Category: Conspiracies

Do you stop or drive on?

On By Kevin A. RansonIn Conspiracies, Creativity, Existentialism, Literarian, Roleplaying2 Comments

Traveling along a lonely West Virginia highway by yourself at night, something steps in front of your vehicle. The impact is jarring, but you manage to stop without further incident. You can make out the mangled body of whatever you just hit in the road ahead as you look out over the hood, but it’s hard to see from inside. Do you drive on and hope for the best, or do you dare get out, check to see what it was, and/or ensure the vehicle has no significant damage just in case? Why or why not?

There’s no grade here, just the rest of your life to live with your decision (however long or short that might be).

Is PayPal Censoring eBooks?

On By Kevin A. RansonIn Conspiracies, Creativity, Existentialism, Internet, LiterarianLeave a comment

Suppose for a moment that, instead of a sparkly vampire, a werewolf made love to a human female, in detail and in werewolf form. If you chose to write that scene for your book, you might not be able to use PayPal to collect sales money for it online because it could be considered “bestiality.” If the means with which you are able to collect money for book sales abruptly dictates what you can and can’t write, we’re really talking about censorship.

Sound ridiculous? It’s happening right now over at the site that hosts my ebooks, Smashwords.com. As a huge publisher of Indie books that anyone can use to sell their written work online, PayPal has issued an ultimatum for them to remove certain titles or lose their ability to collect payments through their services:

PayPal is asking us to censor legal fiction. Regardless of how one views topics of rape, bestiality and incest, these topics are pervasive in mainstream fiction. We believe this crackdown is really targeting erotica writers. This is unfair, and it marks a slippery slope. We don’t want credit card companies or financial institutions telling our authors what they can write and what readers can read. Fiction is fantasy. It’s not real. It’s legal.

In case you haven’t heard, about two weeks ago, PayPal contacted Smashwords and gave us a surprise ultimatum: Remove all titles containing bestiality, rape or incest, otherwise they threatened to deactivate our PayPal account. We engaged them in discussions and on Monday they gave us a temporary reprieve as we continue to work in good faith to find a suitable solution.

PayPal tells us that their crackdown is necessary so that they can remain in compliance with the requirements of the banks and credit card associations (likely Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, though they didn’t mention them by name).

From a business standpoint, the fear seems to be that anyone who doesn’t like what a credit or debit card service can be used to buy will threaten to stop using their services if that company permits the sale. Really? In America, this is considered a fundamental freedom, to buy whatever you like with the money you earn.

This would be the equivalent of the US government making it a crime to use US currency to purchase Playboy, ruining a legitimate business by making it too risky for the average consumer to engage in. What’s next that you can’t buy because someone else decides “it’s bad for you?” R-rated movies? Red meat? Beverages containing caffeine?

Continue reading “Is PayPal Censoring eBooks?” →

Memo to All Dinosaurs: “Evolve or Die”

On By Kevin A. RansonIn Conspiracies, Creativity, Literarian, Satire, Technology4 Comments

Just saw a post on Facebook and had a moment of clarity. This is what she said:

Just had one of those sad moments. Was talking to one of my old college instructors who I have been friends with since being in their class. Had a disappointing conversation with them. I was basically told I will never become a writer if I self-publish. I know the black mark some of the crap that has come out of self-publish and what it has done to authors and writers. However, I do not feel I am making a mistake and dooming myself to failure by starting that way. I hate that so many people still view Indie and self-publishing in such a negative way and have such a closed mind about it. Makes me want to get published and be successful even more now to prove them wrong!

This is what I replied:

I really hate to say it this way, but when someone old tells you that things will never change, what they’re really saying is that THEY’LL never change. Also, what they’re saying doesn’t make any sense; there are already plenty of success stories in self-publishing. “Never” is very petty word. The next time you see those dinosaurs, gently tell them, “Evolve or die.”

Theft Vs. Piracy: It’s All About Context

On By Kevin A. RansonIn Conspiracies, Creativity, Existentialism, Hollywood, Internet, TechnologyLeave a comment

Full disclosure: I am NOT advocating theft or piracy, only contrasting the difference and what it really means to the content creators. There! Now I have a clear conscious. Okay, fine, maybe I am advocating, but only a little.

Ahem. Piracy is NOT theft.

There’s a difference. If someone steals you car, it’s gone. If someone steals a copy of your work, you still have your work, right? It’s a copy, and that copy can actually be a benefit (Wait… what?! But the government said…)

Locks keep honest people honest. If you drive past a couch on the street sitting next to some trash cans, it’s fair game. What if it was a car parked there instead of a couch? It’s all about context. A locked sliding glass door isn’t much of a real deterrent (seeing how you can get through it with a rock), but it does communicate a simple social truth: “This person isn’t sharing; it belongs to them.” Will that stop a real thief? Of course not, but it discourages the honest from considering theft.

