By: David Elzey,
on 9/13/2014
by Ann E. Briated illustrated by Allie Ogg Bailiwick Press 2014 No. Wrong. Sorry. Not for kids. Terrible parody with no redeeming qualities. Seriously. You would be hard pressed to find a parody of a children's classic more tone deaf and misguided as this. The idea of a children's book parody should have echoes of childhood skewered with a winking eye. Goodnight Brew seems to labor under
Crap. Crap. Crap. I write crap. I write crap in the beginning and I write crap at the end and then I fill the middle with crap. There is crap in every moment of starring at the blank page and then pretending to have something to say. I don’t have anything to say. I don’t have any grace in saying nothing either. I don’t know my characters. Hello strangers. Crap to you. I don’t know my setting. Crappy rooms and crappy lawns and crappy car. I don’t have a story or themes. I have—yes you guessed it—crap
Some days are like this.
Some days are like a storm beating against your small and delicate craft. You are on a rough sea. Some would say, but not me because I am not so crude, that you are on a sea of rough crap. What can you do? Batten down the hatches, stay inside, and ride it out. In the immortal words of Scarlett O’Hara, a kiss-off to the rise and fall of civilization and the daily struggle, “Tomorrow is another day.”
By: Steve Novak,
on 10/29/2008
I dislike busy weeks, I really do, and the last couple have been among the busiest in quite some time. The good news is that I have dedicated myself to finishing a first draft of my novel before the year ends.
Can I do it? Yes.
Will I do it? That remains to be seen.
I've reached the climax of the story and I can see the end in sight, the problem is simply finding time to write these days. Overall I think it's a pretty solid first draft thus far. It's basically a fantasy story about some kids who end up in another world (which has been done a billion times) but I think how they get there, and what happens when they do are both different and interesting. While it's fantasy, at the same time it's a story about terrible father figures, family, fate, and faith (which is a bit strange seeing as I am by no means whatsoever a religious man) so it works on a few different levels.
Or maybe it doesn't, I don't know. Maybe it's total crap.
Anyway, crap or no crap I'm going to finish the thing before January 1st rolls around.
The sketch above is a very rough sort of outline of a possible book cover. (Really just an excuse to draw some of the characters.)
Wow, Brian.
Never has anyone so adequately stated how I feel about my writing on some, okay many, days. It's refreshing to know that real, live published writers feel this way too, and that they admit it.
Thanks, Marie. We agree on the crap factor in writing.
The crap factor. You should copyright that. Defined as those days every writers has where they feel like every word they write is useless and will surely have to be edited away.
We could have crap factor days when writers across America join in a celebration of misery. It's a beautiful thought.
thanks for putting a smile on my face. this really did give me a good chuckle. i think this crap factor is what keeps many "could be's" out of business. they just don't have the shovel they need to dig their way out of the crap!!
Just saw this. Thanks, Noel.