Doing: Writing on this blog; answering e-mails; working out, and well...you know the rest! :0)
Watching: KIRO 7 NEWS; couple of Disney tapes.
Listening to: Dance Hits of the 90s (mix tape); "Round Round".
Reading: Kushiel's Scion. Page 252.
STAR TREK: CRUCIBLE: MCCOY-PROVENANCE OF SHADOWS. Page 11
TOPIC: THE ROWLING CONTROVERSY CONTINUES
It's strange how some people respond to an e-mail by recklessly implying that they intend to take what you've published and make some money off of your works--just because you came to the defense of someone who has the balls to take on someone like J.K. Rowling.
Talk about your amateur hour at the Improv! Or is that blind arrogance I so detect? Hmm? Such statements remind me of a comment found one of my brother's beloved Cracked cards from his Magic-The Gathering decks: "Whatever I do comes back and sticks onto you."
From what I've been able to uncover, it's nothing more than a simple power grab by Rowling in her attempts have absolute mastery over the print media. She apparently doesn't give a rat's ass about what one of her fans want to do. It's all about her and no one else.
And this is what had got my goat this week--during the bouts of the flu--authors who feel that no one but them should have the right to publish their works.
I have to agree that this is what being a writer is all about. But what I am not in agreement is with is that the fans and readers have to be forced to abide by a set of rules which spells out that they can and cannot do with the published authors' works after the book has been published.
If someone wanted to collaborate with me on any of my books in the future--a fan-based collection of short stories set in the Starchild Universe--I wouldn't be sitting there and denying that fan a chance to flex his or her imagination on the book idea.
I would be all for it.
Set up a contract that spells out what will go down and write it! Y'know? Because even though the author has sole ownership rights to his or her works, it doesn't necessarily mean that readers and fans alike can't share in the fun as well.
I think this is what needs to change and needs to be more clarified. In order for an author to be successful, it requires both sides to come together and share in the same unique vision set forth in the books themselves.
The author themselves can't expect to do the lion's share of the work--without the help of his or her fanbase and readers. Without involving them in the process of taking part in the actual writing.
Fan-fiction by itself isn't enough for most loyal fans, because they can't share what they've created with the creator or the author. All they have is a cyber audience that is presently engaged in other things--least of all in what the fan had gone and created--and that doesn't help them any.
Nor can they get it published. And that is where the problem lies. There is that roadblock which tells the fan that they cannot go and get it published--without the threat of being sued.
And that's the problem. We are in effect telling our own fans and readers: "Don't publish anything based on my works--because I'll have to sue you at my convenience."
Why? Didn't we just give them the greenlight to go ahead and write fan-fiction based on already published novel? Why don't we all sue them for even making the attempt in the first place?
I wrote some Robotech fan-fiction based on a series I hope to complete one of these days and publish.
A saga I started 13 years ago.
Why hasn't Harmony Gold or any of its creative-license members sued me for even writing it? It doesn't detract from the original vision set forth by Carl Macek and his crew of 'robbies'.
So why can't I publish it?
The problem lies in the control of the idea and the vision. Not what we all have written. It has to fly in the face of what the concept was based upon, not go fly off on a handle--with a completely different idea using the base pair of concepts.
What I want to do with my work is create stories based on what's taken place--written by fans, for fans, and published by fans.
All I would need is a contractual agreement and everything is fine.
I may not have all the time in the world to write every story based on every book I've constructed over the years, but I would like to--no: love--to see what someone else can come up with in their spare time.
And get it published through an equal-rights partnership and collaboration. I'm just tired of seeing the fans and readers get screwed by things that hamper our abilities to think and dream up shit--based on some published concept that's more outdated than a 50-year-old Twinkie.
Lawsuits are for power-hungry peons and people whom have nothing better to do with their time than make other people fucking miserable--because they've lost sight of what it meant to be flexible and understanding.
Money isn't forever. We all have to share in it at some point. But as an unpublished author myself, I want to involve my fans and readers in my works than just simply having them read the adventures of my varied characters.
I want them to experience and take part in it themselves. So that they can witness first-hand their own impact their writing has on my books.
But if people are going to be worried that it's going to take away the vision of what I've set in motion, I don't think you're going to have much to worry about: I'm already set in what I want in my books.
I know what I want. But I want to see what others can come up with.
But there's a lot in my novels that have yet to be explored. And I don't think I'm going to have time to write them all.
Which is why I want people to be involved in what I'm doing. It's not just me I'm writing for. But I'm making it possible for other people to share in what's like to have their name on something that I've created--written by my own hands--and bottom line...?
Have a little piece of the action themselves.
If people think that all it's doing is taking money away from me, I wouldn't worry about it too much. I've gotten used to living on such limited income as it is, I don't think having less money is going to impact me anymore than it already has now.
Yes, I've had my share of difficulties financially, but seriously? I don't need money to be rich. I'm already rich in ideas, concepts, and my imagination.
I will have all I will ever need to become a successful author. I just others to share in that glory and happiness. And make a little money on the side.
Others still may not understand, some may think I'm shooting myself in the foot, but it's not the mainstream that I'm doing this for.
I'm doing this because my fans and readers deserve it. Not because some overbloated egghead of an author thinks that they are too high on themselves to even notice the negative impact of denying them the opportunity of sharing in a unique collaboration.
A chance to expand and branch out.
It's part of the reason why some of my books don't have a defined beginning or an ending. Because there's a lot I left out. Not on purpose. Not by accident. Because that's that way the books wrote themselves.
I want the fans to help me fill in the blanks. In their own words.
Screw the mainstream way of thinking. This was never theirs to begin with.
It's mine and anyone else's who wants to share in this.
Sky
