All About Angela

Machines we Love

2012-02-03T16:15:00.005-06:00

Sherry Turkle in Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other (Basic Books, 2011) gives us what is probably the best picture of what we are doing to ourselves with our machines. It is divided into two major sections: Robotics and Social Networking.

Turkle is the Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at MIT and a practicing psychotherapist. This means that she is both an academic and a professional. She stared out optimistic about the promise and potential of digital technology and has come, through careful research, to a very different view. In Alone Together she has marshalled a selection of examples from her research and presented them in a clearly written work of persuasion about what we do to ourselves when we rely more and more on technology.

What is striking about the application of computer technology to robotics is that people of all ages long to interact with robotic animals and humanoids. We all seem to suscribe to the idea, in the words of one of the children studied, that the better robots are "alive enough" to care about. The examples deal with the AIBO (a robotic dog), My Real Baby (a robotic infant), Cog (robotic "infant"), and Kismet (a human-like torso and head programmed to interact with people). These are all efforts of the artificial intelligence labs in Japan and the US. People quickly realize that these are not toys and begin to bond with them in a relationship. For some people, the robots are better than real in that they do not die. People assume that these machines will be eternally loyal. These features are so reliable that people are willing to lower their expectations from the "relationship" in return for perceived security and stability. Put another way, robots have a strong tendency to make us become less human and more robot-like. Given that the technology of simulating intelligence in nearly convincing humanoid forms is developing quickly, this could be a daunting prospect for us. To what point will we limit ourselves so we can interact with robots and to what extent will they come to interfere in human relationships? One can envision a scenario in which people never learn to deal well with each other because it is so much easier to deal with a robot.

The second part of the book covers digital social media and texting. The social media encourage the development of an online persona that is not authentic. People make themselves more interesting and better looking on line than they really are. This means that they will not want to meet their online "friends" in person, as they would be certain to disappoint. In addition, some people become much more aggressive on line or engage in other inappropriate social behaviors in the absence of real-life social constraints. People really get hurt. E-mail, Facebook, and texting allow people to avoid other people. Many young people would much rather text than call. There are two big problems which ensue. First, misunderstandings and relational problems are far more common with the digital world running interference and the absence of voice inflection and facial expression integral to full communication. Second, so long as people mediate communication and relationship through social media and texting to avoid person-to-person interaction, they will not grow socially and therefore not personally.

Of course all this is fine with the purveyors of technology and social media. Teenagers are compulsive buyers, and adults who never mature are life-long compulsive buyers. Now who benefits from this? Not you or me.

Finally I wish to answer the opinion of some people who dismiss Alone Together as anecdotal and therefore not scientific. The book is made up of many stories which illustrate the points Turkle wishes to make, true. But Turkle is an academic and a professional. She has been studying the effect of technology on people for a long time. Her research cannot proceed otherwise than by watching people interact with media. These observations are her raw data, her first sources. She has discovered predictable patterns of interaction. The book is a work of persuasion for a large public, not a scientific treatise. But the stories she tells illustrate significant patterns derived carefully and scientifically from a purposefully designed and validated observation protocol. I strongly recommend reading Alone Together.

Angela Fournier, the main character in my current novel series, is not on social media, is bored by television, and prefers talking in person over calling or texting. I based her on some young adults I know who are bucking the trends and are therefore way ahead of the curve. You can find out more about her at www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html

The Singularity

2012-01-26T17:29:00.004-06:00

I'm back after winter vacation and getting my affairs in order at my college teaching job. Since the last post, I have been reading a great deal on the digital flood. I call it a flood because it is an unstoppable force that threatens to overwhelm us and take away our lives as we know them.

Don't get me wrong. I rely on computers to write, for communication of all kinds, for my car to run properly, and so on. I am the web master for my university department and I have two Facebook accounts: my regular one and a fan page for Angela 1. I am not a technophobe nor do I fear an apocalypse.

Ray Kurzweil is the high priest of the Singularity religion. You can get a full, and hair-raising, account by reading The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology, which he wrote. It rests on two assumptions. The first is that information is the basic nature of the universe. Its corollary is that computers, being able to store far more information than humans can and to access it and transmit at speeds we cannot even imagine, are the next step in our evolution. Biological evolution is too slow for Kurzweil and the brain we have as its result does not work fast enough.

The other assumption is that the breathtaking speed and acceleration of computer technology will make machines totally reliable and miniaturized to the point of becoming part of our cell structure. Computer techs will become able to reverse engineer the brain and we will be able to merge with our machines. In the same way that we have pacemakers and brain implants to treat certain conditions, we will be able eventually to replace all this slow biology destined to die with machines that will live forever. If we could do all that, I find it scarifying. Kurzweil and all the technology apocalyptic apologists seem to think it will be a great thing. I say it would mean that machines will dominate and replace humans. That is, we all die. It is not the path to eternal life.

Don't fear. Both assumptions are highly questionable. No human, animal, plant, or even bacterium is reducible to a code of 1's and 0's (=yes/no). Humans are learning, emotional, spiritual, and social beings endowed with the ability to evaluate information, develop connections, create a world view involving all of the above and expressed in literature, art, music, science, and religion. We can communicate at levels different from and higher than information. Computers cannot come close to simulating that. Beyond that, we know what we know but a computer doesn't: it is not conscious. It is just a machine running routines as programmed. We are capable of achieving wisdom but machines only process data. Even smart, self-replicating nanobots.

The real danger is that we will accept any and everything that the digital flood throws at us. "If it's computer technology, it must be good for us," we seem to say. The time has come when we can and must evaluate what computer technology can and cannot do and, most importantly, should and should not do. If we do not take charge, all these things will be decided for us, not by machines, but by the Kurzweils of this world who make and program them.

In my Angela series I celebrate what makes us human. To find out more about it, go to www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html

Understanding Media

2011-12-10T19:17:00.004-06:00

This is my third and final post on my reading of Marshall McLuhan. Understanding Media is the most widely heard-of book of his. People know three sayings from the book: hot medium, cool medium, and the medium is the message.

Hot versus cool media have to do with their level of definition. "Hot" refers to high definition and "cool" refers to low. In McLuhan's thought world radio was the prime example of a hot medium. From it one receives the impression of getting the full gamut that sound waves have to offer. It feels close, intense, and personal and stands in stark contrast to print. Print encourages a view that the world is primarily visual and linear. It thus facilitated the interchange of cultural knowledge and provided the conceptual framework for science and the industrialization of technology. The assembly line is a linear, one-step-at-a-time process and (I would add) the forerunner of the digital computer. Radio, on the other hand, has the effect of de-civilizing and re-tribalizing us. This occurs primarily from two effects: the sound medium, which is eminently social and non-linear, and the instant access around the globe (radio waves travel at the speed of light). Radio tribalizes millions of people at once. McLuhan said that Hitler was primarily a radio phenomenon: a charismatic leader extends the power of his word and presence by means of amplification of sound at rallies and by the radio.

Television is a cool medium because it was (until very recently) characterized by low definition. It invited us in because it forced us to fill in what was visually missing (color, sharp outline of people objects, etc.). It additionally garnered great strength from being visual and, since it is capable of showing far-off events live, it lulls us into thinking that the immediacy it can provide makes it always more relevant than books.

The effect of the medium, whether print, radio, or television, is considerably more important than the message contained in any particular book, radio emission, or television program. That is what McLuhan meant by "the medium is the message." In the modern period it was the leisurely access to a linear depiction of knowledge and truth in printed books that drove the Reformation, democracy, science and progressivism. Radio helped the creation of fascism. Television replaces all else and lulls us into thinking it holds the truth. In the Gutenberg Galaxy, McLuhan proposed that advertising (he was describing print ads) is destructive of all traditional cultures. Television ads and programming are now the principal conveyor of information to people and they are the main educators of children, more influential than years of schooling.

McLuhan was never a good stylist nor was he easy to understand, but his warnings are well worth listening to. Why are we driven to continue buying, filling our houses and lives with things we do not need nor bring us satisfaction but then try to fill the unmet need for satisfaction by buying yet more? Advertising on television has now destroyed all political discourse. I have one suggestion for all who wish to be closer to their families, who long for community, who wonder where American culture and democracy have gone, who seek satisfaction in living: turn off your TV. Limit your viewing drastically. Then you can get out of the house and meet people. Eat with your family with all electronics turned off. Read to your children every night when they're little and take them to concerts. Unplug to commerce and put it in its proper place (since we can't live without it). Turn on to life, to the people around you.

