Books that become phenomenons.

There are some books out there which are every bit as good as the so-called phenomenons. So, what is the difference between them? The popular books, of course, have to be good. If they weren't it wouldn't matter who pushed them. The readership would revolt. Second, there has to be publicity. There have been some self published books which became phenomenons, like The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield or Embraced By The Light by Bettie Jean Eadie. Those books are the exception. It takes some major self promotion and capital to be able to pull this off. The bottom line is that a great book still needs financial backing. When a major publisher backs an author's book, magic happens. Suddenly it is listed on all the literary lists. It becomes nominated for awards and the author hits the road on a major publicity tour. Even couch potatoes know about the book via the television. Then, it becomes a movie. At this point the world knows about it. If the author is lucky, the movie is a hit or at the very least recoups it's investment capital.
Back in the 60's, Richard Bach wrote and published, Jonathon Livingston Seagull. He was a pilot who wrote. He kept to himself and rarely checked in with his publisher. Imagine his surprise, when, one day he stopped at a diner and decided to call his publisher. He was traveling around offering airplane rides for money. His editor told him that she had been trying to track him down because the media wanted to interview him. She told him to check his bank account, which he did. To his amazement, his account was in the six figure category. He only drew what he needed for the week and never bothered to check his balance. Of course, his life changed drastically after that. His book became a movie and he married a movie star and wrote more books.
The lesson here is to show writers to relax. Follow your heart, write with passion and never give up. Some people spend a lot of time looking for Mr. or Ms Right. Eventually they may find their soul mate. The same holds true in other relationships. If a writer is passionate about their work and keeps focused, he just may find his soul agent.
*spoiler alert* if you click on the Twilight cartoon above, there are some major book spoilers. Be forewarned.*

Write a Screenplay

If you've ever felt the desire to write a screenplay and don't know where to start, check this out.
This site has listed many screenplays which can be viewed and picked apart in order to study the screenplay writing process. It can be very useful to the new screenplay writer. There is a market for screenplays and you can actually turn your own book or story into one, just in case. Here's another great screenplay site. You key in the elements and it does the rest.
If poetry is your thing, here's a site that helps with that process.
If you want more help for poetry, here is a site that gives a list of words that can be used in a poem, then puts it altogether. Here's an interesting poem generator that just needs the first line to create a rhyme. We're all in this together and every little bit helps.

Freedom of Speech

There are so many banned books over the years, that it took a whole website dedicated to them. The amazing part is that some of them were only recently banned. You would think that the whole Fahrenheit 451 thing would not exist in the modern, right thinking world. Wrong. There are conservative Evangelists who, right now, dedicate themselves to keeping the wrong kind of material from seeing the light of day. And..if it does see the light of day, they are there to stop, inhibit or blast it with their right thinking views. They do this in order to protect the general populous from anarchy or something like that. Like I said before, I'm all for keeping the adult oriented material away from minors. That being said, we must, as a society, open our minds to views of all types. How can we have an educated opinion on a subject if we don't know the other side? When opposing something, it is important to be well acquainted with that which you oppose. Here's an example of a book being read by its opposition. Would the author of the "proof of God" book read an atheist's "no proof of God" book? Probably not.

How can anyone throw away books?

The new law went into effect banning children's books which were printed before 1985. Why? Because there might be a trace of lead in them. The law, which is to make everything for children safe, fails to take into account books. So many wonderful, out of print books have been discarded by book shops in order to keep in line with the law. Its a very wrong thing to do, in my opinion. It reminds me of the book and movie Fahrenheit 451, where all books were banned. People had to memorize books and pass them down for future generations. Sure, this isn't the same thing but its a step in the wrong direction. We can't make blanket laws without considering all of the implications of it. I've been an insatiable reader for as long as I can remember. I'm middle age now and am quite healthy, according to my doctor. The minute amount of lead in my books and toys hasn't seemed to cause me any problems that I know of. I am all for protecting children from dangerous toys. Too many products produced in China have had an unhealthy level of toxins in them, all to save money. We need to promote a "buy American" slogan, where we can buy safe products and save jobs. However, the great historic literature from long ago days should be protected. This is our heritage and as such, deserves to be exempted form annihilation. Just think, all of those wonderful hardback editions of Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys would be a thing of the past. Is that what we really want?

Random Generator

This Random Generator does the thinking for you. Great for writer's blocks, writing reports or just sending a letter. I tried out the "interesting site generator" It came up with "Fang Royal Castle" which sounds interesting enough. The generators can be used for just about anything. Also, you can create your own generators. How cool is that? Sure, writers want to come up with stuff that is completely their own creation...plagiarism you know. However, the generators can get the creative juices flowing. Also, the site gives permission for the results to be used in any way you please. Nevertheless, we must be unique in our creativity. No one says you can't kick start your creativity every now and then. So, try it out and see what it does for you.

Twitter

Ok, there are too many social sites. Many of them are open to predators and spammers. There isn't enough time in the day to be creative and sift through all the online social networks screaming for attention. However, Twitter seems to be gaining quite a bit of attention. I visited, I stalked around and now I'm there. The good thing about Twitter is that it doesn't demand much of your time. It limits you to only 140 characters at a time. I am able to follow some of my favorite authors, film makers, odd sorts, etc. You can write via the computer or phone. Its a place where someone can have an "Aha" moment and twitter it for all to see. Actually, it helps the individual mentally bookmark their thoughts for no one in particular. Don't be afraid to join and just be a voyeur. Here's a nice synopsis on Twitter from Jon Stewart. There are even sites that list the top Twitters.
There are even sites with Twitter tools.
I'm not a top user or even an average one. I do find it interesting and have even had real Twitter conversations with some of my favorite authors and film makers. Actually, they were some that I've had discussions with before. Regardless, it's an interesting and apparently popular way to network with the stars. Who knows, you could connect with that one person who just might be your rung on the ladder to success.