R. Michael's Blog, page 4

Thank You Recent Followers!

Building a blog has been difficult, sometimes it felt overwhelming.  Success in the arts never comes easy.  Since my recent return to wordpress.com more of you have been reading and following my blog.  To those I say thank you!

Tribalism Pt. 2

“If you aren’t with me, you’re against me.”  Hopefully most people would find that to be an absurd line of reasoning.  Yet, we see it put into practice by so many people.  Particularly lately when tensions are high between political ideologies.  At this moment everything is affected, and it quite possibly will only get worse.

I’ve said many times before on this blog that it isn’t the writer’s job to pander.  An author is a conduit which the characters use to tell their story.  In my previous blog, I focused on how media is often seen through the lens of politics.  I did address that sometimes authors use their medium in order to push an ideological agenda, but for the most part I feel a lot of times people are simply reading into stories and getting offended over nothing.

It is time to address the fact that there is legitimate political pandering in not just books but television, music, and movies.  This contributes to the paranoia that everything is pushing an agenda, whether that is the intent or not.  When this happens, there isn’t just a bias, but too often the message is, “If you don’t believe or think like me you are evil.”

To avoid the misconception that I am adhering to political conspiracy theories, I will simply say that often only one side of the spectrum is what’s represented most.  When this viewpoint is represented, it also more likely takes the more extreme point of view of this ideology which is “if you don’t believe like me you are a terrible person.”  Yes, I know there are people who think like that in EVERY belief system.  This is merely a general observation I’ve witnessed.  This isn’t productive, nor what fiction is about.  Obviously, the beliefs of the creator come through into the product, but it shouldn’t be overbearing or pandering.  Subtlety is almost always the best approach in fiction when trying to get a point across, that is what all of us writers must remember.

Goodbye Social Media! (For Personal Use)

Social Media isn’t a bad thing, let me start with that.  I can and does do a lot of good.  It connects people in ways that were not possible in the past.  For me, the use of it personally has more cons than pros.  I’m a millennial and I grew up with social media.  It especially became ingrained in my life starting as a teenager.  As I got older though I started to see more of a negative side to it.

I started Facebook just before college, at a time when it was intended for college students and you could only be friends with people of the same network.  Facebook in particular became a habit for me, something I ended up mindlessly opening and checking, even when there wasn’t much of interest on my newsfeed.

Countless hours would be spent feeding my bountiful curiosity on Facebook.  That especially became true when I started Twitter, which is a minefield of rabbit holes.  Twitter, unlike Facebook, really has little boundaries on what sort of content is posted and if one is scrolling throw trending tags, it can be easy to come across something unintended.

I found myself easily sucked into the world of social media.  Even after placing recent limitations, the temptation to check and check again was still there.  With the political strife in America, and everyone thinking they need to thought-vomit to the world, I grew disgusted.  I family members arguing publicly, and it became clear that social media, while not bad in and of itself, does tend to bring out the worst in people.  I am guilty of this too, to my shame.  People use it and do not always treat others with kindness because of the detachment from using a computing device.  To compound this problem, it is my experience that some are using social media as a replacement for real friendships.  There is this sense in western culture that people don’t want to invest in others, and Facebook allows for that insulation to take place.  I’m not interested in having social media replace real Friendships.

So, in light of all this, I deactivated my personal Facebook profile, but my author page is still alive and well since my wife is an admin.  I feel happier as well as spiritually and mentally healthier.  Not everyone has to do what I did.  It was a response to a personal conviction, but I encourage everyone to spend more time in the real world, having real discussions, and not just sitting at a screen thinking that is the same thing. What do you think?  Do you feel like you need to spend less time in front of a screen too?

Book Review: Orcs

This is one of those books that kept me interested while at the same time I wondered why I kept reading it.  The titular orcs are a war band, that are virtually indistinguishable from humans, who travel across their world in search of powerful relics they wish to keep out of the evil orc queen’s hands.

If you envisioned a story written from the perspective of Tolkien-type orcs, then you will be gravely disappointed.  The orcs act no different than humans. Perhaps the intent was to give their race depth, but the author falls flat at doing that too because all the characters are flat and never grow beyond caricatures and stereotypes.  Orcs are fundamentally tribal polytheistic humans who are fighting against their crazy queen and a bunch of Christians.  Sure, they aren’t called Christians, but the Uni’s in the story adhere to basic Christian theology and even call upon the Holy Spirit.  It is a thinly veiled jab at Christianity that utilizes every stereotype about the faith.

I mentioned already the orcs are caricatures, but frankly that is an observation I had across the board with both the protagonists and antagonists.  It was as if the author didn’t spend more than five minutes on Google researching Christian and polytheistic beliefs before forming a clear opinion about them and placing 1.5 dimensional orcs in the middle of it.

I will say that despite my disappointment, the plot was interesting enough to keep me hoping things would get better.  I may not have cared about the characters, but I wanted to which meant the book had potential, or so I thought until the anticlimactic ending.  There is also the awkward and abrupt graphic rape/sacrificial magic scenes thrown in there without warning.  They were so explicit and jarring the sex scenes felt like they were ripped out of an erotica novel and pasted into this one just to put off the reader.  Nothing was implied or shown, everything was told in all its gory details.

If you enjoy gritty fantasy I would say this might be for you except for the shallow characters, both on the protagonist and antagonist ends of the spectrum.  Other than a moderately decent story, this book is unpolished and fails to offer anything new or exciting to the Fantasy genre.  It especially fails to do the lore of Orcs any justice.  Overall, I would give this book a 1.5/5 and would not recommend it.

The Season for Thrillers is Here!

 

Halloween and Fall are upon us, and before we know it they will be gone.  To celebrate this spooky time of year.  Take a look at Crystal Moon, an Urban Fantasy/Thriller and Crystal Moon.

Tribalism and the effects on fiction

It’s no secret there are deep divisions in American culture, especially politically.  Maybe it’s just my perception but it appears that everything is suddenly seen through the lens of politics.  While that isn’t to be completely unexpected, after all people read things through a worldview.  However, right now there appears to be less nuance and more, “believe like me or you’re evil.”  This is seeping into fiction.  Television, movies, and books are labeled with assumptions based on who ever is consuming the media and many times they are wrong.

I’m going to say up front that I do not adhere to the philosophies of either Republicans or Democrats.  I find them both deeply flawed for different reasons.  I feel this needs to be stated just in case someone attempts to accuse me of taking sides, since reading into things is a common practice on the internet.  Now that that’s out of the way, both parties have built of tribalism around them, while painting the other side as evil.  Yes, evil.  Not misinformed, not simply disagreeing on important issues, no evil.  The chasm between Liberalism and Conservativism has grown so much that neither side can even agree on the basics.  Around politicians that craft these ideas there is the rest of the country who mostly either adheres to one side or the other.

This tribalism doesn’t end at the polls or while determining which candidate to vote for.  It often overflows into media.  Readers start to have a visceral reaction to books because there are perceived ideas from “the other side” while authors cave to pressure to pander to their audience and fall into the trap of becoming too political with their works.  Tensions have been rising, especially after the 2016 election, and continue to escalate, almost as if people are looking to fight with those who believe differently.

In my next post I will continue this topic.  For now, I think all of us need to consider the implications of tribalism and vilifying those who believe differently.

Book review: The World of Lore Monstrous Creatures

Unlike most who read this, I went in completely blind.  I never listened to the podcasts before reading this book, so I wasn’t sure what to expect other than the subject material.  I saw previews for the Amazon Prime series and decided to buy the book on a whim when I saw it in the bookstore.

This subject matter is something that has always fascinated me, especially once I had experiences of my own with the unknown.  I chew up material like this constantly, in the form of TV shows like A Haunting.  Therefore, many of the stories within the book were familiar to me.  The tale of Robert the Doll is one example of the stories found within its pages.  Lore tends to capitalize on paranormal stories that have been told from dozens of other sources before.  Even those who don’t read or watch paranormal documentaries have probably heard at least half of the accounts. While the material is still interesting, the lack of personal stories that were uncommon was a bit of a disappointment to me.  However, that wasn’t something completely unexpected, nor did it spoil the read for me.

