sex warehouse

This 35-year-old Canadian seems to have started like most of us, in relative obscurity, being born in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories and growing up in Penticton, British Columbia. These are not necessarily hubs of artistic development in the country but then again, we all start somewhere. However the year 2000 was a watershed in Mr. Koyczan's career when he won first place in the National Poetry Slam in Providence, Rhode Island.

For those not quite in the know, let's cover some terminology. (Remember that the word "slam" means to criticise.) A "poetry slam" is a competition where poets read or recite usually original work and are then judged on a numeric scale. The judges may be previously selected members of the audience or possibly somebody of literary importance depending on the formality of the contest. While the performance centers on the poetry, costumes, props and acting may enter into the presentation which makes it more performance art than just a simple recitation. The National Poetry Slam is the mother of all slams occurring every year in early August in a different U.S. city. Note that a "book slam" is the same idea but where the content is part of a book or a short story.

In 2003, Koyczan formed a musical, spoken word trio called Tons of Fun University with fellow Canadian poet C. R. Avery and American poet Mike McGee which resulted in the 2005 album "The Them They're Talking About".

Koyczan published a collection of poems in 2005 called Visiting Hours (Amazon) which ended up on the lists Best Books of 2005 in the newspapers The Guardian of Britain and Canada's The Globe and Mail.

Canadian television documentary series Heart of a Poet featured Koyczan in a 2007 episode broadcast on Bravo! They write: Award-winning, spoken word sensation Shane Koyczan delivers his dynamic performance to a jam-packed house in Vancouver and proves his ranking as one of the top slam poets in the world. Koyczan is the winner of the U.S. National Poetry Slam, The Canadian Spoken Word Olympics, the CBC Poetry Face-Off, and author of ‘Visiting Hours’, published by Mother Press.

On February 12, 2010, Shane Koyczan performed at the Opening Ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics held in Vancouver, British Columbia. He recited a variation of his poem We Are More which had been originally commissioned by the Canadian Tourism Commission for the Canada Day festivities on Parliament Hill, Ottawa held on July 1st 2007. (A video of the poem is below in References section.)

I recently "ran across" a link to the following video. I had never heard of Shane Koyczan. I knew nothing of his work. However I discovered some things: slam poetry, recitation as performance art and Shane Koyczan. This man writes good words. He delivers them in a captivating manner. His presence on stage has a certain commanding quality as when he's there, you can't look away. I usually think of words as something I read. I had forgotten that words are also something I hear. I can read someone but I can also listen to someone and with the process of somebody actively presenting their words comes a different experience with a difference message or at least a different delivery of their message.


Uploaded by Bookslam on Jan 7, 2008
'Visiting Hours' by Shane Koyczan @ Book Slam
Canadian poet Shane Koyczan performing at Book Slam, London's best night of words and music.



Final Word
Poetry slam. Book slam. The spoken word. Who knew? Or had I forgotten?


References

Wikipedia: Shane Koyczan
Shane L. Koyczan (born 22 May 1976) is a Canadian poet and writer. Born in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Koyczan grew up in Penticton, British Columbia. In 2000, he became the first Canadian to win the Individual Championship title at the US National Poetry Slam. Together with Mighty Mike McGee and C. R. Avery, he is the co-founder of spoken word, "talk rock" trio, Tons of Fun University (T.O.F.U.). In August 2007 Shane Koyczan and his work were the subject of an episode of the television documentary series Heart of a Poet, produced by Canadian filmmaker Maureen Judge for broadcaster Bravo!.

Wikipedia: National Poetry Slam
The National Poetry Slam (NPS) is a performance poetry competition where teams from across the United States, Canada, and France participate in a large-scale poetry slam. The event occurs in early August every year and takes place in a different US city.

Wikipedia: Poetry slam
A poetry slam is a competition at which poets read or recite original work (or, more rarely, that of others). These performances are then judged on a numeric scale by previously selected members of the audience.

Urban Dictionary: Slam book
[This is "slam book" as opposed to "book slam".]
A spiral notebook with the name of a jr. or sr. high girl (usually) written on the top line. The books is passed around among classmates who write nasty things (slam) on the page under the girl's name.

Shane Koyczan and the Short Story Long
[This is a collection of "musical pieces", that is Shane speaking with musical accompaniment.]
Shane Koyczan and the Short Story Long are based in the interior of British Columbia. They have been creating a buzz since their start in 2006. The quartet is made up of Shane Koyczan (poet), Maiya Robbie (guitarist/vocalist), Stefan Bienz (bassist/vocalist) and Olivia Mennell (pianist/vocalist). While Shane is responsible for the moving poetry, the band moves right along with him, setting the tone and backdrop of energy that resonates. (Apt 613)

House of Parlance Media Inc.
House of Parlance is a new media company and trade book publisher inspired by literary and visual storytelling. We work with authors, writers, artists, illustrators and spoken word poets. From high-quality titles to electronic media, our works promote new connections between artists, authors, and their worldwide audiences.

Visiting Hours by Shane Koyczan
Visiting Hours is Shane’s incredibly well-received first collection, which was a Guardian and a Globe and Mail Best Book of the Year.

Wikipedia: Tons of Fun University
Tons of Fun University is a musical, spoken word trio based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, which formed in 2003. It consists of Canadian poets Shane Koyczan and C. R. Avery, and American poet Mighty Mike McGee.

Amazon: Visiting Hours by Shyane Koyczan
Paperback: 112 pages
Publisher: House of Parlance Media, Inc.; 3rd edition (September 1, 2005)
The first book of poetry published by internationally renowned spoken word performer, Shane Koyczan. Voted to *Best Books of 2005* lists in the Guardian (UK) and Globe and Mail newspapers.

The Vancouver Sun - Feb 7/2011
On stage: Feel the fear, do it anyway by Francois Marchand
Almost one year ago to the day, Shane Koyczan confronted an audience of millions. Taking centre stage at the Opening Ceremonies for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, the slam poet stood by his lonesome to deliver his ode to being Canadian, We Are More, during an event televised worldwide.

Wikipedia: 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony
The Opening Ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics was held on February 12, 2010 beginning at 6:00 pm PST at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Shane Koyczan performed slam poetry, a variation on his "We Are More". Performers formed a giant maple leaf around Koyczan with red flares to end off his section.

Uploaded by canadiantourism on Feb 12, 2010
We Are More by Shane Koyczan
[There are videos of Koyczan's performance at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Winters Games but the sound quality is such that it is sometimes hard to hear him. This video is a little more intimate and much easier to understand. By the way, I was going to include a transcript of the poem but discovered Koyczan keeps improvising a slightly different version each time he recites this. I will leave it to you the reader to listen carefully.]



Google video search: "Shane Koyczan"

2011-08-30

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Ellen Jong is an American photographer and artist born May 22, 1976 in New York City to a mother who is a pediatrician and a father who is an obstetrician gynecologist. She alludes to a connection between parents as medical professionals and the human body as a vessel for physical health and performance. Studies in psychology and visual arts led her to photography and from there capturing her own life became an important theme in her work. In 2006, she published her first monograph, "Pees On Earth", a collection of self-portraits taken while urinating in public. In 2010, she published "Getting To Know My Husband’s Cock", a collection of pictures of her husband but not limited to that one body part. You didn't think I was going to run into books with those titles and just let it pass by, did you?

By the way, for those of you who, like me, are not one hundred sure of what a monograph is, I looked it up. According to Wikipedia a monograph is a work of writing upon a single subject, usually by a single author. Librarians consider a monograph to be a nonserial publication complete in one volume or a finite number of volumes.

Pees On Earth
Over the years, I have run across a number of books whose subject matter or central idea I can only qualify as unique. Of course unique may also be a euphemism for bizarre but let's not forget that sometimes bizarre merely indicates that I didn't think of it first or, and this is more to the point, I would never think of it. Does that just show me to be not very creative? Do I miss that "gift" of looking at the world from a unique angle? Who would have thought in a million years of photographing themselves takin' a whiz in public? *laughs* Do I hear Monty Python? And now for something completely different...

