Val Tobin's Blog, page 33

dernhelm6:Sad but should be read. Abuse thrives in silenc...

dernhelm6:

Sad but should be read. Abuse thrives in silence.

Originally posted on Glasnost:

Untitled.

When I was six years old, I gave my first blowjob.

“It’s a game”, said He. “Don’t you want to play?”

It was too big, and I threw up on him.

He said I’d do better the next time.

When I was seven years old, I watched a group of fellow second graders cheer as a boy in my class tried to kiss me. He hugged me from behind, giggling all the while.

I threw sand in his eyes, and was sent to the Principal.

When I was eight years old, I had an elderly teacher ask me to stay behind in class. He carried me on his shoulders, and called me pretty.

“Teacher’s Pet!” my friends declared, the envy visible on their faces.

They ignored me at lunch that day.

When I was nine years old, an older girl on the school bus would ask me to lift…

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Follow-up

dernhelm6:

There’s some truthiness here.

Originally posted on Eric Lahti:

Late last week, on the way home from school, my son tried to convince me something he had heard was the TRUTH.  For starters he’s decided he’s going to be a cryptozoologist and he already knew almost everything he’d need to know to do it.  While that would be an interesting career path, that wasn’t the true zinger of the conversation.  He had heard, probably on the playground, that the U.S. Government was distributing guns and paying people to hunt Sasquatches in the Florida forests.

OMG!

Being that he’s nine I took this with a grain of salt and calmly explained a few things to him that the U.S. Government

Has no vested interest in Sasquatch one way or the other; it simply doesn’t show up on their radar
Is not in the business of giving out guns

I also asked him why anyone would want to hunt and kill…

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Applauding the Ladies — An Exercise in Fisking

dernhelm6:

Great post fisking a troll who claims women shouldn’t write SF.

Originally posted on Will Swardstrom - Author:

A blog I often enjoy reading is that of J.A. Konrath. Once there, one of my favorite activities of his is when he fisks a letter, blog post, review, whatever. The Internet is a fantastic place. In fact, just the other day, I posted my blog post about my grandmother. That night, I got a message from my uncle’s cousin. Turns out he was the best man at the wedding about 50 years ago of the man who lives in my town who used to be the funeral director. About 10 years ago, I worked with that man’s daughter. I put them in touch, shrinking an already contracting world.

That’s one of the things I love about the Internet.

One of the things I don’t like is the ways we can hurt each other.

A few weeks ago, I published my review of Dark Beyond The Stars, and…

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Give & Take: A Tale of Erotica

dernhelm6:

New erotica novel from author Tom Benson.

Originally posted on Tom Benson - Creative:

I’m pleased to say that my debut erotica novel is now available for download. I know I’m naturally biased, but I’d like to think that this story will put some other books of the genre in the shade … or should that be shades?

There are no millionaires with hang-ups, or naive virgins. In this story you will find only a handful of characters, but they are interesting – just like the situations which are presented throughout the tale.

What is it about?

Nick and Kirsten are an attractive couple in their early 20’s and share an apartment. To the outside world they are perfectly matched, but behind closed doors things are not so straightforward.

Nick’s appetite for sexual experimentation goes beyond what Kirsten will allow. Kirsten’s love for Nick is pushed to the limit, however, she confides in a friend and takes a course of action that nobody…

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The Basics of a Bad Novel : Characters

Originally posted on The Published Author:

Part I – Characters

There are great novels and awful novels, and then there are those that are in between. I call them FRUSTRATING.

They are frustrating because they could have so easily been so much more. They have major flaws and errors that are easy to spot and quick to correct, but no one bothered. These novels also often play with the established format and structure of the novel/genre and tacitly tell the reader, “You don’t matter, I write for myself.”

The bad novel or the frustrating novel is very common today because of the ease of publishing. In bypassing the publisher, the new author has also bypassed the editor. In this series of posts dedicated to the FRUSTRATING NOVEL, I am going to delve into three basic elements starting with CHARACTERS

I am not going to get into the principal characters (protagonist, main lead, support lead, antagonist , etc) that…

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Why do I promote my books?

