tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12514966795082468142024-03-12T16:42:25.759-07:00Letitia Coyne FictionLetitia Coynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441648447041629690noreply@blogger.comBlogger87125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251496679508246814.post-57538562318366150922015-03-01T15:36:00.002-08:002015-03-01T15:36:26.522-08:00Collected reviews.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Reviews from all sources [as far as I am aware] are published at this <a href="http://medialetitiacoyne.blogspot.com.au/">MEDIA</a> link. If you know of a comment or review somewhere on the net that I may have missed, let me know. </h2>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Cheers. </h2>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Lxx</h2>
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Letitia Coynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441648447041629690noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251496679508246814.post-39612018386691859632014-01-19T04:36:00.004-08:002020-10-16T15:58:22.925-07:00*SILVER* Authors dB COVER COMPETITION.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Cool. Big thanks to <a href="http://1889.ca/">MCM</a> for the beautiful cover design.<br />
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<a href="http://1889.ca/britannia" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span id="goog_608447910"><span id="goog_608447913"></span><span id="goog_608447917"></span></span><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-k1Aah0eYOxiCr7PbM5ke1jFk8WgSzudNFCtWZseazX8zD1qNcURTPaVLpYQJNEQq_QcVmhSkjIlzqBTShpVrwIGSIMkLgjT1e6bHekt1U8qPpaymuEgLlJIkcQeX86qJju1uITt6R9g/s1600/britannia-01.jpeg" /><span id="goog_608447918"></span><span id="goog_608447914"></span><span id="goog_608447911"></span> </a></div>
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<a href="http://authorsdb.com/books/2013-book-cover-contest-finals/history-2" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO81Z7nCyTFWEGBK7jEjZ6oR53bZF6tmAnE3uC0u-8LRHyxwr3T4fpZF8cHTyoumOIrSBB65OUcaOpdD78AmamhfJRHhGTFVpS8GbWNOgSN3k3fawINVKoSWYbfYqTtOoENU4UiMEggEg/s1600/unnamed.png" height="277" width="400" /></a></div>
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Letitia Coynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441648447041629690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251496679508246814.post-54948577381453051022013-12-30T22:53:00.000-08:002013-12-30T22:53:41.492-08:00ENOUGH<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Letitia Coynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441648447041629690noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251496679508246814.post-15205844575751084172013-05-04T02:25:00.002-07:002020-10-16T16:00:11.550-07:00STRAH'YIN.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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>Strine is outdated, as is the mythological Australian who bids you
g'day and speaks of ockers, sheilas, tinnies or being as dry as a dead
dingo's donger. [See Bazza Mackenzie circa 1972] Yobbos are now
exclusively bogans. [Alt. bo'gahn]</span
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>Visitors should now learn Strah'yin. <br />
<br />
Begin with greetings: 'Air garn?'<br /><span class="text_exposed_show">
<br />
When things are going well for you, respond to the greeting with:<br />
'Yeah, good.'<br />
<br />
If all things are not as you would wish, respond with:<br />
'Yeah, nah, arp t'shit, mite.'<br />
<br />
In more general conversation, one response (suitable for all
occasions) that has not changed is 'nahworries'. It can be prefaced at
any time with 'yeah' as in 'yeah, nahworries', and 'mite' can always
be added, as in 'nahworries, mite' or 'yeah, nahworries, mite'. <br />
<br />
Loosely translated it means 'yes'. [The grammar rule applied here is
the age old - If it has one syllable, extend. If it is polysyllabic,
always shorten to a single syllable.]<br />
<br />
It should also be noted by the visitor that bogans will sometimes
substitute 'wuck'n furries' for 'worries' during a conversation,
giving rise to the statement 'yeah, nahwuck'n furries, mite'. [That is
furries as in durries, (colloq. cigarettes) not as in fur.]<br />
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Here ends today's lesson.</span
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Letitia Coynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441648447041629690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251496679508246814.post-89851295819603872482013-04-20T02:30:00.000-07:002016-10-07T23:03:15.422-07:00TRAINSPOTTING.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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It's foolishness, all this, he said, and sat to watch the game.</div>
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Let them all calm down, he said, soon enough it will be done</div>
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Sit down, we'll watch the game.</div>
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I worry sometimes, though, she said</div>
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They bother me, the noise they make. They never stop, I wish they would</div>
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But still … </div>
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She watched the game.</div>
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It's none of my concern, he said, and turned to watch the game</div>
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My voice? What is it I could say? I can't begin to turn the tide</div>
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What more can I do, anyway? Just sit and watch the game.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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Hush. Hush. No need to make a noise. Sit here and watch them pass</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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Don't draw the fire of crazy men; don't lead the eye toward our place</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
Don't say a word, it's nowt of ours</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
Just sit and watch the game.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
There is no line of decency, so hush now. Sit here, too</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
It's come before, ool come again</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
It's just a joke, give them a poke, electric jigger in ye hand</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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We'll laugh together all of us, when this is done and all is past</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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Just sit for now and haud yer wheesht</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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Sit still and watch the game.</div>
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. </div>
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Letitia Coynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441648447041629690noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251496679508246814.post-86342642067553702032013-04-10T18:45:00.000-07:002016-10-07T23:03:42.590-07:00ELEPHANTS.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
Mr Churdal lived in a box on the 1174th floor
of his modest apartment tower, and for the first time in his fifty year
box residency, he was unhappy. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At some
time in the recent past, two, maybe three years ago, he had taken to
wearing his shirts backward. He would struggle to button them all the
way up, ensuring the collar was tight. The resulting red faced
throbbing of his head loaned him the appearance of evangelical zeal, and
that look brought with it centuries of gravitas, of towering
ecclesiastical edifices and pointed spires and rock hard shafts
thrusting at the sky. As for thumbing his nose at clothing conventions,
ha! How could he care less what those below thought, when everything
below him was demonstrably beneath him?</div>
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He had, for some years now,
devoted himself to the painstaking construction of a life-sized
elephant leg. Correct in every detail, he had crafted it by hand and
he knew every wrinkle, every notch, every stubbly bristle. It was dark
in his box and difficult to see, but he knew it intimately and he loved
its smell: polystyrene and two-part epoxy resin, linseed oil and
Morocco-finished leatherette. He had come, with no small amount of
pride, to call his construction, “The Elephant”.<br />
<br />
The problem
which was causing him discomfort had arisen because he'd broken one of
his own sound and undisputed principles of being. He had opened a
leaflet, junk mail advertising from a local zoo, and his attention had
been caught by the image of a blurred and entirely indistinct elephant,
its leg shown in high definition hyper-colored detail. He didn't read
advertising leaflets. He did not. He had no reason to read such
balderdash. He had shelves of literary masterworks with which to fill
his bulging, throbbing mind.<br />
<br />
And yet… And yet,
he'd seen the picture. He'd read the caption. He could not unsee it.
‘There is nothing,' the leaflet claimed, ‘like the smell of a real live
elephant.'</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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It was a shattering revelation
and he would have dismissed it as an aberration, but he could not shake
the feeling that his masterwork might one day be considered lacking.
What if those who came after him - the anthropologists and devotees who would dissect his life in the centuries to come - found evidence
of an oversight? The scandal might eternally blemish his legacy.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He
needed a sweet snack. He fancied Greek, so he took down a volume of
Joyce, layered some pages with crushed nuts and honey and baked the
whole in the warmth of his Hands-Free-Itty-Bitty-Book-Light. But he ate
without pleasure. His books, his books, were entirely lacking in
information on the smell of elephants. He tried for metaphors, he
sought out allegories, he came up blank. His only hypothesis, as he
loosened his collar in despair, was shit. Elephants would walk in shit,
their own shit, and therefore, logically they would smell of shit.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There
was only one thing for it. Reluctantly at first, but growing more
confident as the work progressed, he saved his leavings and began to
build a lifelike layer of shit on the sole of the elephant's foot. And
you know, it didn't smell so bad at all!</div>
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<br /></div>
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Meanwhile
next door, Ms Coombangg felt her way through the darkness of her box.
With fingers sensitized to Braille, she found the perfect place and
carefully positioned the last bristle of her elephant's trunk. It was
done, and not a moment too soon. The gallery owners would be there in
half an hour to collect her magnum opus, this single statement piece
for her one woman exhibition — Elephants: the Whole Truth.</div>
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. </div>
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Letitia Coynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441648447041629690noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251496679508246814.post-53710345645254159262012-11-08T16:57:00.001-08:002016-10-07T23:11:24.155-07:00STILL WATER<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
People whose conversation I enjoy have been talking a lot about
life-changing times, lately. Decades that have marked crucial turning
points in their lives. Realizations that have come, and with them an
illumination which has changed the way they see the world, or more
importantly, changed their artistic response to the world they live in.<br />
<br />
That power of change, the response to an epiphany, has been something
I have honoured for many years. One of the quotes prominent in my
workspace is:<br />
<br />
<div align="center">
“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the
unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself.
Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”<b></b></div>
<div align="center">
<b>George Bernard Shaw</b>, <i>Man and Superman (1903) “Maxims for Revolutionis</i></div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
Being raised unhappily in a strictly paternal authoritarian household
where bigotry and social one-up-manship seethed under a thin veil of
cultured courtesy pounded into me first an unquestioning obedience, then
a slow-burning anger, then a desire for anarchy that was ill-mannered
and uncorsetted.<br />
<br />
I tried to look through lists of music and films of the 60s, 70s,
80s, 90s, 00s, and 10s to find favourites and life-changers. There were
too many. I have been too many different people through all those
decades to find a place to say, ‘that is when I realized I was me’. I
have trouble knowing who me is, even now.<br />
<br />
What is common to other people’s discussions I’ve followed, though,
and all those about planning for their success today, is passion. All
the people who get together to discuss the things that precipitated a
need to change – or to find a voice in the face of injustice, or to make
the time in the life of a busy working wife and mother to write – speak
about their passion.<br />
<br />
Often they speak about the passion for reading at an early age. Some
speak of keeping fading copies of stories they wrote as small children.
Some speak of the anger that found a voice through art.<br />
<br />
I don’t appear to have a passion. I get passionate about issues.
