(no subject)
Apr. 5th, 2006 04:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
algI think RWA is (generally speaking) a great organization. I think a lot of times it's extremely helpful. I think RWA has done much to help romance become a genre that's taken seriously. I think RWA refuses to be shunted aside by people who say, "Oh, it's just women." I think that is awesome.
However. The number one thing I see from RWA members that makes me cringe is this "Pro" thing. Really. Stop it. I don't care that you have a pro pin. It doesn't actually make you a professional at all. In fact, I sort of mentally groan and roll my eyes and think to myself, "Great, yet another person who has no idea what she's doing."
It's not your fault -- RWA encourages you to think this is important. That's fine. But here's a reality check: it doesn't matter. If you're sending me a proposal, I care about your words a lot, and your publishing history/contacts a little bit, and your RWA status not at all.
(If you don't know what I am talking about, here's a quick definition: RWA offers something called a "Pro pin" to its members who have finished and submitted a manuscript. Since 999 times out of 1,000 (999,999 times out of 1,000,000?) a first-time submission won't get published, you can prove that you are a "pro" by showing them your rejection letter. Seriously. I have run into more than one person who writes and submits a crappy ms. just for a pro pin, and more than one person who thinks that a pro pin means something to editors. It does not. Obviously.)
La la la. Moving on. Yesterday when I woke up, Vincent was dragging his back legs. In fact, I woke up because he was making weird noise. It was like he didn't have the use of his hips, but he wouldn't let me look at his legs. So I called my vet and left a message and called in sick to work. I kept calling my vet. To make a long story short, she couldn't see me, so I went with both cats to the ghetto vet near the Williamsburg Bridge. Vincent was fine -- by the time we got there, he was totally okay. But it turns out that Shiksa's got conjunctivitis!
I felt kind of hysterical and ridiculous -- yet at the same time absolutely vindicated because something was wrong.
Then I went to the office, because I am a compulsive workaholic, and, before going out for supper with some of my friends, I stopped in at a B&N near my office. I was kind of appalled to see that romance only had two bookshelves, whereas mystery had five, but whatever. I picked up six or seven books, and read one of them while drinking a mocha -- The Admiral's Bride by Suzanne Brockmann. She's one of my favorite writers, and this is a reprint (originally published in 1999), and I loved it. And when I was finished, I realized that I shouldn't have done that. I should have saved her for last.
Because the other five books or however many I had? Were crap. I flipped through them on the train on my way home. The most egregious errors were ones the copyeditor really should have caught (like the heroine who first graduated in 1996 and then in 1998, and either way, there was no way that she was a successful sociology professor!). I hated so many of the characters. There were a lot of clumsy beginnings -- dossiers instead of character development, etc. Totally boring stuff that actually kind of upset me. Why so lazy, writers?
Not to even mention that 99% of the time, when there's a dossier to introduce characters, they're always accurate. I hate that. I think it would be much more interesting to do something like what![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cesperanza did in her story MVP and have the dossier actually be inaccurate (or not entirely accurate, anyway). Come on, shake things up.
Jeez.
I don't mean to sound so vehement, but.... blah. I had high hopes. I always do. I just hate everything! I can see why other people would enjoy some of it (sometimes I can, anyway), but I just... Hm. Like my userinfo used to say, I am interested exclusively in things that are interesting.
Things I have tried and failed at in the last few days: to set up a "real" blog using movable type (that shit is hard!), Trackbacks, PB Wiki (scratchyfishie and 2muchexposition both have one, but I can't figure out what to use it for!), the Xvid codec, the DivX codec, and to teach myself to compress video files without losing too much quality.
I have, however, suceeded at eating a lot of burritos, listening to a lot of Kane, watching a lot of Supernatural and Criminal Minds and Grey's Anatomy and The Evidence, and planning out what I am going to do with my life, which includes opening a roadside truckstop diner with my friends where we will serve pie.
In conclusion, Christian Kane is hot. There's not much more I can say about that.
However. The number one thing I see from RWA members that makes me cringe is this "Pro" thing. Really. Stop it. I don't care that you have a pro pin. It doesn't actually make you a professional at all. In fact, I sort of mentally groan and roll my eyes and think to myself, "Great, yet another person who has no idea what she's doing."
It's not your fault -- RWA encourages you to think this is important. That's fine. But here's a reality check: it doesn't matter. If you're sending me a proposal, I care about your words a lot, and your publishing history/contacts a little bit, and your RWA status not at all.
(If you don't know what I am talking about, here's a quick definition: RWA offers something called a "Pro pin" to its members who have finished and submitted a manuscript. Since 999 times out of 1,000 (999,999 times out of 1,000,000?) a first-time submission won't get published, you can prove that you are a "pro" by showing them your rejection letter. Seriously. I have run into more than one person who writes and submits a crappy ms. just for a pro pin, and more than one person who thinks that a pro pin means something to editors. It does not. Obviously.)
La la la. Moving on. Yesterday when I woke up, Vincent was dragging his back legs. In fact, I woke up because he was making weird noise. It was like he didn't have the use of his hips, but he wouldn't let me look at his legs. So I called my vet and left a message and called in sick to work. I kept calling my vet. To make a long story short, she couldn't see me, so I went with both cats to the ghetto vet near the Williamsburg Bridge. Vincent was fine -- by the time we got there, he was totally okay. But it turns out that Shiksa's got conjunctivitis!
