Why do I keep pointing out stuff people could be buying in between asking for their money?

[alexandraerin]

Probably because it's stuff that's worth supporting... I had the thought yesterday about whether or not I would have pushed Cat's ventures so much if I'd known my laptop was going to give up the ghost so completely a day after ...Fairyland... launched, and I came to the conclusion that yes, I would have.

Anyway, River's Daughter, a novella-length ebook, is now available. This is the first book produced by verb_noire, an independent press started up to encourage visible presence of frequently invisible minorities in genre fiction, or as they put it,

To celebrate the works of talented, underrepresented authors and deliver them to a readership that demands more.

Emphasis mine. Because this is what I keep saying: these audiences are out there and they are hungry and they have been ignored so often and for so long, and since the internet gives us so many tools to find each other and so many ways to connect with each other and benefit each other (and the exchange of enjoyable art for money is, at its core, people helping each other... a mutually beneficial transaction)...

Well, if you're reading my blog, you've heard all this before.

The point is, new book out from Verb Noire.

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Note: According to karnythia, they're still working out some technical issues with their first product launch, so as of right now they're having to email purchased copies to folks. That's why there's no download link when you finish paying. Mine arrived ten minutes after the PayPal timestamp, though I'm sure that will vary with time of day and such.

Comments

[sage-blackthorn.livejournal.com]

One of the drawbacks to the internet, however, is that it is very easy to misinterpret someone's words due to the last of physical cues and body language. I have found myself guilty of "reading people's words the way I want to" on a number of occasions, and for that I can only apologize profusely for the subsequent misunderstandings.

Many years ago, I came across a story that I think illustrates this point quite well. It is set in a Japanese dojo, the old Grand Master is instructing his students, one of whom is American:

“The first step to spiritual power is to rid yourself of desire.” Sensei’s face held an expression of solemn authority. He spoke with conviction. I was disappointed almost to the point of contempt. Hatsumi Sensei was suppose to be introducing me to the fourth of the nine levels of development, and he had begun with a cliché’ that I could have gotten from a cheap Hong Kong kung-fu thriller. Rid yourself of desire. How will that help in the real world? How could one develop the power for which this martial art was famous, without desire?

I nodded gamely for the sake of fitting in. “It’s a common thing in the States, desire. Everyone wants a big car, a big house with a pool, lots of money,” I agreed amicably. After all, the man was my teacher.

There was an odd pause. The master seemed to be looking for the words. He tilted his head slightly and continued his explanation. “Well, yes, those are desires. But those desires are superficial and rather easily overcome. What we are talking about are the desires of the personality. Demanding that things be ways they are not.”

“Oh, I understand now. It’s wanting to be famous, or rich, or powerful,” I said. Sensei smiled wearily. “Well, yes, those are desires, too, but not . . . this is difficult to explain.” The master ran a hand over his close-cropped hair. “Let me phrase it this way. You must clear your mind and being of preconceived impressions of the way things are. Many times there is a great difference between what we want to believe and what is real. We can be so caught up in what we want to see, that we are prevented from seeing what is really there. These are the desires that cloud the mind and prevent it from being in touch with the world.”

I slowly realized that I had not been allowing the master’s words to sink in because of my preconceived notions of what he was saying. I had read his words the way I wanted to, and had missed the meaning entirely.

Sensei went on. “When I say we desire that something be a certain way, I do not necessarily mean that we want it to be that way. We want to think it is that way. If you think of a certain man as your enemy, then anything he says or does will be examined and found to be an insult or a threat. The identical words or actions on the part of a beloved friend would carry far different meanings. We have a saying: ‘Suspicious eyes will see only evil.’ The unenlightened will see only what they desire to see.”

We human beings choose to see things as we wish. Few people seem to believe this, though. We decide to be jealous, or angry, or depressed, or happy, or bored, and these choices are often based on our biased interpretations of the thoughts of others. It is amazing how much psychological control many people relinquish to others. If we think that someone else disapproves of us, we are worried. If we think that someone else is pleased with us, we are happy. If we think that someone else holds views contrary to our own, we are insulted. If we think someone else is contemptuous of us, we are angry. With all these others determining how we feel, it is sometimes difficult to find the actual self.

“These are the desires of which I speak, the mental barriers that prevent us from accepting fully all that life has to offer. If a man wastes his time in emotional indulgence, he will be forever preoccupied and will miss much that could be his.”
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Just thought I'd toss that out there for consideration.

[popelizbet.livejournal.com]