Tell the monster that eats children that you taste bad

[pameladean]

Well, that was interesting. [Very self-centered and boring remarks follow.]

The Tor.com Heinlein blog symposium is over, I think. You would think I'd know myself better by now, but I didn't. Patrick had referred to it as a "slow-motion panel," and that made me think, "Good, good, I can handle that a lot better than a real one-hour panel."


Well, no. Just as with a real panel, I spent more time gnawing my fingernails than working on things to say; I managed an opening statement and one other set of remarks; my fellow panelists struck me speechless for a whole rainbow of reasons; and now that it's done I'm bursting with half-baked ideas, and, in this case, half-written blog posts (more than half of which I like more than half as much as they deserve). It doesn't matter what the medium is, everybody else is much, much faster than I am at doing this stuff.


There is one post, which I sent in too late, that is close enough to being what I wanted it to be that I can probably put it up at some point, behind a cut for those who are tired of Heinlein; or maybe even on my website, if I can get back into it after months of neglect. No, you aren't missing anything; I never actually made the website go live because I was so freaked out by the requirement to cut my book by seventy-five percent. It'd be nice to have the website up if the book ever gets published, but there's plenty of time for that.


And the wreckage of my book still awaits a miraculous touch to make it rise again, smaller, more compact, and stronger. I just finished Chapter 18 and chucked a lot of scenes into a new file optimistically labelled Chapter 19. Once more into the breach, and close the walls up with our darlings dead. Whee.

Pamela

Comments

[inlaterdays.livejournal.com]

That all sounds very draining. But worth doing. But still draining.

Still thinking good thoughts for you and your book, as always.

Also, more than half of which I like more than half as much as they deserve = ♥

[pameladean]

Thank you! Kindly thoughts really mean a lot.

And I love people who get my references.

P.

[tesla-aldrich.livejournal.com]

I love your ideas generally, and your pace makes much more sense to me than the pace at which most of the "connected" world seems to flow these days. I'm a fan of taking the time to craft and refine and contemplate rather than just tossing ideas out there to sink or swim. (Unfortunately, if I were to indulge this tendency at work I would no longer have a job.)

I haven't looked into the Heinlein symposium, largely because I didn't think I would be able to keep up with its volume, but if it's archived I probably will, and would be very interested in your comments.

(Also, I just re-read "The Dubious Hills," and I'm still fascinated by what you did there. :)

[pameladean]

The amazing thing about some of my fellow bloggers is that they do quite well on the fly. I'm sure practice helps. I'm glad to see that you prefer the slow lane, though. 8-)

Sometimes I feel as if somebody else wrote Hills. It was very weird to write, but I'm fond of it. Thank you.

P.

I think you have a false dichotomy.

[papersky.livejournal.com]

It is possible to do fast and thoughtful, actually.

I mean, for some people.

Just because we get things done quickly doesn't mean we're just tossing ideas out to sink or swim without bothering to craft them.

Re: I think you have a false dichotomy.

[pameladean]

You do fast and thoughtful like breathing. I mean, I know that it's nothing like that automatic, but that's what it looks like from the outside.

P.

Re: I think you have a false dichotomy.

[tesla-aldrich.livejournal.com]

You're absolutely right. I'm awed by the many people I know who are amazing at that.

Unfortunately for me, I happen not to be one of them (as evidenced by garbled message above). This is why I find myself uncomfortable with the fast pace of the online world - because I can't keep up.

On a related note, I did go check out the symposium. And I really enjoyed "The Right Kind of Girl." I always felt a certain kinship to Heinlein's characters myself, and I rarely hear anyone speak to that. Thank you!

[willshetterly.livejournal.com]

I would like to read the too-late post, here or at Tor.

[pameladean]

I'm not a regular Tor blogger, so I imagine it will be here. I'll link to the as-yet airy website if I put it here.

I forgot to put in three examples, so I'll need to add those and smooth out some transitions.

P.

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

Tell the monster that eats children that you taste bad

thank you. this is a very good idea that i had not heard before. as a bonus, i have sour apple spray. (so godot will be able to DEMONSTRABLY taste bad)

[pameladean]

It's part of a lullaby!

http://www.actionext.com/names_v/voltaire_lyrics/goodnight_demon_slayer.html#

P.

[daedala.livejournal.com]

That is marvelous! It's a little long, but charming.

I'm totally sending it to all my friends with kids.

