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Hello again.
With all the dramas settling, I thought I'd share some great websites I've found in the last few days.
Tonya R Moore has a Big Universe - big enough to flash up the Web Ficiton Directory. Her readers have been kind enough to vote BRITANNIA and HISPANIA each 5 stars. Thank you so much, voters. And many thanks to Tonya for her devotion to her site.
This week I also heard from Susan at Online Novels [I think the BEST web fiction guide on the internet]. If you love reading online or in electronic media, do yourself a big favour and go there for a look. Every subject and genre you could want, and plenty of it. Thanks also to her for the many hours of work involved in bringing free fiction to the Great Unwashed.
The first eFiciton I ever read was 'Pink Gin' by Jennifer L Armstrong, and it is her web directory, Free Online Novels that still sends most of my readers, so thanks also to her.
And...Fiona said... you have a review on Web Fiction Guide ;) So thank you Fiona, Lyn and again to Linda. [http://webfictionguide.com/]
My dear friend Cat Black also ventured into the world of epublishing. For her musings, plays and poetry, wander over to Blue Dog Blurbs. Many thanks to her for her advice and support.
The links to these sites are over yonder, to the side.
While I'm thanking, I can't forget all the silent lurkers who show up night after night in the stats, but don't make a peep. I hope you have been enjoying your time with me, as I have enjoyed knowing you are there.
I won't be here much longer, now. I have to get back to the real world, where I am researching a trilogy based on Plato's Atlantis. I have a folder of ideas that have to be faced and made real, and I think I have begun to use internet fiction as a way to avoid the hard work.
It really is hard to explain how glad it makes me that stories that would have been deleted have been so very well received.
Thanks everyone.
Best wishes,
L.
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Sunday, April 25, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
CRISIS OVER....
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Yesterday was one of those days.
The hard drive I have been coddling for some time decided it was the day to flicker, blip and darken into non cooperation. At times like these we realize how blessed we are to have adolescent males who understand the wondrous machines.
In short order the firstborn had a reconditioned unit up and running - but running Windows 7 and my old modem is too old - so we were off to purchase a new wifi. (Only seems to work on a lan cable, but that might be me and not it. It's working and I'm leaving it as it is for now.)
It is not often I leave my pup at home alone. He usually comes with me for the few short drives we have to do in any week, so I decided to lock him safely in the courtyard. Now, I have heard the lovely Dr Harry and Dr Chris Brown, telly vets, speak about separation anxieties in dogs that result in destructive behaviours. I wonder if it is not spite, flat out. There used to be a garden along the brick wall of my courtyard. Now there are some sticks.
Because he is spoiled, I am tempted to blame my old dog, firstly because she should have known better and talked him out of digging, and she plainly didn't. Maybe she wanted him to get into trouble... And secondly because it was her rather portly self filling the large hole they had dug when we got home. Also, her coat is white and shows the mudstains far more damningly than his black hair.
Anyway...nothing to be done about it. Now I have spent last night and today finding out just how much I lost. The prawn of my loins managed to hook the old HDD up to the new one and get some of the data across safely, but I have been redownloading all those programmes I rely on every day, and hunting through my flashes for back ups of all sorts of things.
It always seems to be emails that I lose most of. I don't know how to save them.
So. Amusing and diverting, and not at all frustrating and enraging. I think I am almost done and can get back to work, with a little Vivaldi.
Best wishes - and don't forget to backup your files.
L.
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Yesterday was one of those days.
The hard drive I have been coddling for some time decided it was the day to flicker, blip and darken into non cooperation. At times like these we realize how blessed we are to have adolescent males who understand the wondrous machines.
In short order the firstborn had a reconditioned unit up and running - but running Windows 7 and my old modem is too old - so we were off to purchase a new wifi. (Only seems to work on a lan cable, but that might be me and not it. It's working and I'm leaving it as it is for now.)
It is not often I leave my pup at home alone. He usually comes with me for the few short drives we have to do in any week, so I decided to lock him safely in the courtyard. Now, I have heard the lovely Dr Harry and Dr Chris Brown, telly vets, speak about separation anxieties in dogs that result in destructive behaviours. I wonder if it is not spite, flat out. There used to be a garden along the brick wall of my courtyard. Now there are some sticks.
Because he is spoiled, I am tempted to blame my old dog, firstly because she should have known better and talked him out of digging, and she plainly didn't. Maybe she wanted him to get into trouble... And secondly because it was her rather portly self filling the large hole they had dug when we got home. Also, her coat is white and shows the mudstains far more damningly than his black hair.