On Ms. Jong's own web site, she has a page devoted to her book Pees on Earth.  She explains how this unusual idea came to her and transformed itself into a concept for the book.

It was the summer of 1998. I was 22 years old, at a rooftop in TriBeCa. By the time I left, I really had to pee. I had no patience to wait on line for the overused, overcrowded, and overrated bathroom. I walked out onto the street instead, and found an office desk thrown on the curbside. I squatted behind it and released what felt like, "ah, freedom!"

I pulled my pants back up and walked away from a stunt I wanted no one to have witnessed. I was thrilled, but I wasn't satisfied. I turned around to see what I'd left behind. The suspect puddle looked more like something from a murder scene than a drunken adventure. I captured it with my camera like a villain obsessively collecting the records of his crimes. With one snapshot, I claimed the anonymous puddle, and have reclaimed it again and again.

The page also includes 24 pictures taken from the book to give all of us a taste of just what the book is all about. She states that "the act of peeing [is] a means to reevaluate the spaces I find myself in—to make them my own." I'm sure anybody like me is going to immediately think of an animal marking its territory but she goes on to say: "The experience is a combination of secrecy, physicality, grace, and the prospect of unexpectedly getting caught. Most of all, it is one of sensational peace."

And speaking of getting caught, Miss Rosen, a communications and marketing strategist based in New York City, interviewed Ellen Jong on April 15, 2010.

I’ve always had bit of penis envy, but only when it comes to peeing in public. I’ve admired how men could just whip it out and go with no hassle—unlike us ladies who have to find somewhere discreet to pee, and make sure we don’t splash our shoes. So, needless to say, when I met Ellen Jong, who has been taking self-portraits for the past ten years while pissing wherever the damn well hell she wants, I was fully in awe. Jong has shamelessly leveled the playing field, proving women can do anything guys can do—and not ruin their shoes.

The amusing blog posting goes on as a dialogue between Miss Rosen and Ellen Jong talking about the book Pees on Earth. There is an amusing story of Ms. Jong's attempt to pee in Times Square in New York City and getting a summons for it. A couple of years later when the cops catch her with a open bottle of Tequila and check her licence, they discover there is a warrant for her arrest because she ignored the summons. How many of us get to tell a personal story of being arrested, booked and spending the night in jail? Then again, do we want to add that notch to our belt?

Getting To Know My Husband’s Cock
Published in 2010, this catchy title with a four letter word probably makes many do a double take. While the book may at first give you a risqué idea of its contents, the photographs are an exploration by a newly married woman of her new life partner.

"This recollection of the first three years leading up to my wedding day and my first year of marriage is a love song in photographs and text where the male body is used as a metaphor for love; his cock is a symbol of manhood, it affects me profoundly, challenges, indulges and intoxicates me."

I note that the forward of the book was written by one Cindy Gallop. For those not familiar with my writings, I do refer to Ms. Gallop as the author of both the web site and the book called "Make Love Not Porn". I would say that both Ms. Gallop and Ms. Jong are among the more unique members of the New York citizenry.

Ms. Jong has put together a web site dedicated to the book. The section called "Inside the Book" gives you a glimpse into Ms. Jong project of love with the first 19 pages of her opus.

Uploaded by SelfPublishBeHappy on Sep 14, 2010
Video Book Talk: Getting to Know My Husband's Cock by Ellen Jong
Ellen Jong talks about her book 'Getting to Know My Husband's Cock'



Final Word
Ms. Jong has a different perspective on the world. The above two literary endeavours are unique and I will leave it up to the next potential reader and or buyer to decide if these two books are merely novelty items or worthy additions to their home library. Whatever the case, the titles of the books are catchy enough to make anybody stop and take a second look. Hmmm, now that I think of it, I am always looking for something novel for Christmas and birthday gifts. With most people in the family already owning what they want or having the means of buying what they want, it's always nice coming up with something which does fit the Monty Python requirement of now for something completely different. Gee, wouldn't December 25th be great time to unwrap a gift entitled Pees on Earth?


References

Ellen Jong
Artist Statement
I am interested in the things that are overlooked in the every day. These things are objects, landscapes, expressions on faces, gesters in the body, behavioral responses, more, they are micro-moments loaded with information to further my intimacy and understanding of myself and the world around me.

Pees on Earth
Pees On Earth is my first photographic monograph, an intimate travelogue and a pursuit for identity, self and freedom.

Miss Rosen - April 15/2010
Ellen Jong: Did they think I was dangerous?
[Interview with the photographer]

Getting To Know My Husband's Cock
a self published monograph with photographs and text; published in NYC (2010)

Getting To Know My Husband's Cock: Forward

I love this book.

I love it because it is a beautifully atmospheric collection of photographs that tell an honest, intimate and insightful love story.

Getting To Know My Husband's Cock is the ultimate love token.

When you love someone, you love getting to know them. You love learning and exploring and finding out everything about them. And you particularly love getting to know those most intimate parts of them that give you, and them, enormous pleasure and joy in the knowing.

I would love to see Ellen's book inspire everyone to create their own Getting To Know My Husband's Cock. Or Getting To Know My Wife's Pussy - every variation thereof, whether straight, gay or whatever. How much would you love your loved one to create a book like this for you? How much would they love it if you created one for them? This is sexual scrap-booking of the very highest order.

Ellen has chosen to share her love story with all of us. The rest of us might only ever share ours with our loved one - but I cannot imagine anyone who would not be blown away to receive a gift of love as true, and as beautiful, as this.

Cindy Gallop
New York
March 2010

my blog: Cindy Gallop: Make Love Not Porn
[Check out the speech Ms. Gallop gave at the 2009 TED conference]

my blog: Book Review: Make Love Not Porn by Cindy Gallop


2011-07-28

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Last night, I forked over thirty-three dollars and forty-four cents for the hardcopy edition of "Shameless: How I Ditched The Diet, Got Naked, Found True Pleasure and Still Got Home In Time To Cook Dinner". - I note that the title is quite the mouthful so it's usually referred to as just Shameless. - Amazon describes the basics of the story as:

At 43 years old, Pamela Madsen was happily married to the man she fell in love with at 17. She was the mother of two sons and had a successful career as a nationally known advocate for fertility issues. But she felt a growing sexual restlessness and yearning that wouldn’t let up. And though Pamela loved her husband and didn’t want to have an affair, she knew deep down that she needed more, much more. In Shameless, she tells the story of how she found it—and not only kept her marriage intact but made it stronger than ever.

In this fearless memoir, Pamela tells the story of her search for sexual, personal, and spiritual wholeness. She explores, in riveting detail, what she experienced at the hands of sexual healers, men who brought her untold pleasure (and became her close friends in the process).

But this is not just another sex book: Shameless is also an account of how Pamela’s journey healed her issues with food and body image and most important, helped her weave the many roles that she played—daughter, friend, partner, mother—into one fully integrated person. It is a story about a woman falling in love with herself and a call to other women to do the same.

I forget where I ran across this book, but as I looked at written comments from various readers and read some interviews with the author and watched some YouTube videos of her, I became curious about what exactly she did. Sex is the last frontier. It remains probably the single most misunderstood aspect of the human condition and of human relationships. Whether the confusion over it has given rise to it being so taboo or whether it being so taboo has given rise to the misunderstanding is tough to answer, but whichever is correct, we still arrive back at something which has ruined countless relationships and decimated many a marriage.

Review – Shameless by Pamela Madsen by litekepr - Feb 8/2011
There is plenty of sexual and erotic content in this book. Whether its orgasms, spanking, or even raspberries – you’ll have to read it to find out about that. But – anyone who said this book is only about sex, and maybe types of sex that make your uncomfortable, missed the point of the book in my opinion.

The author is a woman who is like many of us – she has battled her weight her entire life, she has people around her who mention he weight in a negative way, she’s married to the man she fell in love with years earlier, she’s only had sex with him, she has a career that she is very proud of – but there’s something missing.

