Anne Rice, get over yourself

[Guinastasia]

Rice blasts Amazon.com reviewers for negative reviews (http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1095804613613&call_pageid=968867495754&col=969483191630%3C/a).

Anne, I think you have officially jumped the shark.


And you need an editor. Christ.

[pokey]

The site's Canadian version, Amazon.ca, stirred controversy in February when it advertently revealed the real identities of the readers posting reviews, and it emerged that several prominent authors used pen names to post five-star reviews for themselves or their friends.

I missed this!

Anyway, Anne Rice. All I can say is haw haw.

[RickJay]

We are after all talking about a woman who dresses like an end table and wants to have sex with vampires. It goes without saying she takes herself VERY seriously.

Terrific headline, though, isn't it?

[astro]

[QUOTE...you have used this site as if it were a public urinal to publish falsehood and lies.[/QUOTE]

Hellish lies!!!

[teleute12]

Meh, old (http://www.journalfen.net/community/fandom_wank/515245.html) news ("http://www.journalfen.net/community/fandom_wank/517397.html).

[teleute12]

Oops. A corrected version of the second link. (http://www.journalfen.net/community/fandom_wank/517397.html)

[Gary "Wombat" Robson]

Negative reviews are no fun. I understand Rice's feelings. Granted, the total circulation of every book I've written is only a small fraction of the first print run for an Anne Rice book, but I still understand the glow of a good review and the sting of a bad one.

You'd think after writing for a few decades, Rice would understand that you can't please everybody. When you get a bad review, you move on, rather than throwing a public hissy fit. It's unprofessional and doesn't accomplish a darned thing (except generating more negative comments on Amazon).

[The Long Road]

When Anne Rice decided she was the some form of city protector here in New Orleans, I figured she was a going overboard. She fought to have a Restaurant kept from opening on St. Charles Avenue because she felt it didn't fit the areas image. Being Anne Rice, the local news gave her plenty of coverage but ignored everyone else's opinion.

[Guinastasia]

When Anne Rice decided she was the some form of city protector here in New Orleans, I figured she was a going overboard. She fought to have a Restaurant kept from opening on St. Charles Avenue because she felt it didn't fit the areas image. Being Anne Rice, the local news gave her plenty of coverage but ignored everyone else's opinion.

I heard it was because the site for the restaurant was supposedly where she had Lestat's final resting place.

God, what a drama whore.

[yosemite]

Anne, I think you have officially jumped the shark.

I thought she jumped the shark a loooong time ago.

[The Long Road]

I heard it was because the site for the restaurant was supposedly where she had Lestat's final resting place.

God, what a drama whore.


The reason she gave on the news was that the the side of the building would be gaudy compared to the rest of the area. Anyone who knows Al Copeland knows he does gaudy well.

[Miller]

I thought she jumped the shark a loooong time ago.

Based on Interview with a Vampire, it's my considered opinion that Anne Rice came pre-jumped.

Related funny. (http://www.somethingpositive.net/)

[Guinastasia]

Her purple prose makes Ayn Rand look brief and too the point. Ayn Fucking RAND.

(And for those who don't know my opinions of Rand, that's saying something!)

[Tuckerfan]

Based on Interview with a Vampire, it's my considered opinion that Anne Rice came pre-jumped.

Related funny. (http://www.somethingpositive.net/)
"Kornholed by Koontz extravaganza" priceless. :D

Somewhere on this board is a comment by someone to the effect of, "In my day, vampires weren't whiny little bastards who drank blood and complained about it. In my day, vampires liked nothing better than drinking blood!"

Miller, I agree with you completely about Rice being pre-jumped. If you read between the lines in interviews that Rice has given discussing that book, you realize that it's basically a recounting of her life just prior to writing the book. Must have been great to be a kid in that house, huh? Both your parents raging alcoholics who constantly whined and bitched.

[bobkitty]

From the article:

Three books in the series have become feature films.

Eh? Interview, Queen of the Damned, and?

Anne, sweetie, it's not slander if what they're saying is TRUE. For the love of all that's holy, back AWAY from the computer.

[bauble]

From the article:



Eh? Interview, Queen of the Damned, and?


I don't know if it's in the series, but the only other movie of hers I can think of is Exit to Eden.

[Homebrew]

Based on Interview with a Vampire, it's my considered opinion that Anne Rice came pre-jumped.

Related funny. (http://www.somethingpositive.net/)
Damn you! I wantd to post the S*P link!

[Arden Ranger]

Anne Rice is nuttier than a pecan log. Did you see what she posted on her site?

