The Public Factory

Swiped from boingboing Submitterator: A look at the man behind the IT Crowd.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:07:00 +0000

I live in the States. I love the BBC. I love the IT Crowd. And even though I am a writer, I often times forget about the writers behind a lot of my favorite shows. So it's always nice to be reminded of that. Also, apparently it's one guy writing this show. One dude. It's one six episodes a series, but still. One guy writing everything!

via Boing Boing.

Punch and Judy: A study in violence.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:04:00 +0000

My parents' generation (the baby boomers) often get upset at the horrible violence that's on TV. What could that crap be doing to the children? Oh! Think of the children! For a time, I just shook my head and agreed. But then the internet came along and I started to discover gems like Punch and Judy. A show my father remembers well and talks fondly of. I don't think he realizes the horrible, horrible madness that was hand puppetry then.

Splinters: Surfing in Papua New Guinea

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:00:00 +0000

If you've been reading this blog at all then you know that I love documentaries. But what you probably don't know nor do man people in my real life know is that I love surfing. I own a surfboard. I watch surf movies to relax. I really love it.

The problem though is that I am a landlocked fool in the heart of the Midwest. Indiana doesn't offer much surf spots unless I go wild and decide to hit the probably disease filled lakes in the north. So I have to say that I love it when a film comes along that combines both my love of cultural documentaries and surfing. This looks like an awesome doc and I can not wait for it to be released.

From the site:

Splinters is the first feature-length documentary film about the evolution of indigenous surfing in the developing nation of Papua New Guinea. In the 1980s an intrepid Australian pilot left behind a surfboard in the seaside village of Vanimo. Twenty years on, surfing is not only a pillar of village life but also a means to prestige. With no access to economic or educational advancement, let alone running water and power, village life is hermetic. A spot on the Papua New Guinea national surfing team is the way to see the wider world; the only way.

Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

I was introduced to Wes Anderson in early college/late high school. I don't remember how or where or exactly when it happened, but I know the movie. It was Rushmore. That strangely European, magically American film of teenage wonderment. It hooked me right away.

After that, I found myself drawn to movies normally out of my comfort zone. The Criterion Collection became a new friend. Before that I liked movies. I watched lots of movies. But they were mostly bad B-movies and weird 1930s serials. I still watched those and kept them in my life, but I graduated to French directors and Japanese epics after that. Though I never seemed to have the money for most of the films I wanted. It was down to renting, which is fine and will be my way for the foreseeable future.

Anyway, I rewatched Life Aquatic with a friend of mine before December his last year. I didn't realize how much of that movie I had forgotten. It made me question the memories I held for all of Anderson's films. Such a great excuse to revisit them.

But despite my fandom for them like most cultural connoisseurs, the greatest thing for me to take away from Wes Anderson was the ability to bring something to a higher art form. To elevate by taking everything seriously and sincerely. Especially the whimsy. When I started this blog, I thought about my favorite books, my paintings, and favorite movies. I wanted this to reach to that. It is most definitely not there yet, but it's a goal to have as I write and post every day. How would I do that with a blog? I think it is possible. Just look at something as simple and once sidelined as crafts. Now, you have Etsy and an entire legion of crafters creating sincere and serious whimsical works.

So as I watch the new trailer, I can't help but feel excited. Excited as I was after watching Rushmore for the first time. And every time a new Anderson movie has come out. I will most definitely be writing a review once this hits the theaters. And possibly revisiting the old ones in the next few months now that I have them in my head.

via The Daily What.

Boycotting Girl Scouts Continued...

noreply@blogger.com (ryan huser) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:01:00 +0000

So, I just read Phil's take on the video about boycotting Girl Scout cookies because the GSUSA (Girl Scouts of the United States of America) allows transgender children to join and I agree with his sentiment. If a child is born MAAB (male assigned at birth), but self-identifies as a girl and wants to live as a girl, I don't understand why there is an issue with this child joining Girl Scouts or participating in other groups and organizations specifically geared toward girls. This child is a girl because she says she is a girl, end of story.

After watching the video, it's clear to me that the person speaking in this video doesn't really know what it means for a person to be transgender. Drawing parallels between a transgender girl, or as I like to say, girl, joining the Girl Scouts and a cisgender boy wanting to join Girl Scouts is way off base. It is a completely different scenario and most people are intelligent enough to realize that.

