Kurt Brindley's Blog, page 128
November 7, 2014
Hey Author, let’s make a deal…
Ha ha…remember that Seventies show?
No..not that That ’70s Show.
I mean that game show from the Seventies…
Let’s Make A Deal.
Classic…
What was that dudes name? Monty Hall, or something like that?
And all those crazy contestants all dressed up in their crazy costumes…
Man, that was awesome…
Such an awesome way to waste an hour of a life away…and a few good brain cells, too.
But that’s not why I called you all here today.
Today we are gathered here to discuss a way for you and I to make a deal of our own…
A deal all quid pro quo like…
A way for you to help me help you help me…
Huh?
Yeah, well, anyway…As I’ve been sitting here waiting for the dispatch of the inaugural selection for our Indie Author Book Selection & Review to arrive…
And waiting…
And waiting…
Is the United Kingdom really that far away from the United States?
And waiting…
Sheesh.
I tell you what, Barker-Simpson, your book better be good for as long as it’s taking to get to me…
Kinda makes a good tip o’ the hat to e-books, don’t it?
I could have been done and finished reading it by now if it had been an e-book…
Well, probably not.
I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it already…but I’m kind of a slow reader.
I mean reeeally slow.
So slow that by the time it takes me to read a book, real or otherwise, a real one could probably have been delivered from the UK.
Or the end of the universe.
Which is apparently the same distance…
Yeah, I read that slow…
Anyway. . .
So, I obviously have had a lot of time to think while I’ve been waiting for Melissa’s masterpiece of poetic mojo to arrive…
And I was thinking that, while this Indie Author Book Selection & Review (Can someone please come up with a better, less exhausting name for this thing?! Maybe we should call it InAuBoSe&ReMo in honor of the NaNoMo…god I can’t even finish writing the acronym its so bad. Well, not as bad as that NaNoBloPoMe thing or whatever that beast is.) is cool and all…and I really hope we do more in the future…I was thinking about other ways for me to find your book so I can read it and love it and review it like a masterpiece of poetic perfection deserves to be reviewed…
And I was thinking…you know…
Heck, I’d like my books to be reviewed, too!
Yup, that’s exactly what I thought.
Actually, that’s exactly what I think about often.
I sure wish more readers (and I check my Amazon stats every once in a while (okay, like hourly)…and I see that someone is buying my books, which leads me to believe that they are being read as well, so I think it’s safe for me to assume that I have at least some readers) would leave more reviews.
I know, I know…
I know exactly what you’re thinking right now…
You’re thinking that maybe no one is taking the time to review my books because, maybe, perhaps, it’s a distinct possibility that maybe my writing doesn’t compel these readers of my books to want to write a review for them…
That’s exactly what you were thinking, I know…
Because that’s exactly what I’m thinking, too…
And I think we’re both exactly right on this thought.
Maybe my stories just aren’t compelling enough…
Maybe.
But I would like to know for sure.
And how could I go about doing that, you ask.
Well, funny you should ask because I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about just that lately…
Seeing I’ve had so much time to think and all.
And I was thinking that maybe you could read one of my stories for me and write an honest to goodness legitimate review, you know, like a review you might read in a newspaper (if they were to still exist). A review unlike most of the reviews on Amazon. A review with a minimum of at least three (3) paragraphs – an intro, a supporting, and a closing paragraph. You know, basic essay writing that we learned back in grammar school…
Wait, wait…
Before you hightail your tail outta here…
Just listen to what I have to propose first, please.
I propose that we…
Yes, that’s right, I propose that you and I…
Make a deal.
You and I.
Quid pro quo like…
I and You.
And that’s the collective you, btw.
All you Indie Author yous out there who are also yearning to have a book reviewed.
If you review my story…and I’m not even talking a book here, I’m talking a short story…
If you review my short story Leave
. . .
