0 comments on "Why I Write"

Why do I write? Because writing makes me happy and gives me something I desperately crave – an outlet for all of the people and worlds living in my head.

Writers aren’t exactly people…they’re a whole lot of people trying to be one person.
-F. Scott Fitzgerald

To be honest, I don’t ever expect to become rich off of my writings. I don’t exactly see myself as being the next J.K. Rowling or Laurell K. Hamilton or Stephen King.

I just like to write.

I do hope to reach the point – soonish rather than later – where I will be able to pay off all of my debts and make a fairly comfortable living. I would like to be able to give the Kid a good education and a nice place to live. Most of all, I never want to worry about him going hungry again.

But even if I was living in a gutter somewhere, I would still write, because it is my passion and my joy.

Even if there was no one to read the words, I would still write them down. On a computer, in a notebook, in the dirt on the floor… the words would still flow out of me and always will.

That being said, I really do appreciate it when someone reads something I’ve written. Whenever I sell a book, I feel a jolt of pleasure at the idea that someone out there is meeting the people I created and traveling the world they live in. And I hope they experience the same richness of feeling that I did as I wrote every word and imagined every action or scene.

Feedback is always appreciated, but to just know that someone is reading something I’ve created… that’s enough.

~Peace, love, joy

 

Kakushigoto 01 at Amazon
0 comments on "So Famous You Transcend Fame"

Johnny Depp is the kind of famous where he could stop acting in movies, have lost all his money, and could be residing in a dumpster – and people would still recognize his name and face. He’s just got this legendary kind of fame, and he also happens to be an incredibly attractive man.

He is probably one of the most beautiful men in the world, and he’s only gotten better with age. I look at his “21 Jump Street” day photos and he’s a pretty boy, but he grew up into a beautiful man.  And on top of that he’s an excellent actor and always seems charming.

There are just some movies that are made better just by having a particular actor or actress in it. Johnny Depp makes every movie he’s in better. That’s being a star.

And that’s what I’ve been thinking about: Being a star. Being incredibly famous. Being the kind of person that thousands of people completely obsess about.

I’ve been writing “Idlewile,” my band story. In it, Idlewile is Johnny Depp, Rain, Big Bang level famous. First from his boy band days, then now as a soloist. It has really made me think about fame and what it would be like to deal with being so famous that literally EVERYONE in the world knows your name and what you look like.

Which brings me back to Johnny Depp.

He has always kept it classy, or if there’s been any slips he has a good PR sense. Some people have questioned his fashion, but I think it ties in to his need for some semblance of privacy. Those hats and glasses and even the flashy things he likes to wear – they draw the eye and that’s all anyone sees: Johnny Depp wearing eyeliner or channeling Jack Sparrow.

Everyone needs a place to hide sometimes. Even if that “place” happens to just be the mask you wear in public.

 

Prairie Fires at Amazon
0 comments on "Teaser 01: “Idlewile” [musician, drama, novel]"

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Okay, so “Idlewile” is the band story I’ve been working on. Though to be honest I don’t really know if I would call it a “band” story, since Idlewile is a solo singer. It’s just that “song story” seems like an awkward description for it.

Anyway, “Idlewile” is my latest passion and I’m fairly racing through getting it done. It’s like I’ve been struck by a mad case of the prolifics. Hopefully it’s easily transmitted.

I came up with the idea for “Idlewile” after watching a bunch of kdramas and catching up on some celebrity news. I just suddenly decided that I wanted to do a story based on the life of a pop idol. And from there, my brain created Idlewile – whose real name is George Idleston – a young man with a rather bleak past. He was raised in an orphanage until he was recruited into the boy band Anathema at 14.

And right there is where I run into trouble. “Anathema” is the name of a UK band! So I need a new band name – one that hasn’t already been used.

That’s where I need help from you. I am currently asking if anyone can think up a good name for a boy band that hasn’t already been taken.

Leave suggestions in the comments and I’ll choose. Whichever suggested name gets chosen, the person that came up with it will receive a free copy of “Idlewile” when it comes out and I promise to acknowledge you in the foreword section.

Any help is much appreciated, though I’ll probably need to ask for more help in the future.

The world of Idlewile – pop stars and soap operas – is such an alien world to me that there are many things that leave me questioning. I know what I want to see happen, but there’s just a couple of things I might not be able to work through on my own.

~Peace, love, joy

Idlewile hadn’t donned a costume like the other singers and was still wearing his customary jeans and leather jacket, though he had put on a dark purple top hat and a silver and green feathered eye mask. Even from the back, his strut was all arrogant confidence and his hips rolled in an interesting manner.

Whatever Idlewile was singing, it wasn’t in English. It might have been Swedish or German, though Chris’ tin ear couldn’t be sure. All he knew was that it sounded really catchy and it was probably going to become the next hit song. The kids would totally love it, even though they didn’t understand a single word.

Disability Visibility at Amazon
0 comments on "Where are all of the book remixes at? The Book Remix Project?"

My brain just totally popped with an idea that I feel like I should immediately share with the world:

Book Remixes

I’ve admitted my secret “shame” before – my fondness for reading fanfiction – and one of the things fanfic authors like to do is a story remix.

It’s basically when someone writes a really awesome story that lots of people love. A fanfiction story so great, that someone writes a fanfiction for it. A fanfiction of a fanfiction. It’s like some kind of unintended mindsuck, like the movie “Inception” (which has a very hearty fandom behind it.)

In fanfiction, one author asks the other for permission, then rewrites their story in a different way. Like a lighthearted comedy story could be taken to a very different extreme, or the whole story could be basically the same, except the very end. Sometimes there are remix contests where all kinds of fanfic authors throw their stories into a hat, then other authors rewrite the stories in their own way. It’s just one of those stupid fun things people like to do.

So what stops indie authors from doing the same thing? Like each one of the remixed books could have REMIX in the title and an explanation of what they are on their description pages, or maybe there could be a story collection. It could be like a fun contest for authors to enter – either to exchange books amongst themselves, or to rewrite classic literature in the common domain.

I just think it would be a really fun thing to read.

Imagine: CJ Cherryh rewriting “Brave New World.” And Aldous Huxley rewriting “Fortress In the Eye of Time.”
Mark Twain rewriting “Pride & Prejudice.” And Jane Austen rewriting “Huckleberry Finn.”
Joss Whedon rewriting “Twilight.” And Stephanie Meyer rewriting “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (or even better, what if she rewrote “Angel?”)