I felt kind of hysterical and ridiculous -- yet at the same time absolutely vindicated because something was wrong.
Then I went to the office, because I am a compulsive workaholic, and, before going out for supper with some of my friends, I stopped in at a B&N near my office. I was kind of appalled to see that romance only had two bookshelves, whereas mystery had five, but whatever. I picked up six or seven books, and read one of them while drinking a mocha -- The Admiral's Bride by Suzanne Brockmann. She's one of my favorite writers, and this is a reprint (originally published in 1999), and I loved it. And when I was finished, I realized that I shouldn't have done that. I should have saved her for last.
Because the other five books or however many I had? Were crap. I flipped through them on the train on my way home. The most egregious errors were ones the copyeditor really should have caught (like the heroine who first graduated in 1996 and then in 1998, and either way, there was no way that she was a successful sociology professor!). I hated so many of the characters. There were a lot of clumsy beginnings -- dossiers instead of character development, etc. Totally boring stuff that actually kind of upset me. Why so lazy, writers?
Not to even mention that 99% of the time, when there's a dossier to introduce characters, they're always accurate. I hate that. I think it would be much more interesting to do something like what
cesperanza did in her story MVP and have the dossier actually be inaccurate (or not entirely accurate, anyway). Come on, shake things up.Jeez.
I don't mean to sound so vehement, but.... blah. I had high hopes. I always do. I just hate everything! I can see why other people would enjoy some of it (sometimes I can, anyway), but I just... Hm. Like my userinfo used to say, I am interested exclusively in things that are interesting.
Things I have tried and failed at in the last few days: to set up a "real" blog using movable type (that shit is hard!), Trackbacks, PB Wiki (
scratchyfishie and 2muchexposition both have one, but I can't figure out what to use it for!), the Xvid codec, the DivX codec, and to teach myself to compress video files without losing too much quality.I have, however, suceeded at eating a lot of burritos, listening to a lot of Kane, watching a lot of Supernatural and Criminal Minds and Grey's Anatomy and The Evidence, and planning out what I am going to do with my life, which includes opening a roadside truckstop diner with my friends where we will serve pie.
In conclusion, Christian Kane is hot. There's not much more I can say about that.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-04-05 08:22 pm (UTC)I was totally baffled -- like, who reads mysteries? *g*
(no subject)
Date: 2006-04-05 08:26 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-04-05 08:36 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-04-05 08:44 pm (UTC)and I was sort of kidding. I do enjoy a good mystery -- although mostly I like my mysteries on tv (CSI, Father Dowling, Criminal Minds, The Evidence, Law & Order, etc.) rather than in novels.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-04-05 08:49 pm (UTC)Ok.
I'm assuming that if I say anymore that it will be a repeat of those frustrating years when I tried to convince a girlfriend to get into Babylon 5. Everyone's taste is different. Everyone's taste is different. But it's so good. How could anyone hate it? Ok I'll just move along now.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-04-05 08:52 pm (UTC)For starters, I think Veronica is annoying. I hated teenagers when I was a teenager. I still hate most teenagers, and Veronica is a particularly hideous breed of teenager.
Secondly, the show is very clever. The show -- should I say Rob Thomas? -- is obsessed with its own cleverness. I find people like that really entertaining (um, myself being one of them!), but television shows and novels tedious. If I am not in on the joke, the joke isn't funny -- and since I don't like Veronica, or any of her supporting cast (except the biker gang guy), I am not in on the joke and it's not funny.
Thirdly, Veronica is annoying.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-04-05 09:14 pm (UTC)The cool thing about the biker gang guy is the irony of the fact that he's pretty much the one actor in the cast who has the upbringing of most of the characters (very rich kid in Los Angeles with a Hollywood family - or in his case, he's the great grandson of Frank Capra) but he's definitely the best character in the bunch.
Although Logan is a great character too - mostly over the course of an entire season where he's so contradictory.
But I suppose if Veronica annoys you, there's really no convincing you to give it another chance. Oh well. It's just a television show. Just a television show.
Oh and if you don't post before next week, have a great Pesach.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-04-05 09:17 pm (UTC)I suppose if Veronica annoys you, there's really no convincing you to give it another chance.
I've given it waaaaay more than one chance. Are you kidding? I actually got a bunch of my friends to start watching it back in the first season -- episodes one and two were interesting. But by episode three, forget it. I kept coming back, and kept thinking, "This crap is too clever for its own good."
Finally I just gave up. I mean.... why bother, when there's so many other tv shows I can watch, you know?
(no subject)
Date: 2006-04-06 01:37 pm (UTC)Oh by the way (don't know if you watched it into the Deputy Leo parts) the guy that played Deputy Leo is playing a Chasidic Jew in http://www.whendoweeat.com/index2.html - looks good.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-04-06 01:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-04-05 08:52 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-04-05 09:11 pm (UTC)But then I tried watching the whole thing all the way through after it was on TNT and teh first season is hideously awful.
Overall it's a great storyline, but JMS has really clunky dialogue that only the best actors can overcome (and not even them at times)