Incidentally, if you are so annoyed about being a liberal minority in Florida, have you considered a move? There are lots of places in the US that are predominantly liberal, even when conservatives are in the White House.

Regarding OSC’s book: I’m not sure I really understand your comments, but that may be just a matter of how differently we see things. I wasn’t saying you weren’t allowed your opinion of the book, I just noted that there were conservatives in the book that were in the wrong as well–such as the general who attempted to establish martial law. OSC is a moderate conservative, I never said he wasn’t. Nor am I saying that people can’t write and review books from a liberal perspective. If you didn’t like the book, then that is your opinion, after all. If you were annoyed by my criticism of your critique, then I’m sorry. I just thought we were discussing differing perspectives on a good (in my opinion) book. It’s as much my right to have my opinion of your critique of the book as it is your right to have your opinion of the book. Sorry for stepping on your toes.

Oh, and by the way, I’m not “demanding redress for supposed mistreatment,” I’m just airing a complaint and suggesting a compromise. I don’t have to listen to their podcast, just like you don’t have to buy and read OSC’s books.

You cant have it both ways, Diane.

The best political outcome is this senario: Strong-willed and positive visionary president(party a), House under solid control of oppositional party(party b), nearly evenly divided senate favoring either party. The post industrial world is best served like that.

Three quick jokes is not a political rant in any case. I think that word is just popular buzzword to say to discredit the particular action spoken about. Additionally neither mine, nor stackpole’s, statements have assumed there are not moderate positions. But in generalized discussions; no one talks about the ’0′ point when discussing the points of ‘-1′ and ‘+1′, if thats understandable. All discusion of broad topics start at the furtherest points(unless noted) and reach more defined areas as the participants narrow the field themselves in course of discussion. To accuse someone of ignorance because of allowances to the course of pattern of speech is even more small-minded then that.

Incidentally, your commentary regarding Empire is not necessarily fair. There were “villian” conservatives in the book as well as liberals–and the biggest villian of all was of neither side. Card was presenting a moderate view–if somewhat slanted to the conservative side. Surely you can admit that there are enough flaming idiots in both parties to deserve such critique. What Stackpole’s comments–as well as yours–fail to take into account is that there are also moderate positions to both sides and to generalize in such a way about either group is an exercise in demonstrated ignorance. If Cover to Cover seeks a liberal audience, then that’s fine by me, I was just commenting from the assumption that they wished to reach a broader audience.

On this show, Stackpole basically said that you shouldn’t be planning ot break into publishing with Urban Fantasy because the market is getting too crowded. Question: I know a lot of people who write Urban Fantasy (unpublished). Should they stop because the market might close up soon? Where is the balance between writing what you love and writing what’s sellable (both for new and established writers)?

I know what it is to be treated with a lack of respect for my views…i have had two Bush’s to treat me like that me that openly for the last 6/8 years. If off-handed comments on a internet show are so terrible, I would hate for you to have passed the post-2000 election as a person of opposite views…its just now that popular opinion is swaying that it seems to you personally that things have gotten ‘worse’ somehow.

When some people make mass generalizations as to other people’s intelligence and character just because they voted for someone hated by the other side–and this goes for both sides of the camp–people stop seeing their political opponents as real people with real concerns and real fears. As OSC says in his afterword in Empire, the extreme views are so far from each other and so unwilling to compromise that the moderate views even get villified.

Empire seems very rush or constrained to be hokey, could be the ties to the video game company that contacted him to write the book based off the game(i dont know whether the pc game will also be called ‘empire’)

OSC usually hits well out of the park, that was pretty disappointing.

And we have talked to OSC in previous episodes, Show #179 and an earlier show that hasn’t yet been cleaned up and linked in yet.

I also believe there was some discussion of OSC and “Empire” in With Class #22, and in With Class #20

I try to go every year, and I have from 2003-2006. I am also planning to attend this year, in Saratoga Springs NY, but I really wish someone would tell me why they plan these things in cold weather territory in November.

There are also the gatherings for the Hugo and Nebula Awards, which move around, so check your local listings for details. I also believe that the various genre writing clubs have local and national conventions — Mystery Writers of America, Romance Writers of America are the bigger ones.

Last March, there was ICE Escape, but as far as I know, they didn’t hold that con this year. It was kinda small, but their pitch meetings board was completely full up. I also used to always check the conference listings at Shaw Guides, http://writing.shawguides.com/, but it’s been years since I’ve gone through the listings there.

question for authorship-seeking: Can you guys talk about Conventions that are good for prospective writers to go to to get to know the industry and/or the different genre scenes?

Another question I have is working with other people’s settings and various freedoms/limitations you can do and what is the business side of working with companies that do fiction based off games(rpg or otherwise).

Thanks!

Superman: $134,218,018 — 12/15/1978
Superman II: $108,185,706 — 06/19/1981
Superman III: $59,950,623 — 06/17/1983
Superman IV: $15,681,020 — 07/24/1987
Superman Returns: $200,081,192 — 06/28/2006

and just to be complete:

Supergirl: $14,296,438 — 11/21/1984

Thank you, Box Office Mojo