HOST EBK Chip: ***The opinions expressed in this chat are not necessarily those of HOST EBK Chip: The Other*Worlds*Cafe or America Online.*** Shadowjakk: I'll be back in a sec. OnlineHost: Shadowjakk has left the room. HOST EBK Chip: Ta-da. MToney: Chip! HOST EBK Astra: Hi Chip! KSWriter: hi chip HOST EBK Chip: Shadow told me to change clothes and c'mon down. :) OnlineHost: Araiused has entered the room. T83BIRD: o/"Do you have Haggis in the baggis...?"/o T83BIRD: Heyla Ara T83BIRD: Hi Chip MToney: LOL, T8! OnlineHost: HOST EBK Shadow has entered the room. OnlineHost: Athanor IX has entered the room. MToney: Hiya Ara/Ath! HOST EBK Chip: Hiya, Shadow Araiused: Hi, all T83BIRD: Ho Shadow T83BIRD: Hi Ath KSWriter: hello HOST EBK Shadow: Hi Athanor! janicemars: Hi Chip Araiused: Hi, Shadow, Ath HOST EBK Astra: :::: as Astra quietly leaves :::: Thanks guys! And Thank You Kris!! Athanor IX: Hi. janicemars: Goodnight Astra. OnlineHost: HOST EBK Astra has left the room. T83BIRD: Nite Astra KSWriter: take care Jedique: Good night Astra. HOST EBK Shadow: Kristine Smith, author of LAW OF SURVIVAL is with us tonight. :) HOST EBK Chip: It'll take me a sec to get the macro goin', Shadow. MToney: LOL! OnlineHost: JDipale has entered the room. Araiused: Hi, JD! MToney: "LOS" also stands for Loss Of Signal. Coincidence? janicemars: Kris...has anyone asked you yet how it janicemars: felt to get the Campbell and if you were janicemars: expecting it, Kris? HOST EBK Shadow: Unfortunately, our moderator HOST EBK Astra is taken ill. MToney: JD!!! JDipale: Hi all!!! HOST EBK Shadow: Hi JD! E cat s: Time for me to leave. Thanks, Ms. Smith. KSWriter: I had pretty much talked myself... MToney: G'night E! HOST EBK Shadow: Night, E. Araiused: Night, E JDipale: bye E!!!!!!!!!! T83BIRD: *Survival* makes me shudder right now. Our furnace stopped. We are without heat. OnlineHost: E cat s has left the room. T83BIRD: Nite E KSWriter: out of any chance of winning.... MToney: KS... are we related? :) HOST EBK Shadow: We're talking to Kristine Smith tonight, JD. :) JDipale: Hi Kris...I was just playing with my ball KSWriter: I had lost in 2000, and I tried to not get my hopes up. Araiused: Night, E JDipale: bye E!!!!!!!!!! T83BIRD: *Survival* makes me shudder right now. Our furnace stopped. We are without heat. OnlineHost: E cat s has left the room. T83BIRD: Nite E KSWriter: out of any chance of winning.... MToney: KS... are we related? :) HOST EBK Shadow: We're talking to Kristine Smith tonight, JD. :) JDipale: Hi Kris...I was just playing with my ball KSWriter: I had lost in 2000, and I tried to not get my hopes up. T83BIRD: Congratulations on your win. KSWriter: Hello John--only one, huh? Too bad MToney: Kris, you didn't LOSE in 2000... you just didn't win. Big difference. KSWriter: Thanks T8 JDipale: The one you signed at Mil Phil T83BIRD: yw KSW HOST EBK Shadow: LOL..he was very proud of that. :) KSWriter: I know. :-) KSWriter: I know *sigh* JDipale: ah, wasn't sure if you remembered MToney: ROFL, JD!!! KSWriter: Oh yeah HOST EBK Chip: Hokay...finally the IM works. :) MToney: Bravo Chipster! MToney: HOKA!!! JDipale: I tell you Kris, after what happened here in NYC, I sure could use that laugh again! T83BIRD: Yea Chip KSWriter: I can imagine--how are you out there? Araiused: Um, this chat is protocol-less? MToney: Sure is, Ara. /ga HOST EBK Shadow: Do you fel that you have more clout with your HOST EBK Shadow: publisher with an award under your belt, Kristine? HOST EBK Chip: You tell us, Ara. We just got here. :) Araiused: I just got here as well.. JDipale: ga? Araiused: Pooh, MT KSWriter: I hope so--I know my editor and her boss were very happy that I won. MToney: ga = Go Ahead JDipale: Ah....ga MToney: {{{{{Ara}}}}}} Araiused: Didnt know Astra's sick, hope it ain't serious Araiused: EM