Kind of loopy today

[cleolinda]

So in the middle of trying to put this e-book annotation thing together, I'm also slipping away to work on Black Ribbon (which is probably the most fun way to work on something--sneaking off like you're having an affair with it), and I've just realized that I do something really weird when it comes to minor characters. I don't create a character and then eventually go, "You know, I think I need to kill this one off." (Okay, that did actually happen with one character. It's probably going to happen more frequently as I progress through the series.) See, usually I imagine vaguely outlined scenes with--red shirts, I guess you'd call them--and then go back and give them personalities so it's not totally obvious which one is going to get killed when that scene comes around. And also, so you'll at least be a little invested in them. But the purpose of the character, as originally conceived, is to die at some point. The problem then is that I give them just enough personality that I get interested and it's like, "Now I don't want to kill him! DAMMIT!" There's at least one newish minor character who started out this way and ended up being so awesome (in my own mind, I mean) that she actually got a somewhat expanded role for the rest of the series. You know, instead of being killed halfway through the first book. Meanwhile, I still need someone to bite it in that earlier scene.

So now I've got a very minor character who still manages to have a fairly significant Death Scene of a Minor Antagonist at the end, and he needs a name (a particular nationality), I have an idea of his background, and it's slowly occurring to me that he's actually one of the smarter antagonists--killing off someone stupid really isn't that interesting, and also, it's less likely that an idiot would have made it this far--and now I don't want to let him go. But the fact that I don't want to let him go suggests that killing him off would, in fact, be pretty effective. SHIT.

(I must sound like a total space cadet, that I haven't settled these things out five years into the writing of this book. Look, the story is, in part, about a shadowy gang of criminals. You're not supposed to know them very well yet; the ones who survive, you get to know better in the next books. So it's kind of about having these characters run by now and then in very quick bursts--the challenge is to sketch them as vividly as you can in the fewest words possible, without dragging the story down--and I decided to let the rest of the story, the majority of it, the part that's actually about the heroes and the major antagonist(s), develop and then see what that story required of the henchmen, essentially. My process is weird, what can I say.)

Meanwhile, a request from nerves_patterns: "I'll be teaching a freshman comp course, and I'm basing my teaching of rhetorical analysis and using blogging in the classroom around the theme 'Going Viral' - as in, viral marketing, the proliferation of memes, analyzing these methods of communication, etc." So, know of some good viral campaigns?

(Man, I suck for not already having a "viral marketing" tag, since I love it so much.)

Linkspam!

Bill Melendez, animator for the "Peanuts" specials, dies at 91.

Publisher Shakeups at Random House and Hachette.

City Room: Will the Cupcake Craze Fizzle Out? See, the trick here would be to figure out what the next portable baked goods trend will be, and jump on that now. Me, I'd put my money on petits fours.

Slash says Velvet Revolver singer search is 'still ongoing.' This is yet another band, by the way, supporting my theory that the ultimate band name formula is basically a random adjective and a random noun (see also: Furious Kitten).

Fall books preview: These 10 titles are certain to be 'talkers.'

5 Fall Shows That Could Be Improved With A Little Scifi.

'Fringe' Will Jump The Shark Early And Often, Says J.J. Abrams. That's the spirit!

HBO gets an infusion of Oh-positive 'Blood'; 'True Blood' could pump life into hit-starved HBO.

Exclusive! 'Lost' casts key role. Hey! Forget this New Amsterdam crap, she was Jazira in Hidalgo! LIFETIME PASS ACHIEVED.

Exclusive: Jodie Foster, Anne Hathaway to guest on 'The Simpsons.'

The Hater: Britney Spears' Mom Has So Many Regrets ("And she'll sell them to you for $24.99 Hardcover").

Re: Sienna Miller: Sadie Frost is a bigger person than I could ever be.

Who’s Russell Brand? Find out on the VMAs. Honestly? I didn't know who he was either until I heard his name in passing a couple of months ago.

A Profile of a Profile of Charlie Kaufman.

Images: Exclusive: Images from 'The Brothers Bloom'; New 'City of Ember' Poster Unveiled; 'Rachel Getting Married' Has a Poster; 'My Name is Bruce' One Sheet; New image from 'The Duchess.'

Trailers and clips: Exclusive Clip: See Keira Knightley In ‘The Duchess’; Exclusive Clip: 'Picasso & Braque Go To The Movies'; Watch This: Nine New Clips from 'Choke'; It's Shia LaBeouf's Transformers Happening, And It's Freaking Him Out.

