Celebrating Independent Authors
A few weeks ago I featured three books written by members of our illustrious team (see here). Our team is now made up of many members and lots of books, so here are another three. (I’m trying to keep up, team, I’m trying really hard!).
This week I would like to draw your attention to Joe Café, by J D Mader, The Joke’s On Me by Laurie Boris and Bad Book, by Mader, K S Brooks and Stephen Hise. Three different books, three very good reads.
I love maps.
There, I said it. And while that isn’t a particularly damning admission, like saying “I love black tar heroin,” it’s not exactly cool. You’re not going to get far in a singles bar sidling up to somebody and whispering, “Hey, baby. You want to see a map made in Virginia in 1862 with The Confederate Territory of Arizona on it?”
So why bring it up? Well, it’s like this. Inspiration for us writerly types can come from just about anywhere, as I’m sure you all know. One sentence in a conversation, dog running down the sidewalk, Liquid Plumr commercial (that’s how they spell it). Absolutely anything can trip the synapses fandango, and send any one of us down a scribbling path we had no idea was there. Continue reading “Ed’s Casual Friday: You are here. (Maps and stories)”
I’m miserable. Well no, not miserable – that’s a little too strong, perhaps. Depressed. No, that’s not quite right either. Where’s a thesaurus when you need one? Frustrated!!! That’s the word.
Just as authors get various grievances and down days – writer’s block, not enough time, not enough sales, bad reviews – believe it or not, reviewers have ups and downs of their own.
Mine at the minute is my dauntingly long review list. Continue reading “A reviewer’s blues…”
Entertainment to suit the age
We seem to live in a sensationalist age, when things come to our notice only when they have become famous… or notorious. Celebrity-watching is super popular, and books seem to become instantly famous if they contain some controversy that brings them to the notice of the reporting and investigative media, more than literary critics or literary supplements.
Why is this? What is happening really? Are people losing interest in themselves in favour of celebrities? Are books becoming mere channels for discussion and debate? Perhaps this is simply a fashion or fad. It certainly has been going on for some time. There is a morbid interest among the general public for things that contain some sort of controversy. Continue reading “Entertainment to suit the age”