"TO MY READERS: A CONFIRMATION

My Email is Anneobrienrice@mac.com, and I have posted a rebuttal to reviews of Blood Canticle on Amazon.com, and I have posted my Email there and I have answered some of the people who have written to me. The response has been very good. There are reports of some one on the web impersonating Lestat, convincing readers that he is the character. There is no Lestat on the web. Anyone claiming to be Lestat online or anywhere is lying to people, or engaged in a game, depending on one's point of view. I am investigating these latest impersonations because people have advised me that the Lestat impersonator is having a bad effect on people. This I can not allow. Take care and love, from Little Paradise in Louisiana, Anne Rice."

Err... o-kay..

[Cervaise]

I thought she jumped the shark a loooong time ago.Really? I thought she bit its neck, sucked it dead, and cloacabanged the cartilaginous corpse.

Wonder who I was thinking about.

[Miller]

Wait wait wait.

You mean, there's a person... on the internet... who uses the name "Lestat"?

I'M SHOCKED! SHOCKED AND AMAZED!

[Morbo]

There is no Lestat on the web. Anyone claiming to be Lestat online or anywhere is lying to people, or engaged in a game, depending on one's point of view. I am investigating these latest impersonations because people have advised me that the Lestat impersonator is having a bad effect on people. This I can not allow.

I just keep reading this over and over again, shaking my head and wondering how this woman was ever capable of writing a bestseller, let alone ever capable of having any sense of reality whatsoever.

BTW, I was amused by imagining her reaction to the first hit when she googles "Lestat" :)

[Revtim]

She'll have a shit-fit when she sees www.lestats.com ....

[Morbo]

She'll have a shit-fit when she sees www.lestats.com ....

Uh, yes, that being the first hit when she googles "Lestat", that being what I just said....;)

[LilyoftheValley]

The site's Canadian version, Amazon.ca, stirred controversy in February when it advertently revealed the real identities of the readers posting reviews, and it emerged that several prominent authors used pen names to post five-star reviews for themselves or their friends.

Do they really mean "advertently"? That's very surprising if true.

[Dan Norder]

Heh. Wow, it looks like Patricia Cornwell has some competition in the most egotistical, overrated, can't-write-to-save-her-soul drama whore department.

[Tuckerfan]

From the article:



Eh? Interview, Queen of the Damned, and?

Anne, sweetie, it's not slander if what they're saying is TRUE. For the love of all that's holy, back AWAY from the computer.
Here's the IMDB credits. (http://imdb.com/name/nm0723351/)Queen of the Damned (2002) (novels The Vampire Chronicles)
... aka Anne Rice's Queen of the Damned (2002) (USA: complete title)
Earth Angels (2001) (TV) (writer)
"Feast of All Saints" (2001) (mini) TV Series (book)
... aka "Anne Rice's The Feast of All Saints" (2001) (mini) (USA: complete title)


Rag and Bone (1997) (TV) (story)
Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994) (novel) (screenplay)
... aka Interview with the Vampire (1994) (USA: short title)
Exit to Eden (1994) (novel Exit To Eden)So it looks like she's counting her made-for-TV movies.

Anybody know if her bio (http://imdb.com/name/nm0723351/bio) is accurate? Because thisAnne Rice began life as 'Howard Allen O'Brien', second of four daughters born to Howard and Katherine Allen O'Brien. She decided to call herself Anne when she enrolled in first grade at the Redemptorist Catholic School.Would explain alot as to why she's so damned nutty.

[SpazCat]

Maybe if she stopped writing books that SUCK, she'll stop getting bad reviews.

[Guinastasia]

Go to Amazon and read some of her reviews. (http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/AB4F6UHL20U95/ref=cm_aya_rev_all/102-2983940-1697723) THIS woman is a professional writer? Misspellings, words used to mean something they don't mean, and a lovely ass kissing review of-surprise suprise!-The Passion of the Christ! (With her love of blood and gore and Catholic porn, she was probably having multiple orgasms right there in the theater).

I'll admit, that my spelling absolutely sucks. But, I'm not a professional writer, who also brags about not needing an editor.

[John Carter of Mars]

I just keep reading this over and over again, shaking my head and wondering how this woman was ever capable of writing a bestseller, let alone ever capable of having any sense of reality whatsoever.

Do you think there's a correlation between having a sense of reality and the ability to write a best seller? The contrary seems to be more the norm...

:D

[thursday next]

Since I used to work in a bookstore, I had to read a variety of authors that I normally wouldn't. Anne Rice was one on the list. I was ok with The Mummy, but I kept trying to slit my wrists with the pages when Interview with the Vampire was on my reading list. I did enjoy the sleeping beauty series though. (It was a small used and rare bookstore, and at the time not an easy series to get, allegedly).

