The Wonders of Jellyfish

If possible, pick up a copy of the October NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC and contemplate the dazzling photos in the article on jellyfish. Typical jellyfish (not all of which are related to each other; the general name is popularly applied to different groups of creatures) have a complicated life cycle. The adult stage, the parachute-like shape with tentacles that we're most familiar with, is called a medusa. Medusae reproduce sexually, releasing eggs and sperm into the water. The larval stage, known as planula, anchors itself on a rock or the sea bottom, where it becomes a polyp. Polyps reproduce asexually, budding off multiple clones called ephyra, which grow into new medusae.

The highly toxic Portuguese man-of-war illustrates a transitional phase between a colony of separate organisms and their union into a larger, more complex creature. What looks like an individual is "technically a colony that developed from the same embryo."

The oral arms—the tendrils that sweep food into the mouth—of some jellyfish have mouths on the streamers themselves, a feature that sounds like a model for a Lovecraftian eldritch monster.

One species has a unique, almost unbelievable ability to revert to the polyp stage and start life over when confronted by environmental stress such as near-starvation or severe injury, sort of like reincarnation. By producing clones of itself that become medusae, which in turn transform back into polyps, and repeating the cycle, it effectively never dies (at least from "natural causes") or grows old.

The Immortal Jellyfish

Understanding this process of "cell recycling," called "transdifferentiation," could make a vital contribution to stem cell research.

If an intelligent species with an alternating sexual-asexual and mobile-stationary life cycle existed on some alien planet, it would surely have a social structure very different from ours, especially if it followed the jellyfish pattern of producing myriads of offspring with every instance of sexual reproduction. Of course, such alien sapient beings couldn't be jellyfish as we know them, which have no brains. It's also hard to imagine an r-selected species, one that engenders huge numbers of fast-maturing young in hopes that some may survive, evolving intelligence. It wouldn't have the long childhood and parental care that we assume to be essential to intelligence as we know it. What about intelligence not-as-we-know-it, though? Could animals similar to jellyfish, given some sort of neural network, develop a hive mind? After all, in one phase of their life cycle, they're clones, so they might conceivably have a shared consciousness. Genetically identical "immortal jellyfish" have been discovered in widely scattered parts of the Earth. Might similar organisms on another planet belong to a worldwide group mind? If so, what would they think of us as solitary individuals?

Margaret L. Carter

Carter's Crypt

Worldbuilding For Science Fiction Romance Part 2 - Imagine An Impossible World

Worldbuilding For Science Fiction Romance

Part 2

Imagine An Impossible World 

Part 1:
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2010/01/worldbuilding-for-science-fiction.html

In Part 1, we looked at the component of Artistic Composition.

Now, in Part 2, we will look at how to compose the vision of another world, or a futuristic world, using the techniques of science fiction to weld a science story to a Romance.

Pick a science - for example, let's look at sociology or psychology, "soft sciences."

If you need to detail the invention of an FTL space drive, you need to pick astrophysics, or something mystical.  For this exercise, let's look at the notion of "Ripped From The Headlines" as the source of story ideas that sell to wide audiences.

The purpose of this blog is to explore what Romance writers can do to create the Romance Genre version of Star Trek and Star Wars - reaching audiences that actively loathe the genre you are selling them and convincing that audience that they've been missing something.

We have spent a few months exploring the loathing for the HEA, the Happily Ever After, ending which is the primary signature of the Romance Genre.

Readers want a "complete story" -- a story that starts with the explosion of a problem into the life of someone they can understand.

People want Characters struggling to do something they are now doing in their life, so they can watch the Character succeed in the struggle by inventing a new solution to the problem.

So let's look at a problem in sociology -- Fake News Media Bias.

The way events are revealed and covered in the media today irks a lot of people -- and it irks both ends of the political spectrum equally.

People don't want to be told what to make of an event, an utterance, a proclamation, or Supreme Court Decision.  They just want to know what happened, who did what, and how it relates to their prospects for succeeding at (whatever they are doing) life.

So figure out what irks audiences about the Media representations of current Events (politics is always fertile ground! But on the whole, leave the "media" out of your story, and plot, and present all sides of the political argument in the headlines.)'

