Category: Things that might make you think

When the personal is political: DC Comics and Orson Scott Card

I was a comics freak back in the day. And then I kind of stopped reading/buying them during a long stretch of grad school and whatever else, but I followed comics news peripherally because I love superhero stuff and all the attendant angst they go through. Plus, I’ve developed an affinity for particular artists and writers.

A couple years ago, I started reading/collecting again. Most of my stable is DC-related, though I do have a Marvel series I’m following. That’s why when this particular bit of news hit, I was interested. And as expected, it has generated a lot of controversy.

The news: DC Comics has hired award-winning sci fi writer Orson Scott Card to write the latest Superman digital series. His book Ender’s Game has also been turned into a movie, starring Harrison Ford, which is forthcoming.

The issue: I have long since stopped supporting Card or his work because of his public anti-gay stances, and apparently, a lot of people have taken exception to DC’s hiring of him to write the storylines for Superman. A larger issue here, of course, is whether or not to take the personal beliefs of people into consideration when we purchase their books or go to their movies. We all make choices about those things, which is a wonderful thing. But I want to address this specific incident, since that’s the one in the news.

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by Categories: Comics, Things that might make you thinkTags: , 15 Comments

Things readers can do for writers

Hey, all–

Caught this cool post at Writer Unboxed from January 28 (okay, so, most of their posts are great) about what readers can do for writers. Specifically, writer and editor Chuck Sambuchino provides 11 tips with regard to supporting a writer’s new book. Number 1?

Buy the author’s book.

Here’s what he says:

An obvious point, sure, but important nonetheless. Naturally, we must buy new copies of books, not used copies, for the sale to “count” and the author to get a royalty. So buy new. Heck, consider pre-ordering the book. Publishers pay attention to pre-orders to help get a sense of what titles are getting buzz and attention. Impressive pre-orders help the author.
source

No, authors do not make money off of used copies, no matter where you buy those used copies. Just wanted to clear that up. And we certainly don’t make money off pirated copies of our work. Now before you start in on how you can’t afford a new copy and all that, hey. It’s cool. I get it. I understand why you buy used. I also understand why you borrow a book from a friend or a library. I totally get that. That said, I am not down with piracy. Sorry.

At any rate, if you buy used and/or borrow a book, how about if you really like the author, could you do her a favor and tell your friends about her? And about her books and stories? Especially if you buy used or borrow a book. And if you do buy new and you loan your copy out to a few friends so they, too, can discover a new author, THANKS. So yes, ideally, authors REALLY appreciate it when you buy new. But we also appreciate it when you tell your friends about this cool author you discovered and how about giving her a read.

Moving along, Sambuchino also offers these tips (and I’ve been known to do stuff like this for authors I enjoy): face the book out at bookstores and read it visibly. The latter, I’m afraid, is going to be much harder to do these days, because many people no longer read actual physical books where you can show off your book cover. Instead, you’re on an ereader, and that makes it harder. But if you do have a physical copy of a book and you enjoy that author, hey, let the world see the title and author’s name. Another good tip is to spread the word about the book/author via your social media channels.

Basically, Sambuchino offers easy things for readers to do to help spread the word about an author and her new book(s). And believe me, authors appreciate it SO much when readers talk up authors whose work they enjoy. So thank you, readers. Thanks for buying our work, thanks for reading it, thanks for letting others know about your fave authors. You’re part of this whole publishing thing, too. And I think sometimes some writers forget that, much to their detriment.

Anyway. Happy Tuesday!

by Categories: Cool blogs, Inspiration, Promo n' marketing, Things that might make you thinkTags: , , , 2 Comments

Sense of place

Hey, kids.

It’s been a rough week for folks in the path of Sandy. I did a post about that at Women and Words. At the bottom of that post are links to organizations involved in relief efforts. If you’re so inclined, help as you can. Thanks.

Like millions of Americans, I watched storm coverage and it broke my heart to see so many houses lost, and to see the friends and families of those who did not survive. I’ve seen aerial photos that testify to what Sandy did to topography and landscape, and to the memories of people who derived part of their identities from familiarity with their surroundings.

