#aw exley

[realife-mermaid]

I bought this “Cinderella retelling during the Spanish influenza except the flu turns people into zombies” series like a full year ago and I’m finally reading it

And I always love Cinderella stories where a) Ella is friends with a servant and b) Ella is sort of friends with one of the stepsisters

I just like her having someone to lean on a bit, and I always like the idea that one of the sisters doesn’t like the way her mother treats Ella but never knows what to do about it so she just tries to be a little nicer. In real life abusive situations, you often do have one of the siblings that isn’t being abused realize something is wrong but is helpless to do anything, and the guilt and abuse that comes with Seeing someone mistreated and being unable to do anything is also a phenomenon I find interesting to read about. Plus like.

Give Cinderella Family Outside The Prince Dammit

[dsudis]

esfinleo replied to your link “There Is No Shortage of Blood - Dira Sudis (dsudis), alby_mangroves -...”

I have complicated feelings about Steve leaving him there and just walking away (even if it's only for a few days, I don't remember if you mentioned for how long). But otherwise nice chapter and great story.

Thanks! 

Things are going to stay mostly complicated (with periods of de-complication, I guess?) for about the next... 12 chapters. Although I promise you Steve also has complicated feelings about this situation and has done everything he can to make sure that he is doing the best thing for Bucky.

[bookwormsreview]

Obsidian Eyes

Publisher: Whampa, LLC Release Date: March 24, 2014 ISBN: 1620075032

Author’s Website To Buy: Amazon Chapters Barnes & Noble

1836, a world of light and dark, noble and guild. The two spheres intersect when seventeen-year-old Allie Donovan is placed at the aristocratic St Matthews Academy. More at ease with a blade than a needle, she finds herself ostracised by the girls and stalked by a Scottish lord intent on learning why she is among them. She begins to suspect why she is at the school when soldiers arrive to see her friend, Zeb, a mechanical genius. On the hunt for answers she breaks into his underground laboratory. There, Allie discovers he is not just constructing sentient mechanical creatures, he is building a devastating new weapon for the military. Used to relying on herself, Allie must cross the guild-noble divide to keep Zeb safe and stop the weapon falling into the wrong hands. However, the guilds want the device and she is caught in their trap. Once rescued from Newgate prison, now she must obey the overlord of the guild and deliver up her friend or he will return her to the gallows. Can she trust her new bonds of friendship to save both their lives?

Obsidian Eyes by author A.W. Exley is the first book in a series. In the first chapter of this book we join Jared while he is with a man named Marshall, who seems to be his boss. They are watching a girl named Alessandra Donovan, or Allie as she prefers, practice with her sword. Allie is an enigma that Marshall would like Jared to unravel. She is a "commoner" yet someone paid a bit of money for her to come to the school and Marshall would like to know why. He believes she could possibly be an assassin, but is unsure. Next we meet Allie as she is wondering why her body is reacting to Jared’s. Back home in Egypt, while she was training with the Guild, she trained almost exclusively with boys and she never had any type of reaction to them. She also muses about how everyone seems to think that she got a spot at the school because her grandfather is a renowned scholar and she suspects it was under the influence of her father that she was let in, although she hadn’t sensed him. She has made it her mission to find out why her father would have her placed and find out if it was for some nefarious reason. I did quite enjoy this story and I very much look forward to reading the next book in the series (evidence points towards it being part of a series) as well as the authors other books. I think that the only bad thing about this book is that the ending was very abrupt. I honestly was not expecting it and was a little shocked when there was nothing more to read. I would suggest this book to anyone that enjoys young adult.

[onetine]

Eight People I'd Like to Know better

tagged by @dreamxeyes

ONE // Name/Alias: Jess/Jessie/Tine

TWO // Birthday: June 27th

THREE // Sign: Cancer

FOUR // Height: 5′ 7″

FIVE // Hobbies: vidjea gaymes (mostly on my phone or the switch nowadays), the nerdiest games (D&D and board games, the day i start larping is the day i reach my final nerd form), reading (absolute trash, beautiful bootifull trash), crafting and buying craft supplies (which are two completely separate hobbies), and live texting my friends while watching cheese (right now it’s a Chinese drama called Well Intended Love)

SIX // Favorite Colors: cool tones and anything garish

SEVEN // Favorite Books: The Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce, cause that series was so super formative to baby!Jess

