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(livejournal: http://neoguardian.livejournal.com)
| All new names in the poll. Take this poll. You'll help me immensely. Thanks. :)
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| MG;
Just wanted to say thanks for hints regarding GRE. I was just lurking about the threads and noticed I had posted here during my more optimistic period. Imagine the laugh I got after typing your initials, ie., Mystery Guest. DCL |
| CArC was down for a bit today (those amish terrorists must have hit the server hq again), but I've made some improvements since the last time I mentioned it here. Session control is now fully implemented, and despite my automated e-mail warning, you're allowed to forget passwords now.
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| After 12+ long hours of work yesterday, Creative Arts Central is now fully automated. Usernames, passwords, modifiable profiles, keyword searches. |
| My only hands-on instruction would be to forget about the math. =p I memorized a ton of vocabulary from ucgateways.org/gre and other places which brought my verbal score from the low 500s to 680. |
| any good hands on instruction with the GRE you would be wiling to suggest. I have tried the self study method and can't seem to get my mind around the bi-tri-nomial math sections. Of course i am going to have to calm down my writing but that seems within possibilities. Perhaps a good interactive math website. Ohhhh heck, this is silly inquiry. I may have to go back to JC for tune-up, Or just start all over with algebra one.
DCL |
| It's a riot! |
| Made it myself. :) |
| LOL, Michael - did you create the rejection above, or did you actually *get* that from someone??? What a hoot! |
| Today is officially "everyone else is doing it" Day, at least with respect to this humble corner of cyberspace -- my livejournal URL is up.
What else can I say? Hmm, eager to post something in the R/A log but can't until I get some responses. |
| Just ended another week-long critter session for one of my stories. A few years ago when I started out on there, I'd get around five critiques per story. These days I seem to get about nine hundred. I suppose this is a good sign?
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| I hope the onion-pepper-goat cheese omelet tasted as good as it sounds.
:-) Hang in there-- law |
| Don't mind me, just some personal musings here.
Hmm. I might have made some kind of faux pas at Baen's slush bar with a past submission. During the past week I submitted one of my more appreciated stories, had one of the barflies give an extremely positive response. Despite this, not one other person there offered a single comment all week, while most stories in that pile seem to have at least a few. Next, I re-posted a second version, with some minor edits (suggested by the sole commenter), gently asking for more comments, and still nobody says a thing. Zero comments thus far. Now, I know these guys don't pull punches or steer away from bad news. I submitted another story some time ago and had a few of them point out a bunch of areas they felt had logical inconsistencies or unclear meanings. I responded with explanations, and once I asked one of them to clarify or give more examples. I certainly didn't *argue*, but I wonder if they construed it as such...? On another front, Feb. 5th marks three months that one of my stories was on hold in ASIM's round 3, so I expect it to be returned soon. |
| Thanks ;) |
| Congratulations and Congratulations and (just in case) Congratulations! You're a (hopefully soon to be) Triple Threat ;)
HPK |
| And thus, it's come to pass. I'm currently out Tyree Campbell's "Bondage" Anthology and "Flash Me Magazine"'s January pdf issue as the Lighting Flash Fiction contest winner. Might be the first time I've been on two fronts at once. Might be three if Ethereal Gazette #4 comes out by April. |
| Bleh. I'm in the "withdrawal" phase of The Maker's Diet, and as Dr. Rubin predicted in the book, I feel like utter crap. Headaches, flu-like symptoms, moodiness, lethargy, etc. I'm lucky if I write a paragraph per day. On the bright side, I know I'm supposed to be feeling this at this point in the diet, so I know it's working (so far).
Oh well...time to make my onion-pepper-goat cheese omelet. That should at least be tasty. |
| Haha, I don't. Though in those days, I shudder at some of the material I blindly sent out. |
| Michael:
The very fact that you HAD something to submit to The New Yorker says a lot about your writing. They receive more subs than God gets bedtime prayers...don't feel bad. |
| Thanks!
