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Category Archive: Writing
Jul
02
Permanent link to this article: http://www.kategriffin.net/2011/07/02/neighbourhood-eye/
Jun
30
Moments of revelation
Why do these things happen in the strangest of places? I swear all my best ideas happen in the shower. My bedroom wall, by the by, is rapidly filling up with things that I really, really need to get down on the page… like so… Network protocols only made sense about four hours after I …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.kategriffin.net/2011/06/30/moments-of-revelation/
May
26
The Trouble With Fantasy…
I love fantasy. I love writing it, I love reading it. I have a lot of heroes – Roger Zelazny obviously taking the crown, but Terry Pratchett, Anne McCaffrey, Neil Gaiman, Greg Bear, Iain M.Banks, Alfred Bester and plenty of others, are all on my bookshelf to be adored. But, make no mistake, there are …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.kategriffin.net/2011/05/26/the-trouble-with-fantasy/
May
22
Publishing
‘I hate publishers’ my Mum would say. ‘They rob you blind. They don’t appreciate you. They don’t try. They never pay enough and they never work hard enough – what a bunch of bastards.’ ‘Authors!’ exclaimed my Dad. ‘What a bunch of self-indulgent wingers. It’s all ‘moan moan this’ and ‘moan moan that’ and ‘why’s …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.kategriffin.net/2011/05/22/publishing/
May
19
The Minority Council
So… … we have a title for Urban Magic 4. Took a while. There was a lot of sweating, a little blood, the occasional tears. We went through ‘A Fury of Dust’ but I’m kinda pleased to say, we also came out the other side with something that I personally think is better…. And actually, …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.kategriffin.net/2011/05/19/the-minority-council/
May
09
Calling in at OrbitBooks.net
I had lunch with an editor recently, and to my great regret, I entirely failed to starve myself for three days in advance and order champagne. (This is something of an authorial tradition – the noble art of conniving the most expensive meal you possibly can from your publisher lives on.) Instead, we had Thai …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.kategriffin.net/2011/05/09/calling-in-at-orbitbooks-net/
May
03
The Trouble With Exposition
Exposition. We’ve all suffered from it. As both writers and readers, we’ve all had that moment when Bob struts onto the page and goes, ‘hey guys, there’s something really important you need to know now if the story is going to make any sense….’ It’s a difficult thing to get right. Boring But Important is …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.kategriffin.net/2011/05/03/the-trouble-with-exposition/
Apr
26
Magicals Anonymous
Worried? Frightened? Weird shit keeps happening around you and you don’t quite understand why? Having trouble controlling your own polymorphic structure? Not quite sure whether A+ blood is as clean as it used to be? Necromancy causing you skin problems? Zombie infestation and you can’t clear the eviction order with the courts? Living in an …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.kategriffin.net/2011/04/26/magicals-anonymous/
Apr
22
Title Woes
Oh I’m rubbish at titles. I used to be quite good – I usually knew a title long before I’d got to the end of the book. But as the books get longer and old age takes over, I increasingly find myself at the end of a novel with no idea what to call it. …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.kategriffin.net/2011/04/22/title-woes/
Apr
16
Translations
A few months ago, someone asked on this blog about translations. I did mean to write a proper reply at some point, but you know how it is… there were books, there were lanterns, explosive and otherwise, there was the sock crisis of the moment… But at the end of all this, and in a …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.kategriffin.net/2011/04/16/translations/
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