Sometimes the dream doesn’t seem so dreamy

11/13/07 05:39 PM

I’m sure that any of you who are fans of television, which by my calculation is roughly all of the four people reading this site, have no doubt heard about the ongoing writers' strike.

The news that my favorite TV shows would soon be on indefinite hiatus was disappointing to say the least. The prospect of wading through endless amounts of horrifically-bad Reality TV in an attempt to secure a small modicum of the entertainment that was formerly so free flowing is a genuinely unsettling prospect. Faced will this inevitability I’m almost tempted to take up reading or drinking, or perhaps some devilish combination of the two, to while away my weeknight hours.

There is of course another aspect to this story, that of the men and women involved in the dispute and what it is they're fighting for. For many the notion of a strike conjures up an image of blue-collar workers striving for better pay and benefits. This image is fairly easy to sympathize with as those jobs are generally physically demanding and often operate under conditions that most people wouldn’t want to work in.

Support for white-collar strikes is generally a lot harder to come by. I’ve personally witnessed several teachers’ strikes that involved people close to me and the public vitriol was shocking. Major metropolitan papers spewed reader outrage at “lazy teachers” who “only work nine months out of the year” and have “no idea what work in the real world is like.” Never mind that no one mentioned that the average teacher works 60 to 80 hours a week between teaching, grading and planning. Many people simply saw them as greedy and selfish and the papers often did little to correct this view.

Such seems to be the case with the media perception of the writer’s strike. Several papers have derided the strike as unnecessary and unwarranted and The New York Times went so far as to openly mock the participants:

“All of the trappings of a union protest were there. But instead of hard hats and work boots, those at the barricades wore arty glasses and fancy scarves.”

I’d comment on this quote myself, but the infinitely witty Joss Whedon already did such a bang-up job that I’ll let him speak for me on this one.

The issue of a fair wage for your work is an important one in any industry. Whedon’s point that writing and other artistic jobs are often not viewed as “real work” is equally important as it illustrates the point that this strike is trying to make. Most people would love to create art for a living. It sounds so idyllic like someone is providing your livelihood just to see the innermost workings of your creative soul.

The fact of the matter is that most working writers with steady jobs scripting for a television series only make a bit more than I do as a meager civil servant, which is both shocking and sad. Add to this the fact that about 40% of writers are unemployed between gigs at any given time and you come to the crux of what this strike is about.

The current studio contracts exclude most digital distribution residuals, which means that writers see next to nothing from the sales of DVDs and digital downloads. Ironically under the old contract writers had a better cut of this aftermarket revenue, but voluntarily gave it up at the studios’ request in order to help foster the fledgling home video market.

They did this with the assurance that they’d be cut back in once the market took off, but this didn’t happen in much the same way that CD prices never came down and toll roads were never eliminated as promised by the various powers that be.

These types of residuals are what many working writers use to get through the lean times between jobs. It’s not a greedy desire for extra cash, but rather a safety net that their low wage and unstable work environment necessitates.

It’s true that no one is forcing these individuals to be writers and the opportunity to express yourself artistically is certainly an enviable one, but the illusion that such positions are infinitely privileged with the participants rolling in dough is largely a fallacy, one that many in the media seem bound and determined to perpetuate.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens when the writers at these newspapers feel they're being mistreated. Who will come to their aid? And more importantly, who will write about it?

-Quoth the Raven

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The Agony of Delay

10/19/07 05:58 PM

Well I finally heard back from the publisher I submitted Road Kill to.

My initial feeling upon seeing the email wasn't excitement or even nervousness, but rather an impending sense of dread. The reason for this reaction was based on the query times I'd seen from others who'd submitted to this particular publisher.

On average the response time for rejections was around 50 days while most acceptances took at least 70 or 80. I sent my story in on September 1st, making the elapsed time 49 days, a number that did not bode well for my chances.

Rather than a rejection what I received was an apology and an explanation stating that the publisher was on hiatus and was currently not accepting submissions. They wished me well on my search for another publisher and invited me to submit again when they reopened.

Originally I had another place all lined up and ready to go as my next publishing possibility, but after trying to visit their site a few days ago they appear to have become defunct. Unfortunately the rest of my current potential submitters list doesn't quite fit this particular story as well as the first two did. At this point I have to decide whether I want to wait for the initial publisher to begin soliciting again or find another.

Ironically I think I might’ve taken an outright rejection better. In some ways the waiting and not knowing is harder to take.

Still, I'm determined to move ahead. I’ve already started looking for additional publishers and as soon as my current novella, Twenty-One, is completed I plan to focus all my attention on short fiction so I can really start hitting the market in earnest.

As the slang of my youth used to say, it’s time to get busy.

-Quoth the Raven

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Into the Breach

09/03/07 10:12 AM

Yesterday I submitted my short story Road Kill for publication. It’s the first piece of fiction that I’ve ever sent to a potential publisher and I’m pretty excited about the whole thing.

As far as my outlook over actually bring accepted, I really have no idea what to expect. There are aspects of my writing style that I still find unruly and amateurish. Even after several revisions there are always pieces of my stories that trouble me in some way.

Still, I’m hopeful and eager for a response. In the self-deprecating world of the aspiring writer a rejection notice is almost as prized as an acceptance letter so either way I’ll have something to hang on the wall when I hear from the magazine.

