Classic Movie Review: Lifeboat

   
I’ve been on a classic movie trip lately. I find them absolutely comforting. Lifeboat, produced by Alfred Hitchcock, written by John Steinbeck, is absolutely wonderful and is for good reason required watching for certain college courses in film-making. I’d seen it about a decade ago and got a wild craving to watch it last night. The message hit me from a different angle this time and compelled me to write. Movies from this era are magnificent studies of the human character, the human condition as a whole. This one conveys that even when our empathy lands us in a cruel place, it doesn’t mean we should harden ourselves and withhold this singly human phenomenon--empathy--from peers lest the world go to Hell in a handbasket while we all vacuously watch. The message at first seems dismal, but what I believe we're seeing by the end of this movie is that the will to do good and to be good is indomitable.
   
    In the midst of World War II a group of unlikely castaways are blasted from their freighter ship and collect themselves onto a small lifeboat as it drifts on the wide open sea. Among the brilliant cast is Tallulah Bankhead, a total treasure (even in her I Love Lucy episode she's awesome). She plays the voice of reason as the first fiery debate begins to divide the crew: an enemy German drifts to the boat and needs help. Of course, because they're Americans at war with Germany, most the crew wants to throw the man overboard and let him drown. The Englishman onboard, levelheaded and philosophical, reasons with them that what they propose is murder and this would make villains of them, too; it isn’t God’s way. (I wondered if their humanity would have suffered without this character! I love him and it comes as no surprise that the entire film couldn’t have thrived without him). They must take the German to justice, he says, because he’s a prisoner of war. Thus begins their adventure, a fight for survival to find shelter from the vast unforgiving sea with no supplies to sustain them, no compass, and an enemy in their midst.
   
    Despite the tragedies and casualties that ensue, Tallulah Bankhead is a source of uplifting wry humor as they drift for endless days and nights, hungry and thirsty and mistrustful of the German, ever hopeful that they’ll find their way back to civilization--in their case, to the English-owned territory, Bermuda. It is due to her character that they come to rely upon the enemy’s directions, as she’s the only one who speaks fluent German to communicate with him. She’s a rather strongly defined woman in this role, which likely accounts for the not-so-strong first member of the crew to go overboard--the sad and fragile Mrs. Higley who was on her way to America with her infant. That they tossed her dead infant overboard proves too much and she jumps into the sea--either in an act of cowardice or sorrow--and while the crew is distracted with her sacrifice it’s revealed that the German isn't what he seems. He stows a secret compass from everyone, and while they thought themselves headed towards safety, he actually leads them into enemy territory.
   
    As everyone readjusts, they get to know each other. John Kovak, the only one who never wavers in his suspicion of the German, valiantly strips the writer Connie Porter (played by Bankhead) of her ego. He accuses her of only wanting to popularize herself by writing a novel about the war. She challenges him by showing that she finds his distaste in her career choice ruggedly charming and that she is by no means a stranger to survival. She knows full well by observing people--the way that only a photo-journalist can--that the German is the only one of them who appears--somehow--capable navigating the sea. She knows whether they fear him or not, they’ll need to rely upon him. However, because Kovak’s comments linger with her, Connie quickly grows less concerned with herself and more with the care of others as she realizes that no one comforted poor Mrs. Higley before she died. Of course, she still maintains the attitude that I think only Bankhead could supply a character; she wryly insinuates that poor Mrs. Higley did jettison wearing the mink-fur coat that Connie lent to her. (I have read the report that Tallulah did not wear panties on the set, which, somehow isn't so hard to believe about this elegant lady).
   
    At length one of the American survivors, Gus, suffers a gangrenous leg that needs to be amputated and the enemy happens to be the only person onboard with surgical experience. A storm of mistrust and anger brews over the prospect of the German performing the amputation, and we get to know poor Gus who loves his unfaithful girl back at home more than himself. Again, Bankhead is brilliant here, brilliant. She comforts Gus by lying to him that his girlfriend, a hot dancer, would want him to have the surgery despite that he won't be able to dance with her anymore. Connie only wants to help Gus; she prays afterward that God forgive her the lie. Bankhead’s comedy is ladylike, casual, subtle. She helps us to laugh rather than cry and shocks us by remaining lusty and quick-witted despite the circumstances. Even during the grimmest situation she's a ray of comedy that refocuses us on the human condition, the one that, by varying degrees, each of the crew members contributes to. This is John Steinbeck and Alfred Hitchcock and a superb cast at their finest.
   
    If you haven’t seen it, I cannot reveal the ending of a truly great film like this (find it on Wikipedia if you must) except that its message is timeless and, while seemingly grim, is a positive declaration for the importance of never abandoning hope and never reflecting bad behavior no matter how badly it may have hurt, no matter the scars it might leave behind. Highly recommended.
   
   

Book Review: Until Justice is Done

This book is from 1994, so it's a tad dated shelf-wise. This doesn't detract from its accuracy on the facets of modern crime-solving such as computer stuff (minimally) and good old-fashioned sleuthing and DNA evidence (mostly).

Normally I stay away from suspense thrillers. I can deal with horror--that doesn't frighten me. It's the expedition into the minds of these characters, which are usually murderers and rapists, of course, that I cannot cope with; being a woman, I'd rather not know. But that's just the point of this review. I forced myself to read this book that I gain the insight that all women should, unfortunately, have.

So. I highly recommend this book to all women and to their loved ones, and the ones who care for them. Christine McGuire is spot on with her harried prosecutor, a woman, whom, in the end comes face to face with the rapist/murderer the police have been desperately searching for and she's been seeking to prosecute. She brings brilliant insight into the mind of a psychopath who carefully chooses his victims with disturbing stalking tactics that make you angry, yes, but that's part of her form of enlightenment. McGuire's writing is so convincing it's nearly impossible to believe it isn't based upon a primary or secondary experience. And she's creative; the only thing her killer doesn't do to murder a victim is put poison in her food. The dialogue, the tension, the inevitabilities--it's all portrayed convincingly enough: The protagonist's emotions conflict over the constant barrage of so many rape/homicide cases. Even she does not want to live in this book. Yet she resists exhaustion with conviction.

Every woman should read this or something similar to it. It should become required reading for all school-age girls. Isn't the HPV vaccination required of high school girls? Why not mandatory classes on this kind of knowledge? It seems it's fine for girls to have sex and possibly contract diseases, but it's irrelevant that they learn how to defend themselves in case said sex becomes violent or non-consensual. It almost seems like we have a nation (and perhaps this is on a global scale, as well) that's determined not to have strong female heroes.  

Unexpected Treasure

This was a surprise, a nearly but (thankfully) not forgotten treasure. The sight of it made my heart happy. I adore it and will do all in my power to restore it. (That's real silver and should be much, much shinier). I hope I can remember how to make it sound lovely again. I'm positive they don't make them like this anymore. It's one of those things nobody should take for granted. Somehow it got mixed up with a bunch of other stuff and my mother-in-law wanted to put it on eBay. I said "WTF, NOOOO," and smashed it to my heart like it might save me. A strange thought, surely. . . .

Numero Tres: The Godward Sea

Chapter 1.

Chapter 2.

No visuals except the one this time, sorry! The narration and music of this chapter mean so much more to me; the images only subtract from that importance.

Someone raised the question 'might the emphasis on beauty be a little shallow?'

My answer was: The most important aspect of this book is not the emphasis on beauty, but on faith. Perhaps beauty is all one can see when they have a great deal of faith; this, I'd hoped, accounted for the reverence Astrian paid to the City and its gardens, etc. in Chapter 1. However, if taken at face value, it can appear shallow. I'm not looking to debate opinion or ignore it but to stay true to my intentions, which were good. Interpretations are obviously allowed and encouraged. Beauty is the emphasis of most art, and has been throughout the ages. If it offends here, then know that wasn't my intention. I'm a starving artist. The only pride I have in this book is in my love for its characters. My favorite has yet to make his appearance. He won't come along until somewhere around Chapter 15. I'm not sure if he's a hero or not. He's definitely not a villain.

