The Chilling Effect on Internet Anonymity

Should individuals be allowed to use "false names" (or pseudonyms) on the internet?

This story on NPR begs the question. Big sites like Google + and Facebook say no. 


From the piece:

"Part of the L.A. Times site still operates under what Orr calls the old Wild West system, where all you need to comment on a story is an email address. He says those sections have more trolls, commenters who bait each other with racism or personal attacks. The sections with Facebook logins, on the other hand, are pretty civil."

 I have no love of trolls--the internet kind. (I like them in fantasy stories.) While I understand why some have the need to use false names online (just like I understand why Peter Parker wears a mask as Spider-man), in many cases the right to be anonymous is abused--e.g., trolls. Being anonymous allows individuals to be as mean and nasty as they can, which, in turn, can have a chilling effect on others who don't want to be mean and nasty.  The term "chilling effect" usually refers to laws which infringe on the freedom of speech.

I think anonymous internet trolls infringe on the freedom of speech.  They are bullies and cowards.

Once upon a time, newspapers required a phone number with a letter to the editor. I've had a few published in the past, and every time the paper called me to verify I was who I said I was in the letter.  

Anonymous has spun out of control. I respectfully disagree with the argument that internet pseudonyms are the same as literary pseudonyms as "Gardin Winslow" suggests (in the NPR piece).  (Did you find this blog via Google, Gardin?  I hope you're well.) I do understand your need for anonymity and I respect your perspective. But the same?

Hardly.

Internet anonymity has become a way for people to be as awful as they want, to play with their demons in public without any sense of how those demons might stomp all over others. In the worst cases, some folks loose their demons on purpose because they like to hurt others. 

Of all amendments in the United States Bill of Rights, I hold the first most dear:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Language is what separates humans from the rest of the animal kingdom. Excercise it.

But do so with care.

A student once wore a t-shirt with the phrase "Freedom of Fucking Speech" emblazoned across the chest.

Oh... Really? I'm glad men and women have died over the centuries for this freedom--all so you can don the F-bomb and stride into the school.  Well played.

Freedom of speech is a powerful thing--and power must be used carefully. I rewired part of the basement this summer, but I didn't let the kids play with the bare wires. And you can be damn sure I flipped the breakers before I touched anything. I only needed to watch one light switch spark and melt to know the power humming through those thin copper lines. Speech carries more weight. Speech has started and ended wars, caused religions to be born and crumble...

And now, mean people abuse it so they can be royal assholes online with impunity. 

Am I worried about the chilling effect of "real" names being required online? 

No.

I'm more concerned with the audacity of mean people to abuse their fellows and then cry foul when someone wants to take their weapons away. 


Boo-hoo.

WIP Wednesday: On Running the Marathon

I've heard the metaphor "it's a marathon not a sprint" too often lately. Okay, maybe not too often--but many times. It's an appropriate one for many things in life because, after all, life is a marathon, not a sprint.

Writing a novel is a marathon. Selling short stories is a marathon (at least it takes a looooong time to develop your craft and wait for market responses). Selling a novel is even more of a marathon. Should you decide to go "indie" (or self-publish), selling books is a marathon. At least it should be--the sprints will kill you.

In a meeting yesterday, our superintendent said a school improvement process was a marathon, not a sprint. One of my colleagues freaked out: "I'm better at short distances!"

It's not the distance, dear. It's that you shouldn't blow all your energy in one, short burst. You'll need to pace yourself.

I love selling ebooks, but I'm not one to go crazy with marketing. These are the sprinters. I do a few things, here and there. The most effective being Library Thing giveaways (they'll let you give away ebooks--unlike Goodreads which requires dead-tree editions) and making books free at Smashwords. Nothing else comes close as far as impact for the amount of time involved.

And time, these days, is a very precious thing. With two very busy children and a third on the way, my life outside of school is torn in several directions. How do I find time to write? I don't know. But, like sleeping and eating, I need to write to live--at least to add quality to my life. I probably need to sleep a little more, though.

In the Memory House is almost finished. It will be a short novel at about 60K.  If I was worried about querying agents, I might as well stop and forget about it. No one will touch a 60K novel. Good thing readers aren't so picky. I've really run the marathon with this book, and I hope to push to the first of many finish lines later this week.

How's your marathon going?

