Good morning, Readers.  Let's get serious a moment, shall we?

Okay, let me start off with a preface.

I am a woman.  I am a very staunch feminist.  I do not like the Fifty Shades of Abuse series.  I really, really don't.  Okay, so that's not the actual title of the series, but you all know what I'm talking about.  I find the whole thing a glorification of abuse (and I'm not talking about the B.D.S.M. - though that was also poorly researched and very badly portrayed.  I have nothing against B.D.S.M.  I do have something against portraying manipulative douchecanoes inflicting emotional and physical trauma on someone and having that labelled as 'romance'), and I'm not a particular fan of the style of writing, either.

HOWEVER

Yesterday, there was a Twitter event that went horribly, horribly wrong for E.L. James.  The event was #AskELJames.

Yeah....

Look, unless you've been living under a rock, you're probably well aware of the controversy surrounding the now infamous trilogy of books.  You've probably heard the cries of: "This is abuse? Why are you glorifying abuse?"

There is no way that #AshELJames was a good idea.

The publicity team needs to be fired.  Like, right now.

And the tweets honestly were exactly as I expected them to be.  Some of them were genuinely trying to begin a discussion.

Some of them rightly brought up other issues surrounding the books.

And some of them were just, well, mean.

I know, I know.  Let the big babies cry into their breakfast about how mean people are.  Let's call a WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHbumlance.

Look, guys, I'm a little sensitive about meanness, alright?  I lived with it for a long time.  I was badly bullied.  A lot.  While I agree with all the points here (seriously, I do), I think there was probably a better way to go about it.  I appreciate a lot of those Tweeters who were trying to begin a serious discussion.  This needs to be brought to light and discussed.

However, attacking someone just for the momentary internet thrill of attacking someone is uncalled for.  The sheer volume of this stuff was overwhelming yesterday.  It was so overwhelming that feminist ally and pretty good human being Chuck Wendig weighed in.  The piece he wrote was, to my feminist mind, fair-minded and humble; merely a call for civility in the face of an overwhelming tide of hostility.  You can read it yourself HERE if you'd like to see whether or not you agree with me.

Then, to my surprise, he posted THIS, a mea culpa regarding his previous post.  I was confused.  Apparently, someone told him that a call for civility was the wrong thing to do?  I don't know.  By his own admission, Mr. Wendig is in a position of privilege.  What I admire so much about the man is that he is aware of it, and tries to use it to make the world better for the rest of us.  I guess someone though he should shut his lilly white mouth because... we don't need friends in high places...?  Or something...?

A reader questioned Mr. Wendig's motives:

To which he responded:

In this, I am in total agreement with Chuck.

Guys, being an arsehole is not cool.  Even if you're right, behaving like an arsehole just makes you an arsehole.  Do you know how you'll be remembered?  Not the person with a valid point.  No.  You'll be remembered as "that arsehole."

And how, how, HOW can anyone claim to be the better person by heaping abuse on someone who is accused of glorifying abuse?  How is that better than what they've done?  How is that more righteous?

Short answer: It's not.

It's not better.  And they're not better.  In fact, they're worse, because they are maliciously aiming to hurt the person at the other end of their vitriol.  They're trying to draw tears and inflict pain.

That's fucking awful.

This kind of internet pig-pile has me more than afraid.  What if (in the unlikely event) I get really famous for a book I've written.  What if some people really hate my style of writing, or take offence with my portrayal of a person/event/scenery?  This disaster has shown me that people really do think online abuse is okay if a person is hated enough for whatever reason.  That abuse would honestly crush me.

I'm not asking people to stop being critical.  Critical thinking is absolutely vital - to art and to life.  I'm not asking people to be syrupy sweet online either.  I'm just saying that it is possible to be critical without being an utter arsehole.

As of this morning, I'm not the only one.

So please, whenever you're online, try to remember that there are real people with real feelings on the other end.  Try to place yourselves in their shoes, if only briefly, before you hit that send button.

Okay?

I'm off. Dw i'n dysgu Cymraeg.

Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

These last few days have been really ridiculously exciting for me.

I have Vegemite, people.  Wheeeeee!  I ate toast and Vegemite for breakfast this morning and I am possibly the happiest ex-pat on the planet right now.  Even my stomach feels happy.