It's Fake News that irks people -- only these people believe X is fake news and Y is true news, while those people believe Y is fake news and X is true news.

You want to write a Romance -- you don't want to identify X or Y as fake news.

So imagine a Visionary "future human dominated Earth" where news is News, not Fake and not True, but just News.  Imagine a civilization where the problem has been solved and everyone is deriving their diverse and contrary opinions from the same Facts.

That Vision you imagine is the ENDING of your Romance, the HEA.

Now, work backwards to the problem that combining the Two Characters into a Harmonious Couple will solve.

The problem is a society that is in perpetual angst over what is real being mixed up in what a malevolent manipulator is weaving into the warp and woof of the society's fabric.

So your opening might be a College Graduation ceremony where, at a party after the ceremony, someone misbehaves egregiously and there is consequent media coverage at variance with what your Main Character witnesses.

Then there's a Court case.

Suppose the witness is deeply involved with the miscreant and called to testify where the junior most lawyer on the prosecutor's team is a fellow graduate who also witnesses.

Chapter Two is the court decision being handed down in accordance with the imaginary (or rigged ) facts as reported in the media, not what these two witnesses saw happen.

Chapter Three is the two of them together at some kind Event generated by the Court decision.  At this point they are not friends.  An Event happens, and they discover each other as potential Soul Mates - sparks fly.  They each offend their employers in some way because of the sparks.

Job hunting results from them both getting fired over their argument about the court case results.

Chapter 4 has them meeting again by forces beyond their control, not a random force, but one generated by the Event where their Sparks Flew resulting in unemployment.  Could be a job fair, or a volunteer stint at say, Habitat for Humanity.  Choosing these Events venues, and purposes is all done by consulting your Theme and manifesting the thematic statement in the choices.

The choices of events are also rooted in the Worldbuilding you are trying to do, Portraying the Society that is having this problem they will address.

In Chapter 4, they combine forces, (willingly or unwillingly) to address the problem of facts and imagine an impossible world --- and create it.

You see how the HEA is built into the beginning here.  It is an example of  Theme-Plot-Character-Worldbuilding Integration.  Here is the index to that series of posts:

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2015/12/index-to-theme-plot-character.html

The problem is presented, the solution is clear -- and "happiness" will result from solving this problem (ever after is another issue -- keep the suspense rolling tighter and tighter until you reveal the ever-after part (probably marriage proposal).)

Here is the Index post to Believing In The Happily Ever After:

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2016/11/index-to-believing-in-happily-ever-after.html

Chapter 5 is a meeting, maybe over coffee at a busy lunch venue, where the two of them hatch a plan to launch a New Media Company, a web-casting channel with key News Programming (and maybe a blog).

If you need a model for what they can do, and ways it can fail (to keep the suspense up) look at two, twin, commercial news efforts that are working in our world today.

Along the way, they have to discover the concept The Overton Window (key events that pivot the World into a new direction - really change society's values).  Here's a Post on that topic:
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2010/10/glenn-beck-didnt-invent-overton-window.html

The Overton Window is the subject of their conversation over coffee - the scribbling on a napkin probably happens as scribbling on their phone screens set for note taking by hand, diagrams, doodles.

And you have to look at the recent history of companies entering the Streaming News business that may be seen (one day) as Overton Window Events.

https://theblaze.com

https://crtv.com

CRTV has almost put The Blaze out of business -- both tend toward the lurid tabloid end of the spectrum and neither (as of 2018) seem to have their own news gathering operations.  They both sell commentary, not real-time-event-tracking.

When CNN launched as the first news-only Cable TV channel, it launched with a huge investment in (then new) satellite communications mounted on mobile units, and sucked in correspondents and support teams from established networks struggling to make the transition from broadcast to cable (because cable was where the advertising bucks where going).

In 2018, we are watching advertising bucks shift into mobile and streaming ventures.

So currently, there are a few launches of streaming news services (check Roku's list of channels, and Amazon, and Netflix).

