the literati blog

THIS IS LIT!

2025-01-02T21:00:00.000-08:00

In Memory of the

Luminous Lavish Writing Experience

14 Sites To Download Free E-books:

1. PDFBooksWorld

2. B-ok cc

3. BookBoon

4. Library Genesis

5. Pdfdrive

6. Open Library

7. DigiLibraries

8. Project Gutenberg

9. FeedBooks

10. FreeTechBooks

11. Internet Archive

12. O’Reilly Books

13. GetFreeEBooks

14. AnyBook

There's AUDIOBOOKS too

~ of course!

...many, many more

WHERE THOSE THREE CAME FROM

(...not necessarily Audible!)

Read on!

'Everyman's work..."

2020-12-31T12:31:00.004-08:00

Literati Leprechauns... Literati Nosferatus... Literati Creatures...

Ghostwriters... Underwriters... Twitwriters...

"It is, actually, quite sad to behold... or to read, verily!"
Ah, but you wanna write ~ rrright?

Every man's work,
whether it be literature
or music
or pictures
or architecture
or anything else,
is always a portrait of himself.
--- Samuel Butler
British writer.
(1835-1902)

Deezer is DEAD.(*)
(*) = to me...

(STAN... *and* YouTube too!)

#ButThat'sAnotherStory

Writhe On!

2020-12-20T07:00:00.000-08:00

Word!

2020-12-04T22:00:00.069-08:00

Countless words are written every year...

Every month, every week ~ every damned day!

The very same damned words - rewritten a million times;

some paired up with new adjectives; others given new meanings...

All weaved together to convey a semblance of... feeling.

During this pandemic the world is living through now,

a considerable number of them have been added to the overall total!

As the numbers of would-be writers increased exponentially...!

What else did you expect with everyone quarantining at once?

Hey ~ even *I* thy luminous wordsmith here;

even I finished revising a book project I had shelved indefinitely

~ finished revising and polishing it during my five months away

(a book project I finally consider finished and done - at long last!

Which one is that, you ask? Here's a clue: it's a prequel...!)

And you know it: I consider my books the only ones worth reading

over any of the drivel pub-leechers have been stockpiling on...!

Yet I will be the first one to tell you...

THE ONLY WORDS WORTH

READING...

MEDITATING...

LIVING...

are The Word

Blasted Wretches

2020-07-20T00:00:00.000-07:00

On Pub-Leechers and their sickening ilk...

(as seen on reputable service website

-they're on our side, literati-

Writer Beware - the blog!)

