tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-269744922024-03-18T16:42:37.528-04:00alien romancesA by-invitation group blog for busy authors of SFR, Futuristic, or Paranormal romances in which at least one protagonist is an alien, or of alien ancestry.Rowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.comBlogger2992125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-17841301515495785142024-03-17T09:04:00.001-04:002024-03-17T09:04:25.572-04:00Before I Eat Snakes... (Mad Cow and Me)<p>The Red Cross won't take my blood. No matter how overdrawn the blood banks are, some blood is just too muddy to be accepted as a donation to those who desperately need a transfusion.</p><p>As you might infer, my post today is an opinion piece, anecdotal, unscientific and bordering on a rant... and inspired by some of the legal blogs I've read this week about "Green-washing" in advertising.</p><p>One such blog is by <a href="https://quicktakes.loeb.com/u/102igw1/david-mallen">David Mallen</a> of the law firm <a href="https://www.loeb.com/en">Loeb & Loeb LLP</a>, and appears to discuss one State's objections to bovine flatulence and the claims of a farming enterprise that they are going to reduce their greenhouse gas footprint to net zero, or some such thing.<br /></p><p><a href="https://quicktakes.loeb.com/post/102j2cu/advertising-aspirations-for-reducing-environmental-impact-invites-charges-of-gree#page=1">https://quicktakes.loeb.com/post/102j2cu/advertising-aspirations-for-reducing-environmental-impact-invites-charges-of-gree#page=1</a><br /></p><p>My understanding was that greenhouse gases were at a rather higher level when dinosaurs roamed the earth, ate massive quantities of vegetation or each other. In fact there is an article (by <a href="https://www.npr.org/people/348764934/eyder-peralta">Eyder Peralta) </a>that reports on an amusing theory that dinosaurs farted themselves to death. It seems apocryphal. It has been debunked.<br /></p><p><a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2012/05/07/152203680/scientists-estimate-dinosaurs-passed-enough-gas-to-warm-up-the-planet">https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2012/05/07/152203680/scientists-estimate-dinosaurs-passed-enough-gas-to-warm-up-the-planet</a><br /></p><p>Nevertheless, there was a virtuous cycle to Jurassic carbon levels. Plants grew faster in the presence of extra plant food (or carbon dioxide). See the <a href="https://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/project1532.html">science fair project</a> for proof.<br /></p><p>Maybe, instead of eating bugs and snakes, we should grow bumper crops of <a href="https://lettuceinfo.org/lettuce-nutrition/">lettuce</a>, and hardy and prolific <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9002813/">dandelions</a>, and <a href="https://nutritionconsabor.com/nopales-benefits/">cactus</a>. It could break "Big Pharma" because it could prevent a lot of very profitable lifestyle <a href="https://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/diet-tips/nopales-cactus-benefits">diseases and maladies</a>.<br /></p><p>The trouble with snakes is that they eat their own kind. They are cannibals, and the trouble with <a href="https://medium.com/counterarts/health-risks-of-cannibalism-ff5c0e92b7fb">cannibals</a> is that they go mad and die young. That is an over-generalization, of course. One example is KURU.<br /></p>There have been studies on the acquisition and grim progression of prion diseases, such as by Johns Hopkins:<a href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/prion-diseases">https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/prion-diseases</a><p>There is also a provocative study about the source of one of Americans' most favorite breakfast food. <a href="http://www.cresa.cat/blogs/sociedad/en/sobre-porcs-i-levolucio-dels-prions/">http://www.cresa.cat/blogs/sociedad/en/sobre-porcs-i-levolucio-dels-prions/</a></p><div style="text-align: left;">Unfortunately, pigs are omnivores, which means that they will eat their young, and others. The other possible reason that Leviticus banned the eating of pork is that they are vectors for human tape worms. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">The Bible also has something to say about eating snakes. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://evangelicalfocus.com/zoe/2165/eating-reptiles">https://evangelicalfocus.com/zoe/2165/eating-reptiles</a></div><p></p><p>So, before I eat snakes, I would turn vegetarian while I wait for at least a two-generational study of what becomes of snake-eaters over time. Maybe they could serve snake at Davos and Greenbriar, or, they could start by feeding <a href="https://libnews.umn.edu/2017/10/shakespearean-recipe-witchs-brew/">fillet of a fenny snake</a> to humanized <a href="https://www.taconic.com/resources/methods-generating-humanized-mice">mice</a>. </p><p>By the way, see the Comments on the Witches Brew, the comments are (IMHO) better than the commentary, but I used the link for the quote from The Scottish Play.<br /></p><div style="text-align: left;">As for my blood, it might have 50-year old prions in it, still, from the possibility that I might have consumed a portion of a cow that had been fed the unnatural diet of feed enriched with Scrapie-infected sheep bits and bobs.<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bovine_spongiform_encephalopathy">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bovine_spongiform_encephalopathy </a></div><div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Obviously, that is ridiculous (about Mad Cow Disease and me), but my reservations about snakes in my diet, even if they really do taste like chicken (and they say that about alligator tail, too) is reasonable, look what a witches' brew they are of diseases:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/reptiles/viral-diseases-of-reptiles">https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/reptiles/viral-diseases-of-reptiles </a><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p>All the best,</p><p>Rowena Cherry</p><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">SPACE SNARK™ </span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.spacesnark.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.spacesnark.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">SPACE </span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.spacesnark.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.spacesnark.com/<span class="ydp9e4f2313yiv1744657850Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></a> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><a href="http://www.rowenacherry.com"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="ydp9e4f2313yiv1744657850Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;"><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: midnightblue;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.rowenacherry.com</span></span></span></span></span></span></a></div><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
<a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/rowena+cherry" target="_blank" rel="tag" title="Link to Technorati Tag category for rowena cherry">rowena cherry</a></div>RowenaBCherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14826977922522817547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-77712822393768244742024-03-15T07:00:00.001-04:002024-03-15T07:00:00.143-04:00Karen S. Wiesner: Oldies But Goodies {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: The Host by Stephenie Meyer<p><br /></p><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Oldies But Goodies<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">{Put This One on Your TBR List} <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Book Review: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Host </i>by
Stephenie Meyer<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">by Karen S. Wiesner</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">After I finished my last
writing reference, I'd started to hear about what I thought was a "flavor
of the day" trend going around writing circles. In direct opposition of
everything I'd ever taught about the crucial need to go deep with characters,
writers were being told that it's best not to include more than basic
information about main characters, not even providing last names for them--this
supposedly allows readers to fill in the blanks with their own details, making
the characters whatever they wanted them to be.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">I can't impart to you just how
much I disliked that idea then, and how much I hate it now. First, my
characters don't belong to readers. They belong to me. And, since they're mine,
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I</i> choose who they are and what they
stand for, what choices they make. It's inconceivable to me that any writer
would surrender proprietary rights of character development to readers, that author's
don't care enough about every aspect of their stories and craft to protect them
from poking and prodding, breaches and violations. Beyond that, how can
character development be fluid enough to allow something like that without
compromising everything vital in a story? There can be no solid ground in that
situation.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Individual character choices
directly influence outcomes. That's a no brainer. Logically, if a character
isn't well defined, motives and purposes are constantly in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">question</i> as well as in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">flux</i>.
Additionally, if readers can't understand where the characters are coming from,
then how can the story make any kind of sense?</span></span><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;">Ultimately, how can readers
root for characters and want them to succeed? They can't. Readers not emotionally
invested enough to, frankly my dear, give a damn what happens move on,
unimpressed. Don't kid yourself: A story without impact is quickly forgotten.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Unfortunately, what I thought
was a trend that would come and go quickly ended up becoming the norm in the
last few years. So many of the books I read these days, the films and TV shows
I watch have characters that just make no impact on me whatsoever. Even if I'm
captured by a plot, the imbalance of bad things happening to unformed lumps of
clay that haven't bothered trying to convince me to care…well, what can I say?
I'm not moved. There's more of an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">eh, so
what?</i> response while I move on and I <u>don't</u> <u>look</u> <u>back</u>.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">This really came home to me
recently. I watched the science fiction suspense movie called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I.S.S.</i> and, later, someone asked me how
it was. My response? "It was good with a compelling plot, but I never
learned much of anything about the characters involved in the conflict. Bits
here and there." At the end of the movie, the survivors had a short
conversation, to the effect of: <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">#1: "Where
are we going?" <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">#2: "I
don't know." <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">My brain
reacted to this with a sum up with, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Who
cares? <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">I was barely
curious about what might happen next, though normally I hate stories that end
on a cliffhanger. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">I can't help
feeling about this and other stories like it, what a waste. This film could
have been so much better, so much more memorable if only the writers cared
enough to make us care. Another forgettable installment that'll fall by the
wayside instead of resonating with people for longer than the one hour and
thirty-five minutes it took to watch it.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">For at least the past year,
I've found myself much less interested than usual in reading anything new
because it's such a rare thing now to find something with a good balance of
character and plot development. In my mind, both are required if I'm going to
invest myself emotionally, physically, and financially. So I've been re-reading
books from my huge personal library that I liked enough to put on my keeper
shelves in the past. Over the next month or two, I thought I'd revisit a few of
these oldies but goodies with reviews.</span></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2544" data-original-width="1642" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpDlBIgOkLjXKdfs6x2d8qyO3WY8j8q22D0Xu-eS0f_y7VvQys2-MHYOQfH8do5BsiS4sVL9eNXAh-25z4eI7FuubzPTkzma8ec134tIOJfNk2nXcc-Z0CEVdhqNRz4bICnrDXOzKxfKil6fW1VKx5UdriAwEJYi2g7Ox-ClxskpA7FAZ0UKlC/s320/the-host.jpg" width="207" /></div>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Host</i> was the first new
work by Stephenie Meyer after the Twilight Saga reached its pinnacle. Published
in 2008, the romantic science fiction tells the tale of Earth being invaded by
an enemy species in a post-apocalyptic time. A "Soul" from this
parasitic alien race is implanted into a human host body. In the process, the
original owner loses all memories, knowledge, even the awareness that any other
consciousness ever existed. However, one Soul, called Wanderer (or Wanda),
quickly realizes its original host won't be so easily subdued. Melanie Stryder
is alive and well and begins communicating with Wanda. Like it or not, Wanda
begins to sympathize and realize the violation her species has visited upon
humans. The movie adaptation in 2013 was faithful to the story told in the
book. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><br />
It's never easy for an author that reached the heights of fame Stephenie Meyer
did when Twilight fever swept the world to move past such an epoch. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Guardian</i> reviewer Keith Brooke,
unfairly I think, said of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Host</i>,
"The novel works well, and will appeal to fans of…Twilight…but it is
little more than a half-decent doorstep-sized chunk of light
entertainment." <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Host</i> was
well-written and interesting, a solid balance between fully fleshed out
characters and conflicts. I enjoyed it. Its only real flaw was falling in the
shadow of its dazzlingly bright predecessor.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">The author has said she'd like to make this book into a trilogy, and in
February 2011, she reported she'd completed outlines for them, even done some
writing. Thirteen years later, the only non-Twilight related work from the
author has been <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Chemist</i>, released
in late 2016, a suspense story with no connection to her previous books.
Sometimes it's hard to return to things you've been away from for so long, they
no longer feel like your own. Maybe that's the case here, and if it is, luckily
the story contained in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Host</i> is
satisfying without requiring anything more to tie up loose threads.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Next week, I'll review another Oldie But Goodie you might also find worth
another read, too.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Karen Wiesner is an award-winning,
multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Visit her website here: </span><a href="https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">and </span><a href="https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Find out more about her books and see her art
here: </span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Visit her publisher here: </span><a href="https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><br /><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
<a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/rowena+cherry" target="_blank" rel="tag" title="Link to Technorati Tag category for rowena cherry">rowena cherry</a></div>Karen Wiesnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11851552710463232282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-48952283637054086562024-03-14T08:00:00.001-04:002024-03-14T08:00:00.339-04:00ICFA<p>Greetings from the International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts in Orlando. This year's theme is Whimsy. You can read about the annual conference here:</p>
<a href="https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/ICFA">ICFA</a>
<p>I'll report on it next week.</p>
<p>Margaret L. Carter</p>
<p>Please explore love among the monsters at <a href="http://www.margaretlcarter.com">Carter's Crypt</a>.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
<a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/rowena+cherry" target="_blank" rel="tag" title="Link to Technorati Tag category for rowena cherry">rowena cherry</a></div>Margaret Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08293021955480708191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-39065748376778422592024-03-08T07:00:00.001-05:002024-03-08T07:00:00.134-05:00Karen S. Wiesner: The Hit List: Young Adult Series Favorites {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: The Maze Runner Series by James Dashner<p><br /></p><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">The Hit List: Young Adult Series Favorites<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">{Put This One on Your TBR List} <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Book Review: The Maze Runner Series<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>by James Dashner<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">by Karen S. Wiesner</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">In the first half of the 2000s, Young Adult series were all the rage,
dominating the attention of teenagers and adults alike. Several that became
household topics at the height of their popularity, enjoying fame as both book
and movie series, seem to have fallen by the wayside since. Even still, I find
many of those unique tales are well worth returning to for a fresh perspective.
Over the next month or two, I thought I'd revisit a few series that would make
any hit list of past favorites.</span></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="888" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih8Ep55eMW7imgaRbwo2MfDM8abuqjO4NEuVoBAzcEbYpw2urBjAmtK-9Ma_G7WNCrsWh1YTOYsQ04QuJBNyGL0909q83kCHv2sqAY0wNWksz8oyIAlg_xpCy2jHomo0-mPMCIaTY4O_X12kRf41dGRnCGGXCDjVhZIG3pf2rcY_4HvsyR3CG6/s320/MazeRunner.jpg" width="237" /></div>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Although this series has been around a long time and, if people wanted
to read it, they probably already have, in fairness, I'm including this
disclaimer because some of the newer entries in the series might be unfamiliar
to readers who may want to read them first: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Warning!
Spoilers!</i></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">I'm not actually sure I remember what made me pick up this series in the
first place, but the situation in the first story is very compelling. A group
of teenage boys find themselves in a place they call the Glade. None of them
can remember how they got there or who they are. Together, they work to make a
life for themselves while trapped within four large doors--the Maze. The doors
open every morning and close at sundown. These walls they live within change
constantly, but there's a pattern to them that the "maze runners"
have discovered. Those designated runners venture into the maze every day in
order to map it, find a pattern to its workings, and ultimately to find a way
to escape. Life in the Glade would otherwise be peaceful and quiet, other than
the biomechanical creatures that come out of the maze and kill some of them.
Each of these beetles has the word "WICKED" stamped on it. None of
them know what it means. Newt is one of the most beloved leaders of the group.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">One day, a teenage boy arrives in the Glade, and he's not alone. A
girl--the first--emerges with him. The boy is dubbed Thomas, and his curiosity
and need to understand what's happening is without limit. When he's the first
to survive a night in the maze, several of them agree to support his quest to
find a way out, including Newt.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">The second book continues where the first left off. Having escaped the
maze was only the beginning of understanding. WICKED is a militant
organization, and the survivors are forced to undergo "the Scorch
Trials"--crossing a barren wasteland populated with humans being consumed
by an infection (the Flare) that pretty much makes them zombies. In this
series, zombies are called cranks.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">The third book sees the group become prisoners of WICKED. They learn
that WICKED's goal has been to find a cure for the Flare--to that end, using
those with natural resistance to it, namely children, as test subjects. The
friends have heard of a resistance movement fighting WICKED, and it may be
their only hope for survival.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">All three of these initial books were made into faithful movie
adaptations that were as enjoyable as the books themselves were. Despite
finding myself embarrassed by some of the silly language the boys came up with
while living in the Glade, I can find no fault with any of these stories.
Standout characters were Newt, Thomas, and Chuck in the first book, Newt and
Thomas in the second, and Brenda in the third.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">The trilogy was followed with a book called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Kill Order</i>, which was a prequel story, showing what happened in
the world leading up to the Flare and how WICKED conceived its diabolical plans
to discover a cure using their youth, morality be damned.</span></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1003" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpEOUbuKh_TGxkJGfLWjA6Izjen-gX2631f34EY6wOiZ6PEd4F9XsLN-XY9ZyxJE0o3Fn4o47PeaYmTn60W659M0-lV-v_EojF0P272GwG9RQObBCveASW69tnNvRwMbiaNr0xzHn8oQCRx-eUOPP4cqqzncetBBrS0p9cjbW5xMwV45AMyo9O/s320/FeverCode.jpg" width="214" /></div>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">A fifth book was released later, and it was another prequel, set between
the events of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Kill Order</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Maze Runner</i>. The primary focus of
the book is on the relations between the Gladers before Thomas was sent to
them. I kind of got out of the series after the third book and so never read
the two prequels, though I do plan to seek them out and read them sooner or
later. However, when the novella "Crank Palace" was released, I did
get back into it because Newt was a favorite character of mine, and this is his
story, taking place during the events of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Death Cure</i>. Within that story, Newt had contracted the Flare and had to
leave his friends because it was the only way to protect them from himself.
What happened to him after that as he tried to make amends for what he
considered his sins is contained in this little book. I'd like to tell you I
loved it, but honestly it just didn't quite have the same intrigue as the
previous three books, not even with Newt as the lead character. It was good,
just not great, and I'm not sure the story really needed to be told. Even
without the novella, I'd already assumed everything he did with these pages was
what he intended to do when he left the group.</span></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="938" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCKsHRRuZTjaCRUb9v7Mgm9UqkvVgMye5NSBdcfQyZrXmOXbWUxiUfjWspBQFYoVk-J8r0JOmsWQ2R-9JDEt3tWkAfzK6bH2BkTrZyTmHRNBJ5AlEjG8j1r0F_0lm-noF0wWqsnAouqKIj22v4Wz_dLjACTky05qmnmkE-focLp0NZcMuTalqm/s320/crankpalace.jpg" width="200" /></div>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">In the process of researching for this review, I found out that the
author wrote what might be deemed a spin-off series called Maze Cutter. The
first book with the same name is set 73 years after the events of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Death Cure</i>. Thomas and the others
immune to the Flare are sent to an island, where they and their descendants
find a new life. Then one day a woman shows up in a boat and tells them the
rest of civilization hasn't fared so well. The opposite, in fact. Another
corporation with crazy scientists and hidden agendas has risen and threatens
the future. The islanders feel compelled to help. There are two books available
with a third (and final) on the way soon. I intend to pick them up at the first
available opportunity and see what's happening in this intriguing world. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="940" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHc-ckE9Zb-eWOgQlqUuB1V2VISqLJRM4aGcZps9y7FmbUPd6to7oH2hkUEcSt3C70hO79pT_qLQdyf3KCd5shmLyER5Bp1P9IqYYbQkVojTqZOuNhUKq0w3hRGsaL5Za2846f3bBsbmmtUhin-Z5ag87D7x0JJF8QfmoZ16n1bVgrzVchXxmb/s320/mazecutter.jpg" width="201" /> <img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="940" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFhnDTe8dSEfzxGw-ZRkU4VgeYbCo9LbRd-EXNWHY4IS3ECKFuJq9Q9Ij_TNOsmfmyTKSaHfyWiJgNl6W1c-6t3bwvVIpddbNpwuvq-oaroLkTsnG8Kyv0ItFz1YkSWcG625hgq5_h1Jfis84yGsKnCNIp-9IC7TFFcR9f2MNMzI_0P9AUpeJL/s320/godheadcomplex.jpg" width="201" /> </span></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Ultimately, I recommend this series as some of the best young adult dystopian
fiction available, especially when it comes to zombie and apocalypse stories.
