Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - bookivore

Pages: [1] 2
1
Display Case / Re: Things Harry Dresden Is No Longer Allowed to Do
« on: November 06, 2008, 09:50:25 PM »
Ok but then who is Aunt Harriet? Maybe his landlady?
I'm not quite remembering Aunt Harriet's personality, but would Murphy's mother work?

2
Display Case / Re: Things Harry Dresden Is No Longer Allowed to Do
« on: November 05, 2008, 04:30:32 AM »
I am not Mr. Wizard and Carlos isn't Jimmy

I am not Batman, neither Thomas nor Carlos are Robin the Boy Wonder, Molly isn't Batgirl, Ebeneezer isn't the Commissioner, my Lab isn't the Batcave, the BlueBeetle is not the Batmobile, my blasting rod is not a Batarang, Bob isn't Alfred, Lara isn't Catwoman,  and Mouse isn't the Bat-Hound.


3
Display Case / Re: Things Harry Dresden Is No Longer Allowed to Do
« on: October 31, 2008, 01:48:41 PM »
I am not allowed to gather my allies together and detail a plan with a cobbled-together attack vehicle and a classic pincher attack
Nor am I allowed to gloat "I love it when a plan comes together" after all the baddies are blown away

This is only because everyone is a spoilsport and they ganged up to put me in a straitjacket the last time I did it.

4
DF Books / Re: Shirt Quotes: Buy Dresden Stuff!
« on: October 01, 2008, 11:52:58 PM »
or something about the hot tub
One of the best ones is "If I wished to kill you, my host, your blood would be seeping from your broken corpse and mixing with the rain on the sidewalk"

But that's a little over the top for a tshirt.

5
Display Case / Re: Things Harry Dresden Is No Longer Allowed to Do
« on: August 15, 2008, 03:15:27 AM »
I also will not pause while shooting at Denarians and complain that there's nothing as worthless as a plugged nickel
If we happen to kill the tree girl Denarian, I will not loudly warn people not to take any wooden nickels

Nor will I spend most of my fights with Denarians alternating cliches with the line "To coin a phrase".  Unless it gets Nick so irritated that he just has to stop and tell me that if you utter a cliche, you are not saying something new, and therefore you are not coining a phrase.  So I will utterly ignore my own pledge and coin phrases at Nick until he turns purple.

6
Display Case / Re: Things Harry Dresden Is No Longer Allowed to Do
« on: August 13, 2008, 07:39:24 PM »
But having him hold them off with a cross while yelling "YOU. SHALL NOT PASS!" is not ok.
When Molly is studying for finals, I am totally NOT allowed to look grave, get her to ask what's wrong, and say "You.  Shall Not.  Pass."

7
Author Craft / Re: ARC question
« on: August 04, 2008, 02:53:25 AM »
ARCS are often large paperbacks with promotional stuff on the covers identifying them as ARCs, saying when they will come out, etc if they are for hardcovers.  I expect the publisher has less expense than for the hardcover but doesn't have to reformat the text like they would have to do for a MM paperback.


8
Author Craft / Re: The shape of a story, particularly the start
« on: July 23, 2008, 01:40:47 PM »
To add my 2 cents:

Look with deep suspicion on anything you put in just because the reader needs to know it.  As the author, you need to know it.  Your main character might not need to know it, most of the people he's bugging with questions might not need to know it, and the character who DOES know it will act on that knowledge and let it leak somehow or another.

On the opposite hand, don't keep secrets about what the POV character thinks he's doing.  If he's sitting around drinking because he's trying not to think about how he just was dumped, that's what he's thinking about and it should at least be hinted at. 

So from this argument, you could open with a lot of description of messy apartment, beer cans, and the guy opening another one and pretending he's just watching TV while you clue in the reader with some line like "I hadn't watched the Friday lineup for months, since Sue always wanted to go barhopping on Friday - let's not think about Sue."  But pretty soon you need to introduce the current problem that he's going to start dealing with.

If the problem is that he's in the witness protection program and his cover is right now being blown you do NOT have to open with any history about that.  He's sitting there trying not to think about Sue when there are gunshots in the street and he reacts from what he already knows - and he'll be explaining things by his assumptions.

9
Author Craft / Re: Any thoughts on planning out a paranormal mystery?
« on: July 08, 2008, 03:41:41 AM »
I'm 20 pages into my new script. It's a paranormal detective story..and I've just realized that I'm getting way too much influence from Dresden.