PHILIPPINES-BASED PUBLISHING & MARKETING SCAMS

TARGETING INDIE AUTHORS

- Access Media Group (aka Quill Space Media)
- Ace Media Creative Publication / Ace Media International / APM Media Production (aka Pearson Media Groups)
- ADBook Press (aka Coffee Press)
- Alpha Books Solutions
- Alpha Books United
- Amelia Publishing / Amelia Book Company (aka LitFire Publishing)
- AnalytIQ
- Ascribed LLC (defunct)
- Author Codex (aka Bookspine Press)
- Author Media Express (aka Book Art Press Solutions / Booktimes / Bookwhip / Carter Press / PRM Solutions / Window Press Club)
- Author Reputation Press
- Author University
- Author's Note 360
- AuthorAide
- AuthorCentrix (formerly BookBlastPro)
- AuthorLair
- Authors Press (aka Westwood Books Publishing)
- Beacon Books Agency
- Black Lacquer Press & Marketing
- BooConn Marketing
- Book Agency Plus (aka BookTrail Agency)
- Book Art Press Solutions (aka Author Media Express / Booktimes / Bookwhip / Carter Press / PRM Solutions / Window Press Club)
- Book Avenue Publishing (aka Nivra Press)
- Book Magnets
- Book Reads Publishing (defunct)
- Books Scribe
- Book Vine Press
- BookSpine Press (aka Author Codex)
- Booktimes (aka Author Media Express / Book Art Press / Bookwhip / Carter Press / PRM Solutions / Window Press Club)
- BookTrail Agency (aka Book Agency Plus)
- BookVenture Publishing
- BookWhip (aka Author Media Express / Book Art Press Solutions / Booktimes / Carter Press / PRM Solutions / Window Press Club)
- Box Office Media Creatives (aka Buzz Media Creatives)
- Bright Lights Distribution
- Buzz Media Creatives (aka Box Office Media Creatives)
- Capstone Media Services (defunct)
- Carter Press (aka Bookwhip / PRM Solutions)
- Chapters Media & Advertising (aka Techbooks Media)
- Coffee Press (aka ADBook Press)
- Conquer Press Publishing
- Creative Titles Media (aka TrueMedia Creatives)
- Crest Media Distribution
- DC Media Creative- Diamond Media Press
- Dream Books Distribution- EC Publishing
- Editor's Creative Media (aka Editor's Press and Media)
- Editor's Press and Media (aka Editor's Creative Media)
- Global Summit House
- Gold Touch Press
- Golden Ink Media Services
- Goldman Agency
- GoToPublish (aka Litfire Publishing)
- Green Sage Agency
- Happy Media Consulting
- Haynes Media Group
- IdeoPage Press Solutions (aka The Writer Central)
- Legaia Books
- Lettra Press
- LitFire Publishing (aka Amelia Publishing / Amelia Book Company / GoToPublish)
- Maple Leaf Publishing
- MatchStick Literary
- McNaughton Books / McNaughton Publishing (website is dead)
- The Mulberry Books
- Netsfilm & Media Press
- New Leaf Media
- New Reader Media
- Nivra Press (aka Book Avenue Publishing)
- Okir Publishing (defunct) (still doing business as ADbook Press / Coffee Press)
- Outstrip (defunct)
- PRM Solutions LLC (aka Author Media Express / Book Art Press Solutions / Booktimes / Bookwhip / Carter Press / PRM Solutions / Window Press Club)
- Pacific Books
- PageClapp Media
- PageTurner, Press and Media
- PaperChase Solution
- Paradigm Print
- Paramount Books Media
- Parchment Global Publishing
- Pearson Media Groups (aka Ace Media Creative Publication / Ace Media International)
- Press To Impress Publishing
- Pubkits.com
- Quill Space Media (aka Access Media Group
- Readers Magnet
- Royale House (defunct)
- Rushmore Press
- Sherlock Press (defunct)
- Silver Fox Media
- SPARK Literary and Marketing
- Stampa / Stampa Global (formerly Capstone Media Services)
- Stonewall Press (formerly Uirtus Solutions) (defunct)
- Stratton Press
- Techbooks Media (aka Chapters Media & Advertising
- Toplink Publishing
- True Media Creatives (aka Creative Titles Media)
- Universal Book Solutions
- URLink Print and Media
- VHawk Solutions
- Vivlio Hill / Vivlio Hill Publishing / Vivlio Solutions / Vivlio Marketing Solutions
- WestPoint Print and Media
- WorkBook Press
- Westwood Books Publishing (formerly Greenberry Publishing) (aka Authors Press)
- Window Press Club (aka Author Media Express / Author Media Express / Book Art Press Solutions / Book times / Bookwhip / Carter Press / PRM Solutions) - The Writer Central (aka IdeoPage Press Solutions)
- Writers Desks LLC
- The Writers Gallery
- YourOnlinePublicist
- Zeta Publishing

...

And we all have got the feeling that this is but

a partial list indeed - one that needs updating, like,

on a very regular basis... eh

... and that all of these scammers slither out of the Philippines

is not all that surprising either (Nigeria specializes

in different scams altogether...)

Their elected pres is but an oaf, a pawn of the former

dictator's remnants of a regime (son, daughter;

cuckolded many-times-over wicked widow)

whose name has become synonymous with scam!

Corruption runs rampant in that part of the world

-as it does in other, less spoken about, parts too-

so why not this particularly pungent corner of the globe

being the one chosen as earthly kingdom

of that odious species - the publeecher!

More power to you, honest Filipino vice-president

(Leni Robredo) and Senator Pimentel

who are among the few beacons of hope

for this much-maligned nation.

*Much courage to them.*

Literati Force!

2020-05-25T00:00:00.000-07:00

OR more Blasted Wretches

writhing in pain?

YOU BE THE JUDGE:

OKAY ~ let's end this

in Grand Style now:

"Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament.... There you will find romance, glory, honour, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves upon earth, and more than that: Death: by the divine paradox, that which ends life, and demands the surrender of all, and yet by the taste (or foretaste) of which alone can what you seek in your earthly relationships (love, faithfulness, joy) be maintained, or take on that complexion of reality, of eternal endurance, which every man's heart desires"

(Letter 43).

On Some DICS...

