[Note: In spite of my lists of what-ifs and other data I use to create stories for you, sometimes I just wake up in the middle of the night with a story idea.  Who knows?  I might eventually turn this one into a novella or novel, although it’s really short in its present form.  Enjoy!]

Cleo’s ASP

Steven M. Moore

Copyright 2014

Dargon signed off from the remote feed to the planet’s huge satellite and faced his assistant.

“There’s evidence they made it to that huge moon, but, for some reason, after that they just hunkered down until all hell broke loose.”  He stretched.  “The fossil record isn’t of long duration.  You’d think they went through an atomic holocaust because it happened so quickly.”

“Maybe not so quickly,” said J’Rin.  “There are strata, as you know.”

“Not many.  Doesn’t change the fact that they failed to explore the solar system and beyond.”  A figure appeared silhouetted in the opening to his tent.  “Yes, Tilsook?”

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I’m not reminiscing about Joe Cocker and his hard rock music.  If you remember those times, you know that music was several dBs above the pain threshold.  So is this post because I’m referring to ISIS and their spokesman who beheaded the American reporter.  (Always a spokesman and never spokeswoman—women are just property in the radical Muslim world, especially for members of ISIS, who simply see them as breeders that give birth and suckle little terrorists who grow up to join the cause.)  They’re the mad dogs (aka rabid dogs without any human qualities at all) and the knife-wielder spoke with a British accent.  Let me analyze these two points.

Ironic, isn’t it, that James Foley had been reporting on the atrocities of the Assad regime in its murderous campaign against Syrian rebels?  We can ask: are there any legitimate rebels left in Syria?  Maybe.  Another journalist was just released by an al Qaeda affiliate (poor al Qaeda: they’re #2 on the brutality list now).  No one seems radical enough for ISIS.  Was Assad prescient, knowing this was coming?  ISIS clearly wants to create a tyrannical, fundamentalist theocracy, the murderous violence of its leaders making Iran’s Ayatollahs look like Mother Teresas.  The only solution that works against these mad dogs is their own medicine—beheadings are medieval, though, so bullets to the head will do.  That’s the only thing that will work.  You put a rabid mad dog down…permanently.

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(Deborah-Riley Magnus, Finding Author Success, Path Maker Books, Second Edition, 2013, B00CHW2GLA)

For the newbie author, this ebook will be a helpful compendium of what can be done before, during, and after their book is launched—possibly necessary conditions for writing success (there are no sufficient ones—know the difference).  Either because they’re dated or time- or dollar-intensive, some suggestions are more practical than others, but there’s a lot of sage advice here.  Indie authors and traditionally published can adopt some of this advice to go beyond writing the book, so necessary in today’s book marketplace.

For authors with a few books, this guide is also useful in that it provides a sanity check on their PR and marketing efforts.  I, for one, couldn’t help coming up with some new ideas as I read.  I found particularly interesting Deborah’s “Battle Ready Check List.”  Tactics are discussed throughout the book, though, so a careful read is in order.  And Deborah is very good about reviewing the points she has made.

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[Note from Steve: be sure you see the offer at the end of this post!]

My character, NYPD Homicide Detective Rolando Castilblanco, is a complex guy.  His partner, Dao-Ming Chen, is the yin to his yang (or, vice versa—I never can keep them straight).  His wife, Pam Stuart, is a crime reporter for a local TV station.  He’s hooked on ethnic foods and strong coffee but uses Tums to counter his acid reflux (so you can’t answer Telly Savalas to the question in the title, because Kojak was addicted to lollipops).

The big cop’s acerbic quips, sprinkled through the books in “The Dectectives Chen and Castilblanco Series,” seem to contradict his gentle nature.  (OK, sometimes he has to be violent while on duty when his life’s at stake—he’s an ex-SEAL, so he knows a bit about combat, even though he’s a bit soft now.)  He’s romped through four novels (soon to be five with The Collector), covering the mystery, suspense, and thriller genres, and he’s appeared in a number of short stories (see Pop Two Antacids and Have Some Java and Donna and Alex Carrick’s soon-to-be-published new anthology World Enough and Crime).

