Dave's Computer is Dead

A monument and archive dedicated to Dave and Paty Cockrum. Nightscrawlers was their home on the internet and always will be. This forum preserves that legacy.
User avatar
Paty
Deck Swabber
Deck Swabber
Posts: 711
Joined: Sun Sep 08, 2002 4:03 am
Title: Magnetofiend
Location: Belton, SC 29627

Dave's Computer is Dead

Post by Paty »

:magneto
Hi, people... Just a note to say that Dave's computer is dead. Damn MACs... He had gotten back to posting on the board and blammo! defunct computer. We don't know what is wrong with the stupid thing, so we will have to take it back to the store and find out. He's had it less than a year and it should still be under warantee... but geez! He hasn't used it that much...
In any event, he wanted me to check in and let all you know he is not ignoring you... not on purpose, of course...LOL...He jus cannot deal with my PC so until we get the stupid MAC fixed, he will be offline. Any correspondence that is horribly necessary can be addressed tome through my email addy... which is listed in the profiles section.

Happy New Year to all!
Huggies
Paty
:magneto
Magneto Rules!
Xavier drools!
Write support the Claremont Magneto! Cast a vote for complexity in characterization! And write to protest THE USELESS KILLING OF NIGHTCRAWLER !!!
Write to :
Isaac Perlmutter , Alan Fine, Alex Alonso and Nick Lowe at
Marvel Entertainment Inc.
135 W 50th Street
New York, NY 10020
:magneto
GalacticAgent
Lubber
Lubber
Posts: 31
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2005 4:26 am
Location: Southern Cal

Dave's Computer is Dead

Post by GalacticAgent »

Hey Paty, Thanks. I was beginning to worry because I know Dave's health problems. I'm glad it was just the computer that crashed.
By the way, Macs rule. I have used a Mac for the last 12 years and have nothing but good to say about them. Some things I have not had are viruses, spyware, popups, worms and all because I use a Mac. He probably just has conflicting program. Try to think good thoughts, keep an open mind, and don't be a PC snob. heh heh heh
Say hello and Happy New Year to that wierdo your married to and Happy New Year to you.

Jerry
I'll just jump up here on the rigging. You mean on top of everything else, this ship is rigged? Rumble, rumble. Stop that rumbling down there! Rumble
StarChild
Butt Monkey
Butt Monkey
Posts: 288
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2005 12:06 am
Title: Banned
Location: Lost in a maple leaf-help!

Dave's Computer is Dead

Post by StarChild »

Yeah, Paty filled me in on those! I was ignorant until recently as to all that was going on!! Come back soon, Dave! :computer
Image

Ah, yes...lover at heart and along comes the ultimate romantic! Fox hunt ala Nightcrawler
LadyErin
Butt Monkey
Butt Monkey
Posts: 293
Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2003 9:05 am
Location: Limbo
Contact:

Dave's Computer is Dead

Post by LadyErin »

Speaking from *really* bitter expierance, check the surge protector.
http://lady_erin.livejournal.com
:magneto
What do you mean, you "don't believe in homosexuality?" It's not like the Easter Bunny, your belief isn't necessary. ~~Lea DeLaria
Want to IM me? U2U me for the screenname.
User avatar
Paty
Deck Swabber
Deck Swabber
Posts: 711
Joined: Sun Sep 08, 2002 4:03 am
Title: Magnetofiend
Location: Belton, SC 29627

Dave's Computer is Dead

Post by Paty »

:magneto
surge protector is fine... heavy duty and in good working order. a friend who is savvy about all kinds of computers looked it over and said he thought it was a hardsare problem... dave thought it was a virus... but the repair people say it needs parts... thank goodness for extended service contracts!!!

Not to be a snob or anything, I DO like Magnus, my computer. and I guess I cannot complain cuz it had to be fixed within the first year and a half, too. Mine was too much birdy dust junking up the innards... I don't go into the tower and clean it regularly cuz basically I know it will self destruct if I even think of it... so friends periodocally do it for me...Heh...

