Hard to pass up a good soapbox

This is a topic I’ve addressed before, but it’s timely once again. I’ll try to do it without spoilers, but it’s pretty rare air way up atop this box.

I may have addressed this on Story Empire, and it might have made a good topic over there. I don’t get a turn in the rotation for a while, so you get it here.

Regular readers will remember my post about fandoms who think they have the right to dictate the plots and character arcs in popular stories. At that time, it was all about Harry Potter. People crawled out of the woodwork to petition Rowling for what they wanted to see happen.

You might remember the campaigning, Harry + Hermione, Harry + Ron, how Voldemort would get his, Snape’s story arc, etc.

The Walking Dead got a bunch of this too.

Now we’re down to Game of Thrones. I’m irritated how everything went down, and I’m about to tell you why… without spoilers.

Readers/viewers are part of a compact. A story cannot be successful without them. An author can entertain himself to no end without any readers at all. However; when that story goes out for public consumption we strike a bargain with our readers.

We promise to deliver certain things, and a satisfactory ending is part of that. Some of the other things are genre specific, but can you imagine a murder mystery with no murder, with no mystery? A horror story without anything horrifying?

This doesn’t mean you have to have a “happily ever after” kind of ending either. There are plenty of super-famous tragedies out there.

Okay, now I’ve set the stage. While I’m pissed off over what they’re doing with Game of Thrones, I don’t believe I have any right to dictate or even suggest how the story will wrap up.

Right now there is a petition circulating to force HBO to rewrite, refilm, and air an alternate ending. This whole concept is absurd. Even if people get all the signatures they are seeking, HBO has no duty to honor the petition. This applies to the writers, directors, actors, etc.

This story belongs to the writers to screw up or wrap up as they see fit. My right is to like it or not. I have no right to dictate how it will wrap up, demand a happy ending, or a fan favorite hookup.

When people like my stories, some of them leave a positive review. On the rare occasion they are dissatisfied, they can leave a negative review. Viewers of GOT have the same rights. No more.

I’ll be there Sunday to see how it goes. I’ve invested eight years in this story, so I’m going to finish it. Then I’ll either like it… or not.

Back-To-School Book & Blog Block Party

Today it’s my turn at the Rave Reviews Book Club’s big party. The party runs all through the month of September, and it features some cool prizes. One of the first things I’m supposed to post is whatever today’s prize is. I’ll do that, but first I want to tell you about this great club.

RRBC is made up of authors and readers. We support each other by helping spread the word about each other’s books. I’ve been the beneficiary of this support on several occasions. I was a Push Tuesday recipient. I was promoting Panama at the time, and my Twitter feed blew up before I even got out of bed. I entered a little friendly competition regarding blogging about the club and won that about six months later. My prize was a week long blog tour all set up by folks who know what they are doing. Last week I was selected as Member of the Week. It was good timing with my book release, and I doubt there’s anyone left on social media who hasn’t seen my cool cover.

I’m only giving away one prize today, but I think it’s a good one. I’ve already pre-paid for a one year membership to the Rave Reviews Book Club. I’d like to encourage folks to join, and this is my attempt. If you’re already a member, I’ll extend the winner’s membership for another year. You can check out the club at this link: RRBC. The way to enter is to leave a comment here today. Winners will be posted here tomorrow. I already won a free book, and they notified me by email too.

I’m supposed to tell readers about my wares today. I’ll just say that I write speculative fiction and leave it at that. There’s more info in my sidebar and on the ‘about me’ page. I want to have some fun at this party too. So here we go:

***

Dawn filtered through the trees just east of the writing cabin. I gathered up an armful of stuff from the refrigerator and shoved it into a cooler before dragging it into the paranormal office. Nothing too scary, a few shrunken heads and one old hand of glory.

I made sure the Will O’ the Wisp was safe in its bell jar before yelling up the stairs. “Lisa*, can you throw the Raven of Doubt in here too before we lock the door? I don’t want any of our visitors to walk away with a head full of doubts.”

Lisa and Doubt

“No problem, boss. Then I’ll set up that cask of Dwarven lager for your guests.”

“Oh my God, what are you wearing?”

“You said it was a party.”

“That’s more red carpet than what I had in mind.”

“Fine. I’ll change then. Maybe you prefer overalls and my straw hat.”

“There’s no time. Cars are coming up the driveway right now. Is my tie straight?”

“You look fine. Relax, the cabin’s nice this time of year. I haven’t seen a wolf since the migration last Spring. I even put all your carnivorous plants in the basement. You don’t want one belching in front of your friends.”

“Okay, you tend the bar, and try to stay out of trouble. I’ll mingle and have some fun today.”

“You need it. You’ve been wound up like an eight day clock.”

“What did you say?”

“I said, don’t forget to tell everyone about the free paper dolls at the top of the page.”

Good idea, the ‘Look Free Stuff’ tab. Okay, remember to smile. As my spokes model, we want people to like you.”

“Everyone likes me. It’s you I’m worried about.”

*Lisa Burton is the main character in my first novel. She’s a robot, and serves as my assistant out at the writing cabin these days. She’s also the official spokes model for Entertaining Stories.

***

I hope everyone enjoys my stop on the party tour. Have a beer, look around, click some book covers. Avoid the basement.

My new book, The Experimental Notebook of C. S. Boyack is on pre-order right now from Amazon. This is a book of short stories and micro-fiction. I’m only asking 99¢ and would really appreciate a few more early sales. Amazon will deliver your books tomorrow. (That’s why I picked today as my party stop.)

In October I’m running a blog series I call Macabre Macaroni. This involves me posting a new micro-fiction every week for the month. I’m asking folks to contribute artwork to display with the stories. The theme is Macabre Macaroni. I will include all of your links when I display the art. If I only get one, I’ll display it every week. If I get too many, I may have to do a separate art post to cover them all.

Note for Jason Zandry, kids can send in stuff too. The stories will be more Goosebumps than Stephen King.

Tacky stuff is welcome here too. If you want to send me a macabre picture you made by glueing dried macaroni to a board, I’ll display it. Maybe some of you have mad photoshop skills and can create a dish of maneating macaroni, send it over. Macaroni with tentacles or medical waste would be awesome. I’d love to see what you come up with. Let’s avoid anything that might be adult themed though, please. Artists are welcome to contact me at: Coldhand (dot) Boyack (at) gmail (dot) com.

Ya’ll come back now.

Update: To bring closure to the contest. The winner of the fully paid membership in Rave Reviews Book Club is Ali Isaac. Wonderful addition to our book club.