“But I lost a sale?” Did you, now? What you should have said is “you lost a potential sale,” because that’s all it was. This is the reason marketing and advertising exists: to convince others that something you’re selling is worth buying. If someone steals something (reminder: that you didn’t lose) that they wouldn’t have bought to begin with, what did you actually lose? Nothing. What did you potentially gain? The possibility that, in the future, they may buy you stuff.

Neil Gaiman says, “You can’t look at (piracy) as a lost sale.” Artists are starting to get it (and no longer need to be content with starving); the potential benefits outweigh the negatives. In a video interview, Mr. Gaiman expressed these very notions, a reversal of his previous stance. “It’s people lending books. You can’t look at that as a lost sale. No one that wouldn’t have bought your book is not buying it… what you are doing is advertising.”

Storming the Gatekeepers. Here we come to the real issue: the gatekeepers. For decades, publishing houses and movie studios have had a lock on content creation AND distribution. If it’s helping Independent film makers and authors gain audiences and spur sales, what’s the problem? The loss of both control and exclusivity. These are huge businesses that are going under because they no longer have exclusive access to creation tools and distribution channels (or to push crap on you that you wouldn’t want to see or hear to begin with, but I digress). Computers and the Internet have changed everything, and now they have to compete with cat videos and digital books for eyeballs (and dollars). Some are changing with the times, but some are stubbornly holding out for a legislative miracle, and American consumers are getting wise to it (SOPA and PIPA, anyone?)

If it’s easy to own, it’s easier to buy. The music industry is supposed to be in shambles, but iTunes is making a fortune. When the last time you bought music at a store? How about a whole album? Major book stores are now going out of business (while small book sellers are making a comeback). The last bastion of big media, the film and television industry, sees the writing on the wall. What’s more is that they’ve done a far better job than music and literature at giving consumers what they want. Miss a movie at the theater? No problem. Buy the disc, download on demand, rent a pay-per-view, subscribe to a premium movie channel, or watch it with commercials on broadcast television. Isn’t that enough?

Prosecuting people who download free songs is like putting drug addicts in jail. This doesn’t make sense, folks. It feels like what it is, consumer bullying. Suing someone for millions of dollars for downloading 24 songs would be hilarious if it wasn’t happening (what? Do they need the money?) It’s all about context. People sharing isn’t piracy or theft; it’s advertising, free marketing from your established fans to new ones and potential sales. Even giving digital content away for a limited time can accomplish this, because everyone knows what “for a limited time only” means.

The only ones profiting from piracy prosecution are lawyers, the larval stage of politicians. Need I say more?

Don’t steal. Share. It’s all about context.

5 Lies They Tell You About Writing (And Why They All Aren’t)

On By Kevin A. RansonIn Conspiracies, Creativity, Literarian, Satire1 Comment

Just saw an article on the Huffington Post by C.A. Belmond entitled “5 Lies They Tell You About Writing,” and how they are “half-truths: at worst, they are straightjackets for budding authors.” It’s an interesting read, but I think a few of the explanations are a bit displaced.

1. Write What You Know.

The oldest advice for would-be authors. Of course, it wouldn’t be interesting fiction if the ONLY thing you wrote was only what you had personally experienced. What’s being suggested here isn’t the overall plot but rather the details. Writers have the unique privilege of stepping into everyone’s shoes, but deep down there will always be the author’s reaction (even if it wasn’t the first one). What a character likes or doesn’t, believes or doesn’t, or even does or doesn’t always comes down to the personal choice of the author. When it feels disingenuous and phony, this is the reason. Go with your gut.

2. Descriptions are passé. Brand names are cool.

In my own current YA horror series, “The Spooky Chronicles,” my main character has a tendency to hang on the first detail that comes to mind and “brands” the character with that detail until he finds out more: the Veiled Woman, the Asian-looking Lady, the Butler Guy. Even though it’s from a child’s point of view, it’s something we all do, even as a adults. As he learns more about the people (along with the reader), his description changes, adding to the initial detail until he discovers a proper name for them. I will agree, however, that if the reference here is merely about swapping the word Motorola or iPhone for the description mobile phone, it’s feels a bit lazy unless there’s a specific reason why that particular brand is important. Besides, it more fun to write “My dad’s favorite beer, the one with the patriot on the label” then just say Sam Adams.

3. Fiction is a lie.

Of course it is, but as the story goes, “I want to know how it ends.” If the story was actually was true, it’d be a documentary, right? I agree with Belmond on this, however, being the most pretentious of the five; it kind of goes without saying, so even saying is sounds pretty pompous as an excuse for anything.

4. Literary fiction equals literature (and is therefore superior to genre fiction).

For the initiated, literary fiction or “serious fiction” is said to focus “more upon style, psychological depth, and character… in comparison from genre fiction and popular fiction (i.e., paraliterature).” This is the second biggest fib in this list (mostly agreeing with the author for the second time), but it does create a good point. A well-rounded story should take all of this into consideration; there’s no rule to trade one for the other or that says both don’t work. Heavy drama benefits more from character depth than an action thriller, but they are different kinds of stories with different things that readers look for.

5. “Hey, writers are entertainers. I’m not trying to be Tolstoy.”