I cannot stress enough that trans* people aren't pretending to be something they are not to join your club or your organization. Trans* people aren't scary sexual deviants that are trying to break into the Girl Scouts to have sex with your children. Transgender people exist in this world and more often than not are just trying to carve a life for themselves where they can just exist in a way that is comfortable to them. Trans* people do not need to apologize for occupying space and joining social organizations that are aligned with their gender identity. If anyone is giving the Girl Scouts of the United States a bad name, it is the girl scouts that are behind the group making this video, Honest Girl Scouts. Take a look around their website and you will find ideas even more alarming than their take on trans* kids joining Girl Scouts. They are anti-women, anti-civil rights for GLBT people, and they are spewing a bunch of hateful, ignorant garbage.

Boycotting Girl Scouts over Transgenders is a Load of Poop

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:34:00 +0000

I just watched the video of a girl scout asking for a boycott of selling cookies until transgendered females are removed from the organization. It was strange.

There are some problems that people can nitpick on this video. But there is just one major problem that I am having with it. That problem is the girl scout's inability to recognize a male to female (mtf) transgender as a woman. She makes the often uneducated assumption that trans people are simply playing dress up or messing around. That the boys who are wishing to enter the Girl Scouts are doing so as secretive perverted spies or something.

Nope. Wrong.

Trangendered individuals are identifying themselves as a gender they were not born as and are trying to be a part of. You know what these kids are doing? They're wanting to be a part of girl culture and be accepted as a girl. It's not some weird conspiracy. And what are the fail safes to keep some creepy boys out of it? Well, the parents vouching for them seems pretty good. Anyone that is determined enough to sit down with their parents and talk to them about identifying as a girl when she was born as a boy should be seen as a girl. What parent would just give the okay for some cis(comfortable in skin) guy to infiltrate the Girl Scouts? None, I would hope. It's deceitful and wrong. But a parent saying, "We've talked and she is identifying as a girl." Seems totally reasonable to me.

Girl Scouts are for girls and a transgender girl is still a girl.

So the problem lies with this girl scout coming to terms with the fact that transgenders are not about cloak and dagger bullshit. Rather, they are about trying to find a way to translate who they are in their heads into who they are in the world.

Now, I'm no expert. I have one ftm (female to male) friend. So most of what I know, I know from talking and hanging out with him. So if I said or used labels that inappropriate or wrong let me know. Now, I'm hoping I can get my bro to add his two cents to this post sometime in the next day or two.

Leave any comments below.

via Jezebel.

Horror Host Svengoolie Shrew Opening

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:56:00 +0000

I grew up in Northwest Indiana. One of the few great things about that was receiving Chicago television with just an antenna. Thankfully, Chicago has a great history of local television. And one of the best and from what I hear, still thriving, is Svengoolie. A throwback to the late night horror hosts, Svengoolie was often on during the mid-Saturday mornings competing with stuff like Animaniacs and boring judge shows. How did he make it?

Svengoolie is not the original Svengoolie. There was one before him. When the current took over, he called himself Son of Svengoolie until the original told him he was grown up enough to take on the full name. Thus, the modern Svengoolie was born. The host has a great sense of humor and doesn't take himself too seriously. He leans into his cheap production values and just rolls with it, making for a great watch, not matter what.

I tried once to recreate this with my cousins using Youtube videos rather than public domain movies. I think we got pretty close. If I didn't live 7 hours away from them, I would have totally made it a weekly thing. Is anyone else doing this kind of stuff? I know of a few like the Ghouligans and Ms Monster but that's it. This genre is perfect for an internet audience. Someone get on it!

Check out Dr. Graveman's Internetz Basement. Directed by your truly!

Reviewing Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

I literal just finished watching his movie, and I have to be up front. This is the first movie in a long time that kept my stomach in knots in one of those really special kind of ways. First a short lesson: taqwacore is Islamic punk kids. Also, this is the documentary not the theatrical film.

I first heard of taqwacore from the book published out of Soft Skull Press. I didn't read the book as I was a uber-poor college kid when I found it. But I always kept it in my mind to check out. Then Netflix (yes, I use Netflix a lot since I have only internet)...Anyway, Netflix suggested the documentary to me a few days ago so I locked it in.

