Five members met at Mark’s place for a yummy potluck and fun chat session. Here are some of the matters we discussed:
General points:
- Diane book launch before Christmas – doing block edits currently
- Tor.com – Joff’s favorite website
- Tor.com take unsolicited manuscripts
- Liz Gatens – won shades of sentience cyber punk compo.
- What would it take to get a Con in ChCh? Perhaps a mini-con? Use webinar software – get time with overseas authors rather than get them into NZ?
- Modern books way too thick! Bring back compact plots.
- How to focus on writing:
- see NaNoWriMo site for some ideas
- website: write or die
- website: 750 words
- book: First Draft in Thirty Days, by Karen Weissner
- book: Writing Tools – Fifty Essential Strategies for Every Writer, by Roy Peter Clark
- Start up a SpecFicNZ buddy review and critique system
- The fun of going to the shops in a Zorb
- Next meetup a Christmas Do?
Authors discussed:
- Steven King – plot draws reader on, else low in detail
- John Varley – good cyberpunk
Films & genres:
- What is cyber punk?
- Blade Runner – not so much
- Spares by Michael Marshal Smith – used for the movie The Island.
- Gattacca
- Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
- V for Vendetta
- League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (mixed feelings, some felt it bombed justly so, others loved it)
- Underworld series – contemporary gothic
- Surrogates – semi-dire cyberpunk
- Ghost in the Shell – deals with machine/human question