Lady, for the love of all things cute and fuzzy, get an editor or stop writing, either is groovy with me. Oh, and according to imdb, she's moving to Florida, so hopefully you guys in New Orleans will get a break.

Since I'm waaaaaay behind on my author gossip, what'd Patricia Cornwell do to make her an uber drama queen as well?

[Tuckerfan]

Go to Amazon and read some of her reviews. (http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/AB4F6UHL20U95/ref=cm_aya_rev_all/102-2983940-1697723) THIS woman is a professional writer? Misspellings, words used to mean something they don't mean, and a lovely ass kissing review of-surprise suprise!-The Passion of the Christ! (With her love of blood and gore and Catholic porn, she was probably having multiple orgasms right there in the theater).

I'll admit, that my spelling absolutely sucks. But, I'm not a professional writer, who also brags about not needing an editor.
This review is absolutely brilliant This is a treasure. I'm not qualified to say much more except read this! And allow me to add that the writing is beautiful and utterly pure. I'm not sure what I mean by pure. Perhaps I mean that it is uncompromising in its vision. This is what I search for, what I long for. I love this.Although, I'm not sure what I mean by brilliant. Perhaps I mean incomprehensable crap written by someone who's either whacked out of their gourd on drugs or is just barking nuts.

[HPL]

I'll admit, that my spelling absolutely sucks. But, I'm not a professional writer, who also brags about not needing an editor.

I'm shocked by the fact she apparently doesn't know how to use the enter key to create paragraph breaks, and yet she's a published writer.

Maybe that's what I've been doing wrong in my writing.....or maybe I don't browbeat people enough.

[Guinastasia]

Since I'm waaaaaay behind on my author gossip, what'd Patricia Cornwell do to make her an uber drama queen as well?

If she's the one I'm thinking of, she claims to have solved the Jack the Ripper case, claiming that a painting proves that it had to be the artist who did it. Supposedly, she was going to take the painting apart, or rip up the canvas to examine it or something like that. For a painting that is from the 1880s, or whatever, that's pretty evil, at least as far as I'm concerned.

[Liz]

Anybody know if her [url="http://imdb.com/name/nm0723351/bio"]bio (http://imdb.com/name/nm0723351/) is accurate? Because thisWould explain alot as to why she's so damned nutty.

It's accurate. Her given name is Howard Allen O'Brien.

And to take up for Anne just a little... there's an enormous, sprawling celeb-based RPG game online where the players try to blur the line between fact and fiction as much as possible. Technically, they're always supposed to post vivid disclaimers on their journal/blog/website that there are NOT the person they are playing, but most of them do it in a hidden way, i.e. posting a link to a disclaimer page with vague link text. There are, indeed, several people who play Lestat and claim to be the person Anne based that character on [when in fact she based Lestat on her late husband, poet and painter Stan Rice]. I can see how she would be confused, especially seeing how she isn't very web-savvy.

Oh, and I absolutely adore Anne and I love much of her writing.. but yes. Her cheese parted ways with the cracker a long time ago.

[Miller]

I did enjoy the sleeping beauty series though. (It was a small used and rare bookstore, and at the time not an easy series to get, allegedly).

Doubtful. I found my copies at B. Dalton.

[thursday next]

Miller , do you mind if I ask about when you bought your copies? I had a hard time getting mine and it was a while ago, but when my friend got tired of borrowing them, she was able to go out and buy a nice easy to find boxed set. Yes, I was rather envious. Maybe its because I worked at a used book store and it was one of those things that people didn't like to get rid of ... or couldn't get rid of. :p

Guin, thanks, now I remember the Jack the Ripper book/scandal gig. A friend was going to buy the book she wrote about it for me, but then he figured that if the mystery had been solved, I'd have told him. If anyone's interested this (http://www.casebook.org/) is a pretty nifty Jack the Ripper site, and I think they talk about the Patricia Cornwall thing.

Now let us go back to the goodness and fun of hating on Anne Rice. :D

[Lamia]

Here's the IMDB credits. (http://imdb.com/name/nm0723351/)So it looks like she's counting her made-for-TV movies.
It doesn't look like any of those TV movies were based on The Vampire Chronicles series, though. So I think the article just screwed up.

This reminds me of a conversation I once had about Rice and her work with a friend. We were discussing the character of Lestat, and how completely ludicrous he was. He's not just a vampire, oh no! That's not special enough! He's the most powerful vampire in the world! And he only drinks the blood of bad guys! And aside from (of course) being fabulously wealthy and handsome, he's also a rock star! Who rides a motorcycle! And on top of that...on top of that...well, we were both literally crying with laughter at this point, and it took a while for us to choke out the sentence that we both wanted to conclude with: "HE CAN FLY!"