And I have to say that as a former punk, this movie had everything I wanted. It had a group of kids in a bus, driving across country and playing gigs. Along the way they piss people off. And this is where the knots come in. I've never been one for confrontation. I was a more sedate punk in high school. So seeing these radicals rejecting every authority figure around them was intense. I was just dreading the giant fight between them and a few good ol' boys. But despite a few police searches, that never happened.

Now, the beauty of this film is that it doesn't break down the Islamic laws that each punk is rebelling against. But it let's you learn about the individuals and their stances on religion and punk ethics which is wonderful. Because the biggest problem with punk rock and Islam is that they are often lumped into one idea either from people inside or outside the movement. And the movie addressed that right away.

Half way through it felt like it just ended, but it pulled a Stripes on us kinda turned into a second movie where it followed a few of the punks over to Pakistan where they were trying to get a foothold with their style of music in the country. This drove deeper and became more personal. Where the first half was about an idea and a movement, this was a few individuals looking for something. And in the end you don't know if they find it, but it gives you hope.

Now, I cannot say anything about their stance or view on Islam as I barely have a hold of the religion I was raised in, but the intensity and the truth of what they were doing comes through in this film. It gave me hope in a lot of ways about youth, music, and, most of all, that punk is still very much relevant.

I highly suggested checking out if you're into punk or religion or culture in anyway. Me, I can't get enough of that stuff.

Any suggestions on what I should check out next? Let me know in the comments below.

The Kominas featured in the movie.

Troll 2: The Best Worst Movie of All Time

noreply@blogger.com (ryan huser) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Anyone that knows anything about B-movies will tell you that Troll 2 is a cinematic gem. Filmed in Utah in 1990, Troll 2 is the very loose sequel to Troll (1986) starring Sonny Bono, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and that kid from The Neverending Story, Noah Hathaway. I’m not even sure Troll 2 can count as a sequel since Troll is actually about trolls while Troll 2 stars goblins in burlap sacks, but that’s part of the magic to this movie; nothing makes much sense. Highlights of the film include a sheriff named Gene Freak, a sex scene so hot and steamy that an ear of corn turns into popcorn, and a whole lot of unintentional homoeroticism.What more could you ask for in a film?

Joe Sacco's Kushinagar

noreply@blogger.com (tkenning) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:07:00 +0000

Growing up, I loved comics. I still do, but I’ve kind of left their usual subject matter behind. The idea of Spider-Man still captivates me, but while the actual stories being told may be plenty creative, they just seem so irrelevant to my life as a twenty-something who’s curious about the wider world.

Enter Joe Sacco. With a background in indie comics and journalism, Sacco combines detailed and appealingly stylized art with on the ground reporting to create some of the best nonfiction around. Comics or otherwise. His latest is called Kushinagar. Since it focuses on rural poverty in a modern day India that is still ridden with caste divisions, some have called it a departure from his usual work which focuses on violence in such locales as the West Bank, Gaza, Iraq, and Bosnia.

If anything, Kushinagar represents a logical continuation of Sacco’s life’s work. A study of poverty is the story of violence, even if there are no guns or bombs present. The Dalits that populate Sacco’s latest piece are just as twisted and gnarled – both physically and psychologically – from their experiences as a Palestinian in the West Bank. This form of violence is perhaps more insidious – more horrible – because of its pervasive invisibility. Sacco’s storytelling, pacing, and art is better than ever, as is his evocative writing. When Dalit mothers and father speak of keeping their emaciated children home from school so that they can scrounge in rat’s nests to find grain for the family to eat.

Joe Sacco’s Kushinagar is not uplifting, but it is thought-provoking and eye-opening. It stands with his best work as an exploration of oppression, resistance, and the more challenging depths of the human experience.

Whether you’re new to Sacco’s work or you are a longtime fan, check out Kushinagar now, online and for free.

Evolution of the Hipster

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:54:00 +0000

Puppetry often can speak volumes on subject that not many other mediums can. That is the case here with the Evolution of Hipsters. They take you through a thorough and in-depth look at hipsters and where they come from. So in-depth that I feel that I cannot add too much to the subject. Please watch and enjoy.

via Puppetvision.

Shaq, Queen, and a puppet.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:30:00 +0000

Title says it all.