I love the music here. If anyone notices any compositional differences here versus Chapters 1 and 2, it's because I knew exactly what I needed to support the dialogue. The key is deliberately quiet with the exception of one very lively piano part, which underscores the essence of the chapter. I loved this part so much I wanted it to be way, way longer but it didn't fit, of course. Reading Chapter 3 to the music felt like singing, which is probably accurate.

If it seems I'm lagging on this project, know that I'm not! It takes a lot of preparation and equipment and all sorts of things too boring to explain here. My husband suggested we release live video of the process using podcasts. That too is a project in the making. I hoped for one chapter a month. If that pace slows a little, it's because life is full of too many things I want to do versus things that must be done. I've also returned to Eye of Narkissos, a historical fantasy novel about my emotionally and physically disfigured 15th century goth-boy, the creative muse, the sweet punching bag, Gianni. I love writing about him; he's based on a picture of a boy I saw in nursing school some years ago, who had only one eye. When I first started this book I joined a forum for people with similar disabilities and found them all very kind and informative.

What got me back into this book was finding a book in a thrift store that couldn't have been more helpful with the vaguer aspects of Renaissance life. (It's very cool, filled with correspondence between kings, monks, lords, etc.) Which reminds me to remind anyone who's reading this that thrift stores are awesome places to get books, especially rare ones that are unlikely to be on any store shelf or at Amazon. And so are garage sales, particularly for kids' books as kids and families grow quickly and have to make room for new stuff. That's where we got an entire collection of picture books that our son loves!

Onto Chapter 3: Oriadne --

The Godward Sea Saga, Chapter 3: Oriadne, by TMA from Tanisha Mykia on Vimeo.

Audio Chapter 2 of The Godward Sea: Warning - Emo, and Controversial in Nature

Chapter 1: Kosmos introduces Astrian the priest and minimally, The Moon King. Mostly, it’s about the City. Important place. I envisioned cities that could’ve stood in the Garden of Eden. There’s a lot of biblical language. Throughout Book One, I deliberately allude to the Books of Genesis, Enoch, and Solomon, as well as to the New Testament, to Greek mythology, Norse, and Celtic—all of which include scenarios similar to the controversial scenario in Chapter 2.

So onto Chapter 2: Promise.

Yes, I believe it requires a disclaimer because disclaimers reduce hard feelings and complaints. They let you know what you’re in for, and whether or not you might like to bail out. This novel is absolutely not Lolita--although I don't believe that novel to be a celebration of sexual indecency either. If my story is interpreted that way then it is misinterpreted.

2 was a difficult chapter to write (and narrate), mainly as I knew what had to happen. I had to play both the wolf and the lamb, and I had to make the analyticals ponder, which is which? Characters can and must be confused, contemptible, haunted or tainted by their past. Especially if they’re insanely beautiful and all-powerful.

It’s not my intention to define or analyze my characters’ motives, because that adds dimensions that I deliberately excluded from the book! One option for the audience is to postpone giving the entire body of work the finality of a generalization. “Oh, it’s about this.” No, no. Read on, and you’ll find it’s about that, too.

When you can only see the corner edge of an elaborate painting, it’s impossible to guess what the rest will look like. That said, if this chapter disturbs you, confuses, challenges, repulses—be patient that I will reveal the entire painting, and that there is a reason for every event and character interaction which contributes to the complete panorama.

It’s also pertinent to elaborate that no matter a character’s damage or wickedness, because I made them, I will adore them all the same. Characters can absolutely become your babies. You honor their traits, develop a sixth sense for what they will do, and are sometimes saddened by the route they do or don’t take.

I’ve tried to make the villains of The Godward Sea impossible to entirely despise, and entirely possible to empathize with; antiheroes, possibly? Characters with indefinite motives and endings with ambiguous resolutions allow an audience to theorize and rumorize and exercise and scrutinize. In this way, the story can resonate, maybe become a topic of discussion; even better, debate. That’s what I’ve tried to incorporate here: a godly character, beautiful and intellectual and tender-hearted, scarred by emotional and psychological wounds, making his wicked decisions thus. Of course, the ‘good’ heroes have their wounds as well, and then there are the damsels stuck between. But again, rather than me analyze them and enforce my opinions, I would have the truth be more personal and flexible. It will, hopefully, change based on individual perspective.

(As an aside, I’m a little more experienced with Windows Live Movie Maker now, which is both good and bad because the movie for Chapter 1 isn’t as graceful as the one for Chapter 2! Once my goal is a little closer in sight, I’ll return to Chapter 1 and apply what I’ve learned.)

  Audio/Visual Novel: The Godward Sea, Book 1, Ch 2 Promise, by TMA from Tanisha Mykia on Vimeo.

The Godward Sea Saga is an Audiobook

Before I start going on and on about how much I love these characters, how much time I’ve devoted to them bleh-blah, it only makes sense to present a synopsis of their story first. I don’t want to jump ahead of myself, but if I do it’s only because this is something I’m extremely excited about and proud of and swinging on cloud nine for because we finally completed the first audio chapter after months of collaboration and hard work and ideas—some failed, some successful, some forgotten or misconstrued; some completely spontaneous. And here’s the product, very near to how I dreamed it.

First, a basic summary of my motivation (a query, so to speak) and the synopsis of my novel, The Godward Sea. (Note: The “query” is written in the style of the novel so as not to mislead anyone who may or may not be interested!)

---------------------------
Query and Synopsis
---------------------------

The universe and its natural workings are intricate; so too the Epic Fantasy Saga of the Godward Sea, whereby a panoramic cast advances the plot of love and despair between gods, angels, and men. Book One introduces the concept of a sea of gods over mortals, a heaven divided into one hundred kingdoms, each respectively ruled. In the spirit of Greek tragedies, driven by a rebel god and his lust for earthly dominion, the saga of the Godward Sea is steeped in emotional drama and eroticism, subtle magic and flamboyant sin, swordplay and spirituality, politics and betrayal.

In the seductive City of Angels, amid an alternative retelling of the story of Adam and Eve, rivals take center stage--the One God Yeovah and his brother the All-Father Odin. But which is good, which is evil? Book One follows one god in his quest for love and the other in his debt to loyalty. Eve, beautiful and clever daughter of Odin, Princess of his earthly City, is torn between them. At the helm of an angelic army, as she seeks to unite a divided realm, her choice brings about the end of the Golden Age.

After years of soul searching, of studying old and new age theology, I came to a few mellow conclusions about faith, but was most intrigued by the unanswerable questions--and these inspired adult “science fantasy” tales: A sea of gods and angels, their obsession with mortals, the tragic results. A series came about. The Godward Sea Saga: Book One is complete at 104,000 words. Book Two, a sequel revolving around the same cast, is near completion. Three is in outline stage.

***

Synopsis for The Godward Sea: “When you are fully aware of your own propensity for evil, you can sincerely turn it off ....”

War between divine kingdoms imperils Heaven, thus a dark angel journeys to Golden Age earth in search of her fugitive God to restore order. With her at his side, he regains lost memories of Heaven and spreads black wings thus to return. However, Odin the All-Father has other plans--namely, to rule mortals and fallen angels with his newfound wisdom. He rises to become the Moon King of Darkland, where Those That Leapt hail him as God for laying magic as the foundation of their new faith.

On the dawn of his daughter Eve’s coronation he presents a mind-reading jewel, the crimson Sphinx Rose, and asks her to exclude all men but him. He warns that if she forfeits her purity, the jewel will lose its magic. Hence, despite her blooming love for Astrian Zend, God-Prince of the Aeonikan Empire, she makes a promise to the All-Father.