Cruelty, any kind of enabled suffering, makes me angry and outspoken;
injustice, bigotry, waste, illiteracy, education failures, health and mental health
rights, all other human rights – just the typical lefty sort of
ideologies, but generally I seem to be like water.<br />
<br />
Water just finds a level and sits, or evaporates and then tumbles
down again, or slowly erodes obstacles. Water only gets any grit about
it when there is some external force causing a disturbance. That’s me.
No passion. Water. Lucky water.<br />
<br />
I haven’t had to struggle for any of the successes I’ve had; I’ve
just been in the right place at the right time and known the right
people. I’m not competitive at all. I cannot win a race. If someone is
in a hurry to get past me I am as likely to step aside and offer them my
skates to make their journey easier. That isn’t saintly – it’s just
that I don’t care if someone gets where they’re going ahead of me.<br />
<br />
I think that’s why I feel so lost in this new world.<br />
<br />
I cannot compete. I cannot call out continually, ‘Mine is best’. And
among those who have no need to succeed in terms of recognition, I have
no passion to drive me on to make myself find my very best and put it out there for others. I need external stimuli, deadlines, causes. I need to have something important to say that someone else hasn’t already
said better.<br />
<br />
The only thing I have in common with the world of other artists is
this endless, circular, self-destructive, ego-driven fascination with
myself and telling everyone else about it.<br />
<br />
Cheers. <br />
<br />
<br />
.</div>
Letitia Coynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441648447041629690noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251496679508246814.post-77856714924128625212012-05-25T18:11:00.001-07:002020-10-13T20:43:56.734-07:00TOUCHSTONE REVIEW: To Read or Not to Read.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
Another lovely review for <i><b>Touchstone</b></i> - big thanks to Marcie and Nancy from <a href="http://www.2readornot2read.com/">To Read or Not to Read</a>.<br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"My thoughts:</i><br />
<i>
Together they survived the war. But can they survive peace when it means different things to each of them?</i><br />
<br />
<i>
Freya was born into a world of poverty. Her only out of this life is to
become a soldier. She is strong, courageous, and well skilled in the
art of war. This has been her life, this is all she knows, and is
convinced there is no life outside the Army....</i></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<i> Touchstone is a well written historical novel .... It is a hard life and sometimes a short life
for those who made the life of a soldier their own. I liked the
strength of Freya as she struggled with decisions she had to make as
well as Dragan's compassion and understanding for his wife as he tries
to eek out a living on the family farm. Although I was not clear where
the story was going at times, I found Touchstone a good read." </i></blockquote>
<br />
For more of Nancy's thoughts, go to the <a href="http://www.2readornot2read.com/2012/05/review-touchstone-by-letitia-coyne.html">review</a>.<br />
<br />
And the best thing about great reviewers like Nancy - they have great followers, like writer/avid reader <a href="http://janieraeldridge.blogspot.com/">Janiera</a> who find something a little bit different that might just catch their eye.<br />
<br />
Thank you all, ladies.<br />
<br />
And the ending comes up again. Nancy felt it was abrupt - something readers have agreed or disagreed with in equal measure, and it seems to depend on which character the reader relates most to, how they see the ending.<br />
<br />
I'm
hearing three different thoughts. Those that love Freya think she did what she had to do; those that loved Dragan think, good riddance and maybe Lenka at least appreciates what she has; those that wish for a happy ending are left wondering what happened. :)<br />
<br />
What do you think? I guess you'll have to read it and find out!!<br />
<br />
Lxxxx<br />
. </div>Letitia Coynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441648447041629690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251496679508246814.post-15279991822362695112012-05-18T22:19:00.002-07:002020-10-13T20:43:39.170-07:00BLACK SUN REVIEW: TOUCHSTONE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Pjy7INlzxltw9vGlXunSPDMf-SUmOPsluLR7uAHOxN_IVkO8mit67j6l34sHG-bEsVf55fpwFfL9YZewP9d8pRuq_r0r9ZFi5wh5cljVPtehM15fb9C3DKXCWjLSRwCeo29pXOiRtOI/s1600/touchstone+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Pjy7INlzxltw9vGlXunSPDMf-SUmOPsluLR7uAHOxN_IVkO8mit67j6l34sHG-bEsVf55fpwFfL9YZewP9d8pRuq_r0r9ZFi5wh5cljVPtehM15fb9C3DKXCWjLSRwCeo29pXOiRtOI/s200/touchstone+cover.jpg" width="125" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Look what I just found when I followed the MERGE links to <a href="http://soleilnoir.wordpress.com/">Black
Sun Reviews</a>: A WONDERFUL review of <a href="http://1889.ca/touchstone/">Touchstone</a> from Soleil Noir. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I love the review - I agree with Soleil because I love Freya too. Only just this morning I had a chat with someone who loved Dragan - and hoped he and Lenka would find happiness without my lovely warrior girl! Each to his own huh. I'm
with Soleil... Check her thoughts: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I had a hard time writing a review
forTouchstone, not because it isn’t beautifully written and thought-provoking,
it definitely is. The trouble lies in the fact that the blurb is just a little
too good at telling you everything you need to know about the story. This is a
very straight forward tale. There aren’t many surprises to be had. This isn’t a
criticism, as I feel the book is mainly character driven and luckily for me the
characters are very interesting.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><i> Freya is the perfect soldier, married to the
job. She is a hard woman to love, something Dragan hasn’t yet begun to suspect.
He’s all too eager to take her away from this life and settle down. But
settling down was never in Freya’s plan. Touchstone doesn’t just ask can two
people who’ve only known war survive peace, it also asks what happens when you
only love the idea of a person, and not who they really are deep down in their
core. This is something I’ve thought about a lot in life and so the book really
resonated with me on that level.It also looks at what happens when you take
away the thing that we feel defines us as individuals, and whether or not we
can live with ourselves afterward. </i> <a href="http://soleilnoir.wordpress.com/2012/05/09/touchstone-by-letitia-coyne/">[more....]</a></span></div>
</blockquote>
.</div>Letitia Coynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441648447041629690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251496679508246814.post-55733273118932401872012-05-17T14:25:00.001-07:002020-10-13T20:53:22.182-07:0010 Most Read Books In The World<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
.<br />
I recently found this list of <a href="http://www.visualnews.com/data-design/april/top10books_jaredfanning/">Top Ten Books</a>, which is based on the number of books printed and sold in the last 50 yrs.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBPTd0M61hr4QZdJf6CQtQkBUoKasggIYefkkXxzvhuxvzo17vxLcZDBPswkojkj-HL_ESQGVa6mf5CWKCu8R9kpdCb7NlbBtOzryhBdKWDCxbC84fX-OO40yydJ5jYn0j_14jfyxJLA8/s1600/Top10Books_JaredFanning.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBPTd0M61hr4QZdJf6CQtQkBUoKasggIYefkkXxzvhuxvzo17vxLcZDBPswkojkj-HL_ESQGVa6mf5CWKCu8R9kpdCb7NlbBtOzryhBdKWDCxbC84fX-OO40yydJ5jYn0j_14jfyxJLA8/s200/Top10Books_JaredFanning.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<ol>
<li>Bible</li>
<li>Quotations of Chairman Mao – Mao TseTung</li>
<li>Harry Potter – JK Rowling</li>
<li>Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien</li>
<li>The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho</li>
<li>DaVinci Code – Dan Brown</li>
<li>Twilight Saga – Stephenie Meyer</li>
<li>Gone with the Wind – Margaret Mitchell</li>
<li>Think and grow rich – Napoleon Hill</li>
<li>Diary of Anne Frank – Anne Frank</li>
</ol>
These lists are always problematic – my first problem was having <i>The DaVinci Code</i> and <i>Twilight</i>
even appearing on a list of the ten best anything. But these are the
most bought books, assumed to be the most read, not the finest efforts
of literary expression.<br />
Others felt the same but had other books they would have liked to see
there, or were amazed had not been better represented by sales.<br />
Here are some of the points raised by readers of this list: <a href="http://1889.ca/2012/05/10-most-read-books-in-the-world/">[more....]</a><br />
<a href="http://draft.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1251496679508246814">
.</a></div>
Letitia Coynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441648447041629690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251496679508246814.post-18644582272763963042012-05-10T14:12:00.003-07:002020-10-13T20:55:07.379-07:00A MATTER OF TASTE.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSinWfgdVspzvaJald2wmdEyJ-vq4298jm09ehNyDYFB4T_7z9PnaSltwtgytBSt_ZcNHNBUc0fLywoc4_3E7H7Py_D_ko4PIf5qNVwjPVwkAXD1ZprY3t1afp1euCyRE7OairuaxcWaA/s1600/stars630x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSinWfgdVspzvaJald2wmdEyJ-vq4298jm09ehNyDYFB4T_7z9PnaSltwtgytBSt_ZcNHNBUc0fLywoc4_3E7H7Py_D_ko4PIf5qNVwjPVwkAXD1ZprY3t1afp1euCyRE7OairuaxcWaA/s400/stars630x300.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
I’ve been reading a lot again lately, after a few years of reading
very little. I had lost interest in most of what I found on the shelves
at the bookstores, finding I was disappointed as often as not. Since
discovering online fiction and especially webfiction, I’ve found it is
possible to read a great deal without the sort of time and emotional
investment needed for a really good novel.<br />
<br />
Not that there aren’t plenty of exceptional, emotionally involving
works available in serial form, but the enforced wait between updates
can serve to dampen the effect just as easily as it can heighten
anticipation. Which is, of course, the perfect reason to look to the
list of 1889 Labs publications; when you have enjoyed the story in
episodic form, you can enjoy it all again, differently, with the release
of a book.<br />
<br />
But, anyway, back to my day to day. I felt it had been too long since
I read some really good fantasy – so, off I went to Google up a list of
the best in fantasy titles to see what would tickle my fancy. I found
an excellent <a href="http://bestfantasybooks.com/dl/top25-fantasy-books-summary_2011.html">list</a>,
which then directed me to a well known online super-marketplace, where I
could find reviews on the recommended titles. Once there, I did what I
always do. I read a handful of the 5 stars and a number of the 1 star
reviews for each title. [I also add up the number of reviews marked 3
stars and under and then compare it to the number of high scores. See, 3
is a fail, for me. Not for the book, it means it is a fair enough read,
but I want to find the BEST. There are too many good books out there to
waste time choosing something that is just okay.]<br />
<br />
What I found reminded me of a comment made by a friend who worked at a
pizza chain call centre. She said, “You only hear from the lovers or
the haters.” But I wonder how many times lovers and haters are struck by
the exact same points. Do the phoner-inners hate their anchovy with a
passion as grand as those who were angry there was not enough anchovy?