I recall one woman in particular, standing near the ruins of what had been her house on Staten Island. It was a just piles of lumber and what looked like stalk after stalk of salt marsh seagrass, layered in geometric patterns among the detritus of a neighborhood. It looked like a vast field of wheat-colored seagrass interrupted with random pieces of furniture, wood, and other items that had once been the signature of a household, and therein, the indicator of an identity.

This woman on Staten Island told the newswoman that she just wanted to go home, and she gestured at the littered field that had been her house, and said, “but I can’t. I don’t know where to go or what to do.” And then she sobbed, and I cried with her. The newswoman gave her a hug, no longer a newswoman but rather a sympathetic shoulder in the midst of overwhelming loss.

I think a lot about “place” and how we pull from it our sense of selves. I’m a Westerner by birth and soul. I was born in New Mexico, grew up in a ranching town in southwestern Colorado, and returned to New Mexico where I spent about fifteen years of my adult life before wandering farther east, only to be pulled back to the West. I still wander, but my heart and sense of self will always be rooted in Western landscapes, particularly the Rocky Mountain West and the high deserts of New Mexico.

Chaco wall

Photo by Andi Marquette

I think a lot about “place” when I write fiction, as well. For me, it’s different than “setting,” though setting provides threads in the tapestries of “place.” Where a character is from and where he/she has lived since tell me quite a bit about that character’s background, culture, and approach to the business of living. How a character deals with community, and what are important politically and socially are as much a function of place as they are of family. The longer a family has been in a place, over extended generations, is also an ingredient in the formation of culture and soul, and reflects in a character.

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by Categories: Things that might make you think, Weather, WritingTags: , , 7 Comments

On writing (other people’s) stories “authentically”

Hi, all–

I’m sure by now some of you have heard about evangelical Christian Timothy Kurek. He’s the guy who was homophobic and then decided to live life as gay for a year to find out what it was all about. He realized that his views were wrong, and then documented his year in a book.

Sounds like it was something that seems to have helped him figure a few things out. But on the other hand, he spent a year lying to LGBT people and to his family and friends from his real life. Which perhaps might give him a flavor of what it’s like for LGBT people, some of whom HAVE to lie in order to keep their jobs, their kids, their lives. But Kurek isn’t gay (he says). And he could go back to his heterosexual privilege whenever he wanted (he stuck it out for a year). I’m seeing some critique of what he did along those lines.

And it has to do with privilege and, perhaps, “authenticity.”


Source (re-sized here)
More? Read on…

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by Categories: Books, Things that might make you think, WritingTags: , , , , ,

Anna Katherine Green and the birth of detective fiction

Hey, kids–

So, I was thinking about the history of sleuthing/detecting in fiction/literature and I decided to do some digging. I’d heard of Anna Katherine Green, and I’d heard about her character, Violet Strange, who’s credited as the first female sleuth in fiction.

But Green is also known as the mother of American mystery, and she’s credited as writing and publishing what’s known as the first American detective novel, The Leavenworth Case, in 1878 (image below). It’s available at Amazon, if you’re interested (reprinted, obviously). This book, featuring detective Ebenezer Gryce, was published nine years before the debut of Sherlock Holmes.


source: C. Martinelli’s blog

There’s more…

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by Categories: Books, Cool stuff to read, History, Things that might make you thinkTags: , , , 1 Comment

On health and happiness

Hi, all–

Been busy ’round here. If you haven’t yet, you might want to cruise over to Women and Words, especially on Fridays, because the summer blast tour is going on with several authors. On a whole bunch of Fridays, I’ll be chatting with different authors who write LGBTQ fiction. Most of them are doing book giveaways, as well, so you might score some new reading material. So far, I’ve chatted with Renée Bess, Lynette Mae, and Kate Mclachlan. And there are more to come! So come on by and hang out!

