Friday With Fury

Fury Friday! Make sure to check out their Tumblr, if you have the time.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Music Thursday

It's late, but it's still pretty great. Promise.

And I apologize for rhyming.

Sexism, Misogyny, and Barbie. Oh My.

I don't know how much of this whole SFWA debacle you guys have followed. Maybe none, maybe all. For me, I'm one of the people on the outside, looking in and, from what I can see, it sure doesn't look too pretty in there. From what I've read, while the issue didn't begin and end with the comments made by Mike Resnick and Barry Malzberg, they seem to be the final straw. With the cherry and whip cream topping being the comments praising Barbie, yes, the plastic illustrious and completely practical role model, for maintaining quiet dignity the way a woman should.

I don't think I need to point out that Barbie's plastic lips were made from a mold that have them permanently sealed shut, right?

As of June 5th, the editor for the bulletin, the person who oversaw the article by Resnick and Malzberg, submitted her resignation. I have mixed feelings about this. While she was the one who gave approval for the articles, she isn't the one who originally put the thoughts to paper and submitted it as a legitimate conversation piece. She's not without fault, but I feel that, at this point in time, there's definitely enough blame and consequence to go around that it doesn't need to fall squarely on her shoulders. At the same time, this is a professional organization and I think it's fair for us as a group to expect better.

In that thread of thought, I work in a male dominated environment. A professional business male dominated environment. And by male dominated environment, I mean that I'm the only woman in an office full of men. By all the standards and expectations that could be set forth by the views articulated in the article by Resnick and Malzberg, I would be the 'lady in the office.' I'm not. I'm Bryna. I'm the person who will beat sense into the computer system, or at least have some creative swearing while attempting to do so. I'm the one that you come to with all graphics questions and requests, even the ones that are kind of on the insane side and prove that you know just enough to be dangerous. I'm the one that has your back when the dragon we're going up against today comes knocking at your door, just like you have my back. I'm your coworker, your member in arms in the good fight. I'm not defined by my gender, but rather by my merits and qualifications, which shouldn't be that novel of a concept.

The publishing industry at large is a dinosaur and the article by Resnick and Malzberg demonstrates the prehistoric views aren't contained just to their publishing views (ebook versus traditional publishing and the whole pricing model). Thankfully, there is a bright spot and it's unfortunate this bright spot has to come on the tail of two people acting like they just stumbled out of the primordial ooze at the beginning of the evolution chain. The bright spot I speak of is the immediate response by the writing community at large, a community that struck down the beliefs shown by Resnick and Malzberg and, instead, demonstrated a modern attitude while supporting their fellow writers. Jim Hines has compiled a nice round-up of these thoughts and reactions that are worth checking out.

As I said, it's unfortunate it took such a gross misstep in such a public forum, but it's reassuring to know that you're not alone. Instead, you have an army of awesome people right behind you.

Memos From Fury Friday

 

Continuing in the vein from last week, here's another Memo From Fury to kick off your weekend.

Weekly Music

Weekly music time! I thought this song, "Welcome Home" by Radical Face, was a great one to carry us through today and into the weekend. Granted, it's not exactly a new and unknown one, but it's still a great one.

What Can I Say But the Abbreviated and Highly Edited Truth

First off, I want to state this:

Tumblr has a page for EVERYTHING.

Seriously. Anything you could imagine, I'm pretty sure Tumblr has it. And if they don't, give them five minutes. They'll get right on that shit. Cracked.com even has a post about the random pages of Tumblr.

Second, what led me to the Tumblr revelation which wasn't really a revelation but more so a re-establishing of past precedence that I had forgotten, I stumbled across this Lit Quotes page, which has kind of captured my heart. There was one quote that, for not any exact and apparent reason, clicked with me tonight.

I hadn’t realized how much I’d been needing to meet someone I might be able to say everything to.

-Talk Before Sleep, Elizabeth Berg

I think it stuck with me because it gets to the heart of the truth. It's something that's so basic, but it ends up completely buried and you don't realize this want, this need, until you've come face to face with a situation where it might be possible. What I do know is that this desire is certainly the basis for a ton of fiction, not just of the romance persuasion.

My third and final thought:

Hell's Kitchen is horribly addictive and I just need to learn self-control.

Anyway, here's to a short and, hopefully, productive week!

Memo from Fury

A Memo From Fury in honor of the release of Star Trek last weekend. I haven't seen it yet, and I haven't seen the new Iron Man, either, so don't ask, but hopefully might be able to knock one of them off my list this weekend.