Anyway...nothing to be done about it. Now I have spent last night and today finding out just how much I lost. The prawn of my loins managed to hook the old HDD up to the new one and get some of the data across safely, but I have been redownloading all those programmes I rely on every day, and hunting through my flashes for back ups of all sorts of things.
It always seems to be emails that I lose most of. I don't know how to save them.
So. Amusing and diverting, and not at all frustrating and enraging. I think I am almost done and can get back to work, with a little Vivaldi.
Best wishes - and don't forget to backup your files.
L.
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Thursday, April 15, 2010
HELLO AGAIN.
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Hi everybody,
Sorry about the delay, it seems the only way to get comments is to go silent until people start knocking on the door.
A little more than half of you want the relationship to remain key until the last sentence, so it shall be done. PETRA will need a few more days, then.
About Celtic tongues in the UK and Spain. The people of the British Isles, [and please remember just how little hard evidence there is for pre Roman and early Roman era Celtic civilizations], are believed to have spoken Brythonic Celt, or p Celt. Remnants of this language are heard in Welsh and Cornish today. Celts in Ireland – prior to Roman records – were Goidelic or q Celt speakers, probably influenced originally by seagoing tribes from Spain, [where Celtiberians were also Goidelic].
Gaelic languages seem to reflect the Goidelic Celt tongues, and until the migrations of the Scoti people (et al) from Ireland to Scotland in the C3rd and C4th, Gaelic or its roots were not spoken in Scotland. Goidellic influence on Brythonic Celt in the Scottish lowlands esp, explains the development of separate Irish and Scottish Gaelic, with heavy French influence on the latter as time went on.
I used Scottish Gaelic place names only to distinguish indigenous settlements from Roman. Strictly speaking they are anachronisms, but one of the few constants in language development, with the exception of violent annexations, are place names. They seem to remain reasonably untouched, and all over Britain today places carry names that hark back to earlier dominant languages.
And the answer is yes: bears, wolves, boar and mountain lions were all native to the mountains of Scotland. Like the forests which once covered most of the British Isles, the native wildlife was decimated. Most species of large predators were hunted to extinction within recorded history.
Were the Picti, the painted people, tattooed? I cannot see any reason why they would not have been. They are only referred to by the Romans as ‘painted’, but in communities related culturally tattooing was known and practised. As far from Britain as the steppes of Russia and Mongolia, remains of men and women who have been heavily tattooed have been recovered, and the bog men of northern Europe also show evidence of tattooing.
It is possible of course, that woad was also applied ritually before battles or ceremonies, and it is also possible that my boys were particularly fond of ink… But, as I say, I have found nothing to argue firmly against the practice in iron age/Romano Celt society.
And the Druids.
I would say that the priests represented in HISPANIA are exhibiting precisely the practises shown by the religious leaders all over the Roman world. With the exception of the Druids and Judaism, Rome was tolerant of religions where ever she went. Rather than deny a conquered people their religious doctrine, Rome simply subsumed them; renamed or reassigned gods and goddesses and integrated ceremonies and holy days into the recognized calendar.
Judaism [later Christianity] and the Druids were not popular with Rome. How much of the cruelty and ritual mutilation reported by Roman historians of the Druids is true and how much was propaganda is still debated.
However, men who want omnipotence, no matter when or where in history, recognize the power inherent in religion. People who hold beliefs which are above the challenge of reason or circumstance can be manipulated by those with the authority to direct that system of belief. So, someone like Leucetius, who is a megalomaniac, would be drawn to a Romanized form of Celtic religion. Such distortions were made for – and by – men just like him.
I hope that is everything. Please continue to write. I enjoy hearing your views, and hope I can answer any queries. If there is a question you have, or something bugging you, chances are someone else is out there thinking the same thing. If you write, I can have a go at answering everyone.
letitia.coyne@gmail.com
Cheers all,
L.
-
Hi everybody,
Sorry about the delay, it seems the only way to get comments is to go silent until people start knocking on the door.
A little more than half of you want the relationship to remain key until the last sentence, so it shall be done. PETRA will need a few more days, then.
About Celtic tongues in the UK and Spain. The people of the British Isles, [and please remember just how little hard evidence there is for pre Roman and early Roman era Celtic civilizations], are believed to have spoken Brythonic Celt, or p Celt. Remnants of this language are heard in Welsh and Cornish today. Celts in Ireland – prior to Roman records – were Goidelic or q Celt speakers, probably influenced originally by seagoing tribes from Spain, [where Celtiberians were also Goidelic].
