Comments on: On Becoming a Review Connoisseur….

By: EliGirl

EliGirl — Mon, 02 May 2011 18:21:34 +0000

As Mike Resnick once said, “If you can state your theme in one sentence, don’t write a story; rent a billboard.”

By: Laura

Laura — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 18:38:07 +0000

Dancer Isadora Duncan snappily answered one of those irritating “What’s it about?” questions perfectly:“No, I can’t explain the dance to you. If I could say it — I wouldn’t have to dance it!”In the same way — if I could say it in a breath, I wouldn’t have to write thousands of words!

By: Teefers Treats

Teefers Treats — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 21:11:49 +0000

Sometimes <>I<> don't even know what my book is about, and I'm in the revision stage, I hate it when people ask that nebulous question. You'll never find another writer asking it, either. It's because we KNOW that it's entirely impossible to answer it. It's like trying to explain why a lover makes you feel so good. There are so many little details that it's impossible to sum up.And whatever my book may be about, it definitely sounds a lot lamer when I try to explain it than it really is in my head.And I agree on the envious point. Objectively editing my book is so hard. I find myself sort of skimming scenes because I wrote them, I could tell you the words in my sleep; it's like my favorite book I've read hundreds of times (it's now falling apart, poor thing), I can read 90 pages of it in an hour because I'm not even reading it anymore.I wish I could just forget what I'd read, but even reading chapters I haven't seen in over a year, I still know it by heart. Very hard!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 06:50:19 +0000

Actualy if someone told me that reading a book was like a .. what was it you said … Oh yea. A three-day orgasm with super-size fries and a footrub, I would be begging for the book. Do you know how hard it is to get a good foot rub??Stef

By: Shawn C. Speakman

Shawn C. Speakman — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 17:14:40 +0000

Hey Pat,You can do M-dashes. It just takes a special code to do it. I'll send you an email with it.Shawn

By: Pat

Pat — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 03:42:34 +0000

Huh. That's interesting. I just glanced through this post and saw that apparently my blog can't handle an M-dash. It figures that after all the trouble I go through learning the difference between the dashes and how to use them, that technology would find some way to slap me down. Such is life. pat

By: Shawn C. Speakman

Shawn C. Speakman — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 02:40:55 +0000

And I’ve had some of the same thoughts about “I’ll never be able to read my book like anyone else” thought. It’s kind of sad, really.I guess you get to read my book, Pat, and your book just arrived in hardcover two days ago. It’s like we are swapping, which is very coo.

By: Miriam

Miriam — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 00:16:43 +0000

I can relate to what you said about describing what your book’s about. I hate being asked that and I never quite know what to say. Great post. I’ve read some of those reviews and I look forward to reading your book myself.