A few weeks ago, the Catholic Writers Online got to debating about the attitude that those who are writing Catholic or Christian works should not make money on them. Some have come across the attitude from others that since they wrote their book, article, magazine, what-have-you for the Glory of God, they should give it away. Others struggle with the thought that they should expect royalties.
One person commented, "There seems to be a Puritanical thought among some who believe that money itself is evil."
Now there's an ironic statement--Catholic Puritanism.
I wonder, too, how many people believe that because they are doing something "in the service of the Lord" that they need to passively wait for God to "bless it" by giving them sales, money, etc. I've seen this attitude, not just by authors in book sales, but in everyday living. These people are afraid to promote their works because they didn't do it "for the money," but for faith. promoting it themselves, therefore, would be greedy; getting the book published is enough, and if God is pleased, He will cause others to find it.
This might stem from that "God will provide if we only trust in Him" mentality. There's the feeling that the corollary is true and God will not provide if we show distrust by doing something for ourselves.
It reminds me of the old joke: There was a man who wanted to do great things for the Church, but he was very poor. So each night, he prayed, "Lord, let me win the Lottery so I can do these things for you."
As the years passed, the man made his plans: he had blueprints for a fantastic church, a school, a hospital, programs for the needy. Every night, he showed his plans to the Lord and said, "Lord, these are the things I want to do for You. I'm not asking for myself. Just let me win the Lottery to do this for You."
The man died, poor and unable to fulfill his dreams. When he went to Heaven, he said to the Lord, "Didn't you find my works pleasing? Why wouldn't you help me fund them?"
"They were great, wonderful ideas, and I loved you and them," God replied, "but why didn't you buy a lottery ticket?"
There's also the fear from some that if they do push their works, that they are glorifying themselves and not the Lord. (Sometimes I feel that way about promoting Infinite Space, Infinite God. I tend to stop and say, "Lord, help me remember this is for you and not me--and if I ever stop doing this for you, just let it stop altogether 'till I get a clue.")
We have to remember that God expects us to work for Him. Jesus didn't conduct his ministry by carving a lovely sign over his door and saying, "God, I trust you to bring the people to me." Neither did his disciples wait for the Church to grow--they traveled, spoke the Truth, wrote letters.
Now we're not all ministers, so let's look instead at the Parable of the Talents. (Matthew 25) Three slaves are given some money (talents) by their Master: one gets five; the second, three; and the last, only one. Both the slaves with the five and three talents take that money and do something with it. The last slave buries it. Who did the Master reward?
You might say God gives us talents by our talent of writing and that we need to use it by writing things for His good. But take it a step further. You have a talent in a physical sense as well--the book you've written. Now that it's done, and in your hands, so you set it aside in hopes someone will "invest" it for you? Or do you do your own investment work by getting out there and promoting it?
Promotion is a talent, too. Don't be afraid like the slave who buried his.
And if it bothers you to receive money, there are plenty of worthy causes out there who can use your support. Do God's work twice.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Guest Post: Robert Fabian on Ethics of Retaliation
This weekend is Home Improvement Time at our house as we prepare it for sale. (Anybody want to buy a beautiful 4-bedroom/2 full- 2-half bath home in Fredericksburg, VA?)
Writers who know me know that I really admire my husband Rob as a thinker and a writer. Today, I thought I'd show you why. This is a paper he had to do for the joint warfighting course he's taking in Norfolk, VA. The assignment was a simple case study of the French Resistance shooting German POWs in retaliation for the execution of some of their members in WWII.
(Before we begin: Just a reminder that this Thursday, March 8, at 8 PM Eastern Time, Tara Maderino chats about psychics in fiction and her book Soul Guardian. http://www.geocities.com/tjmanderino/
To get to FabChat, come to fabianspace and click on FabChat.)
Is Retaliation Justified?
In 1944 it became known to the Free French Partisan fighting forces that the Germans had executed 80 partisans and planned to execute more. The Partisans thus decided they would shoot 80 German prisoners who had recently surrendered to them. At this point the Red Cross intervened, won a postponement of the executions, and sought an agreement from the Germans to treat captured partisans as prisoners of war, who may not be shot. The Partisans waited 6 days and the Germans did not reply. The Partisans then shot 80 German prisoners. After these shootings the Nazis executed no more Partisans.
Was the shooting of the 80 German prisoners by the Partisans morally justifiable?
While it might be easy to give a glib response that the deaths of 80 German soldiers purchased the lives of many more captured Partisans, I do not believe that this is the correct answer. A true examination of the morality of the Partisans’ actions requires us to expand our scope and consider the issue of morality in war in general, rather than in one specific case. When considered in the bigger picture, I find that, while their actions were arguably effective in this case, they are not morally justifiable.
The concept of reprisal is a long established facet of the laws of war. If one belligerent breaks those laws, their opponent is free to do likewise. In theory this serves as a deterrent to future violations. Francis Lieber, author of the Code for the Government of Armies in the Field, a document written to guide Union forces in the U.S. Civil War that later served as a foundational document for future conventions of the conduct of war, used the term “protective retribution” to address the idea. His term highlights the intent of the concept – to protect against future violations of the laws of war.
As outlined in the case, the Partisans’ action was a simple case of reprisal, despite the Partisans’ questionable status as belligerents under the Hague Convention. Essentially, they used the Germans POWs as hostages to guarantee the fair treatment of captured Partisans. Under the laws of war, it would arguably have been ethical. That is, it complied with the accepted standards of conduct of the day, the laws of war. However, I do not believe it was morally justifiable for two reasons; first, reprisals are generally ineffective, and second, that it blurred the line between combatant and non-combatant and so undermined the moral justification for conducting war.
While the case study asserts no more Partisans were executed, there are many documented cases of Nazi atrocities against French Partisans throughout World War II, including the execution of the entire village of Oradour-sur-Glane. Historically, reprisals have not been effective in stopping violations of the laws of war. Instead, they invite counter-reprisals, which, in turn, invite more reprisals. Lieber summed it up nicely when he wrote that “Unjust or inconsiderate retaliation removes the belligerents farther and farther from the mitigating rules of regular warfare, and by rapid steps leads them farther to the internecine wars of savages.”
Aside from the “slippery slope” argument, the execution of prisoners as a reprisal could easily become counterproductive. If German soldiers believed that the partisans would execute them, then they would be less likely to surrender and more likely to fight to the death, costing more Partisan lives in the process. In short, despite the background of the case study, the Partisan’s actions cannot be justified on the grounds that they were effective in saving lives.
Furthermore, once we set aside the argument of effectiveness, there remains a deeper problem with this specific example of reprisal. When the German soldiers surrendered, they became non-combatants under the protection of the Partisans. One common thread throughout the various just war traditions is the distinction between combatants and non-combatants. This is the line between war and murder. While non-combatants may be killed through collateral damage, only combatants may be killed deliberately. Killing prisoners of war blurs this distinction and so undermines the moral justification for war in general, putting the soldier and the murderer on equal footing. This cannot be morally justified.
Thus, while the execution of prisoners in reprisal for German executions may arguably have had some short-term benefit for the Partisans, when seen from a wider perspective, it cannot be justified morally. It is ineffective and strikes at the moral basis of war itself.
Writers who know me know that I really admire my husband Rob as a thinker and a writer. Today, I thought I'd show you why. This is a paper he had to do for the joint warfighting course he's taking in Norfolk, VA. The assignment was a simple case study of the French Resistance shooting German POWs in retaliation for the execution of some of their members in WWII.
(Before we begin: Just a reminder that this Thursday, March 8, at 8 PM Eastern Time, Tara Maderino chats about psychics in fiction and her book Soul Guardian. http://www.geocities.com/tjmanderino/
To get to FabChat, come to fabianspace and click on FabChat.)
Is Retaliation Justified?
In 1944 it became known to the Free French Partisan fighting forces that the Germans had executed 80 partisans and planned to execute more. The Partisans thus decided they would shoot 80 German prisoners who had recently surrendered to them. At this point the Red Cross intervened, won a postponement of the executions, and sought an agreement from the Germans to treat captured partisans as prisoners of war, who may not be shot. The Partisans waited 6 days and the Germans did not reply. The Partisans then shot 80 German prisoners. After these shootings the Nazis executed no more Partisans.
Was the shooting of the 80 German prisoners by the Partisans morally justifiable?
While it might be easy to give a glib response that the deaths of 80 German soldiers purchased the lives of many more captured Partisans, I do not believe that this is the correct answer. A true examination of the morality of the Partisans’ actions requires us to expand our scope and consider the issue of morality in war in general, rather than in one specific case. When considered in the bigger picture, I find that, while their actions were arguably effective in this case, they are not morally justifiable.
The concept of reprisal is a long established facet of the laws of war. If one belligerent breaks those laws, their opponent is free to do likewise. In theory this serves as a deterrent to future violations. Francis Lieber, author of the Code for the Government of Armies in the Field, a document written to guide Union forces in the U.S. Civil War that later served as a foundational document for future conventions of the conduct of war, used the term “protective retribution” to address the idea. His term highlights the intent of the concept – to protect against future violations of the laws of war.
As outlined in the case, the Partisans’ action was a simple case of reprisal, despite the Partisans’ questionable status as belligerents under the Hague Convention. Essentially, they used the Germans POWs as hostages to guarantee the fair treatment of captured Partisans. Under the laws of war, it would arguably have been ethical. That is, it complied with the accepted standards of conduct of the day, the laws of war. However, I do not believe it was morally justifiable for two reasons; first, reprisals are generally ineffective, and second, that it blurred the line between combatant and non-combatant and so undermined the moral justification for conducting war.
While the case study asserts no more Partisans were executed, there are many documented cases of Nazi atrocities against French Partisans throughout World War II, including the execution of the entire village of Oradour-sur-Glane. Historically, reprisals have not been effective in stopping violations of the laws of war. Instead, they invite counter-reprisals, which, in turn, invite more reprisals. Lieber summed it up nicely when he wrote that “Unjust or inconsiderate retaliation removes the belligerents farther and farther from the mitigating rules of regular warfare, and by rapid steps leads them farther to the internecine wars of savages.”
Aside from the “slippery slope” argument, the execution of prisoners as a reprisal could easily become counterproductive. If German soldiers believed that the partisans would execute them, then they would be less likely to surrender and more likely to fight to the death, costing more Partisan lives in the process. In short, despite the background of the case study, the Partisan’s actions cannot be justified on the grounds that they were effective in saving lives.
Furthermore, once we set aside the argument of effectiveness, there remains a deeper problem with this specific example of reprisal. When the German soldiers surrendered, they became non-combatants under the protection of the Partisans. One common thread throughout the various just war traditions is the distinction between combatants and non-combatants. This is the line between war and murder. While non-combatants may be killed through collateral damage, only combatants may be killed deliberately. Killing prisoners of war blurs this distinction and so undermines the moral justification for war in general, putting the soldier and the murderer on equal footing. This cannot be morally justified.
Thus, while the execution of prisoners in reprisal for German executions may arguably have had some short-term benefit for the Partisans, when seen from a wider perspective, it cannot be justified morally. It is ineffective and strikes at the moral basis of war itself.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
the Free Association Blog
OK, I admit it. I am totally uninspired to write this blog post. However, I'm also totally dedicated to giving you, my faithful readers, a post twice a week. (Hello? Is anyone there? Echo!) Thus, for the next 15 minutes, I will simply write whatever comes to mind.
Remember those writing exercises? I never did like them. I always wanted to do something useful with my time. My kids hated them, too. Steven used to write "Nothing!" for 15 minutes. One day he got inspired, "i hate this i have nothing to say." Yep. A budding Nobel laureate in the making.
Of course, if you think about it, how many live journals are just that? "Didn't do much today. Oh, had ham with mustard. Ever try that deli mustard? Now there's mustard. Watched X Files for the 17th time. It's all starting to come together now..."
AARGH! I forgot to start the timer! Well, let's say 3 minutes.
I love having a laptop. I take this baby everywhere. I wake up in the morning and there it is, perched on the ironing table, calling to me. This is a GOOD THING, because my exercise program consists of marching in front of the ironing board while I check my newsgroups and e-mail. Don't laugh. Who was it on Runway who said she goes over her appointments while she jogs--as if that were unusual and innovative? At least I actually get something accomplished, rather than just think about it. Oh, and I have Calves and Fingers of Steel! Now if I could just figure out how to get rid of the belly while typing...
