R.S.A. Garcia's Blog, page 20
June 10, 2014
Click Bait, Or Why Slate Should Be Embarrassed About That YA Article
Because really, let’s face it.
That article was click bait.
Pure, unadulterated, shameless, manipulative click bait. (Which, by the way, is why I’m not linking to it).
Sure, Ruth Graham just decided to write a stunningly dismissive post about adults needing to be ashamed of reading YA–which has a very obvious framework around ‘The Fault In Our Stars’–the same week the movie for said novel launches to great fanfare. That’s all just a coincidence.
Right.
What Ruth Graham wanted is what the internet gave her. Lots and lots of attention and clicks. Endless comments and a whole lot of debate. Outraged Twitter and all the best vitriol the internet has to offer. She must be over the moon. Before this, no one knew who the hell she was. Now, she’s the writer that went all postal on YA.
As far as I’m concerned, she’s just a writer looking to up her site’s ad revenue and get her name in peoples’ mouths. I say this because her entire argument falls completely flat if you consider one of the most important tenets of writing. To be a good writer in a genre, you have to read widely in that genre–and outside it as well, ideally. If adults should not be reading YA, who does Graham expect will write YA? Teenagers? Kids?
Who will make the movies and write the screenplays for these works of claptrap we should be averting our eyes from?
Because the YA movies and books that are popular now are a significant part of this generation’s entertainment and the global economy. And they can’t exist without adults writing them, filming them and valuing them enough to spend their hard-earned money on them.
Most of all, if no adults write the YA books and childrens’ books because they are supposed to be ashamed to be reading and writing such drivel, who will seduce future generations with the joys of storytelling? Or do you, Ms. Graham, not care that no YA adult readers means no future readers for the crap people like you write for shock value?
You should be thanking your lucky stars there are still people who can connect with their past so acutely they can move the generation after them with the amazing stories and storytelling ability you so clearly lack.
*Drops the mic*
And in other news…
I have a Boosting the Signal feature post up on Angela Highland (Angela Korra’ti) blog. She also has a great post on the nonsense Slate allowed to be published on its site. You should go read both. They will move you more than a thousand sparkly vampires who die young of cancer.
Just saying.
Stay thirsty, my friends!
Tagged: Angela Highland, book, Boosting the Signal, click bait, debut novel, editing, Lex Talionis, novel, publishing, Ruth Graham, Slate, writing, YA
June 6, 2014
LEX TALIONIS Will Be Available Soon At The American Book Center!
Yes!
I am not kidding!
The largest source for English language books in Europe, and one of the best bookstores in Amsterdam, if not THE best, read my post on Tobias Buckell’s blog yesterday and ordered copies of my book!
It’s my very first bookstore buy, and I couldn’t be happier! I hope people passing through Amsterdam like what I have to say so they come back for seconds.
And a big, big thank you to The American Book Center!
Tagged: Amsterdam, authors, books, bookstores, Caribbean writers, editing, Holland, Lex Talionis, novels, publishing, The American Book Center, Tobias Buckell, writers
June 5, 2014
I Have A Guest Post Up On Tobias Buckell’s Blog
Yeah, THE Tobias Buckell.
You know, bestselling author of “Crystal Rain” and “Artic Rising”?
As it happens, we share a Caribbean background. He grew up on a boat in Grenada, which happens to be my grandparents original home. I grew up, and still live, in Trinidad and Tobago, one of the ‘big islands’ in the West Indies.
He was kind enough to offer me a spot to talk about LEX TALIONIS on his blog.
So if you want to know how I came up with the idea for my novel, and a little about the long road to publication, you can head on over here.
Thanks for visiting and stay thirsty, my friends!
Tagged: Artic Rising, bestselling author, books, Caribbean background, Crystal Rain, editing, Grenada, Lex Talionis, novels, publishing, Tobias Buckell, Trinidad and Tobago, writing
June 4, 2014
Liz Bourke at Tor.com Reviewed Me!
How about that?
Sure, she wiggled her hand and stuff but a recommend is a recommend, right?
I’m sure as hell going to take it.
Tagged: editing, Lex Talionis, Liz Bourke, publishing, reviews, Tor.com, writing
June 2, 2014
Can’t Get You Out Of My Head…
There’s this comeback a Trinidadian comedian left on her Twitter recently and I can’t stop laughing at it in my mind.
She was having a Twitter war with another Trinidadian celebrity, and a Twitter follower commented on it, admonishing her and telling her to basically act like a lady.
Wrong move. The comedian destroyed her. To paraphrase (if I remember correctly):
‘Who the hell appointed you the twitter police?’ she tweeted. ‘Look nah, Gandalf, this ain’t your quest!’