2020-05-09T09:00:00.003-07:00

...for it is not as if you were

given the Divine Right

and Sole Anointing

to do so

ad nauseam

until the End of Time now

~ is it???

...but on another tangent now...

It would be downright criminal (...) to forego

the chance to win a freebie - even when it is given away

by a wretched site that leeches off criminale

like there was no tomorrow;

all the while showing not an ounce of shame

nor restraint for that matter!

And the last drop is when these petty criminals

dare to bash the show that had tons of dash ~

as if their drivel was any better... HA.

We'll take your free stuff, CrimeReads;

we'll take all the tote bags and all the freebies

that you have to give... but you will never have

our subscriptions ~ nor our money!!!

Sue - Her!

2020-04-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

Say what you will,

this dame has got guts alright!

Must be tons of fun

talking literature, Tinseltown

and the tumultuous, oddball

storied love affair between the two

over the decades...!!!

Happy B-Day,

Sue!

Quarantining

2020-03-07T17:55:00.009-08:00

...so you know what that means...

CONTAGION!

2020-03-03T22:00:00.017-08:00

I've never wanted to write one of those:

something that prefigured the dreadful scenario we appear to be living in now here with what is happening in Wuhan... and worldwide.

Thankfully (?) some other literatis had no such scruples:

R & R

2020-03-01T17:47:00.021-08:00

Read - research, first - then writhe... er, write!

Such is the advice from the scribes...!

But what to read, then?

Here are some suggestions...

Miserable Wretches

2020-02-29T00:00:00.000-08:00

We have quotables -

and we have unquotables;

AND DON'T YOU DARE

UNDERLINE IN RED

EITHER ONE OF THOSE,

BLOGGER!

AUTO-CORRECT!

ANYBODY!!!

No - I am not in the MOOD...!

On this date,

so unique because we only have it

every now and then... duh...

let us give exceptional

exposure (as in denounce,

indeed) to the latter:

the unquotable...

... all proven

WRONG.

Que Sera Sera!

2020-01-04T10:34:00.000-08:00

So...

Is this the year

all of our literary

(even if slightly overblown)

aspirations & ambitions

will finally come true...?

(We'd replace that bottle of Bailey's with one of

Captain Morgan's finest original rum...

*if* we were not so lackadaisical here!)

(There is ammo in that gun - mind you...)

YEAH...

We'll see.

Luminous Procrastinators...

2019-03-14T14:24:00.000-07:00

... VERSUS FAMOUS IMPOSTORS!

The first category is certainly contemporarily represented by gentlemen such as myself (just ask the likes of Dr. Patrick Marsolais or Dr. Marc Bellemarre, if you ever meet the frankensteinish Laurel & Hardy of the medical establishment...)

The second category is most spectacularily represented by one Princess Caraboo - who could have just as easily sold you the Caramilk secret and a peek-a-boo along with some prime swampland real estate too!

Following are yet more prime examples of either category - whichever one it is, have fun telling them apart!

Honestly don't know who I wanna be more like:

Daffy or Shandy...!!!

FIND MORE ESSAYS, POEMS,

BITS OF DISTASTEFUL DIATRIBE

ON ANY AND ALL OF THESE

INDIVIDUALS (AND MORE)

The Luminous Blog / TLB Prime

The Lambasting Blog

AND

Luminous Lavish Writing Experience

...while you can!

This post was originally published on The Luminous Blog indeed

May 4th, 2006 (it was a Thursday!)

Test This...!!!

2019-03-03T19:27:00.002-08:00

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

How to Start Travel Blogging for a Living || The Travel Tester

https://t.co/vIftejzHHc #bloggingtips

— Publishing Talk (@publishingtalk) March 2, 2019

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Oh, rrrrrrrrrreally...

I'm sort of turning into a Literati Houdini here, now -
not that I can pull a Best Seller out of my Hat yet
(alas - I still can't... *sob*)
however, just like Harry did, lo, some time ago,
I take Lord Knows copious amounts of Time
(still, not all that much - and not enough, for sure!)
to ferret out and expose various suspicious schemes
(not to call them scams, out right!)
out there, in full view of one and all...
Plenty of fish in the sea, eh?
For now, folks - for now!
(And that's... another sad story right there.)
Harry exposed fake mediums -
even though he firmly believed...!
I'll carry on in the spirit of this crusade, here,
lambasting and virtually tarring and feathering
the most suspicious pub-leech-ers
and preditors out there - everywhere!