Wish me luck and I’ll be sure to report back here as soon as I hear word about my story.

-Quoth the Raven

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I need this to happen here

08/25/07 09:26 AM

So it looks like I may be in the wrong country for my particular passion. Apparently if I was in China right now I’d be raking in the dough.

Zhang Muye is a guy who sounds a lot like me. He’s in his thirties, writes during his free time at work, prefers writing fun fiction as opposed to “serious literature” and distributes his ongoing stories online.

The difference between Mr. Muye and myself is that his book “Ghost Blows Out the Light” has been viewed more than six million times online and based on that success has gone on to sell 600,000 copies in print.

To say that those numbers are incredibly impressive would be an understatement. The interesting thing is that Mr. Muye’s case is not some freak occurrence where a talented writer happened to catch a break and become a wild success. In China online fiction reading is all the rage and having a popular web novel that was distributed for free go on to become a printed volume, or in some cases even a movie or television series, is not only possible it’s sought after.

The linked article above states that:

“'Novel', the top search term on China’s biggest search engine, Baidu, yields thousands of Chinese literature websites. More than 100,000 amateurs shirk mundane duties to publish their tales of fantasy and love in installments on these platforms. A handful of anonymous web authors have seen their pageviews soar into the upper seven digits. When that happens, print publishers come knocking. And it’s not just print. Companies from almost every entertainment field, including films and video games, are joining forces, heralding the next generation of Chinese entertainment empires.”

While it’s true that most of these online authors may not see the kind of success that Mr. Muye has, the fact that there are publishers looking for such authors is a remarkable thing. Here in the states online fiction is still seen as a bit of an oddity and even successful print authors like Stephen King, who released his novella “Riding the Bullet” on his web site for free in 2000, probably don’t garner the kind of internet attention that amateur writers receive in China.

My hope is that this kind of cultural shift will occur in the US as people seek more and more of their entertainment online. With its low cost and worldwide access, the internet is an ideal distribution method for aspiring writers. Hopefully demand will start to grow and perhaps then a whole new crop of unpublished authors will find their way into the homes of eager readers.

Until then most of us will have to use conventional publishing to try and make our mark while keeping our online presences up as a hopeful nod to the future and the possibility of what might be.

-Quoth the Raven

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Another reason to howl in pain

08/12/07 11:31 AM

So it looks like any hope I had for the new werewolf movie Skinwalkers to be anything worthwhile has quickly gone up in flames.

Listen, I know that horror movies have always been the black sheep of the film industry and that werewolf flicks are even further buried within the genre itself as the ugly cousin at the family reunion that no one likes to talk to.

Still, if you’re going to bother putting the time and effort into making a lycanthrope picture it would seem prudent to actually try doing it properly. Though I have yet to see the film, and likely won’t until it’s available for rental, I can already say for certain that it will fall short on certain expectations as it appears the film was hastily re-edited at the last minute and neutered from its original R rating to a more mild PG-13.

I’m not one who advocates gore for gores sake and I’ve found the recent spate of “torture porn” films like Hostel to be laughably stupid and completely devoid of any worthwhile content or even genuinely scary moments. That said, there are certain visceral aspects to the whole werewolf experience that more-or-less require an R rating. Being that this film is set against the backdrop of two waring werewolf tribes, I find it hard to believe that one can effectively tell that tale without delving into a certain amount of bloodshed. Obviously the filmmakers felt the same way, but apparently caved to studio pressure in the end.

Any time you alter a piece of work from its original vision simply to please the masses it inevitably ends up a pale imitation of the original intent. Needlessly censoring art is almost always a regrettable decision and I have no reason to believe this instance will prove differently.

It’s a shame that most of the current crop of werewolf films keep living up to their ugly cousin reputation. Hopefully one day they’ll get a bit of proper exercise and a face lift; maybe then they’ll finally be allowed back in the family photos.

-Quoth the Raven

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iTunes Widget

08/10/07 05:51 PM

I wanted to drop a quick note about the little Flash widget in the sidebar that shows some of my iTunes purchases.

Just to be clear it isn’t any kind of paid advertising system or endorsement deal. This site is currently ad free and I intend to keep it that way.

So then what’s the point of the widget?

Generally I don't have much use for these sorts of things, as I don’t tend to write “what-I-had-for-breakfast” type personal commentary. That said, the blog portion of this site does deal with opinions on Art in its various forms including album reviews and I figured that if I was going to recommend records then I might as well give full disclosure on the songs I buy.

This way if you’re thinking about purchasing an album I discuss you can look at some of the other music in my collection and decide whether you think our tastes line up or whether it’s best to avoid my suggestions like an auditory plague.

Hmm maybe I shouldn’t have bought all that Ricky Martin before I uploaded the widget.

-Quoth the Raven

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All the world's a stage

07/30/07 05:32 PM

It never ceases to amaze me how certain artists are able to create a narrative using just about anything. A prime example of this is the burgeoning Machinima movement, which took a formally locked down medium, videogames, and opened them up by manipulating the characters and adding voiceover dialogue to play out stories like a digital incarnation of a puppet or marionette show.

While scouring the net I came across another novel narrative approach, this time using Google Earth as its canvas. I won't go into detail as I don't want to spoil the surprise, but suffice to say I found the results surprisingly and in this case disturbingly effective.

