Ryan Field's Blog, page 503

Apple's Massive Earnings...

Apple reported huge earnings. Although I have an iPhone, I've never been a huge Apple fan. Mainly because I don't like the conrol, nor do I like the basic mindset on which Apple was built.

I do, however, have the utmost respect for what they do and how they do it. My mom is an Apple fan and she now goes to the Apple store to drive the Apple people crazy instead of me when she has a problem. The associates at the Apple store are always more than willing to help.

I've always found that Apple was best at marketing, which is why their earnings are so good. This alone is priceless:

A Goldman Sachs analyst questioned whether Amazon's $199 Kindle Fire tablet--and other low-cost iPad alternatives like it--might actually be turning people on to Apple's iPad or making an impact on Apple's sales.

"In terms of our competitiveness, the ecosystem for iPads is in a class by itself," Cook said. "I think people really want to do multiple things with their tablet, and therefore, we don't really see these limited-function tablets and e-readers [as] being in the same category."

First, I own two e-readers and I prefer dedicated e-reading devices when I'm reading. I don't want distractions.

Second, I own a Nextbook Premium 8 tablet and it does everything and more than some basic iPads do. I paid far less for my Nextbook and I have no complaints whatsoever. So I'm not exactly sure what Apple is talking about with "ecosystms" and "classes." This sounds more like marketing hype than actual fact. The only thing missing from that answer was "research says," and "studies prove."

But they know what they are doing at Apple, especially when it comes to people who don't understand technology and they want things to be simple. They also know all about status and class peer pressure, and how seriously some people cling to those things.

I might even think about buying an iPad someday. But only if the prices came down. I can think of far better ways I can spend my money...like making an extra mortgage payment to pay down my home, or just putting that money in the bank for a rainy day...than buying something that costs three times the price of what something else can do just as well.

There's an old saying about money I try to live by:

"It's as important to learn how to make money as it is to learn how to hold on to it."

Review: "Fairytale Interrupted" by Rosemarie Terenzio

When I read excerpts of "Fairytale Interrupted," in People Magazine last week I made a note to check it out. But when I went to Amazon earlier this week and read the only six reviews left so far I wasn't too thrilled with what I saw. Almost half were one star reviews, with reasons why the readers didn't like the book. The rest were rave reviews that sounded way to trite for my taste in memoir.

So I almost went against all the advice I give to readers about vetting reviews and books and passed on "Fairytale Interrupted." I usually check out the information on amazon, but then go to Kobo to order the digital version because I have two Kobo reading devices and a Nextbook tablet. Part of the reason I almost passed was because of the questionable reviews, and part was because of the price...$11.99...which crossed my line when it comes to digital books.

I stopped short and decided to read the free digital excerpt on Amazon. The reviews kept bothering me; they didn't sound right compared to the great excerpts I'd read in People Magazine. I also figured that I'd never pay that price for an erotic anthology edited by someone who isn't an editor and written by people who are new authors. But I would pay full digital price for memoirs that revolved around names like John Kennedy Jr., depending on what I find while vetting the book.

So I opened the Amazon excerpt and started reading the prologue. I should also admit that I'm not a huge fan of prologues...anywhere...and usually skip right over them. This time, however, the minute I started reading I couldn't stop. After the prologue, I read part of the first chapter. And after that, I went over to Kobo and bought the book. I wound up reading it in almost one sitting.

One reason the book resonated with me is because I felt close to the author in more than one way. I'm a writer who worked in publishing in the 1990's as an associate editor, I lived in a small studio, and I remember the feeling of excitement within the publishing industry regarding the Internet. This was also pre-911 and Manhattan...and the world...was a different place.

Another reason the book resonated with me is because of John Kennedy. While I was still in college, I went into New York to visit my brother for the weekend. At the time, he lived on Manhattan's Upper West Side, which was very trendy at the time. I'm not sure if Kennedy still lived there then, but a lot of celebs did and it was an exciting place to be for a few years. This is one of the reasons why I set my own book, The Virgin Billionaire, on the Upper West Side. We went to a small out of the way restaurant that weekend and I actually met John Kennedy for a split second. It wasn't even an actual "meeting." I was talking to someone about whether or not it was faster to go through the park to get downtown and he bumped into me and said he was sorry. I didn't even know it was him, until my brother told me a minute later.

The book is not one of those tell-all, gossipy works that talks about things most people consider far too personal to discuss. But there are a great deal of intimate scenes between the author and John Kennedy that sound real enough to be absolute truth. The author is honest and you know she didn't make anything up to sell a book. The integrity is there, and you can almost feel the loyalty and respect Rosemarie Terenzio felt for John.

It's also very well written. As a writer it often bothers me when I see too many common mistakes...even in non-fiction. This book doesn't do that. It flows with an even pace, it's not too wordy or over-written, and I didn't find as many mistakes in the digital version as I often find in other digital books. This alone is refreshing.

The title of the book is bittersweet. John's life, and the author's life, were fairytales interrupted. I could feel how devastated Ms. Terenzio was when everything changed so fast. And, even before I read this book, I always felt it was such a shame John didn't get a chance to fulfill his goal with his Magazine, George. I used to read it from cover to cover. And if John hadn't died so suddenly I believe George would have been what The Huffington Post is today on the Internet. Unfortunately, this never happened.

If you are looking for something dishy and trashy and gossipy, this is not the non-fiction book for you. If you are looking for something well-written and smart, you won't be disappointed. The one thing that still bothers me about the one star reviews I read is that this book, even if you don't like it, deserves nothing less than two stars just for the quality of the writing alone. I'm giving it five.

Cale McCaskey Talks About the Problem with Romance

So I'm on twitter one day this week and I see a RT that looks interesting. I click over and find this post titled: THE PROBLEM WITH ROMANCE NOVELS.

First, I've been around far too long to be surprised by anything anyone says on the web anymore. Second, being that I've heard almost every slur against the romance genre there is I've become numb to much of it. Third, most of these opinions don't matter much anyway.

But I'm linking to it now because I want newer authors to see the kind of thing romance authors have been dealing with forever. I can even remember a teacher in high school trashing the romance genre while I was sitting there in class thinking, WTF?, this dude, this bald fat fuck, is wearing mismatched socks, a pilled sweater vest, gum-soled shoes, and he drives a goddamn Rambler...which at the time was twenty years old.

Before I link to the post, I thought I share this from the post, verbatim:

Because romance novels do sell so abundantly in our day, I've noticed more and more articles about, and interviews with, romance writers where they are as often as not put on a pedestal—as though they somehow belong in the same class as authors of much higher standing.

All I can say is I've been writing romance for many years. I've had more books published than I can count. Some have sold more than others and I'm never quite certain what will resonate with readers. I just write with the intention of pleasing my readers, not with the intention of being put on a pedestal or being classified anywhere by anyone. And, not everything I've had published has been a romance. A good deal of my gay fiction is considered "gay lit," especially my older works. Some books and stories were in different genres and I've used pen names more than once. I've even been in "gay lit" anthologies that have won literary awards. So does this mean my pen names are in different classes than my real name, Ryan Field, that I use to write romance? And does this mean that my pen names should be in a "much higher standing" than my real name? As a writer, not an author, I'm not even certain those questions make sense.

Of course this is a personal opinion and Mr. McCaskey has a right to voice his opinion in any way he sees fit. I didn't comment on his blog because I do respect his opinion and I didn't want to intrude. The odds are I'll never go back to his blog again after this post.

He also says this:

I think it's safe to say that no Ivy League school will ever teach out of romance novels as part of the curriculum.

