Anybody Want A Peanut?

Some conversations just stick with you, and often, when the conversation is over and you’ve had a few days to digest it, you think of that thing you should have said.  In this case, it was one of those things that needed to be said, but was left better unsaid; unless of course your goal is to hurt feelings.

As with most people, writers seek out those inspiring quotes from those who have been successful in our field.  These quotes are often motivating, or enlightening, some of us turn them into words to live by.

                                   “The first draft of anything is ****” – Ernest Hemingway

I love that quote, because regardless of how great you feel about that brain purge, well, Hemingway said it best.  I’m pretty sure it was a direct quote, though I have failed in finding the source of the interview and where he put it into print.  Too lazy to pursue it any further, especially since this is a well known quote of his…

There is a problem with these quotes.  Many times, like a quoted bible verse, the quote is taken out of context and the meaning is twisted and reformed into something that agrees with a belief we already hold.  This harkens back to one of my other mantra’s “Research, research, research.”

During the conversation the other day, one of the individuals involved quoted Lewis Carroll.  Taken at face value, this quote bothered me.  It seemed incomplete, and, well, wrong.

             “Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop” – Lewis Carroll

This quote has the aura of being profound, so it must be good.  Right?  The person who used this quote is an aspiring writer, and they strongly believe in those words, because Lewis Carroll said them.  If an accomplished writer said those words, they have to be true.

                  “I could tell you my adventures – beginning from this morning, but it’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.” – Lewis Carroll

Taken at face value, this quote appears to be in conflict of the first quote.  But, according to the presentation, this quote is something Lewis Carroll said.  Again, if an accomplished writer said those words, they have to be true.

Let’s take a gander of other “quotes” from established authors.  Feel free to pass judgment, since that is what we have done with the two quotes from Lewis Carroll.

                        “You probably mean well, but handing these people food is the worst thing you could do for them.” – Brandon Sanderson

                          “There are lots of guys out there who write a better prose line than I do and who have a better understanding of what people are really like and what humanity is supposed to mean – hell, I know that.” – Stephen King

                           “I am a disappointed drudge, sir.  I care for no man on earth, and no man on earth cares for me.” – Charles Dickens

                           “Many that live deserve death.” – J.R.R. Tolkien

                           “If you’re in trouble, or hurt or need – go to the poor people.  They’re the only ones that’ll help – the only ones.” – John Steinbeck

Interesting quotes, to say the least.  If we take them at face value, as the aspiring writer has taken the Carroll quote, we come to some bothersome conclusions.  Sanderson is selfish, King is humble, Dickens had no friends, Tolkien and Steinbeck were cynics.

Every quote on this post has one thing in common:  They were pulled from works of fiction.  They didn’t come from an interview, nor were they quoted from books about writing, all of them came from works of fiction:  Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Elantris, Misery, A Tale of Two Cities, The Fellowship of the Ring, and The Grapes of Wrath.

I know.  The argument is that the writer’s thoughts are often brought out in their works.  So, the first Lewis Carroll quote is how he feels about writing.  Okay, I can accept that.  As long as you can accept that Brandon Sanderson believes feeding people who can’t feed themselves is the worst thing you can do for them.  I can accept your blind devotion to that single quote as long as you hold that same devotion for EVERY phrase in that book.

I write words that would never come out of my mouth.  My characters say things that make me cringe.  Now, I could be pompous enough to believe I am the only one, but the truth of the matter is; when a character says something in a book, it does not always reflect the author’s beliefs.  I find it difficult to believe someone would be naïve enough to think otherwise.  But, if you are using a quote from a work of fiction as your mantra on how to write a story, well, that’s a tad bit on the naïve side.

On the other hand, if you just like something a character said and you want to use it as your mantra, then by all means, use it.  Just credit the character.  Don’t put words in the author’s mouth.

“And I mean it.”

“Anybody want a peanut?”

If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say

I have been conspicuously absent from social media for a couple of weeks.  I just haven't had anything nice to say, and it has been bothering me.  Am I really that much of grump?  Well, maybe I am, but this morning I realized what has had me residing in Grumptown; social media.

I open up my Facebook feed and it is littered with angry people, hypocritical people, and whiny people.  Read a few posts from these folks and see if you can live on the sunny side of life!