Astrian Zend, a brooding priest, carries the holiest blade known to earthiankind, Oriadne. To all but Astrian--The Shepherd, he is called--it is heavy as a rooted oak. At the peak of Eve’s coronation night, dissent over Oriadne between Prince Astrian and the All-Father thrusts Eve headlong into an ancient divine feud. Scion of Odin, she alone must retain her right to his heavenly throne and outwit his cunning Nephilim lords who scheme to claim it. She will choose between her gods, and between Heaven and Earth, as the greatest era known to man suffers a violent death.

------------------------------

A lot of work went into this audiobook project. What started out as an experiment kind of escalated until we realized we had about twenty-five hours of music and spoken word to edit down, splice together, and synchronize. I had to eat many, many lemon-honey cough drops in order to keep my voice after several hours-long sessions; Ricola were the least nauseating.

So far we’ve got nine chapters completed. After a few tweaks and edits—which is more time-consuming than it sounds—they’re good to go. We had to do this late at night, so I speak softly so as to avoid convincing the neighbors that I’m nuts. I’m lucky to have a musician/recording engineer in the family, and I’m wildly pleased with the result. Each chapter of the novel runs about twenty minutes, and there are thirty-seven chapters in Book One. That’s a whole lotta hours of original music and spoken word. It doesn’t quite account for the hours of mistakes I made, which probably should be released as a blooper reel at some point, if only to show that despite the dark, emotional severity of some parts of the book we had a ridiculous amount of fun.

Writers, take note! When you love your stories, devote yourself to them, stretch them and bend them into new shapes. Sure, this is just a simple DIY; it's also a way for you to control the promotion of your own work and pay homage to your characters, and if there's a following a way to give them a treat! For the curious, I used Windows Movie Maker for the video, Cubase for recording music and vocals, Photoshop for images, the Internet for everything else.


Audio/Visual Novel: The Godward Sea Trilogy; Book 1, Ch 1 Kosmos from Tanisha Mykia on Vimeo.

Prince of Thorns: Book Review

There are some parts of this author's work that I envy. (Just putting that on the table; I’ll always say so when it’s true.) I've read several of his short stories and poems, which have gone beneath the surface and entertained, inspired, and lingered. However, Prince of Thorns was oddly not among those works! This is no insult; it's highly readable and, like a ten car pileup, hard to look away from, but it did seem a slightly different turn from a few darker more meaningful fantasy works I've read. As the author's major publishing debut it offered me a different door into his creativity and the genre market in general, and as an aspiring writer, of course, I sprinted through it.

The cover had me thinking the book was a bit different than what it turned out to be--a strictly sword and sorcery affair rooted in a dark age, medieval times, perhaps, because there are about thirty medieval-looking swords on the cover. But there's a twist: A post-apocalyptic twist. The story apparently takes place after the world has been hit with weapons of mass destruction.

The lesson then is: don't judge a book by its cover. On the cover the prince's stance is a la David and Goliath, yet darker--a warrior victorious over many kills. And it's a stunning image, invoking thoughts of hard-fought battles, triumph, change. But it made me wonder--if a society, post-apocalyptic as this one, once knew how to make missiles and guns, then why does said society revert to using swords? If swords and cross-bows can be smithed, why can't guns?

What further confused me about this element of the story, was why, after the apocalypse, would the remaining people of a society revert to archaic lifestyles--the speech, the dress? I would think, given the many post-apocalyptic theories/films/books out there, that once humanity had been decimated, time would stop rather than revert. I'm thinking of Bethesda’s Fallout 3 (yeah, I’m a game junkie and that one was particularly fun) where the apocalypse happened somewhere between 1920-1950-something, and trends were dictated by the height of technology at the time of its downfall: People still listened to the same music, scavenged for and clung to their guns, computers, appliances, etc. And once the Rapture was over, there wasn't a religious person left on the planet.

It seems that what the author has done here is revert society back to the dark ages, pre-Renaissance and sans Humanism, instead of showing the way society was at the time of the apocalypse, which is actually a long-running theory about humanity’s “true” progression depending on which anthropological theorist you subscribe to. But it just doesn’t sit well. The overall ambience, after the point in the story when I realized it was post-apocalyptic, changed for me. I felt splashed cold with this element. This doesn't detract from the author's talent, though. As a writer, you learn to hold things up to the light and look at them critically, to look through them to find how they work. As a reader, you just go with the author's flow, and if they're talented, as this author undeniably is, then you enjoy the ride.

The writing is worthwhile: A blend of fantasy trope and voice-driven literary fiction. Every sentence is taut, Jorg's observations fiercely confident. Many passages hearken to the author's earlier poems. If, by chance, you're an aspiring poet, join his Yahoo! poetry group, be kind to some folks who want their poetry read. Just don't download any files. :) If you can find them, read the author's poems. Search them out online. For analytical types they provide an excellent context for his prose.

While the story might appeal more to the male sect, given its packaging, it's a universally blasphemous fun read in the vein of "A Clockwork Orange" that for many moments had me rooting for vengeance. What compelled me to finish Jorg's story was a strong empathy for him; hope, perhaps, that vengeance against everyone who crossed him wasn't all there was to his legacy. Mostly, it wasn't. Impressive moments range between the socially and the emotionally relevant: Love is felt by Jorg in the poetical form of hooks sinking into his heart; it absolutely affects pain in him, and this is conveyed with the kind of coarse beauty one would expect from a tortured soul. Poignant philosophies and brilliant sarcasm are scattered little gems all the way to the end. But strangely, this is all conveyed through a fifteen-year-old boy, which does feel partly cliché (hormonal teenage angst in effect) and highly improbable (c'mon, no matter what he's seen, he's still just. . . a kid).

Never mind the genre. Genres are utterly confining and you will skip over things you should have read because you discriminated against the genre or you paid too much attention to reviews. I say the same for music, shows, or movies. Judge for yourself, possibly be surprised by this ambiguous character as author Mark Lawrence blurs the lines between lovable and detestable, noble and evil, retribution and vengeance.

Liquid Story Binder: Favorite Writers' Software

 I wrote this article about two years ago right after I'd purchased the writers' software, Liquid Story Binder. Back then my netbook ran a dual boot with Linux Mint and Windows XP (I needed both operating systems for various nerdlinging reasons). Now I run a new machine that triple boots two Linux distros and Windows 7, and I’m still faithful at the church of Liquid Story Binder. I'm more familiar with the program now and absolutely still love it, and I'm not a shill like Dr. Phil. If something is good I report that it's good, go get it, tell your writer friends, the adventurous ones who like a little challenge. Some writers like their sticks and stones--a very basic and familiar setup, which is perfectly fine and has its definite uses--and some like a bit of glam. I use Liquid Story Binder enough to offer, hopefully, good advice to others who might appreciate the software as much.

If you buy the program in November, during National Novel Writing Month, it's half-off; at least it was the last couple years in a row. It's always free to try, no forfeiting credit card numbers or information. Just download the trial, give it a go if it looks useful. Some of the freeware I mention in the article below may or may not still be free; that is, they might now require you get the ‘pro’ upgrade. The only one of those programs I do recommend getting the pro upgrade for is WordWeb (see link below). Then you’ll have a very nifty dictionary/thesaurus in your Liquid Story Binder at a single click, and you’ll never miss Microsoft Word’s thesaurus. Irfanview (see link below), which is utilized by LSB to manipulate your images, is optional; you may already have Photoshop, which integrates fine. Or, if you’re using Linux—meaning you’re using Wine to run LSB, and I’ve tested that and it worked better than I expected—then you can use GIMP, which is also free and included with most Linux distros.

Okay, the article.
========================================================
Some writers rave about it. Others say it's overkill. Black Obelisk says the key to it is choice.
I believe all those things are true. Liquid Story Binder is, quite frankly, the sh*t. There are drawbacks, though. I admit  it was a complex little piece of software -- at first. I didn't understand its file system. I didn't even know where it put my books after it claimed to save them. I knew immediately it wasn't like any other program I'd ever used: a) it's gorgeous, b) it seems frickin vast, and c) it's only an 8 megabyte download.

For two weeks I played with it a little each day. The only thing I can compare LSB to is an operating system, a small one exclusively for managing and creating stories. Before LSB I wrote as slow as evolution. One of my books, an alternative historical, was such a P in the A. Historicals involve tons of research, cross-referencing, very little actual writing. It gets old. Now I keep all related references, chapters, images, etc in each "book", all neat and tidy and accessible in one click. I can focus on the premise of the book instead of burning out on the research. I can also pick up books or stories I haven’t worked on in a long time without feeling lost; all my notes, models, and all related imagery are there.

Please note: I did not say LSB improved my writing although, inevitably, writing more leads to better writing. Please also note: I am not advertising LSB and have no affiliation with LSB. Good writers' software is hard to find, and if it's good then shout it out I always say, thus this little demo/tutorial.

First, there's a difference between writers' software and word processing software.
Microsoft Word is a word processing program handy for correcting grammar and spelling with Auto-correct and Auto-format. Great for essays, research papers, proposals. Perfect for writers concerned with spelling, grammar, etc.

Liquid Story Binder XE, unlike MS Word, handles various file types. It does not correct your grammar. It facilitates your creativity by allowing extreme leeway to do whatever you like.
Some environmental differences between Word and LSB:

While Word runs on a "ribbon" menu that uses tabs--with such features as the "home" and "insert" buttons--LSB uses windows. Thus LSB feels more like an operating system than a program. This platform allows writers to click between various open documents/files, to link notes and ideas to respective documents/files, bring up references, keep organized lists, edit timelines, etc, etc in easily accessible files that can be edited, viewed, saved, whatever in a single click. 

One more thing. There are already some great tutorials online for LSB. The best source of information I've found is in the Help feature, located in the About menu. This is only a basic demonstration to show how I built my fantasy novel using LSB files. And to show those writers daunted by the program's many features that LSB is, with a little practice, a very sweet and writer-friendly program. At the very least, it's worth giving a shot.
-------------------------------------------------

From the Library menu, choose Create New Book. Name it and, if you already have some in mind, type in any chapter names you want to create. Hit return after each title to create separate files. Then click Create New Book.

Don't worry about the parent folder; your book's fine where LSB wants to put it, which is in your Documents folder. If you change the book's location later on, say, to your Desktop, then the next time you open LSB your books will be missing. This is remedied by choosing View Library from Library and Adding Existing Books back into LSB.

Ok. I've created my fantasy novel, The Godward Sea.

If you like, go to Display on the main menu and select Wallpaper. Select Change Wallpaper. (Desktop wallpaper images are peachy because they fit the entire screen). If you like, tinker a bit with the Color Scheme from the Display menu. Choose from gradients, customize your colors, etc. Save the Scheme, name it after your book.

Here's my galactic Display.


Now I want to import an existing story from MS Word. Importing is different from Copy & Paste in that it will try to preserve the original formatting. From Shortcuts on the main menu I choose New then locate said file and save it as a Shortcut. The Shortcut will open in 'Read-only' mode. However, I can edit it externally (and save the edits at the same in LSB), but right now I am more concerned with transferring the content of this Word file into LSB. Shortcuts are also good for URLs to online books and articles.

Now I need to create a Planner. 'Planner' is LSB's odd name for a table of contents or an index. It's the key to my organization with a 120,000 word fantasy novel, two more behind it, 45 single-spaced pages of notes, 11 hand-drawn maps, 300 images, and even a playlist. If you love your stories that much, then LSB was made for us.

Choose New Planner from Planners to get it started. The first item has already been created and it's automatically named after my book, but I'd like to use my Planner as a table of contents so I'll change that to the name of my first chapter. I'll also put a little description of that chapter in the second textbox. Create more 'items' by hitting the new item button on the left. Save it for good measure.

 Create Chapters from your Planner by double-clicking on any of the new items you've added to it. If you've begun your novel in LSB, it might be a good idea to create a Checklist. It could be used to plot out the events in your chapter or for your entire story.

If it suits you (and it did me), create a Gallery. First, import your images into LSB. Go to Library and select Import Documents, then Import Images. My Gallery for The Godward Sea has several hundred images and photos that inspire characters, events, places, etc. Name your Gallery after your book. If you want to maximize one image at a time, double-click it. Or put all of your images in an animated slideshow if you like.

There are so many options that LSB can seem wildly complex at times, but keep Black Obelisk's motto in mind. LSB is about malleability and personal choice. You don't have to use every feature; they're simply . . . available. It's unnecessary to use all of them. Start off by getting used to the files that work best for you.

For instance, why use Timelines to chart events when you can use a Journal, which allows room for notes, ideas, or scenes? Or use a Journal to write as your character would if he or she kept a journal. Or record your own thought processes and keep little personal notes about your story like Poe did.

Vice versa -- instead of using Journals to chart events, try Timelines. These can be used to plot sagas or events that are extraneous to a main storyline, such as flashbacks that fall in sequential order as your main character remembers his forgotten past.

Next are Associations. Associations aren't as good as Listings (to me), but I will explain them because they do have their use. From your Planner choose File. Pick Associations. A dialogue will pop up showing the various file types LSB has to offer. If you choose Sequence for example, it'll ask do you want to make a new Sequence titled after your book? Yes. Voilá -- an Associated Sequence.

Associations are based on the names of your files. If my book is The Godward Sea and my Gallery is The Godward Sea, LSB will automatically recognize their Association. Open the Association menu at any time after creating a file like a Planner and you'll see that all the file types have already been named after your book. The text is gray to indicate that they haven't been created yet. Click one, and there it is.

 
No two people will use LSB the same way. There's no need to. It's like customizing a character class in an RPG; I don't want to go through the game using the exact same character someone else is using. I wanna play my way. That said, take everything in this "tutorial" with a grain of salt.

So, I have all the basics going for me now.

 
Click New Item (the little white piece of paper icon on the left) to start adding images to a Gallery. The images imported earlier are available for use.

Next are Listings. This is how you keep everything ultra organized. Once you create one and add all your relevant file types—your planners, builders, galleries, etc.—you'll open your book and all its goodies from it each time you start up. Put the files in whatever order you like, arrange it like a tree and have every file associated with your novel including images, songs, chapters, journals, etc., accessible from one neat and tidy menu.

And there you have it, the basics of novel creation in Liquid Story Binder. A few more points:
Formatting is of great concern to writers. Every publisher wants a specific format, each magazine has its own guidelines, your professor at school will only accept essays in Arial font, size 11. Worry not; LSB can do everything MS Office can do in terms of formatting, except more stylishly. However, depending on what kind of writer you are, that may or may not suit your needs.
-----------------------------------------------
There are lots of features I've yet to explore that may be of use to others:

• The Character Generator. Haven't used it. My characters are 100% organic, born from daydreaming, drawing; sometimes they're parodies of people I know (and they are unaware of this). After I investigate the CG feature I might update this post.
• Auto-text and Auto Word Complete are simply luxuries. Much like in MS Office, you can set LSB to turn 'teh' into 'the', and 'htat' into 'that'.
• You can edit your story externally in another program like MS Word. Choose to do so from the main File menu. LSB automatically saves the document you were working on and opens it in Microsoft Word (or whichever secondary word processor you have).
• Download the freeware Irfanview to edit or resize your images for LSB.
• Download WordWeb (also free) and integrate its dictionary so you can right-click any word to access its definition with a full thesaurus and dictionary. WordWeb is also quite useful on its own, as you can, for instance, right-click any word on an Internet page and see definitions, synonyms, and so forth.
• There's a tool to record the revisions you and your critique partner have made on each other's documents -- Revision Marking.
• The Typewriter tool is for Notepad lovers. It mimics Notepad's full screen display to block out distractions. Eventually though you'll give in and customize. Don't knock distractions. They can lead to ideas.
• The Word Count monitor automatically sits at the bottom of every document file. The Timer begins as soon as the window opens. Right-click the Timer to pause it. Double-click it to change your goals or to check your statistics and see how much you've accomplished. I love this simple feature.
• When you're ready to print, page numbers are added. You'll have to adjust and edit your headers/footers in Print Preview. This is a little easier in MS Office, as you can format page numbers and headers/footers from the beginning.
• There’s more, but it all just sounds confusing without navigating the program first! A feature I use frequently is “Transfer Files”, which can be found on the main menu under File. This allows me to transfer files such as galleries, outlines, chapters, whatever into another binder. So essentially, if I’m working on a trilogy and I’m keeping all three books in three different binders but I’ve got all my character galleries in book 1, then it’s easy to transfer those galleries from book one to book two or three as well.

Shades of Doppelgänger: Dislike Revisited

Some things are unbelievable coincidences. Others are deliberate incidences. I’m still stuck between the two on this new conundrum: Have you ever read two books by two different authors that read like they were written by the same author? As for my former review of Fifty Shades of Gray, I suppose I should’ve aimed it at the book’s less popular, older sibling.

• Annabel Joseph’s Comfort Object, 2009
• E.L. James’s Fifty Shades of Gray, 2011

Both stories by these two different authors follow a rather disturbing and substantially similar pattern in which an obscure, desperate, “nobody” woman plays a protagonist who’s propositioned to become the slave of a wealthy, secretive, psychopath man who goes by the name of “Gray.” James’s leading hot psycho is Christian Gray; Joseph’s, Jeremy Gray.

Through the use of stalking and pretense both men manage to persuade young women into signing confidentiality agreements that stipulate they want to own the woman, treat her like a slave behind closed doors, and she must isolate herself to keep his deranged fetish a secret.

Is it a coincidence that these different authors follow the exact same path toward the destruction of female freedom and identity—or is there a formula unto which authors of this over the top genre subscribe?

There are other possibilities that possibly explain this phenomenon. It so happens that genre fiction is repetitive. Its endless tirade of new authors shamelessly revisits the same subject matter over and over again to make a buck. However, using the supernatural romance genre as an example, Laurell K. Hamilton’s vampires do not—overtly or covertly—share any of the names or psycho-social archetypes of Anne Rice’s vampires. Neither of these author’s books share anything on the verge of plagiarism with the Twilight series, either; all three merely happen to be about vampires and/or werewolves. It’s all innocent buck-making.

The only stories throughout history to share archetypes—and rarely, names of similar meaning—in such a way have been religious stories passed down through time; myths. This is how we’ve deduced the exact same thing happened to Jesus as did to Osiris as did to Mithras, and so forth: All their births were foretold and visited by wise men, all were born in December, all began their ministries around age thirty, all died and were resurrected within three days. These stories share archetypal symbolism and only differ where their respective cultures are concerned.

The similarities between Comfort Object and Shades of Gray, then, are disturbingly parallel with the similarities between these religious myths: The plots are synonymous, reverent of and cloistered around the same 2D character—the hot wealthy psychopath who singles out women to abuse for pleasure. And in both books the women comply for reasons that cut the species socially and psychologically down to consumerist, self-hating whores: They only want hot guys and lots of cash and to be yanked around on Prada brand leashes; their only power is seduction, and even that is monitored and dispensed as their hot maniac sees fit. Either this is mythos for some underground sexual cult, or one of these authors owes the other an explanation.

Will there be more books that follow the “Gray” doctrine in the future? Were there other “Gray” siblings released in 2010, in 2008, 2007, 2006? Given the parallel storylines, why did James’s book make the New York Times bestseller list while Joseph’s did not; was mainstream unprepared for it in 2009 but ready in 2011? For that matter, what’s up with the twisted Pretty Woman rip-offs being done again and again—kinky publishers or a systematic mockery of strong women?

The fact that both these books were published somewhat closely may have a deeper meaning for new writers who would make a profit. If there’s any formula it’s this: Clichéd scenarios which induce corrosive values in readers across the board—lucrative; original stylized scenarios that induce enlightenment and personal growth—burdens for which the author is scrutinized and must continually reiterate altruistic motives. Bizarro.

Boom!: we know who you are

The video below belongs to my husband, whom I love dearly. While we do disagree on things from time to time (what healthy couple does not), we will never differ in our ideas and values! Life is as it should be when you marry your best friend—he is pictured on my profile with our son.

The video is short, a song by one of his many side projects. We selected the video material from various sources, and it was stitched together using Kdenlive, mostly (a rather nice and rather free Linux video editor). Actually, my husband did most of the selecting because he had the idea for a long time, however I was adamant about syncing the Howard Dean shot with his guitar solo; also about that ridiculous shot of Tony Blair, which gets me rollin' every time. Guess that makes me sort of a backseat producer.

Why is the project called Suicide Television? We were watching a documentary recently. The title slips my mind; we watch a lot of them, and not ironically, it was on our television (well, actually, computer). The documentary was about how Coca-Cola destroyed India’s water supply. There was a part during the movie in which an Indian wife speaks candidly to the camera about how her husband committed suicide. He couldn’t afford the debt Americans had placed on their farm, and he drank some of the pesticide he was instructed to use on his crops. Actually, quite a few families spoke of their similar, very sad, very preventable situations, and it got us to thinking about ways to channel their anger into something that might resonant with intellectuals angry with the direction of our society and angry with what our country has inflicted on itself and on others, like some self-destructive, feral, escaped mental patient; in other words, we wanted to reach people smart enough to detect the problems and angry enough to realize that things just can't go on this way. Someone has to lock the patient back up, and soon. So, here's to anger.

Here—

earth’s forbidden secrets

Another book review. Back to basics.
Have you ever started a new book expecting to be hooked given its description, and wound up tossing it; or, started a new book expecting to be disappointed, given its description, and wound up enthusiastic about it even after you’d finished? Maxwell Igan’s Earth’s Forbidden Secrets, Part One, an examination of “canonized” history versus physical evidence, definitely falls under the latter.

I do confess to having an abnormal obsession with ancient world history, which also means I have the proverbial collection of articles, movies, documentaries, and of course, books. However, once you read a dozen books that all share nearly the same information you stop expecting any of them to present an original, creative, enlightening point-of-view. But one day, after fruitless searches for something new at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, eBay, you stumble onto something free, and its content is on the nose.

Since I’m in the business of writing I’m always looking for fallacies in established fact, or unconventional theories to lay the foundation for a new piece of fiction. That said, this book is probably not for mainstream archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians, all of whom subscribe to mainstream ideas. Igan makes this point, citing that closed minds have been bolted shut before all of this information for years, and the difference between having a doctorate in the field and not having one is the difference between being taken seriously or being laughed out of town.

Seemingly small facts such as the origin of the banana will interest any who didn’t previously know the world’s most widespread and nutritious “herb” does not make seeds, despite that all vegetables, fruits, and herbs with the exception of those that have been genetically modified, do indeed make seeds; that is how they are grown, from seeds. Thus, how did the banana get here, how did it thrive for thousands of years without any intervention until humans came along and learned to cultivate its root? The storyteller in me is sprinting on its hamster wheel, spinning possible scenarios that can answer those questions, which is why I liked this book. The “out-of-place artifacts” Igan mentions, too, are interesting. These “Ooparts”, such as the Mitchell-Hedges crystal skull, raise valid questions and theories and certainly inspire a great deal of fantasy and action-adventure titles like Tomb Raider and Indiana Jones.