As the character is a vampire this might not seem all that silly at first thought, but Lestat doesn't simply do a bit of levitating or turn into a bat or something. He zooms around like Superman. The character is such a pathetic Mary Sue (Marty Stu?) that I'm not surprised that Rice claims he's based on her late husband. Writing about Lestat is obviously just wish fulfillment for her, and while I don't object to that in principle I also don't think one should expect others to read and enjoy it.

[Liz]

Ahhh, I just found Anne's response to the negative Amazon.com reviews of Blood Canticle. Had to go find the actual text elsewhere as Amazon deleted it.

Dear Anne,

I do truly love you quite a bit as a person and even more so as an author, even though it's not really cool to admit either of those.

Please stop being such a silly bitch and crawl out from beneath your massive ego before you die under there. If you don't, it's going to get to the point where I can no longer defend your insanity and instead will have to suffice with "...I know. I just love her, okay?!"

Always your adoring fan,

chatelaine

P.S. I can't wait until people hear you're writing the autobiography of Christ. That's really gonna send 'em into overdrive.

[bobkitty]

It doesn't look like any of those TV movies were based on The Vampire Chronicles series, though. So I think the article just screwed up.

This reminds me of a conversation I once had about Rice and her work with a friend. We were discussing the character of Lestat, and how completely ludicrous he was. He's not just a vampire, oh no! That's not special enough! He's the most powerful vampire in the world! And he only drinks the blood of bad guys! And aside from (of course) being fabulously wealthy and handsome, he's also a rock star! Who rides a motorcycle! And on top of that...on top of that...well, we were both literally crying with laughter at this point, and it took a while for us to choke out the sentence that we both wanted to conclude with: "HE CAN FLY!"


1) I think it just screwed up as well, now that I see Tucker's list.

2) You forgot that Lestat constantly has a raging erection. :eek: :D

[Guinastasia]

Oh, but don't you know? Now Lestat has become...a saint. Seriously, an honest to goodness, canonized Catholic saint. (He's based on her husband, but also on her, I believe)

Now, some authors can do self-insertion. Mercedes Lackey, for example, has a minor character named "Misty", which is Lackey's nickname. Misty is a Herald-chronicler, hopelessly near-sited (wears glasses), plain, sort of nerdy, bookish, with an odd sense of humor. However, the Misty character works because she's not constantly in the lime-light, she isn't perfect, and she seems to be a way for the author to poke fun at herself.

Now, Lestat on the other hand, is SOOOO handsome, and Sooooo popular, and soooo "perfect" (as perfect as a bisexual, Byronic vampire/rockstar/Catholic saint can be!).

[Revtim]

I'd like to hear how a vampire becomes a saint.... (not enough to actually read the books, though)

[SpazCat]

I'd like to hear how a vampire becomes a saint.... (not enough to actually read the books, though)


From what I recall it had something to do with finally waking up after the Memnoch Incident (which he did in two previous books, IIRC) and whining about St. Juan Diego. I can't be more specific because I blocked Blood Canticle from my conscious working memory.

Incidentally, BC is the only book I left a warning in. I checked it out from the library because I was determined that I would finish the entire Vampire Chronicles, no matter what deep hurting pain it would bring me. I turned it back in with a piece of paper tucked in the pages of Chapter One warning the next person who checked it out how wretched it was and that should be returned immediately.

[Liz]

(He's based on her husband, but also on her, I believe)

Oh, absolutely. She'd never admit it, the same way she'll never admit that Claudia was based on Mouse, but yeah. I totally agree.

RevTim, I'd fill you in, but I haven't read Blood Canticle yet. I haven't read a couple of the Vampire books, to be honest... they were never my favorite Rice works.

[Gary "Wombat" Robson]

I don't care who you are or what you've written. Everybody needs an editor. Authors bring their books into my bookstore all the time, asking if I'll stock them. I've gotten to the point where the first question I ask is whether they had a professional editor and a proofreader (and preferably a copyeditor, too). I'm amazed how many of the large, reputable publishers no longer provide proofreaders and copyeditors. I'm lucky enough to have two publishers for my books (one for my nonfiction and one for my children's books) that take those responsibilities seriously.

I just reviewed a fly-fishing book that recommended getting polaroid sunglasses (they meant polarized, of course), and read part of a self-published book where the author didn't know the difference between its and it's.

The point, though, is that we all make mistakes, whether they're factual, typographical, grammatical, or spelling errors, and it's darned difficult to spot all of the errors in your own work. You need another set of eyes to look for problems.