I also can’t get this song, or the incredible video, out of my mind. I’ve long been a fan of Maddie from Dance Moms because despite all the bullshit on that show, the dancing is amazing, and Maddie is one of best young dancers I’ve ever seen. Full disclosure–I used to dance in my youth, and still adore the art-form. I’ve stopped watching the show recently because I felt that there was a lot of hating going on and the kids were trapped in the middle of it, and it just wasn’t fun anymore.
This video just proves what a star she is, regardless of what other nonsense the people on the show get up to. I know the world has probably seen it, but just in case you haven’t…enjoy!
Tagged: Chandelier, Dance Moms, dancing, funnies, jokes, Music, Sia, songs, Twitter, videos
May 31, 2014
World Building with RSA Garcia
My guest post with my friend Mike on world building!
Originally posted on Stuff and/or Junk:
Last week I finished reading and talked all about the fantastic book Lex Talionis by R.S.A. Garcia. I seriously enjoyed the book. As a writer, I’m not just enjoying books from a reader/fan perspective though. The craft that goes into a novel is a whole additional layer of enjoyment for me when I read. The craft of Lex impressed me just as much as all the other aspects of the story.
I love talking shop (duh) and had all sorts of stuff I wanted to talk about with Garcia so I invited her over to this here blog for some shop talk about one of my most fascinating topics, worldbuilding. Every novel revolves around its story, and every good story is driven by the characters. More so in science fiction than any other flavor of genre, the set dressing and world building can become a character unto itself. There…
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May 30, 2014
NEW RELEASE: LEX TALIONIS by R. S. A. Garcia out today!!!
Peeps! It’s launch day!! LEX TALIONIS is out in the world all by her lonesome!!!
And my publisher has a great offer to commemorate this occasion. If you buy my book and email them the receipt, you get a $5.00 gift card and a chance to win one from Amazon as well! Details below.
Please feel free to share this news with all your friends and thanks in advance for the support.
Originally posted on Dragonwell Publishing Blog:
Happy release day to R. S. A. Garcia with her debut novel “Lex Talionis”, a science fiction thriller that Publishers Weekly calls a “stunning debut” in their starred review.
The recently posted SF Crowsnest review characterizes this book as “astounding” and “remarkable”. And, during the pre-publication weeks we heard lots of other praise for this amazing debut from a Caribbean author.
Buy your copy today at:
Dragonwell Publishing bookstore
and other on-line retailers. Or, visit your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.
TODAY ONLY: e-mail us the receipt from your Lex Talionis purchase OR a link to your Lex Talionis review and receive a $5.00 gift certificate to the Dragonwell Publishing bookstore PLUS a chance to win an Amazon $5.00 gift certificate (one raffled between each ten entrants).
Help us spread the word by Sharing, Tweeting, Blogging, etc. Thank you all for your…
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May 27, 2014
To #YesAllWomen and #NotAllMen
This post is not for the good guys.
Not for the men who know that women are people, just like them. Not for the guys whose mothers and fathers taught them how to care and how to love.
It’s not for the policemen I saw last Saturday with a guy down on the ground berating him, while another policeman gently tended to the girl he had been abusing moments earlier.
It’s not for gentleman that helped me up out of a drain in Town years ago when I slipped, then admonished the boys that stood laughing nearby for not helping me up.
It’s not for the man that stopped traffic for me to cross the road a few months ago, because he realised I was late and no one wanted to give me a chance on a busy road.
This post isn’t for those who would like to say #NotAllMen. Even though they know better than to say it because they understand how stupidly pointless and defensive and not helpful that is.
This post is for the other guys.
It’s for the middle-aged taxi driver that harassed me between the ages of 12 and 17, trying to convince me to let him be my ‘sugar daddy’ and driving me off route the first time I got into his car, after other passengers disembarked, to give me this pep talk. The guy whose persistence made me so afraid he would attack me, that my best friends waited with me every evening after school to make sure I got a taxi safely. The man that continued to stalk my school after it let out every day for years, trying to see me, even after my step-father confronted him and threatened him with police action.
This post is for the guys in my street who were so offended when I didn’t respond positively to their catcalls, they started calling me insulting and vulgar names every time I went by, and my 13 year old self learned to just walk past as fast as possible so I wouldn’t hear them.
This is for the guy who flat out asked me to have sex with him when I was 14. And when I turned him down he kept asking and asking until he moved away. Only to ask again when he returned years later with a wife and baby in tow and when I turned him down again, told me I missed out because I could have gotten a man with money as he was a police officer now.
This post is for the taxi ‘conductor’ who harassed me so often on my way home from school, I spent my formative years travelling back and forth with headphones so I could pretend I wasn’t hearing his lewd and suggestive whispers and therefore, couldn’t be expected to respond.