HPK |
| Sure Heather, go right ahead. |
| Michael,
May I share your Top 5 Rejections (from your November post to the 'Share a Joke...' topic) with my writer's group? That was the best laugh I've had in quite a while! HPK |
| Hi Michael: I've crossposted this to your topic just in case you didn't see my response in my author topic.
I am *so* sorry! I just saw your post! For some reson, when anyone logs in, they don't see their author topics in the "Fresh Stuff" list. I'm guessing it's too late for the Fordham job, but if you need *another* reference, please let me know! Did you get the job? |
| Nope, you're not supposed to know. (That was me, btw, I hadn't logged in.) |
| Not even mine? ;) |
| I don't know, Michael, but hey, it's nobody's business what you're into. ;^> |
| I just realized that I'm being published in two venues this quarter which have highly misconstruable names -- "Bondage" and "Flash Me". If I put this on my writing resume, what are the odds of me looking like a porno writer? |
| I once saw a large walling @ binghamton university eating people. it drank peoples souls like a famlighetti at carnseys. |
| "Morrow" is now out in the Ambitions webzine. |
| Thanks :) Wow, Feburary 5th? It wasn't that long ago, was it? Hmm...
Anyhow, yeah, I'm the kind of guy who never seems to get things right on the first try, despite my apparent college-brain intelligence. Thus, revisions are a good thing for me. |
| Congrats on the sale, Michael! It's funny that you mentioned the secret -- do not send first drafts -- the other day. Another school of thought is write it, proof it, and send it without looking back. ((scratching head)) Who knows? I guess the real secret is finding whatever works, and sticking with it. :-)
Anyway, big congrats again! Jackie |
| This is one of those periods where I'm lying on the canvas with no works submitted anywhere, with my imaginary coach yelling at me to get up. |
|
Woo! I know not many people here care about fanfiction, but "Tears of Blood" is now on rpgamer.com and also was just posted on gameforms.com as the featured piece of the update. http://www.gameforms.com/fanfics/ Man, those comments feel good, even if it is just fanfiction. (this link will probably be different in a week or two after this note) Once again, fans of the Chrono Trigger/Cross series may be interested. Michael Greenhut |
| Seer Michael predicts he will get a BFOD tomorrow, based on two moments of statistical checking he did yesterday. I'll bet ten times the money I've made off creative writing in the last few months. Any takers? Heheh.
Michael Greenhut |
| Don't worry, I once e-mailed David K-M thinking it was David Kuzminski. Michael Greenhut |
| Sorry, Michael, I assumed because the posts on R/A were juxtapositioned that the other Michael was you. Le boo-boo. Mark |
| Mark: either Playboy has rejected me quite wisely before I even sent them a manuscript, or you have the wrong Michael. That guy should really give a last name... Michael Greenhut |
| Michael,also, what was the length of your story that they indicated was too short for publication? Mark |
| Hi Michael! Congratulations on getting a personalized note on your rejection slip from Playboy--that's a very tough market. Over on R/A you neglected to mention your return time--what was it, please? Mark |
| Hehe... okay. ;) I'll do that. I got quite a bit of playing in over the weekend so I managed to give Frog his restored Masamune. The story does start out a bit hokey and there are strange plot holes for lack of a better term (partially due to game mechanics), but I'm enjoying it so far. I didn't have a SNES back in the day (I was a Genesis person) so this was one of the games I missed. :) |
| Oh yeah, when you finish and acquaint yourself with all spoilers, feel free to check out this:
http://www.rpgamer.com/fanfics/co/tears_of_blood.html Michael Greenhut |
| Cool. Thanks! I knew there were multiple endings, but I didn't know you could actually choose them by when you fight the last boss. I guess that's possible in a time-traveling RPG... :O |
| Laurie,
Hmm -- when I first started playing CT (about 8 years ago) I thought it was rather silly, but eventually it does get awesome; the story gets much deeper and the characters (especially magus, which my fanfic was about) develop quite a bit. So I'd say don't be discouraged if you find the beginning silly. The game also has a number of different endings, all depending on which point in the story you decide to challenge Lavos. I didn't have too much difficulty with the fights except with Lavos's final form, so for that be sure you're at least in your mid-late 50s in terms of experience level. Other than that, have fun! Michael Greenhut |
| Hi Michael,
Just a quick poke in your topic since I know you're a Chrono Trigger fan. I'm about to embark on a game of Chrono Trigger for the first time (Suikoden II will have to wait once again *sweatdrop*) and was wondering if you had any advice for the novice. |
| Actually, yeah, it was just backlogged. Sorry...I always get that way if I check my publications too early in the morning. Michael Greenhut |
| Hang in there, Mike. I have absolutely no idea how the fanfic universe works, but maybe it just missed a deadline or something. Who decides what gets put up?