Of course, they aren’t. How many of them even know who Tolstoy is?

YA Horror: Not the Type of Books That You Would Read?

On By Kevin A. RansonIn Conspiracies, Creativity, Paranormal2 Comments

“Young Adult Horror” is the topic of discussion I would like to raise today. For example:

“After an orphan child endures his formative years being neglected by his foster parents and made to feel powerless, a mysterious stranger arrives with a revelation: the child was born with the blood of sorcerers in his veins.

“Taken to a hidden fortress under the cover of darkness, the child encounters disembodied spirits, nightmarish creatures, and enemies at every turn. Yet it is only when he discovers that his birth parents were murdered by the dark arts that his true path becomes clear.”

I wrote that three-sentence description for the express purpose of illustrating a point about YA Horror, but how many of readers would correctly identify this as the synopsis for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s/Sorcerer’s Stone?

In offering to allow reviewers the chance to sample my book series, The Spooky Chronicles, I have repeatedly seen replies such as “(these) aren’t the type of books that I would read” or “(YA horror is) not my thing.” My question, of course, is “Why didn’t you give the Harry Potter books a chance?” To be perfectly honest, I submit that the entire series run of all seven JK Rowling books in the Potter series are not only YA horror but become more horrific with each installment (and, frankly, I loved every bit of it).

My point is this: I’m attempting to be fair in the description of what my books are about. Horror is not the only thing that happens in these stories; there is a fair amount of fantasy as well as drama, humor, adventure, and more, but the main character IS a zombie kid. What is creating this reaction to YA horror? Look at children’s nursery rhymes and Grimm fairy tales; the very essence of these stories is unmistakably horror. Hansel and Gretel (and the witch)? Ring Around the Rosie? My guess is that someone at some time has written a truly horrible book where something unspeakable must happen to all the young adult characters; if you happen to know what that book is, please send me the title because I’d like to give it a shot.

In the meantime, what do YOU think? Is a wizard who learns the value of destroying your enemies with sorcery more palpable than a zombie boy who is genuinely fearful he might accidentally start the Apocalypse?

Why eBooks (and Readers) Aren’t a Bad Thing

On By Kevin A. RansonIn Conspiracies, Creativity, TechnologyLeave a comment

I just read a lament from Gris Grimly concerning the loss of his favorite things, “books” by way of example. His concerns were over electronic media and the gatekeepers who could use it to keep from us only what they wish for the citizenry to see. A fine point, but not the only point of view.

While I understand the text of this rant in principle, it needs to be framed in context. When the spoken word of storytellers was written down and people started learning to read, there were many who likely thought “Those accursed books! If people can read for themselves, why would they listen to me? And the story… it never changes! It cannot be embellished in print! There’s no emotion or flare on a piece of paper! The very idea is inhuman!” Of course, those storytellers have found other mediums because of change.

The Kindle (mention specifically) is no exception; while the makers and supporters CAN limit our experience, people who had no chance of ever being known due to the gatekeepers (editors, publishing houses, censors) can now be read in the way MP3s allowed unsigned bands to be heard (and in both cases, possibly successful). If Kindle won’t allow people to get what they want in the way they want it, people will move on to something else that can (iPads can load PDFs into iBooks as can many other readers such as the Nook). None of us want anything we love to change from the way we remember loving it (people included), but, unfortunately, everything does. You can ignore it or embrace it, but you can’t stop it. Just trust that people will do what they must.

Anti-Bullying Campaigns Are Useless

On By Kevin A. RansonIn Conspiracies, Existentialism, PhysicalityLeave a comment

I was born in September. My parents divorced when I was in the third grade. I had hay fever as a child. I started wearing glasses in junior high.

Oh, and I was bullied, too.

When I started kindergarten, I was only four years old. Since I was judged intellectually competent to start school early, I didn’t have to wait until I turned five a year later. Had I waited, I would have been physically ahead of my classmates in the same grade, but it didn’t work out that way. This, too, wouldn’t have been an issue by itself since I started school with everyone at the same time, but there’s more.

My parents got a divorce when I was in the third grade. My mother won custody and moved us to a new town without a dad. At some point, the local county school system decided that I needed “special disciplinary instruction” because I might have somehow been traumatized by the divorce. My new third grade teacher was “certified” (I found out later she was “certifiable”) to help in these areas, and so I was placed in her class. As an outgoing and encouraged child, I performed as I always had done and did things the way we did them in my old school. Yet now the teacher publicly called me out on every mistake (which I can only assume was to alter my behavior through peer pressure) and on things I didn’t even know were wrong, even yelling at me sometimes in front of all the students who had just met me. It didn’t take the bullies long to figure out the teacher had decided I was a problemed youth (even though she had created the situation), and as a result, I socially withdrew to stay out of trouble. Like sharks that turn on one of their own when they noticed it’s wounded, the mob mentality is you’re either with us or with them (and no one wants to be “them”), so the feeding frenzy began.

Next slide, please.

Continue reading “Anti-Bullying Campaigns Are Useless” →