Oscar Update: Australia, Frost/Nixon, Hurt Locker, Milk and More.

From mercat: The Where Is Harvey Dent petition ("To: Gotham City Police Department, we demand the right to know the truth about harvey dent"); Killjoy Aaron Eckhart Settles at Least One Scurrilous 'Batman 3' Casting Rumor. Asked and answered!

Henry Cavill for Superman?

French 'Half-Blood Prince' calendar pics; Rupert Grint and Helena Bonham Carter to star in 'The Wild Target.'

(Some of) the boys of Twilight in the new Cosmo; the Smart Bitches take on Edward Cullen; New Twilight trailers? Scifi.com LIES, these are not new trailers. They are, however, conveniently embedded on the same page if you need to inflict them on any Twilight virgins.

Del Toro Directing 'Hobbit', 'Frankenstein', 'Jekyll' and More.

Was The X-Files Movie A Victim Of Bad Press? ("That damn popular media, paying more attention to all of the overwhelming majority of Americans who decided not to go and see the movie"); 'X-Files' creator Chris Carter hospitalized for exhaustion.

‘G.I. Joe’ Movie Will Reveal ‘Twisted’ Cobra Commander; Mask And Menacing Voice Included.

BREAKING: 'Ghostbusters 3' is (Maybe) ON!

Michael Moore to release 'Slacker Uprising' online for free.

Matt Damon Starring as Eliot Ness for Fincher's 'Torso'?

Fincher's Wrath Over 'Heavy Metal' Remake Could Sink 'Benjamin Button.'

Whitaker and Zellweger Have 'My Own Love Song.'

Tom Cruise Continuing Fun Role Streak with 'Shrek 4'?

Nevada's Free-Movie Lovers Ambushed With 'Valkyrie' Screening.

Bettany and Connelly to Star in 'Creation.'

Exclusive: Mark Strong Cast in Sherlock Holmes. Didn't we know this already? I seem to remember enthusing about him in Stardust a couple of weeks back.

No 'Edge of Darkness' for De Niro.

The Russo Brothers Travel to 'Ciudad.'

‘Magdalena’ Week Continues On Splash Page With Jenna Dewan.

Ashley Judd, 'Tooth Fairy's' Girlfriend. I'm having flashbacks to Red Dragon here, and they ain't pretty.

TIFF Review: 'Rachel Getting Married'; Toronto Review: Guy Ritchie's 'RocknRolla.'

Herzog’s ‘Bad Lieutenant’ Will Reboot Character, Dial Down ‘Judeo-Christian Programming.’

Nicolas Cage Says 'Kick-Ass' Won't Be Gratutiously Violent. Dear God, why would we go see it then?

The 10 Most Bizarre Nicolas Cage Moments To Ever Hit the Screen.

'Hercules' Still Planning a Cinematic Comeback.

Fan Made: Create Your Own Jar Jar Binks Salad. OH GOD WHYYYYY.

Comments

[vilya-eleni.livejournal.com]

"which is probably the most fun way to work on something--sneaking off like you're having an affair with it"

Isn't it the truth though? That's when I enjoy writing the most. When I'm writing something I'm not supposed to be writing. What a perfect way of explaining it, thanks.

[rufus.livejournal.com]

viral marketing -- Pete Wentz (of band Fall Out Boy) just pulled off a (partially accidental) masterwork of viral marketing for the band's new album. Tell her to google "Citizens for Our Betterment" for more, or visit CFOBmania (http://www.cfobmania.com/). It was especially interesting as a *different* band (Copeland) jumped on his train in the middle of the shenanigans in order to viral market *their* new record. The internets went crazy trying to figure it all out. In the end we were rewarded with a mixtape, it was cool.

[missmp.livejournal.com]

The problem then is that I give them just enough personality that I get interested and it's like, "Now I don't want to kill him! DAMMIT!"

Aw, Cleo, how awful that you have to take "murder your darlings" literally!

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Yeah, well, I make sure they go down fighting. : )

[naeelah.livejournal.com]

re: jarjar salad

OH GOD, IT'S LOOKING AT ME. I just got out of the shower, but I think I need another. AAAAAGH.

[hulamoth.livejournal.com]

AAAAAAAAAH I MISSED IT AND THEN JUST LOOKED
WHY?