I got great news today. Brother Guy Consolmagno, a Jesuit astronomer and a well-known figure on the SF circuit, agreed to read Infinite Space, Infinite God for a back-cover blurb. I did the happy dance last night when I read his e-mail. (Yep, e-mail at night. E-mail at noon. E-mail in the kitchen, stirring oatmeal with a spoon.) Isn't "Consolmagno" a great name? Great consoler. Well, his e-mail made me feel better!
8 minutes.... get inspired... thinkthinkthink. Winnie the Pooh! Tao of Pooh! Tao or random associations. Rorschach! Rorschach! I'm starting to sound like something in a Terry Pratchett novel. I'll be wearing a duck on my head next!
I love Terry Pratchett. He has such a odd angle on everything. I hope my Vern novels (Dragon Eye, PI www.freewebs.com/dragoneyepi) come off a little like his works. He's much sillier and funnier.
However, my first Vern novel--Magic, Mensa and Mayhem--is going to be a silly book. Two nights ago, I wrote the airship scene (blimp/airplane hybrid) The dwarfs got acrophobia. (It's not natural! We belong underground!) and the pixies got into the gas cells and started sucking the helium. (Their voices got so high only Vern, the dragon, could hear them. No dogs on the ship.) It's been fun to write. Most of my other Vern stuff has funny moments, but is a little more grim. It is fantasy noir, after all. But I do love playing with the cliche's.
OOO--that took up 5 minutes! It's so easy to talk about your books and stories when you're a writer. Yesterday I started telling the exterminator about my book, and he's going to look it up on the Internet. I offered him an autographed copy. Tell you what: if you have read this far and would also like an autographed advanced copy at 10 percent off list price with free shipping, contact me. It'll be your reward for being so patient...or maybe just nuts.
Do you know it will probably take me longer to edit this than it did to write? I am the typo queen--which I'm sure you've noticed. AND my *(^^#@!! computer's shift key is going out again. I need to send it back to HP.
And I'm done. Wow. Better than "nothing."
Remember those writing exercises? I never did like them. I always wanted to do something useful with my time. My kids hated them, too. Steven used to write "Nothing!" for 15 minutes. One day he got inspired, "i hate this i have nothing to say." Yep. A budding Nobel laureate in the making.
Of course, if you think about it, how many live journals are just that? "Didn't do much today. Oh, had ham with mustard. Ever try that deli mustard? Now there's mustard. Watched X Files for the 17th time. It's all starting to come together now..."
AARGH! I forgot to start the timer! Well, let's say 3 minutes.
I love having a laptop. I take this baby everywhere. I wake up in the morning and there it is, perched on the ironing table, calling to me. This is a GOOD THING, because my exercise program consists of marching in front of the ironing board while I check my newsgroups and e-mail. Don't laugh. Who was it on Runway who said she goes over her appointments while she jogs--as if that were unusual and innovative? At least I actually get something accomplished, rather than just think about it. Oh, and I have Calves and Fingers of Steel! Now if I could just figure out how to get rid of the belly while typing...
I got great news today. Brother Guy Consolmagno, a Jesuit astronomer and a well-known figure on the SF circuit, agreed to read Infinite Space, Infinite God for a back-cover blurb. I did the happy dance last night when I read his e-mail. (Yep, e-mail at night. E-mail at noon. E-mail in the kitchen, stirring oatmeal with a spoon.) Isn't "Consolmagno" a great name? Great consoler. Well, his e-mail made me feel better!
8 minutes.... get inspired... thinkthinkthink. Winnie the Pooh! Tao of Pooh! Tao or random associations. Rorschach! Rorschach! I'm starting to sound like something in a Terry Pratchett novel. I'll be wearing a duck on my head next!
I love Terry Pratchett. He has such a odd angle on everything. I hope my Vern novels (Dragon Eye, PI www.freewebs.com/dragoneyepi) come off a little like his works. He's much sillier and funnier.
However, my first Vern novel--Magic, Mensa and Mayhem--is going to be a silly book. Two nights ago, I wrote the airship scene (blimp/airplane hybrid) The dwarfs got acrophobia. (It's not natural! We belong underground!) and the pixies got into the gas cells and started sucking the helium. (Their voices got so high only Vern, the dragon, could hear them. No dogs on the ship.) It's been fun to write. Most of my other Vern stuff has funny moments, but is a little more grim. It is fantasy noir, after all. But I do love playing with the cliche's.
OOO--that took up 5 minutes! It's so easy to talk about your books and stories when you're a writer. Yesterday I started telling the exterminator about my book, and he's going to look it up on the Internet. I offered him an autographed copy. Tell you what: if you have read this far and would also like an autographed advanced copy at 10 percent off list price with free shipping, contact me. It'll be your reward for being so patient...or maybe just nuts.
Do you know it will probably take me longer to edit this than it did to write? I am the typo queen--which I'm sure you've noticed. AND my *(^^#@!! computer's shift key is going out again. I need to send it back to HP.
And I'm done. Wow. Better than "nothing."
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Lenten Laughs and events stuff
Saw this on another blog--what a hoot! Yet it does explain Ash Wednesday rather well. http://kansascitycatholic.blogspot.com/2007/02/lenten-fare.html
If anyone is on MySpace, look me up www.myspace.com/karinafabian. I'm also on Shoutlife: www.shoutlife.com/karinafabian Interestingly, I've gotten more--and more active--friends from Shoutlife.
March 3 is a PROMO DAY on http://jolindsell.tripod.com. I'll be visiting and posting stuff.
Here's the FabChat schedule through March. I'm already booked through May 3.
March 1: Are you a Catholic Writer looking for fellowship and help in getting published? Chat with the officers of the Catholic Writers Guild and see if this group is for you.
March 8: Tara Maderino chats about psychics in fiction and her book Soul Guardian. http://www.geocities.com/tjmanderino/
March 15: Colleen Drippe' chats about writing for children and about her children's books, the Little Blue House books and Mystery at Miner's Creek. http://cdrippe.tripod.com/
March 22: Lea Schizas talks about her new YA fantasy Rock of Realm and writing for the young adult market. http://leaschizaseditor.tripod.com/
March 29: Pastor and author James Somers chats about writing, getting published, and his Chronicles of Soone trilogy. www.jamessomersonline.com
If anyone is on MySpace, look me up www.myspace.com/karinafabian. I'm also on Shoutlife: www.shoutlife.com/karinafabian Interestingly, I've gotten more--and more active--friends from Shoutlife.
March 3 is a PROMO DAY on http://jolindsell.tripod.com. I'll be visiting and posting stuff.
Here's the FabChat schedule through March. I'm already booked through May 3.
March 1: Are you a Catholic Writer looking for fellowship and help in getting published? Chat with the officers of the Catholic Writers Guild and see if this group is for you.
March 8: Tara Maderino chats about psychics in fiction and her book Soul Guardian. http://www.geocities.com/tjmanderino/
March 15: Colleen Drippe' chats about writing for children and about her children's books, the Little Blue House books and Mystery at Miner's Creek. http://cdrippe.tripod.com/
March 22: Lea Schizas talks about her new YA fantasy Rock of Realm and writing for the young adult market. http://leaschizaseditor.tripod.com/
March 29: Pastor and author James Somers chats about writing, getting published, and his Chronicles of Soone trilogy. www.jamessomersonline.com
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
More Twisted Fiction--
I'm in a silly parody mood, so here's what I imagine would have happened if the Great Classical Authors had written really bad Biblical fiction:
"It was the best of times, it was the End of Times." (Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens)
"Call me Saved." (Moby Dick - Herman Melville)
"On an evening in the latter part of May a middle-aged man was walking homeward from Shaston to the village of Marlott, in the adjoining Vale of Blakemore or Blackmoor...and then he wasn't." (Tess of the 'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy)
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune--after giving his 10 percent to the church, of course--must be in want of a wife." (Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen)
"1801--I have just returned from delivering The Watchtower to my landlord--the solitary neighbor that I shall be troubled with." (Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë)
"You don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain't no matter. I's saved now and repent of my evil ways. This book is concerning my missionary year on the Mississippi and the souls I done brought to Jesus." (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain.)
"I was leaning against the pew in the Congregationalist Church on on Fifty-second Street, waiting for Nora to finish her Christmas shopping for the orphans, when a girl got up from where she had been kneeling with three other people and came over to me." (The Thin Man - Dashiell Hammett)
"It was about eleven o'clock in the morning, mid-October, with the sun not shining and a look of hard wet rain in the clearness as the Four Horsemen came galloping over the foothills." (The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler)
"Mr. Sherlock Holmes, who was usually very late in the mornings, save upon those not infrequent occasions when he was up all night, was seated at the breakfast table reading his Bible and preparing his witness for Sunday Meeting." (The Hound of the Baskervilles - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
"It was the best of times, it was the End of Times." (Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens)
"Call me Saved." (Moby Dick - Herman Melville)
"On an evening in the latter part of May a middle-aged man was walking homeward from Shaston to the village of Marlott, in the adjoining Vale of Blakemore or Blackmoor...and then he wasn't." (Tess of the 'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy)
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune--after giving his 10 percent to the church, of course--must be in want of a wife." (Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen)
"1801--I have just returned from delivering The Watchtower to my landlord--the solitary neighbor that I shall be troubled with." (Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë)
"You don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain't no matter. I's saved now and repent of my evil ways. This book is concerning my missionary year on the Mississippi and the souls I done brought to Jesus." (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain.)
"I was leaning against the pew in the Congregationalist Church on on Fifty-second Street, waiting for Nora to finish her Christmas shopping for the orphans, when a girl got up from where she had been kneeling with three other people and came over to me." (The Thin Man - Dashiell Hammett)
"It was about eleven o'clock in the morning, mid-October, with the sun not shining and a look of hard wet rain in the clearness as the Four Horsemen came galloping over the foothills." (The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler)
"Mr. Sherlock Holmes, who was usually very late in the mornings, save upon those not infrequent occasions when he was up all night, was seated at the breakfast table reading his Bible and preparing his witness for Sunday Meeting." (The Hound of the Baskervilles - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Friday, February 16, 2007
Dr. Seuss Writes Romance From the Grave!
Lisa Logan, a friend of mine, is having a literary identity crisis! Somehow Barnes and Noble has decided she is Dr. Seuss.
Author Mix-up Has Dr. Seuss Writing Romance
Redlands, CA February 4, 2007--Fans of Theodore Seuss Geisel, i.e. Dr. Seuss, may be in for a surprise when they learn that the renowned children's writer has changed genres... more than a decade after his death.
Author Lisa Logan had just celebrated the release of her debut novel, Visions, on January 30 when she received a complaint from a Borders in Illinois. They could not find the romantic mystery to order it into their store. In checking other bookseller listings, she discovered an error on Barnes&Noble's web site.
According to B&N, the romantic mystery was authored and illustrated by Seuss in November of 2005. The author/illustrator of forty-eight children's books, including The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs & Ham, died of cancer in 1991. Logan's cover and title were featured in the listing, which had appeared correctly the day before.
Logan took the mix up in stride. She quipped, "I'm as big a fan of Dr. Seuss as any, but I can't sit by and let the guy take credit for my work. That is, unless they want to send me his royalty checks."
The Redlands, CA author sought help from the publisher of her novel, Draumr Publishing, who is currently working with the distributor to correct the listing. No comment from Barnes&Noble on the error.
For more information, contact Lisa Logan at writerlisalogan@verizon.net or via her website at http://lisalogan.net.
########
Addendum: Barnes and Noble has since fixed the error: Now her book is only illustrated by Dr. Seuss!
Somehow, I don't think it's his usual style....
As long as Dr. Seuss is crossing genres, I'd like to suggest some titles:
Horror: Would You, Could You From the Grave?
Mystery: Horton Hears a Homicide
Sci-Fi: And to Think I Saw It on Planet X
Christian: 500 Fishes of Bartholomew Cubbins
True Confession: Did I Ever Tell You How Dysfunctional I Am?