law Lori |
| Okay, this is truly frustrating. I can understand my original work being rejected by magazines, but...good grief. I check RPGamer, and that mona lisa-esque CT fan fiction I wrote isn't in the update. For one thing, I consider the original fiction I've sold to be of lower quality than this. For another...I have a piece of fanfiction on there, accepted years ago, and it's a wad of monkey poop, especially compared to this one. That's barely even a subjective opinion, I can bet all my money that anyone who compared the two will think that. _Puh-lease_. Don't tell me some fifteen year old's FF8 story is better than this. Michael Greenhut |
| Alright! I finished that Chrono Trigger/Cross fan fiction. Took me 3 years, but it's one heck of a finished product. Now it's time to return to the real world and get back to original fiction, though I'll work on pimping this wherever I can in the appropriate fan sites and maybe rounding up artists.
Michael Greenhut |
| Jeez. I join a group for people with ulcerative colitis and not 24 hours later this woman hits on me profusely. I suppose I'm lucky it IS a woman. ;p Michael Greenhut |
| Working on doing just that.
In the meantime, I have to confess...I've been writing something I haven't written in years. Squaresoft fan fiction. I know that's probably beneath most people here, but it's a huge epic piece that I keep dropping and picking up, year after year, and the chosen character seems to meld with me such that I _have_ to finish it. I find extrapolating his personality both easy and natural. Michael Greenhut |
| Go get 'em, Michael! |
| I'm determined to crack a pro market this year. That's my 6 month early New Years resolution. If I don't, I'll punish myself somehow.
Michael Greenhut |
| Ehh, I have plenty of refund from my loans left over. I can still pretend that's my money for a little bit. Michael Greenhut |
| I was thinking more about the burning need to fill the hole in one's stomach on a daily basis, you know, and to have a roof over one's head. (Jamie's right.) Terry |
| I had one of those in college...not since I graduated. I don't feel any burning need to make excuses for a month or two gap in my resume. If some employer is put off by that, oh well... Michael Greenhut |
| A job that you take until you find a real job. Something that doesn't really require anything as far as qualifications go, and that you won't really feel committed to. Like retail, or temping, or something like that.
At least, I'm assuming that's what Terry meant. A job as a stop-gap measure. |
| Thanks for the link. What is a stop-gap job? Michael Greenhut |
| Hang in there, Michael. Have you gotten your email address on some of the writer's newsletters you can subscribe to for free? I get one weekly (unfortunately I erase it as soon as I've read it and gotten all the goodies out of it, else I could tell you the name of it) that has listings of all kinds of freelance writers' jobs, and markets, and marketing tips, etc etc. Here it is: http://freelancewrite.about.com/
Are you working a stop-gap job right now? Terry |
| Being unemplyed out of gradschool is depressing. You'd think with the way I peacocked up my resume, I'd at least have gotten an interview request by now. There must be an alternate universe somewhere where writers are the most filthy rich stratum of society. Michael Greenhut |
| Wrote the last "bonus" chapter of my second novel today, so now it's really all finished. Whew! Two novels, a novella, full length screenplay, a comic, and my short stories, all before I hit age 25. Not too shabby, I guess. Now I just need to get most of that published.
Michael Greenhut |
| Ok, I was a complete dork and bought the most expensive ($100) postal scale I could find. The lure of internet connectivity and updates was just too strong. Oh well, another half month or so when I'm in my forties and finishing up my student loan payments. Like that'll ever come!
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| What's this about meeting me in Motel 6's? Will it boost my publishability? Has the offer expired yet?? Michael Greenhut |
| Glad you liked the review, Michael.
Greg Greg Beatty |
| Really? Given the number of well-known stories and novels that were rejected many (even dozens of) times, I'm a little surprised. Donaldson's first Chronicles of Thomas Covenant springs to mind, for instance. |
| Hmm, I guess that does make sense...I always thought that multiple rejections meant that the rejected story would be pretty forgotten and unpopular even when it happened to find someone who wanted to publish it. Michael Greenhut |
| Michael, think of the statistical Bell Curve. Everyone who reads has one, whether they realize it or not, in their brain. At the far left there are a few dots, representing the really *horrible* stories they've read, the ones that made them want to wash out their mouths and eyes and brains with soap.
Crowded around the middle--the "bell" of the curve, are the vast majority of stories that are +/- average; some are better, some are less than average but still have *something* to recommend them to a reader. Way out on the right-hand side are a very few single dots--the outstanding, mind-altering, life-changing stories. An ordinary reader, no matter how objective, has far fewer dots on their graph than an editor. But the absolute number of superlative, right-hand-outlier dots isn't going to change that much between the two reader types. The editor's eyes are focused on the area to the right of the main mass of dots--s/he's looking for one of those very few stand-outs. The reader's eye is happy frolicking in the main mass, because for his/her dollar, there are a lot more "goodish" stories available there. This is *so* true that many, even many smart readers, might not recognize that stand-out when they see it. They're just happy when the majority of the stories they read keep them entertained for half an hour, surprise them with a plot twist, or engage their emotions deeply, regardless of other flaws the piece may have. An editor is shooting for the moon, the whole enchilada, the entire package. They see so much drek and "average" stuff that it becomes harder to please them. How's that for a theory? |
| Damn, I knew I was doing something wrong! heh ;p
Anyhow...one thing I never get is why ordinary people, even honest ones who you know don't lie to you and kiss your butt, have opinions so different than people who work as editors. Is it just the volume of subs they see that harden them? Or are other factors involved? Michael Greenhut |
| Wait, Michael... if when people read it they realize it's about a atypical an A/E story as one can get, that should extend to editors too. Eventually.
You're not sending a cover letter saying "Please find enclosed my Adam and Eve story", are you? :) |
| Okay...I wrote this really supercool story that is making lots of people's favorites list, and passed the first 2 rounds (but not the final) of ASIM. There's one problem that will hamper it from getting published. It is (prepare yourself)...an Adam/Eve story!! Of course, when people read it they realize it's about as atypical an A/E story as one can get, but that still doesn't stop some editors from typecasting it and discarding it. I wonder where to send this... Michael Greenhut |
| Michael:
My email to your yahoo account is bouncing. Would you please email me if you read this? Thanks! Sarah Sguidry |
| BaDoop-pah. |
| (Okay, this is obvious, but I can't help myself.)
Lori, I'm sure that Mikal will "leave the light on for you." (Sorry, Tom.) |
| Outside Saskatchewan? That's like saying outside California.
