Search options (Page 158 of 168)

Thanks, all. My "two" Gods are intended to have somewhat different personalities, just enough to keep the reader guessing, although not enough that you would notice in the span of one chapter (God only has a few lines of dialogue most of the time). I toyed with giving the two Gods different names (e.g., Dieu and Dios, from French and Spanish), but that made it seem like they were definitely two different entities, which is not an impression I want to give.

I'll probably keep with one POV and one God at a time. I have a number of dual-MC chapters still to come, so more opportunities to experiment.

Thanks.
Dirk

Good article.

I think there will always be some market for printed books, probably for those that don't fit the e-book model. For example, I have a large book about the Roman Empire, 8.5" x 11" and one inch thick, weighing over 2 lbs, and filled with hundreds of large images and maps. While it may be possible to format that for a large tablet, it will never fit on a smartphone. I only bought it because I need it for my research. Everything else, I would much rather read on my phone while lying down to relax. I'm reminded of Captain Picard, who loves reading physical books in the 24th century, where printed books are collectors' items.

However, the shakeout in the publishing industry is far from over. Their monopoly over what gets published or doesn't is gone. Aside from self-published books, there are already online businesses that an author can use to help publish AND market books. Full service publishing "packages" paid for by book authors will be an increasingly viable alternative to traditional publishers who take on most of the publishing risk at their expense. The latter are too few in number given how many people are trying to publish books.

One area that has yet to develop fully is successful authors lending their name to new authors, just like real estate agents who work for other real estate agents (a business within a business) in return for a small cut of all homes sold under the leading agent's "brand."

Dirk

Thank you, Mike. Very helpful.

Dirk

Thank you, Mike.

What happens to those who don't turn to/believe in Christ? The majority of the world doesn't believe in Him, including an increasing number of atheists. It seems like the more right-wing the Christian, the more convinced they are that the rest of humanity is going to Hell. Personally, I don't believe in a God that would allow that. That's reflected in my character's struggle. He's a fundamentalist Christian who comes to question all of his beliefs.

And what about those who suffer at the hands of evil. Plenty of children, even babies, suffer greatly in this world (e.g., from diseases and starvation). Technically, they may be sinners by virtue of the simple fact that they are human, but why are they made to suffer in this life?

Thanks
Dirk

Hi Max. I was looking through works here on TNBW but can't find a sci-fi story. My story starts in the year 3994 A.D., so I was hoping to compare our respective universes.

Thanks
Dirk

It's pretty much a given VW won't give its permission, if asked. At best they'd want final say over the book in which it is used. Google use of corporate logos in fiction/art, or something similar. If you don't ask and VW finds out, they may just ignore it, as long as it doesn't have a negative impact on VW.

If it's parody, then it's protected as free speech, as long as you don't mind dealing with lawyers. Some companies strictly defend their brands, otherwise the courts could eventually rule against them if everyone started doing the same thing.

In the 2001: A Space Odyssey movie, they featured Pan Am for ships that travelled into space, but that was a very different era, and it may have been a product placement. I don't know if Arthur C. Clarke used their name in his book. You might be able to google that too.

Originally, Lucasfilm tried to shut down many sites of fan work derived from Star Wars, even those that made no profit off their work. Fortunately for SW fans, George eventually caved and now the presence of SW on the Internet is everywhere, mostly positive.

Mikira could consider something like Vee UU, but parody may not be what she wants.

Tom, on Google Chrome, when I've accidentally clicked the back button, I can hit the forward button and it takes me forward again, with the draft review still there (except for the latest comment box I was typing in). I'm not sure what kind of device/browser you're using, but I would expect other browsers would have a similar ability. Regardless, TNBW saves a draft of the review every time you add an inline comment.

It's a pain, but the only thing you lose is the current comment you were typing.

Dirk

Looking back, my first draft was absolute garbage. I bought several books on writing, from which I learned a lot of what a typical book entails (story arcs, character arcs, hero's journey, outlining, etc.). I tossed v1 without ever finishing it, although I still borrow from it. I'm treating v2 as my figure-out-how-to-write draft, including some significant, unplanned detours that weren't in my outline. I'm overdue to reorganize the outline to ensure I haven't written myself into a corner.

It's a balancing act between the amount of structure a new writer needs vs. the ability to write based on inspiration. There are good authors on both ends of the spectrum.

Dirk

I resemble that remark. :-)

Thanks, Charles.
Dirk

The series opener with Q/Picard was painful to watch. Q was largely consistent throughout the series, but thankfully Picard became less of a wide-eyed explorer and more of a solid leader for the Federation.