Tag: Miscellany Page 49 of 171

This is a companion to yesterday’s post asking for input from authors, for the up to ten of you who wondered.

I’m working on a thing about writers and interviews to present to a local author group, and I’d appreciate some help with it. I’m supposed to talk about making interviews interesting/useful—I have plenty of ideas from the Q-side of the Q&A, but I would appreciate getting input from those in the trenches with me. I’m particularly thinking about the horror stories—or those that could have qualified as such but turned out okay. The more specific you can get, the better. (obviously, I’m not asking you to name names–and if you do, I won’t use them)

I’m thinking particularly of written interviews—via email, etc. But podcasters, YouTube interviewers, or what have you—chip in.

I’ll be happy to mention your participation in this when I post what I get from this–but I’ll keep particular responses anonymous. I’m asking for an email and name just so I can get clarification if I need some. (also, so I can share the results of this just in case you’re curious)

Answer one question, answer them all, or something in between. I really don’t care. Thanks for your help—and feel free to spread this to others you know who might want to opine. I could use all the input I can get!

(Some of these are phrased awkwardly, but I was fighting with the form and decided that getting it to work was better than sounding clever)

Name

Start on a positive note—what kinds of responses do you love to get in an interview?

Enough positivity—what kinds of responses do you not like to get in an interview?

Do you have an ideal length of a response (I realize that is difficult to quantify)? How short is too-short? How long is too-long?

What kinds of questions tend to result in a less-than-optimal response?

What kind of advice would you like to pass along to authors about responding to interview questions--however awkwardly phrased?

How do you take a dull/uninteresting/inappropriate response (or series of them) and turn it into something you like? Do you do anything to "help" an author there?

Have you ever been asked to change an interview question? How did that go?

Do you have advice for writers about the best way to approach an interview?

Is there anything else you want to say on the subject?

I'm Curious

Hey, Authors! I Have Some Questions about Interviews for You!!

By HCNewton

On October 30, 2023

In Miscellany, News/Misc.

Hi authors—I’m working on a thing about writers and interviews to present to a local author group, and I’d appreciate some help with it. I’m supposed to talk about making interviews interesting/useful—now I have plenty of ideas from the Q-side of the Q&A, but I could use some insight from those on the A-side. I’m particularly thinking about the horror stories—or those that could have qualified as such but turned out okay. The more specific you can get, the better. (obviously, I’m not asking you to name names–and if you do, I won’t use them)

If your horror stories, or at least your “well that was blah” stories happen to involve me. That’s fine. I’ll learn something.

I’m thinking particularly of written interviews—via email, etc. But if you have something to say to podcasters, Vloggers/BookTubers, or what have you—chip in.

Answer one question, answer them all, or something in between. I really don’t care. Thanks for your help—and feel free to spread this to authors you know who might want to opine. I could use all the input I can get!

(Some of these are phrased awkwardly, but I was fighting with the form and decided that getting it to work was better than sounding clever)

I'm Curious

Saturday Miscellany—10/28/23

By HCNewton

On October 28, 2023

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

Odds ‘n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
bullet How many books Americans own — and how they organize them—fun with statistics (which is good, because what those stats represent isn’t so fun)
bullet A New Fantasy and a 20th Anniversary for Christopher Paolini—I didn’t read past Eragon (but had one kid who got obsessed). But it’s hard to deny the impact he had.
bullet Addicted to Scarcity—Book Publishing’s Retail Price Problem
bullet A Big Year for Little Golden Book Bios—(not the point, but some of these look really cute)
bullet Q&A: Bruce Borgos, Author of ‘The Bitter Past’
bullet Magic to Serve, Not Solve, a Story: KJ Dell’Antonia on Magical Rules in Literature
bullet How Do You Manage Reading Expectations?

