Amazon First Round

The hopes of roughly 8,000 people will be dashed today when the Amazon.com Break-through Novel Award make their announcement. Only 2,000 entries will move to the second round based on 300-word pitches. The evaluation is not made on the manuscript itself, but on the strength of the pitch, the originality of the idea and the quality of the writing of the pitch.

Tension is building on the forums, as no one quite knows whether the announcement will be made via email or appear on the website itself. 

Many are holding vigil, clicking on the refresh button every few minutes. Others are patiently scheduling their visits every four hours. 

Still others are convinced this year email notifications will go out on this day. But if the past is any indication, that wait may last four or five days. 

While some are participating in a virtual party as they wait, others are sharing their coping plans; chocolate and Thai food seem to be in favor as well as excessive drinking. 

While waiting, I've been playing with word clouds (see above). I haven't quite decided on my plans for today other than lunch. Thai seems like a good idea.

Punchlines

Will you please sign my petition? I'm collecting signatures for...

...my priest. He wants to get reinstated but the parents weren't too pleased with his oral performance.

The boys were, however.

Courtesy Laugh

No wonder comedy on TV isn't funny. It's not meant to be, according to this segment on NPR with veteran TV writer and producer Rob Long.

Punchlines

Dear Abby: Everyone seems to be breathing down my neck to make a decision. It's a lot of pressure, and I know a bomb will explode if I make a mistake. Not a literal bomb, but a real one. So I need your help. Which wire do I cut?

Look lady... If you have the time to write a letter, stamp it, and take it to the mail box, and you think that I will receive it, answer it, and it somehow beats out all the other 47 letters that I receive each week... if you think that you will still have time for all that to happen and you read this article and whatever... and you STILL have time to weigh whether my advice is credible and discuss it with your coworkers and what not... fogettaboutit... your bomb done exploded already. Figuratively speaking of course.

Kansei Inai

In the midst of my writing deadline, I managed to squeeze out a 6-page script about a vampire. I'm not a fan of horror in general, and I really couldn't bring myself to pen a horror script. The best I could muster up was a noir action comedy about a Yakuza vampire who wants to escape a joyless life.

The current draft is available for review for a limited time on Trigger Street.

Punchlines

A quick travel tip: Don't visit Brazil during Feb-early March because that's the season when...

...natives don't wax.