I'll be very curious to see what you all think of the piece and if you were as affected by it as I was.

-Quoth the Raven

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Street Graffiti 2.0

07/13/07 02:05 PM

Imagine if you could create stunning art on any public surface without permanency and the pesky hassle of criminal vandalism that goes along with it.

Some artists have found a way to do just that by using their tagging skills in a new medium called light graffiti.

Most of us have seen light trails like these in photographs of moving cars or subway trains. In those cases the object is generating light and moving at a high enough speed that the luminescence created leaves a streak on the still image.

The trick with light art is to duplicate that effect by turning the exposure on your camera way up so that it exaggerates the movement as if the object in front of it is moving very quickly. After that all one needs is a glowstick, flashlight, or other lit object to "paint" with.

Additional examples of this craft can be found here and a video about the subject can be found here.

Glad to see this kind of innovation taking place. It allows people the immediacy and power of public expression without the need to permanently cover up one piece of art with another.

Even better it makes anything the artist can see a potential canvas and that alone is a revolutionary step towards future creation and possibility.

-Quoth the Raven

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Film Review: Ratatouille

07/03/07 09:45 PM

The new Pixar movie Ratatouille opened last Friday. It is the eighth feature-length film for the animation studio and the second directed by Incredibles and Iron Giant creator Brad Bird.

What follows will be a relatively spoiler-free review of the film that illustrates various points about the story and characters without going into too much depth. Though I cannot promise to conceal absolutely everything, I will do my best to be general rather than specific as not to ruin your enjoyment of the film.

As is tradition for Pixar, the feature was preceded by an animated short. This year’s piece was entitled Lifted. Unfortunately I really can’t go into any detail, since even revealing the premise would spoil the surprise, but I can say that it was a clever tribute to the kind of physical comedy found in the classic silent films of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton.

This short had me laughing out loud throughout its brief runtime and easily surpassed many of the more recent Pixar featurettes such as Boundin’, which was cute but ultimately forgettable. Lifted was a wonderful opening treat and one of my favorite moments from the evening. So make sure you arrive on time because missing this gem would be a real shame.

Ratatouille centers on a rat named Remy who develops a passion for cooking after reading a cookbook by a famous Parisian chef entitled “Anyone Can Cook”. Remy journeys out into the human world in search of a way to pursue his dream and not surprisingly encounters many obstacles and new experiences along the way. This is the basic premise of the film and the canvas on which most of story takes place. There’s a bit more to the setup, but I’d rather not give any more away.

A couple of things about this film struck me as unusual. The first is that it really isn’t a kid’s movie. Granted it is an animated feature and it’s rated G so there isn’t anything inappropriate for young viewers, but the film isn’t geared towards them either, aside from the cute, fuzzy characters. Pixar is known for putting out movies with a wide appeal that are generally entertaining to both adults and children, but this is the first time where I couldn’t really identify the “kid sections” of the film.

The other interesting thing about the tale is how specific the focus is. Ratatouille is in large part about the love of food and the joy of cooking. This theme is present throughout the duration of the movie and unlike many supposedly subject-specific films, which often devolve into generic easy-to-digest plots, it stays faithful to its topic.

This film has much more in common with an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s television show No Reservations than it does Cinderella or Snow White. As a self-proclaimed “foodie” I found this discovery to be a wonderful surprise, but I could see where it might bore or alienate some.

Fortunately the film does a good job explaining its story and doesn’t require the viewer to have any previous knowledge to understand the actions occurring in the kitchen. Additionally this narrow scope allows the film to really explore its subject in depth rather than simply skimming over the top of it. In an age where movies often contain so many subplots that it becomes difficult to even remember the names of the characters much less follow the story I found this a refreshing and welcome change of pace.

Visually the film is spectacular, though at this point that’s somewhat of a forgone conclusion with Pixar. If I had to pick out a few things I’d say that the realism of the rat fur in its various states and the details of the cooking such as the steam, heat waves and of course the food itself was what really wowed me this time around.

More than anything this film has soul. You genuinely feel for the characters and their plights. Everyone in the film has their own problems to overcome and even the less scrupulous ones garner some compassion. Ratatouille is a fully realized film that understands exactly what it is and where it’s going. The only job required of the filmgoer is to sit back and enjoy the ride.

I’ve been a fan of pretty much all the Pixar releases and I can say that this one ranks in my top three and I could easily see it becoming my favorite.

If you’re a fan of food, animation and well-told stories then this movie is definitely for you.

-Quoth the Raven

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Shadow Sculptures

06/28/07 08:58 PM

I ran across some photos of an incredible art exhibit in which mounds of garbage are used to cast stunningly-realistic shadows of people and objects.

The premise is quite simple. Take a pile of trash, hit it with a floodlight, project the resulting shadow onto a white screen or wall and then arrange the refuse so that it forms that shape you want.

Despite this straightforward premise the actual arrangement was no doubt time consuming and painstaking, but given the incredible quality of the resulting images it's easy to see why all the fuss is worth it.

There have been some questions raised regarding the authenticity of the art and whether or not the silhouettes were faked. Just looking at the comments on the site reveals a heated debate between naysayers who believe the pieces are digitally altered reproductions and others who claim to have seen some of the highlighted pieces in person at various museums.