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As a progressive, I’m reluctant to attack that so-called bastion of liberal Northeast thought, but the NY Times is starting to piss me off.  So, launch the torpedoes!  Every newspaper in the world has an editorial slant that permeates their news reporting, especially ones in totalitarian states or theocracies where the press is part of the government.  Even not printing certain news items is an editorial slant, so the NY Times, in violation of its famous motto, is doubly culpable.  It biases the news it deems “fit to print” and considers some news involving opposing viewpoints not “fit to print” because these newsworthy items will negatively affect its livelihood.

I’m referring to how the Times is reporting on the Hachette v. Amazon controversy.  Every article I’ve seen (last Monday’s  is but one example) is completely biased.  But I’m not going to call for a boycott of the Times or even cancel my subscription.  I simply feel sorry for the venerable dinosaurs of the publishing industry who feel so threatened by the digital revolution in publishing.  Their days are numbered, no matter what they do (although they seem to on a tear to hasten their demise).  The last article was about Amazon’s email to KDP Select authors and publishers (mostly indies who are completely ignored by the Times) where they used the paperback book as a model for how new technology can revitalize publishing.  That’s a valid point; the Times irrelevant rebuttal: Amazon quoted Orwell out of context.  Huh?  Do I care?

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Lucy.  A far-out concept featured in a disjoint and confusing plot, but a kick-ass Johansson make this sci-fi thriller entertaining to watch.  The only character who’s really developed is Morgan Freeman’s, though.  He has an unfair advantage, of course—he develops any character he’s portraying by his mere presence on the screen.  Gotta love the guy.  Sci-fi addicts will want to see this one.  Others with broader tastes might want to wait for Interstellar.  Or, just read a good sci-fi trilogy (like mine).

Magic in the Moonlight.  Woody reads Pygmalion; Woody writes screenplay.  After The Railway Man, this is a come-down for Colin Firth.  Of course, his filmography is a wee bit up-and-down, albeit prolific.  After high points like The King’s Speech, The Railway Man, and Tinker, Tailor, and low points like Mamma Mia and Fourplay, this is about average, I guess.  However, it’s Woody at his most boring.  Great old cars, though, and I loved the aunt.  Filmed with an annoying light filter (made me want to clean my glasses) to add ambiance to the 1920s setting.  Not recommended, unless you’re a die-hard Colin or Woody fan.

Frozen. This isn’t a review.  It’s a request: turn that damn song off!  Just for the record (no pun intended), I have another vision of hell: sitting in a bar that only serves Shirley Temples, shaken not stirred, and continuously listening to that song playing on an old jukebox.  And, just for those parents who want to continue bludgeoning the creativity out of their kids, Disney is supporting a venture where some Big Five publisher will release two children’s books based on the movie.  Commercial ventures tied to kids’ movie cartoons are capitalistic exploitation at its finest.  Today’s parents—GenXers and Millenials—will do anything to pamper their kids. (more…)

The Amazon v. Hachette dispute has now turned author v. author.  I’m talking about trad-pubbed authors v. indie authors, of course.  Apparently Preston (of Preston and Child—their book Relic is on “Steve’s Bookshelf,” an honor few have, albeit it’s probably only an honor in my eyes) has formed a protest group of Hachette-related trad-pubbed authors dedicated to attacking Amazon.  Of course, this really is an attack on indie authors.

I saw it coming.  In this cutthroat publishing environment, I knew it was inevitable that the Goliaths would work to turn author against author.  Divide and conquer is a well-known tactic on the battlefield and in corporate life.  Preston et al are making a big mistake, though.  (1) They will turn all indie authors against the “establishment.” (2) They will fight the battle for Hachette and other Big Five members, but lose the war.  (3) They will hurt the people they claim they’re trying to protect, namely the readers.  Let’s consider these points.

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Item: Some stats from the “Author Earnings Report.”  I’m quoting these secondhand from Poynter’s Newsletter because they’re interesting.  The AER considers 7000 top selling digital titles (pseudonym for ebook, methinks) on Amazon’s bestseller lists.  As of 8/5/2014, the infamous Big Five captures only 16% of the ebook market while indie authors capture 31%–I guess the remaining 53% goes to small imprints not owned by the Big Five conglomerates.  Moreover, indie authors take home 40% of the Kindle store’s royalties.  It’s estimated that ebook sales will surpass pbook (hardbound, trade paperback, etc) sales in 2017 if present trends continue.  In my R&R casual reading binge just completed, I read five ebooks for the price of one Big Five ebook, and every one of them was a fun, relaxing, and entertaining read.  I read mostly ebooks now, except for reviewing, and refuse to pay the Big Five’s exorbitant prices for new ebooks or pbooks.  If you’re looking for new and interesting authors, your best bet is indie or books from small imprints.

