Kyle Michel Sullivan's Blog: https://www.myirishnovel.com/, page 218

Blast from the past...

I just got reminded by a Facebook friend of this article in Queerty from nearly 5 years ago --

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It’s getting harder and harder to figure out which books Amazon.com will and will not sell. First there was last year’s banishment of gay fiction to the “adult section.” Then for the longest time it was willing to ship that how-to guide for pedophiles, until it wasn’t. Then came the removal of adult incest erotica, but not any from sci-fi scribe Robert A. Heinlein. And now writer Kyle Michel Sullivan says Amazon.com has yanked his self-published titles simply because they feature gay rape themes.

“During our review process, we found that your titles contain content that is in violation of our content guidelines,” Amazon wrote to Sullivan to explain his titles’ disappearance. “As a result, we have removed the books from our store.” And what titles were they? How To Rape A Straight Guy (ASIN B003ZYFCA6) and Rape In Holding Cell 6 (ASIN B00403N14A). Now before you start thinking either of these are how-to guides to rape, allow Sullivan to explain — as he did in a letter to Amazon — what his books are about.

I’m at a loss as to understand how my books violated your content guidelines. They are not pornographic and have solid stories and meaning behind them. The sex in them is not that much more detailed than what you find in Jackie Collins’ and Judith Krantz’s novels, all of which can be found in a library. Also, you carry items that celebrate the torture and murder of women (see “Saw2” “Hostel 2” (oops) where a naked female is strung upside down and butchered so her blood can bathe another naked female lying under her) and the gleeful slaughter of human beings (“American Psycho”, for example).

“How To Rape A Straight Guy” has a very provocative title, yes, and its narrator, Curt, is a very in-your-face sort of guy who thinks he can get even with the world by assaulting men. But it winds up hurting innocent people and destroying him. I even have a moment of foreshadowing in it, where Curt as a 6-year-old boy watches a cousin of his torture a dog until it bites him, then the boy’s father kills the dog and goes off to buy another one. The moral of the whole book being, if you treat a man like a dog his whole life, you shouldn’t be surprised if he bites you. And the sad reality is, when he finally does bite back, he’s the one who’s punished. Does that sound like porn?

“Rape In Holding Cell 6”, both volumes, is about corruption in the judicial system, and its main character, Antony, is investigating the brutal rape and murder of his lover in the county jail. He finds a legal and political system that thinks it can get away with anything and nearly drives himself insane in his quest for revenge, a quest that threatens to harm the innocent as well as the guilty as he becomes exactly what he hates. Does that sound like porn?

You pulled my titles because that reporter at the Fox affiliate labeled my book pornography. If you actually HAD done your research, you’d see that they do not fall under that category. I can see them being viewed as erotica because the sex is very intense…and not at all sugar-coated…but that’s it. And they were on Amazon’s website being offered for sale for years without a problem. So will you also be removing other books once viewed as porn, like “Ulysses” and “Henry and June” and “Lolita”? Will you continue to offer DVDs of movies that depict the torture and rape of women, like “Straw Dogs” and “A Clockwork Orange”?

I ask that Amazon reconsider this. My books are not pornography and should never have been labeled as such. According to the Supreme Court, “in Miller v. California , 413 U.S. 15 (1973) (The basic guidelines for the trier of fact must be: (a) whether “the average person, applying contemporary community standards” would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest, Roth, supra, at 489, (b) whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law, and (c) whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.” (Emphasis added.)

Please have your panel look further into the matter and reconsider your actions.
Amazon did “look further” into the matter, and isn’t budging in its promise to keep them offline. Without having read them, clearly. The hypocrisy of the web retailer’s censorship policy is becoming more and more evident with each round of removals. But here we have an example where books about male-on-male sexual violence are pulled from Amazon’s store, while literally hundreds, if not thousands of titles that feature heterosexual sexual aggression and rape remain in stock. And no matter where you stand on whether these books constitute the “glorifying” of rape (which, really, they do not), shouldn’t patrons of Amazon demand the company either sell any type of book, or apply its censorship policy uniformly?

