Opal's Musings

Speaking of Snooty Journalists...

This is my response to an excellent article by Carolyn Kellogg of the L.A. times regarding a naysaying article by one Laura Miller written with the intent of discouraging NaNoWriMo participants. Thank you Carolyn, and bite me Laura.

Wow. What could be this woman's (Laura Miller) motivation for wanting to discourage people's efforts in writing? She doesn't need to read the "bad books" created by hopefuls. I am a late bloomer as far as getting published is concerned. I didn't even start trying till this year and I was so proud to get my first real effort published in the wonderful Undead Nation Anthology. I am participating in NaNoWriMo for the first time. I am 44 years old, I have a spinal cord injury that causes me to, among other things, have very little control over my bladder, I have kidney problems, and due to various health issues and a long bout with depression, I am morbidly obese. Writing takes me out of thinking about these problems. If I want to do NaNoWriMo to see if I have a "bad book" in me, so what? How is this hurting Laura Miller? She doesn't need to shell out a single buck for my bad book! It may never even be published. But if it is, and someone else reads it and maybe even likes it, I can't see how this could in any way have any bearing on her life!

Snootiness in the Creative World

This is my response to a post at the fine indiereader.com journal. I would like to thank Mick Rooney of the very cool Pod and Independent Publishing blog for sharing it.

The horror writers society won't allow self published authors into their "exclusive" little circle either. Personally I don't care to deal with snobs. I write because I like to write. If someone else likes it, great. If not, fine. But I have experienced first-hand some very nasty attitudes in the creative community which took me aback. I always thought that we should be supportive of each other. Sometimes I wonder if I'm in the minority with this opinion.