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I often say things like "the old cyberpunks are weird".

(affectionately!)

(but really, they are)

(and "Mad" Rucker (who seeded the Boppers on Titan) is an actual character in the Central Station universe)

#BruceSterling @bruces.bsky.social · 1d

I'm inclined to agree, but there are some micro-ethnic groups scattered here and there whose weirdness goes underappreciated. Mom, dad, the kids are weird... and Grandpa, 3 times as weird

*Especially if he's into math

Rudy Rucker @rudytheelder.bsky.social · 2d

Of my various interest groups over the years mathematicians are the most peculiar. More than acid heads, punks, computer hackers, artists, mystics, and SF writers. There's even a name for what we use. Instead of "logic" we have "mathematical logic". Which I got my PhD in. What---ME mad?

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Lavie Tidhar @lavietidhar.bsky.social · 1d

Woody Haut's Heartbreak and Vine: The Fate of Hardboiled Writers in Hollywood (2002) probably remains the definitive work on the miserable lives of the American noirists

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Lavie Tidhar @lavietidhar.bsky.social · 1d

And at least when the British did decide to write noir just that one time, we got Ted Lewis' timeless classic, Jack's Return Home (aka Get Carter).

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Lavie Tidhar @lavietidhar.bsky.social · 1d

I'm thinking of writing a British noir novel just for the hell of it at some point

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Lavie Tidhar @lavietidhar.bsky.social · 1d

And Brits do do a good line in light-hearted historicals - Susanna Gregory's Matthew Bartholomew books (I'm a big fan!), Michael Pearce's Mamur Zapt, the Cadfael books of course...

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Lavie Tidhar @lavietidhar.bsky.social · 1d

I wonder how much R.D. Wingfield is still read today (despite the sequels-by-dead-hand). Fantastic writer. I should re-read him really.

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Lavie Tidhar @lavietidhar.bsky.social · 1d

It's almost impossible to talk about British noir, of course; and of the handfuls in existence, I'm ashamed to say Derek Raymond was actually a little too hardcore for me.

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Lavie Tidhar @lavietidhar.bsky.social · 1d

As Wolf says at one point in A Man Lies Dreaming - "That oaf Gill Chesterton, who was never shy of a meal or an opinion"

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Lavie Tidhar @lavietidhar.bsky.social · 1d

I never much got into the English crime writers, sadly, for whom Chandler's adage seems as apt now as always, but there are a few exceptions.

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Lavie Tidhar @lavietidhar.bsky.social · 1d

I'm enjoying PD James' Talking About Detective Fiction, from 2009. Nothing much new, but it's a good survey with some nice quotes, mostly on the English side of things.

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Lavie Tidhar @lavietidhar.bsky.social · 1d

def. good on massive plot holes and unexplained speed of light travel!

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Lavie Tidhar @lavietidhar.bsky.social · 2d

I'm running this somewhat non-traditional workshop on the 18th, on conceptualising and putting together pitches, from the one-pager to a full pitch deck (structure, beats, characters). It's not what you usually get in creative writing classes but I personally find it immensely useful!

From Logline to Pitch Deck: Sell Your Vision - REACH YOUR APEX

Join Lavie Tidhar, award-winning author, as he takes you through the stages of developing a literary manuscript into a professional media pitch. Using specific industry examples including his own, Lav...

reachyourapex.com

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Lavie Tidhar @lavietidhar.bsky.social · 2d

as i am progressing on my ever increasing, never ending giant space opera (tm) i do contemplate the idle thought of whether this would also work for an epic fantasy. perhaps i should do one epic per genre? i have an epic historical i want to write at some point

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Lavie Tidhar @lavietidhar.bsky.social · 2d

the last elf rebels' hideout in mount doom as they launch a last ditch attack on sauron's new fleet of dragon-vessels and its pinnacle, the "Death Dragon", a tale of courage, resilience and a little bit of magic, destined to spawn endless sequels

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Lavie Tidhar @lavietidhar.bsky.social · 2d

sometimes you eat the soup, sometimes the soup, it eats you

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Lavie Tidhar @lavietidhar.bsky.social · 2d

maybe mount doom acts as a natural signal enhancer for magical, err, aren't you supposed to be a science fiction writer? begone with you, elf boy!

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Lavie Tidhar @lavietidhar.bsky.social · 2d

distance / power ratio?

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Lavie Tidhar @lavietidhar.bsky.social · 2d

I said goodbye to the ice cream van man today. Back in spring...

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