Happy birthday Fred and George Weasley, the greatest #aprilfools

There’s a post about the top 10 twins in children’s books over at The Guardian. Fred and George should have been number one.

Also, we’re pretty sure the only reason Odys and Odissa didn’t make the list is because THE AUTOMATION isn’t really a children’s book. Yeah, that’s the ticket.

[“BLA and GB Gabbler” (really just a pen name – singular) are the Editor and Narrator behind THE AUTOMATION, vol. 1 of the Circo del Herrero series. They are on facebook, twitter, tumblr, goodreads, and Vulcan’s shit list.]

all yellow B&N | Amazon | Etc.

On gender and book covers:

See also: The problem with Nicholas Sparks. 

[“BLA and GB Gabbler” (really just a pen name – singular) are the Editor and Narrator behind THE AUTOMATION, vol. 1 of the Circo del Herrero series. They are on facebook, twitter, tumblr, goodreads, and Vulcan’s shit list.]

all yellow B&N | Amazon | Etc.

2014 year roundup:

2014 was a big year for us, guys.

For one, we published our first book (it’s about Automatons and the Greek god Hephaestus–kind of).

ALSO: Gabbler recommended a lot of stuff (Gabbler has great taste in stuff), we cataloged some writing tidbits (quotes from people more important than us and so on), and, last but not least, we wrote a couple of original posts that really help capture our year that was 2014 on this CIRCO blog (we’ve chosen 14 to be exact):

1) We wrote a post about 10 things you might not know about THE AUTOMATION (our 2014 novel)–using GIFs!!!

2) Gabbler went on a rant in an essay about what literature qualifies as art.

3) We posted the first chapter of THE AUTOMATION on our blog.

4) And then, later on in the year, we posted about how you can read the first five chapters of THE AUTOMATION for free too.

5) We posted an interesting excerpt from a book about statues and Pandora. You should check it out.

6) We gave our novel’s cover nipple pasties at one point because we are classy like that.

7) We talked a bit about why Zoella having a ghostwriter write her first novel matters.

8) We posted this thing about the Automatons in THE AUTOMATION and how they are different from just regular automatons (capital-A, thank you).

9) Gabbler posted an essay titled “What we talk about when we talk about post-apocalyptic stories”–which spoke a lot about our tendency to romanticize natalism in the genre.

10) Right after #9, Gabbler wrote another essay titled “On Interstellar: You know who else wanted to explore with the intent of inhabiting new land and using its resources? Conquistadors.” Needless to say, Gabbler did not like Interstellar.

11) We made this observation on Homer and recorded it here.

12) We asked the question “Why didn’t J.K. Rowling self-publish as Robert Galbraith?” Seriously, why?

13) BLA and Gabbler had a little argument over mythologists, recorded here.

14) We posted an excerpt from our book about the Midas touch here: “…When her finger left, it was no longer just a plastic, black ashtray. It was a golden ashtray.”

Here is to 2015! May the gods scheme ever in your favor.

 

P.S. Today’s the last day to enter our giveaway. Bring in the new year with some ancient myth!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Automation by G.B. Gabbler

The Automation

by G.B. Gabbler

Giveaway ends December 30, 2014.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

[“BLA and GB Gabbler” (really just a pen name) are the Editor and Narrator behind THE AUTOMATION, vol. 1 of the Circo del Herrero series. They are on facebook, twitter, tumblr, and goodreads.]

all yellow B&N | Amazon | Etc.

It’s all about Writing (and always has been)

Great points! Though, we still think that J.K. Rowling could have learned a lot about her writing through criticism uninfluenced by her famous name (by keeping her pen name a secret (by having more control over the process)). Her whole point in using “Robert Galbraith” was undermined when the pen name leaked. Otherwise, she could have just used “J.K. Rowling” to keep writing and becoming that “better author” that he speaks of.

Andrew Updegrove's avatarAndrew Updegrove: Tales of Adversego

Escher 120I happened upon a blog entry the other day that asked why J.K. Rowling hadn’t self-published her new crime books. The blogger went on at great length to illustrate the advantages Rowling could have enjoyed if only she had hired her own editor, publicist and so on. The decision of the famous author, evidently, was too inexplicable and wrong-headed to be believed.

View original post 992 more words

Why didn’t J.K. Rowling self-publish if she wanted her pen name to stay a secret?

So, J.K. Rowling decided to use a pen name (Robert Galbraith) to write her new series of crime novels, the first being The Cuckoo’s Calling. And, if I’m not mistaken, she was a little upset when her lawyer’s wife (?) spilled the beans that it was her.


However, my new thought is: If she wanted her pen name to stay a secret then why not do things on her own? Why did she involve so many people (and their wives)? Why not hire a freelance editor – a really good one. It’s not like she’s strapped for cash to hire out. She could have even paid one she already knew on the side. Cash only. Whathaveyou. She could have afforded to advertise on websites apart from a publisher’s initiative. She had so many options. What’s more, she could have used her pen name to get all the business aspects done and no one would have blinked an eye. No one really knows who they’re working with online [speaking from experience (cough, cough)]. She is certainly smart enough to have done it on her own. She self-published the Harry Potter ebooks, technically. She knows how it works.

Maybe it was in her contract that her next novel(s) go to her previous publisher/agent. Maybe she was just lazy. Maybe she meant for it all to be a publicity stunt. Maybe she hates self-publishing and self-publishers. Maybe she already HAS self-published a novel under another pen name and got it right that time and WE WILL NEVER KNOW SHE’S REALLY THE ONE WHO WROTE IT.

Conspiracy, conspiracy, conspiracy.

But seriously, why?

-Gabs

[“BLA and GB Gabbler” (really just a pen name – singular) are the Editor and Narrator behind THE AUTOMATION, vol. 1 of the Circo del Herrero series. They are on facebook, twitter, tumblr, goodreads, and Vulcan’s shit list.]

all yellow B&N | Amazon | Etc.