Martin Robbins: "This is a news website article about a scientific paper"
A hilarious (and spot-on) text which describes exactly how news media write about science. All the standard journalistic cliches are included.
Choice quote:
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In this paragraph I will reference or quote some minor celebrity, historical figure, eccentric, or a group of sufferers; because my editors are ideologically committed to the idea that all news stories need a "human interest", and I'm not convinced that the scientists are interesting enough.
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Stray unrelated thought: So why do so many journalists become fiction writers anyway? Is reality not exciting enough to write about? Discuss.
:-S
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Homepage Update: "GRISHAM'S WORLD" (1997)
In 1997, the small American magazine/zine THE #12 GAUGE REVIEW published my long short story "Grisham's World". It is now available (in a somewhat revised form) on my homepage:
Grisham's World
This satirical story is very much of its time -- and some of it has aged -- but then again, lawyer jokes never go out of style...
Choice quote:
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The morning sky above was buzzing with circling helicopters, each loaded with prowling lawyers. (Two years since I last heard birds sing in the morning. Two years...)
The main herd of choppers were tracking the rush-hour traffic, eager to catch an accident and offer their services.
With a mixture of resignation, amusement and anger I recalled the multiple heli-crash last month. Stromberg & Stromberg had raced Kolka, Marks & Spencer for the rights to sue a driver who had just run over a pedestrian's foot. In the collision, the pedestrian got his head lopped off by a rotorblade.
I didn't see the crash, but according to the TV news, it all ended happily: the late pedestrian's lawyer sued the late helicopter pilots' families.
Stromberg & Stromberg and Kolka, Marks & Spencer (suddenly just Kolka & Spencer) made an on-the spot merger.
The D.A.'s wife, when asked to comment, said in a newsbite: "I was moved. Really, it was such a romantic incident..."
----------------------
Read the rest.
Grisham's World
This satirical story is very much of its time -- and some of it has aged -- but then again, lawyer jokes never go out of style...
Choice quote:
----------------------
The morning sky above was buzzing with circling helicopters, each loaded with prowling lawyers. (Two years since I last heard birds sing in the morning. Two years...)
The main herd of choppers were tracking the rush-hour traffic, eager to catch an accident and offer their services.
With a mixture of resignation, amusement and anger I recalled the multiple heli-crash last month. Stromberg & Stromberg had raced Kolka, Marks & Spencer for the rights to sue a driver who had just run over a pedestrian's foot. In the collision, the pedestrian got his head lopped off by a rotorblade.
I didn't see the crash, but according to the TV news, it all ended happily: the late pedestrian's lawyer sued the late helicopter pilots' families.
Stromberg & Stromberg and Kolka, Marks & Spencer (suddenly just Kolka & Spencer) made an on-the spot merger.
The D.A.'s wife, when asked to comment, said in a newsbite: "I was moved. Really, it was such a romantic incident..."
----------------------
Read the rest.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Homepage Update, Sept.15: DARC AGES & THE ARGUS PROJECT
This week's homepage additions are:
- Chapter 46 of the long-running Web serial DARC AGES;
- Chapter 26 of the other Web serial THE ARGUS PROJECT.
(I've also fixed some typos and HTML errors on the website.)
So what else am I up to? Oh, this and that... I'm writing a new novel, and I'm looking for publishers/agents for my unsold manuscripts BLOOD & SWINE and THE TIME IDIOT.
And since some of my books are written in both English and Swedish, I'm searching for a foreign publisher for my Young Adult book series TERRA HEXA.
In addition to that, I've just written a short horror story which I'm going to send to a UK magazine come October. (If you want to read my other horror shorts, look HERE or HERE.)
- Chapter 46 of the long-running Web serial DARC AGES;
- Chapter 26 of the other Web serial THE ARGUS PROJECT.
(I've also fixed some typos and HTML errors on the website.)
So what else am I up to? Oh, this and that... I'm writing a new novel, and I'm looking for publishers/agents for my unsold manuscripts BLOOD & SWINE and THE TIME IDIOT.
And since some of my books are written in both English and Swedish, I'm searching for a foreign publisher for my Young Adult book series TERRA HEXA.
In addition to that, I've just written a short horror story which I'm going to send to a UK magazine come October. (If you want to read my other horror shorts, look HERE or HERE.)
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Homepage Update, Sept. 7: DARC AGES & Short Story "BAD EGG"
This week's homepage update:
- Chapter 45 of the ongoing web serial DARC AGES
- The short story "BAD EGG", another installment in my "crime horror" cycle PRECINCT 20: DEAD STRANGE.
"Bad Egg" was inspired by a real news item, about a crooked cop who attacked and beat up a man in front of the man's own home. Anger can be quite inspirational.
- Chapter 45 of the ongoing web serial DARC AGES
- The short story "BAD EGG", another installment in my "crime horror" cycle PRECINCT 20: DEAD STRANGE.
"Bad Egg" was inspired by a real news item, about a crooked cop who attacked and beat up a man in front of the man's own home. Anger can be quite inspirational.
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