C.B. Conwy's Blog, page 6

About footballers, freedom of speech, and awesomeness

So, everybody knows that footballers are big lumps of bigoted muscle, completely devoid of any kind of brain, right? Right?

Well, I hate to disappoint you, but that's not the truth (as a matter of fact, I love to disappoint you in this case; having my own prejudices crushed is a very favorite thing of mine, and I want to share!).

It all started with the guy in the middle, Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo. Apart from being an athlete (and a very good-looking one at that; do go and google him for images - you won't be disappointed), he's advocated for the passage of the FIT Kids Act, federal legislation that give youngsters health and nutritional information. And he's advocated legalizing same-sex marriage. Two great things, right?

Well, no. Not if you ask Maryland state delegate Emmett C. Burns Jr. (the guy on the right. Just if anybody couldn't tell who the not-footballer is). Last week, Burns wrote to Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti, urging him to "inhibit such expressions from your employee". And if you were in doubt, it wasn't Ayanbadejo's work for healthier children that got him into trouble; it was the fact that he dared speak up in favor of same-sex marriage.

The whole thing could have ended here, but this is when the awesomeness begins. With Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe's (that's the guy on the left) response to Burns. A couple of my favorite quotes are:

    "It baffles me that a man such as yourself, a man who relies on that same First Amendment to pursue your own     religious studies without fear of persecution from the state, could somehow justify stifling another person's             right to speech. To call that hypocritical would be to do a disservice to the word. Mindfucking obscenely                 hypocritical starts to approach it a little bit."

Or how about this:

    "I can assure you that gay people getting married will have zero effect on your life. They won't come into your     house and steal your children. They won't magically turn you into a lustful cockmonster. They won't even             overthrow the government in an orgy of hedonistic debauchery because all of a sudden they have the same         legal rights as the other 90 percent of our population"

Yeah, that pretty much killed all of those prejudices about stupid athletes, didn't it? Go here to read the whole amazing letter.

More important, it underlines something I feel very strongly about: Other's people's lives and how they want to live them is not any of my damn business. It's not my business who they worship, who they vote for, or who they kiss. It is my business, though, that they're allowed to have any religion they want, vote for whomever they feel like, and kiss whomever they feel like. Because the true sign of a free society is that some members of that society do things you do not agree with. It's called civilization. It's called democracy.

That's why banning same-sex marriage isn't just something which concerns gay people in my opinion. Banning something concerning other people because it isn't right for you is an attack on (sorry for getting pompous here) what humanity has strived for thousands of years to create: a civilized society where we accept that we're different and work toward a better life for everybody. Even those we disagree with. Because we consider them to be as worthy as we are ourselves to benefit from the advantages of our civilized society.

This is why same-sex marriage is worth fighting for - even if you aren't gay.

Save. Attach. Send!

Oh, God. The torture of sending off your manuscript for the very last time, knowing that there are lots of things which could be better. And then there's the whole... and the other thing with that guy...

Well, you'll be happy to know that I managed to quell my perfectionist tendencies and get all of my books sent in. Okay, there are actually only two books - a novel and a short story. But each book takes one round of editing, two rounds of proofreading as well as checking the ebook and print galleys. It's a lot of work, and I'm eternally grateful for it - because the book gets so much better.

But it never ceases to amaze me how many things slip through - even under the watchful eyes of so many professional people. Well, the author is sometimes pretty much useless at this point of time (sometimes you simply know your text too well and gets completely blind to its flaws). But even after obsessing about Happily Ever After for several months, having it edited once and proofread twice, I just discovered two things which had to be corrected. I'm beginning to understand that being a perfectionist is NOT good for the mental health for a writer!

But hey, I like to do my best. And now I can only hold my breath and pray that people will like Happily Ever After as well as Leather and Newfound Land. It'll only be a week now...

Let the games begin!

And may the odds be ever... Oops, wrong reference;) - I devoured the Hunger Games books a couple of weeks ago.

But the Torquere Anniversary is beginning. Actually, it began yesterday, but I've had a fourteen deadline week. Bear with me.

The anniversary means that you can win a lot of goodies and fun stuff. Later this month, you can also buy a lot of good stories and support a great cause at the same time. But for now, it's all fun and games!

If you want to see what Torquere's authors are up to, go to Torquere's blog. There'll be different authors and giveaways during all of September. You can meet me there on September 16. As a matter of fact, if you have something you'd like me to talk about, just comment on this post and I'll see what I can do about it!

If you want to have a chance to win a Kindle Fire, then go here and fill out the form - then you might win the Kindle, Torquere gift certificates, or gift baskets.
Yes, gift baskets. And I since I have a story coming out featuring an adorable Newfoundland puppy, what would be more natural than participating in one of those gift baskets with a couple of... uh, with a couple of somewhat murderous-looking Newfoundland plushies.

I swear, I did my best looking for something appropriate, but brown Newfoundlands aren't that common. In the end, I decided that my readers would be strong enough to handle whatever this... uh, cute little plushie will be up to.

At the moment, the plushies are at my publisher's, and I'm happy to report that there have been no incidents so far. I check up on them on a regular basis to make sure everybody's still alive.

Anniversary kick-off sale

September is the 9th Anniversary of Torquere Press! I'll be participating in the festivities - with a short story as well as with a couple of secret gifts which you can win. But more about that Saturday!

The 9th anniversary traditional gift is leather - something I like very, very much. So do the people at Torquere Press. Enough, as a matter of fact, to have a anniversary kick-off sale.

Just put 'annivkick' in the coupon code box any time you check out at Torquere Books before Monday at midnight to get 20% off your order.

