Recently I've been reading the book Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein and I was enjoying it. However, I had to stop reading it, all because of an underlining theme that just got worse and worse as the book progressed. It wasn't the religious undertones, which was the reason I stopped reading it the second time I tried to read it. In fact, I quite enjoyed that section now that I am a little more secure about my beliefs.
No, the problem I had with the book was the amount of sexism in it. Every male in this book, apart from the protagonist Smith, is a sexist chauvinist and its driving me nuts. If this wasn't enough, all of the women practically fall under terrible female stereotypes. Flirty, have sex at the drop of the hat, there for men to be stared at. They're all intelligent yes, but each of them is in one form or another rather degraded. And it just completely turned me off. I found myself reading through it after two thirds of the way in, desperately looking for something to validate me continuing to read. But by the time I reached the blatant homophobia, I had to put it down.
Its too bad, I was really enjoying the story and how it progressed. But it just became too much. Much like many other books I've been reading. For a few months I was reading the 007 books and enjoying them for the trash that they were. My absolute favorite was Dr. No, with the maze and the squid and killing people with a sand blaster. Spoiler: Bond survives, kills the villain and sleeps with the girl.
But I had to stop reading the series after Goldfinger. The whole thing just became too much. If you've ever read anything by Ian Flemming, you can tell that the man is sexist, racist, homophobic and... well probably intolerant of quite a few things that people should be more tolerant of. But in Goldfinger, he does something that is completely unforgivable. Pussy Galore. Even the name is horrid. This characters sole existence in this book is a homophobic statement. She's the head of a group of lesbian cat burglars, hired by Goldfinger to pretend to be nurses during their scheme. James meets her, then he broods about homosexuals. Basically he sits, spews nonsense about them, then comes to the conclusion that homosexuals are sick.
So what does Pussy Galore actually do in the book. Get this: Not much. She pretends to be a nurse, which amounts to being pointless. She's on the plane when Goldfinger holds Bond hostage, but she does little to help him escape other than to wink. Then when he does escape, she sleep with him. "Because I never met a real man like you, James". I thought wanting to barf was only a saying.
So I gave up on James Bond as well. I'm not ashamed of reading them, nor do I regret it. I learned a lot from them. But I will never do it again. Stranger in a Strange Land I've given up for now, but maybe I will try again when I'm more tolerant of intorlerance.
Not sure where I'm going with this, as usual, but I think I will leave you with hope. I started reading a novel of one of my favorite characters, Nero Wolfe. It was a story involving racial rights, during the fifties. I was worried I would ditch one of my favorite characters in this one, especially Archie Goodwin. Goodwin is known to be a womanizer and a bit sexist, but the books are written in such a way that Goodwin often comes across as flawed rather than a super man. But I wondered how he would handle race. But then came the most brilliant line ever. Archie was thinking about racisim and he narrated: "If I need to feel superior to someone, and I often do, I need a better reason than the color of his skin"
Did you ever have to stop reading a good book because of one aspect? I stopped reading the Sookie Stackhouse books because of the Fellowship of the Sun. How about you?
Peace and blessings
Eric Rawlinson
110426
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Storytelling
So I had an interesting couple of days. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with the amount of activity the past week and a bit and I felt mentally and physically exhausted. But I was bored. So instead of spending the evening watching Batman, I decided to get off my butt and actually do something for the evening and went out to one of the events on Facebook. My friend was surprised I showed up, seeing as I told him the day before I wouldn't be, but was pleased none the less. It was a small group, around ten young adults and a senior. We played a couple of board games, but mostly we just talked.
One of the things we talked about was story telling and me being a writer talked about some of the stories I know. As it happened, the service the next day was on the subject of story telling and its importance in theology in Unitarianism. And the speaker was actually at the table with us. And when I said I knew a couple of stories, she invited me to tell a story. At first I was hesitant. I love telling stories, especially in front of a large group. But it had been so long and the group would be entirely new to me. So I said I would think about it. I more like obsessed over it the rest of the evening and the next morning. And so, having woken up with ample time to eat, bathe and obsess some more, I decided to go. And, sure enough, she invited me again. And after a moment's hesitation, I accepted.
I was nervous as hell, but I discovered that the hardest part of story telling is starting. Once you start, you can keep on going on and on and on. Coming up with what I wanted to say was easy. I introduced myself as a writer and a story teller and I said a few words about how storytelling was important to me. How it could be used as a learning tool as well as a way to explain this world. But I skipped the most important reason why I love storytelling. I love story telling because I love to tell stories. I'm pretty good at it, if I'm in the right mood. And so I began my story. I got a few laughs as I told the Just So story of how Camel got his hump. And I got applause from the audience. George Burns is right. There is no greater feeling in the world than the sounds of laughter and applause.
