Just a rant about privacy

Ever get the feeling you're being watched?

Pick your nose in the wrong part of the building and your boss will might see you on a video feed. Pull your pants out of your butt in the aisle and K-Mart will know it. Have a quickie in the high rise elevator and Maintenance Man Joe will have a nice ten minute clip to show his friends. Hell, better make sure your blinds have maximum coverage when you're in the apartment alone with a porn. You are being watched.

There was a movie with Will Smith and Gene Hackman called Enemy of the State that offered a glimpse into how scary surveillance and tracking has come (and that was in '98). You can be tracked by your credit card, by your IPASS at tolls, GPS in your phone or in your car. An alibi can be established on every errand you run by time-stamped video. I just got a ticket along with a video of my car going through a red light! And if you happen to be under investigation and all else fails, the IRS already has you by the balls.

Do we care anymore? Are we desensitized? We should be or it might drive us crazy contemplating it all. In the '40's and '50's everyone was made to be so scared of communists that invasions of privacy were the norm. What was it, the McCarthy Red Scare? Our government had a field day prying into the private lives of otherwise normal citizens. Today, the terrorist card can be played as if the government even needed an excuse. Sure, these are private companies that record your movements and track your spending and websites your browse, but that information is out there. Every text, every email. You might hit delete, but it doesn't ever go away.

Facebook - Oh, Lordy Facebook. I'm all for social media. I like Facebook for the mere fact that it's like an address book that everyone else keeps up to date for you. But kids these days don't seem to want privacy. They want everything to be known. GPS doesn't have to track them, they'll tell you right on FB that they're going to Starbucks. They'll tell you their kids have a cold. They'll post a picture of themselves, or what's worse - YOU, drunk at the party, hanging off the ceiling fan in your underwear. Good luck at your next interview. And then it will be there for as long as the Internet is in existence.

I'm trying to be an author; a successful author. And I had a rather extroverted life in New Orleans, but thankfully, that was in the late '80 and 90's before YouTube. If I become a household name, I worry that something might surface because I have a feeling it is out there; a picture, a video, an arrest warrant (just kidding), waiting to embarrass the hell out of me.

And finally, in playing devil's advocate, the one thing I can rationalize is that there are so many people to keep track of, who cares if Joe Blow knows you rent romantic comedies on the weekend? At least those that need to be watched, probably are.

Again with the sex...

Can a writer create a hero that isn't good in the sack?

I was just thinking about all the flaws a character can have to make them more accessible, but could our FBI agent who always gets the girl have erectile dysfunction and still win over the reader? Can the hard-boiled detective be a "quick draw" and still inspire passion?

Certainly James Bond could never be written like that, but his entire persona could be considered unrealistic in terms of his accomplishments. Some people like to read about the gratuitous sex between a book's main characters while others prefer to hint at it and let the imagination run wild. I'm willing to bet that imagination never includes clumsy sex with no foreplay.

I would love to see an amazing character that has the world on a platter, can solve every mystery and be handsome, witty and charming and then fail in the bedroom and then have the couple deal with like any normal people would; whether is be by ignoring it, talking about it, or trying again until they get it right. Would the plot come to a screeching halt? Would one spy tell the other, "its alright, it happens to a lot of guys"? Would that ultimately take the reader out of the fantasy?

Women are always sexy and sensual, too. What if you didn't get off that easy (no pun intended) in a book? What if the heroine couldn't dance and their bedroom moves were awkward or they slip off the bed or just do something REAL. I can't speak for the female reader, but I would assume a guy reader wouldn't care as much about how it went in bed as long as they ended up there.

So, can we be left with two extraordinary characters that live in a world of intense intrigue, action, and conflict, who fall in love on the beaches of Frances, meeting by circumstance, each working for separate faction, trying to topple governments and have them fall short of bedroom fireworks? Could Jason Bourne mix up a cyanide pill with a Viagra?

Um, I don't think so.

My Take On Penn State

So, I'm a fiction writer. I write thrillers with sinister characters that do really evil deeds. My imagination has to create senarios that are implausibly plausible if that makes sense. One storyline I attempted a long time ago dealt with child pornography and even skirting around the issue, I found it difficult. I couldn't do it and ended up changing it to human trafficking where I take great satisfaction in who gets saved and how the villain gets it in the end (yet to be published).