EIGHT // Last Song Listened to: Cult of Dionysus by The Orion Express

NINE // Last Film Watched: Spiderman into the Spider-verse

TEN // Inspiration for Muse: generic or domestic things that give off an off or creepy or not-quite-right feel. Like abandoned shopping malls or neon lights in fog

ELEVEN // Dream Job: no idea of the specifics, but I’m liking my current trajectory where I get to use my creative brain for problem solving, am constantly learning new processes or skills, but have some days where i can just listen to a podcast and do simple data entry or mindless work (I’m a BA for those of you not in the know)

TWELVE // Meaning Behind Your URL: just an easy way to puff out my nickname (Tine) to more then four characters since you tend to need 6+ characters in your username.

THIRTEEN // Top 3 Ships: Hades and Persephone, Evy and Rick, fuck I dunno i jump fandoms too much to really have ships I’m into for too long.. I just read a fic for Arhit Rojnapat and Kongpob Suthiluck so let’s say them

FOURTEEN // Lipstick or Chapstick: Neither. I am a monster who generally wears nothing on my lips, unless it’s winter and they’re acting up in which case I just use vaseline

FIFTEEN // Currently Reading: Ella the Slayer by AW Exley (it’s.... not great, but I’m almost done and it’s not exactly bad either?)

I’ll tag ummm... I haven’t seen @scatterbrainedhypatia or @theladyw do this one yet so I’ll tag them

[ccorinnef]

How Do I Find Inspiration To Create?

Inspiration seems to be a tricky and elusive thing. For so many of us it can be flighty and inconsistent, kind of like sunshine in Scotland. I think many people view inspiration as a mad frenzy of activity and creativity from which amazing things are born. And sometimes it can be this way; sometimes I get the urge to create something right at that moment - I just have to get it out of my head into a physical form. Those bursts of creativity, though, are more about the activity than the product, they often stem from a restlessness in my soul.

More often than not, though, inspiration, to me at least, is more of a gentle nudge - a tiny glowing ember in the back of my mind. I’ll get an idea for something and note it down immediately in case I forget, but, usually the ideas sit at the back of my mind, on the edge of my consciousness for days, weeks and months before they come to fruition. I like to ponder over ideas, flip them upside down, think about the process and the outcome, incorporate other ideas, and think about mediums and messages.

As defined by Oxford Dictionaries, inspiration is, “The process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.” Historically, in Greek, Latin and Norse cultures, inspiration was seen as a gift from the gods. The inspired person would be given access to the thoughts of the divine and would no longer be in control of their (the artists’ or poets’) creation. These episodes of inspiration were seen as a frenzy or ‘ecstasy.’ French Renaissance poets also ascribed their inspiration to the divine. Pontus de Tyard described four different categories of heavenly inspiration: “(1) poetic fury, gift of the Muses; (2) knowledge of religious mysteries, through Bacchus; (3) prophecy and divination through Apollo; (4) inspiration brought on by Venus/Eros.”

It wasn’t until the 1700's that inspiration was separated from the divine and located within the mind. John Locke suggested that although entirely random, inspiration was a “natural association of ideas and sudden unison of thought.” While Edward Young described inspiration as “the god within,” Ralph Waldo Emerson and Percy Bysshe Shelley viewed it as “madness and irrationality.” Sigmund Freud decided that inspiration came from within the psyche as a result of psychological conflict, a more scientific way of saying ‘mad frenzy.’ In response to Freud’s analysis artists of the Surrealist movement attempted to tap into the unconscious; they used dream diaries, automatic writing, Ouija boards and poetry. Carl Gustav Jung suggested that artists are “attuned to something impersonal, something outside of the individual experience.”

In their study, ‘Imitation, Inspiration, and Creation: Cognitive Process of Creative Drawing by Copying Others’ Artworks,’ Takeshi Okada and Kentaro Ishibashi sought to understand the “cognitive processes underlying creative inspiration.” They found that participants were inspired to produce new and unique artwork having studied another unfamiliar artists’ work. Okada and Ishibashi suggest that exposure to unfamiliar artwork relaxes ‘cognitive constraints’ and inspires new perspectives.