TEE!!! MToney: That wasn't MY hand! T83BIRD: Any time a book sells well editors and publi$hers are happy. HOST EBK Chip: She just left, Ara. Feelin' icky. KSWriter: so are agents and writers Araiused: Yeah, I can relate to ickiness right now. JDipale: we were all happy when you won. We were in a party room thinking "4th Book! 4Th Book" T83BIRD: True, KSW, but editors and publishers always seem to get much bigger HOST EBK Shadow: I'm sure there's an equation somewhere, written in HOST EBK Shadow: publishing calculus that can determine how many HOST EBK Shadow: additional books an award will sell. KSWriter: fingers crossed for that, JD T83BIRD: pieces of the pie. HOST EBK Chip: I'm sure there are at least statistics, Shadow. KSWriter: from what I've heard, the novel Hugo makes the most difference with regard to sales. Araiused: Your brainwaves sure do work, JD HOST EBK Shadow: Do you feel that fantasy is *easier* to write than SF, Kristine? KSWriter: Is fantasy easier? No, ... KSWriter: I'm still doing research, this time in the food and clothes... T83BIRD: Shadow, fantasy operates by what is known as *internal logic.* HOST EBK Chip: Even though you don't have to get the technical details right? :) Araiused: Does fantasy require homework? HOST EBK Chip: Sure, T8. But you don't have to make your internal logic gibe with real-world logic. KSWriter: Well, it depends on the extent of your magic system... T83BIRD: Wasn't claiming it does, Chip. HOST EBK Shadow: Well...cultural details are often more telling in their HOST EBK Shadow: absence than technical details in SF. So many SF HOST EBK Shadow: memes are self-propagating, now. Araiused: I think you've just given the answer, Kristine - research. OnlineHost: SpleenVent has entered the room. KSWriter: the research is different, and fun. Since my magic is fairly... T83BIRD: Heya Spleen HOST EBK Chip: How detailed does your research get, Kristine? JDipale: Spleen! Araiused: Hi, Spleen. HOST EBK Shadow: I think it might be *harder* to write truly original fantasy. Araiused: New fantastical parameters, Shadow? KSWriter: limited in the story, a segment about how stained glass is made needs to be true to the pseudo- SpleenVent: Hi All KSWriter: renaissance period in which I'm working. That means research HOST EBK Shadow: They're hard to come by, Ara. Araiused: Ah, interesting, Kristine. KSWriter: the research can get pretty detailed HOST EBK Shadow: Which pseudo-renaissance? Italian, English? KSWriter: Eastern Europe HOST EBK Shadow: See...I'm trying to subtley wheedle the plot out of you. :) HOST EBK Chip: LOL Shadow KSWriter: I can see that *g* HOST EBK Shadow: Ahhhh..that's telling. :) HOST EBK Shadow: LOL T83BIRD: Shadow's subltlety is as veiled as Salome at the end of her dance. T83BIRD: subtlety HOST EBK Shadow: So...it's about stained-glass artisans in an alternate Poland? :) Araiused: How does fantasy overlap in science fiction? KSWriter: Czechoslovakia HOST EBK Shadow: Sounds original. MToney: You should get an award for spelling that correctly. :) HOST EBK Chip: LOL MT KSWriter: Does fantasy and SF overlap--I think... HOST EBK Shadow: Definitely non-Arthurian. KSWriter: if you try to keep your magic system consistent, you run into HOST EBK Shadow: Very little non-horror fantasy set in that milieu. Athanor IX: Fantasy and SF overlap. Purism is for caterpillars. HOST EBK Chip: Which is refreshing, Shadow. KSWriter: balance of mass and energy and other things that ... HOST EBK Chip: Fantasy and SF can't overlap, Ath. Araiused: LOL, Ath HOST EBK Chip: They're two different views of the same thing. KSWriter: make it science-like, imo KSWriter: My mom is Slavic--I've always wanted to visit eastern Europe. It made sense to set a story there KSWriter: I hope someone buys it HOST EBK Shadow: So...there *is* a