... there are some things she needs to get rid of... that baggage of uncertainty that we carry around about our weight, our appearance, those nagging doubts that challenge our self-confidence...

Ladies – and the men and women who love them – if you know and love a woman who has these negative thoughts and past hurts that need to heal, you should get this book for her.... I was in a similar place as the author – a couple of years ago – and while my love coaching training was the catalyst for my journey to self-discovery, it also gave me a much more positive outlook on life and made me feel whole for the first time.

A Conversation with Pamela Madsen Author of SHAMELESS
Q: For many people in long-term relationships, the very idea of changing one’s sexual practices or introducing extreme ideas may be viewed as a threat to the happiness and health of the relationship itself. What would you say is the best way to approach a spouse or significant other regarding such topics?

A. Candidly discussing desire, whether it’s new-found or previously undisclosed, isn’t about blowing up a happy and healthy long-term relationship. It is about creating new depths of intimacy and revealing oneself to one’s partner more fully. Make no mistake – it can be an edgy exercise. It’s just as scary to share your deepest needs as it is for your partner to hear them.

Honesty isn’t always comfortable but that’s how we develop true acceptance of ourselves and our significant others.
...
If you love this person enough to be vulnerable, then hopefully you believe that your love is reciprocal enough to see you through.
...
To be sure, many people won’t examine their own fantasies and desires. More often than not, we sit in such judgment of sexual desires in general and our own in particular, then we hide them away as if they were somehow shameful.
...
So this concept of us being unique sexual beings could be really big news for people. And that we can be two separate beings in ONE marriage is really startling.

BlogHer - Feb 7/2011
(Review) Sex After 50: For Pamela Madsen, It's Shameless by Susan Mernit
Shameless is the story of Madsen’s post-marriage, post-40s, sexual reawakening, a journey that started with some very awkward (and oily) massages and culminated in trips to Arizona and California to explore tantra, spanking and BDSM. With the awareness and support of her husband, here called Gavin, Madsen did what few women of her background ever do -- ask themselves ”What do I really want that will give me pleasure?” and then set out to find the answer -- and give herself permission to enjoy it.

Psychology Today - Mar 29/2011
Shameful: What if it’s eating not cheating? by Rachel Clark
This book is gonna make you squirm--perhaps with uncorked erotic intrigue or nose-flaring outrage. But this type of squirming leads to the tangled bed sheets that cling to you after a life-changing dream...or life-altering sex.
...
It might not be comfortable, but the provocative issues this memoir erects thrust to the heart of a culture that may have mistaken "eating" (normal, human and primal sexual needs) for "cheating" (our ideas about betrayal, monogamy, and affairs).


Uploaded by RodaleBooks on Jan 7, 2011
Shameless by Pamela Madsen
A funny, sexy, and wildly entertaining look at the rewards of fully realized desire in the life of one ordinary woman.



Uploaded by BeingShameless on Jan 30, 2011
Does Receiving Pleasure Make Me a "Bad Person?"
Some reviews of my book have accused me of being a "bad person" for taking the time to explore my own sexuality and relationship to pleasure - here is what I have to say about that!



Uploaded by BeingShameless on Feb 16, 2011
The Most Asked Question
Pamela answers the most asked question by people across the country.
[Pamela says the most frequent question people ask her is how her husband dealt with her, how he put up with her explorations, and how he felt about her writing the book.]



Uploaded by BeingShameless on Mar 7, 2011
Are you hiding your pleasure factory?
Once you discover the pleasure your body is capable of, you won't want to hide under mumus!



Huffington Post - Sep 22/2010
Who Trains the Men? by Pamela Madsen
Recently my husband and I returned from a "Sacred Loving" workshop. Yeah, I know, it sounds very new age. And perhaps it is, but my husband is not a very new age kind of guy. He has been trying to catch up with me on my journey through the world of sacred sexuality. It is a noble effort that has started and stopped throughout the last few years. It is like a ritual with us, I ask him to go on some kind of Tantra or couples sexuality workshop with me, and he changes the subject. This time, he said "yes".

My comment
This is actually quite an interesting if not amazing article about the author and her husband. I can't imagine how any couple would not want such a mutual experience. It's certainly got my vote.

Huffington Post - Oct 5/2010
How to Be a Mid Life Sex Goddess Without Tripping on Stilettos by Pamela Madsen
I only recently became a Sex Goddess. It's a new role for me in life -- and I began my transformation in my early forties. Oh -- and I am chubby -- and stand about 5 feet-three inches tall. What? You don't think I am Sex Goddess material? Well, guess again. And you can be one too. Because it really doesn't have a thing to with "natural beauty" or long legs -- Sex Goddesses are often awakened -- and they can come in some pretty surprising packages. So how do you get there, you might ask?

My comment
You should read the full article. As a man I can say unequivocally that the old expression is true: "It's not what you have, it's how you use it." In 1981, Shere Hite published her study The Hite Report on Male Sexuality in which the author pointed out that the most common idea expressed in her interviews with over five thousand men was that they thought women didn't like sex.

Final Word
I bought this book because I was curious just how far Pamela went. Spoiler Alert: In chapter nine Pamela gets a massage from Markus, who seems to be gay by the way.

He may have spent most of his professional time on men, but Markus knew exactly how and where to touch me. Between breaths, I noticed that my mind had stopped nattering and I was in a trance of rapture. It crowded out everything else. I had no idea something like this was possible without actually making love.

I climaxed.

Oh shit. I had an orgasm with someone other than my husband. It was unbearably exciting and unimaginably intense. I was shocked ... Who was this man? How could I have such a private moment with a stranger?

I've read a number of comments from both men and women which range from the positive to the negative. What's your take going to be? I return to a line from the review in Psychology Today (listed above):

It might not be comfortable, but the provocative issues this memoir erects thrust to the heart of a culture that may have mistaken "eating" (normal, human and primal sexual needs) for "cheating" (our ideas about betrayal, monogamy, and affairs).


References

official web site: Being Shameless
Pamela Madsen is a fearless advocate for women’s health and integrated sexuality. During her 25-year career, Pamela has leveraged her raw honesty and well-informed wit to help strip the stigma from infertility, female desire and pleasure, body image and weight . The willingness to use her personal struggles to have children, discover her innate sexuality and find self-esteem has made Pamela one of the most accessible and relatable figures in the vanguard of women’s wellness. Pamela’s trademark openness and humor blew the lid off one of the worst kept secrets in this country: the power of the erotic core buried inside every woman to transform her life.

YouTube channel: Being Shameless

Amazon: Shameless by Pamela Madsen

The Fertility Advocate
[Pamela Madsen has worked in the area fertility for the past 20 years. This is her main area of expertise]
Pamela Madsen, one of the nation's most outspoken and recognized fertility educators and patient advocates, is bringing her 20-plus years of experience into the service of East Coast Fertility. As East Coast Fertility’s new Director of Public Education, Ms. Madsen is reaching out to women-- and men—to integrate infertility prevention, protection and treatment into the general health care continuum.

Fertility Coaching: What does it take to navigate the world of pre-conception, trying to conceive, infertility, pregnancy and childbirth? A lot. What if you could have the nation’s best known fertility advocate on your side to help you get past the road blocks, make the hard decisions and find the best of everything? Whether you are looking at how to get your body into the best shape possible for conception, navigating the fertility clinic maze, or trying to figure out how to preserve your fertility – there is a lot to know. I have spent a lifetime dedicated to understanding the world of fertility – and I know the inside skinny on all of it.

Google videos: "Pamela Madsen"

2011-05-01

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In reading about National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo: Write a novel in 1 month?) and the objective of churning out 50,000 words or 175 pages in just 30 days, I reflected on various writers labelled "prolific". I am familiar with Georges Simenon (1903-1989) who wrote over 500 books and John Creasey (1908-1973) who wrote 564 but discovered a list of the 20 most prolific authors which puts a Mary Faulkner (1903-1973) at the top of the list with 904 books.

