27 April 2011

How to get published...

So many people are looking for the easy answer on how to get published (heck, I'd like an easy way too), unfortunately there is no easy way (unless you happen to be some kind of celebrity of course).  There may be no easy answer, but Kate Hart has a wonderful flowchart that at least breaks the process down and makes that a little easier :)

05 April 2011

"Remake" the Classics

Do the classics need to be changed/updated to make them more accesable, or is the beauty of the language timeless? BBC Radio 3 is introducing swearwords into its adaptation of Wuthering Heights to give the book a more contemporary feel. And this isn't the only change lately, how could we have missed the popularity of Pride & Predudice & zombies, admitedy this is a parody rather than the real thing. Movies have been doing this for years - is it time for book to take a turn? Personally I'd rather read the real thing, although it might be fun to read a "remake" after the genuine article just for fun.

A few fun suggestions from the article: Why not apply the same treatment to the first lines of other classics:

A Tale of Two Cities: "It was the best of times, it was the time when everything was totally, like, crap."

Ulysses: "Stately, porker Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of cocaine on which a mirror and a razor blade lay crossed."

Anna Karenina: "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is fucked up in its own way."

The Portrait of a Lady: "Under certain circumstances there are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as a top afternoon shag."

Sons and Lovers: "'The Arses' succeeded to 'Shit Hole Row'."

Moby Dick: "Who the fuck are you calling Ishmael, pal?"