Because that’s how much it’s costing me to be online.
I may need to do hotel-hatred management classes fairly soon.
In short:
Adelaide still gorgeous, still full of churches.
The wedding was awesome. I’m a sucker for weddings at the best of times. But this was more excellent than most. The bride’s speech rocked.
Despite the insane hotel gouging not allowing me to function in the 21st century, I’m more relaxed and happy than I’ve been in ages. Amazing how wonderful not working (and possibly not going online) and getting to hang out with my friends without feeling guilty is. More please!
Melbourne next. Where there will be much work and fun at Reading Matters. I’d link but that would lose me my second and third born children.
I leave you with a few questions:
Why is it not socially acceptable to say no to having your photo taken?
Have you ever bought books on account of reading blogs by their authors? Do you do it a lot?
Purple dress or red shoes? Can they be worn together?
PS Sorry for not responding to emails or comments. Blame the gouging hotels. Normal service will resume at the beginning of June.
no thoughts on the photo thing or the dress-shoe color combination; but yes, i’ve definitely bought books now & again due to the appeal of a writer’s blogging voice. i think this is most likely to happen off a group blog with fairly high traffic–i think i read harley jane kozak’s novels (which i loved) because i liked her style at the lipstick chronicles blog, which in turn was one of the earlier & best written big author-driven crime fiction blogs. who else? hmm, can’t seem to come up with any names, perhaps that means it doesn’t happen that often–but certainly i feel strongly & more loyally a fan of certain authors who blog appealingly & regularly. like you, justine! (and i feel sure i was reading this blog before magic or madness came out, eh? so perhaps that counts…)
you’re alive!! hmm, hotels usually have free wifi, in my experience….not that i’ve been to many. but starbucks and borders and b&n really need to quit charging. i mean, seriously. every other coffee house/bookstore is free.
photos- dunno. b/c people like photos? especially now. digital cameras, camera phones, even cameras on traffic lights (hate those things). people get their pictures taken whether they want it or not. and there’s the whole memory thing. people like scrapbooking and photo-albuming and putting pix of themselves with famous authors up on myspace. 😀 😀
author blogs/book buying- i’ve never bought a book b/c of author blogs in particular, but that is how i’ve discovered the vast majority of what i’ve read in the last two years. it all started with you and scott, seriously. i read his blog, found out about your books, read your blog, found out about tons of other authors from there. but usually, i’d just maybe read an entry or two, or hear someone talking about someone else’s book, then i’d go on amazon to find out about the book, and get it. so blogs have been the means by which i found out about books, but not the reason that i bought them.
purple/red- hmm. i would go with wearing them separately, but that’s just me. i like to blend in most of the time. 😛
I’m not sure it is socially unacceptable to say “no” to having your photo taken, at least not in many places. I’ll go further and say it is slightly rude for people to ignore your “no” if you’ve been polite. I have a number of friends who don’t like being photographed a lot and I think respecting that wish is neither hard nor unreasonable. At a wedding, it might be trickier, though.
I’ve bought books based on reading the author’s blog. I mean… I bought *your* books based on reading your blog, so there’s at least one example. Wouldn’t say I do it a lot, but I don’t read a lot an awful lot of author blogs (and I read a lot of books), so there’s a supply and demand problem. Will often go blog hunting after reading a particular author, though, so often with disappointing results.
Not touching the question requiring fashion sense. I’m a bit bereft in that department.
Purple is the best colour ever.
I buy books because of blogger voice all the time! It’s actually now my most common reason for trying a new author – that and recs from trusted bloggers. 🙂
I discovered the works of Cherie Priest, Elizabeth Bear, Poppy Z Brite, Diana Peterfreund and Mindy Klasky because I liked their blogs!
1) I’ve never noticed that it is. If someone I knew said no, I just wouldn’t take their picture.
2) No.
3) I’d wear ’em together. In fact, I have done. Well, not your dress and shoes. But my own.
I think the photo thing depends. If you’re talking about at the wedding, then I guess it’s normal, people want “souvenirs.”