When I first heard about such an output, I wondered if these people spent the majority of their waking moments penning their literary works. Just imagine, if I come back to the idea of writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days then take Mary Faulkner's total of 904 books divided by 12 months of the year, she would have had to write one book a month for 904 divided by 12 = 75 years. Good Lord, did any of these people take any time to actually some living? I know that Georges Simenon managed to write and write and write - Quel écrivain prolifique ! - but also found the time to marry several times and to have supposedly "numerous" affairs including with the famous Josephine Baker.

In my review of the book On Writing by Stephen King, I pointed out how Mr. King talks of writing 2,000 per day without fail when he is working on a novel. He also discusses writing out the complete novel then putting the manuscript away for a month or two before starting the process of revising the work. It is the Stephen King method however it's interesting to note that Wikipedia lists his total output as being 49 novels. In comparison with some of the numbers above, this output seems low. Of course, one would have to add a comparison of commercial success to the mix. Mr. King is a very popular novelist and certainly one whose work has been turned into some very successful films.

Assembly Line Painting: Trash or Art?
Years ago I saw the 1987 movie Surrender starring Michael Caine and Sally Field. Not the best romantic comedy (Rotten Tomatoes gave it 13%) but the story showed me something I had never seen before which I found quite bizarre.

Sally plays your starving artist who is making ends meet by working in a shop that mass produces art. Several canvases would be worked on at the same time where one person would paint the sky, another would do the landscape and another would add, let's say, animals or people or buildings. It's been years so forgive me if my memory is a little fuzzy. The point was that like an assembly line in a factory, an individual would specialise in doing one thing and they would do it over and over again.

When I was watching the movie, I remember how I found it so bizarre making the association between art and thinking of the lesser art one would find at a store like Zeller's or K-Mart where there are bins of cheap paintings to be had for just a few bucks. I'm not talking about prints; I'm talking about actual oil paintings more than likely produced in a shop not unlike what was portrayed in the movie Surrender.

Of course, anybody would be quick to pooh-pooh such art as being next to worthless but in doing a little investigation, this technique for mass producing commercial art is not without precedence. Apparently the great master Reubens (1577-1640) ran a shop just like this. From Wikipedia:

In 1610, Rubens moved into a new house and studio that he designed... where he and his apprentices made most of the paintings.

Paintings can be divided into three categories: those he painted by himself, those he painted in part (mainly hands and faces), and those he only supervised. He had, as was usual at the time, a large workshop with many apprentices and students, some of whom, such as Anthony Van Dyck, became famous in their own right. He also often sub-contracted elements such as animals or still-life in large compositions to specialists such as Frans Snyders, or other artists such as Jacob Jordaens.

I quote from the article Rubens and Flemish Painting:
Yet some criticize Rubens in that his enormous entourage of assistants created a near production or assembly line operation, where some experts in flesh, and others in armour, filled in their sections of the paintings.

I quote from the review of the book Peter Paul Rubens: From the Assembly Line of a Genius:
Yet more refined drawings would follow the oil sketches, for which live models assumed the poses of figures in the compositions. Finally, apprentices would paint the paintings, with the oil sketches and detailed drawings as guides. Rubens would come in at the end to touch things up (adjusting the price depending on how much he contributed). It was Baroque art's luxury version of an assembly line, albeit an assembly line overseen by a genius, who employed assistants who were geniuses, too, like Anthony van Dyck.

This is an interesting comparison. The movie Surrender made me connect the mass production of oil painting to the discount bins at department stores but then I see Reubens who is considered a master using precisely this technique to commercialise his own business. The difference? Well, I don't remember seeing any paintings by Reubens in the discount bin. So is the characteristic of "art" determined by technique - mass produced or not mass produced - or is it determined by quality or possibly popularity?

One modern artist, Damien Hirst (b 1965) seems to have pushed this idea to the limit. He runs what seems to be informally called an art factory where he conceptualises but doesn't "do". Ofttimes others execute his ideas. In fact, his philosophy about this is described as:

Hirst sees the real creative act as being the conception, not the execution, and that, as the progenitor of the idea, he is therefore the artist.

A work by Hirst may not have actually been by Hirst himself but by an underling. Curious but similar to Andy Warhol's studio "The Factory" and so it seems similar to the master Reubens.


Then the question came to mind: is there such a thing as "assembly line writing"?

James Patterson
In putting together Writing: James Patterson, I discovered this author to be prolific but more importantly, how. From Wikipedia:

His prolific output is partially owed to the relationship he has with his many co-authors who share an authorship credit on the cover. The authors, in their agreement with Patterson, have agreed not to disclose the terms of their working relationship, including how much involvement Patterson has on each co-authored book. In the same Time magazine 10 Questions interview, he responded to a question about his collaborations: "If I'm working with a co-writer, they'll usually write the first draft. And then I write subsequent drafts."

Some of the references said that Patterson had published 9 titles in 2009 and was slated to publish another 9 in 2010. How can a single person keep up that level of output? It is interesting to note that the statement is ofttimes made that one in 17 hardcover novels sold in the United States is a Patterson book. Yes, there is a the question of popularity but when you may be publishing 9 titles a year, you are just putting more product onto the market and it stands to reason that you're going to sell more than any of the other authors who may only put out one title a year.

Patterson has gone beyond writing to look at the whole package, turning himself into a "brand" and mass merchandising himself, his product the same way a company would tackle the issue of selling anything. Heck, Patterson is Skippy Peanut Butter. It seems that Tom Clancy has also put this idea to good use by turning himself into a brand:

Many of action writer Tom Clancy's books from the 2000s bear the names of two people on their covers, with Clancy's name in larger print and the other author's name in smaller print. Various books bearing Clancy's name were written by different authors under the same pseudonym. The first two books in the Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell franchise were written by Raymond Benson under the pseudonym David Michaels.

James Frey and Full Fathom Five
The name may not immediately ring a bell so here's a quick recap. James Frey (b 1969) was involved in a bit of a scandal when parts of his memoir, A Million Little Pieces (2003) detailing his drug addiction were proven to be false or exaggerations. Oprah had not just backed him but made this book one of her selections so when all this hit the fan; she apparently tore a strip off of him about abusing her trust. No matter, he may have been dropped by various supporters and publishers but the spotlight was enough to ensure his name was remembered and remained a marketable commodity.

In 2009, he created "Full Fathom Five", a company devoted to creating commercial successes like the Twilight series. The operation involved recruiting unknowns to pen the books while Frey took the credit and much of the profit. The details of the contracts between Frey's company and these starving authors may remain questionable but the central idea to the whole affair seems to be assembly line writing. According to Wikipedia:

In 2009, Frey formed "Full Fathom Five," a young adult novel publishing company that aimed to create highly commercial, high concept novels like Twilight. In November 2010, controversy arose when an MFA student who had been in talks to create content for the company released her extremely limiting contract online. The contract allows Frey license to remove an author from a project at any time, does not require him to give the author credit for their work, and only pays a standard advance of $250.

One such author, Suzanne Moses, detailed her experiences with Frey in the New York Magazine dated November 12, 2010 talking about meeting with Jobie Hughes who collaborated with Frey:

Frey handed him a one-page write-up of the concept, and Hughes developed the rest of the outlined narrative. Frey’s idea was a series called “The Lorien Legacies,” about nine Loric aliens who were chased from their home planet by evil Mogadorians and are living on Earth in the guise of teenagers. Through early 2009, Hughes told me, he delivered three drafts of the first book, I Am Number Four, to Frey, who revised them and polished the final version. Hughes wrote the novel without any compensation and signed a contract, without consulting a lawyer, that specified that he would receive 30 percent of all revenue that came from the project.

She goes on to point out that I Am Number Four the novel is being made into a film with a release date of February 18, 2011. This example would give one the idea that Frey's "fiction factory" may in fact produce results. After all, if you keep doing something over and over again, at some point something has to work. As a wise woman once said to me, "If you throw enough Jell-o at the wall, eventually some of it will stick."