Does anyone have any thoughts on planning out a paranormal mystery? Or hell..any type of mystery for that matter. 'cause I keep hitting wall after wall with this one.

Your main character (detective or sidekick) needs to be able to observe everything relevant to the mystery, but keep his thinking to himself so he can surprise the reader.  Harry does that by being a pain and sometimes leaving out relevant bits when giving directions to other characters, etc. (Like, 'So I placed a phone call and got things arranged' without actually saying what the heck he's arranging).

Sometimes it's easier to use a sidekick who doesn't actually figure out what's going on until the detective explains it.

Your suspects all need decent, visible reasons to want the dead guy dead (or whatever the mystery is), and access / ability to use the murder weapon, and so on.  In a mystery you're not just plotting for the hero and the antagonist but for the other however many suspects.  If you give them all reasons to mess with the detective aside from wanting to be cleared of suspicion, so they can keep on messing with him.

10
Author Craft / Re: What Causes Endless Night? Anyone know?
« on: July 08, 2008, 03:22:17 AM »
To black out just the city - and be spooky -

One set of ideas, for actually preventing the light from getting there:

1) Light bending field effect that distributes the sunlight elsewhere.
2) Invisible Sunlight eating monsters floating above the city
3) The city has somehow become repulsive/super reflective to sunlight (very similar to 1 but the magic has been cast on 'the city' rather than 'above the city')

Spooky ways to have the populace see no sunlight

4) Illusion that sunlight does not exist has been cast upon people in the city.  Their plants, pets, etc have no such problem.  Then there's the question of whether their disbelief in sunlight leads to protection from sunburn, etc.
5) Experimental Protection spell has been misapplied and the people are now protected from sunlight, direct or reflected.






11
DF Books / Re: Shirt Quotes: Buy Dresden Stuff!
« on: July 08, 2008, 12:34:18 AM »
On the front,

How about Harry in his bathrobe and stole, surrounded by wizards in their black robes

"Hey, I'm supposed to wear a robe.  We all are."

or how about

"You said the whole swill-spouting pack of lollygagging skunkwallows could transform one another into clams, for all you cared."

On the back, something like,

"The White Council.  Love, respect, and magic-cutting head-chopping swords."




12
Display Case / Re: Things Harry Dresden Is No Longer Allowed to Do
« on: July 03, 2008, 11:48:25 PM »
Unless they're hot.  Gigidy-gigidy  ;D

(sorry, it had to be done)
Is there something burning around here? Shall we try out the water gun of extreme disgust, with garlic.

Harry is also not allowed to randomly squirt Thomas with garlic water just in case a Black Court vampire has got to him.

13
Display Case / Re: Things Harry Dresden Is No Longer Allowed to Do
« on: July 02, 2008, 06:53:30 PM »
Besides, the little geeks laughed at me for that little problem with the broom spell.  I will not give snarky little Harry Pottery geeks a ride on the Dresden Broom of Doom, no matter how much they deserve it.

(Sorry if it's been done before...)

-I'm no longer allowed at Harry Potter conventions. Fun though it was showing those goons some REAL magic...
  a) was kicked out for being a potential Death Eater.
  b) was kicked out for being a Lord of the Rings fan.
  c) was kicked out for stealing the name "Harry".
  d) was carried out on a stretcher by the few dual fans of Potter and Dresden who felt sorry for the poor thing and forbade him going back.
  e) was kicked out for making some wise-@$$ed crack.
  f) was kicked out for burning down the building. (DING! DING! DING! WE HAVE A WINNER!)

14
Display Case / Re: Things Harry Dresden Is No Longer Allowed to Do
« on: June 23, 2008, 11:49:52 PM »
To get back on topic:

Next time a baddie chains him up, Harry cannot offer to connect him up with the Handcuffs of the Month Club.
Or say, "Thorn Bracelets?  Hey, thanks, just 2 more sets and I'll be able to tie up the whole White Council."

15
Display Case / Re: Things Harry Dresden Is No Longer Allowed to Do
« on: June 20, 2008, 07:21:20 PM »
Oh, that one inspired me-
Quote
I will not set up a blind date between Ebenezar and Kincaid.

How about I will not set up a blind date between Ebenezar and Murphy's Mom?

Pages: [1] 2