The twists and turns are constant, and you never know what the next surprise
might be from one page to the next. Each story is filled with characters worth
rooting for--and worth allowing them the chance to explain the decisions they've
made. Given that I had such trouble putting the first three books down, I think
it's time to get back into the series and catch up with the new offerings.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre
author of over 150 titles and 16 series. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Visit her website here: </span><a href="https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">and </span><a href="https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Find out more about her books and see her art
here: </span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Visit her publisher here: </span><a href="https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><br /><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
<a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/rowena+cherry" target="_blank" rel="tag" title="Link to Technorati Tag category for rowena cherry">rowena cherry</a></div>Karen Wiesnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11851552710463232282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-18583266192856399352024-03-07T08:00:00.004-05:002024-03-07T08:00:00.138-05:00Misunderstood Archaisms<p>Confronted with yet another stretch of several rainy days in a row, I'm reminded of the passage in the New Testament that illustrates divine impartiality with the statement that God sends rain equally on the just and unjust. We residents of the often waterlogged east coast of North America could be inclined to think the rain falls as a punishment, as in this humorous verse:</p>
<p>"The rain it raineth every day</p>
<p>Upon the just and unjust fella,</p>
<p>But more upon the just because</p>
<p>The unjust hath the just's umbrella."</p>
<p>On the contrary, though, in the arid Middle East of the original quotation rain comes as a welcome gift.</p>
<p>We often hear about people morally "walking the straight and narrow." In the King James version of the Bible, Jesus' remark actually says that on the path to life "strait is the gate and narrow is the way." "Strait" means "tight," as in "straitjacket" (NOT straightjacket). And when you think about it in the context of the original quote, does a straight gate make much sense?</p>
<p>Nowadays the vast majority of educated people probably know Juliet isn't asking about Romeo's location when she says, "Wherefore art thou Romeo?" "Wherefore" means "why," a counterpart to "therefore." She's asking him to go by some other name instead of the one given by the family hers has a feud with.</p>
<p>The medieval expression "passing fair" sounds odd to us, like faint praise. Dorothy Parker wrote a sardonic poem on this topic that ends, "If minus D be passing, she is passing fair." Doubtless a brilliant writer such as Parker actually knew "passing" in this phrase is short for "surpassing"; a passing fair lady would have been a stunning beauty.</p>
<p>Mondegreens, misheard song lyrics, fall into a related but separate category. There's the probably apocryphal case of the child who named a teddy bear Gladly after the alleged title character of the hymn "Gladly, the Cross-Eyed Bear." I've often suspected many children, hearing the chorus of a favorite Advent song about the angel Gabriel's visit to the Virgin Mary, "Most highly favored Lady, gloria," may wonder why Jesus' mother is being called Gloria instead of Mary. Not a song, but church-related: One of our children once asked me whether "salvation" meant "wine." After all, the server offering the chalice at the Communion rail often recites, "The blood of Christ, the cup of salvation." Back to songs, after innumerable exposures to Creedence Clearwater Revival's lyric, "There's a bad moon on the rise," I still can't cure myself of hearing it as "bad moon on the right" (despite the implausibly political implication). WIth the mumbling way they deliver the line, "rise" really sounds like "right" even if I strain my ears.</p>
<p>Creative misinterpretations can be used to good effect in science fiction. For instance, in a STAR TREK episode the Enterprise discovers a planet with the rather silly premise that their societies evolved from a world identical to Cold War-era Earth, right down to the language they misread in their sacred document. (Maybe the Enterprise slipped into a parallel universe and didn't notice?) I once read a story of which I remember nothing except that a distant-future nation was named Tizathee, after their post-apocalyptic interpretation of "My country, Tizathee, sweet land of liberty." And in Jacqueline Lichtenberg's Sime-Gen series, the remains of Ancient highways are called "eyeways," because people assume they're named for the straight view of the landscape they offer. </p>
<p>Margaret L. Carter</p>
<p><a href="http://www.margaretlcarter.com">Carter's Crypt</a>.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
<a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/rowena+cherry" target="_blank" rel="tag" title="Link to Technorati Tag category for rowena cherry">rowena cherry</a></div>Margaret Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08293021955480708191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-45674104524542238152024-03-02T11:51:00.000-05:002024-03-02T11:51:36.648-05:00Controlling the Assault...<div style="text-align: left;">Do you sometimes see emails that appear to have come from yourself or your author name? Only when you hover your cursor over your name do you see that the email address is actually from an alphanumeric soup of a name.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">According<span style="font-family: inherit;"> to legal blogger and expert in </span>internet marketing, telecommunications and sweepstakes law <a href="https://kleinmoynihan.com/our-attorneys/david-o-klein/">David O. Klein</a> of <a href="https://kleinmoynihan.com/our-firm/">Klein Moynihan Turco LLP</a>, email marketing is back with a vengeance (because telemarketing and text message marketing have become too risky under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act or TCPA since recipients of the unwanted texts may sue and win ... but only if they have gone further than to enroll in the government's <a href="https://kleinmoynihan.com/defendants-did-not-violate-do-not-call-tcpa-rule/">do not call</a> list). Apparently, one now has to take the call and tell them to not call again.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">For deceptive and misleading emails, the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003 applies. They call it CAN-SPAM, rather than CtAoN-SPaMA. I could not resist that!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">David O. Klein explains it all very well.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://kleinmoynihan.com/email-marketing-is-back/">https://kleinmoynihan.com/email-marketing-is-back/</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">They are not allowed to use false names in the From, To, or Subject lines, etc, but apparently, all one can do is Unsubscribe and then one is "opted-out" within a week or so, unless one lives in California in which case, one might have much more redress.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">If you are thinking of promoting your writing with an email campaign, you might do well to check out the CAN-SPAM Act, or study David O Klein's website.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Getting your attention by taking your name in vain might not rise to the level of impersonation fraud if only you see it, but All About Advertising Law firm <a href="https://www.lexology.com/contributors/venable-llp">Venable LLP </a> has a mildly interesting article relating to deep fakes in advertising and rule-making in the comment stage.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.allaboutadvertisinglaw.com/2024/02/impersonation-rulemaking-ftc-takes-steps-to-tackle-ai.html#page=1">https://www.allaboutadvertisinglaw.com/2024/02/impersonation-rulemaking-ftc-takes-steps-to-tackle-ai.html#page=1</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Credit to the legal bloggers <a href="https://www.lexology.com/firms/venable-llp/leonard_l_gordon">Leonard L. Gordon</a>, <a href="https://www.lexology.com/firms/venable-llp/_michael_a_munoz">Michael A. Munoz</a>, and <a href="https://www.lexology.com/firms/venable-llp/ellis_c_mckennie_iii">Ellis C. McKennie III</a>. Also, my apologies for the faint praise. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">All the best,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="outline: currentcolor;"><span style="outline: currentcolor;">Rowena Cherry </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"></span></span><div style="outline: currentcolor;"><span style="outline: currentcolor;"><span style="outline: currentcolor;"><span style="outline: currentcolor;"><span style="outline: currentcolor;"><span style="font-family: inherit; outline: currentcolor;">SPACE SNARK™ </span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="outline: currentcolor;"><span style="outline: currentcolor;"><span style="outline: currentcolor;"><span style="outline: currentcolor;"><span style="outline: currentcolor;"><span style="outline: currentcolor;"><span style="outline: currentcolor;"><span style="color: black; outline: currentcolor;"><span style="color: black; outline: currentcolor;"><span style="font-family: inherit; outline: currentcolor;"><a href="http://www.spacesnark.com/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #196ad4; outline: currentcolor;" target="_blank">http://www.spacesnark.com/<span class="ydped8d67ceyiv1744657850Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; outline: currentcolor;"> </span></a> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="outline: currentcolor;"><span style="outline: currentcolor;"><span class="ydped8d67ceyiv1744657850Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; outline: currentcolor;"><span style="outline: currentcolor;"><span style="outline: currentcolor;"><span style="color: midnightblue; outline: currentcolor;"><span style="font-family: inherit; outline: currentcolor;"><a href="http://www.rowenacherry.com">http://www.rowenacherry.com</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="outline: currentcolor;"><span style="outline: currentcolor;"><span style="outline: currentcolor;"><span style="outline: currentcolor;"><span style="outline: currentcolor;"><span style="outline: currentcolor;"><span style="color: black; outline: currentcolor;"><span style="color: black; outline: currentcolor;"><span style="outline: currentcolor;"><span class="ydped8d67ceyiv1744657850Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; outline: currentcolor;"><span style="outline: currentcolor;"><span style="outline: currentcolor;"><span style="color: midnightblue; font-family: inherit; outline: currentcolor;"><a href="http://www.spacesnark.com/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #196ad4; outline: currentcolor;" target="_blank">EPIC Award winner, Friend of ePublishing</a>...</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
<a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/rowena+cherry" target="_blank" rel="tag" title="Link to Technorati Tag category for rowena cherry">rowena cherry</a></div>RowenaBCherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14826977922522817547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-62636546346579607382024-03-01T07:00:00.007-05:002024-03-03T13:36:49.767-05:00Karen S. Wiesner: The Hit List: Young Adult Series Favorites {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer<div class="separator"><p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><br /></p></div><p><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><u style="background-color: black; font-weight: bold;">The Hit List: Young Adult Series Favorites</u></span></span></p><p>
</p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="break-after: avoid; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">{Put This One on Your TBR List} <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="break-after: avoid; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Book Review: Twilight Saga<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>by Stephenie Meyer<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="break-after: avoid; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">by Karen S. Wiesner</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">In the first half of the 2000s, Young Adult series were all the rage,
dominating the attention of teenagers and adults alike. Several that became
household topics at the height of their popularity, enjoying fame as both book
and movie series, seem to have fallen by the wayside since. Even still, I find
many of those unique tales are well worth returning to for a fresh perspective.
Over the next month or two, I thought I'd revisit a few series that would make
any hit list of past favorites.</span></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1140" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGqGVBEvbCM91Ud3uyK88NM5IxTSFyLDXyDx-b0pphnoK_wfsVnqnIS5G186WDU3qi0e6Ek9jBnHBldeTAZxMQuuIse7lxT7SANQnc7VOdtucyCYtPL-_b58ngbR0a3g1BUirxRHhQ0v1CH0haU_mBZr92RVcNeJugfbjyyUzEmqS4HC3HotEc/s320/TwilightSaga.jpg" width="287" /></div>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Although this series has been around a long time and, if people wanted
to read it, they probably already have, in fairness, I'm including this
disclaimer because some of the entries in the series that follow the first four
might be unfamiliar to readers who may want to read them first: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Warning! Spoilers ahead!</i></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">I resisted this paranormal series much longer than everyone else. I'm
not sure why. I do remember for most of the years I'd lived in a town where
almost no one reads. I was one of the very few. I wondered how the library
survived. Given that, unfathomably I began seeing people reading these massive
books in public around town, as if they simply couldn't be parted from them while
devouring the stories. So I gave in. I quickly realized I was indeed missing
something, and I spend mere days finishing all four books, though I can't say I
loved the series from start to finish. The first one was the jewel in the crown
and for the first half of Book 4, I thought the magic might return, but it
never actually did. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><br />
By all rights, I think I should have liked teenage Bella. She's clumsy, a
loner, drawn to odd things, never quite fits in anywhere, and she's the
responsible, mature one especially compared to her mother. That she was a
caretaker was right up my alley. Yet I never could quite get myself to like
her, in large part because she starts out as an intriguing, unique character
and turns into someone who seems to disintegrate rather pathetically whenever
disaster struck. And it often did in this series.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">I could completely understand why Bella felt drawn to Edward, a vampire.
I even liked Jacob, who becomes a werewolf. It was a very cool concept. But
when the author decided to make Bella fall in love with Edward <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and</i> Jacob (though Bella ultimately--like
me--came down on Team Edward), I found myself repelled. Edward wanted to love
Bella for her lifetime. Though he would grieve when she died and he'd have to
go on without her, he absolutely did not want to make her into a vampire. In the
end, he agreed to it, but never willingly and he didn't actually go through
with until there was no choice--Bella would have died otherwise. </span></span><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;">Jacob went all rage-wolf about the thought of Bella becoming a vampire
because she would change. Not once was I convinced he cared what her opinion
was about the whole thing. I found Jacob selfish and controlling. It was hard
for me to like him when he decided <i>he</i>
was in the best position to decide what Bella should do with her own life. But
he ended up coming over to their side when he bonded with Bella and Edward's
very strange, powerful child in a definitive way that meant he became her life-long
protector, to the death.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;">The threat in the series was the Volturi, who made the laws for all
vampires. This was an interesting, tense conflict, especially after Bella became
a vampire. Ultimately, the four-book saga ended on a satisfying note. The movie
adaptations were faithful. Kristen Stewart was about the only real problem I
had with any of the installments. Something about the actress in all her films
is off-putting to me. I wasn't crazy about Bella in the books and having
Stewart playing her only compounded my issues. </span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="310" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglOTnhhm11MhKPeIhgdVbclUpp4DRlsiChyphenhyphenRB4DfKx_4tGGbRbVwA9EQjR-HlrbacZH2FFbQU04rOGCQK5jxPtC-sXUQUwR5_wDCF4R20t-BqcMxEW2hOP1IofmdQoeElIovLVcg9JYBrpN_DF6-tQQ4qiwuWS9c798wdvr2iUq2QVhMt4I4WC/s320/shortsecondlifebreetanner.jpg" width="198" /></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Also included in the series (though maybe it shouldn't be) is a novella,
detailing basically little more than the title: a short second life of Bree
Tanner, a newborn vampire who came and went, disturbing tragedy, 'nuff said.
No, literally, the title was all we really needed. I'm sorry to say that I
found this novella nothing short of painful to read.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="376" data-original-width="250" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM4Toqni-cxuO9lkPNvznk4Mj_s4xtpImQZKLJiNHZbn-bo3RdhpfBcZ9Nirn7oETw5NdLiX2ybrBJv5Wib-BFdENUq-vsMkt86EA_-amI6yHa04aJ_Z7yHXLl68MKVYJrt1gaSxAJ59BXsQpa9DFnuW8HKQfWN9iIyWs99mP_rq2TVGgX0LuE/s320/TwilightReimaginedbook.jpg" width="213" /></div>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Unfortunately, tragedy didn't end there. To coincide with the tenth
anniversary of the series, the publisher released a staggering, 400-page
reimagining of the initial story with Edward and Bella's genders swapped as
Edythe and Beau. I tried, I really tried, to read this but I died a little with
each subsequent page. I never finished it. There are simply some things that
should never be done, kind of like the whole Frankenstein debacle, and this is
certainly one of them.</span></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="388" data-original-width="257" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkr6hrgD_TrD2U8D24q1xAvPqqtI4QgRQKkPZ8w8j69Yn9FCFP5ujjCa8TX3BptMw_0P_0RBWWt8nSfNuiJk6-7ovDcJcETgK06kUPHbDTutdf9Nc404OgF7yZMl24AApYHu-YHEGtxPQUMAL55JBu3k35iLPEQ0_W29La4s4WlatL_YtVXloX/s320/MidnightSun.jpg" width="212" /></div>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">I remember when the Twilight Saga was at its pinnacle of popularity,
someone illegally released a version of the first book written by the author in
the perspective of Edward Cullen instead of Bella. I never felt right about
reading it when it was available that way--in a forbidden way. So I never read
it, but when <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Midnight Sun</i> was
officially released as a legit book in its own right, I tried to read it. I
thought I'd love it because I loved him in Bella's point of view. Instead,
Edward came off as the most frightening kind of psycho--and a vampire to boot.
I never finished it because the Edward I'd come to love in the original books
would have been ashamed for anyone to see him in this disgraceful way. I
couldn't do that to him. I slammed shut the book, and it's stayed sealed ever
since.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">After <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Midnight Sun</i> came out in
2022, the author announced she'd outlined two new Twilight novels. She planned
on working on them after she'd completed an original book first (presumably <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Chemist</i>, released in November 2016).