Final Word
The term "assembly line writing" seems to evoke a connotation of "non art". "Commercial" is crass? Then again, AndyWarhol managed to turn a Campbell's soup can into art so one could argue that even commercialism in our society is in some way artistic.

I didn't get into various articles which talk about lesser forms - or should I say shorter forms - of writing like magazine articles and how to approach their composition with something of an assembly line mentality. When you may be paid by the word, speed is probably of the essence.

Nevertheless, the concept of an assembly line is being applied to writing. If somebody can distil the essence of what's currently popular, there is no reason why success cannot be replicated. One can "clone" a bestseller. Yes, there will be the detractors who call the work dreadful but let's not forget the expression "laughing all the way to the bank". A New York Times article talks of James Patterson $17.4 million oceanfront mansion in Palm Beach.

There are thousands of people who don't like what I do. Fortunately, there are millions who do.
- James Patterson; Time July 2010: 10 Questions for James Patterson


References

my blog: Writing: November Challenges - Jan 27/11

my blog: NaBloPoMo: National Blog Posting Month - Jan 23/11

my blog: Writing: James Patterson - Jan 11/11

my blog: Writing: Less is more: the drabble - Jan 8/11

my blog: NaNoWriMo: Write a novel in 1 month? - Jan 2/11

my blog: On Writing by Stephen King - Dec 27/10

2011-01-12

Site Map: William Quincy Belle

Who the heck is that? Never heard of him. Well was I in for a surprise. This gentleman seems to be a one man book factory. On May 30, 2009 James Patterson received the Guinness World Record for the “Most Entries on The New York Times Best-Seller List”. What? I've still never heard of him.

According to Wikipedia:

He retired from advertising in 1996 and devoted his time to being a writer. The novels featuring his character Alex Cross, a forensic psychologist formerly of the Washington D.C. Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation who now works as a private psychologist and government consultant, are the most popular books among Patterson readers and the top-selling US Detective series in the past ten years. Patterson has written 65 novels over his 33 years as an author. To date, James Patterson has had 19 consecutive #1 New York Times bestselling novels, and holds The New York Times record for most bestselling hardcover fiction titles by a single author, a total of 56, which is also a Guinness World Record. The world's best-selling author, his novels account for one in 17 of all hardcover novels sold in the United States; in recent years his novels have sold more copies than those of Stephen King, John Grisham and Dan Brown combined.

Good gravy. Where did this guy come from? [laughs] I should definitely clarify that last statement. Why haven't I been paying attention all these years?

A New York Times article from January 2010 talks about Patterson's humble first effort released in 1976 selling a mere 10,000 copies. Now, according to Nielsen BookScan which tracks book sales, the combined sales of John Grisham, Stephen King and Dan Brown do not even come close to Patterson's numbers. Such a statement seems quite unbelievable until the reporter explained how the author works with various co-authors and consequently managed to publish nine hardcover books in 2009 and had plans to publish another nine in 2010. Ah, now that makes sense numerically and I can see where the seemingly crazy statement of one in 17 of all hardcover novels sold in the U.S. is attributed to him. This isn't just the number of sales; this is the number of titles put out. How appropriate that the journalist titled his article "James Patterson Inc."

Criticism
Is it that success attracts criticism or is the criticism warranted? An ABC News article quotes Patterson as saying that he wants to entertain and he wants "to play to a big house."

"I think that it's important that they pick up books that they're going to love," he said. "I think a lot of the stuff that are thrown at them is just not that interesting to them."

That is the quintessential Patterson. He wants to sell books that people read, not win some literary parlor prize.

"You know, years ago I read 'Ulysses,' and I went, wow! This is unbelievable and I'm not capable of this level of writing so I've got to find something else because … I can't write something that great."

He might not be James Joyce, but so far James Patterson seems to be doing just fine.

Stephen King, yes the Stephen King has called Patterson a "terrible writer" who produces "dopey thrillers".

Critic S. T. Joshi, in his 2009 book Junk Fiction: America's Obsession with Bestsellers analyses some of Patterson's books and concludes they are dreadful.

What does Mr. Patterson have to say? In the Time article of July 2010, 10 Questions for James Patterson, we find the following Q & A:

Q: What do you say to critics like author Stephen King who say you are not a great prose stylist?

A: I am not a great prose stylist. I'm a storyteller. There are thousands of people who don't like what I do. Fortunately, there are millions who do.

Thousands who don't like his books, millions who do. Hmmm, is he laughing all the way to the bank? A New York Times article dated January 2010, talks of Patterson $17.4 million oceanfront mansion in Palm Beach and how, according to Forbes Magazine, Patterson has earned his publisher Hachette about $500 million over the past two years. That's a lot of scratch.

It is curious in this NY Times article how the reporter explores the idea of a book being a consumer good and the author being a brand which is marketed the same way one would sell Skippy Peanut Butter or Grey Poupon. Mass-merchandising seems against the idea of art but this does raise the question as to whether anything popular cannot be art at the same time or whether anything popular has to be art at all. A Big Mac isn't steak but it's not pretending to be. It's just a popular sin and sometimes there's nothing wrong with that.

The Writer
Apparently, Mr. Patterson writes longhand. Wow. He passes the legal pad off to an assistant who types it up. How does he do it? What exactly does he do? Once again, the NY Times:

Patterson’s chapters are very short, which creates a lot of half-blank pages; his books are, in a very literal sense, page-turners. He avoids description, back story and scene setting whenever possible, preferring to hurl readers into the action and establish his characters with a minimum of telegraphic details.

The sheer number of books he produces involve a team of writers. His co-authors work with him to write a book according to his specs, his outline and his general idea of the story. Assembly line writing? The term could very well be applicable in this case.

The Earnings
There seem to be many different sources of earnings information and differing sources but let's go with the following from the Houston Examiner dated August 2010:

James Patterson: $70 million
Stephanie Meyer: $40 million (author of the Twilight Saga)
Stephen King: $34 million
Danielle Steel: $32 million
Ken Follett: $30 million

Following the above are Dean Kootz, Janet Evanovich. Her earnings could actually rival Patterson's, according to Forbes, but a move to a new publisher following a disagreement over an advance set her back.

Bringing up the rear is John Grisham, Nicholas Sparks, and J.K. Rowling, whose earnings have slowed after the end of her Harry Potter series.

Janet Evanovich? There's another name I've never heard of! Am I that out of touch?

Marketing
A gentleman by the name of Ron Knight has written two articles (part 1 and part 2) about James Patterson and marketing which provide an interesting analysis of how any author could better approach the idea of not just writing a book, but of merchandising it, an aspect of publishing many people probably miss. Yes, there's art but there is also the process of getting the product to market. If you don't get your product to market, nobody is going to buy it and if nobody buys it, well, we can fill in the blanks and those blanks add up to starving artist.

Final Word
I've never written a book before in my life. Like a lot of people I've done my share of essays, reports, etc. and now I'm doing this blog which amounts to nothing more than a thousand words or so of me shooting my mouth off about whatever my fancy dictates. But a book? Holy Hannah. I blogged about NaNoWriMo: Write a book in 1 month which seems like an impressive objective to give oneself: write a 50,000 word novel (175 pages) in November, in just 30 days. Could I ever do that? Or should I stick with a lesser goal: Writing: Less is more: the drabble. In my review of Stephen King's book On Writing I described how the author sits down and does 2,000 words per day with the self-imposed rule of not getting up until he's done his quota. 50,000 words in 30 days works out to an average of 1,667 per day so while difficult, it seems achievable.

James Patterson appears to be doing this all the time. Obviously he's figured out how to remain focused and dedicated to the objective at hand and yes, in this world there are a lot of people cranking it out with the same degree of facility. [chuckles] Never mind making a million bucks, I would definitely surprise myself if I could even get through NaNoWriMo successfully. After that? Okay, then maybe I'll try my hand at Mr. Patterson's forte. Hmmm, how about "Harry putters in his 'Twilight' years"? Muggle vampires! Seems like a catchy idea for the best seller list. :-)


References

Wikipedia: James Patterson

NY Times: James Patterson Inc.
By Jonathan Mahler - January 20, 2010
This is an excellent article and very thorough in its exploration of Patterson. The reporter spent time with the author, interviewing him and visiting his home to see where much of the work is done.