[word-herder.livejournal.com]

Oooohhhh!!!! Black Ribbon tidbits! Hurrah! Also: "I'm also slipping away to work on Black Ribbon (which is probably the most fun way to work on something--sneaking off like you're having an affair with it)"--hilarious. That's how I used to write in high school. When I was supposed to be doing homework or paying attention in class, I'd be scribbling stories instead.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

DUDE I SO DID THAT. I wrote terrible lovelorn "deep" poems in history class about the boy I was madly in love with who sat two seats to the left and one seat up. Also, I tended to write stories during classes where we were supposed to be taking notes.

[prncssaurora.livejournal.com]

I don't know how I feel about Henry Cavill as Superman, but is it sad that I actually "UNF"ed out loud when I read his name? Such is the power his hotness inflicts upon me. Maybe if Superman were all the time shirtless, I would not be on the fence.

[scarletsherlock.livejournal.com]

Oh god, I did that too!

[innocentsmith.livejournal.com]

From the MTV description of "The Duchess": and now she’s going full-on Victorian...

Georgian totally = Victorian. No difference there at all. I mean, women wore corsets, so that's all you need to know.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

*facepalm*

[queenofattolia.livejournal.com]

See, the trick here would be to figure out what the next portable baked goods trend will be, and jump on that now. Me, I'd put my money on petits fours.

Well, there was an attempt to make weird-flavored doughnuts the next craze, but that fizzled fast (except in Seattle, where I guess they don't mind deep fried gobs flavored with tea or saffron or lemongrass). I think unusual bar cookies could be next (brownies, chocolate chip oookies, scones and muffins have all come and gone) or possibly strange shortbread cookies. Petits fours are probably too labor-intensive to be a widespread trend (speaking from my experience, pastry chefs and bakers like stuff which is easy and cost-effective to produce in mass quantities). We'll see.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

....There's a cupcake craze?
I miss out on everything.

[tabbyclaw.livejournal.com]

I know! The only cupcake craze I had any clue about was that time on Kim Possible when Dr. Drakken took over a cupcake factory to cover up the power drain from his latest doomsday device and ended up making a killing in the pastry business before the low-carb trend bit him in the ass.

I'm not even going to pretend I'm embarrassed to know about that. Good TV is good TV, target demographic be damned.

[hulamoth.livejournal.com]

dudes. I love The X-Files, and I love Frank Spotnitz, and I spent half a year obsessing over this movie prior to its release, but the man has to realize it was not a great movie and that it's not everyone ELSE's fault and move on.


but I love your theory of the perfect bandname.

[angelan.livejournal.com]

Did anyone see the trailers they put on UK tv for The Dutchess? The ad campaign so cringeworthy and awful it actually made the news.

(I still kind of want to see it though. Costume porn! Wheee!)

The cupcake craze will never be over in my kitchen. Nevah!

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Something about Princess Diana? I heard very vaguely about it.

[manekikoneko.livejournal.com]

I watch a lot of UK TV, so I've know who Russell Brand is for a while. We really should be paying more attention over here; the Brits are all, "Yeah, Chris Eccleston/David Tennant/John Barrowman/Russell Tovey/James Sutton/etc. is awesome. You're only just hearing about this? Dude."

My god, I know people who don't even know who Stephen Fry is. That is tragic.

[pigsnicket.livejournal.com]

What! But...but...Stephen Fry is amazing!

[shesnotallthere.livejournal.com]

"Who’s Russell Brand? Find out on the VMAs. Honestly? I didn't know who he was either until I heard his name in passing a couple of months ago."

I love Russell Brand. It's as if Jack Sparrow got tired of piracy and decided to do stand-up instead. It's fucking brilliant.

[msilverstar]

Guy Gavriel Kay was accused of "never meeting a minor character he didn't love" -- and he agreed.

I wrote this about Russell Brand for someone else. The quiz show is "The Big Fat Quiz of the Year":

Russell Brand is a startlingly intelligent British comedian who is tall,
skinny, wears all black and lots of leather, has his hair up in an
utterly ridiculous do, and I find him funny most of the time. He tends
towards obervational rather than embarrassment humor. He sometimes teams
up with another tall skinny black-wearing English guy named Noel Fielding
as The Goth Detectives, on those silly UK TV game shows. Noel is more
about embarrassment and wackiness.

[blackdiamants.livejournal.com]

Team Ravenspawn rocks my fucking world.

[inkytwist.livejournal.com]

Uh... True Blood?

'Sookie is cursed with the ability to read thoughts, which is one of the reasons she falls for the first man whose mind she can't read."

Bill Compton is played by Stephen Moyer ?!

