Category Archives: literature

Should Self-Published Authors Forget Print On Demand?

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A post arguing that authors who self-publish should forget print on Demand. According to the writer, the quality of Createspace books is poor (he goes so far as to say that this does, perhaps mean that if authors still wish to use POD they might consider the much maligned “vanity” publishing model. For the post please see, http://www.derekhaines.ch/justpublishing/where-self-publishers-will-continue-to-lose-out/.

I would be interested in hearing the views of anyone who has published with Createspace or anyone who has read a book produced by them regarding the contention of the article.

 

Kevin

The Rules Of Poetry

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I came across this entertaining piece on the rules of poetry while browsing the web, (http://www.improve-education.org/id49.html). The writer argues there are, in fact no rules or rather if the poet does follow rules they should be of their own making. Rules do, in the view of the writer stifle creativity, replacing vibrancy with the dead hand of uniformity.

Book To Raise Money For Guide Dogs

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As those of you who follow this blog will know, I, together with fellow authors have produced an anthology to raise money for the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, a registered charity which provides highly trained working guide dogs for visually impaired people. GDBA receives no funding from the government and relies entirely on the generosity of members of the public to continue it’s work of providing guide dogs thereby enabling visually impaired people to live and work independently.

The anthology is free to download but we ask that you please make a donation to Guide dogs when downloading.

Many thanks to everyone who has donated thus far. As of now the amount received stands at £111.25. To donate and download the anthology please visit here, (http://newauthoronline.com/anthology-to-raise-money-for-guide-dogs/).

 

Many thanks,

 

Kevin

Guide Foxes For The Blind

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I was interested to read about a new organisation, Foxes for the Blind which has recently launched. As those of you who have knowledge of the world of canines will be aware, foxes fall under that classification. They are, in effect a dog albeit of the wild variety.

My first instinct on reading of this new charitable venture was a certain amount of scepticism. How could what is, essentially a wild beast be trained so as to furnish much needed assistance to visually impaired persons. However, as pointed out above, foxes are classified as canines and, if socialised from very young cubs behave rather like our four-legged friends.

The inspiration for this venture came from a group of farmers in Cornwall who (as with most farmers) became fed up with foxes attacking their livestock so, rather than culling Mr fox they determined to take fox cubs and train this most wiley of creatures to provide assistance to those with a visual impairment.

Farmer Michael Giles comments as follows,

“One day I came into my farmyard to find a fox attempting to gain entrance into my hen coop. My instinct was to reach for my trusty shot gun. However I hesitated. It was a young fox and had, potentially many years before it. It struck me how there exist a potentially huge source of cheap animals to provide guides for those with little sight. I know that breeding guide dogs can be expensive so, I thought why not start training this plentiful source of fox recruits.

Things are going well, however some blind fox owners complain of a highly pungent scent eminating from their fox. I recommend they spray the animal with aftershave or some other variety of perfume. However, for some unaccountable reason the foxes object to such treatment and have been known to escape back into the wild.

There is also an issue with dogs setting off in hot pursuit of the guide foxes but, in general everything is progressing well. In fact I am talking to a farmer in Africa with plans to train guide lions. The plan is at an early stage. There is, however no reason in principle why guide lions for the blind should not prove to be equally viable. Tomorrow guide lions, next week, who knows, wolves for the blind? Well dogs are descended from wolves which are, as with foxes part of the canine family”.

I will dig out a link for the story later today when I have more time to devote to researching this fascinating topic.

May I close by wishing you all a very happy All Fools or April Fools day.

 

Anthology to raise money for Guide Dogs goes live at last!

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Dear all,

The moment you have all been waiting for. No, I haven’t won millions on the National Lottery, although that would be nice! I am, however, delighted to announce that the anthology to raise money for the Guide Dogs for the Blind association is now live! I have created a dedicated page for the book which can be found here: http://newauthoronline.com/anthology-to-raise-money-for-guide-dogs/

I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who has contributed to the anthology, whether that be through stories, poems or other writings. I would like to thank Chris Graham for his generosity in producing the book cover at no charge. Without the tireless efforts of the editor, Dave Higgins, this anthology would not have come into being. Finally, a big thank you to everyone who has promoted and continues to promote the anthology.

Kind regards,

Kevin and Trigger

Some Thoughts On Clean Reader

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(The below post contains, of necessity some profanity. If you are offended by such words you may wish to stop reading now).

Today’s Guardian has an article about Clean Reader, an application which allows the user to reduce or eliminate the amount of profanity in a book, (http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/28/clean-reader-is-freaking-silly). The author’s contention is that Clean Reader is a silly idea but, in the final analysis readers have the right to put their own interpretation on the books they read. So, for example the owner of a print book is at liberty to cross out words they don’t like provided they don’t pass off the amended text as constituting the author’s original work.

My concern as an author is that Clean Reader alters the original meaning of my work. Take, for example my short story Samantha. In Samantha we meet a young woman who has been forced into prostitution by her brutal pimp, Barry. For reasons of authenticity Samantha contains scenes of violence and, yes the use of profanity. For instance Sam is told by Barry not to let a client “anywhere near your sweet little fuck hole” until he has paid. This is how a man of Barry’s stamp, a brutal pimp with no respect for women, would address those who he controlls. Yet Clean Reader would render “fuck” as “love” making Barry’s words risible as no pimp would refer to a vagina as “a love hole”.

To take another example, Nick, the client Sam is visiting, says that he wants to “fuck”. Nick’s desire for sexual gratification has nothing whatever to do with romance so to change “fuck” to “love” as Clean Reader would is to render the story risible and to change it’s meaning to boot.

I don’t want anyone to be offended by Samantha or any of my writing for that matter. However if someone downloads Samantha I fervently hope that they read it as written. If a tool such as Clean Reader is utilised the true horror of Sam’s situation is sanitised (I.E. forced prostitution is portrayed in a downright risible manner with clients making love, rather than “fucking” sex workers).

In conclusion, I have concerns regarding Clean Reader, specifically that it has the potential to alter the author’s original meaning and convey an inaccurate view of the work being read. I suspect though that most readers will avoid the app and, given time it will fade into obscurity or cease to exist completely.

My Author Interview On Kev’s Blog

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The ever generous Kev Cooper has interviewed yours truly. Many thanks to Kev for his tireless work on behalf of fellow authors. You can find my interview here (http://kevs-domain.net/2015/03/27/kai-presents-kevin-morris/).

 

Kevin