Time Magazine: 10 Questions for James Patterson - July 5/2010

Guinness World Records Names James Patterson As New Record Holder
June 1/2009

James Patterson And You: Part I
by Ron Knight - Mar 22/2010

James Patterson And You: Marketing
by Ron Knight - Mar 24/2010

Also of interest...
my blog: Assembly Line Writing
my blog: On Writing by Stephen King
my blog: Writing: Less is more: the drabble
my blog: NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month
my blog: NaBloPoMo: National Blog Posting Month
my blog: Writing: November Challenges



2011-01-11

Site Map: William Quincy Belle

According to Wikipedia:
Alexandra Penney is an American author best known for her 1982 best-selling book "How to Make Love to a Man" who was also an editor at Self magazine and has been credited as one of the creators and popularizers of the pink ribbon as a symbol for awareness of breast cancer.

Ms. Penney earned a "substantial" amount of money as an author. A recommendation from a friend led her to invest with Bernie Madoff with the idea that said funds would be safe.

On Thursday, December 11, 2008, agents of the FBI arrested Bernie Madoff and charged him with one count of securities fraud. That was day the world of safe, secure investments to the tune of fifty billion dollars came to a screeching halt and left those who had trusted so much slack-jawed at their money vaporizing. That was the day a last name entered the English lexicon as a verb denoting the state of being most foully scammed. Ms. Penney had been "madoffed".

Ms. Penney documented her experiences post financial loss in a series of articles entitled The Bag Lady Papers which were published in The Daily Beast, an online news website. Starting from the moment she first heard the news, to the realisation that everything she had invested with Madoff had just disappeared, she tells of her life and how she got to where she was. She then diarizes dealing with the life altering event of losing one's nest egg and figuring out the next step. She goes through a list: lay off the housekeeper, sell jewellery, get rid of some property and finally, look up the Hemlock Society to find out a painless way to die only to discover it no longer exists.

It is a telling moment when she talks about the statements she got from Madoff showing a return on investments consistently around 10%. Harry Markopolos, an independent fraud investigator, repeatedly told the Securities and Exchange Commission starting as far back as 1999 that it was legally and mathematically impossible to achieve the gains Madoff claimed to deliver. They did nothing. Alexandra Penney penned a series of articles about her situation but she is just one person. What about all the other people who were duped by Bernie? Where are their articles, their blogs, their painful recounting of their harrowing ordeals coping with financial ruin?

Phyllis Molchatsky
In a moving video from March 2009, Ms. Molchatsky tells her story of working since she was 17 and wanting a better life for her family. At the age of 51, she was diagnosed with Parkinson disease. She had invested $1.7 million with Madoff and thought it had grown to $3.8 million and based on the recommendation of her doctor to stop working; she thought she had enough to live and not be a burden to her family. She lost it all. Reports said she would have to sell her home and while she had insurance at that moment, the future was uncertain as to how she was going to continue to live without being that burden. (see NY Mag-Oct 14/09 for a compelling personal story of this woman's loss)

As a follow up, Ms. Molchatsky did file suit against the SEC on October 14, 2009 accusing the government agency of failing to properly investigate Madoff. However, suing a government agency doesn't have much of a chance of success but one has to try.

Is there hope?
While the number $50 billion has been bandied about as the total amount lost in the Madoff scam, experts have pointed out that this number represents what investments were supposed to be worth. In reality, it is felt the original investments only total $20 billion. That is, people have lost $20 billion as their original investments; the rest would represent interest supposedly earned on those investments.

A key to the recovery of some of that money is connected to the widow of Jeffry Picower. The Picowers greatly benefited from Madoff and his investment schemes, so much so that they amassed a staggering amount of money. At the moment, it is unknown why Madoff would have directed so much of the proceeds from his Ponzi scheme in their direction, but whatever the case, Barbara Picower has agreed to turn over $7.2 billion as per reports dated December 17, 2010. Coupled with the $2.6 billion recovered in stolen assets, this represents nearly half of the supposed $20 billion lost in the Madoff business.

Irving Picard, the court-appointed trustee in the Madoff case, has stated that this money will spare victims a recovery process which would prove to be lengthy because of litigation. Picard claims that Picower was a key beneficiary of Madoff's scheme. Picower had only deposited $619 million but had withdrawn $7.8 billion from Madoff's firm since the 1970s Picard has also stated that Picower "knew or should have known that [he] was profiting from fraud, because of the highly implausible high rates of return" on his accounts. His widow denies that her late husband had any idea he was benefiting from a scam.

What does the future hold?
It will take time for the trustee in the case to deal with the particulars. Apparently Irving Picard is examining each individual case where an investor is suing to recover their money. He is throwing out any case which is seeking to recover profit or interest and trying to focus on those where he can return just the original investment. However, not everyone is suing for recovery.

Retired British Army Maj. William Foxton, 65, lost his life's earnings in the Ponzi scheme. He shot himself on Feb. 10, 2009. His son, Willard Foxton says that he is stunned by the news that so much money is being returned by a single investor. He added that his father probably wouldn't have taken his life if he had thought he might get his money back.

Final Word
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Apparently this catchphrase originated with the Better Business Bureau back in the early 1950's as a way of alerting the public to shady business practices. Do we always heed the call? Does greed or just unrealistic hope blind us to the reality of the world? We all want to be rich or at least financially independent but at the end of the day, the tried and true method comes back to Slow and steady wins the race. There are no shortcuts and we certainly can't be staking our future on winning the lottery.

What became of Alexandra Penney? She wrote a book called The Bag Lady Papers and I have left links below to a review and excerpts. Will she ever recover? Probably not to where she may have been before the Madoff affair blew up. If she continues to write she will earn something but for the most part, she's starting over again, not quite from scratch but it is starting over. She may be lucky to recover something from the trustee considering the $7.2 billion returned by Mrs. Picower but I wouldn't be counting on it. It is going to take years to sort out that mess.

All of us make investments with the hope that the person sitting on the other side of the desk taking our money knows what they are doing and are not a crook. Madoff is certainly a reminder that we need to do our homework about the person and the company with which we invest. We also need to pay attention to unrealistic claims. Nobody can promise 10% or 15% year after year. It is mathematically impossible and that's something you can count on.


References

Urban Dictionary: madoffed
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Madoffed
To be scammed in a financial, or Ponzi scheme. Money lost is often several millions of dollars.

Wikipedia: Alexandra Penney
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_Penney

The Daily Beast - December 17, 2008
The Bag Lady Papers by Alexandra Penney
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-12-17/the-bag-lady-papers
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-12-22/the-bag-lady-papers-contd/
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-01-06/the-bag-ladys-papers-part-iii/

The Bag Lady Returns - March 2009
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-03-04/penney-ruth-madoff/
Madoff victim and Daily Beast blogger Alexandra Penney has discovered an even more repugnant sociopath than Bernie: his loyal wife Ruth, who now wants to keep $69 million, including the penthouse. Outraged Penney asks: Excusez moi?

CNN - January 13, 2009
Life savings gone, 'Madoffed' best-selling writer back at work
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/09/madoff.alexandra.penney/index.html

Wikipedia: Ponzi Scheme
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponzi_scheme

Wikipedia: Bernie Madoff
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madoff

Book Review: 'The Bag Lady Papers: The Priceless Experience of Losing it All'
By Inman News - Jan. 4, 2011
Title: "The Bag Lady Papers: The Priceless Experience of Losing it All"
Author: Alexandra Penney
Publisher: Hyperion, 2010; 220 pages; $23.99

ABC News - Feb 17, 2010
Excerpt: 'Bag Lady Papers' by Alexandra Penney
Former Self Magazine Editor Lost Her Life Savings in the Bernie Madoff Scandal

ABC News video: interview with Alexandra Penney
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Books/video/alexandra-penneys-bag-lady-papers-9907692
It almost sounds comical. She says that her son phones her and says, "Mom, Madoff has been arrested. You can come and live with us."

origin of If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is


2011-01-05

Site Map: William Quincy Belle

The authors originally set out to study millionaires in the United States. They visited posh neighbourhoods but discovered those people driving luxury cars and living in expensive homes didn't necessarily have much wealth. They began to discover something odd which went against their preconceived notions of what or who a millionaire was. These people may have had high incomes but they were spending it all.

