The Book You Are Reading Is A Lie

Philip K. Dick and Our Predicament

This is what Dick has to offer — something beyond mere politics; a glimpse at what makes us human. The moral law within, the ability to tell good from evil without actually being able to define them. In a literary world teeming with Mailers, and Vidals, and Thompsons, overrun with the cynical, and the vicious, and the twisted, Philip Dick stood alone in his defense of the human values.

As I waited for this post page to build, I wondered what PKD would have made of eBooks.

And the answer was obvious.

The book would talk back to the reader, harassing him, telling him that what he’s reading is all a lie, that character X was up to no good despite being depicted as the hero, and why don’t you just put it down and go outside and experience some real people?

R.I.P. Writer Cort McMeel

A warrior has fallen.

A warrior has fallen. Cort McMeel has left us.

Cort McMeel

In the face of one of his beautiful onslaughts, he’d make you believe that burning up your life for literature, well, it was the only rational thing you could do.

Enmeshed in a system that does everything in its power to compel conformity and obedience, it’s too easy to find yourself alone in a corner with your own mind being turned against itself. That is the ultimate trap. Don’t don’t don’t fall for it.

His family will need the royalties: Short by Cortright McMeel

Transcript: Writer Derek Raymond Rare TV Interview

Thanks to Laura Fullton for doing this.

She notes:

The interviewer is talking at light speed (she really needs to slow down!) and Cook has a heavy accent, so I had to listen to some parts over and over to catch everything, and I’m still not sure in a few places. I also asked a native French speaker to listen to a few bits that weren’t clear for me, but that didn’t make much difference.

After the break, first the English and then the French.

Scott Turow Opens His Yap Again

The Slow Death of the American Author

I’m just going to address a few nails-on-chalkboard points:

Last month, the Supreme Court decided to allow the importation and resale of foreign editions of American works, which are often cheaper than domestic editions. Until now, courts have forbidden such activity as a violation of copyright. Not only does this ruling open the gates to a surge in cheap imports, but since they will be sold in a secondary market, authors won’t get royalties.

WRONG! How could any editor at The New York Times let that absolute lie through? The authors get royalties on those foreign editions, where they are being originally bought. A sale is still a sale whether it’s in a domestic or a foreign market. International rights are never granted royalty-free.

Writer Derek Raymond: Rare Videos!

All this time I’d been searching for photos of Derek Raymond, it was only last week that I got a hint there might actually be video of him. And then, today, a second video!

These have been hidden in plain sight, under his birth name, Robin Cook.

There’s an actual DVD available from France that has a full interview with him: Carnets Noirs, Tome 2. Behm. Cook. Mc Ilvaney.

And after the break, a clip from that DVD, of Derek Raymond in color and speaking!

Memo To Scott Turow: Just STFU Already!

Turow on Amazon/Goodreads: This is how modern monopolies can be built

Amazon is buying Goodreads, its only sizable competitor for reader reviews and a site known for the depth and breadth of its users’ book recommendations.

I know you think a computer is sorta like a telegraph, Turow, because you also think Google Search is like a word processor’s Find command.

But are you so stupid that you can’t even parse the sentence you wrote?

Writer Derek Raymond: New Images

From time to time I get the urge to use Bing to find new images of writer Derek Raymond. Because, unlike Google, Bing does not disappoint.

Tonight Bing outdid itself.

Source

The Greatest Advice That Should Be A Book

6 Harsh Truths That Will Make You a Better Person

If you want to know why society seems to shun you, or why you seem to get no respect, it’s because society is full of people who need things. They need houses built, they need food to eat, they need entertainment, they need fulfilling sexual relationships.

That was published on December 17, 2012 and has so far gotten 7,824,172 views.

I didn’t come across it until today (hello, Long Tail?).

The trouble with a lot of self-help stuff is that it’s genteel. Soothing stuff made for bunny rabbits who really don’t want to be other than cute and fluffy and liked.

Amazon Best-Sellerdom Ain’t All That

My Amazon bestseller made me nothing

This past summer, my novel, “Broken Piano for President,” shot to the top of the best-seller lists for a week. After Jack Daniel’s sent me a ridiculously polite cease and desist letter, the story went viral and was featured in places like Forbes, Time magazine and NPR’s Weekend Edition. The New Yorker wrote one whole, entire, punctuated-and-everything sentence about me! My book was the No. 6 bestselling title in America for a while, right behind all the different “50 Shades of Grey” and “Gone Girl.” It was selling more copies than “Hunger Games” and “Bossypants.” So, I can sort of see why people thought I was going to start wearing monogrammed silk pajamas and smoking a pipe.

Yeah, I remember that. It was a huge story.

So what did he make?

Congrats To Liz de Jager!

Book Blog to Book Deal: TOR UK Acquires de Jager’s Debut Novel

Pan Macmillan’s Tor imprint is delighted to announce the acquisition at auction of an exciting young adult trilogy – by blogger-turned-author Liz de Jager. Senior Commissioning Editor Bella Pagan bought World Rights, excluding USA/Canada, via Juliet Mushens of the Agency group and the series starts with The Blackhart Legacy. The books are contemporary YA urban fantasies set in our world, but here fairytale legends exist. And only one family – the Blackharts – are able to see fae interlopers, never mind fight them. Part Artemis Fowl, part Brothers Grimm, this is a rollicking and original read from a fresh new voice in YA fiction. This will be perfect for fans of Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan and Melissa Marr.

Readers who have paid attention here have seen Liz before:

Nearly Blinded By A Pea!
The Evil Future When Your eBook Rings

And her guest post, which I will now turn into a limited-edition eBook and cash-in with (bwahahaha!):

Writer Christopher Fowler UK Book Launch

Congratulations!