|
On June 22 2011 08:40 ErikaMitchell wrote:+ Show Spoiler +On June 22 2011 05:04 Odal wrote:
I don't know if any of you have actually read the chapters but.. Practicing for gsl in team games? It's horribly written and it makes me embarrassed to be a member of the starcraft community Hi! I'm the author, and a few people have commented on this so I just thought I'd weigh in. Obviously as a pro gamer, the majority of his games are 1v1. But, what I wanted to convey in his interactions with his teammates was a sense of camaraderie. Gamers get a lot of crap for being loners, but what I'm trying to show in this book is a vibrant community. As for the poorly written part? Well, all I can do is shrug to that. I do, however, appreciate that you took the time to read the sample chapters.
Erika,
I know there are a lot of negative feedback in this thread. Some constructive, but most of it is not. I want to say that your book, although dose not appeal to me personally, has a lot of great potential.
Not a lot of people really understand the effort you put into writing this book, and I want to applaud you for your great feat of patience and determination that you went through to put this together. I know not how many books you have written, but I can guarantee that you will defiantly get better as you grow in writing.
People can critique a book and its words for ages, but in the end it is you who makes the edit in your style that you feel is best to suit not only you, but the community of fans that you may earn.
Good luck in your future endeavors, and I hope any future publications yield great success.
|
As a writer I can say the you are the subject your audience what's to hear about. Animals are very curious about each other.
And about SCII as your topic, I can say it goes both ways, either you'll never want to publish because you're endlessly revising or you can't wait to get the product finalized.
"A book is never finished; it's abandoned."
— Gene Fowler
|
ahhahah "Sean Boxer". could it get more cheesy
|
Are you an Arrested Development fan and a Firefly fan?!?
You're the coolest person ever. Good luck with your book!
|
On June 22 2011 08:48 ErikaMitchell wrote:Show nested quote +On June 22 2011 06:31 floor exercise wrote:On June 22 2011 05:04 Odal wrote:
I don't know if any of you have actually read the chapters but.. Practicing for gsl in team games? It's horribly written and it makes me embarrassed to be a member of the starcraft community Yeah. I don't want to shit in someone's sponsored thread but I am torn between this just being bad but an honest person's effort at writing a story or if it's the result of someone who noticed how popular SC2 is lately and having the clever idea to type out a short story one afternoon and sell it because they knew at least a handful of people will support anything if you throw out the magic word (esports). It's not very good I think it's understandable to wonder where I was coming from when I wrote this. After all, I'm not a gamer! My husband is, however, and I came up with the story idea while he was telling me about the GSL last year. Pro gaming was an entirely new world to me, and I thought it would be fun and cool to introduce people to it. And it was. I learned how to play Starcraft 2, I watched so many Day9 replays I sometimes hear Sean Plott's voice in my head, and I took enough notes to choke a goat. Starcraft 2 is cool, and my goal in writing this book was to share a fun story and maybe introduce new people to pro gaming.
Its great to see that kind of interest from someone who used to be an outsider. What I don't understand is why you chose the approach you did! Your hero starts off as an insider, a Starcrafter already familiar with the community. You had a huge opportunity to start him off as an outsider like yourself, and bring the reader along for the ride, to share your experience of discovering a new culture, coming to love icons like Day9, and eventually becoming passionate about esports.
|
On June 22 2011 08:06 Richis wrote:
I think if you were to write a book about SC2 you would be far better off writing about the lore, although that is definitely the intellectual property of blizzard so it would be hard.
I just don't think that anyone but a pro-gamer can understand what they put themselves through and their training regiments ect so for anyone to write about it is doing it ignorantly.
Thanks for commenting! I agree, it would be extremely difficult to write a completely accurate account of the trials and difficulties inherent in being a pro gamer.
That wasn't the intention of my book, however. What I wanted to accomplish was tell what I think is a fun story and maybe introduce a whole new audience of people to the world of Starcraft 2 gaming. It's a fine line to tread, trying to portray SC2 accurately while still keeping the materials accessible to non-SC2 gamers, but I'd like to think I accomplished my goal.
|
On June 22 2011 08:12 Dali. wrote:Show nested quote +On June 22 2011 08:06 Richis wrote:
I think if you were to write a book about SC2 you would be far better off writing about the lore, although that is definitely the intellectual property of blizzard so it would be hard.
