Hello Imaginary Friends,
My wife and I have bought a house and are in the middle of moving and setting things up.
Since I don’t want to neglect you any more than I have, I’ll be posting a multi-part story. It was recently rejected by an anthology but I plan on resubmitting it.
I really like this story. Let me know what you think.
Enjoy!
Hello Imaginary Friend,
Something has been bothering me lately. The idea of whether a book can be bad and I think my opinion is going to be unpopular.
There are two ways I can see a book being bad.
One; they come to life and try to stab people. (Arguably the homicidal books could be considered misunderstood. If people tried to bend my pages and break my spine, I’d be pissed.)
Two; if the book was decomposing and had gone bad. (I swear I will never write another book on banana peels again.)
You can analyze a book and come to the conclusion that it’s not of academic importance. Its themes are weak, its ideas cliché, its language reductive, and it’s message garbled. You can then pass judgment on it as an example of poor writing and say it’s bad.
You can also analyze a books Morality and message and find it to be opposed to your beliefs. You can find books reprehensible in their message and morals. Does that make a book bad? Evil yes bad, I’m not sure.
There are examples throughout history of people finding a book academically wanting and of no importance and being horribly wrong. My classic example is Shakespeare’s plays, academics of his time dismissed his plays as useless and base. Same has applied to morality.
There are a lot of arguments about whether or not the Harry Potter series, Twillight Series, or 50 Shades of Grey Series are good.
There’s one argument that people use to stop discussing their worth. “At least they have people reading.” As an Aspiring Author, this argument makes perfect sense financially for me. More people who read equal a larger possible audience. So consider me biased.
Let’s take 50 Shades of Grey, (sold over 90 million books).
Are there many people who picked up the series, people who have never read before? Possibly. I’d guess there aren’t as many as Harry Potter since it’s aimed at an older audience.
Are those people going to try and find more like this to read? Probably. Either because they were disappointed and wanted something else or because they liked it and want more.
Is a whole group of people looking for something else in the same style a bad thing? I don’t know. I haven’t read the books but from what my sources tell me there are some pretty wrong notions on gender equality and the nature of BDSM. I’m willing to bet that there are some great books in the same genre that would reinforce good ideas and that there will be more people who find them because of it though.
Is it bad for the publishing world? I don’t know and I don’t have an opinion on this.
How can something so crappy be so popular? You’ll hear all sorts of sexist comments on this subject. Try to not punch those who make them. (It’s not worth it.) Something was missing from society and publishing that people didn’t know they wanted until they had the chance.
Whether it was the fact that 50 Shades of Grey wasn’t hiding behind a curtain, or that it made people talk about sex and erotica, I don’t know. But I’m convinced that it wasn’t a fluke but an untapped market.
Wow you’re impatient today. It’s simple. In my opinion it’s better for people to be reading and getting passionate about books than to never read and not care.
Reading is a great way to relax, learn new words, discover new worlds, and learn more about yourself.
Reading is good. Telling people what to read is bad.
This is something you’ve been told your whole life and it’s simply this:
Consume all media critically!
I’m sure I didn’t come up with this idea. None the less, passively consuming anything is a bad idea. Question what you’re consuming and try to understand what makes you like or dislike something.
By understanding how something makes you feel and what it’s trying to say you are not only helping yourself but you’ll be able to give people a better idea why you like or dislike something.
STOP attacking people about what they read!
STOP acting like your preferred literature is better!
And
Read!
(Blogs, books, magazines, social media, newspapers, etc)
Dear Imaginary friends,
I made you a promise a few months ago that I would kill off a character in my next story. I jumped straight into a novel. So I need your help to decide what character to kill. There are 6 main characters and 2 secondary characters that you can choose from. I’ll describe them and you vote in the poll below. If you can’t see the poll vote in the comments, or message me on facebook.
Female. Of Scottish descent, 24, average height orange/red hair green eyes. She’s the floor counselor for the patients at the institute. She has a master’s degree and a secret. She has lived her whole life with an imaginary friend. This fuels her need to understand psychological disorders.
