Tag: Comments

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Reblogs

How Indie Publishing Compares to the Indie Music Scene by Jessica Bell

This article hit me where it counts. I adore music and writing, so I get this. I would normally share a link to such an article and hope someone would take the time to stroll over and read it, but this deserves more attention. This is essentially a reblog from one of my favorite industry specific blogs, The Alliance of Independent Authors blog.

Look at what this multitalented author and musician has to stay about indies.

“Independent artists are everywhere now. And authors don’t self-publish because they’re too lazy to go through the slog of submitting queries to agents, or editing their manuscripts properly, or simply out of impatience to see their work in print, just like independent musicians aren’t too lazy to find a record deal. They simply have a different sound. Or they don’t want to be told by a record label what they should and shouldn’t record.” –Jessica Bell

From the Alliance of Independent Authors blog, Opinion: How Indie Publishing Compares to the Indie Music Scene; published October 29, 2013.

If you have the time, please take a look at the full article (linked above) to see and understand the comparison. I have felt this way about indie publishing for some time now, but it is always good to see one’s own opinion validated and agreed with by someone else of status, importance, or influence.

Now, if only the consumer masses could get a hold of this idea and make it go viral, then the publishing industry really would be changed forever and for the better.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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Books

Review: Childhood’s End

Childhood’s End by Author C. Clarke

I give this book a 5.

LoveIt

This is a wonderful book I wish I’d read sooner. Everything I’ve always known and loved about alien invasion plots seems to have been influenced by this book in one way or another.

The book starts out by describing the harmless but startling invasion of the Overlords. Within very little time, the soft-spoken, and at that point, never seen Overlords have rid the world of war and violence and made it subtly clear that they plan to stick around for a very long while. Of course, people being people constantly wonder and question the motives of the Overlords, but since no lives are being taken, peace abounds around the land.

Generations go by before the Overlords present themselves to the public, for good reasons that are clearly explained in the book. After that, the earth begins to reach its almost utopian pinnacle.  The one and only thing that really seems to be lacking in this new perfect world is the desire and or opportunity to explore new things. So of course, there is one man who decides to tackle this deficiency, with unexpected results.

More and more generations come and go until such a time that man has begun to evolve. Finally, the Overlords are ready to reveal their true purpose, but by that time, it doesn’t really matter anymore. There’s something more in store for the fate of the earth.

Wow, is the first thing that comes to mind each and every time I think of this book. The most riveting notion throughout this book is the sense of the unknown. Every time one thing is explained and all is well, there’s something else to keep you guessing. The story comes to a very clear and compelling end, but even then you are left wondering, and not because the author didn’t feel like filling the reader in. There are some things in this world that we just cannot understand. We can either accept them and move on with our lives, or we can let our desire to know destroy us.

While children and even some teens may not understand all the themes and scope of this story, I would recommend it to anyone. Sci-fi fans are sure to love this story, but anyone who’s ever been plagued by wanting to know more will appreciate this book.

This review has been posted to GoodReads.

If you’d like to obtain a copy of this book, try this link.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Categories
Books

Review: Brave New World

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

I give this book a strong 3.

Okay

This is a compelling story that seems to have not only to be written as a warning for the future, but also to just make you a little angry at human intellect. Set in a future of “perfection”, Bernard doesn’t feel as happy he’s told he should. He decides to visit a “savage” reservation to gain perspective only to find that he isn’t the “rebellious lone wolf” he thinks he is. In the end, Bernard is the product of the world he lives in, but he still manages to cause a ruckus in the lives of others before realizing this.

This book shows what a wonderfully peaceful existence life could be through control, conformity, segregation, a lax moral code, and drug-induced feelings of happiness. I found this book to be very sad, but shockingly real. This is the story of what could happen to the world, but I hope it doesn’t.  Not that teens would be interested in this book, but I’d recommend it to them (with their parent’s permission). This is a book that plucks a lot of nerves and may not be for everyone, but is definitely worth reading. I see this book going over well with male readers.

This review has been posted to GoodReads.

If you’d like to obtain a copy of this book, try this link.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords