Nook Sucks

That headline is exactly why redheads drive people nuts; you never know where you stand with us or what our opinions are, LOL.

Joke aside, I’m beginning to see why Amazon is walking all over Barnes & (ig)Noble.  The Nook reader is a complete disaster.  The tablets are too bloody expensive and do too little.  The phone app is only a reader; you can’t buy any new books, and browsing the store is kind of lacking also.  The PC version of Nook has to be the worst yet.

That loads into the store with an option on the left to go to your library.  Oh and the library can’t be downloaded unless you have a credit card on file with Barnes & Ignoble.  That’s right, you already OWN the ebooks but you can’t access them unless you keep a credit card on file with them.

Now personally, I don’t keep a credit card on file ANYWHERE  There have been too many data breaches and identity thefts resulting from those breaches.

 

I am NO fan of Amazon either.  They’re bigger than the 8 biggest brick and mortar store chains combined, and control roughly 1/3 of all ecommerce.  Just try to get help when they screw something up with your account too.  BUT… I don’t have any problems accessing my books on Kindle for PC.

 

A Vader Update

I talked to the friend that first linked me to the Vader fan film that I shared a few blog posts ago.  I was curious to find out if there were any other chapters released yet, and what news he’d heard in that regard (he has a remarkable knack for finding such things out).

At this point, there won’t be any future chapters.  Disney went after the producer with everything they had and even took the first chapter away from him.  LucasArts (presumably Lucas himself) apparently still has some pull though, and get the first chapter returned to the producer.  Not before Disney’s legal bullying wiped out the producer financially though.  They’re also blocking all attempts to crowdfund future chapters of the story.

I hear stories like this all the time.  I’ve watched them gobble up more and more of the entertainment world too the last decade or so.  Walt Disney would doubtless spin in his grave if he saw how his company is being run nowadays.

Speaking of Boundaries…

I really, really hate to do this, but I’ve got roughly 80 blogs on follow now.  A wide array of subjects too.  I value all of you, BUT I’m spending over 2 hours a day just trying to keep up with a constant parade of email updates and new posts.  A few of you are posting almost 15 times a day also.

So, I have to find some balance here and regain a little of my time back.  My boundary is going to be that I’ll read and like / comment on the first 3 or 4 posts a day from everyone.  After that, I have to pass on any additional posts.  I appreciate all of you, but I only have so much time.

Keep writing, creating poetry, or art, etc…  I won’t discourage anyone from creating.

Regrouping

Why am I up at 2:45am?!?  I should finally go to bed, but I’ve had ALOT on my mind lately.  Most of more properly belongs in the spiritual blog also.

That’s actually part of what THIS post is about though.  My posts here have been more personal blog and self growth than writing blog lately.  Granted, I’ve been able to tie it into writing to a degree…  I can’t help but wonder though if maybe THAT is where my true passion lays.  It’s probably just all the crazy recent events, and my trying to put them in perspective that have me writing that way.

Be that as it may, I’m going to be trying yet again to get my proper writing going again, both erotica and mainstream fiction.  I’m also going to try to keep this blog more focused on writing related topics.

Some of the rambling has been helpful though.  Random side rant; I REALLY use the word “though” too much, LOL.  Anyway, a few of the posts and some recent events have made me realize just what a trigger that people trying to deny others their voice is for me.  I’ve been dealing with it my entire life with my family, and most of my jobs.  It’s still happening to this day with my mom.  My brother craps all over me, and I’m supposed to just forget it.

Anyway, I realized that’s an influencer for me with things like political and social issue connected hate.  The level it’s hitting out there is insane.  So many examples, but there’s been enough bitching in recent blog posts.   I just want to grab people, and shake them until they get through their heads they’re making the problems worse by responding with hate and refusal to listen.

So yeah…  Personal challenge while I regroup here, LOL

TRIGGER WARNING: I’m Back!!!

LOL.  It’s been a crazy last 48 hours.  The last 4 of which I just spent catching up on thee 114 email notifications I had from WordPress AND writing another spiritual blog post.  More there in a minute.

The funeral went reasonably well.  The priest was mush mouthed and didn’t seem to know the rituals.  Maybe it’s a Catholic thing.  I think everything has to be exactly by the book.  Anyway, short but good ceremony there.  A little bit of unspoken conflict back at my parents’ (well, mom’s now) house afterwards, but I’ll spare folks the personal drama.

Realizing how short life can be, along with the more positive experiences on twitter and here have made me more determined to get focused with my writing and a few other resolutions.  Not fanatical midlife crisis level or anything, but it all snapped things back into focus.