Another study by Todd M Thrash and Andrew J Elliot found, among other things, that inspiration is uncontrollable, subjective, and linked to ”psychological resources, including self-efficacy, self-esteem and optimism.” People who have more instances of feeling inspired also feel they are more creative. They found that those who are open-minded about feeling inspired were more likely to experience inspiration.  “Mastery of work, absorption, creativity, perceived competence, self-esteem, and optimism were all consequences of inspiration, suggesting that inspiration facilitates flow, creativity, and important psychological resources.”

Inspiration is clearly a significant component to creativity; “Inspiration transforms a person from experiencing a culture of apathy to experiencing a world of possibility.” My main source of inspiration has always been nature, in particular, Scottish landscape. I grew up on the North coast of Scotland where there wasn’t much to do except enjoy the scenery – the connection between the people and the land/sea is so ingrained in Northern Scottish culture it is impossible not to love it. You might have noticed that most of my acrylic paintings are skyscapes and seascapes; these are all based on real references from Scotland, the colours and shapes in the sky have always fascinated me. I am in constant awe of this planet that we call home. The more that is discovered through science about planet earth, the more in awe I seem to get. If you think about the massively wide diversity of life that grows here, in plants, animals, land, water and air, it’s hard not to be inspired.

I feel such affinity for this planet; when I think about all the damage humans have done to the environment I feel physical pain and sadness as though I were feeling the miners digging into my own being and the gas clogging my own air. My focus on natural untouched landscapes, mostly of the Scottish highlands, is driven partly through extreme admiration for those places, and partly through the hope that by focusing on these wild spaces I can raise awareness of global warming, climate change and environmental disaster.  I gravitate towards natural inspirations because I hope that people will see by work and be struck by the desire to preserve and protect wild natural spaces and animals.

I am also inspired by other artists, everyday life and culture. One of my absolute favourite paintings is William McTaggart’s ‘And All The Choral Waters Sang.’ At the time, he was criticised for painting so loosely that parts of the blank canvas could be seen but I love how bold he was with this painting. I have been to visit it many times in Dundee’s McManus Gallery and every time I see it I’m struck with how real it seems. The waves come alive, I can hear the gulls cry and feel the wind lash my face with salty spray. I will always aspire to paint such a powerful painting as McTaggart did with this one.

Another of my favourite inspirational artists is Frida Kahlo. Her paintings are so raw and her use of symbolism shows the viewer exactly what she’s feeling. Her work was pure expression and feeling and it is glorious. I can’t help but be moved whenever I see her work.

Some current artists that inspire me include Frances Cannon, Derek Myers, Holly Exley, Minnie Small, Owen Hope, Elly Smallwood, Henrik Aa Uldalen, Alistair Horne, Krystle Wright, Irina Cumberland, Shawn Coss, Katie Jobling, Sarah Caudle, Anna Llorens, Marianne Lock and so many many many more.

It’s not always easy to find inspiration; some days are just completely blank. I keep a list of ideas of things I want to practice or things I want to draw for those days when I’m not following a particular idea. Always pay attention to your senses when you are out and about, you never know what can strike inspiration. As director Ian Rickson once said, “Inspiration can come at any time, even after it feels like you haven’t been getting anywhere. Keep your stamina up, don’t force too hard, and trust that you will find your way.” 

[robertarryn]

SVU 13.1: Scorched Earth

This review is written in retrospect of SVU seasons 13-17.  There are potential spoilers for all these seasons, so proceed with caution.  

 A few other basic notes: Season 13 basically operates as a soft reboot of the SVU.  This is a term I heard in a Star Trek circle, to refer to what every post Star Trek series did in its third season, where it looked at what was working in the show, and looked at what wasn’t working in the show, and changed what wasn’t working.  It swapped out characters and plot threads in order to improve the show and keep the viewers interested and engaged.

Season 13 reboots not in order to improve the show so much as out of necessity.  The same thing happens: characters change, plot points are dropped and added, and a new tone is installed but it’s more because the person who could have been considered the main character left the show and a new showrunner was installed.  This creates a necessary change in direction and tone for the show: either one of these things could change the fabric of the show and both are going to create some major changes.

And it’s because of these major changes that we’re.  Now onto the episode itself.

Summary

An Italian ambassador rapes a maid in a hotel room.  The case becomes more complicated as the case goes to trial and more about the victim’s past is revealed and Cabot is questioned on whether she should continue the trial.

