Archives
Posted by Justine at 11:20, May 31st, 2009 under New York City/USA, Publishing business |
By
TheChrisKnight: a musical take on
segregated proms in the south:
Posted by Justine at 9:22, May 30th, 2009 under New York City/USA, State of the World, Writing process |
Posted by Justine at 0:00, May 29th, 2009 under Cons & Other Gatherings, Liar, Listening, New York City/USA |
Posted by Justine at 0:26, May 28th, 2009 under Frippery, Words & Language |
Yesterday's post got a pretty overwhelming not really from most of my readers. Most of you do not lie about
those five things. (I was made very happy by all the teenage non-drinkers. Yay, youse!)
Judging from your comments and my own experience here's my suggestion of a top five:
That you didn't do the thing your parents/teacher/boss busted you for
That your friends' clothes/appearance looks fine
Your health in order to get out of school/work
Height
Weight
I have lied about all of these. But not about no. 1 in a very long time. Or about no. 3 and no. 4 in ages. Haven't lied about no. 3 since I had a regular job. Sadly my no. 2 areas of lies is still going ...
Posted by Justine at 0:03, May 27th, 2009 under Bloggery/Internetty Stuff, Liar, Magic or Madness trilogy |
An anonymous reader sent me
this link to the top five things people lie about:
1. Age
2. Alcohol Consumption
3. Sexual History
4. Changed Appearance
5. Job
I am very pleased to see that I haven't lied about any of them.
Well, except no. 1 when I was little in order to get into bars. ((Don't try that at home, kids what are under 18 (in Australia) or 21 (in the USA).)) Oh, and no. 5 a few times when I didn't feel like answering the usual questions you get after you say you're a writer. "Have you published anything?" "Would I have heard of you?" "Can you set ...
Posted by Justine at 0:02, May 26th, 2009 under Liar, Research |
Posted by Justine at 12:37, May 25th, 2009 under Sydney/Australia |
Posted by Justine at 0:22, May 24th, 2009 under New York City/USA, State of the World |
Posted by Justine at 14:55, May 23rd, 2009 under How To Ditch Your Fairy, Liar, Magic or Madness trilogy, Scott's books, Vainglory |
Posted by Justine at 14:30, May 22nd, 2009 under Basketball, Frippery, New York City/USA |
Posted by Justine at 9:56, May 21st, 2009 under 1930s NYC novel, Basketball, New York City/USA, Research |
Posted by Justine at 12:50, May 20th, 2009 under Publishing business, Ranting, Writing life, Young Adult literature |
Posted by Justine at 0:13, May 19th, 2009 under Fans & readers, Feminism, Research, State of the World |
Posted by Justine at 17:02, May 18th, 2009 under 1930s NYC novel, New York City/USA, Research |
Posted by Justine at 10:45, May 17th, 2009 under Ranting, Words & Language, Writing process |
Posted by Justine at 9:53, May 16th, 2009 under Frippery |
My blog has no copy editor, no proof reader, and no fact checker. It's just me. Occasionally I'll get Scott or one of my friends to proof a post, but not often. They're busy. Even more rarely my readers will point out errors. Yesterday someone wrote and told me I'd misspelt Count Basie's name on my bio page. *Blushes*. I was extremely grateful. That mistake had already been there close to a year! Who knows how many more such errors there are all over this blog?
I'm not
a great speller and I find proper nouns especially difficult. The copy editors on my last two books, How To Ditch Your Fairy and Liar, found I'd spelled various of the characters ...
Posted by Justine at 18:03, May 15th, 2009 under Bloggery/Internetty Stuff, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Liar |
Posted by Justine at 8:37, May 14th, 2009 under 1930s NYC novel, Liar, Research, Writing process |
Posted by Justine at 12:52, May 13th, 2009 under Liar, Research, Science |
Posted by Justine at 11:05, May 12th, 2009 under 1930s NYC novel, Research |
Posted by Justine at 8:38, May 11th, 2009 under State of the World, Words & Language, Young Adult literature |
Okay, who of my readers is a fan of the romance genre?
As many of you already know I am a huge fan of Georgette Heyer. ((When she's not being racist.)) More recently I discovered a love of Sherry Thomas. Her first novel Private Arrangements is a total ripper. Funny too. Thanks so much for the rec,
Diana!
