tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post7306829497866141205..comments2023-09-29T05:32:04.308-07:00Comments on StrangePegs: Who's a Sad Puppy?Andrew Leonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-28185607971202080422015-05-06T12:18:01.206-07:002015-05-06T12:18:01.206-07:00Tony: Yeah, the Hitchhiker radio show was, really,...Tony: Yeah, the Hitchhiker radio show was, really, the very first thing he did that was real. He spent a year or so working with teh guys from Monty Python on stuff, but none of that ever panned out. Neither did his Dr Who work.<br /><br />And, yeah, I know the whole title; I just didn't feel like typing it all out. You should go back and read my review of it.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-79943966700531485122015-05-06T04:46:44.315-07:002015-05-06T04:46:44.315-07:00Worth noting that the book in question is entitled...Worth noting that the book in question is entitled <i>Demetri and the Banana Flavored Rocketship</i>.Tony Laplumehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07854455859399339169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-13679198101185095382015-05-06T04:29:00.211-07:002015-05-06T04:29:00.211-07:00I didn't know he actually went to Doctor Who w...I didn't know he actually <i>went</i> to Doctor Who with the towel in his back pocket, as it were...I will definitely have to read a biography at some point.<br /><br />And you just <i>know</i> a title like <i>Banana Flavored Spaceship</i> begs to be looked into. You evil, evil man...Tony Laplumehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07854455859399339169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-71989165891997336282015-05-05T11:16:35.271-07:002015-05-05T11:16:35.271-07:00Tony: That's okay; I un-hijacked it.
If I'...Tony: That's okay; I un-hijacked it.<br /><br />If I'm remembering correctly, Adams got the Dr. Who gig because of Hitchhiker's, not the other way around. The script he wrote got rejected, and he later turned it into something that happened in the 2nd or 3rd Hitchhiker's book. But, mostly, Adams had to be tied down and forced to actually do any real work.<br /><br />As for the reciprocity thing, I agree with you... and I don't. It's like this:<br />I don't go decide to pick up a Tony Laplume book thinking, "Maybe if I read Tony's book, he'll read my book." That doesn't work and is a silly thing to do. It's an especially silly thing to do if you're going to approach it the way I do, which is to give an honest review. So it's the principle of the thing:<br />1. I feel that it's wrong to expect people (specifically other indie writers) to read my work when I'm not willing to try out their work.<br />2. I like that reading indie authors urges me in new directions in my reading. I like to get stuck in ruts (hence close to a decade of reading Piers Anthony when I was a teenager), and reading indies lets me taste other things. Sometimes I don't like them but, sometimes, I do.<br />3. And, as I said, it's not a specific reciprocity thing; it's more general than that. The truth is, if I want to drive up my blog traffic, I can do that by visiting other blogs. Even I go check out the blogs of people who routinely leave comments here. It doesn't mean I'm going to go read their blog every day or every post, but I will go check it out. That same thing applies here. So I might have to read 10 indie books to get one person to pick up one of mine, but, right now, when I don't have "random" readers just picking up my work, it's worth it. And, like I said, sometimes, I find something I really like. Bryan Pedas' Banana Flavored Spaceship book is one of the best books I've read in the last five years. Books like that make it worth it.<br /><br />So... I agree with you in this about blogging, but I only agree with you about it -now-. There was a time when I spent a lot of time going around to other blogs in order to generate some followers. And, see, that worked. I don't need to do that anymore and can let the people who like my blog read it and can do my own blog reading among blogs I like or with people I want to keep a connection with. The indie book thing is like the beginning of blogging.<br /><br />But, honestly, even once I do get to the point where I have readers spontaneously buying my books, I will still buy indie works, because I want to support the indie book market. I will give honest reviews because I want to bring legitimacy to indie books. I'm part of the indie book market (and don't have plans to change that), and I want to support it.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-5891641338280980702015-05-05T04:52:18.035-07:002015-05-05T04:52:18.035-07:00(I apologize. I've been attempting to have ge...(I apologize. I've been attempting to have generally well-edited comments here. I slipped up a few times in this one.)Tony Laplumehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07854455859399339169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-82914048395166360342015-05-05T04:50:39.744-07:002015-05-05T04:50:39.744-07:00Crap monkey crap crap. My dialogue with Andrew wa...Crap monkey crap crap. My dialogue with Andrew was hijacked!