Welcome to Biting-Edge, a blog shared by authors and vampire experts, Mario Acevedo and Jeanne Stein. We’ll cover urban fantasy, vampires, pop culture, and all things Joss Whedon. Unlike other fantasy blogs, we don’t insist on body cavity searches (unless you ask politely). Snarkiness is most welcome...though we won't promise not to bite back!
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Busting out from the rules
Mario here:
What I'm reading:
Suspect, by Robert Crais.
The Internet and cable have changed a lot about the way we enjoy movies. And that in turn has changed the way movies are made and changed the way they tell their stories.
If you've tried to write a screenplay, you know how rigorous the format and pacing have to be. By page 13, the inciting incident must occur. By mid-point, you should be at the reversal. It's a well-honed formula and when a script deviates from those principles, the story and our attention suffer. On the other hand, it takes a skilled hand to deftly articulate the plot points without feeling like we're checking them off a list.
One of the attractions of programs in episodic format, like The Sorpranos, Sons of Anarchy, and Longmire, is that such stories get to spool out the narrative in way that keeps us guessing. In a typical movie, we know that at eighty minutes we should be circling the plot resolution. And we're certain who will live and who will die. But the episodic format has subverted the formula.
Longmire is the most traditional of the shows I watch as it follows the TV mystery trope by solving the crime start-to-finish in one episode. But with every episode the subplots and the backstories of the characters continue to simmer beneath the narrative. At some point we're expecting the dramatic fireworks. Which is the point of entertainment.
Now George R.R. Martin wrenches the story narrative further with a bloody twist. He leads us along to root for our favorite characters, then ruthlessly kills them. One of the prime tenets in storytelling is to make you care for the major characters. To knock off the bad guys doesn't buy as much dramatic impact as we watch the show to see the villains get theirs. But to make us embrace the good guys and then hack them to death seems remarkably cruel. And it is. But it stirs the plot and keeps us watching. I'm sure a lot of other writers will attempt to follow Martin's example though few have his chops.
Mario here:
What I'm reading:
Suspect, by Robert Crais.
The Internet and cable have changed a lot about the way we enjoy movies. And that in turn has changed the way movies are made and changed the way they tell their stories.
If you've tried to write a screenplay, you know how rigorous the format and pacing have to be. By page 13, the inciting incident must occur. By mid-point, you should be at the reversal. It's a well-honed formula and when a script deviates from those principles, the story and our attention suffer. On the other hand, it takes a skilled hand to deftly articulate the plot points without feeling like we're checking them off a list.
One of the attractions of programs in episodic format, like The Sorpranos, Sons of Anarchy, and Longmire, is that such stories get to spool out the narrative in way that keeps us guessing. In a typical movie, we know that at eighty minutes we should be circling the plot resolution. And we're certain who will live and who will die. But the episodic format has subverted the formula.Longmire is the most traditional of the shows I watch as it follows the TV mystery trope by solving the crime start-to-finish in one episode. But with every episode the subplots and the backstories of the characters continue to simmer beneath the narrative. At some point we're expecting the dramatic fireworks. Which is the point of entertainment.
Now George R.R. Martin wrenches the story narrative further with a bloody twist. He leads us along to root for our favorite characters, then ruthlessly kills them. One of the prime tenets in storytelling is to make you care for the major characters. To knock off the bad guys doesn't buy as much dramatic impact as we watch the show to see the villains get theirs. But to make us embrace the good guys and then hack them to death seems remarkably cruel. And it is. But it stirs the plot and keeps us watching. I'm sure a lot of other writers will attempt to follow Martin's example though few have his chops.
Labels: George RR Martin, Longmire, narrative shivs, Robert Crais, Sons of Anarchy, The Sopranos
¶ posted by Mario Acevedo @ 9:10 PM 2 comments
Monday, August 27, 2012
Two Lessons
Mario here:
I'm just back from Bubonicon 44, another winning con. It's my favorite of the smaller cons as you get to rub shoulders with some of the biggies in today's sci-fi/fantasy literary fields like George RR Martin.