Well, I always wanted a life-long quest.... Good luck, Michael. Lori |
| Thanks guys, um, I think. I'm going underground for awhile; I've decided the solution to getting agents to look at my 233,000 word novel is to write smaller novels about the characters in the big one, sell them first, then market the mothership novel. Message board type environments give my muse high cholesterol, so I'm on shore leave while I write my MA thesis/smaller novel #1. If my name's going to be anywhere in the near future, it will be from the occasional submission hitting home. Until then, if anyone wants to lob some grenades at me or otherwise, my e-mail link is up there. Goodbye! *puts on THE ONE RING* Michael Greenhut |
| lori--
Motel 6, outside Saskatchewan. Room 13. Midnight. Make sure you're not followed. (oh, and make sure to pay the manager for the room, willya? I'm a few bucks shy...) Oh, crap! This is Greenhut's topic! Michael-- Motel 6, outside Potzrebie. Make sure you're not bitching... |
| Mikal, I certainly wouldn't turn down a chance to meet *you*, either. :-)
law Lori |
| Geez, Greenbut (er, hut)--
Nobody *ever* says they want to meet me... (Wonder why that could be? Maybe 'cause I haven't figgered out how to post anonymously...) :O) |
| Hey, Terry--bless your heart.
Michael, I hope I get the chance to meet you sometime. :-) law Lori |
| See, if anyone here met me in person they would probably hardly believe it was me (except maybe the fact that I look even quite a bit younger than 24). IRL I'm always the amiable, innocent, mellow, extremely un-scary guy who nobody has a problem getting along with. It's here that my deeper, darker alter ego lashes out when it feels its been wronged.
Michael Greenhut |
| Why do I find it hard to picture the word "wimpier" with Lori. No, won't do, won't do. Beautiful, deadly, and a pretty damn good writer are better words for law;-) |
| I wholeheartedly agree about not writing anything that I can't put my name too. I posted anonymously *once*, something that was meant to be a joke and was misunderstood, and I came out and apologized and never did it again.
Of course I'm a lot wimpier than you and generally try to make nicey-nice because I hate conflict. It takes *a lot* to get me to get nasty. law Lori |
| Thanks, Terry -- one thing people will note is there's little that's hidden about my opinions; the reason I do this, or one of them, is so that whenever I say something GOOD to someone, they'll go "Damn, he really meant it!" Rather than "was he just being nice? I dunno..."
And, well, I'll deal with a few brawls (and blacklists?) if it takes me being blunt in some instances to have my complements on the stuff that I like wholeheartedly believed. Finally...I just learned the truth about who the ghosts were, and though part of me is just aching to say something, I won't... |
| Michael, you noted that Slayer and Jack Fisher had the same IP address, though you did not name names. The original Jack Fisher quote had a different IP addy. Could be different ISPs. Could be different people. Jack's email address is well known. Slayer could have spoofed him.
Thanks for owning up to your posts. Whether anyone agrees with your outspokeness or not, you at least have the guts to post with your name attached. |
| Hey, you said you were playing Devil's Advcate! You're supposed to be *with* me, then. ;p
Anyhow...I called him dumb? I don't know, it seems to be like I was simply in extreme disbelief and trying to convey that disbelief. I guess if I were a fellow pro editor it might look bad, but I'm just a lowly writer who's only recently sold his first couple of stories and a humble reader for Harpur Palate. Why should anyone be stung by me expressing serious disbelief in someone else's opinion? Michael Greenhut |
| Hey, you said you were playing Devil's Advcate! You're supposed to be *with* me, then. ;p
Anyhow...I called him dumb? I don't know, it seems to be like I was simply in extreme disbelief and trying to convey that disbelief. I guess if I were a fellow pro editor it might look bad, but I'm just a lowly writer who's only recently sold his first couple of stories and a humble reader for Harpur Palate. Why should anyone be stung by me expressing serious disbelief in someone else's opinion? Michael Greenhut |
| Just because I'm not too bright, I'd like to play devil's advocate for a second. I can understand how your rant could sting Mr. Fisher a bit. It might be this sentence:
"...he said my twist wasn't original when it was original as hell..." Um, you just called him kinda dumb, dude. law Lori |
| I know you didn't, Mikal, I didn't aim that volley at you ;p Michael Greenhut |
| Hey, *I* didn't bitch at you.