<br /><br />Anyway, I haven't gotten around to reading Gaiman's biography of Adams. It was my strong impression that Adams was directly inspired by working on Doctor Who that resulted in Hitchhikers (regardless of how long it may have taken). I had another example but I forgot what it was. No worries.<br /><br />Another problem I have is this terrible game of reciprocity. Why? Why must you expect to <i>have</i> to read someone else's book in order to get them to read yours? You wouldn't expect, say, Stephen King to read <i>House on the Corner</i> in exchange for your reading <i>Cujo</i>. It's exactly the same. The problem is that we have this idea that the only way to support each other is to give exactly what we expect to get. This is utter nonsense. And it results in reading books that you would not ordinarily, and as such, reviews of the kind we've been talking about. I don't want to have to comment on someone else's blog in order for them to read <i>my blog</i> (they either like what I write or they don't, would be the far simpler approach). And I don't have to be a fan of my reader's writing in order for them to <i>be</i> a reader of <i>my</i> writing.<br /><br />Did I mention how poorly some bestsellers are? I think we can all acknowledge that. Most of the time, we like something for reasons that have nothing to do with the actual quality of the product. And that's something that's entirely missing from your philosophy. We glom onto what's popular, either from a wide sampling or from whoever our peers happen to be. There's no use denying this. You're reading all these peer books because you're hoping to have a pretty exclusive interest in common. One such in this community is certainly, and quite obviously, Alex Cavanaugh's books.Tony Laplumehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07854455859399339169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-89854768708424492062015-05-04T15:46:33.864-07:002015-05-04T15:46:33.864-07:00Lee: Actually, I think it's because he can'...Lee: Actually, I think it's because he can't stand to be confronted with people pointing out his bad behavior. As long as it's just me, he can justify it but, when other people, also, start pointing it out, he has to either look at how he's wrong (which he'll never do) or encompass them in his bad behavior so that it becomes justified.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-30593367175285846902015-05-04T14:48:16.683-07:002015-05-04T14:48:16.683-07:00I it weren't so sad it might be funny. Actual...I it weren't so sad it might be funny. Actually it's kind of funny, but it's also sad. I guess I'm disliked by Mr. Deleted just because I am a blog friend of yours, Andrew. Arlee Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11663942782929929334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-91156709003712856862015-05-04T14:30:10.613-07:002015-05-04T14:30:10.613-07:00Lee: Sorry, it appears that the comment you were r...Lee: Sorry, it appears that the comment you were responding to has disappeared.<br />Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-53442763367992119702015-05-04T14:24:32.896-07:002015-05-04T14:24:32.896-07:00It's not your books that's my problem. I&...It's not your books that's my problem. I'd like to stop reading these repetitive comments. Maybe you should stop commenting on this blog and turn it into a book.Arlee Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11663942782929929334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-16397094767478357462015-05-04T13:10:11.589-07:002015-05-04T13:10:11.589-07:00Hmm, first, I don't think Adams had any clue a...Hmm, first, I don't think Adams had any clue as to where he was headed or what he was doing or anything. Not until way late. Read Gaiman's 'Don't Panic;' it doesn't at all show an Adams with a goal and a plan.<br /><br />As for the rest, in short:<br />Too many (almost all) indie writers have this "indie writers, other than me, suck ass." They only read mainstream, traditional books but, yet, they expect everyone else to read their books. I find this attitude, at the very least, hypocritical. I don't want to be that indie writer, so I make it a point to read other indie writers' books. I mean, why should I expect anyone to read my stuff if I'm not willing to read theirs?<br /><br />Besides, mainstream, tradition stuff has almost the same level of crap in it. For instance, I'm reading 'The Name of the Wind' at the moment and, although I get why it's so popular, it's a poorly written and often stupid book. Unless something amazing happens before the end, I won't be reading the next one. Almost everything I've read by the authors I mentioned is better than this, and no one would call this "middling" because it's a bestseller. But what it really is is some dude who got lucky with his first book because people look at it and go, "Whoa! Impressive world building!" But that's all it has. The writing is "middling" at best, the characters stereotypes, and the plot insipid.<br /><br />That is why I read indie authors.