Angela Fournier, the main character in my series of three novels, never watches TV because it bores her. She is too young to know all this stuff I'm writing about, but at some level she intuits that there is a much richer life away from the screens. Such wisdom is rare but, here and there, you find very interesting people who have it. Please check out my book at www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html Thanks!

The Gutenberg Galaxy

2011-12-03T14:44:00.003-06:00

The second of Marshall McLuhan's books is The Gutenberg Galaxy. It explores how the advent of the printing press issued in the Modern world view and resulted in the industrial age at its end. It also deals with the breakdown of this world view in the 20th century.

The idea of setting up a machine which in turn could produce a potentially infinite number of identical books had a profound effect on the thinking of the people of the now extinct Modern Age. Not only that, the linear outlay of the words changed how people thought of information. The prior age was primarily oral and saw the world holistically. The Modern period, under the influence of printed books, saw all important information as linear, one thing following the other in order. This view in turn cemented the Medieval idea of the great chain of being, that is, of cause and effect, God being the Prima Causa (the first cause).

Linearity gave prominence to science over story. We still look for truth primarily from science over narrative or history. Linearity furthermore made possible the conceptualizing of standardization of parts to facilitate manufacture of thousands of rifles in the Revolutionary War. It finally issued in the industrial assembly line and the first digital electric communications technology, the telegraph.

However, development of wireless communications (first the telegraph, then radio, then television, and now computerized communications) made the entire Modern world view obsolete. We just haven't got the memo, even now.

In my next post I will write about McLuhan's last and most mentioned book, Understanding Media, which will complete the very important analysis of the time we live in: a new Age of the Machine, which we need to understand in order for it not to destroy us.

My character Angela Fournier is the sort of person who faces today's issues squarely and, young as she is, is beginning to understand what their implications may be. If you are interested, please check out www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html

The Mechanical Bride

2011-11-25T14:51:00.004-06:00

Hello, folks! I have finally come up with a plan for making this a weekly blog with a variety of literary topics. Since I read all the time, I will write every week about what I have been reading, most of it fiction, but some that is not. This way I can blog regularly without boring you by covering the same ground over and over.

Recently I read the first of Marshall McLuhan's three major books. The title is The Mechanical Bride and it dates from the late forties. It is a study of advertising and its effect on people. All the examples come from ads printed in newspapers and magazines. Keep in mind that this was before TV became available to everyone and before TV advertising really became significant.

McLuhan examines the interplay between text and image and brings out the real message behind the copy. That is, for him the combination of text and image has an effect that goes beyond just the words and just the image, even when taken together. Ads become an appeal to our emotions and purposefully negate thinking as much as possible. Advertisers are well aware of what they are doing and the public plays along.

The writer implies that there is something unethical or unhealthy about the effect of advertising on us. His most telling evalution comes, however, when he maintains that advertising is destructive of all traditional cultures. Let's think about that a little.

I grew up in Argentina in the 50's and 60's. During most of that time, TV did not play a large role in the life of people and the culture retained a strong collective memory of Europe. There were ads in newspaper and radio, so the process was underway, but in neighborhoods people still knew and looked out for each other. You always had a dry goods grocery store, a greengrocer, a milk shop, a baker, a bookstore, and a pharmacy (selling health care products only) within walking distance. The taxi drivers were well read and would talk knowledgeably about literature and philosophy as well as politics and sports. On the subways in Buenos Aires everyone was reading something. Argentina had a distinct culture heavily flavored by western and Mediterranean Europe and with a lore and literature of its own. By the late 60's with television, and the ads it relentlessly brought into the home, that culture began to dissolve.

Now, go to any of the large cities of Argentina or of any country and there is a sameness in the way peoply (poorly) dress, the fast-food joints, consumer electronics, car-choked streets, and the loneliness of the people. At the very same time that the modern world view has become obsolete, advertising impedes the thoughtful creation of a world view to take its place.

This is an unprecedented situation in human history. Technology is so advanced and alluring that we accept it all too uncritically while being bombarded with advertising. Angela Fournier, the main character in my novel series, is bored by TV, so she is not subject to the numbing effect of ads. That's why she can think for herself and has a blazing reality to her. It's this kind of person who will help shape a better future, if it is to be done at all. You can get Angela 1 at www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html or as an ebook at your favorite provider.

Case in Point

2011-10-24T17:32:00.002-05:00

I just received a note from a reader of Angela 1: Starting Over. She said that "Angela is delightful" and that the book is "rich in story." We long for story and the time has come to reclaim plot and story for literature. Angela Fournier is also a life model that many readers can draw from to their benefit. This sort of character has been banned from literature for far too long. We need them now because, if we do not begin to grow and construct, the forces of destruction and entropy will pull us down.

Saturday 29 October is the Dallas Internationl Book Fair at the Dallas Central Library on Young Street in front of City Hall. It's free and there will be a lot going on, including numerous authors. I will be there as well and I would love to see you there. Drop by if you can!

Get Angela 1 as an e-book at your favorite provider or in hard cover from www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html

Joyce's Dubliners

2011-10-17T19:01:00.003-05:00

I just finished reading James Joyce's Dubliners, a collection of short stories (of sorts). Here is my provisional evaluation.

With only two exceptions ("A Painful Case" and "The Dead"), the selections in Dubliners are vignettes. They happen almost in real time and cover only a day or less in the life of the characters. There seems to be a (perhaps unconscious) link to Wagner, whose operas drag so much as to be nearly immobile. Theatre in general and especially opera in particular compress time and feelings. An aria lasting 3 to 5 minutes may compress years of longing of a character and do so to great effect. In Wagner, what takes 5 minutes to say or do occupies 20 minutes of music (which is the exact backward of drama). That is why many people just stay away from Wagner's operas, while still enjoying his orchestral works. In Joyce's stories you have the same inaction. The author succeeded in what he set out to do: show the paralysis that characterized the life in Dublin at the time.

As vignettes, the selections simply end with no resolution. Again, the author is taking pains to show that no one ever achieves his or her dreams and longings. But in most of the vignettes, that means that the characters come to no realization of any kind, and therefore to no growth or turning point which has any chance of liberating them.

"A Painful Case" qualifies as a story, as there is the passage of several months. However the main character learns nothing from the death of his lady friend. "The Dead" is very much the best story in the book. It takes place over less than 24 hours, but there is still action and movement lacking in the others. There is a definite resolution in which the main character learns something entirely new about himself and his wife.

In sum, the pieces are highly effective in accomplishing what the author set out to do. However it required all those vignettes in order to produce one bona fida story. This may show that it is extremely difficult to make a real story out of Joyce's procedure of holding up a mirror to people's lives and leaving it at that. The sad thing is that even today, 100 years later, writers are still caught in this trap, thinking that to be a story it has to focus on a single moment of a character's life. By now, the possibilities of this approach have been exhausted. We long for story.

My story-filled novel, Angela 1: Starting Over, is available at www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html and of course as an ebook at your provider. Check it out!

Reading Joyce

2011-10-12T17:39:00.003-05:00

Ok, I give in. I am doing my best to read James Joyce's major works. This year I read Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. That is the best book by him I have read, the first I was able to read through. In the novel the modernist technique works well and gets its point across in a solid manner.

Right now I'm about halfway through Dubliners. The stories are written very clearly and are easy to understand. They are purposefully lacking in any sense of plot, because the author wished to show the smallness and emptiness of life after industrialization: individual people count little in the developing mass society and their destinies seem irrelevant.

Much has been written about Joyce, of course, so much, in fact, that there probably is more eisegesis (reading author intentions into) than exegesis (drawing author intentions out of) his works. Borges said that Joyce's novels were illegible. I assume he was referring to Ulysses and the Wake. I would say that the earlier work is very readable, though the latter work was ostensibly intended to be abstruse. Borges also said (in connection with other authors, not Joyce) that what writers intend their work to be and what it becomes are two different things. I will have something to say about that in subsequent posts.

