Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Rocky, On the Franzen thing, I think you don't have your cake and eat
it. If he had felt uncomfortable about the Oprah thing (a quite
legitimate thing to feel) he should have asked them not to put the book
on the Oprah book club. He didn't do that. He and the publisher
accepted it, THEN he bitched about it. I think that's tacky. 

..

And as a writer who has made my living by writing, and fed my family
for almost 20 years by writing... I know just how lucky I am.
  

    
Apologies, Linda - I actually didn't feel anything here was
inappropriate (and if it was I do apologize) - I hid things only
because it seemed the playful spirit sort of thing to do; I used to get
up in front of large groups of teenagers and talk about this sort of
stuff all the time - I'm probably too blase about it at this point.
(Try talking about related subjects matter of factly over Thanksgiving
turkey with your brother and spouse, then watch your fathers reaction -
it's really amusing, and a call back to reality.)

To answer your question, JaNell - I blushed because it was unexpected,
which is unusual, as I've taught the subject for far too long.

Anyhoo - I just got back from seeing From Hell. I know, late but
better than never. It's been so long since I've read the graphic novel
that I don't really remember it,... so I did enjoy the movie. Kept me
nicely wondering "what the...?" the entire time, which is something I
value when tickets are $8.50 each (ouch! when did that happen?!),...
I'm going to try to find a non-related to the movie version of the
graphic novel and give it a reread, to see how good it should have
been,...

-Kelly
  

    
>>Mike stated that writing is a great profession if only writers would
>>get paid.

    Actually, he didn't "state" anything.  He made a joke.  (And, of
course, the two statements were complementary, not if-then, but, well.)

>>And prior to this, I thought the whole point of writing and
>>getting published was to reach a wide audience, not necessarily just
>>for fame and fortune, but to share one's art with the world. 

    Medicine is about making people healthier, but doctors get paid. 
A lot of folks who fix cars really love fixing cars, and do it on their
own time, but they expect the garage to hand over a check.  Farmers,
lord knows, have to love what they're doing, but nobody seriously
suggests they should give up the produce gratis.
    Notice that all these people -do- give their work away, at times
and for reasons of their choosing.  Apparently only artists are crass
and vile and betrayers of sacred trust if they want some assurance thet
the rent will get paid.

     I'm really not trying to be unkind, but it is hard enough to just
get it on in this trade without being told, by people who mean well
(-espedcially- by people who mean well) there's something soiled and
base about getting a buck for it -- not "fame and fortune," anybody who
goes into -any- job expecting that is in bad trouble, but just some
recompense for the time and effort.  That's what work is.  It would be
nice if art were different.  It would be nice if medicine and farming
were different, and could be done for the sheer aesthetic pleasure
thereof.  But it ain't so.
  

    
Opps. John/Mike slipped. Well said, John/Mike!

Re Faery-Neil- That totally blew my mind. I mean, I knew it was a
place in Stardust, obviously. But I've always been told it's the
English spelling. I believe you of course. But if you do a search on
Yahoo you find a lot of ignorant people like myself who apparently
thougt the same thing. My American Heritage dictionary says it can mean
both. I'm confused. Why do so many people think it's the English
spelling?

And exciting news that has nothing to do with the topic at hand: Is
anyone else going to watch the Meteor Storm this Saturday? I'm so
excited. It's supposed to be a biggie. They're saying there will be
around 2,300 meteors per hour. We'e taking sleeping bags and blankets
in a field somewhere outside the city around midnight. Between midnight
and four are the best times to see it. Yeah! 
  

    
I remember having a conversation once with the lady in the car
showroom, back when first Good Omens came out in hardback. "Hey," she
said, "can I have a free copy?"

"Sure," I said. "Can I have a car?"

She looked a bit embarrassed, and went and bought a copy.

............

Erynn -- it became an obsolete spelling, then was brought back in the
early 70s to indicate Fairies that weren't the twee Victorian
fairy-folk. It's not an English spelling, just an archaic spelling
revived.

As Faerie (or Faery) it lasted a bit longer as the place.
  

    
Mike - I didn't mean to give offense, the question was just badly
written. 

Your joke brought the Franzen controversy to mind, and the derisive
comments he made about Oprah's Book Club made me wonder why a writer
would want to restrict his audience to a smaller group of readers. It
seems to me that exposure and compensation are interdependent, and must
be even sweeter when the audience agrees that the work deserves wider
recognition. 

So the "fame and fortune" comment was supposed to reflect admiration
for those who write despite not being assured of compensation at the
end of the creative process. Unlike a doctor who can immediately bill
you for services rendered.  
  

    
Linda, Neil ~Shall I just go razor everything out?
  

    
Email from dianna graf:

Kelly - Just thought you'd be pleased to know, it's safe to buy the
movie tie-in edition of the FROM HELL graphic novel (the one with the
movie poster on the cover). It remains unchanged from the original
inside, full of the same wonderfulness we've come to know and love from
the pens of Messrs Moore and Campbell.

