Rupert Dreyfus's Blog - Posts Tagged "goats"
News and Views
Greetings!
I’ll quickly skirt over what I’ve been up to and then I’m going to get all opinionated about UK drug laws. I ran a competition on my Twitter page to give me a break from writing my second novel. The competition was to guess which KRS-One tune I’m going to base a short story on. The answer is I Can’t Wake Up and there has been a winner (big ups Alix Anarchic!). The prize is that the story will be dedicated to Alix and when I release my short story collection sometime in the next year or so, she will also get a free copy.
If you don’t know, the KRS-One tune is about a blunt. I don’t smoke weed that much these days (although once every blue moon I can be found huffing on a vaporizer), but I’m still a big advocate for changing drug laws to something scientific and which differentiates between recreational drug use and drug addiction; the latter being a serious illness which needs an entirely new approach where compassion replaces ignorance. Like pretty much everything else they have an opinion on, the Tories and the Labour Party are a bunch of useless melons on this subject.
Let’s be honest: the present laws have been implemented by boring farts who wouldn’t know what fun is if it flashed its willy at them. These unenlightened fools think that criminalising recreational drugs (except for the taxable major killers alcohol and nicotine) makes them morally superior when really they’re just authoritarian arse hats who enjoy dictating to the rest of us what the parameters of the human experience should be. Bottom line: adults should be allowed to do whatever they want in their spare time (with the usual caveat of not infringing on other people’s space and consent is always paramount).
But the case for legalising weed is a matter of priority and such a shift in attitude would pave the way to other drugs being treated with respect. It’s happening in other corners of the world and it’s a matter of time before it’ll happen here; it’s just a question of how long we have to wait. It’s a topic that even non-drug users should get involved in because the benefits of having good education on drugs for younger people, a decent marketplace and a legal system which values the scientific method will be a massive leap in the right direction, reducing crime and dependency while maximising personal freedom. I’m strictly non-partisan but the Green Party (appropriately named, right?) have the most sensible approach to drugs in my opinion. The rest are way off course. Dull, outdated farts. Imagine going to one of their house parties. It’d be fucking unbearable.
What else can I moan about? Goodreads. Goodreads is great and I love it, but one thing which has both surprised me and gripped my shit is that you can’t recommend your stories to friends except through private messages. You can start posts about your book on some group forums and there are a couple of threads solely for self-published authors, but they’re usually met with indifference – as if there’s a law book when it comes to promoting your own stories. This is absurd in these changing times. Most people are logging on to Goodreads to discover books. So if they read a recommendation from an author who has zero advertising budget they can quickly decide whether or not they want to pursue it. Nobody gets hurt so I fail to understand why people start complaining as if the only way people are allowed to get the word out is through expensive adverts.
So anyways; I’m currently about a third of the way through this short story and I’m going to finish it before returning to my second novel. I’m still reluctant to disclose any details about my second novel just yet. But all will be revealed in due course. I’m going to go all out and get as many people reading it as possible. I quickly got bored of promoting Spark which is a shame because those who have read it and have been in touch seemed to have enjoyed it. It’s still free on Lulu.com and as cheap as I can set it on the Kindle so get on it. It’s also available on the Nook but who gives a shit about the Nook.
I’ve also got back into reading and have read some great books so far this year. I particularly recommend Wasting Talent by Ryan Leone, Galveston by Nic Pizzolatto and a collection of poems called Stone Hotel by Raegen Butcher. I’m not big in to poetry, but this is more like reading short bursts of wisdom from the viewpoint of a prison inmate. What all these works have in common is they are authentic. I’m looking forward to reading The Last Magdalene: A Novella by Riya Polcasrtro and Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby, Jr. over the coming month. I’ll also try to read Necropolis by Guy Portman as well as some other stuff on my ‘to read’ list.
So that’s your update for this month. Feel free to get in touch, tell me what’s going on and please make me rich by buying my huge range of reasonably priced merchandise. The highly requested Sentenced sick bags are definitely coming soon and plans for releasing Eat Nasty action figures with detachable mullets could become a reality this time next year.
Inabit, soldiers!