I have read post after post of political propaganda from all three sides of the fence.  Each of them taking a quote out of context, throwing out a number that sounds outrageous, but isn't true, or just bad-mouthing the other side because they can.

I won't go into my political viewpoint, because it really doesn't matter.  I don't care what side of the fence you sit on, when you distribute lies, YOU are the idiot; not the president, not the guy running against the president, not the NRA, not the anti-gun.

If you want to tout the virtues of eating healthy, eating organic, eating right, don't follow that post with a status of your location being a pizza house, or a burger joint.  Unless you're protesting fatty foods, you just negated your earlier posts.

And really?  I don't care how unfair life has been to you when you get on your iPhone/Pad, or personal computer to type that message out, while your munching on food you don't need, living in a climate controlled environment, thinking about where you are going to go to in your car that costs more than someone in Mexico makes in a year.  There's an undernourished kid in Uganda that would like to speak with you.

With all that said, I unfollowed a lot of people this morning.  Life is already looking brighter!  I haven't had anything nice to say because the people I surrounded myself with in the social media world didn't either.  Problem fixed.

When the world gets in your face
I say
Have a Nice Day!

No Reviews For You!

Let’s get this straight, before I go off on my rant: I like Amazon. I buy several items from them, including most of my reading material. On top of that, they are the key e-tailer for my books. My writing is sold through several different vendors, but Amazon has the broadest audience which translates into the most sales.


However, I do have a problem with one of their policies and how they implement it.

I ask my readers to write reviews, not only for my works, but for others as well. In turn, I feel it is my responsibility to write reviews also. Why?

1. I ask my readers to do it, so I should too.

2. As a writer, I crave feedback, so I assume others are the same.

3. I want to do all I can to support fellow Indie Authors.

4. A good book deserves praise.

5. A bad book deserves a bad review.

6. There are too many paid for reviews out there and the real reader needs to offset the bots.

Of all the reviews I have contributed, two of them were bad reviews, but all of them were honest reviews. Doesn’t matter. I received an e-mail from Amazon today stating that two of my reviews (the bad ones) do not comply with their customer reviews guidelines.

“Specifically, sentiments by or on behalf of a person or company with a directly competing product are not allowed in Amazon.com Customer Reviews. This includes reviews by authors, artists, publishers, manufacturers, or third-party merchants selling the product.”

Understand, I am not arguing the validity of this guideline. I like it, to a point. There are pros and cons to it, but the Customer Review is broken, and not just with Amazon. More on this later.

The problem I have: They only removed the two bad reviews. If Amazon was honestly removing my reviews because of the stated guideline they would have removed ALL of my reviews.

“…sentiments by or on behalf of a person or company with a directly competing product…”

If I am in direct competition with the authors who received my bad reviews, I am also in competition with the rest of them that received more complementary reviews. (by the way, I seldom give 5 stars…er, gave)

My reviews were removed because the author of the book that received my latest review complained about the one star he deserved. It stood in stark contrast to the many 5 star reviews he paid for. Just FYI, the book had an average rating of 4.2 on Amazon, while on Goodreads and Shelfari, its average rating was 2.

As I mentioned earlier, the customer review process across the Web is broken. It is no secret that companies pay for good reviews. Authors are no different. There are companies that sell reviews to authors. To achieve a four or five star rating on Amazon is easy; you just need the money to do it. This is one of the reasons I do not give five star ratings for anything, not just books.

Amazon is trying many things to combat this issue, but it is a losing battle. The only way to combat this issue is for actual customers to post honest reviews of products, be it a book or cellular phone. Right now, I believe the best way to find honest reviews of books is to find them on Goodreads. For the most part, the reviews appear honest.

A Question of Money

A common misconception I have heard/read on several occasions is that epic storylines (longer than the traditional trilogy) are all about the money.  You know, I could be a bit naive about this, but I will have to strongly disagree.

23 years and 14 books long, Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series was wrapped up last week.  For those who have read the books, we know the length of the story was in large part due to Jordan's penchant for foreshadowing.  Chapters of non-consequential scenes littered the series, but those scenes were used to set up things that often didn't happen until two or three books later.

