Ego-stoking Meme ((Lifted from Laurie's LJ))

Reply and I'll tell you something I like about you. Afterward, copy and paste this into your own journal.

Neil Gaiman on novel-writing

Just read this on Neil Gaiman's weblog, an extract from his speech at the Nebula Awards:

Gene Wolfe pointed out to me, five years ago, when I proudly told him, at the end of the first draft of American Gods, that I thought I'd figured out how to write a novel, that you never learn how to write a novel. You merely learn how to write the novel you're on. He's right, of course. The paradox is that by the time you've figured out to do it, you've done it. And the next one, if it's going to satisfy the urge to create something new, is probably going to be so different that you may as well be starting from scratch, with the alphabet.

Life kind of imitating fanfic-art

I just heard, via the Yahoo! Group set up by the bunch of us at Holy Trinity who are trying to keep the roof over our parish, that Monsignor Fred Murphy, the dioceasan exorcist, has just retired. And since I'm in the middle of writing that "Constantine" fanfic dealing with the posessed bishop trying to close the historic church, I'm starting to wonder if my story might not be closer to the truth than is comfortable... Where's the demon-hunter when you really need him?

((Yes, I'm working on chapter three of "The Smoke of Satan"; I should have it done tonight, typed tomorrow and posted by Tuesday.))