 

The spiritual blog post and trigger warning joke above are about the need for people in general, and Empaths specifically to have reasonable boundaries, and how some people use false compassion and guilt tripping to tell others they have no right to said boundaries.  It was inspired by post in a followed blog about how “walls don’t work”.  The spiritual blog post should have made clear that I do NOT lump the author of that post in said guilt tripper category.  They just genuinely don’t believe walls work.  The post DID remind me of all the hateful things I’ve seen on the subject by other people though, and how many times I’ve been guilt tripped and manipulated for trying to have boundaries..

So, with that in mind, and wanting to discuss the idea that boundaries of any type are bad, I wrote that post.  If you’re interested, take a look.  If you’re the type that’s easily offended by anything other than far left views, consider this a trigger warning and avoid it.

False Compassion

The simple premise is that we all need boundaries and walls.  People need occasional quiet time, writers need to be able to focus on their work, etc…  Walls DO have to have gates to let the good in though, and the only truly evil wall is the one designed to keep people from exiting (ie the Berlin Wall).

Fixing A Train Wreck, LOL

My last post seemed to confuse people, so I’m going to try this in a little more straight forward way without as much parable to distract or confuse.

The point of that now deleted post was that I often wonder if we as authors let the extreme elements of society have too much influence over our voices as authors.  The topic was inspired by a discussion with ComixFana over future plans for our respective stories.  That’s all that was going on there, LOL.

I see stories like the Star Wars prequels that were so heavily laden with political commentary, or about a half a dozen TV shows I could name that try to force certain social beliefs down our throats…  I wonder if that’s robbing the voice of authors that do want to write characters with more moderate views…  That they worry they have to tailor their characters to certain expectations or their writing won’t be accepted.  I know that’s certainly the case on Twitter.

My failed point to the original post was that if you want your character to have more mainstream beliefs, you should go for it.  It’s OK to have a feminist that’s married with kids.  It’s how she defines herself, not a piece of paper that makes her a feminist.  If you want to keep her single and independent, or in something like a live in arrangement or common law marriage, that’s cool too.  Just have your own reasons for your character’s actions and personality.  Don’t let others take your voice.

Fun And Games?

I’m going to be hitting a few posts today it seems.  I originally did all the topics as one long post.  It felt rambling and disjointed, so 3 or 4 separate posts it is.

The common thread to all of them is that all of the recent events have me thinking about my direction as a writer.  To get to the point of THIS post, part of the what I was pondering was…

Not quite, LOL.  It was that despite all the drama there, Twitter did have some really good writing drills shared as games among the community there.  Seems there’s a little of that going on in the blogs here as well.

The Twitter stuff was all some variation of “write something about this picture or subject”. Great for being concise and expressive, given the allowed lengths of tweets. I never really got into them during my couple of months though.

A) I wasn’t part of the cool kids club, and these things generally require a “tag in”.

B) I’m what they call a “turtle writer” on twitter. I can come up with a great story, but not on the fly usually.

That’s part of what these games are for though; to get you used to letting the creative energies flowing freely. If you don’t practice, you don’t improve. Since I also need content here for when I’m NOT posting an actual story OR news of my internationally acclaimed best sellers (some day, LOL), I think I’m going to make a best effort to do a VSS thing here.

For those NOT familiar with it, VSS is “Very Short Story”. I had to google it when I first saw it on twitter. If I recall, the definition was something under 400 words. I just tried Google again, and all it gave me for search results was Volume Shadow Backup Services for backing up hard drives. Yeah Google is great… NOT.

So, yeah… Rambling… AGAIN. No wonder I think I need exercises in creative conciseness, LOL. On twitter, the ideal SEEMS to be keep your VSS to one tweet. A real challenge. I’m not sure where my VSS posts’ lengths will fall, OR how often I’ll do them at first, BUT training is a good thing, and I legitimately want to grow as a writer. As I get better, I hope to have one a day up to keep in practice and draw people to the Blog.

Maybe those of you who do writing blogs also would be interested in getting in on this?  IF we did it as a group drill / friendly competition, I’m thinking once a week, and say 200 words?  That gives the Turtles and busy people time.

 

 

Vindication

I’m in a better mood today.  Time away from the toxic wasteland that is Twitter has helped that.  The Vindication I feel from all the replies I got here helped put everything in perspective.  Yesterday crushed the blog’s best views stat by 20% and daily likes by 50%.  And that previous best day was when I begged twitter to look at the blog to help me break a former record.  I picked up 4 new followers also

Views are great, but it’s the comments and likes that really made my day.  I’m resilient and bounce back pretty quickly.  It’s a survival trait combined with pure redhead stubbornness.  That said, it always helps to know people empathize or outright agree with you when you’re at a low spot.