Black Metal Doc Review: Until the Light Takes Us

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:16:00 +0000

Until the LIght Takes Us is a 2008 documentary on the black metal movement in Norway that spawned a series of church burnings and murders.

The movie has pretty compelling subject matter and the directors match their cuts, music, and pacing to it. Ambience of the movie is stark and cold and, though, no frightening, it still has a sense of gloom that hangs over it throughout the film.

However, I have to say this film didn't capture anything interesting or new that I could have picked up through Wikipedia. It really didn't seem to reveal the humanity or lack of in each of the characters. And this could be because the characters were cold and calculating in the same way that a movie starlet or politician is. They seemed to have the right thing to say at the right moment.

There was also a subplot threaded through of a Norwegian artist creating works based on the black metal movement. I couldn't follow why he was there. He seemed to be there to show the commercialization of the genre and how it has fallen from an underground and political music to something that caters to the masses, but that's after I really think about it. Here in America, I expect commercialization not to come from a painter or a sculpture but to hit us over the head in the form of movies, pop covers, and actual commercials. So it may have just been a cultural mistranslation that I didn't pick up on.

Overall, I think this flick is a good watch. It has some really interesting moments and let's you into a genre that isn't so well known here in the states. And we all know how I love those kinds of docs. It's on Netflix, but I also found it on Youtube. Take a watch and let me know what you think.

Dooby Duck. WTF.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:00:00 +0000

There were three series of these made in England. That's three seasons over here. Three seasons. Dooby Duck went from a disco to a truck to a Euro-tour. Let that all sink in as you watch this.

ThunderAnt: Before Portlandia

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Hulu currently has an insider's look at Portlandia. I posted the video above. This is not breaking news or anything, but I discovered after watching the episode that Portlandia started as a webseries called ThunderAnt, which is a pretty kickass title. So I went to hunt the show down.

And I found the site for the series. I was super stoked. However, none of the links worked. All of the little shorts that were filmed were set to private on their Vimeo account. So I became super sad and turned to my only true internet friend. Youtube. I found a bunch of them online and gathered them up right here. You can check them out after the jump.

1994 Otaku documentary is a time capsule

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:00:00 +0000

Stereotype

I just watched the 1994 French documentary Otaku: fils de l'empire virtuel on Netflix. I gotta say it was one of the stranger docs I've watched in my life. Which is saying a lot since most of my movie watching is dedicated to documentaries. Why is this so strange? Well, it was filmed in 1994 and about an emerging subculture in Japan.

The film is there at the very beginning of Otaku culture. Common Japanese on the street are asked what they think of Otaku and very few are able to give an answer. They were that unfamiliar with the term at the time. Even the Otaku that were interviewed were more like proto-Otaku. They seemed to have an idea what it meant for them to be Otaku, but they were more interested in just doing what they do rather than have labels put on them. Kinda like the hipster.

I've come across some comments from self-described Otakus from America, and there were many who had a hard time getting through the film. They thought it was boring or represented Otakus poorly. Which I have to agree with. This film is a little slow and filled with strange cuts and shots. And the narrator moves from a distant POV to a first person narrating her journety in Japan. Something really only for those who are interested in documentaries, Japanese cultures, or cultural studies.

And I can see how modern day Otakus would find the representations as offensive. The Otakus featured here are often lonely, super obsessed, and unemployed adult children. Is this because the film-makers sought only these kind of Otakus out or is it because these were the beginning stages of what he wide array of Otaku culture would grow out of? I can't answer that. The thing with documentaries is we only see what the camera captured and what the editor decided to leave in. And that's fine. I think it's far better than Otakus talking about what it was like in 1994. That would be even a smaller sliver of the emergence of this culture.

Go check this out at Netflix. It's a pretty good watch for nerds like me who enjoy seeing subcultures represented. And for something a little more modern and Japanese, I would recommend Japanorama from the BBC and Jonathon Ross. Or for a Japanese look at Otaku, check out the anime Genshiken. If you've got any more suggestions let me know. Finally, here's one of the two clips I could find from the film itself.

Mika Miko: Oh look, I found this great band. ARGH, they broke up!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:21:00 +0000

I've been out of the music side of life for a few years now. Just not feeling. I think it has to do with getting old. I little known fact that I am making up now, the older you get the more your ears close. But I've been wanting to get back into it. So I started stumbling around the internet. Looking at places that point people new music.