Every con has a certain vibe to it and if I had to choose one for this con, it had to be humility.
Lesson One: Delivered by none other than the ever-witty Connie Willis. She knocked 'em dead as moderator at our presentation, "Worst Panel Ever" which included staged examples of bad panelist behavior. I did my best to be the snarkiest panelist, which was difficult to do, considering Willis' rapid-fire bon mots.
Lesson Two: Warren Hammond and I sat next to each other in the Author Signing room and we renamed our tables Humility Row because we sat beside the long line formed for George RR Martin and the Guest of Honor Author, Brandon Sanderson. It can be dispiriting to see fans carrying milk crates stacked with books for Martin or Sanderson while the rest of us sell onesies and twosies.
Brandon Sanderson took over the Wheel of Times series from the late Robert Jordan and has continued to keep up the momentum for the series' success. He was a great GOH and extraordinarily generous with what he's learned as a professional writer.
Besides the above lessons, I didn't leave the con empty-handed. Some back story needed here. I constantly run into wanna-be writers who talk about their work and most of the time I nod agreeably and walk on. Two years ago I heard how the locals spoke highly of Ian Tregillis so I attended his reading of a work-in-progress and was blown away. I said to myself, "Damn, this Ian can write." So this time around I bought copy of his book, The Coldest War. Check out his ultra-cool website: Ian Tregillis.
Another book I've been waiting to get my mitts on is After The Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn. She has a wonderful way of twisting conventions and creating immensely satisfying characters. This is her take on super heroes and their families. Ever wonder what it must be like to be Lois Lane and suffer the attentions of evil super-geniuses? This book should provide an insight.
I'm just back from Bubonicon 44, another winning con. It's my favorite of the smaller cons as you get to rub shoulders with some of the biggies in today's sci-fi/fantasy literary fields like George RR Martin.
Every con has a certain vibe to it and if I had to choose one for this con, it had to be humility.
Lesson One: Delivered by none other than the ever-witty Connie Willis. She knocked 'em dead as moderator at our presentation, "Worst Panel Ever" which included staged examples of bad panelist behavior. I did my best to be the snarkiest panelist, which was difficult to do, considering Willis' rapid-fire bon mots.
Lesson Two: Warren Hammond and I sat next to each other in the Author Signing room and we renamed our tables Humility Row because we sat beside the long line formed for George RR Martin and the Guest of Honor Author, Brandon Sanderson. It can be dispiriting to see fans carrying milk crates stacked with books for Martin or Sanderson while the rest of us sell onesies and twosies.
Brandon Sanderson took over the Wheel of Times series from the late Robert Jordan and has continued to keep up the momentum for the series' success. He was a great GOH and extraordinarily generous with what he's learned as a professional writer.
Besides the above lessons, I didn't leave the con empty-handed. Some back story needed here. I constantly run into wanna-be writers who talk about their work and most of the time I nod agreeably and walk on. Two years ago I heard how the locals spoke highly of Ian Tregillis so I attended his reading of a work-in-progress and was blown away. I said to myself, "Damn, this Ian can write." So this time around I bought copy of his book, The Coldest War. Check out his ultra-cool website: Ian Tregillis.
Another book I've been waiting to get my mitts on is After The Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn. She has a wonderful way of twisting conventions and creating immensely satisfying characters. This is her take on super heroes and their families. Ever wonder what it must be like to be Lois Lane and suffer the attentions of evil super-geniuses? This book should provide an insight.Labels: Brandon Sanderson, Bubonicon 44, Carrie Vaughn, Connie Willis, George RR Martin, Ian Tregillis
¶ posted by Mario Acevedo @ 8:11 PM 3 comments
Monday, April 30, 2012
Breaking them rules
Mario here,
I've just finished watching the first season of HBO's Game of Thrones. My first thoughts are that I am jealous of George RR Martin, as the TV show is based on his book series of Medieval inspired intrigue, A Song of Fire and Ice. Typically, a book has to be condensed to fit into the two or so hours of a movie. With this cable series, Martin was given ten hours per book. If you've seen at least one episode, you can appreciate the money budgeted for the set design. Amazing and the source for much of my envy.
