I'm not going to apologise for being absent for a few days, because I've spent that time being extremely productive: I've read the entire "The Girl..." series by Steig Larsson. And fuck me, was it good.
I haven't read any reviews of the series deliberately, because I don't give a shit what other people think about it. To me, those three books are some of the best literature to have been published in the last few years, and I think it's a Michael Jackson-esque tragedy that the author died before he could create anything else. (By Michael Jackson-esque, I mean that they both died too young, but also that they probably died in their prime - before they could produce anything crap.)
Lisbeth Salander is one of the most well-written and outstandingly brilliant female characters I've ever come across. I simply couldn't stop turning pages whenever she was active in the plot, and I've lost a fair bit of sleep because of it. She's just so... so... feminist! Ballsy isn't a very feminist term - I suppose it ought to be some reference to ovaries or breasts, but that seems a bit weird - but she really is ballsy. The girl has guts, and I admire Larsson so much for being a male writer who has caught the mood of young ballsy women everywhere. She stands up for herself, but when the world is out to destroy her (or the entire Swedish government, whatever), she just bides her time, takes the abuse, and stores away information to use against them in the future. She's a complete legend.
I loved Mikael Blomkvist too, but not nearly as passionately. He's smart, but he just couldn't have done anything without Salander.
I watched the film of the first book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and I felt that Salander wasn't nearly as skinny, ass-kicking, or downright weird as she is in the book. I realise that you cannot possibly ever translate an entire novel comfortably to the silver screen (look at Harry Potter, for God's sake), but they could definitely have done more with Salander. I know The Girl Who Played With Fire is currently in cinemas, but I think they ought to ask me to direct the third movie: The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest. I'd do a cracking job.
I want to know what happened to Camille though. Maybe if they don't ask me to direct a movie I could write a fourth book instead, and we'd find out what happened to her. Now there's an idea...
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
F*ckitty f*ck f*ck f*ck
So, I finished a copyediting project at the beginning of the week (a day early, I might add) and in my e-mail to the sub-editor, I casually mentioned that I hadn't yet been given a brief for Baby Names 2011 (US edition), and seeing as she had told me the manuscript needed to be finished by July, I wanted more information pretty sharpish. I mean, leaving me two and a half weeks to re-write an entire book wasn't really good enough. So she replied by thanking me for my copyedit, and told me that she hadn't yet been given the go-ahead for Baby Names 2011 (US), but she'd let me know as soon as she had.
Then today, I received an e-mail telling me it's no longer going ahead! Ahhhhhh!! Apparently their acquisitions department has royally screwed up, and they have to delay the title by another year ... which means it'll be Baby Names 2012 (US), and I'll start work next May. NEXT MAY!! Honey, I need that cheque THIS year, not next! And let me remind you, YOU approached ME about this title, not the other way around. I was quite content to just mooch along with the UK edition, but the second you told me Crimson was planning a US edition, I got all excited and essentially cleared some time so I could work on it. Now I have nothing. Nada. Zilch. I am at your mercy, and it's not something I'm remotely comfortabe with.
The other balls-up was that Mike forgot to put the bins out this morning. They collect recycling every other week, and now Little O's formula comes in handy-dandy pre-mixed cans, we have A LOT of recycling to get rid of. It's now going to stink up the garage for two weeks and multiply. And I am going to yell at Mike, because it was his fault.
Little O still has an upset stomach, and I've already changed him four times this morning (it's 9.20am). The GI clinic called me back yesterday and they're putting him on some kind of bacteria-bustin' medication because they reckon his digestive tract is still trying to figure out the new formula and is working overtime, producing too much bacteria and whipping food through him too quickly. He's hasn't gained any weight in over a month (hasn't lost any either though, which I suppose is something) and just seems pretty miserable these days. His poor little bottom is absolutely COVERED in a rash, too, because sometimes his poop doesn't smell and I don't catch it in time, so he has to sit in it for a while. The rash has been bleeding the last couple of days, so the GI clinic has also prescribed some fancy-schmancy cream to help clear things up. Poor little baby. I feel very helpless and sorry for him.
Immunology appointment this afternoon. Fingers crossed things aren't THAT bad and he dosn't need transfusions or a bone marrow transplant ... I'll post more once we've seen the docs.
Then today, I received an e-mail telling me it's no longer going ahead! Ahhhhhh!! Apparently their acquisitions department has royally screwed up, and they have to delay the title by another year ... which means it'll be Baby Names 2012 (US), and I'll start work next May. NEXT MAY!! Honey, I need that cheque THIS year, not next! And let me remind you, YOU approached ME about this title, not the other way around. I was quite content to just mooch along with the UK edition, but the second you told me Crimson was planning a US edition, I got all excited and essentially cleared some time so I could work on it. Now I have nothing. Nada. Zilch. I am at your mercy, and it's not something I'm remotely comfortabe with.