Does an excess of cheese get a poor reception from the diet-conscious
and wild applause from the cheese lovers of the world?<br />
<br />
In fiction, it seems to happen a lot. <a href="http://1889.ca/2012/05/a-matter-of-taste/">[more....]</a><br />
. </div>Letitia Coynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441648447041629690noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251496679508246814.post-592688462951192212012-05-05T22:29:00.002-07:002020-10-13T20:55:58.949-07:00What is your favourite book?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS7oECz_nUBs_AEIb8SfOu2yjzEIp3RpMlyJ8HkNb3FPswHIGzbX1AuqyCjHD3P0YpzzIcYlWJRIXOJWzj3KRTcsYKRgp-8Mx9_3zV2l_XbHxhudq_WET-Q0YSFHQwn9F95bBaBFbfQEk/s1600/books1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS7oECz_nUBs_AEIb8SfOu2yjzEIp3RpMlyJ8HkNb3FPswHIGzbX1AuqyCjHD3P0YpzzIcYlWJRIXOJWzj3KRTcsYKRgp-8Mx9_3zV2l_XbHxhudq_WET-Q0YSFHQwn9F95bBaBFbfQEk/s400/books1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Just lately people keep asking me the worst possible question. No,
not questions about the motivating forces that apply to perambulating
ducks, not ‘would you kill your child to save the world?’ not ‘do you
want fries with that?’; worse.<br />
<br />
What is your favourite book?<br />
<br />
How does anyone ever answer that? At any given moment, it might be
the book I am reading now or the one I wish I was reading. I do not have
any exclusivity in genre preferences; I’ll read most things and enjoy
many. There are too many variables that influence my choice.<br />
<br />
There is the weather. Cold wet weather makes me want to read
classics. If I can curl up in comfy chair with a hot Milo or Irish
coffee, with a TimTam and a duvet, then I like to read old books and
pretend it is a simpler time or the world is a different place. So I’d
have to start with a list of classical Literature that I have enjoyed
repeatedly. But to pick one? <a href="http://1889.ca/2012/05/what-is-your-favourite-book/">[more....]</a><br />
. </div>Letitia Coynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441648447041629690noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251496679508246814.post-85974595497739855282012-04-29T19:32:00.003-07:002016-09-30T06:05:04.953-07:00TEN RULES FOR WRITING FICTION:<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKyg_AY3DjHxfKInDI0kfQvc5ZGcb3SntsQt5y7aPAlnMBJnClWap4hL-JYYwXwm5RmgGcwL-OqDt5ISj6NiYveUUARdXsbAaDoqhzBryjGa2zEgJE_vFB_4MduUmFJHwlmsZRX-TcyBw/s1600/Rules.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKyg_AY3DjHxfKInDI0kfQvc5ZGcb3SntsQt5y7aPAlnMBJnClWap4hL-JYYwXwm5RmgGcwL-OqDt5ISj6NiYveUUARdXsbAaDoqhzBryjGa2zEgJE_vFB_4MduUmFJHwlmsZRX-TcyBw/s400/Rules.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">You know me; I’m that obnoxious soul who keeps saying, ‘Screw the
writing rules’. Every writer knows there are rules that we must OBEY.
They are rules, r<i>ules</i>, damn it. They exist so we can clearly demonstrate that the weight of educated opinion is with us when we choose to criticize.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Of course there are rules. Even I must relent at some point in the
discussion, although I know good people with firm arguments who would
say, ‘No, there is no need to relent. Ever. Creativity trumps literary
fascism every time.’ But… I have to take a middle road when the choice
is there. I argue the case of the Buddha: <i>“Books [rules] are useful for finding your path. Once you have found your path, burn the books.”</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">In February of 2010, the <b><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/">UK Guardian</a></b>
asked some well known authors what were the most important rules for
writing well. Some dug deep into their scholarly vaults and produced
great wisdom on the points and counterpoints of language and expression.
Like <a href="http://elmoreleonard.com/"><b>Elmore Leonard</b></a>, who numbered among his recommendations:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue. I once
noticed Mary McCarthy ending a line of dialogue with “she asseverated”
and had to stop reading and go to the dictionary. Never use an adverb to
modify the verb “said” … he admonished gravely. I have a character in
one of my books tell how she used to write historical romances “full of
rape and adverbs”.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no
more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose. Never use the words
“suddenly” or “all hell broke loose”. This rule doesn’t require an
explanation. I have noticed that writers who use “suddenly” tend to
exercise less control in the application of exclamation points. </i></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">But I read through and found those rules which I believe we should
all keep to the fore as we labor through our creative worklife. These, I
think, are essential and all aspiring writers should be caused to have
them tattooed to their inner thigh in remembrance. </span><br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"> <i>Take a pencil to write with on aeroplanes.
Pens leak. But if the pencil breaks, you can't sharpen it on the plane, because
you can't take knives with you. Therefore: take two pencils. If both pencils
break, you can do a rough sharpening job with a nail file of the metal or glass
type. </i></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Take something to write on. Paper is good. In
a pinch, pieces of wood or your arm will do. If you're using a computer, always
safeguard new text with a memory stick.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Do back exercises. Pain is distracting. </i><a href="http://www.margaretatwood.ca/"><b>Margaret Atwood</b></a><i><br /></i></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Do be kind to yourself. Fill pages as quickly
as possible; double space, or write on every second line. Regard every new page
as a small triumph – until you get to Page 50. Then calm down, and start
worrying about the quality. Do feel anxiety – it's the job.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Do restrict your browsing to a few websites a
day. Don't go near the online bookies – unless it's research.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Do keep a thesaurus, but in the shed at the
back of the garden or behind the fridge, somewhere that demands travel or
effort. Chances are the words that come into your head will do fine, eg
"horse", "ran", "said".</i></span> <a href="http://www.roddydoyle.ie/"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Roddy Doyle</b></a>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Reread, rewrite, reread, rewrite. If it still
doesn't work, throw it away.</i>
<a href="http://www.helendunmore.com/"><b>Helen Dunmore</b></a></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Do it every day. Make a habit of putting your
observations into words and gradually this will become instinct. This is the
most important rule of all and, naturally, I don't follow it.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Never ride a
bike with the brakes on. If something is proving too difficult, give up and do
something else. Try to live without resort to perseverance. But writing is all
about perseverance. You've got to stick at it. In my 30s I used to go to
the gym even though I hated it. The purpose of going to the gym was
to postpone the day when I would stop going. That's what writing is to me: a
way of postponing the day when I won't do it anymore, the day when I
will sink into a depression so profound it will be indistinguishable from
perfect bliss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></span><a href="http://geoffdyer.com/"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Geoff Dyer</span></b></a>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The first 12 years are the worst.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The way to write a book is to actually <i><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">write</span></i> a book. A pen is useful, typing is also
good. Keep putting words on the page.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Only bad writers think that their work is
really good.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Write whatever way you like. Fiction is made
of words on a page; reality is made of something else. It doesn't matter how
"real" your story is, or how "made up": what matters is its
necessity.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Try to be accurate about stuff.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Have fun.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Remember, if you sit at your desk for 15 or
20 years, every day, not counting weekends, it changes you. It just does. It
may not improve your temper, but it fixes something else. It makes you more
free.</i></span><b> <a href="http://literature.britishcouncil.org/anne-enright">AnneEnright</a></b></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Marry somebody you love and who thinks you
being a writer's a good idea.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Don't have children.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Don't read your reviews.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Don't write reviews.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Don't drink and write at the same time.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Don't write letters to the editor. (No one
cares.)</i></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Don't wish ill on your colleagues. Try to
think of others' good luck as encouragement to yourself.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Don't take any shit if you can possibly help
it. </i><b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Ford">Richard Ford</a></b></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>You see more sitting still than
chasing after.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>It's doubtful that anyone with an internet
connection at his workplace is writing good fiction. </i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Franzen"><b>JonathanFranzen</b></a>
</span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Write.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Put one word after another. Find the right
word, put it down.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Finish what you're writing. Whatever you have
to do to finish it, finish it.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Put it aside. Read it pretending you've never
read it before. </i></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Remember: when people tell you something's
wrong or doesn't work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell
you exactly what is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The main rule of writing is that if you do it
with enough assurance and confidence, you're allowed to do whatever you like.
(That may be a rule for life as well as for writing. But it's definitely true
for writing.) So write your story as it needs to be written. Write it honestly,
and tell it as best you can. I'm not sure that there are any other rules. Not
ones that matter.</i></span><b><a href="http://www.neilgaiman.com/">Neil Gaiman</a><b>
</b></b>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Don't just plan to write – write. It is only
by writing, not dreaming about it, that we develop our own style.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Write what you need to write, not what is
currently popular or what you think will sell.</i></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._D._James"><b>PD James</b></a></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Have humility. Have more humility. Defend
others. Defend your work. Defend yourself. Write. Read. Be without fear.
Remember you love writing. Remember writing doesn't love you. It doesn't care.