But it is still in the shop at this moment. Dave forgot to send in the warantee registration, so we had to do that before they would honor the extended warantee... but they told us to go ahead and do it and they would honor it... which is good cuz I PAID for it!

In any event, that is why he hasn't been posting ... so hang in there and he will return sooner or later! Meanwhile... you have ME!!! Ain't life wonderful?

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA

Paty
:magneto
Magneto Rules!
Xavier drools!
Write support the Claremont Magneto! Cast a vote for complexity in characterization! And write to protest THE USELESS KILLING OF NIGHTCRAWLER !!!
Write to :
Isaac Perlmutter , Alan Fine, Alex Alonso and Nick Lowe at
Marvel Entertainment Inc.
135 W 50th Street
New York, NY 10020
:magneto
LadyErin
Butt Monkey
Butt Monkey
Posts: 293
Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2003 9:05 am
Location: Limbo
Contact:

Dave's Computer is Dead

Post by LadyErin »

Oh indeed it is! ;)
http://lady_erin.livejournal.com
:magneto
What do you mean, you "don't believe in homosexuality?" It's not like the Easter Bunny, your belief isn't necessary. ~~Lea DeLaria
Want to IM me? U2U me for the screenname.
Angelique
Dread Pirate
Dread Pirate
Posts: 2882
Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2005 7:27 am
Location: sailing under the Jolly Wagner

Dave's Computer is Dead

Post by Angelique »

You named your computer? Cute! (Of course, I named my truck, so there we have it!)
Meddle not with the heartstrings of fans, for we are powerful and hold your pursestrings.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6 ... &ref=share

www.heroesfallenstudiosinc.webs.com

http://hubpages.com/hub/characterdriven
User avatar
Paty
Deck Swabber
Deck Swabber
Posts: 711
Joined: Sun Sep 08, 2002 4:03 am
Title: Magnetofiend
Location: Belton, SC 29627

Dave's Computer is Dead

Post by Paty »

:magneto
We name everything...LOL...our cars are Martha, my mother the car... and Cherry, the little red van. Martha was my bother's name and when she died I got the car from her...LOL...so she is Martha, my mother the car. cherry came with her own name when we bought the van from a friend to cart Dave and his wheelchair around... beats trying to fold the damn thing and putting it in the back of a car...
and Magnus is my computer. I don't know if Dave names his, but right now it's name is MUD.
LOL
paty
:magneto
Magneto Rules!
Xavier drools!
Write support the Claremont Magneto! Cast a vote for complexity in characterization! And write to protest THE USELESS KILLING OF NIGHTCRAWLER !!!
Write to :
Isaac Perlmutter , Alan Fine, Alex Alonso and Nick Lowe at
Marvel Entertainment Inc.
135 W 50th Street
New York, NY 10020
:magneto
LadyErin
Butt Monkey
Butt Monkey
Posts: 293
Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2003 9:05 am
Location: Limbo
Contact:

Dave's Computer is Dead

Post by LadyErin »

I named my laptop Shito, the one before that was Merlin (OH HOW I MISS HIM!), the PC before that was Pat...
http://lady_erin.livejournal.com
:magneto
What do you mean, you "don't believe in homosexuality?" It's not like the Easter Bunny, your belief isn't necessary. ~~Lea DeLaria
Want to IM me? U2U me for the screenname.
User avatar
Paty
Deck Swabber
Deck Swabber
Posts: 711
Joined: Sun Sep 08, 2002 4:03 am
Title: Magnetofiend
Location: Belton, SC 29627

Dave's Computer is Dead

Post by Paty »