*contented sigh*

More exciting, however, is that the book cover for Human is done!  It's finished!  It has been completed.  Man, it looks amazing!  I can't wait to show it off.  In fact, in two days, I get to do just that!  Of course, that is only for my eNewsletter subscribers.  The rest of you will have to wait a week.  That also goes for the book trailer I made.  I was just waiting for the book cover to be finished before I finished the trailer.  I'm quite proud of this trailer, guys, and am really excited to show it off.

Not surprisingly, eNewsletter subscribers get to see it first.

Sick of being left behind?  You're going to have to subscribe!  You can do so by clicking this link right HERE.

Thanks.  I feel loved!

Writing July's eNewsletter is the job that must be done for today.  Next week I add the book cover to all the things (by which I mean I upload it to all the formats) and will make the book available for pre-order.  It seems early to do that, but according to some articles I have read recently, the earlier the book is made available for pre-order, the better.  I'm trusting them on this.

I also have to create the Goodreads.com book pages, which will be done today, the images will have to be uploaded next week.

Right, I have a lot of stuff that needs doing.  I should go do it.

Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

So, a lot of things happened yesterday.  The first, most exciting one, is that the Amazing Flatmate and I are moving to a new apartment.  It's a town house, actually, with three floors and three bedrooms.  You see, she has a business making costumes, and she needs the space for an office/work room.  Bedroom number three is that space.

For the record, I'm one of those people for whom change is extraordinarily difficult.  My fear of change had me in some very unhealthy situations for far too long.  Moving house is particularly stressful, for some reason.  I once lived in an unfinished basement in a house full of awful people for years.  Years.  Until it got so toxic I fled... but not before gaining a tonne of weight due to stress and depression.

I have stayed in horrid relationships to the point of wanting to throw myself off a tall building even though I knew the relationship was horrid... It just seemed better than the alternative at the time.

That's how much I hate change.

That said, change has almost always been great for me.  I've left abusive "friendships".  I've found an amazing job that pretty much lets me work towards my writing goals.  Forced change had me moving in with someone who is one of my best friends.  

And, it's time.  And there's a lot to look forward to, and the new place is really very lovely.

I'm going to be stressed as hell, though.

Also in newsy news, I had a look at the almost finished book cover for Human.  I'm really excited about the reveal, guys!  Of course, subscribers will get first look at the cover.  And once I have the cover, I can finish the book trailer... which I'm rather proud of.  That should go up next month... ish.

Also in brand new news, I have a friend who believes in my writing so much, he's offered to become an investor... in my writing.  This is so surreal and flattering and a little odd for me, so I'm going to take some time to really think it over.

Alright.  That's enough rambling.  I really have a lot of work to do, so I'll just go ahead and sign off now.

Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

So, The Winter Wolf, I'm sure you were unable to miss, is currently in a competition for the best cover.  You can vote once a day every day for a week (Please do so by clicking HERE).

It is currently in a precarious second place.

Someone on Facebook pointed out that competitions like these are little better than popularity contests, and the writer who can whip up the most fans will win.  It won't necessarily be the the most deserving book cover.

I'm okay with this.  I never actually expected to win (though I am terribly biased, and I reckon The Winter Wolf is the best cover up there).  I knew what this was going in - a popularity competition.

I'm not a popular person.  I never have been.  When I was younger, this fact often made me feel sad.  Not so much any more.

Honestly, I'm thrilled I'm even in second place, even if it is a distant second!

Winning was never really the point (though it has the potential to be a nice perk!).

Why then? you might rightly ask.  Why do it at all?

Well... exposure.  Duh.

Honestly, my thinking is that if I can just get my books out there somehow, make them more visible somehow, perhaps I may attract a few more readers... somehow.  Little things like this are small ways I can try to increase my exposure.

Winning, and then having the book featured for a week, would just be a spectacular bonus.

Will it work?

I have no frakking clue.  None at all.  I'm terrible at marketing, guys.  Really bad.

Worth a shot, though.  Right?

Thanks to everyone who has voted and keeps voting.  You make me so happy!

Now I have to go learn Welsh.

Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

Before I get started, I'm just going to leave THIS link and ask you to click on over and vote. Please and thank you? As of this morning, The Winter Wolf is in a very precarious 2nd.  I don't think we'll ever catch first place, but I'm willing to try!

Yesterday was one of the first productive days I've had in a while.  All the rushing around with Human left me rather drained, and I shied away from my responsibilities for a little bit to recover.  I am now back and deep into editing Sky Road Walker.

