David Meredith's Blog, page 2
March 10, 2015
Sinopsis en Español // Synopsis in Spanish "The Reflections of Queen Snow White"
Thanks so much Cintia for doing this! I really appreciate all your hard work!
Sinopsis en Español // Synopsis in Spanish for The Reflections of Queen Snow White
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Sinopsis en Español // Synopsis in Spanish for The Reflections of Queen Snow White
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
December 18, 2014
On the Defeat of Freedom and Those Who Enabled It; How North Korea Beat the American People
Yesterday, December 17, 2014, the United States was shamefully defeated by The People’s Republic of North Korea and it should infuriate every American.
In an act of shear and craven cowardice, under threat of violence from the North Korean hacker organization that recently stole thousands of confidential documents from Sony Pictures Studios, the five largest American theater chains (Regal Entertainment, AMC Entertainment, Cinemark, Cineplex Entertainment, and Carmike Cinemas) have refused to screen Seth Rogan’s most recent film “The Interview” – a comedy about a convoluted CIA plot to assassinate Kim Jung Un, the authoritarian dictator of North Korea. It was further announced today that Steve Carell’s still under development PRK project “Pyongyang” would be scrapped as well after the hackers threatened violence against US movie theaters. In their words, “The world will be full of fear. Remember the 11th of September 2001. We recommend you to keep yourself distant from the places [theaters] at that time. If your house is nearby, you’d better leave.” The North Korean government has decried the film ever since it was announced and demanded that it be suppressed. Now it has been in a spectacular and humiliating fashion as corporate executives stumble over themselves in a mad rush to appease a bully and a despot while the Freedom of Artistic Expression spirals downward in withering flames upon the command of Kim Jong Un.
I know very little about the substance of this movie. Based upon what I do know, I probably wouldn’t even really care to see it. I have nothing to offer in terms of my views on its artistic merits nor could I add any informed observations about the prowess of its creators Seth Rogen and James Franco. That, however, is beside the point and any creative person who values their freedom to make a public statement unmolested should be aghast and dismayed by this grossly capitulatory decision.
Kim Jong Un is a ruthless and brutal dictator of one of the poorest most oppressive countries on Earth, who controls every morsel of information received by his own people. He has virtually no international influence and his nation is perhaps the most isolated on the planet, yet in one contemptible act of unapologetic cyber terrorism, he reached across the ocean and commanded the citizens of the United States of America that within the very borders of our own homeland “YOU MAY NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE!” Then the theater companies swiftly acquiesced, bowing down before the altar of the tyrant to meekly execute his will.
It is reasonable to be concerned after any threat of violence, and surely these companies still have the Aurora, Colorado theater massacre firmly fixed in their minds, but fear and intimidation cannot be permitted to drive us shrieking into pusillanimous retreat. Rather it should call us to vigilance when our freedoms are threatened. Benjamin Franklin said, “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” Voltaire added and I certainly agree with his sentiment “I may disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” These are the core values of any functioning democracy.
Indeed, there is a reason that the freedoms of speech and artistic expression are protected by the very First Amendment of the Constitution in The Bill of Rights. Democracy does not work without the free flow of ideas and information. Any time we allow a government, any government, to control the information that we receive and dispense, we are giving that government license to control our perspectives and even the most quotidian of our acts and interactions.
If we capitulate to the whims of a hateful narcissist now, where will it stop? If someone wants to make a movie about the brutality of ISIS or Al Qaida, will we scrap it if those groups threaten us? If someone makes a speech that Vladamir Putin decries, shall we appease him? If someone wants to write a book or a poem or make a speech or paint a picture that some dictator somewhere finds somehow vaguely offensive shall we silence them? If you are anyone anywhere who feels that your ability to express yourself and your ideals is a key component of who you are and what you stand for, the repression of this movie should deeply anger and disturb you.
In Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, lie the earthly remains of over 400,000 Americans from disparate wars who were willing to lay down their lives in defense of the values we cherish and the freedoms we enjoy. From the Revolutionary War until today, over 662,000 Americans have lost their lives in combat, fighting to protect the idealism of the values to which this country aspires, not the least of which is the freedom to speak our minds. How starkly all of these contrast with those who made the decision to repress this movie and serve the will of our enemies! It frankly, denigrates and degrades the memory of these honorable dead and the nobility of the legacy they left behind to we, their grateful progeny.