:magneto
LOL... I have found that machines, not unlike people, behave better when you threaten them by name...
LOL
Paty
:magneto
Magneto Rules!
Xavier drools!
Write support the Claremont Magneto! Cast a vote for complexity in characterization! And write to protest THE USELESS KILLING OF NIGHTCRAWLER !!!
Write to :
Isaac Perlmutter , Alan Fine, Alex Alonso and Nick Lowe at
Marvel Entertainment Inc.
135 W 50th Street
New York, NY 10020
:magneto
LadyErin
Butt Monkey
Butt Monkey
Posts: 293
Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2003 9:05 am
Location: Limbo
Contact:

Dave's Computer is Dead

Post by LadyErin »

Originally posted by Paty
:magneto
LOL... I have found that machines, not unlike people, behave better when you threaten them by name...
LOL
Paty
:magneto
Things Most Likely to Be Heard Directed at the Computer:
  1. Why Shito? WHY!?!?!?
  2. No! Bad Shito! No Cookie!
  3. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! *broken sobs*
  4. SHITO! One more time you will meet the WALL!!!!!
My sister has named her Shittop

And I must agree, one they have been named (Or releved their names) they respond so much better!
http://lady_erin.livejournal.com
:magneto
What do you mean, you "don't believe in homosexuality?" It's not like the Easter Bunny, your belief isn't necessary. ~~Lea DeLaria
Want to IM me? U2U me for the screenname.
Angelique
Dread Pirate
Dread Pirate
Posts: 2882
Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2005 7:27 am
Location: sailing under the Jolly Wagner

Dave's Computer is Dead

Post by Angelique »

I talk to my truck much the same way I'd talk to a horse or a dog. Longest coversation I had with it was the Monday before Christmas.

"Okay, Brendan. Looks like it's just you and me in this ditch until help arrives...."
Meddle not with the heartstrings of fans, for we are powerful and hold your pursestrings.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6 ... &ref=share

www.heroesfallenstudiosinc.webs.com

http://hubpages.com/hub/characterdriven
User avatar
Paty
Deck Swabber
Deck Swabber
Posts: 711
Joined: Sun Sep 08, 2002 4:03 am
Title: Magnetofiend
Location: Belton, SC 29627

Dave's Computer is Dead

Post by Paty »

:magneto
LOL... sounds like Dave. He swears that cars break down on him on purpose...I tell him it is because he does not threaten them with the junkyard persuasively enough... Ya gotta mean it when you threaten... they respect that.
One must never make threats one is not prepared to keep... or promises either...
LOL
paty
:magneto
Magneto Rules!
Xavier drools!
Write support the Claremont Magneto! Cast a vote for complexity in characterization! And write to protest THE USELESS KILLING OF NIGHTCRAWLER !!!
Write to :
Isaac Perlmutter , Alan Fine, Alex Alonso and Nick Lowe at
Marvel Entertainment Inc.
135 W 50th Street
New York, NY 10020
:magneto
User avatar
Rattrap
Lubber
Lubber
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Oct 11, 2005 12:28 am

Dave's Computer is Dead

Post by Rattrap »

One of the good things about Macs is that the Macintosh OS is such a small percentage of the market that most hackers don't bother to go after them (note I said most- there are are probably hackers out there who still go after DOS 3.1).

They also tend to be very dependable little beasts (thank goodness- my personal one is a very old G3 that I picked up at a surplus auction). That said, however, when they rarely do go down, they tend to do good imitations of the Titanic.

Of course, the other good thing about Macs is that, with a couple of rare exceptions, they're extremely easy to service (at least the desktops- there's no such thing as an easy to service laptop, just a less-infuriating one).

Since I'm in the print/graphics field, Macs are a way of life for me. I've been using them since the SE they plunked on my desk about 20 years ago. I'm up to a Dual Processor G4 at work, and I may have to talk the boss into one of the new MacTel boxes in the near future.

On the other hand (I think that's about four hands we're up to now :) ) go with what makes you happy. After all, your the one who has to use that box.