Keep an eye out for them and don't forget that Angela 1: Starting Over is now available as an e-book cheap!

If you prefer the hardback, it's available at www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html

Thanks for dropping by!

"Modernist" Stream of Consciousness

2011-08-18T17:49:00.002-05:00

In previous posts I have discussed stream of consciousness briefly. Anyone can tell that I am not too crazy about it, but I must make it clear that I do not object to James Joyce, Virginia Wolf, William Faulkner, and others making use of the technique just as the modern project came apart after World War I. It expressed a moment in history when the perspective of the individual (created in the Renaissance and characterizing the entire modern period, 1450-1920) had become a liability to society. They had an important point to make through it, one we needed to hear but never understood too well.

The great modernist writers used that extreme "world from where I see it" perspective to good effect. What I object to is for writers to continue using it now, nearly 100 years later, and the abuse of present-tense narration. As Marshall McLuhan has clearly shown, since wireless communication was invented 150 years ago, the world has reverted to a holistic perspective, what he called the "Global Village."

We need a less personal and more tribal, encompassing, even global point of view in our fiction. We need to begin enriching our language again, instead of reducing and empoverishing it.

Please check out Angela 1: Starting Over, either as an ebook at your favorite provider or hard copy at www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html . Thanks!

Responsible Citizenship

2011-08-05T15:26:00.006-05:00

As you know, this blog is literary, not politicial. I will not depart from this purpose. Today's post deals with basic information and concepts which impinge on certain current events. Since the theme of my three Angela novels over the entire story arc is responsible citizenship and what it can cost you, I beg leave to make a very few observations.

Over the last few weeks the members of Congress have acted like children. They have stood for opinions based on which side they are on (not on careful consideration of the background, the facts, or the effects) and have petulantly refused to budge from their positions. Then they came up with a "compromise" which shirks responsibility. The real issue is not the level of debt the US carries, but rather what the national budget priorities should be.

One faction of one of the parties wishes to eliminate all the entitlement programs (including public education). If that is what they wish to accomplish, it is their right to try, but they should state clearly and openly what they propose. One faction in the other party would like to see entitlement programs strengthened, including the development of a single-payer national health service. If that is what they are after, they should state so clearly as well. If we are to vote on where the money goes, we must as voters know exactly what the politicians intend. Instead we get a smokescreen in the form of the debt ceiling debate.

The national debt is issued in treasury bills, which are very popular the world over and which have been the safest investment we as individuals can make with our money. We should think twice before messing with them. When we elect people to Congress who spend our money lavishly without raising government revenue, the government has to borrow more money. One party has routinely lowered taxes in the hope that the resulting debt will motivate people to slash entitlement programs. One party has pursued incredibly expensive wars without budgeting at all for them. These two practices are the biggest creators of our national debt. One party fights to keep all the entitlement programs. On the positive side it does tell us we must raise taxes to pay for them. On the negative side, they have not had the guts to stand up to the financially irresponsible waging of the wars. Notice I have made no mention about whether the wars are necessary. I am only addressing the matter of how we are to pay for them. Notice also that I have not named the parties. Personally I am a political agnostic, that is, I don't believe that politics or politicians can save us.

The real issues are (1) what programs do we want from the government (e.g. are social security and medicare a good thing and therefore to be kept? How about public education?), (2) the creation of real jobs (full-time, with reasonable salary and benefits), (3) rational regulation of commerce for the good of all, (4) environmental policy (what are the facts of what our industrial and personal activities are doing to the earth and what should we do about it?), and (5) tax policy. Whatever we decide we want to do together as Americans, keep two things in mind. The government is us (we can always change who is in it) and we must be willing to pay for what we decide.

How can change our politicking so that we can truly debate these matters?

1. Clarify concepts. For example: National debt per se is not a bad thing. Like business, government at times needs to raise funds which it then pays off from revenue. Let's just do it intelligently.

2. Put an end to political TV propaganda and replace it with debate. An easy way to cut down on negative political ads is to reinstate the fairness doctrine: whenever one party is on the air (whether through news coverage or paid advertising), the networks and stations are required to offer the other party equal time of the same value for free. We might consider requiring that all political debates take place on radio, where content prevails over image.

3. Get serious about outlawing lobbying or regulating it reasonably.

4. Restore a sense of personal honor and consideration and stop demonizing people because they belong to political party X.

5. Restore a commitment to education for all designed to equip our people as responsible citizens able to make informed decisions about what politicians openly propose.

We can do all this if we really want to. Let's start by telling our representative and senators to be open in public about what they propose, to be civil in all their dealings with the other party, and to listen carefully to the voters and refrain from writing back to justify their votes.

Please take a look at my latest release, Angela 1: Starting Over, which deals with some of these issues but is not political. Get the beautiful hardcover version at www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html . Angela is also available as an ebook at your favorite provider, at a considerably cheaper price.

End of the Harry Potter Series (Movie Version)

2011-07-15T09:36:00.003-05:00

In honor of the premiere of the last Harry Potter movie, which came out yesterday in Argentina (where I grew up) and today in the US (where I was born and I live now), I have two further observations to make.

The correct title of the first book is Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. As often happens, the American editors decided to change the title. Why? Did they think it would not sell if it had the word philosopher in the title? Just how dumb do the editors think we are?

The title comes from the beliefs of medieval alchemists, a theme that runs through the books, a weakness, as is divination, in the world of magic, because it makes people forget values and ethics. The legendary philospher's stone was a substance the alchemists believed would grant them their two greatest wishes: to become immortal and rich. The latter desire, the legend went, would be fulfilled by the power to turn any substance into gold. They were ignoring the myth of King Midas who ended up with the ears of a donkey to symbolize his foolishness at wanting everything he touched to turn into gold (to say nothing of the devaluation of the metal that would occur, negating the very power it granted).

The other matter is a reaction to a piece I read in The New Yorker. It said that if the first book had come out a year or two later, Hermione would not have had to go to the library all the time to get her information. She just could have Googled it. The writer had obviously not been paying attention. There are two big problems with that. First, computers are mentioned early in the first book in the muggle world. It's not that the Internet was not already in place. Second, electricity does not work at Hogwarts because of all the magic power bombinating around. This is a basic device in the series. The situation forces everyone to relate face-to-face. Think about it.

Please look up my latest release, Angela 1: Starting Over on your ereader. Go to your favorite provider and download the free sample. Thanks!

www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html

Blog Talk Radio Program Today

2011-07-14T09:53:00.002-05:00

Please tune in to my radio show on www.blogtalkradio.com at 5:30 CDT today (Thursday 14 July). Just click on the On Air button. See you on the radio and I'll be back on the blog tomorrow.

Point of View in the Electrical Age

2011-06-27T08:46:00.005-05:00

According to Understanding Media, point of view in the art and literature of the modern period (1450-1900) was individual, fragmented, linear, and uniform. This point of view mirrored print, which has all those characteristics. The print process (fragmenting into individual steps carried out one at a time in linear fashion) provided the conceptual framework for the assembly line in manufacturing.

With the coming of electricity, everything is (or rather, can be) present everywhere at the same time and the machine no longer drives the economy. Linearity and single point of view are impossible. As a result, art no longer tries to represent three dimensions on two, but has become tacticle and invites participation. In literature, Joyce gives us one character's point of view using stream of consciousness, which is anything but linear and uniform. Art, literature, and music were announcing very loudly the end of the modern age and the birth of the age of electricity. But by now, stream of consciousness is old and overused.

In Angela 1: Starting Over the story is seen through the eyes of the main character, Angela Fournier. Her reality is not only what she thinks about things, but also the people she loves and enjoys and the larger social issues that affect them. Her world is expanding rapidly as she learns. It's her questioning of what people take for granted out of conveniency, complancency, or covetousness that gets her into big trouble and drives the story.

You can now get the book instantly (and cheap!) if you buy the e-book version for your Nook, Kindle, iPad, Kindle for PC, etc. First, download the free sample to see how you like it. The hard cover version is available at: http://www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html

A Girl for the Age of Electronics

2011-06-20T08:46:00.004-05:00

In previous blogs I have commented on the end of the modern age, brought about by the explosion of mechanical, electrical, and digital technology beginning in the early 19th century. The telegraph was electrical and digital: the message was transmitted by means of two and only two signals, long and short. Computer technology in the 20th century merely simplified the concept and uses presence or not of electrical signal, the famous 0's and 1's to do its work.