Gaelic languages seem to reflect the Goidelic Celt tongues, and until the migrations of the Scoti people (et al) from Ireland to Scotland in the C3rd and C4th, Gaelic or its roots were not spoken in Scotland. Goidellic influence on Brythonic Celt in the Scottish lowlands esp, explains the development of separate Irish and Scottish Gaelic, with heavy French influence on the latter as time went on.
I used Scottish Gaelic place names only to distinguish indigenous settlements from Roman. Strictly speaking they are anachronisms, but one of the few constants in language development, with the exception of violent annexations, are place names. They seem to remain reasonably untouched, and all over Britain today places carry names that hark back to earlier dominant languages.
And the answer is yes: bears, wolves, boar and mountain lions were all native to the mountains of Scotland. Like the forests which once covered most of the British Isles, the native wildlife was decimated. Most species of large predators were hunted to extinction within recorded history.
Were the Picti, the painted people, tattooed? I cannot see any reason why they would not have been. They are only referred to by the Romans as ‘painted’, but in communities related culturally tattooing was known and practised. As far from Britain as the steppes of Russia and Mongolia, remains of men and women who have been heavily tattooed have been recovered, and the bog men of northern Europe also show evidence of tattooing.
It is possible of course, that woad was also applied ritually before battles or ceremonies, and it is also possible that my boys were particularly fond of ink… But, as I say, I have found nothing to argue firmly against the practice in iron age/Romano Celt society.
And the Druids.
I would say that the priests represented in HISPANIA are exhibiting precisely the practises shown by the religious leaders all over the Roman world. With the exception of the Druids and Judaism, Rome was tolerant of religions where ever she went. Rather than deny a conquered people their religious doctrine, Rome simply subsumed them; renamed or reassigned gods and goddesses and integrated ceremonies and holy days into the recognized calendar.
Judaism [later Christianity] and the Druids were not popular with Rome. How much of the cruelty and ritual mutilation reported by Roman historians of the Druids is true and how much was propaganda is still debated.
However, men who want omnipotence, no matter when or where in history, recognize the power inherent in religion. People who hold beliefs which are above the challenge of reason or circumstance can be manipulated by those with the authority to direct that system of belief. So, someone like Leucetius, who is a megalomaniac, would be drawn to a Romanized form of Celtic religion. Such distortions were made for – and by – men just like him.
I hope that is everything. Please continue to write. I enjoy hearing your views, and hope I can answer any queries. If there is a question you have, or something bugging you, chances are someone else is out there thinking the same thing. If you write, I can have a go at answering everyone.
letitia.coyne@gmail.com
Cheers all,
L.
-
Monday, April 12, 2010
ROMANCE READERS - A QUESTION FOR YOU.
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Hi everyone,
PETRA's rewrite is finished, and it needs to sit for a few days. At present the relationship between the hero and heroine is resolved in Ch 20, but the surrounding storyline involving other main characters continues for another 10 000 words. (2 chapters)
I think, if you wait 20 chapters for some loving, you might like that to be the climax. It's the work of a moment to change it about, and settle the political ructions BEFORE our sweet priestess gives in to her heart.
What do you think? Is the relationship THE story?
Would you keep reading to see how it ends, or just be annoyed by extra details?
letitia.coyne@gmail.com
-
Hi everyone,
PETRA's rewrite is finished, and it needs to sit for a few days. At present the relationship between the hero and heroine is resolved in Ch 20, but the surrounding storyline involving other main characters continues for another 10 000 words. (2 chapters)
I think, if you wait 20 chapters for some loving, you might like that to be the climax. It's the work of a moment to change it about, and settle the political ructions BEFORE our sweet priestess gives in to her heart.
What do you think? Is the relationship THE story?
Would you keep reading to see how it ends, or just be annoyed by extra details?
letitia.coyne@gmail.com
-
Thursday, April 8, 2010
LUMPY LEAD IN
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I know it's bad form for an author to make excuses for their work, but I was reading BRITANNIA yesterday and I was cringing a bit. A lot.
There aren't excuses, I should have fixed it before I threw it up there, but I wanted to explain that I know it is lumpy and awkward, especially in those first couple of pages.
The reason is that it is now very different from its original form.
It was first written in poetic prose, very long winded, and sinuous, and verbose. Every sentence followed a particular cadence and the meter was very important. The theme of [sacred] knots and unravelling futures ran as a constant metaphor, which then followed the twisting and reweaving of a new life. All of the emotion, most notably Maia's deep sense of shame, smashed the reader in the face. (She did a lot of scouring with salt and strigil) It was overwritten in the extreme.
6000 words removed from the first five chapters were also cut back in, having been chopped for the sake of pace and word count. Its original ending is still around somewhere, in draft form, but it was a bit more gruesome than the intended audience prefer.