Nevertheless, it can behave with remarkable generosity. Speak well of it,
encourage others, pass it on. </i></span><b><a href="http://www.a-l-kennedy.co.uk/">AL Kennedy</a> </b>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>My main rule is to say no to things like
this, which tempt me away from my proper work. </i></span><b><a href="http://www.philip-pullman.com/">Philip Pullman</a></b>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The nearest I have to a rule is a Post-it on
the wall in front of my desk saying "<i>Faire et se
taire</i>" (Flaubert), which I translate for myself as "Shut
up and get on with it." </i></span><b><a href="http://www.helensimpsonwriter.com/">Helen Simpson</a></b>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Many of these greats said <b>READ</b>. As many said, <b>DO NOT READ</b>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
While <b><a href="http://www.roddydoyle.ie/">Roddy Doyle</a></b> said, “<i>Do not
place a photograph of your favourite author on your desk, especially if the
author is one of the famous ones who committed suicide.”</i> <b><a href="http://www.colmtoibin.com/">Colm Tóibín</a> </b>said,<b> “</b><i>If you have to read, to cheer yourself up read biographies of writers
who went insane,”</i> and <i>“On Saturdays,
you can watch an old Bergman film, preferably </i>'Autumn Sonata'<i>.” </i>So who’s
right?
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
There is only one rule which
every writer suggested: <b>Write</b>. Writers write. There you go; the best advice
money cannot buy. So off you shoot, then. Start writing.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
For the full transcript and a
more in depth discussion of the fine points of authorial skill - if you want to
know which ‘how to’ manual they recommend; if you want to know the finer art of
metaphor use, or non-use; if you seek greater guidance on polysyllabic
proselytizing, then go to <b>Ten rules for writing fiction:
<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/feb/20/ten-rules-for-writing-fiction-part-one">Part 1</a></b> and<b>
<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/feb/20/10-rules-for-writing-fiction-part-two">Part 2</a>.</b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
</div>
Letitia Coynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441648447041629690noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251496679508246814.post-85484664005811645682012-04-20T23:53:00.007-07:002020-10-13T21:11:37.307-07:00STOP MOVING IN ONE DIRECTION.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
In 1975, a little known singer called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Paul_Young">John Paul Young</a> released his second single, ‘<i>Yesterday’s Hero</i>’
and was catapulted to [local] stardom. Ironically, the song itself was
about the fleeting nature of fame. JPY was introduced on the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation’s iconic TV series, <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countdown_%28Australian_TV_series%29" title="Countdown (Australian TV series)">Countdown</a></i>; he was Australia’s first ‘created’ pop star.<br />
<br />
The show’s producer, Michael Shrimpton, and talent co ordinator, Ian
‘Molly’ Meldrum, arranged for girls to mob JPY’s car on camera and to
pull him from the stage during performances. He went on to have a few
more hits with famously interchangeable lyrics on the same riff.<br />
<br />
Now, as the fever builds worldwide for the latest synthetic boy band,
I am reminded of JPY in reports of empty seats at ‘sold out’ concerts
that leave weeping tweens in the streets outside the venues. We’ve seen
it all before. The MO of The Beatles was dissected and regurgitated for
The Monkees, The Bay City Rollers, New Edition, New Kids on the Block,
Boyz II Men, Backstreet Boys, ‘N Sync, A-ha, Bros, Big Fun, Brother
Beyond, Take That, Boyzone, MN8, 911, Damage, East 17, Five, Another
Level, Point Break, Westlife, No Mercy, LFO, O-Town, US5, All 4 One, 98
Degrees, Hanson, Jonas Brothers, Dream Street, A1, Blue, Busted, McFly,
O-Zone, Overground, Tokio Hotel, EXILE, and Super Junior.<br />
<br />
It doesn’t matter how many times they do it; we buy it all again and again.<br />
<br />
It isn’t hard to fabricate mass hysteria. Advertisers know the
psychology of group manipulation backwards. There are a few very basic
principals which can be used on the great unwashed over and over again
without being questioned. They begin with the simple creed – ‘Act as if
….’<br />
<br />
Why does it surprise us then, when we see the same thing happen with books?
<br />
Apologies here to Stephenie Meyer who has become, among other things, a byword for the awful made megastar. Once again, it is too easy to use The Twilight Saga to illustrate a point. I first heard of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight_%28novel%29Twilight in early 2006, in a raving blog on the website of a small Romance publisher who prided themselves on only featuring authors with ‘the most dazzling talent’. <br />
<br />
They weren’t alone in their rave. From Wikipedia:<br />
<br />
Initial reviews for Twilight were mostly positive, with Publishers Weekly called Meyer one of the most "promising new authors of 2005". The Times praised the book for capturing "perfectly the teenage feeling of sexual tension and alienation", and Amazon.com hailed the book as "[d]eeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful". Hillias J. Martin of School Library Journal stated, "Realistic, subtle, succinct, and easy to follow, Twilight will have readers dying to sink their teeth into it", and Norah Piehl of TeenReads wrote, "Twilight is a gripping blend of romance and horror".<br />
<br />
Publishers Weekly's starred review described Bella's "infatuation with outsider Edward", their risky relationship, and "Edward's inner struggle" as a metaphor for sexual frustration accompanying adolescence. Booklist wrote, "There are some flaws here–a plot that could have been tightened, an over reliance on adjectives and adverbs to bolster dialogue–but this dark romance seeps into the soul." Christopher Middleton of The Daily Telegraph called the book a "high school drama with a bloody twist ... no secret, of course, at whom this book is aimed, and no doubt, either, that it has hit its mark. Jennifer Hawes of The Post and Courier said, "Twilight, the first book in Stephenie Meyer's series, gripped me so fiercely that I called the nearest teenager I know and begged for her copy after I misplaced my own." Roberta Goli of Suite101.com gave the novel a positive review, saying that while "the first half of the novel lacks action", the writing is "fluid" and the story "interesting". She also praised the depth of emotion shown between the main characters for pinpointing "the angst of teenage love."<br />
<br />
Kirkus gave a more mixed review, noting that, "[Twilight] is far from perfect: Edward's portrayal as monstrous tragic hero is overly Byronic, and Bella's appeal is based on magic rather than character. Nonetheless, the portrayal of dangerous lovers hits the spot; fans of dark romance will find it hard to resist."<br />
<br />
After reading this about Meyer’s book, I decided it had to be read. However, on the ground, among real people, I heard readers and reviewers call Twilight the worst book ever written and utterly unreadable. [I’ve read worse, but ….] But they weren’t reviewers anyone got to hear. By the time the NYT reviewer drew attention to the fact that:<br />
<br />
“…the book suffers at times from overearnest, amateurish writing. A little more "showing" and a lot less "telling" might have been a good thing, especially some pruning to eliminate the constant references to Edward's shattering beauty and Bella's undying love." Although the Daily Telegraph later listed Twilight at number 32 on its list of "100 books that defined the noughties", it said that the novel was "Astonishing, mainly for the ineptitude of [Meyer's] prose". Elizabeth Hand said in a review for the Washington Post, "Meyer's prose seldom rises above the serviceable, and the plotting is leaden".”<br />
<br />
- Twilight had already sold 700 000 copies. And now that it is done, and the last movie has been released, don’t be surprised to find you never hear of it again except in fanfic.
When http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunger_Games The Hunger Games hype began, my own son was among the many who instantly said, “It’s Battle Royale.” [ 1999 novel by Koushun Takami]
But by that time, all those same big end reviewers listed there in the Twilight excerpt had already given a thorough thumbs up to the book and it had become a phenomenon.<br />
<br />
I’m not suggesting books are created in the same way as boy bands, but the hype that decides who wins and who loses in the popularity stakes certainly is. No one should imagine for a moment that Twilight or The Hunger Games are the best books of the decade. What they are, are the books whose critical acclaim was positive at the crucial point of public uptake, and whose faults went conspicuously unnoticed until well after their success was assured.<br />
<br />
Let me run you through some of the principals of the “Act as if ….” creed.<br />
<br />
Every boy band has a ‘just like you’ - they have a cute boy, a bad boy, a cool boy, an ethnic boy, a slightly-less-attractive-and-therefore-more-pullable boy. Susan Boyle also embodied the ‘every woman’ dream. Likewise, much more is made of the everyday personal history of authors’ like JK Rowling, Stephenie Meyer, and Amanda Hocking than of Suzanne Collins or Joe Konrath, who had writing success before their BIG ONES. So, one invaluable point in acting as if, is acting as if the author is just like the reader – as if the reader is sharing their success. We love to feel close to successful people and that is marketed to the hilt.<br />
<br />
Then there is a favorite of mine – people love a crowd. The bigger the crowd, the more people you’ll see there. Acting as if EVERONE loves a book makes us want to belong to the group that loves that book. People always want to belong, except those who obstinately want to belong to the group who are known to never want to belong to a group. Consensus, real or imagined – or marketed – is a strong force for success. We don’t automatically question consensus. We are http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asch_conformity_experimentsconformists by nature.<br />
<br />
‘9 out of 10 dentists recommended this toothpaste!’ Which dentists? Where? When were they asked? Authority – act as if someone with the authority to know said the product was the best. Reviewers, more especially a select group of reviewers, make or break books in the modern publishing world. The right review guarantees success in the same way that being ignored by the right people will [almost] guarantee failure. We want to be told what to think and what to believe, and all the while we choose to think we have free choice.<br />
<br />
And lastly, although it seems ridiculous in some examples, the threat of scarcity is a driving force in marketing success. Act as if the reader will miss out. No one imagined, I’m sure, Apple would not supply enough of their new iPads for everyone to have a nice new gadget, but lining up to be the first has become an obsession with each update. Similarly, parents camped out with their children to be first to hold each new Harry Potter. How would poor Tarquin cope if he was the only child alive not to have his own copy of the Half Blood Prince? <br />
<br />
Lesser mortals do market their books with ‘on sale – one week only!’ with the same intention, but it is only with the power of seriously big money that threats like that have an impact in the hundreds of thousands. For today’s boy band, selling only 4/5 of the seats for a Melbourne concert and leaving the little ones heartbroken on the streets outside pays off. Next time, and at the next venue, the little girls will pester their mother to buy the tickets sooner and at any price. Tweenage heartbreak is hard to bear.<br />
<br />
With online fiction, there are no authoritative reviewers – yet. The marketing monster that is the big six has not been able to breach the wall of anarchy – yet. And there are other players now, with Amazon and Apple shouldering in, and allegations of price fixing and collusion and market monopoly. It is quite likely, as is often snarked by mainstream book reviewers, that some five star reviews of independent books are arranged, but remember, so are the reviews you will choose to read in the paperback wars.<br />
<br />