Now, all is not perfect. I read every one of the 699 pages in Game of Thrones and reveled in the richness of the prose, only to discover that this doorstop of a novel is a prologue to the story. I've been cautioned by others who've read the next books in the series that, rather than tighten the plot lines, Martin keeps expanding his universe and yanking on the reader's expectations. Plus, he gallops over the no-no's we fiction writers have been indoctrinated to hew to. In both the book and on TV, we see the murder of children (one lives but is left paralyzed), the deaths of major characters (and not always in dramatic ways. one was gored by a wild pig, the other died of an infection), incest, rape, and most shockingly to us Americans, the killing of dogs (huge taboo!) and horses (by graphic beheading and another by having its throat cut). Which proves that you can break any rule in writing as long as you do it well.
I found more rule breaking in Eleanor Brown's wonderful novel, The Weird Sisters, a long way from the spatter of Martin's bloody mayhem, and an engrossing read about three sisters who return home because their mother is dying of cancer. What makes them weird is that they grew up in a family of bookworms where the common language was Shakespeare, and though they each wrestled to escape, they rebound to the nest, broken and ashamed. Brown writes from a first-person plural POV, as in "we," and then yo-yo's into each sister's narrative in third person singular. It's an unusual technique that Brown uses to build an intricate and entertaining story, proving again that you can do anything in a novel as long as you do it well.
My contribution to helping you do things well, or at least better, is in my online class with the Lawson Writer's Academy: Fang It to Me: Writing Vampires, Fantasy, and the How To's of World-Building. Only $30 for a month's worth of advice from me and a host of outstanding authors who include Carol Berg, Stephen Graham Jones, Dakota Cassidy, Jaye Wells, and our own Jeanne Stein. Come learn the rules so you can break them!
I've just finished watching the first season of HBO's Game of Thrones. My first thoughts are that I am jealous of George RR Martin, as the TV show is based on his book series of Medieval inspired intrigue, A Song of Fire and Ice. Typically, a book has to be condensed to fit into the two or so hours of a movie. With this cable series, Martin was given ten hours per book. If you've seen at least one episode, you can appreciate the money budgeted for the set design. Amazing and the source for much of my envy.Now, all is not perfect. I read every one of the 699 pages in Game of Thrones and reveled in the richness of the prose, only to discover that this doorstop of a novel is a prologue to the story. I've been cautioned by others who've read the next books in the series that, rather than tighten the plot lines, Martin keeps expanding his universe and yanking on the reader's expectations. Plus, he gallops over the no-no's we fiction writers have been indoctrinated to hew to. In both the book and on TV, we see the murder of children (one lives but is left paralyzed), the deaths of major characters (and not always in dramatic ways. one was gored by a wild pig, the other died of an infection), incest, rape, and most shockingly to us Americans, the killing of dogs (huge taboo!) and horses (by graphic beheading and another by having its throat cut). Which proves that you can break any rule in writing as long as you do it well.
I found more rule breaking in Eleanor Brown's wonderful novel, The Weird Sisters, a long way from the spatter of Martin's bloody mayhem, and an engrossing read about three sisters who return home because their mother is dying of cancer. What makes them weird is that they grew up in a family of bookworms where the common language was Shakespeare, and though they each wrestled to escape, they rebound to the nest, broken and ashamed. Brown writes from a first-person plural POV, as in "we," and then yo-yo's into each sister's narrative in third person singular. It's an unusual technique that Brown uses to build an intricate and entertaining story, proving again that you can do anything in a novel as long as you do it well.