It's not a bad little story, guys!

There is, however, a lot of editing required.  I mean a lot.  It's not even editing for the writing (though there is that too), but fixing up a whole whack of weird things that happen when one copies and pastes from a website into Word.  There are some very weird things.

I have managed to break down the story into thirty-six odd chapters, if you include the epilogue as a chapter (and I do).  There is no prologue, interestingly enough.  There will be, however, a substantial foreword.  Things need to be said.

In any case, I'm now combing through the manuscript chapter by chapter and making sure each chapter makes sense and is as free of mistakes as I can make it (which, as it turns out, is not very free at all.  Sigh).  Normally, this is as far as I go with editing before I send it off to my Beta Readers.  I make it sound like nothing, but that's actually quite a lot.

However, this story took two years to write, the events voted on by committee.  In the meantime, I was writing and editing other works.  This is not how I normally write a book.  Ordinarily it takes me anywhere between three months to a year to write a book, and I'm focussed solely on that book.  I don't write stories simultaneously.  The greater focus permits me to write tighter stories with plots that don't go all over the place in a directionless manner.  Any wandering the plot does is deliberate.

The point is, after I'm done the chapter sweep, I have to go back again and ensure that the story as a whole is cohesive and flows.

What I'm saying is that it's a lot of work.  I'm happy to be getting it done, though.  I'm far enough along that I'm comfortable with beginning the process of creating the paperback on my P.O.D. printer's account.  It looks like Sky Road Walker will be out next year.  I'm undecided if I should make it my annual Hallowe'en release, or something extra.  I'm leaning towards something extra, but am feeling the pressure to have a story ready for publication next year... which I currently do not.

Daughters of Britain is still being written, and sits sadly neglected while I edit Sky Road Walker.  I also want to get the first book of The Great Man series up and out into the world, but that requires extensive rewrites, so it'll be a while yet.  Hopefully I'll get one of the two done and in good shape to publish by Hallowe'en next year.

I'm stressing about it, honestly!  Le sigh!

Alright, I have some Welsh to go learn, and then more Sky Road Walker to edit.

Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

This morning I woke up with this song stuck in my head:

Don't ask.  I don't know either.

Today I must ask a favour of you.  The Winter Wolf is currently in a competition.  I am not expecting victory (though Seraphimé is kick-arse), but I would love to make a good show of it.  Would you be able to click on THIS link and vote for The Winter Wolf?  The competition runs all week and you can vote once a day every day until then.

I will be begging for votes all week.

I'm not proud.

Thanks!

There is little other news to report at present, so here are some things that caught my attention last week and this morning:

1: A really wonderfully done explanation of what, exactly, the One Ring is and does:

2: MyHarto by Hannah Hart.  It's a hilarious YouTube channel and Hannah is utterly charming.  Get her, Grace Helbig and Mamrie Hart together and it is hilarity for days.  Subscribe to her YouTube channel HERE.  You'll thank me later.

3: Dara O'Briain.  I've mentioned him before.  The man is unbelievably hilarious, and a sex god for sapio-sexuals everywhere (he's clever.  Really friggin' clever... I have such a platonic crush on the guy (I'm a fan.  A big fan)).  He's also going on tour.  If you're living in the UK, please go see his show for me, since I can't.  Frak everything.

4: THIS DNA study which found that Kennewick Man is actually more closely related to indigenous Americans of the state in which he was found (Washington) than any other group in the world.  Can we get rid of the beard now, guys?

5: The archaeology of Britain has inspired a beer named after one of the island's most famed queens, after a tombstone of Roman-British manufacture was uncovered bearing the name Boudicacia was found.  Yup.  Boudicacia is not just a name on a tombstone any longer.  It's a beer.  You can read about that HERE.  Also, I want a subscription to that magazine.

Anyway, that's enough to be getting on with, I think.  I'm off to practice my Welsh and then get some work done.

Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

I don't normally post on Fridays, but today is special.  Today is my sister's birthday.

To my wonderful sister,

Thirty-four years ago.  Was it thirty-four?  Really?  I loose track of everyone's age...   In any case, thirty-four years ago, our mother had the foresight to give me an older sister.  Like all siblings, we don't always agree, but we still giggle with each other, still share with each other and still muck around.

We live half a world away from one another now, and I often miss you terribly.

Thanks for all the laughs and the hugs, the support and the advice.

I love you very much.

Happy Birthday!