Flash Fiction and Me: Small Magic

Here's the real truth:

I owe any writing chops I have to flash fiction.  Flash fiction taught me the power of the right word at the right time. It taught me how to edit, how to cut, how to tweak to fit the most impact in the fewest number of words. Striving to "get it right" in a piece of flash did more for my writing craft than any novel, story, or blog entry I've penned over the last five years.

Quite simply, flash fiction is magic.

Anyone wishing to be a writer should--no must write a little flash.

I've collected 71 of my flash stories in one e-book*:

Stories reprinted in Small Magic represent some of my very best. Several have been reprinted in The Best of Every Day Fiction (volumes Two and Three). Several stories are award winners. Some of them will make the reader cringe, cry, or laugh. A few will do all three.

(You might notice the cover on Amazon is different... I haven't had a chance to update it yet.)

*a paperback version is in the works (stay tuned)

Flash Fiction and Me, Part 1

Time for the truth: I've had a rocky relationship with flash fiction through the years.

In the beginning, I didn't think much of it. Real writers penned novels. Between novels, they wrote short stories. Less than a thousand words? Please. Less than five hundred? That's just obscene.

During one sleepless night in 2008, I decided I needed to push myself, stretch the boundaries a little. Maybe there was something to this "flash fiction" thing. Maybe I just disliked it because I wasn't any good at it.

I decided to call for submissions for a new magazine; 52 Stitches was born. Of course, during the first year, I called it Fifty-Two Stitches.

I'm not the greatest magazine editor on the planet. Some of the stories... Well let's just say I'm not sure I always picked the best from each litter.

I loved doing Stitches. I kind of miss it. I'd love to do it again, but with the impending birth of our third child--I just can't.

If you're new to this blog and haven't read any Stitches yet, most of the stories are still available online (52stitches.blogspot.com).  Both years are collected in dead tree editions as well. 


 (2009)  

(2010)

Tomorrow I'll discuss how flash fiction became one of my favorite storytelling modes. (And why every writer should practice this particular art.)

Friday Flashback: Let's Scare Jessica to Death

If you've never seen Let's Scare Jessica to Death, a strange, bleak gem from 1971, it's time to give it a view.

Can you tell Halloween is coming?  I'm excited. 

The Big Book of New Short Horror

I'm a sucker for a retro/pulpy looking cover.While the Big Book of New Short Horror might not have that "PC" vibe, it certainly screams retro. And lookie here, it's out just in time for Halloween.

My story, "Lulu Learns the Stitch," is included along with 57 (57!) other tales. You can grab the lot for your Kindle ($2.99) with paperback and hardcover options coming soon. 

Thanks to editor Jessy Marie Roberts for giving "Lulu" a home. 

WIP Wednesday: Head Hopping

Some stories have a clear protagonist--others operate with an ensemble cast.

I'm reading Hell House by Richard Matheson for a third time.* Matheson skillfully weaves four characters into his narrative, switching scenes when hopping heads, and it never feels wrong. He's consistent within a scene, but the reader has four protagonists to follow. I like it.

I'm not playing the same kind of game with In the Memory House, but some of the minor characters have scenes of their own. Like Johnny, a twenty-something veteran of the Iraq war:

Funny—he hadn’t thought of the cabin in years. How old had he been—seventeen, eighteen—the last time Uncle Mel had them to the cabin? That was all before Mel’s prostrate cancer, the chemo, and the funeral. Years ago. Before college, the house, and Baghdad. 

Jesus, not again. 

Johnny rolled over, closing his eyes. He didn’t need his eyes to see the thick layer of shit-yellow dust on clothing and skin and buildings and his Humvee. Dust covered everything. He didn’t need his eyes to remember the way Ty Miller’s face looked seconds before the rigged howitzer shell ripped open the side of their Humvee and a hunk of shrapnel tore a gash in Miller’s throat. The blood came to Johnny in his sleep. He saw it pour from the tap. He even pissed blood.

He's not the "it" character through the whole book, but everyone in the cast has a moment on stage. 


*Yes, I'm that guy, the one who reads a book or story over... and over... and over again.**

**Only if it's good.***

***Yes, Cate, three stars are fun.

Great Stories = Great Inspiration

Thanks to Daniel Powell's recommendation, I picked up a copy of Crucified Dreams. Funny subtitle on that book... I'm not sure many of the stories qualify as Urban Horror, but that is beside the point.

