babarnett: (dr. horrible ahhhh)
babarnett ([personal profile] babarnett) wrote2010-06-07 09:49 pm

Five Random Things Make a Post

1. Gaaaaaah!  That sums up recent weeks for me and explains my scattered internet presence as of late.

2. As a dreadfully slow reader, I cower when faced with a book large enough to bludgeon someone to death with.  So when I recently saw a book review on Amazon that began by expressing disappointment at the sheer size of the novel, I thought I had found a kindred spirit--until it turned out that their disappointment stemmed from 400 pages being far too short for their tastes.

3. I forget what got me thinking about this the other day, but it's fascinating how sometimes, because of cliches and expectations, the change of one minor detail in what is otherwise the same exact story can garner totally different reactions.  One story of mine originally included a drug-induced dream sequence with a talking cat.  After two rejections bemoaned it as being yet another talking cat story, I changed the cat to a pug.  I believe I quite literally did a find-and-replace of "cat" for "pug" in the document.  Next rejection? "The talking pug was great."

4. Story passed up the editorial food chain at Realms of Fantasy.  *squees while crossing fingers*

5.  *Looks at pile of critiques that need to be done* Gaaaaah!

[identity profile] marshallpayne1.livejournal.com 2010-06-08 02:29 am (UTC)(link)
Cool deal on #4, Barbara. Fingers crossed. :-)

[identity profile] babarnett.livejournal.com 2010-06-08 01:58 pm (UTC)(link)
I appreciate the finger crossing, Marshall!

[identity profile] rose-lemberg.livejournal.com 2010-06-08 03:35 am (UTC)(link)
Fingers, toes and random hairs crossed on #4!

[identity profile] babarnett.livejournal.com 2010-06-08 01:59 pm (UTC)(link)
That's a lot of crossing. :) Thanks!

[identity profile] musingaloud.livejournal.com 2010-06-08 03:42 am (UTC)(link)
I'll have to remember that. Next time I have a singing fish story, I'll just change it to a rapping crawdad. ;=D

Good luck with RoF!

[identity profile] isleburroughs.livejournal.com 2010-06-08 04:01 am (UTC)(link)
*giggles*

[identity profile] babarnett.livejournal.com 2010-06-08 02:00 pm (UTC)(link)
The Rapping Crawdad. Good title. :)

And thanks for the luck!

[identity profile] isleburroughs.livejournal.com 2010-06-08 04:01 am (UTC)(link)
Yay! Me too. All appendages and eyes crossed :D

[identity profile] babarnett.livejournal.com 2010-06-08 02:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks! I'm impressed so many of my flisters can still type with all of these body parts crossed. :)

[identity profile] isleburroughs.livejournal.com 2010-06-09 02:41 am (UTC)(link)
:D Lots of practice.

[identity profile] bondo-ba.livejournal.com 2010-06-08 01:35 pm (UTC)(link)
#2 is interesting. I'm subscribed to Easton Press' "Masterpieces of Science Fiction" series, and one of the things that always seems surpriising is that so many of the genre's greatest books are actually quite short.

And good luck at RoF!

[identity profile] babarnett.livejournal.com 2010-06-08 02:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Good, that means I have a chance in hell of getting through the genre's greatest books. :)

I forget which particular book this review I saw was for, but it was fantasy, and I get the impression the reviewer was a fan of the Great Big Honking Fantasy ouevre where 400 pages is chapter one.

And thanks for the good luck!