Which it won’t do, of course. Because that would wipe out some of its best-sellers.--------------Amazon relented, for a while, but now they won't offer HTRASG or RIHC6 for Kindle, though you can buy electronic editions that work on Kindle through Smashwords. What was most interesting were the comments on the story, with some people saying my books should be banned while others pointed out they do do glorify rape but show it to be a horrible thing. Lots of fun, there.
I may see if I can ignite this same uproar with Underground Guy, just for the hell of it.

One last pass...

I started at the beginning and am working my way through to the end of OT. Some smoothing here and there and a touch of rearranging, but so far so go. I'd wanted some time to decompress between finishing this book and doing NaNoWriMo, but it looks like that ain't gonna happen. Such is my life. I spent too much of it being lazy and casual; I'm making up for that in spades.

I was going to work up a synopsis for OT, not just for the back of the book or the online posting, but also for the hardcover, in case I decide to do that. But now it's pretty clear the book won't be ready to go till after the first of the year. Maybe I can get it started and paid for in time to use for this year's taxes, but we'll have to see about that. Right now, I'm focused on making it work as good as I can.

Getting going on Underground Guy on Sunday won't be hard; I already have an outline of where the story needs to go...even though it's not very solid, yet. And I know who the characters are and who the killer is; I just need to get from A-Z on that. It's going to be fun, making a bad man the hero of the book, as he comes to realize who he is and what he's done. I don't know if he'll wind up good or finding ways to justify his actions or what; that'll be the fun part of the journey.

I'd change the title to Getting To Know You but that's a bit too show-tunes for me...

Okay, not so crazy...

I backed off a little from what I'd initially written and it works better. I'd had it where Jake lets a killer get away with it for all the right reasons, and it was just too much. Now Jake just isn't helping track them down. Much better.

The story seems to be hovering right around 116K in wordage and 512 pages. Once that starts to happen, I know the story is done except for small details and minimal changes. I'll be done this weekend. I know it. Just in time to start on NaNoWriMo. No rest for the wicked writer.

I need to find time to start working on advancing my writing -- especially my screenplays. I've got a couple now that are lower-budget range. and I could rework some of them to fit just about any location. I've redone my suspense-thriller KAZN from LA and Moscow into Casablanca and Marseilles, then into Belfast and London. It would also work in any large American city -- Toronto, Chicago, Boston, Houston...

Same for my psychological horror script, Mine to Kill. I've set it in Houston, Seattle, Syracuse, London...anyplace that has a major teaching hospital, because what matters is the characters, not whee they are.

Other scripts are site specific, but that's not a detriment. I don't think. Guess I'l find out.

Or not...

I may have done something crazy...

Logistically speaking, OT needed some detail work. Having one character appear at the end was a bit too much so got rid of it. Changed another location to make the ending more believable and understandable. Cut the timeframe shorter because events taking place over the space of a year was counter-productive. And Jake does something that may or may not work...but fits his sense of honor.

I also got rid of some too-detailed explanation by blending it with some things Jake does after revealing who the killer is. I can't think of anything that's illogical in the story, now...but you never know. I felt good about it when I finished the last draft.

Tonight was ironing, so I watched some old B pictures from the 30's and 40's. First was a Bulldog Drummond that was a direct rip from Wilkie Collins' The Lady in White. And it was so stupid, I was slack-jawed. Ray Milland was an exuberant Captain Drummond investigating the case of a mysterious beauty, played by Heather Angel...and the bad guys are stealing her inheritance while keeping her locked up in a mansion. Took 60 minutes and lots of stupid activity to tell the story.

