Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Insecure Writers Support Group 6 March 2024

 


Have you "played" with AI to write those nasty synopses, or do you refuse to go that route? How do you feel about AI's impact on creative writing?

I actually don't like conflict very much or at all. I've already been involved in a few contentious discussions about this topic during the past month and I don't want to play anymore. While searching for new places to potentially publish my work, I encountered several publishers stating that anyone submitting work suspected of being written by AI would be blacklisted.

I'm not a great fan of blacklisting or cancel culture or McCarthyism in any of its forms, so I did an experiment where I ran a blurb I wrote through an AI checker. It was flagged as potentially being written in cahoots with two AI programs, neither of which I had even heard of. I then had the QuickWrite program write a blurb using the same information. The version written by QuickWrite (an AI program) was only flagged as potentially using one AI program, ZeroGPT. Hence, QuickWrite is apparently more human than me. 

My point was I don't like it when people are accused of things they didn't do. I think there will be a lot more erroneous accusations caused by flawed AI-checking programs than there will be actual cheaters caught. Some people took exception to this, saying some people will do whatever it takes to gain recognition. However, there have always been those kinds of people.

I don't have any problem with people using a program like QuickWrite to compose such odious items as blurbs and synopses. I do have problems with people having Chat GPT write an entire book and claim it as their own. However, as I understand it, the joke's on them because they can't copyright material composed by an AI program. 

I primarily use QuickWrite to create writing prompts for me, which short-circuits the amount of time my glitchy ADHD brain has to think of increasingly wackier ideas when coming up with story ideas. While writing the story, I will sometimes have QuickWrite create a filler scene that I later go back and rewrite myself because said ADHD brain really doesn't like it when I don't compose everything in chronological order. 

AI is a tool, no more and no less. Tools can be used for good or ill. 

That's what I think about the subject. Others are welcome to think what they wish. I have neither the time nor the desire to police everyone's thoughts.

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Free use image from Pixabay






Wednesday, February 7, 2024

Insecure Writers Support Group 7 February 2024

 

I think I'll just leave this rubbish here.

February 7 question: What turns you off when visiting an author's website/blog? Lack of information? A drone of negativity? Little mention of author's books? Constant mention of books?

I don’t blog very much anymore, but back when I was more prolific, I was one of those bloggers who got a lot of flak for writing too much about too many different things and also having too many blogs. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I had undiagnosed ADHD. As has happened to me all my life, people took a dump on me for the fact that my brain works differently.

I also took a lot of crap for writing about my psychological struggles. At the time, I had been misdiagnosed with type 2 bipolar disorder. The diagnosis seemed to fit because there was a pattern of ups and downs. I didn’t realize until I was in my fifties that I had complex PTSD and was dealing with a fuck-ton of untreated trauma. I won’t go in depth here, but I think “borderline personality disorder” is a sexist, bullshit diagnosis. It is the modern-day hysterical neurotic. (I’m old enough that I’ve had both of these labels applied to me.)

Every single person with a “borderline personality disorder” label slapped on them has a history of trauma. The label is overwhelmingly applied to women and girls. If you are looking at someone with a “borderline personality disorder” diagnosis, you are looking at someone with unresolved trauma issues. Treat the trauma and you will see an improvement in the so-called “borderline personality disorder.”

When it comes to blogging, I used to be a much more open book. I saw how well that worked, so I closed the book. I learned a hard lesson that I’m never going to find “my tribe.” I’m a lone wolf, a unique entity, an acquired taste that most people don’t acquire. I’m not looking for validation anymore.

As for the drone of constant negativity, I’d much rather read someone’s real and honest discussion of their mental health issues than happen upon “Little Miss Sweet Tea and Sunshine” (yes, this is really what she called her blog and/or herself) who was, under her syrupy veneer, one of the most toxic people I’ve ever encountered.

“I simply don’t underSTAND those people who can’t see the BEAUTY in life,” she opined. “How can you go through life wallowing in self-pity? I just don’t GET it!”