Female. Of Hispanic descent, 19, average height brown hair, green eyes. She’s an uber geek who has been hospitalized for violent night terrors. She is the only patient in her group who was court ordered to go to the institute, after she violently attacked her boyfriend in her sleep on prom night.
Female. Adelaide’s imaginary friend that is part tiger part human. She has a penchant for being a little wild and enjoying making sexual innuendoes. She’s playful and has a strange ability to know things that Adelaide doesn’t.
Female. Of Maori descent, 16, short with very short black hair and reddish brown eyes. Suffering from a near fatal case of Anorexia and of sleep eating, she’s been at the institute for almost two years. She wrestles with what she knows is true and what she believes is true. She blames her mother, who is more interested in social status and what’s lady like, for most of her issues.
Male. White, 25, tall blond with blue eyes. After an extremely traumatic event Paul left the police force. In his dreams he smells fire and wakes up coughing ash. He checks into the institute after he starts setting fires while he sleeps.
Transgendered (Physically male). White, 16, tall and broad with light brown hair and eyes. Terrance is a sleepwalker. He openly repeats his hyper-conservative family’s views on homosexuality, despite not understand it. He is the smallest and the most passive of four brothers and has been picked on his whole life. It has caused him to close himself off and not admit, even to himself, that his is transgendered.
Male. White, 56 tall grey brown hair with grey eyes. The world’s specialist in Parasomnia related disorders and the head of the Aux-Anges Institute. He hides a secret. *Spoiler spoiler spoiler* is his *Spoiler*
Maile. African-Canadian, 25 average height short dark brown hair and light brown eyes. He is a nurse at the hospital. He’s a lucid dreamer and all around nice guy. He’s the patient’s favorite nurse. Will possibly be upgraded to main character if one of them dies.
So who dies?
[polldaddy poll=7829106]
Thank you for your help,
Éric
I have a lot of stuff to talk about today so let’s split it up into topics.
Let’s start with the good news. My wife and I have bought a house. My in-laws have been a great help throughout the process and I am lucky to have them. We’re moving on the 29th of March, which means I’ll be crazy stupid busy for the next month. I’m trying to fight down the panic right now.
Who thought moving 800+movies and 2300+ books would be so much work?
The last book I wrote came together in amazing and beautiful ways, for me anyways. It was a culmination of three years’ worth of thinking and planning.
This new book isn’t like that. Writing is hard. No seriously, some days I wonder why I bother. I’ve been writing a novel a year for the past three years and I’m now a third of the way through my fifth novel and sometimes I feel like it’s just too much work.
Then I start writing and realize how much joy it brings me. It’s a feeling that I have to hold onto even in my most depressed and insecure moments.
But sometimes it would be nice to get appreciation from someone who doesn’t know me.
In that vein, I received word from one of the two publishers yesterday. It’s a kinda rejection and possibly the nicest I’ve received. That’s saying something, I’ve been rejected several dozen times (not much compared to most authors but I’m still young and haven’t written enough short stories) and they’ve all be extremely nice about it. I’ve really only received 2 kinds of rejections; the nice ones and the “no response” rejections.
They basically said they liked the story and the characters but that it needed a good rewrite and editing. The word “compelling” was used which I take as a great compliment.
The only part that stung was that they said it read like a first draft. It was my sixth draft and third rewrite. I’ve reached the point with the book were I know I need professional help. (Insert Psychologist joke here!) They did say I could resubmit once I had reedited and rewrote the novel.
It makes sense, they’re a smaller publishing company and my book needs an editor, which is expensive. I’ll wait and see what the other publishing house says and then I’ll have to look for an editor. Unfortunately editors are expensive and we just bought a house.
Anyone know a good editor that won’t cost me more than a used car?
As I said I’m still waiting on one reply for this novel and I’m waiting on a short story anthology. I’m still hopeful.