I loved it. But as I say; I love Jim Steinman, Leonard Cohen, Van Gogh and massive Wagnerian overtures.
More is more. Nothing succeeds like excess.
It had to be cut up and cut back and I deleted all the original drafts, although I didn't know how effectively I had removed all traces of it, until I went looking for copies of it in the original research folder. Anyway, when it better resembled a story, I left it and went on with others until I decided to put this set online.
I should have taken the time to smooth the rough sentences and tidy up the leftovers, but I didn't and for that I apologize.
Just so you know.
letitia.coyne@gmail.com
Thanks.
L.
I know it's bad form for an author to make excuses for their work, but I was reading BRITANNIA yesterday and I was cringing a bit. A lot.
There aren't excuses, I should have fixed it before I threw it up there, but I wanted to explain that I know it is lumpy and awkward, especially in those first couple of pages.
The reason is that it is now very different from its original form.
It was first written in poetic prose, very long winded, and sinuous, and verbose. Every sentence followed a particular cadence and the meter was very important. The theme of [sacred] knots and unravelling futures ran as a constant metaphor, which then followed the twisting and reweaving of a new life. All of the emotion, most notably Maia's deep sense of shame, smashed the reader in the face. (She did a lot of scouring with salt and strigil) It was overwritten in the extreme.
6000 words removed from the first five chapters were also cut back in, having been chopped for the sake of pace and word count. Its original ending is still around somewhere, in draft form, but it was a bit more gruesome than the intended audience prefer.
I loved it. But as I say; I love Jim Steinman, Leonard Cohen, Van Gogh and massive Wagnerian overtures.
More is more. Nothing succeeds like excess.
It had to be cut up and cut back and I deleted all the original drafts, although I didn't know how effectively I had removed all traces of it, until I went looking for copies of it in the original research folder. Anyway, when it better resembled a story, I left it and went on with others until I decided to put this set online.
I should have taken the time to smooth the rough sentences and tidy up the leftovers, but I didn't and for that I apologize.
Just so you know.
letitia.coyne@gmail.com
Thanks.
L.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
GENRE FICTION
Anonymous said...
I feel it is a pity that people have to classify a story into a genre. The classification of a story limits its market. People do not read a story for the joy of reading. They read a genre so that they are able to shortcut the story by filling in the blanks between the characters using the genre formula. I hate romance generally and it is not something I desire to read however there are times when a romance soothes the mind so it is a bonus to read a romance that has a good story.
Hi anon,
True, and reader anticipation is such a big elelment in the choice of any story. For people who read widely, and from the 'POSH GLOSSIES' which boast a literary pedigree, the genre can be irrelevant. But the majority of readers still line up for the pulp paperbacks - and they look for particular authors or paticular genres.
That trend has crossed into the world of virtual fiction, and the standard of the paper no longer matters. It is as it is, I suppose.
So if you find a good story, in any genre, pass it on.
regards,
L.
I feel it is a pity that people have to classify a story into a genre. The classification of a story limits its market. People do not read a story for the joy of reading. They read a genre so that they are able to shortcut the story by filling in the blanks between the characters using the genre formula. I hate romance generally and it is not something I desire to read however there are times when a romance soothes the mind so it is a bonus to read a romance that has a good story.
Hi anon,
True, and reader anticipation is such a big elelment in the choice of any story. For people who read widely, and from the 'POSH GLOSSIES' which boast a literary pedigree, the genre can be irrelevant. But the majority of readers still line up for the pulp paperbacks - and they look for particular authors or paticular genres.
That trend has crossed into the world of virtual fiction, and the standard of the paper no longer matters. It is as it is, I suppose.
So if you find a good story, in any genre, pass it on.
regards,
L.
LISTING ONLINE
- Today on FB I had a query over listing on online fiction sites:
"have you explored more online writers' websites for potential audiences... you may have to become a junkie and get addicted to these websites ... the more your books are out there the more they will be read..."
Yes, I have. A great number of them. I have submitted to any who accept submissions, and the novels have been listed with Free online Novels, Web Ficiton Guide, Muse's Success and I am awaiting word from three other sites.
However, an earlier blog discusses the fact that even outside the print world, [where editors have the first and final say about form and content], on peer review sites like those mentioned, there is a definite swing against ROMANCE. It is the only remaining dirty word in literature. Reviewers make a point of mentioning that they will rate a book - by glancing over the first few pages - but they will not review Romance.
The pages dedicated to Romance Genre Fiction follow the standard HM&B formula, which even I admit is a proven seller, but that set formularization of the genre is the reason they are not welcome outside the hard copy world, and also the reason these little stories of mine were, in due course, originally sent back by the publisher.
