Something to Brighten Your Monday Morning

It's Monday morning, and the first thing I do is scan the internet news. I don't watch TV news anymore. I swear the Houston stations lead off with dead baby stories EVERY FREAKIN' MORNING.

So I searched for a positive news story. Anything.

Allegedly, twenty members of Westboro Baptist Church were arrested by the West police when they tried to picket the funeral of the fire chief who died in the explosion two weeks ago. If you've ever dealt with small town Texas law enforcement, it's an easy story to believe. Maybe WBC believed the other stories about Texans love for their guns because they didn't show up in West.

Then I saw a story about new Peeps flavors being introduced this summer: Bubblegum and Lemonade. A portion of the sales will go to cancer research. Okay, a little more positive, but let's face it, the press release is glorified marketing. (It doesn't mean I won't try the lemonade ones!)

Finally, out of Georgia came the report that students from Wilcox County said, "NO!" to adults' continued efforts to segregate them. Even though segregation officially ended in 1964, parents raised private funds to hold two separate proms for the last fifty years. This year, the kids raised their own funds to hold their own integrated prom. Word got out through Facebook, and donations came from as far away as Austrailia. The kids' fundraising was so successful that they donated the excess funds to charity.

Damn, I want to adopt them all. Anyone who says kids today have no ethics or morals had better be wearing a sturdy athletic cup around me.

Songs I've Been Listening to a Lot Lately

Freddie Mercury was far from a pretender. He's a great performer and musician who's sorely missed.

The More Things Change, The More People Scream

What a week! The anxiety levels are rising again as the latest numbers come out, and e-books have taken over a significant chunk of the market. The range of responses has been amazing.

The funniest "news" was James Patterson's full-page ad in the New York Times, asking for government bail-outs for traditional publishers. Seriously? At a time when the Big 5 and 1/2 are making record profits?

The most misunderstood was Neil Gaiman's keynote address at the 2013 London Book Fair. In his speech, Neil freely admits that things are changing, no one (including him) knows how things will shake out, and now is the time for folks to experiment. Industry pundits are pissed because they sure as hell don't want to embrace the change. Writers are pissed because Neil's already made his millions.

Neil's comments on the backlash can be read on his blog. I suggest you listen to his speech and judge for yourself.




And the establishment's attitudes were not helped by this week's NYT Bestseller List. Yep, that right. Three of the top five are indie writers.

Things are changing, and this bickering is so 2011. Get over it.

How to Respond When Bigotry Hits the Streets

I admit when I heard about Brad Paisley's song Accidental Racist, I thought he was trying to be cute. And I REALLY wondered what was going through LL Cool J's head by participating on the record.

After listening to it, I think the song tried to bridge a gap, but it was rather sugar-coated. Both men could have gone farther in addressing the problem in the lyrics.

Because racism is a problem in this country. And it's becoming more and more obvious since President Obama was elected in 2008 when a great deal of festering ugliness exploded across the nation.

On last Thursday's Colbert Report, Stephen and guest Alan Cumming sang their own parody concerning homophobia.

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Did you laugh?

I laughed. I probably would have laughed harder if the parody wasn't in the coattails of nasty problems from last week.

One of the points of art is to get the human race to examine itself. One of the roles of artists is to ask the hard questions, to examine the things about ourselves we don't want to acknowledge.

As clumsy as Brad and LL's duet is, it has gotten people talking about stereotypes and judgments, on the internet and in real life. Maybe it will be the turning point in solving four hundred years of shit in this country.

I hope it is.

I really do.

No One Knows Nothing

There's a saying attributed to Socrates at the end of Plato's Republic. The actual quote can be translated as:

As for me, all I know is that I know nothing, for when I don't know what justice is, I'll hardly know whether it is a kind of virtue or not, or whether a person who has it is happy or unhappy.

On the other hand, "Nobody knows anything," has been attributed to Hollywood screenwriter William Goldman.

Both of these can be considered the source of this post's title.

The scary part is that I'm coming to the realization (finally) that one certain fact is true: no one on this planet has a clue. I don't mean all the crap last week with the Boston Marathon bombing, the ricin letters or the fertilizer plant explosion. In each of those cases, someone knew exactly what he/she was doing and didn't give a flying fuck who got hurt.

I'm referring to the so-called experts in writing. Writers, publishers, agents, editors. None of them know anything. Today, I'm picking on the writers.

I should consider myself fortunate. I've had people who I've considered brilliant help me in my writing career. Or tried to help me.