Literary: Did I Ever Tell You How Dysfunctional I Am?: A Novel
Self-Help: You Can Lick 30 Tigers Today With This Simple, Five-Step Process OR Mr. Brown Can Moo, and So Can You In 12 Easy Lessons
Diet: 13 Ways to Serve Green Eggs and Ham
Autobiographical: The Book About me (Didn't even need to change that title)
Erotica: Seven Lady Godivas...and One Peeping Tom
I could go on, but it's your turn!
Author Mix-up Has Dr. Seuss Writing Romance
Redlands, CA February 4, 2007--Fans of Theodore Seuss Geisel, i.e. Dr. Seuss, may be in for a surprise when they learn that the renowned children's writer has changed genres... more than a decade after his death.
Author Lisa Logan had just celebrated the release of her debut novel, Visions, on January 30 when she received a complaint from a Borders in Illinois. They could not find the romantic mystery to order it into their store. In checking other bookseller listings, she discovered an error on Barnes&Noble's web site.
According to B&N, the romantic mystery was authored and illustrated by Seuss in November of 2005. The author/illustrator of forty-eight children's books, including The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs & Ham, died of cancer in 1991. Logan's cover and title were featured in the listing, which had appeared correctly the day before.
Logan took the mix up in stride. She quipped, "I'm as big a fan of Dr. Seuss as any, but I can't sit by and let the guy take credit for my work. That is, unless they want to send me his royalty checks."
The Redlands, CA author sought help from the publisher of her novel, Draumr Publishing, who is currently working with the distributor to correct the listing. No comment from Barnes&Noble on the error.
For more information, contact Lisa Logan at writerlisalogan@verizon.net or via her website at http://lisalogan.net.
########
Addendum: Barnes and Noble has since fixed the error: Now her book is only illustrated by Dr. Seuss!
Somehow, I don't think it's his usual style....
As long as Dr. Seuss is crossing genres, I'd like to suggest some titles:
Horror: Would You, Could You From the Grave?
Mystery: Horton Hears a Homicide
Sci-Fi: And to Think I Saw It on Planet X
Christian: 500 Fishes of Bartholomew Cubbins
True Confession: Did I Ever Tell You How Dysfunctional I Am?
Literary: Did I Ever Tell You How Dysfunctional I Am?: A Novel
Self-Help: You Can Lick 30 Tigers Today With This Simple, Five-Step Process OR Mr. Brown Can Moo, and So Can You In 12 Easy Lessons
Diet: 13 Ways to Serve Green Eggs and Ham
Autobiographical: The Book About me (Didn't even need to change that title)
Erotica: Seven Lady Godivas...and One Peeping Tom
I could go on, but it's your turn!
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Karina Presents Thursday FabChat
I'm pleased to announce FabChat: a Thursday evening live chat with authors, editors and others in the publishing industry. We meet at 8PM Eastern Time every Thursday in my chat room. (Click on FabChat on the navbar.)
If you'd like to promote your book (new or old) or talk about another writing topic, let me know and I'll schedule you in.
FabChat kicks off March 1st when we'll be chatting about the Catholic Writers' Guild. Come learn about this exciting new group dedicated to the rebirth of Catholic writings.
March 15, we have Colleen Drippe, who will talk about writing for children and her Little Blue House books.
March 22, Lea Schizas joins us to talk about writing for young adults and about her new book, The Rock of Realm.
April 19 (my birthday), I get to be Guest of Honor at my own show to talk about Infinite Space, Infinite God. We're having an on-line party afterwards with virtual beer and Melnish tea. (Don't know what Melnish tea is? Come to the party and find out.)
Another day, I'll tell you how FabChat evolved, but right now, I need to write a little on my dragon detective story.
If you'd like to promote your book (new or old) or talk about another writing topic, let me know and I'll schedule you in.
FabChat kicks off March 1st when we'll be chatting about the Catholic Writers' Guild. Come learn about this exciting new group dedicated to the rebirth of Catholic writings.
March 15, we have Colleen Drippe, who will talk about writing for children and her Little Blue House books.
March 22, Lea Schizas joins us to talk about writing for young adults and about her new book, The Rock of Realm.
April 19 (my birthday), I get to be Guest of Honor at my own show to talk about Infinite Space, Infinite God. We're having an on-line party afterwards with virtual beer and Melnish tea. (Don't know what Melnish tea is? Come to the party and find out.)
Another day, I'll tell you how FabChat evolved, but right now, I need to write a little on my dragon detective story.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Guest post: Roots in Frozen Generation
Today, I have another guest blogger: Andrea Graham. Andrea has a story in the anthology Light At the Edge of Darkenss, which comes out in April from The Writers' Cafe Press and which I reviewed on my Virtual Book Tour de Net. Today, she talks about her story "Frozen Generation" and the pro-Life philosophy behind it.
Roots in Frozen Generation
By Andrea Graham
I must admit, it made me happy as a lark to get mentioned in Karri Compton’s review of Light at the Edge of Darkness yesterday:
Andrea Graham’s “Frozen Generation” explores the possibility of technology bringing frozen fetuses to term artificially, resulting in humans being used for spare parts. One woman tries to save as many babies as possible by smuggling them away and saving them from an uncertain future.
Bravo to Karri, and everyone else who has found a way to summarize the plot without mentioning abortion or racism. Honestly, with the possible exception of Cyn’s description (the line in the book’s summary about terrorists smuggling frozen embryos), this is the best yet.
I’ve heard many things about my story since we began this crazy quest June 2006, but one of the most consistent comments has been on how I combined the topics of racism and abortion. If the majority rules, the majority opinion has been that I went out on two limbs and managed not to land flat on my rump thirty feet down.
Would you like to know my secret to not crashing and burning big time in this adventure? Yes?
Easy, though in general I land on my rump more than I care to remember, in this case, I wasn’t actually standing on the two visible branches, but the shared root.
In America, racism originates from slavery, of course (it could be argued the other way around but I mean historically here) and what makes a human being a person with rights versus property with no rights, but rather subject to the will of the master.
Regardless of where you stand on abortion, the question at the root of the debate is what makes a human being a person with rights versus property with no rights, but rather subject to the will of the master. Only the particulars differ. In this case, the what is normally a temporary condition, being located in side the mother’s womb, the holder of power is the mother, and we prefer terms like “product of conception” rather than that hideous word “property,” but when a woman makes the claim, “it’s my body, it’s my choice” whether you agree with that logic or not, that is certainly a claim to property rights, with the emphasis on their supposed right to dispense with their property as they will.
Let me take time to speak to those who make such statements. In "Frozen Generation", by no means do I mean to argue with your claims to such power over the lives of your children. I merely apply the logic of the above argument to potential future technology and ask where your power to dispose of your property ends, should technology offer more lucrative means of disposal than the current options. You’re free to answer the question however you please.
I and other pro-lifers think this scenario is a nightmare, but if you're pro-choice, maybe it’s a dream come true. After all, not only would no one ever again die waiting for an organ transplant, the "wanted" children are protected(in theory) from childhood predators because these non-persons would provide an "appropriate" outlet for their "natural" sexual urges.
If, however, you're just as horrified by such ideas as I am, I leave you to justify to yourself why it’s wrong to artificially grow POCs in a lab and enslave them, etc., but not wrong to slice and dice and throw what’s left in the trash.
But I digress.
Let’s get back to roots. The root of rights of the unborn extend to the root a racism in yet another way, and it’s one few know about, and certain people vehemently deny.
My husband had an excellent piece on this when he answered a challenge to name the Top Ten Worst Americans. It probably won’t surprise you, since he’s my husband, that Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger came in at #1 on his list (which means if you go read it you’ll have to scroll a bit.) But his reasons may surprise:
Blackgenocide.com adds to the grim statistics:
So not only in Abortion based on the same kind of logic that brought us slavery in America, the current movement began at least partially with racist intent, and to this day continues to be carried out in a racist fashion that targets, and is decimating, the Black community.
And now my secret is out of the bag. Though most have been lauding me for a gymnastics feat of Olympic proportions, it really came quite easily to go out on both limbs at the same time, by keeping the connecting spiritual roots of the two issues, roots that some people are bound to be outraged at me for exposing.
To balance this article out, let me add a couple things. "Frozen Generation" raises questions for pro-lifers, too. One such place is when the narrator, Azura “Mama” Borden, says of herself:
And the same it is today. Pro-lifers give money to pro-life causes, we even stand with sins and march in the streets. But how many take time to help out a mother who chose to raise her baby rather than kill her? How many adopt? Today, we don’t freeze aborted babies, but we do have thousands of frozen embryos left over from IVF, some of which are awaiting adoptive mothers willing to carry them to term through Nightlight’s Snowflake adoption program. How many of us, if God wanted us to step up, wouldn’t need struck barren before we would even consider it?
The question for pro-lifers is not only, “How far are you willing to go to stand for what you believe in?” but “How far is too far?” This ethical question is also left to the reader to sort out, but can be stated succinctly: in order to save a few babies, Azura Borden participates in the murder of many. Did Azura make the right ethical decision? I know what her argument for so many years was, more are alive as a result of her actions than if she had elected to stay home and do nothing, but I struggled within myself over this issue, and still am uncertain.
One more thing I’d like to leave you with. Those of us on the pro-life side, we all know that abortion is a sin, but what does the mother who had her own children murdered see in our eyes and hear in our words? Murderer? Reprobate? Deep in her heart, though she may deny it, she already knows this. Abortion is psychologically devastating for women. They even have a name for it, Post Abortion Syndrome. It’s true we live in a culture where more and more, we're having to go over the "you are a sinner" thing first; one won't seek forgiveness if they are not consciously aware of the need. But ultimately, the truth that this mother needs to hear is that despite her sin, God still loves her, and will forgive her.
If that’s you, and you haven’t yet drank of the living waters in the cup of forgiveness, please see this list of organizations offering bible studies to show you the way to healing and wholeness.
More links on this topic:
blackgenocide.org—Chart Comparing Abortion to other historical genocides
The Roots of Racism and Abortion
Racism, abortion, and black genocide
Margaret Sanger, Racist and Pro-Abortion:
planned parenthood's racism
Racism and Murder Why you should oppose Planned Parenthood! (the title uses the n-word)
WorldNetDaily: Planned Parenthood charged with racism
More links on Andrea Graham and her work:
Official Bio on the Lost Genre Guild
Homepage—Adamsweb.us
Ask Andrea (Christian Advice and Book reviews blog)
Advanced Orders for Light at the Edge of Darkness
Roots in Frozen Generation
By Andrea Graham
I must admit, it made me happy as a lark to get mentioned in Karri Compton’s review of Light at the Edge of Darkness yesterday:
Andrea Graham’s “Frozen Generation” explores the possibility of technology bringing frozen fetuses to term artificially, resulting in humans being used for spare parts. One woman tries to save as many babies as possible by smuggling them away and saving them from an uncertain future.
Bravo to Karri, and everyone else who has found a way to summarize the plot without mentioning abortion or racism. Honestly, with the possible exception of Cyn’s description (the line in the book’s summary about terrorists smuggling frozen embryos), this is the best yet.
I’ve heard many things about my story since we began this crazy quest June 2006, but one of the most consistent comments has been on how I combined the topics of racism and abortion. If the majority rules, the majority opinion has been that I went out on two limbs and managed not to land flat on my rump thirty feet down.
Would you like to know my secret to not crashing and burning big time in this adventure? Yes?
Easy, though in general I land on my rump more than I care to remember, in this case, I wasn’t actually standing on the two visible branches, but the shared root.
In America, racism originates from slavery, of course (it could be argued the other way around but I mean historically here) and what makes a human being a person with rights versus property with no rights, but rather subject to the will of the master.
Regardless of where you stand on abortion, the question at the root of the debate is what makes a human being a person with rights versus property with no rights, but rather subject to the will of the master. Only the particulars differ. In this case, the what is normally a temporary condition, being located in side the mother’s womb, the holder of power is the mother, and we prefer terms like “product of conception” rather than that hideous word “property,” but when a woman makes the claim, “it’s my body, it’s my choice” whether you agree with that logic or not, that is certainly a claim to property rights, with the emphasis on their supposed right to dispense with their property as they will.
Let me take time to speak to those who make such statements. In "Frozen Generation", by no means do I mean to argue with your claims to such power over the lives of your children. I merely apply the logic of the above argument to potential future technology and ask where your power to dispose of your property ends, should technology offer more lucrative means of disposal than the current options. You’re free to answer the question however you please.