As of this review, nothing Twilight Saga related has appeared on the horizon.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Ultimately, I recommend this series, mainly for the first book and the
first half of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Breaking Dawn</i>. Would I
read anything new in the series? Probably, especially if it is actually
something new, not shocking character swaps or alternate viewpoints, or
not-short-enough tragedies that simply shouldn't be told. I give the author
kudos most of all for a really cool concept that, though many tried, no one
else managed to duplicate in terms of execution and success.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Next week, I'll review another favorite YA series published in the early
2000s.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Karen Wiesner is an award-winning,
multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Visit her website here: </span><a href="https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">and </span><a href="https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Find out more about her books and see her art
here: </span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Visit her publisher here: </span><a href="https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><br /><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
<a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/rowena+cherry" target="_blank" rel="tag" title="Link to Technorati Tag category for rowena cherry">rowena cherry</a></div>Karen Wiesnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11851552710463232282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-59091487028745561292024-02-29T08:00:00.001-05:002024-02-29T08:00:00.140-05:00Intermediaries on the Internet<p>Another post by Cory Doctorow about how good platforms go bad and, by extension, how the internet goes bad:</p>
<a href="https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/19/crad-kilodney-was-an-outlier/#intermediation">Intermediation</a>
<p>Why didn't the internet, as promised, "disintermediate the world"? Because in many situations we NEED "middlemen." Doctorow cites publishing as an example. While some authors self-publish and accomplish all the steps of the process themselves or directly pay others to do them (such as cover artists and freelance editors), most of us prefer to have someone else handle those tasks. And even the totally independent self-publishers typically need platforms such as Amazon, Draft2Digital, etc. to sell their work; very few earn money solely by hand-selling their books one by one, like the eccentric wordsmith Doctorow describes in his essay.</p>
<p>"The internet did disintermediate a hell of a lot of intermediaries –- that is, 'middlemen' –- but then it created a bunch more of these middlemen, who coalesced into a handful of gatekeepers." The gatekeepers, as he sees it, are the problem. Online sales of almost anything we might want or need on a single, convenient website is a service most customers value. The problem arises when a giant internet retailer locks out its competitors and/or restricts what customers and third-party sellers can do with the products. We don't hate intermediaries as such, according to Doctorow; we hate "powerful intermediaries." His solution -- for governments to enforce competition-supportive laws.</p>
<p>While I can't deny monopolies are generally a bad thing, except in public service spheres such as utilities and roads, I also highly value the convenience of being able to buy almost anything from Amazon, a website that remembers my address, past purchases, and payment methods and that has been reliably trustworthy with that information so far, as well as fast and efficient. Moreover, I like the capacity to sell my self-published e-books on a site that most potential readers probably use regularly. I love knowing I can find almost any book ever published, a cherished fantasy of mine in my pre-internet childhood and youth. I'd have a hard time getting along without Amazon if it vanished. Yet doubtless the abuses of which Doctorow accuses it are real, too.</p>
<p>As for one area in which powerful middlemen exploit their near-monopoly to perpetrate blatant ripoffs: In the Maryland General Assembly's current session, they're considering a law to forbid companies such as Ticketmaster from buying up most of the tickets for a high-demand event and reselling them at extortionate prices, among other protective measures:</p>
<a href="https://www.wbaltv.com/article/ticket-scalping-bill-maryland-senate-2024/46541334">Ticket-Scalping Bill</a>
<p>Despite such abuses, I endorse Doctorow's conclusion that, overall, "A world with intermediaries is a better world." In past centuries, people "in trade," who at first glance seem to add no value to products they profit from through their own middleman activities, used to be scorned by the upper class and regarded with suspicion by their customers. (We encounter the stereotype of the cheating miller in Chaucer's CANTERBURY TALES.) But what would we do without them?</p>
<p>Margaret L. Carter</p>
<p>Please explore love among the monsters at <a href="http://www.margaretlcarter.com">Carter's Crypt</a>.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
<a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/rowena+cherry" target="_blank" rel="tag" title="Link to Technorati Tag category for rowena cherry">rowena cherry</a></div>Margaret Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08293021955480708191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-65281922743685350622024-02-24T21:00:00.001-05:002024-02-24T21:00:00.130-05:00Trademarks, Keywords, And Bother<p>Some superstars get to trademark a word and buy themselves <a href="https://www.jw.com/news/mention-rourk-evermore-swift-trademark-infringement-asiaiplaw/">trouble</a>, and others have to persevere for many years before their brand and image is shielded. </p><p>As far as I know, no one has trademarked "<a href="https://hymnary.org/text/of_the_fathers_love_begotten">Begotten</a>" (if you noticed my text link), but I believe that the chorus of that hymn and the lyrics of many others contain the word "evermore".</p><p>Writers may remember extreme concerns a few years ago when either a publisher or a best selling author appeared to attempt to trademark a term which was widely used by most romance novelists. In fact, at least as of a review in 2017 on <a href="https://corporate.findlaw.com/intellectual-property/protection-of-literary-titles.html">FindLaw,</a> publishers and novelists may trademark a book title or the name of a series.<br /></p><div style="text-align: left;">Legal blogger for Business.com, <a href="https://www.business.com/author/sean-peek/">Sean Peak</a> wrote a fascinating article about six trademark disputes over famous words.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.business.com/articles/5-trademark-cases-and-what-you-should-learn-from-them/">https://www.business.com/articles/5-trademark-cases-and-what-you-should-learn-from-them/</a><br /></div><p>Lawyer and legal blogger <a href="https://www.gmlaw.com/attorneys/monifa-hall/">Monifa Hall</a> of the <a href="https://www.gmlaw.com/">GreenspoonMarder LLP</a> Intellectual Property blog describes the heroic saga of how it took Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson until very recently to acquire full ownership rights to “The Rock” trademark. One of many fine points she makes is:<br /></p><p></p><blockquote>"Johnson’s proactive approach to trademarking “The Rock” demonstrates the
importance of taking decisive steps to protect valuable assets from
potential infringement or misappropriation"</blockquote> <p></p><p><a href="https://www.gmlaw.com/news/can-you-smell-what-the-rock-is-trademarking-a-look-at-ip-protection/">https://www.gmlaw.com/news/can-you-smell-what-the-rock-is-trademarking-a-look-at-ip-protection/</a><br /></p><p>Meanwhile, legal influencer <a href="https://www.lexology.com/firms/tramatm/igor_demcak">Igor Demcak</a> of the trademark lawyers group <a href="https://www.tramatm.com/about-us">Tratmatm</a> has written two interesting blogs that are well worth reading.<br /></p><p>One is about trademarked keywords, and the pitfalls of using other peoples' words, especially on Amazon.<br /></p><p><a href="https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=6ef78412-5971-4977-a3ff-0982b5dc70b9">https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=6ef78412-5971-4977-a3ff-0982b5dc70b9</a></p><p><a href="https://www.tramatm.com/blog/category/ecommerce/trademarked-keywords-on-amazon-understanding-usage-guidelines">https://www.tramatm.com/blog/category/ecommerce/trademarked-keywords-on-amazon-understanding-usage-guidelines</a><br /></p><div class="article-body clippable-element text-clippable image-clippable" data-content-slug="6ef78412-5971-4977-a3ff-0982b5dc70b9" data-content-type="Article" data-firm-ref="1316593" data-friendly-name="Trademarked keywords on Amazon: understanding usage guidelines" data-integrity-check="594EEB13B9C433A9FEA7E39E8A03E6B5" data-jurisdictions="67,1" data-workareas="47" id="lex-article-body" style="display: block;">
<p>For a relatively unknown vendor (debut author, for instance), it is tempting to get noticed and to show up when readers search for specific words by using the names of more famous authors or books or series. Indeed, and as Igor Demcak says,</p><blockquote> "The use of appropriate and
well-researched keywords can lead to higher visibility, more clicks, and
ultimately, increased sales."
</blockquote><p>The bother comes when one chooses inappropriate or shoddily researched keywords. </p><p>Igor explains Amazon's policy, and then discusses the risks of trademark infringement, which might include their product being removed, their account being suspended or closed, and legal action taken by the trademark owners.<br /></p>His list of What-To-Dos before using a powerful keyword is essential reading for authors who want to avoid bother and heartache... or worse.<p>The other blog by <a class="logclick ct_auth2" href="https://www.lexology.com/1316593/author/Igor_Demcak/">Igor Demcak</a> that I wish to recommend today concerns trademark bullying. </p></div>
<div class="screenonly" id="article-footer">
<a href="https://www.tramatm.com/blog/category/legal/trademark-bullying-recognizing-and-responding-to-aggressive-enforcement">https://www.tramatm.com/blog/category/legal/trademark-bullying-recognizing-and-responding-to-aggressive-enforcement</a></div><p></p><p>It's a <a href="https://www.tramatm.com/book-a-free-consultation">What-To-Do</a> if you used a trademarked word in your promotion, and face overly aggressive enforcement.<br /></p><p>He writes:<br /></p><div class="article-body clippable-element text-clippable image-clippable" data-content-slug="6bb1a721-a0c6-4ef2-8f50-cd086bc3e6e4" data-content-type="Article" data-firm-ref="1316593" data-friendly-name="Trademark Bullying: Recognizing and Responding to Aggressive Enforcement Tactics" data-integrity-check="EFAF3D45BB1A70A9A454F34935E83247" data-jurisdictions="67,1" data-workareas="26,47" id="lex-article-body" style="display: block;"><p></p><blockquote>"One of the defining features of trademark bullying is the imbalance
of power between the parties involved. Typically, the bully is a large
corporation or well-established entity with significant financial
resources and legal firepower, while the target may be a small business,
entrepreneur, or even a non-profit organization. In many cases, the
mere threat of litigation is enough to coerce the weaker party into
compliance, regardless of the validity of the trademark claim."</blockquote><p></p>
<p>Igor goes on to describe some interesting real-world cases where a trademark owner overstepped, but the legal process was cripplingly expensive for the little guy, and also to offer good advice for persons who feel that they are being bullied unreasonably.<br /></p>One of many tips, which is a pain to follow, but should be done by any serious business person not only in trademark disputes, but anything business-related is:<br /><p><strong></strong></p><blockquote><strong>"Document Everything:</strong> Keep detailed records of all
communications, including cease-and-desist letters, emails, and phone
conversations. Document instances of abusive behavior or unreasonable
demands, as this information may be useful in defending against future
legal action or filing counterclaims."</blockquote><p></p>All the best,<br /><br /></div><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: small;">Rowena Cherry </span></span>
<div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">SPACE SNARK™ </span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.spacesnark.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.spacesnark.com/<span class="ydpfd07286byiv1744657850Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></a> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="ydpfd07286byiv1744657850Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;"><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: midnightblue;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="ydpfd07286byiv1744657850Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;"><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: midnightblue;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.rowenacherry.com">http://www.rowenacherry.com</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.spacesnark.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="ydpfd07286byiv1744657850Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;"><span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: midnightblue;">EPIC Award winner, Friend of ePublishing for Crazy Tuesday </span><span style="color: midnightblue; font-size: xx-small;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><p> <br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
<a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/rowena+cherry" target="_blank" rel="tag" title="Link to Technorati Tag category for rowena cherry">rowena cherry</a></div>RowenaBCherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14826977922522817547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-42571091835549355562024-02-23T07:00:00.001-05:002024-02-23T07:00:00.144-05:00Karen S. Wiesner: The Hit List: Young Adult Series Favorites {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth<p><br /></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">The Hit List: Young Adult Series Favorites<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><b><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">{Put This One on Your TBR List} <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><b><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Book Review: Divergent<i>
</i>by Veronica Roth<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">by Karen S. Wiesner</span></span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">In the first half of the 2000s, Young Adult series were all the rage,
dominating the attention of teenagers and adults alike. Several that became
household topics at the height of their popularity, enjoying fame as both book
and movie series, seem to have fallen by the wayside since. Even still, I find
many of those unique tales are well worth returning to for a fresh perspective.
Over the next month or two, I thought I'd revisit a few series that would make any
hit list of past favorites.</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="483" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-TNmdXXsVQ9q4O89N-eslOjjjls3lhshPCC0_JMKdprhtpsytb27F7gpmlA2oQqV8h-fU-N1LDiBwsR_lKyJ5sNB4BPAXFwvuAMNzgzYCHzSK_P6_hjnquaBI1J9OU7iD79-XBvLLakJqHPuYNL3paLsjyeT1gO0FbF-B5fvOf6RDowT1UZEA/s320/DivergentTrilogy.jpg" width="239" /></div><p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Divergent captured me the very moment Four (Tobias) made an appearance.
Before that point, only the very unique, unexpected plot kept me turning the
pages. The basic story here is set in a dystopian future where society is
divided into each faction, each dedicated to a particular virtue in order to
remove any one person exercising independence and freewill, which is seen as a
threat. Those who don't fit nicely into any of the factions, or refuse to, are
factionless and live on the fringes of society, poor and shunned. Those who are
divergent are required to hide within their chosen factions because such a
thing is illegal and feared. As one might expect, in this series, one of the
factions wants to dominate all the others and set up their own leader.</span></span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Although this series has been around a long time and, if people wanted
to read it, they probably already have, in fairness, I'm including this
disclaimer: <i>Warning! Spoilers ahead!</i></span></span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">I didn't find the initial chapters particularly well written, though I
didn't notice that as much as my first taste was of the audiobook of the first
book in the series, listened to nearly from start to finish on a trip across
the country. After that, I knew I had to read the rest of the series, but I
started by reading Book 1 myself. The beginning was underwhelming, but I kept
reading more out of intrigue of the faction concept until Four became the
highlight of the book and, in my opinion, the series. The main character,
Beatrice (who becomes Tris after she makes the choice to join Dauntless instead
of remaining in Amity), never won me over. There was almost nothing likeable
about Tris after, in the first few chapters of the first book, she stood up
bravely and changed her whole life to join the faction that best fit her, even
when it meant leaving her family. In fact, the major issue I had with the
series was that this weak-playacting-strong heroine who turns into (sorry for
the bluntness but it's the most accurate description) a total bitch and basically
disintegrates her way through the series until she just gives up at the end and
sacrifices herself needlessly, making everything they'd fought for worthless. Tris
and Four's romance in Divergent, Book 1, is beautiful, passionate, worth every
effort they made to be together when it was forbidden. It was simply
breathtaking. But that fragile miracle was destroyed by the author's
mistreatment after the initial series offering, and the relationship was hard
to even look at in what followed.</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="298" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBnznkXJ8RlJgd-EvfV3Thc1Xd739aMXCtSTewdheGIosH95k4tpANfazoOqD7Ui3HSulwAooM0ncWawjpWuqCTkklt6dmA31dgQS1doVtJu63XHFkbqj5aoJt-4E1T9hRFXKwvPzROfnegEggZkxz9-9GEsjqVBw8lyEGFaM3kvExcWnrhxLy/s320/Four-A-Divergent-Collection.jpg" width="201" /></div><p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Four was the whole reason for following the story to its bitter,
disappointing conclusion. His character was complex, admirable, strong and yet
vulnerable. If this series had been written from his point of view instead of
Tris's, it could have been all it was meant to be. I think the author must have
agreed with that because she followed up the trilogy a year later with a collection
of short pieces (a prequel and disjointed other not-quite-a-story offerings,
retelling parts of the first book) from Four's viewpoint. Unfortunately, this
set of contributions felt too little, too late for me, after the crushing letdown
of the last two Divergent books, which, albeit exciting, suspenseful, and very
readable, did little but show us Tris shattering beyond repair when Four's love
and their efforts leading the rebellion should have been able to heal her. Always,
she was stuck in Book 1--in all she'd lost instead of finding any new
motivation and purpose in her life. How unfair to Four and all who followed her
lead.</span></span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">A movie adaptation was made with the intention of it being four
movies--the final book <i>Allegiant</i> was
split into two (just like for Hunger Games' <i>Mockingjay</i>).
However, the second part of the film was never completed, for which I've always
been grateful. The <i>Allegiant</i> movie
ended on such a high note. For the first time, we see Tris in a good place,
finding strength and healing with Four, proud of their accomplishments and
ready to begin a new life, rebuilding their world, for all. Why would fans have
wanted to see the outcome of the second part of the book, where Tris sacrifices
herself for absolutely no reason and leaves Four grieving? The end of the book relegates
the reader to a sense of such devastation that there seems no reason to go on. I
prefer to accept the movie's conclusion as the proper ending that should have
been provided by the author.</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="342" data-original-width="226" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitxTqo6kc89YUh9fom1lnnTGAV5_EeKxQZiIRSDNuRn2TL1Desw7weA_FVig8BT4swp-KBt6p27BnjlXfU_MdHh-G1D9cAkU5rx0w35BtD-_Jw5allOrxjW0ifR60x_bwfjgQkT3DUMc525-MiAi35U2y1SubqleEXHe7cgaxPVb54FXCoGK_C/s320/WeCanBeMended.jpg" width="211" /></div><p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">While researching this review, I found that yet another story was added
to the series four years after the last. <i>We
Can Be Mended</i> was a short-story epilogue taking place 5 years after the
final book in the trilogy. It's Tobias's redemption story--along with another
character from the original trilogy, in a romance that I'm not sure I could
feel right about accepting. As much as I disliked Tris, the thought of her best
friend taking her place in Four's life just seems like a tragedy pile-on. I do intend
to read it, but I don't have high hopes for being satisfied by this ending any
more than I was with the previous.</span></span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Ultimately, I recommend this series, mainly for the first book, for the
strong, admirable hero, for Four and Tris's early romance, and for the unique
story introduced here.</span></span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Next week, I'll review another favorite YA series published in the early
2000s.</span></span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Karen Wiesner is an award-winning,
multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Visit her website here: <a href="https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/">https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/</a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">and <a href="https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog">https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Find out more about her books and see her art
here: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor">http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Visit
her publisher here: </span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/"><span style="line-height: 115%;">https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/</span></a></span></span></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
<a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/rowena+cherry" target="_blank" rel="tag" title="Link to Technorati Tag category for rowena cherry">rowena cherry</a></div>Karen Wiesnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11851552710463232282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-60369056614957836982024-02-22T08:00:00.003-05:002024-02-22T08:00:00.137-05:00Hooking Without Overwhelming<p>One of my publishers hosts weekly author chats. I recently read the transcript of a chat that warned against "overwhelming" the reader. Specifically, it discussed the hazard of overwhelming the reader in the opening scene of a book or story. </p>
<p>We know the importance of quickly hooking the agent, editor, or reader. We've heard that an agent or editor has to be reeled in with the first page or sometimes the first paragraph (depending on the giver of the advice) to avoid rejection. What pitfalls loom in that first look? By "overwhelming," the editors in the above-mentioned chat referred to inundating the reader with either unnecessary details or too many characters, especially named characters, right off the bat. The reader needs to know the setting (place and time), important details that "move the story along," and maybe a selection of secondary characters. Above all, the protagonist must be introduced in a way to make the reader care about her. </p>
<p>Another caution mentioned was not to plunge into an "action" scene right away. We need a reason to care what happens to the protagonist before seeing him or her in a crisis or life-threatening situation. A violent fight scene doesn't mean much if we don't know the participants or the stakes involved. The same principle applies to starting with a sex scene, unless writing erotica or erotic romance, and even then the scene will appear pointless if it doesn't reveal character and advance the story.</p>
<p>Before the inciting event, the big change in the protagonist's life, occurs, there should be a glimpse of her normal life, even if very brief. Especially if it's a violent or otherwise shocking event. I have slight reservations about this guideline. We could think of successful novels that deviate from it. One that leaps to mind for me is MISERY.</p>
<p>King's novel starts with the protagonist already injured from a car accident, waking to consciousness in the home of his "number one fan."</p>
<p>A big pitfall to avoid: Starting with backstory. The early pages should always move forward. Frontloading backstory is a besetting authorial sin of my own. I've read books by prominent authors that violate this one, too. A brief opening shows the hero in some dire plight. Then they answer the rhetorical question, "How did I get here?" with several chapters of backstory. Techniques like this probably shouldn't be tried until the author has attained a similar level of expertise and popularity.</p>
<p>One of my favorites of my own works, FROM THE DARK PLACES, originally started with the heroine's gazing at a photo of her late husband and immediately falling into a reverie that leads into a whole chapter about their meeting, their marriage, the birth of their daughter, and the husband's untimely death. Fortunately, I received and followed the advice, "Don't do that!" The book as published begins with present-day action and gradually weaves in, when appropriate, the only parts of the backstory the reader needs to know, the crisis birth and the husband's death.</p>
<p>My husband and I violated the "don't plunge straight into action" guideline in the second volume of our "Wild Sorceress" series by starting in the middle of a battle. In this case, I believe the problem is slightly mitigated by the fact that this is a sequel to a book any reader who buys the sequel has probably read. In the first volume, we transgressed a no-no the chat doesn't mention, starting with a dream sequence. In our defense, it's clearly a dream, not a bait-and-switch, and it has an immediate, clear bearing on what the character is now facing in real life. Still, I would probably resist doing it that way today. It also commits another alleged fault that many editors and readers detest, starting with a character waking up and preparing for her day.</p>
<p>One of my favorite bestselling fantasy authors begins a novel published a few years ago with a life-threatening battle that turns out to be a simulation! I'm astonished that the publisher let her get away with that blatant bait-and-switch!</p>
<p>Margaret L. Carter</p>
<p>Please explore love among the monsters at <a href="http://www.margaretlcarter.com">Carter's Crypt</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
<a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/rowena+cherry" target="_blank" rel="tag" title="Link to Technorati Tag category for rowena cherry">rowena cherry</a></div>Margaret Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08293021955480708191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-44401780043808708202024-02-16T07:00:00.001-05:002024-02-16T07:00:00.350-05:00Karen S. Wiesner: The Hit List: Young Adult Series Favorites {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">The Hit List: Young Adult Series Favorites<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">{Put This One on Your TBR List} <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Book Review: The Hunger Games<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>by Suzanne Collins<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">by Karen S. Wiesner</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;">In the first half of the 2000s, Young Adult series were all the rage,
dominating the attention of teenagers and adults alike. Several that became
household topics at the height of their popularity, enjoying fame as both book
and movie series, seem to have fallen by the wayside since. Even still, I find
many of those unique tales are well worth returning to for a fresh perspective.
