On writer angst....

What happens when you write the best story you can and it's still not good enough? Maybe you get it published and the reviewer doesn't like it, or you send it out to countless markets just to get it back as a reject.

At what point do you admit to yourself that it's not them, it's you? That you just really are crap.

Ok... got that out of my system. Back on with the show.

Well Specusphere has a review of 'Outcast' by Stephen Thompson.

“Things of Beauty” by Susan Wardle, which reads like a microcosm of Jewish history, juxtaposing an escape from a Nazi-like authority with a search for a Promised Land — masterminded by a Schindler-like figure."

He goes on to say, "Not that having resonances with religion is necessarily a bad thing, I only mention it because it becomes part of a (unconscious) motif playing throughout the work, as happens in any body of fiction. Just as I previously mentioned a perception that the outcast is usually depicted as being on the side of good, well, now I can add that that good represents Christian values."

http://www.specusphere.com/files/viewreview.asp?article_id=231 for the full review.

Remember when videos first came in. There was Beta and VHS. If you'd bought Beta you had the superior product but VHS killed it with good marketing. (Kind of like Apple and Microsoft, except Apple's making a late comeback whereas Beta seems lost forever.)

At first the video shop had a pretty even balance of Beta and VHS videos, as time passed the Beta buyers ended up having to hang at the back of the shop, and dig in corners to find Beta releases. They became 'The Beta Freaks', sad lonely life forms with no friends and no Friday night entertainment.

It's similiar these days. Blogger and LiveJournal. Well I picked Blogger. If this were 20 odd years ago I'd be the sad Beta buyer. It seems that Blogger just isn't as sexy as LiveJournal. All the cool kids hang on LiveJournal. Oh I could move but I've made my commitment and while I might not be smart - I sure as hell can manage loyal.

Blogger will come back I tell ya.

On the 25 April 1915 a bunch of Australians and New Zealanders landed at Gallopoli.

The operation was pretty much a balls up from start to finish with the soldiers being landed in the wrong spot and the Turkish army digging in. Over 8 months the two sides fought, both suffering huge casualties until some smart person had the idea to withdraw.

91 years later this date is one of Australia's biggest national moments. Thousands turn out for commemorative dawn services and marches through all our capitals.

My issue is this. It's a public holiday. However over the last few years more and more businesses open on Anzac Day. Can we really not exist for 24 hours without movies, fashion shops and restaurants? Are we so shallow that this landmark in our history and the deaths of so many young people can't be commemorated without commercialism?

I guess the answer is, sadly yes.

Heh just critted a short story for my little bro (he's in year 12). What was the story like?

Actually pretty good I thought - given it's context. Lots of passive voice and a failure to give the protag a name, but the concept was largely on paper and the descriptions (if perhaps a little too much) weren't bad.

Hmmm I'd better get back to my own stuff now I guess.