Articles from December 2004

A Big Thank You

December 31st, 2004 · 5 Comments

December, the last day of the month, the last day of the year. This also marks the last day my books are officially on the bookshelves – just 21 trips to Wal-Mart and Target later Tomorrow my book will reside only on the cyber bookshelves. The time has flown! I want to thank you for […]

File Under: Jill's First Blog

In Which You Must Fill In Your Own Point

December 31st, 2004 · 5 Comments

I know that I had a point when I wrote this blog last week. However, I started coming down with strep throat, thanks to my oldest. I haven’t had strep since high school, when it knocked out the senior class for several days. Then the doc gave you a shot the consistency of mayonnaise, now […]

File Under: Jill's First Blog

Subversion: Why Women’s Fiction is Scary

December 30th, 2004 · 18 Comments

Let us begin with the idea that for a woman to write novels at the dawn of the format’s history, it required an act of bravery. Storytelling has been a human tradition for, oh, a long time, but the novel, such as it is, is a relatively new concept. For our purposes, let’s use Don […]

File Under: Square Pegs

Really Close To Our Last Word on the Subject, This Year

December 30th, 2004 · Comments Off on Really Close To Our Last Word on the Subject, This Year

Here’s how we imagine the conversation: Editor: It’s been 24-hours. We gotta do another manga story. Reporter: But, boss, what else is there to say? I’ve been on this story 24/7 since last June. Editor: Find something! Reporter: Ooookay. I’ll try. Editor: Do not try. Do. And so our intrepid hero, balancing his editor on […]

File Under: Books/Mags/Blogs

We Know, We Know, But That Was Before It Reached the Height of Ridiculousness

December 30th, 2004 · Comments Off on We Know, We Know, But That Was Before It Reached the Height of Ridiculousness

It is beyond our ken at this point: why would you want to take a tour of sites mentioned in a book without having read the book in question? Other than, we suppose, the fact that sites mentioned are generally the types of places tourists would frequent anyway. It is hard for us to imagine […]

File Under: Square Pegs

If You’re Seeking Conspiracy Theories, We Can Help Steer You in the Right Direction

December 29th, 2004 · 1 Comment

Frankly, we hoped The Da Vinci Code would fade quietly into the twilight on the basis of the really bad writing. Perhaps Dan Brown didn’t put the sum total of his talent into the work, we can’t say, but we do know bad when we read it (and we’ll suggest that sometimes bad can be […]

File Under: Square Pegs

We Like The Motto (and The Appropriate Reverance)

December 28th, 2004 · 5 Comments

Looking for a reason to hit Seattle in mid-June (like, oh, the 9th through the 12th, 2005)? How about a writing conference? Yes, we know, we just give and give, and this is only the latest example. Besides, unless you have one of those really understanding families, there’s nothing more reassuring than spending time with […]

File Under: Square Pegs

Some Days, We Long For Email Diversion

December 28th, 2004 · Comments Off on Some Days, We Long For Email Diversion

Would we like to get a novel in email installments? Hard to say, but we’re still working our way through early December mail, and it’s not looking so good for January. Also, we have an annoying habit of reading email backward. That’s not to say we wouldn’t try to make it work, it’s just that […]

File Under: Square Pegs

The Medium Is Not The Message

December 28th, 2004 · 1 Comment

What is your first memory of a library? We honestly cannot say for sure, except that our home was somewhat of a library from the start, what with the mother’s inability to get rid of a book (the great Ray Bradbury incident being an exception). We suppose we first stepped foot into an actual library […]

File Under: Square Pegs

Because We Cannot Resist The Concept of “Ludicrous Commodification”

December 28th, 2004 · Comments Off on Because We Cannot Resist The Concept of “Ludicrous Commodification”

Doesn’t the phrase just roll off your brain? Don’t you want to be a part of it? Oh, quite possibly, in this post-holiday season, you already were. But never mind, let’s have our fun anyway. First, we want to say that the Australian literary world seems like, well, Australia. The Wild West of reading. If […]

File Under: Square Pegs