Actually, I’ve discovered a lot of authors with their blogs, and so I bought a lot of their books. It started with Scott, I read his blog, and then there was a link to yours, and then on yours there were thousands of links. 😀 I’ve discovered Maureen this way. Actually, I’d been eyeing 13 Little Blue Enveloped for a while, but sadly, the “slutty girl” cover had kept me at a distance.
Purple/red: Haha! I’m not too much of a dress fan, but I guess it’d depend on what shade of purple. But I do have red-and-black shoes. 😀
I would have to say that, yes, I have bought and read books by an author because of their blog. I think reading an author’s blog kind of gives a feel of how they write…mainly because no matter what genre you write for, your style always comes out. I’d have to say that I found your blog because after reading some of Scott’s books I went to his site and found yours there…as well as Magic or Madness! The same kind of happened with my interest in both Sarah Dessen and Maureen’s books. I found them because I read some of John Green’s stuff, went to his site, and found mention of the two of them there. It’s actually interesting now to think of the impact.
blogs: yes. i bought maureen johnson and john green’s books because i discovered them via their blogs. (through yours, i should add.) and i read scott’s books at the library because of you, too. and that’s also why i’m going to buy your books, when i can find them – because i got to know you on your blog.
red shoes/purple dress: i think some people can carry stuff like that off. i know i couldn’t, but if you can, go for it! if you have to choose one over the other, go for the red shoes. i love red shoes.
and, i don’t know why it’s not socially acceptable to not have your photo taken. i don’t like mine taken either and people just think i’m being a party pooper.
If you are a photographer, everything looks like an image. When an image tells you “don’t take a picture of me,” it just doesn’t compute. That’s my theory anyway. It’s not so much not socially unacceptable as it is a non-sequitur.
I don’t think I’ve ever bought a book based on the author’s blog. I read an author’s blog because I already like the author. I bought your first “Magic” book because you’re related to Scott, basically, but it turned out to be good, so we bought the other two. I do sometimes buy books when they’re recommended on blogs, but I’m not convinced this performs better than blind guessing.
Depends on what color purple it is. Color, particularly gross color descriptions, make poor discriminators. But I definitely wouldn’t wear the red shoes with the purple dress, unless they happen to be a rare combination that doesn’t clash – normally I would expect them to clash miserably.
without a look at the dress and shoes in question, i have no thoughts. maybe okay in any sitch if you match the shoes with lipstick and carry a yellow bag?
anyhoo, thought you’d appreciate this: a rumor made it back to me via my stabbing victim that i had pulled knife on him back when we were both at clarion west. what ACTUALLY happened was that a classmate had been wandering the room during crit time, taking action shots. since it was crit time, i couldn’t just leave the room, as i normally would, and couldn’t duck out of his pictures.
so, it being week 5 of clarion, i snarled something at him about not taking pictures without permission. he was displeased but didn’t say anything and, more importantly, respected my snarl-quest. after class, a different classmate, my stabbing victim, who hadn’t actually heard the exchange between me and the photographer, came up to me and said some fightin’ words about me not speaking for anyone else (i wasn’t). then he immediately, literally, RAN AWAY.
it being week five of clarion, and me being hard-wired to chase creatures who run away, i literally chased him through three rooms before he came to rest, hiding behind one of the clarion west staff members. she calmed things down a bit.
my skewed perspective isn’t that it’s not socially acceptable to not want your picture taken, but that it’s not socially acceptable to refuse people anything they want, no matter how intrusive. people SO hate to be told no, feel SO irrationally humiliated by it, that they blame you for being rude, and don’t stop to think about why.
it’s true, i also read diana’s book not just because of the recommendation here but because i liked her blog voice. it must be said, though, that the ratio in my reading between “a bookish blogger recommended this book” and “a bookish blogger i like wrote this book” must be something like 50:1, or at any rate if justine (for instance) recommends a book and also links to the author’s blog & i go and like the sound of the blog & buy the book i am counting it as a “regular” recommendation rather than one specifically prompted by the author’s blog. (also i’m sure i’m not alone in being more attracted to blogs that seem to be relatively unmotived by promotional concerns.)
You need to get one of those mobile internet cards. Can access all over Australia from your laptop on your own bill. Is very cool.
And The outfit….bright reed and bright purple… nope…dark deep red and dark purple…great
It’s not rude to ask people not to take your picture, and anyone who says so is underdeveloped socially.