Fascinating fodder for fiction aside, if you’re interested in ancient history, if certain “facts” or artifacts bug you and raise more questions, then this book is a good starting place. The author encourages readers to research all the topics he brings to light, and doing so will start you on a long endeavor that I haven’t quite recovered from yet.

Some of the author’s points have been raised before of course, such as information on the Antikythera device found in Greek waters, and on the Temple of Jupiter in Baalbek, and plenty on the Mayans—therefore, little in the book can be considered mind-blowing. Nevertheless Igan toiled to rally readership into reopening old investigations, and aims at new audiences to take up curiosity now that we have the techno-social means to seek answers, i.e., the Internet and social media.

Despite the grandiose claims of his text including “secrets”—which it does not if you have been interested in these topics for awhile—the author has a healthy skepticism exercised by his unwillingness to use the word conspiracy as an accusation, or jump to cartoon-like conclusions, which he does point out is the recipe for sounding crazy. However, one is encouraged to question the shunning of certain ideas by scholars, professors, and historians, especially where physical evidence points to the truth, rather than blindly believing what is widely taught and accepted. Some quick examples:

• Brain surgery was performed with evident success during the Neolithic era, as evidenced by ancient skulls found with finely prepared animal bones surgically installed. The bodies had accepted the “donor” bone fragments as further evidenced by a regrowth of human bone tissue over the animal bone. This insinuates the patients lived for quite some time after the surgery. According to the textbooks we read in our modern surgery class (and our professor), trepanning, or cranial surgery, had never been performed until the medieval era, and every attempt was basically manslaughter. Yet physical evidence exists that one should think would encourage revisions to medical history.
• A fossilized human shoeprint—shoe, not foot—from over 300 million years ago was found, insinuating that cavemen had some pretty modern-looking shoes, or there's some other, weirder explanation. . . .

The editing of Earth’s Forbidden Secrets isn’t spotless, which should be expected—and accepted—for writers releasing works independent of publishing houses with paid editors. If one can surmount this, then it’s an enveloping read. The matter is among my most-loved, that history is rewritten as it’s written, and that substantial evidence is often shunned by the very people who disseminate the facts. Maxwell Igan throws nearly everything in the fridge into the soup and bridges events and phenomena without ranting or being patronizing that the majority of us are more concerned with the present instead of yada, yada, yada. But there’s a lesson in that too: Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.

This book, therefore, is a call to pay attention to what is taught, but also to resist believing that what is taught is showing you the whole picture. There are mysteries all around us, namely us, and we choose to close our eyes, cover the ears and duck when anything fantastically unheard of that requires the use of imagination crosses our path; that is, whenever strange evidence stares us straight in the eye as indisputable fact.

Igan writes with an optimistic spirit that relies heavily on scholars to take their education for what it was worth—an initiation into a clique of thought that allows them to constantly pursue more knowledge. Igan encourages us to not settle into what we’ve learned and rave madly that it is fact for all eternity. If nothing more or less, Earth’s Forbidden Secrets, Part One is a call to join the discussion rather than storm against it or ignore it.

Humor and Horror, Hand-in-hand: retro review

Totally random movie review. Random because I don’t watch many movies (no television either), so out of default I feel ill-equipped to tackle the all the nuances such as roles of directors, producers, animators, writers, actors. . . . Essentially, novels are from Venus, movies from Mars.

When I first saw Repo! around 2009, I was studying surgical technology. I’d grown disenchanted under the realization that most techs are employed in cosmetic surgical settings rather than the reason most of us had enlisted, which was to help the sick and injured. We did not know we’d be “helping” the self-centered and the wealthy instead.

Hence, Repo! appealed to me in a rebellious way. It lent humor to an otherwise repellent occupation--made it easier to accept that something so sadistic and horrific as mutilation in the name of “perfection” had become the norm. The nature of the movie is a middle finger to the surgically-enhanced population, namely the subzero Hollywood climate of automata with botox, breast augmentations, liposuction, nose-jobs, gastric bypasses, etc.

If you’ve ever shaken your head at an actor/actress/news anchor/model’s resemblance to a mannequin with perfectly frightening symmetry, then you will get this movie and certain parts will make you laugh.

If you're too squeamish to find any of it funny or you are in fact a surgery addict (or cosmetics addict) you will not be entertained as we were, and the moral of Paris Hilton’s face falling off will go over your head.

My article was originally posted in 2011 on Sci-Fi Saturday Night’s blog. Found the text file recently and wondered why I never bothered to put it on my own blog?

(Links in the article have been removed as they may not work; it’s been a year, after all!)
====================================================================

Repo! The Genetic Opera is the answer to High School Musical for sci-fi and horror geeks. For Darren Lynn Bousman, who directed many of the over-the-top Saw movies, Repo!'s morbidity is fairly tolerable: For every instance of gore there's another of comedy, wrapped up in sing-along punk/cabaret lyric and dance. The opening theme song's only lyrics are "Things you see in a graveyard" sung in an operatic soprano, which sets a murky backdrop.

Minus the hilarity it'd be a fattening slice of gratuity and post-apocalyptic cliche. Horror needs balance to suit my sensibilities; there is no artistic merit in meaningless gore, especially set as a frame around scantily clad women brandishing surgical scalpels and a character who kills them to wear their faces. Then you have Paris Hilton's character, Amber Sweet, a spoiled brat who binges on surgery and painkillers. . . and loses her face.

Bousman handles it with gothic finesse, perhaps taking cues from George A. Romero (the zombie king) to include subtle comedy while taking care not to overshadow the flaws and struggles of his characters. The collapse of humanity, the subsequent obsession with biological perfection, and the emergence of a super villain with a vendetta effectively draw you in. If you like the music, and if you get the humor, the plot won't let you go.

Sarah Brightman's voice could shatter stained glass. Paul Sorvino lends the sedentary gloom and elegance of classical opera. I immediately re-watched it because I had to hear the songs again -- "Zydrate Anatomy", featuring lusty, lackadaisical vocals by Paris Hilton and the monster mash voice of Terrence Zdunich; "Chase the Morning" by the inimitable Sarah Brightman; and "Mark It Up" a tongue-in-cheek duet by Nivek Ogre -- then I finally broke down and got the soundtrack.  

Many compare Repo! to The Rocky Horror Picture Show. In terms of concept and definition, it is. Musically it feels more like Pink Floyd's The Wall, although not quite as manic: Challenging characters and subject matter; high moments of frenzy, tense moments of cynicism and melancholy. The songs are orchestrated excellently, all in the same major key, and each blends seamlessly into the next. Repo! succeeds on underground levels -- an unapologetic, original satire of Hollywood's divas, starlets, and harlots (including the men).

Shades of Dislike

My first book review on this blog. I wish it could’ve been a book that I liked better, but Amazon recommended it, I got it, here we are. Like any erotica, once you start reading Fifty Shades of Grey you become a bit hooked, if for nothing else than the short-lived naughty thrill of peeping into someone’s else’s sex life. And that’s really all this book has. If it’s interesting fresh personalities you’re after, or perhaps prose with creative distinctiveness, don’t listen to Amazon and the New York Times.

To be fair, as I said, the lure of naughtiness might keep you reading. Obviously, titillating is an easy sale. But make no mistake, it’s nothing new and the writing leaves a lot to be desired. Certain phrases, word for word, appear in so many different chapters that I often thought I’d accidentally cycled my e-reader back to a previous page (which happens frequently with the iBooks app).