supernatural element involved, though? HOST EBK Chip: Can you travel there and write it off as a business expense? :) T83BIRD: If a priest falls under a spell, does he have enough energy left to say mass? HOST EBK Shadow: Or is your magic more alchemical? Araiused: Ouch, T Athanor IX: Your two eyes produce two different views of whatever you look at; nonetheless, there is significant overlap between them. MToney: Eastern Europe produces many of the world's most beautiful women. Just a tidbit of info. KSWriter: At this point, my magic is ... HOST EBK Chip: Improper analogy, Ath. Sorry. Athanor IX: Apologies to the monocular. HOST EBK Shadow: I'd buy it, just for the milieu...though I'm sure it will be expertly crafted. :) HOST EBK Chip: My eyes produce two different angles. That's different than a viewpoint. KSWriter: related to the mind and memory. Nonscientific exploration, perhaps, of a scientific thing--thinking on the fly here HOST EBK Chip: SF and fantasy are mutually exclusive. But that's another chat. Araiused: :: sitting back to enjoy eye dispute ::: Athanor IX: An angle extends from a point. MToney: :::crosses eyes::: Araiused: And hope to burp, MT?? HOST EBK Chip: But I was using "viewpoint" in the abstract rather than concrete sense. HOST EBK Shadow: Romantic science, then...or Victorian magic. MToney: I wish I could, Ara. HOST EBK Chip: Again, that's another chat. We'll pay attention to Kristine for now. :) KSWriter: Yes, shadow--in a way. HOST EBK Shadow: Dwelling in the shadows at the edge of the campfire. HOST EBK Chip: Doesn't that get close to Steampunk, Shadow? KSWriter: any ghosties and ghoulies are products of the mind, writ large MToney: As much as I'd love to stay and play the disruptor role, eldest daughter is moving tomorrow... MToney: and I need some sleep. HOST EBK Chip: Night, MT! T83BIRD: :::trying to imagine Shadow at the edge of a campfire:::::: HOST EBK Shadow: Night, MT. T83BIRD: Nite MT KSWriter: night MT MToney: Wonderful to have chatted with you, Kris! KSWriter: it was fun! MToney: G'night, all! :::pooooooooooooooooooooooooof!::: janicemars: Night MT. OnlineHost: MToney has left the room. HOST EBK Shadow: They're always better as products of the mind... Araiused: Nite, MT HOST EBK Chip: Like TURN OF THE SCREW, Shadow? KSWriter: The White People HOST EBK Shadow: ...which is why TURN OF THE SCREW is better than the Cthulu Mythos. HOST EBK Chip: I"ve done it! I can read his mind! Ta-da! KSWriter: Machen's story T83BIRD: LOLOL Chip HOST EBK Shadow: How far is the work plotted, Kristine? KSWriter: Oh Whistle and I'll Come To You My Lad HOST EBK Chip: Do you ever specify whether the ghoulies are actually real, Kristine? HOST EBK Shadow: Great story, that. KSWriter: I have the first fantasy book fairly... HOST EBK Shadow: That's teling, Chip. HOST EBK Shadow: telling, too. HOST EBK Chip: :::sulk::: KSWriter: well plotted, but one plotline fell apart last night... HOST EBK Chip: Bummer, Kristine. KSWriter: and I'm bust shoring it up. HOST EBK Shadow: Dontcha hate it whan that happens? KSWriter: Busy, not bust. KSWriter: Yes, and it always happens when you least expect it HOST EBK Shadow: Tht's good...I was worried for a second. :) HOST EBK Chip: LOL HOST EBK Shadow: How far back did it wreck your outline? KSWriter: All the way to the start, durn it. KSWriter: it's a real pile-up T83BIRD: Chip, it's much better when the writer finds the plot falling apart rather than if someone else does. HOST EBK Shadow: Ouch! KSWriter: But I know how to fix it, and ... KSWriter: it will be a better story. Araiused: Does it mean the story's got a life of its own, Kristine? T83BIRD: Hooray, KSW KSWriter: Oh yes, characters take off on you, and you realize... janicemars: Baryon> tell Kris that sometimes the characters don't do as the writer plans