Anyway, I caught this blog by author Tracy Cooper Posey, who writes romance and paranormal/urban fantasy. In it, she offers 11 tips as to why authors should consider building and maintaining good health as those things relate to writing.

Interested about my take on links between health and happiness? Read on…

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by Categories: Inspiration, Random WTF stuff, Things that might make you thinkTags: , 1 Comment

Sometimes to write, you must stop

Came across this post over at The Write Practice.

Joe Bunting says that sometimes, in order to write (create), you must stop writing. He uses Bob Dylan and Ernest Hemingway as examples of artists who stopped their chosen work, put it aside, and came back better than ever. Bunting says that he does not write once a week. That includes no Tweeting or emailing. He takes a break.

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by Categories: Inspiration, Technology, Things that might make you thinkTags: ,

Finding your fiction in nonfiction

Hey, folks–

I read a lot of different stuff, all the time. Part of my regular reading material is nonfiction, not just because it’s interesting but because real life provides a lot of interesting story ideas. Especially since I write genre fiction. So here are a few articles I’ve recently read that maybe you’ll find give you some ideas. Especially if you write genre fiction, too.

“The Vanishing,” by Bob Briel, Outside (July 2012)
In the stunning and remote wilderness along northern British Columbia’s Highway 16, at least 18 women — by some estimates, many more — have gone missing over the past four decades. After years of investigation, authorities still don’t know if it’s the work of a serial killer or multiple offenders. BOB FRIEL drives into the darkness for answers.

I’m also a huge fan of travel writing. Try this one (winner of the bronze Solas award, by the editors of Travelers’ Tales):
“Letting Go on the Ganges,” by Kristin Zibell
A recently divorced woman finds endings and beginnings in India.

“Mexico Feeds Me: Exploring Mexico’s Culinary Heritage,” by Javier Cabral (Saveur, first published in issue #138)
In rural Zacatecas, Mexico, a young writer explores his heritage by cooking the rustic, boldly flavored dishes of the region.

I’m also a westerner born and bred, so I’m a sucker for a western-flavored essay.
“West to East, and a world away,” Charles Finn (Writers on the Range, in High Country News, February 17, 2012)
After 20 years in the West (and he’s come to love it), a writer has to go back East.

And maybe something you didn’t think you’d ever WANT to think about: Jailhouse food.
“An Insider’s Guide to Jailhouse Cuisine,” by Sean Rowe (Oxford American [the Southern Magazine of Good Writing], originally appeared in Issue 61, The Oxford American Best of the South issue, 2008)
The author spends time in jail, and offers us this slice of life in the big house and the role of food therein.

So there you are, peeps. Maybe you’ll find some…ah…food for thought in some of these pieces and BOOM the next plot for your next novel will hit you.

Happy writing, happy reading!

by Categories: Cool stuff to read, Inspiration, Things that might make you think, WritingTags: , ,

Tools of the Trade

Hey, kids–

The alternate title to this blog is, “Business screws over workers to make a profit and I use their products but I have no idea how to get the juggernaut’s attention or what to do about it.”

Thanks to Broadside Blog for pointing out this article in the New York Times Business section.

The article is titled “Apple’s Retail Army, Long on Loyalty but Short on Pay,” by David Segal.

I’m a writer. I use Apple products to accomplish many of my goals as a writer. I’m blogging right now on a MacBook that I’ve had since about 2005 and just upgraded to the Snow Leopard OS. That’s right. I was using Tiger up until this year. I’ve been really pleased with my MacBook, written several manuscripts on it, and had few problems that weren’t easily fixed with a call to Mac tech help or a visit to an Apple store, and always with good, friendly service.

So I was a little bummed, but not entirely surprised, to read the article. But again, Apple is a corporation, and one of its purposes might be to make consumers happy, but ultimately, it wants to make money. And in terms of capitalism, generally, somebody gets screwed in that process or doesn’t get as big a piece of the pie.

Read on for more…

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by Categories: Random WTF stuff, Technology, Things that might make you thinkTags: , ,