For some years since the character came into the public domain, the world of literature has seen a number of books featuring Dracula, such as this one from 1997:
As you may have read, last year the Stoker estate authorised a sequel, co-written by Abraham’s great grand nephew Dacre.
Strange, then, the choice of title for it…
… in the 25th Century, Brainiac 5 demonstrates his contempt for those members of the Legion Of Super-Heroes too stupid to figure out how to make their own flight-rings.
Go on, Brainy! Flick them the rods!
For some years now, the shelves of newsagents have been awash with… well, I don’t know what you’d call them, really; tragic confession magazines? I’m sure you know the sort of thing – like the one pictured here, they’re jam-packed with true tales of tragedy and woe, and yet often topped with a no-context-at-all picture of a smiling woman. Given the coverlines swirling around her, I always wonder: just what is she smiling at?
Anyway, there are a lot of these magazines, and a lot of the tales seem to focus around death or children or the deaths or illnesses of children, but there seems to be very little coverage of them; I can’t help but wonder if, like their equivalent in book publishing, they’re a bit of a ‘dirty secret’ – very lucrative, but not necessarily something that the folks involved want to admit to being involved in or talk about too much. Like being a pimp or drug dealer, or the composer of The Ketchup Song.
But, in a strange case of synchronicity, these magazines are the focus of not one, but two programmes on TV this week – one on Tuesday and another – on a different channel – on Thursday.
Hang on a mo, though… is it synchronicity… or a clever marketing ploy?
Hmm. If the latter, then my simple-minded ways have been exploited by a cruel media machine. I feel so dirty and used, like my very soul’s been violated.
Perhaps I should sell my story.
You’ve probably seen the adverts for the film Valentine’s Day. Two thoughts:
1. Can we agree that this looks rather like Love Actually, with a shift of location and time of year?
2. Given that the film was released on Friday 12 February in the UK, I hope the studio behind the film aren’t going to be shocked if last weekend’s box office doesn’t equal that of the opening weekend…
And yes, the posters for it do resemble those of He’s Just Not That Into You, but you’d spotted that already, right?
Over on the Guardian website, they’ve recently published a two-part article called ‘Ten rules for writing fiction’, which makes for pretty interesting reading. Part one is here, and part two is here, though reading them in order is probably best.
As I say, I think there’s a lot of useful advice in there, though some of it doesn’t apply to all genres or whatever (I don’t suffer from adverb-phobia, for example), though it’s not without flaws; unfortunately one author seems to have rather forgotten the brief and veered towards details of how he writes, whilst another rather impractically suggests “When still a child, make sure you read a lot of books” – fine advice in itself, but I’d guess most Guardian readers are likely to feel it’s too late to do that if they didn’t at the time.
And for the few children who read the newspaper, it’s preaching to the converted.
Childish and envious snarking aside, it’s nonetheless worth a look, as one of the recurrent messages is the always unwelcome but equally true reminder that you actually have to get on with the writing part, until the story’s finished.
Yes, yes, I know: I was hoping there’d be a magic short-cut revealed as well.
1. Anyone described as being a ‘self-confessed foodie’ is usually a bit of a pain
2. When shopping in your local deli/butcher/fishmonger, be sure to mention that you’re holding a dinner party, and address the person behind the counter by their first name more often than is normal in conversation
3. Not supplying drink for your guests, even if it’s for religious or medical reasons, usually leads to them getting a right arse on
4. Musical entertainment, whether provided by you or hired professionals, is not a good idea if you want to win
5. Any female contestant not in some kind of relationship will be labelled a ‘singleton’ in the commentary
6. Depending on how the group is constituted in terms of gender, a butler (with or without a shirt) may be popular
7. Don’t try out something new on the night of your big event (actually, re haircuts and outfits and the like, this rule applies to much of life)
8. Rare is the person who can lift the silver salver without making the money move in some way. Less rare is being able to see the cameraman reflected in the surface of the salver
9. It’s impossible to stand in the kitchen and talk to the camera about the meal you’re preparing without acting like you’re either Nigella L or Hugh F-W
10. Dave Lamb’s voiceovers for Come Dine With Me are like the commentary for Masterchef, but with an awareness that – ultimately – we are only talking about cooking here.
…Which is probably why I watch the show a bit too much, as the above rather shows.
I genuinely like the design of this cover, but on the basis that covers of books tend to feature the main character (and I applaud the way the artwork doesn’t show the man full face, meaning that you won’t have your mental image of the character barged aside), I guess that this cover shows Reilly’s recurring character Jack West Jr.
But, um, doesn’t he have a bionic arm made of titanium steel? It doesn’t look that way from the cover picture.
Unless, of course, he got his arm back in the previous book, but I haven’t read that one yet.
On the left, an image from a current Marvel comic, relating to their latest cross-over story, Siege.
On the right, the cover for a DVD of a performance of The Wall which took place in Berlin, with a logo dating back to when the concert took place in 1990.
Hmm.
I rather hope it’s a pre-established icon or image which is being re-used here, so do let me know if you know better.
… though I doubt they’ll be the last.
For the record, I have no objection to Brad Meltzer’s work – I really enjoyed The Tenth Justice – it’s the derivative book design I have a beef with. Though judging from his comics work, Brad and I clearly differ in our fondness for Red Tornado. Ah well, tis but a small matter.
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