Millions of people enjoyed his writing style.  Millions of people, not two or three friends at work, but millions of people around the world.  I enjoyed his style, my wife doesn't care for it.  His writing style and the breadth of the story contributed to the length of the series.  Did I mention that millions of people liked it?

Money was not the bottom line.

Jordan had a story to tell, and if he was anything like myself, he wasn't going to cut it short just to meet some arbitrary number of acceptable books.  Sure, there were ways to crop the story; cut down on the characters (which he had aplenty), don't tell the readers about the sub-plots that contribute to the final page, knock it off with the foreshadowing, etc.  Jordan stuck to his guns and told the story HE wanted to tell and the story the READERS wanted to read.

My Drums of Rallinwar story is being told in the same manner.  I am telling you the story that I want to tell, and I hope the you want to read.  Granted, my story isn't fourteen volumes.  My story may only last three books, or it may go four books, but there is no number that I am tied to.  The story will end when it chooses to end.  Money has absolutely no bearing on the length of the tale.  I have other stories to tell.

While I'm rambling on, keep in mind that some author's tire of their stories and want to wrap them up.  Some have wrapped them up despite the cries for more from their readers.  Aren't they losing money by not continuing the story?

Just because your world revolves around the money that other people make, does not mean that their world revolves around your desires.

Here you go, shameless plug:  BUY MY BOOK!  Blood of Two: Book One in the Drums of Rallinwar series.  Available where you buy your ebooks and you can even find it in paperback on Amazon (do a search for C. Hollis Gunter).  Buy it, rate it, review it, and if nothing else, I hope you enjoy it.  However long the series is.

It's Over So Shut Up

There are certain topics that get banned from conversation during family get togethers for one reason or another:  religion, sports, politics etc.  Usually because the passion involved makes even the most likable person a true ass.

We all just suffured through another presidential election.  I think in many ways we suffered more than ever before.  In one sense, I am lucky.  I live in the state of Oklahoma.  In the grand scheme of things, Oklahoma doesn't matter.  We aren't one of those states that can decide an election, so no money isn't wasted on television commercials.  For that matter, if you are a democrat in Oklahoma, you may as well stay home on that one Tuesday every four years.

This time around it seems that social media was just littered with election garbage.  And it was just that; garbage.  The falsehoods propogated on Twitter, Facebook, etc. were astounding.  The sad part of it was that people presented these falsehoods as fact.  This of course makes them no better than the morally lacking candidates that ran for office.

Republican, Democrat, or whatever other not-a-chance party, it didn't matter.  The lies spread like an egg in a lopsided frying pan.  What really throws me off is that people that I thought were intelligent human beings shared, retweeted, reposted stories that were just outright lies, or misrepresentations of photographs.  So, either these intelligent people are liars, or they are dumber than I gave them credit for.  Either way, a lot of people, from all sides, lost a lot of my respect for them.

It all goes back to something I have said before on this blog:  Don't believe everything you see on TV, read in the paper, or find on the internet; research the facts.

If you share, retweet, repost a story without finding out whether or not it is true, then you have been made the fool.  Don the cute little hat with bells on it and do a little jig, because you are qualified for one thing, acting the fool.

And now that the election season has passed, I still get inundated with propoganda on the social media outlets.  It's over.  There is nobody that needs to be convinced that your side is the only side to be on for another four years.  And really, do you actually think that your lies will change someones mind?

It's over, so shut up.

My favorite line this election season, that says more about the speaker than it does about who they are speaking too:
"If you don't vote for Obama, then you are racist."

Shameless plug:
Blood of Two (Drums of Rallinwar:  Book One) is available in electronic format at your favorite e-book outlet, including Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, Diesel, and Smashwords.  Buy it, rate it, review it.

Idealism

1. belief in perfection: belief in and pursuit of perfection as an attainable goal


"youthful idealism"

2. living by high ideals: aspiring to or living in accordance with high standards or principles

3. belief that material things are imaginary: the philosophical belief that material things do not exist independently but only as constructions in the mind

In my mind, one of the catalysts to progress is Idealism, or "belief in perfection".  We see something that can be improved, or performed in a more productive manner and we pursue a goal of perfecting the process or thing.  I love it.  Idealism drives a lot of what I do at work and at home.  To some extent, Idealism has driven me to write fantasy that does not conform to the cliche's or formulae that have been prevelant in this genre.
 