KSWriter: that what you thought you could make them do and what they KSWriter: *want* to do are two different things. Araiused: Is Baryon sitting on the balcony? T83BIRD: Agreed, KSW. HOST EBK Shadow: Characters can be forced to do things out of HOST EBK Shadow: character...but you end up with zombies or, worse, HOST EBK Shadow: husbands. Araiused: How do you deal with characters fleshing themselves out in stories? HOST EBK Chip: LOL Shadow T83BIRD: My own characters in the O*W*C archived verse spoof of space opera, OUR ORBIT, T83BIRD: most definitely *took off* on me. KSWriter: I've plotted out characters that I thought would work fine, then as I wrote them, I realized they didn't work. Araiused: Do you sometimes entirely scrap characters? KSWriter: And I've had characters drop in from the sky and say, I'm here. HOST EBK Shadow: Do you feel that characterization is more important in KSWriter: Oh yes, I have scrapped characters. \ KSWriter: It hurts T83BIRD: Ara, Shakespeare did that with Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet. HOST EBK Shadow: fantasy, where the technical aspects of the tale don't HOST EBK Shadow: carry as much water? Araiused: Well, Mercutio was in fact a plot tool. T83BIRD: ""Tis not so deep or so wide as a church door. But 'tis enough. 'Twill serve." KSWriter: No, I feel characters are important in both SF and fantasy KSWriter: If the characters grab me, I'll overlook tech problems... T83BIRD: afk HOST EBK Chip: Shadow's frozen. :) KSWriter: but the greatest tech in the world won't keep me reading if the characters... HOST EBK Shadow: fantasy, where the technical aspects of the tale don't carry as much water? HOST EBK Shadow: Something ate that whole line a minute ago. :/ KSWriter: are cardboard or behave like game pieces and not people. Araiused: I got that line, Shadow HOST EBK Shadow: OK...back in the thick of things again. HOST EBK Shadow: Sorry for the duplicity. :) T83BIRD: bak HOST EBK Shadow: Does anyone come to mind, re: "Cardboard Characters", Kristine? :) Araiused: Yeah, if you really want to read high tech without Araiused: characters, go read Scientific American or like mag KSWriter: Ain't talking HOST EBK Shadow: This is where we get to the dirty gossip part. :) KSWriter: Nope, not me HOST EBK Shadow: Ahh...well. We have one with ethics. :) KSWriter: But the book I'm thinking of was a bestseller and a major major movie\ HOST EBK Chip: LOL Jedique: I must go now. Have a good evening, everyone. Thank you, Ms. Smith. It was a pleasure. Athanor IX: That would be most of them, then. HOST EBK Shadow: But, I agree. Characterization is the most important part of SF or fantasy. Araiused: Goodnight, Jed HOST EBK Shadow: Night, Jed. KSWriter: nite jed OnlineHost: Jedique has left the room. T83BIRD: Nite Jed HOST EBK Shadow: LOLOLOL...can we guess titles? :) Araiused: Ahah, recent movie? KSWriter: Hey, the book involved...I'd commit crimes to have 5% of this gguy's sales KSWriter: 1% T83BIRD: LOLOL KSW HOST EBK Shadow: There are some writers who seem to wallow in great HOST EBK Shadow: ideas, but can't seem to get characters right. KSWriter: andI can quite easily walk away from those books, but that's just me HOST EBK Shadow: I think SF is one of the very few genres in which that HOST EBK Shadow: kind of writing can exist, with some success. T83BIRD: Shadow, OSC said in Writer's Digest that *it all begins with character.* Araiused: There are too many bestsellers... HOST EBK Chip: I think Asimov was one of those, frankly. HOST EBK Chip: His characters were there to mouth his ideas for him. HOST EBK Shadow: Because, sometimes...just sometimes, though less HOST EBK Shadow: in recent years...a milieu can carry a book or books, HOST EBK Shadow: in SF. KSWriter: unless the book is one of yours, then it's just the right number T83BIRD: Also, Analog's writer's guidelines call for *unique and memorable characters, about which the readers HOST EBK Shadow: LOL T83BIRD: can become immediately concerned.