Deadly First Page Sins

[Katie-Ellen]

Apart, of course from

Lack of 'voice.'
Being borin'

But connected to both of these, the sin of the underpowered

POV

Article via Jane Friedman

1) 'the Co-Founder of Open Road Integrated Media, which sells and markets ebooks. President and Chief Executive Officer of HarperCollins Publishers 1997 to 2008. Credited with inventing the author's tour, now a staple of the industry. Friedman founded and became president of the first audio books division of a trade publisher.'

2) But no! Stay thy fallacious falsehoods, Litopian crone ! There be two! No, NOT one! Not THAT Jane Friedman.

This one.


'Ow!' says the Owlet of Athena. 'There is only ever one POV. And that, poor mortal fools, is indupitably mine.'

 

[AgentPete]

That is one babelicious Strigiforme, yessiree!

BTW, there are two Jane Friedmans. The one I used to know – the NY HarperCollins one – is not the one you’re linking to, who is a lot younger…!

 

[Amber]

I had to look up strigiformes.

It's an interesting article. Thanks for sharing it.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

That is one babelicious Strigiforme, yessiree!

BTW, there are two Jane Friedmans. The one I used to know – the NY HarperCollins one – is not the one you’re linking to, who is a lot younger…!

Aha...thanks Peter! Link correction time!

 

[Carol Rose]

EXCELLENT. Thank you for posting, @Katie-Ellen Hazeldine. I'm going to post the blog article in the Writing Wiki forum.

 

[Barbara]

Hey Katie, nice to see you're feeling literary again. How's the lurgy? Hope you're feeling better.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

The lurgy lurketh Barbara. Very kind of you to ask, x. Been off colour, extra tired for the last week, with a sore throat. A rather long tug of war this is becoming but I hope to escape the full on thing by lying low.

The folk downstairs have just had the flu and been laid up for the best part of a fortnight. Draw up the drawbridge!

 

[Barbara]

The lurgy lurketh Barbara. Very kind of you to ask, x. Been off colour, extra tired for the last week, with a sore throat. A rather long tug of war this is becoming but I hope to escape the full on thing by lying low.

The folk downstairs have just had the flu and been laid up for the best part of a fortnight. Draw up the drawbridge!

Oh, bless ya. It obviously floated up. Get well soon. Look after yourself.

 

[MaryA]

Fresh grated ginger, @Katie-Ellen Hazeldine, I swear by it when I have flu. Ginger infusions and ginger tea, with some fresh lemon and agave nectar or honey..

 

[AgentPete]

It's a miserable affliction, which seems to take different forms for different people... I had a fairly short acute stage, less than a week, but it left me depleted for most of January. It's not to be underestimated, especially when you think the worst is over... take care of yourself, KE...

 

[Howard]

As this has wandered off topic a little, allow me to add my two cents: FLU JABS!
Get them, people! Not for your sake. I don't care about you! I care about me! And you plague bearers are walking incubators! Get a flu jab and become part of the cure! Then, people like me who can get REALLY ill from flu, run less risk of being infected by you germ-mongering monsters!

 

[Carol Rose]

Here in the US, even getting a flu shot hasn't helped some people. The virus changes. They're intelligent and tricky little things. We've had people get sick with a different strain of it even after getting a flu vaccine. My doctor is on me every year to get one, and every year I do not. Got them all the time when I still worked in clinical settings as a nurse, but now that I work in an office, I do not bother. Though I do stay far away from anyone who is walking around going, "I'm sick." "I think I'm getting sick." "I think I might have the flu." GAWD. Then GO HOME!! LOL!! Lots of hand washing, and not allowing people to sit on my desk or hang out in my cubicle if they even look sick helps.

 

[OperaDivaAlix]

Your reply made me giggle Howard. I know I shouldn’t bless ya Katie. FLU is a pain in the ass. And if you wanted an example of the deadly sins of a opening/first pager. Should have taken a look at my extract from ‘Flight Of A Skylark’ yesterday in the writing group. Haha perfect example. Wouldn’t you agree Howard? But honestly get well soon chick. Plenty of fluids, paracetamol, bed and some Bridesmaids, love that film. If it doesn’t get any better go to your GP.

 

[Howard]

Here in the US, even getting a flu shot hasn't helped some people. The virus changes. They're intelligent and tricky little things. We've had people get sick with a different strain of it even after getting a flu vaccine. My doctor is on me every year to get one, and every year I do not. Got them all the time when I still worked in clinical settings as a nurse, but now that I work in an office, I do not bother. Though I do stay far away from anyone who is walking around going, "I'm sick." "I think I'm getting sick." "I think I might have the flu." GAWD. Then GO HOME!! LOL!! Lots of hand washing, and not allowing people to sit on my desk or hang out in my cubicle if they even look sick helps.

Sure, that is the issue, but the more get it, and the better we get at making the vaccines, the more we have a chance to actually fight it. Surrounding yourself with inoculated people stops the virus spreading and therefore shortens its life and available mutations.
Office environmental one of the worst for the spread of viruses thanks to central air. I would till advise you get one, but obviously, we are a long ways apart!

@OperaDivaAlix Yeah, I have a bug up my butt about flu. I'm asthmatic, and while it doesn't actually bother me that much, it makes me crazy susceptible to flu and colds, which in turn can lead to chest infections. And chest infections are just horrific! Given that flu vaccinations are effective, cheap and have no side effects, it is the one soapbox I will always get on. The more people get them, the less flu can spread, and the less horrific the strains can become. Everyone wins, and all for the sake of £10!

Lecture over. We will now return to our scheduled broadcast.