Why not take a chance and read work that is available free, in serial or ebook, and be brave enough to judge for yourself whether you like a book or an author. Free choices not consciously made are rarely as free as they seem. <br />
<br />
For some more interesting thoughts on persuasion check out : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Cialdini “>Robert B Cialdini, PhD – Influence, The Psychology of Persuasion.<br />
<br />
Letitia Coynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441648447041629690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251496679508246814.post-42017684242977003732012-04-14T00:08:00.000-07:002016-10-07T22:59:19.938-07:00DOG LANGUAGE.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h6 class="uiStreamMessage" data-ft="{"type":1}" style="font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"> </span></span></h6>
<h6 class="uiStreamMessage" data-ft="{"type":1}" style="font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}">Communication with Ax – kelpie cross.<br /> <br /> Ax, get on your chair – goes to couch and curls up on it.<br /> Ax, find your ball – runs outside or to last known place of ball, returns with ball.<br /> Ax, get in the car – finds toy, goes to stand beside car door.<br /><span class="text_exposed_show"> Ax, get out from under my feet when I’m cooking – goes to sit under table.<br /> <br /> Communication with Ruby – Rottweiler.<br /> <br /> Ruby, SIT – wags tail, gaping smile, eyes say, “What?”<br /> Ruby, COME – runs over, tail wagging, gaping smile, eyes say, “Huh?”<br /> Ruby, OUT – wags tail, gaping smile, eyes say, “Huh?”<br /> Ruby, GET OUT OF THE WAY! – wags tail, gaping smile, eyes say, “I’m cute.”<br /> <br /> She does have two other reactions. <br /> Rolls onto her back, tongue lolls, tail wags, paddle feet wave at me.<br /> And - wags tail, ears forward, drool falls from lips, eyes say, “FOOD! FOOD? Where’s the FOOD? FOOD!”<br /> <br /> Could it be a ‘breed’ thing?</span></span></span></h6>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkZTJBClSAqGE4ilf8M-iUwSFRFk4wI1iOhFrFeNG5CZTfGVZuvTasxE1nVnmYa3Z_vzE2LpKIjqPTWW4jw9HF1qLgDB-KNMI_hyMsMJOApsfF6XfHF-E3DluPjYjo767n0EfuPle8z-0/s1600/Ruby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkZTJBClSAqGE4ilf8M-iUwSFRFk4wI1iOhFrFeNG5CZTfGVZuvTasxE1nVnmYa3Z_vzE2LpKIjqPTWW4jw9HF1qLgDB-KNMI_hyMsMJOApsfF6XfHF-E3DluPjYjo767n0EfuPle8z-0/s400/Ruby.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="text_exposed_show">Lxx </span></span></span></h6>
</div>
Letitia Coynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441648447041629690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251496679508246814.post-32641452753715404612012-04-12T01:58:00.001-07:002020-10-13T20:56:06.804-07:00CHOICES?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
How do you choose your next book?<br />
<br />
I never know what I’ll choose. Cover art first, definitely. I’m a
sucker for judging a book by its cover. I look at the blurb, never the
comments, and then I’ll open at random and start to read. I don’t have
to know what’s going on, as long as I want to keep reading.<br />
<br />
But I could start out in any section of the bookstore and I’m hopeless with decision making.<br />
<br />
Humor is a favorite. Life can be such a bitch; I really like to read
stories that make me laugh. It can be hard to know what will work,
though. PG Wodehouse and Douglas Adams are always a sure bet, but their
backlist has been covered and there’s no chance of any posthumous
releases. Terry Pratchett, Stella Gibbons, Oscar Wilde; all done with
their careers, sadly. Should I risk a new name? David Sedaris?<br />
<br />
I could move to general fiction. A lot to sift through, there, but I
like a book that cracks along. I hate bogging down in detail and
slogging through looking at page numbers to see if I’m half-way through
yet – but then there are slow books like Moby Dick which I love. Some
books have such beautiful language it doesn’t seem to matter if the hero
spends a chapter and a half just sitting on his porch watching
fireflies. How am I ever to know? Covers never warn of a tedious read. <a href="http://1889.ca/2012/04/choices/">[more....]</a><br />
<br />
.</div>
Letitia Coynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441648447041629690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251496679508246814.post-10896464451129434002012-04-05T00:07:00.004-07:002020-10-13T21:05:59.939-07:00STEREOTYPES.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
What has gone before: <a href="http://1889.ca/2012/03/it-was-a-dark-and-stormy-night/">It was a dark and stormy night</a> and <a href="http://1889.ca/2012/03/archetypal-images/">Archetypal Images</a>.<br />
<br />
When I first started to think about the popularity of stereotypes in
modern fiction, I tried on the conclusion it was to do with the ongoing
stupidification of the world; the Orwellian Newspeak ideals that are
robbing us of our desire to communicate in anything more than sketches
and sound bites; the determination to write in the same Neanderthal
grunts modern humans use to speak. But in discussion, a friend began to
list one word descriptions of people – feminist, housewife, temptress,
hippie – and I realized the formation of complete personality profiles
from single words was much older and deeper than any self-destructive
cultural phase.<br />
<br />
We generally think in shorthand and probably always have. Back when
the world related easily to the classics, whole moods, whole histories
of characters, could be called up for the reader by terms like ‘melted
wings’ or ‘Damocles’ sword’. For most readers, in fact, ‘Orwellian
Newspeak’ is a redundancy. Using either reference alone, or
‘Doublethink’ or ‘Big Brother’, would have sufficed to illustrate the
point. Our minds work perfectly to translate the entire arc of
‘1984’concepts into the argument. Once an idea has entered the popular
canon, it draws the whole boxful of its associations into the shared
consciousness. [How much information comes immediately to mind if I say
‘sparkly vampires’?]<br />
<br />
We naturally think in boxes.<br />
<br />
As soon as we meet with anybody, in reality or fiction, we run the scan over them and box them. We do the automatic comparisons to self, assign them a type, and work out our assumptions and judgments. Those assumptions can always be adjusted as we go, depending on how important that person is going to be, and how much more we learn about them. And when we do not have much time, page count speaking, we do not need to know much more about incidental characters than we can gather in an instant. <br />
<br />
Yes, it is nice when we read a story so well devised that every face in the crowd is clear, and every personality luminous. But it is equally tiresome to find an author so in love with their world and their people that they drone on about someone on the sidelines when we just want to get back to the story and see where the main characters are planning to go. Stereotypes are probably used most often by most authors to fit out minor characters.<br />
<br />
But most genres rely on stereotyped characters as part of their appeal. Yes, the best authors allow us to feel we are seeing the world through the eyes of a real and substantial person/people, but at a fundamental level, there are character set pieces we expect to see, and we recognize them on sight.<br />
<br />
Classical fantasy absolutely demands a set of known characters. They may have quirks, but we need to see a mage, a youth, warriors with swords, thieves, publicans, maidens, witches and supreme evil. We want to travel with these characters on their quest, and we must watch them develop, grow, overcome, and learn through their travails.<br />
<br />
Romance novels have had four characters in a thousand different guises since they began: the firebrand, the virgin, the rake, and the gallant. They must share the stage with the old aunt, the sidekick, the evil earl, and the love rat, but their hair color and their historical era only fleshes out the story of the love/conflict/love. That is why we read the book. We want to hear that story again. We want to see love prevail against all odds.<br />
<br />
Without the gumshoe to lead us through the dark streets, past the hard faced harlots with hearts of gold and the smart/sweet victims of street-wise criminal sleaze-balls, there is no illusion of swift and brutal justice in the dangerous world of noir. We want to hear again how we can vicariously outwit and out grit the bad guys.<br />
<br />
In the massively popular young adult market, especially in ensemble pieces set in schools, instantly recognizable characters are essential. We read these stories about the time in life when we MUST classify and associate and judge and belong and understand the members of specific stereotyped groups because there is a war out there for young adults. That is the time when we are defining ourselves. We must define others, too, and we understand each other best within a known social structure.<br />
<br />
It goes on; pick a genre. And each of us choose our genre, with its featured characters all easy to recognize and understand, and we will enjoy the same basic few stories told and retold by the same basic few characters. Through them we see ourselves. Through them we experience the thoughts and actions of others. Through them we ask, ‘what if?’ and find answers. Through these stories, told along the same basic lines since the ancient myth cycles, we try to understand ourselves and others, and the way we all fit into the world we share.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately stereotypes are too often used to ostracize or ridicule a group by collecting some known negatives and applying them to all people in that group. In fiction, stereotyping in any form, character or event, or clichéd phrasing and overused memes, is frowned upon. Beginning any story: “It was a dark and stormy night…” and collecting some cut out characters to move through a predictable landscape, should be avoided like the plague. :) But like every rule about what makes a story good or bad, the stereotype rule is best broken.<br />
We need to hear our stories, all seven, or twenty-three, or ten thousand of them, told and retold by characters that represent ourselves and known others. We need those stories.<br />
<br />
Letitia Coynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441648447041629690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251496679508246814.post-91248975889557401802012-03-29T02:33:00.004-07:002020-10-13T20:42:52.852-07:00ARCHETYPAL IMAGES.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
.<br />
Ever notice that when individuals have a problem to resolve, they
tend to tell the same story over and over. It might be about their
health or their heartbreak, it might be about their job and career
choice, or it might be about their childhood or their latest love.
Whatever it is, chances are you can say the words with them after a
while because if they aren’t telling you again, they are telling your
friends when you sit down to a meal together.<br />
<br />
You might even recognize yourself, here. Ever get hung up in a loop,
going over the same thing endlessly? One of the reasons, a primary
reason, I believe, that we go through this rehashing, is in an attempt
to make sense of things that we cannot get our head around. Mentally, we
retrace our steps again and again, searching for the divine light or a
universal insight: a reason for what has happened in our lives. We like
to feel we have some control, and we will look for parallels in the
experiences of friends, and ask for advice even if we intend to ignore
it.<br />
<br />
And this process of rehashing is by no means new.<br />
<br />
This desire to keep studying cause and effect in the world around us
powers the driving need we feel to share stories and the experiences of
others. Of course, our personal dramas are a great deal more consuming
than fiction, after all, we need to fine tune our standing within
relationships, groups, companies, cities, societies etc. We need to make
decisions and take actions. But a substantial source of understanding
of these groups and societies is found in fiction. <br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Individuals have dealt with the same issues, in this same way, in
every culture since we first built a fire to sit around at night. And every
society, no matter the separation of time or distance, peopled their stories
with the same characters. When he developed his theory of collective
consciousness, KG Jung decided there were shared concepts, archetypes, from
which archetypal figures were drawn to represent humanity in every situation.
