Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
> realizing that there was no earthly way I could ever read all of 
> them.

I mean, good lord, Jane Yolen alone is doing more than her share to
make that impossible.  I think she said at WFC that she'd just
published her 250th book or something!
  

    
And she does it on purpose, too so you'll never catch up, Pamela.

I love all these recommendations!  Just finished Jonathan Carroll's
White Apples--*loved* it.  A whole lot.  Now reading Niccolo
Machiavelli's The Prince, which I wish I had read before I read Mike's
Dragon Waiting, which you should go buy, and get Growing Up Weightless
while you're at it, and save on shipping....if amazon.co.uk has it,
which I'm not sure of, but get it anyway. Sorry--was trying to see how
many "which's" I could get in there, rather like a 19th century
production of MacBeth.

Listening to "Brainwashed" by George Harrison compulsively.  These are
some of the best, most personal lyrics he's ever written, and the
guitar playing is brilliant, superb, in a class by itself, genius,
heartbreaking, eloquent, incomparable. 

It does not suck.

Dodge--what did you think of Nightwatch?  I'm dying to read it.

Neil--Congratulations! I'm so proud of you!  And I'm so glad that
you're happy with the way the film has turned out.  I look forward to
seeing it.  Please write about all the tech stuff that happens now--I'm
really curious about this stage of post-production.  We won't be
bored.  Promise! 
  

    
Mary -- Florence King to That Other Guy sounds like what, in my
longago days as a DJ, we called "an interesting segue."

And WEIGHTLESS never had a British edition, so Amazon UK isn't any
more likely to have it than US, or your friendly neighborhood SF shop
or used book store.  It had three US editions: a limited hardcover from
Easton Press (signed, with an art plate and an interesting
introduction by James Gunn, and insanely expensive -- one of those
Franklinminty books that are designed to impress people who are not
actually book collectors), and trade and rack-size paper from Bantam. 
(Briefly, Bantam changed their corporate minds about doing the book in
hardcover, so the editor got the Easton deal.)

Re IL PRINCIPE . . . when I was in the SCA (also quite long ago) my
character was a remittance-man scholar of no fixed address (an ancestor
had collected a big ransom at Agincourt and bought his way into the
upper classes) who, by means too complicated to explain, ended up as
godfather to little Nicky Machiavelli.
  

    
I've mostly been re-reading lately. Picked up Cherryh's "Angel With a
Sword" (which just gets better every time I read it) a while back, and
that lasted me a week or two of an hour before bed reading. Before
that, I think I re-read some Chandler. Can't rememebr which ones. 

Let's see... new books? My friend David just gave me my Christmas
present early--Joey Pants' autobiography, "Who's Sorry Now", the first
100 pages of which I greedily devoured last night.

I'm doling out de Lint short stories like sweets from "Tapping the
Dream Tree" and I think I polished off "Waifs and Strays" within days
of getting it.

I picked up "Fall of Kings" at WindyCon, and enjoyed it tremendously,
tho I admit, I dug the first 2/3rds more than the last 1/3rd. I'm going
to read "Night Watch" next week-end when I go down to visit the rents
in Florida. I got it for my Judy for her birthday, and will read her
copy as I am too broke to get my own for a while *lol*. (my own damn
fault too--I really need someone to manage my money for me and only
dole it out in grocery-bill sized amounts).

I'm hoarding the Year's Best Fantasy & Horror, and the Green Man
anthologies to take down with me for Christmas. I tend to power through
about 10 books over the week at my folks for one main reason: that's
my idea of a perfect vacation. Time to read. of course, the aprt where
they live in the middle of nowhere and I can't drive a car so there's
nothing *else* to do  might have something to do with it as well...

Pamela: I am madly in love with Maguire. I read "Confessions..." first
and then "Wicked" and I can't wait to read his latest, "Lost," once I
can get it in trade. (will probably hit the Books-a-Million down in
Florida-la too)
  

    
Mary,
I had a hard time getting into Night Watch because the blurb was
depressing. But I had to persevere and assume that TP would surely not
let Vimes down like that! It showed a lot of people we have grown to
know and love around AM when they were young. Like teens. Vetinari.
Young Vimes. The Watch. The city. The insane ruler (and how he died
etc).  And all the little details that filled in all the little
questions from the sketchy details we once had. (Especially funny is
the picture of the guy who "is" the head of Assassins Guild now.
Downey(?) In the "Now" we think of at least.) 