The important thing is that this revolution in technology made the modern world view no longer adequate to explain the world we live in. Somehow we need to understand this inescapable global village which, thanks to the electrical wiring of the earth, gives us the illusion that we are aware of all that happens in real time, because electricity travels at the speed of light.

Angela Fournier, the main character in my current series, stands outside the flow of this electronic substitute for reality. She intuits, but doesn't fully understand, that the media create a "reality" rather than reflect it. That's why she seldom watches TV but instead is always in relationship with the people who are physically present. No communication at distance through electrical means can substitute for that.

Angela's way of doing things allows her to feel rested, to enjoy real relationships, and to begin to develop a reasoned, ethical approach to life, based on values and people. This is one way to get a handle on life, to live free rather than to be lived by the media, while still being in touch with the times. There are bound to be others, as well.

You can find out about my book, buy it even, at www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html

If you prefer the ebook, just enter the title, Angela 1: Starting Over, at your favorite provider (Kindle Store, Barnes and Noble, Google, etc.). Ebooks are great. The only problem is that I can't sign them.

Dickens and present-tense narration

2011-06-05T14:40:00.004-05:00

In the past I have expressed the opinion that one should never use present tense narration without a very good reason for doing so. I still think this. Present tense narration is tiresome, especially when it's done because the writer thinks it's the new thing to do (it isn't).

In David Copperfield, Dickens uses a little present tense narration. It occurs in what he calls "Retrospects," sections in which he describes a vivid memory of something fundamentally important at the emotional level. In this novel, these sections serve to set off these three or four retrospects from the main body of the novel, narrated in past time. This is a good use of the technique because it serves a particular purpose the author had in mind.

Beware of the present tense trap. Don't let it dominate you, or the language will end up impoverished.

Please check out my book, in hard cover at www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html
and in ebook format at the Kindle Store or at barnes&noble.com

My New Radio Program

2011-06-02T09:25:00.004-05:00

In an effort to promote new writers, myself among them, I will be starting a weekly 15-minute radio program on blogtalk radio. The first episode is Thursday 9 June 2011 at 6:30 pm Eastern time, 5:30 Central, 3:30 Pacific. It will "air" on the Internet every Thursday at the same time until the Fall, when I will announce a move to a different day, which I hope will be permanent.

I will use the first one or two episodes to introduce Angela 1 and my short stories and then branch out to interviewing young, up-and-coming writers you should look out for. It will be a learning experience for me and I hope you will join me for a brief conversation every Thursday.

Please listen in by going to http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ and searching for the episode title: Introduction to Angela. Listen live on Thursday, or , if your schedule does not permit it, listen to the archived show by following the same procedure.

Nowdays, with high-quality on-demand publishing, the industry is moving to getting all its money up front from us authors and not risk any of their own money in promoting us. It really makes it hard for new writers to get attention.

Well, Angela is out as an ebook. Spread the word!

Angela is now an e-book!

2011-05-31T15:08:00.003-05:00

I am delighted to announce that Angela 1: Starting Over is now available for Kindle and Nook. Finally the book can be purchased at a reasonable price. As a hard cover, the price was way too high for my primary readership of young people. The e-book price is considerably less than half that of the hard cover.

If it is not already, the book will also be available from all electronic reader outlets for whatever reader device you have.

Could I ask you to do three things for me? (1) Spread the word to others who have e-readers and may like the book, (2) download a free sample and encourage everyone to do so, and (3) post a nice review. All of this will draw attention and get the book higher on Amazon's list, then the sooner I can come out with Angela 2: The Guardian of the Bay.

Pass the word on and thank you so much! :)

More on Dickens

2011-05-28T20:11:00.003-05:00

First, to my long-suffering followers, I apologize profusely for not posting anything since February. Although not a full excuse, I will tell you that this semester has tried my patience like no other. We had two snowstorms and record cold and as a result lost a full week of classes. In addition, I had to go through a newly set-up five-year evaluation at TCU which really threw me for a loop (never fear, the outcome was ok). As a result, we never got caught up and our poor students were stressed.

Now that is all over and we are back to normal (I hope). Well, I have just finished reading David Copperfield. In previous posts I have pointed out the weakness of the good characters in Oliver Twist and Tale of Two Cities. Now David Copperfield is something else entirely. It's a wonderful novel with a variety of criminal, good, and in-between characters, all of whom are beautifully drawn. It's a deftly orchestrated symphony of hope, disappointment, growth, struggle, criminality, justice, and love. Why is this novel so superior to the other two?

I think Dickens was entirely in his element using a first-person narration and doing a wonderfully perceptive critique of British society in the middle of the 19th century. Abstracting himself and trying to see an entire period and society from a detached viewpoint as in the other two novels did not work for him as it did for Hugo, for example. But placing himself in the middle of events, in a manner Marshall McLuhan would call audio-tactile-visual, that is, in touch with the full sensorial experience, Dickens pulled off a masterpiece of insightful representation. No wonder it is deservedly beloved.

Dickens was ahead of his time in seeing the value of human beings in their character and not in the social position they were born into. It's too bad corporations view humans strictly as either consumers who enrich them by buying their products or abstracted holders of jobs in production and no more than that. How inhuman!

Many 20th-century writers have highlighted the inhumanity of people in the technological, post-modern age. I hope in my work I appeal again to the humanity of the individual against very big odds.

Two Very Different Changes of Era

2011-02-10T20:07:00.003-06:00

Well, folks, now I'm back to blogging. We have been iced/snowed in for days here in north Texas, giving us a chance to finish up some projects on the house. That's why I haven't been writing. Now we're thawing out, which is a good thing.

Back to the end-of-era business. I won't bore you with a long disquisition, but rather I will make a couple of points. The era of classical antiquity began to come apart for good after the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. He set up his son, Commodus as next emperor. Commodus was cruel and despotic, so much so that the army had him killed and proclaimed the next emperor. For the next 120 years, Rome suffered one military coup after another. Things looked better when Constantine took control but he ended up dividing the empire in two and after him things went from bad to worse. All the great civilization of antiquity had run its course and people thought it had no more to offer. It was 1000 years before western Europe began to recover.

The High Middle Ages marked the comeback of western Europe. First, the feudal system established a level of security and stability that had not been known for centuries. A money economy began to grow, universities were established, and technology began to boom. In the middle ages they invented eyeglasses (allowing aging scholars to continue their work), water mills, the windmill, the sextant (allowing sailors to cross open waters), mechanical clocks, and the printing press with movable type in the 1450's. By then, both technology and commerce had developed to such an extent that the medieval world view (land, community, the spiritual, and a hierarchical society) no longer matched the reality. In other words, the medieval period was so creative that what it created put an end to medieval thinking.

As I said in an earlier post, we are unmistakably at a change of eras because the old modern world view (1450 to 1900) no longer matches the realities created by technology, consumerism, and mega cities. The question is: Will this change mark a destructive decline as happened in antiquity or does it lead to a new creative period? It is not at all clear which it will be. All we can say for sure is that the technology created at the end of the modern period has made the modern world view obsolete.

Please visit my website at www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html . My new book series deals with issues facing our society in a gentle and engaging way. If you read my book, please comment. Thanks!

Books I read in 2010

2011-01-26T21:03:00.007-06:00

Well, folks, I have again been derelict in my duty to my followers. It has been for a good cause, though. My in-laws came from Buenos Aires for an extended visit (it's summer down there), the first time they had been able to come in many years. We wound up tearing up the linoleum floor in the kitchen to put in tile.