That's why computer programmers should never test their own code, too.

[Miller]

Miller , do you mind if I ask about when you bought your copies? I had a hard time getting mine and it was a while ago, but when my friend got tired of borrowing them, she was able to go out and buy a nice easy to find boxed set. Yes, I was rather envious. Maybe its because I worked at a used book store and it was one of those things that people didn't like to get rid of ... or couldn't get rid of. :p

Erm... maybe ten years ago?

[Maxxxie]

I want to see the Amazon rant. I looked at all the reviews and didn't see it. Does anyone have a link?

Max.

[Liz]

I want to see the Amazon rant. I looked at all the reviews and didn't see it. Does anyone have a link?

Max.

This goes against my better judgment, seeing as how I love her and am supposed to be defending her, but... it's so goddamn funny I can't not share.

Pow. Click it and behold Anne's ego. Be very afraid. (http://www.journalfen.net/community/fandom_wank/515245.html)

[Liz]

Oh, I should give teleute12 credit for that link. It was posted earlier in the thread. :)

[SpazCat]

Oh wow. That is without a doubt the funniest Amazon review I have ever read.

You are interrogating this text from the wrong perspective.
I get a mental image of Joe Friday knocking on Blood Canticle's door and demanding "just the facts."

And you have strained my Dickensean principles to the max.
:dubious:

Allow me to point out: nowhere in this text are you told that this is the last of the chronicles, nowhere are you promised curtain calls or a finale, nowhere are you told there will be a wrap-up of all the earlier material
It's called wishful thinking and take a hint, Annie.

If and when I can't write a book on my own, you'll know about it.
I think we already know. Do you?

And no, I have no intention of allowing any editor ever to distort, cut, or otherwise mutilate sentences that I have edited and re-edited, and organized and polished myself. I fought a great battle to achieve a status where I did not have to put up with editors making demands on me, and I will never relinquish that status.
Therein lies the problem.

You don't enjoy it? Read somebody else.
Done and done!

But your stupid arrogant assumptions about me and what I am doing are slander.
I'm only going to say this once: SLANDER IS SPOKEN, LIBEL IS WRITTEN.

Lestat's wanting to be a saint is a vision larded through and through with his characteristic vanity
That word you used. I do not think it means what you think it means.

And yes, the Chronicles are no more! Thank God!
Hang on a sec...look up six quotes. :confused:

[Liz]

And yes, the Chronicles are no more! Thank God!
Hang on a sec...look up six quotes. :confused:

Hey! She doesn't have to make sense! She's got a Proletarian And Democratic Soul™, you know.

[Lamia]

Lestat's wanting to be a saint is a vision larded through and through with his characteristic vanity
That word you used. I do not think it means what you think it means.
She actually did use the word correctly. I took it to mean something akin to "marbled", like when you're talking about pieces of beef. Sure enough, when I looked up "larded" in Webster's just now I found that the second listed defintion is "to decorate or intersperse with something".

It's still a stupid sentiment and a less-than-brilliant turn of phrase, but it's not technically wrong.

[aruvqan]

[
Lestat's wanting to be a saint is a vision larded through and through with his characteristic vanity
That word you used. I do not think it means what you think it means.


She is using it correctly, to lard in cooking means to take a strip of lard and a special needle and insert the lardoon [strip of lard] through a cut of meat with inadequate fat content to improve its moistness and overall texture after cooking.

http://www.wiley.com/legacy/products/subject/hospitality/procooking/text_image/ch11.htm

[presidebt]

Please pardon my ignorance, and thank you in advance for correcting it, but what does "jumped the shark" mean? Does it mean that the person in question has knowingly tackled a beast that will most likely slay them? I am unfamiliar with this idiom. Is it standard US or regional--global perhaps?

Also, if the link provided is what Rice actually typed, then she sorely needs an editor. She has no idea how to use an em dash and sometimes misses when she hits the space bar. Spell check would've caught that. Of course, it's a moot point if it was typed from a hard copy by one of the staff of that particular website.

[kung fu lola]

When something "jumps the shark", it means that it has lost its former greatness and now sucks. It's a reference to the shark-jumping Happy Days episode that was the death knell of the series.

[Guinastasia]

Oh, and in other news, her offer to refund if people sent her the books?

Anyone who took her up on it ended up having their packages sent back with "Return to Sender." And apparently, she no longer lives at the address listed on Amazon.com

I'd say she needs a PR director in addition to an editor.

[overlyverbose]

Doubtful. I found my copies at B. Dalton.

I found mine in Walden Books, and when I bought them there were more copies in Borders and Barnes & Noble. I think this was in the mid to early 90s. Maybe availability depends on where you live?