The barrier to entry into the Streaming Live News Space is the financing to hire proficient roving news gathering crews, be on the spot, cover breaking news.

Another entry barrier is access to a deep and rich "morgue" -- newspapers used to call the file of previous issues their "morgue."  Today it is a searchable database of sound bytes and video clips  to which you own the copyright.

Both of these barriers can be used as plot-conflict generators, and if done correctly could run this Futuristic Romance out to 5 or more novels.

Here are some previous posts linking to these concepts:

Mastering The Narrative Line
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2016/10/marketing-fiction-in-changing-world_86.html

Making a Profit At Writing In A Capitalist World
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2016/10/marketing-fiction-in-changing-world_11.html

Keep The Press Out Of It
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2014/06/information-feed-tricks-and-tips-for.html

Using The Media To Advance Plot
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2015/02/depiction-part-7-using-media-to-advance.html

The News Game:
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2014/03/marketing-fiction-in-changing-world.html

There are Venture Capital incubators and start-up processes for new ventures all over the map.  Most start-ups (over 90%) fail, and most of the rest are being built merely to be sold to "the big guys."

Considering this streaming start-up venture coming up against these barriers to entry into the live-news "just the facts" coverage (which is very unpopular at this time), your new couple with a vision and a wider social justice ambition to fix the world, you have enough plot material for a very long series as their Relationship develops, strains, maybe shatters, reforms, all over the business decisions they must make to create their News Venue.

Maybe they start envisioning a TV channel and end up creating something akin to Reuters or AP - an aggregating news service the big guys (NBC, CNN) subscribe to.

So think about the titles for News Shows to put on this hypothetical streaming service.  Maybe the news show titles could become book titles if you outline a long series.

Think about:

Just The Facts  (talking heads)
Live Update  (Field Correspondents with an Anchor)
Trends  (statistics and charts)
Believe It Or Not ( Items of Breaking News that may not be true)
Around The World (what other countries are telling their citizens.
Confirming Suspicions (which Breaking News is true)

Keeping inventing News Show titles and slants that simply will not sell advertising in today's world which lusts after juicy gossip, ain't it awful, and the latest name-calling shouting match.

The less commercial your title idea is, the more likely your Couple will try to make it fly -- or hire an Anchor who advocates it.

Do you know how to write a News Headline that does not reveal your personal bias?  Try it.  Read some news items and rewrite them without any slant or bias.  It is not easy to avoid "leading" the reader to interpret the significance of an event the way you see it.  Practice and see how much Romance there actually is in the News Game.

Jacqueline Lichtenberg
http://jacquelinelichtenberg.com

Data At Risk

Even the intellectual property law blogs are talking about cyber security!  Authors ought to be especially careful, because authors tend to have to publish and distribute a lot of information about themselves as part of marketing and promotion.

Authors have websites, social media pages, newsletters, domains, trademarks, memberships in a lot of reader-friendly sites, and if they advertise--on Facebook, for instance-- there may be financial information held by the site.

In the Facebook situation, there is particular vulnerability for persons who like to write one news item and have that one piece of prose automatically distributed to several other sites. That's "cross posting", and although it is a great time saver, it means that a breach in one place might lead to a breach in all the other places.  Moreover, if one stays logged into Facebook, and uses the Facebook login to login to all the other sites (ie same user name/email address and same password) there is great convenience.... and great potential for contamination.

Tech Crunch explains such issues very well.
https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/28/everything-you-need-to-know-about-facebooks-data-breach-affecting-50m-users/

Personally, this author is very suspicious of the idea that one can log into ones Facebook account by clicking on ones' own photograph.  What bright spark thought of that?  If you haven't disabled the ability to do that, disable it.

That use of one's photo might work for readers, friends and family, but most authors have their photos in the back matter of their books. So beware.

Last year when there was the credit rating agency breach, a person had to pay $10 to each rating agency to put on a credit freeze.  Now, credit freezes are free.

For details, look here:
https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/how-to-freeze-your-credit-report-for-free/

Another possible vulnerability for authors is their newsletter mailing lists, if any anonymous website visitor can sign up to be on the mailing list, and go unnoticed. Perhaps they hope that an automated mailing error will occur, and the subscriber address list will be revealed.

