Wow.

[lls_mutant]

So, I was hunting around on Amazon to buy the game Quirkle for my mom for Mother's Day. And it's like 23 dollars, which is 2 dollars short of the supersaver. I was wondering what I wanted, and decided to check out some of the BSG novelizations, like the trilogy.

OMG, I repeat my question, how the frak can we all get in on the action?

Seriously. I've always known that the Gaeta writers are good, but in the little I read, our general prose and all that far exceeds this stuff. And I am SO not just talking me. I'm talking all of us. We all kick these guys' butts. Plus, a plague of tonuges or whatever? Wow. I also checked out some of the graphic novels, and they're just weird. The Returner Virus, where Zak and Dualla's brother Darrin come back as Cylons? What show are these people watching? I mean, that's just so far out there.... wow. (Plus, some of the art on those is kind of weird, making everyone look like they have strange veins on their faces.)

It was very weird. I should have spent the time writing instead, but Dee's having a hard time coming up with a witty retort. I have to admit, Hoshi got her good on this one. (Also, can someone please tell Narcho that he can't sleep with Dee? He's already insisting on becoming a major character, and I'll allow that, and he insisted on a few other things that I'm a little more dubious about, but I don't think sleeping with Dee fits into the timeline, bud.) Posted the first part of A Lot to Live Up To today, btw. The Dee-Hoshi bitchfight fic.

Totally switching topics, Toby has discovered that he can get out of bed without our permission. Well, he's known that for a while. But last night he managed to turn the light on (he pulled over one of his trucks and stood on it). I went in to find him sitting cross-legged on the bed, "reading" to his stuffed manatee. It was really, really hard to keep a straight face because it was just so damn CUTE.

Speaking of the kids, I should crash. Tomorrow is my morning to get up with them. Sunday I can SLEEP!

Comments

[snorkackcatcher]

As someone said here, "In my experience, the bright line between licensed novels and fanfic- especially in the Buffy and Farscape fandoms- is that the best licensed novels are about half as likely as average fanfics to have on-target characterization, adherance to canon, and coherant and believable plots." :)

I've read very few tie-ins, but I suspect that this is usually going to be the case, for structural reasons as much as anything else. The best Star Trek tie-in I saw read exactly like a good fanfic, tying together original series, movie stuff and TNG together with interesting OCs. Others -- meh.

Interestingly, the Doctor Who ones I've read have often been quite good, probably because they were written at a time when the show was off-air (it seemed permanently) and they were the only source of new (semi-)official stories around.

But yeah, the better fanfics are probably way better than any thrown together story from someone who isn't really into the source material.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

But yeah, the better fanfics are probably way better than any thrown together story from someone who isn't really into the source material.

Yeah, I believe it. This is something I never encountered in the HP fandom, because it was a book fandom, but now that I'm in a TV fandom... I mean, you know me. I write novels. Youth's Final Luxury is essentially a canon compliant novel about how Gaeta and Zarek met, became friends, and ended up where they did. (Have you watched the series yet? I know you were thinking about it.) Of course, I'm not sure how many people are interested in the minor characters, but still....

It does make me wonder how hard it would be to get into franchise writing though. I mean, it's paid fanfic. That would be AWESOME.

[snorkackcatcher]

It would, wouldn't it? Oddly enough, I was reading on of the DW ebooks today on the train -- these notes by the author (who's worked on the revived show) about the process might be interesting.

I still haven't got around to watching BSG, despite having the boxed set of S1-3 -- probably sheer lethargy and not being in the habit. Of course, that means that I've been doing the Internet equivalent of putting my fingers in my ears and going LA LA LA whenever anyone on my flist mentions the ending ...

[kappamaki33.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I once considered buying one of the BSG tie-in books, and then I read a few pages of it on Google books where, during Season 2, Roslin has a very brief, non-explicit fantasy about showering with Adama, and...that killed that impulse.

It seems franchise books are really a mixed bag. I remember reading some Star Wars books when I was a kid, and even back then, I remember experiences ranging from "that should've been a movie!" to "geez, I could've written something better than that."

BTW, have you encountered this website yet? http://www.iamtw.org/articles.html. From what little I read, it seems like the best way to break in to this market is 1) have at least some already-published original work in the genre, even if it doesn't sell well, 2) know somebody who knows somebody, and 3) be willing to write a novel in something like 2-3 months. Perhaps that's part of why the quality is a bit hit-and-miss?

Aw, your kid is adorable! And far smarter than I ever was. I remember trying to read to my cat, who frustrated me because he would either run away of fall asleep in the middle of a chapter I was reading to him. Stuffed animals would've had the very important benefit of giving their undivided attention. ;)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the website! that looks like a lot of info, which is what I need right now. I'm totally flying blind here, and not really knowing if it's a pipe dream or if there's actually something I could do, y'know?

And thanks! He cracks us up a lot more than we can admit to him :)

[tin-o-biscuits.livejournal.com]

Doc, seriously, I will try to talk to the Hatch for you at Dragon Con if need be. He never left the BSG universe, I'm sure he'd LOVE yfl.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

I'll have to think about it :) See, one thing is since he DOES write tie-in novels, he might avoid fanfic to avoid lawsuits. But I'm tempted to send you a letter to give him, with a proposal in it or something. I don't know. I really feel like I'm flying blind- I need to take a better look at the website Kappa posted!

