I am always happy to accept guest posts. If you are interested in doing a guest post please contact me (putting “guest post” in the subject line of your email). Your post can be about any topic (within reason of course)! But subjects might include: a piece about your favourite book, why you write or anything of a literary nature. Please send emails to newauthoronline (at) gmail .com.
Kevin
Amber Skye Forbes has written a powerful poem entitled “Pretty Girls Are Gravestones”, (https://amberskyeforbes.wordpress.com/2015/04/05/poetry-saturday-pretty-girls-are-gravestones/). In her poem Amber attacks the objectification of “pretty girls” by men. I found Amber’s use of the ornament analogy striking, (girls are placed in cabinets for men to admire).
I was struck by the poet’s use of the word “vile” to describe men. This led me to ask the writer whether she did, in fact hold that all men are “vile”. Amber responded as follows,
“I don’t feel that way at all about men in general, although this poem was written due to my personal trauma. I hope the men who read this don’t see it as
an attack on them, but they are able to come to their own conclusions about what I could mean. I know what I mean, but it doesn’t matter what I mean. What
matters is others’ interpretations of what I mean. So it’s deliberate that I make it seem like it’s all men. Yet, the true beauty of poetry lies in its
pleasures and usefulness readers glean from it”.
I agree absolutely with Amber. What matters ultimately is not what the poet meant but how readers themselves construe their work. Once a poem or, indeed any composition is available either online and/or in print it is beyond the control of it’s creator and is subject to whatever interpretation readers choose to put upon it. (I made the same point as Amber in my guest post for The Story Reading Ape’s Blog which can be found here, (http://thestoryreadingapeblog.com/2015/02/01/read-about-author-kevin-morris-explaining-his-poetry/).
Sounds like a veritable bibliophile’s paradise, (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3026248/New-York-s-Library-Hotel-inspired-Dewey-Decimal-system.html).
The clock ticks.
Upstairs an ogre sleeps.
Paralysed by fear, a child sits waiting for the monster to awake.
Hands of terror traverse the clock’s face.
A creak. The child glances fearfully upwards, praying for deliverance.
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.
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
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
(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