And it hasn't suffered any of the butchering of the story like the film
did.

Alan Moore had a very relaxed attitude towards the movie. There was a
wonderful quote by him up at http://www.eddiecampbellcomics.com which i
can't find now - word's to the effect of: "I don't care if they make
Carry On Ripping. It's my book and their movie." Nice, i thought. And
there's a review up on the From Hell report page at Eddie's site by Miss
Mousey :)

from dianna
  

    
(crossover from Neil's journal) So who else here read and loved "The
13 Clocks" when they were younger?
Damn... Now I need to find my own copy.
  

    
JaNell -- your call and Linda's; it's not my topic -- I'm merely one
of the mob.

Rocky -- what I found weird was that, from what I read, he didn't want
to limit his audience -- he allowed his publisher to go to press with
the Oprah edition, and with printing the extra 700,000 books; he just
didn't want to appear to be enjoying it.
  

    <scribbled>
  

    

JaNell, please send me e-mail so that we can discuss this in
private.  It's not appropriate for this topic.
  

    
E-mail from Heather Luke:

Hello,
   I just wanted to send a note to Neil Gaiman without
 exploiting the use of his FAQ function at his journal.
 Regarding The 13 Clocks, I believe I have access to a few
 copies of the paperback version he mentions with the
 Searle illustrations. I'm looking into it now, but if I am
 able to coerce my friend into sending me an extra, I'd
 like to offer it to him if he is interested. The thing is,
 it'd just be a paperback copy, not a nice hardback. I
 don't know whether or not he'd want another copy of the
 same type he has. But the offer is there. Thank you very
 much,


H. Maure Luke
http://www.eurydiceunderground.com
"Nice place you got here." Warren Ellis
You'll like it too!
  

    
Maure~that's so sweet, and absolves me of my compulsive urge to be
helpful and look for one...
  

    
There are new Chuck Jones cartoons online at
http://www2.warnerbros.com/web/timberwolf/index.jsp
  

    
alright, all i can say is that U2 was spot-on amazing.  it was an
incredible night.  it felt like all of their songs could have been
written yesterday, and everything was presented with such humility,
love, and respect.  big thumbs up.

and then tomorrow i get to see Tori, which is just the best thing
ever.  

i want to announce to all you intelligent lords and ladies out there
that i have just discovered George MacDonald and am in love.  My hubby
gave me The Light Princess as a present and wowza.  Wowza.  anyone
familiar with this story?
  

    
Hmmm.  Don't know how much validity to give this, but I just read that
the Chicago Sun Times reported that Joseph Fiennes and Christopher
Lambert will be the leads in *Good Omens*.
Okay, I'm guessing Joseph Fiennes (just about the only crew member
from *Shakespeare in Love* that wasn't nominated for an Oscar even
though he *Was Shakespeare In Love* [sorry.  Just had to point that
out.  Me, bitter?]) would be Crowley and Lambert Aziraphale (and, Neil,
how would you pronounce Aziraphale?  Always been curious, and just
thought of it now), which, I think, is not a bad way to start off.  I
mean, I'd always pictured Jeff Goldblum and David Hyde Pierce, or maybe
Alan Rickman and William Hurt, but, yes, Lambert and Fiennes will do
nicely.
Have you heard this, Neil?
  

    
Oh, and Neil- plenty of copies of *13 Clocks* over at
www.abebooks.com.  Already got mine!
  

    
Soo jealous about other people seeing U2.

does anyone know where their tour dates might be up?
  

    
>>"I'm really not trying to be unkind, but it is hard enough to just
get it on in this trade without being told, by people who mean well
(-espedcially- by people who mean well) there's something soiled and
base about getting a buck for it "<<

I can - and do - give my art away, be it photography or writing or
jewelry or whatever I've set my hands on at the moment; as Mike said,
tho, I'd really like to be able to make my rent, too... and I can't
have a 60hr a week (40hrs in the computer industry? *snork*) job, plus
be artsy on the side, and have a relationship, and friends, and go out,
and generally do the art thing. (Perhaps that's my problem, tho, I'm
not willing to sacrifice all for Art. Mars so amusingly noted that he
now knows why starving musicians are starving - their instruments are
expensive!)


>> Is anyone else going to watch the Meteor Storm this Saturday? <<

Erynn - I'm in Seattle, so,... doubtful.  :-)

Thanks Dianna - I have a friend who's an independant comic dealer, and
figured he'd probably be able to get me what I wanted without feeding
the promotional machine any more than necessary,...

