Tales of the Parodyverse >> View Post
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Post By
HH

In Reply To
HH

Subj: Trying again.
Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2010 at 04:30:07 am EDT (Viewed 3 times)
Reply Subj: That's probably it. I know that's where Shakespere got all his ideas.
Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2010 at 04:28:35 am EDT (Viewed 1 times)

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      Apparently its very important to do things with Amazon rankings and feedback and things since it affect retail orders and so on. I don't have the interest levels to work out how to use Amazon association pages to get it more prominently promoted and so on. I wrote it. Other people can try and sell it if they want.



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    So I should be expecting some sort of kickback from your publisher for my efforts then?


It would be nice if I got some. Small publishers make small payouts.


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    The were happy to publish my Arthurian stuff too, but I thought I'd see what they were like before handing them things I'd already written. Psychologically it felt different giving them something I'd written knowing it was for them than something I've held onto for a while. Of the list of things they offered Robin Hood seemed like the best choice.



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    I know how that goes... The entertainment company I worked for was looking for submissions from the employees for game ideas. People were very possessive of their concepts, especially after one of the guys submitted an idea he had been bouncing around for a long while, and the powers that be turned it inside out until it was unrecognizable and it pretty much died mercifully.


That can be horrible, especially if it doesn't come with a feelings-soothing large cheque.


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    Naturally, I had plenty of story/character ideas of my own, but I purposefully set aside a time to brainstorm something specific for them. It resulted in one casual game that got made... the dustbunnies thing... and one elaborate game pitch for a full console game that the company's agent just loved, but I'm assuming it died with the company. It's something of a shame, since people did respond very well to the world/concept that I proposed, but I don't mourn what happened with it too badly because in my mind it was created for them.


That's exactly where I was coming from.


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      There is something very satisfying about reading a story in book format. That said, apparently Assembled is now being kindled.



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    If it's available for the iPad I may get it... I was owed a Christmas present and I thought I'd give that device a try. I like the book reader app for that device, formatted to look like printed pages you flip.


I think somebody said something about that. I wasn't really paying attention. Apparently it sold well and therefore gets the conversion treatment.


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    All right. I'm really looking forward to finally seeing CSFB's team in action though.


I've made a start on that. I'm pausing to consider the structure. I'm not sure whether to throw in a G-Eyed/Alcheman adventure or reserve it till the following issue.


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      My favourite interpretation of the legend is the 1980s UK TV series Robin of Sherwood, a well-researched well-written production with an excellent soundtrack by Clannad. Recommended.



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    I saw a episode of some recent Robin Hood television series, but it didn't do much for me. The episode I saw felt a bit lifeless. There was some Arthurian show I caught recently as well, with Giles from Buffy as Uther, I think, and a teen Merlin. I couldn't get into that one either. Either one might be better than my brief impressions, though.


Probably not. Both were rather patchy, although both improved over their runs. Merlin is going to a third season, Robin Hood has been cancelled after it's third season. The other good UK genre programme, Primeval, has also been cancelled after its third season for budgetary reasons.

One to watch out for is Being Human, a drama series wherein a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost set up house together and try to blend in as human. Well written, well acted, and well conceived, with some genuine dramatic punch and black humour. It's best watched in order, though. The mini-series Jeckyl was also very good.



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    It's sad, because I really feel like I need a new genre show that isn't always deadly serious and horribly drawn out. I miss the heady days of Buffy, The Star Trek: Next Generation, Xena, The X-Files, etc.


There's always the new series of Doctor Who, out next Saturday over here, featuring a brand new actor as the Doctor with a brand-new companion, and described by brand-new head writer as "a dark fairytale". There's a great deal of positive buzz about that one.


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    Oh, speaking of Buffy, I needed to bring my Amazon order over $25 to get free shipping, so I ordered the latest Buffy Season 8 collection along with Robin Hood... Sadly, I'm losing interest in the comic series as well. Some better editorial work would go a long way with that one, as part of it is a frustration from never knowing what characters are supposed to be on panel. They really should think about giving the comic book versions of the cast some distinctive element to their looks... have Dawn start wearing funky glasses, have Faith dye a lock of her hair purple, give someone a disfiguring scar, have people always wear the same clothes... I don't care what it is, but some kind of visual shorthand for who I'm looking at would be great. The artist is decent, but it's not easy to differentiate the characters and keep them realistic as well. Xander always stands out with his eyepatch (and usually wears the same kind of clothes every day), but then he's like one of only 2 guys in a sea of female slayers, so he wasn't exactly hard to pick out to begin with.



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    Bit of a tangent there.


A lot of TV adaptations are let down that way, but also because the pacing of comics has to be very different from the pacing of a TV show.


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    Yes, I think the price point's prohibitive. I'm not familiar with the economics of it, though.



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    By the way, did the volume include a map? I sent them a map.



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    No map. A map would have added value, I'm sure.




I'm starting to wonder what the editors actually did on this book.


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    The interior illustrations had a lot of personality despite being mostly quiet moments, but I'm never 100% sold on such illustrations with prose. They rarely end up matching the images my mind conjures up, so they can end up fighting with my imagination rather than helping it along. I tend to prefer setting illustrations rather than character ones for that reason... those can set the mood, and can actually appear before the text they illustrate rather than come a page after the scene in question.


I think the publishers hope the illustrations will "sell" the higher price point. I'm not convinced. The art was fine but not essential.


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    Likewise, the cover illustration just feels all wrong to me now that I've read the novel. It's a nice image, certainly, it just doesn't seem to have come from the story I've read, neither in the look of the character nor the solitary composition he occupies. Of course that goes for 99% of books I've ever read... It would probably be a very short list of novels which you could at least somewhat-validly judge by the cover indeed.


One of the first things I was warned about publishing was "you can't control the cover or the blurb". They were right.


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      In book two there's a different cast so some of the book one crew don't have as much to do but at least they're established and I can cameo them and make readers recognise them.



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    Interesting. How much time passes between the end of book one and the start of book two?


About twenty-four hours.


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      And in associated news, I'm told this book's getting a nomination for Pulp Fiction Novel of the Year next time.



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    Congratulations on that! I'm guessing it must have been submitted for the award before publication? Otherwise, that nominating committee works fast.


One of the nominating committee saw it at proof stage. I'm apparently also being nominated for Best Short Pulp Fiction story for one of my Sherlock Holmes things. I think that's it, anyhow. It could be the upcoming Gideon Cain anthology story "The Girl in the Glass Coffin."








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