YOU GOING DOWN... BOOKERS!

You've been warned!

Okay - that last one doesn't really count here...

Midnight Struck!

2019-02-09T13:35:00.002-08:00

WARNING!

What follows may be a lure... a snare... A TRAP!

The bait is the mirrored opportunity of potential gain

flashing before your eyes like an ephemeral dream!

The appeal may be prove to be impossible to resist.

YOU HAVE BEEN DULY WARNED...

^^^^^^

Verily, the only thing missing here

is a curvaceous sales rep

to seal the deal...!!!

As routinely seen in almost

any other advert...

Somebody like this:

Hmm... NOT a good example there; at all.

Torrie Wilson, of WCW and WWE ''fame''

has never been known for her brains,

lit wit or culture, I am afraid...

But you get the idea!

May it not be just another New York Minute
as far as ''NYCMidnight'' goes...

On Stanley Himself...

2018-11-30T16:29:00.000-08:00

Stan Lee has passed away and all of comicsdom is in mourning.

The term ''comicsdom'' never made any sense whatsoever - of course; my using it does not mean I condone it! ''Comics'' implies comedy - yet there has never been a real focus on it; not anymore, not since the 1970s, perhaps...! Comics or comic-books were called as such because they were primarily funny animal, cartoony things - in their early days. They were the simplest form of amusement. The term has been replaced, anyway - it has become FANDOM; and it adheres more strictly to FILMS now, as comic-book creatives themselves have shifted focus, considerably, from their actual niche to viewing themselves as full-fledged Hollywood people...! Publishers DC and Marvel have since relocated their offices from New York to Tinseltown. Stan Lee himself was seeing himself, in his twilight years, as a Hollywood consultant and executive producer - that says it all, does it not?

Now that we got all that baggage out of the way - this: Bill Maher, radical TV personality that he is, never hesitates to call a spade by its name. He will fearlessly tackle any politician there is - Trump, most of all, these days... Why would anyone be surprised he would be bashing Stan Lee now?

Hell... I'll bash Stan Lee now too!

But not for the same reasons Maher did - oh, no!

Some feel as though Bill is biting the hand that fed him - because he made one tiny cameo in one of the damnable Marvel movies. BIG EFFIN' DEAL. Just like Garry Shandling, for example, Bill Maher was asked to appear and basically be himself - just as he is in real life (isn't that his tribune's title, too: Real Life With Bill Maher? Whatever!) but within the context of the wildly unrealistic ''Marvel Cinematic Universe'' which has been made wildly successful by sheer out of control fandom support alone! Well... Boo-hoo now, that all the Marvel Zombies out there fail to realize that, those cameos are there just to help the impossible freaks that their favorite characters are become... borderline more relatable to the real world indeed. BORDERLINE - because it can never be achieved without massive doses of suspension of disbelief - and comic relief, too. Hence, maybe, the term ''comicsdom'' is justified, even in 2018 after all... Comedy it is! But that's another story!

Bill bashes Stan's LEGACY - which may well be to drive Hollywood completely bankrupt if the world keeps revolving around the sun - long term! (Cameron and Foster think so, too...!)

Me... I bash Stan Lee's PHILOSOPHY. Not the core message - but its deep, inherent, totally insufferable contradiction!

Both of us make total complete abstraction of the well-known fact that Stan was a glory hound - he got credit - and took it, also- when credit was due to his collaborators: Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, John Buscema to name but a few... It was ''Stan Lee Presents'' all those years - when, in fact, he would simply insert some witty repartee (and it was not even witty, sometimes!) onto pre-existing artwork, detailed panel-by-panel stories already all done, really - it only missed some dialogue. For that is, and it was so admitted by all involved in the process, the ''Marvel Way'' of creating comics...

Originally, this ciphering and usurping propelled Stan onto the main spot, on top of the hill - but it was not enough for Stan Lieber, initially, thought of himself as doing this ''just for a while'' until he could launch his ''real writing career''...

And, now that he has passed, people will latch on to the basic message his stories appeared to be telling: FIGHT EVIL... but that came with a warped view of just how it could be done and, ultimately, it led to the widespread desensitization that we can witness now, in all audiences, of all ages and creeds - practically...

PAUL OF TARSUS

said it best:

GOOD OVERCOMES EVIL

BY BEING GOOD

Stan "the man" Lee

never seemed to even know that...

and none of those super-heroes ever did, either.