Now that I have a breather, I will interrupt my ramblings about the passing of the modern age for something light. These are the books I read in 2010 (those that I remember, that is), in no particular order:

The Hobbit - Tolkien
The Lord of the Rings - Tolkien
All seven Harry Potter books - Rowling
Jurassic Park - Crichton
Three Cups of Tea - Mortenson
The Nine Taylors - Sayers
Gaudy Night - Sayers
Strong Poison - Sayers
The Collected Stories - Sayers
The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club - Sayers
The Gospel According to Mark - Anonymous
A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bryson
Thus Spoke Zarathustra - Nietzsche
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - Joyce
Passionate Minds - Bodanis
The Street Lawyer - Grisham
Les misérables - Hugo (the whoooooole thing, in French)
Jane Eyre - Brontë
The Picture of Doryan Grey - Wilde
All four books of the Merlin series by Mary Stewart

I did not list the books as I read them, so I'm probably overlooking some. As you can see, I re-read old favorites and new books all the time. I had never read Les misérables before. It's a huge work and worth the discipline and persistence to finish it, but it's certainly not what most people want to read nowdays.

I will return to the matter of the end of the modern age in my next post.

Please see my book at www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html . I need just a handful more to buy it and my publisher will make it available as an ebook.

The Age of Technology

2010-12-28T14:09:00.004-06:00

When I was in high school I was roundly ridiculed for suggesting that we needed to call the times we live in something other than modern. Now, if by modern you mean new, up to date, fine. That is one of the meanings of the word. But if we use it to designate the age we live in, all epochs from here on out will have to be called modern and we will be unable to distinguish which age we are talking about.

The Encyclopaedia Britannica says that the Modern Age ran from 1450 to 1900. They, as did I, recognized that the age we live in is profoundly different from, say, 200 years ago or even the mid 19th century (1800's). Before World War I most of the world's population was rural. They had little by way of technology and social relations were much more traditional. After World War I life has become dominated by technology and runs on powered equipment. Now most of the world lives in large cities and people live from industrial and post-industrial jobs (if they can find one) and not off of agriculture. Social relationships are fragmented, fragile, and fraught with uncertainty. No wonder people feel unsettled, unhappy, and disconnected in spite of all our communications. We feel cut off from the past. People feel differently about the disconnection, but we all feel it.

We need to recognize at this point that the Modern Age is now over and we are in a new and different era. I will refer to our new era as The Age of Technology for convenience. In the next couple of posts I will discuss briefly what the change of eras means to us and how it can help us understand our circumstances and take control of them. In the background of my Angela series are the technologies that affect us and the social and political problems they bring on. The plot of each book turns on the main characters' ethics, which bring them in conflict with the interests who profit from technology at the expense of most of us.

One last observation: Technology is neither good nor bad in itself. However, like money and sex, it is very powerful and likely to be destructive if not handled ethically and with discipline.

Please visit my web site at http://www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html to find out more about Angela 1. You can enter "David A. Bedford" in YouTube and find the trailer for the book (not a very accurate one, but worth a viewing nonetheless) and a TV interview about it.

Teenagers Reading More

2010-12-18T23:32:00.002-06:00

I apologize for not posting in such a long time. We've hit the end of the semester rush at the University, and with final tests, grading, and graduation, etc., my time is all taken up.

The news last week was that teenagers are reading 14% more this year than last. That's the good news. The bad news is that a lot of what available for them is not necessarily good. The news article cited Twilight's one-dimensional characterizations, whiny main character, and clunky prose. It also cited Hunger Games, saying that it is well written but too violent for many younger teenagers. I was turned off to Twilight for the reasons cited. It just never grabbed me. As for Hunger Games, I really cannot bear reading an entire book narrated in present tense. Does one really narrate to someone else what one is doing as it happens? Not in my experience.

In Angela I attempt to provide in elegant prose a story suitable for everyone while dealing with important issues our country is facing. If that is the kind of thing you like, please check it out. Next I will be posting a series of three or four posts on the passing of the Modern Age into the present Age of Technology. In a real sense, that is what the characters in my novels are dealing with in a way that is understandable to everyone.

Please visit my book's website at www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html

Misconceptions about JK Rowling

2010-12-03T19:49:00.006-06:00

I read a comment on some blog that said that "JK Rowling is bad at sex." As proof the commenter cited that none of the characters in the Harry Potter series is divorced and that they all wind up with who they wanted. Well, now, that is a classic example of confused thinking.

To begin with, it is my understanding that Rowling is divorced and (I believe happily) remarried. She's been there, so why is she writing about faithful characters? She has the right to take the characters where she wants. If fidelity marks her characters, then she certainly has something to say that's all the more important and that deserves listening to.

Furthermore, none of the above is sex. Wonderful as it is, it is only a small part of a mature and loving relationship. Sex, like money and science, is a highly powerful force. Like them, it is destructive if not handled with maturity and an ethic. Rowling puts it in its rightful place, while recognizing its importance. Enough said about that.

Most of American young people have grown up in divorced, separated, remarried, and/or dysfunctional families. Is that good for us? No, not at all. I think most of the young people would like to marry one person and stay with him or her. Rowling is just saying it's possible, but not easy.

One more thing. I think people assume that everyone should marry his or her soul mate. That does happen from time to time. More often, we don't connect with our soul mate because we never met him or her or because the soul mate is the wrong age altogether. Marrying your soulmate can't be your expectation. But developing a lasting love-based relationship is within reach, with help of Him who made us. Usually real love costs.

Some books show life as it too often is. Others show life as it is sometimes and would be better if it were the norm. Give Rowling a break! She's done a wonderful job.

Please see my website at www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html

My Radio Show Interview

2010-11-24T17:09:00.005-06:00

All of you may now listen to my interview at any time you like by going to the link. It lasts 30 minutes. Feel free to post a comment after you listen. Thanks! http://www.blogtalkradio.com/strategic-book-club/2010/11/24/interview-with-david-bedford-author-of-angela

You can find out more about my book at: www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela.html.

My Personal Review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I

2010-11-24T11:21:00.002-06:00

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I is a wonderful piece of moviemaking. More than any of the previous installments in the series, this last movie stays as faithful to the original story as possible in the two-and-a-half-hour time frame. Bucking the trend of major movies made by big-name American studios, it has a calm pace that allows the viewer to absorb the tale. In these two respects, it is reminiscent of the best qualities of the movie version of To Kill a Mockingbird.

Overall the acting was excellent. Even Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson gave credible performances. This means that the directing was careful and on target.

There is a subdued, pervasive beauty about the cinematography and the effects are purely in the service of the story, never specious. The scriptwriters, art directors, and the director took a bold chance and it paid off. The final installment should be a winner.

I was struck by an aspect of the story I had not considered as carefully before: it is up to the young people, just moving into adulthood, to save their society from its worst impulses. They are forced to decide what to accept and what to reject from the adult world they were brought up in. This choice determines their actions and leads them into mortal danger. They are willing to face that danger, but never willing to throw away their lives needlessly or because they think they can't cope. Rather they are willing to risk all for the higher good of everyone.

Will our young people in the very scary real world be up to the same task? Will they change the world in a good way? Clearly we "grownups" are not going to.

Please see my book's website at www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html

Some Thoughts on Christian Fiction

2010-11-16T12:49:00.002-06:00

Christian fiction is a hot topic these days and a growing book market. Opinions on Christian fiction range from the ecstatic (from people who are looking for a specific and narrow kind of reading experience) to the disgusted (from people are predisposed to hate things spiritual).

What is Christian fiction, anyway? According to some, it is a story that contains the plan of salvation and centers on someone who undergoes a conversion experience. There are even publishers who require these elements in any book they publish. But if that is Christian fiction, then every novel will have the same, predictable story line. Moreover, there is little or no room for a subtext to enrich the world of the book.

The purpose of that kind of book is to proselytise. Now that is a legitimate activity if the other person is willing to listen, but it is not the stuff of a novel. The text for that already exists and no one can do it better: the four Gospels in the New Testament. If you want to proselytise, talk primarily to people who want to hear, give them a synopsis of the gospel story, and refer them to the Gospels for a full account. It is not likely to work well at all in a novel.

For others, Christian literature is a safe place to read, where the world of the book is the same as the imagined culture of the American Bible Belt minus all its ugly aspects. The world is not really like that, though and that is a problem for the novelist.

What really makes a book a Christian novel is that the author is a believer. Like any author, the Christian author should be able to deal with any topic of universal importance that will contribute something of value to the reader. Major Christian writers include Pascal, Tolkien, Flannery O'Connor, and Dorothy Sayers. None of them wrote to proselytise and all dealt with issues from the real world in some way or another.

Readers: Read widely. Writers: Write what you are given and be faithful to your calling.

