The blu ray of Mesrine shows a close up picture of a man with dark hair, sunglasses, a moustache, and a menacing expression.
Over the last couple of nights, I watched MESRINE pts. 1&2 (2008, dir. Jean-Francois Richet), based on the real life of gangster, Jacques Mesrine, whose multiple prison breaks & audacious schemes were infamous in France & Canada in the 60s & 70s. A stunning central performance from Vincent Casell.
If you're not sure what is reasonable to pay for editing, the EFA has a median rate chart you can check out: www.the-efa.org/rates/ #Editing #EFA
Even the original infinity war/endgame movies made a kind of sense on their own without having to watch/rewatch everything before. This isn't an easy-to-access TV saga running regularly. If the movies don't stand alone as stories (even if they're better in context) then something's wrong.
When I was a kid you couldn't get comics easily so my Spiderman issues were fractured & long runnning arcs were disrupted. BUT every issue still made sense in isolation. If you have to re-edit your old movie for this one to make sense them make viewers watch...? It's a problem with the story...
It was a guide to Pyramid Schemes...
But I do love the fact even the AI slop machine basically gives up after creating that anodyne title, refusing to even guess at what it might be about...
To be clear the third McNee novel is actually called FATHER CONFESSOR. And I have no idea what THE GOOD DAUGHTER is supposed to be other than what someone with little imagination might guess a sequel to my debut would be called.
Screenshot of an AI summary of my books that says: Russel D. McLean is known for his crime novels, particularly the J. McNee series, with notable titles including "The Good Son" and "The Friday Girl." Notable Works The Good Son (J. McNee #1) - This is McLean's debut novel, which has received critical acclaim and is often regarded as a significant entry in Scottish crime fiction. The Lost Sister (J. McNee #2) - The second book in the J. McNee series, continuing the story of the private investigator. The Last of the Innocent (J. McNee #3) - The third installment in the series, further exploring McNee's character and cases. The Friday Girl - A standalone thriller set in 1970s Dundee, showcasing McLean's ability to weave gripping narratives outside of his series work. The Good Daughter - Another title that adds to his repertoire of engaging crime fiction.
Doing a quick search on myself for reasons (to find something I wrote online a while back) & notice of course the AI summary of me is the first thing brought up. Click to expand out of curiosity and of course, two of the five books it says I wrote don't even exist... AI IS NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE.
Had one from "Frankfurt book fair" earlier this year, too, reaching out about promoting a novel published in 2008... finger on the pulse for that particular AI scammer...
And MORE book festival AI scams arrive in the inbox. This one from "Ballyscullion book festival" -- have just talked to the real festival and can confirm that if you get an "invite" from a gmail address it will indeed be a scam... (Also interesting its an "invitation to be considered"...)
Having such a fun day with a mix of a banjaxxed shoulder muscle and inflamed sinuses -- headaches and discomfort ahoy!
AI is the "3D film is inevitable" of the 2020s
How did I not know about the sequel? How? *goes to hunt it down ASAP*
Excellent -- it really did form so much of my early adult crime reading... Ellroy, Paretsky, Burke and several other names... I believe he intended a chapter on the late, great Daniel Woodrell, too, but didn't manage to arrange the meeting in time for the book.
Oldcastle seem to do a new edition of it: www.oldcastlebooks.co.uk/bookpage.php... And I'm now hoping my memory's right that Tony Hillerman was indeed part of that line up (I'm certain he was!)...
I think he was one of the authors I started reading because of the ace John Williams travelogue/author interview book INTO THE BADLANDS where he travelled round the US talking to the new wave of crime writers (It was such a good book and he talked with loads of authors who'd go on to amazing things)
And they're based on a series of novels I loved back in the 90s/2000s (although they'd been going since the late 70s) by Tony Hillerman (haven't read them in years, but loved them at the time and now feel a re-read on the horizon)... Must check out the series (so many TV shows, so little time...)
Publishing in an ironic nutshell...
Apropos of absolutely nothing, we'd like to remind everyone that Kobo distributes to libraries via OverDrive, and it costs nothing to publish on Kobo. Come join us! #indieauthors #publishing
Just wanted to say how much I loved DEATH OF THE AUTHOR -- picked it up on a whim (I think after seeing a post of yours here) and absolutely ADORED it -- deserves all the awards!
The thing with Banks -- & I appreciate it more & more as I get older & write more -- is that he had fun with his writing. And writing (and reading) should be fun, even when dealing with serious topics. Even the books I didn't get along with, I usually had that sense of a writer enjoying themselves.
I bloody loved FEERSUM ENDJINN -- utterly bizarre, brilliantly twisted and funny, and at the time like nothing else I'd ever read. God, I wish we'd got many more years of Banks...
I think I have a very similar approach to your editor -- mostly, I'm just highlighting pleonastic words/phrases that can be cut for pacing which I think is a relatively light thing. I am known as "Mr Picky" to a number of my regular authors... (I think it's in a nice way...)
Got this email last night from D2D and found it both insulting, and appallingly blunt in the way it phrased all of this. There are so many other ways in which to police the system for AI slop, but they chose to attack the actual writers.
I'd recently been experimenting with KDP exclusive just to see what happened so had paused D2D. But this bullshit has made me decide to delete my account entirely. There are other ways and means, I think, if/when I decide to try wider reach again.
You aren't competing with Netflix or Fortnite. You're competing with a manosphere that wants them to have neither the attention span to read nor the emotional energy to engage.
And the people responsible for spreading that kind of social poison should never have another good night's sleep.
I think a lot about how the percentage of American men not reading is less because there aren't books that could appeal to men (duh), and more that genuinely dark forces have worked to suck all of their attention towards self-destruction.
The cover of TREMORS 4k edition shows a painting of a monster roaring out of the earth wtih snake-like appendages emerging from its jaws.
Needing a comfort watch last night & TREMORS (1990, dir. Ron Underwood) in its gorgeous @arrowvideo.bsky.social 4k edition more than fitted the bill. Fond memories of watching the film on TV the first time with my dad & he was terrified by the Grabbers -- something we tease him about to this day...