I and other pro-lifers think this scenario is a nightmare, but if you're pro-choice, maybe it’s a dream come true. After all, not only would no one ever again die waiting for an organ transplant, the "wanted" children are protected(in theory) from childhood predators because these non-persons would provide an "appropriate" outlet for their "natural" sexual urges.
If, however, you're just as horrified by such ideas as I am, I leave you to justify to yourself why it’s wrong to artificially grow POCs in a lab and enslave them, etc., but not wrong to slice and dice and throw what’s left in the trash.
But I digress.
Let’s get back to roots. The root of rights of the unborn extend to the root a racism in yet another way, and it’s one few know about, and certain people vehemently deny.
My husband had an excellent piece on this when he answered a challenge to name the Top Ten Worst Americans. It probably won’t surprise you, since he’s my husband, that Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger came in at #1 on his list (which means if you go read it you’ll have to scroll a bit.) But his reasons may surprise:
…Sanger established Planned Parenthood with the goal of less "unfit" people breeding, including Blacks and other minorities. Sanger was undeniably a Fascist. She wrote, "Give dysgenic groups [people with 'bad genes'] in our population their choice of segregation or [compulsory] sterilization."
From Sanger sprang out a movement that treats children as a disease and finds the best solution to misery in human life as its destruction.
Julian Malveaux, a hard leftist, concluded that Sanger was a racist:
For all her positive influence, I see Sanger as a tarnished heroine whose embrace of the eugenics movement showed racial insensitivity, at best. From her associates, as well as from some of the articles that were published in Sanger's magazine, The Birth Control Review, it is possible to conclude that "racially insensitive" is too mild a description. Indeed, some of her statements, taken in or out of context, are simply racist. And she never rebuked eugenicists who believed in improving the hereditary qualities of a race or breed by controlling mating in order to eliminate "undesirable" characteristics and promote "desirable" traits.
Words that Sanger used like the "unfit," and "morons," were euphemisms for Blacks and other racial "inferiors" in a racist time. Many of Sanger's associates worked with the Nazis. Today, her group are missionaries of death, spreading it to the four corners of the globe. As for her own attempts at making a master race, of breeding out "the unfit," Planned Parenthood continues to work hard today, as 45% of Black babies die from abortion and 62.5% of Planned Parenthood clinics exist in areas with higher than average Black populations.
Blackgenocide.com adds to the grim statistics:
Minority women constitute only about 13% of the female population (age 15-44) in the United States, but they underwent approximately 36% of the abortions.
According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, black women are more than 3 times as likely as white women to have an abortion
On average, 1,452 black babies are aborted every day in the United States.
This incidence of abortion has resulted in a tremendous loss of life. It has been estimated that since 1973 Black women have had about 10 million abortions. Michael Novak had calculated "Since the number of current living Blacks (in the U.S.) is 31 million, the missing 10 million represents an enormous loss, for without abortion, America's Black community would now number 41 million persons. It would be 35 percent larger than it is. Abortion has swept through the Black community like a scythe, cutting down every fourth member.".
So not only in Abortion based on the same kind of logic that brought us slavery in America, the current movement began at least partially with racist intent, and to this day continues to be carried out in a racist fashion that targets, and is decimating, the Black community.
And now my secret is out of the bag. Though most have been lauding me for a gymnastics feat of Olympic proportions, it really came quite easily to go out on both limbs at the same time, by keeping the connecting spiritual roots of the two issues, roots that some people are bound to be outraged at me for exposing.
To balance this article out, let me add a couple things. "Frozen Generation" raises questions for pro-lifers, too. One such place is when the narrator, Azura “Mama” Borden, says of herself:
God appointed me to deliver the captives to safety, as Harriet Tubman had in centuries gone by. Only Harriet never hid her passengers in her own womb.
Granted, I only carried six to term. The rest I re-transplanted. Far too many completed their gestation in the artificial womb at my counter-breeder in the Deep South, of all places. It couldn’t be helped. Many would send money to help redeem these precious souls, but few stood up for the greatest need. Carrying them to term.
And the same it is today. Pro-lifers give money to pro-life causes, we even stand with sins and march in the streets. But how many take time to help out a mother who chose to raise her baby rather than kill her? How many adopt? Today, we don’t freeze aborted babies, but we do have thousands of frozen embryos left over from IVF, some of which are awaiting adoptive mothers willing to carry them to term through Nightlight’s Snowflake adoption program. How many of us, if God wanted us to step up, wouldn’t need struck barren before we would even consider it?
The question for pro-lifers is not only, “How far are you willing to go to stand for what you believe in?” but “How far is too far?” This ethical question is also left to the reader to sort out, but can be stated succinctly: in order to save a few babies, Azura Borden participates in the murder of many. Did Azura make the right ethical decision? I know what her argument for so many years was, more are alive as a result of her actions than if she had elected to stay home and do nothing, but I struggled within myself over this issue, and still am uncertain.
One more thing I’d like to leave you with. Those of us on the pro-life side, we all know that abortion is a sin, but what does the mother who had her own children murdered see in our eyes and hear in our words? Murderer? Reprobate? Deep in her heart, though she may deny it, she already knows this. Abortion is psychologically devastating for women. They even have a name for it, Post Abortion Syndrome. It’s true we live in a culture where more and more, we're having to go over the "you are a sinner" thing first; one won't seek forgiveness if they are not consciously aware of the need. But ultimately, the truth that this mother needs to hear is that despite her sin, God still loves her, and will forgive her.
If that’s you, and you haven’t yet drank of the living waters in the cup of forgiveness, please see this list of organizations offering bible studies to show you the way to healing and wholeness.
More links on this topic:
blackgenocide.org—Chart Comparing Abortion to other historical genocides
The Roots of Racism and Abortion
Racism, abortion, and black genocide
Margaret Sanger, Racist and Pro-Abortion:
planned parenthood's racism
Racism and Murder Why you should oppose Planned Parenthood! (the title uses the n-word)
WorldNetDaily: Planned Parenthood charged with racism
More links on Andrea Graham and her work:
Official Bio on the Lost Genre Guild
Homepage—Adamsweb.us
Ask Andrea (Christian Advice and Book reviews blog)
Advanced Orders for Light at the Edge of Darkness
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Come chat with me on Saturday!
First: Please join me in a live chat this Saturday, 12 noon Eastern US time at http://jolinsdell.tripod.com/ . Click on the chatroom, then type in a username and enter without a password. I'll be talking about Infinite Space, Infinite God, faith in fiction and promoting your books via virtual book tours.
Second: Please join me in my own chat room this Saturday, 8 PM Eastern US time when I'll be hosting Cynthia MacKinnon, editor of Light at the Edge of Darkness in my own chatroom. We'll be talking about the book, Christian speculative fiction and anything else you'd like to ask this talented lady. (For my review of Light at the Edge of Darkness, click here.)
If you have a book you'd like to promote, I can host you on a live chat in my chatroom or post a review or promotional blurb on my Virtual Book Tour de 'Net website.
Second: Please join me in my own chat room this Saturday, 8 PM Eastern US time when I'll be hosting Cynthia MacKinnon, editor of Light at the Edge of Darkness in my own chatroom. We'll be talking about the book, Christian speculative fiction and anything else you'd like to ask this talented lady. (For my review of Light at the Edge of Darkness, click here.)
If you have a book you'd like to promote, I can host you on a live chat in my chatroom or post a review or promotional blurb on my Virtual Book Tour de 'Net website.
Friday, February 02, 2007
Purgatory: A Homeschooling Mom's View
Last night, Steven and I experienced an interesting analogy for Purgatory. This year for homeschool, I'm making Steven and Amber do history on their own. Rather than take tests, they fill out the test sheets using the book, but they have to keep at it until they get an A. I've been working for years on giving them the skills to do this and do it well. Steven, however, is a lazy writer and does not pay attention to his work or the many helpful, repetitive comments I put on his papers. After 3 weeks of turning in some truly lousy work, I'd had it and told him we were staying up until he got every essay correct. We're talking about 6 chapter tests at a 7th grade level.
We were up until 1:30. He'd type something, I'd grade it, make comments, and send it back. He'd follow some comments, forget others. I'd point things out and send it back. Finally, when he was
really close, I'd sit with him, discuss the full "perfect" answers and give him his A. Oh, and believe me, it was painful for the both of us.
Back and forth, back and forth with admonitions and advice: Isn't that just like what God does with us in life? He gave us the laws and the prophets to tell us what to do; we ignore it. He gives us examples through Jesus and the saints; we can't figure out how to apply their example to our lives. He gives us grace; we mess up anyway. We put forth real effort, but still don't get it right. (Hey, we're only human, right?) Purgatory is that final effort by God to make us perfect in His sight so that we can behold the Perfection of Him.
I not only believe in Purgatory, but it comforts me a great deal. Jesus saved me from my sins, but (and I'm really sorry about this) He did not make me perfect as a result. God made us in His image, and made us the defining point between the material and the angelic. That means we have the potential to be sinless, but the weakness to be sinners. Toss in free will, since Jesus' saving us does not mean we become Christian automatons. The result: try as we might, we sin.
Last night, I yelled at my kids, mainly because I was so mad! If I'd had an aneurism and fallen over dead with "WHY CAN'T YOU LISTEN TO ME, EVER?!?!?" on my lips, I would not have been in a perfect state. Nothing imperfect can be in heaven. That is in Scripture.
But I died in love with Christ--just not expressing it well at that moment. Should I go to Hell? Can I throw away Christ's sacrifice and a lifetime of belief just because I lost my temper? Thankfully, God says, "No," and gives me the way to achieve perfection.
Thank you, God, for caring enough to help me do my best, to be patient when I fail, and to give me that one final chance to become perfect in your sight.
Here are a couple of websites for those who want more information.
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12575a.htm
http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2004/0411fea3.asp
http://www.ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/HOW2PURG.HTM
We were up until 1:30. He'd type something, I'd grade it, make comments, and send it back. He'd follow some comments, forget others. I'd point things out and send it back. Finally, when he was
really close, I'd sit with him, discuss the full "perfect" answers and give him his A. Oh, and believe me, it was painful for the both of us.
Back and forth, back and forth with admonitions and advice: Isn't that just like what God does with us in life? He gave us the laws and the prophets to tell us what to do; we ignore it. He gives us examples through Jesus and the saints; we can't figure out how to apply their example to our lives. He gives us grace; we mess up anyway. We put forth real effort, but still don't get it right. (Hey, we're only human, right?) Purgatory is that final effort by God to make us perfect in His sight so that we can behold the Perfection of Him.
I not only believe in Purgatory, but it comforts me a great deal. Jesus saved me from my sins, but (and I'm really sorry about this) He did not make me perfect as a result. God made us in His image, and made us the defining point between the material and the angelic. That means we have the potential to be sinless, but the weakness to be sinners. Toss in free will, since Jesus' saving us does not mean we become Christian automatons. The result: try as we might, we sin.
Last night, I yelled at my kids, mainly because I was so mad! If I'd had an aneurism and fallen over dead with "WHY CAN'T YOU LISTEN TO ME, EVER?!?!?" on my lips, I would not have been in a perfect state. Nothing imperfect can be in heaven. That is in Scripture.
But I died in love with Christ--just not expressing it well at that moment. Should I go to Hell? Can I throw away Christ's sacrifice and a lifetime of belief just because I lost my temper? Thankfully, God says, "No," and gives me the way to achieve perfection.
Thank you, God, for caring enough to help me do my best, to be patient when I fail, and to give me that one final chance to become perfect in your sight.
Here are a couple of websites for those who want more information.
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12575a.htm
http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2004/0411fea3.asp
http://www.ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/HOW2PURG.HTM
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
What's in a Name?
This week, I acquired several new monikers: Katrina, Kristina, Sabrina, and Fabrina. That's got to be a record for name massacres, though not an unusual occurrence for me.
I love my name. It's a beautiful name, but for some reason, it's one of those easily spelled names that's hard for people to spell.
Before we begin, it's Karina Lynn-Gay (Lumbert) Fabian. Feel free to refer back to it.
All my life, I've had problems with my name. Start with Karina. Seems intuitively, phonetically obvious, right? Nonetheless, I get Corrina, Carina, and any other combination thereof. "Katrina" seems to be the most common, though I've sometimes had "Sabrina" tossed in just to spice things up.
