I think most authors who blog now live in fear of saying they like their new book cover, only to find it picked up on The Rap Sheet as a copycat cover.
I just saw my new cover yesterday for the first time, and I like the look, but I’m curious to know what everyone else thinks…
If it were up to me, I’d give up TV in a heartbeat. Okay, I like The View. And sure, I enjoy Survivor, but I can watch that online. (And if Survivor wants to stay on the air, I have some ideas for how they could shake things up and make it a harder game to play.) And we watched American Idol this past year, but after Adam’s loss I’m sure I can live without it. (He’ll still have a great career - really, it offends me more that Alexis Grace was knocked out before Michael Sarver, and that it was SO predictable that they’d use the save so that they’d eliminate two and make the naming of the top 5 a wee bit more dramatic.)
But neither of those shows have me considering lobbying to cancel our cable. No, it’s the news that some network has actually signed the octomom for a reality show.
Because what we really need is more screwed up kids that will likely be unproductive members of society. And hey, while Jon & Kate are investigated for taking advantage of their brood of 8, isn’t this a good time to expose more kids to potential violations of labor laws?
Sometimes, I’m not so sure it’s a great thing to live in the western world. Oh, don’t get me wrong - I’ve enjoyed my share of privileges and opportunities that could only come to me as a resident of North America. But I fear for kids these days. Yes, registered sex offenders because they’ve got nothing better to do than text nude photos of themselves. Some even claim oral sex is the new goodnight kiss for teenage girls, and prostitution is “no biggie”.
I’ve heard a lot of people say in recent months that the US is a country that doesn’t make anything anymore, and what surprises me most is that people seem surprised by that fact. Kids don’t learn to tie their shoes - they use velcro. Back when I was a kid, what percentage of the class had their own aide or was on an IPP? Since I went to school with the same 30+ kids for most of my first 9 years of school I can answer for my class - 3%. The kindergarten class I worked in, with 20 students? 25% of the kids had aides. My own career, for a few years, was built on working with kids who have underdeveloped motor skills and needed speech therapy. Why? Certainly some of them had legitimate physical issues, but there are a number of kids in the system simply because they spend their days in front of the TV instead of interacting - you know, talking - to people, or doing things like colouring, cutting, gluing, etc.
I get it. When I’m trying to cook dinner, deal with a business phone call and set the table all at the same time it’s much easier if the kids are playing Wii, but we have to be mindful of considering the long-term vision for kids today. I’m constantly aware of different goals and objectives - if I want Son to be able to walk down the street to a friend’s house by himself at the age of 10, I actually need to make sure I’ve ingrained to the point of instinct looking both ways before crossing the street, not talking to strangers, our phone number, etc. etc. etc. You don’t just wake up one day and go, “Oh, you’re 10 now, I guess you can do this” and expect he’ll just know all the safety precautions to take.
And then there are school issues. Oh, I know - all too well - the heartache of not winning the contest or taking first prize in the race. But giving prizes to everyone so that nobody feels excluded? Falling short of the mark is something that can spur you on, to try harder next time. And what about the lack of accomplishment for all the kids involved, because the one who threw together their science experiment in five minutes got the same recognition as the kid who built a talking robot? I’m sorry, but it’s no wonder nobody’s motivated. There’s no gold ring to reach for. I mean, dang, they send home multiple certificates throughout the year just to acknowledge regular attendance. Bloody hell, I was cheated out of a lot of certificates when I was a kid, judging by the paper I see at some schools these days. That’s not the whole reason we have affirmative action, but it’s part of it. We’re fostering an entitlement complex. If kids don’t have to work hard to get recognition at school why should they think they have to work hard at a job to stay employed, or get promoted?
Hey, just look at the ongoing bailouts and we see the same principle reinforced. No, you don’t have to work hard to make millions, do you?
It’s no surprise to me we don’t build anything anymore - we don’t do anything anymore. Well, other than ooogle as a marriage implodes on TV and facilitate the exploitation of these young children - children who haven’t chosen to live in the public eye, who will live their lives with classmates pulling up their most embarrassing moments on Youtube forever.