Whether left wing or right wing, Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Socialist, Constitution Party, Green or what have you, whatever the religion, race, or social class, EVERY American should deplore and despise this blatant and shameful act of poltroonish timidity on the part of these companies. An attack on our freedom of speech, an assault upon our most basic right to self-expression, artistic or otherwise, is an attack on all of us. All Americans who rightly cherish their ability to express themselves free from fear of reprisal – whether by speech, or painting, or sculpture, or music, or cinematic composition or in any other way - need to stand up and demand that these organizations do their part to protect the values that we all share. Instead, Freedom of Expression lost yesterday.
Seth Rogan has a right to make his movie. Sony Pictures has a right to release it. We all have a right to go see it and love it or loath it based solely upon our own sensibilities and appreciations without interference from third world dictators. It is my hope that the American people will show more strength and tenacity than these quaking executives whose actions have numbered them among the diffident and the fainthearted. I hope that the artist and the pundit, the author and the musician, the politician and the protester will all repudiate the appeasers and let our displeasure be known. For my own part, until this decision is reversed I will not be visiting the cinemas, purchasing the grossly overpriced concessions, nor patronizing in ANY way the theaters of the five companies involved. In the face of violence, intimidation, and oppression we must come together and stand in defiance of the despot and the bully, not run screaming into the night to hide beneath our metaphorical beds.
Freedom isn’t free and it must be defended or it will be surrendered.
In an act of shear and craven cowardice, under threat of violence from the North Korean hacker organization that recently stole thousands of confidential documents from Sony Pictures Studios, the five largest American theater chains (Regal Entertainment, AMC Entertainment, Cinemark, Cineplex Entertainment, and Carmike Cinemas) have refused to screen Seth Rogan’s most recent film “The Interview” – a comedy about a convoluted CIA plot to assassinate Kim Jung Un, the authoritarian dictator of North Korea. It was further announced today that Steve Carell’s still under development PRK project “Pyongyang” would be scrapped as well after the hackers threatened violence against US movie theaters. In their words, “The world will be full of fear. Remember the 11th of September 2001. We recommend you to keep yourself distant from the places [theaters] at that time. If your house is nearby, you’d better leave.” The North Korean government has decried the film ever since it was announced and demanded that it be suppressed. Now it has been in a spectacular and humiliating fashion as corporate executives stumble over themselves in a mad rush to appease a bully and a despot while the Freedom of Artistic Expression spirals downward in withering flames upon the command of Kim Jong Un.
I know very little about the substance of this movie. Based upon what I do know, I probably wouldn’t even really care to see it. I have nothing to offer in terms of my views on its artistic merits nor could I add any informed observations about the prowess of its creators Seth Rogen and James Franco. That, however, is beside the point and any creative person who values their freedom to make a public statement unmolested should be aghast and dismayed by this grossly capitulatory decision.
Kim Jong Un is a ruthless and brutal dictator of one of the poorest most oppressive countries on Earth, who controls every morsel of information received by his own people. He has virtually no international influence and his nation is perhaps the most isolated on the planet, yet in one contemptible act of unapologetic cyber terrorism, he reached across the ocean and commanded the citizens of the United States of America that within the very borders of our own homeland “YOU MAY NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE!” Then the theater companies swiftly acquiesced, bowing down before the altar of the tyrant to meekly execute his will.
It is reasonable to be concerned after any threat of violence, and surely these companies still have the Aurora, Colorado theater massacre firmly fixed in their minds, but fear and intimidation cannot be permitted to drive us shrieking into pusillanimous retreat. Rather it should call us to vigilance when our freedoms are threatened. Benjamin Franklin said, “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” Voltaire added and I certainly agree with his sentiment “I may disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” These are the core values of any functioning democracy.
Indeed, there is a reason that the freedoms of speech and artistic expression are protected by the very First Amendment of the Constitution in The Bill of Rights. Democracy does not work without the free flow of ideas and information. Any time we allow a government, any government, to control the information that we receive and dispense, we are giving that government license to control our perspectives and even the most quotidian of our acts and interactions.