TP plays fast and loose with the time loop thing. It was very well
done and you have to make careful note, as is usual with anything he
writes, with the details.

I must read it again to get the full benefit of all it's mind-boggling
effects. As usual.
  

    


From Christy Smith:



Hey, lookit this!  Just a few days after Neil mentions the _Cleveland Plain
Dealer_ in the journal, my brother's talking about comics in a front-page
article
(http://www.cleveland.com/business/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/business/1039694
112259380.xml
; current front page PDF:  http://www.cleveland.com/frontpage/pdfs/today.pdf)
in that worthy publication.  And interviewed by the same reporter, too!  Of
course, reading this article right after reading Neil's "tulip craze" essay
puts me a little ill at ease.  ("In many cases," states the article, "the new
buyers are not comics fans, just business people.")  But hey, it's their
money.

Are there any Ohioans here who might save me a copy?

Neil, I second the congrats on how well the film is going!  And I agree with
Mary; it is cool hearing about what happens after the film is put together.
It reminds me of the original idea of the journal, when you were describing
what happens to a book after it's written.

So you're lookin' all hirsute and Sasquatch-like now, are you?  Funny, I had
just been wondering if you'd found time to get a haircut yet.  Hmm... maybe
you should leave it that way until you finish your new Shadow story.  It's
kind of a tradition.  ;)

Do you think you might make that side trip to Scotland between finishing the
dub and coming back here?  Of course, I'll admit I'll be breathing easier
once you're safely back in the States (probably partly because you've still
got presents from me waiting for you), but I was just wondering if that was
still in your mind.

Pam -- Now I'm curious as to what your friends said to him.  What would
_Eddie Izzard_ find bizarre!?  :D

_My_ favorite stand-up comic (Christopher Titus) was on _Twilight Zone_ last
night.  Yay!  Yay!

"Booboisie" -- Hee hee!  Mencken was quite the wit.

Patricia -- Oh, yeah, that sounds familiar now.  Thanks for the proxy answer!
 (I think someone ought to do that for the poor lady who asked the last
question on the _Coraline_ topic a month ago.  :)      )

Good to hear from you, and happy birthday to your daughter!  (And yay for
calico kitties!)

DanGuy -- Thanks for the conference review.  And I second the suggestion of
new Xander pics!

Patricia again -- Way to get people talking!

Tara -- Christmas vacations are wonderful for reading!  It was last year
while spending a week off at my dad's that I read most of _Smoke &
Mirrors_... and fell totally in love.  And here I am.

Christy
  

    

Here's a random piece of research that I'll bet people here could save me a
lot of time on.
What are the original sources for the Lucifer story? Samael, war in heaven,
and so forth?
  

    
Mike--Was that ancestor's name Pistol?  ;-)

I have the trade paperback edition.  Someday I'm going to make you
sign it.  And you were a DJ?  Is there anything you haven't done?  And
both of those authors are smart, funny, entertaining, and make you
think.  That's all I ask ;-)

Dodge--I need to reread all of PTerry.  It's been too long since I
started reading him, and I know what you mean about watching the
details.  I am so looking forward to Nightwatch!

madman--Good question.  There's some Babylonian mythos in there
somewhere, isn't there?  What sources was Milton working from for
Paradise Lost, 'cause that where the ideas seem to have coalesced. 
Hmmmm.....must go do internet searches sometime when I'm not late for
work.......bye, y'all! 
  

    
Madman - Well, the idea of a third of heaven falling comes from
Ezekiel, I think. I'd look it up, but everything I own (except for my
computer, some disks, and my toothbrush) is currently in boxes.
  

    

Isiah, actually. Huzzah for Asimov's Guide to the Bible!
  

    

To my amusement, a google search on "Samael Lucifer" turns up in roughly
equal measure stuff about Satan/Lucifer, stuff proving that the Masons
worship Lucifer, and stuff based on the Sandman version of Lucifer.

The name Samael doesn't seem to be in the Bible. Asimov's book states that
by New Testament times, the Jews had a fully developed myth of Lucifer's
rebellion, stating that they refused to bow to Adam, since they were made of
Light and he of clay. (He goes on to speculate that they may have been
inspired by the Greek stories of the defeat and inprisonment of the Titans.
I'll aside to note that Hyperion and Paradise Lost are both damn cool
poems.) I don't know where I might find that story, though.
  