One of the things we enjoyed about our childhood was the right to grow up. You know, outgrow our mistakes and become better people, and not have to carry all the humiliation from our past with us. Kids don’t have that today. They have to live with every wretched moment out there, for all to see. You have to feel sorry for a kid who wets the bed before his organs have fully developed - a completely natural and understandable thing - who has the moment shared with the world for all eternity.
But hey, people keep tuning in to these shows, and the clips on Youtube, so the cameras keep rolling and the footage keeps coming. And then we wonder about the number of people living on social services, the “child stars” who grow up to be out-of-control adults, constantly in trouble. We wonder why a dwindling number of responsible adults are working to pay all the taxes and pay into social security systems that are being taxed to the limit.
It starts with kids who don’t do anything. We’re raising generations of TV watchers, we’re reinforcing the entitlement complex through our policies, and we just keep rolling right along.
After all, the people at the top of the food chain have already got their hand in the cookie jar, so they aren’t in need anymore, and by the time things get really bad, well, it’ll be somebody else’s problem.
I get that there’s a mess that’s been building for decades, and that in some respects the current governments have inherited problems without easy solutions, but if we really want to fix what’s wrong with our society we must stop viewing responsibility as a dirty word. We need to fix problems instead of being bailed out, and we need to teach our children that you have to work hard to get rewarded…
And even then, sometimes the hardest working of all will be the first to feel the ax when it falls. A reality, yes, but the only long-term hope is to move away from a sense of entitlement and to regain the entrepreneurial spirit that built our society into what it was.
We need to stop watching people screw up their lives and the lives of their children in so-called reality shows that are exploiting real kids, and get off the couch and interact with our own children.
Oh, and by the way, to anyone who says this is the only way to support their families…. The farming families that built this nation were always big. That’s just an excuse for taking the laziest approach imaginable, and frankly, in most places in the country if a person can’t care for their children, the children are removed from the home. Certainly in the case of the Octomum, that was something she should have considered before she got herself impregnated with eight embryos when she already had 6 kids she couldn’t care for.
Presented with a dead seal, the natural reaction would be to grab an ulu, slice the seal open, and eat the raw heart… right?
That’s what Canada’s governor-general - the person appointed to act as the representative of the queen - did while visiting an Inuit community yesterday.
Earlier this month, the European Parliament voted to ban seal products, a move that was seen by aboriginals and Atlantic Canadian fishermen as an attack on their trade.
Asked today whether her actions were a message to Europe, Jean replied, “Take from that what you will.”
All I have to say is I think Jean overstepped a bit. I just can’t see the Queen eating raw seal heart.
As of today, I’ve launched my new column as the Baltimore Crime Fiction Examiner. Brian will be the new Literature Examiner - he already has a few columns up.
This is an opportunity for us to augment what we’re doing online, and hopefully reach a wider audience. As a result, we’re hoping more people send ARCs and press releases, particularly if their information is relevant to a Baltimore audience or has a Baltimore focus that we can feature. Never fear, however: national and international news will be of interest as well.
So, if we aren’t already on your radar with Bookspot Central and Spinetingler Magazine, perhaps we’ll get on your radar with the Baltimore Examiner. Three venues for the price of one - we’re a steal of a deal.
I’ll also be throwing it open to do quick interviews with authors in conjunction with their new releases. More details in the days to come.
Yes, Duane Swierczynski is the author collaborating with CSI’s Anthony Zuiker on the hybrid publishing project that drew fire from crime fiction authors, fans and reviewers alike.
When Duane told me a few months ago, I had to go back and look at the discussion to see how bad my own comments were. I think it’s fair to say that the tone of the wording of the announcement wasn’t the best. It’s a bit like how JJ Abrams kept saying he didn’t really like Star Trek, and the other writers had to smooth things over with Trek fans by saying Abrams was just speaking non-Trekkie to draw in a wider audience. I suspect Abrams isn’t a full-blown Trek fan, but the movie kicks ass, so what do I care?
This is all I know. Today, a lot of people will be apologizing, or trying to explain themselves away. Well, I’m still standing by what I said many months ago. This project won’t replace books for me. But it could open the doors for a whole new market, and if it gains readers, more power to it. I can’t think of a better author for the collaboration than Duane, who is one of the hardest working writers out there.