The other balls-up was that Mike forgot to put the bins out this morning. They collect recycling every other week, and now Little O's formula comes in handy-dandy pre-mixed cans, we have A LOT of recycling to get rid of. It's now going to stink up the garage for two weeks and multiply. And I am going to yell at Mike, because it was his fault.
Little O still has an upset stomach, and I've already changed him four times this morning (it's 9.20am). The GI clinic called me back yesterday and they're putting him on some kind of bacteria-bustin' medication because they reckon his digestive tract is still trying to figure out the new formula and is working overtime, producing too much bacteria and whipping food through him too quickly. He's hasn't gained any weight in over a month (hasn't lost any either though, which I suppose is something) and just seems pretty miserable these days. His poor little bottom is absolutely COVERED in a rash, too, because sometimes his poop doesn't smell and I don't catch it in time, so he has to sit in it for a while. The rash has been bleeding the last couple of days, so the GI clinic has also prescribed some fancy-schmancy cream to help clear things up. Poor little baby. I feel very helpless and sorry for him.
Immunology appointment this afternoon. Fingers crossed things aren't THAT bad and he dosn't need transfusions or a bone marrow transplant ... I'll post more once we've seen the docs.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Some days you just have to throw in the towel
Today did NOT start off well, I'll be honest with you.
First off, Mike's car is on the blink and he's not the most organised of people so it's still at the mechanics, a mere three days after he took it in. I wouldn't mind so much if they were actually working on the thing, but seeing as they can't identify the problem yet and Mike hasn't given them permission to do any unauthorised work, it's been there since Friday in the same blinkin' state it started in. Sigh. So today he has my car, which means I can't leave the house. I got all excited for about ten minutes planning a walk with Owen, but then I remembered the buggy's in the boot and Mike won't have thought to take it out before he left at 5.30am. Double sigh.
The next thing to go wrong was Owen waking up at 6am. This isn't SO bad, but seeing as I don't usually feed him until 7am, it was kind of irritating to have to go in to his room and shush him, then not be able to go back to sleep for the extra hour because my body assumed getting out of bed meant getting out of bed.
Well, Owen's feed was, as usual, a spectacular fountain of puke. We are down to the barest essentials now with his clothes as he's growing at an alarming rate (he's nine months old and yesterday we noticed he'd grown out of his 12-month babygrows. Awesome), and all the burp cloths are filthy from the weekend. I know it's not much, but not having anything clean and/or fitting for him just really, really gets to me. I mean, if he HAS to throw up constantly, the very least I can do for him as a parent is keep him clean and wearing clothes. I dunno... it just seemed relentless this morning.
So, after all this nonsense, I settled down on the laptop to load the internet... and the thing doesn't work. Argh. After FOUR attempts to get to my desktop in an hour it finally calmed down... and the internet doesn't work! Apparently there's an issue with my wireless card and I'm so far past caring about the waste of my life I just invested in it that I can't even bring myself to discuss it. Needless to say, the laptop is now lying abandoned on the floor and I'm on the big Mac. Mac = much better. I think my next machine will be a Notebook Air, or whatever they're called. They just never seem to fail!
Well... after FINALLY getting online here, I check my e-mails and what do I find? An innocent e-mail from my publishers. After waiting a whole week, sleeping badly and chewing my nails down to the quick... they are not picking up my proposal.
BASTARDS!!
I sulked for a good hour after reading that, then sent them a cursory e-mail thanking them for their time and informing them I'll be finding another publisher. It WILL get published, mark my words.
Anyway, after all this mayhem and foolishness this morning, I decided to treat myself to some new music on iTunes. I finally found that bitchin' song I love from Abby and Luka's wedding on Season 13 of ER and have been jamming away to it ever since. Because sometimes when things go wrong, you just have to throw in the towel and jam out to this:
"Can't Stop" by Ozomatli
Tina.
First off, Mike's car is on the blink and he's not the most organised of people so it's still at the mechanics, a mere three days after he took it in. I wouldn't mind so much if they were actually working on the thing, but seeing as they can't identify the problem yet and Mike hasn't given them permission to do any unauthorised work, it's been there since Friday in the same blinkin' state it started in. Sigh. So today he has my car, which means I can't leave the house. I got all excited for about ten minutes planning a walk with Owen, but then I remembered the buggy's in the boot and Mike won't have thought to take it out before he left at 5.30am. Double sigh.
The next thing to go wrong was Owen waking up at 6am. This isn't SO bad, but seeing as I don't usually feed him until 7am, it was kind of irritating to have to go in to his room and shush him, then not be able to go back to sleep for the extra hour because my body assumed getting out of bed meant getting out of bed.
Well, Owen's feed was, as usual, a spectacular fountain of puke. We are down to the barest essentials now with his clothes as he's growing at an alarming rate (he's nine months old and yesterday we noticed he'd grown out of his 12-month babygrows. Awesome), and all the burp cloths are filthy from the weekend. I know it's not much, but not having anything clean and/or fitting for him just really, really gets to me. I mean, if he HAS to throw up constantly, the very least I can do for him as a parent is keep him clean and wearing clothes. I dunno... it just seemed relentless this morning.
