Orson Scott Card is a rather famous author of speculative and science fiction, with a varied resume that runs all the way from the novel adaptation of The Abyss to perhaps his most recognized work, Ender’s Game. He’s also one hell of a columnist, with a deep appreciation of history and its uncanny parallels with modern times. If you ever want some food for thought, Card is always at the ready with a big steamin’ pile of biscuits and gravy.

My buddy Steve linked me to Card’s lastest missive, which takes a shot at a formidable target: none other than J.K. Rowling. It seems that the century’s most amazing literary phenom has filed suit against the author and publisher of a companion book to her Harry Potter series, and Card doesn’t think much of her reasoning–particularly since Rowling accuses the companion book of borrowing heavily from her own work, which Card says that Rowling herself does in spades.

I leave it to each of you to determine for yourselves whether or not Potter is pilfering from others. My own take is that Rowling probably has appropriated certain elements and themes from works that came before her–but only in the way, for instance, that a lot fantasy writers have rewritten Tolkien lo these many years: things become so archetypical that you tend to see them repeatedly in the genre. Hell, by those standards, we’ve all just been reading The Odyssey over and over again since Homer jotted it down nearly 3,000 years ago.

The difference, of course, is style. If there truly is no such thing as an original idea, then how we put our own spin on things is what makes an author special–and what makes a book or series a success. Rowling’s characters and whimsical style of writing is what endeared her to millions of people around the world–the plots, not nearly as much. Of course, that makes suing the author of The Harry Potter Lexicon that much more ridiculous. It spoils a lot of good will, and really offers very little in return.

A tip of the hat goes out to Elizabeth Evans at my very own Reece Halsey North for alerting me about this article in the latest Poets and Writers.  It’s a long, satisfying and uttrly fascinating interview with Nat Sobel, one of the true grand gentlemen of the publishing world–a guy who really has seen it all and done even more, having worked both sides of the street as an agent and a publisher.  If you have any interest in how the book business works, I highly recommend reading it from start to finish.  Nat’s insights on where publishing has been and where it’s headed are illuminating, to say the least, confirming some of what I already knew–but also surprising me in many ways.

One of the things that struck me most is his observation on how tough it is for male writers to break into fiction these days.  At first glance, you might dismiss such a notion outright.  What about Dan Brown?  What about Jeff Lindsay?  These guys are raking it in!  But if you look closely, you’ll notice (as Nat did) that most of these breakthroughs are in thrillers and other kinds of genere fiction.  If you want to write more literary work, though, as a man you’re probably in a heap of trouble.  Look on the shelf at your local Borders and you’ll see for yourself.

Nat also gets into how agenting has changed, and how agents have taken on the lion’s share of the editing process for their clients.  More and more, he says, editors at publishing houses have eschewed the nuts and bolts of working with authors in favor of becoming buyers and promotors, and expect a manuscript to be clean and ready to go by the time it arrives on their desks.  This, fortunately, hasn’t been my experience–the editors I’ve worked with have been very involved–but as a whole, I can see how it can happen.  My own agent, the wonderful Kimberley Cameron, worked tirelessly with me on Hammerjack to make sure the novel was in the best possible shape before an editor ever laid eyes on it.

After reading the article, I was more convinced than ever at how lucky I was to get that first novel off the ground.  There was such a confluence of factors–having the right story, finding the right agent, submitting to the right editor at the right time–that it boggles my mind it could have happened at all.  The competition out there is tough, to be sure, but it’s tougher now than it has ever been–and that means you need to do your homework before venturing Out There, and get some good people in your corner.  There’s absolutely no substitute for an agent who believes in your work, and is willing to nurture that talent for the long haul.

Take it from at least one writer who’s been there.  Or better yet, take it from Nat…

I’ve heard tales of writers who do some of their best work under adverse conditions. George Orwell, for instance, wrote his classic 1984 while suffering from a nasty case of tuberculosis–though how the man did it is beyond me. When the sneezing and coughing start, my creative spigot shuts down completely, overwhelmed by the flow of over-the-counter cold remedies and Gatorade.

