davidd's A DOLL A DAY 2024

[Alliecat]

She looks like she's unenthusiastically trying to get motivated to do some big job

I mean, still trying to wrangle. Everything has a transition day on the 8th. I don't want to be coming/going then. Either that or everyone in TX has a hundred giant dogs.
I actually got invited back to the TX people's place, but it's the wrong timing and too long

[davidd]

She looks like she's unenthusiastically trying to get motivated to do some big job.

Unintentionally autobiographical, apparently.

---

21 February - A Doll A Day 2024:
.

VAMPIRA'S LITERARY LOUNGE

[Alliecat]

Unintentionally autobiographical, apparently.

Heh. You and me both. Maybe that’s why I thought of it 

Stories to make your brain feel different? How does that work? How does it feel??

[davidd]

Stories to make your brain feel different? How does that work? How does it feel??

Well... in my case, it made me feel like giving up on everything... even more so than I have already.

It has taken me a couple of days to realize maybe this once Golden Boy author, whose first successful novel was published in 1991, might be realizing he has passed his prime and is desperately trying to remain relevant by writing about "edgy" subjects. Why is it that "edgy" almost always means depressing, violent, and icky?

It reminded me... because I'm so damned literary... of the decline of science fiction author Robert Heinlein. Way back in the era of my First Real Job, I remember my supervisor was reading one of the last of Heinlein's novels. That supervisor was a fan of science fiction, and fairly well-read in the genre. I remember him saying, "Heinlein has turned in to a dirty old man." 

I don't know if Doug Coupland's "edgy" books have always been tawdry and he's trying to maintain his literary legacy with more of the same, or if this is a new angle for him. I won't be reading anything else by him, so I'll never know. There are too many books in the world to waste time on ones that are not in some way enjoyable. This one was not, for me, enjoyable.

And seriously -- I don't care if somebody is a Trump hater or a Trump supporter. It's just, the Trump-bashing is so trendy and trite!

---

22 February - A Doll A Day 2024:

.

TBLeague and Jiaoudoll Action Figures

[Alliecat]

David’s Angels?? what baddies are you taking on?

Yeah, after what you said on Dal House I’m pretty sure I would not have finished the book at all.
I can’t remember if I read anything by Heinlein back when I lived in a place with a library that had SF books. That was a long time ago. They had a great sci-fi section where you could browse. Now, you would have to know what you wanted and get it on interbranch loan.

[fishy]

Maybe you have to do that to get published now.

I had a friend irl many years ago who got published (historical fiction) and in order to get his book out, they MADE this nice little old man from the country add grotesque adult scenes. (Not even normal stuff, but like "illegal and needs to be wearing a straight jacket" stuff.)

I wonder how widespread that is.

[davidd]

I can’t remember if I read anything by Heinlein back when I lived in a place with a library that had SF books. That was a long time ago. 

No science fiction to speak of at the small town library where I live in Utah, either. There are a few popular fantasy type novels and series, particularly in the kids' section. It's weird, because in the smallish town where I grew up, the local library had tons of sci-fi in both the adult and the children's sections of the library.

Maybe you have to do that to get published now.

I had a friend irl many years ago who got published (historical fiction) and in order to get his book out, they MADE this nice little old man from the country add grotesque adult scenes.  (Not even normal stuff, but like "illegal and needs to be wearing a straight jacket" stuff.)

I wonder how widespread that is.

One of my online contacts... he's only on Instagram now, where he posts cartoons he draws of cute little animals... is a former author of horror novels, most published in the 1980s and early 1990s.

This guy:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/32...thur_Smith

(That karate book on the list is not his.)

Bob shared via Flickr years ago, when I learned that he was a "former" horror writer, that he gave up the genre, even though it was reasonably lucrative, because the editors and publishers were insisting on increasing amounts of gore, cruelty, and other types of content he was not comfortable writing.

So yes, it would seem that the "publishing industry" insists on, or at least strongly encourages, the addition of certain content from authors. Which means, I suppose, that it is what the reading audience wants to see.

---

23 February - A Doll A Day... or Night... 2024:

.

Only 250 Nights Until Halloween

[davidd]

24 February - A Doll A Day 2024:

.

Sea Foam

[Alliecat]

That’s a cute and fun photo!

I used to like horror movies; I can recall watching them with friends and having pizza night in high school. I liked scary ones, but I almost never watch anything horror now because they seem so much more violent and gory. I guess that’s the trend. I’m pretty sure that if I had a publisher tell me I had to put in a bunch of stuff that compromised the style of the story in that way, that I would say “no thanks” and walk away.

[davidd]

I’m pretty sure that if I had a publisher tell me I had to put in a bunch of stuff that compromised the style of the story in that way, that I would say “no thanks” and walk away.

That's what Bob did - walked away from being a published author in response to demands from agents, editors, and publishers for increasingly graphic content. He became an editor for Scholastic Books. Now he's retired and draws cartoons for fun.

---

25 February - A Doll A Day 2024

25 February - A Doll A Day 2024

[Alliecat]

Sounds like he found a much more agreeable way to use his talents.

The warm deserted beach photos are always fun

[davidd]

The warm deserted beach photos are always fun 

Warmer than it has been thru most of this winter season, but not as deserted as it appears.

---

26 February - A Doll A Day 2024:

.

Jack hopes his clever self-portrait picture will be selected to appear

on the "Reader Photos" page in an upcoming issue of Rugged Men magazine.

[Alliecat]

This looks like the start of another one of those “regression” photo series on your other forum.

[davidd]

This looks like the start of another one of those “regression” photo series on your other forum.

That'd be kind of cool to put a photo of a figure on a magazine or book cover, and then have successive images of the figure reading the book with the picture of them reading the book. There's an idea to finish of the rest of A Doll A Day 2024 with! Only 308 days to go!

---

27 February - A Doll A Day 2024:

.

[Alliecat]

I imagine you could get some of the other forum people to join you in that. There seems to be a lot of enthusiasm for interactive photo stories.

Another lovely day at the beach, sigh…