Archetypes themselves are not characters. They are elemental, parts of the personality
which are universal.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Very
briefly they are:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The self </span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">-- that is,
the identity itself, you as you really are. <br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The shadow</b> – your deeper side, the
parts of your mind which you do not always recognize, but which affect and
direct thought and action. <br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The persona </b>– the mask we wear – the
face we put forward as acceptable in public. <br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The anima</b> – femininity including
female in the male personality. <br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The animus</b> – masculinity including
male in the female personality.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">These universal concepts are illustrated by
groups of archetypal figures, again theoretically recognizable to all
societies. They number into their thousands as they appear in response to problems
or events, but again, there are some basics:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The father:</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">
Authority figure, stern, powerful, the king.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The hero:</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">
Champion, defender, rescuer.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The
youth</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">:
The arrogant, the beautiful, the angsty and overconfident.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The child:</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">
Longing for innocence, rebirth, salvation.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The mother:</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">
Nurturing, comforting, queen.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The maiden:</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">
Innocence, desire, purity.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The helper [sage/hag]:</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">
Guidance, knowledge, wisdom.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The whore:</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">
Manipulator of weakness in strong men.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The trickster:</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">
Deceiver, liar, trouble-maker.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The twin:</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> Duality, the double, the paradox of good and evil
in one.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The underdog:</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> Beset
by tribulations, succeeds to learn life lessons.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The
poet:</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">
Artistic expression, creativity.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">When
these archetypal figures are placed into a story world of archetypal themes and
events – birth, death, marriage, conflict, creation, destruction, separation,
initiation, etc, experiences recognized by all people - their potential to
express and explain the human experience becomes limitless.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Before
the advent of novels, mythology and folklore were our source of entertainment
and education. The ancient pantheons are excellent illustrators of the
principles of universal archetypes. All over the world people told and retold
stories about the exploits of their gods, each god a complex mixture of
archetypal figures moving through epic adventures and magical landscapes. In
very different cultures the same gods with different names were having the same
adventures and learning the same lessons. When morals were introduced, stories
became fables and parables to guide and correct the masses. These ‘fictions’
helped make sense of the world.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Long
after their respective twilights, these old gods delivered their burden of
human experience to new audiences as they were Christianized, and on into
schools and universities where the classics were studied and their life lessons
examined. Their tales were drawn upon and modified by Shakespeare and Chaucer
and alike, their character traits and their exploits retold in play and poem,
with new names and updated circumstances.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">They
remain popular today.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Their
stories describe fundamental truths that are not eroded by time or scientific
advancement. For all we have learned, deep in our hearts and minds we are not
so far from the cave’s fire pit; we remember the village hearth; we still carry
the mythology and superstitious awe of what lies over the horizon.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">With
the advent of the novel, a change did take place in the telling of stories.
Those archetypal characters still moved through landscapes, but their primary
function was no longer to educate. All that was necessary from a novel, right
from their earliest days, was to entertain.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Heroes
and villains in novels moved steadily closer to normality. Everyday people took
lead roles away from gods and kings; the adventures they shared became far more
mundane. Supernatural abilities became less likely to be the solution to the
ills of society. They still carried those archetypal characteristics which are
and were recognized universally, but they demonstrated a more natural blend of
traits and their actions began to more closely resemble the everyday.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">That
is when, I think, stories moved from the examination of archetypes, in all their
godly full expression, toward ectypes or stereotypes. Stereotypes fulfill the
same role, providing instant recognition of a host of unstated characteristics,
but they are toned down. They can be just as difficult to believe, but we know
them, and accept them, and will often allow them to fill our pages because we
are so familiar with them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">So
next week, I will have a chat about stereotypes. Whenever we have a favorite
genre, you can rest assured there is a set of stereotypes we enjoy following. I
wonder; if they are so frowned upon in literature, why do they remain so
popular?</span></div>
<br />
. </div>
Letitia Coynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441648447041629690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251496679508246814.post-72569169409681737662012-03-15T01:01:00.000-07:002019-04-13T02:41:47.189-07:00VALIDATION.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
.<br />
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<br />
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He crouched in the shadows, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Hands over his ears, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mumbling prayers.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
No one hears me, he said. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
No one sees me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
No one comes,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
No one goes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Come closer, I said.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Stand in the light.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He fell to his knees,</div>
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Rent his shirt and tore his hair</div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Then shaken,</div>
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Tortured,</div>
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He screamed for the crowds behind.</div>
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FUCK OFF!</div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>See how they exploit
me.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Lxx </div>
</div>
Letitia Coynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441648447041629690noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251496679508246814.post-15998644331632376852012-03-04T04:42:00.001-08:002019-04-13T02:41:10.589-07:00TOUCHSTONE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2>
</h2>
When war is all you’ve ever known, the promise of peace is more terrifying than any battle.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBDQ4b9X6Dv8aDVupu0VnF9AhPlimbKeysTsem3waxkamhRBlMHCHB-PoOmXpMZF2F_a9ulcG6ZvqLSBYphyphenhyphenSx6crHNhYN4VeYC4rgdaT9M3lCazslWvqq1PSuHmzZM6aUYbdbPw5smJ4/s1600/touchstone-600.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBDQ4b9X6Dv8aDVupu0VnF9AhPlimbKeysTsem3waxkamhRBlMHCHB-PoOmXpMZF2F_a9ulcG6ZvqLSBYphyphenhyphenSx6crHNhYN4VeYC4rgdaT9M3lCazslWvqq1PSuHmzZM6aUYbdbPw5smJ4/s400/touchstone-600.png" width="250" /></a></div>
<br />
For Freya, there is no life worth remembering before the army, and
none worth imagining after. Born to the lowest caste of a brutally
bigoted society, she’s found no more horror on the battlefield than she
knew on the streets.<br />
<br />
And she’s earned a lot more respect with a sword in her hand.<br />
<br />
As a young man, Dragan was blooded on the rush of adrenaline and
sated by the euphoria of victory. With Freya beside him as his partner,
he was indestructible. But age and mortality are gaining ground, and
cracks have started to appear.<br />
<br />
He’s had fifteen years of war and he’s earned his retirement.<br />
<br />
Together they survived the war. But can they survive peace when it means different things to each of them?<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="buy">
<div id="buylink">
<b>Buy as eBook </b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007FJ1GJS" target="_blank"><b></b>Kindle</a> and <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/137589" target="_blank">Smashwords</a><br />
<br />
<b>Buy in Print </b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1926959205" target="_blank">Amazon.co.uk</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1926959205" target="_blank">Amazon.com</a> or <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/touchstone-letitia-coyne/1109161755?ean=9781926959207&itm=1&usri=978-1926959207" target="_blank">BN.com</a><br />
<br />
Well kiddies, it has begun. <a href="http://1889.ca/touchstone/">TOUCHSTONE</a> is alive and out free in the wild.<br />
<br />
To send it on its way, the lovely folks at <a href="http://1889.ca/">1889 Labs</a> have offered everyone the chance to win one of three free copies of the book. Pop on over to <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/21861-touchstone">Goodreads</a> and press 'Enter to Win' - so easy even I could do it and not get it wrong. Go and have a go. It's running all this month.<br />
<br />
Some very kind readers have already stopped by and taken the time to rate the story, many thanks to them. I read a book reviewer recently who, speaking of all digital fiction released outside the mainstream, said, "You can confidently disregard any 5star reviews. They have been given by the author or their family and friends, or at the request of the author, their family and friends." I'm sure it happens, but I can give my personal assurance that I have never voted up any of my stories, and I have never asked anyone to rate them. For what it's worth, that is my promise.<br />
<br />
Poor Freya, she really is out there now, with the whole world able to judge her choices. One reader asked me if Freya is a coward. I don't believe that she is. If she didn't want to die alone, I think she can be forgiven for that. <br />
<br />
I hope you will all read and enjoy.<br />
Lxx<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
Letitia Coynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441648447041629690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251496679508246814.post-33097862994124670232012-02-18T22:56:00.000-08:002019-04-13T02:39:43.756-07:00THE ANTITHESIS Book 3: Alpha<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5etQgqrBHC9Lbv8pkhMBfdJIZ0LDJ17cl6JXX9ZyIXPG5rWGiklE0QPooE9lZ6ErOzJqSObMHCIBVxPTAVHq_niNt-CSO6DRQxarX6LSYV-7cpKkgTyIOcYpEifm9iK6e1HZwkXtcg-Y/s1600/antithesis3a-240.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5etQgqrBHC9Lbv8pkhMBfdJIZ0LDJ17cl6JXX9ZyIXPG5rWGiklE0QPooE9lZ6ErOzJqSObMHCIBVxPTAVHq_niNt-CSO6DRQxarX6LSYV-7cpKkgTyIOcYpEifm9iK6e1HZwkXtcg-Y/s320/antithesis3a-240.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<h1 style="margin-bottom: 0px;">