The point? Some of the pieces in Crucified Dreams are "grab you by the throat" awesome. I slapped myself for never reading Harlan Ellison's amazing "The Whimper of Whipped Dogs" before. Slapped myself hard. Ellison's a little crazy (okay, a lot crazy), but he writes with passion and wit and life.I want even one-tenth of that for myself. 

I woke hours before the rest of the family on Saturday, read Ellison's piece, and immediately wrote pages of handwritten notes and prose for a short story--the first time in months I felt that inspired to write a short. "The Tiger Yawns" now stands at 2,100 words and I should finish today around 3K.

Thanks Uncle Harlan. Thanks Daniel. Thanks to all the tigers locked up in the zoo. This story is for you.

They're even scary when they yawn.

Five Question Friday: Budo von Stahl

Five questions with  Budo von Stahl:

 

 

1. What do you think makes a good story?

Good grammar and spelling, of course; engaging characters; and I'm a sucker for good world-building/backstories.

2. What is the last book you read?

Chicks in Chainmail

3. Is the book always better than the movie?

Almost.

4. Why are manhole covers round?

Because people are square?

5.  If I could read a diary of one of your characters, what would I learn about him/her?

Tillman kept a journal, and most of what I know of him and his friends came from it.  (insert winking smiley here)

The Editing Ninja: Prepositional Abuse

I'm always troubled when I read prose which abuses the lowly preposition.

"I turned my head up and looked at her."

"I ended up looking at my feet."

"He stared the other man down."

Prepositions (most of them) require the presence of an object (noun or pronoun) to make a complete prepositional phrase in standard usage. As a phrase, they may function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs--the preposition itself denotes temporal, spatial, or logical relationship (e.g., it shows where the object "is" in space or time).

In sentence one, there is no object. A reader asks herself, "Up where?"

A suggested revision: "I turned and looked at her." Less words (usually) = better sentence.

In sentence two... Well, let's just say it doesn't work.

A suggested revision: "In the end, I looked at my feet." Or "I eventually looked at my feet."

While we use the phrase "stare down" in common language, it bothers me. I still want to ask myself, "Down where?"

A suggested revision: "He stared at the other man." Or "He stared until the other man flinched."

Please take care of your prepositions. They're like delicate flowers.

WIP Wednesday: By the Numbers

Net gain of one thousand words after revising and rewriting parts of Borrowed Saints.

In the Memory House stands at 47K with another 15-20K until the first draft is done.

The House Eaters sold five copies with its former imprint; since going "indie" it has sold 254 copies and counting. Yes, price does have an impact folks. People seem to like "cheap" for better or for worse.

I'm about thirty books away from hitting the "1,000" mark sold via Kindle. I guess that's a milestone.

Now I need to write.

Have a great day.

I've Broken My Short Story Bone

Between working on In the Memory House and revising Borrowed Saints (which will have a shiny new cover and new title, coming soon), I've broken my short story bone.

I started a piece for Rainstorm Press's Mutation Nation anthology, but after two-thousand words have realized I'm writing a novella. Huh?

Waaaaay too much back story. I definately started in the wrong place.  This has never happened to me, and I'm struggling a bit with making it work.

Anyone else have similar issues when switching between longer and shorter writing?

How Much is a Review Worth?

Chuck Gould at Horror Bound Online Magazine has reviewed Loathsome, Dark and Deep. It's a good one, too--he even uses the word "consuming" to describe the book. I like that.

From the very first page of Aaron Polson's Loathsome, Dark & Deep, there is something about the writing and imagery that offers up shades of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.

That was my goal; I'm pleased it hit the mark.

Read the rest of the review online at Horror Bound.

Loathsome has been out for nearly a year now, and has garnered several (mostly positive) reviews.With the boom of "indie" writers and book bloggers--some sites which even charge for reviews or advertising--one asks oneself how much these things are worth, especially when most book consumers state word of mouth and author's personality do more to "sell" a book than any amount of reviews or advertising.

While I say I will never pay for a review, I have sent free books (even dead tree editions) to sites/publications/individuals in return for an honest review. Sometimes a review appears a month, two months, maybe more down the road. Sometimes a review never appears.

I've spent almost as much money promoting Loathsome as I've received in royalties. This is not a complaint--Jodi and the rest of the Belfire crew are top notch. This is reality. I can't really afford to spend another dime for my little book to find an audience--at some point, I must rely on the goodly power of word of mouth.Hopefully readers will stumble across me online and find I'm an all right dude.