Personally I'd like to believe that these shadowy images are real. If so, then they are a remarkable testament to the continually evolving canvas of creativity and prove that anything has the potential to be art if someone simply takes the time to look at an object and see the potential lying dormant within it.

-Quoth the Raven

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RT Album Picks - No. 1

06/20/07 11:03 PM

The White Stripes - Icky Thump

Welcome to the launch of a brand new feature on Raven’s Tales, a little sonic primer that I’ve dubbed “RT Album Picks”. Originally I had planned to write album reviews, but seeing as I only have access to records I’ve already purchased it seemed a bit disingenuous to label them as completely objective evaluations.

Instead these segments will give a brief overview of the album, delve into the individual tracks focusing on their sound, pace and feel and end with a summary of my thoughts on the piece as a whole and why I think it’s worth plunking down your cold, hard cash.

So without further ado lets dive into the new White Stripes album Icky Thump.

This record represents the Stripes sixth full-length effort and follows up the somewhat controversial Get Behind Me Satan, which saw Jack trading in his trademark buzz saw guitar riffs for bluesy ballads centered around piano and marimba parts.

Icky Thump sees Jack and Meg return to their shredding, bashing, stomping roots with songs that wail and thrash in a way that hasn’t been felt since White Blood Cells.

Tracks:

Icky Thump – The lead off and title track of the album, this foot stomper proves to be one of the most experimental songs both in its use of spastic modulated organ bursts during the bridge and in its pseudo-political lyrics that evoke issues of immigration and the fact that almost everyone starts off as an outsider.

You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You’re Told) – This churning, bluesy story song featuring the woes of a wayward woman is an old stalwart for the band joining such other tales as “Apple Blossom”, “Now Mary” and “Little Acorn”. With this track Jack switches his tact a bit dispensing disappointment rather than advice to a woman who knows she’s in a bad situation, but refuses to get out despite her ability to do so.

300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues – Another of the more experimental tracks on this disc, "300 MPH" alternates between overdriven squalling guitars and acoustic picking giving the song a nice duality. Admittedly this switch can be a bit jarring at first and so far this track hasn’t grabbed me though I suspect it may be one of those songs I digest and ultimately enjoy over time.

Conquest – The only cover song on the album this 50’s tune, originally made famous by Patti Page, is transformed by the Stripes into a spirited Spanish flamenco song complete with trumpet accompaniment. The amount of energy and campy fun packed into this little three-minute ditty is really remarkable and it ends with an incredible instrumental battle between Jack and the accompanying horn player that leaves you wanting more when it ends.

Bone Broke – I’m always interested when lyrics about poverty are penned by successful people who, one would think, have left such financial troubles behind them. In his defense Jack has gone on record saying that he prefers writing about the troubles of others rather than his own and honestly the guy is quite humble and I can take a song like this a lot easier from him than from someone like say J-Lo.

Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn / St. Andrew – This bagpipe bonanza duo is the only real trace of the minstrel side of the Stripes on Icky seen previously in songs like “Black Jack Davey”. "Prickly Thorn" has a Celtic vibe to it that gives a nice acoustic interlude to the distortion-heavy first half of the album. It romps and frolics along similar in some ways to “Little Ghost” off GBMS. "St. Andrew" ends up being less a song and more an end cap to the previous tune picking up from the former without pause. In this piece Meg recites a poem all the while the music building to a fever pitch and eventually crashing out over everything.

Little Cream Soda – One of my favorite thrash / stomp tunes on the album, Soda has a drive to it reminiscent of “Hardest Button to Button” that just pulls you in. In contrast to this the verses employ a haunting riff that really ads a creepy element to it and sets the mood for the song.

Rag And Bone – Currently my favorite song on the record, it casts Jack and Meg as garbage pickers with a sales pitch that involves convincing owners to part with their “unneeded possessions”. The lyrics are absolutely inspired and hilarious making the bouncy beats and elastic riffs that accompany them icing on an already scrumptious cake.

I’m Slowly Turning Into You – Another organ-laden track, this one uses a layered effect on both the keyboards and guitar that gives the tune a density that reverberates through it. The lyrics have a sinister tone to them, though their true intent is never revealed, but the feeling is definitely dark.

A Martyr For My Love For You – This sweet little ditty starts with some lilting organ and then quickly transitions to some gentle guitar picking with a complementary and uncharacteristically straight beat by Meg. The organ returns for a sweeping chorus that helps bring the theme of unattainable love to an emotional crescendo before descending back down into the sullen verse.

Catch Hell Blues – Propelled along by a classic slide-blues riff that builds in intensity until it’s ready to explode, this song clearly illustrates why Jack White is considered one of the greatest guitar players living today.

Effect and Cause – Another classic story song with a folk feel; Effect is great example of Jack’s lyrical wit. The tune almost reminds of a Woody Guthrie ballad with a more comedic bent to it. I’ve always been a fan of thoughtful lyrics and this song delivers them in abundance.

To sum up I think Icky Thump is another minimalist masterpiece from The White Stripes that incorporates their early core sound from the first three albums with some of the experimentation found on Get Behind Me Satan.

If you’re looking for a dose of heavy guitar-driven blues-rock wrapped around some witty, funny lyrics then this record is for you.

-Quoth the Raven

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Slight Delay

06/14/07 10:37 PM

Due to a hectic work schedule I had to bump this week’s School Days pages over one notch. Pages 11 and 12 are now both online and available for your reading pleasure.