My stories don't fit the set Romance formula, and the peer reviewers like the same basic genres - although they would argue that point just as Romance lovers argue against the suggestion that every single Romance novel is the same. So, the Avant-garde in ePublishing is, as history dictates it must be, no different from the million avant-gardes that rolled out before. Nothing new under the sun, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Giving the stories away has meant that they were not deleted, and that was all I expected. I have been surprised at how well they have been received in such a short time and with no great effort at marketting. Of greater surprise to me was the notion in online authors, that you not only trial your (virtually) uneditted work out in serial on you readers on free fiction sites, but it is then acceptable to release the same book at cost through suppliers like Amazon, Sony etc.
Even the notion of 'free' has changed while I grew older and was looking the other way. Must have been busy editting.
Anyway.
The last of the hisotricals has almost had its bogus tail end rewritten, and I will upload CALEDONIA and PETRA to their own websites as required, and leave the eFiciton world at that, I think.
Best wishes to all,
Letitia.
"have you explored more online writers' websites for potential audiences... you may have to become a junkie and get addicted to these websites ... the more your books are out there the more they will be read..."
Yes, I have. A great number of them. I have submitted to any who accept submissions, and the novels have been listed with Free online Novels, Web Ficiton Guide, Muse's Success and I am awaiting word from three other sites.
However, an earlier blog discusses the fact that even outside the print world, [where editors have the first and final say about form and content], on peer review sites like those mentioned, there is a definite swing against ROMANCE. It is the only remaining dirty word in literature. Reviewers make a point of mentioning that they will rate a book - by glancing over the first few pages - but they will not review Romance.
The pages dedicated to Romance Genre Fiction follow the standard HM&B formula, which even I admit is a proven seller, but that set formularization of the genre is the reason they are not welcome outside the hard copy world, and also the reason these little stories of mine were, in due course, originally sent back by the publisher.
My stories don't fit the set Romance formula, and the peer reviewers like the same basic genres - although they would argue that point just as Romance lovers argue against the suggestion that every single Romance novel is the same. So, the Avant-garde in ePublishing is, as history dictates it must be, no different from the million avant-gardes that rolled out before. Nothing new under the sun, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Giving the stories away has meant that they were not deleted, and that was all I expected. I have been surprised at how well they have been received in such a short time and with no great effort at marketting. Of greater surprise to me was the notion in online authors, that you not only trial your (virtually) uneditted work out in serial on you readers on free fiction sites, but it is then acceptable to release the same book at cost through suppliers like Amazon, Sony etc.
Even the notion of 'free' has changed while I grew older and was looking the other way. Must have been busy editting.
Anyway.
The last of the hisotricals has almost had its bogus tail end rewritten, and I will upload CALEDONIA and PETRA to their own websites as required, and leave the eFiciton world at that, I think.
Best wishes to all,
Letitia.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
FOREIGN?
I just went to FB and complained: An hour and a half of finding out how to put a feedback form and a download tracker into Letitia Coyne, Home, at Google, only to chicken out when it started explaining how to add text to [the tag]....I thought I'd become bilingual, adding html to all sorts of places. Truth is, NO. Still just singing 'Ne Me Quitte Pas' and claiming to speak French.... But, at least I have moved. "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien".
That isn't exactly what I said, what I said was 30 characters longer than that - TOO LONG - and it had to be editted. I cannot escape.
Now, poor blog is trying to read my html a tag, and it cannot accept it because it is an error.
Help. Is there anybody out there? I think I should emerge from the pastey realms of the computer nook and creep into the light.
My pup keeps poking his nose into the middle of my back, now. He pulled the camera down by its strap and tried to chew it. He unstuffed half of my doona and ate a bone on my bed. He is a blue cattle x border collie x kelpie and he is 9months old. Can you imagine how much he appreciates my return to the keyboard.
Time for a cuppa and a frizbee throw, I think.
L..
That isn't exactly what I said, what I said was 30 characters longer than that - TOO LONG - and it had to be editted. I cannot escape.
Now, poor blog is trying to read my html a tag, and it cannot accept it because it is an error.
Help. Is there anybody out there? I think I should emerge from the pastey realms of the computer nook and creep into the light.
My pup keeps poking his nose into the middle of my back, now. He pulled the camera down by its strap and tried to chew it. He unstuffed half of my doona and ate a bone on my bed. He is a blue cattle x border collie x kelpie and he is 9months old. Can you imagine how much he appreciates my return to the keyboard.
Time for a cuppa and a frizbee throw, I think.
L..
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