How much would you spend (in time and/or money) to promote your work? At what point do you feel it is counterproductive (e.g., cuts into your writing time)?

Me to You, for Free to Celebrate Spider and I

Spider and I is loose in the wild (i.e., available in e-book format from Amazon and Smashwords) for only 99 cents.

Less than a buck for a bucket-o-blood novella from this Polson joker?  How can you beat that?  Well, if you buy Spider and I for your e-reading device during September, let me know and I'll gift you any of my books available for Kindle, Nook, or Smashwords for free.  Yep, just drop an email to aaron.polson(at)gmail.com and let me know what e-book you'd like.

It's that simple. 

About Spider and I: Jack wants nothing more than a normal life after his parents' untimely deaths. He bounces from foster home to foster home, haunted at each stop by a monster he thinks of only as "the shadow man". As Jack grows older, he learns "the shadow man" isn't the only monster in his life...

Five Question Friday: Shayne Parkinson

Five questions with Shayne Parkinson...

1. What do you think makes a good story?
Something that's hard to put down, and keeps me thinking about it long after I've finished. Characters I care about. A story that takes me out of the here-and-now, and draws me into its own reality.

2. What is the last book you read?
The Help

3. If you could live in anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Right here in New Zealand, but in a part that has cooler weather and a lake.

4. What is on the floor of your car?
Except when it's just come home from the garage, dirt.

5. What's your favorite thing to eat or drink while writing?
Coffee - what we in New Zealand (and Australia) call a Flat White.

Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Shayne-Parkinson/e/B003RF8LDI
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/shaynep
Blog http://shayneparkinson.blogspot.com/
Web site http://sites.google.com/site/shayneparkinson/

Irony: Enough Already

As a language monger, few things upset me as much as the misuse of irony.

Somehow, in common language, folks believe irony to be synonymous with coincidence. Listen to this NPR piece about Billy, a San Fransisco Giants fan gone missing. (you have to listen or read the transcript--it isn't in the article text) Did you hear Robert Siegel try to correct Giants manager Bruce Bochy at one point? SIEGEL: Just before you go, you mentioned that by coincidence... Bochy goes on to abuse irony one more time.

Enough folks.

Irony does not equal coincidence. In fact, the two are almost opposites.

Take this definition of irony: an outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected. Read more at Dictionary.com.


In the Giants story, one might have expected a team's "good luck charm" to cause a problem for the team after he disappeared. Irony? Not hardly.  

I love teaching Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" along with irony; few stories have such robust examples of true irony which are accessible to average high school students.  Within this short piece, students can find dramatic irony, situational irony, and verbal irony. A triple play.

Read "The Cask of Amontillado" online for free.  Nothing fortunate about Fortunato's experience, is there? 

By the way, Billy, wherever you are, the Giants miss you. Take care, okay? 

WIP Wednesday: How Did I Get Here?

My "House" novel, now going by the name In the Memory House is nearing first draft completion.  First draft completion doesn't mean much in my book. As a writer, I am a "pantser" for the most part, one of those free spirits wandering through the plot, dropping suspense and characterization along the way. The characters tend to reveal themselves better this way...

But then I have to pick up the pieces. My lead, a graduate student in psychology, has really shown me dark and secret corners of her life.

Now I have to go back and makes sure the early, more "private" chapters work.

From one of the final chapters:

Kelsey glanced once more at the door, took a breath, and plunged into the dark, groping with both hands now, reaching in front of her and to the sides to find the layout of the space. Her knuckles dragged against stone. She stopped, felt on both sides, and noted a rough, circular cavern. Her hands played with its boundaries. Behind her, the door had vanished, leaving no lingering ambient light. 

She found herself in a cave. She hadn't stepped inside a cave since she was eight.

What are some of your most-powerful childhood memories?

Teaser Tuesday: Spider and I

I wrote a short story entitled "Spider and I" a few years ago. It originally saw publication in The Devil's Food, an ill-fated anthology which never paid a single contributor. Some didn't even receive a copy of the book.

I've ressurrected Jack and Spider, wrote two earlier chapters to their story, and significantly changed the ending. They now star in their very own 16,000 word novella...