Thomas Stanley, one of the authors was quoted as saying, "Most people have it all wrong about wealth in America. Wealth isn't the same as income. If you make $1 million a year and spend $1 million, you're not getting wealthier, you're just living high."

They found a group of relatively unknown people in society who were actually wealthy. Now not wealthy in terms we would usually consider, certainly not wealthy like a Donald Trump, but they did have a net worth of one million dollars or more. It just didn't show when you looked at them.

First published in 1996, this book has apparently sold over 2 million copies according to its author, Thomas J. Stanley, Ph.D.. While Dr. Stanley has a number of books under his belt, it is certainly this one which has struck a chord with readers and set the foundation for various strategies in dealing with personal finance. Oddly enough, the so-called secrets of these millionaires turn out to not be some sort of fabulous investment plan but just basic common sense. Considering that the majority of people are not among the Donald Trumps of the world or not even among these people making up the rich next door, it would follow that the majority are not missing this fabulous investment plan but are just missing common sense.

The book designates some terms with associated acronyms to categorise people according to their wealth: UAW is an Under Accumulator of Wealth; AAW is an Average Accumulator of Wealth and a PAW is a Prodigious Accumulator of Wealth. It uses a simple formula to determine their net worth and where the individual fits: age times annual income divided by 10. For example, a 50 year old man earning $80,000 per year should have a net worth of 50 times 80,000 divided by 10 or $400,000. An UAW would have less than this amount; a PAW would have more.

Of course, this simplistic formula leaves out many of the refinements a professional financial planner would use in assessing anybody's portfolio but the authors set out to provide an easy guideline for judging one's financial position. In looking at the idea of these quiet, unassuming millionaires next door, they had run into the phenomenon where people, sometimes high earners like doctors were blowing everything they made to maintain a fancy lifestyle. They were saving nothing and consequently actually had a low net worth. It is a bit of shock to find out that your doctor, somebody whom you would consider to be wealthy, turns out to look wealthy but is not.

The "secret" strategy
Common sense. It's an odd phrase when you think that the word common would mean something not out of the ordinary, something everyone would have. However the authors in studying those people who did have a net worth of a million or more, discovered some basic rules we should all live by.

Spend less than you earn
If you have a hundred bucks, don't spend two hundred bucks. That seems pretty obvious but there are other examples where the clarity may be ah, so clear.

Using a credit card sometimes removes us from the process of connecting our expenditures to our income. We arrive at the end of the month when we have to pay off the balance and there may not be enough in the kitty to pay off the whole amount. Our mistake? "No sweat, I've got enough to make the minimum payment." Oh brother, you are toast! The interest rates on outstanding credit card balances are astronomical and I can think of no better way to start your way down the slippery slope to financial ruin.

Avoid Buying Status Objects or Leading a Status Lifestyle
I suppose that we somehow think we have to keep up with the Jones but who actually said that? Is there some unwritten rule we have to keep up with if not undo our neighbours? Who the heck are we trying to impress anyway?

Why buy a Porsche for $80,000 when a Honda Accord for $32,000 will do just fine? (I owned a Honda Accord; good car) Why buy a ten thousand square foot home (929 sq metres) when a fifteen hundred square foot home (139 sq metres) would do just fine? Besides, there is a lot less vacuuming to do.

That's the trick. Don't buy unnecessary "stuff" and when you have to buy "stuff", don't buy the most expensive "stuff". Believe me, I ain't impressed.

Measure your financial success by your net worth
You're standing at the fence talking with your neighbour. He's a doctor. He makes - what? - two hundred grand a year? How to compete with that? Well, don't. Your measurement is net worth not income. Your home is paid off while that doctor still has a mortgage. Your income is going into the bank; his income is going to the bank to pay off the mortgage. Your home, your mortgage-free home is part of your net worth. That is the true measure of wealth.

Financial independence is the target
Imagine it. You live your life; you pay your bills; you go on vacation but... you don't work. Ah, sounds divine; let me check my lottery tickets.



However this isn't an insurmountable obstacle on our journey to the promised land. It is just basic common sense. Spend less than you make. Don't buy status objects or lead a status lifestyle. Invest your unspent money in solid, secure vehicles. What's not to understand? Slow and steady wins the race.

Calculating your net worth
Remember this simple formula: age times annual income divided by 10. The following are two online calculators which can assist you in finding out just where you are financially.

Retire Early
Scroll down to the bottom to find the calculator. This offers a few extras to the simple formula given above.

The wealth calculator
You are required to supply your age, your annual income and your net worth. It then classifies you as an UAW, AAW or PAW tells you what your net worth should be.

Dr. Thomas J. Stanley
The author's web site contains a list of his books, a blog, a biography and stories about various "millionaires". While this book originally appeared in 1996, I see the author has continued to write and his latest book, published in 2009 is called Stop Acting Rich and Start Living Like a Real Millionaire.

Final Word
In my review of the book The Wealthy Barber, I pointed out the same common sense approach to financial planning. The Millionaire Next Door expounds the same principles but describes the real people possibly living next door to us who have succeeded to put these principles into practice. It is inspirational in that it shows the problem is not insurmountable and the goal is not unattainable. I know I'll never be a Donald Trump but maybe the more modest goal of being an AAW would be within my grasp and give me a retirement which could be truly labelled my golden years.


References

Wikipedia: The Millionaire Next Door
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Millionaire_Next_Door

official web site: Thomas J. Stanley
http://www.thomasjstanley.com

2010-12-29

Site Map: William Quincy Belle

Who on this planet doesn't know the name Stephen King? Born in 1947, this American author has written and published 49 novels including 5 nonfiction which have sold over 350 million copies. Of course, his fame has spread even further as a number of these books have been turned into successful films: Carrie, The Shining, It and Misery to name but a few.

Consequently, when Mr. King penned a book about his experiences as a writer with his advice on the craft of writing, everyone took notice whether they were writers themselves or just fans of his work.

Overview
Apparently King finished this half memoir, half writing advice book in 1999 but was unsure of how to proceed. On June 19, he was struck by a pickup truck and ended up with a collapsed right lung, multiple fractures in his right leg, scalp lacerations and a broken hip. After his stay in hospital, he did return home and did return to the book.

The result is a work in three parts: his early formative years when he first got started in writing, his advice on writing and finally, his accident, its outcome and how the future looks for one Stephen King, author.

The first part in dealing with his early years underlines how success was not something which came to him easily.

By the time I was fourteen … the nail in my wall would no longer support the weight of the rejection slips impaled upon it. I replaced the nail with a spike and kept on writing.

This section also includes the publication of the novel Carrie in 1974 which coupled with the 1976 movie would cement his name in the annals of American popular writers. On a more personal note, he talks about his abuse of both drink and drugs and how his own family had to stage something of an intervention to bring him back to reality.

The second part is King's advice about writing. He gives tips on grammar and points on developing plot and character. Very importantly and very inspirationally for anybody considering writing, he says that "a competent writer can become a good one." - Ah, there is still hope! - He emphasizes how a writer should avoid unnecessary details and thoroughly avoid the use of unnecessary adverbs. His discussions about adverbs struck me as rather personal and I would be curious if somebody ever compares his style to other writers of renown.

Part three returns to the autobiographical in discussing his accident, his serious injuries, his painful recovery and his struggle to start writing again. In the last chapters of the book, King touches on a number of practical subjects, such as research, writing classes (you don’t need them, according to King, but they can be intellectually stimulating and fun), and getting an agent.