Perhaps this is the time to mention that Duane was named Breakout Comics Writer of the Year by Wizard, and there’s a profile on him in the special awards issue of Wizard… written by yours truly.
Congratulations to Duane. Even if this isn’t going to replace books for me, I’m looking forward to seeing how this is implemented and how it works.
Putting things in perspective, OR why I’m glad I sell well north of the border, and why no author should ignore the Canadian market.
Sales are up by 6.65 per cent in terms of units sold and 5.04 per cent in dollar value for the first quarter of the year, reports BookNet Canada.
“I’m knocking on wood as I say this, but historically economic downturns generally haven’t had too much impact on book publishing or book buying,” says Carolyn Wood, executive director of the Association of Canadian Publishers.
“A book is still a pretty affordable entertainment alternative. Also, bad economic times send people back to school. And that has benefits for book publishers. By and large, what we sell is generally viewed as a high-quality product without a luxury price tag.”
That’s it. No more magazine subscriptions.
Now, before you gasp with horror, I’m not talking about magazines like Crimespree or Mystery Scene or Mystery Readers Journal. No, the magazines within our community conduct themselves respectably.
I’m talking about the other magazines. The ones that feel the need to sneak in fine print at the bottom a little caveat. About how, unless you cancel your subscription, they’ll keep billing you.
Call me crazy, call me lazy, call me plain old-fashioned. I don’t care. Back in the day, you paid for what you wanted, and if you wanted more you signed up for more. See, my high school sold magazine subscriptions as a fundraiser, and I don’t remember any of this kind of nonsense.
When I ordered the local newspaper, I knew I was getting it for a certain number of weeks. I knew at the end of that time, my subscription would end, and I would have the choice of renewing my subscription. Or not. That’s a system that works for me. It’s like my Barnes&Noble membership: I’m not signing over lifetime rights for them to ding my checking account every year for renewal. If I want it renewed, I renew it at the store. With my knowledge. With the absolute and total awareness that the payment is coming out of my checking account.
But these magazine subscriptions are like blood-sucking leeches. We ended up with some magazines as part of our fye membership… and they won’t stop. And they’re multiplying. One membership, but somehow we have two subscriptions to Blender? WTF? We don’t even read the first one.
And it’s getting worse. I now have five “subscriptions” that have deducted money from my checking account. I have two magazines (one of which I never subscribed to) that have sent me renewal notices. So, seven magazines. And of the ones that I’m finding in my mailbox? Duplicates and magazines I’ve never subscribed to. New magazines show up all the time.
I have several phone calls to make, and the worst thing is, I have no idea what magazine I’m even calling to cancel, because the charges go through without identifying the publication. You just get a phone number to call. One phone number leads to a recording with a different phone number to call. Yes, the process of trying to cancel these subscriptions has turned into a nightmare.
So I am never subscribing to magazines again. Done.
Drastic? Maybe, but I don’t care. This is turning into a huge waste of my time. Meanwhile, I’m closing in on $100 worth of charges in the past month alone. This isn’t how you earn loyalty. It’s how you piss people off. I mean, I love magazines, but enough is enough. No more magazines. No more subscriptions. I don’t care how much I’ll save off the cover price by signing on. If I’d received a paper notice offering me the option of simply canceling before they automatically renewed me, I might feel differently, but not when they just put the charge through and don’t even tell you what you’re supposedly getting.
It may not be technically criminal, but it’s infuriating as hell.
When I was pulling the information for the Best Cover category for the Spinetingler Awards, I looked where I usually do. Inside, on the copyright page.
And so it was that I saw, “Designed by Leah Carlson-Stanisic” on our copy of SHARP TEETH, and attributed the cover design to her.
I now see that on the back cover, in small print, it says that the cover design is by Suzanne Dean. We’ll be correcting that on the poll as soon as possible.
*** And subsequently, I’m told that the book is also wrong, and the cover design should be attributed to Christine Van Bree. At least I’m not the only one who messed up.