Originally posted on The Persecution of Mildred Dunlap:

I hope I can keep this short.

Many years ago, I was bitten by a tick. Two days later a huge bull’s eye rash appeared on my waist. Antibiotic treatment went well but six months later I had crippling mono-articular arthritis, cardiac arrhythmia, and meningitis. Month after month, heading into years, treatments failed, alternative medicine failed, meditation, imagery, you name it didn’t change the “Lyme Symptoms.” I fell into a depression and there by my side in bed with me was my rottie Tazzie. What changed was I became aware that her existence revolved around me. She didn’t want to walk, play, do much other than stay by my side. Because of that, something changed in me. I like to think that my heart opened to gratitude, for the simplest of acts done by my dog, my best friend. My husband had been wonderful but there was something about Tazzie…

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Dragon Tattoo Series Hijacked

The Girl in the Spider’s Web by David Lagercrantz

I loved the Dragon Tattoo series of books. I was sorry to hear author Stieg Larsson died suddenly of a heart attack and wouldn’t write more.

But an author’s death doesn’t matter anymore, and here we are with a new book in the series written by someone else (obviously).

The Girl in the Spider’s Web will be released on Tuesday in North America.

The New York Times wrote an excellent piece on the new novel and its author. It includes interviews with those involved in the project as well as Larsson’s longtime partner, who had no say in what happened. For the record, she’s against it.

I’m ranting here myself, because, as a reader, I hate when a publisher does this. No one else can know what the author intended. Maybe the author was done with those characters and their stories. Even if he wasn’t finished with them, we can’t know where he would have taken their lives.

In the NYT article it says “In the newest novel, Camilla takes over her father’s criminal empire and modernizes it, becoming Lisbeth’s ‘evil twin’ foe.”

Evil twin. Oh, balls.

As a writer, I wouldn’t want someone else hijacking my stories after my death.

When the publisher or estate hire someone else to continue the series, it’s an obvious money grab. It’s bankrolled fan fiction. In my mind, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest is the last book in the Millennium series.

Interview with Val Tobin on Rhoda’s Writing Corner

Author Val Tobin discusses self-publishing, her Science Fiction and Romantic Suspense novels, her writing journey.

Listen to “Interview: Author Val Tobin” by Rhoda D’Ettore

Dogs Do It, Why Can’t We?

dernhelm6:

I love this little dog.

Originally posted on Isa's Corner:

We all have the need for love but we don’t express it enough. We hold it back as a means of protecting ourselves or controlling or manipulating. We should learn from the animals, the dogs.

Love should be provided without expectation but we tie love to ourselves and the demands of what we need when we should just give it without expectation.

Animals love to get love back but they don’t expect love. It’s a one way street for them. They don’t need to have love returned to them in order to give it. They’ll give it unconditionally without thought or expectation so we should learn from them.

I’ve learned that by being a dog. It’s fun. It feels good. We should do an experiment where all we do is give love and watch the reactions of people. I would like to put out a challenge to people to experiment by…

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Chelton House Fail

Yesterday, we received a letter, return address, Costco.

Inside, the letterhead displayed “Chelton House.” I had no idea who that was, but as I read the letter, I learned that records indicated we’d purchased their product, Simply Natural Organic Pasta Sauce.

My first reaction was worry. Were they telling us of a recall? Tainted food?

After reading further, I discovered the problem was a price discrepancy. They’d over-charged us by eighty cents. To compensate, they had sent us a coupon for a hot dog and soft drink from any Costco Food Court in Canada until August 31, 2015.

So, just to be clear, they sent customers who buy organic products a coupon for a hot dog and soft drink.

Face palm.

There was another option available: return the product for a refund.

We’d bought the product between April 17 and June 11, 2015, according to their records, so it’s already been consumed. I guess that’s why they offered the coupon as well.

While I appreciate the goodwill gesture, the irony doesn’t escape me.