The views and opinions expressed in this blog by Kyle Brady are solely his own, and do not necessarily reflect those of Intuitive Industries LLC, their clients, the sponsors or advertisers of this blog, or other employers Kyle may have.
You might be interested to know that there's two different kind of posts on this blog: "Thought of the Day" and "Normal". The "Thought of the Day" category is a once-a-day random tidbit, usually a funny video or picture, and the "Normal" is just what you'd expect from a blog like this:
Unicorn-Butterfly Soup.
--Kyle
p.s. the subscription options to the left (psst! <---- that way) reflect the same content options
They’re apparently making a movie, but OSC is taking his time to write the script to be perfect. Since alot of the book takes place inside Ender’s head as thoughts or inner dialogue, that obviously wouldn’t translate well to a viewing audience. So the movie’s going to be awhile.
Now, if you know me at all, you know I love reading. Especially SciFi and Fantasy books. And I actually sent out info to a few publishers (like Tor and Ace), offering to help proofread or review early versions of upcoming books… but I never heard anything.
So I created a group on Goodreads called “Pre-release Reader Volunteer Group”. Not the sexiest name around, but it gets the point across. The basic idea is to allow authors (or wannabe-authors) an easy method to get their books looked at and reviewed, free of hassle, free of charge. And the upside is that the people reading them get to be part of an “exclusive group” of people who had a “first look” at these books.
We’ll see how it goes, and if it ends up working well, I may extend this into the non-Goodreads world, and create an online community to facilitate this… but I wanted to start small first.
Happy Reading!
posted on August 24th, 2008 at 6:46 pm by Kyle - Comments
I just finished re-reading the entire Harry Potter series (only the second time through… but considerably better than the first), and I noticed something: about halfway through the series, JK Rowling smoothly transfers the character development from a “Harry+Ron+Hermione” focus, to include many more characters, a large portion of which develop distinct, and lovable, personalities.
Why do I bring this up? Why is it worth mentioning? Because it provides a giant opportunity for the series to not “die” with the 7th and final book, without it seeming to “sell out” or become cliche. What am I talking about?
Parallel Stories
The development of the story, with the focus on another, but no less important, character is something rarely attempted by authors… probably because it is so difficult to align the two plots, and provide enough detail from the other perspective(s) to make it worth reading. But I’ve seen it done successfully, once: Orson Scott Card. The “Ender’s Game” series was (and still is) one of the most loved SciFi events of all time… but instead of ending the series when it was obviously over, the story got revitalized. Many times. And made it even more endearing to it’s fanatic following.
The Obvious
Like I said earlier, it would probably be a terrible idea to extend the Harry Potter series past the 7th book, in a chronological sense, because of the all-inclusive ending, and the terrible excuse for an Epilogue. Even worse would be another series, following someone else set in the future, distanced from the current series… following a child of Harry & Ginny, perhaps.
But the obvious way to expand the Harry Potter Universe would be parallel stories: one series centered on Luna Lovegood, and another on Neville Longbottom.
Character Choice
If parallel series are ever written, the character choice would be crucial. An entire book (or series) focused on Ron, Hermione, or their families would not work. The trio, and by extension, their families, are already a very significant part of the book, too much to be “spun off” themselves. Luna and Neville, however, are exactly the opposite.
Glimpses of Neville are seen from the beginning, and as the series progresses, we see him grow more confidant and capable, but also become closer to Harry, and becoming an integral part of the anti-Voldemort movement.
Luna doesn’t even appear until about halfway through the series, and even then she only appears to help explain a weird situation, or provide some unintentional humor. It’s not until the 6th book that we really see Luna grow into her own, but by the end of the series, I can’t help but feel like she didn’t have as much “face time” as she deserved.
Added Value
Imagine these two parallel series are written. The added value potential is huge… through Neville we would have more light on the backstory of Voldemort and Harry’s parents, not to mention his own, and through Luna we would see more of the quirky wizarding world that slowly fades from sight as the current books progress.