If we capitulate to the whims of a hateful narcissist now, where will it stop? If someone wants to make a movie about the brutality of ISIS or Al Qaida, will we scrap it if those groups threaten us? If someone makes a speech that Vladamir Putin decries, shall we appease him? If someone wants to write a book or a poem or make a speech or paint a picture that some dictator somewhere finds somehow vaguely offensive shall we silence them? If you are anyone anywhere who feels that your ability to express yourself and your ideals is a key component of who you are and what you stand for, the repression of this movie should deeply anger and disturb you.
In Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, lie the earthly remains of over 400,000 Americans from disparate wars who were willing to lay down their lives in defense of the values we cherish and the freedoms we enjoy. From the Revolutionary War until today, over 662,000 Americans have lost their lives in combat, fighting to protect the idealism of the values to which this country aspires, not the least of which is the freedom to speak our minds. How starkly all of these contrast with those who made the decision to repress this movie and serve the will of our enemies! It frankly, denigrates and degrades the memory of these honorable dead and the nobility of the legacy they left behind to we, their grateful progeny.
Whether left wing or right wing, Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Socialist, Constitution Party, Green or what have you, whatever the religion, race, or social class, EVERY American should deplore and despise this blatant and shameful act of poltroonish timidity on the part of these companies. An attack on our freedom of speech, an assault upon our most basic right to self-expression, artistic or otherwise, is an attack on all of us. All Americans who rightly cherish their ability to express themselves free from fear of reprisal – whether by speech, or painting, or sculpture, or music, or cinematic composition or in any other way - need to stand up and demand that these organizations do their part to protect the values that we all share. Instead, Freedom of Expression lost yesterday.
Seth Rogan has a right to make his movie. Sony Pictures has a right to release it. We all have a right to go see it and love it or loath it based solely upon our own sensibilities and appreciations without interference from third world dictators. It is my hope that the American people will show more strength and tenacity than these quaking executives whose actions have numbered them among the diffident and the fainthearted. I hope that the artist and the pundit, the author and the musician, the politician and the protester will all repudiate the appeasers and let our displeasure be known. For my own part, until this decision is reversed I will not be visiting the cinemas, purchasing the grossly overpriced concessions, nor patronizing in ANY way the theaters of the five companies involved. In the face of violence, intimidation, and oppression we must come together and stand in defiance of the despot and the bully, not run screaming into the night to hide beneath our metaphorical beds.
Freedom isn’t free and it must be defended or it will be surrendered.
July 22, 2014
How to Find the Perfect (CHEAP) Art For Your Book Cover
You can’t tell a book by its cover… But most people DO!
Let’s face it, cover art is important. Especially as a new author, if you have a blah book cover you might be dooming your masterpiece to obscurity before potential readers have perused so much as the acknowledgements. Cover art is the very first thing that readers see. It’s the thing that determines whether or not they pick your novel up off of the shelf or click the enlarge button on the website. It is the first, greatest hook. It can also be incredibly expensive.
There is no shortage of sites that offer the whole package. “We’ll let you choose your cover art from over X000 selections and do all of the cover design for you! You can also sign up for our ultra-super-mega-primo promotional plan for an additional fee, so all you have to do is sit back and wait for the money to start rolling in!” they cry in big, bold print, “Millions of satisfied customers!” Unfortunately, even with thousands of prefab choices, your book cover will still be just that, a slightly tweaked, prefab template that will be incredibly similar to dozens if not hundreds of other books by authors who also used the same service. Most of these promotions don’t come anywhere close to delivering everything they promise and these too can be quite pricey, so what’s an aspiring author to do?
Well, of course the easy answer is to use and abuse your friends. If you have friends who are talented artists and are willing to help you, they can be an excellent resource. Be sure you explore every option and connection you might have among your friends, acquaintances and professional contacts. Be assured that other authors competing with you for readers are absolutely doing the same.
However, this is not always a viable option. Maybe you aren’t best buds with a budding Monet or Rembrandt. What then?
This is the dilemma in which I found myself when I was trying to get my debut novel, The Reflections of Queen Snow White, ready for publication. The first thing I did was go online and hunt for some art that I thought appropriately represented my concept. The actual site I went to was Elfwood.com, but there are other sites where budding, young artists can post their work (Deviant Art, is another major site for artists, but you can find a more exhaustive list here: http://www.website-creations.org/our%...). Now first of all, let me be clear – YOU CAN’T JUST GO ON THESE SITES AND STEAL ART!!! However, what you can do (what I incidentally DID do) is search for already completed art that is the same subject/theme that you are looking for and then contact the artist about acquiring the rights to use his/her work for your cover and promotions. Most artists are pretty open to making a deal with you, I’ve found.