Title

Scorched Earth is a military strategy that means to wipe out everything in one’s path.  Probably refers to the way the defense and the perp treated the victim, but it could refer to the vic’s life in general.  

Season Theme

Season thirteen theme is miscarriages of justice and it’s well suited for the sudden interest the show is taking in the wrongs that the law can do against people.  In almost every episode for this season there is someone who has been wronged by the law--there’s a reason that Bayard Ellis is the main defense attorney this season, though we have not met him yet at this point in the show. This theme doesn’t dominate this episode, like it will later this season,

Episode Notes:

The contrast between the maid sobbing and the perp having the time of his frickin life is a bit horrifying and it’s where the episode starts.  There are several scenes like this through the episode: where the contrast between the victim’s life and the rapist’s life makes it abundantly clear just how unfair her life has been and how privileged his has.

The music in this episode a bit overdone.  Won’t be the last time.

The vic's acting, though, is very awful and convincing.  She does a very good job throughout the episode.

Rollins's accent is way more than it is later.  It eventually tones down but the writers want it to be very clear that she’s a Southerner.  

Rollins such a fan of Olivia throughout this entire episode and Liv has absolutely no time for her because of her own problems.  It’s a pretty depressing look at what their relationship will be like in several seasons.

As part of our soft reboot, Cragen is constantly affirming that they have to do things by the book--it's increasingly clear that they're attempting to make up with past mistakes.  This season especially wants to make certain that police procedures are followed.

Rollins tries to charm the perp into confessing. This will not be the last time this happens.

Can you get out on bail after you've been remanded?!?  I don't think thanks how anything works.  This show plays fast and loose with law, but I’m not an expert.

Cutter makes an argument in this episode that perception is the same as reality and, with a bit of a twist, that’s a theme that’s going to be repeated many times throughout this series.  What people think is the truth is more important than the truth in this show: perception creates reality.  

The defense in this episode does not make a convincing argument that the victim was not raped.  The defense in this episode makes a convincing argument that the victim is a liar, in general, and that is enough to get a hung jury.

This episode ends with Liv crying because Stabler is gone.  Liv’s partner is gone, and there’s no justice for the victim she was uncharacteristically unsympathetic toward.  This season is off to a pretty depressing start.

Character Continuity and Characteristics

This is the first episode to introduce Amanda Rollins, and it doesn’t spend a lot of time introducing her, just throwing her into the show, which works pretty well.  We learn in the first episode that she's a southern lady from Atlanta, she's enthusiastic, she's a fan of Liv's, and she can sweet talk a perp like nobody's business, all of which are characteristics that will remain consistent for the rest of the series.

In terms of Liv, she misses Elliot terribly and she can't stand the idea that he's leaving, calling him, trying to get him to stay some way. Her anger at this causes her to be pretty unkind through most of the episode. She accepts his decision to leave in the end, but this episode does not show her at her best.  This is not the best place to be introduced to Liv if this is where you are starting the series.

Cragen thinks of Elliot like a son

Cabot just got back from the Congo. She's also a crusader of justice, a far cry from the political animal she’s introduced as in her first 1.0 episode, all the way back in season 2.

Cutter had a reputation as a crusader of justice, but Cabot has doubts he still counts as one.  He chooses politics over the victim and Cabot chooses the opposite.  

Fin's grandmother was a maid.

Fin's already defending Amanda here.  This episode lays pretty good groundwork for their close friendship that will develop later on.

Warner is religious, and brings it up in the most awkward line possible

Trial Time

Alex Cabot is highly competent in this episode, but most of the trial involves the victim constantly being undermined so this trial is really more focused on the defense than the prosecution throughout this episode.  The defense attorney controls this episode and I’m more sad he’s not a more recurring character given how truly competent he seems.

Objections don't work the way SVU pretends they work, but that’s not new.

Judge Barth lets a random defense witness in at the end of the trial.  I really like Judge Barth but she kinda lets a lot of nonsense happen in this series.  Barth’s kind of an interesting judge, because she’s one of the only judges in this series who seems to favor the defense but isn’t portrayed as a monster for doing so.

And the jury splits the difference. Not impossible but certainly unusual.

Let's Talk Sexuality

N/A for this episode. Not relevant for the content of the episode.

Let's Talk Sex

There's a good amount of talk about what can and can't happen during consensual sex.  The rapist this episode doesn’t even consider what he did to the vic rape because he considers sex a power-play by itself and doesn’t seem capable of even distinguishing a difference between consensual sex and rape.

