Writing - what's the point?

Came across this the other day:

It is almost reassuring to read Jonathan Green's Stormslayer and realize that he is still one of the most sadistic gamebook designers in existence.

It goes on... To read more of Mrs Giggles(!) review of Stormslayer yourself, click here - go on, I dare you! Having read more myself I was reminded of this quote by the novelist Kingsley Amis:

If you can't annoy somebody, there's little point in writing.

So there. ;-)

Dr Johnson tells it how it is

"Mankind have a great aversion to intellectual labour; but even supposing knowledge to be easily attainable, more people would be content to be ignorant than would take even a little trouble to acquire it."
Samuel Johnson (1709-84)

Wise words from Pooh's creator

'Almost anyone can be an author; the business is to collect money and fame from that state of being.'
A. A. Milne (1882-1956)

Now you see, there he's gone and hit the nail on the head. When I've managed it myself, I'll let you know...

Words of wisdom

It's funny 'cos it's true...

There are books of which the backs and covers are by far the best parts. ~ Charles Dickens

Thought for the day...

"Asking a working writer what he thinks about critics is like asking a lamppost how it feels about dogs." ~ Christopher Hampton

What's the point?

"I can't understand why a person will take a year to write a novel when he can easily buy one for a few dollars."
~ Fred Allen (1894 - 1956), US radio comedian.

Bye-bye, Bush!

So, Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States and the country's first black premier. And although I'll be glad to see the back of Bush (along with most of the rest of the world, I guess) there are some things about him that I'll miss - those wonderful 'Bushisms'.

Do you remember this one? "There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee - that says, fool me once, shame on - shame on you. Fool me - you can't get fooled again." Or how about, "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."

You can read of list of his 20 best faux pas here, but I think my favourite probably has to be this one:

"One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures."