Jed's Super-Dooper Newbie Question-of-the-Week Thread

SaraP said:

There should be a holiday to celebrate good simple things, like making people smile, or being kind. Stuff like that. A day where we focus on how we can make the world a better place, in small ways. A day to celebrate faith in humanity and random acts of kindness and the wonder that is life.

(I wouldn't be the SparklePony if I didn't answer this way, would I? )

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Nice. But Hallmark or somebody would still probably find a way to make money off it.

slcboston said:

Because every now and again we should stop and remember that this is a writing forum, and ostensibly about writing and for writerly folks...

You may meet, greet, and hang out with (for 24 hrs) any author, and we'll say living or dead because I'm sure the sci-fi section of AW has a Delorean or a Tardis to spare (and if not the horror section can resurrect them). With whom do you hang?

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I can only pick one??!!

Robert Louis Stevenson. I want to ask him if he used the Guthrie family house and story as his model for the Balfour family.

James Joyce!

or else Charles Baudelaire, or Rimbaud.

Bringing it to the new page, the current QotW

slcboston said:

Because every now and again we should stop and remember that this is a writing forum, and ostensibly about writing and for writerly folks...

You don't need to see this question. Move along.

(Bonus points if you can name a dead author who did, actually, hang.)

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pkbax said:

I can only pick one??!!

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Well, you've only got 24 hours. Idea here is quality vs quantity.

Matty lll said:

James Joyce!

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I'd do this if it includes a drinking tour of Dublin.

I will definitely choice under ocean because i love to swim

slcboston said:

Because every now and again we should stop and remember that this is a writing forum, and ostensibly about writing and for writerly folks...

You may meet, greet, and hang out with (for 24 hrs) any author, and we'll say living or dead because I'm sure the sci-fi section of AW has a Delorean or a Tardis to spare (and if not the horror section can resurrect them). With whom do you hang?

(Bonus points if you can name a dead author who did, actually, hang.)

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You know, I thought this was going to be tough, but there was this little voice in the back of my head that went "ooh, ooh, I know!" Terry Pratchett.

Hmm...come to think of it, that little voice actually sounded a lot more like SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK. Should I be worried that Rat Death has come to visit me?*


*Footnote: the sounds of squeaks drifted away from Tiddlywinks' humble abode as a little tiny skeletal rat cloaked, with scythe in hand, decided to go chase down the vole that had been haunting Winks' balcony all week trying to get in from the sudden cold. The vole was mildly surprised, but went along peaceably enough, having lived a long and fruitful life up until this point that included 35 children and 300 grandchildren squeaking along.

I have this wild idea now that hanging with Ursula K. Le Guin would be stellar. IDK if I was prompted, subconsciously, by the mention of SciFi, or because she won a Medal in American Letters this week.

slcboston said:

Because every now and again we should stop and remember that this is a writing forum, and ostensibly about writing and for writerly folks...

You may meet, greet, and hang out with (for 24 hrs) any author, and we'll say living or dead because I'm sure the sci-fi section of AW has a Delorean or a Tardis to spare (and if not the horror section can resurrect them). With whom do you hang?

(Bonus points if you can name a dead author who did, actually, hang.)

My choice? Neil Gaiman, simply because he seems like he'd be fun to hang out with.

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Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I don't even read female romance novels very often (1 every couple years or so), but having just watched the movie "Catch me if you can" I was rather charmed by the title in my mom's hands "Match me if you can" and was pleasantly surprised to read a romance involving football players and agents etc.

I'm going to say Maggie Stiefvater. Because goats. Also, she has a hot car and might take me for a ride in it. There may even be cookies...?

Gotta go Shakespeare on this one. I could end the question of who wrote what once and for all!

I would absolutely want to spend a day with Douglas Adams. I think he'd be a wildly fun person to get to know.

Herman Charles Bosman or C.J. Langenhoven. Both late South African authors (Langenhoven wrote mostly in Afrikaans) but both could rival Shakespeare in their grasp and portrayal of human nature in their writing. Or C.S. Lewis.

slcboston said:

(Bonus points if you can name a dead author who did, actually, hang.)

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Bosman was on death row at one point, though he escaped the noose in the end. Does that count?

KokkieH said:

Or C.S. Lewis.

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C.S. Lewis would be cool. But I think I'll go for an off-the-wall author who is probably not well known (even though she was pretty prolific and her daughter continued to write under the same name) - Grace Livingston Hill

I'm going to say Maggie Stiefvater. Because goats. Also, she has a hot car and might take me for a ride in it. There may even be cookies...?

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Goats are the.single.best.reason.ever mkEngland !

Okay, so we're a little behind on the QotW...

QUICK! Off the top of your head - what will you wear for the photo on the dust jacket of your novel? And how will you be posed? Be creative, because we've all seen the "thoughtful author" pose a zillion times. [SUP]*[/SUP]

I want to be hung upside-down by my feet, and then photoshop in a pool of crocodiles or something.






No real reason other than that's the first thing that came to my head.





[SUP]*[/SUP]Yeah, yeah, print's dead, etc. etc. Substitute "websight" then.

I would wish to be pictured wearing a triphasic lunar circlet, and a simple labrys & keraton pendant of brass suspended on a slender silk cord, against a view of the strand at Paphos, Crete and Aphrodite's rock beyond my shoulder.

You may notice I have mentioned no items of apparel beyond the jewels, and this is very deliberate.

That's tough! How about a totally real picture? Like me, sun burnt after being outside for five minutes yesterday, fresh out of bed in my PJs. Oh, and I wont brush my hair.

Oh, you know, the usual: high contrast, black and white, intense gaze, just woke up, kind of drooling, on fire.

Hmm, I dunno. Realistic would be my one year old climbing on my head, my three year old clinging to my leg, while I frantically try to type one word for my book.
Or, you know, just me pretending I'm cool with a big, fake smile while my kids destroy something in the background.

and old prospector

I'm going to wear a straightjacket and have crazy hair and wild eyes. Oh, you mean something WEIRD. Ehrm...

Maybe I'll dress as Betty Boop.

slcboston said:

You may meet, greet, and hang out with (for 24 hrs) any author, and we'll say living or dead because I'm sure the sci-fi section of AW has a Delorean or a Tardis to spare (and if not the horror section can resurrect them). With whom do you hang?

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I know this is a bit late, but I missed it, even though the change in question (question in change?) was delayed.

Can't pass up a chance to say I would definitely want to meet H.P. Lovecraft. The man was a different breed of eccentric and I've found many of his works strangely enlightening.

slcboston said:

QUICK! Off the top of your head - what will you wear for the photo on the dust jacket of your novel? And how will you be posed? Be creative, because we've all seen the "thoughtful author" pose a zillion times. [SUP]*[/SUP]

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Like an old profile pic of mine, I will be dressed in black with my black trench coat on, crouched low on a guardrail overlooking some site (exact location varies with mood) and looking particularly intense.

Yes, I'm overdramatic, but it sets a mood, dammit.

taeray said:

Hmm, I dunno. Realistic would be my one year old climbing on my head, my three year old clinging to my leg, while I frantically try to type one word for my book.
Or, you know, just me pretending I'm cool with a big, fake smile while my kids destroy something in the background.

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Option #2. Try to be as oblivious to the devastation behind you as possible, then Photoshop in explosions. lol