Next week will return to the standard Tuesday / Thursday routine, so look for the next two pages at their regular time.

Thanks for your patience and I hope you continue to enjoy the story.

-Quoth the Raven

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Moving Forward

06/05/07 07:26 AM

Whenever you’re trying to create a body of work there’s really two factors involved. The first is to try and create the finest art you can making sure that you’ve done everything within your power to put forth your best effort.

The second is factor is to keep creating. It’s natural to want to rest after finishing a piece, but if you remain in stasis for too long you risk becoming rusty and losing some of the momentum that continuous creation provides you with.

In that vein I’ve been trying to keep busy and have recently hit a couple minor milestones. With the posting of this weeks pages School Days is officially half completed. It’s been a little tougher revising this piece than I initially anticipated and I’ve had to invest a fair deal of time, but I’ve been happy with the results thus far so I think the extra effort has paid off.

I also just finished the first draft of a short story entitled “Road Kill”. Currently the story is being read over by a couple close friends and after I get their feedback I’ll begin my second full revision. Assuming the story shapes up well, my plan to submit it to a couple of magazines in hopes of receiving my first publication. At the very least I’ll get a couple of rejection slips, which in the masochistic world of writing are almost worth more than a publishing credit.

Trying to keep motivated in the creative world isn’t easy, but it seems to me that the more you create the easier it is to keep creating. Which means that every piece you do gets you that much closer to your next one.

Though this may seem contradictory I think it only gets easier as time goes on and if I’m right than that means the sooner you start the better off you’ll be.

-Quoth the Raven

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Feathering the Nest

05/30/07 09:08 PM

It’s now been almost two full months since the launch of this site and it’s beginning to feel comfortable and lived in like a well-worn pair of jeans.

In addition to the regular content updates, I’ve also been doing my best to upgrade the site trying to make it ever more functional and aesthetically pleasing. Some recent additions to the site include a new aviary avatar for the blog posts, a new banner for the forum and new “inline comments” that display similarly to the ones on Oddlots and can be accessed by clicking on the title to the blog post you wish to comment on.

My favorite of the new features however is the story image navigation, which is now located at both the top and bottom of the page so that you no longer have to scroll all the way back up to access the next page of a story.

All-in-all I’m quite pleased with how everything’s coming together. A few more improvements and I’ll have this place running like a well-oiled machine, which reminds me; I think the oil in my car was due to be changed a few months ago.

Forget that last analogy.

-Quoth the Raven

P.S. Page eight of school days is now available.

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My Auspicious Beginnings

05/23/07 07:04 PM

I was over at my parent’s house the other day, sorting through some possessions I keep stored there trying to figure out what could and couldn’t be sold at an upcoming garage sale they were having.

While rummaging through a box I discovered an old yellow folder with the words “Murder Stories” scrawled across the front in smeared black pen. The moment I saw it I had an idea of what might be inside, but I honestly wasn’t expecting it to be there. Upon opening the folder I was surprised and delighted to find what is likely the first fiction I ever wrote.

The stories, each two to three pages long written in the fourth grade, were part of a murder mystery series starring myself and my grammar school classmates. For anonymity sake I’ll omit the real title, but I will say that it contained the name of my school and the word massacre. Each tale began with the untimely demise of a student leading the rest of us to try and uncover the killer while inevitably being picked off one-by-one during the process. I don’t think there was really much mystery involved in the tales. It seems my attention was primarily focused on describing the gruesome details of the scene where each new victim was discovered.

Aside from the warm glow of nostalgia, reading these pieces left me with two distinct realizations. The first is that correct spelling is important. It seems that in my formative years I thought “where” and “were” to be the same word, using the first spelling for both occasions. Trying to decipher sentences like “we headed downstairs where we thought the killers where hiding.” quickly leads to confusion and a nasty case of eyestrain. Thankfully the advent of spell-check and presumably some developed skill on my part has hopefully made my misspellings far less frequent.

The second lesson I learned is that the world is a very different place now than it was when I was a kid. Tragic events in recent history have caused us to question the possible danger in things that were once considered innocuous. Just a month ago a student was arrested and denied future admission to the armed services because of a piece of fiction he’d written in class.

While a bit more vulgar than my little tales, Lee’s piece was at least fairly generic and non-specific unlike mine which featured my entire class by name being bumped off by one of their fellow students over and over again. Ironically I actually wrote those stories at home, but brought them to class to show it to the very students I had written about. The interesting thing is that my classmates really loved them, especially if they were one of the victims. I guess everybody likes seeing their name in print even if that print has them depicted as a corpse hanging from a noose in the gymnasium.

One day during class my teacher discovered me passing around the stories and confiscated them because I was “being disruptive”. She said that she would hold on to them until after school. My reply to her was something along the lines of “I better get those back”. That little verbal jab was the most forceful thing I had ever said to a teacher and remains to this day one of the very few times in my life I’ve openly confronted an authority figure.

So lets add this all up:

Stories about the grizzly deaths of my classmates – check

Showing these tales openly to the starring students – check

Having it all seen and confiscated by my teacher – check

Threatening my teacher in class about returning the fiction - check

I count myself as very fortunate to grow up when I did. Had I been a bit younger my yearning to tell scary stories might have been seen as something more than what it was.

