tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post6451252136184644009..comments2024-03-21T18:54:06.548-07:00Comments on Old Enough to Know Better: Manuscript Readers Update ReduxSteve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-55170753303624679122009-01-17T19:29:00.000-08:002009-01-17T19:29:00.000-08:00Skipped the post as I've not yet finished the ms. ...Skipped the post as I've not yet finished the ms. But. RIP Zelazny. <BR/><BR/>If I ever write a quarter as good as he did....<BR/><BR/>The first scene of the Amber stuff has stuck in my head for years (1st of his stuff I read, back in freshman year of highschool)a character with no memories operating like he does, essentially the same as the reader. Knowing nothing and moving forward anyway. Slick parallels. IMVHO.Master Planhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14699687565908188376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-48318730805686030102009-01-17T13:19:00.000-08:002009-01-17T13:19:00.000-08:00RE: SF writers & aging... I don't quite ag...RE: SF writers & aging... <BR/><BR/>I don't quite agree with Dan Moran that many writers get worse as they age. I think a lot get more formulaic as they age. I don't know if they start "phoning it in" or if the editors start giving them more deference, or they just run out of stories -- but need paychecks. But, with many authors, I feel like I've already read the story pretty quick... <BR/><BR/>By the way, Steve... not that I'm kissing up or anything, but you definitely haven't fallen into that trap.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-63360632461632657462009-01-17T11:05:00.000-08:002009-01-17T11:05:00.000-08:00... death are what's worth writing about ...... death are what's worth writing about ...Steve Perryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-88827191943437541192009-01-17T10:09:00.000-08:002009-01-17T10:09:00.000-08:00Age eventually steals most things from most of us....Age eventually steals most things from most of us. Nature of the system. <BR/><BR/>The exceptions are interesting. I saw an interview once with Edward Everett Horton, the American character actor. He was in his early eighties at the time, and as sharp as an obsidian scalpel -- funny, clever, altogether there. (Most readers here probably won't know who he was; he was in such movies as The Front Page, Trouble in Paradise, Top Hat, Holiday, Lost Horizon, Here Comes Mr. Jordan, Arsenic and Old Lace, and Pocketful of Miracles. Among his other roles, he was the voice of the Fractured Fairy Tales in the Rocky and Bullwinkle show.<BR/><BR/>My favorite novels by a writer aren't necessarily his best work. Take Roger -- Lord of Light is his high-water mark for me, but I think Creatures of Light and Darkness was written a bit sharper. Plus a whole bunch of short fiction. He won the Nebula and Hugo a bunch of times. <BR/><BR/>I think Zelazny was getting a second wind, but he died early, at 58. <BR/><BR/>Successful artists -- those making money -- usually find a formula that works for them, and past a point, tend to stay with it, and not just in science fiction and fantasy. <BR/><BR/>Plus the stories start to run together, and you don't remember -- did I tell this one yet? And you run out of ideas. The late Bob Sheckley was a sweet man, but he had gone cold. If you gave him a premise, he could write the hell out of it, but the creative well was mostly dry. Ditto Ted Sturgeon, Fritz Leiber, Ike Asimov, and Bob Heinlein. <BR/><BR/>Like ball players. Once the legs start to go, the tricks will carry them for a while, the experience, but eventually they slow down too much. <BR/><BR/>Like I said, life andSteve Perryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-27473554321215465262009-01-17T10:08:00.000-08:002009-01-17T10:08:00.000-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Steve Perryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-41743811953291063342009-01-17T09:40:00.000-08:002009-01-17T09:40:00.000-08:00As a developing writer and (as much as I hate to b...As a developing writer and (as much as I hate to be a 'fan' of anything) a long time fan of Steve Perry novels I really enjoyed the opportunity to see the 'semi-final' draft and am looking forward to seeing the finished project. I'm also excited to see that some of the mystery of what's going on is planned for sequel fodder; I suspected so and I'm already eager to see them!<BR/><BR/>Talking about writers getting worse instead of better as they age (I bet we could extrapolate to other activities too). The best theroy I heard is that young (or new) writers of Sci-Fi or fantasy tend to be driven by passion for their stories but as they age the technical aspects of writing take over and in many cases they become focused on 'quality' writing at the expense of expressing their ideas passionatly. Clearly writers who become 'great' are the ones who are able to develop technically while maintaining the initial passion for their stories. Credit where credit is due; I got this theory from Richard K. Morgan at one of his apperances. I happen to think he's right but didn't think of it myself.Travishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15353783271100674218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-58290998656878018602009-01-17T09:09:00.000-08:002009-01-17T09:09:00.000-08:00Second the notion about being thankful to be able ...Second the notion about being thankful to be able to be a part of it. Can't wait to see the final version, I just hope we don't have to wait too long before it shows up on a shelf near us. <BR/><BR/>I'm crossing my fingers for a Baen books release. Yummy non-DRM ebooky goodness. :-)Jordanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08341608982649448622noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-48598053684864906782009-01-16T22:54:00.000-08:002009-01-16T22:54:00.000-08:00I'm one of the guys who thought it was perhaps you...I'm one of the guys who thought it was perhaps your best work -- I haven't read everything of yours, but I have read all your confed novels except Brother Death -- I liked this better than those, even better than the Musashi Flex, my previous favorite. It's wise and it moves -- a rare combination.<BR/><BR/>One of the things I dislike about the whole field of SF is the way its practitioners get worse as they age. The number of SF writers who got substantially worse as they aged is really striking, and the degree of decline is worse than in other fields -- not sure why.<BR/><BR/>Seeing someone get better as he ages is a real pleasure, and personally encouraging.<BR/><BR/>Hope to see what comes next.<BR/><BR/>-- "FatSam"Daniel Keys Moranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12992599044462413412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-10707506381643949442009-01-16T22:29:00.000-08:002009-01-16T22:29:00.000-08:00Sorry for the delay in replying. My brain works m...Sorry for the delay in replying. My brain works more slowly than some but I sent off my feedback a few minutes ago. Hope it helps, and thanks for the opportunity.<BR/><BR/>jks9199 said "get a peek behind the curtain"<BR/><BR/>Now <B><I>there's</I></B> a pun for the book, but don't let Kane hear you say it.<BR/><BR/>*grin*Menduirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08743860875458338385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-77285705736476009572009-01-16T21:51:00.000-08:002009-01-16T21:51:00.000-08:00Thanks for the opportunity to be involved and to s...Thanks for the opportunity to be involved and to see something of how you do the magic. I can string words together reasonably effectively (I think), and tell you what I did and why -- but I've never been able to do fiction. It's interesting and a privilige to see something of how the story gets to be when it gets published, to kind of get a peek behind the curtain.<BR/><BR/>(And now I'm gonna have to dig my copy of <B>Lord of Light</B> up to re-read it...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com