I’ve bought at least a couple books from people whose blogs I’ve read first, and, of course, I have a lot of readers who read my books after having read my blog.
I don’t think that particular dress/shoe configuration will ever work, but I assure you that I am not an authority on these things.
Oh, and, if you’re still in Adelaide, stop by Scalzi produce and say “hi” to Pat and Aldo.
Why is it that every photographer thinks that THEY will be the one to take an amazing picture of you that you (and the rest of the world) will adore for years to come, therefore they insist upon taking your picture against your will?
I have met very few that can actually do this. In fact, in times like those, most have managed to take the worst pictures possible. Pictures need to be taken from ABOVE eye level people! Grrr.
Why is it not socially acceptable to say no to having your photo taken? Good question, but I don’t know the answer.
Have you ever bought books on account of reading blogs by their authors? Do you do it a lot? Yes. I do it a lot. I even keep notes to remind me what was recommended.
Purple dress or red shoes? Can they be worn together? Yes. If you’re Pippi Longstocking. 😉
okay heres how it went for me..I bought scott’s books and then i went to his blog and then I found yours and then i found maureen’s and then i found brotherhood 2.0
so far ive got three of maureens and i’m going to buy yours next time my mom lets me get books
and the red hat ladies wear purple and red together haha
I read your books because I read a rambling on your website.
Purple dress–red shoes. Of course. Purple and red are Number 3 on the Magick Colour Combo List.
or course you can wear a purple dress and red shoes. just tell people you’re going to a bollywood wedding. plus, you’ve won a norton so i think you can do anything you want now.
i totally buy books based on blogs. in fact, i just blogged about how i found your books via blogs!
Carrie: The question was inspired by your blog post.
scalzi is wrong, wrong, wrong. purple and red are a definite go.
to be fair, aforementioned author claims not to be an authority on dress/shoe combo assessment.
i sort of bought your books because of your blog, but also because a lot of people (on scott westerfeld’s blog) told me i should. so yeah i guess it was because of blogs. and the fact that i was thinking of reading them since i heard about them but never saw them in a store. (wait i heard about them on a blog. nevermind.)
I ran across a Cory Doctorow short story, found his blog, and have bought everyone of his books since. I found out about your books through his blog and have bought most of your books. Reading your blog I found out about Scott, his blog and ultimately have also bought his books too. My niece has since read them also and is eagerly awaiting your next books.
Congrats on the award!
i pick up a lot of books because of author blogs, mostly authors i haven’t read before and then they get that one book to win me over. If it rocked, i’ll probably buy whatever they put out next, regardless of what it’s about. but if it was only so so, then the follow up purchase isn’t guaranteed.
red and purple always remind me of the purple hat society. which i understand to be a group of old ladies who dress up and go out to have tea, or coffee or plot world domination. they are always dressed to the nines in purple and red. bonus points for sequins.
Why? I have no idea, I mean I’m completely okay if someone says they don’t want their picture taken because the majority of people don’t like that.
Have I bought any because of a blog? No. Have I picked up a book at the library because of a blog? Yes, I do this all the time. Your Magic or Madness series, Scalzi’s Agent to the Stars, and Maureen Johnson’s Bermudez Triangle (which I just finished this morning)
Have I picked up a book at the library because of a blog and then bought it later? Yes, that would be your Magic or Madness series, I read the first two, then bought all three when Magic’s Child was a pre-order.
Red shoes. And I think it depends on the shades of the shoes and the dress, but I’m sure in some cases it would be okay.
What an entertaining set of comments. Yummy.
I’ve lost count of how many books I’ve tracked down because of blog recs, but like most of you it very much depends on who is doing the reccing. But I definitely discovered Diana Peterfreund’s writing via her blog.
The clothing question was because I saw this woman in Adelaide wearing the most gorgeous fifties-style dress in a vivid eye-popping purple (more on the blue end of the purple spectrum) and she wore it with fifties pointy-toed pumps. She looked amazing! I had not considered the red/purple combo before. To be honest I don’t think I own shoes that aren’t black or brown. How boring! Perhaps it’s time I remedied that situation . . .
if you want to wear it wear it im sure you could get by with anything…