"Anyway, about my pants. There's good news and there's bad news."
Not that anyone had been talking about his pants ...
***
I just looked at the TV schedule and realized that today will be devoted to sitting on my ass and watching basketball. First up is San Antonio vs. Boston. It's a shame Garnett is hurt, but still, it's two teams that have a great shot at meeting in the Finals. After that, Lakers vs. Miami, in which we'll see a fired-up Shawn Marion, who just got traded from my Phoenix Suns for Shaquille O'Neal. Shawn's going to have something to prove, and I think he and D-Wade are going to combine nicely. Later, Denver vs. Cleveland. Not a big fan of either team, so I might skip this one, actually. And then Phoenix vs. Washington. Shaq won't be suited up yet, and we'll be without Marion, so the Suns are going to have to gut-up and hope to get some play out of Boris Diaw, who seems to have become frightened of the rim. It's a shame, because with his size and skills he has the potential to be awesome. Come on, Boris! Be awesome!
***
I've been looking forward to seeing sales notices about my book in Publishers Marketplace and Locus, largely because then I'd get to see how paid professionals describe my book. Because when people have asked me to describe my book, it's always gone something like this: "Uh, it's got gods and some stuff about DNA and the end of the world. It's my damn Norse novel."
Not a stellar elevator pitch.
But I got asked for a description for SFScope, and I had to provide something, so this is what I came up with:
A mythic fantasy in which a minor Norse god, a modern valkyrie, and a Viking thug are pitted against the Norse pantheon in an attempt to stop Ragnarok, the long-ago foreseen destruction of the entire universe. It takes place in contemporary Los Angeles and in many locales from Norse mythology.
Not terrible, maybe a bit long, and I'm still looking forward to seeing what people who describe books professionally come up with.
***
Oh, and this was how the conversation about the book with my dad began on Friday.
Dad: Whatever happened to that book you were trying to sell?
Me: I sold it.
(beat)
Dad: How much money did you get?
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gregvaneekhout- Greg van Eekhout
- Writing and Snacks
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Me: I sold it.
(beat)
Dad: How much money did you get?
Your dad's response sounds remarkably like what my own dad would have said. *g* I hope he was impressed by the $ amount.
He actually was impressed with the dollar amount, which is funny, because I made more money that that as a bookseller. Then I proceeded to confuse his muddled old head with talk of royalty schedules and subsidiary rights and first-refusal clauses and whatnot.
Yes, but bookselling is a *real* job.
That writing stuff where you type godknowswhat onto that screen? Hobby at best, time-waster at worst.
:P
*removes father from brain and places him firmly in the corner*
"It's a wonderful romp through" or
"The journey begins in Los Angeles and ends with your brain exploding out your ear"
or something like that.
Pretend it's not your book, and write like a meta-meta-description based off my description based off your description.
And, can I just say, there is no excuse for the Wizards uniforms. None.
:)