iUniverse author John C. Woodcock’s insights on writing: Part 6

In this next installment of the iUniverse author, John C. Woodcock’s blog series he starts to describe the emerging writing form or genre of his latest book, UR-image.

“One of the significant category breakdowns that is relevant to my articulating the “genre” of writing that this book is concerned with is that of the pair of opposites: doing and reflection. Within our modern structure of consciousness we consider these a pair of opposites. We can do something in life or reflect on something in life but not both at the same time.

In the kind of writing I am suggesting it seems that both happen simultaneously or something else happens that subsumes both within itself. I call this “happening” participation.

Participation with the background process of category breakdown is reflection and doing, yet neither. Thus, participation can be sharply distinguished from automatic writing where the writer’s consciousness plays no part. It is also different from having an experience and subsequently writing about that experience from memory. The writing that emerges from this participatory process therefore is a form (it’s probably too early to call it a genre) that embodies such category break downs (inner-outer, past-present-future, action-reflection, etc.)”

Click here to read the full article

Read More

iUniverse author John C. Woodcock’s insights on writing: Part 5

In Part 4 of this iUniverse blog series, author John C. Woodcock started to explain how the esteemed psychoanalyst and thinker, Carl Gustav Jung, has influenced his thinking and consequently his writing. Now we let John explain more about Jung and his influence.

“His written record of this journey is now published as The Red Book. Jung’s understanding of what he went through is complex and beyond the scope of this book, but we can touch on two aspects that are relevant here. On the one hand, after Jung emerged from his immersion in the “breakdown”, he returned to the categories of inner and outer and took up the question of how one could have anything to do with the other. For example, his theory of synchronicity is a sustained attempt to find a theoretical connection between inner events, say a dream, and a “coincidental” event in the outer world. On the other hand Jung seemed to accept the breakdown of categories (e. g. spatial and temporal categories that form the structure of modern consciousness) and to change accordingly in his self-definition. He thus became initiated by the experiences themselves into a new reality. This initiation gave Jung the power to form new conceptions appropriate to this reality and thus perceive new aspects of the real world. These new conceptions gave rise to his unique notion of soul as absolute interiority—a conception subsequently fully developed by Wolfgang Giegerich.

Click here to read the full article

Read More

iUniverse author John C. Woodcock’s insights on writing: Part 4

In the next part of this blog series iUniverse author John C. Woodcock continues to conceptualize his writing for us.

Memories Dreams Reflections“This conception helped as I began to understand that the nature of my writing involved, not any genre or established craft, but a breakdown of such categories, and indeed, a breakdown of fundamental categories such as mechanical space and linear past, present, and future, those very categories that constitute the background of our stabilized modern structure of consciousness. This early formulation helped to distinguish what I had believed was merely a personal breakdown from an objective breakdown of categories occurring “in the background” of modern consciousness. This real process at present has no category with which to name and therefore grasp it, since it involves a breakdown in categories. I could use names like “fictive”, or “imaginative”, but these categories come loaded with a history that has deprived them of any truth or reality. In fact these words currently mean the opposite—not real, fantasy, entertainment only, falsity, etc.

But the phenomenology is conclusive. This process is real and has no referent outside itself. For example a breakdown of categories does not refer outside itself to a literal break down on a personal level or to the scale of a literal world catastrophe, although many people who are caught up in these background movements often make these misinterpretations. And yet, because this movement is the real background or the “within-ness” of the world, then it follows that madness or world catastrophe are not to be excluded after all.

Click here to read the full article

Read More

iUniverse author John C. Woodcock’s insights on writing: Part 3

In the third part of this iUniverse Blog series from author John C. Woodcock, he attempts to explain the concept of his writing style.

iUniverse The Imperative“I begin by paying attention to certain events occurring in the world: i.e. events characterized by qualities of the unusual, the unfamiliar, the startling; all of which obviously involve my psychological participation, and then I open myself up to these phenomena sufficiently for them to penetrate my consciousness, so that I begin to think the thought of the phenomenon, distinct from my thinking about them This process is in effect an initiation into another form of consciousness, the consciousness of the phenomenon. This finally can form the basis for new action in the world, action that is not simply a repeat of the known past but instead carries the germ of a new future. These actions always took me away from the security of the familiar into the unknown future.”

Click here to read the full article

Read More

iUniverse author John C. Woodcock’s insights on writing: Part 2

In Part 1 of this series of iUniverse blog posts, author John C. Woodcock introduced us to some of the reasons he writes; here he gives us further reasons.

“Another reason to write concerns the craft of writing. An author may spend years developing and refining her craft, excelling at a genre for example. The author’s personality remains relevant here in the sense that the reader can recognize the signature of the literary work. For example, Isaac Asimov’s signature is readily discernible.

But there is yet another reason, one that has nothing to do with access to a body of knowledge or allegiance to an art form or genre of literature. I came across an example of this recently in a movie, Quills (2000), which in part concerns the penmanship of the Marquis de Sade. He is imprisoned in an attempt to control his literary output. But pen and ink are smuggled in; when these are removed, de Sade uses wine and blood as ink; when these are denied, he uses his own excrement to smear words on walls etc. We can see from this another reason to write is compulsion, with no regard for conventions, established genres, or anything else. The writer is seized!”

