I’m beginning with the assumption that before print, when few in Western Europe were literate, and most texts copied laboriously, there was a sense that texts were authoritative, or truth ( Read more... )

The other day I made a post about story payoffs. burger_eater made a comment to the effect that he's disappointed when the character he's invested in doesn't gain respect from the story. I asked him to explain that, and he did.
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So I'm loading up the dishwasher, and thinking about payoffs, especially after a long series.
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There's an author whose stuff has pretty much always appealed to me, with a couple of exceptions (though those I admired if I didn't enjoy) so when an ARC hit my desk for consideration for this year's Norton Award (the book comes out before December), woohoo, was I excited.
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The other day I got a letter from someone who wrote to say that they liked something, adding that they usually avoid reading sf and f by women, and so were surprised to discover on reading my website that I'm female. (I always forget that my name doesn't automatically signal female, because it does to me ( Read more... )

I think before one can talk about what's "Cutting Edge" or "Outside the Box," it's worthwhile to consider what's inside the box. Right away, I’m thinking, yeah, but everyone's box is different. The box for a kid reader is a fairly simple box, but that of a teen reader is more complicated--and they can differ so radically. A teen reader in an ( Read more... )

Things I’ve seen here and there plus my TV watching experience last night caused me to jumble down some thoughts this morning.  Specifically I watched, or tried to watch, The Sarah Connor Chronicles.  People whose taste I think highly of love this show.  My spouse, it turns out, has been taping it.  (I found that out just before I commenced ( Read more... )

Some of you have probably seen the kafuffle over the use of the word 'self indulgence' in reviews. (coalescent talks about it here and Mumpsimus follows up here.)
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Janni brought up a good, chewy topic yesterday: reader contract.
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