[pameladean]

It is a bit long, but I figured the kid didn't want to go to sleep, so extra verses were necessry.

P.

[noveldevice.livejournal.com]

:( I was really excited but it turns out I find it to be rubbish.

Maybe I'll rewrite it. :P

[pameladean]

Certainly many variations on the theme are possible.

I liked the increasingly frantic nature of it, presumably because the kid still wasn't buying it.

P.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

I found the Heinlein discussion at Tor.com hard to follow because I'd have to open each post and look for new comments rather than being alerted by timestamps or something. It wanted more investment than I wanted to give it.

K.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Thought it was just me!

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Nope, and I am actively a fan of his work, so my interest threshold was lower than yours.

K.

[pameladean]

I haven't found Tor.com very easy to navigate either. I kept forgetting I would not get email notifications and must check comments on my posts.

P.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

While I have been sick of Heinlein for thirty years, and of certain types of ranting caused by his name for nearly that long, I would be interested in what you have to say, as I am in what Jo has to say.

[pameladean]

I did put up two posts; should I dig up the links? And I hope to have the third, more substantial post done fairly soon, though the revisions have to take priority. I expect I'll get stuck on them at some point, however.

The Tor.com discussion was supposed to involve people other than the usual suspects. It seemed much more civilized to me than many Heinlein discussions, though it certainly had its moments.

P.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Yeah--I didn't see yours. but I got kinda tangled, and there was a lot that seemed the same old same old so I bailed.

I'd love to see those links!

[pameladean]

Here's my first post:

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2010/08/tomorrow-through-the-past

And this is Jo's response to that:

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2010/08/the-right-kind-of-girl

And here's my second post:

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2010/08/some-responses-to-the-opening-posts-of-the-heinlein-discussion

Not earthshaking, but there they are.

P.

[faithhopetricks.livejournal.com]

Oh yay! I also found Tor.com difficult to navigate.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

Yours and others' responses are a valuable reminder of the second half of the reader contract: what the reader brings to the table and how the text can change for them.

I am pretty sure I will never read Heinlein again (too many books I want to read, and diminishing time this side of fifty) but I do appreciate seeing him appreciated through the eyes of readers I respect.

[pameladean]

It's hard to pin down the enchantingness of his approach; Jo took a few stabs at doing so, but it's very hard.

I perfectly understand people who can't tolerate a moment of Heinlein, it just doesn't take me that way.

P.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

It's very difficult to pin down the appeal of a distinctive style or voice--I discovered that ages ago when I couldn't explain my love for Wodehouse to some fellow Tolkien lovers, or my love for Tolkien to some friends who adore Warner and Eddings.

[orcaarrow.livejournal.com]

I, for one, can NEVER have too much Heinlein.

I also look for the day when you put out a call for the full book. We could pre-order the book and fund to pay for the publication.

[pameladean]

I look forward to the day, let me tell you, when I am free to consider such options. Because then the revision will be done.

P.

[skzbrust.livejournal.com]

I would very much like to see that post.

[pameladean]

It is going to annoy you quite a bit, I'm afraid.

P.

[thinkum]

It usually takes me about an hour to craft a paragraph response to an email, so yes, the slow lane is definitely where I live, online...

[pameladean]

Sister!

Well, I can take less than that, but I usually regret it.

This excludes conversations about where to go for dinner or the finding of a dead mouse in the laundry. Those I can do faster.

P.

[papersky.livejournal.com]

Your posts were great.

[pameladean]

Thank you, that really means a lot to me.

I haven't been able to bring myself to do the paperwork to get paid for them. I guess I should work on that.

P.

unrelatedly

[lutin.livejournal.com]

I talked to Eve (my Eve and Shweta's) who says she's using your Secret Country books as part of the readings for a cognition and literature and cognitive linguistics-y class. I said you'd probably love to know, but she wasn't convinced. You might or not hear from her by e-mail, but in any case: Hi! Hi. It's beautiful and turning to such a wonderful fall.

Re: unrelatedly

[pameladean]

EEEEEEEE!

Ahem. Yes, I'm very glad to know. Actually, I'm over the moon. Wow. Thank you.

It's still summer here, though the light is starting to creep around to the point where one looks up and thinks, "Oh, yes, it's fall now."

P.

Re: unrelatedly

[lutin.livejournal.com]

Yeah! See! See! That's exactly what I thought. Most of her students are apparently geeks who are Very Interested in YA, Fantasy and Etc. and not only get the class but Get your books, too! :D