I’ll quickly skirt over what I’ve been up to and then I’m going to get all opinionated about UK drug laws. I ran a competition on my Twitter page to give me a break from writing my second novel. The competition was to guess which KRS-One tune I’m going to base a short story on. The answer is I Can’t Wake Up and there has been a winner (big ups Alix Anarchic!). The prize is that the story will be dedicated to Alix and when I release my short story collection sometime in the next year or so, she will also get a free copy.
If you don’t know, the KRS-One tune is about a blunt. I don’t smoke weed that much these days (although once every blue moon I can be found huffing on a vaporizer), but I’m still a big advocate for changing drug laws to something scientific and which differentiates between recreational drug use and drug addiction; the latter being a serious illness which needs an entirely new approach where compassion replaces ignorance. Like pretty much everything else they have an opinion on, the Tories and the Labour Party are a bunch of useless melons on this subject.
Let’s be honest: the present laws have been implemented by boring farts who wouldn’t know what fun is if it flashed its willy at them. These unenlightened fools think that criminalising recreational drugs (except for the taxable major killers alcohol and nicotine) makes them morally superior when really they’re just authoritarian arse hats who enjoy dictating to the rest of us what the parameters of the human experience should be. Bottom line: adults should be allowed to do whatever they want in their spare time (with the usual caveat of not infringing on other people’s space and consent is always paramount).
But the case for legalising weed is a matter of priority and such a shift in attitude would pave the way to other drugs being treated with respect. It’s happening in other corners of the world and it’s a matter of time before it’ll happen here; it’s just a question of how long we have to wait. It’s a topic that even non-drug users should get involved in because the benefits of having good education on drugs for younger people, a decent marketplace and a legal system which values the scientific method will be a massive leap in the right direction, reducing crime and dependency while maximising personal freedom. I’m strictly non-partisan but the Green Party (appropriately named, right?) have the most sensible approach to drugs in my opinion. The rest are way off course. Dull, outdated farts. Imagine going to one of their house parties. It’d be fucking unbearable.
What else can I moan about? Goodreads. Goodreads is great and I love it, but one thing which has both surprised me and gripped my shit is that you can’t recommend your stories to friends except through private messages. You can start posts about your book on some group forums and there are a couple of threads solely for self-published authors, but they’re usually met with indifference – as if there’s a law book when it comes to promoting your own stories. This is absurd in these changing times. Most people are logging on to Goodreads to discover books. So if they read a recommendation from an author who has zero advertising budget they can quickly decide whether or not they want to pursue it. Nobody gets hurt so I fail to understand why people start complaining as if the only way people are allowed to get the word out is through expensive adverts.
So anyways; I’m currently about a third of the way through this short story and I’m going to finish it before returning to my second novel. I’m still reluctant to disclose any details about my second novel just yet. But all will be revealed in due course. I’m going to go all out and get as many people reading it as possible. I quickly got bored of promoting Spark which is a shame because those who have read it and have been in touch seemed to have enjoyed it. It’s still free on Lulu.com and as cheap as I can set it on the Kindle so get on it. It’s also available on the Nook but who gives a shit about the Nook.
I’ve also got back into reading and have read some great books so far this year. I particularly recommend Wasting Talent by Ryan Leone, Galveston by Nic Pizzolatto and a collection of poems called Stone Hotel by Raegen Butcher. I’m not big in to poetry, but this is more like reading short bursts of wisdom from the viewpoint of a prison inmate. What all these works have in common is they are authentic. I’m looking forward to reading The Last Magdalene: A Novella by Riya Polcasrtro and Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby, Jr. over the coming month. I’ll also try to read Necropolis by Guy Portman as well as some other stuff on my ‘to read’ list.
So that’s your update for this month. Feel free to get in touch, tell me what’s going on and please make me rich by buying my huge range of reasonably priced merchandise. The highly requested Sentenced sick bags are definitely coming soon and plans for releasing Eat Nasty action figures with detachable mullets could become a reality this time next year.
Inabit, soldiers!
A New Short Story
Hello folks,
I hope everyone is well.