This may or may not be true. I do remember I took a course on contemporary fiction in college, here, that covered romance novels. It's not an ivy league school but it is a well respected university with a campus in Wroxton, England. And now, as a graduate of this school, I'm writing in the romance genre. All this aside, my first thought was how Mr. McCaskey knows so much about Ivy League schools. I can't help but wonder which Ivy League school he attended. I tried to find it in his profile but didn't see anything other than this:

I'm a sexy, single, white male with a really big, uh, wallet. (It's where I keep all my I.O.U.s). I also write a bit.

It's an interesting description.

Here's the link.

And if you have time, check this out. It's a real gem. I don't know where Mr. McCaskey is getting his information about romance novels, but I've always been told the one place where romance authors tend not to go is adultery and infidelity. In fact, I've seen comment threads explode on the issue and I rarely go there myself because I'm not a huge fan of adultery or infidelity. If I want to read about adultery and infidelity I'll read Jonathan Franzen's "Freedom," where there's plenty of it going on.

Are Some Reviews an Abuse of Power?

Imagine you're driving down the road on a warm spring morning without a care in the world. The top is down, you're thinking about that bag of Dove you're going to dig into at noon, and you're going 50 mph in a 35 mph zone.

Then you hear that ominous sound and you look into the rear view mirror. There's a cop with flashing lights signaling you to pull over. When you glance down and see that you are going 50 mph, you hit the signal and pull over. You know you're screwed, you should have been paying attention to this, and there's nothing you can do about it.

Imagine this now. The cop who pulled you over just found out his son is gay, the son is working part time doing drag shows on Sunday afternoons, and he's going to the prom with the captain of the football team. The cop knows now that all the money he spent on baseball camp, little league, and tickets to football games that he hoped would make his son a man was a complete waste of time. To top this off, the cop's ex-wife just broke off her engagement and he will have to continue paying alimony for the next five years.

You lower the window, without saying a word. You expect a small lecture about speeding, you know you're going to get this ticket, and you're even ready to apologize to the cop for not paying attention. You know you should have been paying attention to the rules of the road and there's no way out of it but to remain silent and suck it up.

But instead of giving you a lecture and a ticket, the cop yanks you out of the car, grabs you by the throat, and shoves you up against the hood. He screams and curses, belittles and demeans you, and continues to shove you around. He even kicks you a few times and twists your arm. There are no witnesses, and this time nothing is on camera. What he does to you is an abuse of power and there's nothing you can do about it. You know you can't fight back because he will only make it worse for you. In this case, it will always be his word against yours because he has the power and you did, indeed, break the law.

The best you can do is hope this cop calms down and leaves you alone. You know this kind of abuse of power happens all the time and you don't want to get into more trouble than you already are. This guy has the ability to ruin your life and he knows it. No matter what happens, it will always be his word against yours. You can't even tell another cop because you know that all cops stick together and one will never question the motives or actions of another. What the cop does to you is traumatic and will leave scars for the rest of your life. But he didn't actually cause any major physical harm and you know you can learn how to live with the psychological harm.

I know this is a dramatic example. But I also know it happens. It happened to me once when I was speeding and there was nothing I could do about it at the time. I paid the ticket and kept my mouth shut.

And while it might be considered too strong to compare a book reviewer who abuses her power to a cop who abuses his power, the psychological damage...the damage that can't be seen...hurts just as much in some cases.

Imagine this: You're a self-published author who is learning more about writing and publishing every day. You feel confident enough to self-publish a novel and to your surprise it actually hits a few bestseller lists on Amazon. You now know you made a few mistakes and you're going to fix all this in your next book. You've read reviews that are both good and bad and you've tried to learn from both the good and bad. In fact, some of the bad reviews on Amazon helped you learn more than the good reviews. Most authors will agree that this happens more often than not with bad reviews.

You're feeling good about being a published author and thinking about the next book you're going to self-publish on Amazon. And then one morning you wake up and find you have a google alert that says one of the most prominent online book reviewers decided to read and review your book. This lady has power, big time. People take her word as gold. At first, you're excited. You know how important a book review can be from this particular reviewer and you can't wait to read it. But when you click to the web site, you find that your book wasn't just given a bad review, it was ripped apart from page to page, line by line. You wonder why this happened and what would motivate someone with this kind of power to go after a small self-published author in such a way. You can live with a bad review, just like you could have lived with getting a ticket for speeding.

