August 2012
1 post
January 2012
6 posts
Reading erotica, am I expecting too much? →
eroticnotebook.co.uk
Great post by Ruby Kiddell on what makes good erotic writing
You! When is your birthday?
Hey! It’s in March. 15th of, to be precise. :)
Glory Szabo taking down "I Read Into Things" blog in protest against SOPA/PIPA →
gloryszabo.com
Hey guys,
My website, as it is my single most important online asset, will be unavailable for 12 hours in protest to SOPA tomorrow. If you don’t know what all the fuss is all about, here is a video that should answer at least some of your questions and why major websites like Wikipedia…
I urge you to watch the video and do some reading about SOPA/PIPA, which appears to be a blatent attempt to impose broad-reach, ambiguously-worded legislation upon those who provide the internet’s architecture. As usual, this is good news for entertainment corporations and bad news for the little guy - just posting a video from a shopping center where background music is playing could potentially result in a massive lawsuit.
This is not just a United States issue. We have already seen UK courts folding to pressure to extradite defendants to the US for trial, for example the case of Richard O’Dwyre, an unacceptable situation when we’re just talking about copyright infringement, something that can be dealt with under UK law (or at least, we thought so). The last thing we want to see is more people being handed over to the US just because there is more chance of getting a conviction - this worrying trend, combined with SOPA/PIPA, makes a truly unpalatable cocktail.
It’s pretty telling that Rupert Murdoch is out on the side of SOPA/PIPA, unsurprisingly as he is someone who holds a great deal of intellectual property. He accuses the Obama administration of being in the pocket of “Silicon Valley paymasters” and favours broader legislative powers to protect what’s his. Apparently, his intellectual property must be protected by the law - it’s a shame he doesn’t feel this way about people’s personal communications: he, his family, his cronies and his staff have demonstrated nothing but contempt for the law when it protects individuals, but expect to be able to use it to protect themselves and their turnover.
Creative individuals like Glory and the minds behind internet giants such as Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales are fighting to prevent SOPA becoming law. Murdoch, a media giant under governmental investigation for numerous serious floutings of the law, think it is necessary. I know which side I’m on - I hope you’re with me.
First Collection: Borrowed Inspiration
Today I start work on my first collection of short stories, at least, the first that I’m putting out into the wider world. I’ve written romantic and erotic stories and poems before, some which did nothing but loiter in a secret corner of my network gathering virtual dust, some which were given limited exposure on a creative writing forum some years ago; a few were written for and given to partners or potential partners, and one was read out in a poetry class I attended at my local pub - these last two examples took considerable courage but were, to my relief, well received. Now, I’m making a concerted effort to write and present my latest work in a way that will hopefully make its way onto people’s screens.
I’m going to use a simple and not very original theme for the collection - they will all be inspired by songs written and/or performed by favourite artists who are all known to some extend for unique and palpable sensuality, in a diversity of shades. In keeping with my tastes, many of these shades are dark - Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave are high on the list - while others are more difficult to define emotionally, from the seemingly singular viewpoint of Kate Bush to the simultaneously oblique and expressive early work of Tori Amos. I’m even planning to attempt to contrast these ‘meaningful’ songs (for want of a better word) with some that are deliberately obscure and light on meaning - for instance, Ellie Goulding’s “Starry Eyed” conjures quite a vivid story for me, but checking the written lyrics, I have no idea how.
Please keep an eye out for tweets (@CameronValence) about this little project, I’d be really excited to get some feedback and constructive comments.