Sometimes you can get artwork for free in exchange for just mentioning the author’s name and website/contact information in the acknowledgements of your novel (artists, just like authors, are struggling for recognition and exposure - anything that helps get their work in front of more eyeballs is a benefit to them and this is essentially free advertising), but more than likely they will ask you to pay something. However, what you will have to pay for rights to an already completed work (with perhaps a little haggling) will undoubtedly be MUCH cheaper than what you would have to pay for a commissioned piece. (Even among relatively unknown artists of any ability or talent a commissioned piece can run anywhere from $500-$800, and better established artists can charge MUCH more.) Artists posting their work on these sites are generally on these sites because they are new and emerging artists. They expressly want to gain as much attention for their work as they can and every book you sell, every review site that you are featured upon, will be that many more people who see it. Most artists don’t mind scoring a little quick cash either and you buying the rights to a piece of art they’ve already completed is essentially free money for them. They don’t have to make anything new. All they really have to do is draw up a quick half page contract detailing the price and exactly how you are allowed to use their work and then e-mail you a high definition electronic copy - easy for them, cheap for you.
So how can you be sure that you get exactly what you want? Well, I suppose the short answer is that you can’t really, but you can get pretty darn close. Something to keep in mind is that there is an AWFUL lot of art out there. Especially if you are willing to put some time into a thorough search, it is highly likely that someone somewhere has painted or sketched your basic concept already. Of course, having said that, much like self-published novels, there will be a great deal of mediocre tripe that you have to struggle through to discover the gems. A lot of the art you will find will be flat out garbage, but if you are open to doing some digging you can really save yourself a lot of money and still score some quality cover art for your book. I feel like mine turned out pretty well.
In any case, good luck to all of you in your writing/promoting endeavors and I hope I’ve helped shed a little more light on this one challenging area of self-publishing. Until next time!
(P.S.: If you are interested, the artist I dealt with for the above cover was Matt Hughes who operates out of Atlanta, GA. You can find more of his work at http://www.matthughesart.com/)
Let’s face it, cover art is important. Especially as a new author, if you have a blah book cover you might be dooming your masterpiece to obscurity before potential readers have perused so much as the acknowledgements. Cover art is the very first thing that readers see. It’s the thing that determines whether or not they pick your novel up off of the shelf or click the enlarge button on the website. It is the first, greatest hook. It can also be incredibly expensive.
There is no shortage of sites that offer the whole package. “We’ll let you choose your cover art from over X000 selections and do all of the cover design for you! You can also sign up for our ultra-super-mega-primo promotional plan for an additional fee, so all you have to do is sit back and wait for the money to start rolling in!” they cry in big, bold print, “Millions of satisfied customers!” Unfortunately, even with thousands of prefab choices, your book cover will still be just that, a slightly tweaked, prefab template that will be incredibly similar to dozens if not hundreds of other books by authors who also used the same service. Most of these promotions don’t come anywhere close to delivering everything they promise and these too can be quite pricey, so what’s an aspiring author to do?
Well, of course the easy answer is to use and abuse your friends. If you have friends who are talented artists and are willing to help you, they can be an excellent resource. Be sure you explore every option and connection you might have among your friends, acquaintances and professional contacts. Be assured that other authors competing with you for readers are absolutely doing the same.
However, this is not always a viable option. Maybe you aren’t best buds with a budding Monet or Rembrandt. What then?
This is the dilemma in which I found myself when I was trying to get my debut novel, The Reflections of Queen Snow White, ready for publication. The first thing I did was go online and hunt for some art that I thought appropriately represented my concept. The actual site I went to was Elfwood.com, but there are other sites where budding, young artists can post their work (Deviant Art, is another major site for artists, but you can find a more exhaustive list here: http://www.website-creations.org/our%...). Now first of all, let me be clear – YOU CAN’T JUST GO ON THESE SITES AND STEAL ART!!! However, what you can do (what I incidentally DID do) is search for already completed art that is the same subject/theme that you are looking for and then contact the artist about acquiring the rights to use his/her work for your cover and promotions. Most artists are pretty open to making a deal with you, I’ve found.