Sale good now through Monday, September 3rd at Midnight (est).

Discount codes are provided as a courtesy to Torquere's customers. Torquere Press Inc. cannot be responsible for discounting purchases made before coupons/sales are announced, and cannot issue discounts to customers who fail to use the coupon or discount code during the purchase process.

The excerpt from Leather and Newfound Land is here

Well, that's basically what I wanted to say;). I know; remarkably brief for a writer, isn't it? You can read the blurb and the excerpt here - and the story will be out on September 12, 2012.

I think I love this man

 Well said. Damn, well said.

Leather and Newfound Land

I've had my charity sip accepted! It's going to be published by Torquere Press on the 15th of September 2012. This year we'll be supporting NOH8, and it's a really good cause - but more about that later.

For now, I want to talk a bit about the story. See, the previous years, I've been doing very serious stuff, sweating over cramming several life-changing events onto fifteen pages - or getting all of Mischa's commitment-phobia told reasonably well on those same fifteen pages. It has been hard work (I prefer writing longer things), but I really wanted to participate.

This year, however, I've written a piece of very naughtly fluff. One of my readers suggested a theme for me, and I immediately felt so inspired that I sat down and wrote the entire story in less than a day. And I had so much fun.

First, there was the dog. Have you ever seen a brown Newfoundland puppy? They're the most adorable little creatures - and such a pain in your ass you wouldn't believe it:)! They once used to be water rescue dogs, and that means that they're crazy about water. If they don't have access to an ocean, then they'll make do with a puddle. Or a hole filled with mud. Or their water bowl. I've wiped up a lot of water after our Newfoundland had found yet another way to get wet.

Then I got a suggestion to write something about a very neat guy who meets a very messy dog owner - and I immediately got to think of how catastrophic - and fun! - it would be to put a Newfoundland puppy into that equation.

I'm afraid that things got a little out of hand at this point. First, I had to force myself to stop writing about the damn dog. It was just so cute; however, most people prefer to read romance about actual people. Then I started fooling around with my characters' names, and that led to the inclusion of a guy who's got a pet lobster on a leash. Sadly, the last part is not a figment of my imagination - it's the true story of the poet Gérard de Nerval.

The really naughty part is that I've sort of included my own book in the story. And a name from that very same book. Yep, the adorable Newfoundland puppy is named Mischa.

I'm still blushing a little over that; I mean, it's a little naughty, isn't it? Even though my comparative lit professors would probably have called it "intertextuality", I just think it's slightly self-centered;). But hey, it's a charity sip, it's all in good fun - and I did include a pretty hot sex scene for my guys as well. It isn't all lobsters and Newfoundland dogs!

Anniversary month at Torquere is going to be a lot of fun with good stories and competitions - and you can win your very own little Mischa plushie! And with that cliffhanger, I'll get back to editing:).

Passion

Charlotte Dujardin, gold medalist, on Valegro During the last week or so, I've been riding the best horses in the world. I've taken them across cross country courses, over huge fences, and through the most difficult dressage exercises imaginable - and it has been a blast.

Well, before you start thinking that I'm some kind of equestrian hot shot, I have to disappoint you: I've just been watching the Olympics - from my couch, far away from the ten million dollars horses. But it felt like being there, riding each horse - because of the commentators.

The first comment from the dressage commentator went like this: "Now we'll just sit here and watch the program in silence" [about three seconds of silence followed] "Do you see how the horse is not really carrying its weight with its hind legs... [funny clucking sounds] Yes, that's more like it. That's good. Now it's accepting the rider's help. Oh, see how that change almost went wrong..."

And so on, and on, and on, until I'd been taken through each and every dressage exercise in the Olympic program. The commentator even encouraged the horse when he felt it necessary. "Well, they probably can't hear me," he admitted every time - but he still did it, because he felt passionate about what he was watching. And by being so passionate and knowledgeable, he gave me an amazing experience.

I really admire passion. It's amazing when it's something I'm interested in beforehand - for example, I now know that the hind leg action is more important than almost anything else for a dressage horse, and that it's crucial that it "sucks" the bit. But even when I meet people who tell me about things I've never, ever thought about before, they always catch my interest when I feel their passion. For example, after this summer's trip to Scotland, I've developed a sudden and very unexpected interest in owls!
I mean, how cute is this baby snowy owl? And did you know that... Okay, I'll spare you the many interesting facts about owls:). Even though they're really soft and really light and really interesting...

I guess this only goes to show that passionate people can be a bit nerdy, too. But I don't care, because I know a lot about owls now. And about the hind legs of dressage horses.

Going to NOLA sale!

The good people at Torquere Press will be in New Orleans next week - and you can get 20% off your purchases at Torquere Press because of it!

Authors After Dark is in New Orleans next week and Torquere is celebrating with a sale! Just put 'nola2012' in the coupon code box any time you check out at Torquere Books (www.torquerebooks.com) before Tuesday at midnight to get 20% off your order.

Sale good now through Tuesday August 7 at Midnight (est).

Celebrate going (or not going) to New Orleans with books from Torquere Press today.

Christmas in July - Sale!

Still haven't read Himiko: Warrior - or how about my short stories? Well, Torquere's Christmas in July Sale is your chance to get them with 20%off!

Torquere's celebrating Christmas in July with 20% off your purchases from now
through the end of day Monday! Just put 'xjuly2012' in the coupon code box
any time you check out at Torquere Books (www.torquerebooks.com) before
Monday at midnight to get 20% off your order.

Sale good now through Monday July 23 at Midnight (est).