Over the next month or two, I thought I'd revisit a few series that would make
any hit list of past favorites.</span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1110" data-original-width="780" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLLEceQmFdPBkfG2I1dzKNVgvfH5PWQM5pT76wTzkhRO0wKSQwJrIfqElf4x_e3TBEACzKr-AY00Kw6RstRTuNNvmkw3yLWG2dt1sFftlUTD6nRe6iWgHwICNl1dbHUpQI0AW5txWzh924UsJGs_yNK2qBEVygSfG8oW6GnWfjXt2XOW3curau/s320/HungerGamesTrilogy.jpg" width="225" /></span></div>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;">What an odd idea for a series! As a very basic summary, kids from each
district are forced to compete in violent, brutal "games" to the
death as punishment for the past sin of rebelling against the controlling
state--all for the entertainment of Capitol citizens. When I first heard about
this series--the first three books published between 2008 and 2010--I just
could not buy the premise. The concept was beyond ridiculous to me. Parents
would never allow it, and who the heck did the Capitol think it was to punish
anyone for anything? They participated in the same wars in the past. Active and
ongoing retribution following a war is just not done after a succession of
fighting and a peace treaty is agreed to by both sides, is it? I admit to being
the opposite of a war buff. Also, that people in the future could be as
barbaric as in the times of the Roman gladiators didn't sit well with me
either. I read the trilogy the first time, never buying the premise for an
instant. I had a visceral reaction, especially, to how the author treated
Peeta. I wasn't a fan of Katniss. Only one decision she made was one I could
agree with--and that was how she handled the poor, pathetic rulers in Panem
after the war. I remember writing<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a
violent review that I've since lost.</span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ7PhgyOmCOsTSPI70x1gVdAoWxJg1bPrcNVGuK1af0wGTXgbI2WpIzAHSlSS11b8Til_w7XsyHA5JJOrGGTLzmczk3i2Cqiz-jr-hNDA17YUE-B3RIhDSazoA7JPuaJZhcQpyuvVs7eNqcp5ly92R-qzJhstSaCuVHIfkKvCMnOPxNkQLP73N/s320/BalladofSnakes.jpg" width="212" /></span></div>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;">A decade passed and a new book was released--a prequel to the series.
Though I had very bad memories of the original trilogy, I thought I'd give it
another shot. My perceptions about everything changed. Buying the premise still
wasn't easy, but I managed this time, and I found Katniss a much more
sympathetic protagonist this time around. Here was a mere girl with so few
choices in her life. Everything she did was so that those she loved could
survive. I still didn't like what was done to Peeta, but I was grateful, as
before, that he at least had something of a happily ever after here. I even
enjoyed all four of the movies, which closely followed the books, at this
point.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;">Although this series has been around a long time and, if people wanted
to read it, they probably already have, in fairness, I'm including this
disclaimer because <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Ballad of
Songbirds and Snakes</i> is fairly new: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Warning!
Spoilers ahead!</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;">I went into <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ballad… </i>eager to
figure out what the heck was wrong with President Snow, how he could possibly
justify all the horrible, selfish things he did, what explained his madness. I
didn't get anything I was looking for, other than more questions, more shock at
just how abysmally the author failed at trying to explain Snow's behavior. The
book is, wrongly in my opinion, written from Snow's point of view. While I
believe that antagonists should be well-rounded, with strong justifications for
any evil they've perpetrated, as well as good traits, the author immersed us
too far into Snow's character to ever see him as a villain. He wasn't at all …
until he was. And then we were left wondering, what the hell? What changed that
this young, seemingly virtuous person who seemed on the edge of starting a
revolution in the Capitol that he suddenly turned his back on worthy ideals?
Everything he did for most of the book seemed to be pointing us toward him
finding a way to change the constant penance visited unfairly upon those who
lived in the districts and were barely getting by, treated like animals and
mere entertainment. Now this person we thought we knew as good abruptly became
such a heartless monster. How was it that Lucy Gray's plight hadn't made any
impact on Snow if he could leave behind anything resembling a conscience in
order to do what he ultimately did, turning against everything he'd seemed to
stand for in the first three-fourths of the book?</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;">Instead of answering the questions the Hunger Games Trilogy left us
with, we were overloaded with even more. I can't understand the motivation of
the author to write a story about Snow that doesn't really explain what
motivated his lifelong cruelty after he betrayed everything he was moving
toward in redeeming the districts. Could it really be that everything he did
all along was simply because he couldn't bear to be hungry, couldn't stand the
thought of allying with those he considered beneath him? When the truth about
his two-faced betrayal became clear to me, reading the book, I felt sure I must
have missed something. I went back and restarted the chapter only to come to
the same end. My niece had the exact same reaction, went back and re-read…nope,
Snow is proving he's a traitor to the districts, has been all along. What?!?</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;">I didn't want to watch the movie when it came out in November 2023, but
I couldn't resist. The movie was a very faithful adaptation, with some of the
most beautiful music imaginable. Even though I remained confused about why the
author bothered writing a book that didn't answer any of the questions that
needed logical reasoning, I admit I enjoyed the movie. Despite my reservations,
I also enjoyed the first three-fourths of the book. I just don't understand.
It's all senseless to me. But I easily recalled my deeply disturbed reaction
the first time I read the trilogy. When I came back to it a decade later, my
perceptions were radically changed. Maybe the same will happen if I come back
to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ballads</i> years from now.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;">In any case, I'm left with recommending this series for the reason that
anything that inspires such a passionate response in me is worth my time, even
if I'm not fully satisfied by it and I wish the author had done many things
differently. Even long years after the first publication of these stories,
their impact is undeniably powerful.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;">Next week, I'll review another favorite YA series published in the early
2000s.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;">Karen Wiesner is an award-winning,
multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Visit her website here: </span><a href="https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">and </span><a href="https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Find out more about her books and see her art
here: </span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Visit her publisher here: </span><a href="https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><br /><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
<a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/rowena+cherry" target="_blank" rel="tag" title="Link to Technorati Tag category for rowena cherry">rowena cherry</a></div>Karen Wiesnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11851552710463232282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-81393930440099657492024-02-15T08:00:00.001-05:002024-02-15T08:00:00.134-05:00Gender Pronouns in SF<p>This week T. Kingfisher's new horror novel, WHAT FEASTS AT NIGHT, was published. Sequel to WHAT MOVES THE DEAD (a retelling of "The Fall of the House of Usher"), it features the same narrator, "sworn soldier" Alex Easton. The language of Alex's homeland, Gallacia, a tiny imaginary country in central Europe, has at least six personal pronouns. In addition to the typical masculine and feminine, they have a pronoun for rocks (and inanimate objects in general, I assume) and one applied only to God. Pre-adolescent children go by a special non-gendered pronoun, which is also used by most priests and nuns. Someone learning the language who accidentally calls a child "he" or "she" must apologize profusely to avoid suspicion of being a pervert. Sworn soldiers adopt a nonbinary identity and the pronoun "ka" (subjective) or "kan" (objective and possessive).</p>
<p>The idea of having a unique pronoun for God appeals to me. It would avert controversy over whether the Supreme Being is masculine or feminine. In much of Madeleine L'Engle's nonfiction work, she uses the Hebrew word "El" as the divine pronoun for that very purpose.</p>
<p>The masculine, feminine, and neuter system familiar to us is far from universal in real-world languages. French, of course, has only masculine and feminine, no neuter. Even "they" is gendered. Recently I was surprised to learn that Mandarin has no gendered pronouns at all. Japanese, on the other hand, has a daunting variety of pronouns with diverse shades of meaning. There are first-person pronouns used primarily by men and others primarily by women. I've read that Japanese women in positions of authority face the double bind of either referring to themselves in the feminine style and appearing weak or using a male-type version of "I" and sounding masculinized.</p>
<p>A chart of Japanese personal pronouns:</p>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_pronouns">Japanese Pronouns</a>
<p>Until the 19th century, their language didn't even include a term for "she." A word was adapted for that purpose to provide an equivalent for the same part of speech in European languages.</p>
<p>As far as imaginary foreign or extraterrestial languages in speculative fiction are concerned, some authors embrace the concept of inventing pronouns, while others actively dislike and avoid it. At the time of writing THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS, Ursula Le Guin fell into the latter category.</p>
<p>Le Guin discusses the gendered language she used in THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS, on pages 16 and following of this essay:</p>
<a href="https://americanfuturesiup.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/is-gender-necessary.pdf">Is Gender Necessary? Redux</a>
<p>The italic passages on the right sides of the pages express her later, revised thoughts about the topics covered in the original essay.</p>
<p>She critiques her own refusal to invent new pronouns for the alien society in the novel: "I still dislike invented pronouns, but now dislike them less than the so-called generic pronoun he/him/his, which does in fact exclude women from discourse; and which was an invention of male grammarians, for until the sixteenth century the English generic singular pronoun was they/them/their, as it still is in English and American colloquial speech."</p>
<p>This 2020 article by Ryan Yarber analyzes Le Guin's essay in depth, going into detail about the issue of personal pronouns:</p>
<a href="https://ryanyarber.com/2020/07/30/beyond-gender-exploring-ursula-k-le-guins-thought-experiment-in-the-left-hand-of-darkness/">Beyond Gender: Exploring Ursula K. Le Guin's Thought Experiment</a>
<p>As for this issue in real life, people have tried to introduce invented third-person pronouns in order to get away from the awkwardness of "he/she" or using "they" as singular. No such system has widely caught on. While languages freely borrow nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs from each other, the basic structural components are far more stubbornly resistant to change.</p>
<p>Margaret L. Carter</p>
<p>Please explore love among the monsters at <a href="http://www.margaretlcarter.com">Carter's Crypt</a>.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
<a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/rowena+cherry" target="_blank" rel="tag" title="Link to Technorati Tag category for rowena cherry">rowena cherry</a></div>Margaret Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08293021955480708191noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-9547352908540358362024-02-10T19:00:00.001-05:002024-02-10T19:00:00.160-05:00Not Bad<p>"<a href="https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/two-wrongs-dont-make-a-right">Two wrongs</a> don't make a right," directly contradicts "An eye for an eye", which notion of equal justice predates Exodus, and is thought to come from the ancient Mesopotamian <a href="https://www.ushistory.org/civ/4c.asp">Hammurabi's </a>Code of justice.</p><p>On the other hand, two negatives, sometimes make a positive... and sometimes they are just emphatically, doubly negative, as in "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUpb-ALfUzc">I can't get no</a>" which is followed by a <a href="https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/hamlet/quotes/page/5/">consummation devoutly to be wish'd</a>, be it peace, respect, sex, relief.<br /></p><p>Take "not bad". It is a grudging way of saying "good". "Not terrible", "not useless", "not without merit", "not wrong", "not incompatible" etc. also do the same thing. The figure of speech is <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/double-negative-not-adjective-litotes">Litotes</a>. Sometimes described as verbal irony, litotes is when an affirmative is conveyed through the use of two negatives.</p><p>"It is not that I don't want to do it..." is a cautious preamble to an excuse. In other words, I would perhaps like to do something, but I cannot or won't follow through. "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-HdGnzYdFQ">It's not unusual"</a> is usually followed by a "but" clause. It's not unusual to see a cow, but it is unusual to be attacked by one.</p><p>"You can't say that I didn't warn you," is a gentler way of saying, "I told you so!"</p><p>If a person is "not unknown" to the authorities, it probably means that that person has a history as a troublemaker, at the very least. <br /></p><div style="text-align: left;">"Not" does not have to be the first negative in the sentence. It could be "No", as in "no dearth", "no shortage", "no <a href="https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/dearth">paucity</a>". </div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">"Never" does the job, as in "Never underestimate", "never forget".<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">One could start with "failure".<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Consider self driving vehicles. If the <a href="https://www.oed.com/dictionary/whizz-bang_n?tl=true">whiz-bang</a> car failed to avoid the pedestrian, (fail/avoid), that would mean that the car hit the pedestrian.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Use of the double negative is either a sophisticated literary device, or it is the opposite. One has to have ones wits about one, or one can get lost in the negatives. It is one thing to decry a failure to do something (which is only singly negative), quite another to <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lambaste">lambast</a> some folks for their failure <u>not</u> to toe the line.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Possibly during Lent, I might fail to abstain from chocolate.</div><div style="text-align: left;">No doubt, at some point during the Football game, an overeager defensive lineman will fail to refrain from stepping over the line of scrimmage and getting <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offside_(American_football)">offside</a>.<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Here is a good explanation of the use of litotes, and also an exhaustive list of links to other literary devices.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://literarydevices.net/litotes/">https://literarydevices.net/litotes/</a></div><p>All the best,</p><div style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: small;">Rowena Cherry </span></span>
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<a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/rowena+cherry" target="_blank" rel="tag" title="Link to Technorati Tag category for rowena cherry">rowena cherry</a></div>RowenaBCherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14826977922522817547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-7680609919576196822024-02-09T07:00:00.001-05:002024-02-09T07:00:00.144-05:00Karen S. Wiesner: {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: Fractal Noise, A Fractalverse Novel by Christopher Paolini<p><br /></p><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">{Put This One on Your TBR List} <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Book Review: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fractal
Noise</i>, A Fractalverse<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>Novel<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">by Christopher Paolini<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">by Karen S. Wiesner</span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="674" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYD35Q7_O2rExZWJ-0mq6Xg7bNyPYq4ezu9SM8Tiw_J0mMB0RqNdrsaIIDNlga0Shk9WF5Ed54DIvN5ODGB8DOv15CkzkjCI0gJwfhJygYBdkUCBtDTFQ6EkqRcUzuGXMyqfWf0DaeLsu1VFBHad4qL1fRrehe4OKMHPOIUU5P_M9lsroeK5lr/s320/FractalNoise.jpg" width="211" /></div>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">In the previous two weeks, I reviewed Christopher Paolini's previous
Fractalverse novel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Sleep in a Sea of
Stars</i>, in an article called "Combating Big Book Overwhelm with
Audiobooks"; I also reviewed "Unity", An Interactive
Fractalverse Story. The Fractalverse Universe encompasses all known space and
time, binding everyone everywhere as fellow travelers.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Before we get started, a word of explanation about the order of this
series is necessary. Here's what's currently available in the order the stories
were published:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Sleep
in a Sea of Stars</i> (2020)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->"Unity" (2021)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fractal
Noise</i> (2023)</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Influenced by an intense nightmare he'd had while writing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Inheritance</i>, the fourth in his
Inheritance Cycle, Paolini wrote an initial draft of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fractal Noise</i> (originally a novella) but wasn't happy with it and
set it aside. Eventually, he moved on to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To
Sleep…</i>, also set in the Fractalverse Universe. This project took him much
longer than he intended to finish--years--and only after he completed that did
he go back to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fractal Noise</i>. With new
ideas and direction, he did a major revision and it became a 300+ page novel.
It's unclear when "Unity" was written but I'm going to guess soon
after <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Sleep…</i> was completed,
probably before he revised <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fractal Noise</i>
into a novel. In any case, the chronological sequence of the three stories is
the exact opposite of the publication order:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span></i><!--[endif]--><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fractal Noise<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span></i><!--[endif]--><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Sleep in a Sea of Stars<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->"Unity"</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">According to the timeline included on the fractalverse.net website, the
Great Beacon on Talos VII, which is the focus of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fractal Noise</i>, was discovered between 2234 and 2237. It was the
first alien artifact discovered in the universe. Twenty-three years later,
between 2257 and 2258, the events of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To
Sleep…</i> took place, starting on the moon Adrasteia. "Unity"
follows <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Sleep… </i>chronologically,
and within the "Unity" story, on a doctor's report, the date is
listed as "2335" so it's been just over 75 years.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">As for suggested reading order, I would have to say either <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fractal Noise</i> or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Sleep…</i> should come first; it doesn't actually matter which.