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-1470370469563900992015-05-04T00:59:14.656-07:002015-05-04T00:59:14.656-07:00Fair enough. With the three specific examples I s...Fair enough. With the three specific examples I saw in this series, including the Pagel book you otherwise liked but still eviscerated, it certainly seemed like you uniformly end up hating all of them. So no, I haven't read all your blog posts, nor all your reviews. For me, I gave up trying to find the diamond in the rough [indy books] both in the blogger pool and the Goodreads giveaways because the winning percentage was just too low (though I highly recommend <i>Ghosts of Nagasaki</i> if you'd like to see what <i>I</i> consider to be top shelf in this realm of publishing), and because the <i>first</i> such book I ever read, T.M. Wells' <i>The Patron Saints</i>, perhaps set the bar impossibly high. I'm the kind of reader who hates to read stuff that's considerably below the bar, not because I have a vendetta against certain writers, but because at the end of a book I genuinely want to believe I didn't waste my time. I <i>do</i> believe that "life's too short" is one of the dumbest mantras ever spoken by man, but when I know I have books that with 100% likelihood I will enjoy a lot more...it's just such a terrible waste to read material that in the final analysis I just should not be reading. I've been a submissions editor, too, and so I know all about patience as a reader. But reading short stories of a questionable nature and entire <i>books</i> of a questionable nature...Why put myself through that?<br /><br />The most frustrating thing for <i>me</i> is that so many of these authors, Pagel chief among them, have many good <i>instincts</i> but routinely fail to pull their act entirely <i>together</i>. Pagel has some of the best chops I've seen. Based on his natural ability alone there's absolutely no reason he shouldn't be well-known. But there's a sense that despite how much he writes he's just goofing around, that he's not serious, doesn't <i>want</i> to accomplishment something significant in his writing. The main difference between someone like him and, say, Douglas Adams, is that Adams <i>knew</i> where he was headed, from the moment he landed the Doctor Who gig and spun it into Hitchhiker's. For too many indy writers, they <i>never</i> discover that moment. And everyone is still expected to believe they <i>have</i>, because out of the material they <i>do</i> produce, it's better than what <i>other</i> indy writers accomplish. The best of middling material should still be considered middling material. That's not being cruel. <i>That's</i> honesty.<br /><br />But to each their own, right?Tony Laplumehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07854455859399339169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-76066417678894560512015-05-03T13:31:51.575-07:002015-05-03T13:31:51.575-07:00Tony: Because sometimes I do like the writing very...Tony: Because sometimes I do like the writing very much. For instance, I read, initially, Briane Pagel, Bryan Pedas, and Brandon Meyers all because they were "blogger buddies," and I love their stuff. If I had not decided to read other bloggers' books, I would never have found them. And there have been some other books I liked (I really enjoyed CassaStar, for another instance). So there's that. The rest of it I have talked about so many times, I'm not going to try to go back through it here. I have multiple posts about why I take the approach I take, and I stand by it.<br /><br />As for situations like this, well, they are extremely unfortunate and are the reasons many people stay away from indie books. Author tantrums (even if they are about other author's books) do nothing but drive readers away. But, now, I'm going to do a post about that question, so I'll get into the rest of the answer there.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-9692251488880869072015-05-03T00:23:25.165-07:002015-05-03T00:23:25.165-07:00The main thrust in the eaten comment was me wonder...The main thrust in the eaten comment was me wondering why you read so many blogger buddy books. You don't seem to like the writing very much. Which leads to a lot of reviews like this. Personally (and I say this because this is literally what I did myself), I would suggest maybe not reading these books anymore. It causes you misery. It leads to reviews where you spend most of the time complaining about everything you hate (which is fine), and will sometimes lead to reactions like this (which is also fine, but in the grand scheme somewhat unnecessary). The main result in reading these books seems to be making the same kinds of observations across multiple books. You may <i>think</i> you're doing the writer and/or the reader a favor, but...maybe not?Tony Laplumehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07854455859399339169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-71404631439823544912015-05-03T00:16:20.480-07:002015-05-03T00:16:20.480-07:00Tony: Yeah, I didn't get any other comment fro...Tony: Yeah, I didn't get any other comment from you beyond the two that are here.<br />Walking away is fine. I agree that it's eaten too much time.<br /><br />At any rate, if you have a specific issue with the way I review, let me know what it is. Which isn't to say I will necessarily change anything, but I will look at it. Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-76383301655950917592015-05-03T00:05:17.837-07:002015-05-03T00:05:17.837-07:00Well, crap.