Sometimes you can get artwork for free in exchange for just mentioning the author’s name and website/contact information in the acknowledgements of your novel (artists, just like authors, are struggling for recognition and exposure - anything that helps get their work in front of more eyeballs is a benefit to them and this is essentially free advertising), but more than likely they will ask you to pay something. However, what you will have to pay for rights to an already completed work (with perhaps a little haggling) will undoubtedly be MUCH cheaper than what you would have to pay for a commissioned piece. (Even among relatively unknown artists of any ability or talent a commissioned piece can run anywhere from $500-$800, and better established artists can charge MUCH more.) Artists posting their work on these sites are generally on these sites because they are new and emerging artists. They expressly want to gain as much attention for their work as they can and every book you sell, every review site that you are featured upon, will be that many more people who see it. Most artists don’t mind scoring a little quick cash either and you buying the rights to a piece of art they’ve already completed is essentially free money for them. They don’t have to make anything new. All they really have to do is draw up a quick half page contract detailing the price and exactly how you are allowed to use their work and then e-mail you a high definition electronic copy - easy for them, cheap for you.
So how can you be sure that you get exactly what you want? Well, I suppose the short answer is that you can’t really, but you can get pretty darn close. Something to keep in mind is that there is an AWFUL lot of art out there. Especially if you are willing to put some time into a thorough search, it is highly likely that someone somewhere has painted or sketched your basic concept already. Of course, having said that, much like self-published novels, there will be a great deal of mediocre tripe that you have to struggle through to discover the gems. A lot of the art you will find will be flat out garbage, but if you are open to doing some digging you can really save yourself a lot of money and still score some quality cover art for your book. I feel like mine turned out pretty well.
In any case, good luck to all of you in your writing/promoting endeavors and I hope I’ve helped shed a little more light on this one challenging area of self-publishing. Until next time!
(P.S.: If you are interested, the artist I dealt with for the above cover was Matt Hughes who operates out of Atlanta, GA. You can find more of his work at http://www.matthughesart.com/)
July 14, 2014
Scoring Reviews and Getting Noticed - One author's take on how to get started
As the sweltering days of summer slowly stream by and I draw ever nearer to the one-year anniversery of my self-publishing debut, I find myself in the mood to ruminate on the successes and failures of the last year or so. Thankfully, the successes far outnumber the failures. My novel, The Reflections of Queen Snow White, has sold nearly 300 copies and has over 100 mostly positive reviews on Goodreads. In the process of achieving these results, I feel like I've picked up some helpful pointers, policies, and approaches to keep in mind in getting bloggers (and more importantly their dozens, hundreds, or thousands of followers) to notice you. I hope these will help other new authors get started effectively in promoting their work
The first thing that I can't help but notice on Goodreads is literally HUNDREDS of Group posts asking for reviews by aspiring authors. In general, these might be helpful in setting up review exchanges with other authors, but usually not so much in attracting bloggers whose promotion you really need to let the reading public know about your work. One thing I'll suggest to get better results is not to just post requests in groups.
For one thing, your request tends to get lost in a deluge of other people reqesting exactly the same thing. It has been my experience that few serious bloggers with good followings who can really help your work out even glance at those posts. In general, they respond much better to personalized requests. Most book blogs will have a submission requirements/policy/ or some other similar kind of contact tab on their blog. They will then either provide you with a contact e-mail address or review request form to fill out. If you have a professionally toned review request letter template (including a short paragraph explaining who you are, why you are contacting them and asking cordially for a review, a two - three paragraph synopsis of your work, and links to your web platform [home page, Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter, Linked-In, etc.])that you can tweak a little for each individual blogger's tastes, policies, and preferences, you will get a lot more positive responses.
