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Stupid Stuff I See On Facebook (Publishing Related)
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OK. Its been awhile since I did a “Writing Post”. Writing about writing, is actually totally blah and writing about the politics of writing and modern publishing ends up like smashing one’s head into an iron wall. The headache is just not worth it.
But I came across this link (shared by Goodereader) in my feed. It’s hard to tell if its supposed to be parody or not…
http://goodereader.com/blog/commentary/self-published-authors-are-destroying-literature/
WOW! The arrogance. I wonder if this person knows, they probably wouldn’t be writing for a website called Goodereader without self-published authors… Becuse the rise of Kindle (E.reading) went hand-in-hand with self-publishing.
It’s not the mainstream publishers who made the Kindle hot, it’s all those cheap reads put out by the illiterate rube authors this guy is bashing that lit the fuse. Had the mainline publishers got their way, they would have killed the Kindle. Ever look at the price difference between a NY published book and a ‘self-published’ book? The NY publishers want us addicted to paper. It’s why they jack up the price of an ebook compared to its hard copy… and mind you, the paper version is not cheap these days.
Look. I do this because I want to tell stories which mean something to ME. Sure I like selling books as well, but you might have noticed I really don’t go around shouting “buy my books”. I hardly, if ever go to writing groups/pages on Facebook though I’m part of many.
The only places I hawk myself are this blog, or Donna Yates Pinterest authors board. I also know some authors can be really gung-ho about pushing their wares – But that also applies to so-called “real” authors as well. I follow more than a few mainstream writers pages, they don’t mind plugging themselves.
I do wonder if this person who wrote this commentary for Goodereader has heard of Twilight, or its countless knockoffs? Junk like that fills bookstore shelves. I wouldn’t exactly call it ‘literature’ in the way this guy means the word. How is that not having an adverse effect on ‘literature’? If anything, mainstream junk like that does more to kill good writing than anything some mostly unknown writer publishing on Kindle or Smashwords does.
You know why? Recuse the publisher and agent handling the publishing of these many Twilight knockoffs are probably throwing some otherwise great books into the slush pile, for one reason only – The Twilight stuff is easier to sell. And the only people who can be blamed for that are those who consume it.
No one will ever turn back the clock – Mmm well maybe Iran, with an EMP blast. But short of that, places like Kindle and Smashwords are here to stay.
If you get annoyed at an author (and thats what they are) pushing themselves. Kindly ask them to maybe not be so aggressive. OR don’t follow them.
Related articles
- Too Famous to Write: Patti Davis on her Self-Publishing Journey (goodereader.com)
- A Limited Time FREE Download on Amazon Kindle Store (joylax.wordpress.com)
- The Loneliness of the Self-Published Author (davidbiddle.net)
- Before Fifty Shades of Grey Heats Up the Big Screen, Bard and Book Publishing Gives Readers a New Parody to Heat Up Summer Reading (prweb.com)
Cut Scene: Hindu Temple
I considered restoring this scene to Falco Invitus: On the Forge of War, it’s a good little scene, and I enjoy the feel of it, the way it shows Falcanian and humans getting along by way of a bridge of faith, but in the end I figured it slowed the story down just right when things are about to reach critical mass.
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Before the nuptials, the Shotar and his Queen had been asked to make a pilgrimage to a local temple dedicated to Lord Ganesh. Of course the Imperial couple readily agreed to this, it would not do to offend the local citizens and Nadia was of the mind that perhaps a blessing from the god of happiness might prove advantageous on the eve of their daughter’s marriage.
When they entered the old temple the Falcanians were greeted by the administrating guru, a small white bearded man by the name of Trilok. Bowing Trilok made the Namaste gesture.
In utter devotion Nadia returned the gurus gesture, her mate offered the Falcanian claw on fist salute. Both salutations seemed reflections of each other.
“Mighty Maharajah, most holy blessings upon you!” Trilok commenced, and placed a holy saffron-orange shawl around the Shotar and his lady.
“My thanks Trilok.” the Shotar welcomed.
A curious crowd had begun to gather outside the temple.
Out of respect for such a holy place Sharr Khan had insisted that his Drakorian remain at a respectful distance, those who had accompanied him and Nadia to the temple did so unarmed and in casual attire. The Drakorian as always were less than pleased by such an arrangement. With the throng of onlookers, both Falcanian and humans now gaining in numbers the Drakorian became very tense.