* Athanor IX: I suspect it is possible that a few SF readers are not primarily concerned with carbon units. HOST EBK Shadow: During the pulp years, milieu was nearly everything. KSWriter: if you don't care how the tech or the magic affects the characters, why keep reading? Athanor IX: "Some of us find other things more interesting than men and women" -Ambrose Bierce. T83BIRD: Ambrose Bierce found himself most interesting. HOST EBK Shadow: How would you define SF, Kristine? KSWriter: An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge--Chickamauga--that man could write character HOST EBK Shadow: He could. KSWriter: SF is... KSWriter: oh, ask me a hard one, why doncha? HOST EBK Shadow: But, his career exposed him to many, many different characters. HOST EBK Shadow: LOLOL HOST EBK Chip: LOL HOST EBK Shadow: Well, you seemd to be swerving dangerously close to a definition a few lines back. KSWriter: Sf is KSWriter: a city in California HOST EBK Shadow: When you talked about the effect of technology upon characters. KSWriter: No seriously, T83BIRD: LOL KSW KSWriter: Yes, SF is a genre in which one explores the effect of tech or changes in tech KSWriter: on the characters in the story. KSWriter: is that too pat or simple? HOST EBK Shadow: This is where the hecklers start asking about HOST EBK Shadow: Alternate History...but I afree with that definition HOST EBK Shadow: completely. SpleenVent: there must be pyrotechnics and carnage! Athanor IX: What about sociological SF? OnlineHost: Hypatia141 has entered the room. KSWriter: Sociological SF that i T83BIRD: Hi Tia HOST EBK Chip: Hiya, Hyp! HOST EBK Shadow: Hi, Hypatia! Araiused: Hi, Tia JDipale: HI Hyp KSWriter: I've read seems to cover the effect of altered living conditions or Hypatia141: T :) Chip :) Shadow :) Ara :) JD :) HOST EBK Shadow: sociological SF is often set in a milieu that is set up HOST EBK Shadow: by changes in or the advancement of, technology. KSWriter: extreme social change on character, and that's science, to me. HOST EBK Shadow: That's easy...AH is hard to fit into that mold, but I'm not sure that AH is really SF, T83BIRD: It was to Asimov, also. He coined the term, "Social Science Fiction." HOST EBK Shadow: But it *is* eligible for SF awards. :::shrugging::: KSWriter: To me, in a way, it's all social SF T83BIRD: For which HTD is grateful, Shadow. HOST EBK Shadow: Using that definition, that's true. OnlineHost: RowrBasil has entered the room. HOST EBK Shadow: Hi Rowr. T83BIRD: HI Rowr Araiused: Hi, Rowr HOST EBK Chip: Hiya, Rowr Hypatia141: Rowr :) KSWriter: but ymmv and all those other acronyms HOST EBK Chip: LOL Kristine HOST EBK Shadow: LOLOL Araiused: LOL HOST EBK Shadow: Do you like the cover art you've received to date, Kristine? KSWriter: acronyms are very useful here--saves typing SpleenVent: Hiya Rowr KSWriter: cover art? HOST EBK Shadow: And, do you have any choice in the matter? Araiused: And keeps the guests guessing. HOST EBK Shadow: Book covers? RowrBasil: ymmv: 'you moved my volkswagen?' KSWriter: Yes, so far my covers have spoken to the Inner Emma Peel HOST EBK Shadow: LOL KSWriter: but I know some folks don't like them. HOST EBK Shadow: To what do those people object? :) KSWriter: The girl with gun imagery HOST EBK Shadow: See...Emma Peel is one of those great, ensconced memes. JDipale: I have to go, Great talking to you again Kris. Can't wait for Law of Survival!!! T83BIRD: Nite JD HOST EBK Shadow: Night, JD!