Posts Categorized: News

Have you heard of Miss Snark? If not, you should check it out sooner rather than later.

Miss Snark – a pseudonym for a mysterious, high ranking agent – ran a terrific blog for over three years where she gave us a cynical, sarcastic, but ultimately honest inside look at the publishing industry. She answered countless questions from her readers and in the process created an intelligent, funny and useful well of knowledge for anyone interested in the publishing industry.

It might seem odd for a little blog like A Dribble of Ink to be promoting a blog that:

  • Had a huge readership, far beyond that of this blog
  • Is no longer being updated.

But one look at the site will show you just how terrific a resource it is. Go back through and read the wealth of information provided by Miss Snark. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed!

Check it out HERE.

Jim Butcher's The Dresden FilesThe Dabel Brothers, quite possibly my favourite team in the comic world, have just announced that they are partnering up with Fantasy heavyweight publisher Del Rey. Dabel Brother Publishing won my heart by beautifully adapting stories by some of my favourite authors including Tad Williams, Raymond E. Feist, and George R.R. Martin.

If you’re a fan of comics and graphic novels, or just a fan of Fantasy Literature in general, you should do yourself a favour and check out any of the projects put together by Dabel Brothers Publishing. You won’t be disappointed.
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The Elves of Cintra - Terry BrooksThis is quite possibly one of the coolest things I’ve seen since I started blogging and just had to get the word out there!

Terry Brooks, one of my favourite authors and a genuinely humble and kindhearted man, is offering up the chance of a lifetime! He’s giving one lucky (and generous) person the chance to be a character in the novel he is set to begin writing at the turn of 2008!
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C.J. Cherryh, award-winning author of over 60 novels, has compiled a great list titled “Witterisms and other Sins: A Writer’s Shortcut to Stronger Writing” in the world of writing. Overused/misused words and phrases are the name of the game and Cherryh brings it home.

Definitely worth a look for any aspiring writer. I sure know I learned a thing or two!

A couple of my favourites:

6.

Dead verbs. Colorless verbs.

* walked
* turned
* crossed
* run, ran
* go, went, gone
* leave, left
* have, had
* get, got

You can add your own often used colorless verbs: these are verbs that convey an action but don’t add any other information. A verb you’ve had to modify (change) with an adverb is likely inadequate to the job you assigned it to do.

11.

-ing.

“Shouldering his pack and setting forth, he crossed the river … ”

No, he didn’t. Not unless his pack was in the river. Implies simultaneity. The participles are just like any other verbal form. They aren’t a substitute legal everywhere, or a quick fix for a complex sequence of motions. Write them on the fly if you like, but once imbedded in text they’re hard to search out when you want to get rid of their repetitive cadence, because -ing is part of so many fully constructed verbs {am going, etc.}

Check out the whole thing HERE!

The Bonehunters by Steven EriksonSo, I had wanted to wait and announce the 5 winners of the giveaway around the same time that the interview between myself, Steven Erikson and Ian Cameron Esslemont went live. But, as life usually dictates, Steve has been busy finishing up Toll the Hounds and the interview is, understandably, on the back burner.

Don’t fret, though. Ian Cameron Esslemont has completed his portion of the interview, so it is still coming!

That all being said, I just don’t want to wait any longer to announce the winners of the 5 signed copies of The Bonehunters! So, without further adeiu: the winners!
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