Oh, and by the way, Dave's right. Computers and cars both are alive and malicious. :wolvie

[Edited on 26/1/06 by Rattrap]
"Oh fer bootin' up cold!"
LadyErin
Butt Monkey
Butt Monkey
Posts: 293
Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2003 9:05 am
Location: Limbo
Contact:

Dave's Computer is Dead

Post by LadyErin »

Originally posted by Rattrap
That said, however, when they rarely do go down, they tend to do good imitations of the Titanic.

Of course, the other good thing about Macs is that, with a couple of rare exceptions, they're extremely easy to service (at least the desktops- there's no such thing as an easy to service laptop, just a less-infuriating one).
*Once I stopped laughing...*
Back in highschool, our Mac lab died. Five of 40 survived...Yeah...that was a mess...
And you are completely correct. No such things against an easy laptop.
Oh, and by the way, Dave's right. Computers and cars both are alive and malicious. :wolvie
You know I always believed that about computers. But I didn't about cars until last winter when the car's transmission died on top of the railroad tracks. Thank the Gods there wasn't a train coming but it was terrifing until we got the car moved (And pushing a car over tracks in deep snow and ice...)

edited because I can't spell.

[Edited on 26-1-2006 by LadyErin]
http://lady_erin.livejournal.com
:magneto
What do you mean, you "don't believe in homosexuality?" It's not like the Easter Bunny, your belief isn't necessary. ~~Lea DeLaria
Want to IM me? U2U me for the screenname.
User avatar
Paty
Deck Swabber
Deck Swabber
Posts: 711
Joined: Sun Sep 08, 2002 4:03 am
Title: Magnetofiend
Location: Belton, SC 29627

Dave's Computer is Dead

Post by Paty »

:magneto
LOL... the cars break on David...rarely on me. they know which of us will junk them without a second thought. Martha, my mother the car, knows better, however... I simply cannot threaten her... I just fix her...LOL. computers, on the other hand, I am almost sure I could learn to live without again! Haven't had them long enough to become addicted and I know people who still don't have one and they live very pleasantly.

Dave's old IMAC, which his son gave him almost ten years ago, lasted a long time in spite of all the crap Dave put on it... and a friend who is trying to salvage some of the crap says he thinks it only needed cleaning... so go figure. This one only lasted barely over a year and didn't have that much air time...and it crashed miserably... like the titanic, indeed!

I like Magnus... he has had to be rebuilt a couple of times, but I am sure that was bcause of birdy dust...LOL...he is doing btter right now, but needs more memory, so I gotta get him another memory chip... but don't worry, I shall have someone who knows about such things install it! I don't go near his innards! All that circuitry is yuckky! Give me blood and guts any day!
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA
paty
:magneto
Magneto Rules!
Xavier drools!
Write support the Claremont Magneto! Cast a vote for complexity in characterization! And write to protest THE USELESS KILLING OF NIGHTCRAWLER !!!
Write to :
Isaac Perlmutter , Alan Fine, Alex Alonso and Nick Lowe at
Marvel Entertainment Inc.
135 W 50th Street
New York, NY 10020
:magneto
StarChild
Butt Monkey
Butt Monkey
Posts: 288
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2005 12:06 am
Title: Banned
Location: Lost in a maple leaf-help!

Dave's Computer is Dead

Post by StarChild »

Weeeellllll....I used to talk to pinball machines! I got higher scores that way, it seemed! Good ol' Mata Hari seemed to have a life of her own!

My computer is 'Puter...shades of good ol' Deathlok the Demolisher, and so far in his infancy...less than two weeks on line...he is behaving. One small snafu when I installed Yahoo's Toolbar...had to uninstall it because I couldn't access things on the forum with it. Talk about panic!

Hope Dave is surviving without his Mac!!