Will - Christopher Lambert? Uhm, I really liked Highlander (the first
one), it's a beautiful and touching movie,... but, uh, Christopher
Lambert? I'm not trying to be unkind, or anything,... *winces slightly*

Jo - I think the tour is up in another month or two; somewhat
disappointed they're not hitting the northwest again (I didn't see them
when they were here; knew I'd end up running into Mars if I went, and
we were separated, and we figured out we would have been 5 seats from
each other had I taken the ticket I had,...). It would be fun to see
them, but then again he has a good memory of it and would be comparing
and bleh, who needs that?  ;-)

Speaking of Mars.... went to the courthouse today. Had our petition to
divorce dismissed,... so yeah. *nods* That does it.  :-)

-Kelly
  

    
Mike~Heinlein said that the five most beautiful words in prose are,
"Pay to the order of...".
I agree. If you've produced something that someone who has worked very
hard for their money feels is worth paying for, you've done good.
Especially if it's doing what you love. 
  

    
Maure -- thanks so much. I'd love one, as long as the pages aren't
actually falling out. Fingers crossed my bringing it back into print
campaign does some good...

JaNell -- I'm not sure that I understand what you're talking about
here. As I said, it's not my topic any more; but I'm sure you and Linda
can sort it all out.

Ariadne -- oh good. Try to find Lilith.

Will and Kelly -- as far as I know the Christophe Lambert/Ralph
Fiennes news is what we in the biz know as "utter bollocks". 

Here's a quote from Terry Gilliam in a recent interview:

Q: You were working on Good Omens, which is based on the book by Neil
Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. How far along are you with that? 

TG: Well, we're in the process of trying to get the money. The script
is done. We want to be shooting next spring. I've got a couple big
actors in two of the parts, and we're trying to see if somebody's now
going to give us all the money we need to try and do it. Unfortunately,
it's quite expensive, this one, the most expensive thing I've ever
done. And that's exactly the process we're in; I can't even tell you
who's in it yet, or any of those things. 

Q: Could you describe what it's about? 

TG: It's basically, well, it's the story of the serpent from the
Garden of Eden and the angel with the flaming sword at the gates of the
Garden of Eden, who have been on Earth since then, who are the local
representatives of heaven and hell and worked out a kind of way of
working together. And they've both gone native, and have learned to
like humanity and the world. And at the start of the film, the
Antichrist is delivered, which means Armageddon in a few years, and the
end of everything. And it's their job to stop it all from ending. And
it's a comedy. [Laughs] 

Q: A comedic coming of the Apocalypse; this sounds like a Gilliam
film. [Laughs] 

TG: It's got the same old stuff in it. [Laughs] But again, it's
interesting, because again we're taking a book that is incredibly
popular and ruining it for a lot of the readers, basically. [Laughs] 

Q: I can see why it would be very expensive. 

TG: Yeah, you literally do have the Apocalypse. You've got heaven,
hell, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the raising of Atlantis.
You've got everything going on. 

Q: That really is like the filmmaker as God, because you actually do
get to go out and create these biblical events. 

TG: Yeah, I know. At long last. [Laughs] 
...

The two big actors are (from what Terry G. told me) two BIG actors --
the kind who can open a $75 million dollar movie.
  

    
Well, you're not going to tell us what actors.  So, what parts?
  

    
josparrow--try www.u2.com .  That's the official site.  Another good
one is www.interference.com .

Oooooo, Neil, it drives me nuts when you say things like that.  Please
don't stop! I've been casting this baby in my head for 10 years.....I
love the brain-teaser aspect of a hint like that.

Um, er, um...right.  Oh, meant to tell you--Chicago does have a
subway.  At some point in Friday night's forum someone asked something
about the Shambles, and in your answer I thought I heard you say,
"could be because Chicago doesn't have a subway".  I thought someone in
the crowd would say something, but they didn't.  We do indeed have
one, I ride it in to work every day. When I'm bored, I sit in the front
car and look out the front window for the Marquis..... 

I'm doling the lovely stories in Miracleman out to myself one a night
at bedtime.  Time for another one!

Ooops, almost forgot my news! It's been so long since anything good
happened to me personally that I forget to tell you all. I finally got
word back from the state of Illinois--after looking at my transcripts,
etc, they've decided that all I have to do to get certified to teach is
take the state test.  That's it.  No coursework.  Just 2 tests in
March.  Even better, they said I can start applying for teaching jobs,
I just list my certification as pending.  This means that I might be
able to get out of my crappy job by January!  I might even get down to
one job!  Yeehaa!  I'm still sort of in shock.  It was, of course,
balanced by the news that the friend who was going to give me a Nenday
conure ( a small breed of parrot) had her brother decide he wanted the
bird, so I don't get him.  I was waaay bummed.  I had looked forward to
turning my apartment into  menagerie.  The cats look secretly
relieved.

OK, goodnight!
  

    
mary -- I think I was talking about why we didn't set Neverwhere in
Chicago; make that 'the right kind of subway' -- you have one, but it's
not an underground equivalent of the world above, like New York or a
London or a Paris. It's more like San Francisco or LA...