People like this don’t want to get it. They don’t know or care what anyone else may have been through or are going through. They are best left well alone. As turn-offs go, Little Miss Sweet Tea and Sunshine’s blog is probably the one that turned me off the most.

If I go to a book blog, I expect to see posts about books. The idea that someone could think there were too many posts about books on a blog about books is a real head-scratcher.

If there aren’t enough posts about books on a blog? Well, it’s that person’s blog. They can post about whatever they want.


This is Judgy Troll.
He is full of unsolicited and unhelpful "advice."
Really he just likes putting other people down to make himself feel tough.
Don't be a Judgy Troll.

Sometimes people expect others to be professional content creators and judge personal blogs by unreasonable standards. For these people, I would advise that the blog’s creator didn’t make the blog for you. Don’t be a sanctimonious ass.

The message I get from the various blog rules and regulations is a muddled one. Do this. But not too much of this. Don’t do that. But do some of that. Your blog should have a personal touch. But not too personal a touch. Readers want to see pictures of your pets, but they really don’t give a flying flock about pictures of your pets. Readers want to know more about you as a person—no, not THAT much!

I say write what you like how you like.

Perhaps I have “oppositional defiant disorder.” That’s a new one I just learned about. It translates to being an ornery cuss. I’m ornery because I got sick and tired of people telling me what I could and couldn’t do, and what I did was never good enough for them. I finally said to hell with it and decided to do things my way.

On a personal note, constantly being harshly judged and told everything I did or enjoyed was wrong led me to becoming the kind of person who is only capable of forming superficial relationships. Any person you engage with online may be in a fragile place. It's better to do a little walking on eggshells than to behave like the proverbial bull in a China closet.

Ornery Owl Has Spoken


Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors

Ornery Owl is done with everyone's shyyyyt.




Wednesday, January 3, 2024

Insecure Writers Support Group 3 January 2024

 


January 3 question: Do you follow back your readers on BookBub or do you only follow back other authors?

Honestly, I'm not very active on BookBub or Goodreads. The only people I follow on BookBub are other authors. The only reason I keep the Naughty Netherworld Press Goodreads account active is because I have the blog feature set to mirror my blog posts on the official Naughty Netherworld Press blog. 

http://www.naughtynetherworldpress.com

Facebook rejects links from my blogs as "abusive," and I can certainly see why. There is nothing more abusive than promoting one's writing without putting money in Zuckerberg's pocket. However, Facebook and GoodReads (powered by Amazon) have an understanding, so I post links to the GoodReads blog rather than my own. 

You can promote your books on Readers Roost free of charge. Readers Roost is a multi-genre blog, so pretty much anything goes. If you have an upcoming book tour you'd like to let me know about or if you'd like me to put together a guest post for you, email me at chartley65 at gmail with BOOK PROMO (all caps helps) in the subject line. If I'm putting together a guest post I will need a media kit with all information you'd like me to include and graphics attached separately. I can promo books in languages other than English but the post will be in English so the information provided in the media kit must be as well.

https://bit.ly/ReadersRoost

I also recommend joining the Marketing for Romance Writers group. You don't have to be a romance writer. You can find other authors willing to help with promotion in this group. 

https://marketingforromancewriters.groups.io/g/main

Wishing you all a productive year, whether you're active on BookBub and GoodReads or not!

Image by pencil parker from Pixabay


Wednesday, December 13, 2023

The Xenomorphs Understand #WEP


Free use image by Wolfgang Eckert on Pixabay

Tagline: Thoughts from an Outsider on Aliens and Acceptance

Critique Guidelines:

Full CONSTRUCTIVE criticism regarding the mechanics of the piece is acceptable. Tearing down the subject matter is not. Further, I don't give a rat's ass if any of you find my use of salty language "low class." I've had a hard life. I quit using both alcohol and drugs 25 years ago and stopped smoking cigarettes in 2006. I'll damn well cuss if I feel like it. If you have a problem with that, don't read the essay. It's simple.

Without further ado-doo, here's the contentious piece in all its glory.