~ Araiused: See ya, JD! KSWriter: Nite JD RowrBasil: our minds have been rigged.. OnlineHost: JDipale has left the room. HOST EBK Shadow: LOLOL....Diana Riiged...yeah./ HOST EBK Chip: Oy, Rowr. HOST EBK Shadow: Rigged, that is. KSWriter: oy is right KSWriter: yes insteed Hypatia141: ooh KSWriter: bad pun alert\ HOST EBK Shadow: LOLOL...who cares to Avenge themselves? HOST EBK Chip: :::cowering in corner::: KSWriter: I'll slip into Prisoner mode and summon Rover T83BIRD: On bad puns, KSW, my late father had this one: "Be a Lert. The world needs more Lerts." KSWriter: I've seen that on bumper stickers HOST EBK Shadow: :::putting on 60s and 70s Brit TV Oneirobeanie:::: T83BIRD: He had that one back in the 1950's, KSW. OnlineHost: DerHexer has entered the room. Hypatia141: Der :) T83BIRD: Hi Der HOST EBK Shadow: Hi, Der. Araiused: Hi, Der DerHexer: Hello all OnlineHost: RAWoodward has entered the room. KSWriter: Hi der RowrBasil: 'where they made a meager living selling meagers..' -take the money and run. T83BIRD: Ho RAW Hypatia141: RAW :) DerHexer: Hi RAW KSWriter: hello all HOST EBK Shadow: How many rejections preceded the first acceptance, Kris? KSWriter: a couple of short story rejections... HOST EBK Shadow: I ask this as a public service announcement for would-be writers. KSWriter: but the first novel I finished was the first one I sold. HOST EBK Shadow: Excellent! Hypatia141: Cool... Araiused: Hi, RAW KSWriter: But it took me 6 years to write CODE OF CONDUCT.... RAWoodward: (waves at fellow Bujold list member) HOST EBK Chip: That's confidence-building. :) DerHexer: Kris, how would you classify your SF? HOST EBK Shadow: I should have asked someone with more rejection HOST EBK Shadow: slips. "Would-be writers, please ignore the last HOST EBK Shadow: exchange!" KSWriter: two drafts worth of garbage before I had a book I could show to another person Hypatia141: heh KSWriter: My SF? DerHexer: All right, your fiction? KSWriter: Socio-political adventure with some hard medical detail. Hypatia141: Kris, did you work with an agent, or did you approach a publisher directly? T83BIRD: Shadow, when a writer puts *garbage* on paper, it goes in the can and doesn't stay in the mind. KSWriter: I had an agent first, and I'm glad I did... KSWriter: I couldn't have negotiated a contract on my own HOST EBK Shadow: Sounds like you're a perfectionist with a good ear. RowrBasil: One of the most comforting things I ever noticed was when I read the text of Huck Finn.. RowrBasil: which included rough draft material.. RowrBasil: and found that some of it STANK.. HOST EBK Shadow: Do you take editorial criticism well? KSWriter: I think so... RowrBasil: the rough draft stuff.. T83BIRD: Rowr, fine diamonds must be well polished. HOST EBK Shadow: Sorry...I guess that presupposes that there *is* editorial criticism. :) KSWriter: I know I need an editor, and so far my editor and I have seen eye to eye HOST EBK Shadow: Didn't mean to presume. :) T83BIRD: "Books aren't written. They are edited." -- Maxwell Perkins KSWriter: on the story and where it's going. Hypatia141: Well, I better skedaddle...night all. Night Kris, thanks for visiting! HOST EBK Chip: Night, Hyp! T83BIRD: Nite Tia KSWriter: nite OnlineHost: Hypatia141 has left the room. HOST EBK Shadow: Do you know any writer who doesn't require editorial HOST EBK Shadow: input? I mean, according to an objective party. :) KSWriter: Just like Books aren't written, they're rewritten. T83BIRD: Agreed, KSW. KSWriter: IMO... KSWriter: I can tell, I think, when a writer... KSWriter: has started to shake off editorial input... KSWriter: and it's always hurt the story. KSWriter: Sometimes, all that stuff that a writer... HOST EBK Shadow: In some cases, it's hard not to notice. RowrBasil: when his prose starts to bloat?..example, Tom Clancy early tight prose, later bloated.. KSWriter: thinks is necessary isn't KSWriter: so now someone will tell me I write bloated prose...ack! DerHexer: Same thing - bloated prose - happened to Steven