Fumbling around in the dark

[jhetley]

Well, the SFBC is bringing out an edition of THE WINTER OAK, and they've asked me for an "Author's Note" to go with the ad. And I don't have a clue what to send. "700 characters, including spaces" quoth the email. "Personal." "Anything you like."

Great. Just bleeping great. I don't think I can even make this journal entry meet that 700 character limit. This is worse than trying to write a synopsis*.

*If I could have told the story in three pages, I wouldn't have used 500....

Comments

[pernishus.livejournal.com]

"Well, 'Drag on dragon, dragon drag on' strikes me as appropriately witty and multiple-meaninged (smoke, attire, etc.), and well within the 700 character limit..." remarks Pernicious the Musquodoboit Harbour Farm Cat, whose faithful amanuensis and general factotum, burying his head in his hands, expects monsieur Hetley can guess what tune Pernicious is singing this to... [grin] Can you be forgiven this, Pernicious, I wonder?! You are a nasty feline...

Seriously, though, Jim, and all of Pernicious's snippiness aside, I loved the book. If the first one was fine old Irish whisky [sp?], this one is more like mainlining heroin or something... especially for those who love dragons... I shall write at length when I can.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Watchit with those druggie metaphors, there. Remember the political climate. Big Brother is watching.

And I won't worry about the Mosquito-bit cat -- he's fictitious.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

He's only sort of fictitious Jim. I've met the little bugger, at the farm out by Musquodoboit Harbour. He's not quite as formidible in the flesh as he is once he gets those North Carolina prosthetic index fingers strapped on and gets to typing, but he's still a fierce little beast.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

I think you (and Skye) may have been victims of hypnosis. Nova Scotia is fictitious, ergo a cat claiming to live there must also be a figment of someone's overactive imagination. Particularly a cat that types...

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

Let's see...

We wrote about why we write space opera. I think it came in under 700 words, but they didn't seem to care. If you want, I can email you what we did. FWIW, Ellen isn't at all shy about asking for revisions/clarifications/more...

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Well, the limit is 700 _characters_, not words. Wife and I have thrashed through to something about how legends change through the ages. I'll let it marinate for a day or so and then look to see if I can still stand to put my name to it.

The guy behind the request is one Andrew Wheeler. No Ellen involved, far as I can see.