Also, the most successful bloggers are REALLY overwhelmed by review requests. Those who are the most popular, best established, with the largest number of subscribers (and thus the most helpful to you and your novel) will be reluctant to commit their valuable time to a book or author that they don't know, has no web presence, and/or has very few Amazon/Goodreads reviews already. Therefore, rather than just do a Google search for book blogs, an exceptionally good way to utilize Goodreads Groups to get started is to go through the streams not for writers, but rather for new bloggers (they tend to be titled things like "Follow for Follow", "Like for Like!", "Looking to make new blogger friends" or something similar.) Most of these posts contain links to their blog which in turn can get you their review policy and contact information or you can just send them a personalized goodreads message (not a group post). New bloggers are much more willing to look at a new author's work and ASSUMING your writing is good, a few dozen positive Goodreads reviews can really open doors to the more popular blogs with hundreds or thousands of subscribers.
Next, it may seem like common sense, but BE CORDIAL!!! Even if you get what sounds like a snotty rejection, don't respond. If you get a bad review, even if you feel it is unfair, don't attack the reviewer. At most you should never do anything more than write a short e-mail response thanking the reviewer for their time. Just because they didn't like one thing you wrote doesn't mean that they won't like something else. There's no need to burn bridges just because you are angry. Also, bloggers talk to each other. If you get a reputation as a ranter, a complainer, and someone unpleasant to work with, it will really hurt your ability to get other bloggers to review your writing in the future. Most bloggers review books as a hobby, so they have no motivation or desire to work with authors who attack them.
Finally, one last tip. Bloggers have a high burnout rate. Avoid wasting time on Orphaned Blogs by always checking the date of the most recent post. If it has been more than a month or two since the blogger last posted anything, the likelyhood of that blogger reading your work is pretty low.
I hope you find this helpful and wish you much success. Good luck to all of you in the promotion of your writing. Until next time!
The first thing that I can't help but notice on Goodreads is literally HUNDREDS of Group posts asking for reviews by aspiring authors. In general, these might be helpful in setting up review exchanges with other authors, but usually not so much in attracting bloggers whose promotion you really need to let the reading public know about your work. One thing I'll suggest to get better results is not to just post requests in groups.
For one thing, your request tends to get lost in a deluge of other people reqesting exactly the same thing. It has been my experience that few serious bloggers with good followings who can really help your work out even glance at those posts. In general, they respond much better to personalized requests. Most book blogs will have a submission requirements/policy/ or some other similar kind of contact tab on their blog. They will then either provide you with a contact e-mail address or review request form to fill out. If you have a professionally toned review request letter template (including a short paragraph explaining who you are, why you are contacting them and asking cordially for a review, a two - three paragraph synopsis of your work, and links to your web platform [home page, Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter, Linked-In, etc.])that you can tweak a little for each individual blogger's tastes, policies, and preferences, you will get a lot more positive responses.
Also, the most successful bloggers are REALLY overwhelmed by review requests. Those who are the most popular, best established, with the largest number of subscribers (and thus the most helpful to you and your novel) will be reluctant to commit their valuable time to a book or author that they don't know, has no web presence, and/or has very few Amazon/Goodreads reviews already. Therefore, rather than just do a Google search for book blogs, an exceptionally good way to utilize Goodreads Groups to get started is to go through the streams not for writers, but rather for new bloggers (they tend to be titled things like "Follow for Follow", "Like for Like!", "Looking to make new blogger friends" or something similar.) Most of these posts contain links to their blog which in turn can get you their review policy and contact information or you can just send them a personalized goodreads message (not a group post). New bloggers are much more willing to look at a new author's work and ASSUMING your writing is good, a few dozen positive Goodreads reviews can really open doors to the more popular blogs with hundreds or thousands of subscribers.
Next, it may seem like common sense, but BE CORDIAL!!! Even if you get what sounds like a snotty rejection, don't respond. If you get a bad review, even if you feel it is unfair, don't attack the reviewer. At most you should never do anything more than write a short e-mail response thanking the reviewer for their time. Just because they didn't like one thing you wrote doesn't mean that they won't like something else. There's no need to burn bridges just because you are angry. Also, bloggers talk to each other. If you get a reputation as a ranter, a complainer, and someone unpleasant to work with, it will really hurt your ability to get other bloggers to review your writing in the future. Most bloggers review books as a hobby, so they have no motivation or desire to work with authors who attack them.
Finally, one last tip. Bloggers have a high burnout rate. Avoid wasting time on Orphaned Blogs by always checking the date of the most recent post. If it has been more than a month or two since the blogger last posted anything, the likelyhood of that blogger reading your work is pretty low.