Then I will review a book or story of yours…
And I will publish that review of your book here…
And on Amazon…
And on Goodreads…
And I will showcase it within a special edition of my newsletter (more on the newsletter in a minute), an edition dedicated solely to you and your book…
How does that sound?
To recap real quick…
If you purchase my short story Leave (Look, I know everyone hates to have to buy anything these days but look at it this way…it’s only $0.99 in the US, or £0.77 in the UK
or just as equally inexpensive in whatever currency we’re dealing with anywhere else in the world – heck it only costs about 25% the cost of a Starbucks coffee. We’re talking really really inexpensive here.) and write a well thought-out review with a minimum of three paragraphs and submit it as, at a minimum, an Amazon review, then I will review a book of yours.
Sound good?
Great.
Now, it’s time for the small print, metaphorically speaking.
Of course, by you I do not mean all of you. This is not a collective you situation.
I am talking only about you…just one of you.
I will select the review that I believe best represents what a proper book review should be.
And a proper review does not necessarily mean it has to be a positive review.
It just has to be a well-thought out and substantiated review.
Hopefully one that doesn’t focus so much what is wrong with the story – though some of that may be appropriate – but one that focuses more of what you were able to draw from the story and examples of how it pertains or may be applied to your life in particular or all life in general.
To me, that is what a good book review is supposed to do.
And I will select the review that I believes best embodies that criteria.
Okay?
Perfect.
Now hold on, there’s still just a tiny bit more fine print.
Just a bit more eligibility criteria…
You must “Like” this post (easy enough, right?)
You must be a follower of this website (piece of cake, no doubt)
And…
You must subscribe to my recently launched newsletter (you know, the widget box at the top right (your right not mine) of this site which you all have been politely ignoring since it went live a couple of days ago).
To be eligible to have your review of my short story selected and published on this site, at Amazon, at Goodreads, and as a special newsletter edition, you have to be a subscriber of said newsletter.
Makes sense, right?
Right?
So, you can subscribe to the newsletter by clicking on the image of a subscription block (it’s an image because WordPress will not allow us to imbed the code for an actual subscription block) up at the top right of the site and you will be tabbed out to my newsletter subscription page.
Or you can just click right here.
Now, the sign-up form asks several questions, but the only one that must be answered properly is your correct email address. All the other questions are not required…although I sure hope you fill it all in for me so I can get to know you better and we can better build a friendly and collaborative and long-lasting relationship.
And even if you do not plan to write a review for my story, I sure hope you still subscribe to my newsletter.
Because my hope is that it will evolve into something that is much more than me talking about me…though there will be quite a bit of that…but I also want to use it as a very close and intimate setting to talk about and showcase you. A place where you will get a spotlight shined directly on all your poetic magic.
And in addition to that, it will also be where all contests and giveaways will be announced. For example, I’m pretty sure that from now until the time I select the winning review, I will have at least one giveaway of my short story.
See how that works?
So do me a favor, please subscribe to the newsletter.
So that’s—
Wait, there’s more…just one more thing…
If by chance, this thing takes off and we get many many reviews for my story (fingers crossed), then, in addition to the initial review I select, I will select one review for every twenty (20) reviews submitted and give it the same treatment as the initial selection.
In other words…
If there up to twenty reviews submitted, I will select only the one review to profile as listed above. However, if there are forty reviews, then I will select an additional review. If there are sixty reviews, then I will select one more, and on and on and etc., etc…
But only those will be selected whose author has…
“Liked” this post…
Followed this site…
Subscribed to my newsletter…
And written a smokin’ hot (though not necessarily hotly positive…but it would sure be nice) review of my short story Leave…
Then I will pick the review(s) I believe best represents the finer qualities of a proper book review and I will…
Publish it here…
At Amazon…
At Goodreads…
And as a special edition of my newsletter, of which you will be a subscriber of, of course.
Oh, and I will select the Leave review(s) sometime after I have read and reviewed Melissa Barker-Simpson’s book HANDS OF EVIL (whenever the heck that may be)…
Okay?