Though I understand the need for heightened security in the trying times we currently find ourselves in, I think it’s important to always look at these matters with an objective eye and not automatically assume sinister intent. I’d be willing to wager that most of the time a story is just a story and when it’s not there are almost always additional signs that point to the individual or individuals being disturbed in some way.

The rest of us are just writers with a slight bent towards the macabre. That inclination made Stephen King one of the worlds most successful fiction authors. Today a similar slant might land a kid in jail.

I hope for the sake of all the young, well-adjusted writers out there, that we as a species continue to be careful, rational thinkers. It’d be a shame to have talented children and young adults silenced for fear that their work might be misconstrued.

There’s going to be a lot of room on our bookshelves if we wind up with a generation of young people afraid of expressing themselves through words.

Just something to think about.

-Quoth the Raven

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That word, I do not think it means what you think it means

05/16/07 06:05 PM

Language can be a tricky thing. Sometimes trying to communicate the simplest ideas can take an enormous amount of effort, especially when you think you're saying one thing and the person on the other end is hearing something else.

A way to avoid this problem is to choose the words you use very carefully and make sure you understand their meaning. This ensures that your audience is receiving the same message that you're sending out to them.

The above statement is especially true of written communication. Unlike verbal interaction, which has the luxury of context and body language, writing requires you to know exactly what you want to express. Using a word with a meaning that differs from what you intended risks confusing your reader or giving them an erroneous impression of what you were trying to convey.

Unfortunately English, like many languages, has a number of words in its lexicon that have similar spellings and pronunciations, but very different definitions. These little sneaks try to trick us into using them incorrectly, but if you're careful you can navigate these common grammatical missteps with poise and grace.

Study that list well my friends and you will soon discover that going to the movies with two of your friends and eating too much popcorn while you're there need only be a problem for your stomach and not your sentences.

-Quoth the Raven

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Story Update

05/14/07 07:19 PM

Just wanted to drop a quick line to say that the third page of School Days is now up and ready to go.

Look for page four of the series this Wednesday.

-Quoth the Raven

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Back Round to the Beginning

05/07/07 05:58 PM

Tonight is the debut of a story I originally began working on back in early 2004, which I suppose to be fair doesn’t technically make it new. The interesting thing about it is the fact that it’s a dual narrated story told from the perspective of the two main characters it revolves around. Only a week ago I sent out a plea for you fine folks to help me out with my dual perspective story dilemma completely forgetting that this previous work had been exactly what I was trying to create.

Did I mention I’m a tad absent minded?

Some of you may remember a comic that Rude and I started posting in June of ‘05 titled “Kyle & Joel” that ran for seven pages before becoming defunct. Unfortunately the rigors of trying to put out a full-fledged graphic novel proved too difficult for either of us to cope with while trying to deal with day jobs and all the other work and artistic demands on our time.

This story was my first effort at serious writing after graduating from college. It got my creative fire lit and made me believe that I had a shot at doing this for real. I left it dormant for a long time convinced that the comic format was the only way it could be properly presented. It really broke my heart because I was and am very fond of this story and the characters in it.

When I created this site to house my collected writings I began looking at my past and realized that this story deserved to be put out there. I think we often forget about out first tentative steps as artists, embarrassed by what others might think.

True as that may be, it is also true that if not for those first steps there would be no others to follow; so in that way we owe everything to them.

Without further ado I give you the newly revised and re-titled tale School Days.

As mentioned above this is a dual perspective story and therefore will appear twice a week on Monday night / Tuesday morning and Wednesday night / Thursday morning until its completion.

I hope you enjoy it.

-Quoth the Raven

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New Comment Goodness

05/03/07 06:27 PM

Just wanted to drop a quick note about some changes to the blog comments.

As you can see "recent comments" now appear in the sidebar. If you click on them they will bring up the comment window and take you to the specific post you selected.

Also I was pleased to discover, thanks to posts from Katt and Doomed Wanker, that putting in your Oddlots/Gravatar email address when posting a comment places your avatar alongside your post.

I recommend everyone use this feature as it adds an instantly recognizable face to the posts rather than having to search for the small and somewhat hidden signature at the bottom of each entry.

The new site is really starting to take shape. Look for a never-before-published tale to appear soon as well as a new serial story both here and at Oddlots.

Woo hoo fiction a-go-go!

-Quoth the Raven

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Girl Group Mixes Retro Sound with Modern Attitude

04/30/07 06:34 PM

I recently ran across a group called The Pipettes that made me simultaneously nostalgic and happy to be living in the here-and-now. Imagine if you will a trio of women modeled after classic 60's girl groups like The Shangri-Las and The Ronettes. Now take that image and set it in current day with all the cultural and social changes and you can see how intriguing this dichotomy might be.

As far as instrumentation, the melodies sound a lot like their older counterparts. The difference comes from subtle things like drum beats that incorporate modern rock and hip-hop rhythms and guitar riffs that are edgier and darker than the sugary strumming found on the original girl-group albums. The vocals arrangements duplicate the multi-part harmonies of legends like The Supremes and namesake The Pips with remarkable accuracy and in some ways are the element least affected by modern considerations.