But more than just adding details to pre-existing storylines, these would have the chance to do even more: expand the Harry Potter Universe itself. All those times when Neville and Luna disappear would be a perfect chance to have epic stories of their own. The biggest chance of all would come towards the end… having not hidden in the forest, this would be a rare chance to re-tell the epic battle (and it’s precursors) from a perspective that was closer to the action for longer periods of time.
Wishful Thinking
Realistically, this will probably never happen. If anything, we’d probably see a book or two written in a pre-Harry world, but nothing as expansive or impressive as what I’ve just described.
But that doesn’t mean I can’t hope for it…
Update [3/24/08 @ 7:00pm PST]: I’ve gotten alot of feed back that “this won’t happen”, “she’s never mentioned it”, “not feasible”, etc. So let me make this clear: I know. I’m not stupid. This was what you could call a “thought experiment” or “wishful thinking”… I’m not suggesting that I’ve seen any evidence of this happening, or that I know some secret.
posted on March 24th, 2008 at 11:34 am by Kyle - Comments
If you’re reading this, then chances are you know about Amazon.com’s Kindle, an e-book reader… kind of like an iPod for books. And you also probably know that it’s getting majorcriticism for everything from it’s battery life to it’s product design to if it’s even useful.
But one major market is being overlooked here, without anyone thinking about the potential effect it may have: students.
Expensive As Hell
Textbooks are super expensive, and it gets even worse when you go to college. $350 for a textbook? And it’s not made of silver? The biggest excuse for the price of textbooks (even if you buy them used online, they’re still very expensive) is the printing. Hardback + many many pages + color + nice and glossy pages = high printing cost.
I guess that makes sense. So why don’t you not print at such a high standard, and lower the prices a little bit, eh? BECAUSE YOU WANT MY MONEY!
Are you spanking for money? Or the money?
Heavy
Most high schoolers (at leas the ones that actually want to go to college) carry a backpack full of textbooks to and from school everyday. Not one of those laptop backpacks, but a super-size LL Bean backpack that is made of that funny material that’ll stretch, but not easily rip.
Doctors and parents complain this is ruining their children’s backs. College kids refuse to bring books to class because it’s so difficult to make that 30min walk across campus with 15 books in their bag, totaling the entire weight of a large hobbit.
Why don’t we use less textbooks then? Oh, maybe because there’s usually 2 books required, if not more, for the average college class, and rumor has it those “Barnes and Noble Campus Bookstore” places highly encourage the use of multiple books, especially when they’re new…
Remember Laptops?
Remember when laptops were going to revolutionize the learning process, about 10 years ago? How parents were fighting for their kids to be able to use laptops in the high school classroom? And colleges were promising to make the texts available via computer?
What happened to that? I know I haven’t ever used a digital textbook in college, and I don’t know of anyone else that does either. But the ones I do hear about are usually clunky: you have to install special software, only install once… sounds like something Microsoft would create, right?
Solution
So here’s my solution. Since publishers are apparently incapable of publishing full-color textbooks in PDF format, and selling them iTunes-style (not through iTunes, but the same idea of online distribution)… which would considerably cut costs, since not only is the book not physically printed, but it’s not shipped anywhere either… why don’t we take advantage of the “I want to be popular” technology of the moment?
“The Solution”
E-book readers like the Kindle (there are others, but this is the one to get the most coverage so far) could be the easy solution. Try this out on college campuses, where the kids have money to spend, and actually might want to learn:
Include as part of tuition a one-time fee for an e-book reader. Deliver this at orientation Freshman year.
All classes have the option to buy a printed version of a book, but are suggested to use the digital version, available for download at the appropriate location.
See how happy it makes everyone.
Continue this program every year.
Eventually stop even printing these college textbooks.