They moved to the altar, a small fire had been lit before the huge idol of Ganesha. Nadia bowed before the idol and began to pray she had been raised as a Hindu. Sharr joined his mate and closed his eyes in reflection. Trilok began to conduct a ritual for the Imperial couple. He blessed them with red powder and offered prayers on their behalf.
The harmony of this episode underscored the fact that the temple was attended to by both human devotees and Falcanians, though certainly the Falcanians were more than likely practitioners of the Falcanian philosophical road it said much that Hinduism and D’Har Tarik coexisted in peace.
D’Har Tarik readily incorporated parts of Hindu ideas, even left devotion open to the vast pantheon of Vedic gods. The converse happened to be true as well. Sharr had seen many a Hindu give an offering to Kieva at his shrine on Vanguard Island and he had once heard a priest utter a prayer in Arntiraas’s name.
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Find the story, and figure out how this fits into the puzzle by reading Falco Invitus: On the Forge of War book 1# of The Falcanian Legacy Series at either Amazon.com, or Smashwords.
Related articles
- Falco Invictus: On the Forge of War (raptorsclaw.wordpress.com)
- Hinduism, a history, its Philosophy and survival? (upardhasaradhi.wordpress.com)
- Happy Mahashivaratri: Hindu Devotees Celebrate the Festival With Religious Fervor [PHOTOS] (ibtimes.com)
- One Night With The King (raptorsclaw.wordpress.com)
An Art Deco Landscape…
Hundreds upon hundreds of tents radiated outward, and formed a ring on the green fertile plain of Chithra, beneath the digital-blue, artificial sky. They bordered a great spark set into a black metalliferous foundation fed by neon-orange conduits of power which were embedded within the technological synthetic Art Deco landscape of Char. The hub, and the essence of the Falcanian people churned in a contained whirlwind of recombined DataStreams, which were destined to become brand-new Falcanian souls.
This was Zoris, a city of many roomed yurts.
Banners of each Falcanian aerie waved in the breeze brought up by the Mountain Of Flame that lay far off in the Far East of Char, well away from the tent homes of the departed. Here in Zoris the dead waited, here the living made pilgrimages to meet their ancestors, and here every Falcanian eventually took up residence.
Sharr Khan watched tharrins gather, looked on while families, as programs feasted upon electronic equivalents of food. Here all his people were reunited with those that had gone beyond, but only those alive could cross back over from this cybernetic place. Always a piece of a Falcanian, a flashcopy existed in here, where they partook of Char’s collective stored knowledge.
A portal on the outskirts of Zoris, not far from the Blue Guardian’s tower allowed those from the physical realm to come into Char. Those few who were chosen could be brought by other means, but the average Falcanian needed to cross the portal and pass by the Eye Of Ishbol before they entered or left this place inside the machine.
The over-soul flamed, churned out new DataStreams, recycled bits and bites, the essence of those who had departed a flesh life, in this manner nothing would be lost. Falcanians were rebooted into each successive generation. The Shotar could feel the throb of life so close to the core and rejoiced in the living spark. Only the Shotar could walk this place unnoticed, though at the moment all Sharr Khan needed to disguise himself from those who strolled or flew on the wing, or airship above this world was a mere hood, for those here were interested in communion with fallen friends and family rather than their ruler. This place served to be the beginning, and end of line for these digital souls.
On the verdant Chithra plain rested a fountainhead, a pool of inner reflection. Sharr Khan stopped at the fount and glanced down, an aged white-beard and drooped mustache peered back at him, a thing that he would never become. The reflection morphed into the youthful face he truly wore in the material world.
The water rippled, and became a recollection. “I must go!” exclaimed the busty Bengali girl, tears dropped from her pretty black almond eyes. In the reflection Sharr stood with his arms crossed, while he frowned at the woman.
“You’re not even going to stop me?” cried the girl.
“Perhaps we need to be apart?”
She began to weep. “You are so cold! He was our son…”
Once more the water rippled to become the dusky, happy face of his Kajra Re Shalimar. Impulse caused the Shotar to touch the image which made the surface oscillate in a silver ripple.
Nadia’s presence in the over-soul remained ever close to him. Sharr turned and saw she peered with him into the memory fount.
“What happened to Krada, you couldn’t prevent.”
“I know, my T’Kara,” he replied angrily.
