open

Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Forums

You are logged in as a guest. ( logon | register )

Random quote: "America is a nation of liars, and for that reason science fiction has a special claim to be our national literature, as the art form best adapted to telling the lies we like to hear and to pretend we believe." -- Thomas Disch (The Dreams our Stuff is Made Of)
- (Added by: gallyangel)


Random Authors
Jump to page : 1
Now viewing page 1 [25 messages per page]		View previous thread :: View next thread
Reply New post    General Discussion -> Roll-Your-Own Reading ChallengeMessage format
 
DrNefario
Posted 2013-01-09 8:01 AM (#4541)
Subject: Random Authors		Quote Reply



Uber User

Posts: 526
500
Location: UK		I finally went ahead and picked my random author yesterday. I couldn't bear to have that empty slot in my list.

I said in one of the other threads that I was thinking of using the Mistressworks list to pick an author. I decided that was unfair, and that I'd pick from the whole list, but gave myself a few mulligans in case I didn't like what I got. And then I ended up with an author from the Mistressworks list anyway (Susan Shwartz, my third legal pick).

Too impatient to wait for an official solution, what I did was:
- Cut and paste the big table from the All Women Authors page into a text editor, then edit it down so I just have a list of names.
- When I removed the 11 I'd already picked, there were 333 remaining, so I searched for "random number 1-333" on google and got pointed to a website with a random number generator.
- Paste the list of names into a spreadsheet so I get line numbers, and then look up the number the website gave me.
- Regenerate if it's someone I've already read, or if I don't like the answer, or if I can't easily get hold of a book by that author.
Top of the page Bottom of the page
Administrator
Posted 2013-01-09 9:23 PM (#4546 - in reply to #4541)
Subject: RE: Random Authors		Quote Reply



Admin

Posts: 4003
2000
Location: Dallas, Texas

That is awesomely nerdy!  Well done, Sir!  We were just talking about how we expected someone to do just what you did.  What's funny is that's pretty much how we're going to code the random picker here when we can get around to it.  We've been spending most of our time adding new authors and books to meet some of the early demand for content.  I'll talk to the guys tomorrow about getting back to the picker.  Thanks for sharing!

Anybody else want to let us know how they made their random pick?  I think CarlV mentioned he was going to leave it up to his blog readers to pick for him.  Enquiring minds want to know...

Top of the page Bottom of the page
dustydigger
Posted 2013-01-10 4:25 PM (#4550 - in reply to #4541)
Subject: Re: Random Authors		Quote Reply



Elite Veteran

Posts: 1031
1000
Location: UK		LOL.Dr Nefario and Dave,all I did was shut my eyes and scroll up and down the list a few times,then poked a finger at the screen.I got Angela Carter,which quite pleased me,I have always meant to read her

Edited by dustydigger 2013-01-10 4:26 PM
Top of the page Bottom of the page
DrNefario
Posted 2013-01-11 7:59 AM (#4559 - in reply to #4541)
Subject: Re: Random Authors		Quote Reply



Uber User

Posts: 526
500
Location: UK		I didn't want to unfairly bias myself towards the middle of the list. (Especially when I already own a book by Sarah Zettel.)

I keep meaning to knock up a quick bit of javascript for other people to use, but it's hard to find the time.
Top of the page Bottom of the page
jfrantz
Posted 2013-01-14 6:59 AM (#4568 - in reply to #4541)
Subject: Re: Random Authors		Quote Reply



Member

Posts: 41
25
Location: Florida		That's a good idea DrNefario. I took this in a different direction. I had my wife pick one for me and ended up with Ann Radcliffe as a result. I just showed her the list and asked her to pick one for any reason she wanted. Afterward, she said she was going for what looked like the oldest author.
Top of the page Bottom of the page
dihenydd
Posted 2013-01-27 3:57 PM (#4631 - in reply to #4541)
Subject: Re: Random Authors		Quote Reply



Member

Posts: 14
0
Location: France		I took a very simplistic approach. I used a RNG to pick a number between 1-26. I got 5 - the fifth letter in the Alphabet is E. There were 7 authors with last names starting in E. Back to the the RNG for a number between 1-7. I got 3 so counting off my author is Janet Edwards. Never heard of her but the book in the DB looks interesting...
Top of the page Bottom of the page
dihenydd
Posted 2013-01-27 4:02 PM (#4632 - in reply to #4631)
Subject: Re: Random Authors		Quote Reply



Member

Posts: 14
0
Location: France		Damn I just realised there are 10 authors with last names beginning in E... for some reason Evangeline Walton was in the list and it threw me. I think I will stick with my pick though, it is even more random now
Top of the page Bottom of the page
jfrantz
Posted 2013-01-27 7:22 PM (#4633 - in reply to #4632)
Subject: Re: Random Authors		Quote Reply



Member

Posts: 41
25
Location: Florida		Ha! The best laid schemes...
Top of the page Bottom of the page
dihenydd
Posted 2013-01-28 4:45 AM (#4634 - in reply to #4633)
Subject: Re: Random Authors		Quote Reply



Member

Posts: 14
0
Location: France
jfrantz - 2013-01-27 2:22 AM

Ha! The best laid schemes...


...story of my life
Top of the page Bottom of the page
Sai
Posted 2013-02-05 1:16 PM (#4673 - in reply to #4631)
Subject: Re: Random Authors		Quote Reply



Member

Posts: 7
0
dihenydd - 2013-01-26 5:57 PM

I took a very simplistic approach. I used a RNG to pick a number between 1-26. I got 5 - the fifth letter in the Alphabet is E. There were 7 authors with last names starting in E. Back to the the RNG for a number between 1-7. I got 3 so counting off my author is Janet Edwards. Never heard of her but the book in the DB looks interesting...


Thanks for this. I ended up using this system to get my random author (I admit, I did it a few times as I wanted to get an author who's books were available through my local library). I ended up with Sarah Zettel. I've never heard of her, but her novel 'Bitter Angels' look interesting.
Top of the page Bottom of the page
oddrid
Posted 2013-02-07 2:54 PM (#4683 - in reply to #4541)
Subject: Re: Random Authors		Quote Reply



Member

Posts: 6
0
Location: Chicago		I think I'm going to go with dihenydd's RNG plan. Thanks for the suggestions!

Edited for wonky BBCode

Edited by oddrid 2013-02-07 2:55 PM
Top of the page Bottom of the page
Badseedgirl
Posted 2013-03-26 10:20 AM (#4878 - in reply to #4541)
Subject: RE: Random Authors		Quote Reply



Uber User

Posts: 369
100
Location: Middle TN, USA		Ok, so using these suggestions I also picked my random author. I used the RNG, and just counted down that many authors. My local library did not have that author, so I just went up one, and down one, until I got one the library had. And that is why I am going to be reading "Magic For Beginners" by Kelly Link. I don't usually read short stories, so this is going to be a departure for me. Between that and all the Fantasy books I'm reading in this challenge, I am really stepping out of my comfort zone.
Top of the page Bottom of the page
francesashton
Posted 2013-06-16 9:21 AM (#5281 - in reply to #4541)
Subject: Re: Random Authors		Quote Reply



Regular

Posts: 96
25
Location: Cheshire, England		To pick my random author I just showed the list of All Women Authors to my husband and said "pick one that's neither ticked nor coloured in". He picked Doris Lessing and said "I didn't know Robin Hobb was a woman"!
Top of the page Bottom of the page
Jump to page : 1
Now viewing page 1 [25 messages per page]		Reply New post
Jump to forum :
Search this forum
Printer friendly version
E-mail a link to this thread

(Delete all cookies set by this site)