The Xenomorphs Understand

Per the Wikipedia entry on Lovecraftian horror, H. R. Giger's book of paintings, which inspired many of the designs in the film Alien, was named Necronomicon after a fictional book appearing in several of Lovecraft's stories. Dan O'Bannon, the original writer of the Alien screenplay, has also mentioned Lovecraft as a major influence on the film.

It’s no wonder a fourteen-year-old me, who had not long ago started reading Lovecraft’s works, was so taken with Alien. I was already a seasoned horror buff. I’m not being hyperbolic when I say that I started reading Edgar Allan Poe’s works at six years old. I loved reading horror comics under the covers with a flashlight, even though this activity contributed to my fear of venturing down the dark hallway to the bathroom during the night. The giant cockroaches that invaded our poorly-constructed New Mexico home and the whatthefuckery of a massive furnace vent right in the middle of the damn hallway floor making it so you had to scoot along the wall or risk burning your feet on the hot metal grate didn’t help.

I didn’t consciously entertain the idea of the Xenomorphs being misunderstood until decades after my first viewing of Alien. In 2012, I was sick of my life and sick of myself. I was hung up on a guy who was never going to see me as anything but a booty call. I was grieving the loss of my father. I was out of hope, but my son still needed my help, so I had to find something to distract myself from punching my own ticket, which was the action I really wanted to take.

My therapy came in the form of crazy fan fiction crossovers featuring evolved Xenomorphs.

Nobody but me will ever read these stories. When I reread them, it’s obvious how much I needed someone to understand what I was going through and how lost I felt.

The Xenomorphs—my fellow Outsiders—saved me.

Much of my writing centers around the idea of acceptance. I hoped one day I’d find an audience of outsiders like myself who would enjoy my strange worlds. This has never come to pass, which may be no surprise to those on the outside looking in. Normal people don’t get me, and I don’t get them.

Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. I’ve tried to convince people that I’m a writer, but at heart, I’m a wannabe musician. Since You did not see fit to bless me with musical talent, I turn my thoughts into stories rather than songs.

Now you know my secret.

I read a lot of biographies and memoirs, partly because I write fiction nearly every day so I want to read something else, and partly because I’m still trying to find people who are like me in some way. I’m currently reading Edward Van Halen: A Definitive Biography by Kevin Dodds.

https://amzn.to/4alW5pu

Eddie Van Halen had something to say about being true to your vision, and I’m going to let him say it uncensored.

“I’d rather fail with my own shit than succeed with someone else’s.”

Jimi Hendrix felt the same way. I try to keep this attitude in mind, but it’s difficult in a world that doesn’t want stories chock-a-block with troubled characters. As John River said,

“In this world, no one can be different or strange or damaged, or they lock you up.”

They also lock you out. It’s hard to make an impact as a writer anyway, and weird fiction is far from a popular niche. I would prefer to spend my time writing Lovecraftian fix-up novels and kooky fan fiction crossovers, which have some pretty dark roots if you bother to look beneath the surface. Most people don’t. However, I can’t generate social currency with these works, so I spend most of my time writing romance both steamy and sweet.

More than once, my stories have been branded technically proficient but lacking emotion. However, when I let myself bleed all over the page, I receive no response. Reading the truth about someone who was the target of bullying and the victim of sexual assault isn’t fun. However, when I write for fun, the result is deemed “too weird.” I try to give the people what they want, but then I die inside.

It’s not that I think the romance stories I write are bad. I like my comparatively well-behaved literary children. However, it saddens me when I neglect my melancholy, misunderstood, alienated brood with their tragically poetic souls in favor of promoting the more acceptable lot.

Weird fiction has saved me many times.

That’s why I’ll always love my New Weird Tales even though nobody else gets either me or them. 

The Xenomorphs understand.

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovecraftian_horror

789 words

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Image by Jim Cooper from Pixabay
"Thanks for being my pal, Space Jockey."





Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Insecure Writers Support Group 6 December 2023

 

Image by mcmurryjulie from Pixabay

December 6 question: Book reviews are for the readers. When you leave a book reviews do you review for the Reader or the Author? Is it about what you liked and enjoyed about your reading experience, or do you critique the author?

I...um...wut?