So, after all this nonsense, I settled down on the laptop to load the internet... and the thing doesn't work. Argh. After FOUR attempts to get to my desktop in an hour it finally calmed down... and the internet doesn't work! Apparently there's an issue with my wireless card and I'm so far past caring about the waste of my life I just invested in it that I can't even bring myself to discuss it. Needless to say, the laptop is now lying abandoned on the floor and I'm on the big Mac. Mac = much better. I think my next machine will be a Notebook Air, or whatever they're called. They just never seem to fail!
Well... after FINALLY getting online here, I check my e-mails and what do I find? An innocent e-mail from my publishers. After waiting a whole week, sleeping badly and chewing my nails down to the quick... they are not picking up my proposal.
BASTARDS!!
I sulked for a good hour after reading that, then sent them a cursory e-mail thanking them for their time and informing them I'll be finding another publisher. It WILL get published, mark my words.
Anyway, after all this mayhem and foolishness this morning, I decided to treat myself to some new music on iTunes. I finally found that bitchin' song I love from Abby and Luka's wedding on Season 13 of ER and have been jamming away to it ever since. Because sometimes when things go wrong, you just have to throw in the towel and jam out to this:
"Can't Stop" by Ozomatli
Tina.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Ideas and work
I finished off a copyediting project last night and diligently sent it off to the publishers so they had it first thing Monday morning. Finishing writing projects always gets me really fired up, so I had a terrible night's sleep and was up an HOUR before the alarm clock went off. Thing is, I haven't even felt the effects yet because while I was working on the manuscript over the weekend, I had a fantastic idea for a book. I put something together last night and asked my publishers if they would accept a book proposal from me today, which they said they would. So this morning I put together my first ever book proposal... which is weird considering I've already had two of the blighters published... but now I'm extremely nervous waiting to hear back from them. It's like waiting for your essay marks back at university, or even better: a pregnancy test.
I personally think my proposal is a total winner, but then I would say that, wouldn't I? I'm not going to tempt fate and start spreading my ideas all over the internet like Nutella (nom nom nom), but I really do think it's a corker. I'm also rather chuffed with the way I wrote the proposal, managing to incorporate all the things I love about Crimson without sucking up, and really getting detailed on the chapter synopses. I really, really hope they pick it up, and that all this waiting and no news is actually good news. Maybe my editor has taken it to someone higher up the chain of command and they're mulling it over during a morning meeting tomorrow. Either way, I'm still checking my e-mails every other minute - even though I know the UK is six hours ahead and they'll have all gone home by now.
If this one does go into publication it'll be my third book, but the only one I'll own the rights to. I think I can choose to sell the copyright to the publishers for a fee, or receive royalties instead. It's kind of a niche market I'm aiming at so I'll probably go with the fee, but even so... THIRD BOOK! Mike said I'll sound like a proper author now.
Oh, and Baby Names 2011 is going ahead, which will technically be a second edition (the first being Baby Names 2010), but I'm counting it as a whole 'nother book. So there. Creepy Rich (*shudder*) bought a copy of Baby Names 2010 for his wife as she's expecting their first child, and messaged me on Facebook to sign it. So far I've avoided that particular minefield but it's only a matter of time before my ego is stroked to excess and I give in. After all, there is something wickedly cool about signing your own books.
Tina.
I personally think my proposal is a total winner, but then I would say that, wouldn't I? I'm not going to tempt fate and start spreading my ideas all over the internet like Nutella (nom nom nom), but I really do think it's a corker. I'm also rather chuffed with the way I wrote the proposal, managing to incorporate all the things I love about Crimson without sucking up, and really getting detailed on the chapter synopses. I really, really hope they pick it up, and that all this waiting and no news is actually good news. Maybe my editor has taken it to someone higher up the chain of command and they're mulling it over during a morning meeting tomorrow. Either way, I'm still checking my e-mails every other minute - even though I know the UK is six hours ahead and they'll have all gone home by now.
If this one does go into publication it'll be my third book, but the only one I'll own the rights to. I think I can choose to sell the copyright to the publishers for a fee, or receive royalties instead. It's kind of a niche market I'm aiming at so I'll probably go with the fee, but even so... THIRD BOOK! Mike said I'll sound like a proper author now.
Oh, and Baby Names 2011 is going ahead, which will technically be a second edition (the first being Baby Names 2010), but I'm counting it as a whole 'nother book. So there. Creepy Rich (*shudder*) bought a copy of Baby Names 2010 for his wife as she's expecting their first child, and messaged me on Facebook to sign it. So far I've avoided that particular minefield but it's only a matter of time before my ego is stroked to excess and I give in. After all, there is something wickedly cool about signing your own books.
Tina.
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