Wednesday, April 9th, 2008
Ever wonder what the earth might look like if vegetables took over the world? Carl Warner has:
So has Octavia Butler. She wrote an entire sf trilogy that involves spaceships, genetics, aliens trying to take over the world, and interesting ways of generating food (and people). She’s one of my favorite all-time authors. Her novel, Parable of the Sower, made it on my top ten favorite apocalyptic novels.
I saw Warner’s artwork on io9.com and felt inspired to share this with all of you. Something about his inventiveness and attention to detail captures my imagination and makes me want to write stories set in strange worlds like the ones he’s created. As I was writing this post though, I realized that while amazing, Warner’s foodscapes are not as novel as I had first thought.
Something about the nightmare idea of food taking over the world just-makes-sense.
Don’t believe me? Check out Shawn Hendriks post on Enslaved by Corn. Or The Ominvore’s Dilemma, or, or… well, maybe Warner’s artwork isn’t meant to be political. I mean, it is an imaginary world of broccoli trees, milk waterfalls, and biscuit mountains, but still, remember what happened to those greedy kids in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Bad things. Bad, bad things.
Thanks goes to io9 for finding Carl Wagner’s collection of foodscapes. Can’t say I’d want a bite out of Warner’s broccoli tree, plus the biscuit mountain looks a little tough to chew, but check out Warner’s full gallery of foodscapes. I wouldn’t mind spending lunchtime in his Tuscan Market.
Warner’s art looks like what might happen if the Smurfs had a threesome with the Twilight Zone and Charlie & the Chocolate factory. Come to think of it, UNICEF already imagined what that threesome might look like:
So what do you think? The Vegetable Apocalypse: a disturbingly accurate prophecy of our not-to-distant future, or does it make you want to keep a bowl of ranch dressing handy?
Posted in Art In Writing, Novel Escapes | 1 Comment »
Friday, February 29th, 2008
“Writer’s block is a phenomenon involving temporary loss of ability to begin or continue writing, usually due to lack of inspiration or creativity.”
There are writerly ways of overcoming the blank page, or you can Hack Your Way out of Writer’s Block.
But if you had only one sheet of paper, you could…
or this
or this
Or this
Each image is made from a single sheet of paper and an amazing imagination (in this case, Peter Callesen’s).
For more beautiful single sheet art visit: A Single Sheet of Paper and Peter Callesen’s selected works.
No matter how you try to overcome that blank page, keep in mind Steve Martin’s famous quote:
“I think I did pretty well, considering I started out with nothing but a bunch of blank paper.”
Now please excuse me. I’ve figured out how to fix my first novel and I need to find a pair of scissors.
Posted in Art In Writing, Novel Escapes | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, February 5th, 2008
I meant to post this on Monday evening, but my husband, dog and I held a dance contest to Touareg Rock n’ Roll music that took up the entire evening. So you get this on Tuesday instead.
I’m not guaranteeing you’ll read 291,000 books before you die (by the way, that’s the number of separate titles published per year in 2006), but this post does contain a few resources and strategies to find those books worth reading, versus those worth tossing against a wall – without spending too much money or time.
You don’t even need to have the same reading tastes as me to try it.
I wish every book recommended to me, every novel I came across, every non-fiction resource I purchased, was the BEST thing I’ve ever read.
I wish every book made me think, “Oh boy was I lucky to buy it in the trade paperback version for $15 because I would have paid the publishing company $100 to read and own that book – those suckers. What a steal!”
There are only so many books one person can buy and read before he or she goes bankrupt, or dies. Over 40,000 separate titles of fiction books were published in 2006 alone:
A lot of those books suck.
Maybe you can afford to buy books without worrying about price or quality, but I’m poor.
The $15 to $25 price tag per book makes me want to cry when I look at a stack of 5 books that I must immediately possess.
Even used book store prices become extravagant when I’ve gathered a stack of 12 books and I’m afraid to put any of them back. What if I don’t remember the title? What if I just re-shelved the BEST book ever to save 4 dollars?
But what if I buy that stack of books and then end up hating one, or two, or eight of them? I’ve spent good money on books I can’t return, and now feel obligated to slog through horrible stories.
Did I mention I’m an abibliophobic bookworm?
If you share a similar affliction, here are some tips on how to feed the addiction without wasting anymore time and money on a bad book.
Local public libraries receive a bad rap for a variety of reasons (no funding, few open hours, not enough books), but I’m impressed with Sacramento’s system. I can search through the online catalog and access books located in both California and Nevada. After I request it, the book is shipped to the library of my choice. In my case, a library less than 2 miles from my house. And it’s all free. And I can request up to 50 titles at a time.
With access to more than 9 million books, they fulfill more than 80% of my searches. Usually every book except for the ones published in the current year.
Did I say this was a FREE online service the library provides? See if your public library offers something similar (watch out for late fees).
With John Udell’s Library Lookup you can surf almost any website and use a bookmark to check if a book is available to reserve at your library of choice, without leaving the page. One window, one bookmark, one click of the mouse.
When I’m surfing Amazon and see a book that makes me want to hit that “Buy Now” button, I hit my customized bookmark and check it out from the library instead.
Make sure to check out John Udell’s Library Lookup. It’s revolutionary! (Ok, well, maybe not revolutionary, but it is a great time saver). Make sure to visit Blogging Basics 101 for helpful instructions on how to create this bookmark in both Internet Explorer and Firefox.
If your public library isn’t as cool as mine, try out WorldCat.org. It’s kind of like a database of library databases. Enter in your zip code to locate the book in the library nearest you.
I once searched for a specific out of print book on trophy hunting (research for writing Rhinoceros Summer). I couldn’t find it anywhere even though I knew it existed. I tried WorldCat and discovered one library in Tanzania was the only location known to keep that title on its shelves. This Tanzanian library does not offer an inter-library loan program with Sacramento, but I was still awestruck that WorldCat found that one copy.
I may reserve 50 books at time, but I rarely read them from cover to cover. Instead, I lay them out in stacks on the coffee table and begin my system of sifting, skimming and judging. I separate the books into two piles (“buy!” and “Stop! Don’t do it!”).
I record everything on two lists. I input the “to buy” books into my Amazon wishlist. I enter the others into a searchable Excel sheet so I don’t forget they were duds.
This helps me avoid the impulse purchase. It also calms my fears about being haunted by the-novel-that-got-away.
I have a finite number of years to read all the books worth reading. The above are just a few strategies I use to determine whether a book is worth skimming, tossing across the room, or buying to relish every word until the end – all without breaking the bank.
My one wish is for the library to allow more than 50 requests at a time. *sigh*
Note: I think it is important to purchase new books. The library is a great “first line of defense” to find those books and authors worth supporting.
What are your strategies? Any tips of your own to share?
Posted in Novel Escapes | No Comments »