Blog Posts in "quotes"

A Master Speaks

Posted at 11:49:00 on Sun, July 31st 2005 by graham
in: in the news quotes writing

I was supposed to be finishing up a short story right now before going to spend a nice afternoon watching wonderfully over-the-top musicals with Sarah, but this caught my eye whilst browsing the BBC News feed and I thought I'd share it with you:

The Times: Fantasy's dark arts make for a bestseller

Why is it felt that the continued elevation of J K Rowling can only be achieved at the expense of other writers (Mistress of magic, News Review, last week)? Now we learn that prior to Harry Potter the world of fantasy was plagued with "knights and ladies morris-dancing to Greensleeves." In fact the best of it has always been edgy and inventive, with "the dark heart of the real world" being exactly what, underneath the top dressing, it is all about. Ever since The Lord of the Rings revitalised the genre, writers have played with it, reinvented it, subverted it and bent it to the times. It has also contained some of the very best, most accessible writing for children, by writers who seldom get the acknowledgement they deserve. Rowling says that she didn't realise that the first Potter book was fantasy until after it was published. I'm not the world's greatest expert, but I would have thought that the wizards, witches, trolls, unicorns, hidden worlds, jumping chocolate frogs, owl mail, magic food, ghosts, broomsticks and spells would have given her a clue? Terry Pratchett Salisbury, Wiltshire

And the thing is, much as I enjoy the Harry Potter series, Mr Pratchett is absolutely correct.

Listen Incoming links Comment on this post

Thought For Life, Courtesy of Alistair Cooke

Posted at 14:49:00 on Fri, July 29th 2005 by graham
in: quotes thoughts

Letter From America: A session with The Duke

To be the best - and it's a sad truth most of us amateurs shrink from admitting - you have to run, fight, golf, write, or play the piano every day.

Normal service will resume shortly - I have much to talk about. But for now I'll leave you to ruminate on that thought.

Listen Incoming links Comment on this post

Quoth

Posted at 14:31:00 on Mon, May 09th 2005 by graham
in: humour quotes writing

I don't have time for serious (or even marginally funny) blogging right now, but I did come across this the other day and thought it would be worth sharing. It explains almost perfectly my state of mind when I'm trying to write:

...I hardly ever finish an SF book (including ones I write.) The way I see it is this: if it's less good than something I might write it's a waste of time. If it's better it makes me depressed. If it uses an idea I was thinking of using then it prevents me from using the idea. If it uses an idea I've already used it makes me feel ripped off. Where's the pleasure? I'd rather read PG Wodehouse. ~ Douglas Adams posting on alt.fan.douglas-adams

Listen Incoming links Comment on this post

<< Previous Page

Search

Latest thinkings

Interestingly, the rock mix of "I kissed a girl" (thanks, Exaile) is far better than the standard release. 2009-01-08 16:16:31

Launchpad Bugs

Post Categories

10mm 15th of july upload america amusing animals atheism august9upload august 9 upload autoportrait bass bbc bird blackandwhite blogging blogs boat boston buildings candid canonical caton church colour colourised computing cricket d300 d40x desaturated django editing flickr flower forestofbowland friends from the inbox funny general heysham home humour in the news lancashire lancaster landscape launchpad links linux london lune massachusetts may 12th upload me monochrome morecambe morecambebay music nanowrimo nature neil gaiman news new site night nikon55200mm norfolk norfolkbroads novel novel-the-second observations pendle people photography podcasts portrait posts that started out differently programming python quotes ranting reading reflection religion science sea selfportrait sepia september mass upload the first shadows sigma1020mm sign silhouette silliness sky stupidity sunset texture thoughts three hundred and sixty-odd days of 2008 travel tree twitter ubuntu uds urbandecay warren ellis, internet jesus water work writing writing ideas

Previous entries

About

Graham Binns is a writer, photographer, musician and software developer from Lancaster, England, with far too much hair, a penchant for odd t-shirts and a magnificent hat. He has been making things up for as long as he can remember and has been making code work for long enough to make a living from it.

He has written one novel, which is in the process of composting, and is working remembering how to write before embarking on a second. In the meantime, he photographs things, since it's easier not to have to make the world up in his head all of the time.