Nadia leaned against her mate. “Give her time. Shalimar will come home to us.”
He glanced over at Char’Kal which burned off in the distance. There in Sharilhar fortress, the Telchar resided, not in judgment but in challenge. It served as a beacon for his people in this virtual heaven.
Long before it appeared, he had felt it. The Shotar could sense every life that existed in the great over-soul. He could touch them and learn about them, yet the presence he sensed at this moment was unlike any he had encountered before. It radiated a power with a tremendous vibration which echoed through all of creation. It swooped past, and sung in a voice grander than even Nadia’s own fine melodies. It contained beauty and pain all at once. Its song recalled triumph and sadness. The form of the creature crackled with golden flames. Above Zoris’s enormous encampment a Golden Falcanian circled as if on a hunt to seek out a soul.
Nadia touched her mate and spoke softly in his pointed ear. “What is it?”
“I have never seen it here. It’s not a Telchar.” He focused his vision, attempted to make out details of the Golden being. “I must go to it.”
Nadia nodded and kissed him.
Into the sky the Shotar launched so he could follow after the Golden Falcanian…
A scented mixture of honey, jasmine, and spicy orange greeted him as he slowly awoke. Sharr recalled the image of the Golden Falcanian which he had just chased above the skies of Char. He did not catch up to it, for it soared at such a tremendous speed, and had vanished from sight like a ship going into spacefold before he could even get close.
What had it been?
He glanced down, his mate and two of his concubines,Tanusri and Kitana, lay beside him as well. They adjusted to his movement and fell into each others embrace, sighing at remembered pleasures. Sharr got out of bed, pulled on a burgundy robe, and turned to look at the soft female forms tangled together in the malleable burnt rust colored cushions of his nest. He permitted himself a moment of masculine pride that he had made love to three very beautiful women this night.
“Where are you going?” groggily asked one of the females.
“For a walk, Kitana,” Sharr murmured and touched her chin.
Kitana nodded sleepily, to then return to her place near Nadia, drowsily watching her Shotar leave the lair to walk his palace.
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The rest can be found at these e-book retailers.
Related articles
- One Night With The King (raptorsclaw.wordpress.com)
- Falco Invictus: On the Forge of War (raptorsclaw.wordpress.com)
- Kitana [PG-13] (raptorsclaw.wordpress.com)
- Falco Invictus: Light & Fire (Free Ebook) (raptorsclaw.wordpress.com)
- Shanghai Art Deco impresses tourists (travelnews.britishairways.com)
- Art Deco hotels: the world’s most glamorous rooms (telegraph.co.uk)
- An Art Deco Computer (q-ontech.blogspot.com)
- Art Deco Aspirations (thehankerer.com)
Falco Invictus: On the Forge of War
Augmented by Genetics and Cybernetics the Transhuman reign over the Globe. The year is 2030 and the planet rebuilds still in the wake of World War III, the “War on Terror“. The United States is no more, yet from its ashes arose the Imperium which seeks to rule all it surveys. For vengeance, and survival Imperator Romulus sends his newest space battleship: DSV Excalibur to seek dangerous allies to help him complete his dominance over the planet. If he succeeds no nation will be free from Julius Romulus Giovanni’s boot, in particular the small German Dukedom of Saxe-Coburg.
One woman is a well honed blade: Frederika von Gotha, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and a product of genetic engineering called a Morningstar, as a spy for her tiny nation she is given a mission, learn about the mysterious Falcanians and the secrets they keep hidden away on their artificial island. Once she steps foot on Vanguard, neither Frederika nor the world, again on the brink of chaos will ever be the same.
“Falco Invictus is science fiction at its best. Rodney C. Johnson’s novella is as sophisticated as it is imaginative. Through his profound and entertaining story, Johnson uses a well-crafted blend of mystic history, futuristic visions, and superb imagery to bring the Falcanian peoples and society to life. From the brilliant and solemn Nadia Korelia to the mysterious and powerful Sharr Khan, Falco Invictus is guaranteed to intrigue and delight.”
- Jim Erjavec, author of The Caverns of Mare Cetus
for a limited time, just $0.99
Amazon US and UK Smashwords
Related articles
- Falco Invictus: Light & Fire (Free Ebook) (raptorsclaw.wordpress.com)
- T.H.s Hereditary Prince Hubertus and Hereditary Princess Kelly of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Return to Germany (royalcorrespondent.com)