On Neilhimself...

2018-11-15T07:00:00.000-08:00

"And the kingdom would never have been lost

for the simple want of a NEIL..."

THE END.

but try and tell that to those rabid fans,

out there - in EDMONTON, for example!

NO, PEASANTS - NO!

THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING

EVEN REMOTELY ACCURATE

THERE!

AND IT IS NOT "HEAVEN" TO READ EITHER

... sorry Terry; rest in... hell, actually!

Thy co-scribe there was reaping all the rewards

at some public appearance gig, lately -

set-up in the northern wasteland

known as Edmonton, Alberta... Canada!

Of all places... I know!

All of his -by his own pathetic admission- made-up stuff

was on display - and for sale also, of course!

He who stands guilty as charged of glamorizing the character of

DEATH itself - to the point of having broads, left and right,

willing to dress up like "her" (as it is seen, above)

on top of a cornucopia of others, ranging from pagan

archetypes to neo-pagan ones (that he made up himself - of course)

and on to the most repelling ones of all: Lucifer and

a bunch of other hellions "humanized" so that

the masses could sympathize all the more with it...

... total utter nonsense, truly - passing itself off for imagination.

KIDS... KIDS...

KIDS!!!

if you really want to learn about those

withered old ridiculous beliefs

that the Norsemen had...

pick up something by Edith Wharton

or some reputable scholar on the subject

- and it is found in the reference books

section at your local library!

Same goes for the dream realm...

And it sure goes for actual *good omens*

and prophecy --- it's in THE BIBLE

- not in here!

And that sad excuse for a signature

is worth... absolutely nothing, really!

Choose Your Leech

2018-11-14T11:00:00.000-08:00

10 things to consider when choosing a publisher, by @bookmidwife. #publishing #gettingpublished #authortip #HowToGetPublished https://t.co/afcIrfEkEX
— Publishing Talk (@publishingtalk) November 14, 2018

Yes, there are so many markets out there now,

so many options available...

And yet it is still like this:

it is not what you want,

not when you want...

but who you know

and the when, how and what

is decided by those leeches;

the publeechers!

STILL...

TEN THINGS TO CONSIDER...

PONDER... THINK OVER...

WHEN YOU "CHOOSE"

A PUBLEECHER...

Or when you nurture the illusion

that you surely do want to have;

that you choose where your writing

is going - and how it is presented!

And that self-publishing

is not the only route for that...!

Thank you

@publishingtalk ---

for nurturing the illusion!

You're not the only one doing that,

of course:

NAD TO THE BONE!

2018-11-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

Today is, first and foremost,

ALL-SAINTS DAY

but wouldn't you know that,

in some preditor's war room, somewhere,

somewhen, there came a day when

they had the most brilliant idea...

(It must have been a pub-leecher's idea -

but we digress here...)

And that idea was to make that

holiest -on a human level- of days

coincide with...

A SPECIAL DAY IN HONOR

OF THEIR PUBLISHED

(or, quite simply, pet)

AUTHORS!

AND SO WAS BORN

NATIONAL

AUTHORS' DAY!

Yay...!

Of course, every author who has ever...

well, authored... has got the sacrosanct right

to be read... at the very least!

(And that is when they are either critiqued

-mercilessly-

or appraised, lauded, elevated,

praised and even revered

- becoming like unto gods of literature, for some.

Now this latter bunch is often thought of as

the sheepish readership - but let us not

get into that sordid aspect right now.

Suffice it to overstate: there are writers

and there are readers - both need to be.

It is like in many other artistic ventures, though:

one man's (or woman's) treasure is another's

garbage... or vice-versa!

The exact same line

-dialogue or descriptive narrative-

can be dissected both ways, in a positive light

or a less-than-tolerant manner;

depending on a myriad things!

And those things range from

the critic's mood to the zeitgeist of the day

(the spirit of the times - yes... sigh)

to the pub-leecher's pocketbook...

And yet... And yet...

Anyone who commits to unveil

but an iota of his or her innermost self

in writ - for the world to peruse...

at any time, in any place...

be it in a tell-all, a blog, a blurb,

or a time-honored piece of fiction...

electronically or traditionally -

deserves to be given a shot.

He or she deserves to be considered, also,

*an author*

YES!