I'm not sure I understand the question correctly, but I'll take a crack at it.

When I review the book, I'm reviewing the story, including what I liked and/or disliked about it. I probably know little to nothing about the author, so it really isn't my place to critique them as a person. 

Sadly, my experiences with Online Book Club burned me out on doing book reviews and I rarely have time, anyway. I'm almost always amenable to doing promotional posts. You can learn more about that at the following link if it sounds like something you'd be interested in.

https://ornerybookemporium.blogspot.com/p/ornery-literary-services.html

Here's a link to a four-star audiobook review I wrote in October. I cite several reasons for enjoying the story and explain my reason for giving it four rather than five stars.

https://ornerybookemporium.blogspot.com/2023/10/for-long-run-audiobook-review.html


Wednesday, November 1, 2023

Insecure Writers Support Group November 2023: NaNo or NoNo?

 


November 1 question: November is National Novel Writing Month. Have you ever participated? If not, why not?

I believe the first year I participated was 2008. I almost stopped doing it because, not too fine a point on it, every novel I attempted to write during this time was BAD! Bad as in whatever was in the Death Star trash compactor would, comparatively, be treasure beyond measure. Bad as in a gold-painted bit of horse manure would, comparatively, be a priceless artifact. Let's face it, those early efforts sucked, and no amount of editing would make them readable.

I was ready to stop doing NaNoWriMo, having dubbed it NaNoHellMo. I still call it that, but it's a bit of affectionate ribbing rather than outright loathing. You see, I discovered the joy of being a NaNo Rebel. 


I created the banner with a free-use image from Unsplash and design software from Pixlr. Pixlr has an interface similar to Photoshop but it's much more user-friendly. 

I'm sure most of you know what a NaNoWriMo Rebel is, but for those who don't, you can read about it here.


There's a lot of wanking about whether Rebels or Traditionals are better, to which I say, do what works for you. I really couldn't give a flying toss.

For this year's Rebellion, I will be working on two short novellas and filling in the rest of my hideous, sanity-destroying word count document with poetry and any other thoughts my bleary brain may toss out. It might be wise to complete my submissions for The Fear Doctor, next year's drabble anthology from Dragon Soul Press so I won't be having to write drabbles while trying to get next year's Passionate Ink project wrangled into submission.

Heh! See what I did there? 

Passionate Ink is an online special interest 501(c)(6) non-profit organization for erotic fiction authors. Like Lil DeVille, who puts the Naughty in Naughty Netherworld Press and often writes about submission--the fun kind.



Join me. You know you want to. But if you aren't convinced, you can check out this year's drabble anthology, The Damned. It contains five pieces written by C. L. Hart (the Netherworld side of Naughty Netherworld Press) plus chilling tidbits from other authors.


Get it here!

That's all for this time. I got kicked off the roster because I completely forgot about doing the monthly IWSG post while trying to write a story that would fit into the forthcoming winter anthology from First Coast Romance Writers. It only took me three tries to get it right. Sheesh.



You can pre-order the anthology for just $3.99. Proceeds benefit First Coast Romance Writers, an independent non-profit organization helping writers hone their craft and expand their knowledge of the publishing industry.

That's about all the damage I can do this time. If you're NaNoing, good luck! If you aren't NaNoing, good luck to you as well.

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~


Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors


I designed this banner using Pixlr. 
You're welcome to use it if you like it.









Thursday, October 19, 2023

The Star Child and the Phantom of the Opera #WEP

 


Genre:
Nonfiction

Critique Preferences:
Whatever. Just don't be a dick.

Tagline:
The Other remains reviled.

The Essay:

Over the course of more than a century, many actors have played Erik, the title character of Gaston Leroux's 1910 Gothic mystery/romance The Phantom of the Opera. Born with a disfigured face, Erik was abandoned by his father and his mother expressed overt disgust at his deformity. He wears a mask to hide his face.

A feeling of being an outsider may not be necessary for an actor to portray Erik authentically, but it can certainly help. Lon Chaney, the first actor to interpret Erik on film, was the son of deaf parents. He learned sign language at a young age. Chaney exhibited a self-reliant and perfectionist attitude, which sometimes strained his relationships.

