Marketing is the bane of my existence as a writer. It distracts me from what I really want to be doing: writing. It forces me to enter into the uncivilized world of advertising, where strident ads claw their way into the consumer’s consciousness, convincing the public to buy what they don’t want, can’t use, but must have.
Why do Writers Write?
Writing is a way to find rest and repose amidst an incredibly busy and bustling life — an oasis found through the writing process and its fruition. It helps me to release some complex and convoluted thoughts that I foist with the narrative of a historical fantasy. This provides me with an effective source of grounding and stress release and takes a greater burden off of my shoulders.
A Collage of First Lines from Novels.
I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.[1] If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book.[2] I’m pretty much f*cked. [3] No one would have believed, in the last years of the nineteenth century, that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences … Continue reading A Collage of First Lines from Novels.
Writing in Times of Pestilence
Now that society is struggling to deal with a devastating flu pandemic, I found the time ripe to give this subject some thoughts in a literary context. The first plague writings emerged around 1665 and resulted in innovative dialogues on a long endured illness. While the collective memory of the plague as an affliction was … Continue reading Writing in Times of Pestilence
Transitions
During the past weeks the word transition was prominently echoing through my mind. The primary cause for it was that I’ve been traveling extensively lately before settling down again in one of my familiar lay backs, Grand Canary. Soon after my arrival, the island was hit by a heavy sandstorm (locally referred to as a … Continue reading Transitions
How the Rainbow Serpent and a Ghost Ship sneaked into my Manuscript.
Even a hardcore plotter can sometimes be surprised how, by adding or changing some little detail into the narrative while typing out a manuscript, can give a completely different dynamic to the plot of a novel.
About Writing without Inspiration
As most bloggers know, to keep your web page showing up into the google search engine results, you have to post on a regular base. Apart form this little tidbit of knowledge, I have no clue how this google algorithm works. To be blatantly honest with you, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and all the other … Continue reading About Writing without Inspiration
Fun TBR list
For those still looking for a 2020 reading resolution,
Chaos Dynamics in Modern Literature.
In both contemporary literature and science, chaos has been conceptualized as extremely complex information rather than an absence of order. As a result, textuality is conceived in new ways within critical theory and literature, and new kinds of phenomena are coming to the fore within an emerging field known as the science of chaos. The … Continue reading Chaos Dynamics in Modern Literature.
Serial Series Yes. Serialized Novels NO.
Lately I’ve out of frustration canceled my Kindle Unlimited account about this issue. Too many authors don’t seem to grasp what’s the difference between a serialized novel and a serial series. Put simply: a series is a collection of books that all belong to the same “franchise” but can be read in any order (because they’re … Continue reading Serial Series Yes. Serialized Novels NO.
Islands and Literature.
I’ve relocated recently from Barcelona to Utila, a little rock in the Caribbean with 6,000 habitants. It’s a writer’s paradise since islands have always occupied a powerful place and have been a source of fascination in the literary imagination. From the discovery of the Americas to the period of decolonization, European writers and artists translating … Continue reading Islands and Literature.
The Egg in Dali’s Work and in Literature.
The egg is ubiquitous in Dalí: he draws and sculpts it in all the possible shapes and sizes, and I came spontaneously to wonder; why can the eggs be found everywhere in Dali’s works?
The Golden Section in Dali’s Work and in Literature.
Mathematics can be, in addition to a good technical support for artists, also an exceptional creative stimulus.
Historical Backgrounds of the Qi’tet Members.
In my post of November 19th (Climbing and Jumping the Black Tower) I’ve been expanding upon the theme of how the five main protagonist of the Maharajagar are personifications of the Pandava brothers in the Mahabharata and how the Dark Tower series of Stephen King inspired me to bring these characters together in a multiracial … Continue reading Historical Backgrounds of the Qi’tet Members.
The Lovecraftian Universe as a Cornerstone of The Maharajagar.
Howard Philips Lovecraft created an alternate universe populated by malevolent sea-creatures and gods whereupon multiple artists have been expanding. Although he died in poverty, Lovecraft is now heralded as one of the greatest horror and fantasy writers of his time. In modern fiction and art, his work is frequently referred to as “The Cthulhu Mythos,” … Continue reading The Lovecraftian Universe as a Cornerstone of The Maharajagar.
Climbing and Jumping The Dark Tower.
I was looking for a theme that could bind an African, Caucasian, Indian, Chinese and Inuit man in a coherent group. A such I was playing with the word quintet till I remembered the Black Tower Saga by Stephen King.
An Author’s Thoughts about Literary Criticism.
I just take sometimes offence at some critics who base their weighting of a novel on a very narrowly defined scale and sometimes these scales are provided by academics whose job it is to provide an informed opinion about them and not some biased fodder.
Struggling with The Stream of Consciousness.
In our contemporary culture is an active resistance to difficulty in all its aesthetic manifestations, accompanied by a sense of grievance that conflates it with political elitism.
The Novel as a Source of Knowledge.
Novels, while not in the business of stating truths about the world, tell a human story very often universal in scope and present them back to us as concrete forms of human engagement. A novel has the capacity to give shape, form, and structure, to the range of values, concerns, and experiences that define human reality.
The Novel as an Infinite Literary Jest.
“Fiction’s about what it is to be a fucking human being.” One who gets lost in life and takes all those tales literally, can forget that novelist very often lie in order to explain some truth.