Then there's Lumbert. How hard can that be? Elementary school kids can spell "lumber" just fine, but ask an adult to to tack a T on the end and for some reason, they're baffled about the U. Maybe there's a silent T rule I was never taught.
Remember Barney Miller, and how no one could pronounce Officer Wojohowitz's name? He'd hold up his name plate and shout, "Wo-jo-ho-witz! It sounds just like its spelled!" I wanted to shout, "Lum-Bert. It's spelled just like it sounds!"
When I fell in love with Rob Fabian, I must admit there was a certain attraction to the name. Fabian. It flowed so nicely with Karina--all those i's and a's. And it was so easy to spell!
Ha! Fabina. Fabin. Faiban. And I can't count the number of times we've had someone lose a file or dry cleaning or what-have-you until we suggest they look under S. (Sabian) This despite the 60s singer who made the name famous. (Could he really have done it just for the money?)
The first time I was in a high school play, they spelled my name wrong in the program. Already stressed, I burst into tears. The teacher told me, "Some day your name will be in lights, and it will be spelled correctly." In the meantime, I've developed a sense of humor about it all. God loves me and calls me by name--my correct name.
I never wanted it in lights--just in print. Well, it's been in print--three craft books and two anthologies and counting. One of the craft books has it spelled "Katrina Fabian." It'll get fixed in the next print run.
Ironically, in the week that I experienced all these creative namings, I got a check for the reprint rights to an article I did on the questionable wisdom of giving your baby an unusual or hard-to-spell name. It was made out to "Karina Fabian."
Nice to see it spelled right where it counts.
I love my name. It's a beautiful name, but for some reason, it's one of those easily spelled names that's hard for people to spell.
Before we begin, it's Karina Lynn-Gay (Lumbert) Fabian. Feel free to refer back to it.
All my life, I've had problems with my name. Start with Karina. Seems intuitively, phonetically obvious, right? Nonetheless, I get Corrina, Carina, and any other combination thereof. "Katrina" seems to be the most common, though I've sometimes had "Sabrina" tossed in just to spice things up.
Then there's Lumbert. How hard can that be? Elementary school kids can spell "lumber" just fine, but ask an adult to to tack a T on the end and for some reason, they're baffled about the U. Maybe there's a silent T rule I was never taught.
Remember Barney Miller, and how no one could pronounce Officer Wojohowitz's name? He'd hold up his name plate and shout, "Wo-jo-ho-witz! It sounds just like its spelled!" I wanted to shout, "Lum-Bert. It's spelled just like it sounds!"
When I fell in love with Rob Fabian, I must admit there was a certain attraction to the name. Fabian. It flowed so nicely with Karina--all those i's and a's. And it was so easy to spell!
Ha! Fabina. Fabin. Faiban. And I can't count the number of times we've had someone lose a file or dry cleaning or what-have-you until we suggest they look under S. (Sabian) This despite the 60s singer who made the name famous. (Could he really have done it just for the money?)
The first time I was in a high school play, they spelled my name wrong in the program. Already stressed, I burst into tears. The teacher told me, "Some day your name will be in lights, and it will be spelled correctly." In the meantime, I've developed a sense of humor about it all. God loves me and calls me by name--my correct name.
I never wanted it in lights--just in print. Well, it's been in print--three craft books and two anthologies and counting. One of the craft books has it spelled "Katrina Fabian." It'll get fixed in the next print run.
Ironically, in the week that I experienced all these creative namings, I got a check for the reprint rights to an article I did on the questionable wisdom of giving your baby an unusual or hard-to-spell name. It was made out to "Karina Fabian."
Nice to see it spelled right where it counts.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Going to Minot!
Got more news we've been waiting for--Rob got a Squadron Command and we'll be heading to Minot Air Force Base, ND, late this summer!
Minot Air Force Base is home to two major Air Force units: the 5th Bomb Wing and the 91st Space Wing. The 5th Bomb Wing hosts a fleet of B-52H Stratofortress bombers. The 91st Space Wing maintains a fleet of 150 Minuteman III missiles located in underground launch facilities scattered across the northwest part of North Dakota.
What's Minot like? Here are the slogans:
A Squadron Command is a big deal in the Air Force and a dream of Rob's for many years. I'm thrilled to see his dream come true at last. He'll be heading the 91st Maintenance Operations Squadon, which is a good fit for him, since it handles training and logistics. He's also done (and excelled in) maintenance operations as a Flight Commander at F.E. Warren AFB, so it'll also be something a little different. I'm personally pleased that we'll be living on base, so he'll have a short drive to work--if he doesn't ride his bike.
The base sounds terrific as does the community--lots of activities for the kids (including theater for Amber) and for us. (One of his friends who's at Minot told Rob that I need to get a couple of ball gowns. Yippee!) We're thinking of letting the kids try a year of school since it's on the closed community of the base and they are already looking forward to the youth center and being able to ride their bikes around the neighborhood and actually around the corner. There are zoos, great parks, snowboarding... And best of all for a shy driver like me, it's all pretty close and low traffic.
Can't say I'm looking forward to the cold or snow--I got spoiled here in warm Virginia--but as far as the base and the family opportunities, I'm psyched.
Most of all, though, I'm looking forward to Rob getting his stint as the "old man" of the squadron. He's so excited.
Minot Air Force Base is home to two major Air Force units: the 5th Bomb Wing and the 91st Space Wing. The 5th Bomb Wing hosts a fleet of B-52H Stratofortress bombers. The 91st Space Wing maintains a fleet of 150 Minuteman III missiles located in underground launch facilities scattered across the northwest part of North Dakota.
What's Minot like? Here are the slogans:
Guardians of the Upper Realm.
Why not Minot? Freezin's the Reason!
Where the best go North--and are better when they go forth!
You don't need to lock your doors.
A Squadron Command is a big deal in the Air Force and a dream of Rob's for many years. I'm thrilled to see his dream come true at last. He'll be heading the 91st Maintenance Operations Squadon, which is a good fit for him, since it handles training and logistics. He's also done (and excelled in) maintenance operations as a Flight Commander at F.E. Warren AFB, so it'll also be something a little different. I'm personally pleased that we'll be living on base, so he'll have a short drive to work--if he doesn't ride his bike.
The base sounds terrific as does the community--lots of activities for the kids (including theater for Amber) and for us. (One of his friends who's at Minot told Rob that I need to get a couple of ball gowns. Yippee!) We're thinking of letting the kids try a year of school since it's on the closed community of the base and they are already looking forward to the youth center and being able to ride their bikes around the neighborhood and actually around the corner. There are zoos, great parks, snowboarding... And best of all for a shy driver like me, it's all pretty close and low traffic.
Can't say I'm looking forward to the cold or snow--I got spoiled here in warm Virginia--but as far as the base and the family opportunities, I'm psyched.
Most of all, though, I'm looking forward to Rob getting his stint as the "old man" of the squadron. He's so excited.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Guest Blog: March for Life
Yesterday, thousands of people met in Washington DC for a preaceful protest against abortion. Today, I tried to look up some details, but not Yahoo!, my local paper, or Google produced any results. The Washington Times had an article yeterday, saying they expected 20,000, but no follow-up today. Hmmm
Today, I have a guest blogger Joe Gillin, whose blog, Life at the Frontier, I highly recommend. I think his article speaks well for those 20,000 who braved the cold yesterday--and for the millions of us who were with them in spirit.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Why We March
This is a slightly revised and updated article I first wrote and posted in 2004 at this time.
Moday, January 22, marks the 34th anniversary of the infamous Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton Supreme Court decisions which imposed abortion-on-demand in the United States. Once again, concerned citizens will gather on Monday for the annual March for Life, which in recent years has usually drawn more than 100,000 participants. Now, why do so many people consider it so important to take time on a weekday to come to Washington, DC at the coldest time of the year to make their voice heard on this matter?
Before I go on any further, I need to say a couple of things. First, nothing in this article is meant to condemn anyone who has had an abortion or has been involved in abortion in some way. Far from condemning those with an abortion in their past, the people in the prolife movement are about healing and forgiveness, and want it to be clear that there is hope after abortion. Post-abortion counseling can be found through many church denominations and pregnancy counseling centers.
And second, while the prolife movement consists largely of people with strong religious convictions who feel called by God to defend the defenseless, that doesn't make the protection of human life a narrow, religious issue. The facts that the defenseless exist and that they deserve protection in the human family can be persuasively advocated by non-religiously reasoned arguments.
First, let's start with a little scientific background (from the Science for Unborn Human Life website) about how each of us began our lives as unique human beings. A new human being is conceived when a sperm fertilizes an egg. The sperm has 23 chromosomes and so does the egg. But the fertilized egg has 46, half from each parent, and is genetically unique. These 46 chromosomes, which are fixed at conception, establish the child's sex and are a blueprint for how it will develop, both during pregnancy and after birth.
Blood vessels start to form very early, about 13-18 days after fertilization. Then, on about the 20th day - nearly the end of the third week - the foundation of the brain, the spinal cord, and the entire nervous system is established. The heart begins to beat on about the 22nd day after conception, circulating blood throughout the child. The arms begin to form on about day 26, followed by the beginnings of the legs on day 28, the same day that the mouth opens for the first time.
Both the eyes and ears are developing rapidly during the seventh week after conception. At this time, the thumbs, neck, heels of the feet and all of the fingers are also present. Taste buds begin to form during the eighth week after conception. All parts of the limbs are apparent at this time. In addition, the fingers and toes have lengthened and are completely separated.
By the end of the eighth week the overwhelming majority (several thousand) of the body's organs, structures and systems have already begun to develop. Few, if any, new structures begin to form after this time. During the remainder of the pregnancy, development consists mainly of growth and maturation of the parts of the body that are already present.
Isolated arm, leg and backward head movements begin at about 7 to 10 weeks after conception. During the ninth week, a regular pattern of breathing movements is observed, with a median frequency of about 30 breaths each hour.
These are just the highlights of how you developed during the first 2-3 months of your life. Now consider that a majority of abortions are performed during the tenth to twelfth week of gestation. Some are performed much later in the pregnancy, when the child has grown larger and any unbiased observer would recognize a baby when they see one.
So why if the evidence so clearly indicates that a unique human life begins at conception, how did the deliberate and violent destruction of that life come to be imposed as a 'constitutional right'? Time does not permit describing the whole history of abortion or the intertwining influences of the eugenics and population control movements. Let's start with the socially turbulent late sixties when a growing pro-abortion movement subversively exploited the legitimate aspirations of women for greater rights and participation in society.
Dr. Bernard Nathanson, former abortionist and co-founder of the pro-abortion group NARAL, has since changed his mind and heart and is now a leading prolife advocate. He points out the disinformation at the heart of the pro-abortion campaign.
- "The statistics that we gave to the American public about illegal abortions annually; the statistics we fabricated regarding the number of women dying from illegal abortions annually; all of these matters were pure fabrication and still persist to this very day."
- "We spoke of 5,000 to 10,000 deaths a year. I confess that I knew the figures were totally false. It was a useful figure, widely accepted, so why go out of our way to correct it with honest statistics?"
- "We in NARAL were in the business of coining slogans principally for the media . . . we scattered catchy slogans for them . . . to use . . . in their stories. Slogans like "reproductive rights", "freedom of choice", "pro-choice". For many years we've known them to be hollow and meaningless. They're just catchy and, essentially, without substance."
The movement made rapid progress. California, New York and a few other states passed 'liberalized' abortion laws (though some other states rejected them). But what imposed abortion on American law were two Supreme Court cases, Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, pronounced on January 22, 1973. The combined effect of the two decisions was to effectively impose abortion-on-demand throughout the nine months of pregnancy. Since that time, over forty five million human beings have been exterminated by abortion in the United States.
Aside from the grave issue that was decided, the finding that abortion is part of a constitutional 'right of privacy' is considered an overreach of judicial power even by some legal scholars who describe themselves as 'prochoice'. The 'reasoning' was based on 'penumbras' the justices claim to have seen in the constitution.
Did you know that the two plaintiffs in the Roe and Doe cases, Norma McCorvey and Sandra Cano, have filed affidavits to the effect that they were manipulated into their roles and that the decisions should be overturned? You would think that this development would be considered unprecedented in Supreme Court history, but I guess Dan Rather, Katie Couric, the New York Times, etc. forgot to inform you.