Rhys' Music Monday

So I completely failed and totally spaced on Rhys' Music Monday. It was a grave oversight that I'm remedying right now. Be sure to check out her post featuring All I Think About is You by 3 Doors Down. 

Weekly Music

The music this week is from Imagine Dragons, which is a group I definitely recommend you check out. My favorite song from them is "Radioactive," but the one I'm embedding below, "My Fault," is becoming a very close contender for favorite.

Amazon and Fanfiction

Amazon has announced a new platform, Kindle Worlds, which will allow fanfiction writers to publish their work and receive royalties. The royalties will be split with the author of the original work on which the writer is basing their fanfiction. At this point in time, Amazon has partnered with Warner Bros. Television Group’s Alloy Entertainment to allow writers publish their stories based in Cecily von Ziegesar‘s Gossip Girl, Sara Shepard‘s Pretty Little Liars and L.J. Smith‘s Vampire Diaries verses. More can be read about this at Galleycat.

Given the success of stories originally written as fanfiction and modified into published fiction, it doesn't come as much of a surprise that Amazon would attempt to bridge that gap and go after the fanfiction market directly. As for if it will be profitable, I actually think it possibly could be. Some will argue why pay for it when you can just find it for free at any multitude of fanfiction sites. The same could be said, however, for the stories that were modified from fanfiction into published fiction. The original stories could still be found to the diligent Google searcher. 

Personally, I think, in general, there's a bit of a stigma concerning fanfiction by the public as a whole. I'm not saying it's merited, or justified; it's just an observation I've made over the years. As a result, I could see where fanfiction sold through Amazon will have the ability to separate itself into a new entity, lose the stigma, and become somewhat successful. It's all going to depend on how it's marketed in Amazon and I could see them avoiding the word 'fanfiction.' Instead, I could see a page set up with something along the lines of, "If you enjoy Vampire Diaries, check out other stories in this universe" or "Check out similar stories." It's all about shaping your market and Amazon has proven they're rather adept in that respect.

Agency Pricing

Galleycat has a post today with a summary of the review of agency pricing by the Department of Justice, which was basically brought about with the whole ordeal with Apple and agency pricing. You can also read the entire court document here.

Welcome to Sanditon

I don't know if you were like me and found yourself swept up in the wave of amazingness and addiction that was The Lizzie Bennett Diaries. I might have come late to the game, but I definitely lost my fair share of time devouring their YouTube videos. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, click that link and be prepared to lose your entire weekend. I'll wait. Terrific, wasn't it? Anyway, the talented group that brought you the black hole of time-wasting that is the modern day video adaptation of Jane Austin's "Pride and Prejudice" have now started their new project, Welcome to Sanditon. It's based on the unfinished novel "Sandition" by the one and only Jane Austin. Here's the recap, directly from their webpage:

Welcome To Sanditon is a modern multiplatform adaptation of Jane Austen’s unfinished novel “Sanditon.” The series was created by Jay Bushman and Margaret Dunlap, and is produced by the team that created the hit series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.
Welcome To Sanditon relocates the action from the English seaside to a California beach town, and replaces the novel’s protagonist with LBD’s Gigi Darcy.
Gigi has come to Sanditon, CA to run a beta demo of the Pemberley Digital Domino application. The residents of Sanditon have all been invited to join in the test, and discover how this “life-revealing” app performs.
And you will get a chance to play a resident of the town.

I know I loved Gigi in LBD and can't wait to see more of her and her story in WtS. This is definitely going to be my new black hole of time-waste addiction.They currently have three videos up on their YouTube page, one of which I've included below, so be sure to check out the rest.

Weekly Music

This week is going to feature a song that's a little more upbeat, at least in the instrumental. I make no guarantee of the lyrics. Today I present you with "Color the Walls" by Foster the People. Yes, they do have a song other than "Pumped Up Kicks." A song which, incidentally, was totally our boat/lake song for that summer. It still makes me think of lemonade beer, water, and coconut sunscreen. Despite already having one 100+ degree day this week, I'm eager for more.

Cover Reveal for Assassin's Ritual

Check out that cover!!

Recently, I've been working on a new erotica novella series, currently titled "Courtesans of Thiaria," with the wonderful Rhys Astason. It's a somewhat different, and hopefully interesting, way of doing the series. Instead of coauthoring a book, we've built a world where both of us will be telling the stories of our character. So, there will be two series based in the same world by two authors. That's pretty much two for the price of one, right?! What better deal could you ask for? Well, the better deal is if a third author, the also talented CC Denham, who is currently rather bogged down with other projects, can be convinced to sign on. Then it's three for one. I really don't know how it gets better than that.