[Flutterby]

Now, some authors can do self-insertion. Mercedes Lackey, for example, has a minor character named "Misty", which is Lackey's nickname. Misty is a Herald-chronicler, hopelessly near-sited (wears glasses), plain, sort of nerdy, bookish, with an odd sense of humor. However, the Misty character works because she's not constantly in the lime-light, she isn't perfect, and she seems to be a way for the author to poke fun at herself.

Misty is based on herself? I didn't know that. That's so cool. Do you know if Alberich is based on anyone (considering Misty likes Alberich and vice versa)?

About Anne Rice though, other than watching Interview and Queen, I haven't bothered with her. I tried reading Interview and always drop it about 3 chapters in. I prefer her sister's werewolves (Alice Borchardt).

[presidebt]

When something "jumps the shark", it means that it has lost its former greatness and now sucks. It's a reference to the shark-jumping Happy Days episode that was the death knell of the series.

Thank you.

[Kayeby]

Miller , do you mind if I ask about when you bought your copies? I had a hard time getting mine and it was a while ago, but when my friend got tired of borrowing them, she was able to go out and buy a nice easy to find boxed set. Yes, I was rather envious. Maybe its because I worked at a used book store and it was one of those things that people didn't like to get rid of ... or couldn't get rid of. :p I remember I was after the series awhile ago, and found loads of new copies on eBay. You can get them in a range of designs - in a boxed set, with a bonus explanatory Beauty book, with discreet covers, etc.

Personally I don't understand the hype. The Beauty series earned a big fat "meh" from me.

[Miller]

This goes against my better judgment, seeing as how I love her and am supposed to be defending her, but... it's so goddamn funny I can't not share.

Pow. Click it and behold Anne's ego. Be very afraid. (http://www.journalfen.net/community/fandom_wank/515245.html)

Anne, you really need to tone down the ego. It's so big now, it's started effecting the tides. Seriously: settle down. Florida can't take much more.

[HPL]

Hey! She doesn't have to make sense! She's got a Proletarian And Democratic Soul™, you know.

What the hell does that mean, anyway?

I know what Democracy is and I what what Proletariate is, but I don't quite understand what she means by the way she used those words in the context of her rant.

[PunditLisa]

Oh dear. All of Ms. Rice's other books in the Lestat series have received really good ratings on Amazon. This one has not. Hmmm. Did it ever occur to her that there was a reason, other than a grand conspiracy by stupid readers, that the most recent book was the only one to receive crappy reviews?

I've reluctantly given negative reviews at Amazon of two of my favorite authors -- Diana Gabaldon and Janet Evanovich. Both have given me hours of reading pleasure and I highly recommend their series. They are unequivocably very talented and entertaining writers. Their recent books were not their best work. And I posted what I honestly thought at Amazon.

Of course, I'd never say to her face what I've written at Amazon. It just wouldn't be nice. It pains me to think that Ms. Rice read the criticisms of her book and was so stung that she lashed out in such an inappropriate way. She comes across as being beyond defensive and is surely alienating people who have been very loyal fans, this latest book aside.

I try very hard to live by the philosophy that if you find yourself shaking with anger as you're typing, you should not hit the "Submit" button on message boards. Rather you should take a day off to go feed the ducks. Ducks are great for giving perspective. Too bad Ms. Rice didn't go feed some ducks.

[Tuckerfan]

I'm wondering why the cow didn't mention the upcoming Broadway musical (http://www.playbill.com/news/article/79407.html) in her rant about why the series is "so good."

[MelCthefirst]

I just keep reading this over and over again, shaking my head and wondering how this woman was ever capable of writing a bestseller, let alone ever capable of having any sense of reality whatsoever.

BTW, I was amused by imagining her reaction to the first hit when she googles "Lestat" :)

I dare you to email her and suggest she does this - may help with the ego reduction?

[RealTronic]

Oh, and in other news, her offer to refund if people sent her the books?

Anyone who took her up on it ended up having their packages sent back with "Return to Sender." And apparently, she no longer lives at the address listed on Amazon.com

I'd say she needs a PR director in addition to an editor.

She has posted a follow-up to this whole debacle on her own site: http://www.annerice.com/msg092604a.htm and she still claims that she will send a refund to whoever demands it.

[Miller]

Is anyone sort of hoping Anne's going to start running vanity searches on the web and find this thread? It'd be our first celebrity troll!

[teleute12]

She wouldn't come entertain us at Fandom_Wank when someone e-mailed her a direct link, so it's highly unlikely she'll find this thread on her own.

[AngelicGemma]

My favorite line was

be assured of the utter contempt I feel for you

:D

[Guinastasia]

Oh, that's a doozy! She claims she never heard of flame wars? Da'fuck?

[MrDibble]

From the article:

Three books in the series have become feature films.

Eh? Interview, Queen of the Damned, and?

Doesn't the Queen of The Damned movie cover both The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned ? That'd make 2 cinema movies = 3 books

[Zoff]

Originally posted by tuesday next
Since I'm waaaaaay behind on my author gossip, what'd Patricia Cornwell do to make her an uber drama queen as well?

When she became rich and famous she made a deliberate and acknowledged decision to cut off all contact with her friends and make new friends among the jet-setting crowd. She said something like "I'm a different person now and so I need different friends."

She also had an affair with a married FBI agent. When the agent's husband found out he flipped out and took a priest hostage and threatened to torch the church. Of course the hostage-taking wasn't Cornwell's fault, but drama seems to follow her.

[SpazCat]

She is using it correctly, to lard in cooking means to take a strip of lard and a special needle and insert the lardoon [strip of lard] through a cut of meat with inadequate fat content to improve its moistness and overall texture after cooking.

http://www.wiley.com/legacy/products/subject/hospitality/procooking/text_image/ch11.htm


She actually did use the word correctly. I took it to mean something akin to "marbled", like when you're talking about pieces of beef. Sure enough, when I looked up "larded" in Webster's just now I found that the second listed defintion is "to decorate or intersperse with something".

It's still a stupid sentiment and a less-than-brilliant turn of phrase, but it's not technically wrong.

Ah, thanks for the clarification. It's still a stupid sentence, though.

[Miller]

She also had an affair with a married FBI agent. When the agent's husband found out he flipped out and took a priest hostage and threatened to torch the church. Of course the hostage-taking wasn't Cornwell's fault, but drama seems to follow her.

Didn't they turn that into a Law & Order episode?

[aruvqan]

Ah, thanks for the clarification. It's still a stupid sentence, though.
She seems to cultivate a particularly gothic way of 'speaking', her phrasing can be archaic. Not a big deal, I read the first 2 books and got about 30 pages into the third when I gave up reading her. Also managed to get halfway into teh first Beauty book before i was laughing too hard to finish them, so some D/s friends and I passed them around and did 'selected readings' with sound effects while on a drive of about 3 hours.

[Flutterby]

Ah, thanks for the clarification. It's still a stupid sentence, though.

I agree, once you know what it is it makes sense but I doubt many people know what larded means.

[Zoff]

Originally posted by Miller
Didn't they turn that into a Law & Order episode?

Yup. Obviously there were some differences, but a lot of the story tracked. Patricia Cornwell befriended the couple as part of her research for a book. As I recall, the L&O episode had the same setup.

I followed the whole thing in the papers and it was really bizarre. At first all anybody knew was that some FBI agent flipped out and took a priest hostage which is bizarre by itself. Then it was reported that it was due to a lesbian affair. Finally, Patricia Cornwell was revealed as the other woman.

[overlyverbose]

Also managed to get halfway into teh first Beauty book before i was laughing too hard to finish them, so some D/s friends and I passed them around and did 'selected readings' with sound effects while on a drive of about 3 hours.

Now you're making me wish I hadn't gotten rid of my Beauty books! My husband and I have a long drive ahead of us in the next few weeks. Damn.

[Liz]

What the hell does that mean, anyway?

I know what Democracy is and I what what Proletariate is, but I don't quite understand what she means by the way she used those words in the context of her rant.

Lord, I have no idea. I was pondering that myself... I can see how one would love democracy, and how one would be a proletariate, but.. uh, yeah. I haven't the slightest. She's a pretentious heifer -- just chalk it up to that.

She claims she never heard of flame wars? Da'fuck?

I have no problem believing that. She's relatively new to the Internet in terms of communicating with other people, even though her website has been running for years. What she used to do is post phone messages on a hotline, which someone would also transcribe and post on her site. Her open letters are usually handwritten or dictated and then her webmaster takes care of the rest. You'll note her e-mail address was a mac.com one. That alone should say something about her Internet skills. ...not that there's anything wrong with Macs. Hee.

[Sunspace]

Pow. Click it and behold Anne's ego. Be very afraid.AAghhh!!! My eyes!!!!

Lady, have you never heard of paragraph breaks? Holy crap!!! If I was editing that, I'd boot it back to the author so fast it'd catch fire from the atmospheric friction.

I hope her books are better written...

[Zoff]

Originally posted by Sunspace
I hope her books are better written...