I know I’m growing as a person too.  My usual response to getting shut down on something in the past has been “screw it, it’s not worth the drama” and walk away.  This time I’m determined to prove them wrong.  I know I’m a good writer.  It’s easy to hide behind “haters going to hate”, but I’ve had past enemies admit to others that they destroyed my writing out of jealousy.  Am I Hemingway, or James Patterson?  Hell no, LOL.  There are areas of my writing that need serious work.  On the other hand I’m great with plot and character development.  I also have a solid grasp on grammar and how to structure a sentence.  When I have a better mastery of things like show, don’t tell, avoiding white room syndrome and a couple other things, I KNOW I’ll be successful.

For those following the blog here; Thank You.  It means alot to know people find me worth reading.  I do my best to follow back people and comment or at least like posts also.  The major exception being if you’re a prolific writer and are posting several times a day.  I just don’t have the time to keep up with everything then.  As it is, I’m averaging 2 hours a day on the blog and related emails.  It’s worth it though.  You’re all real people to me and I value your support

 

Be The Light…

I’m sure I’m confusing people on twitter with my moderate’s disdain for the political extremes running amok there.  I’m grateful that some people seem to get it though.

My “No Politics” post didn’t make things as clear as I’d have liked.  I have TWO big problems with politics and the way people talk to others:

 

1) Issues are NEVER as simple as the extremists and demagogues on either side make them out to be.  For example, gangs are just one good reason for a border wall, BUT we have to overhaul our immigration system as well and allow good people a chance at the American Dream, take an honest look at what we may be doing to contribute to problems in Latin America, and see if we can do things to help them help themselves.

2) These extremists not only shut down thinking and discussion, they spread hate and poison.  There’s a principle of metaphysics that says hate only attracts more hate and conflict.  It doesn’t matter how righteous you THINK your cause is, if your answer is trashing and threatening violence against those you disagree with, you are part of the PROBLEM, not the solution.  You are also actively working to make the world a DARKER place.

I keep saying be more like Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr, Mother Theresa, Jesus, Buddha, etc…  I have a perfect story that illustrates the point also.  The Christmas Eve service is the one time this heathen is guaranteed to turn up at church.  The closing part of the services; the same every year, are exactly why:

The Pastor talks about the need to carry the Christmas Spirit into and through the new year, and how the world is a dark place if everybody withholds their love, compassion and caring from the world.  To illustrate the point, the lights are turned off in the chapel.

Now, everybody is given a candle entering the service.  They’re all being lit as the Pastor speaks.  He tells everyone to keep the candles low at first also; withhold their light from the world metaphorically.  Then he starts talking about how people can be the light, and make the world a better place.  Then all 3000 people (It’s a big church) hold up their candles.  It’s beautiful and amazing the difference it makes

Bayside Church Candle Lighting & Silent Night

Afterwards everyone sings Silent Night and the service are over.

Watch the YouTube video through to the end and see if it doesn’t have the same impact on you as it did me.  It’s alot of light, and it’s people wanting said light to better the world, NOT burn it down.  THINK about that. Remember the people you disagree with are human beings with legitimate reasons for feeling and thinking the way they do.  If you actually talk to them like human beings, you will PROBABLY find out that you have more in common than you realize once you get past artificial labels.

Think win-win and you can probably also find a solution that’s not perfect, but works for both of you.

BE THE LIGHT

It Happened Again!

For those who missed my last post, the day before yesterday, Twitter made a follow recommendation that was completely unrelated to anything I’d tweeted or searched (anywhere online), or even been near in almost a year.  It was a place I’d just been talking about however.  Since there was NO way to know otherwise, the only conclusion I can come to is that the recent conspiracy theory about various social media outlets tapping phones and computer microphones is true.

Of course there’s pure coincidence.  That’s unlikely, but people win the lottery all the time despite there being a ten times better chance of being hit by lightning, right?

Well, it happened again last night.  The TV was on and the local news was talking about a serial predator getting state paid legal representation.  I commented aloud that it sucks, but that I believe that guarantee is an important part of our legal rights.  A few minutes later I log back into Twitter and the top of my recommended follow list is the Federalist Society.

Again, they have NOTHING to base that recommendation on.  I don’t surf or search political sites, and I keep my writing completely free of politics also.  The rhetoric is just too heated and unthinking on all sides, and I do NOT want it poisoning my writing or alienating followers.  With that being the case, the only thing they have to base that recommendation on is verbal comments picked up by a PC or cellphone microphone, and almost right after said comments were made.

Facebook, Google, Twitter…  They’re all eavesdropping I guess.