Worst Line

"DNA is everywhere. Just like God."--so awkward???  It’s clear that they want to give Warner some depth but this is a really akward way to bring up a character’s religious beliefs.

Best Line

"Marvin Exley: when you absolutely positively have to beat the rap."  It’s such a great character introduction to such a minor character.  This guy’s not the main defense attorney this season though--we’ll meet him later.

Honorable mentions: "What part of South Sudan didn't you understand"--the defense attorney's pretty hilarious in an awful way this episode.  How he says this line is especially funny.  

The way Alex Cabot says “pray for them” after being asked about the Congo.

Should You Watch This Episode?

 For as much as this show has continuity, this episode is pretty important in establishing the new continuity, with the official departure of Stabler and the arrival of Amanda Rollins.  It's not the greatest season opener of the Warren Leigh run, but it gives the show a different sort of tone, pretty clearly establishing Olivia as the main character now that Stabler has left. As for pure enjoyment factor, it’s a pretty average SVU episode, with a fairly creepy villain and a lot of courtroom scenes.  Recommended: more for continuity than quality though.

And with the departure of Stabler, comes a new partner for Liv. Introducing--Amaro.

[hellyeahomeland]

If for some miracle Quinn comes back as David Exley, would Carrie call him Exley now or David? Also please can you discuss the various theories regarding him coming back on your next podcast. Maybe it IS all a ruse and the writers are trying to show us how 'fake news' and 'alt truths' really affect us? Arghhh, I want to move on, but some people's theories seem so realistic and definitely a viable option and am so hoping they are right! What do you guys think? Would love to hear you discuss it;)

Anonymous #2: Is Q really dead or not? Actually the ask itself is more interesting to me than the answer, ‘cause we can only speculate, keep our fragile hope alive, but we already know the official answer, right? Yes, he is dead. So why are people doubting and sharing alternative theories? It’s just a denial mechanism, a naive way to escape a tragic reality, too tragic to be accepted? Maybe. But there are things in the finale that seem to support those doubts. The most important one IMO is the lack of conventional, common codes (in writing and directing) when it comes to show a main character death in Tv world. With “Codes”I mean all those needed steps and effects that confirm and witness a death (close up of the body, last breath, touching/checking pulse, immediate reaction like crying/screaming). Every show, even the postmodern, super-posh ones, use those codes ‘cause they are universally understandable. But not HL. Why? a) they wanted to change storytelling rules, by offering us something “different”; b) they decided to play with ambiguity, to let that “door” open, deliberately, ‘cause they have no idea of the story’s development and it felt more comfortable to have more options on the table. So are they brave (a), or are they cowards (b)? My guess is b), ‘cause you cannot change rules during the game, it never works, people lose trust and sense of direction, and if you are a writer you must know that.

Anonymous #3: I read a previous ask about Quinn’s death being an example of fake news. This had crossed my mind and to add to it didn’t the president state in her interview when she was shown the video of her son that it didn’t show what happened afterwards and therefore didn’t show the whole story? Much like what we saw of Quinn’s death.

Anonymous #4: The fact is that they didn’t want to “close” Quinn´s death, no funeral, no medical examination, these odd hints etc. What do you think is it all about? Pure manipulation? so I and many other people think about this?

“David Exley” sounds an awful lot like “David Estes.” I don’t think Carrie would want to call him either of those things.

We’re not recording anytime in the immediate future. We are all very drained from the season; Sara will be recording a follow-up podcast with her mom, and when we’ve had some more time to settle into this new reality, we will do a thing. 

Despite the theories running rampant, which are honest to god gonna kill us all, we’re officially taking the stance of mourning. At this point, I don’t think any of us are prepared to really get our hopes up — more importantly, we don’t want to get your hopes up. 

That said, I know you guys want to talk about it! It’s so clear you guys want to talk about it, and I’m here for you. Please join me at HomelandStuff to discuss the event that I, a rational person, am dubbing: QUINNSPIRACY 2k17!!!

[realife-mermaid]

Reading Log for July

Once again redoing my counts bc I got more books (for free this time). Also I decided I’m going to mark which ones have bisexual characters and which ones are from my Indigenous People Only list bc it makes me, personally, happy lol.

Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller - 4 stars. This was a reread bc I couldn’t remember enough to read the second book. I still love this so much, love Sal, and also not every book about people killing each other is the hunger games and the comparisons sell this book VERY SHORT.

Three Simple Rules by Nikki Sloane - 2 stars. The first 80% of this book was really freaking good. Sexy, romantic, and kinky in a way that is Mostly consensual (there’s like. a weirdness by virtue of the book being about how the main starts fucking her boss with a blindfold so she doesn’t know it’s him for a hot minute which is not good in real life, but in erotica I’m fairly okay with it) AND THEN the main gets passed up for a promotion bc she’s fucking her boss, he says he’ll quit so she can get the promotion and then...doesn’t and it’s fine apparently bc they’re engaged now. Bad, regressive bullshit and it ruined the entire book for me.

Otherbound by Corinne Duvyis - 5 stars. This book took all the right choices at every turn which means it took the most difficult, agonizing choice at every turn. Every time I thought “well that choice is messy realistically” the book went “and here are the consequences of this desperate but still bad choice.” It’s a complicated fantasy book about a boy who flashes into the mind of a young slave girl dedicated to protecting a cursed princess with every blink of his eye. It’s horrific, fascinating, and bleak but ends with an open ended, hopeful bent that felt very earned. Also Amara, a bisexual lead, is a fanatically complex character and I would die for her (and all the characters tbh).

The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline - 5 stars. Apparently I’m on a brutal SFF roll here because holy shit. It was almost lyrical in some places as it described the post apocalyptic world, and it did such a good job of handling mixed vs monoracial Natives without ever pitting them against each other. I didn’t love the constant casual use of half br**d but I’ll let it slide one (1) time bc the author is Native.

You Had Me At Hola by Alexis Daria - 5 stars. This was AMAZING. Romantic and sexy and emotional, and also delved into how TV sets work which was just fun to read. I also loved the leads as characters and the way they’re both obviously written as having undiagnosed Problems and then this is talked about. Such a good book despite the cheesy ass title.

Ella, the Slayer by A.W. Exley - 4 stars. Solid and interesting concept, and it did a lot of good choices regarding Cinderella stories, but it was also sort of forgettable? And I thought it was weird the prince only had one chapter from his POV.

Tikka Chance On Me by Suleikha Snyder - 3 stars. Cute and sweet, with some lovable characters and an interesting plot twist that belonged in a much longer book. There was just far too much going on for this to be a novella. Also the sex scenes were Not my style.

Girls of Storm and Shadow by Natasha Ngan - 4 stars. Not as good as the original but still good. I liked the way their PTSD was dealt with and I LOVED the chapters from other POVs but it was oddly paced and the supporting characters were mostly annoying.

Dearest Rogue by Elizabeth Hoyt - 5 stars. This was the perfect historical romance. It’s got good build up, a tense and thrilling romance, and also disabled main characters trying to survive a world that wants to silence them. The H is blind and the h has leg pain - written very well, in a way that affects the plot and also day to day issues - and it’s also a bodyguard romance!!! It has everything. It deals with class too which was just an e extra layer of fun. I loved this and I’m excited to read more by the author.

More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera - 2.5 stars. Bleak, weird, and a little homophobic and no I don’t care that the author is gay. The writing has a strong narrative voice and I loved Aaron, Thomas, and Collin but that ending was awful and this book doesn’t deserve to be in the same convo as Ari and Dante. Ari and Dante got a genuinely happy ending. All the gay characters in this are miserable or brain dead by the ending and I just don’t think that’s ~good representation~.

New Books: 9

Rereads: 1

Total Counts: 17/97; 23/188

Goodreads Goal: 41/49

[sagejwinter-blog]

Learning from the Masters

Read as much from those that you admire and learn from them.

This is a paraphrase I read somewhere. The article talked about how some famous writers in the 20th century had similar descriptions of their female protagonists. It wasn’t zeitgeist but a deliberate action by the fan-authors as tribute to the more famous author. Similar to celebrity fans. I don’t remember the authors mentioned but that got me thinking. Copying, someone said, is the best form of flattery. Many would disagree.

I grew up reading romance books among others. My first book was a Mills and Boon paperback lent to me by my Aunt who got annoyed when I kept bugging her to give me something to read. From Mills and Boon, I moved on to Harlequin before venturing to Sweet Valley High teen romance. Yeah, my romance reading books went backwards. I interspersed that with Stephen King, Robert Ludlum and John Grisham. 

