Deuces Wild: 50% off!

Cowboys, space ships, pirates, mercenaries - even aliens!
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Deuces Wild: Beginners' Luck

Don't wait - the money you save could buy you a half a cup of coffee!

Ray Gun Revival Teaser

Ray Gun Revival Teaser

Too cool!

Deuces Wild - now in e-book!

Yes, that's right, folks. Deuces Wild: Beginners' Luck is now available as an e-book!


Deuces Wild: Beginners' Luck e-book

If you have a NOOK, Kindle, or any other electronic reader, check it out! You can now take Slap and Tristan with you wherever you go!

Whoo!

A Comma and a Copyeditor

Long ago, I wrote a Writer's Cramps article about how one can never proofread enough. As an example, I used a dratted comma that totally messed up the meaning of a sentence in a short story I had sold. I moaned at my stupidity for overlooking said comma, never checking my original manuscript.

I later found out that I hadn't added that comma, a copyeditor had. It totally changed the meaning of the sentence, and considering that sentence was backstory for my Enaisi series, I was really doing a face-palm. Not to worry, because that story's rights have reverted to me, and I now have that story on my website - corrected of course.

I've worked with copyeditors and have worked as a copyeditor on Ray Gun Revival. I will tell you, a copyeditor's job is not easy. We have to catch typos, fix grammatical and punctuation oopses, check formatting, and if done properly, do so without interfering with the author's voice. The toughest job I've ever done, writing-wise, has by far been copyediting.

Notice the "if done properly" in the above paragraph? I've seen copyeditors who will overlook typos and obvious grammatical errors to correct their personal pet peeves - to the point of totally rewriting paragraphs and destroying an author's voice and the tone of the scene.

The biggest, baddest story I've ever heard of "copyeditor hell" belongs to Piers Anthony. He contracted with a publisher to write a book in the '70s called But What of Earth? Long story short, the editor gave the book to a team of copyeditors who played god with it - changing the story, the characters' personalities and motivations, just totally ripping it to shreds, then they gave it to another writer who wrote up all the changes. The editor then published the book with both writers' names. When Anthony found out, he had a cow and went after them legally - since he had a contract for the book *he* wrote not some vaguely familiar thing "co-authored" by him and this other writer. (The other writer, for his part, didn't know what the editor was up to - he was sort of caught in the middle.)

If you want to read the whole shebang, Piers Anthony re-released the book some years ago with many of the notes of the copyeditors as footnotes. From an author's viewpoint, it's frightening to read those notes. Those copyeditors went far beyond their job description.

So the book tells two stories, the original story Anthony wrote (which is worth a read), and the publishing story. Every author and copyeditor should read this book, so authors know what to watch for, and so copyeditors can see the power-trip trap they (hopefully) don't want to fall into.

Comma Conundrums

I know the current trend is to not worry about using commas. Let's just ignore them. We don't need them to join two independent clauses. Or hey, here's a thought, let's just put them where we want according to our whims!

Sure I'm a stickler, I know that. And commas have been my bane. I have always felt I didn't understand the myriad rules concerning them. I admit I am still learning new nuances of how to use them. And I've learned various rule books have differing views on what is correct. Great. So much for clear-cut answers when I need them. (As an aside, when in doubt, I use CMOS as my guide, just so I can be consistent within my own work.)

But it bothers me to read a book by a long-time author that can go sentences with no commas, even though they are needed to keep meanings clear. Is it the author, the copy editors? Does the publishing world not care anymore?

/rant

a very strange feeling

I love to reread novels. A scene will pop in my head and I'll think, "Gotta get that book out and reread it!" Nothing like curling up with a hot cuppa and a good book, after all.

At times I do this with my stories as well although it's not so cozy. I'll pull up the manuscript and have to sit at the computer to reread at least the section that had scurried through my mind.

This morning I remembered a scene that was one of my favorites and I sat down at the computer to pull up the story and stopped with a shock: it was already in print!

So with a very strange feeling of my mind being boggled, I picked up my own book and sat down in a chair with a cuppa and began to read Deuces Wild.

It's the little things in life you treasure...

"Real" Books FTW

I don't have anything against e-books, but for me, they'll always come in a poor second.

I have my reasons why, but here's some I hadn't thought of:

25 Ways E-Readers Can't Beat the Old-Fashioned Book

Superversive

The failure of subversion in imaginative literature:
http://www.bondwine.com/essays/superversive/superversive.html

Was Heinlein a Fascist?

Great article!

http://johncwright.livejournal.com/327024.html

Plugging a Pal

w00t! My buddy Stuart's book is published!
http://marcherlordpress.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=2_11&products_id=20

Starfire Contest!

Stuart Stockton, a friend and former crit partner, is having his first book published this spring. To kick off the happy event, he and his publisher are having a contest. I'm happy to help promote Starfire; I heartily recommend it!

To find out more about the contest, and Starfire:





I encourage you find out more about the lore behind Starfire; click either banner below. Knowing the story, I really can appreciate the hook in both banners, and couldn't choose.
Here's a question - which banner intrigues you more?

What would Tolkien say?

Oxford University Press dumbs down junior dictionary

*shakes head in disbelief*

SF vs literary fiction

Why Science Fiction is more fun to read than literary fiction