The series is centered around courtesans who also double as assassins. Think of it as James Bond with a larger cast in a medievalish/steampunk verse with more sex and females as the lead characters. And, if that doesn't get you excited enough, check out the cover again. Seriously, I can't stop staring at it. Such book cover porn.

Be sure to check back here for updates. Along with this story, we're looking at getting a few more in the series published by the end of this year. 

How Many Words are Too Many Words?

CC Denham posted an intriguing question on her blog today; when planning out your novel, how do you determine the final word count target? What about per scene? Is there a right answer?

I suppose, for me, I do more of a rough estimate. I do my general outline in Scrivener, giving each scene a note card on the board. After writing some notes for each scene, I then set an estimated word count depending on the contents of each scene. For example, I know this is one of my longer sketched out scenes in my outline, so let's give that a 1,500 word target. This one is much shorter, so let's go with a 750 word target. I then add up all my scenes and get my rough final count and usually round it up a bit because, let's face it, there's going to be a few scenes where you're over your estimate. Or you might add a scene that you didn't think of initially. Ultimately, I think you just need to find what works for you and not get caught up worrying what other people are doing. At least, that's my completely obvious two cents.

Go ahead and check out the original post to see what other authors are saying and to add in your own thoughts.

Rhys' Music Monday

Be sure to check out Rhys' blog this week. She has a great song from The Uneven Bars posted for her Music Monday.

Did . . . Did That Just Happen?

Scandal last night can be summed up in one word: WHAT.

I already know the season finale is going to be the end of me. And David, you got some 'splanning to do.

Warning: Potential Spoilers in Vids. Don't watch if you can't handle the truth.

Oh god, season three, I need you now.

Weekly Music

Song of the week is below. Enjoy!

Sorry. Kidding. Though, honestly, and sadly, this song has been in my head because my boss at work has been singing it randomly throughout the day. In his defense, he does have kids of a young age so there's probably a reason it's stuck in his head, just the same as every parent.

The real song of the week is below and I'm switching it up again with "Future Starts Slow" by The Kills. Definitely different than "Barbara Manatee." It's strangely catchy and you'll find it in the back of your mind at the most random moments of the day.

Unfortunately, it shares that in common with the manatee song. Best of luck.

Weekly Music

This week I present to you Soldier's Eyes by Jack Savoretti. The music is great, but I just love, love the lyrics. Definitely a great find.

And, because this song made me think of it, I'm including a bonus throwback song that I discovered a few years ago and it has managed the withstand the test of time. Be sure to check out Revival by Soulsavers below; not only is the song awesome, but they have a great video for it, too.

Rhys' Music Monday

Looks like Rhys might be on a bit of a Matthew Mayfield kick. If you liked the video she linked a few weeks ago, definitely be sure to check out the one she linked today.

Weekly Music

So, this week is something a little different than the songs previously posted. I should have warned you ahead of time that I can have a tendency to be a little eccentric in my music. Back in the days of burned CDs (I was just at the tail end of mixed tapes by the time I actually got into listening to music), I would have country, Top 40, rap, folk, and who knows what else all on the same disc. It worked for me, though, so that's what matters right?

Rhys' Music Monday

Be sure to check out Rhys' blog for her Music Monday. She might not want to admit it, but I totally introduced her to that song. And, I'll give full props and let you know that Pandora introduced it to me.

Really, most of the time, it all leads back to Pandora.

Weekly Music

Like I promised last week, there's no sign of Nashville to be seen. The song this week is "Skinny Love" by Birdy. And, actually, there's another version of this song, which, I was going to link, but I figured I might as well include it, too, because I really enjoy both versions. Just depends on my mood as to which one I prefer. 

 

Weekly Music

I tried to prepare you last week. And by prepare, I mean warn. Yes, there's another Nashville song, but I promise, for next week, I will curb the impulse and put up a non-Nashville song. If it helps, this one is written by The Civil Wars, which is definitely a great group worth checking out, especially their song "Poison and Wine".

Rhys' Music Monday

Don't forget to check out Music Monday at Rhys Astason's blog. She has a Matthew Mayfield song that is definitely worth your time.

Weekly Music

I'm going to blatantly take a page out of my friend Rhys Astason's book and attempt to do a weekly music post. Attempt being the key word. To kick it off, I'm going to put up a song that has been on repeat in my house for at least the past week. It's from the Nashville soundtrack, which, if you haven't checked out the show, please reserve judgement and go do so immediately. They had a ton of great songs, quite a few of which I'm sure I'll end up posting here at some point in time because, really, what's the point of denying an addiction when it gives you great music?