I've seen chapters of two pages in bestsellers and chapters that are longer than 3000 words - in the same novel! If anyone tries to tell you what chapter-length limits are, you can disregard that so-called advice.
550 2015-09-25 00:36:29
Re: Yogi, gone but not forgotten (12 replies, posted in Thriller/Mystery/Suspense)
Hey, Dags! Yeah, I combined a couple of Yogi-isms. I always got a kick out of his sayings, much of which made perfect sense knowing the context. For example: "If you come to a fork in the road, take it." That comes from a direction to his house in Montclair, N.J., where my parents lived for a few years. The road divides and reforms later, so it doesn't matter which road you take. "It gets late early there" refers to the shadows that descend on the field (I think left field) in Yankee Stadium as the sun sets. "Thank you all for making this necessary" was said on a Yogi Berra Night honoring him back in the day. "I never said all those things I said" was in response to an interviewer asking him about those sayings attributed to him. "Nobody goes there anymore; it's too crowded." He was talking about a nightspot that became too popular and crowded foir him to want to go there. "You can't hit and think at the same time." As one who has stood in the batter's box facing a pitcher with a wild fastball, I can attest that's true! One of my favorites that absolutely makes no logical sense: The pizza guy asked him if he should cut the pizza into four or six slices. Yogi (supposedly) replied: "Better make it four. I don't think I could eat six."
I didn't know that Yogi was at D-Day in WWII. He came back from the war, a few of his youth years taken from him, to go on as a Yankee legend. And the fans were not kind in the beginning, calling him an ape, a misfit, and such. They learned quickly he was a force to be reckoned with. And now he's a beloved hero. I was interviewed a couple of moinths ago for a book promo, and one of the questions was who, if I could choose anybody now or in the past I'd like to have dinner with, who would it be, and I chose Yogi Berra.