I discovered there were well-written amazing romances courtesy of
Kelly Link. She's one of those omnivorous readers who doesn't let genre classifications get between her and a good read. She'll literally read anything and it shows in her writing in truly excellent ways.
When I met her back in 1999 I was not so open minded. I was disdainful of romance. On ...
Posted by Justine at 9:42, May 10th, 2009 under 1930s NYC novel, Reading |
Posted by Justine at 0:23, May 9th, 2009 under How To Ditch Your Fairy, Praising, What's your fairy? |
Posted by Justine at 16:46, May 8th, 2009 under 1930s NYC novel, Research |
Posted by Justine at 14:21, May 7th, 2009 under Ranting, State of the World |
Did you know Buddy Ebsen of the Beverly Hillbillies could dance? Well, he could. He and his sister Vera had a most excellent vaudeville act together. He'd be the clumsy kid and she'd be the dance teacher. They appear together in Broadway Melody of 1936. He's the one wearing a Mickey Mouse jumper (sweater)
I really love his goofy dance stylings. Halfway between dancing and falling over. Fills my heart with joy. Here's the only good example I could find online. It's from A Banjo on My Knee (1936). Buddy doesn't start dancing until about 1:40. Enjoy. And keep your eyes peeled for his surprise dance partner who I have never ever seen dance before:...
Posted by Justine at 13:56, May 6th, 2009 under 1930s NYC novel, Research |
Posted by Justine at 15:35, May 5th, 2009 under 1930s NYC novel, Listening, Research, Viewing |
I want one. I read gazillions of electronic documents: friend's manuscripts, pdfs, public domain books etc etc. I would love to have a portable device to read them on. I've tried various different reader software on my iPhone, and maybe I'm old, but the iPhone is too small.
The electronic reader I want doesn't exist. I've been reading up on the two main models, the Kindle and the Sony Ereader, and while the Sony has more appeal there are problems. The biggest one being that the touch-screen version is not Mac compatible. Given that my main use for a reader is for manuscripts and research pdfs that's a huge problem. (My iPhone has made me a touch screen addict.)
The main ...
Posted by Justine at 12:46, May 5th, 2009 under Reading |
Following my
post of t'other day several people have been saying that I really must learn the lindy hop for my 1930s novel. And, in fact, if I don't they won't read my book.
I have several extremely sensible objections to learning the lindy hop. They are as follows:
Objection no. 1: My book is set in the early 1930s and the lindy hop was around later.
Tragically, this turns out
not to be true.
Multiple sources online say it began in the late 1920s in Harlem. *sigh*
Objection no. 2: I cannot learn how to dance.
This is absolutely true. I have physical dyslexia. I cannot folllow instructions. The instructor's arm goes one way mine goes the other. It is ...
Posted by Justine at 0:19, May 4th, 2009 under 1930s NYC novel, Research |
I have no zombie apocalypse survival plan.
There are many reasons for this. Largely it's because I am one of those least likely to survive. I am not exceptionally strong or fit. I don't run very fast. My knowledge of firearms is limited to what I've seen on tellie. I don't know how to drive. And though I assume I could figure it out in an emergency on account of having watched other people drive, I'd be a crap driver, wouldn't I?
Basically, without civilization I'm a goner. My idea of roughing it includes not having a Vivienne Westwood ballgown. ((That's correct, I'm roughing it right now!)) I have no idea how to fix anything except broken first drafts.
But I've also ...
Posted by Justine at 0:11, May 3rd, 2009 under Zombies |
Posted by Justine at 2:02, May 2nd, 2009 under 1930s NYC novel, Listening, New York City/USA, Research, Viewing |
I think the most important thing you can do
today other than, you know, getting the workers' revolution going is to buy a copy of Maureen Johnson's
Suite Scarlett. It's Maureen Johnson's funniest book to date and is now appearing in the eminently affordable paperback edition.
Highlights include:
A most appealing heroine: I hug Scarlett to my chest!
Romance!
Romance gone wrong!
Romance gone right!
Romance gone in between!
New York City as you've never seen it before!
The shabby gentility of a crumbling hotel!
A crazy Broadway lady!
A unicycle-riding, prat-falling, seriously hot older brother, Spencer! ((I know he's fictional and much younger than me but I can't help it I really heart Spencer.))
Many!
Other!
Wonderful!
Things!
I urge you all to go forth and buy it! If you're broke ...
Posted by Justine at 13:07, May 1st, 2009 under Frippery, New York City/USA |