I sound like a complainy-puss, but I don’t like wasting my time with things I had high hopes for. I’m also rather cynical when it comes to erotica; it’s difficult to find unique stuff in a cliché-dependent genre. But it wasn’t the genre that closed the book for me; there are a number of things I take issue with. For one, Author E.L. James’ teensy, seemingly innocuous injections of toxic propaganda. Namely, a conversation where a supporting character, Mia, suggests that the city of Paris is great, except for Parisians (“Boo, French people!”), and an awkward scene where the mother of Christian Grey, Grace, a pediatrician, is called to the phone—a setup clumsily built around her opinion that all children should be vaccinated (“Boo, freedom of choice!”). There are more examples. I’m not writing a thesis on it, though. Suffice it to say it’s almost like Fox News drones on at low volume in the background. And it’s kind of a really big turn-off for an erotic novel. . . unless of course, you’re into that.


The plot follows young, innocent-minded Anastasia Steele, a college student whom falls in love with a psychotic domineering billionaire with cult-like BDSM tendencies—Christian Grey. Her conflict arises from an obsessive sexual attraction for him, despite the fact that he is incapable of love. His idea of a relationship consists of beating, humiliating, and essentially owning Anastasia; he’s done so with every other woman he’s ever known. It begins intriguingly enough. You want to see her rise against this vitiating dude, and for a while she does. Yet plot problems arise as she weakens and succumbs to him, luring herself into a “compromise” with a sexual deviant, which seems inconsistent as far as psychology and human instinct:


There doesn’t seem to be anything in Anastasia’s past to suggest she was destined to be a “submissive” lover—a sex-slave, to be blunt. Moreover, certain details suggest she’d be smarter than that, such as the essentially wholesome, harmless, educated and privileged lifestyle she’s had up until meeting Christian Grey. There are worse things than having a mother who remarries when the seasons change; I thought this facet of Anastasia’s past would’ve made her more adaptive to change and thus more mature, but for all that, she remains “innocent” and “naïve” in the face of insane decisions like whether or not her psychotic lover is an abuser for wholly dominating and humiliating her, desiring to bruise her and punish her like a child. But he’s “hot”, so hot apparently, that she cannot walk away and spends a great deal of time flailing and crying over her indecision.


In the long run, she accepts his bizarre idea of a relationship—going so far as to sign a non-disclosure agreement so that she’ll not try to sue him if he should happen go past her “limits”—and allows herself to believe that his tragic past has screwed him up, but she can change him. Is that not the proverbial mantra of a doomed relationship—“I can fix him/her.” Yes, it’s a black day for true love; womanhood too, for goddess’s sake. Continual references to the protag’s inner goddess is salt in the wound.


There’s no corroborating scene from her past to explain why she retains a grade-school mentality, yet it persists. Numerous references to this twenty-something’s innocence and her childlike mannerisms began to irk me. I stuck around until the middle of Book 2 for some kind of affirmation for why—why is she like this. And when I got sick of waiting, ill from the repetitive not-quite-healthy sex and dialogue, I gave up.


A far better read in this vein is Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel series, where the writing lives up to the immense challenge of commercializing BDSM. Carey exceeds expectation through genuinely flawed and lovable characters, vivid Renaissance imagery (requiring research), and of course, the sensual backdrop of fallen angels interbred with mortals. Her erotica feels far less gratuitous, repetitive, and clichéd; at the same time, it offers the same naughty little peeks that attract genre fans. Her characters develop with less emphasis on pathos via repetitive mannerisms (i.e., angrily raking fingers through hair and nervously biting the lip—over and over and over); more emphasis instead on an impressive command of emotional vocabulary and metaphor to evoke poetic heroes, villains, sex goddesses, cities and conflicts. While James’ erotica shows familiar sexual tension and adolescent-style confusion, Carey’s shows the potency of sensual language, and she effectively conveys the purpose of her protagonist’s suffering; forget the BDSM, forget it. The woman carves literary sculptures from silk and pain, treachery and true love. If you’ve already read her, you have likely raised your brow at Fifty Shades. If you like this book series, then, much like Twilight fans, you cannot be helped.


Now I know that Fifty Shades is on the New York Times Bestseller list. I don’t claim to understand the NYT, aside from “who does one have to fuck to make the list?” This novel seems inauthentic, hesitant, and pensive in the genre. . . but it has sexy results. Perhaps readers buy controversy; it worked for Dan Brown. Who am I to say. These are opinions. I don’t know how long the author worked, but it is necessary for me to point out that I’ve read better, where it baffled me on just how long the author must have worked, how much blood and sweat went into an obviously spectacular project that deserves whatever accolades. There are authors that I envy, that I long to be compared to. Others, I have to shake my head and wonder if they didn’t know somebody in the business. As a disclaimer, I am cheerfully cynical, as stated above, when it comes to these things. To me, re-doing an idea again and again after it was initially executed well seems like an arrogant waste of time. However, the New York Times and Amazon’s Top 100 are proof of otherwise—that good old fashioned kinky titillation wins out over creativity and substance in a pitifully massive way.

Another excellent read, far and away from this vein, is Naomi Wolf's The Beauty Myth.

About Face!

I laughed out loud when I ran across this tonight. Not because this young girl was arrested, but because she has my name. Ah, I love the Internet, so plentiful with all its pitfalls, confusions, traps, and mistakes. Obviously, that isn't me. She was apparently booked in Arkansas. I've been on the West Sigh-eed for the last thirty years, yo. If it were me I'd probably be trying to get it taken down, or looking into whether such a thing is even ethical. Sometimes you take things with a grain of salt: lots of people have your name. Sometimes you take things head-on: That is not me. And sometimes you do both.

Speaking of taking things head-on, I thought I'd post a "reprint" of an article I wrote last year. Seeing as how this blog is semi-themed toward reaching other young women like myself -- maybe students, moms, hard workers --I think it's wildly important for all women to take heed. . . perhaps the young woman in the mugshot, too. My husband, who is white, says she's 2000 miles away, looks nothing like me, and he assures me that most white people do not think that all dark-skinned people look the same. We haven't stayed together for ten years by being politically correct. Anyway. The Article.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Cyber-stalking, Bullies, and Emotional Terrorism
-----------------------------------------------------------------

With a great sigh... it's time for me to spotlight a subject that I dread. It's uncomfortably close to me and very, very ugly in the spotlight. As a victim, though, I feel obligated to speak. I hate being a victim, and pity doesn't pay the bills. But I do believe it's my duty to all vulnerable people at large, mostly young women, to impart what I've experienced in order to prevent it from happening to anyone else.

Stalking, cyber-stalking, hacking. Emotional terrorism. Privacy-invasion. These are crimes by unhinged individuals against unsuspecting prey: Members of on-line communities, of social networks, and of seemingly innocuous forums for advice and common activity.

First I begin with confession; repetition, if you're paying attention. Yes. I have had a stalker, a rather sadistic one. This person has invaded my privacy, and has made the Internet a threatening environment in which I've resorted to using pseudonyms (Makaia, which is an alternate spelling of my middle name, the name I use to post here; and Kaia, which is obviously a shortening of Makaia)to remain anonymous and hidden from their attacks. But no more. I will not hide anymore or remain silent, especially as things have gotten a ridiculous. This person – a middle-aged man -- opened fake social networking accounts in my real name in an attempt to sniff me out as well as get in a little humiliation while he was at it. Maybe you've heard of similar things of late, with the gay girl blog hoax going around the wired.

A common thing for stalkers to think is that they're “saving” their victims. This is ridiculous, of course. What they want is absolute control over their victim. They're the worst abusers walking the planet, with a full-blown God complex for believing that their state of mind is a) healthy and infallible, and b) a hard set of rules that must be followed. If rebelled against, their ideal world begins to splinter and crack, which to them justifies their destructive behavior. They become threatening, abusive, and possibly physically dangerous to others. Oftentimes they appear charismatic with their fixations and idiosyncrasies -- until they're denied what they want.

