ginjones.bsky.social
I'm in training to become a Nac Mac Feegle. Their motto is: "Nae king! Nae quin! Nae laird! Nae master! We willna' be fooled again!" WEE FREE MEN by Terry Pratchett.
Meanwhile, I'm a traditional mystery author and patient advocate. GinJones.com
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I forget the reasoning for it, but a bunch of students at my college were annoyed with a dean, maybe related to terrible dining hall food, so they picked up his car (pre-SUV days) and carried it up the five steps to the half-wall-enclosed patio outside the main dining hall.
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OMG, I thought you made that up as a likely stream of consciousness, but it's real (in the sense that it's in the judge's decision). Yikes!
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Yeah, I'm a lawyer (retired), and before I entered the publishing world, I had NO IDEA of the all the niche insider terminology (and consequences of it) that would have allowed me to vet a publishing contract for an author client. Even most lawyers aren't qualified to read these contracts!
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I always used to write short, but in the last two years, I started a "short story," maybe 5-10K, and it's now something like 50K. And the related "novella," aiming for 20-30K? Yeah, it's at 80K. Really worried about the short story I'm about to start that's contractually maxed out at 10K.
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Thank you.
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It looks like Vertex is actually in Phase 3 trials (the article is just reporting on earlier trial data, so there's a lag between what's happening and publication), which involve significant expense and negotiation with the FDA. Pharma doesn't invest that much if they don't think they can profit.
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I started writing a new series and then realized I needed a prequel to better understand some backstory, and it was just supposed to be a short story, until it grew to a novella, and now I can't figure out which one is the better introduction to the series (for submission purposes).
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I love that the tv show writers are taking elements of the books and making them their own in ways that are useful for a visual medium. So we get slightly new bits, which are totally consist with, but not quite taken from, the books.
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To sum up: interactions you have with other human beings through text are still interactions with other human beings. Interactions with LLMs are not, but they are designed to look and feel like that, in ways that will train you to forget that other people are people.
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Ugh. That's always been a challenge for me. Just realized that in one manuscript, I have Francis, Fiona and another F-name. Plus Gerald and Gracie and a third G-name. And none of them can be changed because reasons. Dunno why I was so into F and G for this story.
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I'm so tired of wannabe publishers thinking the problem is long lead times, rather than discoverability. And this reeks of ignorance: "Part of [the time-saving], the company claims, will come from eliminating barriers to submissions such as cover letters or synopses."
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Right.
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Please consider engaging with some patient advocates, esp in the rare disease context. No science degree, but incredibly knowledgeable about the science of their/our medical conditions. I believe NORD (rarediseases.org) has a speakers' bureau. Also, EveryLife Foundation might have some suggestions