Yer' Royal Tuchus-Kisser (just kidding!) me....:worship
:wave
Image

Ah, yes...lover at heart and along comes the ultimate romantic! Fox hunt ala Nightcrawler
User avatar
Rattrap
Lubber
Lubber
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Oct 11, 2005 12:28 am

Dave's Computer is Dead

Post by Rattrap »

By the way, which Mac is it that's in the shop?
"Oh fer bootin' up cold!"
User avatar
Paty
Deck Swabber
Deck Swabber
Posts: 711
Joined: Sun Sep 08, 2002 4:03 am
Title: Magnetofiend
Location: Belton, SC 29627

Dave's Computer is Dead

Post by Paty »

:magneto
LOL... I should know the answer to this? It is a fairly new one... flatscreen type...we got it in Nov of 04 and it cost a goddamn mint! ... what with the printer and scanner and such to go with it...sigh. the old one was an IMAC from a decade ago...looked like a turquoise hair dryer! Larry says he thinks it may only need cleaning, last time I inquired about it. He and Ann will be coming to visit this spring and hopefully they will have it fixed and Dave can use IT again! He loved that thing! He actually knew how to do everything he wanted to do with it and it had story ideas stored in it's innards...which he didn't back up on disk, so go figure...sigh...
I cannot fault that one... it did well for a long, long time. But I can fault this new hunk of junk!
I dunno... it seems that new stuff doesn't last very long. they want you to buy a new one every year to be "state of the art" and I think most folks don't care about state of the art...most of us old folks, anyway...
I know people who refuse to get one even for emails! LOL....but they do have their uses and will open up a whole world to you. It just seems that the older ones, while doing less wildly diverse things, were more reliable for basic every day usage ...
We had an old clunker VHS machine from when they first came out. It weighed a ton! but you know what? It outlasted a half dozen of the lighter,newer machines we eventually got and only finally had to be scrapped when we couldn't get parts to repair it. A local repair person had two of them he used to salvage parts from to keep others running and he did replace parts every five years or so. we had that thing over fifteen years! And I bet if we could have gotten parts, it would still be doing good service today! New isn't always better...

Gez... now I am really beginning to sound OLD... aren't I?
sigh

Paty
:magneto
Magneto Rules!
Xavier drools!
Write support the Claremont Magneto! Cast a vote for complexity in characterization! And write to protest THE USELESS KILLING OF NIGHTCRAWLER !!!
Write to :
Isaac Perlmutter , Alan Fine, Alex Alonso and Nick Lowe at
Marvel Entertainment Inc.
135 W 50th Street
New York, NY 10020
:magneto
Angelique
Dread Pirate
Dread Pirate
Posts: 2882
Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2005 7:27 am
Location: sailing under the Jolly Wagner

Dave's Computer is Dead

Post by Angelique »

Paty, you don't sound old. I remember back to my broadcasting studies- some of the most "state of the art" radio and television stations use equipment that's fifty years old, simply because it's expensive to replace it with all the latest bells and whistles, and as long as it works, there's no reason to replace it anyway! (Though I must confess I recorded all my own broadcasts on minidisc and was quite happy with digital editing.)
Meddle not with the heartstrings of fans, for we are powerful and hold your pursestrings.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6 ... &ref=share

www.heroesfallenstudiosinc.webs.com

http://hubpages.com/hub/characterdriven
LadyErin
Butt Monkey
Butt Monkey
Posts: 293
Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2003 9:05 am
Location: Limbo
Contact:

Dave's Computer is Dead

Post by LadyErin »

I think it goes back to 'You get what you pay for' Ten years ago a computer was an investment - Now, they are less so, because they are cheaper. I mean...you cna get a no-fils computer for under $400, and no fills laptop for $600. Software will run you more than that! And knock that down to $200 and $300 if you buy a used one!

The stuff just isn't made to last.

*smacks brain* Spelling edt.