From Part 1: Jack is Almost Eight

When Jack slept, his dreams brought monsters of steel and rubber and glass, hulking things which screamed and cried frigid tears. The monsters clashed, flailing body against body until both slumped against trees on either side of the asphalt arena. Smoke rose into the sky. The tears became rain, and Jack found himself staring into a downpour from black and indifferent clouds. Another howl rose, sharp and shrill and panicked. A siren. The red lights flashed until Jack started from the dream. When he woke, his bed was soaked with urine and the shadow man skittered through his window.

“Cathy.”

The boy’s heart banged against his chest. Thump-thump-thump…

“Cathy!”

A muffled curse sounded through the thin walls, too deep for Cathy’s honeyed voice. Feet stomped in the hallway. Jack clutched the stained comforter in front of him like a shield. The door wrenched open, and a hulking black mass slouched against the door jamb. Rick. Not Cathy. Jack cowered, shivering.

“What is it?” Rick’s voice was big and deep like a sustained rumble of thunder. Smoke and whiskey rolled off his body.

“I want Cathy.”

“Fuck.” Rick’s silhouette straightened. “I smell piss. Did you piss yourself again? God-damn, kid. You’re six for fuck’s sake.”

Coming soon...

Five Question Friday: Aimee Laine

Five Questions with Aimee Laine:

1. If you could write in any color ink, what would it be?
Raspberry. It's my most favorite color in the world. Well ... besides teal. Can I mix the two? Maybe a combination of raspberry AND teal?

2. Is the book always better than the movie?
Absolutely, yes because books play like movies in my head. And I get to be the only one seeing it. So I can make up exactly what the characters look like and how they sound and even somewhat how they act. I get to 'direct' them the way a Director does for actors. Even though the words are written on the page, my mind conjures up interpretations that only I am privy to.

3. Cats or dogs? Why?
Cats! Cats are independent, soft, purry and ... independent. They don't have to be walked or taken outside to use the bathroom on an ice-cold morning at 5am when I'm not awake yet. They can be left alone for a weekend with a bowl of food and a dish of water without supervision or hiring a pet sitter. Cats. 100%. :)

4. What is on the floor of your bedroom?
Clean clothes. I do have a dresser, but I can't stand putting away my clothes more than once a month. Or so it seems. So there is always a pile of freshly laundered clothes. Often there is a cat on top of them. Sometimes that cat carries with it a raspberry ribbon.

5. Describe the ideal meal.
Pepperoni and Mushroom pizza with a big glass bottle of Coca-Cola. Follow that with a banana split with chocolate, whipped cream, peanuts and ice cream. Oh and make it all NO calories. I don't mean fat-free stuff ... I mean if this were ideal ... it would be loaded with fat and sugar ... but be calorie free. THAT would be idea.

Aimee Laine
Photographic Artist & Author of paranormal romance

Little White Lies now available!
Find it online: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | AllRomance | Goodreads

Find me online : Web | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
www.aimeelaine.com | 919-362-9039

The August "Big Experiment" Report

My August ebook sales eclipsed my previous record by at least 52 books*, powered by a strong showing from We are the Monsters after the price increased from free to $0.99. As I said before, I won't be retiring soon on these numbers, but I sold 227 books* in August. In the past ten days, I've sold more than the entire month of July. No complaints, really--I've been selling 10-15 books a day for the past week and a half.

Granted, most of my sales were for $0.99 books. Much has been said about this lowly price point, so I won't rehash. What I've learned so far:

• A Feast of Flesh sold 14 copies (burning up the charts, baby), at $0.99 while These Darkened Streets sold 6 at $1.99
• at that rate, A Feast of Flesh earned $0.70 more; I've lowered These Darkened Streets to $0.99 in September to see what happens
• I write in a genre which doesn't sell as well as Thrillers, Mysteries, Romance, and Erotica
• Most of my books are story collections, which, in general, don't sell all that well, either
• but seven different ebooks sold in double figures
• I'm still happy with every dime I make selling ebooks

What I plan to do in September:

• experiment with price a bit more: raise The House Eaters to $2.99 and see what happens by the end of the month
• release a novella for $0.99
• repackage Black Medicine Thunder as Sons of Chaos Book 1 (since book 2, The Desert Dead, is coming to Red Penny Papers in October--squee!)
• prepare for October, which I hope can be a good month (um, Halloween)

That's the report as I see it. 

Thanks for reading.

*I'm not sure how many copies of We are the Monsters were "paid" until I receive my monthly report; my estimate is low