Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - AnthonyHJ

Pages: [1]
1
Author Craft / Re: Question on Trademark or Copywrite
« on: January 01, 2011, 03:50:26 PM »
I think this probably comes under the heading of Fair Use, but don't quote me on that.
Jim alludes to it in Changes, when discussing the sample of depleted uranium he has in the lab, but does not use the full phrase.  In all honesty, I think 'Who you gonna call?' is as safe as 'Use the force' and the DF books are filled with direct quotes from Star Wars.

On the other hand, my experience is that publishers tend to have legal teams who advise you when something like that is an issue.  They may not be the most tactful, but they are the most thorough...  (a combination of directness and OCD also common among vampires, if the folklore is to be believed)

Freebie English lesson (for those who need it)
Allude: Make reference to.
Elude: Be difficult to catch or hold.

2
Author Craft / Re: Published Author On Board
« on: December 28, 2010, 01:14:02 PM »
I'm a videogame writer and lecturer on videogame narrative.  I have been called a transmedia artist, but my current skillset is more 'narrative designer' in all honesty.

My published works are a little eclectic - I'm a contributing writer on a few text-books for distance-learning courses and used by UK universities, technical writer on a few others, narrative designer on one published videogame (I was a writer, games designer and external writer liaison on that one), narrative designer on one more still waiting to be released, writer on two other unreleased games... 

Oh...  and my first novel (mercifully written under a pseudonym) was romance...  I was a teenage goth, it seemed like a good idea at the time, and then a small publisher got hold of it.

I am currently working on a short story for a steampunk compilation getting released in September while the studios are taking a break and there's little or no freelance writing work to be had, but I also have a novel that keeps stalling.  I keep meaning to get an agent, but I want to get a 'real' novel ready to do the rounds before I start bothering agencies.

I originally trained in the theatre, learning everything from lighting and carpentry to iambic pentameter and stage-combat.  I was a playwright, an actor, a director and stage-manager.  I have been an artistic director and I have been the guy sweeping the stage at the end of the show.  I was also stabbed in the nuts once when a sword-fight went wrong, but since I was the fight-director, that was probably my fault...

The greatest impediment to my writing is probably Harry Dresden; I keep reading when I should be writing, but I am about 80% of the way through Turn Coat and so I will soon be able to get some work done.

3
Author Craft / Re: Tools for Writers
« on: December 28, 2010, 12:14:37 PM »
My personal tool-kit would be Writer's Cafe and CeltX, doing the actual writing in Open Office.  The former is cheap (about £20 last time I looked), but has a pretty feature-rich free version, while the latter is free and open-source, with some paid services available.  Best of all, they are both multi-platform; you can install under Windows, MacOS or Linux and they work just as well.

The most important tool I use (ignoring OpenOffice) is probably Dropbox, a synchronisation service which is very useful for backing up data.  I once lost the first 10,000 words of a novel to a hardware issue, so I always make sure I have my important files backed up safely these days.  It also has the advantage of synchronising my half-finished stories on my Linux laptop with my Windows desktop PC, so I can write on either one without having to use a USB stick or try to send them over the network.

Pages: [1]