Pamela Ribon is an author, screenwriter, actor, and Wonder Killer. This is her diary. Sort of.

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Daniel J. Blau writes musicals, recaps for TWoP, and travels back and forth between New York and LA because he's just that cosmopolitan.

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Tuesday, November 11, 2003

What?

WHAT?!?!

# posted by pamie : 6:44 PM

Scalzi's doing some good.

In December, John's writing three Christmas-themed fiction pieces: Two short stories, one poem. Everyone who donates money through his PayPal account between now and New Year's Eve will receive access to a Web site where he'll post these stories, as well as provide the stories in downloadable/printable format. All monies received (minus PayPal's processing cut) will be donated to Reading is Fundamental, which supports child and family literacy here in the US. The Suggested Donation is $3, but anyone can donate more or less; it's entirely up to them.

If, like me, you're a fan of John's work, this should be entertaining, as well as give you that do-goody swirly feeling in your tummy.

# posted by pamie : 1:04 PM

MAC Cosmetics | Eddie Izzard

Boys and girls can now wear lipstick like Eddie. I think if I put that color on I'd look like a sad, scary clown.
[Thanks, Alex B, for the link]

# posted by pamie : 12:58 PM

VBT

Some of you book-loving, hit slut, blogger types might want to visit Kevin Smokler's site and volunteer for one of his Virtual Book Tours. You know who you are.

# posted by pamie : 12:54 PM

Today's theme: reminding you of who's really on the Internet

Then there are days when I get email like this. Wanna flatter me? Start out by misspelling my name, and then mentioning you really have no idea who I am. Always end with a compliment!

Dear Pammie,

Just found your website. I was snooping around on the
off chance that someone had posted a list of songs
that women thought were really sexy. I'm a performer
who wants to be hot, damn hot on stage! I want to hear
you telling me to get my kit off!

So I'm going to have to ask every woman I can find
what they think are sexy songs, what songs they've
heard that have had them thinking the singer was dead
hot.

I'd really appreciate that. Especially from a great
writer like you.

Thamks,

Rob Sturgess.

Because he thamked me, I think we should give him a list of the un-sexiest songs of all time. What song hollows you out inside and makes you wish people would stop touching you?

For me it's "American Pie." The song makes me nauseous.

# posted by pamie : 12:09 PM

"Dear Pamie. How do I...?"

I forgot to mention that the last link came from here. Many of you write asking for suggestions on getting an agent or selling your manuscript, and some of you just want to know how one goes about entering this weird writing world. This is a good place to get some of the basics.

# posted by pamie : 11:10 AM

Try to keep your jaw from dropping on this one.

This guy sent over a thousand query letters through e-mail, thinly disguised as an attempt to gather information for a creative directory. Then comes the ol' switcheroo -- he happens to have unpublished manuscripts for the taking!

On this website, he's reprinted all of the correspondence. It's his responses to the pat rejections that make you shake your head. Like this:

Dear Claudia: You're totally missing out, man. It could make your whole career. You'll see. Tee hee. I don't just have a character vaguely resembling Oprah, I have Oprah herself reunited with the kid she had when she was fourteen who she told everyone had died shortly after his birth. Ha! He's now thirty-three and has been living with his powerful daddy on a mountain top in Tennessee. It was his daddy who helped make Oprah the billion dollar industry she is. How about them apples? There are publishers who can take a joke aren't there? I'm betting even Oprah can take a joke, since she and her fictional son are incidental to the main character and the coolest, most riveting plot ever. It's way good. You'll be sorry. You'll be kicking yourself. Thanks anyway. G.

And this:

Thanks for taking a look and for getting back to me. You would fall in love if you read the thing. It's gorgeous and funny and smart and sexy and thoughtful and has something to say--the sort of book that people will keep buying for a long time. I should probably write ephemeral fluff like everyone else but what fun would that be? The tougher the nut the sweeter the meat. If you change your mind, let me know. G.

And then:

Hey, Paul: I'm more amazing than I even know. The way I'm going to work this thing is simply to stick it up in a website for free, with no advertising and no popups, along with a place where people can give me money if they want to do so. There's more pertinent and useful information in my project than there is in LMP ($389 a year), Jeff Herman's hopelessly out dated book (another $50 a year) or any of the Writer's Digest rags or websites--so I figure a few people might give me a buck or two. If you know anyone who might want to publish a cheap, sanitized, print version, let me know. I get a little outrageous with the stuff on the website, but it's America, land of the free, home of the brave, and it's not a commercial venture so I can say whatever I want. I mainly just want to get the sucker done and let it take care of itself so I can satisfy myself that I've done everything I can do to sell what I write, then just get back to writing it without any hope in hell of ever selling it. I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that writing that doesn't get published is the only writing that has any possibility of being any good. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. G.

The site's enormous, but it might make you feel a bit better about your last rejection letter.

# posted by pamie : 10:38 AM

archives

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