Lyrically is where the disparity between old and new really shows through. The Pipettes, Becki, Gwenno and Rose, take the pop standards that inspired them and turn them inside out with songs about one-night stands, clueless guys, cheap thrills, and brawling beauties that make tunes like My Boyfriends Back look positively tame by comparison. Add to this the infectious joy with which the three leads belt out these catchy ditties and I defy you not to sing along with lines like these from “One Night Stand”:

I don't love you
I don't want you
If you think that this is cruel
You should see what my friends do

Their debut album We Are The Pipettes hasn't come out stateside yet, but you can pick up an import for a couple extra bucks. Those waiting patiently for the US release can sample most of the bands music at their official website via a built-in music player. Tracks to pay special attention to in addition to the aforementioned One Night Stand include: “Pull Shapes”, “Judy” “Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me”, and “Because It's Not Love”.

Anyone with a love of those great vocal trios or an appreciation for well-penned lyrics should really give this group a look. I promise you'll be humming to yourself for days after you do.

-Quoth the Raven

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Style over Substance?

04/26/07 05:38 PM

So I've come to a bit of a dilemma. While kicking around ideas for my next story I came to the decision that I wanted to develop two projects at the same time, one as my next serial story over at Oddlots and another for this site.

I have a few reasons for wanting to do this, the first and most obvious being that working on one piece of fiction once a week for a year isn't exactly a breakneck pace. Since I'm fairly certain that rushing my stories to complete them faster would only result in work I was unhappy with, I figured that working on multiple pieces would be a way to increase my output while maintaining the quality of the prose.

Also I'd like to give Raven's Tales some original content of its own beyond just reworking and posting some of my older pieces, which I also intend to continue.

My concern was that working on two storylines simultaneously might also detract from my focus ultimately making one more important than the other or worse yet leaving both as inferior versions of what they could have been had they each been given my undivided attention.

Eventually I came up with what I thought was a clever compromise, which was to write a dual part tale with the different perspectives appearing on Oddlots and Raven's Tales as a kind of crossover story. This alleviates the worry of shirking one piece in favor of the other as they would both be different sides of the same story. I'd already learned how to deal with multi-part leads from writing DPD so I figured this would be a snap.

There's just one small problem....

Whenever I try to fire this thing up I find myself getting bogged down in the mechanics. I keep worrying about how one piece will relate to the other and it ends up shutting down my creative flow in midstream. While it's true I had to tackle this sort of thing in DPD, the different factions in that story developed organically as I was writing it and thus never seemed out of place or obtrusive.

I suppose all this could just be the early-creation-stage blues, which I almost always suffer from when starting a new project, but part of me really thinks it's the "gimmick" aspect that's slowing me down. Granted I really do like the idea of a dual-perspective tale, but I think that starting a piece from its structure rather than its story may be a bad idea regardless of what my overall intent is.

So what do you all think?

Should I stick this idea out, try to do two individual stories or scrap both ideas and go back to my one-tale-at-a-time philosophy?

I know that this decision is ultimately mine to make, but I think some outside perspective could really help me focus in on what each choice would mean.

As always any feedback you can give would be greatly appreciated.

-Quoth the Raven

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Communal Art on your Desktop

04/17/07 04:58 PM

One of the aims for this site has been to forge a community where artists can talk with one another about their work and the art world in general. It has been my experience that such collaborations can bring a lot to the table and that having the perspective of someone in a similar situation as your own can be useful in a way that generic criticism generally isn't.

I recently ran across an interesting article on the idea of artistic collaboration that takes the human element and ads in some computer consciousness.

Electric Sheep is a multiplatform screensaver that runs a series of morphing animations known as "sheep". When the program is first run it goes out to a server and begins to download new sheep. After several hours it gathers a "flock" and begins to display the animations on your computer screen. As each piece goes by you as the user have the opportunity to vote on which ones you like and dislike. That data is then fed back to the server and the sheep with the most votes get to remain in circulation while others are put of out to pasture.

The AI aspect comes into play when these popular sheep start to "breed". A computer algorithm is used to morph aspects of different projects into brand-new animations that are then put out on display where they will have to face the same judgment their parents did. This process continuously refines the sheep making them an amalgam of the most popular elements and introducing new ones as more outside sheep are brought into the fold.

Artists wishing to create their own sheep can find tools to do so here.

Personally I think this sounds like an awesome idea. I do admit to a little trepidation over the continuous downloading and what that means to my bandwidth and the integrity of my system, but really it's no different than other popular projects such as Seti and Folding.

It's also a great way for animators and visual artists to get instant exposure and feedback on their work from thousands of people around the world. Add to this the fact that it's free and you've got yourself an instant distribution network that you can use anytime it strikes your fancy.

Not bad for a one-meg download.

-Quoth the Raven

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Remembering a literary master

04/12/07 06:07 PM

Kurt Vonnegut, renowned author and literary figure, died yesterday at the age of 84.

Vonnegut's novels ranged genres from science fiction to modern satire, but all of his work dealt with the complexities of the human condition and our place in the world. His social and political commentary in novels like "Slaughterhouse 5" and "Cat's Cradle" remains hauntingly acute and his wry, biting humor in books like "Breakfast of Champions" gave us a chance to laugh at some of the absurdity of everyday life.

One of the writer's greatest gifts was his ability to combine the mundane, the fantastical and the profound in a way that was both easy to relate to and intriguing to uncover. Very few writers either past or present posses a vision as clear and distinct as Vonnegut's was.