I spoke with many lovely people after the service, who all told me I performed so well, and asked me if I was a member of a storytelling or story writing guild. Now there's a good ideas. I've been doing about twenty minutes of research and come across nothing. I missed the story telling festival in Toronto completely. So it goes. But I will keep looking, it sounds like an organization I would like to join.
In the mean time, I feel more and more that I have found my place in writing and story telling and I will continue to pursue this life.
Peace and blessings
Eric Rawlinson
20110417
One of the things we talked about was story telling and me being a writer talked about some of the stories I know. As it happened, the service the next day was on the subject of story telling and its importance in theology in Unitarianism. And the speaker was actually at the table with us. And when I said I knew a couple of stories, she invited me to tell a story. At first I was hesitant. I love telling stories, especially in front of a large group. But it had been so long and the group would be entirely new to me. So I said I would think about it. I more like obsessed over it the rest of the evening and the next morning. And so, having woken up with ample time to eat, bathe and obsess some more, I decided to go. And, sure enough, she invited me again. And after a moment's hesitation, I accepted.
I was nervous as hell, but I discovered that the hardest part of story telling is starting. Once you start, you can keep on going on and on and on. Coming up with what I wanted to say was easy. I introduced myself as a writer and a story teller and I said a few words about how storytelling was important to me. How it could be used as a learning tool as well as a way to explain this world. But I skipped the most important reason why I love storytelling. I love story telling because I love to tell stories. I'm pretty good at it, if I'm in the right mood. And so I began my story. I got a few laughs as I told the Just So story of how Camel got his hump. And I got applause from the audience. George Burns is right. There is no greater feeling in the world than the sounds of laughter and applause.
I spoke with many lovely people after the service, who all told me I performed so well, and asked me if I was a member of a storytelling or story writing guild. Now there's a good ideas. I've been doing about twenty minutes of research and come across nothing. I missed the story telling festival in Toronto completely. So it goes. But I will keep looking, it sounds like an organization I would like to join.
In the mean time, I feel more and more that I have found my place in writing and story telling and I will continue to pursue this life.
Peace and blessings
Eric Rawlinson
20110417
Thursday, April 14, 2011
What I've been reading
One of the things that I've always got conflicting advice about as a writer is how much I should be reading. Some books I've been reading says I should be reading all of the time. Another book says I shouldn't be reading while I'm writing. This bit of advice never made sense, because I'm ALWAYS writing, so I should never read? Another book flat out accused me that because I was reading a book on how to write, I wasn't reading anything at all. Which is very rude and unfortunately very true.
I understand the advice about not reading and writing at the same time. There is the danger of writing in the same style as the book you're reading, but honestly, I've never had that problem with reading and writing. For me, the danger has been playing video games and writing, since the video game pulls me into its addictive qualities and distracts my mind from my work until it doesn't function properly.
But this is beyond the point. I believe we should read. It's better for our minds and we can see what other writers are up to. That being said, I've been reading some pretty tame books recently. I've become a huge fan of Rex Stout and the Nero Wolfe books and over the past few months I have pretty much read about six or seven Nero Wolfe books. They're pretty fun, but they're not what you would consider great works of literature. But I've never been too much of a fan of what people call 'great literature'. As I mature and become older and wiser, I've noticed I'm enjoying more than I thought I would.
Recently, I've been completely engrossed by Hienlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, a book that reading has been hazardous to my health on more than one occasion. It sure makes riding the subway a lot quicker though. I'm really getting into the book a lot. Its pretty good, the philosophy is pretty solid, but does every male character have to be a misogynist? I understand it can happen, but it's like all the sexual violence in Brent Weeks' Shadow's Edge. We get it, but does it have to be in every scene? Actually, there's a huge difference between Stranger in a Strange Land and Shadow's Edge. Stranger is better paced and the main characters are likable.
The 100 books from the BBC list is going around again and I've recently scored 18 (when I found our 'Northern Lights' was The Golden Compass. Seriously, The Golden Compass is my favorite book of all time, I've never heard it referred to as Northern Lights. Ever). I've been looking over the list and wondering if I will ever read all of them. I can say, without a hint out doubt, that I doubt it. Some of them are Jane Austin, who I've tried to read on some occasions when my sister started to read them. I could never get through them. But I have read about a fifth of them and I am so young still. But not before I've read every single Nero Wolfe story.