“Oh but what if it breaks?!?!?!” Easy answer. I’m pretty sure that if you have to pay anywhere between $100-300 every now and then, even if it’s every year, to get your textbooks for a fraction of the cost ($30 Physics books anyone?), no-one is going to complain. So don’t give me that IT crap as an excuse.
Conclusion
Maybe e-readers are not going to be very popular in general population for another decade or two. I mean, seriously, a digital library of books isn’t going to impress anyone… no-one’s iPod or iTunes library is of any interest either, right?
I personally would have chose “Textbook Monopolies Suck”. Whatever.
But at least target the market that would benefit the most: poor college students who hate paying for textbooks every semester. College textbooks have been a problem since probably the dawn of time, and now here’s a way to alleviate the pain.
posted on December 14th, 2007 at 1:58 am by Kyle - Comments
You might remember me telling you I was working on a collaboration with a guy named Roy Wallen, awhile back. It was going well, but not really in the direction I had in mind, so I began writing my own book to encapsulate exactly what I’m wanting. Whether or not my work with Roy will continue, I don’t know, since I haven’t heard from him yet, but we’ll see.
Tentatively titled “Whispers Into Shadow”, it’s a SciFi/Fantasy book based in modern times. Here’s what’s defined as the concept:
A girl begins to discover she has magical powers, and becomes friends with two others (a boy, and a closet elf). Evil begins to grow from a whisper to a shadow, as the three friends start to understand the part they have to play in the upcoming struggle.
I’ve already “completed” (aka written for the first time) the Introduction and the first 3 Chapters, and I’m posting them over on Goodreads as I go (you’ll have to signup for an account if you don’t have one), at least up to a certain point.
This will obviously be a long process, and this is only the first version of what I’m sure will be rewritten and reworked many times, but I’d like some feedback nonetheless…
posted on December 12th, 2007 at 10:56 pm by Kyle - Comments
If you’re a geek/nerd/social-recluse-with-a-penchant-for-technology, chances are you either have a huge bookshelf, or you are known on a first name basis at the library, especially in the SciFi/Fantasy areas. I myself have recently started building a “library” of books for myself. I started with all the greats I’ve read over the years (Frank Herbert, Orson Scott Card, Larry Niven, etc.), and then have been slowly plodding through more currently respected authors (Terry Goodkind, Robin Hobb, Raymond Feist, etc). And all of this has got me thinking…
The Goal
What am I talking about? I’ll make it simple: I want to start a foundation, raise funds, and eventually construct a brick-and-mortar library that stores only Science Fiction and Fantasy novels, to be located somewhere in Silicon Valley. This is obviously something like 10 years down the road for it to come to fruition, but you have to get started somewhere.
Why?
It’s simple: I love these kinds of books, and almost everyone I’ve met in the geek/nerd category does too. And what is Silicon Valley, if not a bunch of geeks and nerds (maybe they call themselves ‘engineers’ or ’scientists’, but it’s the same thing)? I want to make all the books that we (that’s ‘geeks/nerds’ collectively) have read and love easily available to the upcoming generations of children who don’t read as much.
If the “Millennials” read less than “Generation X”, then whatever they’re labeling the current 10-yr olds as read even less. My generation was wrapped up in TV, video games, and the computer… but with a large helping of the, say it with me now, real world. Many of today’s children are growing up glued to their MMORPGs on either XBOX or the PC, and don’t even realize that the games they spend their lives on (World of Warcraft is a perfect example) started out as a way to visually interact with some books that people read.
How?
This is a big one. I’m not really sure yet, but I’m basing my plans for this off of a South Park episode:
Steal Underpants
???
Profit!
But instead, it looks like:
Start a foundation
Somehow get alot of donations and interest
???
Library!
I’m hoping to appeal to all the inner readers of Silicon Valley that I’m sure are out there. I’d like to get interest, and money, from anyone who wants to donate, but the big proponents would be Presidents/CEOs, rich people [aka. Venture Capitalist's), entire corporate sponsorships, etc.
When?