And I found Mika Miko. A group of teenagers who sing crappy, punk music. It took me back to my high school days and I was so stoked, but I found that I was too late.

In 2010, they broke up, Disbanded. Whatever. This used to happen often. I find someone interesting, Someone cool. And then I realize that they are no more. It happened with the Monkees. It happened with Nirvana. It happened with Beat happening.

And now, I sit here looking around for the Mika Miko music. And it will be good to find there stuff and listen to it, but it's less exciting because of the finite adventure I know that awaits. And I'll never have a chance to find out they're playing live and then bail because I was too lazy to travel 60 miles to see them. That joy is lost. And now I must find another band. And another. And try to figure out all this dry, boring crap kids are calling music these days.

Cats, Evolution, and a missed opportunity by Disney

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:06:00 +0000

Disney is filled with feral cats. It's true! When I first heard about this, my mind went wild. all I could think about was a group of street thug cats terrorizing anyone that would be caught after dark in the enchanted kingdom. But after I settled down, I started to think about the genetic possibilities.

For the past year, I've been obsessed with watching Cats 101 and Dogs 101 on Animal Planet. The reason being that I want a pet but live in a pet-free apartment so this satisfies my animal interests for now. The thing that I didn't think I would be so interested in after all that tv watching was evolution. And genetics. Which I've been interested in with cloning and gene manipulation but never thought about the old, in-out, in-out breeding stuff.

So what am I going on about with this breeding and Disney? Well, I wondered if Disney had kept there cats isolated long enough with as little outside influence into the gene pool, had the feral cats developed into some kind one of a kind cat breed only available at Disney? After a little digging, the answer is a sad "no". They spay and neuter all their cats. Which is, yes, responsible and humane and all that stuff.

But come one! Disney, you had the chance to create a naturally-selected breed of cat that comes exclusively from Disney. I don't know how long it would take for that to happen or even if it was possible. But the chance that it could happen is just fascinating to me. Hell, I would even be okay with some directing in development of a new breed. Imagine the Disney Kingdom, built on the back of a mouse, home to exclusive, designer cats. Ridiculous.

You missed a golden opportunity, Disney. I think you know that. So forget the responsible thing and do the cool thing. Call it the 'Disney Exclusive' or the 'Walt'. Those are some great cat names. And it would give you yet another pie to put your finger in.

Tell me I'm not crazy to think this is a great idea, dear reader?!

A new direction in writing

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:19:00 +0000

I gave myself a break for the month of December as I was having a few issues with my writing lately. And I've come back renewed. I have decided to move further away from fiction and work in non-fiction. And move away some from online publishing and concentrate on blogging. I've tried my hand at it in the past with some less than stellar results, but I think this will be good.

The reason this time will be different? One: I am not writing about stuff I don't care about. Every time I've written a blog it's been on a hot topic. A topic that others can get excited about but not me. So this blog will be about what I like. Which is a lot of different things.

Two: I'll be bringing some friends in. They all have pretty busy schedules so I don't know how many times that can pop in for the week, but just the idea that there are others along for the ride really puts me at ease. So making this a collaborative effort will, I think, push the whole thing forward.

Well, I hope any readers out there enjoy where this is headed. And what will I be writing about? Well, anything interesting. Art, comics, music, movies, ideas, events, whatever strikes my fancy.

Write What You Know. I Mean, What You Want

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:16:00 +0000

People often say that the key to success in writing is writing what you know. Which seems like a strange idea considering all the science fiction and fantasy work that is floating our there. So I've come up with something else. Write what you want. Write what you want to be. What you want to do. Where you want to go.

This does something to the writer. Something more than writing what you know. It stimulates your imagination. Think back to when you were a kid and you would think about all the things that you wanted to do and all the places you wanted to go. It's was endless. It had a horizon that you never thought you would get to but that didn't matter as you'd keep running towards it anyway. Why? Because it was exciting and new and uncharted and filled with all these ideas and desires. Filled with what you wanted.

And this should be your mindset when you go out to write. Writing what you know limits you so much. It's like creating what you know. Or researching what you know. Facebook, Youtube, and Apple would not be around if their creators stuck with what they knew. They created what they wanted. And vaccines, tech, and every discovery would be lost if their founders stuck with what they knew. They were looking for something they wanted. Some cure or device that they had in their head. Creativity is all about the uncharted!

