tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post1295497622265577309..comments2023-08-17T11:47:11.821+01:00Comments on James and the Blue Cat: The Cabinet of Curiosities 1/4James Henryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16604261370633794445noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-25533480834597889252010-05-26T09:36:00.027+01:002010-05-26T09:36:00.027+01:00Mmm, 'tis a marvellous book. I think I only re...Mmm, 'tis a marvellous book. I think I only referred to two things from the BoD in the Cabinet, but I could have used so much more, it has a great spooky/fairytale atmosphere, but with some very solid characters.James Henryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16604261370633794445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-80966473881139471512010-05-26T07:27:51.767+01:002010-05-26T07:27:51.767+01:00Thank you for this, it was a delightful read - and...Thank you for this, it was a delightful read - and the world was utterly familiar, as if it's been waiting just around the corner all this time. I couldn't sleep last night for wishing I had access to a copy of The Box of Delights *right now*.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17150951033316356594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-6861315513382003132010-05-25T20:51:25.435+01:002010-05-25T20:51:25.435+01:00Awww indeed. Picture please.
PS You should do ...Awww indeed. Picture please. <br /><br />PS You should do Toy-Fu, the Reimagined Series with better special effects. Blue Kitten could be a guest star.Jaynehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09821105000840199542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-73159310988527791332010-05-25T20:02:37.211+01:002010-05-25T20:02:37.211+01:00Steve is the sole survivor of the last spider atta...Steve is the sole survivor of the last spider attack, and is currently clutched in the hand of the sleeping Blue Kitten, awwww (his glasses and penguin staff had to be removed for safety reasons some time ago, obviously).James Henryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16604261370633794445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-19507709645510724402010-05-25T19:59:41.306+01:002010-05-25T19:59:41.306+01:00I didn't even know you had a forum. It must ha...I didn't even know you had a forum. It must have been in your youth, before I knew you. I remember Toy-Fu though and miss Steve and the other one a lot. I suspect Blue Kitten has chewed their heads off, which is why they've vanished. Either that or the spiders got them.Jaynehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09821105000840199542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-88174205209658432402010-05-25T14:42:37.023+01:002010-05-25T14:42:37.023+01:00I think the original phrase was 'kill your dar...I think the original phrase was 'kill your darlings', which is either less sinister, or much more so. Hope daughter likes it, and remember, it's designed to be read in a thick Jamaican accent.James Henryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16604261370633794445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-4664798944315434052010-05-25T07:41:47.776+01:002010-05-25T07:41:47.776+01:00I have a reader in your target age range so we'...I have a reader in your target age range so we'll see what she makes of part 1 (once I've found a double-sided printer) and then if she likes it, we can move straight to lulu. She loves the stories I tell her, but when I write them down and give them to her, they're apparently a bit long and tedious, so I see your 'paring back' point! Still, I'm enjoying doing it, and am focused on lulu myself, once I'm satisfied all the unnecessary words have been deleted. "Kill your babies" - that's the phrase...though not one to use liberally in the same post as talking about my daughter...martinblancnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-79042727628368548122010-05-25T07:26:12.598+01:002010-05-25T07:26:12.598+01:00fkjhrtijlkjref: thanks!
Mummy/Crit: ha, forgotten...fkjhrtijlkjref: thanks!<br /><br />Mummy/Crit: ha, forgotten about the forum. It was really more about toy-fu than anything else (must have another go at that some time)<br /><br />Bowleserised: well exactly - I think the free pdf thing has to work in a complimentary fashion to the system that's already set up. Probably a new way in, rather than a way of going it alone, for most writers. And if an iTunes type setup does come along for pdfs, it will make more sense to put it up there for a low price (compared to the physical object) rather than continue to give it away free.<br /><br />And re. agents doing editing - yeah, my agent put a lot of time and energy into working on the Cabinet with me, so she was as gutted as I was when it didn't get picked up - and may well put her off going to similar lengths in the future. Or, if she loves the next one that comes along, she many not - publishing is as full of crushed enthusiasm and broken dreams and picking themselves up and trying again as scriptwriting world. Just for (mostly) less money.James Henryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16604261370633794445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-33401333130172788082010-05-25T07:11:21.640+01:002010-05-25T07:11:21.640+01:00Congrats!
Some editors do still edit, and I'm...Congrats!<br /><br />Some editors do still edit, and I'm lucky to have one of those.<br /><br />Cory's scheme only works because there's a bricks-and-paper publishing industry and bookshops still standing. If, in the future, everyone just expects to download books for free, it ain't gonna work. Also, not everyone can supplement their free books by giving talks and writing articles in which they tell people to give books away for free. <br />Good that your agent did all that work "on tick" but is that sustainable? I work as a freelance editor sometimes, and frankly I couldn't afford to put in days of work for free on the off-chance that it might pay off in the future.<br /><br />Also, it's hard, nay impossible to fund the research for a serious non-fiction book when you go it alone.Bowleserisedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02974472204722759129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-65158515260113091402010-05-25T06:01:44.285+01:002010-05-25T06:01:44.285+01:00Excellent. I haven't read it yet, and I don...Excellent. I haven't read it yet, and I don't comment here very often now, but I had wondered what had happened to it. (I also wonder what happened to your forum...)Mummy/Crithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08353892248492164501noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-64253453897149453842010-05-24T22:26:53.644+01:002010-05-24T22:26:53.644+01:00You rock, a bit.
I've got a few pages in so f...You rock, a bit.<br /><br />I've got a few pages in so far and it's better than the manuscripts I've read, because they're by "established novelists"; i.e. kitsch celebrity safe bets.<br /><br />I love all the new stuff you're doing, it's very writery and good.fkjhrtijlkjrefnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-31347040185079818162010-05-24T13:25:38.865+01:002010-05-24T13:25:38.865+01:00It's certainly not un-geeky. The nice thing is...It's certainly not un-geeky. The nice thing is though, some of my friends read the early drafts to their kids, who didn't know about any of the lit references, and it didn't seem to bother them at all. I just like the idea those kids could come back and read it again in a few years time, having read some other books in the meantime, and would get a whole new experience...James Henryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16604261370633794445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-2321323779035672412010-05-24T12:49:17.834+01:002010-05-24T12:49:17.834+01:00Yes, well, annoying Monday, I really need the dist...Yes, well, annoying Monday, I really need the distraction :>. Also pleasingly beguiling to spot all the literary references. You clearly wrote this for kids' fantasy geeks like me.extemporaneahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06034595157700070101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-26054729124559176812010-05-24T12:32:16.589+01:002010-05-24T12:32:16.589+01:00Blimey, that was fast! Glad you liked it, part 2 n...Blimey, that was fast! Glad you liked it, part 2 next Monday.James Henryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16604261370633794445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-86443857255756235712010-05-24T12:06:33.739+01:002010-05-24T12:06:33.739+01:00Oo, er. I love this, it's an utterly delightfu...Oo, er. I love this, it's an utterly delightful piece of writing, and I mourn the sad lack of perspicacity in the publishing industry who didn't want to publish it. Looking forward to the next instalments, and my next instalment of money so I can grab a copy.extemporaneahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06034595157700070101noreply@blogger.com