You know you should expect both good and bad reviews. This is part of being a published author; it's inevitable. But a review that rips out your soul and leaves you stripped of your dignity is almost more than you can handle. This review was so venomous, not to mention catty, that the book reviewer actually listed, in public, examples of what she thought you did wrong each time. Most of this is debatable. A lot of it was twisted and turned around. And in the end you know there is nothing you can do. You can't rant about how unfair the review was because you'll be labelled a disgruntled author, and we all know how everyone hates that. Some even love to see when it happens. They can't wait to see an author melt down and rant.

What I've discussed above doesn't happen often. Most book reviewers are reliable sources where readers can gain excellent information. But I have seen it happen a few times. To be clear, I'm not talking about bad reviews. Unfortunately, I have seen authors melt down over a bad review without good reason. But good book reviewers are important. They have a right to post an opinion and comment about a book, good or bad. Readers need this now more than ever. But whenever I see an overly detailed bad review that not only has the potential to harm an author's career but also cause serious psychological damage, I have to wonder about the reviewer's motivation. And then I have to wonder whether or not this was an abuse of power that was intended to garner attention and help build the reviewers online platform.

As a reader, I rely on the ethics and moral character of a book reviewer. I respect them for having the courage to stand behind their negative and positive reviews. However, there are no limits to which a book reviewer can go on the Internet as long as she follows the law and doesn't actually come out and defame the author. And if the book reviewer knows the law well enough, this kind of knowledge might even be considered more abuse of power.

And it begs the question: Are some reviews an abuse of power? I honestly don't know the answer to this question because I don't see it happen very often. And while it is an important question, I don't believe it's important enough to pursue. The only thing that is important is for readers to learn how to vet book reviewers. In other words, if you see a book reviewer who might be abusing her power and attacking authors because of a personal agenda, most likely the rest of her reviews will be questionable at best. This is why vetting book reviewers nowadays is so important. And it's not that hard to do. You just have to go back and read previous reviews to see how good and bad reviews were handled. If something strikes you as odd and it doesn't make sense, it's most likely not reliable information and you should look elsewhere to find out about the book you're planning to buy.

Preview: "Unmentionable: The Men Who Loved on the Titanic"

This is the post Edwardian story I've been working on and posting about for the past six months: UNMENTIONABLE: THE MEN WHO LOVED ON THE TITANIC. With the 100 year anniversary approaching of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, I wanted to write a love story about what might have happened between two men who were in love in those days.

Because the word "gay" didn't exist until later in the century (in this context), and because the love between two men wasn't discussed at all, ever, I wanted to write a story about what might have happened if there were two men in love aboard the Titanic. I'll never know this for sure. In those days homosexuality was considered a flaw or a mental illness, but I would bet there was at least one homosexual couple in love, living in silence, sneaking around to protect themselves.

Here's the unedited blurb and excerpt. I'll post more when the cover comes in and the edits are finished. We're shooting for a March first launch right now, but that could change. I can promise it will be launched before April 14th, which is the 100th anniversary of the sinking.

Blurb:

One hundred years ago on April 14, 1912, the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg on its way to New York. Though it had been considered unsinkable by all standards, it went down in the cold waters of the Atlantic, taking with it stories of love and romance that weren't discussed openly in those days. This was especially true with stories of love between two men. One of those hidden stories of the Titanic dealt with the unyielding love and strong romance between a young man named Liam and his older lover, Oliver. Because Oliver was a wealthy business man in America with a great deal of notoriety, the only safe way to bring Liam aboard the Titanic was to dress him in fine women's clothing and claim he was Oliver's shy, distant cousin returning to America for the first time in many years. They finally begin to relax when they realize that everyone on the ship believes Liam is a woman, until that fateful night on April 14th when destiny intervened and changed their lives forever.