[Edited on 27-1-2006 by LadyErin]
http://lady_erin.livejournal.com
:magneto
What do you mean, you "don't believe in homosexuality?" It's not like the Easter Bunny, your belief isn't necessary. ~~Lea DeLaria
Want to IM me? U2U me for the screenname.
User avatar
Paty
Deck Swabber
Deck Swabber
Posts: 711
Joined: Sun Sep 08, 2002 4:03 am
Title: Magnetofiend
Location: Belton, SC 29627

Dave's Computer is Dead

Post by Paty »

:magneto
Oh, Yeah... not made to last I can relate to...sigh... well, I am gonna be sixty four next tuesday... so I am pushing it here...LOL...over the hillism...Y'see all these gray hairs? I EARNED every one of them!!!
LOL...I just sound young and smart alecky...LOL but underneath this somewhat gurbby exterior lurks an astute and wise mind... and a total lack of patience with the total crap I see masquerading as readable fiction... and I am not only talking about comics, either...sigh
One of my favorite authors has apparently forgotten how to write proper manuscript form!!! Having EVERY character speak in the first person and having all the exposition in the present tense rather than the past tense.
Now, I can understand it in the illiterate younger editorial and writing crew... but in an established, professional who heretofore has written brilliantly? It is appalling!!! They would flunk MY compositional English Literature class... for sure!
I am told that this is the NEW documentary style...hmmm... sorry... it sucks! Here I sit, reading a NYTimes bestselling auhor and having to translate every damn sentence into proper tense! A tyro sixth grader couldn't have done worse! Now, whether this is the author, whom I know KNOWS better... or whether this is the encroachment of illiterate young editorial staff, I don't know... but I am about to write to the author and take her to task for this abberration.

So I guess I AM old... I sound like my fifth grade teacher! LOL...or my mother, who was also a stickler for proper literary form.

I will admit to some youthful thoughts, though... I want to get a piece of my own Magneto art tattooed across my back... it is just a matter of saving up enough bucks to do it.. cuz this baby is gonna COST! LOL so I guess I am not TOO old...
LOL
paty
:magneto
Magneto Rules!
Xavier drools!
Write support the Claremont Magneto! Cast a vote for complexity in characterization! And write to protest THE USELESS KILLING OF NIGHTCRAWLER !!!
Write to :
Isaac Perlmutter , Alan Fine, Alex Alonso and Nick Lowe at
Marvel Entertainment Inc.
135 W 50th Street
New York, NY 10020
:magneto
LadyErin
Butt Monkey
Butt Monkey
Posts: 293
Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2003 9:05 am
Location: Limbo
Contact:

Dave's Computer is Dead

Post by LadyErin »

Originally posted by Paty
:magneto
Oh, Yeah... not made to last I can relate to...sigh... well, I am gonna be sixty four next tuesday... so I am pushing it here...LOL...over the hillism...Y'see all these gray hairs? I EARNED every one of them!!!
I'm twenty-two and have many of them. What does that mean? ;)
One of my favorite authors has apparently forgotten how to write proper manuscript form!!! Having EVERY character speak in the first person and having all the exposition in the present tense rather than the past tense.
Now, I can understand it in the illiterate younger editorial and writing crew... but in an established, professional who heretofore has written brilliantly? It is appalling!!! They would flunk MY compositional English Literature class... for sure!
I am told that this is the NEW documentary style...hmmm... sorry... it sucks! Here I sit, reading a NYTimes bestselling auhor and having to translate every damn sentence into proper tense! A tyro sixth grader couldn't have done worse! Now, whether this is the author, whom I know KNOWS better... or whether this is the encroachment of illiterate young editorial staff, I don't know... but I am about to write to the author and take her to task for this abberration.
Which Author?
I will admit to some youthful thoughts, though... I want to get a piece of my own Magneto art tattooed across my back... it is just a matter of saving up enough bucks to do it.. cuz this baby is gonna COST! LOL so I guess I am not TOO old...
LOL
paty
:magneto
I would love to see that (Actually, Ild love to have some of yours as a tat...but that's another story...) And yes they cost. But mine, cost in money and pain, was worth it. I love mine.
http://lady_erin.livejournal.com
:magneto
What do you mean, you "don't believe in homosexuality?" It's not like the Easter Bunny, your belief isn't necessary. ~~Lea DeLaria
Want to IM me? U2U me for the screenname.
User avatar
Paty
Deck Swabber
Deck Swabber
Posts: 711
Joined: Sun Sep 08, 2002 4:03 am
Title: Magnetofiend
Location: Belton, SC 29627

