First, David Edelman is holding a contest over at his site, in which first and second place will win signed, personalized copies of Infoquake. The contest? To write the opening lines from a bad novel about Jewish Marxist werewolves in Bolivia. The contest runs for two weeks, ending promptly at midnight of Friday, Jan. 19th. I can’t wait to see what comes out of it, and yes, I’ll do my best to make a submission as well.
Next, check out this rant by Mike Resnick, in which he gives a convincing argument that E.T. (the movie) was an intellectually insulting science fiction flick, among with most of the genre films Hollywood is spewing out these days. He starts with this point:
1. If E.T. can fly/teleport, why doesn’t he do so at the beginning of the film, when he’s about to be left behind? (Answer: because this is what James Blish used to call an idiot plot, which is to say if everyone doesn’t act like an idiot you’ve got no story.)
And finally, this link to the galleries of artist Tom Hallman, who has done cover art for Dean Koontz and Stephen King, among many others. Some incredible images and art here, showing what I believe to be great eye-snatchers that sit among the shelves and remind us why good stories still need good cover art. I mean, are there are any images in there that you wouldn’t at least check out upon seeing?
This upcoming week, posts on writing advice that you might not want to listen to, thoughts on worldbuilding, and a resource on how to be a proper villain.
I see that smile.