Alexander M. Zoltai's Blog, page 148

Friday Fantasy ~ Number Twenty-Six

The Thaumaturge and The Two-Headed Snake

~They were an incredibly odd trio—the lumberjack, the lizard, and the spider.

Image courtesy of Grethe Boe ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/gretheb

But, they had a task to perform and a foe to conquer.

The two-headed snake of Thester was loose in the forest—forty feet long with a two foot girth.

The lumberjack had to chop down a ring of trees of a certain depth all ’round the forest—he’d been at the task for days now—he was nine feet tall and stronger th...

Authors Answering Questions

I’m sure most readers have all kinds of questions for authors, mostly because I’m a reader, too (and, though I’m certainly different from most folks, it’s said we’re All more alike than we’re different…).

Image courtesy of http://www.presentation-process.com

I’m also an author and I have questions I ask myself, from my “reader’s perspective”.

Here are a few about my last book:

“Why did I write that book?”

“Why did I decide to spend so little time on so many characters in so few pages?”

“Why did I c...

Is Avatar A Spiritual Movie?

I just finished watching Avatar for the third time and I’m sure I’ll watch it again—many times…

I don’t know if the makers of this movie wanted it to be so explicitly spiritual or if I, perhaps, am reading my own feelings into it…

But, the Na’vi have an All Mother who nourishes them.

Sure, the human biologist turns it into a planet-wide “computer”.

Still, the story’s climax hinges on an organic, spiritual? connection with the All Mother.

Some may say it’s just good ol’ human courage and love for...

What The Hell Is Going On In The Book World!?

So, Amazon is flexing its muscles and one of the legacy publishers is saying sorry to its authors.

Image courtesy of Mile Jerkovic ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/mile

Two years ago, the U.S. Department of Justice sued the big publishers and Apple for “price-fixing”.

Now, it appears Amazon is withholding books from consumers to force a publisher to its knees…

So much of the book world is changing and so many of the players are fighting—acting like children—children who own multimillion-dollar...

Guild vs Alliance ~ Are Authors Being Helped?

Everything I write is my opinion.

Image courtesy of jorge vicente ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/jmjvicente

Sure, I quote others—often—but even what I choose to quote is decided by my opinion.

Of course, these days, many feel that their opinion is Truth…

However, if you’re a writer who’d like to offer your work to readers, knowing the relative truth of various standpoints is probably of interest to you.

For instance, should writers still follow the traditional model—agent, editor, legacy publ...

Friday Fantasy ~ Number Twenty-Five

Fable of The Distracted Dragon

~ He wasn’t sure what the trouble was.

Image courtesy of daniele vinaccia ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/daniele81

He’d ruled this part of the coast for a thousand years.

The humans did what he said—until a few days ago…

He also thought his fire-breath was starting to cool down.

~~~

He was direct in his actions.

He’d been evoked a few days ago by the local wizard.

He was here to protect the humans and he was invisible.

His mission wasn’t to kill—merely chase the drag...

E-Books & Libraries ~ Being Fair . . .

I’ve written quite a bit about libraries but need to draw your attention to the question “Do Publishers Hate Libraries?” and to the ideas in the article “Myth-busting: Libraries and E-books“.

Image courtesy of Sara Haj-Hassan ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/hhsara

You see, the “big” publishers are having problems with their bottom-lines and they’ve been trying to undermine the social purpose of libraries.

Mark Coker, CEO at Smashwords, says: “…front list ebooks from Big 5 publishers can cost...

A Prolific Writer Who Doesn’t Use A Computer

I completely messed up my main computer.

Image courtesy of Ayhan YILDIZ ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/djayo

Gonna cost more money.

Working now on my backup computer.

Had to rely on a long Google search instead of my carefully saved bookmarks.

Found something of abiding interest…

Heard of Wendell Berry?

Wrote something like 40 books—fiction, poetry, non-fiction.

My Googling was spurred by my frustration with my reliance on computers.

What I found was an article with Mr. Berry explaining why he’d...

Start Your Own (little) Library . . .

I have a friend in the U.S. state of Wisconsin who had a wonderful surprise while walking in the historic Astor Park area of Green Bay.

Image from Traverse Area District Library

She kept seeing Little Libraries…

The kind where you Take A Book — Leave A Book.

I’m pretty sure my friend tipped me off to this world-wide movement back in 2012 and I wrote the post,Little Libraries Spreading All Over :-)

The idea was started by Todd Bol and Rick Brooks and you can find out all you need to know to build o...

Are Failure and Success Actually “The Same Thing”?

We live in a world where “false dichotomies” thrive.

Image courtesy of Kostya Kisleyko ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/dlnny

What is often presented as black or white has infinite shades of gray.

What is perceived initially as male or female has its complement close at hand.

What can seem like sheer dominance has an interior of pure subjection…

I happen to be a writer and I also happen to blog about Reading, Writing, and Publishing.

One post I wrote back in 2012 was called “Must Writers Suffer...