Idealism rocks.
  
However...   It is one thing to be idealistic, and quite another to be condescending.
 
Idealistic does not necessarily mean "better".  In some cases your pursuit of perfection may lead you down a less productive road.  In many cases, your pursuit has been tried and been written off as counter-productive.
 
We see this in all walks of life.  Take my path of publishing, often referred to as Indie Publishing.  At some point in time, Indie Publishing (not to be confused with Vanity Publishing) was an idealistic pursuit.  Not a better pursuit, just idealistic.  In a broad sense, it was actually not a new idea, considering Vanity Publishing has been around for a long, long time.  In a narrower sense, Indie Publishing is idealistic.  E-Readers and the potential audience (by far greater than the old Vanity route) has created this idealism.  But it is not better than traditional publishing, just different.

At work, you may be flooded with a new method of reaching point 'x'.  Idealism at work.  Is it better than the traditional method?  

Maybe it's raising a child.  Idealistic methods of child rearing have been around forever.  As mentioned before, this is how we progress.  Are these methods better?  

The better mouse trap?  

Methods of lawn care?  

Washing a car?  

Idealism is great.  Just be careful how you present it.  Idealism can quickly become freak hippy voodoo, expecially if you choose to be condescending to those who don't share your methods of progress.   After all, who is smarter?  The one who believes their way is the best way, or the one looks at many methods and decides which one works best for them?  

Now, how about we tie that into a character or two in story.  A character who is idealistic, yet narrow-minded and condescending.  A character who is idealistic, yet constantly get distracted by bigger and better ideas.  A character who is idealistic, but is appreciative of those who choose to do things differently than them.   Characters abound.  We just witnessed a few examples of idealists pursuing several different government offices.  And there were more than one or two that were viewed as freak, voodoo hippies.

Shameless Plug: Blood of Two (Drums of Rallinwar Book One) by C. Hollis Gunter is available through most electronic book outlets including: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, ibooks, and Smashwords.  Buy it.  Rate it.  Review it.

Character Creation

In this ultr-political season my cynicism is at an explosive level, so I have opted not to subject you to my thoughts on liars and the morally reprehensible running for office...

I have been plugging away at book two in the Drums of Rallinwar series.  The process is slow going, not because of the story, but because of the characters that must be created.  You see, I have an issue with just slapping a name and description into the text and moving on; every character in my books has a story.

Leandros Coth plays a larger role in Book Two and when it came to writing his first scene I had two new characters to introduce.  The first character is his right hand man, Enicks.  The second is his lover/girlfriend/housekeeper.  Before I could introduce these characters I had to write up a sketch for each of them.  All of my character sketches are of the same format and provide specific information for them.  As you have most likely guessed, the information includes: name, height, age, build (or weight), but there is other important information that helps me flesh out these characters.

I include their family, not always names, but what family members they have; mother, father, wife, children, etc.  This helps in how they interact with other characters.  Think about it.  If you have children, you look at friends that don't just a little differently.  If you are unmarried, your married friends treat you a little differently.  What family you have, and who they are (or were), has an impact on your personality.  Like it or not.

I include a brief history of the character, which often leads to a short story to write when time permits.  This also provides a little insight to the character's personality.  In the case of Tandy Aramel (a new character in book two), her family was murdered by soldiers.  It is only natural that she mistrusts military.

The last item on a character dossier, and possibly the most important, is there desires.  What does this character want?  What a character wants often drives their decisions.  In the case of Enicks, he wants nothing more than to please his boss, Leandros.  Why?  Because Leandros is a rich business man with no known heirs.  In Enicks mind, if he serves Leandros to perfection he just might get a cut of his wealth with the man kicks over.

As I mentioned before, a lot of times these sketches lead to a story outside of the book.  I have written several shorts that involved many of my characters.  It's a nice distraction, and it also helps me to understand who these characters are.

Of course, it is my hope that this creation process makes the characters real for you, the reader.

Shameless plug:
If you haven't picked it up yet, Blood of Two by C. Hollis Gunter is available in electronic format at most e-book retailers.  A paperback copy can also be found at Amazon.
The ebook is cheap, only $2.99.  Pick it up, read it, and let me know what you think.

