Happy Easter to everyone. Currently there is no sun in the environs of Upper Norwood. Perhaps he will graciously consent to put in an appearance later today. Well at least it isn’t cold!
Have a wonderful Easter one and all.
Kevin
PS; as I was about to post this, the sun has indeed sailed into view and is currently shining on the walls of the room which I dignify with the name of study or, to put it another way – my spare bedroom!
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
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.
Midnight, black as pitch.
No scheming demon, ghost nor witch
Only the darkness which in the human heart resides, manifests itself in cruelty and pride.
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
The flower radiant with spring’s promise glows
The bee of sweet nectar sups, tarries perchance awhile then goes.
Thoughts of my grandfather mingle with the wind’s sad cadence, as it shakes my windows.
Acorns, fur cohns and conkers strew the forest floor. Many have fallen from the branches which overhang the pavement.
The feel of nature’s bounty in my coat pockets as I walk home. Conkers to be put away in drawers to harden, acorns for planting in grandfather’s garden.
You told me that weather cohns (you called the fur’s fruit that, or do I confuse the seeds with those of the pine tree?) open to signify fine weather and close to portend storms. Was it an old wive’s tale?
The acorn I planted in the garden which grew into a tree. You didn’t have the heart to tell me that, by chance a weed had rooted where, I hoped an oak would stand. .
I still have your cufflinks in a box, safe in a drawer.
I recently travelled with an acquaintance into London’s Victoria’s mainline station. On arrival I proceeded merrily and with some rapidity towards the ticket barriers.
“Trigger (my guide dog) is pushing in front of the queue” said my acquaintance. Oops!
Being a guide dog Trigger is taught to find a safe way through or around obstacles, including crowds. If my four-legged friend sees a gap, he goes for it with a will. I had no idea Trigger was skirting the queue and everyone queuing was too polite/embarrassed to say anything!
The above incident caused me to ponder on the advantages of being blind (other than the ability to jump queues without being lynched). After some consideration I came up with the below list:
I’m off now to queue jump, purely unintentionally you understand …
(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.
The Blue Hour Magazine publishes poems and short stories and encourages authors to submit their work, (http://thebluehourmagazine.com/submissions/). I have just started following the magazine.
Kevin
K Morris - Poet 