SCIENCE FICTION
Do to demands from a few readers to include modern social issues and alternative characters in the science fiction books, I pulled the series from retail sites. I will NOT bow to pressure. Demand to include gay, transgender, and minority figures is moronic at best. Demands to include politically correct terms, equal rights, discrimination and other social bullshit is meaningless and inane.
Perhaps I’m an isolated case. I have yet to meet other authors who’ve experienced this but most people agree writers are free to choose how they write stories and create characters. While some of my characters have outlandish personalities, they remain generic when it comes to race and other physical features. I’m disappointed for 24 years of lost work from first draft to publication. What irritates me more is the money wasted on production costs. On a side note, all planned projects related to SF including videos, related fiction, cosplay, and set photography is cancelled. I’m not investing in equipment and sets for ventures than will never earn profit.
Readers, if you want fiction that includes the above items, write the stories. Just remember no one will buy into the agenda whoring and propaganda. Further, the books will be filled with spelling and grammar errors, driving intelligent readers to search for real novels.
FILES AND RESEARCH
In LinkedIn forums over the years I recommended writers compose their work and maintain files on hard drives away from a computer connected to the Internet. I followed my own advice. Little did I know a fairly new portable hard drive would fail. The problem may be technical but chances are it’s the work of a hacker (Methinks at least three enemies are reading right now to gather information for future crimes). The storage device contained all business, photography, and writing files. After spending 41 days copying and sorting files backed up on CD-ROM to a computer, I’m now rebuilding. Writers, listen up: Never use the “cloud”. There’s no way a company can guarantee hackers WON’T ACCESS the files. Most vital writing files will fit on a CD-ROM. If the files are large, burn them to a DVD disc every few months or sooner.
BUSINESS
Back in the middle 1980s an old Italian friend and business man gave me sage advice: “Do something with your life but make sure it’s what you WANT to do.” Well, guess what happened? I strayed from that advice big time. One thing I’m good at is history in the areas of urban archeology, antiques, and collectibles. I started a gazillion projects to widen my fan and customer base and increase income. EPIC FAIL!!! I spent money on resources never utilized and wasted countless hours creating projects and merchandise destined to fail.
Writers, I suggest sticking with one genre. Become expert at it. You CAN build a brand on one product by doing it well. Don’t invest time in side projects. There’s not enough time in the day or years in a life.
Losing files was a good thing. I can now focus on Orianna Killborn novels, the upcoming Relic Girls series (mystery novellas involving antiques, collectibles, and treasure in the plots), a novel involving lost history/vampires/creatures, and short stories about treasure hunts and antiques. Now, without unprofitable ventures causing me to lose sleep, is the time to organize outbuildings into better facilities to store antiques/collectibles and work on junk art, upcycled items, and furniture built from salvaged materials into useful household.
Everything on this site will soon migrate to the Depot 9 history website in the next few months. I created Starstone Media to manage and produce entertainment products. Money is wasted on the web address and local business expenses.
Thank you for reading.
I always respond to thoughts, questions, and feedback. Let’s chat about the blog.