The FBI warns that student data is at risk. Legal blogger Craig A. Newman writing for the law firm Patterson Belknap Webb and Tyler LLP explains.
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=b23ef1ab-9290-49be-99e5-9a38e2f937d0

The warning is about data held by high schools, but could apply to colleges and universities also.  As Craig A Newman writes:

In one attack, student contact information, education plans, homework, medical records and counseling reports were compromised by hackers and used “to contact, extort, and threaten students with physical violence and public release of their information.”

Cyber crime also affects sports data, apparently. Patterson Belknap Webb and Tyler LLP discuss the value of all the medical data collected by sports teams (from the sensors worn in the athletes clothing and other wearable technology) to those who would like to improve their chances in online sports betting.

https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=383effd4-1f37-413b-99d4-a677b0e976e0

One would think that it ought to be a violation of an athelete's privacy for punters (in the betting sense) to be able to place their bets based on how much he is perspiring inside his clothes.

Do authors need cyber insurance?  Perhaps, if they are small business persons.  Cyber Insurance does not cover European fines for violating the GDPR  (for instance by sending promotional newsletters to persons who have not affirmatively asked to be sent emails by authors.)

Legal blogger Ted Claypoole writing for the law firm Womble Bond Dickinson US LLP provides some useful information.
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=f66296a4-bd71-44bc-9ffa-f6b31a4f1711&utm_source=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed&utm_medium=HTML+email&utm_campaign=Lexology+subscriber+daily+feed&utm_content=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed+2018-09-27&utm_term=


A helpful guide to what cyber insurance policies cost and what they cover can be found:
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=114f28d8-0e64-4bfa-b46a-5b85b9308969

Thanks to William C. Wagner writing for Taft Stettinius and Hollister LLP

One firm that insures authors is Insureon, but there must be many.
https://www.insureon.com/who-we-insure/services/authors

Finally, there is the annoying problem of cryptojacking, which is a good reason to clear ones cache and cookies (often), and to turn off one's wifi from time to time.  If your PC or Mac seems unusually slow, and if the cooling fan runs more often and for longer than usual, you might not be writing scenes that are so steamy that they overheat your very computer. Instead, consider that your machine could have been cryptojacked.

Malwarebyes explains about cryptojacking.
https://www.malwarebytes.com/cryptojacking/?utm_source=double-opt-in&utm_medium=email-internal-b2c&utm_campaign=EM-B2C-2018-September-newsletter&utm_content=cryptojacking

On that happy note...

All the best,
Rowena Cherry

Biology Marches On

I'm currently reading, little by little, a book by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins (best known for THE SELFISH GENE), THE ANCESTOR'S TALE: A PILGRIMAGE TO THE DAWN OF LIFE. He structures the book by analogy with THE CANTERBURY TALES, with "pilgrims" joining the procession at various rendezvous points, backward from the most recent progenitors of humanity to the origin of life on Earth. At each "rendezvous," he introduces our "concestor" at that juncture, a coinage for "common ancestor." For instance, we meet the common ancestor of all known hominids, of hominids and other primates, of primates and other mammals, etc. One fascinating revelation of this book, for me, is how the classification of life on Earth has changed since my time in public school. In the 1950s and 60s, biology classes taught us to divide all creatures into two kingdoms, animals and plants. Bacteria, amoebae, and fungi got pigeonholed with plants, while protozoa qualified as animals. Today, biological science recognizes up to six kingdoms: Animals, Plants, Fungi, Protista, Archaea/Archaebacteria, and Bacteria/Eubacteria). Amazingly, according to Dawkins, fungi are more closely related to animals than to plants! Here we see an example of the trope "Science Marches On" (i.e., it's always possible for yesterday's established theories to be revised or replaced).