To learn more about my book, please visit www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html

Angela: the Right Kind of Person for the Times

2010-11-02T20:05:00.002-05:00

Apologies to my followers for the long time between posts. Since I teach college full time, I have many matters that require my immediate and full attention. Much as I love writing, whether it's my fiction or this blog, it must always be done in time grabbed from lull moments. Now I can tell you about what's been on my mind for some time.

One of the many facets of Angela Fournier is that she is the kind of person we need for the times we live in. Please indulge me in a brief explanation. Since World War I, more or less, we have been living in a time similar to the 6th and 7th centuries, when the Roman Empire and the world view of the ancient world were passing away, and to the 15th century, when the Medieval world view began to give way quickly to the thinking of the modern age, which the Encyclopaedia Britannica sets as the years 1450 to 1900.

After Rome began to crumble, the world view and culture of the ancient Graeco-Roman world no longer fit the new reality. In the same way, after all the advances of the High Middle Ages (technological: eye glasses, water and windmills, the compass and sextant, and the printing press; institutional: universities and hospitals; and financial: banking, letters of credit, limited liability corporations) the Medieval world view was suddently outdated. The modern world view that followed believed only in what was visible and measurable and in what made money. At first they thought wealth would solve all problems (age of exploration, conquest, and global economy), then they thought that reason and science would save us (the Enlightenment), and finally that progress and technology would answer all questions and cure all ills (the 19th century). The first World War proved to anyone who took the trouble to think it through that the modern world view no longer fit the reality we lived in. The very forces unleashed by the modern project threatened to destroy us. Art, music, and literature all mirrored this new age in some way during the early 20th century.

Many people have yet to get the memo. Maybe it's too hard to think about. There are vested interests still making fortunes from the industrial processes developed in the 19th century and still working and growing into the 21st. These people don't want to hear about it. Many would still love to think that science and technology, a.k.a "progress", will solve all problems. But then why can't we agree at all on values to live by? Why are we so cut off from one another? Why do we splinter into smaller and smaller ethnic and interest groups and so lose all sense of ethos and ethics?

We are at a point in history when we either decide on a new world view we wish to create that will benefit all and make a new vibrant age like the passing of the Medieval world to the modern, or we will sit back and watch things fall apart into a dark age, as that which followed the collapse of Rome. It's our call. I don't have an answer to propose. It's too early for that. But we do need to think about it and pool our collective wisdom.

Now, Angela Fournier is the kind of person we need for this project. She is unusually mature, wise, and discerning, but she is so unassuming that she is not aware of it. She is directed outward, to other people and their needs, instead of inward, brooding on her inadequacies. She really wants to help if she can, and she knows she doesn't have all the answers. She's not the only kind of person we need, but her kind will be indispensable in making something good of our world. What kind of world do you want?

If you haven't already, but would like to, please visit my book's web page at www.strategicpublisninggroup.com/title/Angela1.html Thanks!

Literature and popular fiction

2010-10-14T19:49:00.004-05:00

There is a great deal of teen fiction and Christian fiction out there, but is it literature? The answer is not as simple as may seem.

On the extreme end of literature, we have works that practically no one reads through. The prime examples are James Joyce's Ulysses and Finnegan's Wake. At the other extreme take, for instance, Michael Crighton's Airframe, a good, fast read, but with nothing literary about it. In between there are many surprises.

Now, popular literature is that written to sell well, with minimal consideration to character development, themes, or style. Literary novels are character-driven, are elegantly written by some reasonable standard, and deal with themes of universal importance. They often have a subtext and/or symbology. Another characteristic of literary novels is intertextuality, that is, references to other works of literature. For example, Dorothy Sayers' Peter Wimsey novels make frequent allusion, directly or indirectly, to Alice in Wonderland and to Through the Looking-Glass. Most works considered literary display most (though not necessarily all) of these characteristics.

Here's what makes it so difficult to draw a line between literary and popular. No one doubts that Hugo's Les misérables is literary. Yet he was paid by the word and the novel appeared first by installments in newspapers, the height of popularity back then. By contrast, the Harry Potter series is considered popular, but it is overflowing with literary and historical allusions, wonderful characterizations, and a thoroughly character-driven plot. Being popular and literary is not mutually exclusive.

So, for writers who aim to be literary: remember and respect your readers. Unnecessary complexity and obscure writing do not add up to literature. And for writers of popular fiction: read a lot before you ever start writing and always keep reading. That makes for literature and it is not incompatible with popularity. Publishers: be more judicious and bring back a sense of literary mission to put alongside the desire to make money.

See my book's website: www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html

Present tense narration

2010-10-01T10:43:00.004-05:00

I'm an avid reader of The New Yorker but I have seldom read their fiction. When I first tried it out I found the stories not particularly imaginative and a good half or more were narrated in the present tense. I read one or two of those and that was enough. A whole story in present tense is usually tiresome in the extreme. So from then on, as soon as I saw that the story in the new issue was in present tense, I stopped reading. I thought it was a sign of getting old on my part.

Then, last week, the New York Times carried a story on the UK's prize for Youth Fiction. The judges were complaining that half of the books submitted were narrated in the present tense. They said it diminished the quality of works they were judging. There was a small demonstration outside the place where the winners were announced. The demonstrators carried signs saying "What do we want? Past tense!" and "When do we want it? Now!" I had company!

Apparently present tense narration has hit a nerve. Right now I am about to finish Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club. She has a little present tense narration (not much) sprinkled here and there. I find natural. It helps to distinguish the moment of narration and what surrounds it from the stories about what happened in the past, which are the memories of the young Chinese-American women and their mothers.

So here's my take. Any good story, and certainly any book-length fiction should be narrated in past tense. Never use present tense unless there is a specific function for it and it contrasts with the majority of the work. There must be a very good reason to use present tense narration. It is not sufficient to say "It's the new thing" (it's not: it's around 100 years old and needs to be retired) or "It has greater verosimilitude (looks and feels and works more like real life)." Just what possible verosimilitude is there in someone telling you what they are doing as they do it?

Present tense narration was big with the modernists (Joyce, Woolf, Faulkner) who did stream of consciousness. An incredibly little bit of that goes and enormously long way. Enough, already.

A footnote: you should read the Scholastic report on reading habits and likes of families, available at http://mediaroom.scholastic.com/themes/bare_bones/2010_KFRR.pdf

See my website at http://strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html

Parallel Technologies

2010-09-20T19:53:00.003-05:00

I'm going to make a bold prediction: e-readers will never replace books, bookstores, or libraries.

There, I said it.

E-readers will continue to rise in popularity for some time to come, but that doesn't mean that the good old codex (bound book as we know it) is doomed to extinction. Not everyone will have the means to buy an e-reader. Of those who can, not all will want to. Many people will use both formats. E-readers can be very handy and helpful to many people, and that promotes reading, which is all to the good. But consider this: it's much more likely that an e-reader will be lost, stolen, or crash irreparably, losing your entire library in the process, than to loose a home library of bound volumes lining the walls to flood or fire.

Now, it is imperative to know some history in order to have a prayer of predicting what is likely to happen in the future. Radio did not replace live music performance. Movies did not eliminate theater. The VCR and later the DVD player did not replace the movie theater, in spite of dire predictions of the death of movies and/or movie theaters. So why should we think that e-readers will replace the bound book? There is a place and use for both.

Recent studies show that children who grow up in a house full of bookcases lining the walls and holding hundreds of books (or more) are 30% better at academics, college, and the advantages all that does for careers. It was the single most powerful predictor of success. The e-reader is very limited in that regard and cannot fully supply the same function.

So never fear. On with e-readers and on with bound books!

www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html (to see my book).

My Interview on Cinette's Musings Blog

2010-09-15T17:00:00.005-05:00

CS: Tell us about Angela 1: Starting Over. How was your story birthed? What was your motivation?