One fact that is becoming evident that abortion-on-demand is not such a great thing for women. Abortion has left many women emotionally and sometimes physically scarred. Campaigns such as Silent No More and Women Deserve Better are tapping into this hidden anguish.
Also evident is the effect on our society, with conflicting attitudes on how we treat not only the unborn, but also the sick, disabled and elderly. Consider the heart wrenching case of the judicially imposed death of Terri Schindler-Schiavo. Abortion has torn marriages and families apart, and led to a hardened and increasingly violent culture. The raging debate over embryonic stem cell research and human cloning shows the growing risk posed by a disregard for the dignity of every human life.
So, we have had for the past thirty years, a culture that in some ways has grown cynical, forgoing the promise of a hopeful future for instant gratification, or more often, the resignation to unimaginative 'solutions' that pit mother against child or people against the planet. One is reminded of a quote from the great Irish poet William Butler Yeats:
"The blood-dimmed tide is loosed and everywhere a ceremony of innocence was drowned."
These Supreme Court abortion decisions were assumed to have 'settled' the issue in our society. Yet much to the consternation of the pro-abortion establishment, the movement of concerned citizens to protect life has only grown in strength over the past thirty years. The prolife movement has pursued multiple paths: educating the public, lobbying and litigating for change, participating in politics, and especially reaching out to help women with unplanned pregnancies. On the political front, abortion played a decisive role in the 2004 Election results and in the confirmation hearings of John Roberts and Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court.
Particularly significant is that the change in public attitudes on abortion is most striking among young people (who've lost peers they've never met). This is manifested in polling results and an upsurge of prolife activism among college students, much to the consternation of their professors and, in some cases, their parents. Sort of adds a new twist to some lyrics from the sixties by Buffalo Springfield:
"Young people speaking their minds, Getting so much resistance from behind."
So the buses are starting to roll, as thousands from distant states once again journey to Washington, where many will gather in prayer the night before or the morning of the March. Then we will rally and march, knowing that those we are trying to defend would some day defend our nation, write great literature, cure disease, compose stirring music, and explore and begin to settle the Solar System.
But more than for their potential accomplishments, we speak out for them simply because of the inherent dignity of each of their lives. In so doing we are responding to a great calling as individuals and as a civilization. And we'll continue to speak and march and work and pray, confident in the hope that, one of these years, we'll no longer face the cold winds. Instead, we'll gather on a warm spring day to celebrate the inclusion of the youngest in the human family within the protection of the law.
Today, I have a guest blogger Joe Gillin, whose blog, Life at the Frontier, I highly recommend. I think his article speaks well for those 20,000 who braved the cold yesterday--and for the millions of us who were with them in spirit.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Why We March
This is a slightly revised and updated article I first wrote and posted in 2004 at this time.
Moday, January 22, marks the 34th anniversary of the infamous Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton Supreme Court decisions which imposed abortion-on-demand in the United States. Once again, concerned citizens will gather on Monday for the annual March for Life, which in recent years has usually drawn more than 100,000 participants. Now, why do so many people consider it so important to take time on a weekday to come to Washington, DC at the coldest time of the year to make their voice heard on this matter?
Before I go on any further, I need to say a couple of things. First, nothing in this article is meant to condemn anyone who has had an abortion or has been involved in abortion in some way. Far from condemning those with an abortion in their past, the people in the prolife movement are about healing and forgiveness, and want it to be clear that there is hope after abortion. Post-abortion counseling can be found through many church denominations and pregnancy counseling centers.
And second, while the prolife movement consists largely of people with strong religious convictions who feel called by God to defend the defenseless, that doesn't make the protection of human life a narrow, religious issue. The facts that the defenseless exist and that they deserve protection in the human family can be persuasively advocated by non-religiously reasoned arguments.
First, let's start with a little scientific background (from the Science for Unborn Human Life website) about how each of us began our lives as unique human beings. A new human being is conceived when a sperm fertilizes an egg. The sperm has 23 chromosomes and so does the egg. But the fertilized egg has 46, half from each parent, and is genetically unique. These 46 chromosomes, which are fixed at conception, establish the child's sex and are a blueprint for how it will develop, both during pregnancy and after birth.
Blood vessels start to form very early, about 13-18 days after fertilization. Then, on about the 20th day - nearly the end of the third week - the foundation of the brain, the spinal cord, and the entire nervous system is established. The heart begins to beat on about the 22nd day after conception, circulating blood throughout the child. The arms begin to form on about day 26, followed by the beginnings of the legs on day 28, the same day that the mouth opens for the first time.
Both the eyes and ears are developing rapidly during the seventh week after conception. At this time, the thumbs, neck, heels of the feet and all of the fingers are also present. Taste buds begin to form during the eighth week after conception. All parts of the limbs are apparent at this time. In addition, the fingers and toes have lengthened and are completely separated.
By the end of the eighth week the overwhelming majority (several thousand) of the body's organs, structures and systems have already begun to develop. Few, if any, new structures begin to form after this time. During the remainder of the pregnancy, development consists mainly of growth and maturation of the parts of the body that are already present.
Isolated arm, leg and backward head movements begin at about 7 to 10 weeks after conception. During the ninth week, a regular pattern of breathing movements is observed, with a median frequency of about 30 breaths each hour.
These are just the highlights of how you developed during the first 2-3 months of your life. Now consider that a majority of abortions are performed during the tenth to twelfth week of gestation. Some are performed much later in the pregnancy, when the child has grown larger and any unbiased observer would recognize a baby when they see one.
So why if the evidence so clearly indicates that a unique human life begins at conception, how did the deliberate and violent destruction of that life come to be imposed as a 'constitutional right'? Time does not permit describing the whole history of abortion or the intertwining influences of the eugenics and population control movements. Let's start with the socially turbulent late sixties when a growing pro-abortion movement subversively exploited the legitimate aspirations of women for greater rights and participation in society.
Dr. Bernard Nathanson, former abortionist and co-founder of the pro-abortion group NARAL, has since changed his mind and heart and is now a leading prolife advocate. He points out the disinformation at the heart of the pro-abortion campaign.
- "The statistics that we gave to the American public about illegal abortions annually; the statistics we fabricated regarding the number of women dying from illegal abortions annually; all of these matters were pure fabrication and still persist to this very day."
- "We spoke of 5,000 to 10,000 deaths a year. I confess that I knew the figures were totally false. It was a useful figure, widely accepted, so why go out of our way to correct it with honest statistics?"
- "We in NARAL were in the business of coining slogans principally for the media . . . we scattered catchy slogans for them . . . to use . . . in their stories. Slogans like "reproductive rights", "freedom of choice", "pro-choice". For many years we've known them to be hollow and meaningless. They're just catchy and, essentially, without substance."
The movement made rapid progress. California, New York and a few other states passed 'liberalized' abortion laws (though some other states rejected them). But what imposed abortion on American law were two Supreme Court cases, Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, pronounced on January 22, 1973. The combined effect of the two decisions was to effectively impose abortion-on-demand throughout the nine months of pregnancy. Since that time, over forty five million human beings have been exterminated by abortion in the United States.
Aside from the grave issue that was decided, the finding that abortion is part of a constitutional 'right of privacy' is considered an overreach of judicial power even by some legal scholars who describe themselves as 'prochoice'. The 'reasoning' was based on 'penumbras' the justices claim to have seen in the constitution.
Did you know that the two plaintiffs in the Roe and Doe cases, Norma McCorvey and Sandra Cano, have filed affidavits to the effect that they were manipulated into their roles and that the decisions should be overturned? You would think that this development would be considered unprecedented in Supreme Court history, but I guess Dan Rather, Katie Couric, the New York Times, etc. forgot to inform you.
One fact that is becoming evident that abortion-on-demand is not such a great thing for women. Abortion has left many women emotionally and sometimes physically scarred. Campaigns such as Silent No More and Women Deserve Better are tapping into this hidden anguish.
Also evident is the effect on our society, with conflicting attitudes on how we treat not only the unborn, but also the sick, disabled and elderly. Consider the heart wrenching case of the judicially imposed death of Terri Schindler-Schiavo. Abortion has torn marriages and families apart, and led to a hardened and increasingly violent culture. The raging debate over embryonic stem cell research and human cloning shows the growing risk posed by a disregard for the dignity of every human life.
So, we have had for the past thirty years, a culture that in some ways has grown cynical, forgoing the promise of a hopeful future for instant gratification, or more often, the resignation to unimaginative 'solutions' that pit mother against child or people against the planet. One is reminded of a quote from the great Irish poet William Butler Yeats:
"The blood-dimmed tide is loosed and everywhere a ceremony of innocence was drowned."
These Supreme Court abortion decisions were assumed to have 'settled' the issue in our society. Yet much to the consternation of the pro-abortion establishment, the movement of concerned citizens to protect life has only grown in strength over the past thirty years. The prolife movement has pursued multiple paths: educating the public, lobbying and litigating for change, participating in politics, and especially reaching out to help women with unplanned pregnancies. On the political front, abortion played a decisive role in the 2004 Election results and in the confirmation hearings of John Roberts and Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court.
Particularly significant is that the change in public attitudes on abortion is most striking among young people (who've lost peers they've never met). This is manifested in polling results and an upsurge of prolife activism among college students, much to the consternation of their professors and, in some cases, their parents. Sort of adds a new twist to some lyrics from the sixties by Buffalo Springfield:
"Young people speaking their minds, Getting so much resistance from behind."
So the buses are starting to roll, as thousands from distant states once again journey to Washington, where many will gather in prayer the night before or the morning of the March. Then we will rally and march, knowing that those we are trying to defend would some day defend our nation, write great literature, cure disease, compose stirring music, and explore and begin to settle the Solar System.
But more than for their potential accomplishments, we speak out for them simply because of the inherent dignity of each of their lives. In so doing we are responding to a great calling as individuals and as a civilization. And we'll continue to speak and march and work and pray, confident in the hope that, one of these years, we'll no longer face the cold winds. Instead, we'll gather on a warm spring day to celebrate the inclusion of the youngest in the human family within the protection of the law.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Tip: Cute Party Favors
A friend sent this link in her newsletter: http://www.plumdrama.com/ It's a place to buy personalized candy tins. The owner is offering a free tin to the Valentine of the first 25 bloggers who mention him. Since Rob is in Norfolk next month, it seemed like a neat surprise, so I checked out the site.
Yeah, they're gimmicky, but they're kind of cute, and considering the amount of money most parents spend on little party bags full of plastic junk that gets thrown out a week later, they're not a bad deal. They could make neat thank-you gift for Christmas to all the teachers, hairdressers, and anyone else you like to give a little something to. (Do we all really need another pretty candle or fancy soap?) If you need some kind of promotional gimmick and have the money to spend, they are worth looking at.
I'm going to bookmark them. It's a few years until Quinceneras or weddings, but may as well think ahead.
Yeah, they're gimmicky, but they're kind of cute, and considering the amount of money most parents spend on little party bags full of plastic junk that gets thrown out a week later, they're not a bad deal. They could make neat thank-you gift for Christmas to all the teachers, hairdressers, and anyone else you like to give a little something to. (Do we all really need another pretty candle or fancy soap?) If you need some kind of promotional gimmick and have the money to spend, they are worth looking at.
I'm going to bookmark them. It's a few years until Quinceneras or weddings, but may as well think ahead.
Friday, January 19, 2007
My wait with DAW
Caution: This post is almost as long as my wait.
Ironically, after my last post, I heard from DAW about my trilogy, The Miscria. After 2 years, 3 months of consideration, it was rejected. I want to thank Peter Stampfel, the editor and first reader at DAW, for his kind words and patience. He encouraged me to write the second book in the trilogy and kept me up-to-date on the wait. Even though they will not be publishing The Miscria, it's been a valuable experience.
As I shared this news on writers' groups, the most common response was "Why would you wait 2 years?" Here's why I waited.
DAW is a big publisher and some of my favorite authors got their start with them, so publishing with them would have been the fulfillment of a dream.
