Academagia: My First Writing Job
As some of you may remember, I have been on the lookout for freelance writing jobs (still am, by the way–hint, hint). While perusing Craigslist I came across an interesting writing job for an online game that seemed like a mix between choose your own adventure and Harry Potter–with RPG mechanics. I contacted them to see if they still needed writers/editors and was told that I could be put on their backlist of candidates, since they had filled the full-time positions. I agreed and they sent me a prompt to see if I would be right for the position and…Well, it turns out that I’m actually a good writer! My samples following their prompt turned out to be what they were looking for. Instead of being on a backlist, I was offered a contract job for the next four months. It’s a small job, though. But for the next four months I will be writing for Academagia! My understanding is that the game is still in beta testing, however you can still sign up and of course you can check it out. It looks really promising and fun! And I get to write for it. I’m really stoked and generally happy about this (because that’s probably a normal reaction to being told you’re a good writer and being offered a job).So, that’s the news! I’m excited to be a part of this because I really do think the product is fun and worthwhile. It may not be original, but unlike other games with similar styles of game play, Academagia actually takes itself seriously, or at least its creators do. The game is well put together with gorgeous artwork and a steampunky interface.But that’s enough from me. I’m glad to be a part of this and thought you all should know about it!
Inside the Blogosphere: Question #12 (I’m in it!)
John of Grasping for the Wind has yet another Inside the Blogosphere feature up at his blog. Obviously I’m in it, because I’ve been in all of them…because I’m awesome or something like that. Or maybe it’s because I like answering questions. That’s it… In any case, the question for #12 was: Though we all know that some books only come out in certain formats, if the world were perfect and you could have a book in any published format, which do you prefer – hardcover, trade paperback, mass market paperback, audiobook or ebook? Why? What do you think?
Fall 2008 Wrap-up: Grade Results and Other Nonsense
Well, the fall quarter is over and much has happened in the last few months. From school to, well, more school, to my stack of review books getting taller and taller, it’s been a busy three months! So, to keep you all up to date (under the delusion or assumption that you all actually care), here is a quick wrap-up of Fall 2008: School started and ended. Took three courses (two upper division and one grad course): LTEL 160 — Postcolonial Writing, LTPR 131 — Love and Madness in Medieval Literature, and LTMO 219 — Feminist and Queer Theory. Grades:LTEL 160 — ALTPR 131 — B+LTMO 219 — A- How do I feel about those grades?I’m happy with the A, generally happy with the A-, and not surprised by the B+. I’m not a medieval literature person, so the fact that I got a B+ and not a standard B is probably a good thing. I find analyzing older texts rather tedious and pointless. That’s why I’m a modern literature major and not a classics major. I’ve heard most of the arguments about medieval literature before. The A- was actually not bad considering that it was a graduate school course rather than a standard course. I did remarkably well and learned a few things both for my writing and for my brain. Plus, my professor for that course was awesome. Took the GRE (Graduate Record Exam, or the test you have to take in America if you want to go to an American graduate school!). The results?Quantitative — 650Verbal — 550Analytical — Not AvailableMy reaction?Well, I killed on the quantitative and did well enough on the verbal. Overall I was pleased with my score. Humanities Undergraduate Research Award won! $500 coming my way to spend the next six months or so doing research for a paper. I’m hesitant to say it will have a definite length primarily because the more I think about this project, the more I am aware that it won’t fit into anything shorter than a full-length book of literary criticism. So be it! I suspect that that pretty much covers everything. Anything I’m missing that I failed to mention?
Writing Projects: A Few Ideas
Over the course of the last few weeks I have been considering a number of new writing project ideas (and old ones, for that matter). Part of my reasoning for considering new projects is due to my complete lack of writing in the last few months brought on by the overwhelming stress of applying for graduate school (and school itself). So, here are some things I’m thinking of doing: Picture StoriesI was looking at one of my avatars (one drawn by a friend that I’ve used for a while now, and recently changed) and thought about what a neat idea it would be to do stories based on artwork by people I know. The friend who drew that avatar, which you see to the left there, agreed to the idea and I’m thinking of talking to some other folks I know who draw. I expect the stories to be flash fiction pieces and they’d end up here. Some would be quirky, some would be serious. It all depends on the art. WISB StoriesBasically, short stories set in the world of Traea (the world that The World in the Satin Bag is set in). Part of this is to get me back into the world. I’m having a lot of issues with the sequel, partly because I’m in school and it’s sucking up so much of my time and partly because of some plotting issues, that it might be a good idea to try this. Part of it might also work within the picture idea. Who knows. Collaborative ProjectThis is just a basic idea. I don’t have any clue who I would do this with or what kind of collaborative project it would be, but I think it would be interesting to do some sort of collab with someone who has similar literary tastes. Maybe it would be some sort of back and forth involving connected, but separate stories. Or perhaps it would be a joint world building effort using the same concept. Cross-Blog DialoguesThis is an idea I’ve been tossing around with one of my blogging friends. The idea behind it is to have a sort of back and forth dialogue on some genre-related subject. It could work a lot of different ways, but it would be interesting to put a few people in direct dialogue with one another. If you are particularly into this idea, feel free to let me know! Those are just a few ideas that I’m tossing around in my head. What do you think? Do you have any ideas? Comments welcome!
SF Signal’s MIND MELD: I’m in it!
I’m a bit late reporting this, but what the heck, right? I was recently in SF Signal’s MIND MELD feature offering up a handful of my favorite reads for 2008 (and views too, since I mentioned some films and movies). You can find part one here (which I’m not here) and part two here (which I am in). Look at both though, because there are some huge names in this and a lot of great suggestions in case you’re wondering what to get your science fiction/fantasy obsessed friend, boyfriend, fiance, husband, or family member! That is all!
Five Irritating Things About Other Writers (part three)
Here is the final installment of this series. This brings us to a total of fifteen irritating things about other writers (including Part One and Part Two)! So, feel free to leave a comment and enjoy: Thirteen-year-old kids who self-publish a book and think they are worthy of the same adoration as J. K. Rowling, Terry Pratchett, or any number of legitimately published individuals who have sold millions of copies of books. While I’m okay with people self-publishing, one should understand that you are not entitled to fair treatment. You chose to subvert the publishing process by doing it yourself. By doing so you’ve taken upon yourself the stigma that is involved with self-publishing. If you don’t like it, then don’t self-publish. You have to earn the respect of your prospective readers; readers are not entitled to respect you (which works for legitimately published writers too, but you get what I mean). Thirteen-year-old kids who did the same as above and then get really uppity with you when you point out the obvious and irritating flaws in their writing. This is part of the business. If you don’t like people throwing slams at your work, don’t write (talking fiction, of course, because I can do whatever the hell I want with my blog). This goes for all writers. If I review your book and I don’t like it, don’t argue with me about it. Being classy like some writers have been and just take the criticism. If you act like a petulant child it doesn’t look good on your part. Literary writers who rip on genre writers for writing drivel. This is almost exclusively in the realm of jealousy on their part. Get over it. People don’t want to read literary novels as much as they did in 1810. That’s just the way it is. Writers who talk more about themselves than the person they’re supposed to be interviewing. I’m not listening to your audio interview to listen to you babble out yourself in response to your own questions. I want to hear what this other person has to say. I know about you already; that’s why I’m listening to your podcast. I don’t know about the other person. So let them talk! That is all!