It's nearly impossible to convince a very sick individual that they need help, just as hard as it is trying to convince friend or family member that they may need therapy after a traumatic event. Adults develop a natural resistance to help, when gone are the days of childlike curiosity and willingness to ask questions and find new ways to approach obstacles. It's a brick wall until they come to their senses, often at the cost of something like their freedom or wellbeing or the easy predictability in their world.

So, onto some methods of stalking -- new methods enabled by new technology. There's a special brand of invasion into a smartphone called cloning. The symptoms are very specific and hard to ignore once you know them. I had them. Make sure you do not.

A little story: Three years ago, I severed ties with a small on-line writing group after finding Trojans and worms in my machine. I learned that the only way to acquire these particular nasties was in downloading infested documents. The only place I downloaded said documents was in 2008, from our small Yahoo! Group with only 6 or 7 members; a place for uploading chapters from our stories and giving each other critiques. The platform was such that you had to download files in order to read each other's stories, Word files and PDFs, and you uploaded your critiques, which were then downloaded by the writer and perhaps by other interested members.

So over about a year, we shared our little novels and exchanged our little critiques. It was meaningless fun and frustration, at times very tense, but a positive learning experience. I didn't think I needed any other forums and was very comfortable with sharing with everyone there. Needless to say, I didn't surf for any other forums or groups. I didn't download files from any other sources, I didn't click on ad-banners, and I didn't visit porn sites, which are usually a good source for computer viruses. Having an IT knowledgeable spouse (and being proudly intermediate myself) means I understood a lot of information that average computer users do not. I knew how to navigate my way safely through the Net.

Turns out I fell victim to attack, not from clicking on and downloading everything in sight, but due to my trusting nature and stubborn belief that all people are basically good. Why would I mistrust a small group of writers who had also quickly become my friends?

One day I noticed my computer acting quite strange. It had the symptoms of a worm. It was nearly interminable, and the process to get rid of it was painstaking and time-consuming. A lot of research showed that, for this particular attack, the nasty executable files had to be embedded in documents. Since I downloaded nothing else, most likely these documents were the chapters from “someone's” book. So you can bet that everyone in that tiny group was infected -- being spied on and having all their sensitive information closely monitored by a seriously ill individual. One friend from the group (the only one I kept after leaving) told me later that her machine suffered a devastating virus and that she too would never return to on-line writing groups. She probably had the same roll call of Trojans and worms that I had. All our files, including videos, novels, e-tax returns and all sensitive documents, really, including family and private photos – everything was invaded and likely captured by this person to do with as he pleased.

I left that group when my husband and I exterminated all the viruses. I swore never to download documents from an “on-line community” again, meaning I wouldn't be joining any writers' groups again. I ran across this article not too long after, the outcry of a woman who had witnessed the ill effects of an under-governed on-line writing community. Her words, although seemingly harried and fearful, never washed off. I had seen similar things. I felt culpable for never speaking out, for not reporting abuse, and not realizing when the same was happening to me. Again: No more.

I – we – are safe now, as the proper authorities are involved and there was never any impending physical harm, but I felt that the situation would remain a point of fear for me if I didn't discuss it. I feel human doing so. If your smart phone/computer is displaying similar symptoms, you will know what to look for. You will know that although things might be edging into the Twilight Zone, and you might not want to confess, that you can, and should.

For those that have had similar experiences, gather your strength and blog about it, publish it, tell the world. Report it. Tell your mom, no matter how old you are; tell your sister, your husband, the police. Tell everyone who you think it is, where you think they are, what you believe they have done. Loved ones listen and take action. Turn the tables and make your stalker feel like the stalked. Do not remain a victim just because the attacks are silent and virtually invisible.

Strength Is A Sentence

When you know someone -- and I mean really know them, perhaps love them, admire -- and the only flaws you can discern are physical, the flaws, then, reside in you.

Art Decaf: A Snifter of Portfolio

Anahita - sketched quickly with a black fineliner. She was originally a character from one of my stories. The provocative pose says nothing of her true character, which I later determined was a prim and composed, but weary, leader. . . . Freudian?

Astrian & Eve - sketched first with ink then prismacolors added along with flecks of acrylic paint here and there. This is the upper left corner of a much larger piece of work that took me close to a year to finish. I donated it to this e-zine about three years ago. Again, these two are characters from my stories. When I can't write, I draw; when I can't draw, blah blah. Much of the inspiration for my writing comes from envisioning the characters and some of their "adventures", then putting them in ink. I can't say that's what I set out to do; it just sort of happened. I've got about a hundred sketches of these particular characters in various poses, clothing, armor, naked, etc.

Aylea - another fast sketch, this time in pencil. Aylea is the protagonist of a novelette, written by a friend. I finished her story then picked up my sketch book, drew Aylea, scanned her, and sent her via e-mail to my friend. She was very happy. And so was I, because she was.

Reaching - a not-so-quick sketch done in black charcoal and a black fineliner. It's a da Vinci homage. Specifically, to this drawing. After studying his work, I became fascinated with armor and helmets, shields and swords, etc. There's a Japanese flavor to this one, of course. Overall it is, hopefully, a genuine blend of styles between Yoshitaka Amano's work and Leonardo da Vinci's.

English Landscape - I shot this piece with my iPhone. Oil pastels on yellowed parchment; originally finished overnight, due for an assignment the following morning. I was convinced I couldn't produce anything worthwhile with oil pastels. I'd never tried them before. The medium is pretty challenging, too -- oily. But it quickly became fun, and once I got the hang of it, I deliberately used every color in the box. Got no sleep, but did receive an A and have since become open to all mediums and combining them.

Dragon Eye logo - a quick little inking -- literally little, only about 3x2 inches -- that I doodled on graph paper (maybe during math class). It's obviously assymetric, while the graph lines hold it steady. I imagined it in the upper left-hand corner of a t-shirt for some reason. That, or a tattoo.

Firefly - a work in progress, all bold ink lines that are dying for some color. I'm posting this one to show how I go from zero to 100 colors using pencils (truly wonderful pencils. Truly). This image is a photo shot with my iPhone in our dining room. The sunlight in there was perfect; certainly better than the light inside my scanner, which tends to bleed through grainier types of paper. I started this picture out by measuring several triangles then figuring out which body part, sword, or wing fit non-awkwardly into each one. It's striving towards geometry and assymetry at once, while keeping the body in "motion." It was a challenge for sure, and at first I wondered why I gave it to myself, but pushing the boundaries simply gets you better results. And I'm satisfied with the results, if a little hesitant to place permanent color on her, knowing how specific each area was and how dramatic the lighting will have to be, Rembrandt dramatic, maybe. Again, Renaissance cuisine with Japanese flavor. This one's next on my hit list, after my current WIP.

Wind & Rain - I snapped a photo of the piece with my iPhone. India ink and black coffee were combined to stain white illustration board. This painting is an oldie, but a favorite. My husband says it's gotten better with age as the coffee's grown yellower, almost gold -- and I agree; the stains finally resemble the sunbeams I intended. It was my introduction to using India ink with calligraphy pens and rabbit hair brushes. He is the wind, and she is the rain.

The Fleuracle - the foreground is ink and pencils, the background velvety black marker. The moon aligns with her crystal ball as she sprouts up like a night-blooming flower. She was for a Halloween short story idea that included many tiny creatures such as faeries and elves and insects.

Mushrooms and Moonfrogs - Ink, color pencils, some crayon, another one shot with my iPhone because this one's too delicate to crumple into a scanner bed.  I wanted to create the most vibrant nightscape possible, everything shining and bluish and surreal. If the little frogs are poisonous. she doesn't care at all.

Patron Saint of Nursing - black fineliner and marker. Yes, there is a patron saint of nursing. While drawing her I thought 'tattoo' because it seems like such a definitive stamp: medical professional, geeky-cool, rebel with a clue.