Since the paranormal and supernatural are sensitive topics that some people not only disagree with, it angers them, I appreciate it when the channel in which the tales are told remain neutral and allow the audience to form their own opinions.  I don’t like it when the author or narrator gives their opinion or tries to explain the event.  I’m more than capable of doing that myself.  This was something Aaron Mahnke did throughout the book which drove me nuts.  Look, I know that not everyone who claims to have a paranormal experience, actually experienced what they believed took place.  I’m more than capable of looking into things myself and seeing possibilities the claims might be debunked. Mahnke’s explanations and attempts at debunking some of the claims were distracting and annoying.

Overall I found the book interesting and entertaining.  Despite the lack of new content, there were a handful of fresh tales that I hadn’t known about before.  If you like reading about true stories of the paranormal I would recommend this book, despite its flaws. Overall, I give it a 3/5.

Autumn Inspiration 2

It’s my favorite time of year, and I wanted to share more pictures from my walks.  I find the colors of this time of year to be more than inspirational, but almost magical.  Enjoy!

 

Social Justice Bullies

Social pandering has gone over and beyond ridiculous.  We must be careful what we say and to whom, and even the most benign thing shared can cause outrage.  Why is that?  Words are hurtful, there is no doubt about that, but why must we walk on the proverbial eggshells anymore?

Bullies exist, they always have and always will.  It is a toxic part of humanity and a reality most people face sometime in their lives.  However, that doesn’t seem to be why people are so hurt by words lately.  It appears that large masses of people have thin skin and have an axe to grind against anyone who shares a different viewpoint or vocabulary.

Below is a screenshot of a reaction someone had to a tweet.  Keep in mind my wife runs my Twitter account and was the one that posted this, not me, which is massively ironic.  The not-too-subtle accusation of sexism.  The point isn’t to vent because I’m offended.  It is to point out just how thin-skinned, so many people of our culture are.  Why is something so innocent as my wife and I celebrating our teamwork in need of criticism?

Our culture is growing ever more sensitive to the point where it finds problems where there are none.  No matter how benign a statement, social media post, or thought is, someone is bound to get offended, but not just offended, that person may feel the need to “educate” you and put you in your place.  Offended people now are the social bullies.  Attempting to silence any voice that is different from their own in the name of “good.”  How do we fight this?  Call it out for what it is, bullying.  The irony is that it is typically those who speak of tolerance and acceptance that are guilty of the very things they claim to hate.  Perhaps this is a window into everyone’s psyche, we are often guilty of the things we hate the most.  Therefore, before getting sanctimonious over silly things on social media, let us examine ourselves and see if we live up to our own standards.  We all need this.  Certainly, there is a time and place to speak up, and that is where wisdom and discernment comes in, both qualities though seem to be sorely lacking in our society.

Open-Minded

We hear about open-mindedness a lot in our culture.  It is often viewed as a good thing, a virtue even.  Those who adhere to traditional values on the other hand are viewed as the antonym of open-minded, and the enemy of diversity.  While that certainly can be true, open-mindedness, like everything else must be tempered.

Being open to ideas, experiences, and other people’s beliefs is a generally a good thing.  In a society that is so divided, a little more of that would do wonders to bring about healing.  Not all ideas are equal.  Some view all religions, political beliefs, and philosophies to be the same.  If only people would understand that, then there would be peace, right?  Not exactly.  Many belief systems are destructive, and because we are human, even the good and true ones often get warped.

A balance should be struck between the hardened skeptic and the hippy that believes anything goes.  Listening to people is always important, but that doesn’t mean their ideas are valid, in fact they might be very toxic to society.  How much toxicity have we allowed into our culture for the sake of being “open-minded?”  That is a question the reader will have to answer for him or herself.  I certainly do not have the answer, but with all the dystopian media I have consumed along with the insane ideas now peddled as truth, I cannot help but wonder if fiction is closer to reality than I had thought.