</h1>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Courtesy of <a href="http://1889.ca/">1889 Labs</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<i>This is a story about God and the Devil, but not how you were taught to believe.</i><br />
<i>
This is also a story about love and hate, and the suffering both can bring.<br />
This is about rights and wrongs, and all of the spaces in between.<br />
This is about revenge, courage, death, passion; with no villains, no heroes... only those left scorned.<br />
This is a story about Heaven, Hell, and the Jury that holds them together.<br />
</i><i>This is The Antithesis.</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="by">
By Terra Whiteman</div>
Edited by AM Harte<br />
Creative Commons NC-SA License<br />
<br />
<br />
A storm has swept across The Atrium; one that brings famine, fear and
the desperation of survival. Hell has declared war on Heaven.<br />
Qaira Eltruan has returned; chaotic, furious, and looking to take
revenge on all those who have scorned him. But he soon discovers that
his trials and tribulations are far from over. It will take both the
cooperation of past foes and the help of new allies to achieve the
annihilation of his new arch enemy; the only one who could ultimately
destroy everything he’s ever held dear…<br />
Oraniquitis Loren, the Scarlet Queen.<br />
<br />
<b>Other titles in the series:</b><br />
<a href="http://1889.ca/antithesis/">The Antithesis</a><br />
<a href="http://1889.ca/antithesis2a/">The Antithesis Book 2: Alpha</a><br />
<a href="http://1889.ca/antithesis2b/">The Antithesis Book 2: Beta</a><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7XIruZbtch6nhBkPbOJZLyKHy-OZJCNT42uBCMf47bdk9R7QvjGRiRhSxef8WFjYlFLp-bu6uoPdw8daPLRq_rbBL2VKQkxaDZoyuCTLp4hyphenhyphenKnuxyYhvayE1lAkEXGct7vtfvdHzE9Z8/s1600/terrawhiteman-200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7XIruZbtch6nhBkPbOJZLyKHy-OZJCNT42uBCMf47bdk9R7QvjGRiRhSxef8WFjYlFLp-bu6uoPdw8daPLRq_rbBL2VKQkxaDZoyuCTLp4hyphenhyphenKnuxyYhvayE1lAkEXGct7vtfvdHzE9Z8/s200/terrawhiteman-200.jpg" width="168" /></a></div>
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<br />
Terra Whiteman is a scientist by profession, a philosopher by hobby, and author of 'The Antithesis'.<br />
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<b>REVIEWS </b></div>
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<i>“What I like about [The Antithesis] is
its moral ambiguity. Heaven and Hell, angels and demons can’t be
categorised as good and evil. If anything you’re much more likely to
sympathise with the demons, in the same way that you would sympathise
with Satan as he’s portrayed in Paradise Lost.”</i></div>
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— Violin in a Void</div>
<br />
<i>“Whiteman displays her talents as a writer able to weave
politics, science, philosophy, personal growth and human relationships
together in a way that leaves the reader wanting more than we could
possibly ask of the author. While some mainstream writers and publishers
are content to rehash and rewrite, Terra Whiteman is creating the most
original story I have read in years.”</i><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
— Amazon Reviewer</div>
<br />
<i>“Terra Whiteman’s vision of Heaven and Hell is so refreshingly
different from anything I have ever come across before, that I was
sold.”</i><br />
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—The Eloquent Page</div>
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Letitia Coynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441648447041629690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251496679508246814.post-7232578460029830832012-01-14T23:02:00.000-08:002019-04-13T01:18:10.656-07:00Ventricle, Atrium<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Courtesy of <a href="http://1889.ca/">1889 Labs</a>.<br />
<br />
In July of 2011, Gabriel Gadfly released his first book, <i>Bone Fragments</i>, a poetry collection revolving around war, love and loss. Following on from his great success there, his newest book, <a href="http://1889.ca/2012/01/love-passion-and-poetry-an-1889-labs-gadfly-interview/"><i>Ventricle, Atrium</i></a> has just hit stores, available in both print and e-book.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilyDkRqGx2ycpnGFw6QwGbU_xFc49LB5JN3lawGefaNr6kUhyphenhyphenB4EQAuhDS_rsbGPqLddSB4waGEAUTNNWyBmYQRiQY5mI7kaaAAnE1KgvvkUlv5yEYdQtAj_Rnq66gyBj2oURQp4YHKNc/s1600/gabriel_gadfly1-225x300.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilyDkRqGx2ycpnGFw6QwGbU_xFc49LB5JN3lawGefaNr6kUhyphenhyphenB4EQAuhDS_rsbGPqLddSB4waGEAUTNNWyBmYQRiQY5mI7kaaAAnE1KgvvkUlv5yEYdQtAj_Rnq66gyBj2oURQp4YHKNc/s1600/gabriel_gadfly1-225x300.png" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1889.ca/nx/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/gabriel_gadfly.png"><br />
</a><i style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;"></i><br />
<i>Love is in the details.</i><br />
<i><a href="http://1889.ca/nx/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/ventricle-3001.png"><br />
</a>In the fingers finding a hand in the dark. In the stretch and curve of a spine. In goosebumped shoulders and the taste of skin.</i><br />
<i>Gabriel Gadfly’s much anticipated second anthology is a vivid and
tender tribute to the life cycle of love — the sex, the laughter, the
pain, the sweetness, the fear, the vacancy. Filled with yearning, this
arresting collection finds beauty in all that love has to offer, from
the mundane to the abstract.</i><br />
<i>With Ventricle, Atrium, Gabriel Gadfly explores love at all its
junctures, through sickness and health, in good times and in bad,
offering sharp and remarkably precise observations on the tiny,
all-important details of love.</i></div>
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<br />
<br />
Check this recent review:<br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://www.writersforum.org/first_draft/review_archives.html/article/2012/01/24/bone-fragments">Alabama Writers' Forum - Book Review</a></b>.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
It is a privilege to have this collection before us and to know its wise
interventions are still possible. Gabriel Gadfly honors the sacrifice
of the soldier and the artist in this fine book and somehow finds among
these bone fragments a coherent and compelling narrative to make them,
and us, whole again. <b>Feb. 2012</b></blockquote>
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<br /></div>
Letitia Coynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441648447041629690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251496679508246814.post-81940533819919296002012-01-10T22:28:00.002-08:002020-10-13T23:28:20.191-07:00WRITERS WRITE....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Everyone’s heard the joke about pressing the button harder when the remote
control won’t work. Everyone knows a sad irony of humanity is that when
something isn’t working,
<a
href="http://1889.ca/nx/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Writing-College-Essays1.jpg"
>
</a
>we do it again but with more determination. It has even been said, quite
rightly, that the definition of madness is to keep doing the same thing and
expecting a different result.<br />
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<span
class="Apple-style-span"
style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"
><a
href="http://1889.ca/nx/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Writing-College-Essays1.jpg"
style="color: #ff4b33; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5;"
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alt=""
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height="193"
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title="Writing-College-Essays"
width="248" /></a></span
><br />
I was thinking about that point as I worked on an essay about the relationship
between cumulative workplace stresses and post traumatic stress disorder for a
friend. I was midparagraph when I thought – I mustn’t forget to go through
[another friend]’s paper on obesity and jot the odd editorial comment as
promised. It would mean I could put off the mountain of paperwork involved in
arranging tertiary education for young adults in this country. I should also
have been giving some attention to the three [snail mail] letters I needed to
write at the end of last year, [before Dec 15<sup>th</sup>, actually.] Plus, I
have a number of arrangements with various social and medical support
organizations that I really should be getting written up….<br />
<br />
That’s when I decided to write this column.<br />
<br />
Despite appearances, it isn’t about procrastination. It’s about writing.<br />
<br />
Writers write. I’ve always written, but my <i>dream</i> dream, the really big
one I’ve always had from the time I was four, was to be on the stage. I even
did some amateur leads as a youngster. The trouble is I’m not much of a
self-starter. I’m always doing things, nonstop in fact, but rarely ever
because I wake up and say, “I’m going to do THIS today.” I’m more like the
Buddhist pebble that doesn’t move, and yet is carried across the country by
the water rushing around it. [<a
href="http://1889.ca/2012/01/writers-write-what-they-write/"
>Read more.</a
>]
</div>
<br />
I wrote what and when we were told to write at school. Compositions, they were called initially. Then they were Creative Writing. Various teachers in various years took various pieces and submitted them to school magazines and local, small-town goings-on. Only one teacher, in my senior year, said, “I’m casting the senior play, and I want you for this role.” Fate took the lead; I said no. Another teacher recommended a writing course at college, just part-time, a time-filler. The tutor on that first course, said, “Pssst. XYZ Publishers are looking for new authors, 95000 words. I’ve given them your name. Can you get a manuscript to them before February?” Yes, of course I could, and so it began.<br />
<br />
I formed and followed a sound rationalization from that point on. I’d get a significant publishing history behind me and then I could write exactly what I wanted to write. No more guidelines. No more formulas. No more OTT submissions. And sound it is. You can make money from the ephemera at the edges of the acceptable literary world. Sometimes you can even give up your day job, but that’s only so you can write what has been requested. It’s a living as long as you keep writing dimestore novellas to specification. I was still just writing what and when I was told to.<br />
<br />
But one day, one fine day, boy oh boy, one day, there’d be time and money enough to do the research and weave the threads of the Great Work-of-Art Novel into reality. One day I’d have the freedom to write the trilogy that I’ve kept in my head: meticulously researched, beautifully crafted, and artfully literary; a good yarn with a soul-deep resonance for the as yet unmet masses.
One day.<br />
<br />
I spoke to an agent about the project, prematurely I must admit. It was still only forty-five chapters of synopsis, with a one hundred page opening. I suddenly realized I was on the spot, but the spot was more than a little bit shaky. See, as I had to sheepishly explain to her, there was easily two years in research and writing to get up a decent first draft of the first book. Not good. <br />
<br />
She had an idea. What if I cut the anthropological detail; what if all the myth cycles and local dialects and seasonal nuances were just sort of smudged over? Just write the story without the depth I had imagined. Maybe even as one book? Three hundred thousand words, not a million.<br />
<br />
Luckily, I was having a break from the world at the time and doing something I thought I’d never do - I was reviewing some novels. One had enormous potential. It was really well written, it was a huge apocalyptic tale, but the author had been lazy or rushed or something. He’d brushed over important details. He’d made excuses for his characters and used low plot devices to save himself the effort of actually knowing his story. In my view he’d taken all the potential of his great and glorious story and pissed them against a wall – for reasons of his own. Maybe he’d been advised to cut it down?
