Month: September 2004

I know the last thing I need are more distractions, that I need to concentrate on things like writing and what I’m going to do if I can’t find a job — and that I really don’t have a lot of disposable income at the moment — but I have to say, Fable looks really cool.

Back when I was in high school, I read Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire. When a classmate asked me to describe it, I remember saying that, while it was a two- or three-hundred page book, it felt like it was five- or six-hundred. It wasn’t terrible, but I remember it mostly as slow and somewhat…lethargic. It was a bit of a slog.

There are those who say it’s all been downhill since then.

I don’t know. I’ve never felt any great compulsion to read the other books in her Vampire series (or any of the others), and the compulsion I had to watch the film of Queen of the Damned wasn’t exactly what I’d call rewarding. Maybe the books are okay, maybe they’re piles of dren. But, regardless, I think it’s foolhardy for Rice to start attacking readers for not liking her latest book, Blood Canticle. It’s probably even more foolhardy for her to boast that she won’t let an editor near her manuscripts — especially since, from what I’ve seen of her writing online, she’s in need of at least a proofeader.

Again, I haven’t read the other books in the series or this latest one, but Rice’s proud declaration that she feels “utter contempt” for her Amazon readers hasn’t left me too eager to continue. As Neil Gaiman points out, it’s probably best for authors to “resist the urge to put [responses like this] to paper.”

Found through Thudfactor, this offer bears some further consideration.

It’s apparently legit, and there are similiar offers for free desktop PCs and flatscreens out there, but I don’t know. A free iPod or new computer sounds great, and a two-week trial subscription to something like Blockbuster’s version of Netflix isn’t a high price to pay. But I’m not sure I can (or want) to convince five other people to join up, too.

According to FreeiPodGuide.com, I would need to “refer 5 friends and have them complete 1 offer each”, but I’m not exactly interested in being referrals for any of them — because I’d then need to sign up for another bunch of trial subscriptions. Are there five people out there willing to be referrals, willing to sign up for subscriptions, if I won’t do the same for them?

Or am I just misunderstanding the whole thing?

Spammers could probably choose a better target than long-forgotten comment threads here or on my all but forotten book log, don’t you think? I guess I should at least be happy that they’re that desperate and stupid.

Although, speaking of my book log, I am finally getting around to updating it some.