Gatekeepers vs. Curators

So many things are on my mind while I eagerly await the final round of copy edits.  I've been working on formatting the book for e-readers.  Waiting for a camper to get in stock.  Looking ahead to a short vacation.  And reading a plethora of articles about the rise of indie authors, which I will soon be one.

As expected, when you read blogs, forums, news articles, press releases, etc., you see two sides of a story and the truth lies somewhere in between.  Reading from the viewpoint of the e-revolution, which includes indie authors and electronic book sellers, you get a celebratory feel.  Life is good.  Publish your book and hit the lottery.

There are a lot of success stories in the Indie world and it is the selling point for that side.  Though the reality isn't quite that rosey.

The viewpoint of traditional publishing is, as expected, all doom and gloom about independent publishing.  According to them, the average author sells 50 copies.  Since they can't seem to provide the reader with the source of that information, I tend to think they pull that number out of their head.

Like I said, somewhere in between these viewpoints lies the truth.  But the argument that intrigues me most is the one that the traditionalists use the most:  There are no gatekeepers in the Indie world, therefore the market is flooded with crap.

I can give them that point, but that is just one side of the argument.

In traditional publishing the path to paper is over-populated with these gatekeepers.  An author pens his story and his query and submits it to the first gatekeepers, the agents.  Stories of great author's that almost didn't get published because an agent wouldn't pick them up are all over the place.

Another gatekeeper is the publisher.  Stephen King was turned away by how many publishers?

I guess my point is that these traditional gatekeepers buy into a book based on what they think will sell, and they are often wrong.  Just as they will publish books that don't sell, they don't publish books that will sell.

As an indie author, I am circumventing the gatekeepers.  There is a way into the building that isn't guarded (yet), and folks like me are taking advantage of it.  We are going straight to the readers; the ones who care more about what they buy as opposed to what will sell.

The reader is the curator.  If readers don't like my books, they won't sell.  If my books are good, they will sell.  In one way, it's not that simple, but in another it really is that simple.

This method of publishing is a win for both parties involved.  The reader gets a book for a reasonable price and the author gets his stories off his desk and into the world.

Traditionalists don't like it, because it threatens their world, and in some cases their livelihood.  So when they paint the cover, it is dark and scary.

Indie's love it because it is cheap and easy.  So their painting is all butterflies and rainbows.

When the broth boils away, we are left with gatekeepers and curators and the reader's may end up deciding which is better.

Coming Soon

People keep asking me if I am excited.  The simple answer is:  No.  I am anxious.

Just how will this book do?  I don't expect to sell more than a few copies, but those few who purchase it; how will it be perceived by them?  Friends, family, I mean no offense, but you are supposed to tell me you like it, even if you don't.  So, if you tell me it is good, by default I won't believe you.  Now, if you tell me you didn't like it, then I just might believe you.  However, if a complete stranger likes my book, then maybe I have hit on something.

Kind of weird when you think about it.  This is one of those few cases where someone would trust a stranger over family or a friend.

No, I am not excited about the impending release.  I am nervous as I could possibly be (translated to southernese:  Nervous as all get out).  I have spent a considerable amount of time (just ask my neglected wife) on this book, and it is an awful thought that it could just plain suck.  Nervous, nervous as can be.

Anyway, the book will be released in electronic and print format sometime between now and August 31.  I do hope that you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Is It Greed?

I'm torn, and I know that part of my thinking is due to the fact that I really don't much care for this particular author as a person.  We have never met, but through his interviews and such there is this pompous air about him.  Who knows, if we met I would probably like the guy.

A very successful author (and I do mean very) recently released a book through self-publishing means.  This is a good thing for him, because now he will make the money that he has earned through his success by cutting out the major publishers take.  This also highlights the relevance of the young e-reader in the book world.  Overall this is a good thing for him, for myself and the countless other independents out there, and for the customer.

Through traditional channels, this book would have been north of $15 for an electronic copy.  By bypassing the publisher, this book is available for $8.99.  And this is where I am torn.

While the price point for most Indie's is between $.99 and $5.00, this $9 price seems a bit extreme.  Publishing an electronic book can cost nothing.  Granted, this author probably spent some decent coin on marketing and editing, because he can, in the grand scheme of things that cost is likely negligible.

