Russell Kirkpatrick's Journal
Posted At : 2:38 PM
| Posted By : Russell
Related Categories:
Russells' Daily Grind
Mood: Surprised
Now reading: Stephen King - Dark Tower
I'm watching the much vaunted, mighty Australian cricket team fall apart against New Zealand. This is the team whose coach, barely a month ago, complained to the press that he wished there was a side around to give them a good game.
What's gone wrong? Yeah, they've lost a couple of players, but they've always boasted about their depth. The simple fact is they've been reading the papers and they have begun believing what has been written about them.
It's like when the reviews - and especially the fan mail - come rolling in. Publishers say nice things, fans say nice things, and before you know it you begin to believe them. This writing lark is easy. I don't even have to try and the rich prose will just come rolling out.
And, before I know it, I'm being thrashed in the bookstores by some unheralded part-timer.
When I read an enthusiastic letter from a fan, I congratulate them. They're the ones who have worked to get something out of what I've written. It's up to me to continue to write well enough to allow readers to extract enjoyment from my books. And it won't happen if I behave like the Australian cricketers.
Ten wickets *snigger*
If it helps, I can say nasty things about your latest book to keep you grounded. (Although I suppose I should read it first.)
Posted By Ross / Posted At 2/16/07 3:36 PM
<i>And it won't happen if I behave like the Australian cricketers.</i>
Yes. Indeed, so next time you go partying in London, do NOT get the mobile numbers of any strange women *g*
Posted By Sharyn / Posted At 2/16/07 3:52 PM
I know that you are just waiting for me to react to the comments about cricketers, but I am choosing to remain aloof and remind you that serious discussion about Russell's novels and fantasy in general *should* be the order of the day!! (*sob*) :)
Posted By Jo / Posted At 2/16/07 4:45 PM
I'm not noticing the cricket this week. Blame it on flu :).
Also, Australia was never quite as pre-eminent at short games as at tests - if the players forgot they had to pull their socks up and lost, then it's a salutary lesson. Applying this to the craft of writing, it's not the reviews that count, it's the continual energy the writer pours into his/her work. Mind you, the reviews count when they distract you.
Posted By
Gillian / Posted At 2/16/07 5:41 PM
That's good advice, Sharyn. I'll remember it when next I'm in London.
Though I do have the mobile numbers of a few Australian women, and they're all strange. Mostly because they're Canberrans whom I have to ring every time I get lost in Canberra.
You may be right, Gillian, but you wouldn't know it to listen to the Aussie commentators. Even Adam Gilchrist said last week that it didn't matter he and Ponting weren't going to NZ, the team would win anyway. Well, they've lost four games in a row now.
I feel your pain, Jo. But, being a NZ cricket supporter, I have calluses.
Posted By Russell / Posted At 2/16/07 6:15 PM
Canberra women are not strange. At least, I think Canberra women aren't strange. I'm pretty sure it's the rest of the world that's strange.
Posted By
Gillian / Posted At 2/16/07 6:26 PM
come to think of it, the Canberran women we have the mobile numbers for are somewhat strange too. Probably because they know you *g*
Posted By Sharyn / Posted At 2/16/07 6:41 PM
The Canberran women for whom you have mobile numbers, do they have meetings? They sound like either a Lions club or a mafia family...
Russell, I'm not going to ask how you get calluses from being a NZ cricket fan...I sure I just don't want to know! :)
Posted By Jo / Posted At 2/17/07 11:34 AM
Hi Jo, the Canberra women are part of CSFG, which is the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild. They spend all their time in caves hammering out stories on tablets of stone. Actually, they have some spectacular writers in their midst, and every year they run a fabulous convention, called Conflux. Gillian is a member.
They are emotional calluses, earned by being hurt by our cricket team over many years.
Posted By Russell / Posted At 2/17/07 2:49 PM
Hi Jo, note Russell's careful wording. He does not name the spectacular writers. (Kaaron Warren, Maxine McArthur, Kim Westwood.) I don't know if he has their phone numbers, either. I think it's the others of us who are considered strange.
Posted By
Gillian / Posted At 2/17/07 9:08 PM
Modesty prevents Gillian naming herself in that category, but she belongs in it. Spectacular, I mean, not strange. Although ...
Posted By Russell / Posted At 2/18/07 5:36 AM
Having just been on a side trip to visit Gillian's website, how can you suggest she may be strange...after all, she likes "Fiddler on the Roof" and Arthurian history. Now I have to find her book so I can read it :)
Posted By Jo / Posted At 2/18/07 9:54 AM
I hope you do get lots of fan mail Russell as thats a good indication of public appreciation. I can tell you I know of one particular gentleman who is reading Path of Revenge when he is on the toilet.....sorry was that too much information. I thought it meant it was so good he couldn't put it down.....I hope he hadn't run out of toilet paper:-)
Another comment was "you are better than Eddings" having not read Eddings I don't know if that is praise or not.
Posted By Linda / Posted At 2/18/07 4:25 PM
Oh and the cricket.....we have just won the second game....I am sure I saw the Aussie Captain tell Flemming the cheque was in the mail......I am cynical
Posted By Linda / Posted At 2/18/07 4:28 PM
Obviously the gentleman wanted privacy so he could read Russell's work without being bugged by family.
And I have it all worked out: I am spectacularly strange :).
Posted By
Gillian / Posted At 2/18/07 6:07 PM
Apparently even the Australian cricket team has now worked out they have a problem ('Australians are brutally exposed', Sydney Morning Herald, 19/2/07). Perhaps it's this: just like NZ rugby teams, you can't leave out your best players and still expect to win.
Linda, I wish that gentleman many happy hours of constipation.
Posted By Russell / Posted At 2/19/07 3:10 AM
And it continues! This isn't a cricketing blog, but any lover of the sport would have to stand amazed at the spectacle that unfolded tonight. In the place I live, it has to be said. I almost went to watch it, but decided I had to work.
Jo, I feel your pain.
Heh.
Some map stuff to come tomorrow.
Posted By Russell / Posted At 2/20/07 5:31 PM
I'd like to say that we lost because we were missing key players, that we are building up to the World Cup, etc, etc, but truth to say, New Zealand just played better. I mean, 346 should have been enough for us to win, but no, you guys just came out and beat us anyway!! Congratulations!
You should check Jenny Fallon's blog today, she's casting nasturtiums about kiwis!!
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