In my opinion, keep hoping. I figured I'd give Interview with the Vampire a shot because it seemed like an interesting premise. It might be the only book I started but never finished. And I tried to finish it three times. It just read like a self-indulgent "look at how descriptive my writing is" exercise.

[Sampiro]

Lady, have you never heard of paragraph breaks? Holy crap!!! If I was editing that, I'd boot it back to the author so fast it'd catch fire from the atmospheric friction.



Well you're not, and you wanna know why? Because she has "fought a great battle to achieve a status where I did not have to put up with editors making demands on me, and I will never relinquish that status. For me, [Amazon.com comment] writing is a virtuoso performance".

First Jesus, then Rosa Parks, now Anne Rice. Such wonderful workers on the road to our freedom.

Didn't she sell the First Street house that she gives the address to? (That is this (http://www.radioactivecat.com/sloo/nawlins/rc13.jpg) one from Witching Hour isn't it?) I remember it was on the market along with her 50,000 sq. foot orphanage St. Elizabeth and lots of other properties. She said she was "simplifying my life" (which is usually a euphemism for "I've incurred a sh!tload of debt"- I've no idea if that's the case in Anne's situation but I wouldn't be surprised- a few years ago she had about four residences in metro New Orleans and luxury homes in Miami, the Carribean, NYC and Los Angeles as well as a personal staff of more than two dozen. Even with a bestselling author's income you can't do that for long without hitting a major wall (one or two novels that sell not-as-well as expected or some stock market reversals and pretty soon you're down to your three mansions).

[MelCthefirst]

In my opinion, keep hoping. I figured I'd give Interview with the Vampire a shot because it seemed like an interesting premise. It might be the only book I started but never finished. And I tried to finish it three times. It just read like a self-indulgent "look at how descriptive my writing is" exercise.

I've never attempted reading 'IWAV' but I read the one about the castratos - can't remember the correct title. I was quite fascinated by the lifestyle and the sex ofcourse, keeps you reading til the end.

[Liz]

I've never attempted reading 'IWAV' but I read the one about the castratos - can't remember the correct title. I was quite fascinated by the lifestyle and the sex ofcourse, keeps you reading til the end.

That would be Cry To Heaven, one of her best and most underrated novels.

:)

[MelCthefirst]

That would be Cry To Heaven, one of her best and most underrated novels.

:)

Thanks Chatelaine, so could I be so bold as to suggest people try Cry To Heaven, before writing (he he) the woman off, totally?.....Did I already say there was sex in it?
She must have done some homework too on physiology, cause the stuff about erections and singing voice changes, without having testicles seemed factual. Oh yeah, the historical stuff was interesting too.

[Liz]

Thanks Chatelaine, so could I be so bold as to suggest people try Cry To Heaven, before writing (he he) the woman off, totally?.....Did I already say there was sex in it?
She must have done some homework too on physiology, cause the stuff about erections and singing voice changes, without having testicles seemed factual. Oh yeah, the historical stuff was interesting too.

Absolutely.. I've always thought it was rather a shame that the Vampire books got all the press, leaving CTH, The Feast Of All Saints and Belinda to languish in the dusty unknown.

I thought her historical work on CTH was excellent. She's the reason I actually purchased the work of Alessandro Moreschi, the only castrato to be recorded. You might remember her talking about him in the afterword to CTH.

[Gary "Wombat" Robson]

Please pardon my ignorance, and thank you in advance for correcting it, but what does "jumped the shark" mean?
I saw you got an answer to this, but you might want to take a look at the Jump The Shark web site (http://www.jumptheshark.com/). It explains the origin of the term, and then goes off into discussions of other shows and when they jumped the shark.

From the Web site: "It's a moment. A defining moment when you know that your favorite television program has reached its peak. That instant that you know from now on...it's all downhill. Some call it the climax. We call it jumping the shark."

Also, if the link provided is what Rice actually typed, then she sorely needs an editor. She has no idea how to use an em dash...
Is the handling of em dashes on the Web finally consistent enough to use them? I gave up on the standard character code a couple of years ago because (a) it's a pain in the butt to type and (b) there was always some browser on some platform where it didn't work right. I just type in double hyphens instead.

[Lady Eboshi]

When something "jumps the shark", it means that it has lost its former greatness and now sucks. It's a reference to the shark-jumping Happy Days episode that was the death knell of the series.


This site (http://www.jumptheshark.com) should answer all your questions. :D

[Lady Eboshi]

This site (http://www.jumptheshark.com) should answer all your questions. :D


D'oh! Simulpost! :smack:





***must be the vampire hamsters...hampires?***

[Miller]

***must be the vampire hamsters...hampires?***

Vampsters.