I would like to thank the publishing house for the sweet things they said… so if you’re reading, thank you.
I’ve really been enjoying being a guest of this podcast for the past few weeks. It’s great to sit around and chat about movies and books with smart and funny people.
I was on the panel this week for The Diamond Throne by David Eddings.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm7qhKtNFlo]
Tomorrow is the last day to fill in our survey so if you want to win that 10$ gift card this is your chance.
Go do the survey, Only 2 Days left.
Thank you for listening. Tomorrow you’ll get to choose who dies in my newest novel.
Éric
Hello world,
I’m getting a strange feeling as I’m writing. (Not that kind of feeling, you’re dirty.) It’s something I haven’t felt since I wrote the first Elizabeth book. I don’t know if anyone is going to want, or enjoy reading the book I’m writing, and I really don’t care. I’m having fun writing it. There’s something joyously broken about my characters and I look forward to seeing what happens to them.
At least one of them will die in the second act and I’m not sure which one. I might kill off the one I like the least or most or I might ask you for help. We’ll see what happens.
JenEric Designs is starting to plan for our 2014 events and stuff. With that in mind we’re asking everyone who enjoys our products (JenEric Designs Crochet, Travelling Tardis, and Aspiring Something) to fill in a short ten question Survey.
Please fill in our survey! (If we have a good enough response rate we might do something special for our fans.)
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HTJTWXM
Thank you,
Eric
Hello world,
I’m getting a strange feeling as I’m writing. (Not that kind of feeling, you’re dirty.) It’s something I haven’t felt since I wrote the first Elizabeth book. I don’t know if anyone is going to want, or enjoy reading the book I’m writing, and I really don’t care. I’m having fun writing it. There’s something joyously broken about my characters and I look forward to seeing what happens to them.
At least one of them will die in the second act and I’m not sure which one. I might kill off the one I like the least or most or I might ask you for help. We’ll see what happens.
JenEric Designs is starting to plan for our 2014 events and stuff. With that in mind we’re asking everyone who enjoys our products (JenEric Designs Crochet, Travelling Tardis, and Aspiring Something) to fill in a short ten question Survey.
Please fill in our survey! (If we have a good enough response rate we might do something special for our fans.)
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HTJTWXM
Thank you,
Eric
Hello,
It seems 2014 is going to be busy. Somehow I had no clue it would be.
I’m neck deep in a new novel set in a psychiatric institute for people with Parasomnia. So far it’s a lot of fun to write. I’m still working on the concept for my Vlog. Testing things out, playing with the equipment, and being a total chicken. On top of my weekly Modern RPG that I’m running.
Still no word about the book I submitted. Hopefully before March.
Something that’s been draining a lot of time and energy from me lately is being sick. I spent a few days last week, completely dead. To top that off both my wife and I are starting to feel colds. Hopefully they’ll go away, or we’re nuts, or both.
On their Facebook Page, Silver Stag Entertainment asked for suggestion for movies. In case you want to do a psychological analysis of my mind (Please don’t, that way leads to madness.) here’s what I suggested:
They also asked on their Goodreads Book Club, for book suggestions. Here are mine:
That’s it for now. I’m going to see if I can nap with my eyes open.
If Gandalf can do it so can I!
Éric
Hello World,
I’m still alive. Mostly. Well Kinda…
I’m fighting a cold or flu or something. I’ll spare you the gory details.
I spent yesterday in a weird nauseated fog and hibernated. Today I felt mildly better and slept in just to make sure.
The one thing weighing on me is that I didn’t write yesterday. I’m always extra stressed about writing during the first third of a novel. It feels like if I stop then I’ll never get started again.
With than I’ll stop procrastinating and go try to write.
Wish me luck.
Attached below is my version of the Venusian Lullaby sung by the 3rd Doctor. It’ll be the credits song for my eventual web show.
http://ericdesmarais.tumblr.com/post/73302200316/my-interpretation-of-the-venusian-lullaby-sung-by
Thanks for reading and see you later my invisible friends.
