Willie Handler's Blog, page 18

Book Review: 1984 by George Orwell

It’s nearly 70 years since 1984 was first published and about 40 years since I first read this magnificent dystopian novel by George Orwell.

Why did I decide to read it again? Our society has continued to evolve since the 70s and I wanted to see if the book would have the same impact on me. In fact, my impression of the book has changed because it’s even more relevant today than it was 40 years ago.

For those who have not read the book, the story is about Winston Smith who  is a forger working in the Ministry of Truth and Julia who works in the government Fiction Department that ground out happy-making pornography for the masses. Winston and Julia fall in love and pay the price for their illegal activities.

So what’s so special about this story? After all, the year in the title of the book came and went 33 years ago. The book premise is that truth and history can be distorted and rewritten and the masses will accept it. Think about it. Kellyanne Conway referred to the size of the inaugural crowd as “alternative facts.” President Trump tweets daily about accomplishments that illusory at best. Fake news. Political spin doctors. Right wing demagogues. Many people are becoming confused about what is the truth.

It’s all so scary. Yet, the brilliant George Orwell laid it all out in his novel back in 1949. His book had Hitler and Stalin in mind. However, the same distortion of the truth went on in the Nixon White House when press secretary Ron Zeigler attempted to distort the truth about Vietnam. Fast forward to 2017 and we have a White House that is challenging our understanding of truth.  In Orwell’s world, 2 + 2  = 5,  and the acceptance of bad arithmetic simply becomes a testament to the power of rulers to define reality.

That’s not all. In the dystopian world described by Orwell, citizens are under constant surveillance. Telescreens and microphones are everywhere  — in home, in cubicles at work, even in the bathroom stalls. No place is safe. Today, ordinary people can’t be sure that they aren’t being watched. Is my computer and phone under surveillance? When I walk around in public, are there cameras watching me? I’m not even sure what data is being collected about me despite privacy legislation that requires disclosure.

Orwell’s world is depressing and oppressive. It’s not a fun read. But it’s must read, not just because it’s one of the greatest novels ever written but because democracy and truth are under siege.

Twitter For Writers

[image error]I had no clue what Twitter had to offer writers until I sat down for coffee with my hilarious buddy and author A.B. Funkhauser. I was on Twitter but didn’t understand how it could help me as a writer. She gave me some Twitter basics but when I sat down and began to closely examine the platform, the light went on.

Since that coffee date back in early November, my followers have jumped from about 400 to close to 2500. Let me explain what I learned and how I expanded my followers so rapidly.

1. My Game Plan

My main objectives are to use Twitter to connect with other writers, learn more about writing and publishing and use social media to market my work. I learned that there is a close knit (yet global) group of writers with similar objectives. By no means are they a homogeneous group. My writer contacts range in age from 15 to 75 and every conceivable genre is covered. They live in North America, Europe, Asia and Oceania.

2. Connecting With Other Writers

The first thing I did was participate in the many hashtag games and chats that are directed at writers. Each game or chat has a theme for writers. Some are weekly (e.g., #MuseMon, #TuesTropes, #FictFri) and others are daily (e.g., #WIPTruthOrDare, #authorconfession). Chats take place on the same day and hour either weekly, biweekly or monthly (e.g., #JustAddTea, #StrongWomenWrite).  A writer hosts each event and one wonderful writer, Mica Scotti Kole maintains a list of all writing events on her blog. She also lists writing events on Twitter each day on @writevent Mica also has a newsletter you can subscribe to.

These writing events are not just about having fun. I use it to try out lines from my manuscript by tweeting them as part of the hashtag games. Writers may choose to  respond to the tweets by “liking”, retweeting or commenting on them. Over time, I start to collect information on what lines are popular with readers. I also use these writer events to establish my brand. I’m a humour writer and I reinforce that as often as I can.

I should point out that Twitter is not the only place to network with other writers. I’ve made friends at creative writing courses. I also belong to a local creative writing group.