David A. Bedford: In April 2005 I attended an all-day workshop on getting published, sponsored by my university’s extended education program. I was wanting to get ideas for finding an agent and publisher for a bilingual version of my book of Spanish short stories (Liliana y el espejo, 2002), but I came out of it with something much better, something I never expected. The instructor spent the morning of the workshop talking about how to develop a project that agents will at least look at before throwing it onto the rejection pile. When we went to lunch, the whole Angela project just came to me (oh yeah, in English!): main character, locale, overarching theme for three books, and a plot idea for each one. I opened my composition book and sketched out a draft outline for each book, making a bunch of notes on characters. As soon as I had time just to stop and think, I made a fuller outline for Angela 1, and started writing. The rest, as they say, is history and since “they” say it, it must be true. Right?

My motivation for writing is having a story in me that’s bursting to be told. In the case of Angela, I wanted to do something very different from anything else out there. That’s why I put at the center of the story an unusually mature, coherent and loving teenager who sets off all kinds of potentially dangerous reactions, never meaning to.

CS: What messages/life lessons did you wish to teach your readers in Angela?

David A. Bedford: I always write to engage the readers with a story. Too much message bores them, me included. For me, writing is mostly intuitive and then later I see what I have been up to. The major theme of each of the three books in the Angela series is responsible citizenship and what it may cost us. At the time I sketched out the books, I only knew I was excited because I had a story I wanted to tell.

For many years, the US movie, TV, and radio industry was governed by a self-imposed code that prohibited “bad” words and references to sex, among other matters. Screenwriters retaliated by making any good, rule-respecting character hypocritical or hopelessly clueless, in the case of adults, and scared, social climbing, or a snitch, in the case of children. We were all conditioned to love the antisocial characters and view good people with scorn or disbelief. As a result, to this day readers and viewers react to good characters as basically unreal, uninteresting, or both and to expect the dysfunctional, greedy and self-indulging characters as the norm in literature and in life. I decided to take the challenge and write a good character who people can’t ignore and show that it takes a great deal of courage not to conform to what most people consider normal or to how they act. Another important point is that, when the story opens, Angela’s parents have just divorced. Of course it’s a major blow to Angela, her brother and her little sister, but doesn’t make them crazy or uncontrollable.

If you want to be a responsible citizen, you have to have courage. It means going against what everyone else does pretty much all through life. It can also involve confronting powers that could really hurt you. That’s what Angela is forced to learn.

CS: Looking back on the writing of Angela, is there anything you would have done differently?

David A. Bedford: The funny thing is that I discovered what I just told you about the book only by looking back on what I had done. I suppose many writers share that experience: we know in part what we’re doing but there’s a lot more going into the book than we are aware of as we write.

Now, as to what I would do differently, I probably would have developed the back story more. Given my experience writing the next installment in the series, I would have had the confidence to write a somewhat longer book. But I figure I’ll take all this experience into my next project. Always learning and growing: that’s what keeps me happy.

CS: What part of writing is easiest for you? And the hardest?

David A. Bedford: The hard part is coming up with a plan after the initial idea has come to me. I need characters, the plot in broad strokes, a locale, and an underlying philosophical or aesthetic concept as a subtext before I start writing. Finding the time to write can also be a challenge. I’m a college professor with a full load of work. But once I have all my elements and some free time, I’m off and running. The writing, that’s the easy part.

Of course, getting up the nerve to show the first draft to someone for feedback can be tough.

CS: What advice would you give aspiring authors about getting into the game? What do you know now that you wish you knew back when you started in the business?

David A. Bedford: First, have another job and don’t plan to live off royalties. Very few people have been able to do that. Even some of the very best classical authors had another source of income.

Plan what you want to do with each writing project.

Plot: how will the story end and how do we get there?

Characters: what makes them tick, what are their motivations and inborn personality traits? Know their back story.

Subtext: what are the values and/or symbolism and/or philosophy and/or any other matters that are important to you?–don’t address it directly, just let it bubble up.

Locale: have it vivid in your mind but just allude to it as if your readers already knew the place.

Allow for the serendipities: you never know just what may happen.

Allow yourself to be intuitive.

Let the characters be who they are. They may hijack your plans. So, see where it leads to. The idea of plot that you start with should be something that occurs because your characters act and think the way they do. Sometimes you start a scene with characters interacting and when you’re done you say: “I didn’t know it was going to turn out like that.” I call it being in the zone. When you’re in the zone, good things happen.

Have several people read your drafts. Think about what they tell you.

Finally, finish your book and start submitting it to agents. Know what the agents accept and don’t accept before you send it and make sure it is in the format they ask for. Expect many rejections and never give up.

I wish I’d known to keep submitting the book more purposefully and frequently.

CS: What was the wisest thing about writing ever said to you?

David A. Bedford: Literature should have room for everything.

CS: Tell us about your next book. Is it young adult fiction as well?

David A. Bedford: My next book will be Angela 2: The Guardian of the Bay. It’s already written. I want Angela 1 to get some good traction before I submit the next one for publication. Before that I need to go over Guardian and edit it very carefully. The third and last installment (Angela 3: Silver Path of the Moon) is planned out. I suspect it may need a more detailed outline. I plan to start on it when the second book is published.

Thank you so much for interviewing me!

“Writing is the most fun you can have by yourself.” – Terry Pratchett

No David, Thank you for sharing this interview with us.
Cinette

www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html

On Genres

2010-09-10T18:42:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I read on a blog a very excited comment to the effect that there was now a new genre, YYA (young-young adult, meaning middle school). Rather than get into a rant on the proliferation of "genres" and writers chasing after the latest fad, I just want to say a couple of words on genres and marketing categories.

Originally, the term genre meant novel, short story, poetry, theater, etc. All these genres were influenced by literary movements (classical, romantic, modernist, etc.) which in turn responded to the world at large and its problems and issues. Of course, words change in meaning with use. That's a feature of language. But at some point, overuse of a word for many different things robs it of any meaning.

In current fiction, mystery, science fiction, fantasy, adult, young adult, and so on, are marketing categories, that is, demographic groups the book selling business targets. The best literature appeals across these categories (Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Aldous Huxley, JK Rowling, etc.) Even marketers seem to understand that the over-proliferation of brands in a company begins to cannibalize their own products. If we let marketing drive what we write, we will mostly write trite books aimed at ever shrinking readerships. It is to everyone's benefit to cast a wider net. Write a novel, story, poem, or play (no labels on it) for your ideal reader or readers. At least, that's what I aim for.

Please visit my book's website at www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html

Why I'm Writing YA Fiction

2010-08-30T16:23:00.002-05:00

My Angela series is considered Young Adult fiction because the main character is 15 in the first book, which revolves a lot, though not entirely, around her life at school. In the past I have published highly literary short stories in Spanish (Angela is in English), so why would I plunge into YA now?

The truth is that the story came to me with Angela Fournier as the main character, all three books of it, all at once, as I have described on other posts. Writers must write what we are given. The series will be fast-moving, tension filled, but given relief by an unusually mature and caring central character. This is reality, too. Literature should have space for everything.

The theme of my Angela series is responsible citizenship and what it can cost us. My next project may not have a teenage central character, but in both Angela and my next project, I hope to write something of interest to all adults, young, old, and in between.

Fiction: A Way of Dealing with Truth

2010-08-07T18:04:00.003-05:00

In following in the blogosphere the discussion on fiction, whether teen fiction, Christian fiction, or young adult fiction, I have discovered a minority opinion out there that equates fiction with fantasy or with lies. I thought I would offer some light on the subject.

Fiction is a sub-category of narrative. Narration goes deep into what makes us human. Some narration is historical, in the form of chronicles or biographies. The Bible makes wide use of the former (Exodus, Kings, Chronicles, and so on) and of the latter (the Gospels). Fiction usually takes the form of short story and novel. The best deals with believable characters we can relate to as readers, in varying degrees reflects the real world, and has something significant to say about it.

Works of fiction can range from an entire fictional world with its own mythology, legend, and history (The Lord of the Rings), through the real world containing a magical alternate (The Harry Potter series), through novelization of enduring legend (Mary Stewart's four books on the King Arthur legends), to historical fiction that paints a particular point in a nation's past (Les misérables). The best science fiction projects a current trend to a future in which our worst tendencies have damaged us (H.G. Wells' The Food of the Gods). Each of these has something important of universal human value to say.

As with all human artistic (and other) endeavors, there is work of high quality, there is trash, and everything in between. Some of it contributes positively to understanding ourselves better, some of it is destructive of ethics and culture, much nowdays is merely commercial (If it makes money, do it!).