What have you been reading? Next on my list appears to be Nineteen Eighty Four.
Peace and blessings
Eric Rawlinson
20110414
I understand the advice about not reading and writing at the same time. There is the danger of writing in the same style as the book you're reading, but honestly, I've never had that problem with reading and writing. For me, the danger has been playing video games and writing, since the video game pulls me into its addictive qualities and distracts my mind from my work until it doesn't function properly.
But this is beyond the point. I believe we should read. It's better for our minds and we can see what other writers are up to. That being said, I've been reading some pretty tame books recently. I've become a huge fan of Rex Stout and the Nero Wolfe books and over the past few months I have pretty much read about six or seven Nero Wolfe books. They're pretty fun, but they're not what you would consider great works of literature. But I've never been too much of a fan of what people call 'great literature'. As I mature and become older and wiser, I've noticed I'm enjoying more than I thought I would.
Recently, I've been completely engrossed by Hienlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, a book that reading has been hazardous to my health on more than one occasion. It sure makes riding the subway a lot quicker though. I'm really getting into the book a lot. Its pretty good, the philosophy is pretty solid, but does every male character have to be a misogynist? I understand it can happen, but it's like all the sexual violence in Brent Weeks' Shadow's Edge. We get it, but does it have to be in every scene? Actually, there's a huge difference between Stranger in a Strange Land and Shadow's Edge. Stranger is better paced and the main characters are likable.
The 100 books from the BBC list is going around again and I've recently scored 18 (when I found our 'Northern Lights' was The Golden Compass. Seriously, The Golden Compass is my favorite book of all time, I've never heard it referred to as Northern Lights. Ever). I've been looking over the list and wondering if I will ever read all of them. I can say, without a hint out doubt, that I doubt it. Some of them are Jane Austin, who I've tried to read on some occasions when my sister started to read them. I could never get through them. But I have read about a fifth of them and I am so young still. But not before I've read every single Nero Wolfe story.
What have you been reading? Next on my list appears to be Nineteen Eighty Four.
Peace and blessings
Eric Rawlinson
20110414
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Dinner Parties
"If you held a dinner party, and could invite anyone, fact or fiction, who ever existed, who would you invite?"
This question was put to me a while ago and I started to compile names. But then I came to an interesting conclusion. If it were possible to invite anyone to my party, then I should be able to be invited to theres. That would be far more interesting for me. If I had a party with Nero Wolfe, Darth Vader and the Duke of Wellington, that wouldn't be very fun for them. But if I were to be invited to go to Freedom Hall to meet Harshaw and a streak? Now that would be awesome! In fact, I'd make a day of it!
I think I'd start with breakfast at Gormenghast, where the food is exquisite and the company is eccentric. Then lunch with Darth Vader in Empire Strikes Back. I always wanted to know what was discussed and what was served. And of course, tea at the Mad Tea Party, I couldn't pass that up. And Dinner at Wolfe's, with the company of a genius to pass the time. And round it all off with a drink at Valhalla and sing a warriors song.
So my question to you is, if you could have a meal anywhere, fact or fiction, whenever wherever, where would it be?
Peace and blessings
Eric Rawlinson
20110409
This question was put to me a while ago and I started to compile names. But then I came to an interesting conclusion. If it were possible to invite anyone to my party, then I should be able to be invited to theres. That would be far more interesting for me. If I had a party with Nero Wolfe, Darth Vader and the Duke of Wellington, that wouldn't be very fun for them. But if I were to be invited to go to Freedom Hall to meet Harshaw and a streak? Now that would be awesome! In fact, I'd make a day of it!
I think I'd start with breakfast at Gormenghast, where the food is exquisite and the company is eccentric. Then lunch with Darth Vader in Empire Strikes Back. I always wanted to know what was discussed and what was served. And of course, tea at the Mad Tea Party, I couldn't pass that up. And Dinner at Wolfe's, with the company of a genius to pass the time. And round it all off with a drink at Valhalla and sing a warriors song.
So my question to you is, if you could have a meal anywhere, fact or fiction, whenever wherever, where would it be?
Peace and blessings
Eric Rawlinson
20110409
Thursday, April 7, 2011
The Alien Man Love Poem
Alien Man, Alien Man
What do you see?
Alien Man, Alien Man
Where would you be?
Alien Man, Alien Man
If you were free?
Alien Man, Alien Man
Would you see me?
(Alien Man created by Etienne Buxton http://www.etiennebuxton.com)
Peace and blessings
Eric Rawlinson
20110407
What do you see?