As I mentioned, this is super-long term. I'm going to start figuring out the paperwork early this year (January/February) and go from there... but I'm assuming that short of some magic happening, 10 years is a good estimate. In this estimate I'm including what I hope will be a custom constructed building whose appearance will match the high flying ideals of this.
Ok...?
I just wanted to put my thoughts out there to the general public. If you're interested in helping, feel free to contact me. I'm also thinking about names for this foundation, and the eventual library, so "[post] ‘em if you got ‘em”.
posted on December 4th, 2007 at 4:14 am by Kyle - Comments
Something I found would be interesting, and asked Otis of Goodreads if it would be possible…
A widget for blogs (and other sites), using Javascript and the Prototype Library, that searches for authors and books, and attempts to reference them… instead of forcing you to link them yourself. This would have been useful here.
Otis has created an API method for me to send queries to (will be available later tonight), and I’ll be using Javascript to look for “tags” in the text. Two examples:
[author:terry goodkind]
[book:sword of truth]
Which would turn into direct links (or the closest match), spat out by Goodreads, to Goodreads.
I’ll be starting (and hopefully finishing) it this weekend.
posted on October 24th, 2007 at 4:02 pm by Kyle - Comments
If you know me, you know that I love to read, especially SciFi/Fantasy novels (Herbert, Orson Scott Card, Niven, Tolkien, Goodkind, etc.). Because of my love of these kinds of books, and the ideas I’ve developed while reading them, I’ve decided to “write” my own book.
“Write”
When I say “write”, I mean it only in loose terms. I’m very capable of writing things like essays, arguments, and other non-fiction things, but when it comes to fiction, I don’t have the knack. Believe me, I’ve tried. The dialog sounds cheesy and unbelievable, and I tend to gloss over things. That’s why, as of this week, I’m partnering with someone who actually can write.
Better than movies and TV.
Roy Wallen and I are going to be collaborating, remotely via phone and the Internet, on a new book in the SciFi/Fantasy realm. My main purpose in this partnership is to bring ideas to the table, help figure out plots/characters, and assist in the proofing/editing, while Roy is obviously going to be doing the writing, as well as character/plot development.
The Topic
I don’t want to give away too much to the general public (not like there’s a whole lot to steal), but here’s the general concept for the book:
Rowlings -meets- Tolkien -meets- Goodkind -meets- Herbert -meets- Orson Scott Card
…basically it’s an amalgamation of my favorite authors, with the end result being something new and different, all of this being purely my idea at the moment, and not incorporating anything of Roy’s… which will change. Not your typical aliens/future/super-complicated SciFi novel, and not your typical slash-and-run Fantasy novel either.
Why?
It’s simple. After finishing the “Harry Potter” series (I read all but the last book in a week, and then finished the last book the night I got ahold of it), I wanted more. I went to Borders and asked some people there if they knew of anything that was like “Harry Potter”, in the sense of heavy magic and coming-of-age/into-their own, but more mature and darker… the outcome was a very solid ‘no’. I was unable to find any suggestions, from anybody (including on Amazon and Goodreads), for what I wanted.
Now I’ve decided to bring it to life.
Pretend the star is a book, and then you get the idea.
The Timeline
This could take a really long time. Roy has a day job in the tech industry, and alot of the pace of progress depends on his writing abilities. Also, this isn’t a main focus for either of us, and it’s more for the sake of the book’s potentially published existence than fame or fortune. I’d like it to not take the next 8-10 years, and am hoping 2 years is closer to reality, but only time will tell.
posted on October 21st, 2007 at 10:00 pm by Kyle - Comments
Looking to find an aspiring author who’d be interested in collaborating on a project in the SciFi/Fantasy genre. I’m not a writer, but I’ve got alot of cool ideas I hope to do something with…
I’d prefer a word processor…
Let me know if you’re interested.
posted on October 10th, 2007 at 6:50 pm by Kyle - Comments
