Authors as Verbs

[madbaker]

I was thinking about SF author John Ringo. I liked some of his early work, despite not being into military SF. The last couple books of his, however, did not impress me. I think he's fallen into the agent trap of "write a summary and we'll farm it out to some hungry writer as a co-author". Most of the time, that doesn't work. (David Weber seems to have managed it better than most, though.)

It started me thinking snarkily. This isn't something that started with John Ringo, so I don't want to call it "pulling a Ringo". Any suggestions? I did come up with some other references. Feel free to chime in...

going Anne Rice: Thinking that because your books sell, that you no longer need the services of an editor. And then going completely batshit on fans who disagree. (Also known as a Laurel K. Hamilton.)

Piers Anthony-style: Occasionally turning a good idea into a novel, then selling 500 sequels of crap based upon it.

an Alan Dean Foster: A prodigious hack.

turning Robert Heinlein: Writing waaaay too many novels expounding why everyone should have polyamourous incestuous sex with red-headed genius relatives.

Noted Futurist Harlan Ellison: possessing ego - and, to be fair, talent - inversely proportional to one's level of social grace.

What I'm reading: none of the above. Neal Stephenson, The System of the World

Comments

[aimeric.livejournal.com]

I love them all and re-read them frequently, but...

"Not with a bang, but with a Neal Stephenson" - exponentially increasing your page size per book without ever including an ending for any of them.

"Strung together with threads and Pratchetts" - when running out of ideas, take the square pegs of real history and pop culture and cram them through a round hole engulfed by a hole of four elephants and a giant tortoise.

"Asimovian character development" - see Point Particle.

"Air (Neil) Jordan" - Once you've lost track where you're going, keep going around in sequels.

"A Tolkien of self-esteem" - If you're actually about to do something, why not preface it two or three pages of Epic poetry?

"Currents and Eddings in the space-time continuum" - Make sure to repeat your actions over and over, all while commenting that you seem to have done this before.

[mastersantiago.livejournal.com]

"A Tolkien of self-esteem" - If you're actually about to do something, why not preface it two or three pages of Epic poetry?

"Currents and Eddings in the space-time continuum" - Make sure to repeat your actions over and over, all while commenting that you seem to have done this before.
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BWA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

[aimeric.livejournal.com]

Argh, I meant *Robert* Jordan, not the guy that directed The Crying Game...