I did receive responses from DAW. The first was a request for the second book in the trilogy along with a warning that this was going to be a timely process and a request for patience. DAW is a big publishing house with a small staff. They were undergoing organizational changes. They had been acquired by another company that promised more staff but hadn't delivered…
For a year, I've talked with Peter Stampfel quarterly. On the phone. Peter was a stressed, busy man; I could hear it in his voice. Nonetheless, he took 10-20 minutes to talk to me and answer my questions. He remembered the books and enjoyed them. They were on the top of the second read pile, ahead of others that had been there even longer. The second reader had not even touched the pile. She was also in charge of already-commissioned works and was having trouble with authors not meeting their deadlines. He even put me on hold while he went to find out answers to my questions ("Why did you select this first-time writer? Was he agented? Was he in the slush? How long did he wait?")
It's been an interesting education into the publishing world. Perhaps it's not the most courteous of things to make someone wait so long, but I also went in knowing DAW has a waiting time of 3 years in some cases, and that for some publishing houses, these kinds of waits on unagented manuscripts are not unusual.
There's also a responsibility on us writers. We have an obligation to only send out our best. We've all read laments from agents and editors about the dreck they have to go through to find the gems--and with computer technology, that has only gotten worse. We also have an obligation once we've "made it" to be true to our craft and our obligations. (Once when I called, they were having problems with an author who hadn't even started a book that was slated for release--he or she was spending too much time on the Internet. I know someone who ghostwrites for another author because that person is unable to complete his contract. The contracted author has not even read "his" latest books, yet guess who gets a portion of the royalties?) That's also one reason why so many publishing houses are looking for agented work--they can be reasonably sure the agent has QC'd the manuscript and will watchdog the author about his obligations.
So, despite my jokes about my manuscripts "collecting dust" at DAW, I do not believe I was neglected then rejected. Nor was I sitting around pinning my hopes on an impossible dream. It was a considered gamble that didn't pan out. And you all know I've been busy in the meantime. BTW--I have more interviews out on Infinite Space, Infinite God--check out the web site.
Monday, I begin again, a little less patient and a little wiser. The Miscria will find a publishing home, and perhaps I'll try DAW again later--with an agented contract.
Ironically, after my last post, I heard from DAW about my trilogy, The Miscria. After 2 years, 3 months of consideration, it was rejected. I want to thank Peter Stampfel, the editor and first reader at DAW, for his kind words and patience. He encouraged me to write the second book in the trilogy and kept me up-to-date on the wait. Even though they will not be publishing The Miscria, it's been a valuable experience.
As I shared this news on writers' groups, the most common response was "Why would you wait 2 years?" Here's why I waited.
DAW is a big publisher and some of my favorite authors got their start with them, so publishing with them would have been the fulfillment of a dream.
I did receive responses from DAW. The first was a request for the second book in the trilogy along with a warning that this was going to be a timely process and a request for patience. DAW is a big publishing house with a small staff. They were undergoing organizational changes. They had been acquired by another company that promised more staff but hadn't delivered…
For a year, I've talked with Peter Stampfel quarterly. On the phone. Peter was a stressed, busy man; I could hear it in his voice. Nonetheless, he took 10-20 minutes to talk to me and answer my questions. He remembered the books and enjoyed them. They were on the top of the second read pile, ahead of others that had been there even longer. The second reader had not even touched the pile. She was also in charge of already-commissioned works and was having trouble with authors not meeting their deadlines. He even put me on hold while he went to find out answers to my questions ("Why did you select this first-time writer? Was he agented? Was he in the slush? How long did he wait?")
It's been an interesting education into the publishing world. Perhaps it's not the most courteous of things to make someone wait so long, but I also went in knowing DAW has a waiting time of 3 years in some cases, and that for some publishing houses, these kinds of waits on unagented manuscripts are not unusual.
There's also a responsibility on us writers. We have an obligation to only send out our best. We've all read laments from agents and editors about the dreck they have to go through to find the gems--and with computer technology, that has only gotten worse. We also have an obligation once we've "made it" to be true to our craft and our obligations. (Once when I called, they were having problems with an author who hadn't even started a book that was slated for release--he or she was spending too much time on the Internet. I know someone who ghostwrites for another author because that person is unable to complete his contract. The contracted author has not even read "his" latest books, yet guess who gets a portion of the royalties?) That's also one reason why so many publishing houses are looking for agented work--they can be reasonably sure the agent has QC'd the manuscript and will watchdog the author about his obligations.
So, despite my jokes about my manuscripts "collecting dust" at DAW, I do not believe I was neglected then rejected. Nor was I sitting around pinning my hopes on an impossible dream. It was a considered gamble that didn't pan out. And you all know I've been busy in the meantime. BTW--I have more interviews out on Infinite Space, Infinite God--check out the web site.
Monday, I begin again, a little less patient and a little wiser. The Miscria will find a publishing home, and perhaps I'll try DAW again later--with an agented contract.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Hating the Waiting
God grant me patience--and make it fast!
The thing I hate most about writing is the waiting. I can handle the times when a story won't work its way out of my head--I plow through it or go on to some other project. I can handle critiques--they either make me a better writer or aren't worth my attention. I can even handle rejection--I whine for a few minutes, maybe have some chocolate, then I brush it off and go on. But waiting!
Waiting to a Catholic writer is like getting an early glimpse of Purgatory.
I handle waiting in two ways. The easiest is selective amnesia. Despite messages on my calendar, saved e-mails, and notes made on the folders, I've probably forgotten about half the query letters, stories and essays I've sent out. Once in a long while, I go back over my files. I could make a TV show: The Untold Stories Behind the Untold Stories. Tonight's Episode: "The 'Must Sell.'"
SCENE: Late night. Our author, with wild hair and pajamas, hunches over her desk. She's sitting away from the desk and must reach to write on it. A baby lays face down across her lap.
VOICEOVER: NARRATOR: September 2000: It was 1 AM on a Thursday night. The baby had been nursed to sleep for the second time, and writer Karina Fabian had finished a story. The printer hums as she fills out the envelope.
VOICEOVER: KARINA: It was definitely my best work, and I was determined to get it published. I'd researched the markets and made a list. As always, I made two envelopes that night. One would go off right away. The other would wait in case the first one was rejected.
SCENE: Flipping calendar, children growing, dust collecting on the story.
SCENE: Different house, full of the sound of playing and sometimes bickering kids. Our author, now with wrinkles and wild hair, but no pajamas, sneaks into her office, closes the door on the sound, and sighs. She opens the drawer, pulls out a file. There's still one envelope in it. She pulls out the manuscript, puzzled.
VOICEOVER: KARINA, TEARFUL: I don’t know what happened. There were children, and other stories, a new book…I became confused. I neglected it. I should have followed up. I blame myself, but--why, why didn't I get a letter?!
VOICEOVER: NARRATOR: Why, indeed. Today, the investigative reporters of The Untold Stories will follow that story to its bitter end. Did it find its way to the editor? Did the editor see it? Did he have big plans for it, but was suddenly killed when a 300-pound manuscript written in pencil fell from his "reject with malice" pile? Or did he shred her story in a case of mistaken identity and caffeine-induced fury? Was there a rejection letter? What about follow-ups--were they sent? Received? Find out after these words from "Writing Success in 30 Days or Less."
Sometimes, I get a terrific surprise--like when I got a $40 check for a story that I had written for a magazine six years before and heard nothing more about. It was one of my first stories, written specifically for that magazine, so I'd pretty much given it up for unpublishable. Other times, I'll look at a forgotten story and think, "Whew! Hope it was lost in the mail!"
With novels, however, I obsess. How long do I wait until I follow-up? E-mail? Call? I've been known to have days where the fate of a manuscript comes to my mind and I can't concentrate all day. I pace, edgy and restless as a lioness in her cage, debating. It's been 3 months since my last e-mail? Do I follow up? The guidelines say… Maybe I should give it one more week… No, no. Call him. Be friendly. Just gotta know, just gotta know…
This is what's happening with my fantasy trilogy. It's at my dream publisher, waiting. Waiting. I wrote, got encouraging words, even a request for book II. Sent the book. Waited. Wrote again. After a year, I called. Every quarter, I call, get encouraging words and a request for patience. I wait, look for an agent. (Waiting there, too.)
I fill my time with other projects. I have a terrific anthology out, Infinite Space, Infinite God--another long awaited dream--and I've got stories and series and novels to write.
I try not to imagine myself as some desperate teenager waiting by the phone while the guy who said he'd call me is out cavorting with other girls with flashier covers and popular names like "Mercedes"…
I wonder if God isn't holding this back until I'm more ready. Right now, my kids are at the laughing, playing, bickering stage. My life is full with their raising, loving and learning. Do I really need more?
YES!! I NEED ANSWERS, MISTER!
I know the publishing world is swamped, and with books as good as mine, but I so hate waiting!
The thing I hate most about writing is the waiting. I can handle the times when a story won't work its way out of my head--I plow through it or go on to some other project. I can handle critiques--they either make me a better writer or aren't worth my attention. I can even handle rejection--I whine for a few minutes, maybe have some chocolate, then I brush it off and go on. But waiting!
Waiting to a Catholic writer is like getting an early glimpse of Purgatory.
I handle waiting in two ways. The easiest is selective amnesia. Despite messages on my calendar, saved e-mails, and notes made on the folders, I've probably forgotten about half the query letters, stories and essays I've sent out. Once in a long while, I go back over my files. I could make a TV show: The Untold Stories Behind the Untold Stories. Tonight's Episode: "The 'Must Sell.'"
SCENE: Late night. Our author, with wild hair and pajamas, hunches over her desk. She's sitting away from the desk and must reach to write on it. A baby lays face down across her lap.
VOICEOVER: NARRATOR: September 2000: It was 1 AM on a Thursday night. The baby had been nursed to sleep for the second time, and writer Karina Fabian had finished a story. The printer hums as she fills out the envelope.
VOICEOVER: KARINA: It was definitely my best work, and I was determined to get it published. I'd researched the markets and made a list. As always, I made two envelopes that night. One would go off right away. The other would wait in case the first one was rejected.
SCENE: Flipping calendar, children growing, dust collecting on the story.
SCENE: Different house, full of the sound of playing and sometimes bickering kids. Our author, now with wrinkles and wild hair, but no pajamas, sneaks into her office, closes the door on the sound, and sighs. She opens the drawer, pulls out a file. There's still one envelope in it. She pulls out the manuscript, puzzled.
VOICEOVER: KARINA, TEARFUL: I don’t know what happened. There were children, and other stories, a new book…I became confused. I neglected it. I should have followed up. I blame myself, but--why, why didn't I get a letter?!
VOICEOVER: NARRATOR: Why, indeed. Today, the investigative reporters of The Untold Stories will follow that story to its bitter end. Did it find its way to the editor? Did the editor see it? Did he have big plans for it, but was suddenly killed when a 300-pound manuscript written in pencil fell from his "reject with malice" pile? Or did he shred her story in a case of mistaken identity and caffeine-induced fury? Was there a rejection letter? What about follow-ups--were they sent? Received? Find out after these words from "Writing Success in 30 Days or Less."
Sometimes, I get a terrific surprise--like when I got a $40 check for a story that I had written for a magazine six years before and heard nothing more about. It was one of my first stories, written specifically for that magazine, so I'd pretty much given it up for unpublishable. Other times, I'll look at a forgotten story and think, "Whew! Hope it was lost in the mail!"
With novels, however, I obsess. How long do I wait until I follow-up? E-mail? Call? I've been known to have days where the fate of a manuscript comes to my mind and I can't concentrate all day. I pace, edgy and restless as a lioness in her cage, debating. It's been 3 months since my last e-mail? Do I follow up? The guidelines say… Maybe I should give it one more week… No, no. Call him. Be friendly. Just gotta know, just gotta know…
This is what's happening with my fantasy trilogy. It's at my dream publisher, waiting. Waiting. I wrote, got encouraging words, even a request for book II. Sent the book. Waited. Wrote again. After a year, I called. Every quarter, I call, get encouraging words and a request for patience. I wait, look for an agent. (Waiting there, too.)
I fill my time with other projects. I have a terrific anthology out, Infinite Space, Infinite God--another long awaited dream--and I've got stories and series and novels to write.
I try not to imagine myself as some desperate teenager waiting by the phone while the guy who said he'd call me is out cavorting with other girls with flashier covers and popular names like "Mercedes"…
I wonder if God isn't holding this back until I'm more ready. Right now, my kids are at the laughing, playing, bickering stage. My life is full with their raising, loving and learning. Do I really need more?
