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Kelly O’Connor McNees over at Whatever

Josh — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 15:02:28 +0000

A few months ago, I stopped following any blogs that weren’t by people I knew personally—too psychologically wearing! I made an exception, though, for science-fiction author John Scalzi’s blog, Whatever, not because I’m a fan of his writing (I’m sure I will be; I just haven’t gotten around to reading his fiction yet, what with a few dozen more Hugo winners to get through), but because he’s smart and readable and posts, like, twice a day, which is about right.

Anyway, he runs a regular feature called The Big Idea, in which other authors are invited to post about the driving, uh, idea behind their new books. And today, our dear friend and bridal party member Kelly O’Connor McNees is the author in question! So go check it out, people.

Rules for writing fiction

Josh — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:31:50 +0000

These are about a month old—Dr. Bob passed them on a few weeks ago, and I just now got around to reading them—but they’re, you know, timeless. The Guardian asked a whole bevy of fiction writers what their personal rules of the craft were, and the responses, while not always surprising, are worth checking out. Two things are for sure (and not news): The Internet and the constant distractions it offers are no friend of the would-be author; and to write, you have to write.

This tidbit from Will Self, however, I have never seen in any similar list of rules or suggestions, but belongs in all of them:

Regard yourself as a small corporation of one. Take yourself off on team-building exercises (long walks). Hold a Christmas party every year at which you stand in the corner of your writing room, shouting very loudly to yourself while drinking a bottle of white wine. Then masturbate under the desk. The following day you will feel a deep and cohering sense of embarrassment.

“Ten rules for writing fiction”: Part 1 and Part 2

That vug really tied the book together

Josh — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:05:14 +0000

…in 1904, Theodor Seuss Geisel was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. I think if I had to pick a favorite Dr. Seuss book—like, if I were tied to a chair with electrodes clamped to my nether-parts, and severe-looking men were slapping me repeatedly and with great gusto, snarling, “Tell us what your favorite Dr. Seuss book is!”—I would go with There’s a Wocket in my Pocket.

The brief Wikipedia entry for the book reveals, disturbingly, that: “The 1996 republish has been edited to remove some of the scarier creatures, including the vug under the rug.” Which, the atrocious use of “republish” as a noun notwithstanding, is just saddening and maddening. The vug was scary! It was also my favorite part of the book. I mean, the whole thing falls apart without the vug.

If I had to pick a second-place Seuss, then it would become tougher, especially with the snarling and slapping and electrodes. But, tempting as it would be to choose a classic like The Cat in the Hat or Green Eggs and Ham, or a lesser-known title like Hop on Pop or Marvin K. Mooney, Will You Please Go Now?, I’d have to go with The Sneetches and Other Stories.

It was close—I’m awfully fond of Marvin K. Mooney—but Sneetches includes “Too Many Daves,” the story of Mrs. McCave, sort of a female George Foreman who had 23 sons and named them all Dave. Heavy stuff. Note also that the walking pants in “What Was I Scared Of?” are, like the vug, awesomely freaky.

Feel free to share your favorite Seuss works in the comments, or just to gripe about the devugging.

News about writers we love

Josh — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:12:13 +0000

Annalee Newitz, who’s in charge over at io9, has had her first short story published! It’s called “The Great Oxygen Race,” and there is some swearing in it (Annalee lives in San Francisco, remember—they are GODLESS there), and it is not a cheery story, but then neither is life, all the time. Anyway, READ IT.

And what a surprise it was to see Kelly O’Connor McNees’s name appear in my Google Reader yesterday, on author John Scalzi’s blog! We call her Kelly 2 around here—although usually we don’t call her at all, because most of the time she is IMing or Gmailing with Kelly 1, so it just makes more sense to type something at her, and saves on minutes too. Anyway, she’s gonna be doing a Big Idea post for Scalzi about her upcoming debut novel, The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott. You should BUY IT. (We already have a copy, because we are BAD-ASS.)