    
Christy: I called a local grocery store a few minutes ago and a Plain
Dealer is being held for me.  If you e-mail your address to 
patrizia53@yahoo.com, I will send it out to you.  Since Erynn left
Cleveland, I believe that Jen, Angelina and myself are the only ones
here from Ohio. (Ophelia and Velvetraisin, are you about?)

As we are now approaching the post limit, will we continue?  
  

    

I have found the Book of Enoch. So much seems to come from this.
I just found this line: Remiel, one of the holy angels, whom God set over
those who rise.
Ah, it's good when a search bears fruit.
  

    <scribbled by dfowlkes Tue 3 Jul 12 10:14>
  

    
DanGuy - Eating lots of KFC?

Patricia - Shall we continue? How can we not? It is time to start
voting on a new name, however.

Maybe, Wellies in the Walls?
  

    
I've become the Annoying Links Girl.

But this is funny, I thought -- advice for those of us who are
thinking of learning the Japanese language.
http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~thoureau/japanese.html
  

    
That is funny, though he owes Dave Berry royalties.
  

    
Email from Christy:

Dan -- Just like a true geek, unpacking your computer before all else!  :D

"Wellies in the Walls" -- I like it!  Or maybe "Wolves in the Well."

Yep, we've just GOTTA continue the Barking Mad Libs; we can't stop now,
when I'm so close to getting a membership!

And again, I'll direct all y'all's attention to Post #9 in this topic, from
the long-absent Linda:

>Neil's last post in the last topic contains the seeds of the title of the
next topic: Son of the Bride of Topic 73. When we get close >to filling
this one up, would you please remind me, someone?

Patricia -- The address is on its way!  Thanks so much!

Madman -- Bet I come across that sometime soon.  I recently started reading
the Apocrypha.

Also reading (since I never did answer that question):  Neil's _Gods &
Tulips_

Reading time will suffer until after the holidays, I'm afraid.

Christy

NP:  MP3s from Abney Park's forthcoming album, _Candles and Fog_.  Dang,
this guy is good!
  

    
Abbess, Davey, how were the Future Bible Heroes?

And Abney Park in Stoke Newington is where we filmed all the naked
ladies in my movie. (Well, they don't look very naked in the finished
article. But they were very cold.)

Stagewalker -- i think a lot of directing is saying "Er, okay, I think
it's time to move on now."

(I have canvassed advice over the last month from Henry Selick,
Richard Curtis, Terry Gilliam and Roger Avary to get the most important
things they've learned or observed about directing.

Dan Guy -- how unutterably cool. Thanks.
 

Putting it all together it's:

Wear comfortable shoes
Sit down a lot
Don't, whatever you do, shag the leading lady

which advice I pass on to any potential directors...)
  

    
not sure how the reply to Dan guy crept into the middle of the Wisdom
of Directors.  it should have read:

(I have canvassed advice over the last month from Henry Selick,
Richard Curtis, Terry Gilliam and Roger Avary to get the most
important things they've learned or observed about directing.

Putting it all together it's:

Wear comfortable shoes
Sit down a lot
Don't, whatever you do, shag the leading lady

which advice I pass on to any potential directors...)
  

    
...and I suppose, on reflection, that I should point out that while
points one and two (shoes and sitting) were personal reflections of the
directors in question, point three was based on observation (and
sometimes, relish) of other people's disasters.
  

    
Well, I've never shagged my leading lady... but I did have the
misfortune of falling in love with one of them, which was an experience
I'm still recovering from and remains of the greatest emotional
traumas of my life. I suppose if we had had a hairsbreadth less self
control it would have been much, much worse, though.

So... I'd have to say... good advice that.

As for saying "let's move along now." ... for some reason that always
seemed to be my job on this film. That, and pointing out continuity
issues, reminding the director that we already said that line in the
previous take and there's no need to write it into the next scene.
*sigh*

I'm not bitter. I'm just jealous.
  

    <scribbled by dfowlkes Tue 3 Jul 12 10:14>
  

    
Stagewalker -- your director doesn't sound like much of one, really.

Dan Guy -- well, my view of directing hasn't changed hugely, but I've
learned a lot more about the craft. And I found out that I enjoyed it
and wasn't actually bad at it, which was a relief on both counts. 
  

    
Neil - no... truth be told... he's not. It's been a learning
experience, though. 

Glad to hear that you enjoyed the experience and that you have a knack
for it. Shall I start sending headshots to your attention at
Dreamhaven, or wait until you announce your next project?