King HOST EBK Shadow: Isn't that a problem that is exacerbated by success, Kris? RowrBasil: If they go to 800-1100 pages, weell..maybe.. KSWriter: When you sell books... KSWriter: you get more clout, and you can ask... T83BIRD: Rowr, WAR AND PEACE is not considered a *bloated* novel. RowrBasil: T83..well, it is..those essays are insufferable. HOST EBK Chip: Depends whom you ask, T8. KSWriter: not to be edited, or you have more power to refuse editing. HOST EBK Chip: I don't know a high school student yet who thought it was "just right." :) T83BIRD: Chip, that's the consensus of literary scholars. HOST EBK Chip: Oh...*those* guys. KSWriter: But some successful authors still read well after they become successful. RowrBasil: Whenever Tolstoi starts getting theoretical about the drives of history..he gestunken as writer. HOST EBK Chip: Maybe they don't have the arrogance factor, Kristine? RowrBasil: Besides, he was wrong. HOST EBK Chip: They still know they need editorial input, and use it? HOST EBK Chip: LOL Rowr KSWriter: One writer that I'm thinking of... T83BIRD: The scholary view of W&P is that it is structured like a fine fugue in music. KSWriter: asked his friends to please tell him when he had lost it, so he could stop writing before he embarrassed himself. HOST EBK Chip: LOL HOST EBK Shadow: Thats when it's important to distinguish friends from fans. KSWriter: I hope it's a skill that isn't lost with age. KSWriter: The ability to write, that is. T83BIRD: Ernest Hemingway claimed a writer should know that, Chip. OnlineHost: PN Elrod 2 has entered the room. KSWriter: But when you love to do it, it's hard as h*ll to leave behind. RowrBasil: T83..he had a more extreme form of retirement from writing. T83BIRD: Hey PN HOST EBK Chip: Hiya, PN Araiused: Hi, PN HOST EBK Shadow: I think that writing changes with age...but not necessarily for the worse. PN Elrod 2: Howdy. Any topic on tonight? Araiused: Like fine wine, Shadow? T83BIRD: Rowr, Many Hemingway said the suicide had nothing to do with the quality of his writing. KSWriter: It becomes deeper, the grey areas expand. RowrBasil: Elrod...we settled it. Pigs do not have wings. HOST EBK Chip: We're interviewing Kristine Smith, PN. Your IM's are HOST EBK Chip: blocked, so you didn't get my autogreet. :) HOST EBK Chip: LOL Rowr PN Elrod 2: Row--I was never sure of that, depends what planet one is from HOST EBK Shadow: You write from different places, but they're not necessarily worse places. Athanor IX: Pig flight can be approximated with a trebuchet of sufficient size. HOST EBK Chip: LOL Ath HOST EBK Shadow: Do you se yourself writing the rest of your life, Kristine? PN Elrod 2: LOL! RowrBasil: Confessing i never liked EH..and found Faulkner impenetrably eloquent.. KSWriter: I hope I can. DerHexer: The war w/Afghanistan, bin Laden, etc. etc. that we're lurching into should be ripe w/story ideas KSWriter: It's what I do best, I think. HOST EBK Shadow: And...a question. Do you feel a *need* to write, or do you simply enjoy the art? T83BIRD: SF ideas, Der? KSWriter: I enjoy the process... DerHexer: Possibly, T - bio & cyber warfare maybe KSWriter: and I figure that if I didn't feel the need, I wouldn;t have KSWriter: worked at it for as long as I did with KSWriter: no guarantee of sales, much less success. DerHexer: I enjoy writing, it's getting started thats a pain in teh fundament HOST EBK Shadow: I think that some writers don't feel a need to write. I HOST EBK Shadow: think that it's possible for a reader to tell that, HOST EBK Shadow: sometimes. T83BIRD: I can echo KSW's comment re my non-fiction book, LEADING THE WAY. HOST EBK Shadow: It's definitely a risk. HOST EBK Shadow: And I admire those people who take it, and succeed. HOST EBK Shadow: Did you ever doubt your ability to be published? RowrBasil: KSW...have you ever gotten near the end of a novel, then lost the drive..the enthusiasm? KSWriter: No, it actually picks up... HOST EBK Shadow: Good question, Rowr. KSWriter: near the end, because it's all downhill from there. You can RowrBasil: (glancing at an accusing mound of paper on desk.. KSWriter: finally see the light, and it's not an oncoming train. KSWriter: Those come in the middle of the book. T83BIRD: I agree with KSW. It's like having a clear field ahead and being at the five-yard line. Araiused: It's hard for you to write "The End" since you're saying goodbye to your characters? RowrBasil: 'You don't have a moment of looking at the thing and going 'what the bleep was I thinking?' KSWriter: Then you have the first draft in hand, and the rewriting can start. RowrBasil: ok.. HOST EBK Shadow: Nuthin' but clear-eyed resolve, Rowr. :) KSWriter: I feel a little melancholy when I end the story. RowrBasil: Gotta get some cleareyes.. T83BIRD: Rowr, LEADING THE WAY went through at least a half-dozen drafts. KSWriter: I do run into the occasional "what the...?" KSWriter: but that's what rewrites are for. Araiused: Geez, board meeting shenanigans are getting me cross-eyed. KSWriter: First drafts always contain vast amounts of suckage. HOST EBK Shadow: And that melancholy is what sequels are for? :) KSWriter: You have to push through that to get the story out. HOST EBK Chip: We're nearing the end of the chat, so if y'all have any last- HOST EBK Chip: minute questions now's the time. We'd like to thank HOST EBK Chip: Kristine *very* much for coming in and being such a great HOST EBK Chip: interviewee! :) T83BIRD: Or else they haven't drawn enough blood yet. Araiused: Thank you, Kristine!! PN Elrod 2: <><><><><> KSWriter: thanks--it was fun! DerHexer: Thanks, KSW!! Araiused: You have to come again when Astra is feeling better! RowrBasil: thank you, KSW T83BIRD: Thanks for being here, KSW. RAWoodward: Oh, its done .. HOST EBK Chip: My topic tomorrow is One-Hit Wonders, but neither of us has the macro set up to run it. HOST EBK Chip: So y'all come anyway. :) T83BIRD: Nite Shadow and Chip and leavers. HOST EBK Shadow: Thanks so much, Kristine!!! KSWriter: I enjoyed it. RAWoodward: I guess that it is time for me to go ... RAWoodward: HOST EBK Shadow: As did we, and Astra was devasated that she fell ill. DerHexer: Night RAW HOST EBK Shadow: Devastated, too. :) HOST EBK Chip: Shadow, you want I should run the "goodbye," macro? :) Araiused: The authors whose names seem to crop up most in chat are Araiused: those with a large body of work behind them...but there are Araiused: also a lot of singletons worth reading. Some are by respected Araiused: authors in other genera who made a brief foray into SF, and Araiused: others are by writers who apparently only had one good book Araiused: in them. Why don't we pay more attention to them? Does it Araiused: take a series to impress an author on our memories? Join Araiused: HOST EBK Chip for a night of One-Hit Wonders! Araiused: :) HOST EBK Shadow: Ummm...I'm not set up. g'head. :) HOST EBK Chip: LOLOLOL. Thanks, ARa! RowrBasil: (just added Easton press editions of Second World War to my set of The World Crisis.. now got to clear out two more feet of other books) HOST EBK Chip: Hokay... OnlineHost: RAWoodward has left the room. HOST EBK Chip: Well folks, my time is up, but you all are welcome to stay HOST EBK Chip: here and chat. If you have any problems, feel free to HOST EBK Chip: bellow for help at Keyword: NOTIFY AOL... HOST EBK Chip: Thanks for keeping me company this evening, and I hope to see you again next week! :) HOST EBK Chip: Thanks, folks! And thanks again, Kristine! :) HOST EBK Shadow: Everybod...BUY THE BOOK!!!!!! HOST EBK Chip: Night, all! KSWriter: You're welcome--night! HOST EBK Shadow: LAW OF SURVIVAL.