Similarly, during our elementary and high-school years (shortly after dinosaurs roamed the Earth), all humanity consisted of three races, then called Caucasoid, Mongoloid, and Negroid. The song we learned in Sunday school about God's love for "all the little children" classifies them into "red and yellow, black and white." The three-race system of categories lumped "red" (Native Americans) in with the Mongoloid (Asian) ethnicities, not unreasonable considering the probable Asian origins of the original inhabitants of the Americas. If Inuits had been mentioned, they would probably have been included with the Mongoloid groups. Polynesians and other Pacific Islanders weren't brought up at all, much less Australian Aborigines and the Ainu of Japan. Aside from the fact that "race" in the old-fashioned sense is no longer considered a valid scientific category anyway, the ethnic divisions of Earth's population are more complicated than we were taught as children. A popular-culture example of unquestioning acceptance of the three-race system appears in James Michener's TALES OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC. (It's not quite explicit in the movie, although "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught" makes the implications clear enough.) When Nellie discovers that her French suitor has fathered illegitimate children by a Polynesian woman, she's appalled because, in her Southern world-view, there are only three races—white, Oriental, and Negro. Polynesians obviously don't belong to either of the first two, so they must be the third. (She uses the other N-word, however.)

Theories of the ancestry and origins of humanity have changed radically in recent decades, with new fossil discoveries and cutting-edge technology for detailed DNA studies of population movements. The film 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY looks charmingly naive nowadays, with its dramatic scene based on the simplistic, now-abandoned assumption that our development into sapient beings sprang from our learning how to make weapons in order to kill things. (Elaine Morgan, in THE DESCENT OF WOMAN, labels this anthropological construct the "Tarzanist" theory.)

Coincidentally, I'm now rereading a duology by Rose Estes, TROLL-TAKEN and TROLL-QUEST. This fabulous urban fantasy (published in the 1990s) portrays the creatures we call "trolls" as descendants of Homo erectus, driven underground by the worldwide dominance of Homo sapiens. One of my favorite contemporary vampire series, S. M. Stirling's Shadowspawn trilogy (A TAINT IN THE BLOOD and sequels), postulates that his vampire-werewolf-sorcerer subspecies split off from "normal" humanity during a long period of isolation in the last Ice Age (a motif borrowed from Jack Williamson's classic DARKER THAN YOU THINK and updated with allusions to modern genetics and quantum mechanics). As reported in recent news, many scientists now believe that other hominids such as Neanderthals and the "hobbits" probably coexisted with and may have interbred with Homo sapiens. Keeping informed on latest developments in biology and anthropology can help authors create realistic, believable alien species.

Margaret L. Carter

Carter's Crypt

Theme-Character Integration Part 14 The Family Man

Theme-Character Integration

Part 14

The Family Man

Previous entries in Theme-Character Integration are indexed here:

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2014/07/index-to-theme-character-integration.html

Two long, complicated, rich and deep Urban Fantasy series which are not marketed as Paranormal Romance, but which actually showcase the seminal element of Romance (the irresistible hunk), are very popular in 2018, thus worth studying.

One is a world built by Marshall Ryan Maresca, with a wide-spread cast of characters, presented in different series set in the same huge, sprawling city.   The series is tagged Streets of Maradaine, Maradaine Constabulary, Maradaine Elite -- and I'm sure there will be more.

The other world is built by Jim Butcher, made it to TV in a brief run series, an RPG, and is so far 15 (now 16 I think) volumes about a Forensic Wizard, a classic archetype I love.  It is tagged The Dresden Files, after the lead character, Harry Dresden Wizard For Hire.

Maresca's Amazon Page:
https://www.amazon.com/Marshall-Ryan-Maresca/e/B00OWACWIW/

Dresden Series: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00O3HD47C/

I've discussed both these authors and their popular worlds previously:

Maradaine is featured in these posts:

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2018/05/reviews-34-by-jacqueline-lichtenberg.html

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2017/06/theme-plot-integration-part-17-crafting.html

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2016/07/depiction-part-16-reviews-26-depicting.html

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2015/06/reviews-16-thorn-of-dentonhill-by.html

Dresden Files is featured in these posts:

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2015/02/depiction-part-6-depicting-money-and.html

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2013/09/theme-dialogue-integration-part-2-whats.html

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2013/06/theme-character-integration-part-1-what.html

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2009/07/six-kinds-of-power-in-relationship.html

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2009/01/collateral-repairs.html

So you can see that when I'm enchanted by a novel series, I keep relating the contents and skills-sets exemplified in that series to each and every writing technique, every artistic vision, and every sort of thematic statement extant.