Seeing that wasted potential, seeing more and more brilliance being written online, much of it being totally ignored, seeing myself still tumbling down the riverbed under the impetus of some blind goddesses, recognizing the ‘there but by the grace of God go I’ in the novel I’d reviewed, all made me realize the awful truth about writing. Writers write. <br />
<br />
Yes, we all know that. This was more profound still. <br />
<br />
Writers write what they write.<br />
<br />
I don’t care what they write. I say that all the time, I know. I don’t believe genre or category fiction is a poor cousin cast outside the wall’ed city of literature. Storytelling is the fundamental art; whether it’s done through poetry, epic or haiku; or poetic prose, with well turned phrases and cryptic insider nods to classic references; or in graphic ink slashes or calm and beautiful watercolours; or in simplistic Dick and Dora text that speaks to the less literary focused readers. I just don’t care. The art is in getting the art right.<br />
<br />
What I think matters is that I deceived myself. I told myself that if I spent thirty years writing the sort of stories that are published through the pulp mills and magazines, then the day would come when I’d suddenly stop doing that and become a different kind of writer all together. Okay, maybe I never thought I’d still be whistling with my hands in my pockets and going wherever the wind or the spirit took me all this time later, but I’m not sure it matters. You learn to do what you practice doing.<br />
<br />
Writers write what they write.<br />
<br />
If you have a vision of where you want to be and what you want from your writing, you really need to be able to critically evaluate what it is you write. If you are not writing what you love – however sound your reasoning is – you had better also critically evaluate what all your practice is going to teach you. I know I am not alone in my misapprehension. Most of you will know someone who speaks of their work as if they are Nureyev crossing the stage on point, when clearly they are Chuck Norris walking nonchalantly away from the Big Bang. <br />
<br />
Also, I find a dichotomy in the writing world. I meet those who are infinitely self assured, convinced of their aptitude and brilliance and able to ignore any suggestion to the contrary, and I meet those who have no confidence in what they put forward, and no amount of praise will fill the anxious pit in their stomachs. Simple relativism tells us a large percentage of both groups will be wrong. Are you critically aware of what it is you write? Do you hold yourself to a standard?<br />
<br />
There is an enormous freedom in writing and marketing on the WWW. I don’t think it is working particularly well for most writers for reasons I have discussed before on this blog. Do you want to make money? Do you want most to be read? Do you want to make it specifically to the New York lists? There are regional bestsellers that no one in NY has ever even heard of. Do you want to be famous? Develop a cult following, maybe?<br />
<br />
There isn’t a right or wrong choice, but my warning is to step out confidently - knowing that the road you choose to walk on will take you to the end of that road. It will not take you somewhere else. One day never comes, or at least, one road never turns out to be another road several blocks away.<br />
<br />
The good news is the lovely editors at 1889 Labs – who I can highly recommend as discerning souls of great taste and ability – suggested another course for my magnificent octopus [nod to Baldric]. Serial. And why not? Well then. Maybe. If I start writing again.<br />
<br />
Writers write, or they’re hobbyists.<br />
<br />
Writers write what they write.<br />
<br />
Smart writers write what they love.<br />
<br />
Letitia Coynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441648447041629690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251496679508246814.post-73752430242319747262012-01-09T22:58:00.000-08:002019-04-13T01:08:34.059-07:00GO OUT WITH A BANG.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Letitia Coynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441648447041629690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251496679508246814.post-14474227874811297702011-11-16T15:38:00.002-08:002020-10-13T20:41:36.018-07:00NURTURE YOUR BOOKS.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
. <br />
Help <a href="http://nurtureyourbooks.com/">Nurture Your Books</a> promote Global Literacy and enter free contests & giveaways — you could win some of the $8,500+ worth of Event-related prizes — there’s something for everyone!<br />
<br />
Look what you could win.
Each week through 2011, you will have the chance to win a barrow load of books. Many of them are from the writers at <b><a href="http://1889.ca/">1889 Labs</a></b> – and you couldn’t get a higher recommendation than that!!<br />
<br />
Want to read?<br />
<br />
Want to support global literacy?<br />
<br />
Want to win books?<br />
<br />
Why are you waiting?<br />
<br />
Get in there and tweet, like and share the competition details. While you are there, follow the blog tour and find even more fabulous authors to fill your Christmas stockings.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nurtureyourbooks.com/vbtblog/?p=3643">Giveaway Group 5 – Adult</a><br />
Nov 15th – 19th, 2011<br />
<br />
List of Prizes:<br />
5 ebook copies of <b>The App </b>by MCM<br />
20 ebook copies of <b>Fezariu’s Epiphany</b> by David M. Brown<br />
8 print copies of <b>Codex Nekromantia</b> by Greg X. Graves<br />
1 Handmade Bookmark<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nurtureyourbooks.com/vbtblog/?p=3635">Giveaway Group 6 – Young Adult</a><br />
Nov 18th – 23rd, 2011<br />
<br />
List of Prizes:<br />
5 ebook copies of<b> Bears, Recycling and Confusing Time Paradoxes</b> by Greg X. Graves<br />
5 ebook copies of <b>Face Off</b> by Stacy Juba<br />
5 ebook copies <b>Airel</b> by Aaron Patterson<br />
1 Literacy Necklace
1 Set of Book-Themed Magnets<br />
1 Dark Circle Series by Sheila Hendrix Mug with Key Fob<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nurtureyourbooks.com/vbtblog/?p=3627">Giveaway Group 8 – Young Adult</a><br />
Nov 22nd – 30th, 2011<br />
<br />
List of Prizes:<br />
50 ebook copies of <b>Out of Time</b> by Cliff Ball<br />
5 ebook copies of <b>Dustrunners: Typhoon </b>by MCM<br />
1 Dark Circle Series by Sheilia Hendrix Mug with Key Fob<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nurtureyourbooks.com/vbtblog/?p=3625">Giveaway Group 8 – Adult 1</a><br />
Nov 22nd – 30th, 2011<br />
<br />
List of Prizes:<br />
5 ebook copies of <b>Restless Highways</b> by Melissa L. Webb<br />
5 ebook copies of <b>Quarantine</b> by John Brinling<br />
5 ebook copies of <b>Hungry For You </b>by A.M. Harte<br />
1 print copy of <b>Pandora’s Nightmare, Horror Unleashed</b> edited by Jessica A. Weiss<br />
1 Handmade Bookmark
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nurtureyourbooks.com/vbtblog/?p=3623">Giveaway Group 8 – Adult</a><br />
Nov 22nd – 30th, 2011<br />
<br />
List of Prizes:<br />
8 print copies of <b>The Antithesis</b> by Terra Whiteman<br />
1 print copy of <b>Ransom, Give Me What I Want and I’ll Go Away (Maybe)</b> edited by Jessica A. Weiss<br />
1 print copy of <b>Love Kills: My Bloody Valentine </b>edited by Jessy Marie Roberts<br />
1 print copy of <b>The Bitter End: Tales of Nautical Terror</b> edited by Jessy Marie Roberts<br />
1 print copy of <b>Silver Moon, Bloody Bullets: An Anthology of Werewolf Tails</b> edited by Jessica A. Weiss<br />
1 $25 Electronic Amazon Gift Card from Nurture Your BOOKS™<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nurtureyourbooks.com/vbtblog/?p=3611">Giveaway Group 10 – Adult</a><br />
Dec 2nd – 7th, 2011<br />
<br />
List of Prizes:<br />
5 ebook copies of <b>Railroad! Volume One: Rodger Dodger</b> by Tonia Brown<br />
5 ebook copies of <b>Other Sides: 12 Webfiction Tales</b> by A.M. Harte and Others<br />
5 ebook copies of <b>Figments </b>by Julie Elizabeth Powell – eBook Copy<br />
7 Print copies of <b>Bone Fragments</b> by Gabriel Gadfly<br />
1 Handmade Bookmark
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nurtureyourbooks.com/vbtblog/?p=3609">Giveaway Group 11 – Young Adult</a><br />
Dec 6th – 10th, 2011<br />
<br />
List of Prizes:<br />
50 ebook copies of <b>Shattered Earth</b> by Cliff Ball<br />
5 ebook copies of <b>Pestilence</b> by Gary Towner<br />
8 print copies of <b>Dustrunners: Typhoon</b> by MCM
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nurtureyourbooks.com/vbtblog/?p=3587">Giveaway Group 14 – Adult 2</a><br />
Dec 16th – 21st, 2011<br />
<br />
List of Prizes:<br />
5 ebook copies of <b>Bone Fragments</b> by Gabriel Gadfly<br />
1 ebook copy of <b>Fusion</b> by Maria Savva<br />
20 ebook copies of <b>Short Stories I – IV</b> by David M. Brown<br />
4 Signed Print copies of <b>Rhapsody for Lessons Learned or Remembered</b> by Georgia Ann Banks-Martin<br />
1 Handmade Bookmark
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nurtureyourbooks.com/vbtblog/?p=3575">Giveaway Group 16 – Young Adult</a><br />
Dec 23rd – 28th, 2011<br />
<br />
List of Prizes:<br />
5 ebook copies of <b>Vampire General: Intern with a Vampire</b> by Kit Iwasaki<br />
5 ebook copies of <b>Gone</b> by Julie Elizabeth Powell<br />
5 ebook copies of <b>In the Dead: Volume 1</b> by Jesse Petersen<br />
1 Dark Circle Series by Sheila Hendrix Mug with Key Fob<br />
1 Writing Pen<br />
1 Dark Circle Series by Sheila Hendrix T-Shirt – Size Large
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nurtureyourbooks.com/vbtblog/?p=3568">Giveaway Group 16 – Adult</a><br />
Dec 23rd – 28th, 2011<br />
<br />
List of Prizes:<br />
1 eBook Copy <b>The Dream</b> by Maria Savva<br />
5 ebook copies of <b>The New Real </b>by MCM<br />
5 ebook copies of <b>The Antithesis</b> by Terra Whiteman<br />
7 Print Copies of <b>Hungry For You </b>by A.M. Harte<br />
1 Literacy Bracelet<br />
<br />
But WAIT! There's more. For the full list of prizes, go <a href="http://nurtureyourbooks.com/vbtblog/giveaway-contest-details/">HERE!</a><br />
<br />
Enjoy!<br />
Lxx<br />
<br />
<br /></div>Letitia Coynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441648447041629690noreply@blogger.com2