tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4940224740718934743.post8984492894618040901..comments2024-03-10T04:29:20.044-04:00Comments on Mad Genius Club: Ryk Spoor's Road to PublicationSarah A. Hoythttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17478124095732219352noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4940224740718934743.post-1047698837473811222010-05-10T13:42:11.516-04:002010-05-10T13:42:11.516-04:00Rowena,
Some of the Telzi and Trigger books by Sc...Rowena,<br /><br />Some of the Telzi and Trigger books by Schmidt are available online for free from baen.com/library if you're interested.C Kelseynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4940224740718934743.post-79729101191765817522010-05-09T13:24:46.740-04:002010-05-09T13:24:46.740-04:00Thanks for this, Ryk!
Gee, it's great to see ...Thanks for this, Ryk!<br /><br />Gee, it's great to see that so many people have my taste in books. I really do like the Telzey series the best, and I've got the copies to prove it--my dad got me hooked on them back in the 70s. I'm not sure I've got everything Schmitz ever wrote, but it's not for lack of trying.<br /><br />My one real grumble with Baen are those godawful covers on the reprints. Those Baen covers were there to get old fans to buy new copies, not to attract new fans. It's too bad, because it was a missed marketing opportunity. The old covers from the 70s (US and UK) were pretty darn cool.heteromelesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4940224740718934743.post-40772143271827955982010-05-09T01:50:52.885-04:002010-05-09T01:50:52.885-04:00(wave) Hi Ryk. Nice to see you here. Curiously, ba...(wave) Hi Ryk. Nice to see you here. Curiously, back in the dark ages, that is very much how Eric and I became friends on the bar - a battle royal about ways of writing, as it happens. I was some 5 months or so off from my first book coming out (from Baen) and the upshot of the final salvo from Eric went something like "When you can actually sell a book to a publisher you can tell people how they ought to write" - or words to that effect. I wrote to him privately saying, well, didn't want make a riot on my publisher's site (because I'd being arguing for the sake of arguing, er, which I do, all too often, but some people had been getting excitable) but that my first book was due out.<br />And Eric had the grace to apologise politely and pleasantly. At which point I could hardly not admit I'd been yanking his chain just because I could. We, in e-mail conversation, discovered that we shared a common taste in literature (the choice of words in this phrase is deliberate) and Eric and I ended up collaborating - a process that takes some argument and some mutual respect.<br /><br />A flame war is not a bad place to establish what sort of person you're dealing with. Most of the time it's with someone who can't admit they're wrong (and therefore probably best avoided)<br /><br />I happen to rate Demon Breed as James Schmitz's best :-) or at least my personal favorite, and am frequently irritated that people who know 'Witches' have never heard of it. Okay I admit, I loved the biological/marine side of the setting and worldbuilding of that book. I want the story behind the sledmen!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12315551718688781746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4940224740718934743.post-953302657833535392010-05-08T22:51:11.094-04:002010-05-08T22:51:11.094-04:00Yeah Ryk, my reaction to seeing Baen putting out D...Yeah Ryk, my reaction to seeing Baen putting out Digital Knight was something akin to "Didn't this guy, like, piss in Eric's cheerios or something?" <br /><br />On the other hand, I thought Digital Knight was clever and well-done, something I don't usually say after reading urban fantasy-esque stories.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4940224740718934743.post-88930262218105992092010-05-08T22:44:30.013-04:002010-05-08T22:44:30.013-04:00I'd forgotten about the flame wars that led to...I'd forgotten about the flame wars that led to publication.<br /><br />I think the internet has expanded the "Well, I knew the publisher so I could go straight to the top" route to getting published. <br /><br />I consider this a good thing, because if you've hung around online on a site visited by publishers long enough for them to recognize your name, you've probably picked up some of the necessary mechanics of story telling and writing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4940224740718934743.post-53274714011059524582010-05-08T19:03:15.909-04:002010-05-08T19:03:15.909-04:00Hi Ryk,
I discovered Schmidt years ago and never ...Hi Ryk,<br /><br />I discovered Schmidt years ago and never forgot him. But the Telzi books didn't find their way into my secondhand bookshop, so I didn't read them.<br /><br />Your story of how you got published was entertaining. And I have a son, Dominicus, which is an old family name.Rowena Cory Daniellshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08995983965583233914noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4940224740718934743.post-68700483845572408012010-05-08T14:21:30.738-04:002010-05-08T14:21:30.738-04:00Yet another set of authors to add to my endless li...Yet another set of authors to add to my endless list of things-I-need-to-read ... at least I won't get bored. There are distinct drawbacks to growing up in a town of less than a thousand people, in some ways. Many of the classic authors you mention I've actually never even heard of.<br /><br />No, I agree, your path to publication is unlikely to open itself before my feet. I'll just keep throwing words at the computer - because my head insists that those words have to go <i>somewhere</i>, before it explodes from back-pressure - and keep hoping for the best with more traditional methods.Stephen Simmonshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07522113936557314128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4940224740718934743.post-51629419154281953452010-05-08T13:49:54.916-04:002010-05-08T13:49:54.916-04:00The Telzi books are hands down some of my absolute...The Telzi books are hands down some of my absolute favorites out there. Ryk is also yet another Baen author who got published by Baen by picking a fight... although John Ringo did it with Jim himself. :P Now, if you'll excuse me I haven't eaten anything yet today and Grand Central Arena is begging to come with me to the restaurant so I can read it whilst eating.C Kelseynoreply@blogger.com