Excerpt:

"I absolutely refuse to wear dainty, frilly undergarments and a corset on the Titanic," Liam said. To emphasize his feelings, he punched a wall next to a tall bookcase. A brass candlestick tipped and landed on the floor. "And I'm not wearing women's shoes. This is absurd, Oliver. I'm a man, not a woman." Then he kicked the baseboard.
Oliver Prendergast crossed to where Liam was standing and picked up the candlestick. He placed it back on the shelf and then set both palms gently on Liam's bare bottom. They were both naked in Oliver's bedroom, in the tiny hidden flat Oliver had been renting in London for the past six months so his staff wouldn't find out about his young male lover, Liam Singleton. Oliver moved his palms up and down Liam's buttocks and said, "There's no other way, my love. Discretion is extremely important right now if you're going to return to America with me."
Liam turned so fast his penis slapped against his thigh. He sent Oliver a glare and said, "Why can't I just go as part of your staff? I don't mind acting as your valet, or whatever way you want to describe me. I just want to be a man, not a woman."
Oliver turned and walked to the window. He ran his fingers through his dark brown hair and took a deep breath. "Because that would be too conspicuous, my love. We don't have enough time to set up a new plan. Everyone knows I never travel with more than three staff members. And what would I tell my staff? They'd suspect something immediately if I brought in a handsome young man now, and I can't take any chances in my position. I've already booked a first class suite on the Titanic and I've told everyone I'm escorting my shy female third cousin back to America. People would ask too many questions if I changed plans now. They'd wonder what happened to my cousin."
"This is insane," Liam said. "No one is going to believe it. And I'll be the one who winds up getting in trouble."
"Trust me, it will work," said Oliver. "I wish there were another way."
When Liam heard the low disappointed tone in Oliver's voice, he slowly walked to the window and leaned into his back. Although there was about a twenty year age difference, Liam had never met a man who could satisfy his needs and emotions the way Oliver did. At forty-one, Oliver was just as good as any man in his twenties or thirties; if not better…he didn't have any inhibitions or insecurities. But more than that, no one had ever been so devoted to Liam in his entire life. So he put his arms around Oliver and kissed the back of his neck. "I'll do this for you. But I'm not going to like it. And I'm not wearing anything dainty or frilly. I'll wear one of those long corsets to cover my groin, but that's it. The thought of dressing up as a woman is bad enough at any time. But to have to spend that entire time crossing the Atlantic on a ship dressed as a woman kills me."

ANDROIDBLIP and Gay Books: American Star

There's now a web site dedicated to android applications, where you can find many of my books. The one I'm linking to is AMERICAN STAR, and there's a list of others.

A few things have been changed slightly. They've altered the title of AMERICAN STAR and most of the other books. But the content is still exactly the same.

There's also a good book description and a sample of what the digital format will look like.

If you like watching "American Idol," you'll love Ryan Field's M/M erotic novel American Star!
The lead in this kinky novel is Terrence. Ryan Field's Terrence loves two things in life: hot male/male sex with good looking men and singing on stage. So when he auditions for a new TV reality show that's a singing competition, it's no surprise when he starts to attract tons of fans and horny gay guys who are interested in getting into his tight pants.
When he develops feelings that are deeper than just sex for one of the other contestants in Hollywood, he does his best to seduce him in every way possible. But the other contestant is more worried about singing than sex, so Terrence winds up having a lot of kinky gay sex to deal with the rejection.
In this erotic romance Terrence has to deal with a deranged fan who sends him death threats, the overbearing mother of his newest love interest and the brutal death of a close friend. But none of this stops him from growing as a performer, and with a little help from a well-hung chauffeur, a few sexy top guys who work in a hotel, and his ex-lover the gay football player, he learns how to please all the men in his life with a huge smile on his face and legs that are always ready to open wide.

Uplifting Quotes for Writers...

Here's a link to a site with quotes by famous authors for writers. You can get there from here.