I just don't think that anyone but a pro-gamer can understand what they put themselves through and their training regiments ect so for anyone to write about it is doing it ignorantly. That's why writers do interviews and research. Do you really think pro players, when asked about their path to becoming a pro (especially for a published book), would do anything less than spill their guts? Funny that you'd mention realism and writing with first hand knowledge, yet the book is about FBI agents and "bureaucratic red tape".
Ha! I actually laughed when I read this because I did try to contact a few pro gamers in an effort to do my due diligence and was met with a lot of silence. Not everyone is excited about talking about themselves.
As for first-hand knowledge, you would be shocked to know how much I learned about extradition laws, the NSA, and the U.S. government's right to seize computers and intellectual property. I also learned a fair amount about ciphers, but that was mostly just for fun 
|
On June 22 2011 08:59 Alabasern wrote:
As a writer I can say the you are the subject your audience what's to hear about. Animals are very curious about each other.
And about SCII as your topic, I can say it goes both ways, either you'll never want to publish because you're endlessly revising or you can't wait to get the product finalized.
"A book is never finished; it's abandoned."
— Gene Fowler
So true. And that is an excellent quote!
|
On June 22 2011 09:09 ErikaMitchell wrote:Show nested quote +On June 22 2011 08:12 Dali. wrote:On June 22 2011 08:06 Richis wrote:
I think if you were to write a book about SC2 you would be far better off writing about the lore, although that is definitely the intellectual property of blizzard so it would be hard.
I just don't think that anyone but a pro-gamer can understand what they put themselves through and their training regiments ect so for anyone to write about it is doing it ignorantly. That's why writers do interviews and research. Do you really think pro players, when asked about their path to becoming a pro (especially for a published book), would do anything less than spill their guts? Funny that you'd mention realism and writing with first hand knowledge, yet the book is about FBI agents and "bureaucratic red tape". Ha! I actually laughed when I read this because I did try to contact a few pro gamers in an effort to do my due diligence and was met with a lot of silence. Not everyone is excited about talking about themselves. As for first-hand knowledge, you would be shocked to know how much I learned about extradition laws, the NSA, and the U.S. government's right to seize computers and intellectual property. I also learned a fair amount about ciphers, but that was mostly just for fun
Sounds like someone's been reading Cryptonomicon 
EDIT: and if not, go read it already! The plot involves: The origins of the NSA, the seizure of a server, electronic money and intellectual property lawsuits, as well as a lot about WWII codes and codebreaking. Reading the last sentence of your post, there is literally EVERYTHING to do with Stephensons book lol
|
On June 22 2011 09:05 Enervate wrote:
Are you an Arrested Development fan and a Firefly fan?!?
You're the coolest person ever. Good luck with your book!
I am a HUGE Arrested Development and Firefly fan! You'll also find references to 30 Rock and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas in there too 
|
If you're going to get a family member to leave you the first review on Amazon you should probably get them to change their name or something.
Good luck with the book though.
|
On June 22 2011 09:05 susySquark wrote:
[
Its great to see that kind of interest from someone who used to be an outsider. What I don't understand is why you chose the approach you did! Your hero starts off as an insider, a Starcrafter already familiar with the community. You had a huge opportunity to start him off as an outsider like yourself, and bring the reader along for the ride, to share your experience of discovering a new culture, coming to love icons like Day9, and eventually becoming passionate about esports.
Ah, that would have been a great angle except how likely would it be for an outsider to eventually rise to the ranks of the GSL?! I'm a total outsider (I never even played Super Mario Bros as a kid) and I'd say there's exactly no chance at all that I'd ever be good enough at SC2 to make it to the GSL.
But yes, that would have been a fun angle!
|
i read the first chapter, and it seemed kinda interesting... coming from someone who NEVER reads it kept me reading
|
On June 22 2011 09:16 baneling wrote:
If you're going to get a family member to leave you the first review on Amazon you should probably get them to change their name or something.
Good luck with the book though.