Ohhh honies I cannot wait.

[carmine-rose.livejournal.com]

I have such a crush on Stephen Moyer. Wasn't he also in another vampire thing, Ultraviolet, like 10 years ago?

[barrelgoddess.livejournal.com]

Exclusive! 'Lost' casts key role. Hey! Forget this New Amsterdam crap, she was Jazira in Hidalgo! LIFETIME PASS ACHIEVED.

She was also Gaia in Rome! =O I totally hated the character for what she did, but she played her well and I LOVE Rome, so this makes me happy! Now, if they could just sign Ray Stevenson, too... yum.

(Haha, I KNEW Wicker Man would wind up on that list. God, that was a string of hilarity right there... and I love how they acknowledged that if they didn't limit it to one clip per film, it'd just be that Wicker Man highlight reel. XD)

Bill Melendez, noooooooo~ T_T

[stokerbramwell.livejournal.com]

Ha, I know the guys who made that petition! XD

[anjalilj.livejournal.com]

Hi! I'm a very long time lurker (came for the movies in 15 minutes a few years ago, and stuck around because you never fail to say something that makes my day a bit more cheerful). I know this isn't quite your usual sort of linkspam, but I was wondering if you could drop a link for this anyway: An old classmate of mine from Bryn Mawr College went missing from her New York City apartment a week ago, and hasn't been seen since. Her friends and family are trying to get the word spread as far and wide as possible in the hopes that they'll find someone who's seen her. Here's a link with photos from Daily Intel (http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2008/09/help_find_hannah_upp.html) (a New York news blog) and Neil Gaiman's journal (http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2008/09/please-help-find-missing-person-in-new.html). Thanks a whole bunch in advance. -Anjali

[elbales]

God, that's awful. I hope she turns up safe. My heart really goes out to her family.

[karintheswede]

On portable baked goods - current craze here is macaroons, especially those from Laduree. Pastel almond meringue with filling. They're gorgeous, and pretty difficult to make at home, which may lessen their appeal for the cupcake crowd.

[edda.livejournal.com]

Sookie is cursed with the ability to read thoughts, which is one of the reasons she falls for the first man whose mind she can't read: Civil War-veteran vamp Bill Compton.

Paging Mr. Cullen, paging Mr. Edward Cullen!

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Apparently the show is based on Charlaine Harris's books? Which I can only imagine have been around longer than Twilight? I feel so bad for her now.

[greenfairyels.livejournal.com]

*yay* for Mark Strong. We got to chat with him for a bit at the RockNRolla premiere on Monday and he is on my list as a Thoroughly Nice Chap and a pretty good actor to boot.

Bond

[suzeclues12.livejournal.com]

Finally, the answer to what the title means! Found this in the AJC:

"The title comes from a phrase in an Ian Fleming short story, where someone describes to Bond a relationship that unraveled and what measure of devotion is required to keep love alive.

“I love the idea of it. It applied to where Bond was at the end of the last movie,” Craig said. “The one thing he didn’t have with the relationship was that quantum of solace.”

Re: Bond

[batmaz.livejournal.com]

OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH

You've no idea how much that was bugging me. You are my favourite person today.

[foresthouse.livejournal.com]

Definitely not space cadet, I know exactly what you mean.

We just have to be strong, and take George R.R. Martin for his example (although I curse him every time I think of the Red Wedding scene).

I love petit fours

I also love Henry Cavill. I could see him doing Superman.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Heh. Yeah, I'm not planning any mass slaughter for the future. Right now, all the characters I'm talking about are villains, really--and given the genre, there's obviously going to be a high mortality rate, so I have to make sure it's not just like a video game where they're all interchangeable. "FATALITY!!"

[carmine-rose.livejournal.com]

I've had an idea for raising money using your writing skills that doesn't involve extra writing (so hopefully no extra stress). Have you thought about auctioning off the naming of a charatcer / auctioning off having a named character in The Black Ribbon? Like, someone gets to choose a name for one of your characters (or have themselves inserted in and killed or whatever). Stephen King did it recently, I think with Cell. I bet there are plenty of people who'd bid.

Apologies if this has been suggested before.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Huh, no--no one's suggested that. I might be kind of screwed if someone picks a really un-Victorian name, though. And I don't know what kind of interest there would be in getting a name in a book by a first-time novelist. But yeah, it's a definite idea.

[pinstripe-bindi.livejournal.com]

I wasn't even aware there was some kind of cupcake craze going on. Wow, I was trendy and I didn't even know it.