So, this thing with Penn State comes to light. I'm a big LSU Tiger's fan, which means I'm a fan of all college football and it makes me sick to think football is the reason this was kept quiet. But, I'm not going to make commentary on what's been rehashed in the news hourly for the past week, but there is one thing I keep coming back to.

This Mcqueary is a good sized man. He was a football player. He had a chance to be this kid's hero. He walked into an opportunity that gave him free reign to bust this guy up. If I wrote him as a character, I would really have to develop either a detachment, a cold persona, or some childhood tragedy of his own to make it believable. Is it self preservation? Is it the mighty hand of Penn State football? It's crazy. Get in front of it, practice the HONOR that you preach, take the dent to the program and move forward, knowing you upheld your ideals. What the F????

How do you walk away from what Mcqueary described? I put myself in his place and after I get over how sureal the scene must have been, I run in there, pull the kid away from Sandusky (who will hopefully be in the prison's general population) and proceed to beat the crap out of him. Maybe he gets the better of me, maybe he doesn't. Either way, I kick and punch for every child that has ever been taken advantage of. Do I see myself leaving, distraught, telling my boss and then wiping my hands of it? No, I don't see that.

At least pull out your phone and call the police...at least! The only good that will come from this is that bringing to the public's attention what SHOULD have happened. The next person in this situation may think about handling it differently.

You should have been that boy's hero, Mcqueary. How many chances do we get at that?

A Real Ghost Story

They say many New Orleans residences and buildings are haunted, but its a great place to create spine tingling stories that may or may not be true, but are somehow more believable in that locale. Well, I have my own ghost story (or at least a story that has yet to be explained) and whether people think I've made it up or not, I know it to be true and it still gives me the creeps.

When I was eighteen, I moved into a friend's house after his mother died. We also worked together at a Winn Dixie supermarket, so the arrangement was perfect. His brother lived out of state and he had this small two bedroom to himself, so why not? I ended up having his mother's old room, which not believing in haunted houses, I didn't care.

Things started out great. We were young, partied, and had lots of fun, but through those first few months, the normal "ghostly" things started happening; missing keys, doors being closed or opened, wierd sounds at night. Again, I didn't pay much attention to it; explaining it away.

Then, it happened. My friend left for work at 9 a.m. I was due in at Noon. Before I left, I got the mail and brought it to my room. I remember this like it happened yesterday. I had five envelopes and put them in a stack on the dresser. I got dressed, locked up, and went to work. My friend had a double shift. He did not leave work at all. When my shift was done and he was still there at work, I arrived back and went to my room not expecting to see the five envelopes spread several inches apart in a perfect semi-circle on the bed. I still get goosebumps thinking about it.

His brother was out of state and he had no other family. None of our friends had a key and I know he didn't go back home. There is no other way to explain it. Plus, I knew my friend and knew his reactions. So, was the house haunted? I personally believe so.

Thoughts on Typewriters

Typewriters may as well go up there with the old time cash registers. I'm old enough to have used a typewriter when I first started banging out short stories in high school where I took a class to learn to type. I'm proud to say I was at 60 words a minute.

I was thinking about all the paper I used to waste and the bottles of White Out I had smeared across mistakes. Putting together a good page that didn't need edits was an accomplishment. For me, having an immaculate ream of a finished manuscript was impossible.

Soon words processors took over and that lead to computers. Today we can keystroke carefree, knowing the delete button is a mere pinky away. That leads me to believe that before computers, a writer had to take care in the words they chose; in their sentence structure. Paper cost money and editing was extremely time consuming.

So does that mean we would be better writers if forced to use a typewriter? Let's say you were given an exercise where you have the first draft of a manuscript and you had to retype any page that had edits - the entire page. I don't mean from scratch. Just make a copy and retype it word for word. Would you be more careful with your grammar? Would you examine each sentence closely?

Of course, I'm speaking for myself when I say that I can blast through a bunch of pages, knowing I will go back and make sweat-free editing. I don't mean to accuse any writer out there of not trying to write their best. I just wonder if those young writers who have never used a typewriter would benefit from a little manual labor.

Feeling a little inferior?