Now, these ideas in our heads hardly ever turn out the way we would want them to. But that's okay because combining what we want with our current abilities and that strange magic of creation makes for some interesting and beautiful products. I mean, I've been wanting some cats, but I live in a pet free apartment. So I decided to start writing about cats. My interest in adventure series combined with inability to write very long pieces came together with The Serialized Adventures of Marlo & Norway. Something I didn't expect. But still something quite exciting.

So don't worry about writing what you know. Sit there and think hard about what you want. What story do you want to tell? What story would you want to read? Sit and figure that out then start writing it. You might actual find you've stumbled on to something grand. Something truly you and truly unique. And in the end, you may come out with the book that you not only always wanted but, also, always needed.

KDP Select? Amazon Lending? I don't know...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 17:25:00 +0000

I just received an email from Amazon detailing the KDP Select which is the lending program that has been in the works. Here are some highlights of what the email said:

When you make any of your titles exclusive to the Kindle Store for at least 90 days, those with US rights will automatically be included in the Kindle Owners' Lending Library and can earn a share of a monthly fund. The monthly fund for December 2011 is $500,000 and will total at least $6 million in 2012. If you haven't checked it out already, the Kindle Owners' Lending Library is a collection of books that eligible US Amazon Prime members can borrow for free once a month with no due dates.

Your share of the monthly fund is based on your enrolled titles' share of the total number of borrows across all participating KDP titles in the Kindle Owners' Lending Library. For example, if total borrows of all participating KDP titles are 100,000 in December and your book was borrowed 1,500 times, you will earn $7,500 in additional royalties from KDP Select in December. Enrolled titles will remain available for sale to any customer in the Kindle Store and you will continue to earn your regular royalties on those sales.

Now, I am all for lending and borrowing of books. It's part of my librarian background. I mean, I make all my stuff DRM free for a reason. But I have a problem with this. First, the exclusivity of the deal. Second, the share seems very little. At least for indie authors. 100,000 titles being shared in one month seems low considering how many of us authors are eager to share work and make money. Then we have to compete with how many times our books is borrowed vs those of the bigger guys or more well known! Seems ridiculous.

It's just that don't feel this will offer me anything. It removes my titles from other stores for at least 90 days. That's just to be in it! And the shares is just weird. Splitting 500,000$/m with several hundred thousand authors seems rough to me. I may be completely wrong on this. No one has ever said my business sense was keen. But I don't think this is for me. Though, I will be watching this with a keen eye.

What your thoughts? Any writers out there going to give this a try? Dip a toe or dive on in?

Another Artist's Struggle with His Work

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:45:00 +0000

You've heard it before. The one thing that holds back a writer is his/her own lazy butt. It's no different here. I have a few things I can use as good excuses, mostly my grad school stuff. But there has been something else that has been holding me back from going forward (something other than grad school) with any of my current projects. And that's something I call 'The Importance'.

The Importance is the why I should be writing and publishing, the reason I think my work should be out there. In the past I didn't think too much about it too much, but in the last few years it has weighed heavy on me. Now, I look at what I am writing and wonder if it will have an impact on anybody. The current piece I am working on is a fantasy novel about some orcs, elves, gnomes, and goblins in a world run by money, drugs, and politics. I thought it was a cool idea. Something genre bending and different. Up my alley.

But in the last few weeks, I have just stared at the pages. Adding here and there. Forcing myself to work on it. With no passion which usually means the words lay flat on the paper. I struggle so much with it because I don't know if it will contribute anything to society. If it will matter. If it will make people think. If it will have The Importance. I look at people going to OWS or spreading info on sustainability and I am here writing silly stories about orcs.

My favorite writers come out of the Sixties and New Journalism. A time of activism which showed in their work to varying degrees. And a method that told true stories that got to the heart of things. And I've always wanted to be doing that. But I've never been much of an activist or a reporter. I make up stories well. I live in a fantasy place in my head. But I've never been completely happy there. So I've been sitting around the last weekend trying to break down everything I've been doing and why I've been doing it to find where my work truly belongs. And what truly belongs in it. And what is important to have in my work.