After some logistical problems, I’ve finally uploaded the short story I’ve been banging on about for some time. You can find it by clicking here . It’s a crime caper which is told from the viewpoint of a blunt (think a poor man’s Dashiell Hammett). It’s not the first time I’ve written a short story from the viewpoint of an inanimate object, but it’s probably going to be the last. I’m also going to lay off imitating an American voice for a bit. Even if I manage to filter out most of the Britishisms, I have American friends and family reading these stories so enough is enough…
Regardless; I hope you enjoy it. I don’t smoke these days, but I am still an advocate of reforming our drug laws here in the UK and across the world for a multitude of reasons. The stoner stereotype does weed a massive injustice. When all the shouting’s done it can be a great aide to creativity and has medicinal properties for all types of serious illnesses. I personally feel it’s about time weed is given the respect it deserves by being legalised across the world.
A proper blog update will be provided early next month for all you Dreyfus heads.
Take care!
RD
I hope everyone is well.
After some logistical problems, I’ve finally uploaded the short story I’ve been banging on about for some time. You can find it by clicking here . It’s a crime caper which is told from the viewpoint of a blunt (think a poor man’s Dashiell Hammett). It’s not the first time I’ve written a short story from the viewpoint of an inanimate object, but it’s probably going to be the last. I’m also going to lay off imitating an American voice for a bit. Even if I manage to filter out most of the Britishisms, I have American friends and family reading these stories so enough is enough…
Regardless; I hope you enjoy it. I don’t smoke these days, but I am still an advocate of reforming our drug laws here in the UK and across the world for a multitude of reasons. The stoner stereotype does weed a massive injustice. When all the shouting’s done it can be a great aide to creativity and has medicinal properties for all types of serious illnesses. I personally feel it’s about time weed is given the respect it deserves by being legalised across the world.
A proper blog update will be provided early next month for all you Dreyfus heads.
Take care!
RD
Updates and Some Thoughts on the Indie Revolution
Greetings!
I’m looking at a July release for the paperback version of Spark so not long at all now. I’ve promised a handful of people a copy and will be running some give aways on Goodreads and another give away which will be independent of Goodreads. All friends and followers can have a digital copy for free and you really should take advantage of this offer because you love to read books and my books love to be read so let’s create literary symbiosis. The Morning Star will be reviewing it in due course so that’s always exciting; especially when they care about authors who use words as weapons against the established order.
Once Spark is out there, I’m moving on to finishing Broke which is going to be my second novel. It’s about the absolute extremes of inequality and how us Skint Eastwoods can rip-off the rich for once. So far it’s proving to be some of the funniest, most caustic socio-political commentary I’ve written. I can’t wait to reach the finishing line because then I will have something new to give to you all. Hopefully it’ll be out before the end of the year.
In other news: for those of you who have read The Rebel’s Sketchbook, my friend and fellow indie author Mike Robbins made me aware of the below article last month. I wrote a story called Eat Na$ty which is about the exploits of those inane Youtubers who are entertaining in the same way a paraplegic sloth on a swing is entertaining. In this story the narrator and a rival YouTuber take competitive eating to the next level and with no regard for the health risks. Let’s just say that the results aren’t a million miles from the fella in the above article.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/bb...
I was also interviewed recently by the exceptionally gifted author Daniel Clausen (if you haven’t read The Ghosts of Nagasaki then you really should – it’ll single-handedly crush all prejudices you may harbour towards indie authors). I think this is the first interview of the year and you can read it at the below link. Massive thanks to Daniel for doing his micro-interview series and supporting the cause.
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
This month I want to briefly write a little about being an indie author in a traditionally published world. Two years in for me and it’s clear that most readers have been propagandised to accept that a book is only a book if some mugs at a publishing house has put it out – regardless of any literary merit. So Being Reem by Joey Essex is a book where as the stunning debut novel anemogram. by Rebecca Gransden isn’t. This struck me more than ever when I was reading the comments section for this article in the Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...
There are many positive comments which is always nice. However, there are some hostile ones which essentially puke up the predictable anti-selfpublising clichés; most of which have been addressed by my good friend Amy in this article here:
http://dorianbox.com/challenging-the-...
These days I actually harbour a hostility towards the traditional publishing industry but not for the same reasons. I don’t have any issues with the authors (who are just people being creative); but I do have issues with the industry itself. It’s something I’ve written about before, but storytelling appears to be the only area of the creative arts which most people believe should be owned and managed by an elite. Simply put: if you’re not traditionally published then you can only ever be shit. However, the truth is that in order to get published you have to write for the marketplace because sales means everything. The knock-on effect is that creativity gets squeezed in the wrong direction and storytellers think that they best imitate what’s going on around them in order to survive. Not all of the time, but quite a lot of the time this is the case. However, indie authors are creatively free and so long as they realise this and don’t imitate the traditionally published books, you should get something which is closer to representing free expression. I strongly believe that out of this the greatest works of literature will be born.