Wonderful.
And…that’s about it…
Short and to the point.
So, what do you say, Author…
Do we have a deal?
FOR MORE LIKE THIS >> CLICK CLICK
FOR NEWSLETTER LOVE >> CLICK CLICK
Filed under: Books Tagged: authors, book reviews, books, contests, fiction, Hands of Evil, Indie Authors, Leave, Melissa Barker-Simpson, novels, short stories, writers, writing
Meet me in the courtyard where the blood no longer flows
You and I sipping tea
wrought iron stylish in ancient design
umbrella faded to blue just so
violet clematis
climbing
reaching
divine
but hiding sins etched in walls
which leaves us sacred in our time
bodies marched out lined up
backs against the brick
against the wall
so to speak
confessional sins
then onward to die
ready…
aim…
the anxious burn before the fire…
wall too high for them to climb
still they try
leaving nails of desperate death behind
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Filed under: Poetry Tagged: death, desperation, execution, history, memory, murder, poems, poetry, renewal, sin, time, writing
November 6, 2014
Reflections in the Mist
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Filed under: Photography Tagged: fog, mist, nature, nature scenery, photography, pictures, ponds, reflections
Silver Sun Day ~ A Yūgen (幽玄) Reflection
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Filed under: Photography Tagged: art, clouds, Japan, Japanese Aescethics, Japanese Poetics, mysterious, nature, photography, suffering, sun, universe, Yūgen, 幽玄
November 5, 2014
Hey Author, let’s make a deal…
Ha ha…remember that Seventies show?
No..not that That ’70s Show.
I mean that game show from the Seventies…
Let’s Make A Deal.
Classic…
What was that dudes name? Monty Hall, or something like that?
And all those crazy contestants all dressed up in their crazy costumes…
Man, that was awesome…
Such an awesome way to waste an hour of a life away…and a few good brain cells, too.
But that’s not why I called you all here today.
Today we are gathered here to discuss a way for you and I to make a deal of our own…
A deal all quid pro quo like…
A way for you to help me help you help me…
Huh?
Yeah, well, anyway…As I’ve been sitting here waiting for the dispatch of the inaugural selection for our Indie Author Book Selection & Review to arrive…
And waiting…
And waiting…
Is the United Kingdom really that far away from the United States?
And waiting…
Sheesh.
I tell you what, Barker-Simpson, your book better be good for as long as it’s taking to get to me…
Kinda makes a good tip o’ the hat to e-books, don’t it?
I could have been done and finished reading it by now if it had been an e-book…
Well, probably not.
I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it already…but I’m kind of a slow reader.
I mean reeeally slow.
So slow that by the time it takes me to read a book, real or otherwise, a real one could probably have been delivered from the UK.
Or the end of the universe.
Which is apparently the same distance…
Yeah, I read that slow…
Anyway. . .
So, I obviously have had a lot of time to think while I’ve been waiting for Melissa’s masterpiece of poetic mojo to arrive…
And I was thinking that, while this Indie Author Book Selection & Review (Can someone please come up with a better, less exhausting name for this thing?! Maybe we should call it InAuBoSe&ReMo in honor of the NaNoMo…god I can’t even finish writing the acronym its so bad. Well, not as bad as that NaNoBloPoMe thing or whatever that beast is.) is cool and all…and I really hope we do more in the future…I was thinking about other ways for me to find your book so I can read it and love it and review it like a masterpiece of poetic perfection deserves to be reviewed…
And I was thinking…you know…
Heck, I’d like my books to be reviewed, too!
Yup, that’s exactly what I thought.
Actually, that’s exactly what I think about often.
I sure wish more readers (and I check my Amazon stats every once in a while (okay, like hourly)…and I see that someone is buying my books, which leads me to believe that they are being read as well, so I think it’s safe for me to assume that I have at least some readers) would leave more reviews.
I know, I know…
I know exactly what you’re thinking right now…
You’re thinking that maybe no one is taking the time to review my books because, maybe, perhaps, it’s a distinct possibility that maybe my writing doesn’t compel these readers of my books to want to write a review for them…
That’s exactly what you were thinking, I know…
Because that’s exactly what I’m thinking, too…
And I think we’re both exactly right on this thought.
Maybe my stories just aren’t compelling enough…
Maybe.
But I would like to know for sure.
And how could I go about doing that, you ask.
Well, funny you should ask because I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about just that lately…
Seeing I’ve had so much time to think and all.
And I was thinking that maybe you could read one of my stories for me and write an honest to goodness legitimate review, you know, like a review you might read in a newspaper (if they were to still exist). A review unlike most of the reviews on Amazon. A review with a minimum of at least three (3) paragraphs – an intro, a supporting, and a closing paragraph. You know, basic essay writing that we learned back in grammar school…
Wait, wait…
Before you hightail your tail outta here…
Just listen to what I have to propose first, please.
I propose that we…
Yes, that’s right, I propose that you and I…
Make a deal.
You and I.
Quid pro quo like…
I and You.
And that’s the collective you, btw.
All you Indie Author yous out there who are also yearning to have a book reviewed.
If you review my story…and I’m not even talking a book here, I’m talking a short story…
If you review my short story Leave. . .
Then I will review a book or story of yours…
And I will publish that review of your book here…
And on Amazon…
And on Goodreads…
And I will showcase it within a special edition of my newsletter (more on the newsletter in a minute), an edition dedicated solely to you and your book…
How does that sound?
To recap real quick…
If you purchase my short story Leave (Look, I know everyone hates to have to buy anything these days but look at it this way…it’s only $0.99 in the US, or £0.77 in the UK or just as equally inexpensive in whatever currency we’re dealing with anywhere else in the world – heck it only costs about 25% the cost of a Starbucks coffee. We’re talking really really inexpensive here.) and write a well thought-out review with a minimum of three paragraphs and submit it as, at a minimum, an Amazon review, then I will review a book of yours.
Sound good?
Great.
Now, it’s time for the small print, metaphorically speaking.
Of course, by you I do not mean all of you. This is not a collective you situation.
I am talking only about you…just one of you.
I will select the review that I believe best represents what a proper book review should be.
And a proper review does not necessarily mean it has to be a positive review.
It just has to be a well-thought out and substantiated review.
Hopefully one that doesn’t focus so much what is wrong with the story – though some of that may be appropriate – but one that focuses more of what you were able to draw from the story and examples of how it pertains or may be applied to your life in particular or all life in general.
To me, that is what a good book review is supposed to do.
And I will select the review that I believes best embodies that criteria.
Okay?
Perfect.
Now hold on, there’s still just a tiny bit more fine print.
Just a bit more eligibility criteria…
You must “Like” this post (easy enough, right?)
You must be a follower of this website (piece of cake, no doubt)
And…
You must subscribe to my recently launched newsletter (you know, the widget box at the top right (your right not mine) of this site which you all have been politely ignoring since it went live a couple of days ago).
To be eligible to have your review of my short story selected and published on this site, at Amazon, at Goodreads, and as a special newsletter edition, you have to be a subscriber of said newsletter.
Makes sense, right?
Right?
So, you can subscribe to the newsletter by clicking on the image of a subscription block (it’s an image because WordPress will not allow us to imbed the code for an actual subscription block) up at the top right of the site and you will be tabbed out to my newsletter subscription page.
Or you can just click right here.
Now, the sign-up form asks several questions, but the only one that must be answered properly is your correct email address. All the other questions are not required…although I sure hope you fill it all in for me so I can get to know you better and we can better build a friendly and collaborative and long-lasting relationship.
And even if you do not plan to write a review for my story, I sure hope you still subscribe to my newsletter.
Because my hope is that it will evolve into something that is much more than me talking about me…though there will be quite a bit of that…but I also want to use it as a very close and intimate setting to talk about and showcase you. A place where you will get a spotlight shined directly on all your poetic magic.
And in addition to that, it will also be where all contests and giveaways will be announced. For example, I’m pretty sure that from now until the time I select the winning review, I will have at least one giveaway of my short story.
See how that works?
So do me a favor, please subscribe to the newsletter.
So that’s—
Wait, there’s more…just one more thing…
If by chance, this thing takes off and we get many many reviews for my story (fingers crossed), then, in addition to the initial review I select, I will select one review for every twenty (20) reviews submitted and give it the same treatment as the initial selection.
In other words…
If there up to twenty reviews submitted, I will select only the one review to profile as listed above. However, if there are forty reviews, then I will select an additional review. If there are sixty reviews, then I will select one more, and on and on and etc., etc…
But only those will be selected whose author has…
“Liked” this post…
Followed this site…
Subscribed to my newsletter…
And written a smokin’ hot (though not necessarily hotly positive…but it would sure be nice) review of my short story Leave…
Then I will pick the review(s) I believe best represents the finer qualities of a proper book review and I will…
Publish it here…
At Amazon…
At Goodreads…
And as a special edition of my newsletter, of which you will be a subscriber of, of course.
Oh, and I will select the Leave review(s) sometime after I have read and reviewed Melissa Barker-Simpson’s book HANDS OF EVIL (whenever the heck that may be)…
Okay?
Wonderful.
And…that’s about it…
Short and to the point.
So, what do you say, Author…
Do we have a deal?
Filed under: Books Tagged: authors, book reviews, books, contests, fiction, Hands of Evil, Indie Authors, Leave, Melissa Barker-Simpson, novels, short stories, writers, writing
Listen To The Colors
Listen to the colors
For they have so much to say.
You’ll be surprised at what you hear
If you don’t let your fears get in the way.
Listening to the colors
Takes more than just your ears.
You must listen with all your senses,
For colors are hard to hear.
Listen closely to all the colors,
For each message from them is new.
What the colors say to me
They might not say to you.
Best listen to every color,
All the purples, pinks, and greens.
For the colors are all our tomorrows:
They’ll be painting every scene.
Please listen to the colors.
And listen closely every day.
For if we aren’t listening to their message
They might just go away.
From Poem Man
Filed under: Poetry Tagged: children's poetry, colors, life, living, Poem Man, poems, poetry, poets, rhymes, rhyming poetry, senses, writing
November 4, 2014
Setting Sun Setting
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Filed under: Photography Tagged: art, big sky, graphic art, graphic design, landscapes, nature, photography, pictures, sun, sunsets, twilight
Well, maybe it’s not as dramatic or inspiring or indelible as the heroic images of the purple-stained fingertips of the courageous voters from the nascent democracies of the Middle East and South Asia we’ve seen over the past few years…
but it is an image that represents my vote, and, to me, it is a vote that is just as important as any vote ever cast in the history of all votes ever cast.
Plus, it gives me full and legitimate authority to complain heartily about how screwed up my country’s system of government currently is.
If you are an American of the US and you didn’t exercise your right to vote in this election, then keep your pie hole shut*. I don’t wanna hear any complaints outta ya.
*Of course this wrath of a restriction of mine does not apply to those who could not vote due to reasons beyond their control, i.e., health limitations, etc.
Filed under: Politics Tagged: civic duty, democracy, elections, mid-term elections, politics, responsibility, United States of America, vote, voting
The Happily Disgruntled Writer compares and contrasts differing philosophies on what it means to be a writer…
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Filed under: Humor Tagged: authors, AVi Steinberg, fiction, Happily Disgruntled Writer, humor, Indie Authors, NANOWRIMO, Philip Roth, The New Yorker, writers, writing, writing humor, writing philosophy