My contribution to helping you do things well, or at least better, is in my online class with the Lawson Writer's Academy: Fang It to Me: Writing Vampires, Fantasy, and the How To's of World-Building. Only $30 for a month's worth of advice from me and a host of outstanding authors who include Carol Berg, Stephen Graham Jones, Dakota Cassidy, Jaye Wells, and our own Jeanne Stein. Come learn the rules so you can break them!
Labels: Eleanor Brown, Game of Thrones, George RR Martin, Lawson's Writing Academy, The Weird Sisters
¶ posted by Mario Acevedo @ 6:15 AM 2 comments
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
The Game Begins
Trailer for HBO’s adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones leads this week's movie and book news.
HAPPY 30th Birthday Buffy!!!
Trailer for HBO’s adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones leads this week's movie and book news.
# # # #
Then onto a couple of articles about one of my favorite literary and movie characters: James Bond.
First, from the Huffington Post :
KINGSTON, Jamaica — A new international airport for private jets and small commercial aircraft was unveiled in northern Jamaica on Wednesday, named after the British thriller writer who invented the literary and cinematic super spy James Bond.
Ian Fleming International Airport is close to the scenic retreat where the late author reportedly wrote all 14 of his books about the elegant, crafty spy. The property is now an exclusive resort owned by Island Records founder Chris Blackwell, who is credited with introducing reggae great Bob Marley's music to the world.
Followed by this from the BBC :
The new James Bond book, written by thriller author Jeffery Deaver, will be called Carte Blanche.
The title and cover were unveiled in Dubai where parts of the book are set.
US writer Deaver said the novel - to be published in the UK on 26 May - posed "the looming question of what is acceptable" in security matters.
Sebastian Faulks and John Gardner are among other authors to have written officially-sanctioned Bond novels since creator Ian Fleming's death in 1964.
Deaver, 60, whose best-seller The Bone Collector was made into a 1999 film starring Denzel Washington, said giving an agent carte blanche on a mission "comes with an enormous amount of trust and constantly tests both personal and professional judgement".
First, from the Huffington Post :
KINGSTON, Jamaica — A new international airport for private jets and small commercial aircraft was unveiled in northern Jamaica on Wednesday, named after the British thriller writer who invented the literary and cinematic super spy James Bond.
Ian Fleming International Airport is close to the scenic retreat where the late author reportedly wrote all 14 of his books about the elegant, crafty spy. The property is now an exclusive resort owned by Island Records founder Chris Blackwell, who is credited with introducing reggae great Bob Marley's music to the world.
Followed by this from the BBC :
The new James Bond book, written by thriller author Jeffery Deaver, will be called Carte Blanche.
The title and cover were unveiled in Dubai where parts of the book are set.
US writer Deaver said the novel - to be published in the UK on 26 May - posed "the looming question of what is acceptable" in security matters.
Sebastian Faulks and John Gardner are among other authors to have written officially-sanctioned Bond novels since creator Ian Fleming's death in 1964.
Deaver, 60, whose best-seller The Bone Collector was made into a 1999 film starring Denzel Washington, said giving an agent carte blanche on a mission "comes with an enormous amount of trust and constantly tests both personal and professional judgement".
# # # #
Anyone who knows me, knows I'm also a tremendous Sherlock Holmes fan. I found this on the ebookseller site:
Orion is to publish a new full-length Sherlock Holmes novel, written by Alex Rider author Anthony Horowitz, after he was selected by the Conan Doyle Estate...
Further details about the title, to be published in September, are still to be revealed, though it will be "a brilliant mystery novel, stripped back to the original style of Conan Doyle", according to the publisher.
Brilliant, huh? We'll be the judge of that!
Orion is to publish a new full-length Sherlock Holmes novel, written by Alex Rider author Anthony Horowitz, after he was selected by the Conan Doyle Estate...
Further details about the title, to be published in September, are still to be revealed, though it will be "a brilliant mystery novel, stripped back to the original style of Conan Doyle", according to the publisher.
