Conflicted...

          What are your thoughts on books being released by a writer posthumously?  I’m definitely conflicted about it.  On one hand, there are books that the writer had every intention of publishing, (ie...Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and follow ups) but simply didn’t live long enough to see it through.  On the other hand, there are some, like Michael Crichton’s Pirate Latitudes or the volumes of poetry by Emily Dickinson, that weren’t even on the author’s publishing agenda.  As a writer myself, I feel an artist’s output is theirs alone and should be protected from exploitation, whether they’re alive or not.  In Crichton’s case, his aide apparently found the manuscript on his computer after he passed away.  By some accounts, he’d penned the story as far back as the early 1980’s!  I think it’s a safe bet that if he’d wanted it published, there would be no publisher on Earth that would turn down the author of some of the best-selling contemporary American novels. So part of me thinks it’s completely wrong to go and publish something that an accomplished author obviously had no desire to have published. 

            But, it’s the other part of me that’s reading Crichton’s book (and loving it!) that is thankful they did.  And yes, I feel guilty about it.  I feel like I’m invading his privacy.  But, as much as I don’t feel good about it, I am really enjoying the book.

            See?  Conflicted. 

            So I’d be interested in hearing what everyone else thinks about this...

New Material!!!

          Well, I have the first three chapters of my new novella down in black and white.  With this one, I’m going with a creepy ghost story about a young boy who's murdered while playing hide and seek in the cemetery and the two friends who ran off, leaving him behind.  The plan is (hopefully) to publish this one.  It will be the first piece that I’ve actually even tried to publish, and I’m pretty excited about it. 

          Yes, I know.  With everything I’ve written, this is my first attempt at publishing?  I guess I’ve just never been confident enough to put myself out there.  Besides, I’ve never even known where to start.  But, the more I familiarize myself with ebooks, the more likely I’ll find an outlet to pimp my stuff somewhere.  It seems there are a lot of great books out there that can only be found in ebook format.  And a couple really bad ones, too, unfortunately.  So hey, if they can do it, why can’t I?

So stay tuned for updates on what is tentatively titled This One’s Gonna Sting a Little... 

I'll never have a blog...

Guess what?  I lied.  As much as I swore I'd never do it, I've officially joined all of those on the world wide web with something to say.  (whether anyone wants to hear it or not)  Who knows where this will lead?  There could be some really good stuff on here from time to time.  Or, it could lead to the dreaded "Oops! Was I drunk when I posted that?" moment we've all experienced.

I figure, if nothing else, this will give me an outlet to post some of my writing and get it off my laptop. 

So stay tuned, and let's take this ride together!