So, how do you spell 'hobbit' in hexadecimal, anyway?
Speaking of things I've read recently: last week I was re-reading "Writing the Breakout Novel," by Donald Maass. Maass is a well-known New York literary agent and author; when it comes to the current state of the book industry, I do trust him to know his field.
I did, however, come across one remark that threw me (my thoughts in bracketed italics):
Readers tend to seek out the novels that accord with their beliefs. [Okay, for certain values of tend.] Techno-thriller readers are largely military [or related to military, yeah]; science fiction readership is heavy with scientists [often pointing and mocking, but yeah]; romance readers are largely women [it's a stereotype, but I confess I haven't seen many men reading Harlequins or Mills & Boon, yeah]; the fantasy audience includes many computer programmers. [SAY WHAT!?!?]
::shakes head to clear it::
Where on earth did that come from? Seriously?
And yet, Maass is somebody who ought to know what he's talking about in this instance. So I've been trying to think of reasons that this might be so. How does fantasy accord with the beliefs of computer programmers? The only thing I can come up with is some possible correspondence between the step-by-step logic required for structuring a good piece of code and the attention to detail required by good world-building. Or perhaps it has something to do with programming == control == wizardry? Other than that, well... I got nuthin'. Thoughts, anyone?
Oh, and BTW: 686F62626974.