YES!! I NEED ANSWERS, MISTER!
I know the publishing world is swamped, and with books as good as mine, but I so hate waiting!
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Chicken ala King, Egyptian Style
The saga ends. Today, we entombed King Kluck.
According to our book, the mummification process takes about 40 days. In the dry Egyptian heat, perhaps. In double baggies in a cool garage in Northern Virginia, the process is slightly longer...if by "slightly" you mean months.
And, got to admit, the salt hasn't been changed in a month. After awhile, the project just sort of lost its charm...
This week, we learned about King Tut, and I decided it was the perfect time to put an end to the Kluck who would be King. The boys were enthusiastic--"Yay! We're getting rid of King Kluck."
Then I told them they had to participate. "Oh, it doesn't smell so bad," I cajoled, but they weren't buying it.
Again, Mom handled the gross stuff, so while they prepared the sarcophagus and took photos, I pulled the fearsome fowl out of its bags and wiped off the salts. The smell had gone into stealth mode, lulling us into a false sense of security ("Hey! It really doesn't smell so bad!") then leaping out to attack our noses like a crazed cobra. Nonetheless, we soon had him wrapped in linen with the following trinkets tucked inside:
--a safety pin for, well, safetyNext we wrapped him in foil to represent a golden tomb. He looked like a football and the next few minutes were spent trying to keep my merry mummy-makers from chucking the cluck around the room. Of course, Alex still wanted nothing to do with the odoriferous object, which meant Liam was only to glad to shove it under his nose. (Something I never thought I'd have to say: "Quite teasing your brother with the mummified chicken!") Nonetheless, we got him safely in his box, which only yesterday brought us a Neopet from E-bay.
--a coin and jewels for wealth
--a match and candle for light and warmth
--sea shells for the ocean it probably never saw
--a Chuck E Cheese ticket for fun
"Hey, Mom. Can we sell him on E-bay?" Liam, my 6-year old entrepreneur, asked.
I started to protest, then thought about the Virgin Mary cheese sandwich and the Jesus potato. At least we wouldn't be saying ours was divine. (In fact, I can't think of anything less divine.)
So I told the kids if Dad will make an account, we can stick King Kluck on it.
Maybe I should go back and see if I can mold its corrupted flesh into a likeness of Elvis.
Addendum: Rob says E-Bay is no long accepting decaying-food-related items. Maybe they caught a scent of what was coming!
Liam, don't tease your brother with the mummified chicken!
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Code Filk II
Music I'm Listening To: "I Can't Get Code Satisfaction"
Mood: Despairing
Position: Fetal
This weekend, my ISIG website went the way of a confusing, twisted SF series. Yes: Lost. You can see it, but I can't access it--and it's all my fault!
Put on your old Rolling Stones and sing along as I tell my tale of woe.
It all started when I decided to add a media room to my FabianSpace website. I bought a book on HTML and tried to create one using the site's template.
After several frustrating attempts, I decided to scrap the whole endeavor and go with tripod. I'd already used it for my ISIG site. It was easy to set up, easy to update and the site looks terrific. Why bother with HTML when I could do it there?
I logged onto Tripod with my ISIG account and looked at the available space. Hmm... I really want to do a lot more with the ISIG site and a whole lot with Tripod.
No problem. I'll just create a new account.
At this point, those of you with experience on tripod and other sites should be crowding the monitor, shouting at me like we all did to those ditzy teens in the slasher movies:
"No! Don't do it!"
I opened the new account window...
"Stop! Go back! Close The Window!"
I put in my name and address.
"Different e-mail! At least use a different e-mail!"
I put in the same e-mail as the ISIG account.
"AAAARGH! I can't look!"
Actually, the website building went great. I found a template, modified it to resemble the FabisnSpace site--banner and all--and soon I was doing the website equivalent of getting lucky never knowing the doom that awaited.
(Rise in volume, please..)
(Volume down, now--you're scaring the neighbors)
Four hours or so late, I had a KICKIN' media room: photos, graphics, media releases, lots of useful information about me and my stuff...a CHAT ROOM! Yes, I, Karina Fabian, Queen of the Coding Chickens, figured out how to put a chat room on my site! SCORE!
All that was left was to get some information from my ISIG site and put in an announcement there.
I logged out, logged in as isigsf. Tripod says "Problem with member name of password." I try again. Same result. I ask for my password. It says I've given invalid info. I opened up the unhelpful help desk and started a ticket. I got back a reply saying someone changed my password. I tried the new password. It didn't work I opened another ticket...
So now I wait for the Tripod help desk to open, trying not to cry and hoping the 'Net police don't arrest me for web-building with out a clue.
I hope I can get access to the original ISIG website. If not, I guess I'll rebuild it. It's been an incredibly valuable resource.
But this time, I'll just put it in my karinafabian account.
Mood: Despairing
Position: Fetal
This weekend, my ISIG website went the way of a confusing, twisted SF series. Yes: Lost. You can see it, but I can't access it--and it's all my fault!
Put on your old Rolling Stones and sing along as I tell my tale of woe.
I can't get code satisfaction
I can't get no website action
It all started when I decided to add a media room to my FabianSpace website. I bought a book on HTML and tried to create one using the site's template.
So I type and I try and I type and I try
I cant' get no!
After several frustrating attempts, I decided to scrap the whole endeavor and go with tripod. I'd already used it for my ISIG site. It was easy to set up, easy to update and the site looks terrific. Why bother with HTML when I could do it there?
When I'm typin' in website code
And I can't see which way to go
the program's saying No and No
I logged onto Tripod with my ISIG account and looked at the available space. Hmm... I really want to do a lot more with the ISIG site and a whole lot with Tripod.
No problem. I'll just create a new account.
I'd missed some vital information
that affects my website situation
At this point, those of you with experience on tripod and other sites should be crowding the monitor, shouting at me like we all did to those ditzy teens in the slasher movies:
"No! Don't do it!"
I opened the new account window...
"Stop! Go back! Close The Window!"
I put in my name and address.
"Different e-mail! At least use a different e-mail!"
I put in the same e-mail as the ISIG account.
"AAAARGH! I can't look!"
I can't get no, oh no no no
Hey hey hey, that's what I say
I can't get code satisfaction
I can't get no website action...
Actually, the website building went great. I found a template, modified it to resemble the FabisnSpace site--banner and all--and soon I was doing the website equivalent of getting lucky never knowing the doom that awaited.
(Rise in volume, please..)
'Cause I typed and I typed and I typed and I typed
I can't GET NO!!!!
(Volume down, now--you're scaring the neighbors)
When I'm doin' Tripod, see
And the site is looking so great
Something's much to easy....
Four hours or so late, I had a KICKIN' media room: photos, graphics, media releases, lots of useful information about me and my stuff...a CHAT ROOM! Yes, I, Karina Fabian, Queen of the Coding Chickens, figured out how to put a chat room on my site! SCORE!
All that was left was to get some information from my ISIG site and put in an announcement there.
But you can't get that site 'cause it ain't the same
As the one now in your name
I can't get no, oh no no no
Hey hey hey, that's what I say
I can't get no satisfaction
I cant' get no ISIG action
I logged out, logged in as isigsf. Tripod says "Problem with member name of password." I try again. Same result. I ask for my password. It says I've given invalid info. I opened up the unhelpful help desk and started a ticket. I got back a reply saying someone changed my password. I tried the new password. It didn't work I opened another ticket...
And I typed and I tried and I typed and I cried
I can't get no!
So now I wait for the Tripod help desk to open, trying not to cry and hoping the 'Net police don't arrest me for web-building with out a clue.
I hope I can get access to the original ISIG website. If not, I guess I'll rebuild it. It's been an incredibly valuable resource.
But this time, I'll just put it in my karinafabian account.
Hey hey hey, that's what I say
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Random Thoughts to Clear My Files
Since NaNo and the Virtual Book Tour Primer had been taking my attention, I'd been keeping a backlog of interesting things to blog. Of course, I now cannot remember a post's worth of stuff to say about them, so I'm going to toss them out to you:
Anousheh Ansari Space Blog: Want to know what being in space is really like? Anousheh, one of the world's first space tourists, tells you her experiences. Great for story research and fun to read.
How Will Internet Change Our Novel-writing? An interesting discussion by novelists Walter Kirn and Gary Shteyngart say about how instant communication, text messaging, e-mail, and IM-ing on multiple levels changes the way we communicate and how that will translate into novel writing. The wartime conversation between the President and the Secretary of Defense is a scream.
Spam Gets Gibberliterish: In order to avoid spam filters, spammers have been adding random text into the subject lines and texts of their messages, with amusing results:
It kind of takes me back to when I lived in Japan and we'd come across badly translated English. I love "And fro to the fish!" I need to use that in a story someday.
My Virtual Book Tour has moved into January, with one more visit scheduled and one in the wings. It's been a lot of fun, but now I'm turning my attention to when Infinite Space, Infinite God comes out in in print this August. Check here for details on both.
My Faith-Filled Fiction Newsletter has 25 subscribers! If you'd like to join up, e-mail me.
This weekend will be the last for King Kluck. Mummifying something in Virginia is not a task for the weak of stomach. I'll have a photo soon.
Anousheh Ansari Space Blog: Want to know what being in space is really like? Anousheh, one of the world's first space tourists, tells you her experiences. Great for story research and fun to read.
How Will Internet Change Our Novel-writing? An interesting discussion by novelists Walter Kirn and Gary Shteyngart say about how instant communication, text messaging, e-mail, and IM-ing on multiple levels changes the way we communicate and how that will translate into novel writing. The wartime conversation between the President and the Secretary of Defense is a scream.
Spam Gets Gibberliterish: In order to avoid spam filters, spammers have been adding random text into the subject lines and texts of their messages, with amusing results:
Hi....look...straightened edge. He folded without a sound and I (graphic for "pharmaceuticals"{you know the kind} inserted here)happywhat a team we would make! Patience, doctor, I murmured and slipped him the packet..finally decided to wear a one-piece ship suit
In a subject line: And fro to the fish that went in this people that which is weak
It kind of takes me back to when I lived in Japan and we'd come across badly translated English. I love "And fro to the fish!" I need to use that in a story someday.
My Virtual Book Tour has moved into January, with one more visit scheduled and one in the wings. It's been a lot of fun, but now I'm turning my attention to when Infinite Space, Infinite God comes out in in print this August. Check here for details on both.
My Faith-Filled Fiction Newsletter has 25 subscribers! If you'd like to join up, e-mail me.
This weekend will be the last for King Kluck. Mummifying something in Virginia is not a task for the weak of stomach. I'll have a photo soon.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Happy Dancing
Found out from my publisher today that Infinite Space, Infinite God has sold 30 electronic copies since its release on fictionwise. I'm crediting the virtual book tour along with the terrific writing of the contributors.
I've also gotten my 21st subscriber to my Faith-Filled Fiction newsletter. Issue One just came out yesterday! (If you'd like to subscribe, contact me and put FFF in the subject line, or leave a comment below.)
So I'm doing a little Snoopy-style happy dance, which looks very silly in a 39-year old, but what the hey!
Please vote for my website and blog! Visit http://museitupclub.tripod.com/themusepeerawards/ and vote for one of the following:
WEBSITES:
www.fabianspace.com
http://isigsf.tripod.com
BLOGS:
www.fabianspace.com
http://www.freewebs.com/dragoneyepi/adragonseyeview.htm
The contest is also to get more traffic to our sites, so browse around while you're there. There are a lot of great writing sites.
I've also gotten my 21st subscriber to my Faith-Filled Fiction newsletter. Issue One just came out yesterday! (If you'd like to subscribe, contact me and put FFF in the subject line, or leave a comment below.)
So I'm doing a little Snoopy-style happy dance, which looks very silly in a 39-year old, but what the hey!
Please vote for my website and blog! Visit http://museitupclub.tripod.com/themusepeerawards/ and vote for one of the following:
WEBSITES:
www.fabianspace.com
http://isigsf.tripod.com
BLOGS:
www.fabianspace.com
http://www.freewebs.com/dragoneyepi/adragonseyeview.htm
The contest is also to get more traffic to our sites, so browse around while you're there. There are a lot of great writing sites.
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