Then I watched Shock, with Vincent Price playing a psychiatrist who murders his wife and is seen by a young woman in another room. She goes into shock so he takes her to his sanitarium and tries to convince her she's crazy for thinking she saw what she saw. It was boooooooooring...and only 70 minutes long. They were 2 of 12 old mysteries on a DVD that cost $5.00...so I only felt cheated out of $4.99.

I then watched an NCIS set in Washington DC, with Ted Danson, Patricia Arquette, and James Van Der Beek...where they're tracking some boys who are being lured by a pedophile via a scavenger hunt. It's one of those shows where people work in an office that has minimal lighting and have equipment so high-tech and easy to use, they solve crimes in 38 minutes. This is why I don't watch TV, anymore.

Hell, it's why I don't watch movies, either -- I'm too busy picking them apart to just enjoy them...

Close is good...being there is better...

Okay...after a lot of head banging I had an idea on how to rework the story so it makes sense. I added a victim, moved the location of another character, and changed some of Antony's argument with Jake at the end...and it began to shift into place. What's even better, I'm still trimming back and simplifying. Much to my amazement.

The book's down to 512 pages but still right about 116,000 words. Comes from shifting paragraphs around to make the reading easier. I'll need to make another pass through it to align the set-up with this new-ish ending...but I'm finally getting there. Again.

Who knows? Maybe I'll get the story done eventually. I know Jake would be happy for that. It has changed a lot from its inception. I think most of what happens is organic to the characters, but I can't say. After a while, you just have to let go and accept whatever reactions you get. I just want to be sure I've done my best before I let my baby out into the real world.

There be lions out there, you know...

It has to make sense...

As I was working on my minimal corrections to The Vanishing of Owen Taylor, I asked myself a question about why a certain person wasn't killed...which led me to wonder why another person wasn't also dead...and my brain snapped into chaos. It's one of those logical problems I stumble into where what I've written, if honestly contemplated by someone heavy into mysteries, will come across as stupid and ill-conceived.

So...do I kill them? Have someone else involved in the final explanation? Change the timeline for it all, or something. Because as it now stands, it doesn't work. All this effort and angst and head-pounding and it still doesn't work. I need to think it through, again...and wonder how long it will take for the next problem to pop up.

There's a story that when Howard Hawks was turning The Big Sleep into a movie, he and his screenwriter couldn't figure out who killed the family chauffeur. So they called Raymond Chandler, who wrote the book...and he didn't know, either. They fixed it in the film by alluding to who did it without actually saying it, but that's the dilemma I'm in. I either have to kill off two more characters or change the timeline...and neither will be an easy fix.

I've learned Frederick Forsythe, author of Day of the Jackal and Dog Soldiers and The Odessa File, would make a synopsis of each chapter before he began to write his book. That's how he was able to keep track of everything and make sure it fit together. Then all he needed to do was type up the story and maybe do one more draft and he was set. But then...he started out as a journalist so has a different way of looking at stories.

I went the opposite direction and did a light synopsis of the chapters after I'd written the book. And so got lost in the contradictions and inconsistencies. Jake is good, now. Tone...not as much but not nonsensical. Matt's cool. It's everybody else who's messing with me as regards the plot. And this is one of those genres where everything has to make sense.

Whether I like it or not.

Drive from NYC to Buffalo...

I decided since I was wandering whether I wanted to or not, I'd document a bit of my travel...

This is the park right by I-80, where you're about to cross into Pennsylvania. I finally got some decent Fall colors...