I hope you find this helpful and wish you much success. Good luck to all of you in the promotion of your writing. Until next time!
June 2, 2014
Sex and Violence in Fairy Tales? Surely not!
I thought for a while about what to write for this week's post and I've decided to address a complaint about The Reflections of Queen Snow White namely, the minority but persistent view that the adult nature of the content is inappropriate for the fairy tale genre.
I think it is a rather recent misconception that fairy tales should be considered children's stories, because for most of their history they dealt with decidedly adult themes and were macabre more often than they weren't. It is exactly that gritty, adult approach that I have tried to recapture in The Reflections of Queen Snow White. Here are a few examples of what I mean. Most fairy tales in their original form? Well... Clearly, Disney they were not.
1. In the original version of Little Red Riding Hood there is no Woodsman and Grandma does not make an appearance. Rather the wolf simply tricks Red into going the wrong way in the forest, kills her, and eats her… The end. The wolf wins.
2. Similarly, in the original version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, the bears find Goldie in Baby Bear’s bed and summarily rip her to pieces.
3. In the original Cinderella, she did in fact have animal friends, only these didn’t sew her a dress. Instead, the pigeons noticed copious amounts of blood gushing from the glass slipper as the evil step sisters try it on (having cut off half their foot to make it fit) warned the prince, and pecked afore mentioned sisters’ eyes out leaving them lame, blind beggars for the rest of their lives.
4. In the original Little Mermaid, the little mermaid character is convinced by her sisters to stab the prince to death in his sleep on his wedding night when he falls in love with and marries someone else and then dribble his blood over her feet to turn them back into a tale. (She chooses to die herself instead at the last minute and turns into sea foam).
5. In the original version of Sleeping Beauty, the handsome prince does not wake her with a sweet kiss. Instead, he rapes her while she’s asleep, gets her pregnant (twice) and it is only when those children reach toddler age and one of them sucks on his mother’s finger (removing the magic splinter that caused the sleeping spell in the first place) that she awakens. She quickly discovers that the prince is in fact married already, but don’t worry! His wife is actually an “evil ogress” so it’s okay when they murder her. Then Sleeping Beauty lives happily ever after… married to her homicidal rapist husband.
Originally, fairy tales were intended for adults, but because they were also popular with children many elements (especially overtly sexual elements) were cut out (for example in the original version of Rapunzel, the witch discovers about the prince’s visits by asking Rapunzel why her clothes look so tight - implying that she is pregnant), and major revisions were made to the literary versions which have survived (as opposed to those of the oral tradition which have largely faded) to make them more kid-friendly (although it should be noted that a lot of earlier revisions like the Victorian Grimm rewrite for example actually made the stories more violent, especially when punishing the villain).
I suppose in the end, my point is that the decidedly dark tack I have taken is actually more faithful to the original conception of what a fairy tale is than the popularized Disney incarnations (not that there's anything wrong with those. I watch them with my kids and like them very much). Mine is definitely a story for adults.
Secondly, these are intendeded to be Snow White's private reflections - her innermost thoughts, feelings, and insecurities. This is a grown woman looking back on a life that was sometimes joyous, more often tragic and painful, but vivid in her mind and emotions to the point that her past intrudes upon her present. After thinking about it, it did not make sense to me to sugar coat what she went through or pull any punches. After all, who censors their own head?
Everyone is entitled to their opinions and I certainly appreciate everyone's opinion on my work, even those reviewers who did not particularly care for it. Be assured that I am still very happy they saw fit to take the time to give it a read and showcase my work to their readers and GR friends. It is just my hope to explain my thought process behind my approach in writing The Reflections of Queen Snow White. It was not my goal to include sex and violence for any sort of voyeuristic reason. Rather, I thought it vitally important to telling my story and getting inside the character's head. So far the reviews have been enormously positive and I hope any of you who haven't given it a read yet, will grab your copy today!
Until next week!
I think it is a rather recent misconception that fairy tales should be considered children's stories, because for most of their history they dealt with decidedly adult themes and were macabre more often than they weren't. It is exactly that gritty, adult approach that I have tried to recapture in The Reflections of Queen Snow White. Here are a few examples of what I mean. Most fairy tales in their original form? Well... Clearly, Disney they were not.