This book will probably sell close to a million copies because of his track record.  With Amazon, the author pulls in up to 70% of sale.  This author stands to make close to 6 million on this one release.  Divide that in half and it is still a significant amount.  So, is he charging too much?  It is less than what the publisher would charge, so the customer is still getting a decent deal.

Maybe it is the perfect price.  The customer gets a decent deal and the author hits the lottery.

Maybe I'm just jealous?

I don't know that I could charge more than $5 for a book, I think especially if I sold millions.  For myself, $5 is a fair price to ask.  Anything more just seems greedy.  I could be wrong, maybe he has spent millions in promoting this new book.  I just don't know.  I tend to like the path of providing the customer with a quality product at a fair price that benefits both myself and the reader.  Nine bucks just doesn't do it for me.

Day Dreamer

I suppose it is true of most writers, but I dream of what could be.  I can't help it.  I know the reality of things.  I will likely work until a week after my death, at which time I will still be in debt up to my eyeballs, and my books will have sold 16 copies each.  A tad bit pessimistic, I know, but I do still live in the real world.

Despite all of that, I can't help but daydream about how well my first book will do.  Will it be a bestseller?  Nah, but in my dreams it sure as heck is.

So, for the six of you who actually read this blog:
This round of edits is complete up through chapter 17(of 33), which puts me beyond the halfway mark.  The feedback from my crew of editors has been priceless, and quite honestly, I can't wait to get going on the next round of edits.  There has been some valuable information shared with me, as well as some praise on a few elements of the book that I wanted to come across just right.

I am still very excited with this endeavor.  And last night I amplified that excitement ten-fold.  I decided it was time to practice formatting the book for e-readers.  I spent about an hour with the manuscript and the conversion software and loaded the book onto my wife's Kindle.

Pardon me a moment while I slip into textese.

OMFG!!

I can't explain the feeling I had when I saw my book title and C. Hollis Gunter as the author on the Kindle front screen.  I still get all silly feeling when I think about it.  As a matter of fact, my day dreaming just kicked it up a few notches.  I will probably pass out when I see it listed on the Amazon website this fall.

Until then, I will keep on day dreaming.

You Discovered What?

So, if you glance down the right hand side of the page you will see that I am reading a book about the Inca's.  I enjoy reading histories about different cultures, how they lived, and how their lives may have differed from other cultures.  But, what struck thought with this book was the ethnocentric view of how the Europeans "Discovered" areas of the world that other cultures already lived.

In 900 A.D there were cities in South America with greater populations than London.  Kingdoms existed with much the same social stratification that could be found in Europe.  So tell me Mr. Balboa; how is it again that you "discovered" an ocean that South American boats were already sailing on?  And I'm thinking that there were some natives that could have disputed some of Columbus's "discoveries".

Can you imagine a Viking and a Spaniard standing on a beach arguing who found this land first, all the while a group of people who have lived there for years watch on?

I know, you are thinking that I am picking apart semantics.  Nobody really "discovered" these geographical areas, they were just the first Europeans to see them.  But not really.

The Europeans (much like today's Americans), felt they were far more superior than other cultures that may have existed, and from their conquests you'd find it hard to argue that from a military point of view.  With that in mind, nobody of any importance had ever been to the America's, nor had they sailed the Pacific.  Therefore, in their minds they truly believed that they had "discovered" a massive, populated, continent that was being cultivated and mined as they sailed across the Atlantic in search of slaves, gold, silver, and exotic goods.

And now, Biru is called Peru because the "superior culture" couldn't pronounce it right.  The Cherokee, Mohicans, Seminole, and many other tribes are called Indians, because the "superior" culture thought they were somewhere else.

Semantics, I know.  But, it is still ethnocentric.

And away we go

I suppose for a while I will use this as a personal journal, since I have no idea how people will find this is here, or even if they will want to know that it is here.

My name? C. Hollis Gunter

I am working through the first rewrite of my novel, and researching some culture specifics for my second novel. I write fantasy; you know, elves, orcs, dragons, and dwarves. As with most writers, my writings are infused with my own beliefs, though, unlike some writers; I don't feel the need to cram my belief's down the reader's throats.

I intend on sharing some of those cynical beliefs in this blog, as well as my progress on my novels. You will find that I am not politically correct, and I have no desire to be.