Since I was a voracious reader of romance books, I noticed similar themes among the books. Mills and Boon seemed to prefer openly hostile first meetings between the protagonists before they fall in live or the heroine gets pregnant and hides it from the hero or the heroine was the secretary/assistant/is of a lower station in society and the guy is this domineering boss/lord of the manor/millionaire (before billionaires became popular). The plots were so predictable, I needed to read Vale of the Vole by Piers Anthony and stumbled across the Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander to give my reading a bit of spice.

Years later, I realized these similarities were called tropes or hooks and writers use them because readers expect them. The most common tropes according to Tahra Seplowin (@calixofcoffe) in her article http://www.soyouthinkyoucanwrite.com/2015/06/plot-102-romance-tropes-fab-or-drab/  were: girl next door, virgin heroine, marriage of convenience, alpha male.

There were romance writers who were able to write original and compelling stories using those hooks. And there were those who simply wrote without originality. Rumors and accusation of plagiarism emerged, the one I was most surprised to find was the accusation that Janet Dailey plagiarized Nora Roberts . I was surprised because Janet Dailey was - is - popular in her own rights; however, this is an illustration that even great writers suffer from lack of inspiration. 

With the rise of self-publishing and the ease with which readers and writers can download e-books, it has become relatively easy to just copy off from others. I don’t mean “be inspired by”, rather literal copying of someone’s work. Read about the Becky McGraw vs Laura Harner case.

In my case, I am inspired by the works of Kresley Cole, Larissa Ione, AW Exley, Ilona Andrews, Nalini Singh, specifically the romance fantasy series. As a first time novelist, I am dissecting their works and trying to figure out what makes their books engaging, exciting, and enjoyable. One commonality among these authors is their ability to make their characters relatable and memorable. Their protagonists and their supporting characters are not one-dimensional. They have their own voices and their own personalities. That’s what I’m trying to incorporate in my novel.

If only other writers would take the time to study the techniques of the Masters instead of just copying and passing off other writer’s work as theirs, there wouldn’t be plagiarism cases. 

[ippyg]

Race, Love, and Hate

2017

Reality has set in for many people all over the world.  President Trump is the President of the United States.  A lot has happened since he has taken office.  However, to understand where I’m going to go in today’s post, we’ve got to go back — way back.

It starts in 1787, when Benjamin Franklin became the President of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery. Two years later, Benjamin Franklin publishes essays and petitions congress to abolish slavery.  I start here only because of some lyrics that were penned by Lin-Manuel Miranda (writer of Hamilton: An American Musical) on the Hamilton Mixtape where he says 

"Plantation states are packed with promise makers, Do you realize the precious time these legislators wasted? Institutionalizing slavery only multiplied our troubles, Wait till the 1800's, and their population doubles. You all know, This is the stain on our soul and democracy, A land of the free? No, it's not, it's hypocrisy. To subjugate, dehumanize a race, call 'em property, And say that we are powerless to stop it, can you not foresee? Sir, even you, have hundreds of slaves whose descendants will curse our names when we're safe in our graves...”

  What really stands out is that the more they waited, the worse it would get, and it did.  Before hearing all this, I thought the first real attempts at trying to abolish slavery came just before and during the Abraham Lincoln era.  It’s clear though that these attempts came way before that.

Fast forward to present day and what were still feeling is a residual effect of all these things.  As we know, things didn’t just end after slavery, it took decades before segregation came to an end and everyone was treated equal.  I know that it is up for debate, and perhaps for another blog post, but for now, I can’t help but to draw parallels to the past.  It makes me feel that we’ve been conditioned to continue thinking this way.  As if things are as bad as they were then.  Almost as if none of it ever happened. 

As I grew up in Union City, New Jersey, as a Latino male, I remember feeling out of place when I’d go to places like Rutherford, Belleville, Montclair, in New Jersey, that were predominately white towns.  Why would I feel this way?  I’ve must have learned somewhere that being Latino would make me stand out.  In the Marine Corps, a place that was also predominately white, we’d joke about race all the time — Latinos bonded well with other Latinos because it was a cultural thing.  I only mention this to illustrate that point but I have to say that although we joke about race, we’re all brothers in the Marine Corps and the only color we all are in the end, to each other, is Marine Corps green…not white, black, brown, or yellow.