"Unity" should follow the reading of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Sleep…</i> regardless of what order you read the two novels. I
prefer following chronology as a general rule for all series, but the author
felt that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Sleep…</i> "would be a
better introduction to the Fractalverse". I read <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Sleep…</i> first because it was published first. I followed that
with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fractal Noise</i> because it was
published second. I only found out about "Unity" after going to the
author's website. If I'd had a choice, I would have read <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fractal Noise</i> first, then <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To
Sleep…</i> and finally "Unity". Make of that what you will.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">I have to comment on the fact that I didn't understand the connection
between the two novels published in the series beyond that they shared the same
world. I wasn't sure if there were characters in common, a plot, place, or
something else. It wasn't until after I read both books (and the short story)
and then listened to the audiobook version of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Sleep…</i> that I finally figured out the connection between the two
novels: Alien artifacts. That's what ties the two books together, other than
the shared universe. The first alien artifact was discovered in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fractal Noise</i>, the second in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Sleep…</i> The question whether the same
alien species created both artifacts is much tougher to answer, and I couldn't
find a definitive answer to that anywhere online and it's lost in the combined
1,184 pages of the two books. But at least I discovered that there really wasn't
any other connection between the two novels beyond the shared universe and ancient
alien relics. Sounds simple, but it was frustrating not knowing that. I always
feel like crucial information that most readers will wonder about needs to be
included in the series blurb. Saves on wear and tear of reader nerves to know
something unifying like that upfront.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">So, the focus of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fractal Noise</i>
is the anomaly found on Talos VII, an otherwise uninhabited planet. From space,
the stellar survey crew onboard the SLV <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Adamura</i>
sees a pit fifty kilometers wide, definitely not natural. This giant abyss is
broadcasting a signal, to whom or what, is unknown. Eventually (in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Sleep…</i>), this hole is called the
Great Beacon. A small team is sent out to check it out, and most of their
journey has to take place on foot with limited supplies and protection. The
group of four consists of (to be blunt): <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1)<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->A stereotypical religious fanatic who believes
no one and nothing matters other than divine will. This woman is one crack away
from becoming the next Interstellar Psycho. Bad luck for everyone involved:
She's made the team leader. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2)<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->An opinionated tough guy with a chip on his
shoulder who starts out as fun and personable, but then becomes the religious
fanatic's archenemy as he vies for control of the team and the mission. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3)<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->A spineless weakling who will cave to whoever's
strongest at the moment, incapable of doing anything but flying into the wind
from one moment to the next, especially after he's injured so badly, he has to
be carried the rest of the way.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4)<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->A scarred-from-childhood man so immersed in his
grief from losing the woman he loved--the woman he's only realized in
retrospect that he mistreated before her violent death by a tigermaul--that he
doesn't really care about anyone or anything except in reflex. This person is
Dr. Alex Crichton, a xenobiologist.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Alex is the main character. None of the other three major characters are
really given more than a brief sketch in terms of fleshing out. We learn very
little about them, beyond what's absolutely needed to tell the story, and so
the book always felt a little lopsided to me. I might have learned too much
about Alex, who became a little sickening since he was a train wreck
personality, and not nearly enough about the other three pivotal characters.
The loss of personal information became harder to take especially as the first
two characters disintegrated in their escalating conflict with each other, the
third became less and less useful to the team as he cringed away from their
ongoing battle, with only Alex trying to keep the peace--mainly by staying out
of the argument altogether. Alex is also the one who ended up picking up the
pieces in the fallout and kept them moving forward steadily toward their goal.
Clearly, he should have been team leader, but until someone is under duress in
the field, I guess it's hard to know who might crack first. I suspect the
captain of the ship believed he'd chosen the last person who seemed capable of
falling apart as the team leader. Bad call leads to big mistake.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">The conflicts with each other, the conflicts of their individual pasts
that are motivating and driving each of them, and the conflict with the relic
they're moving toward steadily despite all that's preventing them from reaching
it are intriguing. The tension culminated, small outbursts becoming bigger and
bigger, the results of the team’s in-fighting and bad luck making the journey
even more stressful. I truly enjoyed the trek across the planet to the beacon, providing
constant suspense with the internal conflicts of the team, physical injuries,
the mission in jeopardy nearly from the beginning, and the things thrown in
their way, like the growing, deafening noise, "turtles"--creatures
that were obviously guarding the broken beacon's equipment, and numerous
equipment failures.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Earlier, I said that the *focus* of Fractal Noise is the beacon.
However, it's in no way the *purpose* of the story. If you don't want spoilers,
don't read the next two paragraphs bracketed with asterisks:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">**Within the pages of this book, you don't ever
learn what the beacon is, who put it there, why it was constructed, what it was
supposed to do or supposed to contact. You learn nothing important about the
Great Beacon by the end. It's simply a relic that might have been covered over
by the sands of time if not for the signal it was sending out that
unfortunately captured attention from this crew and later the world. By the
time the story <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Sleep in a Sea of Stars</i>
rolls out, humans still don't know anything solid about that ancient artifact. In
that book, it's revealed that they're called whirlpools by the Wranaui and that
there are many of them around the universe. The Wranaui allies believe the
Vanished created them but even they don't know for sure. But none of the
species can even venture a guess what they're for.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Anyone reading this would have found it
frustrating not to learn anything worthwhile about the relic. Initially, it
seemed like the point of the story, though the back cover blurb did make it
clear that the "ghosts of the past" following the members of the team
were the true focus. In the end, Alex came to grips with his past and his
grief. That's the best thing that happened--the only bit of closure provided. I
presume he made it back to the ship, maybe with the weakling still alive, and
that's how Kira and the other characters in the time period of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Sleep…</i> know the beacon even exists.**</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Despite a bit of annoyance about not getting any part of what I felt the
story was building toward, I did find the story worthwhile reading. I savored
the journey, weathering the disappointment in the end, yes, but I remained
excited about where this series could be leading. Of the three Fractalverse
stories I've read thus far, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fractal Noise</i>
was my favorite. Maybe in subsequent books, we'll learn what the beacon in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fractal Noise</i> was intended for. At the
end of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Sleep…</i>, Kira learned that
the Maw had left seven other parts of itself in different locations within the
universe, and she intended to track them down alone. Perhaps we'll learn more
about the rest of her journey to either kill or convert those seven fragments,
as she did before.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">As a reader, I look for closure in a story and series, and I felt both
Fractalverse novels left a lot of the opposite, though not in a way that could
be described as a deal breaker. I accepted the loose ends, though I'm not sure
all readers would be as forgiving, because I'm eager to know more about this
world. I suspect the author will produce many other stories that are connected
to the universe but not tied closely to them, leaving even more fragments
littered around the Fractal galaxy. Eventually, there may be a way to tie them
all together--what I'm ultimately hoping for. In the meantime, there has been
talk about either a film or TV series adaptation of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Sleep…</i> with the author and his sister already writing scripts
and presumably too occupied for Paolini to work on the next installment in the
series. I look forward to hearing more about whether the visual adaptation goes
forward, assuming that, in some way, the events of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fractal Noise</i> and "Unity" will be included in that. At
this point, until the author gives us a clue, who knows what might happen next
in the Fractalverse? If you have any conjecture, leave a comment.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Karen Wiesner is an award-winning,
multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Visit her website here: </span><a href="https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">and </span><a href="https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Find out more about her books and see her art
here: </span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Visit her publisher here: </span><a href="https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/</span></a></span></span></p><br /><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
<a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/rowena+cherry" target="_blank" rel="tag" title="Link to Technorati Tag category for rowena cherry">rowena cherry</a></div>Karen Wiesnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11851552710463232282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-20621194403502775112024-02-08T08:00:00.001-05:002024-02-08T08:00:00.140-05:00Parallel Lives in Different Worlds<p>Speaking of living one's life over again, have I mentioned Jo Walton's novel MY REAL CHILDREN before? Having reread it last week, I'm impressed anew by its unusual approach to alternate history, possibly unique. At least, I don't remember encountering anything else like it. The British protagonist's personal timeline splits into two at the end of her Oxford education, and the story follows both of her lives in two separate worlds from that point in early adulthood to her old age.</p>
<p>The prologue introduces the elderly Patricia in a nursing home. As the nurses often note on her chart, she's Very Confused. She remembers her life as Tricia, in which she accepted Mark's proposal at the crucial point of divergence, but also her life as Pat, in which she refused him. Did she have four children plus multiple miscarriages and stillbirths, in an emotionallly abusive marriage from which she escaped in middle age, or three children in a fulfilled, mostly happy life with love, travel, and success as a writer? After the prologue, chapters alternate episodes from the timelines of Tricia and Pat, each helpfully labeled with the years covered in that chapter.</p>
<p>Interestingly, neither of her worlds corresponds to the history we know. Therefore, the reader can feel no temptation to prefer either timeline as "real." Both alternate Earths are more scientifically and technologically advanced than ours, having colonies on the Moon by the 1990s, at the end of Patricia's life. In one history, there's a multi-national research station; in the other, two mutually hostile lunar military bases confront each other. In the latter world, President Kennedy died from an assassin's bomb; in the former, he served out his term and declined to run for reelection in 1964. In one history, international chaos, local wars with a constant threat of nuclear holocaust, and repressive political systems even in advanced Western nations plague the world. The other timeline, although of course not perfect, enjoys prosperity, widespread freedom, international cooperation, and relative peace.</p>
<p>In the novel's most intriguing twist, Pat leads her fulfilling life in the dystopian world, while Tricia suffers through her miserable marriage in the much better world. Suppose she could relive the decisive conversation with Mark and make one timeline definitively real. Which would she pick? Ordinarily, I snarl in frustration at novels that leave the reader hanging at the end. This book's "Lady or the Tiger?" conclusion, however, strikes me as perfect. What alternative does Patricia choose? What SHOULD she choose? Leaving that question open makes the ideal culmination for this thought-provoking narrative.</p>
<p>Margaret L. Carter</p>
<p>Please explore love among the monsters at <a href="http://www.margaretlcarter.com">Carter's Crypt</a>.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
<a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/rowena+cherry" target="_blank" rel="tag" title="Link to Technorati Tag category for rowena cherry">rowena cherry</a></div>Margaret Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08293021955480708191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-81011533318560709182024-02-02T07:00:00.001-05:002024-02-02T07:00:00.131-05:00Karen S. Wiesner: {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: "Unity", An Interactive Fractalverse Story by Christopher Paolini<p><br /></p><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">{Put This One on Your TBR List} <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Book Review: "Unity", An Interactive Fractalverse<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>Story<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">by Christopher Paolini<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">by Karen S. Wiesner</span></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="678" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQxqW0JzFaDcLko2aYFYVAx8erdSv6MbxX85myYwk6q5J0QJb11RH05XmtMXYbozE9tJZkujr8vcd-GbNsZ8KsMD2FnCkkEHFEbrMdkaigbzdnFbCsViF0lSBgjLF6-plxNd7l4Rbu5dVXlIulOT1iAZcJaTJsoBi3G_y6XOFFZQ839FpMz6hO/s320/Unity.jpg" width="212" /></div>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Last week, I reviewed Christopher Paolini's previous Fractalverse novel,
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Sleep in a Sea of Stars</i>, in an
article called "Combating Big Book Overwhelm with Audiobooks". The
Fractalverse Universe encompasses all known space and time, binding everyone
everywhere as fellow travelers. In order to really understand
"Unity", you had to have read and understood <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Sleep in a Sea of Stars</i>, so this review is filled with spoilers.
If you haven't read <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Sleep…</i> and
want to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">before</i> learning all the basic
details, you might want to come back to this review later.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Here's a very concise summary
of that nearly 900-page book:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">On an alien world, the
heroine, a xenobiologist, Kira blunders into an underground hole where an
artifact was left by an alien culture long, long ago. An ancient xeno seed left
there resurrects enough to infiltrate Kira's body, inside and out, so she and
the alien become one. This thing is called the Soft Blade. After Kira's taken
into military quarantine, the ship they're on is attacked by Wranaui, aliens
that worship the Vanished--the beings that originally hid the Soft Blade in the
underground reliquary. In her attempt to escape, Kira causes an explosion that
joins a piece of the Soft Blade to the doctor in charge of testing Kira and to
one of the Wranaui. What's created from this is a corrupted being called the
Maw. Floating in space, it grows and spreads malevolently. It converts a planet
into interstellar ships that are used by the Maw's corrupted warriors. There's
a whole plotline about a lesser bad guy that takes up hundreds of pages. But
the Maw is the real enemy in the universe. A faction of the Wranaui join humans
in the fight. Long story short, the Maw and the Soft Blade merge so their minds
are joined. The Maw is subdued, the Corrupted unmade, and the Maw's mass is
converted into a space station--Unity--intended to serve as an embassy so
humanity and its new alien friends, the Wranaui, can hammer out a peace treaty.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">I only discovered
"Unity" when I went to the fractalverse.net website to find out what
else Paolini had to offer in this universe. There, I came upon an interactive
short story that was laid out in a similar fashion (though much less complex)
to the Choose Your Own Adventure "gamebooks" that were published from
1979-1998. I devoured these as a kid, even if the stories weren't always
fantastic. The concept was what captured me. They were a precursor to the
videogames I would soon come to embrace as an adult, making them my most
favored hobby in lieu of watching TV. In a Choose Your Own Adventure story, the
reader is the protagonist who makes decisions about how the story will proceed
and end. Frequently, a wrong choice leads to a bad ending--in other words, "Story
Over", and the reader has to choose another path to try to reach a good
ending. The number of endings included in each adventure varied--Wikipedia's
write-up talks about as many as forty-four in the early titles to as few as seven
in the later ones.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">As I said, the
"Unity" interactive adventure was much less complex. There were never
more than three choices as to which direction to go, and most didn't end badly.
Only occasionally did a bad choice lead to a "You're dead" ending. So
you had to go back a page and choose another path, or simply do the opposite of
what you did last time. Fairly uncomplicated. I did die once or twice, lol, but
I enjoyed it nevertheless.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">In the time since the events
of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Sleep in a Sea of Stars</i>
concluded, Unity has become an advanced space station where both humans and
Wranaui abide in peace. It's the last place anyone would expect a murder to
take place. You play the investigator trying to piece together what happened.
The story is fun and well-written, especially with some backtracking involved
if you choose a wrong path. It won't take you longer than a half hour, possibly
much less if you're faster running through it and don't die. If you want to
partake, you can start your adventure here: <a href="https://www.paolini.net/works/unity/">https://www.paolini.net/works/unity/</a>
or here: <a href="https://fractalverse.net/works/unity/">https://fractalverse.net/works/unity/</a>.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">A print version was in the
works, as Paolini explains in a Twitter post (you can access it from the
fractalverse.net link I posted in the last paragraph). He actually shows in a
video the print edition that was designed with gorgeous, original, custom
artwork. The cost with print on demand was apparently prohibitive, so unless
there's a "Kickstarter" (global crowdfunding platform initiative),
the online version that's available free on Paolini's website is all there is
or ever will be available for "Unity". I say, enjoy it for what it
is. This is the kind of thing that's intended to be interactive and doing it
online just streamlines the process. All the artwork is also free on the
website for you to enjoy.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Next week, I'll talk about the publication, chronological, and optimal
reading order of all the installments in the Fractalverse series as well as review
Paolini's newest offering in the Fractalverse. Finally, I'll extrapolate about where
he might go from here in the series.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Karen Wiesner is an award-winning,
multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Visit her website here: </span><a href="https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">and </span><a href="https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog</span></a></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Find out more about her books and see her art
here: </span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor</span></a></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Visit her publisher here: </span><a href="https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/</span></a></span></span></p><br /><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
<a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/rowena+cherry" target="_blank" rel="tag" title="Link to Technorati Tag category for rowena cherry">rowena cherry</a></div>Karen Wiesnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11851552710463232282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-67502644974707082892024-02-01T08:00:00.001-05:002024-02-01T08:00:00.252-05:00Groundhog Day<p>February 2 is almost upon us -- Groundhog Day, aka Imbolc (Celtic) or Candlemas (Christian). Here's a brief overview of its history:</p>
<a href="https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/imbolc">Imbolc</a>
<p>This date constitutes one of the major seasonal milestones of the pagan year, halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. Originally the festival of the goddess Brigid, it morphed into the feast day of St. Brigid in the Christian era. According to the website above, Imbolc marked the beginning of spring. Maybe in the British Isles, but definitely not around here!</p>
<p>Since the official first day of spring falls approximately six weeks after February 2, it's logical for the emergence of groundhogs (in North America) from their burrows -- woodchucks or badgers in Europe -- to signal six more weeks of winter. If you assume that's what the animal's shadow portends, your guess has a high chance of being correct. I wondered for years why seeing his shadow would forecast a longer winter. Wouldn't bright sun lead us to expect an early spring? Eventually I realized clear weather in winter is likely to be colder, while warmer air holds more moisture and thus might produce a cloudy day. So the association of sighting a shadow with the prospect of continued freezing temperatures makes a certain amount of sense.</p>
<p>Oddly, the alleged predictions of the famous groundhog of Punxsutawney, PA, have consistently more often than not been less accurate than chance. Nowadays, why don't the handlers "translating" for him consult a long-term weather forecast before making their pronouncements?</p>