This is why all artists need to have as much creative freedom as possible. However, this is compromised if you’re competing in a marketplace rather than focusing on creating art. So in the Digital Age indie authors have the better hand: we are creatively free in ways that the vast majority of traditionally published authors can’t be. And it is for this reason that I honestly believe -and you can mark my words- that indie authoring is going to become the norm over the next fifty years.
So that’s my thoughts anyway. Let me know what you think! In the meantime stay safe and I’ll catch up with you all very soon.
R.D
I’m looking at a July release for the paperback version of Spark so not long at all now. I’ve promised a handful of people a copy and will be running some give aways on Goodreads and another give away which will be independent of Goodreads. All friends and followers can have a digital copy for free and you really should take advantage of this offer because you love to read books and my books love to be read so let’s create literary symbiosis. The Morning Star will be reviewing it in due course so that’s always exciting; especially when they care about authors who use words as weapons against the established order.
Once Spark is out there, I’m moving on to finishing Broke which is going to be my second novel. It’s about the absolute extremes of inequality and how us Skint Eastwoods can rip-off the rich for once. So far it’s proving to be some of the funniest, most caustic socio-political commentary I’ve written. I can’t wait to reach the finishing line because then I will have something new to give to you all. Hopefully it’ll be out before the end of the year.
In other news: for those of you who have read The Rebel’s Sketchbook, my friend and fellow indie author Mike Robbins made me aware of the below article last month. I wrote a story called Eat Na$ty which is about the exploits of those inane Youtubers who are entertaining in the same way a paraplegic sloth on a swing is entertaining. In this story the narrator and a rival YouTuber take competitive eating to the next level and with no regard for the health risks. Let’s just say that the results aren’t a million miles from the fella in the above article.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/bb...
I was also interviewed recently by the exceptionally gifted author Daniel Clausen (if you haven’t read The Ghosts of Nagasaki then you really should – it’ll single-handedly crush all prejudices you may harbour towards indie authors). I think this is the first interview of the year and you can read it at the below link. Massive thanks to Daniel for doing his micro-interview series and supporting the cause.
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
This month I want to briefly write a little about being an indie author in a traditionally published world. Two years in for me and it’s clear that most readers have been propagandised to accept that a book is only a book if some mugs at a publishing house has put it out – regardless of any literary merit. So Being Reem by Joey Essex is a book where as the stunning debut novel anemogram. by Rebecca Gransden isn’t. This struck me more than ever when I was reading the comments section for this article in the Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...
There are many positive comments which is always nice. However, there are some hostile ones which essentially puke up the predictable anti-selfpublising clichés; most of which have been addressed by my good friend Amy in this article here:
http://dorianbox.com/challenging-the-...
These days I actually harbour a hostility towards the traditional publishing industry but not for the same reasons. I don’t have any issues with the authors (who are just people being creative); but I do have issues with the industry itself. It’s something I’ve written about before, but storytelling appears to be the only area of the creative arts which most people believe should be owned and managed by an elite. Simply put: if you’re not traditionally published then you can only ever be shit. However, the truth is that in order to get published you have to write for the marketplace because sales means everything. The knock-on effect is that creativity gets squeezed in the wrong direction and storytellers think that they best imitate what’s going on around them in order to survive. Not all of the time, but quite a lot of the time this is the case. However, indie authors are creatively free and so long as they realise this and don’t imitate the traditionally published books, you should get something which is closer to representing free expression. I strongly believe that out of this the greatest works of literature will be born.
This is why all artists need to have as much creative freedom as possible. However, this is compromised if you’re competing in a marketplace rather than focusing on creating art. So in the Digital Age indie authors have the better hand: we are creatively free in ways that the vast majority of traditionally published authors can’t be. And it is for this reason that I honestly believe -and you can mark my words- that indie authoring is going to become the norm over the next fifty years.
So that’s my thoughts anyway. Let me know what you think! In the meantime stay safe and I’ll catch up with you all very soon.
R.D