Éric
Hello World,
I’m still alive. Mostly. Well Kinda…
I’m fighting a cold or flu or something. I’ll spare you the gory details.
I spent yesterday in a weird nauseated fog and hibernated. Today I felt mildly better and slept in just to make sure.
The one thing weighing on me is that I didn’t write yesterday. I’m always extra stressed about writing during the first third of a novel. It feels like if I stop then I’ll never get started again.
With than I’ll stop procrastinating and go try to write.
Wish me luck.
Attached below is my version of the Venusian Lullaby sung by the 3rd Doctor. It’ll be the credits song for my eventual web show.
http://ericdesmarais.tumblr.com/post/73302200316/my-interpretation-of-the-venusian-lullaby-sung-by
Thanks for reading and see you later my invisible friends.
Éric
The corridor was dark but had the warmth of home. Ashley knew she was dreaming but it didn’t feel like regular dream. She never remembered feeling warmth before in a dream. She’d never dreamt in colour either.
The corridor lighted to a dark blue and the smell of cooking bacon wafted towards her. Walking quicker, she expected the corridor to lengthen and for her to have to start running. Most of her dreams were spent running or screaming.
The doctors said she was repressing memory and her dreams were her minds way of dealing with those memories. It didn’t matter to her; she didn’t want to remember what happened to her brother.
The corridor ended in a large room with a long table. There were candles and a fireplace bathing the room in an orange glow and keeping it warm. Around the table were two other girls.
Ashley recognized Drew from her full arm tattoo. It was the only thing that looked the same. Her hospital clothes were replaced by a blood-red corset and long black skirt. Her face wasn’t deathly grey but healthy golden tan. Most surprisingly she wasn’t deathly thin. This must be what Drew could look like if she wasn’t puking every meal.
The other girl wasn’t familiar. She had short blond hair and large green eyes. She looked and dressed like Tinkerbelle.
Smiling and sitting down with the other girls, Ashley said, “Hi, I’m Ash. What’s your name?”
The new girl radiated happiness, she actually glowed, as she replied, “I’m Tara. Nice to meet you. Isn’t this a wonderful dream?” All three of them nodded together.
Tara was wearing a pair of earrings that looked black but when they were hit by candlelight, turned a beautiful purple. Ashley didn’t notice details like that in her dreams.
Each of the girls looked down at the table and saw food. There was a different plate in front of each of them. Ashley had a breakfast with eggs, bacon, sausage, and pancakes, just like she used to order after church with her family. Her brother used to tease her that she must have a hollow leg.
The other two had completely different meals. Drew had a huge burger with fries and Tara had some form of curried chicken. They ate in silence, each girl savoring the intense flavour.
When they were done, the plates disappeared and a small box appeared in front of each of them. Each box was wrapped in a brightly coloured bow. Inside, was a necklace, each girl received a golden necklace with a gold sun pendant. In the centre of each sun was a heart shaped gem. Ashley’s was an emerald of dark forest green, Drew’s was a pink diamond, and Tara’s was a purple amethyst.
Without know why, Ashley put on the necklace and the other two followed her lead. The same calming warmth radiated from the gem, washing over her.
Someone shook Ashley awake and she returned to the clinical white light of her hospital room. Nurse Fishburn was waking her for her morning pills.
“That must have been quite the dream,” he said his baritone voice barely above a whisper. “You haven’t slept like that since you went off the sedatives.”
She could only nod as the cold of the hospital flooded over her. There was an ache of longing in her chest, for the dream.
Taking her pills and showing her mouth to the Nurse, she wished she could return. When he left she went to her dresser and pulled out a pair of exercise pants and a loose sweater. As she striped, she forced herself to look into the mirror and find the parts of her body that she liked. It was one of Dr Leslie’s assignments. She hated it, it felt odd appraising yourself.
As her eyes travelled down from her face they caught the glint of green around her neck. It was the sun necklace from her dream. Where did it come from? Could she have brought it back with her?