I wonder how many other writers or artists care about the impact, The Importance, that their work will have on society...Probably not as many I would hope. Well, not outside people reading it and loving it and buying it. Which is also what I want. But I want something else as well. So this December I will spend it working a little bit on the orc story (probably less and less) but, also, look over my options. See where my head belongs. And try to find that line of thought that will carry great importance in my work for my readers and also for me.

How I dealt with my first bad review

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 01:57:00 +0000

Strange short story/novella. Written from reporters perspective, who is from a world other than earth (alien),it is in a newspaper article format. Personally it seemed like more of a journal entry. The main focus being on cloning. It describes the rise and fall of Jax, who sets off certain events in history by cloning himself over and over again. The second entry is a woman, who is initially against cloning, but personal circumstances make her uncertain. I have got to ask: Where is the writer going with this, what was the point? In what way was the reporter and his orign important? The writer needs to go back and look at the objective of the product he produced.I received a free copy of this book for my review.

The above 2 out of 5 stars review from Amazon is for Clones : Gangs & Such. A little scifi novella that is being reviewed through BookRooster. A company that gives out copies of your books for a fee to honest reviewers. Which is something I wanted. Honest reviews. And that's what I got.

Now the obvious thing to say was that I was angry at this review. Angry, at first, because he didn't get it. He didn't understand. And I paced the floor thinking about what I could say that would sway him. Dreamed about a way to make him feel foolish for his blunder. But it's obvious in the language that my story has been dismissed. The best I can hope for is that it burrowed deep into the back of his mind, and he is thinking about it. And it is slowly growing on him. But as a consumer I know better. That rarely happens.

Then I was angry at myself for putting something crappy out there. That I had failed as a writer. So I laid down in bed and thought about my work. If I really did all I could to see it finished properly. And I thought I had. I re-read the work and I got it. But then again, I am the writer. I should get it. It's all in my head. I've seen it all unfold over and over again. So I went through what I was writing currently. And I'm too close. And I can't affor an editor so I have to be ruthless myself. And I think I have the eye. But in the end I don't really know. I just get out what I have to get out and hope it connects with someone. But I say that now. Before it was miserable feelings.

And those feelings stayed with me through the night. The anger which mixed with sadness and self-doubt. It wasn't much fun. I barely slept. But in the morning I got up and started writing again. For a few reasons. 1) I've made art before. Whether it has been music or a drawing. And I've received reviews before. So my skin has thickened a bit. 2) Writing has been my go-to for making myself feel better. It always has been. I have stacks of journals all over the place filled with ideas and half stories. Usually written when I need to get my thoughts out. And 3) I want to do this. This writing for a living thing. I don't even want Rowling-level cash. I'd be happy with making as much as the first year teacher at the moment. But writing and putting it out there and people reading it is something I want in my life. And being able to do it more often would be great. That's what I want.

And I'm sure more bad reviews will be headed my way. Which would be great because that means people will be buying my work. But I have to remember that I can't let these words stop my own words. That I will have anger and dispare and self-doubt. Always. But that I must work through it. And past it. And onward. Or it will all build up like a dam and stop any progress. And who know? Somewhere down the line I might write something worth writing home about. And I will say "Hurray!" and then get started on my next book.

I read everywhere that you just need to keep pushing. You just need to keep doing what you are doing and at some point it will happed. I don't know how much I believe that. I can't be honest and say that this is the reason I will tell another story. It's not. But I don't think that matters. It's whatever keeps you writing. Whatever gets you motivated. I'm new at this game. Just started putting my prose out there a few months ago. So I would feel weird trying to make a post that would inspire you like that ones I have read on more experienced self-publishers. But maybe putting this post out there will help others who are just starting to publish. Or starting to write. Or starting to do whatever it is they do. And know that we are all beginners at some point. We don't come up roses right out. And I re-read that review and I remember that. Perhaps in a year I'll look at that review and feel lucky it was so tame. Or that I had a review at all! But in the mean time, I'll get back to writing my weird little stories and hope they stick to someone's heart a little better than this. And you should too.

Using Creative Commons to Explore the Power of Stories.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 00:43:00 +0000

The Public Factory has decided to start living up to its name. We are now licensing all of our works under Creative Commons. And making things public. This is nothing new to e-books. There have been people out there who have been licensing under Creative Commons for a while. Ex: Cory Doctorow. But that was as long as no one made money off of the books or created derivative works. Which is still an awesome license. And why we love Creative Commons' flexibility.

But we want to really push some of the ideas behind Creative Commons. Especially in writing. So we are now allowing you to create derivative works. In fact, we encourage it. Also, sell those works. Try to make a living writing. That's what we're trying to do, too! Now, we don't want you copying our books and reselling them. That is not what this is about. This is about expanding our universe. And giving readers and writers a place to grow and play in.

As we mentioned before, we grew up reading comics. One of the best things about comics was seeing the shared universe. Watching characters coming in and out. And that's what we're trying to do here. We want our characters and ideas to be building blocks and backdrops to launch your own characters and your own stories.

The Internet has allowed for all kinds of ideas and business models to be tried. This may be a failure. We don’t know. Trust us. We've been sitting on this for a while. A little scared. As in very, very scared. But in the end, it just felt right. And if 'free' can sell books then why not 'shared'? Reading, writing, and cross-referencing ideas, when you think about it, just sounds fun. Well, for us, story nerds, anways.

So check out our books. And see what you like and what you think you can add. Then write your own story. And share it. Let us know too!

All our rules are right here if you want to check them out. The link can also be found at the top of the website under Creative Commons.

And if you're just interested in learning more about Creative Commons, check out their site.

Why I keep my ebook prices low.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 00:41:00 +0000

There has been many an article written about the good or the bad that comes with the low prices of ebooks. And we can see valid points from each side. But in the end we only care about what we are doing here at The Public Factory. We price most of our books at 99 cents. And if we have collections in the future or longer works they'll probably be at the 2.99$ mark unless something dramatic happens. Yes, we'd like to make a living from our writing. Pay off some student loans. But we just don't feel comfortable selling at higher prices.

Anyway, as I said just a few sentences ago here at The Public Factory we are trying to keep everything super low and super affordable. Why? Because we want these pieces read by anyone with the ability to access ebooks. In a perfect world we would be able to send out cheap physical copies as well. But we can't so we strive for cheap digital works. And why besides feeding the minds of readers everywhere?

For us it comes down to pulp magazines, aka the pulps before that dime novels and before that penny dreadfuls. Most of us here love literature. And more than that. We love pop culture. And we love adventure and weird stories. And amazing characters. No one here grew up with pulps. They came later. We knew their next of kin, comic books though.

Before comics became 4$ each they were good inexpensive forms of entertainment. Monthly and short. These were our pulps. Looking at the history of comics and their heroes we found that before them pulp heroes such as The Shadow, The Avenger and Doc Savage were making their rounds in super cheap serialized books. These books came out frequently and were all over the place. Magazine racks were saturated with pulps in their heyday. Competition was fierce and it was about how much great entertainment you could put out at how low a price.

People now are worried about what cheap ebooks are doing to sales. And the satuartion of the market. That good authors and books will just be lost in the ocean of cheap crap. But why be worried about that? Why not embrace it! We have it easy compared to the pulp publishers of old. Low overhead. Small staff. And easy distribution. Imagine supporting a publishing company with tons of editors and writers and a warehouse and monthly printing by selling 15 cent magazines. Even in the 1930's that's a lot of magazines to sell.

So what am I getting at on this post? That maybe we shouldn't worry too much about cheap ebooks. Let the old literary industry price their books at 6.99$ up. It's fine with me. I still pay those prices for writers I really admire. But let those of us who are into writing fun and weird stories do that. And don't worry about us selling low and cheapening the craft. We are the starting point to the love of reading. We got our love of stories from comics. Before that our parents had the pulps. Before that our grandparents had dime novels. We're just continuing the tradition.

In your eyes equating ourselves to pulps may seem backwards. And perhaps to you we may not seem like much. But we are. We are genre and we are strange and we are something to entertain. And hopefully along the way something that makes you think. Something that sticks with you and makes you want to pick up the next book out there. Cause in the end we'll take our cues not from the huge publishers like Random House. But from places like Street and Smith Publication. And if the history of cheap entertainment can teach us anything it's that there's room for both the cheap and the expensive, all things inbetween and unthought of. Cause the good books will rise to the top despite the price. And hopefully take their readers along for an amazing ride all the while.