Brilliant, huh? We'll be the judge of that!
# # # #
Let's see, what's next?
Now THIS is an interesting twist. From ereads :
HarperCollins authors – have you read your Ten Commandments lately? How about the Seven Deadly Sins? You’d better bone up on them. It seems there’s a morals clause in your publisher’s contract. Not moral rights, mind you… We mean morals. Your morals.
New language in the termination provision of the Harper’s boilerplate gives them the right to cancel a contract if “Author’s conduct evidences a lack of due regard for public conventions and morals, or if Author commits a crime or any other act that will tend to bring Author into serious contempt, and such behavior would materially damage the Work’s reputation or sales.” The consequences? Harper can terminate your book deal.
Not only that, you’ll have to repay your advance. Harper may also avail itself of “other legal remedies” against you.
If this is true, Mario, you'd better be on your best behavior!! Especially since you keep finding little gems like this to send me... I could rat on you.
Besides, why he sends things like this to me, I have no idea.... I am the most even-tempered, tolerant person I know. You all agree, right? RIGHT?????
Now THIS is an interesting twist. From ereads :
HarperCollins authors – have you read your Ten Commandments lately? How about the Seven Deadly Sins? You’d better bone up on them. It seems there’s a morals clause in your publisher’s contract. Not moral rights, mind you… We mean morals. Your morals.
New language in the termination provision of the Harper’s boilerplate gives them the right to cancel a contract if “Author’s conduct evidences a lack of due regard for public conventions and morals, or if Author commits a crime or any other act that will tend to bring Author into serious contempt, and such behavior would materially damage the Work’s reputation or sales.” The consequences? Harper can terminate your book deal.
Not only that, you’ll have to repay your advance. Harper may also avail itself of “other legal remedies” against you.
If this is true, Mario, you'd better be on your best behavior!! Especially since you keep finding little gems like this to send me... I could rat on you.
Besides, why he sends things like this to me, I have no idea.... I am the most even-tempered, tolerant person I know. You all agree, right? RIGHT?????
# # # #
Lot's of statistics floating around this week. Sisters in Crime commissioned a study on the public's mystery/crime fiction book buying habits. Highlights here from Shelf Awareness:
Bricks-and-mortar stores still lead the way in mystery/crime fiction sales, and women over 45 constitute the majority of buyers in the genre, according to a collaborative study, "The Mystery Book Consumer in the Digital Age," released this week by Sisters in Crime. The survey was designed to offer an overview of the mystery/crime fiction book-buying landscape, using research based on publishing industry data gathered and interpreted by Bowker's PubTrack division.
The study found that the majority of mystery/crime fiction buyers are women (68%) over the age of 45 (66% ). Buyers in the 18-to-44 demographic purchase 31% of the mysteries sold. Some 48% live in the suburbs, 27% in rural areas and 25% in urban areas. The South accounts for 35% of sales, followed by the West (26%), Midwest (20%) and Northeast (19%). Bricks-and-mortar stores sell 39% of all mysteries, with library borrowing accounting for approximately 20% and online purchases 17%.
The full report can be found here
USA TODAY listed it's 100 top sellers for 2010 here . No real surprises.
And Nora Roberts is the latest author to enter the Kindle Million Club, joining Stieg Larsson and James Patterson as the third writer to surpass a million paid copies in Amazon's Kindle Store.
Twilight fans, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers will host a special International Fan Event to coincide with the April release of The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide. Little, Brown will select one fan from the U.S. and one from Canada, and is partnering with the Twilight Saga publishers in Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Taiwan and the U.K. to find each country's lucky Twilight fan. The 10 winners will receive an advance copy of The Official Illustrated Guide and have the opportunity to talk extensively with Meyer. The official rules for the sweepstakes to select a fan from the U.S. as well as one from Canada) can be found here .