You moron... ;p |
| Regarding recent debate...
For all of you who think I was so "out of line", try stepping back and taking a look at what very little even transpired. What did I do? ALL I said "argh, what the heck, he said my twist wasn't original when it was original as hell". I didn't post "10 reasons why I think this editor is a moron", or anything even resembling that. ALL I DID WAS A SIMPLE VIRTUAL GROAN. Just consider that. You can acknowledge that I have a right to post my rejection. You can acknowledge that I have a right to disagree with my rejection and the reason for it. You can acknowledge that I shouldn't attack an editor, which I DIDN'T. So, I ask, what did I do that was so wrong? Should I have changed it to "gosh, F&B; rejected me by saying my twist was original, but I strongly disagree.". That's exactly the same was what I did say, as all that I said, only with less question marks and exclamation points. Does it make such a big difference that I put on some plastic smile when I disagree with a rejection, instead of frowning about it? So, one more time. What did I do? I'd love to hear it. Am I just guilty of being upset when an editor saw me? Is THAT my horrible breach of etiquette? Michael Greenhut |
| Er, if you saw my website about their bad stuff you've seen everything there is for me to tell. Michael Greenhut |
| Please tell me what you know about SYDRA TECH. before I respond to their email about my book Valerie A. Ferrante |
| Uh-huh....
addictinggames.com. City Jumper. I'm #2 on the high score list, at least right now (I made it to level 12). That's my sweeping claim to fame for this period in time ;p Michael Greenhut |
| That URL leads to a "does not exist" notice, FYI. |
| Ummm, Very Interesting site u got here...
Vulpine http://vulpine.conforums.com Vulpine |
| By the way, I wasn't kidding when I said Norman Spinrad is my cousin. He's my dad's first or second cousin and thus my second or third. Just thought of it since I recently was shown a family tree from dad's side of the family, which I may try to scan in sooner or later... |
| My new little humor site, Bathtub Electronics, is now up:
http://www.e-bola.net/~neo Michael Greenhut |
| Heheh...don't worry, I don't mind collectin'! Hold on, let me get my UHAUL truck.
Michael Greenhut |
| That does sound like a good workshop.
Of course, I don't think they're all bad. I've been in some good ones too, both online and offline. It's just the bad ones are REALLY bad. And with that, I'll shut up. I probably owe Michael a couple of six-packs of off-topic vouchers now! :) --Sarah Sguidry |
| I always feel bad when I read folks complaining about their workshops, because not only did I enjoy mine, I think it was helpful. And the prof was very accepting of genre fiction, even though he admitted upfront he didn't really read it. Heck, one story (by another writer) whose first half we workshopped has since found its way into the official magazine for the Palladium RPG, and I've sold two of the stories I workshopped (including one I wrote for the workshop) to Ideomancer.
I guess I lucked out and got both a good prof and good fellow workshoppers. Jamie Rosen |
| Oh, I definitely agree. The poetry teacher I mentioned? The first thing she said was don't write your poem to mean something. Just write it about something, and meaning will be in there somewhere. I think the same can be said for stories.
I also think that it's hard to find a good critiquer for fiction, and doubly hard for speculative fiction. Most people I know (family and friends) either don't read, so they wouldn't know how to crit, or are going to say they like anything I write. And just about every workshop I've been in has been of the "it's all lovely" variety. Which isn't any help at all...I know that people are trying to be nice and diplomatic, but I'd love someone to just red-pen my stuff. I had an english teacher in high school that was notorious with a red-pen. Apparently she made a girl cry once over it, but I learned a ton about writing that year. Because she didn't pull her punches. Anyway :)... One good thing about every workshop. They make you write. --Sarah Sguidry |