I don't want to write all of that...Well, crap.<br /><br />I don't want to write all of that out again. Bottom line is, I was addressing the <i>Lyon's Legacy</i> review. And I'm just going to walk away. (Suffice to say, what was eaten was not merely stating, "And I'm just going to walk away.") This whole nonsensical business has already swallowed enough attention...Tony Laplumehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07854455859399339169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-14785676898304483512015-05-03T00:03:17.700-07:002015-05-03T00:03:17.700-07:00Wait. This is a test. Was my last comment eaten ...Wait. This is a test. Was my last comment eaten accidentally?Tony Laplumehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07854455859399339169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-16257330793014023992015-05-01T14:15:47.038-07:002015-05-01T14:15:47.038-07:00Alex H: Yeah, I did have to disengage from the Ama...Alex H: Yeah, I did have to disengage from the Amazon thing. Initially, I was just saying, "Nope, not a revenge thing," but he started flinging that same kind of "well, you're just an idiot" stuff. Oh, well. On the plus side, it seems that Amazon has been routinely removing his repeated "FAKE REVIEW!" comments, so that's good.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-26695311689195922072015-05-01T14:12:14.226-07:002015-05-01T14:12:14.226-07:00ABftS: Well, to be fair, he didn't do it to -a...ABftS: Well, to be fair, he didn't do it to -all- of my books (yet), but I do think he's lost four of the fingers off of his counting hand if thinks he did it to only one.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-86117657766087579962015-05-01T14:07:18.919-07:002015-05-01T14:07:18.919-07:001. As far as I know you were the only one to have ...1. As far as I know you were the only one to have an issue with links from Squid's thing. I did actually check with him about it, and he and everyone else apparently were arriving at the correct posts from the links I left.<br />2. I don't remember anything from Lee's blog.<br />3. The calendar thing varies by culture, but, traditionally, American culture (along with huge sections of the world) has observed Sunday as the first day of the week, hence its calendar placement.<br />4. I don't actually review books as I would deal with a student's paper. Rather, I approach books from a literary criticism standpoint, one of the things I studied in my degree. Which is why I point out both what I like and don't like, which is what criticism is. It just so happens that I also teach and can draw comparisons.<br />5. Which brings me to the "shitty review," and I'm assuming we're talking about the review of Pat's book, here. Actually, that doesn't matter. All of my reviews are in the same vein and tone, so if that review was "shitty," all of them are, which is fine if that's what you think. I get that many people don't like my reviews because I do approach what I read from a criticism standpoint (again, "criticism" being a literary criticism standpoint where I am looking at both the positive and the negative (It just so happens that I found nothing positive about Pat's book, which is why I didn't finish reading it)). If you are specifically pointing out that some particular review I did was "shitty," you will have to tell me what differentiated it for you, because I don't see any qualifying difference.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-72487004501626972032015-05-01T06:41:30.832-07:002015-05-01T06:41:30.832-07:00I still stand by what I said... that To Kill A Moc...I still stand by what I said... that To Kill A Mockingbird is overrated. Oh, and also about Pat. I'm not sure what he's trying to accomplish by sending out hundreds of nasty comments, and I'm sure he'll leave some snarky comment to me just for replying to this post, but I don't care. He'll go away eventually. And I don't know if he truly thinks that you're out to get him, but seeing as how he comments angrily on your posts literally hundreds of times, has changed all of his reviews on your books to be negative, and even had his sister give all of your books BS one star reviews... I'd take a look at myself, Pat, and see who the <i>real</i> aggressor is here.A Beer for the Showerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17029139745335325356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-12881116370414672742015-05-01T05:43:45.648-07:002015-05-01T05:43:45.648-07:00I don't even remember the thing we disagreed a...I don't even remember the thing we disagreed about (other than how Armchair Squid's book club was operating; in all fairness, at the time I tried to address that situation, every single time I clicked on a link you had provided, it was not to a book review, and I checked multiple times, coming up with the same result, although later you did start providing appropriate links). I remember the one time I was vocal on Arlee Bird's blog far better, and that was a fiasco. <br /><br />I still don't get how you consider "the official start of the week." The only indicator I know of that goes with your thought process is how a calendar displays the week. I have no idea why it's set up that way. In this regard, you have information I lack completely. Maybe this isn't all that important.