Dave's Computer is Dead

Post by Paty »

:magneto
which author? Patricia Cornwell. she writes a wonderful characer... Dr. Kay Scarpetta... chief medical examiner, her lover, Benton Wesley, an FBI profiler and her neice, Lucy, FBI, ATF, etc...LOL...juxtaposed against a scruffy almost Columbo-esque homicide detective... Pete Marino...who has this THING for the Doc...
The adventures and misadventures have spanned over a decade with a new chapter...book...every year or so. About three or four books ago, she started changing her style. At first it was only a minor slip here and there... but within two books, she was writing totally differently than she had written for the first teght or so books... which was proper manuscript form It has become standard in her books and is dreadfully annoying... at least to me. I am almost at the point of fiving up the series. Cornwell is, I think, bes noted for her book "The Body Farm" which brought to the public's attention the Decay Research Facility at the University of Tennessee. Where, by the way, I want to donate my carcass when I am finished with it.
she used to write well... and now I find it a chore to read her books... even though I am still intrigued with her characters.

Writing in the first person is difficult enough... but the rule is that you only have ONE character from whose point of view the story unfolds. If you want to show thoughts and action of other characters, you must use third person... which most good books are written in. this is not tosay that a good book MUST be written in third person. Laurell K. Hamilton writes her anita Blake stories in the first person, from Anita's viewpoint and does it exceedingly well. But her exposition is, quite correctly in the past ense. this kind of thing is basic story writing... and the new "documentary" style where everybody talks to the audience in the first person, present tense, simply does not work in good storytelling... at least for me it doesn't. TV documentaries are different from telling a story in a book. The first person, present tense should be reserved for special effects... news bulletins the characters are listening to and such... because as it stands now, such inclusions read no differently than the regular exposition... and so lose their impact as excerpts or outside influences on the characters.

Personally, I don't think it is so much an evolution of a style as much as the illiteracy of young editorial copy readers who, probably, have no formal training in English Compositional Literature. they know how to use spellcheck and such programs... but don't know formal writing techniques.

Having beta read for Laurell, I can aver that writers are often very sloppy in first drafts ... with spelling, punctuation, and grammer. Copy editors correct these technical deficiencies... that's their job. But if they change tense, because they don't know any better, it is not inconcievable that the writer may leave it in that condition, trusting to the copy editors to know best... and this is a terrible error. I am seriously considering querying Cornwell as to the whys of her de-evolution of style.

I am cursed with an editorial mind...
Paty
:magneto
Magneto Rules!
Xavier drools!
Write support the Claremont Magneto! Cast a vote for complexity in characterization! And write to protest THE USELESS KILLING OF NIGHTCRAWLER !!!
Write to :
Isaac Perlmutter , Alan Fine, Alex Alonso and Nick Lowe at
Marvel Entertainment Inc.
135 W 50th Street
New York, NY 10020
:magneto
LadyErin
Butt Monkey
Butt Monkey
Posts: 293
Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2003 9:05 am
Location: Limbo
Contact:

Dave's Computer is Dead

Post by LadyErin »

I know that book! The science geek in me demands it.
And it's not a cruse. I can think of many people who would be better off it that had one.

But I have to say...a friend of mine is writng a book (actually, she sent it to a publisher not long ago)...I've read it, it's damn good...and it does switch between the hero's and the heroine's POV - but it switches every three charapters, like it is broken down into parts. But it only does that with the main two characters.
http://lady_erin.livejournal.com
:magneto
What do you mean, you "don't believe in homosexuality?" It's not like the Easter Bunny, your belief isn't necessary. ~~Lea DeLaria
Want to IM me? U2U me for the screenname.
Post Reply