My husband may be the most supportive person ever born. YOU try keeping him away from saying nice things about my book!
|
Looks interesting, I might aquire this after I get a hold of a copy of Starcraft Bible
i look forward to reading it
|
Sean Boxer?
I really should set aside some space on my bookshelf for all this ESPORTS literature.
|
On June 22 2011 08:56 ErikaMitchell wrote:Show nested quote +On June 22 2011 07:28 Dali. wrote:Ugh. Why, when you see the rich wealth of competition, community and personalities, would you write about FBI agents and international fugitive status? Its sounds to me like cookie cutter teen fiction with a Starcraft twist to draw in buyers. When I think of a novel about gamers I want to hear the author discuss what it is life trying to improve at the game while balancing life, school and perceptions of friends/family. The game itself is somewhat unimportant in my eyes; what we want to know about is the E-SPORTS spirit, that which does us to spend hours a day at computers diligently practicing, all the while seeing the beauty and science of the game unfold countless times before our eyes. When you watch this, this and of course #100 do you think to yourself, "Man, how cool would it be if NaDa was kidnapped by terrorists"? GL with your book. Thanks for commenting! I can't do anything about my idea seeming cookie-cutter. It is, admittedly, not the most original idea in the world. However, if you read on you will see that I did my best to do justice to the very issues you've brought up. I won't give away any spoilers, but I am acutely aware of the perils of pursuing a passion that many people may not understand or give credence to. It's tough to convey the emotional scope of a novel in the first two chapters, but should you ever find occasion to read on I think you'll be mollified by what you find.
Cheers for the reply. It's good to see you and your husband responding so well to a pretty tough crowd.
Chances are I probably will not read the book but I appreciate you standing by it as well as finding new mediums to promote E-SPORTS.
On June 22 2011 09:09 ErikaMitchell wrote:Show nested quote +On June 22 2011 08:12 Dali. wrote:On June 22 2011 08:06 Richis wrote:
I think if you were to write a book about SC2 you would be far better off writing about the lore, although that is definitely the intellectual property of blizzard so it would be hard.
I just don't think that anyone but a pro-gamer can understand what they put themselves through and their training regiments ect so for anyone to write about it is doing it ignorantly. That's why writers do interviews and research. Do you really think pro players, when asked about their path to becoming a pro (especially for a published book), would do anything less than spill their guts? Funny that you'd mention realism and writing with first hand knowledge, yet the book is about FBI agents and "bureaucratic red tape". Ha! I actually laughed when I read this because I did try to contact a few pro gamers in an effort to do my due diligence and was met with a lot of silence. Not everyone is excited about talking about themselves. As for first-hand knowledge, you would be shocked to know how much I learned about extradition laws, the NSA, and the U.S. government's right to seize computers and intellectual property. I also learned a fair amount about ciphers, but that was mostly just for fun
I thought many pros would have been more open but I guess people can be less charitable when there is little personal exposure to be gained.
Glad to hear you have maintained a decent level of authenticity. It always pains me to hear something along the lines of, "I've dropped a trojan into the city mainframe, that should bypass the intra-firewall bitcode and give me access to all the cameras in New York."
Sorry if I was initially harsh,
ErikaMitchell fighting!
|
If my library gets a copy (I'll nag them) I'll give it a read and allow myself to be surprised but I'm worried this will just be a pulp thriller book using a common format and starcraft as the unique theme.
I've been hurt before by starcraft "books". I hope this surprises me.
|
On June 22 2011 04:32 Pughy wrote:
How strange. I'm not a big reader (dyslexia) but that book sounds very funky. I wonder if its any good, especially the writing when games are on. I bet its not easy to write a game of SC2 so people can understand it without the visuals of actually seeing the game being played.
I did my best to transcribe actual games. It's pretty tough to try to communicate SC2 battlegrounds and weapons in terms non-gamers will be able to visualize, but I think I did a decent job. The outsiders who edited for me seemed to think I did a decent job
|
I wish exerts were taken from an interesting part of the book so we could get intrigued by some mid plot action and want to know how it got there and where it will go. I can't remember the last time I started reading a book and had my breath taken away by the first 10 pages.
I doubt a library would ever pick up a book like this though, but if they do I'll give it a chance.
|
|
|
|
|
|
EPT