3. Managing Your Followers

You will come across other writer who you will want to follow for one reason or another. Many people will reciprocate and follow you back. I will not automatically follow back someone who follows me. I run across people who have a humongous number of followers and people they follow. I’m usually not interested in people who are follower collectors. Also, there are writers who exclusively tweet ads for their books. I don’t want to be looking at their ads on my Twitter feed every day. Then there are those who almost never tweet and predominantly retweet other people’s tweets. My feeling is if I want to read other people’s tweet, then I’ll just follow them. I’m also not going to follow a bot or someone who is on Twitter to market a service to writer. Finally, I get a lot of followers who aren’t writers. They may be an accountant, a chef, a psychologist and so on. I rarely follow non-writers and less there is something about them that interests me.

I look for people who I can relate to. They may have interesting or funny tweets. Perhaps they have a lot to share about writing or getting published. Some have terrific blogs so I will follow them on Twitter and keep up with their blog posts. Currently, I might gain fifteen to twenty new followers each day and screening people takes up time. At the end of the day, you need to find an approach that works for you.

4. Learning The Writing Game

I worked mostly on my own when I wrote THE ROAD AHEAD.  Writing is clearly a solitary activity but doesn’t mean you should be working in isolation. That was a mistake I made. I still have a lot to learn about writing and there are some good people on Twitter to learn from. There are other benefits from networking with writers. Other writers will provide you with support and encouragement when you are going through a rough stretch. They can make you more accountable. If you tweet your writing goals, some people will check back with you to see how you’re doing. You might develop even closer relationships with a few writers and agree to be critique partners and beta readers for each other (topic of a future post).

5. Marketing

Marketing is something that turns off creative people. That’s fine if you are truly writing for yourself. But if you want other people to read your work, you need a plan on how to reach out to readers. Even traditional publishers have an expectation that you will do a lot of heavy lifting when it comes to marketing. They will want to see you active on social media with a website and/or blog.

As I’ve already mentioned, I’m using Twitter to establish my brand, specifically my genre and writing style. I want to engage other people online but at the same time I don’t want to come off as being someone I’m not. It’s delicate balance between connecting with people and selling yourself. In addition, writers are avid readers. Every writers talks about their lengthy TBR (to be read) list. I want to be on people’s TBR.

My approach to Twitter has been constantly evolving as I become more comfortable with it and as my needs change. There may be a day when I cut back on my Twitter activity. But for now, I’m sticking to what I’ve been doing the past eight months. I want to see how all this will impact on my second novel.

Book Review – Our Little Secret by Roz Nay

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Our Little Secret, the debut novel by Roz Nay is dark psychological thriller that stand outs in crowd that includes Girl on a Train and Gone Girl. Now that’s impressive.

I don’t want to spoil the story for readers. What I can tell you is that the story takes place in an interview room of a police station in a small Vermont town. Angela, who is in her mid-20s, has been picked up for questioning and spends much of two days across from Detective Novak, assisting the police with a case involving a missing woman. The missing woman happens to be Angela’s ex-boyfriend’s wife, Saskia. Angela spends the time describing her relationship with her ex and his wife over the previous 10 years.

What we can’t determine is whether Angela’s story is accurate. This is the dilemma for the reader and also what makes the book so compelling, an unreliable narrator. The detective doggedly attempts to uncover information about Saskia’s disappearance while Angela focuses on telling her life story beginning with her first love in high school, which evolves into awkward love triangle.

As the story unfolds and the mystery deepens, a dark truth is revealed and believe me you won’t see it coming. I couldn’t put this book down. You have to add this to your reading list.

The Summer Issue of My Newsletter Is Out

The Summer issue of my Newsletter is now out.

You haven’t subscribed?

No problem. You can read it right here.

10 Days of Canadian Humour – Day 10

On the final day of featuring the great Canadian comics I present John Candy. Like Jim Carrey, he was born in Newmarket just north of Toronto.