In any case, race is a thing that’s embedded in our minds unconsciously.  We don’t need laws or policies or anything that’ll continue to give power to race, what we need is to abolish our way of thinking by teaching fairness and for us parents, to raise our kids up right and with open arms to all humans.  It’s easier said than done but it has to be done and it’ll take time.

In 2010, at Miami Dade College, I was blessed to be part of a life changing experience.  We got to do an small exchange program with students in Alabama.  At first, the students came to Miami.  I was nervous.  What would they think about our culture?  Would they look down on us?  How do we respond when they show a lack on interest?  This is a note I wrote after our encounter: 

"Words can't not begin to describe the success of this event.  When I shared my thoughts yesterday with the entire group, I started off by quoting Socrates, when he said "I know only that I know nothing".  I thought this weekend I would be teaching rural kids from Alabama a new culture, other ways of living, and showing how different we all are.  I did.  However, what I did not anticipate was that I would be enlightened and inspired by the very people I had a preconceived notion of as being closed minded and ignorant.  I learned that not only was I the close minded individual, but that we have so much to learn from one another no matter our background.  We all have so much to offer despite our differences and at the end of the day, we are all incredible human beings.  Together, we can make a difference when we do set our differences aside and together we can make the world a better place.”  

Yes, I was nervous for no reason at all.  Despite this amazing experience, when we got the chance to go to Alabama, for part two, since our first round was such a success, I was still hesitant.  I remember thinking, “Well the students are great, but how about their family and friends?”  I won’t keep asking questions because as you can imagine, I wrote a note about that experience too.  This is it (by the way, the college we visited was Snead State Community College):

"Its been said numerous times [on this trip] that words are not enough to describe the joy, our gratitude, and the hopefulness that we feel.  I couldn't agree more.  I'm embarrassed in part because of my expectations before arriving here.  The best way to describe what I'm talking about is from the movie, "Remember the Titans".  In the movie, two schools merge during a time where segregation was a big deal.  The whites and blacks now had to play football together on the same team.  At first, the segregation was evident on the team as they practiced but as time went on, they came together.  I felt this was us.  

Although segregation isn't an issue, we did not know what to expect and if it would work the first time in Miami.  Not only did it work, but the engagement during the few days were flawless!  

In the second half of the movie, after the team has come together, they have a new challenge to face and that's their community at home.  On this trip to Alabama, I felt it would be the same.  I knew that our relationship with the Sneaders that had come to Miami would only grow but my concern was with the community?  Would the community accept us? How would the react to us? How would the people of Snead react to us since they had not been part of the trip?  So many questions and uncertainties ran through my head.  The outcome was amazing.  The outcome was exceptional.  I was worried for no reason.  The community and the Sneaders embraced us with such hospitality beyond my believe.  I was and still am truly in awe.  We were literally taken into your homes, not just Alabama and Snead State but Dr Exleys, Amy's, and Jared's parents home.  The unconditional trust shown to us is a sign, among many, of love and family [no matter who you are].

My assumptions were wrong twice.  It’s a lesson though that there is good in people and we need to start peeling of the layers that separate us and come together.  I can’t help but think that it’s due to the conditioning I’ve been unintentionally exposed to.  We can change that.  We can’t let things like politics and a difference of opinions divide us.  Differences are a good thing, we just need to be inclusive of each other.  Love overcomes hate and we’ve got to believe that.  The ball is in our court, the question is what are we going to do with it?  Score a point for love… and even if that’s your intend, you’ve got to be mindful and careful because you may unintentionally score for the other team.

Here are some pictures for those times in 2010 (None of the pictures were taken by me and for name privacy reason, I’m not including photo credit here)

Additional thoughts on Love: http://www.ippyg.com/post/144891966001/complicating-love

[k8tilton]

Featured Book of the Week: Nefertiti's Heart by AW Exley

Featured Book of the Week: Nefertiti’s Heart by AW Exley

This week we have something special for the steampunk fans out there! Be sure to check below for how you can get involved and check out the excerpt from Nefertiti’s Heart. 

Each week authors can submit one book for a chance to be the featured book of the week, and each week one book/author will be selected at random. The winning book each week will be featured on http://www.malloryrock.com,…