A single novel, or even a series, is not composed of just one thing, one technique, one theme.  To capture the attention of a wide and varied readership, a novel has to be composed of a wide and varied bundle of themes, showcased by ever increasing command of craftsmanship.

In other words, after selling that first novel in a series, the writer has to demonstrate increased mastery in novel 2, or novel 3 will lose the initial readership.

Both these writers have shown increasing skills over the years.

Now, I have 3 books that, taken together, reveal an odd, and nearly invisible commonality among all the books of both Fantasy series that can be a big discovery for writers of Paranormal Romance in all its forms.

Both series are about meeting up with a great-grand-marvelous HUNK-HERO, who is young and in the wild adventure, power-acquisition segment of a lifetime.  Both series go on long enough for the Hunk to grow into a Man, and then begin to grow into a Family Man.

Both series are written by men.

Both series are about magic-using Hero who dedicates the use of Power to protecting the "innocent" or less capable.

In other words, both very popular series are about anti-bullying, protecting instead of torturing, using strength to the advantage of others, not yourself.

Seeking Justice, and being willing to throw down and get dirty to make Justice happen - that is the hallmark of the Family Man.

Each series is being published in story-order, by the internal chronology of the world unfolding before your eyes, so the main character grows up right before your eyes.

Maresca's Maradaine novels are about a Family, and the inheriting of position and obligations from one's predecessors. One obligation in focus from one brother is the obligation to gain command of his magical powers and use them for the defense of his helpless mother, and the bringing to justice of those who rendered his mother helpless.  The other brother's focus is on gaining political power and position in the street gang their father used to run, and turning the gang's objective toward Peace rather than gang-warfare in the streets of Maradaine.

Jim Butcher's Spring 2018 release is Brief Cases, an anthology collecting stories set in the Dresden Files universe between the events of each of the main novels in the series with a NEW ORIGINAL never before published story of vast interest to those writing Science Fiction Romance with or without Magic.

The intensely fascinating feature of this Dresden Files anthology is the introductions done by Jim Butcher which explain the origin of the story and the way he built the world and the characters.  This is where you learn about Family.

The commentary reveals how the writer takes an angle on a Character that is designed to rivet the attention of a particular readership looking for a particular thing (in the case of the Dresden Files, the emphasis is on combat scenes involving magic).  But to make an "angle" (a camera angle on a Soul) work for any reader, the writer must know what that Character "looks like" from other angles.  "Who" is this guy?

Jim Butcher's commentary on these stories reveals a lot about the writer as intermediary between Character and Readership.

In both series we have young men growing up with complex family histories "gone wrong" and striving mightily to make a good life for themselves.

In Butcher's new anthology, Brief Cases, he adds the story (retold from 3 points of view - adding what the Characters were doing while apart that they didn't tell each other about) of Dresden taking his 9 year old daughter to the Zoo one fine day, with his "dog" (magical) which he rescued some novels ago.  Each of the three face down trials of conscience and character, and come out splendidly.

This shows us our favorite Wizard, Chicago's only professional Wizard, Harry Dresden, growing up into the role of father.

There is tragedy, action, pain, anguish, and above all Family.  How they mix defines the theme.  Each of these two series has a distinctive Theme -- and each book in the series explores one relavent sub-set theme.

If you set out to write a Romance Series -- be sure you have planned what to do for an encore.  Don't let the material run away with you.  Don't let your Characters be too invulnerable.  Gain the personal strength to command the material -- just as these Magic Users command their Powers.

Jacqueline Lichtenberg
http://jacquelinelichtenberg.com

Cheats, Threats, And Murkiness

Let's start with a little sympathy for the Evil One.... or Zon.

Not so much has been written recently about all the NOIs  (Notices of Intent to use music) filed with the Copyright Office because the music streaming service claims they cannot find the copyright owner.