Candy didn’t actually get his start doing improv or stand up comedy. He started off acting in a string of low budget films in the early 1970s. Then 1976 he became  a member of the Second City troupe in Toronto before moving to the popular sketch comedy TV show Second City Television (SCTV). This lead to a successful movie career that ended with his death in 1994 at the age of 43.

 

 

10 Days of Canadian Humour – Day 9

Jim Carrey was born in Newmarket, a small community north of Toronto. It’s hard to believe that this major film star was once a struggling stand up comic. His early impersonations bombed and he had a difficult time finding work. Like many comics, his act became more polished over time. Carrey was noticed by comedian Rodney Dangerfield, who signed him to open his tour performances.

In 1980, he auditioned for Saturday Night Live but didn’t make it. He continued to do stand up. From 1990 to 1994, Carrey was a regular cast member of the ensemble comedy television series In Living Color. In 1994, he landed his first film role, Ace Ventura, Pet Detective and his career finally took off.

Below is some of his stand up work from the early 1980s.

10 Days of Canadian Humour – Day 8

Day 8 brings me to Mike Myers. A Toronto boy who made it bing in U.S. TV and movies.

After graduating from high school, Myers was accepted into the Second City Canadian touring company and later joined the Toronto troupe of Second City. From 1989 to 1995, he had a successful run on Saturday Night Live, with popular characters like Wayne Campbell, Dieter, Linda Richman and Simon. Rolling Stone ranked Myers 4th among all performers who appeared on SNL.

10 Days of Canadian Humour – Day 7

On May 4, 1958, Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster, Canada’s most famous and successful comedy duo, make their much-anticipated debut on the Ed Sullivan Show. They went on to appear on his show 67 times, more than another other performers.

They started on radio and their humour was partly adapted from vaudeville. Their most famous sketch was Rinse The Blood Off My Toga, their take on Shakespeare’s own adaptation of the Julius Caesar story. Johnny Wayne’s witty use of “martinus” as the singular of “martini” quickly became a catchphrase with some New York bars advertising “Martinus Specials.”

10 Days of Canadian Humour – Day 6

CODCO was a Canadian comedy troupe from Newfoundland, best known for a sketch comedy series which aired on CBC Television from 1987 to 1992. They began as a theatrical revue in 1973, CODCO drew on the province’s cultural history of self-deprecating “Newfie” humour, frequently focusing on the cod fishing industry. The troupe’s name was an abbreviation of “Cod Company”.

Reminiscent of David Steinberg’s controversial appearance on the Smothers Brothers (yesterday’s post), the CBC refused to air “Pleasant Irish Priests in Conversation”, a sketch involving three Roman Catholic priests discussing their sexual experiences (see below). The Mount Cashel Orphanage child abuse controversy was very much in the news at the time, and as Newfoundlanders, the CODCO crew quite naturally had very strong opinions on the matter. Within a year, CODCO was off the air but a number of the cast went on to appear on This Hour Has 22 Minutes, a similar comedy show that is still being aired by the CBC.

10 Days of Canadian Humour – Day 5

David Steinberg was born in Winnipeg, the son of a rabbi. He was destined to be a rabbi as well until he attended a performance by Lenny Bruce and decided he wanted to be a comic as well. He appeared on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson more than 130 times (second only to Bob Hope) and served as guest host 12 times, the youngest person ever to guest-host.

One of Steinberg’s most notorious performances was in October 1968 on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, where he gave satirical sermons. The sketch caused CBS to receive a record number of complaints. The Smothers Brothers were told by the network that they could have Steinberg on the show again on the condition that he would not repeat the sermons. Nevertheless, Tommy Smothers asked Steinberg to do it again. This incident contributed to the cancellation of the show. The Jonah sketch was never aired by CBS. It appears at the 26 minute mark of the video below.