Chaney drew from sympathy for The Other to lend authenticity to his portrayals of deformed or monstrous characters. As he wrote in a 1925 article for Movie magazine:

"I wanted to remind people that the lowest types of humanity may have within them the capacity for supreme self-sacrifice. The dwarfed, misshapen beggar of the streets may have the noblest ideals. Most of my roles since The Hunchback, such as The Phantom of the Opera, He Who Gets Slapped, The Unholy Three, etc., have carried the theme of self-sacrifice or renunciation. These are the stories which I wish to do."

Ray Bradbury once said of Chaney, "He was someone who acted out our psyches. He somehow got into the shadows inside our bodies; he was able to nail down some of our secret fears and put them on-screen. The history of Lon Chaney is the history of unrequited loves. He brings that part of you out into the open, because you fear that you are not loved, you fear that you never will be loved, you fear there is some part of you that's grotesque, that the world will turn away from."

Unlike Erik, Lon Chaney was a triumphant figure whose abilities as an actor and makeup artist are still lauded more than eighty years after his passing.

Nearly seventy-five years after Lon Chaney brought the Phantom of the Opera to life, a man better known as a musician than a thespian brought a powerful authenticity to the role, drawing inspiration from his own experiences. The name Paul Stanley has become synonymous with the Star Child character he created for his band, Kiss. Star Child allowed Paul a way to become someone besides Stanley Bert Eisen, a deeply wounded and angry young man who looked normal on the surface but saw himself as distorted and possibly unlovable.

Until I read Paul’s autobiography, I had no idea how sensitive and thoughtful he is. I knew he had been born with microtia, a condition affecting both the appearance and function of the ear. Paul’s right ear was deformed, lacking an ear canal and eardrum. His peers targeted him for ridicule, calling him Stanley the One-Eared Monster. Between holding his own against bullies and dealing with a volatile home environment, Paul became a defensive personality always ready for a fight.

Although Paul’s parents never expressed any strong revulsion regarding his disability, they weren’t particularly supportive either. Paul describes the house he grew up in as filled with constant tension and frequent arguments. His older sister had serious mental health challenges and at times acted out violently. His parents weren’t affectionate with each other or their children. Paul believes his thirst for acceptance led him to develop addictive sexual behaviors.

Unlike the tragic and ultimately doomed Erik, Paul Stanley is a triumphant figure. He found success at a young age despite his insecurities. He managed to avoid succumbing to substance addiction in an industry that offers constant temptation. He has a healthy relationship with his children. He has been been happily married to his second wife, Erin, since 2005. He credits mental health counseling with helping him work through his anger, self-doubt, and tendency to overextend himself to the point where he starts having panic attacks.

Since Gaston Leroux wrote The Phantom of the Opera, attitudes toward those who do not conform to exacting standards of beauty have not significantly changed. People still place a greater emphasis on a person's external appearance than on their character. While technological advancements have been impressive in recent decades, ridiculing those who fail to meet rigid ideals of attractiveness remains not only acceptable but encouraged. We need to do better, starting now.

730 words

Acknowledgements

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Chaney

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microtia

Blake, Michael F. A Thousand Faces: Lon Chaney's Unique Artistry in Motion Pictures. Vestal, New York: Vestal Press, 1997. ISBN 978-1-8795-1121-7.

https://amzn.to/45GHKAB

Stanley, Paul (2014). Face the Music: A Life Exposed. HarperCollins. p. 13. ISBN 9780062114068.

https://amzn.to/3S1E4Gf

Gaston Leroux’s Phantom of the Opera is in the public domain. Free digital copies of the story are available here.

https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/gaston-leroux/the-phantom-of-the-opera/alexander-teixeira-de-mattos




Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors

Ornery Owl Sez:
You know how some people like to abbreviate the names of their favorite movies or TV programs? Like GOT for Game of Thrones or SNG for Star Trek: The Next Generation? You don't want to abbreviate Phantom Of the Opera. Trust me on this.