Opportunities for All - A Contest (of sorts)

I've been mulling over an idea for a while now. I realized some time ago that, though I see people checking in a lot, I'm not really providing anything other than a blog roll and the occasional nudge to adopt a cute kitty or pup. And so I had been rattling this thought around in my head - giving people a chance at offering feedback to newbie writers.

And in some cases, by newbie, I mean VERY raw talents. Some more so than others.

What finally did it was seeing a recent blog post by someone I respect a lot, and it just sorta seemed like a sign (Unless...JT, are you reading my mind? If so, what was it my wife said last week that she wanted for Christmas??).

JT Ellison and JA Konrath have both spoken/written many times about being someone who adds value. I don't have a lot of value I can add from my own experience (wanna learn to be a better teacher? Of course not, you already know, because anyone can teach, right?). So instead, I'm going to try to "give something back" in the form of opportunity, both for you the readers AND for my students.

See, those creative writing students of mine who hope to some day be published will get the opportunity to receive real world feedback. No, this isn't a publishing credit, but it is a chance to get opinions from folks who come to a writer/reader-oriented blog regularly.

Don't worry, I will do my best to minimize their delusions that their story will get 70-80 comments (y'know, from all 6 of you out there), or that this story they put up will get all nice comments, or any at all for that matter. I will also make sure they understand that some magazines won't like that fact that their chosen story has appeared anywhere else, even a place as innocuous as this blog. Be that as it may, I thought this could be a great way for any of you out there to drop a little knowledge or advice on a youngster who is probably tired of hearing it from me, and also a great way for them to get that very first hurdle of "putting their stuff out there for consumption" over with. And don't worry, this is strictly voluntary, on both sides.

Would you rather not say anything than be nice? Okay.

Do you genuinely not know why you dislike like it, you just do? Okay.

Do you love it and want to sign them to an eight-figure contract? Okay, I'll only take a small finder's fee...say 40%. (Yeah, I know, but it sounded funny in my head)

Anyway, I look forward to my first submission coming soon (I'll keep you updated through the holidays), and if you have any suggestions, fire away.

They made a book outta that movie?

Tooling around the net the other day, and I got to thinking about books being made into films. See, I know lots of novels get optioned but never make it to the screen, but I wonder if it's really to the author's chagrin or not. They've already gotten some nice bank out of the optioning, haven't they (if not, please let me know and I'll fix the post)?

I know the possibility of big stardom comes with a successful film that ramps up your book sales. It may even bring you new fans. Hell, I started reading Deaver because I had seen and liked the Denzel film.

But then there's a guy like Robert Crais, who was fine with his stand-alones on the silver screen, but refuses to option the rights to anything with Elvis Cole or Joe Pike...presumably because he thinks Hollywood would screw it up (be honest, they would).

What do you think? Would you go for the big movie and the check, even if Hollywood completely altered (or even destroyed) your characters or book? And if you are a reader, what do you think when this happens? Are you happy the movie got made anyway, or bummed that it changed your favorite book so much?

THANK YOU, VETERANS.

For all who have served, and all still serving: God bless you, and thank you for everything you've done to preserve the freedom so many in this country take for granted. Stay safe, and may you all be welcomed home with love and gratitude.

Do we just love ALL great storytelling?

I'll tell you a secret, and it's probably the worst kept secret on the planet: I love video games. It's the worst kept secret because, well, I'm a guy. We pretty much all love video games, don't we? Okay, yeah, there are the uber-class men who prefer their glass of wine from the cellar downstairs while listening to something from the Baroque period and watching the stock exchange numbers go by on the bottom of the muted 97" plasma, but they aren't 'guys', they're "refined individuals of quality", so they don't count.

I'm not refined. I'm just an average Joe. And the really cool thing is: my wife loves a lot of the same video games I do.

That's right gentlemen, I got one who loves to sit down and watch a good storyline game with me.

Hell Yeah.

The reason I bring this up is that we just got a new Bioware game for our xbox called Dragonage: Origins. We love Bioware games...played through Mass Effect several times.

But why? I mean, what is it that trips our collective trigger over games like these? The gameplay isn't that much different from many other games. The graphics aren't exactly light years better either. One's Sci-Fi while the more recent is Epic Fantasy. And if you really look at it, the Bioware games don't have any online multiplay, which is what gets so many people pysyched about the Gears of War and Halo franchises.