Read widely. Don't condemn a book if you have not read it, at least far enough to know clearly what it's about (but it's rare to pick up any book you can't read through to the end and it's important to find out just where the author comes down on the main issue presented in it).

Please take a look at my latest realease, a piece of realistic fiction, at www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html

So You Want to be a Writer

2010-08-04T11:07:00.003-05:00

My apologies to all for all the time gone by between posts. It's been an unusually busy year and I'm still in recovery mode. I am going to be posting a series of short messages every few days for a while, now that I have some time.

I read the other day a lament on writers: everyone wants to write nowdays but nobody wants to read. Of course it's an exaggeration for effect, but it needs to be addressed. Anyone who wants to be a writer must read a lot. Whether one is aiming for "serious literature" or for a trendy demographic group such as teen fiction, young adult fiction, or Christian fiction, one must read.

All good writers are readers, but not all readers are writers. Authors love and need readers, but they got to be writers by reading. Certainly writing comes much more easily to some people than to others. Another way of saying that is that writing well takes talent. Like all talent, though, it has to be developed. Authors need to have read a great deal and they need coaching, that is, readers, editors, and good writers who read what they produce and give them feedback.

What should you read? A bit of everything and as widely as possibly. Only that way can the potential writer find a genre (poetry, novel, story, essay, etc.), themes he or she cares about, and the writer's own voice.

www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html

A note on Harry Potter

2010-07-20T20:06:00.003-05:00

There has been some talk on the blogs about the Harry Potter series from people who honestly want some input. The themes of these books is love, loyalty to friends, and standing up against evil to do what is right, even if it will cost your life. How could anyone object to that?

Some people are confused about the wizarding world Harry belongs to. Here's my take: In these books, where so many wizards and witches gather, technology cannot function. This was a stroke of genius on the part of JK Rowling. The result is that all the characters are free to be human. What is about to sink us as humanity is runaway technology which exists, not to make our life better, but to make money for investors. Joy in life comes from relationships, not things, and sacrifice when unavoidable.

The Lord of the Rings also deals with these themes. Both books are wonderful reads for any reader willing to tackle them. The movies of both are for people who can stomach some strong scenes, that is, not for everyone.

Whether teen fiction, young adult, or Christian fiction, these are great books. When I decided to write my Angela series, I opted for something much smaller and brighter, to be different and not try to compete.

Please visit my website at www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html

Angela Doesn't Have it all Together

2010-07-16T09:35:00.005-05:00

Angela 1: Starting Over is classed by default as a work of teen fiction or young adult fiction (YA fiction) because the main character and her friends are of high school age. Some may think of it as Christian fiction because of certain underlying themes and symbolism. But I hope the book transcends all these narrow categories so it can offer something to everyone who likes to read a good work of literature. My readers will determine whether I have been successful.

I really need to explain that Angela is not perfect (no one is) and that she doesn't "have it all together." Sure, she's mature beyond her years. Maturity has a whole lot to do with personality, upbringing, and what you do with what life throws at you. Some people never grow up. As adults they are still insecure, self centered, and inconsiderate. Some people gain a great deal of maturity very young. Most of us are somewhere in between.

Angela avoids a lot of trouble because she does not want to be controlled, whether by drugs, by responsibilities of relationship that even adults have difficulty with, by authority figures, or by peers. This independence of thought and action leads to a great deal of other kinds of trouble, though. If you challenge entrenched interests by calling on them to act with integrity, all the power they have will come crashing down on you. Angela naively thinks that the world is straightforward and simple. As teenagers we often think we have the world figured out. Her growth will come as she discovers how complex (and at times evil) the world can be. This discovery will shake her to the bottom of her flip-flops.

All this will come out over the three books. I hope you really enjoy them and I welcome your comments.

See the cover and read the blurb at www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html

A novel centered on a mature, loving character? What??

2010-06-02T18:16:00.001-05:00

Angela 1: Starting Over centers on an unusually mature (for her age), coherent, stable, and caring central character. To most readers, that just may be downright weird. I know, it’s just not the done thing if you want to be taken seriously. But I do want to be taken seriously and I did it anyway. You probably ask, Why?
Good question. There are many answers to it and one is that good writers can only write what we are given. Angela Fournier and Angela the book came to me all as a piece one day as I sat at lunch between the morning and afternoon sessions of a writing workshop. I sketched out the main characters, the locale, and a theme for a three-book series (Angela’s 10th, 11th, and 12th grades) and made a broad outline for each book. At that point I really had no choice but to write. I made a more detailed outline for the first book and the rest, as they say (so it must be true) is history.
Now, good characters are practically never at the center of interest in novels or plays. There is a lot of history behind that but, more practically, it’s hard to do. For instance, Charles Dickens. When you think of A Christmas Carol, who comes to mind first? Scrooge, of course. And in Oliver Twist? Fagin, Nancy, the Artful Doger, and all the other criminal element but not Oliver who, after being mildly interesting when he had to pick pockets, becomes superfluous to the rest of the story. And the Cratchitts? One doesn’t particularly care for them. In Les misérables Hugo makes Cosette more interesting than Dickens’ good characters, but she still is quite forgettable beside the tortured and immature Marius or his rancorous grandfather, or even Javert, the police inspector who persecutes Jean Valjean.
Tradition is all against good characters as well. In the ancient Greek plays, the main character is always brought down by his or her own character flaws. The same is true for Hamlet, two thousand years later, and still is now. Besides, when American movies and TV were under Hollywood’s self-imposed code, the scriptwriters fought back by making any good adult a hypocrite or laughably naive, and good children were those who conformed with their parents because they were scared or they were just snitches. All the characters you enjoy are anti-social.
So it was a big challenge to put a person like Angela, who is not traumatized, bitter, or self-seeking, but rather other-directed and well intended, at the middle of a series of three novels. What makes it work is that, without intending to, she sets in motion all kinds of trouble. She calls on the adult world to live by integrity, that is, to practice what they preach, and so of course they see her as a threat and try first to neutralize and then to harm her. Although she is developing good social skills, she refuses to allow peer pressure to make her do what she doesn’t want to or goes against her values. She infuriates the mean girls and the school bully because they can’t control her. And that means that the school principal has it in for her as well.
Angela is not entirely without precedent. Ivanhoe’s Rebecca is a wonderful person who gets only suffering as a reward. But I wrote Angela 1 before I ever read Ivanhoe. Well, I think you will find Angela different.
Please visit my site at http://www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html

Introduction to Angela Fournier

2010-05-24T13:53:00.000-05:00

Angela Fournier is the title character of my new release, Angela 1: Starting Over, the first of three novels set in Sargasso Beach, my fictional suburb of Corpus Christi, Texas.

Her story came to me on a Saturday in 2005 and never let me rest until I began to write it. I was taking an all-day workshop on getting books published and the teacher spent the morning talking about how to put a good book project together. At lunch the three books just popped into my head so I madly sketched out characters, locale, and an overall plot line for all three in order to get back to the workshop on time and not forget my inspiration.

I began writing the first book immediately in the evenings after work and in summer and at other odd times. Then there was a four-year odyssey of finding a publisher. During that time I wrote the second book, Angela 2: The Guardian of the Bay. The third book isn't written yet, but it's all planned out.

Angela Fournier is a typical 15-year-old in most ways. She is insecure and doesn't believe the good things people tell her about herself. She is sad because her parents just divorced and she moved to a new town and a new school when the book opens. Angela has a striking appearance and a debilitating smile, but she is only aware that she looks unusual and worries about it. She is a dancer and Honors student, but only because her mom, a new librarian at the Sargasso Beach public library, signed her up without her knowledge. She is unusually mature for her age, loves to learn, and cares more about her friends than what people think of her.

Her two best friends are Fiona Banbury and Benjie Cooper. All three keep getting in trouble, Angela because the principal and mean girls have it in for her, Fiona because she knows more than just about everyone around her, and Benjie because of his fiery personality. The friends discover evidence of corruption in school board contracts and naively set about to make the board and contractors live up to what they profess, not knowing how they are likely to get hurt in the process.

That's probably enough about Angela for now. If you want to know more, see my publisher's web site at www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Angela1.html

I will post more from time to time.