This post is for the man that broke into my home when I was about 17 and climbed onto my sleeping back with a knife and my own underwear to tie me up with, and woke me up to a hand over my mouth and fingers choking me.
This is for the police officers that came to my home that night, saw the huge hand-print on the window to my house, promised to file a report and send a fingerprint expert, but were never seen again. Not that I was surprised as one officer commented I seemed ‘very calm’ for someone who was actually attacked, and the other told me not to expect much as they ‘didn’t have many vehicles’ and ‘I was okay’. After all, ‘I fought him off so nothing had actually happened to me’.
This is for the random man that walked up to me in the street two days ago and asked me if a guy like him had a chance with a girl like me. And rather than tell him I didn’t know what the hell he meant because I didn’t know who the hell he was, I just thought about telling him I had a boyfriend, and settled for saying ‘No’, scared the whole time he would cuss me out or attack me. And relieved when he chose to just walk away.
This is for that man in the jewelry store who once told me ‘don’t gain another pound, or you’ll stop being pretty’, as if my life was nothing if I gained a pound and he no longer found me attractive. As if pretty in a random man’s eyes was all I hoped to be.
To those guys I want to say this.
It didn’t work. Sure, I spent years looking over my shoulder, scared in my own house at night, dressing conservatively to avoid lustful stares and lewd comments, and staying home because I wasn’t guaranteed a lift home by friends from parties and couldn’t possibly attempt to travel late at night, all alone.
But you never shut me up. I know what I’m worth despite your best attempts to tell me I was only as good as my face and my weight. I know the world doesn’t revolve around what any of you think of me, because my mother and grandmother taught me how to be proud of my talents, my accomplishments, my independence and my own brain. I learned how to speak through my writing when I could never find the words to tell you what I thought in the moment you were in front of me, the moment those words came spilling out between your lips.
I have a voice. It is mine, and you are not entitled to it. You may change what I choose to talk about today, but you can never change who I am, who I want to be. This voice has now multiplied a million times as women free themselves from the shackles of your bitterness, your hate, your casual cruelty with the use of a simple hashtag.
#YesAllWomen. Because we are stronger together. And as I stand with my sisters and the brothers who love us, I know we will shout you down. We will silence your hate. We will show you what a world that rejects your beliefs looks like.
And if you feel uncomfortable…if you feel put-upon…if you feel like everything’s unfair and like you’re so much more than we say you are, and not just the countless stories of abuse and discrimination….
Good.
That’s how we’ve always felt. It’s time you experienced a bit of it yourself. And if you don’t like it, I suggest you stop dishing it out.
Tagged: #NotAllMen, #YesAllWomen, abuse, assault, chauvinism, discrimination, feminism
May 26, 2014
LEX TALIONIS – Today I Interviewed One of My Characters!
Welcome back from the weekend! I hope you had a good one. I certainly did. I saw Godzilla on Saturday and X-Men on Sunday and I feel fine!
While I was gone, a friend of mine posted an interview with one of my main characters on her website. So if you want to have a little fun with Lex today, you can read my guest blog.
A Twitter friend actually bought my book, read it, and had this to say about it. Which was awesome not only because he totally got the book, but he said such great things when he didn’t have to. He’s really well read in the genre, so I feel extra special that he liked it.
My newest review on Amazon was awesome too. This time from someone I ran into at my writing group online. It’s amazing how just striking up a conversation with a person can lead to friendship and a sale months later. It took me a few minutes to figure out who it was, but I’m pretty sure I know now!
(::Hint:: she comes by this blog a lot!)
So you can check out the review by Tropical Gal on Amazon if you need more convincing.
If you don’t need convincing…well, what are you waiting for :-)?
Stay thirsty, my friends!
Tagged: Amazon, books, Darke Conteur, debut novel, editing, Godzilla, Lex Talionis, movies, novels, publishing, writing, X-Men
May 22, 2014
LEX TALIONIS Is Now On Kindle!!
Get your Amazon on, people!
My debut space opera mystery, LEX TALIONIS, is now available on Kindle!
And for those of you who purchased the paperback, we have a special offer.
You can get the Kindle edition for just $3.00! That’s $4.00 less than the retail price.
A little thank you to those who were kind enough to NOT wait.
For those of you who want to know what LEX TALIONIS all about, here’s the Publishers Weekly review.
You know what? I think they liked it. I think they really, really liked it!
Stay thirsty, my friends!
Tagged: Amazon, authors, books, debut novel, ebooks, editing, high five, Kindle, Lex Talionis, mystery, novel, publishing, scifi, space opera, speculative fiction, writers, writing