Wanna hint? It's the storytelling. What we all love about books are the way we can connect with the characters, to feel like we are right there in the moment. So why do so many people trash the idea of grown men who love games like this, where the storytelling is INTERACTIVE?

I just don't get it. Any ideas why there is such a stigma out there?

Rescue of the Week - TONY

Well folks, it's been a while since I've done a kitty, and I know the thing to do is probably to promote a black cat with it being so close to All Hallows Eve and all, but I couldn't help it. This guy's coloring just won me over. So without anymore gilding the lily, and with no more adieu, I give you: TONY the TIGER!!

Tony is about 3 months old and very pl;ayful. Lots of spirit and patience will make this a great companion for you for years to come!

For more information about this animal, call:

SPCA of Wake County at (919) 772-2326

Ask for information about animal ID number A059220

Bad starts

I'm an animal lover, as many of you may have guessed. I may not own a farm-full, but I never want to see any animal hurt. I'm a big softy like that. Guilty as charged. Some folks think sometimes I care more about what happens to animals than I do what happens to people. Well, when you have to deal with some of the people I've met in my time, maybe sometimes those folks are right.


As such, it's really hard for me when animals do what they naturally do, and one gets hurt because of it. And when my wife and I have to 'solve' the problem, it makes for a really rough start to the day.


Please forgive me, I'm just feeling sorry for myself and for my wife over something most of you will consider trivial. See, a little over a year or so ago, we discovered that there was a little wild rabbit living under our back deck. We'd see him (we're just guessing it was a him) every once in a while when we'd go out back, and he'd have to run like hell to get out through the fence before one of the dogs caught him. So we got in the habit of going out to check for him before we let them out.


Then he stopped showing up. Just wasn't around any more. We'd seen him maybe once in the last 3-4 months, and he'd gotten so much bigger we figured he'd moved on to start his own little rabbit warren. So we stopped checking for him, 'cause he was never out there anymore anyway.


Yeah, you know where this is headed. This morning, while I was upstairs getting ready for work, my wife let the dogs out to do their business. Apparently, one of them spotted him, and they chased him all over the yard with my wife, God bless her, trying to get them to leave him alone.


Being dogs, they didn't.


They caught him out behind the shed, and they hurt him pretty bad. She knocked on the door to let me know she needed help, and when I saw her holding him my heart broke. He couldn't move his back legs at all. Once she got the dogs off of him, she told me she had to pick him up because he kept trying to crawl but only his little front legs would move. And he was bleeding.


Having to choose between letting him live like that 'hoping' he would get better before something else got him, or putting him down as quickly and painlessly as possible, is a really shitty way to start a day. It just shits a little on how you feel all day long. Yes, it's the humane thing to do so he doesn't suffer, but for an animal lover who doesn't have access to anesthesia or anything like that, it really sucks having to put him down like that. I felt horrible. Hell, I still feel horrible.


If you want a question, tell me what completely unexpected things have ruined your day/week that you just can't plan for.


If not, no worries, I just felt like getting it off my chest. Don't worry, I'll probably delete this later anyway.

Who would star???

I overheard the greatest word the other day:

Placeholders.


I had never heard that before, and it is so fitting. Here's the concept: as a writer, do you ever 'cast' your books in your head? I have heard of some writers who do this, and it seems to work well for them. Jeffery Deaver, for example, once said at a reading that he had always pictured a grizzled Harrison Ford as Lincoln Rhyme, and I've heard that some other writers picture their protagonists as certain actors when they are writing the book.


I tried it. Apparently I picked the wrong actor.

See, I wonder if part of the rationale behind doing this is the hope that your book will someday make it as a big budget movie. That's an awesome hope. Thing is, I know my first one won't make it. I'm okay with that. As Chris Roerdan said this weekend, writers are the only people on the planet who think they could solo at Carnegie Hall the first time they pick up an instrument. I know that isn't the case (it's okay, trust me, I've read my first completed manuscript).



But the thing is, I keep trying to jam a square peg into a round hole. Or rather, one of my favorite tall and lanky pegs into a moderately squared-off hole. If I were ever to have a book made into a movie, I'd kill for John Cusack to star in it. That would make the world totally cool for me.




Problem, though. Every time I try to picture Cusack as my protagonist, it doesn't work. He's totally wrong for the part. And I'm the one writing the part. HowTF did that happen?

So tell me, do you do this? Or have you tried it, only to be thwarted by your own imagination as I have? Am I just pissing into the wind here?