<p>The movie GROUNDHOG DAY presents an initially funny but gradually darkening exploration of "What if you could live your life over?" The hero of the film, of course, just lives one day over -- and over and over. The compulsion to keep repeating that day until he gets it right leads to a downward spiral of nihilistic despair rather than optimism about getting a fresh start, until he changes his attitude and sincerely tries to do better. In the midst of its humor, the movie raises the grim prospect that getting a do-over in life might not turn out so great as we'd hope. What if every attempt to fix some mistake in the past created a fresh disaster? Luckily for the protagonist's future and the viewer's satisfaction, he does eventually get it right. In that respect GROUNDHOG DAY resembles A CHRISTMAS CAROL. In an interesting coincidence, the same actor, Bill Murray, stars in both GROUNDHOG DAY and SCROOGED as the selfish cynic needing reformation.</p>
<p>Margaret L. Carter</p>
<p>Please explore love among the monsters at <a href="http://www.margaretlcarter">Carter's Crypt</a>.</p>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
<a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/rowena+cherry" target="_blank" rel="tag" title="Link to Technorati Tag category for rowena cherry">rowena cherry</a></div>Margaret Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08293021955480708191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-26989291572023182962024-01-29T09:53:00.001-05:002024-01-29T09:53:35.593-05:00Period, Full Stop<p>Who cares if a late night comedian's voice-over says PERIOD and displays an exclamation point? How influential is that? It is thoroughly illiterate, and wrong... or is it, if a powerful governor bases their remarks on the misinformation?</p><p><a href="https://www.grammarly.com/blog/period/">https://www.grammarly.com/blog/period/</a></p><p>A period is either a full stop, or a certain uncomfortable time of the month for a woman... for a cis woman, some might disclaim.</p><p>“They have the right not be harassed, not to be denied, not to be
arrested for peaceful protesting. Full stop. Period," said Newsom.</p><p>"We have the best three year record of any modern American presidency. Period. Full stop.”</p><p>"Period, full stop" is a fine example of <a href="https://www.dictionary.com/browse/tautology">tautology</a>. Tautology is consider poor style and a red flag of ignorance. It is like saying "ATM machine". That is, Automated Teller Machine machine. Or, "widow woman", cited by the site.</p><p>On the other hand, and still not considered good style, it might be explained as saying the same word in American English and also in British English, like "hood/bonnet", "trunk/boot", "windshield/windscreen", "chin/pecker" and "fender/wing".<br /></p><p>All the best,</p><p>Rowena Cherry<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
<a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/rowena+cherry" target="_blank" rel="tag" title="Link to Technorati Tag category for rowena cherry">rowena cherry</a></div>RowenaBCherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14826977922522817547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-37499381230082882212024-01-26T07:00:00.001-05:002024-01-26T07:00:00.155-05:00Karen S. Wiesner: Combating Big Book Overwhelm with Audiobooks or {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, A Fractalverse Novel by Christopher Paolini<p><br /></p><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Combating Big Book Overwhelm with Audiobooks or<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">{Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Sleep in a Sea of
Stars</i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">, A Fractalverse<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>Novel<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> <o:p></o:p></i></b></span></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">by Christopher Paolini<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">by Karen S. Wiesner<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="674" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnC4vHsnA27oiqhdO0Vw-I29K06IkYsYIHoHCqWCcUZdIGnBooLpVJHU1jSVZNuLbISAZ4I3Nmk_brnrjjnz5t8NTn8_GcdZZcDQZSI-XwLeOfi4KldHcJmFX3zgu2b0rCarpb3G5LHaxCeQZO6N-AoztXP35C4D8Z3-QeRD2iLxGGeik5JBIx/s320/ToSleep.jpg" width="211" /></div>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Within an extensive article I wrote called "Presentation is
King", previously published on the Alien Romances Blog, I talked about
Christopher Paolini's first science fiction mega-novel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Sleep in a Sea of Stars</i>, which was the first offering in his
Fractalverse series, and provided a review for it. While I thought the novel
was well-written, I complained about the obscene length that overwhelmed my
basic enjoyment of the story. You can read the article here:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Part 1: <a href="https://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2022/12/karen-s-wiesner-presentation-is-king.html">https://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2022/12/karen-s-wiesner-presentation-is-king.html</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Part 2: <a href="https://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2022/12/karen-s-wiesner-presentation-is-king_01963401706.html">https://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2022/12/karen-s-wiesner-presentation-is-king_01963401706.html</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Part 3: <a href="https://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2022/12/karen-s-wiesner-presentation-is-king_02089261396.html">https://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2022/12/karen-s-wiesner-presentation-is-king_02089261396.html</a></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">The weird thing is, I wanted to love that book wholeheartedly instead of
just liking it but fervently wished it'd been published as three, manageable, separate
stories (which it could so easily have been, given the way the book was
conveniently divided into several parts) instead of a massive one. That way my
overwhelmed brain could have enjoyed it more.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Within my three-part article, I also talked about Paolini's other series,
The Inheritance Cycle, which suffered from the same problem. His stories are
too big to allow true immersion and would be so much better presented in
multiple parts, allowing the reader time between to recover from the page-overloaded,
detail-heavy material. This brings to my mind my favorite fantasy series. Most
people who love this genre know that J.R.R. Tolkien intended <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Lord of the Rings</i> to be one, exceptionally
long novel. Wisely, I think, his publisher thought one book would be cost
prohibitive and also they wanted to get the material to eager readers faster,
so they turned one book into a trilogy. I might never have read that book--my
all-time favorite fantasy--if not for the brilliant presentation. As one
volume, I would have been instantly intimidated and deterred from even starting
it. Instead, we now have three installments, presented in a way that allows readers
to enjoy segments of the story without becoming overwhelmed by the sheer size
of the material and ponderous details that need to be absorbed to follow it.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">I wondered in the time since I wrote the article/review for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Sleep in a Sea of Stars</i> what other
people thought of the book. I found a review by Lotte on The Escape Velocity
Collection website, which amused me, though it was a bit too harsh in my
opinion--however, I didn't fully disagree with the conclusions drawn. You can
read Lotte's review here, if you want: <a href="https://escapevelocitycollection.com/fiction-fix-to-sleep-in-a-sea-of-stars/">https://escapevelocitycollection.com/fiction-fix-to-sleep-in-a-sea-of-stars/</a>.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Two things stood out for me in that review. First, that the reviewer
felt Paolini was a good writer and wanted to love <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Sleep</i>… just like I did but didn't quite get there. The second
thing that stood out was in the very first sentence of the review: "…I've
been listening to the audiobook of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To
Sleep in a Sea of Stars</i>…" This is how the reviewer managed to get
through the enormous amount of material without giving up out of exhaustion. I
think one of the biggest reasons people prefer to watch a movie over reading
the book is because it's just so much easier to grasp the concepts in that
visual form. What may be hard to wade through and grasp in a dense, overloaded
read is simpler to see and comprehend playing out on a screen. The brain pulls
everything together in a different way that doesn't lead to fatigue, the way it
might in reading. I think audiobooks may also provide another means of making
sense of a tremendous amount of material--not quite as visual as a film, but I
was hopeful this was an avenue that could help my brain fatigue with some large
books that I genuinely wanted to love.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">I thought about it for months and finally decided to start 2024 with a
new willingness to listen to audiobooks, which I confess I tend to think of as
cheating for a true reader. But if the sole reason I'm avoiding certain books I
know I'd enjoy if they were presented in a different way is because the size
overwhelms me, why not try?</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">The best time for me to listen to an audiobook is while getting ready
for the day in the morning as well as while I'm doing household chores at
various points throughout the day. Normally, I listen to music during those
times, which I'd miss, but it seemed like a worthwhile, temporary swap. I'm not
a fan of downloaded audio files, in part because I want something tangible for
my money that can be utilized even when technology changes, as it inevitably does
and would. Finding cd audiobooks wasn't easy (Amazon doesn't seem to carry
them, that I found anyway--only offers Audible.com files, and Barnes and Noble
has the same issue) but I did manage to purchase audio cds elsewhere for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Sleep in a Sea of Stars</i> as well as
all of Paolini's Inheritance Cycle titles, including the brand new offering in
that series, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Murtagh</i>, Book 5. I
started with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Eragon</i>, Book 1, since I received
that first. I enjoyed listening each day and looked forward to progressing in
the story. As soon as I got the audio cds of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Sleep…</i>, though, I switched to that.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">This is a much, much better way of digesting Paolini's brilliant
Fractalverse, a way that doesn't strain my brain and make me share in Lotte's hilarious,
wearied weeping for reprieve: "Please save me. This book is legitimately
900 pages long and I don't deserve this." Thus far, incorporating
audiobooks into my "reading" is a revelation for this diehard,
traditional bibliophile. I never would have realized what a difference it would
make in dealing with what could otherwise be considered an agonizing endeavor
in reading a book too big to be believed.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Sleep in a Sea of Stars </i>was
well-written with exciting and compelling, well-developed characters and plot
conflicts, with plenty of universe and contextual detail to make everything
logical. I love science fiction, and, when combined with horror…forget about
it. Win-win. I do admit with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Sleep…</i>,
I wanted more <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Alien</i>, less <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Enemy Mine </i>(Dennis Quaid). Regardless,
the bottom line is that I highly recommend not just <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Sleep…</i> but the whole Fractalverse series to any fantasy and
sci-fi lover. I especially enjoyed listening to Jennifer Hale read <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Sleep… </i>with the audiobook. Like
Paolini, I'm a huge fan of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mass Effect</i>,
and Jennifer Hale was the voice actress for fem Shep in that videogame series.
I also learned that Hale, with music producer Todd Herfindal, wrote and
performed some beautiful music for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To
Sleep… </i>Find out more here: <a href="https://fractalverse.net/works/music-to-sleep/">https://fractalverse.net/works/music-to-sleep/</a>.
If you want to dig deeper into anything in the Fractalverse Universe, Paolini's
website has a ton of visuals and explanations for anything from lifeforms to
star systems, organizations and religions, as well as a fairly detailed
timeline.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">There's also talk about a film adaptation or possibly a TV series of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Sleep… </i>I strongly believe either of
these would make the most of an incredible story that almost can't be enjoyed
in its original format. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Over the next two weeks, I'll review Paolini's other two, subsequent offerings
in his Fractalverse.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Karen Wiesner is an award-winning,
multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Visit her website here: </span><a href="https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">and </span><a href="https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog</span></a></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Find out more about her books and see her art
here: </span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor</span></a></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Visit her publisher here: </span><a href="https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/</span></a> </span></span></p><br /><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
<a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/rowena+cherry" target="_blank" rel="tag" title="Link to Technorati Tag category for rowena cherry">rowena cherry</a></div>Karen Wiesnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11851552710463232282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-14302800084229403542024-01-25T08:00:00.003-05:002024-01-25T08:00:00.129-05:00Deities in Fantasy Worlds<p>Recently T. Kingfisher published the fourth book in her "Saint of Steel" series, PALADIN'S FAITH. (The others are PALADIN'S GRACE, PALADIN'S STRENGTH, and PALADIN'S HOPE.) Also in the same setting: The Clocktaur War duology (CLOCKWORK BOYS and THE WONDER ENGINE) and the stand-alone novel SWORDHEART. These works may be broadly described as sword-and-sorcery romances in a late medieval or an early steampunk milieu.</p>
<p>The premise of "Saint of Steel" is that the deity in the series title died, from a cause so far unknown. His paladins felt his violent death. The few who survived the cataclysmic trauma struggle to carry on with their lives despite a void where the bond with their god should be. Two gifts of their divine patron remain, the "voice" that empowers them to persuade anyone of almost anything (provided the paladin sincerely means what he or she says) and a battle frenzy called the "black tide," which grants them superhuman strength and speed but leaves scars on their souls. The surviving paladins have been taken under the protection of the temple of the White Rat.</p>
<p>The stories in this fictional universe feature three principal deities, although others are mentioned: The Saint of Steel, whose warriors fight evil and protect its victims; the pragmatic White Rat, whose temples are noted for exercising charity and correcting injustices, many of whose devotees are lawyers or investigative accountants; and the Dreaming God, whose servants specialize in exorcizing demons. As illustrated by a scene at the climax of PALADIN'S FAITH when the Saint of Steel speaks to a large crowd through the mouth of a character, everyone knows and takes for granted the existence of the gods. In the face of incontrovertible evidence, nobody disbelieves in supernatural beings. If there are any "flat-earth atheists" in this world, we don't meet them:</p>
<a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FlatEarthAtheist">Flat-Earth Atheist</a>
<p>The background of the Dungeons and Dragons games is similar, but even more so. Everybody knows that multiple gods exist and that clerics acquire their magic spells by praying to their patron deities.</p>
<p>What would it be like to live in a world where the existence of deities is a routinely accepted truth? Faith in the sense of intellectual belief would be unnecessary and nonexistent. You don't have that type of "faith" in something definitely known. No matter how powerful, divine entities would be as mundane a fact as the sun and the moon. Faith in the sense of trust, of course, would be an entirely different matter. Granny Weatherwax in Terry Pratchett's Discworld doesn't approve of believing in gods; it only encourages them.</p>
<p>The rare person who experiences an epiphany like the characters in the aforementioned scene would presumably react with awe. Most ordinary people, lacking either a personal divine encounter or Granny Weatherwax's strength of character, would probably regard the gods as powers to be approached with caution, placating them but not getting too deeply involved. Rather like living next to a forest infested by semi-tame tigers, maybe.</p>
<p>Margaret L. Carter</p>
<p>Please explore love among the monsters at <a href="http://www.margaretlcarter.com">Carter's Crypt</a>.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
<a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/rowena+cherry" target="_blank" rel="tag" title="Link to Technorati Tag category for rowena cherry">rowena cherry</a></div>Margaret Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08293021955480708191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-30615882733149239732024-01-21T10:06:00.003-05:002024-01-21T10:06:24.321-05:00Untrained Melody<p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">I was planning to regurgitate some of the current discussions about AI, particularly with respect to copyright (this is, after all, a blog by and for authors), but I have just changed my title to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsH0X5h3zjA">Untrained Melody</a> because of something I noticed this morning on Amazon.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">One of the most important factors in buying something on Amazon is how many stars a book or other product has, and how many five-star reviews there are. Well, now that Amazon is using AI to sort reviews, one maybe cannot trust Amazon star ratings and reviews.<br /></span></p><div class="a-spacing-small" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span>I am looking for a magic mat that will gently shock my feet and make foot and leg pain vanish temporarily. Walmart has something of the sort on clearance for less than $10, and it appears to have very poor reviews. So, of course I visited Amazon, willing to pay four or five times the Walmart price for a foot-shocker for authors and other sedentary people, providing that the Amazon product has good reviews.<br /></span></span></div><div class="a-spacing-small" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span> </span></span></div><div class="a-spacing-small" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span>Check <a href="https://www.amazon.com/BFAHE-Stimulator-facilitate-Performance-Temporary/dp/B0CMDK8B6D/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=3CR8HHC0Y5L5R&keywords=foot%2Bmassager%2Bfor%2Bneuropathy&qid=1705839416&s=hpc&sprefix=foot%2Bmassa%2Chpc%2C86&sr=1-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1">this</a> out, not literally, of course. </span></span></div><div class="a-spacing-small" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span></span></span></div><blockquote><div class="a-spacing-small" style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span>"Customers like the quality and sturdiness of the health personal care product. They mention that it is beautiful and well made.</span></span></i></div><div class="a-size-small a-color-secondary" data-csa-c-id="x94ju2-gad2yt-soxsp1-xfza0w" data-csa-c-item-id="ai_generated_text_banner" data-csa-c-owner="CustomerReviews" data-csa-c-slot-id="cr-product-insights-cards_ai-generated-text" data-csa-c-type="uxElement" style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">AI-generated from the text of customer reviews"</span></i></div></blockquote><p>The sentence about AI is in very fine print. (I put up a screen shot, but that was not permitted).<br /></p><p>Intrigued for many reasons, I scrolled until I found the reviews. Here is the reviews link:<br /></p><div class="a-size-small a-color-secondary" data-csa-c-id="x94ju2-gad2yt-soxsp1-xfza0w" data-csa-c-item-id="ai_generated_text_banner" data-csa-c-owner="CustomerReviews" data-csa-c-slot-id="cr-product-insights-cards_ai-generated-text" data-csa-c-type="uxElement" style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="a-size-small a-color-secondary" data-csa-c-id="x94ju2-gad2yt-soxsp1-xfza0w" data-csa-c-item-id="ai_generated_text_banner" data-csa-c-owner="CustomerReviews" data-csa-c-slot-id="cr-product-insights-cards_ai-generated-text" data-csa-c-type="uxElement" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/BFAHE-Stimulator-facilitate-Performance-Temporary/product-reviews/B0CMDK8B6D/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_show_all_btm?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews">https://www.amazon.com/BFAHE-Stimulator-facilitate-Performance-Temporary/product-reviews/B0CMDK8B6D/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_show_all_btm?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews </a></span></div><div class="a-size-small a-color-secondary" data-csa-c-id="x94ju2-gad2yt-soxsp1-xfza0w" data-csa-c-item-id="ai_generated_text_banner" data-csa-c-owner="CustomerReviews" data-csa-c-slot-id="cr-product-insights-cards_ai-generated-text" data-csa-c-type="uxElement" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="a-size-small a-color-secondary" data-csa-c-id="x94ju2-gad2yt-soxsp1-xfza0w" data-csa-c-item-id="ai_generated_text_banner" data-csa-c-owner="CustomerReviews" data-csa-c-slot-id="cr-product-insights-cards_ai-generated-text" data-csa-c-type="uxElement" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">What should tires and a low-slung skirt, or a necklace, or a router table, or a sandbag have to do with a stimulating bit of electrified leather or plastic?</span></div><div class="a-size-small a-color-secondary" data-csa-c-id="x94ju2-gad2yt-soxsp1-xfza0w" data-csa-c-item-id="ai_generated_text_banner" data-csa-c-owner="CustomerReviews" data-csa-c-slot-id="cr-product-insights-cards_ai-generated-text" data-csa-c-type="uxElement" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="a-size-small a-color-secondary" data-csa-c-id="x94ju2-gad2yt-soxsp1-xfza0w" data-csa-c-item-id="ai_generated_text_banner" data-csa-c-owner="CustomerReviews" data-csa-c-slot-id="cr-product-insights-cards_ai-generated-text" data-csa-c-type="uxElement" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Maybe, authors, you should investigate what Amazon AI may have done to your reviews. Maybe, would-be-buyers, you should check if you are looking at a product where the reviews have been AI generated from the text of customer reviews.</span></div><div class="a-size-small a-color-secondary" data-csa-c-id="x94ju2-gad2yt-soxsp1-xfza0w" data-csa-c-item-id="ai_generated_text_banner" data-csa-c-owner="CustomerReviews" data-csa-c-slot-id="cr-product-insights-cards_ai-generated-text" data-csa-c-type="uxElement" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="a-size-small a-color-secondary" data-csa-c-id="x94ju2-gad2yt-soxsp1-xfza0w" data-csa-c-item-id="ai_generated_text_banner" data-csa-c-owner="CustomerReviews" data-csa-c-slot-id="cr-product-insights-cards_ai-generated-text" data-csa-c-type="uxElement" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">I might have happened upon an isolated SNAFU.</span></div><div class="a-size-small a-color-secondary" data-csa-c-id="x94ju2-gad2yt-soxsp1-xfza0w" data-csa-c-item-id="ai_generated_text_banner" data-csa-c-owner="CustomerReviews" data-csa-c-slot-id="cr-product-insights-cards_ai-generated-text" data-csa-c-type="uxElement" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="a-size-small a-color-secondary" data-csa-c-id="x94ju2-gad2yt-soxsp1-xfza0w" data-csa-c-item-id="ai_generated_text_banner" data-csa-c-owner="CustomerReviews" data-csa-c-slot-id="cr-product-insights-cards_ai-generated-text" data-csa-c-type="uxElement" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Even so, the AI does not appear to have perfected the spelling, punctuation, grammar of the reviews, so what use is it? <br /></span></div><div class="a-size-small a-color-secondary" data-csa-c-id="x94ju2-gad2yt-soxsp1-xfza0w" data-csa-c-item-id="ai_generated_text_banner" data-csa-c-owner="CustomerReviews" data-csa-c-slot-id="cr-product-insights-cards_ai-generated-text" data-csa-c-type="uxElement" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="a-size-small a-color-secondary" data-csa-c-id="x94ju2-gad2yt-soxsp1-xfza0w" data-csa-c-item-id="ai_generated_text_banner" data-csa-c-owner="CustomerReviews" data-csa-c-slot-id="cr-product-insights-cards_ai-generated-text" data-csa-c-type="uxElement" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">The Mintz law firm's Insights Center has an excellent (if possibly over-punctuated) examination of the (Un)fair Use? Copyrighted Works as AI Training Data.</span></div><div class="a-size-small a-color-secondary" data-csa-c-id="x94ju2-gad2yt-soxsp1-xfza0w" data-csa-c-item-id="ai_generated_text_banner" data-csa-c-owner="CustomerReviews" data-csa-c-slot-id="cr-product-insights-cards_ai-generated-text" data-csa-c-type="uxElement" style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.mintz.com/insights-center/viewpoints/54731/2024-01-10-unfair-use-copyrighted-works-ai-training-data-ai#page=1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">https://www.mintz.com/insights-center/viewpoints/54731/2024-01-10-unfair-use-copyrighted-works-ai-training-data-ai#page=1</span></a></div><p style="color: #101517; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"></p><p>Authors <a href="https://www.mintz.com/our-people/bruce-d-sokler">Bruce D. Sokler</a>, <a href="https://www.mintz.com/our-people/alexander-hecht">Alexander Hecht</a>, <a href="https://www.mintz.com/our-people/christian-tamotsu-fjeld">Christian Tamotsu-fjeld</a>, and <a href="https://www.lexology.com/2363/author/Raj_Gambhir/">Raj Gambhir</a> discuss the dilemmas that have arisen around the world from the methods used by developers to train their tools and models. <br /></p><p>As they write:</p><div class="article-body clippable-element text-clippable image-clippable" data-content-slug="fc73a939-513d-4595-82da-c83b9c64b444" data-content-type="Article" data-firm-ref="2363" data-friendly-name="(Un)fair Use? Copyrighted Works as AI Training Data — AI: The Washington Report" data-integrity-check="D81C158162A3135C7C276162CF1C1A53" data-jurisdictions="1" data-workareas="46,21,26" id="lex-article-body" style="display: block;"><p></p><blockquote>"Many have been amazed by the capacity of generative AI tools to