Whether that still goes for those that

simply give free reign to their folly -

"committing to paper"

(e-books are coming)

(coming on HARD!)

every little crazy idea they've ever had

(every HUGE maddening thought

that has ever crossed their mind, TOO!)

and passing that off as ART...?

Whether that still goes for those

swindlers and filibusters

that plunder the classics of yesteryear

as they do myths and lore

for their premises, ideas and concepts

that are then bastardized, sullied and

run through the modern mud...?!?

And whether that still goes for

the frauds, the hacks, the skanks that

permeate the upper echelons

EVERYWHERE in this world...???

Well... What do you think?

... rrrrright.

"Magic"... huh?

You mean like... Harry The Potter?

Lestat (abandoned by Anne Rice - by God's Grace!)

Or any number of delusional scribblings

from this crazy Brit here:

A master scrawler, rarely matched in sheer productivity -

his rehashing (and retooling) of several myths and legends

have captured many minions' imaginations...

Poor sad souls - devoid of their own

power to imagine - and see the unseen!

So much so that they have got to rely

on a scavenger of make-believe

that further blurs the line between

myth and actual fantastic legend...

Vivement Le Brex-Lit...!

The GaiMan's fellow Brit (a tragic Brit we ache for; her, not him!)

actually exposed him decades before his birth!

For if we truly are to judge his life, mind and SOUL

from the blasphemous, heretic, outright satanic material he has produced

over a number of years now, first in comic-bookies then in sad excuses

for modern literature - there can be little doubt here.

Tolstoy was another kind soul that tended to

idealize and edify the collective contribution

of all quills and fountain pens that ever were...

What a wealth of wisdom

and kindness is expressively scattered

in the books of all peoples and times

- (L.N. Tolstoy)

Now, Alice -at least- is far more honest

about the whole operation...!

Charles... was brutally honest, too.

Up to a point:

he admits madness

but then succumbs to the vanity of it all

by pretending to hold some form of

exclusivity... on the soul world.

And Max... aw, Max...

He showers himself and his craft

with the greatest attributes of all:

value, worthiness, nobility - HOLINESS!

All the while shunning but one thing -

earthly, ephemeral glitz, in essence!

Yet that is what he basks in the most!!!

Lucado... is no Luminoso.

We would rather turn to an Henry Miller, instead:

at least, with him, it is strictly about

the writing experience -

everyday life, the struggle,

the pain, frustration and sheer agony

that comes with this vocation - and it all

culminated with this right here:

a borderline blasphemous wordsmith version

of the ten commandments - with eleven of them!

And we all routinely bypass the very first one...

About that eleventh one:

it boggles the mind Henry restrained himself

and did not add all those other activities

he routinely indulged in, in excess:

you know what we're thinking of here...

His wife June. Booze. Anais Nin. More booze.

Smokes. And even more booze!

He had provisioned for it with number 7,

of course - making this indeed ten,

not eleven commandments at all!

And all the more blasphemous!

Very well then, Barbara:

let us catch another glimpse

-a mere infinitesimal glimpse-

of what that humanity is up to,

in writ and in real, these days...

There it is, folks:

pretty much (but not pretty at all)

the entire bodacious body of work

of the self-proclaimed literati "K-FLEX" here;

she who did not hesitate to call these titles

"classic books" that "all should get"

on this auspicious day,

National Authors' Day!

NAD... I say!

Another author who followed the age-old wisdom

that dictates that each author should stick to

one simple thing: "write what he knows"...

Crusoe Dachshund is, at least, a NY Times best-selling writer

- unlike Tariq Nasheed there...

CD's success could be attributed to a variety

of factors, though - none having any true literary merit.

Vanda Denton

is an author, true-and-true;

and here she exemplifies perfectly well

what a solitary journey, through and through,

(even after publication...) the writer's life

can and surely is meant to be...

Others - such as David Walliams, represented here

by an assortment of his odd-looking characters -

will benefit from exposure, support,

extraordinary back-up coming from

not only pub-leechers but their cronies also -

the pub-peddlers and other swindlers

(can be Coles, might be Barnes & Noble too;

Chapters... Powell's of Portlandia... Strand...

Libreria Acqua Alta di Venice... etc!)

and, emboldened by this unwavering support,

they will, quite simply...

saturate the market.

Great going, scribes -

pretending to give encouragement

after that to all the neophyte

and fledgling wordsmiths

that are coming out of the woodwork

will only seem like...

patronizing hypocrisy

- perhaps condescending too!