[tin-o-biscuits.livejournal.com]

You totally should Doc! You'll regret it if you don't at least TRY, right? :3

[topaz-eyes.livejournal.com]

It's no wonder Lee Goldberg hates fanfic. *g*

I read a Babylon 5 tie-in a few years ago. The author happened to be J. Michael Straczynski's wife. He was gushing about how it was 100% canon-compliant compared to the other approved tie-in novels. And it was awful. I'd read a previous B5 fanfic that felt closer to canon than the "approved" work. Ah, nepotism.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Heh. And I know no one, so.... Oh well :)

Yeah, I was reading this stuff and damn, I write better than the stuff on the page. It amazed me. :P

[millari.livejournal.com]

Not to be a total downer, but having had the random opportunities to talk to a couple of people here and there who have written franchise novels - for Star Wars and maybe(?) Star Trek, can't remember - it appears that the typical writer of these novels are people who already have a writing career, but not such a huge one that they wouldn't be willing to put up with the bullshit that writing these novels require. I looked at the novel you linked to. Peter David is a rather big name in the comics world, which is probably how he got the opportunity to write these.

Apparently, you get paid pretty badly for these (although I know, I know, still better than free - but that's exactly the attitude that the publishers involved prey upon when they look for writers for these). They seek out writers with proven track records, who will believe the promises made that doing these novels will cause readers to seek out their original works. However, it doesn't really get them new fans. Moreover, they have to put up with a lot of notes from the publishers about random things they want or don't want in the novel, and then they hold the writers to a fairly demanding quota of appearances to promote their work, but don't actually help organize/schedule said appearances. It sounds like it can be fairly exploitative in some cases.

I remember seeing that comic you referred to with Dualla's brother. Sadly, that was one of the more interesting ones of the BSG comics I've seen, some of which are just wretched. That guy also wrote the BSG Origins one about Zarek. Did you see that one. It wasn't bad compared to some of the BSG comics, which are truly awful. The Baltar one wasn't that bad either (written by Kevin Fahey of the Webisodes fame, btw), but I'm such a Baltar fangirl, I could be biased. My husband thought it sucked. (He did like the Zarek one though.)

I was so disappointed with the "Echoes of New Caprica" GN that at one point, I just put the book down in total annoyance and haven't been able to pick it back up.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info! It's good to know. Too bad it's such a pain in the butt- it would have been nice to try. But it's sounding like it's not an easy field to break into. (I was sort of looking at it the other way around- that having tie-in novels published might help get original stuff published later.)

I haven't read the Zarek comic, but I've read the summaries- it's actually what I used as his backstory in my head for YFL. The only one I checked out officially was the Echoes of New Caprica, and that was mainly because there was a Zarek story in it. (I saw another one I was flipping through where something in noodles was the way to cure a disease, and Gaeta hadn't gotten it because he'd been kissing a woman who was eating the noodles. Aside from- dude, NOODLES?- I still vastly prefer my Gaeta gay. And actually looking like himself.)

What got to you about the New Caprica one? I actually liked the first two stories well enough. (The third didn't much fit into the plotline, although when I talked to the writer he had some interesting things to say about Lee's mindset, basically calling him a step away from Paul Blart, Mall Cop, which I liked.)

[millari.livejournal.com]

So I was searching through my gmail archives to reply to my comment on YFL 8 and I happened upon this comment that I realized I never replied to. You've probably forgotten it completely by now, but I thought I'd reply to your question anyway.

What got to you about the New Caprica one?
I have to say that what made me shut the book was the characterizations. On New Caprica, it felt really glaring to me, especially Baltar, who is a jackass and a bastard for sure. I would've been fine with anything that showed that. But he's not STUPID and INANE. That's what makes his character watchable for me.

The moment that made me close the book in disgust was where the Cylons are considering killing off most of the human race and Baltar's all like, "Hmm...we should rename New Caprica to something cooler, like Baltar's World..." It was such a departure from character, in one of my favorite characters, that I just had to close the book and go to sleep. And I never got around to opening it again.

I had problems with characterization elsewhere in the book, like in the Zarek one, actually, which surprised me, because Hatch wrote it himself. But yeah, I didn't buy his reasonings and turnarounds too much on whether or not to kill his long-lost friend.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Now that you mention it, I did notice that about Baltar. I have to admit, I just skimmed through the Baltar part because I was so much more interested in Roslin. But I can see your frustration, and you're right. He's not stupid. He's lazy and a bastard, but not stupid.

I also agree with Zarek. Which is funny, because I usually use Richard Hatch's characterizations, and I liked aspects of what he was doing there. I do like the humanizing of Zarek. But the way I read the series, Zarek was ruthless after New Caprica, and I understood why. He made a HUGE sacrifice going back to prison, and was holding everyone to his standard. And the way I wrote it after NC, that was exactly why he signed Felix's death warrant with MORE vigor than anyone else's- because he respected Felix and should have known better. So watching him waver on his friend was pretty different from the Zarek I had in my head. But at the same time, after how Zarek was portrayed in the mutiny, I get what Hatch was trying to do.

::Sigh:: Oh well. At least most people don't consider these things canon.

[prophetkristy.livejournal.com]

If it helps, I'd pay folding money to see your words in "official" print! added bonus: you would be a good emissary to show the world the Good that is Gaeta. ;-)

[prophetkristy.livejournal.com]

And FWIW, I've heard similar things about breaking into tie-in-writing, with the caveat that it was Star Wars novels. Those authors had things published before hand. I do think things might vary by franchise, and I imagine certain projects are easier to get into than others. (There's a series of books --I think by SmartPop?-- that collect essays on various franchises. I've got the two about Firefly, and they've done Buffy, Angel, Supernatural, too many others to name. And they have a number of first-time writers in those.)

Plus, once Hatch reads YFL, he'll convince people to hire you!