Alien Man, Alien Man
Where would you be?
Alien Man, Alien Man
If you were free?
Alien Man, Alien Man
Would you see me?
(Alien Man created by Etienne Buxton http://www.etiennebuxton.com)
Peace and blessings
Eric Rawlinson
20110407
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
First Chapter Theater: Surt's Forge
(Welcome to a new section of the blog: First Chapter Theater. This is where I show case the first chapters of books I've started and either are on hold or long forgotten. This month on First Chapter Theater I present the first chapter of Surt's Forge. I started writing Surt's Forge over 13 years ago and I have never gotten past the first six chapters. I might get back to it some day, but for now, here is the first chapter as last written three years ago (and slightly altered today) for everyone to see.
Enjoy!
Peace and blessings
Eric Rawlinson
20110405)
Enjoy!
Peace and blessings
Eric Rawlinson
20110405)
Monday, March 28, 2011
Promises and Results
My friend Lezley gave me some advice about how to handle this blog and writing in general. Don't make promises, just give results. Or something like that. She probably remembers the exact wording better than I. And as a result, I haven't been making to many lofty promises except to one person, myself. And while I do believe in this mantra of sorts, there are a few promises that I've made that have helped me to get back on the horse recently.
It always surprises me when complete strangers like my work. I've been showing off my work for a while now, but mostly it has been to friends and family and sometimes I wonder if they're just smiling and nodding and patting my head when it comes to writing. I know they aren't of course, because I trust them, but also because of all of the reaction I've been getting to my work as it begins to spread. I was at my friend Etienne's house and I had an entire dinner table rapt with my writing ideas. Rapt may not be the best word, but I'm marketing myself here. Entralled! Heh. I pitched to them some of my work that I've done and yes, even some work I haven't even started. They seemed to like my ideas and they all said they'd read them. That's always a nice feeling. Now I actually have to write them.
Speaking of Etienne, there's another promise that I've made, but one I fully intend to keep. Etienne is an artist and a fantastic one at that. And he's a fan of me and I'm a fan of him and we totally want to work together on something. And I'm sure we will soon. I've been telling him my dreams, which isn't so much a promise as it is a goal I don't know how to obtain right at the moment. I told him how I want to write comics and make short films of my work and he thought it would be an awesome idea. I completely agree with him too. As soon as I can figure out how to do it, I will make it a reality. Oops, a promise. Well, it's a dream.
As for promises, I'm still waiting on my editors to get back to me so I can finally complete A Glimpse Through The Curtains. It's practically clean up time for the majority of them, nothing major anymore. But it still needs to be done. I still need to figure out the plan for how I'm going to distribute them. I'll be looking into magazines soon, but honestly, I still want to self publish.
Anyway, that's enough for me now. It's a result to get a blog post out and now hopefully more will be on the way as I begin to write Secretary more. Keep you posted.
Peace and blessings
Eric Rawlinson
20110328
It always surprises me when complete strangers like my work. I've been showing off my work for a while now, but mostly it has been to friends and family and sometimes I wonder if they're just smiling and nodding and patting my head when it comes to writing. I know they aren't of course, because I trust them, but also because of all of the reaction I've been getting to my work as it begins to spread. I was at my friend Etienne's house and I had an entire dinner table rapt with my writing ideas. Rapt may not be the best word, but I'm marketing myself here. Entralled! Heh. I pitched to them some of my work that I've done and yes, even some work I haven't even started. They seemed to like my ideas and they all said they'd read them. That's always a nice feeling. Now I actually have to write them.
Speaking of Etienne, there's another promise that I've made, but one I fully intend to keep. Etienne is an artist and a fantastic one at that. And he's a fan of me and I'm a fan of him and we totally want to work together on something. And I'm sure we will soon. I've been telling him my dreams, which isn't so much a promise as it is a goal I don't know how to obtain right at the moment. I told him how I want to write comics and make short films of my work and he thought it would be an awesome idea. I completely agree with him too. As soon as I can figure out how to do it, I will make it a reality. Oops, a promise. Well, it's a dream.
As for promises, I'm still waiting on my editors to get back to me so I can finally complete A Glimpse Through The Curtains. It's practically clean up time for the majority of them, nothing major anymore. But it still needs to be done. I still need to figure out the plan for how I'm going to distribute them. I'll be looking into magazines soon, but honestly, I still want to self publish.
Anyway, that's enough for me now. It's a result to get a blog post out and now hopefully more will be on the way as I begin to write Secretary more. Keep you posted.
Peace and blessings
Eric Rawlinson
20110328
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