No one - absolutely NO ONE - will ever be as sincere

kind and genuine as RAY:

you are sorely missed, Mr. Bradbury!

You truly cared for your readers, the world at large

and the eventual few that would follow in your footsteps.

Science-fiction writers tend to be like that:

they write material that warns about impending doom,

foretelling of humanity's many mistakes,

trying to prevent them - after all, it's a public service.

They didn't listen much to H.G. Wells and Jules Verne,

but more and more are heeding the words of Ray Bradbury.

*Everybody loves Ray*

We all hope so, Diane...

For the occasion (need we remind you:

it's NATIONAL AUTHORS' DAY - duh!)

Westminster Abbey shared, via their Twitter,

this shot of the memorial

they dedicated to Mary Ann;

not Gilligan's Mary Ann but *the* Mary Ann

EVANS a.k.a. "George Eliot"

she who took the name of a man

in order to author what is considered

by some, as the finest literature

in the 19th Century...

And she did so in a time when it was

truly necessary to do so;

unlike JKR and her "Robert Whatsisname"

that were, basically, but a vanity project...

again.

Think that's mean?

Think again! And again and again!

THIS is mean:

excerpt from Creative Mischief by Dave Trott

Somebody on Twitter found nothing better

than THAT (above) to share

on this "Authors' Day"... hurray, eh?

Meanwhile, noted pub-leechers

seized the opportunity

(much like "K-FLEX" earlier...)

to blow their own horn

and flaunt their stable

of under-contract scribes...

One example:

HAYMARKET BOOKS.

Wow - only 3 guys... and six women!

Seventh is up for debate...

But anyway!

WOW!

How is that for turning the table on the male-dominated

age-old tendencies... HUH?

The publishing house's name, however,

still makes us think of THIS:

Nice - but not quite prestigious, hmm?

Condé Nast Traveler

palliates to that, no worry:

it suggested that every single

bookworm, book lover

and author groupie

follow their passion to the extreme -

no, not by stalking the author

but rather by visiting

several luxurious libraries

all over the world...!

I don't know, folks...

None of those places will ever match

the power of true imagination;

luminous imagination!

No book ever published, already there

collecting dust in those shelves

will ever satiate your thirst, in truth...

It is not that I advise against reading

or condone any anti-book rhetoric - no!

The best way to sell you on this

is by showing you an example of it:

unbound but luminous imagination,

the kind that does not pervert ideals or ideas.

The type of thing that inspired

this artwork, by Yerka:

imagining a luminous place

the ultimate public library...

And yes, of course -

even the worst of books

will open up worlds of wonder

for its readers...

The only question left to ponder then

is whether any of those worlds,

portals, doorways, dimensions

were truly worth exploring

in the first place...?

And what have you neglected

in the real world

while indulging away

in the one some wordsmith

you do not even know

fabricated for his or her own

profit... glory... vain aspirations?

Hmm?

Lewd Read!

2018-10-10T10:10:00.000-07:00

So, you think THOSE were lewd and degenerate reads,

DID YOU?

... well, truth is,

THEY INVENTED

NOTHING AT ALL:

My Kingdom For An ''A''

2018-10-06T12:03:00.002-07:00

#IAMDYNAMITE

is biography about one of

the most misunderstood philosophers,

coming out 10/30. pic.twitter.com/1raH9pBhKJ

— Crown Publishing (@CrownPublishing) October 6, 2018

*A*... DUH!

One would expect the foremost pub-leecher that is

one ''Crown'' Publishing - regal as it may be -

to know better... and to insert that tiniest of words in there,

though it is an extra word and being succinct and concise,

to the point in as few words as possible

via avoidance of verbose vacuity *is* key here...

I therefore expect that, for this lone glaring omission,

Crown Publishing is risking to be dethroned...

Maybe, even, to meet an ignominious end

akin to that of the king of France and Marie-Antoinette!

You read it here... first!

Take heart, however, Crown leeches:

Whenever one is promoting a book like this one -

about a hack as huge as that one!

LESS is, indeed, MORE...

Undeniably true!

Nietzs

would agree, too...

But, as I always said... say NYET to NIETZS!

For you see now...

And surely you do see it,

NOW - in the Great Beyond...

You failed, Friedrich -

you failed to kill GOD

-though you gave it your best shot-

thus making Him

STRONGER!

(... if one will follow your own logic -

or philosophical ramblings, as it may!)

The fraggin' hack did inspire

KANYE, though...