Legal blogger Coe W. Ramsey writing for the law firm Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard LLP, explain that identifying copyright ownership of a song is not necessarily a no-brainer.

"Music Law 101: Who Owns The Copyright In A Song?"
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=152cdcf7-36b9-4f58-a473-95db73d65af5&utm_source=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed&utm_medium=HTML+email&utm_campaign=Lexology+subscriber+daily+feed&utm_content=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed+2018-09-14&utm_term=

It's interesting reading.  Authors who want to use song lyrics in their novels should be careful. It might be more trouble than it's worth.

As an aside, a composer of any genre who uses a snatch of a song should consider the possibility that the audience may know by heart the entire song.  Currently for instance, there is a car company that is associating their lovely safe new vehicle with a persona who threatens to lay souls to waste.

A legal eagle's eye view of threats posted on Facebook has changed.  Apparently, there was a time when SCOTUS ruled it not illegal for a man to use a Facebook post to announce his intention to kill his wife. Nowadays, it is illegal for a woman (or a man) to use a Facebook group post to threaten to sue witnesses if they dare to testify in her (or his) disfavor.

Read "Extraordinary Employee Misconduct- Threatening Witnesses Through Facebook."
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=b3a9cd4b-606a-4be5-9eba-d9751286062d&utm_source=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed&utm_medium=HTML+email&utm_campaign=Lexology+subscriber+daily+feed&utm_content=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed+2018-09-17&utm_term=

Legal blogger Fiona W. Ong  for the law firm Shawe Rosenthal LLP explains the chilling effects such use of Facebook can have on justice, and the dim view that one court took of the plaintiff's alleged threats to her colleagues.

And so, to the revelation that cheating at copyrighted digital games may be copyright infringement. If you download a program of any sort (or a book!), and you have to clink an "I AGREE" box, read even the finest of the fine print. The fine print is a contract, and you incur the legal presumption that you have read and understood it, and affirmatively agreed to it.

In "Cheaters Never Prosper And They Also Can Be Liable For Copyright Infringement"
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=b832a491-afe1-463b-88ae-b577cdc65c2a&utm_source=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed&utm_medium=HTML+email+-+Body+-+General+section&utm_campaign=Lexology+subscriber+daily+feed&utm_content=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed+2018-09-13&utm_term=

legal blogger Guang-Yu Zhu   for the law firm Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP comments on the twist in the Zipperer case.

What you don't read or don't understand in an agreement can be a legal pain in your dark side!

All the best,

Rowena Cherry

Maryland Renaissance Festival

This past Saturday, my husband (Leslie Roy Carter) and I had a book signing for our Wild Sorceress series, hosted by the Page After Page bookstore at the Maryland Renaissance Festival. Here's a photo of us dressed up in the obligatory faire garb:

Page After Page

That's my brother-in-law standing off to the side, in the red shirt. We sold several books and had lots of fun conversations with passers-by. Where else but at a Renn Faire (or an SF or gaming con) can you have a spontaneous discussion with a stranger about the abilities of warlocks in 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons?

You can check out the four Wild Sorceress novels—a trilogy and a prequel—here:

Wild Sorceress

The Renn Faire, in my opinion, is much more fun than a commercial amusement park as well as less expensive overall. (Kids under seven get in free!) Relaxed atmosphere, interesting costumes to look at, better and more varied food, no scary "thrill rides," and a wide variety of singing, acting, comedy, swordplay, and other performances to enjoy. Its website is here, and in case you live nearby and want to visit, they're open for a few more weekends yet:

Maryland Renn Fest

In addition to our sword-and-sorcery novels, I'd hoped to sign a couple of anthologies in which I have stories. Unfortunately, the bookstore wasn't able to acquire copies at a discount, because the publisher uses CreateSpace to produce their trade paperbacks. So that part of the plan fell through. The brave new world of multiple publishing options has some downsides, alas. At least we can always count on books from the "big" publishers to be available from major distributors. Every silver cloud has a gray lining and vice versa. Les and I handed business cards to everybody who'd take one, in hopes some people might visit our website and investigate our other works.

Margaret L. Carter

Carter's Crypt