His Advice: Write!
In looking at somebody who has proven to be so successful in the area of the popular novel, how could anybody including the author himself "package" his talent so the rest of us would be able to replicate the formula? [chuckles] After all, how many people over the years have sat down in front of a notebook, a typewriter or a computer and suffered from the dreaded blank page syndrome? And it is here, Mr. King probably mentions what sets him apart from the rest of us. His advice? Write. Yes, just that. Write. That novel isn't going to put itself on the page, we have to write it. That short story isn't going to magically appear in our word processor; we have to write it. Of course, there may some tips about grammar, punctuation and setting yourself goals as he says like sitting down to write at least 2,000 words per day and not getting up until he's done. At the end of the day, we have to write.

Writing is a lonely occupation. I've heard this numerous times and as I sit here right now jotting down this article, I realise how true it is and yes, Mr. King has some important advice about this.

Writing isn’t about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid or making friends. In the end, it’s about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life, as well.

When I read that I understood something important about somebody we all perceive as being successful. He isn't successful because he started with the idea of "I want to be a success". He's doing what he's doing because he loves what he's doing and success is something that came afterwards and while rewarding, is not his motivation to do what he's doing. He has passion about his work. That is his true motivation, not success per se. Yes, I understand anybody can deliberately start out with the idea of achieving success and some people may make that work but here, with Stephen King and with writing in general, the true raison d'être is the passion for the process not necessarily success itself. We're not supposed to be trying to get dates and make friends. (see my blog Passion: Can You Live Without It?)

His Advice: Read a lot
So, how to write? Write! But as well as writing one must read.

If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.

Hmmm, this does seem self-explanatory. Musicians listen to the music of others, sports athletes watch their competition; what better way to learn about any subject than by studying what others are doing in that field of endeavour. Look at your peers (read) and practise (write).

Amusing enough though, Mr. King comes back to emphasize that by doing, one learns to do. And yes, if you are more interested in getting dates and making friends, maybe writing isn't for you.

What follows is everything I know about how to write good fiction. I’ll be as brief as possible, because your time is valuable and so is mine, and we both understand that the hours we spend talking about writing is time we don’t spend actually doing it. I’ll be as encouraging as possible, because it’s my nature and because I love this job. I want you to love it, too. But if you don’t want to work your ass off, you have no business trying to write well – settle back into competency and be grateful you have even that much to fall back on.
-On Writing, paperback version, p. 138

His Advice: Cut 10%
King talks about an early rejection letter which clued him into the idea of removing the fluff and getting to the point. 1st draft minus 10% = 2nd draft. King says that we all fall in love with some great idea but in the end, we may have to drop that idea if it detracts from the flow of the story. It's a tough thing to do but a necessary thing to do.

Mostly when I think of pacing, I go back to Elmore Leonard, who explained it so perfectly by saying he just left out the boring parts. This suggest cutting to speed the pace, and that’s what most of us end up having to do (kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings)...I got a scribbled comment that changed the way I rewrote my fiction once and forever. Jotted below the machine-generated signature of the editor was this mot: “Not bad, but PUFFY. You need to revise for length. Formula: 2nd Draft = 1st Draft – 10%. Good luck.”

His advice: Write a draft then put it away
King feels that we should write out a first draft just about nonstop then put it away. Editing will be necessary; there is that 10% of fluff to remove but in his opinion, we should set our draft aside and come back to it. Part of his reasoning is to get over our initial infatuation with our clever ideas and to come back to the work with a more objective, critical eye. It is then that we will be able to better see and cut what is not necessary.

His Advice: No passive voice
I had to chuckle as King goes on about how he hates the passive voice.

The timid fellow writes The meeting will be held at seven o'clock... Don't be a muggle! Throw back your shoulders, stick out your chin, and put that meeting in charge! Write The meeting is at seven. There, by God! Don't you feel better?
-On Writing, paperback version, p. 116

He gives other examples which explain his penchant for direct, forceful descriptions. Never "The rope was thrown by the writer" but always "The writer threw the rope".

His advice: The adverb is not your friend
King strongly believes adverbs are overrated, a fallback for the "timid" writer. He recommends we all make use of "said" by itself as opposed to adding adverbs or worse still, choosing other descriptive verbs.

"Put it down!" she shouted.
"Give it back," he pleaded, "It's mine."
"Don't be such a fool, Jekyll," Utterson said.

He then offers

"Put it down!" she shouted menacingly.
"Give it back," he pleaded abjectly, "It's mine."
"Don't be such a fool, Jekyll," Utterson said contemptuously.
-On Writing, paperback version, p. 119

King calls these adverbs "swifties" named after the Tom Swift series of books. The author, one Victor Appleton, apparently tried to avoid using the unadorned word "said". A Wikipedia article gives numerous examples which seem to underline the somewhat absurd side of these verbal constructions. Whether we agree or not, the master Stephen King has made his pronouncement and we should all take heed.

I'm convinced that fear is at the root of most bad writing. If one is writing for one's own pleasure, that fear may be mild - timidity is the word I've used here. If, however, one is working under a deadline - a school paper, a newspaper article, the SAT writing sample - that fear may be intense. Dumbo got airborne with the help of a magic feather; you may feel the urge to grasp a passive verb or one of those nasty adverbs for the same reason. Just remember before you do that Dumbo didn't need the feather; the magic was within him.
-On Writing, paperback version, p. 121

His advice: Don't care what others think
Interestingly enough, King always judges his work by letting his wife read whatever he's working on. He admits to being a little needy for that initial feedback from her as his way of inspiring himself and of understanding whether or not he's hit his mark.

However he says that you have to write. You have to write what you know; you have to write what you feel is important and you can't spend a lot of time listening to your critics. Writers write and nobody should distract us from that goal.

His advice: Get to the point
This ties into the 10% rule of cutting out the fluff. Yes, we may have a really, really good idea but does it fit with what we're writing? Meandering introductions, long anecdotes, sidebars, whatever may have unto themselves wonderful little kernels of inspiration but may take the reader all over hell's half acre as opposed to leading them in the direction of the story. No babbling; get to the point.

Popular writers are not good writers
King points out that "popular" is ofttimes not considered "good" and in his opinion, this is unfair and untrue. He talks about the "literary establishment", a sort of caste system which amounts to an exclusive old boys' club where popular writers are never admitted. Hmmm, is this one of those cases where the successful can laugh all the way to the bank?

There is a ray of hope
While geniuses are not born every day - well I've know that's left me out for a long time - King does give us the idea that there are possibilities.

I am approaching the heart of this book with two theses, both simple. The first is that good writing consists of mastering the fundamentals (vocabulary, grammar, the elements of style) and then filling the third level of your toolbox with the right instruments. The second is that while it is impossible to make a competent writer out of a bad writer, and while it is equally impossible to make a great writer out of a good one, it is possible, with lots of hard work, dedication, and timely help, to make a good writer out of a merely competent one.
-On Writing, paperback version, p. 136

Final Word
This book is a must for anybody who is a writer of sorts whether a blogger, a journalist or a delusional, sorry, determined future novelist. Even a King fan would appreciate this read for insights into their fav sometimes horror writer. Seriously, for anybody who is attempting to string a few words together, there are a number of terrific lessons to study about the technique of writing. It's a must. Yes, there are many reference works having to do with the craft of prose but getting some advice from one of the most successful, prolific popular literary greats of these current times.

To sum it all up: "Read a lot; write a lot." And Mr. King does emphasize writing. After all, just what are we talking about? Writing! To quote Richard Branson, "Screw it, let's do it."

I will end with this comment from Pulitzer Prize winning film critic Roger Ebert made back in March 2004: "A lot of people were outraged that he [King] was honored at the National Book Awards, as if a popular writer could not be taken seriously. But after finding that his book On Writing had more useful and observant things to say about the craft than any book since Strunk and White's The Elements of Style, I have gotten over my own snobbery."


References

Wikipedia: On Writing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Writing

Wikipedia: Stephen King
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_King

2010-12-27

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