Bricks-and-mortar stores still lead the way in mystery/crime fiction sales, and women over 45 constitute the majority of buyers in the genre, according to a collaborative study, "The Mystery Book Consumer in the Digital Age," released this week by Sisters in Crime. The survey was designed to offer an overview of the mystery/crime fiction book-buying landscape, using research based on publishing industry data gathered and interpreted by Bowker's PubTrack division.
The study found that the majority of mystery/crime fiction buyers are women (68%) over the age of 45 (66% ). Buyers in the 18-to-44 demographic purchase 31% of the mysteries sold. Some 48% live in the suburbs, 27% in rural areas and 25% in urban areas. The South accounts for 35% of sales, followed by the West (26%), Midwest (20%) and Northeast (19%). Bricks-and-mortar stores sell 39% of all mysteries, with library borrowing accounting for approximately 20% and online purchases 17%.
The full report can be found here
USA TODAY listed it's 100 top sellers for 2010 here . No real surprises.
And Nora Roberts is the latest author to enter the Kindle Million Club, joining Stieg Larsson and James Patterson as the third writer to surpass a million paid copies in Amazon's Kindle Store.
Twilight fans, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers will host a special International Fan Event to coincide with the April release of The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide. Little, Brown will select one fan from the U.S. and one from Canada, and is partnering with the Twilight Saga publishers in Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Taiwan and the U.K. to find each country's lucky Twilight fan. The 10 winners will receive an advance copy of The Official Illustrated Guide and have the opportunity to talk extensively with Meyer. The official rules for the sweepstakes to select a fan from the U.S. as well as one from Canada) can be found here .
# # # #
Found this via Publisher's Lunch:
Lynn Hirschberg offers an "exclusive first look" of the making of David Fincher's version of THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO for W Magazine . According to the piece, Steven Zaillian's script departs considerably from the book: "Blomkvist is less promiscuous, Salander is more aggressive, and, most notably, the ending--the resolution of the drama--has been completely changed. This may be sacrilege to some, but [scriptwriter] Zaillian has improved on Larsson--the script's ending is more interesting."
Mara has the right look, that's for sure, but I get a little nervous when they start talking about a more "interesting" ending. Salander is MORE aggressive? How much more aggressive could they make her? I'm not at all sure about this one.
I guess that's it for this week. I must admit, though, I'm very disappointed we haven't had any bad sex entries yet. You can't tell me every sex scene you've ever read has been wonderful. Remember, I'm not talking about your personal sex life. I know the old saying, the worst sex I've ever had was... wonderful....but surely, you've read a sex scene in a book and came away shaking your head at the absurdity. If you can't remember the book to look up the exact phrasing, paraphrase. We'll accept it. We're easy.
Lynn Hirschberg offers an "exclusive first look" of the making of David Fincher's version of THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO for W Magazine . According to the piece, Steven Zaillian's script departs considerably from the book: "Blomkvist is less promiscuous, Salander is more aggressive, and, most notably, the ending--the resolution of the drama--has been completely changed. This may be sacrilege to some, but [scriptwriter] Zaillian has improved on Larsson--the script's ending is more interesting."
Mara has the right look, that's for sure, but I get a little nervous when they start talking about a more "interesting" ending. Salander is MORE aggressive? How much more aggressive could they make her? I'm not at all sure about this one.
I guess that's it for this week. I must admit, though, I'm very disappointed we haven't had any bad sex entries yet. You can't tell me every sex scene you've ever read has been wonderful. Remember, I'm not talking about your personal sex life. I know the old saying, the worst sex I've ever had was... wonderful....but surely, you've read a sex scene in a book and came away shaking your head at the absurdity. If you can't remember the book to look up the exact phrasing, paraphrase. We'll accept it. We're easy.
Labels: Anthony Horowitz, Carte Blanche, Game of Thrones, George RR Martin, Ian Fleming, James Bond, Jeffrey Deaver, Rooney Mara, Sherlock Holmes, Sisters in Crime, Twilight
¶ posted by Jeanne Stein @ 5:20 AM 1 comments