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet The Innocent Sleep by Seanan McGuire—the 18th Toby Daye novel gives Tybalt’s perspective on recent events. Given that we know how things go after reading the 17th novel, I’m curious about how this will keep my attention (but assume it will)

WWW Wednesday, October 25, 2023

By HCNewton

On October 25, 2023

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., WWW Wednesday

I’m suffering from the worst sickness known to humanity, while not fatal, it might as well be thanks to the degree of suffering we who have succumbed to it have to endure–yes, my friends, I have a Man Cold. Pity my poor wife.

I have still managed to read a bit, however. Let’s take a look at how things are going this week.

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Easy enough, right?

What are you currently reading?

I’m reading the goofy Cunk on Everything: The Encyclopedia Philomena by Philomena Cunk, the grim and compelling A Good Rush of Blood by Matt Phillips, and am listening to That Ain’t Witchcraft by Seanan McGuire, Emily Bauer (Narrator) on audiobook.

Blank Space

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished Carrie Alani’s Healed and How I Won a Nobel Prize by Julius Taranto, Lauren Fortgang (Narrator) on audio.

Blank Space

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be Sleep No More by Seanan McGuire. I’m not sure what my next audiobook will be, it’ll depend on what (if any) holds at the library become available.

Blank Space

What’s got your attention lately?

Saturday Miscellany—10/21/23

By HCNewton

On October 21, 2023

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

A little bit of catch-up from last week, a little bit of stuff I found this week, and just a touch of things I will have found next week.

(two out of three ain’t bad).

Odds ‘n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
bullet Dispatch From the Ghosts of Bookstores Past
bullet We Don’t Talk About Harry Potter: The perils of publishing a diverse magic school series in the shadow of a juggernaut
bullet Bros Are Coming for BookTok. These TikTokers Aren’t Having It
bullet The Man Who Invented Fantasy: All those wizards, ogres, and barely-clad elf queens in the bookstore? You have Lester del Rey to thank.
bullet How to Exclaim!—varied thoughts on !
bullet Agony Editor: Judging your own book’s cover design – and what to do about it
bullet What Makes Some Long Books Feel Too Long?—Templeton again asks the important questions
bullet How Far Afield Can Sci-Fi and Fantasy “Fake Swearing” Get Before You Feel Uncomfortable?—honestly, I enjoy the fake swears. But, whatever…fun post anyway.
bullet Bookish Jobs I Would Do For Free—yup
bullet Worlds Unlike Our Own and The Strawberry Post both recently celebrated their 5th Anniversaries. Each in an interesting fashion.
bullet Why Shakespeare still matters—odd that this needs to be said, but…
bullet 10 Books That You Must Read Once in Your Life—yeah, maybe. I wonder if I put off reading a couple of these for a few more decades, do I get to live longer? How authoritative is that “must”?
bullet The Five 2013 Reads I Remember Best—I enjoy Finn’s premises almost as much as his posts
bullet The SciFiMonth Challenge—it’s right around the corner, are you participating?
bullet On Writers, Reviewers, and a Pointless Tangle—tempted to just post this link on social media every so often for the next decade

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
bullet Lone Wolfe – Steve Hockensmith – Episode 32—a fun chat with the author of the Holmes on the Range series about fiction, Nero Wolfe, his own material and more. Couldn’t agree more with everything he said about The Big Sleep, incidentally.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Up on the Woof Top by Spencer Quinn—a new Chet and Bernie book? Sign me up. Based on the last “Christmas” novel for these two, the holiday will be part of the setting, but it could be read without regard to the season.

WWW Wednesday, October 18, 2023

By HCNewton

On October 18, 2023

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., WWW Wednesday

Oh, wow. Coming back from vacation has convinced me that I need another one. I’m behind on everything–personal stuff, work, the blog, exercise, and more…for this to be the first thing I composed/assembled since before I left? That’s just not good.

Still, good to be back, putting out mostly new things–nothing scheduled in advance, we’re live again.

Hope you all enjoyed the series from the last week and a half! Let’s dive into this week’s WWW Wednesday!

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Easy enough, right?