Kanye - and a ton of other

misbegotten misfits...!

NONE of which will EVER

deserve to be spotlighted

on the TLB PRIME NETWORK

from the Luminous Corner

of the Blogosphere!

(no matter how many times they wind up

*cited* on the NYT list

of supposed best-sellers!)

Sequential Review 2.0

2018-05-28T16:35:00.000-07:00

It wasn't very flattering, last time -

the first time around...!

We shall go with a true classic

this time, then:

we cannot go wrong with this one!

The specter of a deadpool-bound

Emerald Gladiator hovers over

this first issue - and the artistic team

was still feeling out this

new-look, crew-cut Sea King - but make no mistake whatsoever about it:

this sequential art periodical issue is a landmark

and one that surpasses anything released by the

so-called marvelous competition

in the last three decades.

EASILY.

Well worth the initial 2.99

- or the back issue price, now!

Of all the contributors -meaning wordsmiths *and* artists, both-

to have ever chronicled the tall tales of this often-maligned,

tormented and downright tragic character...

the names "Steve Skeates" and "Bob Haney" and "David Michelinie"

and "Jim Aparo" and "Don Newton" and "Peter David"

come to mind, just for starters...

to have it be Tony Bedard... Adrian Syaf... and Vicente Cifuentes

(yes - we still think DC goofed on the spelling of Syaf's name:

"Ardian" it cannot be! That's our story and we are sticking to it!)

to be the guys who made him -FINALLY- all that he could be...

well - it shocks.

Of course, the entire fandom, industry *and* four-color world

would have been equally stunned if it had been, say...

Luciano Pimentel... Jose Pimentel...

(oh gosh - what would have DC done to the spelling of MY name...!)

{And what of the accusations

of neo-nepotism!!!}

with a friendly assist by Art Thibert...

Phil Jimenez... Craig Russell...

or, perhaps, George Perez himself

(we can dream, eh)

who would have made AQUAMAN all that he could be

and should have always been -

way back then...!

But that was not approved by a certain Doodles man...

It's a long story.

One for another blog.

This is about... this story.

And suffice it to say:

"Flashpoint" would never have been such a

stunning display

of pure unbridled chaos

were it not for this chapter right here:

EMPEROR AQUAMAN

by Tony Bedard.

Sure, the entire thing was chaperoned

and masterminded by one

Geoff Johns ---

he who has been behind every hit

and every miss (mostly hits, to be fair)

perpetrated by DC

over the last 10 years

already; and this particular hit

is one of the few major coups

that they stand to realize,

with the DCEU ---

once it is adapted into film...?

But one must give Caesar all of his laurels -

and the official writing credits go to Bedard here

- which is infinitely better than the alternate scenario

of seeing them attributed to a

egocentric all-over-the-place

control freak like...

No, not Batman!

Geoff Johns!

How ironic:

A DIANA contributing to the demise

of ANOTHER DIANA!

Diana Egea did an *awesome* job too;

AND EMPEROR AQUAMAN SHOULD

HAVE FINISHED OFF THE DAMNED

AMAZON RIGHT THERE AND THEN!!!

But Johns had other ideas...

Blame The Preditor.

Always.

Aquaman

is an awesome hero

~ and although he's

been well-served

by creative teams

over the years

(both writers & artists)

people tend to remember

only the times

when he was NOT...

THIS saga ~ though

an Elseworlds saga,

for all intents and purposes,

should be remembered

always as THE saga

that showed the world

what would happen to it

if *AQUAMAN* was

ever pushed too far...

You saw beyond the names

with Captain NEMO

and

WINNETOU

and

TARZAN

...

so, likewise, you will

learn to look beyond

the medium-inspired,

Superman-derived

monicker he was given

by Paul Norris

and preditor Mort Weisinger...

AND YOU WILL BOW

BEFORE THE

EMPEROR!

🌊🫧🌊

It's All About A... Big Break

2018-05-27T20:01:00.002-07:00

The 2018 Big Break Regular Deadline is now open! Submit your scripts by 6/18! Are you ready for your Big Break?
Learn more here: https://t.co/rgX9OIYtmQ #scriptchat #amwriting #bigbreak pic.twitter.com/M7gMHU0ZJe
— Final Draft (@finaldraftinc) April 11, 2018

retweeted by our best pals at

Jungle Software!

America: LAST...

2018-05-12T16:39:00.000-07:00