 

[OperaDivaAlix]

Would you say I’m procrastinating Howard? You lively bunch of writers are distractions big ones might I add. Not that I’m complaining. My opening chapter is a bloody shambles. I have to go and unscramble it now. If you don’t hear from me in a few hours please send out a SOS

 

[Carol Rose]

Sure, that is the issue, but the more get it, and the better we get at making the vaccines, the more we have a chance to actually fight it. Surrounding yourself with inoculated people stops the virus spreading and therefore shortens its life and available mutations.
Office environmental one of the worst for the spread of viruses thanks to central air. I would till advise you get one, but obviously, we are a long ways apart!

@OperaDivaAlix Yeah, I have a bug up my butt about flu. I'm asthmatic, and while it doesn't actually bother me that much, it makes me crazy susceptible to flu and colds, which in turn can lead to chest infections. And chest infections are just horrific! Given that flu vaccinations are effective, cheap and have no side effects, it is the one soapbox I will always get on. The more people get them, the less flu can spread, and the less horrific the strains can become. Everyone wins, and all for the sake of £10!

Lecture over. We will now return to our scheduled broadcast.

I totally get what you're saying, Howard, but flu vaccines are the most difficult of all because the virus is not constant, like, for example, measles or chicken pox. It mutates every year, and more than once within that year. Making a universal flu vaccine is not possible because the strain is literally different every year. It's like trying to make a vaccine against the common cold. There are thousands of strains of it. It's simply beyond our technical capabilities at this time.

Am I saying people should NOT be vaccinated, especially if you have a current health condition which would make you more susceptible to the flu? Of course not. I'm only saying vaccines are not 100% effective, and they don't prevent everyone from getting the flu. They can lessen the effects if you do get it, but they do not stop the virus from spreading, or prevent it from mutating each year. It's like chasing the wind.

Hand washing after touching doorknobs other highly public items like that, and being careful about not touching your face or mouth unnecessarily, especially in public places, are still the most effective ways to prevent or at least lessen the spread of airborne viruses, to which the flu and common cold belong.

And for the record, you're at most risk for contracting the flu when your mucus membranes come into contact with droplet spray from someone who is infected with it already. Doing things like avoiding touching your face, mouth, or eyes after shaking hands with someone, not standing too close to them when they talk, and obviously not getting sneezed or coughed on by anyone are ways to protect yourself.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

GP? What GP? Essentially non existent. Pen pushers all. I have an immune illness, 23 years, but disagree the flu jab is free of all side effects. You'll have got the jab Howard. Hope it does the job for you. If not it's not too late! Off you trot to the high street pharmacy, there's a good lad! Hehe. This year's flu jab has been a dismal failure. They guessed wrong re this year's strain Even in a good year the definition of a successful vaccine is 3/5 of those vaccinated thought not to present to a doctor with flu symptoms when they otherwise might have. Why DO people go to the docs when they are contagious?

 

[Howard]

You get the jab Howard. It's not too late! Off you trot to the high street pharmacy, there's a good lad! Hehe. This year's flu jab has been a dismal failure. They guessed wrong re this year's strain Even in a good year the definition of a successful vaccine is 3/5 of those vaccinated thought not to present to a doctor with flu symptoms when they otherwise might have. Why DO people go to the docs when they are contagious?

I do and I have! Every year for the past 15. Its a life changer for me! And yeah, this year's was a damp squib, so I am being even more hermit like than usual.

I totally get what you're saying, Howard, but flu vaccines are the most difficult of all because the virus is not constant,

Oh, 100% but that is why I nag everyone to get the vaccine! The vaccines re made 1-2 years in advance and are therefore made through predictions of the dominant strains. They are far from perfect, but they still help one hell of a lot.
And yeah, people sneezing and coughing and touching! BLARGH! I am two seconds away from buying a box of surgical masks and gloves and going full looney toons! Everyone I know thinks I'm a mental about this (I ban people from my house when I know they are sick!) but honest to Jebus, flu just destroys me. My asthmatic old man lungs can no longer cope!

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Hermitage is the best way Howard, if at all viable. I don't get out except with help but I'm a sitting target for what comes in. And that's OK. Clients come, students come and I love it. Still got the sore throat and off colour, slightly spacey thing, but it's still being held at bay, day 8 of the sore throat. Oregano, ginger et al often does work, though, like the vaccine, nothing is infallible. A flu nearly did for my mam last January. Damn near did. Timing and luck have something to do with it. Keep warm, keep well, dear monsieur Hermit, and all those walking afflicted should carry clappers like the lepers of old, unclean! Unclean!

 

[Carol Rose]

I do and I have! Every year for the past 15. Its a life changer for me! And yeah, this year's was a damp squib, so I am being even more hermit like than usual.


Oh, 100% but that is why I nag everyone to get the vaccine! The vaccines re made 1-2 years in advance and are therefore made through predictions of the dominant strains. They are far from perfect, but they still help one hell of a lot.
And yeah, people sneezing and coughing and touching! BLARGH! I am two seconds away from buying a box of surgical masks and gloves and going full looney toons! Everyone I know thinks I'm a mental about this (I ban people from my house when I know they are sick!) but honest to Jebus, flu just destroys me. My asthmatic old man lungs can no longer cope!

It can be horrific for people who are prone to secondary infections from even a mild cold. I feel for you. My husband gets a flu vaccine and a pneumonia vaccine every year. We're so careful in this house it's almost silly, but when he gets sick with an infection in his lungs, it's bad news for him. We have to avoid it at all costs.

As for me, I'm diligent at work about keeping people who even look sick away from me, to the point of almost being rude to them. LOL! It's like don't sit on my desk to talk to me, back out of my cubicle, and for God's sake, sneeze in your own workspace! Some people... GAWD...