1. In the original version of Little Red Riding Hood there is no Woodsman and Grandma does not make an appearance. Rather the wolf simply tricks Red into going the wrong way in the forest, kills her, and eats her… The end. The wolf wins.
2. Similarly, in the original version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, the bears find Goldie in Baby Bear’s bed and summarily rip her to pieces.
3. In the original Cinderella, she did in fact have animal friends, only these didn’t sew her a dress. Instead, the pigeons noticed copious amounts of blood gushing from the glass slipper as the evil step sisters try it on (having cut off half their foot to make it fit) warned the prince, and pecked afore mentioned sisters’ eyes out leaving them lame, blind beggars for the rest of their lives.
4. In the original Little Mermaid, the little mermaid character is convinced by her sisters to stab the prince to death in his sleep on his wedding night when he falls in love with and marries someone else and then dribble his blood over her feet to turn them back into a tale. (She chooses to die herself instead at the last minute and turns into sea foam).
5. In the original version of Sleeping Beauty, the handsome prince does not wake her with a sweet kiss. Instead, he rapes her while she’s asleep, gets her pregnant (twice) and it is only when those children reach toddler age and one of them sucks on his mother’s finger (removing the magic splinter that caused the sleeping spell in the first place) that she awakens. She quickly discovers that the prince is in fact married already, but don’t worry! His wife is actually an “evil ogress” so it’s okay when they murder her. Then Sleeping Beauty lives happily ever after… married to her homicidal rapist husband.
Originally, fairy tales were intended for adults, but because they were also popular with children many elements (especially overtly sexual elements) were cut out (for example in the original version of Rapunzel, the witch discovers about the prince’s visits by asking Rapunzel why her clothes look so tight - implying that she is pregnant), and major revisions were made to the literary versions which have survived (as opposed to those of the oral tradition which have largely faded) to make them more kid-friendly (although it should be noted that a lot of earlier revisions like the Victorian Grimm rewrite for example actually made the stories more violent, especially when punishing the villain).
I suppose in the end, my point is that the decidedly dark tack I have taken is actually more faithful to the original conception of what a fairy tale is than the popularized Disney incarnations (not that there's anything wrong with those. I watch them with my kids and like them very much). Mine is definitely a story for adults.
Secondly, these are intendeded to be Snow White's private reflections - her innermost thoughts, feelings, and insecurities. This is a grown woman looking back on a life that was sometimes joyous, more often tragic and painful, but vivid in her mind and emotions to the point that her past intrudes upon her present. After thinking about it, it did not make sense to me to sugar coat what she went through or pull any punches. After all, who censors their own head?
Everyone is entitled to their opinions and I certainly appreciate everyone's opinion on my work, even those reviewers who did not particularly care for it. Be assured that I am still very happy they saw fit to take the time to give it a read and showcase my work to their readers and GR friends. It is just my hope to explain my thought process behind my approach in writing The Reflections of Queen Snow White. It was not my goal to include sex and violence for any sort of voyeuristic reason. Rather, I thought it vitally important to telling my story and getting inside the character's head. So far the reviews have been enormously positive and I hope any of you who haven't given it a read yet, will grab your copy today!
Until next week!
May 30, 2014
Welcome to My Official Goodreads Sanctioned Author's Blog!!!
This has been a notable week for my writing career.
My first novel "The Reflections of Queen Snow White" just passed the 100 ratings mark AND I was upgraded to sanctioned Goodreads Author status! Very first baby steps perhaps, but important steps none-the-less. I'll try to update ths blog at least weekly and let you, my loyal readers in on what I'm up to, what may have caught my interest, interesting anecdotes or just anything else I feel compelled to write about.
Thanks everyone for all of your support so far! I couldn't have reached this point with out all the help of my friends and allies out there in the writing and reviewing community!
My first novel "The Reflections of Queen Snow White" just passed the 100 ratings mark AND I was upgraded to sanctioned Goodreads Author status! Very first baby steps perhaps, but important steps none-the-less. I'll try to update ths blog at least weekly and let you, my loyal readers in on what I'm up to, what may have caught my interest, interesting anecdotes or just anything else I feel compelled to write about.
Thanks everyone for all of your support so far! I couldn't have reached this point with out all the help of my friends and allies out there in the writing and reviewing community!