But the longer I've known these people, the more I realize they are repeating the same mantra: Do as I do and you will be as successful as I.

Unfortunately, the other side of that coin is: If you don't as I do, I will spit my god's wrath all over your face and shun you.

Yes, I could write romantic comedies until the end of time, but that not what I want to write. Yes, I could outline and organize and stick post-its all over my office walls, but I'd rather write by the seat of my pants. Yes, I could send in queries for the next twenty years, but that's not the type of validation I want.

And then reality smacks me in the head with an iron skillet. I do want validation. From my peers.

Except fellow writers don't consider me a peer because I don't follow their proscribed rules. Even the ones who claim they do not have rules HAVE RULES. Theirs just aren't the same as the majority's.

The realization that the writers who have tons more experience than me only understand their little corner of the universe is fucking depressing. It's like the moment you realize your parents aren't gods and they're human. It turns your world upside down.

Some people can't deal with that realization and retreat into old patterns. Some people avoid it and distance themselves from the situation. Some people, not a lot but a few, can gracefully make the transition.

Right now, I'm not sure in which category I'm going to end up.

Songs I've Been Listening to a Lot Lately

Am I the only one who can see Freddie Mercury and Elvis Presley dueting on this song?

Patience, My Writers, for Winter Is Coming...

Seventeen years ago, I was at a family wedding reception. My cousin Frank shoved a hardcover in my hands and said, "You have got to read this! You'll love it!"

Now, Frank and I were born literally sixty days apart. He's one of the very few people I trust when it comes to literature. Hell, he was the one who introduced me to the Uncanny X-Men when we were ten. If Frank says to read something, I read it.

The book Frank shoved into my hands at his brother's wedding reception? George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones.

While the orginal novel received excellent critical reviews, much love from the fantasy fanboys/girls and a Hugo award for Blood of the Dragon (Dany's chapters excised to form a novella), the rest of the world passed by this excellent book with nary a gasp.

With the success of Peter Jackson's movie adaptation of Lord of the Rings, rumors flew about a film version of A Game of Thrones. However, HBO required the rights in 2007 and decided to turn A Game of Thrones and its sequels into a series. The long-awaited series finally debuted in April 2011. Now, you can't avoid Game of Thrones merchandise everywhere you look.

What does the history of A Game of Thrones have to do with writers?

So many of us expect instant fame and fortune. However, Martin is a perfect example of an overnight success--one that was nearly twenty years in the making.

Don't go into this business wanting silver and gold dropped in your lap. Do it for the love of story.

George R.R. Martin has been a professional writer for forty-three years. A Game of Thrones wasn't a story that George slammed out because someone shoved a shitload of cash in his face. This was the project of his heart, the one he walked away from a successful Hollywood career to write.

One of my favorite sayings is from Marsha Sinetar. It's the title of one of her books. Do what you love and the money will follow.

Write the best book you can and make it available to readers. Don't fret because you're not an instant success. Just keep writing.

And remember! You're nobody's bitch.

This same process worked for George. It can work for you, too.

Hug Your Kids Today

Monday started off on such a good note, but by the time I got home from writing at the cafe, the news out of Boston was smeared across every news outlet. I told GK to expect lots of extra hugs for the next few days whether he liked it or not.

To the asswipe who thought blowing up a bunch of innocent people was cool: I'm not Christian, and my gods are not as kind and forgiving as as Jehovah. May Sekhmet hunt your cowardly form until the end of time. May she feast on your flesh and marrow. And when she's done with you, may Ammit devour your soul and your name forever forgotten. So mote it be.

It's Tax Day!

Why, yes, I am excited to write a check to the IRS this year! I made money on my books last year! Whoo-hoo!

The actual return was electronically filed a couple of weeks ago, but this morning I swung by the post office to drop the check in the mail. Then I hit Target because they're having an excellent sale on Pepsi products. (Pepsi Max is my only vice besides chocolate.)

Now, I'm sitting in the Barnes & Noble cafe, trying to wrap up a few projects.

For example, I'm posting chapters of Blood Sacrifice over at my Blood Lines blog. Chapter Two went live this morning. (Hit the link for Blood Lines under My Blog List over on the right if you're curious.)

Between working on that, I've got edits on my Super Secret traditional submission and the last couple of pages of Alter Ego's last book in her first series to write.

All-in-all, this is a damn good Monday morning!

Songs I've Been Listening to a Lot Lately

How can you not be moved be such a planative plea?