<br /><br />As far as the book, and your review of it, goes, maybe constructive criticism <i>isn't</i> mandated in a review. Having now gotten a crash-course in how you review (you are definitely a teacher, which is sometimes not a good thing in responding to the outside world the way you do a student's assignment; it can come off as kind of rude regardless of whether or not you mean it that way, rude as in smarmy or completely needless, having, thusly, every reason to be summarized in a phrase such as: the author's grammar leaves something to be desired, or what have you).<br /><br />I don't really want to delve further into the Andrew/Pat dualism other than to say: You fixate on things, too. You know this. You wrote it into this whole post. Pat fixates. You fixate. We all fixate! But both of you have a hard time moving past something. And you both have a knack for surrounding yourselves with very forgiving friends. You're lucky to be able to be hypercritical about a book you otherwise like, and the author being okay with that. You seem to have no idea. This is not typical unless you're an actual critique partner or comparable collaborator. <br /><br />And yes, this is also a good time to acknowledge that you are fallible. Aren't you the guy arguing that book reviews should be honest? Honesty, then, a very essential virtue. We all know this. Step back. Be honest. Use this as something to help improve yourself.<br /><br />As in: It was a shitty review. You can rationalize all you want, but it was a shitty review. We all understand why you did it, and you have perfectly valid reasons. But, it was a shitty review.<br /><br />Continue making honest reviews. But make them better.Tony Laplumehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07854455859399339169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-72831854003596072852015-04-30T21:18:17.243-07:002015-04-30T21:18:17.243-07:00Yet you still feel the need to comment here, to me...Yet you still feel the need to comment here, to me.<br /><br />Actually, I was following it. For a while, I understood your position. Given the timing, it could definitely feel like a revenge review, but Andrew's review made statements that never attacked you, personally.<br /><br />As I said in my reply, how those comments ended up removed (whether by a spam filter or Andrew physically removing them) is besides the point. This is his personal space. And you can't really be surprised that he would devote another post to you given the response you've given him.<br /><br />I'm in a position of knowing nothing about you or your work, except that I've seen your name on this blog, and a few others in the blogosphere. I really have no opinion of you (not meant derogatorily, just as a notion that I am not going to judge you for better or worse because I have no real framework to go off of, except from the hundred comments of "hypocrite" that you left here). <br /><br />As far as the Amazon review incident, I'm inclined to believe that Amazon removed them on their own. They don't like authors commenting on threads, but like I said, I'm not really wanting to get involved with this.<br /><br />My philosophy on book reviews is different from Andrew's. He could tell you that much. When I read, I read as a reader, not a writer, and if I feel something wasn't working, I don't comment about it like someone needs to 'learn' something, because honestly, it's not my call to make. However, that doesn't mean his technique is invalid. Look at any review he's left. Tone and content is consistent. He didn't single you out.Alex Hursthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05556334141936498897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-9173268116183306992015-04-30T20:25:26.501-07:002015-04-30T20:25:26.501-07:00You know nothing. I made 100 comments because he ...You know nothing. I made 100 comments because he was deleting all my comments. I thought maybe if I made enough one of them would stick. But nope, he's still at it. On the bright side, it does make him take a few minutes out of his day to remove the comments. And as far as "obsession" goes I probably spend more time on the toilet each day than commenting on this pathetic blog.PT Dillowayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09394481476862013009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-71066550105959495012015-04-30T19:34:54.956-07:002015-04-30T19:34:54.956-07:00Yeah, I was getting notifications of every comment...Yeah, I was getting notifications of every comment he left on that review post as well. I think it was over 100 emails overnight on the second day, or something like that? <br /><br />I assume when you comment that much, Blogger would send you to the spam filter, or they were being removed (by you, which is fine), or maybe he's been blacklisted... In any case, there was a special amount of obsession on that one. <br /><br />I'm not sure I would have personally had any sort of conversation with him on Amazon, but that's just me. I tend to not engage anyone whose only intent is vitriol. Alex Hursthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05556334141936498897noreply@blogger.com