One Writer's Life -- Barbara Mountjoy

I read the most delightful story this morning--it's called England Expects, and it came out on Everyday Fiction, a paying market for short-shorts. Less than 1,000 words about a well-loved pub patron, and it sparked a huge argument/discussion/brouhaha over creating characters who embody ethnic slurs. Go check it out. I'll wait. The comments will take longer than the story.

Photo by Howard G

Okay, so I'm not Irish.

Maybe that makes a difference, maybe it doesn't.

But I read the story as it was offered, the tale of a man who, for whatever reason, spent his money for alcohol and was well known for it, and what happened to him.

The onslaught of comments, however, troubled me, especially when it came to the point that the administrator went in and altered a previously-approved story to excise a reference some commenters took as offensive.

Are we really so fragile?

These days so much is offensive, intentionally or otherwise. There is much commentary about free speech and who's allowed to say what and whether kneeling at a football game constitutes an offense and who can gather and who can't. Is what people say in locker rooms really all right to ignore? or is it absolutely equivalent with what happens in Hollywood moguls' offices?

I understand--and agree--that lines can be crossed. Using a caricature of a Native American, i.e., appropriating cultural symbols, for a sports team? Wrong. Calling a person with diminished capacity a "retard"? Right out.

But in my opinion, especially in writing, sometimes what you see is what you get. In my WINDMILLS series  the character of Terry Johnson is a young black man from the city. He speaks in a certain way. He has been in juvie. He took the fall for a gang member to save his family.  I don't think this makes him a stereotype. Not all black people in the story are like him. He does come, as do other real people in the world, from this place, and from this place he teaches others (whites who view him as that stereotype) the truth (without having to be a magical Negro).

Same in this story. The man is, what he is. Yes, he's Irish. Yes, he drinks to excess. It's because of this fact that the story works. But I don't understand how this, or calling him an "Irish pisshead" makes every Irish person a drinker to excess. It says that THIS man is. Period.

Do we all have the right to collectively attack any piece of work because it might have offended some people and force editorial/artistic change? Should publishers second guess themselves when they get a few complaints? Can't we just take each piece and characterization for what it is?

I'd be interested in hearing thoughts. Feel free.

I just got the word that my class is coming up from Pennwriters-- if you're a beginning/indie author looking for tips and tricks on self-promoting, with lots of links to more reading, check this out!


Promotional Basics
with Babs Mountjoy

Date
August 3 – August 30, 2012

Pennwriter members' cost $79; non-members $89

 Limited class size. Early bird prices end soon.

Course Description
Congratulations! Your work has just been published. Now comes the hard part.
Getting your audience to find your work, buy it, and share it.
Most publishers now want to know your “platform.” What website, blog, or other publicity do you use to sell and promote you work? Such tools are part of the package you are often expected to present as a showcase for your laboriously forged words.
Online and social media are now your best means of broadcasting your efforts and reaching your target audience. Pennwriters upcoming online course, Promotional Basics, will teach you the arts of publicity and marketing, showing you standard techniques and modern tricks to make your release a success.
Learn the four most important things to include in your website. Discover how to get your work noticed on and offline. Tour successful blogs, learn to make your own, and understand why they are a great way to spread your name. Find out what freebies and giveaways attract your readers and followers. Plan ahead for compelling personal appearances and book signings that feature more than just a chair behind a table.
Plus, as a free bonus, receive a list of 50 sites where you can submit you books for review.
Boost your sales and traffic by learning proven promotional methods!
About the Instructor
Barbara “Babs” Mountjoy has written since she was a little girl, unable to restrain the stories that percolated through her fingers onto her keyboard – or, back then, onto the old Royal typewriter. Babs has been a published author for more than thirty-five years, with a number of publications under her belt.

Her non-fiction book, 101 LITTLE INSTRUCTIONS FOR SURVIVING YOUR DIVORCE, was published by Impact Publishers in 1999. Her first novel, THE ELF QUEEN, was released under the pen name Lyndi Alexander in 2010. THE ELF QUEEN launched her Clan Elves of the Bitterroot series, under which the second and third titles, THE ELF CHILD and THE ELF MAGE, released in 2011 and 2012.

Wild Rose Press released her romantic suspense novels, SECRETS IN THE SAND, in 2011, and, CONVICTION OF THE HEART, in June 2012. Will Rose Press will also release Babs’ THAT GIRL’S THE ONE I LOVE in September 2012. Zumaya Publications published her women’s fiction title, SECOND CHANCES, in July 2012.

Also in September 2012, Hydra Publications will publish LOVE ME, KISS ME, KILL ME, Babs’ upcoming vampire story.

Babs is a contributor to two CUP OF COMFORT anthologies. She blogs about autism, writing and life at awalkabout.wordpress.com, and spent seven years of her career as a news reporter and editor in South Florida. Her romances/womens fiction books are published under the pen name Alana Lorens, and her fantasy/sci-fi under the pen name Lyndi Alexander. For more information on Babs Mountjoy or this course, email her at bmountjoy@zoominternet.net This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Come by Every Day Fiction and read a short story in honor of National Coming Out Day. Didn't intend for it to appear today, but how appropriate it is.

http://www.everydayfiction.com/personally-by-barbara-mountjoy/

(And it's published under my own name! That hardly happens any more...  :)  )