That’s pretty much been my condition the last week, which hasn’t been very productive in terms of writing output. I managed to squeeze in a couple of pages here and there, but for the most part it’s been me, the couch and Netflix.  Thankfully, I managed to catch a couple of good movies–one of which, a little dramedy called Suburban Girl, actually surprised me.  It’s not that the film broke any new ground, but I did enjoy it–and it represented something of a rarity:  a story set in the literary world that has a few genuine touches.

There tend to be a lot of myths about how authors work–but that’s nothing compared to the misconceptions about how the author-editor relationship works. You really have no way of knowing until you’ve been through the battle of bringing a book to market, which is where the movie essentially gets it right. I chuckled a few times when the main characters, who are both editors, waxed philosophic on how to deal with testy authors and looming deadlines.  That’s what got me thinking about how utterly unique–and ironic–the process really is. 

While the effort is intensely collaborative, it’s also very competitive–essentially like two people trying to project their own vision on a single story.  As authors often spend years writing a book, you can see how this prospect gets a little dicey.  Then there’s the success paradox.  Any editor would kill for a bestseller, because it brings prestige and career enhancement–but sudden fame and fortune is just as likely to make authors even tougher to work with, to the point where they think they can do no wrong.  And if you don’t believe that, ask a publisher about how many A-listers have delivered “perfect” manuscripts with explicit instructions not to change a single word–it happens more than you might think.

It’s a strange business, to be sure.  What amazes me most, though, is how much of an editor’s job goes on behind the scenes.  After all, it’s the author who gets to bask in all the glory of a bestselling book, and it’s the author who gets all the credit for writing it–but always remember that somewhere, there’s a first draft of that chart-topper with a whole bunch of red ink and squiggly marks on it, with all the cringe-inducing passages mercifully excised.  For that, you can thank an editor.

Every now and then, you come across a news story that gives you a hint as to where the culture is heading. Well, if this story is any indication, we all must be riding the express elevator straight to the more southern climes of Dante’s Inferno.

It seems that the Vatican is looking for a few good exorcists. At first glance, it doesn’t sound like a bad gig: flexible hours, occasional travel, the chance to really connect with people (or demons, as the case may be). If they toss in a good health plan and a 401(k), you just might have yourself some real career potential.

On the other hand, the idea that the Vatican needs more exorcists is a bit disturbing. Is it that the old ones are retiring–or is it because business is a little too brisk these days? They say that the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist. Could it be that we’ve become so blase about Beelzebub that more and more people are falling into his infernal clutches?

If he’s anything like Ray Wise in Reaper, y’all better watch out!

Where are Al Gore and his Powerpoint slides when you need them?  According to those happy, go-lucky scientists at the University of Sussex, we got even bigger problems–and this time, not even carbon offsets can save us!

The good news is that we have around a billion years to prepare.  Of course, knowing the insurance industry in the state of Florida, they’ll still find some way to use this as an excuse to jack up my rates.

We’ve been thinking about bringing a new dog into our home, since our dear Robie passed away last October.  A few weeks ago, Ildi and I decided that enough time had gone by for the kids–not to mention me–to be ready to welcome another critter into the family.  We wanted to go with a different breed this time, because we didn’t want there to be any comparisons between the two dogs, and because we wanted something smaller that Lexie and Christian would be able to handle on their own.  That’s how Ildi happened upon the Havanese, a Florida dog if there ever was one.  Bred for the tropics, it seemed to be the perfect fit for us–friendly, outgoing, and great as a family pet.

Well, last Sunday we took the plunge and went to go check them out at at El Morro Havanese, a breeder over in Tampa.  The people couldn’t have been nicer–and the puppies, well they were about the cutest things I had ever seen!  The kids went wild over them, so naturally there was no way we were leaving without getting one.  Lexie was partial to the black pups, and after much hemming and hawing selected the doggie pictured above.  She subsequently decreed that “Pepper” shall be her name–an astute moniker to be sure.

Pepper still needs a few weeks with her mom before she can come home with us.  The kids can hardly wait–and neither can I, truth be told.  I’ve missed the pitter-patter of little paws, and it’ll be fun to watch Christian and Lexie raise a puppy of their own.  I’m sure Robie would approve.