Hello, friends and fans!
Welcome to another “Peek At My Week” for September 25, 2023! Here are some things that happened this past week!
News About Writing & Publishing: This Is The Current State Of Things
- Writing: My main focus at this time is “Freedom Inc” (book 1 in my new sci-fi adventure series, “Threaders“), and you may recall that in the last update I was hoping to get more work done on it last week – but on Monday, I got taken down by three things at once – the flu, reflux, and a bladder infection! That’s right, us authors are sometimes only human as well, even me! I’d been feeling progressively worse over a number of days already, and after a hurried visit to the doctor, I was given the necessary meds and some time to rest – which I did. Fortunately all this was only temporary, and I went back to work on Friday again, feeling much better. In the meantime, I’d also had some down-time to think my way through the next big scene in the story, which admittedly had caused me to tread water for a bit while I worked it all out in my head! Anyway, the story is now sitting at just a little short of 49,000 words, and I’m just about done with the second part of the envisioned five for this book.
In South Africa, this past weekend was a long weekend, the Monday being an extra day off – which provided an ideal time to write, right? In case you’re wondering what my plans were for the long weekend, I stayed home, with the exception of running a few errands on Saturday morning – and the rest of it was spent trying to do some writing as I struggled through the remains of the flu and reflux, even though I felt like I’d rather just sleep through it all. I’ll try to get more done on it this week, I promise! - Articles: In the past week, I posted “Why Witch Hunts Are Bad For Everyone” and “Tips For Understanding The A.I. Cover Issue“. Also, as I pointed out last time, after an absence of 2 years, the Author’s Vlog videos are back, and here’s the latest of what I hope to be a more frequent posting!
- What Readers Say: I know I can’t please everybody (so I’m not trying to!). That said, it really pleases me when I see that I’ve managed to do it anyway! Drop me a line and let me know how you think I’m doing – or, preferably, leave me a review on Amazon or Audible! I found this reader review left for “When Darkness Calls” on Audible on May 29th:
Very Good Listen
“A haunted house, ghosts, witches and friends… Really enjoyed listening to it. Never know what is around and about the house.” – Gwen Boseman, review on Audible for “When Darkness Calls“, May 29, 2023.
Some of you may wonder why I sometimes post reviews that were left sometimes many months before the date of the current newsletter, so let me tell you why that is – Audible and Amazon (or KDP) don’t notify authors of reviews left for them – they just add new reader reviews to the bottom of the page displaying the individual book on their site – and leave it up to the author to search for any new ones manually themselves.
Bibliography – A listing of all my books:
Other Stuff:
Take The Money And Run
I read this article about a Danish artist who delivered blank canvases as “art” in answer to a commission to create works for a gallery.
The entire industry created around “art” is an absolute obscenity – much like what is considered the poster-children of what is defined as “art” today. In fact, it’s this industry that gets to define what “art” is – from a splot of yellow paint at the center of a giant blank canvas, to whatever bizarre flights of fancy takes them.
It’s all about who is allowed by gatekeepers to succeed as an artist, whose work gets to be displayed in galleries, whose work gets to make the “art news”, who is part of “the club”, what studies or university qualifications they have paid for, while plenty of genuine talent lies on what amounts to the “cutting room floor” because the artist themselves fails to meet their worldly expectations.
Anyone can be an artist – or could – but to succeed in the “industry” (that is, to be ALLOWED to succeed), you need to conform to what the elitist snobs in charge consider to be “the right sort of people”.
Here’s a hint – it’s rare that anyone other than the agents and art sellers make anything worthwhile off of the art produced by genuine artists – especially during the artists’ own lifetime. Many of the greats they celebrate today died in slums, or poor-houses, or even lunatic asylums of their time. A few managed to make a good living based on the generosity of their sponsors. For some again, art was a hobby and they pursued it independently of their already existing financial status or stability.
Fame doesn’t always come with the attachment of wealth. I’d say, as a writer, that much is true 😉
In fact, I’d say you’d probably find more actual ART being created in the slums of New Orleans or spray-painted on a freeway siding in Cape Town than in many modern art galleries today.
That “industry” is a shit-show run by the rich, for the rich, and operated on greed. It is shallow, and hence, the very antithesis of the feeling soul which creates art.
Going Soft
Pet gripe of the day: rusks that don’t soften when you dunk them in your morning coffee. 😝 Seriously, what’s the point? Only one brand seems to make them right, and they’re all sold-out… rather tellingly. I prefer the Ouma brand – the sliced ones – buttermilk or caramel. I’m picky. 😉
The Scary State of South Africa Right Now
South Africa is already a failed state – trouble is, its ruling party wants to cling to power at all costs and is neck-deep in full denial. This article puts it into crystal clear perspective.
The “Debate” Around AI-generated Cover Images Continues
From this it’s clear what they want is a captive market – apparently, according to them, we as indie authors owe disgruntled artists (some of whom are also writers) a living. 🙄
I’ve never seen a clearer motive than that.
And somehow, forcing poorer authors from poorer countries with shitty exchange rates to use “affordable” paid services “isn’t” gentrification of the indie author/publishing industry.
Like hell it’s not.
As always, I’ll keep you posted about any further developments. And remember:
In spite of some of my books having been on Amazon since 2005, not one of them has yet reached the magical 51 reader reviews yet! (The highest number any of them has, is 10 – which is a pretty good number compared to many others, but it’s still not high enough for the almighty Amazon!) I would really appreciate your help on this! Come on, leave a review – it’s free!
I wish you all a pleasant week until next time!