answer questions, crack jokes, and compose poetry." <br /></blockquote><p></p><p> And:</p><p></p><blockquote>".. for training AI models,
researchers have “scraped” various data sources including internet
forums, book corpuses, and online code repositories."</blockquote><p></p>
<p>Allegedly, it wasn't a contentious issue until AI became commericalized. Perhaps a use can be fair as long as it is for the benefit of all mankind, and is not exploited for the financial gain of a few.<br /></p>Apparently, in Europe, there is a right for copyright holders to opt-out of having their work data mined, and if they do so, the AI trainers must seek permission. It would have been simpler if the AI trainers had stuck to works that are unquestionably in the public domain, but would they find Chaucer, <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/aphra-behn">Aphra</a> Behn, Shakespeare, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Castle-of-Otranto">The Castle of Otranto</a>, and the Bible a tad inconvenient for training purposes?</div><div class="article-body clippable-element text-clippable image-clippable" data-content-slug="fc73a939-513d-4595-82da-c83b9c64b444" data-content-type="Article" data-firm-ref="2363" data-friendly-name="(Un)fair Use? Copyrighted Works as AI Training Data — AI: The Washington Report" data-integrity-check="D81C158162A3135C7C276162CF1C1A53" data-jurisdictions="1" data-workareas="46,21,26" id="lex-article-body" style="display: block;"><br /></div><div class="article-body clippable-element text-clippable image-clippable" data-content-slug="fc73a939-513d-4595-82da-c83b9c64b444" data-content-type="Article" data-firm-ref="2363" data-friendly-name="(Un)fair Use? Copyrighted Works as AI Training Data — AI: The Washington Report" data-integrity-check="D81C158162A3135C7C276162CF1C1A53" data-jurisdictions="1" data-workareas="46,21,26" id="lex-article-body" style="display: block;">The Mintz authors supply links to efforts in the USA, including President Biden’s “<a class="logclick ct_cont" href="https://www.mintz.com/insights-center/viewpoints/2191/2023-10-31-bidens-executive-order-artificial-intelligence-ai" target="_blank">Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence</a>” and a couple of partisan lawmakers' <a class="logclick ct_cont" href="https://beyer.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=6052" target="_blank">AI Foundation Model Transparency Act</a>.</div><div class="article-body clippable-element text-clippable image-clippable" data-content-slug="fc73a939-513d-4595-82da-c83b9c64b444" data-content-type="Article" data-firm-ref="2363" data-friendly-name="(Un)fair Use? Copyrighted Works as AI Training Data — AI: The Washington Report" data-integrity-check="D81C158162A3135C7C276162CF1C1A53" data-jurisdictions="1" data-workareas="46,21,26" id="lex-article-body" style="display: block;"> </div><div class="article-body clippable-element text-clippable image-clippable" data-content-slug="fc73a939-513d-4595-82da-c83b9c64b444" data-content-type="Article" data-firm-ref="2363" data-friendly-name="(Un)fair Use? Copyrighted Works as AI Training Data — AI: The Washington Report" data-integrity-check="D81C158162A3135C7C276162CF1C1A53" data-jurisdictions="1" data-workareas="46,21,26" id="lex-article-body" style="display: block;">Meanwhile, there are lawsuits. Last month, the <i>New York Times </i><a class="logclick ct_cont" href="https://nytco-assets.nytimes.com/2023/12/NYT_Complaint_Dec2023.pdf" target="_blank">sued leading generative AI companies</a>
for “unlawful use of The Times’s .... content without permission to develop their
models and tools.” </div><div class="article-body clippable-element text-clippable image-clippable" data-content-slug="fc73a939-513d-4595-82da-c83b9c64b444" data-content-type="Article" data-firm-ref="2363" data-friendly-name="(Un)fair Use? Copyrighted Works as AI Training Data — AI: The Washington Report" data-integrity-check="D81C158162A3135C7C276162CF1C1A53" data-jurisdictions="1" data-workareas="46,21,26" id="lex-article-body" style="display: block;"> </div><div class="article-body clippable-element text-clippable image-clippable" data-content-slug="fc73a939-513d-4595-82da-c83b9c64b444" data-content-type="Article" data-firm-ref="2363" data-friendly-name="(Un)fair Use? Copyrighted Works as AI Training Data — AI: The Washington Report" data-integrity-check="D81C158162A3135C7C276162CF1C1A53" data-jurisdictions="1" data-workareas="46,21,26" id="lex-article-body" style="display: block;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Authors Guild has organized a class-action lawsuit against OpenAI. There is an article about it on the Times site, here:</span></span></div><div class="article-body clippable-element text-clippable image-clippable" data-content-slug="fc73a939-513d-4595-82da-c83b9c64b444" data-content-type="Article" data-firm-ref="2363" data-friendly-name="(Un)fair Use? Copyrighted Works as AI Training Data — AI: The Washington Report" data-integrity-check="D81C158162A3135C7C276162CF1C1A53" data-jurisdictions="1" data-workareas="46,21,26" id="lex-article-body" style="display: block;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><a href="https://authorsguild.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=727ad03949c981c140a2bf125&id=240dd73de4&e=4daaa77539 ">https://authorsguild.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=727ad03949c981c140a2bf125&id=240dd73de4&e=4daaa77539 <br /></a></span></span></span></div><div class="article-body clippable-element text-clippable image-clippable" data-content-slug="fc73a939-513d-4595-82da-c83b9c64b444" data-content-type="Article" data-firm-ref="2363" data-friendly-name="(Un)fair Use? Copyrighted Works as AI Training Data — AI: The Washington Report" data-integrity-check="D81C158162A3135C7C276162CF1C1A53" data-jurisdictions="1" data-workareas="46,21,26" id="lex-article-body" style="display: block;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span> </span></span></span></div><div class="article-body clippable-element text-clippable image-clippable" data-content-slug="fc73a939-513d-4595-82da-c83b9c64b444" data-content-type="Article" data-firm-ref="2363" data-friendly-name="(Un)fair Use? Copyrighted Works as AI Training Data — AI: The Washington Report" data-integrity-check="D81C158162A3135C7C276162CF1C1A53" data-jurisdictions="1" data-workareas="46,21,26" id="lex-article-body" style="display: block;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>The purpose of the law suite is to take a stand against wholesale theft of the work of all authors, no matter the genre in which they write. The Authors Guild penned an open letter, which thousands of authors supported. You can use the search function to check whether or not you signed. </span></span></span></div><div class="article-body clippable-element text-clippable image-clippable" data-content-slug="fc73a939-513d-4595-82da-c83b9c64b444" data-content-type="Article" data-firm-ref="2363" data-friendly-name="(Un)fair Use? Copyrighted Works as AI Training Data — AI: The Washington Report" data-integrity-check="D81C158162A3135C7C276162CF1C1A53" data-jurisdictions="1" data-workareas="46,21,26" id="lex-article-body" style="display: block;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span> </span></span></span></div><div class="article-body clippable-element text-clippable image-clippable" data-content-slug="fc73a939-513d-4595-82da-c83b9c64b444" data-content-type="Article" data-firm-ref="2363" data-friendly-name="(Un)fair Use? Copyrighted Works as AI Training Data — AI: The Washington Report" data-integrity-check="D81C158162A3135C7C276162CF1C1A53" data-jurisdictions="1" data-workareas="46,21,26" id="lex-article-body" style="display: block;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>My name is on page 22 of 200 pages of supporters' names,</span></span></span></div><div class="article-body clippable-element text-clippable image-clippable" data-content-slug="fc73a939-513d-4595-82da-c83b9c64b444" data-content-type="Article" data-firm-ref="2363" data-friendly-name="(Un)fair Use? Copyrighted Works as AI Training Data — AI: The Washington Report" data-integrity-check="D81C158162A3135C7C276162CF1C1A53" data-jurisdictions="1" data-workareas="46,21,26" id="lex-article-body" style="display: block;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a href="https://authorsguild.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Authors-Guild-Open-Letter-to-Generative-AI-Leaders.pdf">https://authorsguild.org/app/uploads/2023/10/Authors-Guild-Open-Letter-to-Generative-AI-Leaders.pdf</a></span></div><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">All the best,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Rowena Cherry </span>
</p><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span><span>SPACE SNARK™ </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span><span><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.spacesnark.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.spacesnark.com/</a></span></span></span></span></span></div><p><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
<a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/rowena+cherry" target="_blank" rel="tag" title="Link to Technorati Tag category for rowena cherry">rowena cherry</a></div>RowenaBCherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14826977922522817547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-31359419621601169492024-01-19T07:00:00.002-05:002024-01-19T07:00:00.180-05:00Karen S Wiesner: The Conundrum of Spoilers or {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: Last to Leave the Room by Caitlin Starling<p><br /></p><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="break-after: avoid; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">The Conundrum of Spoilers<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="break-after: avoid; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">or {Put This One on Your TBR List}<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="break-after: avoid; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Book Review: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Last to
Leave the Room</i> by Caitlin Starling<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="break-after: avoid; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">by Karen S. Wiesner</span></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="break-after: avoid; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1142" data-original-width="750" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIno32_Za9122pMF3SlU5zEUL12W7npywgJCNOGvxX6i4-yVVTCb_k8lKHPzifP-xcuuzqfA6GIAqAfCvMfX8kcl4T9JAIJ8k6FL765RTnwsFBMwUhTUwPHmc8PFCEXfj-K-Kn_vvgorQh-1XKBKmfCdoDp1ppVKIaGXznf8H4KoGmdyrAhfGs/s320/LasttoLeavetheRoom.jpg" width="210" /></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Several criteria guide
book-buying strategies, which is something I've spoken of at length in articles
as well as in my book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Writing Blurbs That
Sizzle--And Sell!</i> (Fiction Fundamentals, Book 7). Personalizing those
standards, here's what guides my decisions on whether or not to commit to
purchasing a book to read:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">First and foremost, for me, is
the author. If it's one I've loved his or her past offerings, that may be all
that's necessary for me to sweep up every new release and get to the checkout
ASAP. If it's an author who I inconsistently enjoy their work or a brand-new
writer for me, I may waffle about buying. The format, price, genre, and subject
matter would all have to come into play for me to cross the threshold of firm
decision in whether to buy something from them.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Second, whether the book is
available as a paperback almost always plays a significant role in my choice.
There are almost no authors I would automatically buy a hardcover book for. In
my opinion, hardcovers are too expensive, unless you can get them on sale. I
only buy ebooks if there are no other formats available--because I spend far
too many hours every single day looking at screens, it's hard for me to choose
electronic reading material for pleasure, given the strain on my eyes and
brain. Inevitably, I wait until the paperback edition is available before
buying, period, even for my most favorite authors. However, I do occasionally
make exceptions.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">The third factor for me is the
genre. If I'm sold on the previous two criteria and it's a horror story, it's a
done deal--as in, I can't get to the cash register fast enough. My second
favorite genre is (sigh!) all other genres. Science fiction, fantasy, mystery,
Regency romance, thriller…you name it. I wish I could choose between them, but
they're all in constant competition with each other and my interest at a
particular moment.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Back cover blurbs tend to be the
tie-breaker for all the previous directives, and it's the make-it-or-break-it
point of whatever came before. If the back cover blurb doesn't sell me, that's
it. It's either hello, or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sorry thanks
for coming goodbye</i>. Most importantly, a blurb can't be too short. I need to
know who the characters are, what they're facing, and what the stakes are. I
want details up until the point of spoilers but never beyond. If I don't get the
information I need in a blurb, little can convince me to move forward since the
risk of buying something that doesn't have enough persuasive evidence to
warrant spending money and time on is too great for me. Though back cover
blurbs are the fourth and last factor in whether or not I may a book purchase,
it's the one that plays the most significant role in my decision.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Note: Cover art and reviews--bad
or good--aren't considerations in my book-buying choices even one iota. I would
buy a book with a cover that doesn't appeal to me if it meets my four crucial
requirements. As for reviews, I don't read them at all until the book has been
purchased and I'm just about to start reading it. I absolutely hate it when a
back cover blurb is little more than a publisher thrusting a fistful of reviews
or accolades at me in place of the blurb, like most book distributors (Amazon!!!)
do these days, as if any of that matters to me in the least.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Last to Leave the Room</span></i><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">
by Caitlin Starling has had many genres attached to it. I think psychological
horror sums it up best. Some reviews mentioned science fiction as a potential
genre, but I don't really see how that fits after having read it. (Too much of
a stretch in my mind to classify this title that way.) Techno-thriller could
also fit because there is a lot of technical information given about physics,
technology, computers, engineering, etc. In any case, the horror aspects were
what appealed most to me for this story.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">I was eagerly awaiting Starling's
next release, given how much I enjoyed two of her previous books. See my
reviews for them here:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; margin-left: 0.5in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Luminous Dead</i>: <a href="https://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2023/06/karen-wiesner-book-review-luminous-dead.html" target="_blank">https://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2023/06/karen-wiesner-book-review-luminous-dead.html</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; margin-left: 0.5in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;">and <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; margin-left: 0.5in; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Death of Jane Lawrence</i>: <span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2023/07/book-review-death-of-jane-lawrence-by.html" target="_blank">https://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2023/07/book-review-death-of-jane-lawrence-by.html</a></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">The basic idea of this story is
that a brilliant scientist with almost no moral boundaries embarks on
ground-breaking research that leads to the city she's living in sinking. She's
funded by an equally immoral corporation--though it's respectable on the
surface--that retains a "bully" who makes sure none of the
prone-to-lunacy scientists goes too far off the edge of the world. The
scientist's own private research is actually the cause of what's happening to
the city and that makes the consequences not only diabolically personal but
universally dangerous.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The hardcover and ebook editions
came out </span>October 10, 2023. I held out until November 11, 2023, hoping to
see the paperback release become imminent in that time. For reasons involving
reaching a low point in my TBR pile and the additional motivation of Christmas
only a month away, but mainly because I was very eager to read this author's
next book (the genre and blurb utterly sold me), I decided to splurge and get
the hardcover.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;">After I held the hardback with the wraparound paper cover art in my
hands, I studied the cover for a long time. It was an interesting design,
showing eight women who all looked identical. One of the women, the one in the
spotlight, sat at the bottom of a staircase and was the central focus of the
design. The others were obviously listening to her and giving her their
attention. The fact that they so closely resembled each other intrigued me.
Having read the back cover blurb earlier, before my purchase of the book, I
started to form clear ideas about what the book's central themes were.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;">Next, I re-read the back cover blurb that was printed on the inner leaf
of the slipcover. From there, I had a very strong concept of the plot. This was
followed by reading the back cover of the book, which had no fewer than nine
reviews put forth from other authors of the genre, I assume (I'd never heard of
any of them, though some accolades were included for most of them). The reviews
stunned me a little bit because they gave away what felt like crucial elements
of the story conflict that I wasn't sure should have been leaked prematurely.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;">Let me inject here that I've never understood what people consider
spoilers. An article on Wikipedia states that, "A spoiler is an element of
a disseminated summary or description of a media narrative that reveals significant
plot elements, with the implication that the experience of discovering the plot
naturally, as the creator intended it, has been robbed of its full
effect." On the sitcom <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Big Bang
Theory</i>, Sheldon calls a spoiler anything revealed that
"pre-blows" the mind; as in, the only place the mind can and should
be blown is where the writer intended shock and awe to dazzle like fireworks
within the viewer's individual brain.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;">The only part I've ever been sure of when it comes to spoilers is that
I'm apparently guilty of giving crucial information away too often. I've lost
count of how many people have screamed out in the middle of an active
discussion "Spoiler!", as if I committed a murder or worse. I know
people who won't read a synopsis of a book, movie, or videogame in advance
because those handful of words might wreck something for them. How do they know
if it's something they'll like without reading even that much? I don't get it. Even
after being called on it, I can't fathom why the perfectly innocuous thing I'd
said is being viewed as an illegal revelation of vital plot elements that would
have otherwise been an awestruck surprise to the one who hadn't yet read the
story, seen the film, or played the videogame.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;">To so many people, spoilers are a serious miscarriage of justice. In the
past, for me, I've actually enjoyed spoilers. I'm the type of person who reads
as much as possible about a story (whether it's a book, a movie, or a
videogame) in advance of submerging in it. For videogames in particular, I prefer
not to have big surprises hit me <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">while</i>
I'm immersed. I always read in-depth walkthroughs in their entirety before
undertaking any game I'm interested in. I don't want to miss anything vital to
gaining the best possible ending just because I didn't realize I had to say
something specific that isn't obvious to anyone but the game developers. It's
possible to miss or lose so much in videogames if you're not aware in advance
of the event that causes potentially disastrous consequences. I once played a
game that took about 25 minutes from start to finish. I solved all the
extremely challenging puzzles, made the correct choices, and did literally
everything right. I had a single misstep. I said something I didn't realize was
even a bad thing to say; at the time, it seemed like the best choice of the few
options I was given. The ramifications of that decision led to an ending that
didn't seem fair. Though it was a short game, it was an exhausting one that I
didn't want to ever repeat. I rue now that I didn't read a walkthrough first so
I could avoid the seemingly fatal mistake of not reading the developer's minds.
I haven't made that mistake since.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;">In any case, for books and movies, I need to read the back cover blurbs,
any reviews I come across, and if I happen to hear too much detail in advance
on social media or elsewhere, I don't mind. For mysteries or psychological
thrillers, I generally guess the finer details almost immediately after
starting the story. As a writer, I love the reverse engineer process of that.