Item: Other curiosities from the AER.  DRM seems to harm ebook sales at any price point.  Assuming that’s true, I wish someone would end my confusion.  If I release an ebook via Amazon or Smashwords, does it have DRM?  I hope not.  My most recent ebook, Aristocrats and Assassins, is listed as having simultaneous device usage and lending enabled.  I think I understand the latter, but does that and the former automatically preclude DRM?  I’m one who says I really don’t care if you trade my ebooks around or obtain illegal copies.  That’s on your conscience.  If you do it, I hope you enjoy the book and tell your friends and relatives about it.  I’ll chalk it up to PR and marketing in that case.

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[Note from Steve: I hope you enjoyed the series of classic posts on writing.  It gave me a welcome respite from my own writing and some much needed R&R via casual reading—I read four novels, finishing the last yesterday (speed reading and touch typing were my most useful courses taken in high school).  So, it seems reasonable to return to my op-ed posts with a highly controversial topic, the Palestinian situation.  I’ve tried to be very fair here because neither side owns the moral high ground.  Moreover, it’s a freakin’ tragedy that it’s happening.  Read on….]

We’ve seen it in Northern Ireland.  We’ve seen it in Yugoslavia.  We’re seeing it in Iraq.  And it seems like we’ve seen it forever in Palestine.  Some pundits say that old hatreds will die when the old timers who do the hating die off.  Maybe…sometimes.  Other times, it’s best to separate the opposing groups (Iraq shows there can be more than two).  That seemed to work in Yugoslavia after much loss of life and bitterness that still remains.  The U.S. government tends to act cautiously in such circumstances (in Rwanda, it never did), even though many times it’s culpable of participating in their creation.

What’s clear is the following: while the parties doing the hating might migrate to certain fanatical ideologies (the adjective isn’t even necessary, of course, because all ideologies are fanatical—some more; some less; and some reducing to brainwashing) and might attract supporters from non-participating groups as a result, ideology isn’t really the issue.  The heat of the hate is, in fact, in direct proportion to how long that hatred has been around.  While ideologies come and go (they are often debunked by rational people who recognize their severe limitations), ethnic and racial hatred hangs around.

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Last week I considered some of the incorrect advice often given to writers [Note from Steve: you’ll have to look for it—I don’t think I pulled it as one of the “classic posts.”].  Now I’d like to consider some editing myths.  Some of these have been created by people with an agenda (for example, a copy editor wants to make money, after all); some have been created by traditional publishers who are threatened by the indie writing movement; and some are just old warhorses that should be eradicated once and for all.

Self-published books and indie writers often fight negative stereotypes.  Every stereotype has some basis in fact, but they’re often nasty extremes designed to insult.  Irishmen are drunks (yes, we tend to like our liquor).  Writers are nerds (yes, we tend to be introverts, but not always nerds).  Psychiatrists are nuts (I won’t touch that one).  Women are distracted drivers (most men could never compete with Danica Patrick).  Men never ask for directions on a road trip (why should we?  We always know where we’re going.  Sure!).

One of the negative stereotypes about indie books is that they’re unprofessional in the writing, editing, and presentation, especially ebooks.  As a reviewer and avid reader, I can look at a book and form an objective opinion about quality.  Let me restrict my attention to ebooks where one might think that this quick route for releasing a book is a temptation to gloss over details that distinguish a professional product from an amateur one.  Over the last few years, I’ve focused on ebooks in my writing, reviewing, and casual reading [all my books are now in ebook format—the ebook second edition of Soldiers of God was just released and just received another good review on Amazon].  I haven’t found that the unprofessional stereotype rings true.  There are exceptions that fit the stereotype, but, in general, indie authors take pride in their work and ensure its quality.

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