Those of us that are aspiring writers have probably read someone else's work and sat in awe, wondering if we could ever write that well. I'd say most people have felt that way about something in their lives, whether it's acting, music, art, etc.

It would be natural to try to emulate the people who inspire you, but I don't know if that's a good idea. Do you really want to be the "next" somebody? Do you really want fans to say you could never be the "next" somebody?

Thrillers come in all shapes and sizes. Too much description, too little description. Not enough action or too much time between the action. There are words you don't know and don't feel like stopping to look up (unless you have an ereader), making you either feel...less educated...or make you feel like you're really missing out on a good read. Plot driven, character driven. Believable or even plausible. Boring, stiff, fluid, fast, suspensful, interesting and best of all...thrilling.

I don't know all the big words and I'm not much on the smaller details that many like and some don't. When I write, I wonder how I'm going to fill up a 80,000 word novel with the story I've created. It's difficult and takes a lot of time and I can see how others do it. They detail the hell out of things, which I do enjoy reading. I've read pages on characters that really don't affect the story. However, it really sets the scene and environment. And for a while that made me feel inferior. My vocabulary might not be conducive to the details. I feel like I'm boring the reader because I don't know the words that make people go to the dictionary.

But, as people have read my manuscripts, I've learned they liked my style. They like blazing through a story that doesn't let up. I've heard many times how it was hard to put down and they were 100 pages in before they knew it.

Aspiring writers should stick with their style and not try to "copy" someone else's. Sure, they can influence and there can be comparisons, but let it happen naturally. It took some time to accept that, but I can see how my style might one day be one of those styles that another author might aspire to.

That would be awesome.

Seven things I've learned so far.

I'm taking this idea from a blog by Chuck Sambuchino, an editor who posts other blogs by agents and writers, which have been very useful and inspiring to me as a writer. I'm trying not to use the obvious lessons, because its all been said over and over. Hopefully, I have a couple of useful tidbits here.

1) You're always improving...Unless you're one of the lucky few whose English and grammar skills are beyond reproach. The editing process will only be finished once it has been published. Don't just re-read and think it sounds good. Examine each sentence, the tense, the point of view, word conservation, eliminate cliches, don't repeat, show don't tell, don't repeat words...oh, so many tweaks to be had.

2)Don't write when you're not feeling it. Some advice would be to write on a schedule or write when you're having a block and that might work for some, but for me, I find it counterproductive. Find ways to be inspired to write. For me, it usually happens when I finish reading a good novel. That pumps me up to sit a pound out a story.

3)There is no instant success. This is a long process; at least for fiction. Even if you write a story in two months and get a publisher a month after that (good luck). It's going to be at least another year before your book comes out. For most of us, it takes years just to get to this point...if ever.

4)You friends and family don't know what it takes to get an agent or published. It might be nice to hear praise from those around you, but that is not going to advance your knowledge of the industry. You need a real editor or other writers to critique your work, which is usually a sobering experience. Once you're over the shock of your writing being torn apart, then you'll be that much better the next time around. Find writing groups or workshops put your thick-skin on.

5)Step back from your work. Yes, once your finish, you want to get your queries out there, dreaming of your first royalty check. No. Put down the manuscript for a few months, then come back and program yourself to read it as if you didn't write it. This will allow you to see where the flow is awkward or the sentences are redundant or the point of view is wrong. Its a shitty feeling to know you sent something out that will turn an agent off.

6)Networking. This won't happen overnight, either. In my years of putting myself out there and attending conferences and querying and contacting other writers, I've met many in the industry and find that I can return to these contacts for advice or support. Slowly, but surely, names start to become familair. Plus, building these relationships lets people know you are serious about your craft.

7)Research your options. Oh, man. There are so many ways to get your book out. Do you get an agent? A traditional publisher? An ebook publisher? POD? Do I self-publish? Small press? Independant press? Publish through Amazon? Barnes and Noble? Kinkos? How can I market my novel without help? It might be very enticing to get your book out by any means available, but choose wisely grasshopper. You might regret letting your best-selling first novel fall into the depths of obscurity because word just isn't getting out. THERE IS NO RIGHT WAY. What works for some will not work for others. If there is a number 8 here, its to develop your filter; use the advice you can and discard the rest.

There are so many more things I've learned, but I've already named the piece, so we're stuck with seven.