This shows a hint of the Delaware Water Gap. I posted photos of the river a few years back, the first time I drove through en route to NYC. It was easy to get onto the freeway and head on. Not if you're going in the other direction. I went left instead of right, as is typical for me...but had a nice leisurely trip through some lovely country.
I drove down a narrow twisting road that took me next to this stream, into which I pissed instead of fished, since I never been fishin' and the stream's too shallow for anything interesting to catch.
Obviously, this one-lane bridge is no longer in use. I was on Old Mine Road at this point, headed north -- soon to learn a bridge I wanted to cross was closed and I had to go farther north.
This is a rest stop south of Syracuse on I-81.
It took me 8.5 hours to drive what is normally a 6.5 hour trip, an hour of that due to sitting in traffic on the 80 by the Delaware River. I'm actually sort of glad I didn't get back on the freeway there.
BTW, GPS sometimes tries to get you lost. There was one point where it told me to turn left onto a park road, but I couldn't; it was blocked. It wasn't a real road and would not have been good for the Suburban I was driving. I looked later, at a map, and there's not even a bridge there. I finally see how some people wind up driving down stairways when blindly following the voice in their phone.
That, or the NSA is out to get me because I'm a Liberal...

Okay...not so done...

On this drive I thought of a couple of inconsistencies and things that weren't explained in the current draft of OT, so away I shall go to rework them and make it make sense. Maybe. We shall see what we shall see. The good thing is, I'm not out and about till the beginning of November, now. Gives me a chance to regain my brain.

It may have helped that the traffic backup was so bad in the Delaware Water Gap, coming home, I got off the 80 and drove up to the roads alongside the Delaware River thinking I could cross over to the 209 and connect with the 84. Only problem was, two of the bridges were closed. I wound up driving almost all the way on two-lane backwoods roads that were lovely but put me way behind schedule. I didn't get home till 9:30.

Still, I did get some nice photos and found an old bridge that crossed a happy stream, so I pulled an Elton John and pissed in it. And it let my brain relax enough to catch the errors of my writing ways. So no real complaints. Images to follow.

In the notion that as soon as you get rid of something you'll need it, the Best Western I was at had the weirdest WiFi. It would not let me onto Facebook, my blog or work e-mail through Safari, and when I switched to Chrome it only halfway agreed to work. I called the support desk, and they said, "Get an ethernet cable." Did the hotel have one? No. And do I have one anymore? No. Got rid of it a few weeks back.

I'm never throwing anything away ever again.

Done...done, done...done...done.

Oh, Man...OT just under 116,000 words and I'm still not positive about the revelation scene -- AKA: Killer Angel. Yes, I've got titles for each chapter and wonder if that's just a bit too cutsie...but I can't decide now; my brain's mush. And I'm still fighting that damn cold. I felt better this morning, but now it's making headway, again. I'm so loaded with OJ and vitamin C and juice and tea, I think I slosh as I walk.

I'm also an emotional basket case. As I finished up the book, I began to weep. Couldn't stop. I'm now afraid I may have fallen in love with my words and am not telling the story right. That maybe I'm letting Jake down. He doesn't seem to think so...but there's a part of me that is sure I've screwed up in some way. I always do.

When I send it out to the beta readers, I hope they'll let me know if anything doesn't make any sense or if it's hard to figure out. The revelation took a different turn so I re-did that part four times and fear I may have cut out something important...something essential to explaining the mystery.

I'm not making it super easy, by deliberate choice. I don't really like the Agatha Christie/Earl Stanley Gardner set-up of detailing exactly what happened to whom and why they were thought to be the killer until the final reveal. Jake does a little of that, but spread through the last few chapters.

Oh, Jesus, I don't know...I don't know! I've never been this torn up about the end of a book, before. When Bobby Carapisi was done, I felt right enough about it to let it go. The Lyons' Den was finalizing publication as my mother was dying, so even after the final pass by the editors on that one, I asked to do a rewrite of a couple sections. They nearly canceled the book. But I talked them into it and kept to the final format and they were happy about it, as was I.

All I can do now is hope for the best.

Scrambled...

I think I screwed up the revelation chapter so need to go back over it, tomorrow. Hopefully I'll feel better; I'm fighting off a cold and I think it scrambled my brain...but I can't really think, right now, so I'll just let it go, for now.

Damn, when I'm sick I get tired and just want to sleep. Like a dog or a cat.