That is one damn big swamp cooler out there, next to the window-hanging A/C. Oh, and there's a naked house elf fixing to commit suicide by jumping off the shelf over the door, and a halfling (or one-thirdling) beating a tennis ball with a riding crop. And is the housemaid barefoot? Man, those are some ugly people!
p.s. My apologies for fan-ficking Harry Potter and the Ring Trilogy.
So this is speed-dating...
What is a fanfic?
Fanfic is the lowest of the low--it's fiction written by a fan of a particular work. The writer of fanfic plagiarizes the characters, setting and theme of someone else's work and has only to write a continuation of the original. There are people out there still writing stories based on Star Wars and others that have already been done to death. They say they're "paying homage" to the original. I say, write your own story! Or is it too much work?
The Millenium Trilogy (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, et al) centers around a "locked room" mystery--the mysterious disappearance of the rich man's daughter from the island where the family lived. No one saw her leave, and no one knows how she could have left the island. It runs though the three books, yet it's secondary to the story of Lisbeth Salander. It is solved at the end.
Just in case you haven’t had your fill of studying, here’s some required reading for the aspiring mystery writer. All were groundbreakers in their day. Sorry if your favorites were left out—I could only use so many.
Name the author and your favorite one of his/her books. If you haven’t done the required reading, you need to do some make-up work.
1. His stories were told from the POV of the protagonist’s sidekick.
2. Mysteries in her stories were often solved by an amateur sleuth.
3. Her intricate stories were more “whydunits” than “whodunits.”
4. Political activist, novelist and screenwriter, he was the dean of hard-boiled detective fiction.
5. He set aside stereotypes with the first gay detective.
6. Her 1908 novel introduced the “had I but known” school of mystery writing.
7. His unemployed, African-American WWII veteran reads deceptively easy.
8. He is master of the international detective thriller.
9. He popularized courtroom drama.
10. Her 1942 classic told the story from multiple POVs.
Extra Credit: His stories started the whole genre.
Answers:
1. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
2. Agatha Christie
3. Patricia Highsmith
4. Dashiell Hammett
5. Joseph Hansen
6. Mary Roberts Rinehart
7. Walter Mosley
8. Frederick Forsyth
9. Robert Traver (John D.Voelker)
10. Vera Caspary
Extra Credit: Edgar Allen Poe
Amen, cobber!
You began with a wonderful concept. Work carefully, Tom. JP
It's been a week, and the answers are in. You did a good job. 70% Hmm... I think that rates a "C."
Work with me here: the hint for #8 has had one word changed. See what a difference a word can make? JP
Congratulations! Hard work pays off.
Amen to that. Congratulations, Simon. JP
A little of everything, eh? Like most of us. Welcome! JP
Check #4 again--I altered the clue for you. JP
Cool, Max! Looking forward to it. JP
Okay, how about: What's round on both ends and high in the middle? Ohio. That one's relatively inoffensive. I remember now--Beaver Creek, right? We have a Beaver Creek near here in Arizona, too. Look for it on the map near Sedona.
Thanks for the lesson in site navigation.
Clueless signing off.
Whoa! First thing I noticed: the book had dropped off my home page. (Miss Oblivious here) And the chapter has been revised, which I expected, seeing how you're so meticulous. But I didn't find a notation regarding the version. Oh, and are you taking him out of Ohio? I know a lot of people make jokes about the state. (What's a Buckeye? A useless nut.) JP
Geez--you're so meticulous! I never thought to label my corrected works as version 2,3,etc. (I wondered what that dang thing was for!) All along, I've been blithely adding to/ subtracting from my stories without regard to version. At times I even felt guilty for winding up with a post much longer than the one I paid for. Huh.
I've never been charged for the changes I made. Was that wrong? Did I cheat? I always figured, averaging out the number of words I added and subtracted, things balanced out. If I was wrong, I'm sorry. JP
Hi, I joined in February this year so I'm definitely one of the new people.
Sometimes I looked at someone's writing and didn't resonate with it.
I'm guessing I owe jack the knife an apology.
My available time for writing IS precious!
Two things I'd like to bring up:
1. People who don't review are losing out on an incredible learning opportunity.
2. I wonder if all of those whose writing I've reviewed appreciate my work.
Anyway, this site may not be what it used to be, but it's all I've got.
Welcome to the site, Karen! You may be new, but I'd say you've got us figured out. We all have lives to live, and the time spent on reviewing is precious. That's why we appreciate sincere responses when we review someone's work. JP
P. S. Don't worry about Jack--he's used to us.
What, no takers? Have a good day!