His talent was unequaled in many ways and his voice will be sorely missed.

-Quoth the Raven

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What does it take to make it?

04/11/07 05:07 PM

I'd wager that most people who engage in the act of artistic expression have at one time or another seen a successful example of their craft and said to themselves:

“I can do better than that.”

The above statement has long been the official battle cry of the disaffected or underappreciated artist.

In many cases this attitude can be attributed to a combination of jealousy and frustration. The rampant popularity of a particular artist can cause even accomplished professionals to become irate with the media's constant ardor over a particular novelist, actor, musician, etc.

I'll be the first to admit that my initial dismissal of J.K. Rowling was based solely on her widespread fame, though my annoyance was partly fueled by my employment at a bookstore and having to deal with rabid Potter-fanatics. After quitting that job I sat down and read the books, or rather listened to them, and found them to be quite enjoyable.

But what happens when the aforementioned statement is true?

For the purposes of this discussion I'd like to focus on a specific example, The Da Vinci Code by author Dan Brown.

Let me preface this by saying that I have not read this book or any other of Mr. Brown's popular novels. That fact alone should probably place me out of the running for further discussion, but if you'll allow me some latitude I'll illustrate my points using the analysis of another scribe.

Geoffrey K. Pullum runs a linguistics-based blog called the Language Log where he talks about the finer points of language, grammar, and communication. He read Brown's book on a long plane flight and was immediately struck with how poorly constructed the writing was.

My first thought was that Pullum was likely just being a “grammar snob” by pointing out minute sentence structure violations that were probably used by Brown for stylistic reasons.

Hey, I perform that sort of grammatical blasphemy every time I start typing. I assumed that this was just another case of professional jealousy and that Pullum was simply “hating-on-Brown” because of his immense popularity.

Oh, no....

After reading through Pullum's entry it was apparent that Brown's writing contained a number of fundamental flaws that should have been picked out by any competent editor long before this book got anywhere near the publication process. That a sentence as muddled and confusing as the following made it into the finished product seems mind-boggling:

“On his hands and knees, the curator froze, turning his head slowly.”

That being said, it was signed off on and has subsequently gone on to become a number-one best-seller.

So what does that tell us?

Maybe it proves that the story was so strong that the lack of quality in the actual writing didn't matter?

Maybe it reinforces the idea that getting your message across is the only real goal and that how you convey those thoughts is largely inconsequential?

Or maybe, just maybe, it gives hope to all the aspiring artists out there by proving that popular success is not limited to the work of inscrutable geniuses whose talent far outstrips that of mere mortals.

That we poor, little schlubs with big dreams have a shot because if work like Brown's can garner world-wide acclaim than anything's possible.

It allows us to stand tall, raise our heads up high and shout:

I really can do better than that!

-Quoth the Raven

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Everything old is crude again

04/09/07 09:59 PM

Language is one of the definitive markers of an era.

It tells us what life and society were like at a particular place and time. As we move forward some forms of diction are discarded while others remain, though their meaning often changes.

I remember a friend telling me how the word “ejaculated” was once commonly used in dialogue attribution. An example of this would be:

“Ralph, your new car is fantastic!” Bill ejaculated.

Recently I ran across a wonderfully funny example of this phenomenon in a collection of old comic strips with unintentionally comedic dialogue.

What’s interesting is that most of the examples are not errors or horrendously poor writing, but simply a change of context. When these strips were published I’m sure no one batted an eye at it, but nowadays it comes of as ridiculous or perverted.

Maybe one day someone will see the word “blog” or “iPod” in print and have themselves a good chuckle at our expense.

Hell it already happened with the word “googled” and we just made that one up a year or two ago.

-Quoth the Raven

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Short Story Added

04/05/07 11:18 PM

Just wanted to let everyone know that a new story, “The Long Drive”, has been added to the Short Stories section.

I originally wrote this piece back in the late 90’s and it later appeared on Oddlots in my portfolio page. I’ve spent the last few days tightening it up and rearranging a few elements to give it a bit more depth and scope.

Hopefully you’ll enjoy this little tale about the open road and growing old as we discover that highways aren’t the only things that get neglected as they age.

-Quoth the Raven

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Begin the Begin

04/02/07 12:28 AM

Welcome everyone to the official launch of Raven's Tales, a repository of stories, poetry and thoughts on writing and art in general.

For those of you not familiar with my presence at Oddlots Irregulars, Raven is my nome de plume for that site. I chose to keep it as my moniker here not only because it will be familiar to those who have followed my work in the past, but also because I have yet to enter the world of professional publishing and decided to keep my online and traditional publishing worlds independent of one another.

This site was created to display my work in its various forms and to discuss the craft of artistic creation. My expertise is in writing so that's where much of my commentary will lie, but it is my belief that all art shares similar characteristics and that the questions that arise from it are fundamentally the same.

To help facilitate this I have included a forum to discuss not only the items on this site, but the personal projects and queries of our members. It is my wish to build a community of burgeoning artists and art enthusiasts that can aid and support one another.

At the very least I hope to entertain and inform you so that you get the most out of the time you spend here. If I manage to do that I'll consider this site a success.

So welcome my friends and get ready for the exciting developments ahead. I promise you'll be glad you stayed.

-Quoth the Raven

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Raven's Tales

A Repository of Thoughts, Yarns and Stories