It doesn't ruin anything for me. If anything, it makes it more exciting for me
as a writer. Yes, a twist is always welcome in any type of story, but, up until<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Last to Leave the Room</i>, I'd have to say
I've never minded spoilers at all, no matter how explicit and thorough. Ultimately,
I'd say I've had a major blind spot where spoilers are concerned.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;">With <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Last to Leave the Room</i>, something
happened to me that I'm not sure has ever occurred before except in the case of
most of M. Night Shyamalan's films, where the big reveal will forever change
the story for me as I initially knew it. While most of Shyamalan's movies are
still really good once I know the core element, that big twist in the story is
the point of it for me. I don't want that ruined in advance. His promoters are
good at telling the fringe edges of the story in the blurb and previews so
nothing crucial is ever given away thereby wrecking the shocking twist to come.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;">After viewing the cover for this particular Starling tale, followed by
reading the blurb and reviews slipcover, I felt like I went into starting the
story with far too much information--revealed with too on-point cover art and
reviews that sabotaged the jolt I'd been looking forward to getting while
reading the story. I guess without really realizing it, I'd allowed this author
to be the one I wanted to give me a horrifying shock or several in the course
of reading her books, the same way I feel about Shyamalan movies. For the first
time, I really understood why people got mad at me for, in essence, telling the
punch line of a joke before giving the lead-up.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;">For those who don't mind spoilers, I'll include details below in very
small writing about what it was that was "spoiled" or given away
before I started reading <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Last to Leave
the Room</i>. If you don't want spoilers, don't read it and don't look at the
book cover or reviews too closely.</span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: xx-small;">The cover of the
book shows nine identical women, eight of whom are circled around the central
figure in the light, who's obviously the leader, almost looking like she's
teaching them. Given that the back cover blurb speaks of the main character
Tamsin finding a door in her basement that wasn't there before the distorting
dimensions leading to accelerated subsidence affecting the entire city of San
Siroco, and that an exact physical copy of Tamsin emerges from that door, it
was easy to deduce that whatever this phenomenon destroying the city is, it
creates doppelgängers--possibly many of them. In fact, Tamsin's cat also gains
its own doppelgänger early in the story, after Tamsin's copy emerges. So I went
into the story aware this would be the focus of the story. Reviews on the back
cover talk about other focuses and conflicts, like gender, identity, and memory
being central in the story premise. All of the things in this paragraph led to
further deductions on my part, which were borne out almost exactly how I
imagined they would be in reading the actual story.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;">I read through the first part of
the book (titled "The City", comprising the first 28 pages), the
second "The Door" (40 pages), and the third "The Double"
(136 pages) with almost no surprises revealed that I hadn't already figured out
before I ever started reading the book. I'll also add that on page 96, I felt
compelled to re-read the back cover blurb and realized that the blurb contained
information that was either highly inaccurate or wildly misleading. Again, so I
can't be criticized for spoilers, here's what that is below, in tiny print that
you'll really have to strain to read if you want to know:</span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: xx-small;">The back cover blurb
states emphatically that, at the bottom of the stairs, Tamsin "finds a
door that didn't exist before--and one night, it opens to reveal an exact
physical copy of her." Point of fact, the door never actually opened in
the story at the point before the doppelgänger appeared. If it did, it happened
off-screen. Which is to say, it didn't happen at all, or the author was trying
to trick the reader--blatant cheating when it comes to giving readers
foundational facts. The opening of that door is a pivotal conflict in the story!
In fact, the opening of the door is almost shown to be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">impossible</i> throughout the story until the end. So telling the
reader in so blasé a fashion <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in the blurb</i>
that the door opened (when it won't and can't and seems unlikely to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">within the story</i>) and Tamsin's copy came
out of it when the reader would find out soon enough that that event happened
off-screen was beyond toleration for me. As a reader, I was denied seeing that
take place within the story. I see this as a gross error on the part of the
author or the publisher, or blatant cheating. Either that part of the blurb was
accidentally or deliberately wrong, or it's wildly misleading, and, as such, in
my opinion, is completely unfair.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Readers have to be given
certain, foundational facts in the setup of a story. On the face of it, those
foundations have to be valid from start to finish, or there have to be at least
two very different perspectives that are equally true in order to justify the
setup. Any alteration has to feel natural and be properly built-in from the
beginning. In this case, I don't believe it was. I feel this inaccuracy
unfairly altered and colored my perceptions pre-read. At the very least, I
believe the word "presumably" should have been added to the blurb (in
the area I spoke of in my last spoiler paragraph) in order to allow it to stand
where it does as a foundational fact. Providing that one little word would have
allowed me to feel satisfied on this point. I would have accepted everything as
is with its inclusion. Without it, I couldn't help feeling that I'd been
unreasonably deceived from the off by the author. This eroded some of my trust
in the author-reader contract. I believe I will be wary about the next book she
offers and worried she won't play fair again.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">By way of review, </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Last to Leave the Room </i>is certainly one
of the slowest moving stories I've ever read. That's not a criticism per se
because I genuinely enjoyed the story, but, given that I basically knew
everything foundational about the story before I started reading it, 205 pages
of developing the characters, themes, and conflicts did seem a little excessive
in the process of reading them--despite how well-written and compelling those
pages were.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;">Additionally, I was put off by the present tense perspective the story
was told in. On her website, the author said the reason she wrote the book this
way was "in an attempt to capture that transitory feeling, of existing
only in that moment in the narrative with no promise of a future, and an at
times fast-receding glimpse of the past." Regardless, I lost track of how
many times I had to read and re-read sentences because the present tense didn't
sound quite right and I had to figure out where I was getting confused before
continuing. In all cases, the present tense was the reason for why I became
tripped up.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;">My final bit of criticism before I get into the good stuff is that
Starling almost seems incapable of writing a protagonist that I as a reader can
feel the slightest bit of sympathy for. She sets up a thoroughly unlikeable cast
that, instead of growing, and maturing, and learning from mistakes,
disintegrates page by page and frequently becomes an outright villain by the
end. [It's this very reason I didn't enjoy Starling's novella "Yellow
Jessamine". Absolutely nothing was redeemable by the end of that twisted
little tale.] These are the kinds of characters you come to hate and secretly
wish for the worst to happen to them instead of the best. As a writer myself, I
don't understand that mentality in developing characters. I want readers to
come to love, empathize with, and root for my characters. Could authors who
create utterly despicable main characters actually <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">want</i> readers to root for their character's <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">demise</i>, pumping their fists in victory when the consequences of bad
behavior inevitably come a-knockin'? I can't begin to fathom this. Regardless,
I still find this author's stories utterly compelling, if for no other reason
than that you simply can't walk away from these train wrecks without seeing how
they resolve, satisfactorily if not happily.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">On the plus side, the fourth and
last section of the book gave me everything I was looking for in a Caitlin
Starling novel. There was shock, disgust, horror, awe, unexpected developments,
validation of several theories I'd been playing with throughout, and the answer
that was pretty close to what I'd predicted before actually starting the book
felt justified and captivating. I especially loved the explanation of the
title. In fact, it may be what I loved most about the book. I apologize to
those of you who don't care about spoilers having to read the next tiny
paragraph, but in an effort not to be shouted at for revealing a spoiler,
though I can't see how, here's how the title fits in with the story (and
matches the cover art):</span></span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: xx-small;">Tamsin reads endless
theories, arguments, psychoanalytic reviews, and stories about doubles. In most
of them, the doppelgänger causes destruction. The original usually tries to
kill the double and is harmed in the process. Sometimes it disappears, other
times it's the last one standing. Ultimately, the original always loses. In one
particular yarn, the devil teaches black magic to seven students. The last one
to leave each night forfeits his or her soul. In the case of a doppelgänger,
that "shadow" is always the last to leave the room, so that's what
the devil takes as payment.</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">While it took me two weeks to
read Parts 1-3 of </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Last to Leave
the Room</i>, I read Part 4 in about two days, actually getting up at one a.m.
one night to read more as the noose tightened. Ultimately, I found this story
worth the price I paid for the hardcover. Starling never fails to deliver an
impactful story with an explosive ending.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;">That said, I'm left with conundrums I've rarely had before about whether
front-loading a story with what could easily be considered spoilers (even with
my previous, blasé tolerance of them) can or will adversely influence the
reading experience. About the closest I can come to an accurate response is
that any spoilers, some spoilers, a lot of spoilers--it's all subjective. In
the case of this novel, I was put off by what I felt was too much pivotal
information being given in advance of reading a single word of it--almost to
the point of fury. To add to my confusion, after finishing the book and just
before writing this review, I went to the author's website. I found two
essay/articles there concerning this particular story, and both gave away so
much information about the plot that I was certain had I read either of them in
advance, I wouldn't have enjoyed the book at all. They left little or nothing
for me to discover on my own in the process of reading.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;">This experience leaves me with uncertainty about something that, in the
past, before reading this particular title, I would have responded to very
differently: At what point is a surfeit of information given in advance about
the plot of a story overkill or buzz-kill, so that there's almost no point to
reading the book since you can already guess the core elements? I simply don't
know. Anyone else want to give it a try?</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: georgia;">Karen Wiesner is an award-winning,
multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Visit her website here: </span><a href="https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">and </span><a href="https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Find out more about her books and see her art
here: </span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor</span></a></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="break-after: avoid; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Visit her publisher here: </span><a href="https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/</span></a></span></p><br /><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
<a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/rowena+cherry" target="_blank" rel="tag" title="Link to Technorati Tag category for rowena cherry">rowena cherry</a></div>Karen Wiesnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11851552710463232282noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-84562217973171796522024-01-18T08:00:00.001-05:002024-01-18T08:00:00.140-05:00WEIRD TALES Centenary Tribute<p>I've recently finished reading an anthology called WEIRD TALES: 100 YEARS OF WEIRD, edited by Jonathan Maberry, current editor of "The Unique Magazine." As the subtitle implies, this book was published in honor of the magazine's 2023 centennial. It hasn't operated continuously all those years, having lapsed and been revived several times, but its present incarnation claims continuity with the venerable pulp zine famed for showcasing the early works of H. P. Lovecraft and many other classic twentieth-century horror and fantasy authors. The contents of the anthology consist mainly of fiction (plus a few poems) but also several essays. One of the latter, "Swords and Sorcery: WEIRD TALES and Beyond," by Charles R. Rutledge, is a reprint from the November 2022 issue of the periodical. The others, original to this volume, explore topics such as the history of the magazine, the evolution of occult detectives, cosmic terror, shared world authorship, and some sources of Lovecraft's visionary horror.</p>
<p>As for the fiction, I was mildly disappointed to discover that this isn't exclusively a reprint anthology. Stories from the actual magazine are outnumbered by new ones. In addition to two pieces from twenty-first-century issues, "Up from Slavery" (2021) by Victor LaValle and "Jagannath" (2011) by Karen Tidbeck, we get eight "classic reprints." The vintage authors comprise H. P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, C. L. Moore, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Tennessee Williams (under a pen name), Richard Matheson, and Allison V. Harding. While I thought it was a bit of a cop-out to choose what's probably Lovecraft's best-known and most often reprinted tale, "The Call of Cthulhu," to represent him, several other "classic" entries may be new to many readers, as some were to me. And one can hardly complain about the original stories, given their uniformly high quality. This compilation offers abundant thrills for lovers of weird fiction, however we define the term.</p>
<p>Horror fans in general would enjoy the anthology, and for devotees of WEIRD TALES, it's a must-read book. The numerous illustrations and ads reprinted from the magazine practically justify the purchase price in themselves.</p>
<p>I count as one of my most treasured writing milestones a story published in WEIRD TALES (September-October 2003): "Manila Peril," featuring Filipino vampires in southern California.</p>
<p>Margaret L. Carter</p>
<p>Please explore love among the monsters at <a href="http://www.margaretlcarter.com">Carter's Crypt</a>.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
<a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/rowena+cherry" target="_blank" rel="tag" title="Link to Technorati Tag category for rowena cherry">rowena cherry</a></div>Margaret Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08293021955480708191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-20210160468435354492024-01-14T10:11:00.002-05:002024-01-14T10:11:44.966-05:00Once A Pirate...<p>"Once..." is an odd and exciting word. It sets up expectations for what is to come next. Three possibilities come to mind.</p><p>Once... Twice, as in "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz61YQWZuYU">Once bitten, twice shy</a>," the proverb, and the Great White hit.<br /></p><p>Once... upon a time.</p><p>Once... Always... in the sense of irredeemability of a thief, a scoundrel, a kleptomaniac, a cheat, or the ingrained and noble nature of a king or queen, a marine, a warrior.<br /></p><p><a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/once">Once</a> is an adverb, a conjunction, and very rarely and idiosyncratically, a noun (just the once). </p><div style="text-align: left;">"Once a pirate" sounds like the title to a fantastic novel, and indeed, it is.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://susangrant.com/books/standalone-books/once-a-pirate">https://susangrant.com/books/standalone-books/once-a-pirate</a>/</div><p></p><div style="text-align: left;">Not all pirates are equal. Business writer and regular Forbes contributor <a href="https://tendayiviki.medium.com/">Tendayi Viki</a> explains the difference between rogue pirates and government-licensed pirates (privateers) in an article on innovation and the advantages of not following the rules.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://tendayiviki.medium.com/when-it-comes-to-innovation-not-all-pirates-are-the-same-4727c171941f">https://tendayiviki.medium.com/when-it-comes-to-innovation-not-all-pirates-are-the-same-4727c171941f</a></div><p>His most interesting point, IMHO, is about the piratical nature of Start-ups. <br /></p><p class="pw-post-body-paragraph mv mw gr mx b my mz na nb nc nd ne nf ng nh ni nj nk nl nm nn no np nq nr ns gk bj" data-selectable-paragraph="" id="39ba"></p><blockquote><p class="pw-post-body-paragraph mv mw gr mx b my mz na nb nc nd ne nf ng nh ni nj nk nl nm nn no np nq nr ns gk bj" data-selectable-paragraph="" id="39ba"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Unlike startups, large companies have to follow the rules. As Steve Blank notes:</span></span> <br /></p></blockquote><blockquote><p class="pw-post-body-paragraph mv mw gr mx b my mz na nb nc nd ne nf ng nh ni nj nk nl nm nn no np nq nr ns gk bj" data-selectable-paragraph="" id="39ba"><span style="font-size: small;"><i class="gr" style="font-family: inherit;">Startups can do anything. Companies can only do what’s legal.</i></span></p></blockquote><blockquote class="nt nu nv"><p class="mv mw nw mx b my mz na nb nc nd ne nf ng nh ni nj nk nl nm nn no np nq nr ns gk bj" data-selectable-paragraph="" id="c014"><i class="gr"></i></p></blockquote><p></p><blockquote>Having no business model and no market reputation to defend makes startups quite dangerous as competitors."</blockquote><p></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corsair">Corsairs </a>could be pirates or privateers. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buccaneer">Buccaneers </a>were the original pirates of the Caribbean, but many were under license to attack Spanish shipping. Paying taxes does not mean that one has Letters of Marque. What are we to call Big Tech?<br /></p><div style="text-align: left;">Business writer <a href="https://qz.com/author/stoddqz">Sara Todd</a> makes some interesting points about piracy and the start up days of Apple Computers.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://qz.com/1719898/steve-jobs-speech-that-made-silicon-valley-obsessed-with-pirates">https://qz.com/1719898/steve-jobs-speech-that-made-silicon-valley-obsessed-with-pirates</a></div><p></p><blockquote>"[Steve Jobs] offered a maxim meant to motivate the developers: “It’s better to be a pirate than join the navy.”</blockquote><p></p><p>and<br /></p><p></p><blockquote>"The pirate metaphor also involved a certain willingness to plunder.
“Steve also never minded occasionally stealing good ideas from others,
like the Picasso quote—’good artists copy, great artists steal,’”
Hertzfeld adds."</blockquote><p></p><p>Picasso's might be a philosophy not only shared by tech geniuses, but also by great musicians, as <a href="https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/author/presnikoff/">Paul Resnikoff</a> discusses for digital music news.<br /></p><p><a href="https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2016/04/19/robert-plant-and-jimmy-page-blatantly-admit-to-stealing-their-music-led-zeppelin/">https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2016/04/19/robert-plant-and-jimmy-page-blatantly-admit-to-stealing-their-music-led-zeppelin/</a><br /></p><p>Despite admissions, if one is good enough, one gets away with whatever alleged copyright infringement one might be accused of, presumably because the "borrowing" is transformative or otherwise is de minimus. </p><div style="text-align: left;">The same may not apply to distributors of other people's whole work. Paul Resnikoff writes about the problems for musicians that streaming music has created.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2024/01/06/spotify-royalty-model-ramifications/">https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2024/01/06/spotify-royalty-model-ramifications/</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Once a pirate... <a href="https://www.startups.com/library/founder-stories/daniel-elk">https://www.startups.com/library/founder-stories/daniel-ek</a></div><p></p><div style="text-align: left;">Long time legal blogger about the music industry, Chris Castle of <a href="https://musictechpolicy.com/">Music Tech Policy</a> speaks to the emerging moral hazard when a service provider unilaterally decides whom to pay and whom not to pay for essentially the same product.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://musictechpolicy.com/2024/01/12/can-spotify-unilaterally-decide-which-streams-to-pay-under-its-stream-discrimination-policy/">https://musictechpolicy.com/2024/01/12/can-spotify-unilaterally-decide-which-streams-to-pay-under-its-stream-discrimination-policy/</a></div><p>What if Amazon were to decide not to pay self-published authors? Not that they don't. <a href="https://www.themarysue.com/amazon-punishes-authors-whose-work-is-pirated-due-to-aggressive-exclusivity-clause/">Oh, wait.</a>..<br /></p><p>The authors who were allegedly punished, were the innocent victims of e-book piracy. The musicians who are being stiffed are the innocent victims of streaming fraud.<br /></p><p>As Chris writes: "it’s good to remember that this whole episode is somehow excused by
overcoming streaming fraud. I think there are a lot more direct ways to
stop fraud than stiffing an entire category of artists."</p><p>Please follow the Music Tech Policy link for potential solutions. <br /></p><div class="yiv4509698600is-email" style="margin-bottom: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Book piracy has many tentacles. Next time, I may look at the unfair use of copyrighted written works as AI training materials.</span></div><div class="yiv4509698600is-email" style="margin-bottom: 24px;">All the best,<br /></div><p></p><div style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: small;">Rowena Cherry </span></span>
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<a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/rowena+cherry" target="_blank" rel="tag" title="Link to Technorati Tag category for rowena cherry">rowena cherry</a></div>RowenaBCherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14826977922522817547noreply@blogger.com0