This is one I really love:

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great."
Mark Twain

I like this one, too:

"If you would be a writer, first be a reader. Only through the assimilation of ideas, thoughts and philosophies can one begin to focus his own ideas, thoughts and philosophies."
Allan W. Eckert

First Interracial Marriage in Virginia...

This is an interesting article about the first interracial marriage in Virginia. I'm not a huge fan of the "Huff Post," because I don't think they would know the meaning of objective journalism if their lives depended on it. But I try to keep this blog as objective as possible at all times, without getting into political or religious rants. And right now I'm linking to a story that has an emotional impact more than anything else.

This was the opinion of the judge:

Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And, but for the interference with his arrangement, there would be no cause for such marriage. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix.

This all happened before I was born, and before most of my readers were born. So it's hard to fully grasp what it must have been like back then. It's hard for me to grasp what it must have been like for gay men before AIDS. All my life I've been aware there's this disease out there that can change my life drastically, if not take it, if I'm not careful.

More than that, all my life I've seen interracial couples at least have the right to be together. Not everyone liked this. But they were legally allowed to love each other. I've dated men of all races and never thought twice about it. I was always more interested in what the guy was like than his race or his religion. But, intellectually, I know it wasn't always like this, and it's interesting to go back and see how interracial marriage was treated in some places.

I do remember this personal experience. My younger brother took a young African American woman to his senior prom. The next day the garage doors were spray painted with racial slurs. We never found out who did this, but it was my first real experience with racism on that level. This was in 1989, and it happened in New Jersey, not the deep south.

Here's the rest of the article, with a link to read more.

Before June of 1967, sixteen states still prohibited interracial marriage, including Virginia, the home of Richard Perry Loving, a white man, and his wife, Mildred Loving, a woman of African-American and Native-American descent.

Nine years prior, in June 1958, the couple traveled to Washington, D.C. -- where interracial marriage was legal -- to get married. When they returned home, however, they were arrested and sentenced to one year in jail for violating the state's Racial Integrity Act.

Read more...

Rescuing Books On Goodreads

I found this link, which helped me a lot. It's a kindleboard forum titled: "Rescue Your Book on Goodreads."

Other than that, just keep checking your books to see if a banner comes up across the top of the page where the book is explained/listed on goodreads. If the banner comes up and tells you that you need to rescue it, click "Learn More" and you'll be directed to a form.

It's an easy form to fill out. But it's time consuming and dull as nuts. I found the best product info, once again (I'm always harping on this), came from Allromanceebooks.com and Fictionwise.com. At least with respect to publication dates.

A lot of my books didn't need rescuing, which I'm assuming means goodreads has other datasources or readers/reviewers have already recused them. But don't quote me on this. As I said, much of this is explained well in the link above. And I'll probably be double checking my goodreads content all week.

About Goodreads Parting from Amazon...

Here's the statement I found at this link.

On January 30, Goodreads will no longer display book information that comes from Amazon.

Basically it means that because Goodreads thinks Amazon is too "restrictive," they will be moving to other datasources that will allegedly enhance everyone's goodreads experience.

Amazon data that we will stop using includes data such as titles, author names, page counts, and publication dates.

For many authors, publishers, and readers this is a big thing. I would imagine it's even bigger for book reviewers.

They've posted this link, where you can click "rescue me" and save information. However, each time I've clicked "rescue me" this is what I've received.

You do not have presmissions for this operation.

Unfortunately, there is no link that provides "permissions." Why does this not surprise me about goodreads? That's for another post altogether. Goodreads can be extremely helpful, but I've also found the reviews questionable at best. I wish I were more trusting, but I'm afraid I'm just not an idiot.

However, if you're on goodreads and you're interested in learning more about this, please check out the link I've provided above. I have a feeling we'll be hearing more about this in the future. To be honest, I'm not completely clear what this is all about and I plan to read more wherever I can. And if anyone has anything they'd like to add, feel free to comment.

If you're interested, here's another post by another blogger.