Baeli - Reading, Writing & No Arithmetic (Vol I & II)

Baeli On Series, #1

Reading, Writing & No Arithmetic

( Kelli Jae Baeli on Reading & Writing)

Kelli Jae Baeli

SUMMARY:

Kelli Jae Baeli, Indie Author and Publisher with Lesbian Literati Press, and author of 3 3 books, numerous articles, stories and essays, shares some thoughts about the writing craft and the writers life. Includes the essays: Nietzsche, Relationships & the Creative Abyss; Sexuality in Fiction; Of Authors & Soulmates; To Know, To Begin, To Feel; Are Writers Born or Made?; The Truth of Fiction; Dorkish Glory; Bloody Hands; Word Count & a Teeming Brain; Springboarding; Streaming & Quilting; Stranger Fiction, Reviews & Truthiness; Prequels, Sequels, & Spinoffs; Also Known as Syzygy; Diversify and Die; and Distracting Fiction.

Reading, Writing & No Arithmetic

( Kelli Jae Baeli on Writing & Reading)

Baeli On Series, #1

Copyright: Kelli Jae Baeli

ISBN: 9781301567485

Published: 27Jun2013

Publisher: Lesbian Literati Press

Twitter @JaeBaeli

Kindle Edition License Notes

The right of Kelli Zimmer to be identified as author of this Work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the publisher. You must not circulate this book in any format.

Published by

Lesbian Literati Press

Colorado & New Zealand

Lesbian Literati on Facebook & YouTube & Twitter

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form whatsoever. Yadda Yadda, Void where prohibited by law, batteries not included, dont feed the monkeys. This is a work of nonfiction. Any resemblance to fiction, living or dead, is entirely accidental, and should not be mistaken for a story.

Created in The Land of New Zeal.

Special Dedication

Kate Kate kate kate kate kaaaaate

Kate Genet . An author herself, and brilliant at it, she is everything I could have ever hoped forsweet, witty, intelligent, generous, interesting, insightful, sexy, attentive, and loving. I will always feel inordinately blessed that she came into my life. Thank you for all your helpiness , and creating a Great Tunnel of Warminess in my heart. All ways, Always.

Authors Note

Perhaps I shall skip the authors note in this one, since this collection is me, the writer, writing about writing. And reading. (and as I declared on the cover, NO arithmetic. What can I say? I dont like math, and it doesnt like me either. Math and I have a sort of mutually assured destruction). Anyway, since this is a booklet about that, a note from me here would be superfluous. Thus, I will not write one.

Except to say this: as a writer who happens to be a lesbian, I frequently write about lesbian characters and their lives. This does not, however, preclude my ability to speak to the vocation of writing in a general sense, and no matter who they choose as partners, writers are writers. Except when theyre readers. And some are both. Like me. And like you, because I assume you are reading this.

Now, on with the book, for which I have refused to write an authors note.

Giving it Away : Spoilers as Both Noun & Accusation
(Why Book Reviews Matter & How to Write a Proper One)

Directly out of the chute, let me say this is coming from myself as both a writer and a reader. One compelling reason (among others) that I became an author, was due to my disappointment in the offerings of a certain genre. I wanted to write books *I* would want to read. I launched myself into this vocation with little knowledge of what that decision would bring. I had no way of knowing the degree of vulnerability that publishing my writing would entail.

Publishing a book is very much like being naked in public. So its difficult not to take it personally, when someone makes a comment on it. I try to take my own advice; Ive said,

Its not so much that you need a thick skin, its that you have to realize its NOT your skin.

One of those things easier said than done.

One thing that makes that challenge more formidable is the free-for-all that is the book review. Its unfortunate that so many book reviewers dont seem to understand what a reviews purpose is. In simplistic terms, a book review is meant to inform a potential reader of the merits (and sometimes, demerits) of a book, so that they can make an informed decision about whether or not to read it. A review is NOT a soapbox, a torture-chamber, nor an opportunity to elevate yourself above someone who does something you have never done yourself. Also, if you are not reading in a genre you like to begin with, you have no business doing a review.

In an odd offshoot of this, I once had a reviewer who bashed one of my books because she bought the WRONG BOOK in a genre she did not like, and proceeded to list everything she hated about it. Thats neither fair to the writer, nor fair to the potential reader. The book was clearly described on the information page, the title was similar to the book the reviewer sought, yet NOT THE SAME TITLE, which was intentional, yet it was obvious the genre to which it belonged was ignored, and the blurb wasnt read at all before the purchase.

I notice when Im doing any marketing for my books, that there are excerpts I want to share because I feel they are particularly interesting, even out of context, or are examples of the tone of the book, or create tension in the reader, making them want more, or it reveals a character that might be engaging. The problem is, the scenes that I feel are best at any of those things, usually involve a spoiler. I cant share them, because it would give away some twist that I worked so hard to develop in the process of composing the book.

Readers who do book reviews, are charged with the same sensibility. Would you go up to someone and say, Let me tell you this hysterical punch-line..and then, Im sure you will want to hear the whole joke. Or would you say, I just saw this wonderful movie where the bad guy dies by being impaled with a swordfish, and the main character is really Sally, the other character, but she has two personalities, and her mother really isnt her mother, but her sister, and this is how she finds out such-and-such.

I hope you would answer NO. I would not do that. If you didnt give that answer, then please, I beg of you, dont review my books. I spend a good deal of time on the plot, and the twists in that plot, and I always try to do something with it that is unexpected and clever. When you blab all that to other readers, then why would they want to read the book, when they already know all the surprises? Some writers are trying to make a living with their work, just like you are. How would you like it if someone came to your job and told everyone something that kept you from getting paid?

There are plenty of bad writers out there, that much is true. But if you cant find something nice to say, dont do a review. As the saying goes, everyones a critic . I have always admired this quote, for those reasons.

It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat. (Theodore Roosevelt, Citizenship in a Republic, Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910).