Hello, everybody--I notice every time I come to this group that there are lots of views, but nobody posts anything. Are we all waiting for our words to become historical documents?
I'd like to know what drives your interest in the past. I'll go first.
I became interested in history when I was in fifth grade. My teacher was a real hunk. He happened to be a WWII veteran, and I guess he shared stories (suitable for ten-year-old ears). My interest was increased when in high school I subscribed to a periodical called American Heritage. It used to come beautifully hardbound in those days, but better than that, the stories were well-written and informative, serving as resources for many a report. In college, again I was inspired by history professors.
My favorite period in history used to be the Civil War (1860-65), and in my crazy youth I tried writing stories set in that period. It required too much research of each detail. I'm obsessive about research, and I refuse to invent details. It was driving me crazy.
My area of focus now is the mid-twentieth century. Research is a bit easier, since I was there as a kid. I have focused a lot of my stories on the problems of returning war veterans. Maybe that's because of the military men in my background--uncles, brothers and sons.
Well, there you have it. What's your story?
April fool! Whether you like being tricked or not, there’s something about the surprise ending that leaves you talking. These books became movies famous for their tricky, twisty endings. Give the title, then name the author and the main character.
1. Classic: See, they were stranded on an isolated island…
2. Classic: American writer stumbles upon his friend’s crimes in post-WWII Europe.
3. The altar boy did it.
4. The dude just wanted to belong; he'd fight for it.
5. Dueling magicians vie for fame and the perfect illusion.
6. This time the prosecutor is tried for murder.
7. US marshals investigating a disappearance are stranded on an island…
8. Stunt driver wants to impress a girl.
9. Papal investigation of murder in a medieval monastery.
10. Grouchy PI investigates the murder of a movie mogul amidst toon legends.
Extra Credit Classic: Why headmasters shouldn’t be allowed to have girlfriends.
ANSWERS Title…Author…Main character
1. And Then There Were None (and oh, so many remakes!) by Agatha Christie…none, really, since it seems they all die
2. The Third Man novella by Graham Greene…Rollo (changed for the movie) Martins
3. Primal Fear by William Diehl…Martin Vail
4. Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk…Unnamed Narrator
5. The Prestige by Christopher Priest…Robert Angier
6. Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow…Rusty Sabich
7. Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane…Teddy Daniels
8. Drive by James Sallis…The Driver
9. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco…William of Baskerville
10. Who Censored Roger Rabbit?(yes, it was changed for the movie) By Gary K. Wolf…Eddie Valiant
Extra Credit: Les Diabolique (Diabolique in the US)based on the novel Celle qui n'était plus (She Who Was No More) by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac. ...Michel Delassalle A remake was released in 1996 starring (who else?) Sharon Stone.
My favorite pet peeve, as you know, is that new forum posts disappear from the home page before I know they even exist.
Hear, hear!
And mine is that by dividing the postings into categories, those in less active categories stay up forever, while others whizzzzz by before you get a chance to read them.
I accept my defeat. Jack the Knife is winner and still champion! Sorry about the mistaken Mouseketeer. I never watched the show, in any of its incarnations. My mind just didn't work that way. I know--I'm weird. But I'm still lovable. Thanks for playing the game. More tomorrow.
Glutton for Punishment (JP)
P.S. All the guys I ever knew said they watched the Mickey Mouse Club because they had the hots for Annette Funicello and her prepubescent boobs. Is that true, Jack?
Never give up. Never surrender!
#4--Yes, Rope did predate Compulsion (and was probably a better movie), but I couldn't find any evidence that the story existed on the printed page before it became a film. The only book I found was based on the movie. That's why I didn't include it. My apologies if I'm wrong.
#9--You win. Ralph Fiennes played Francis Dolarhyde in 2002; Tom Noonan in 1986. BTW, which one was Tommy Noonan of Mickey Mouse Club fame?
JP
P. S. I try always to work with titles that began as books, unless otherwise noted. The fact that they became films proves their popularity and makes them easier to remember.
The answers are in! Hope you enjoyed the game. Now, JACK--WHAT THE HECK IS THE ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION?
Just the alert on the main page should do, I think.
My personal home page is all I ever see when I log in. I spent a few minutes looking for a reminder about on-site courtesy without success. I re-read the member agreement and found no reference to replies. It isn't as easy to find as you suggest.
Be that as it may, you can't force people to do the polite thing. Adding more rules won't fix ugly. We'll just have to quit reviewing the works of writers who don't respond to our reviews. And maybe they are trying to let the reviewer know they don't want to hear from him/her again. Who knows what makes a person do what they do?