Read More

iUniverse author John C. Woodcock’s insights on writing: Part 1

“I have been writing for twenty-five years or so. I have written ten books now, many articles and essays, and poetry. I have also created some works of art. I keep a dream journal and have countless note books. I have also completed a master’s degree and doctoral degree, both of which required years of putting pen to paper, or finger to keyboard.

Only in my academic writing did I receive some formal training but I still do not know how to type beyond the two-fingered method. In all my other literary output, I received no training or coaching in the craft of writing. I simply do not conceive of my life as being that of an author. I do not consider the craft of writing as a career for me. I apparently picked up what I needed in order to say what I wanted to say, as I went along. When, finally, some kind individuals agreed to edit a small piece or two, I was shocked at the degree to which their careful editing exposed holes in my knowledge of grammar, spelling, punctuation, structural convention, formatting styles, etc.”

Click here to read the full article

Read More

iUniverse talks with the authors of The Legend of Anne Southern 3

In Part 2 of this series of book development blog posts, iUniverse author J. Rivers Hodge let us know how his book was received and how he developed characters. Now in Part 3 he describes to iUniverse Blog the development of another main character.

The Civil War comes to Georgia

“Anne Southern is the most refined and beautiful woman in the South. Allen Southern is the bravest soldier of the Confederacy. Maggie Edge is the most devout Christian. Joe Edge is the best young man. Ruse Blackburn is the meanest villain ever to walk across the pages of a book, sharpening his skinning knife—slip, slap; slip, slap; slip; slap.

The story begins with a visit to Blackburn’s butcher shop. There, Ruse Blackburn is humiliated by a young woman he desires, and the humiliation eventually causes Ruse to commit a horrible crime that almost gets him hung.

But, Ruse is offered a “deal” by Anne Southern’s father-in-law, an odd character called Pop. Ruse is dispatched to Louisiana to become William T. Sherman’s aide when the war begins. As the story unfolds, the reader will realized that Pop has more to do with the war than meets the eye.

Ruse eventually becomes the tip of the sword that is General Sherman’s army: burning, raping, and murdering its way across Georgia.”

Read More

iUniverse talks with the authors of The Legend of Anne Southern 2

In the first part of this series of iUniverse blog posts from award winning author J. Rivers Hodge, we learnt about both his writing inspiration and the process of getting to the finished manuscript stage. Now in Part 2:
iUniverse asks how your novel has been received?

“We’d like to have more sales, but who doesn’t? The feedback from readers has been terrific. Everyone has given us excellent marks, not only for the story, but also the “look” of the book. More than one reader has noted how professional it appears, and more than one has complimented us on the content and color of the cover. That credit goes to iUniverse.

Also, The Legend of Anne Southern has won the 2013 Next Generation Indie Book Award for Regional Fiction and has recently been selected as a finalist for the Royal Palm Literary Award presented by the Florida Writers Association.

Florida Writers Assoc. RPLA LogoWe’ve worked book shows, book signings, and one shrimp festival. About half the readers, who pick up the book and talk to us, buy it. We have no way to compare that to a standard, but we think it’s pretty good.”

Click here to read the full article

Read More

iUniverse authors get B.R.A.G.GING rights

Excuse the pun, but the Better Readers Appreciation Group (B.R.A.G) has just awarded its latest round of Medallion Honorees and iUniverse Publishing is pleased that the following books and authors have received this prestigious award.
iUniverse Betrayal by Michele Kallio

Awarded in the historical fiction genre, this Canadian debut author has received excellent reviews, best summed up by Melysah Bunting for TheLitCritic:

“The book is a real page turner and has all of my favorite ingredients: history, intrigue, secrets, love, passion, betrayal and mystery. Although the chapters were told by different characters, I didn’t find it at all confusing and Kallio made me indentify with each of the characters. I didn’t like her portrayal of Jane Boleyn, George Boleyn’s wife, but that’s just me. All of the characters were believable and I enjoyed the contrast between the two historical periods and the lives of the two women. The story was drawn together beautifully at the end, with all the different threads and the reasoning behind Lydia’s dreams. I hope that Kallio will produce more novels as this was an excellent debut.”

Click here to read the full article

Read More

iUniverse congratulates Rising Star author, Michelle L. Whitlock

iUniverse congratulates Indie Reader Discovery Awards 2013 winning author, Michelle L. Whitlock for her memoir How I Lost My Uterus and Found My Voice: A Memoir of Amazon Best Books So Far Love, Hope, and Empowerment. Not only has this iUniverse Rising Star author had great book reviews and media coverage; the book has been voted One of the 2013 Best Books So Far by Amazon. Now let’s see what Indie Reader said:

Click here to read the full article

Read More

Award Winning iUniverse Author Elaine Pereira

iUniverse blog asked the NIEA 2013 winning author of, “I Will Never Forget”, Elaine Pereira if she would recount her self-publishing journey. This is what Elaine said:-
Why the Book?

“I’m Elaine Pereira, author of the multi-award winning memoir “I Will Never Forget-A Daughter’s Story of Her Mother’s Arduous and Humorous Journey Through Dementia”. Writing a book or even journaling has never been on my bucket list. In fact I’m more of a talker, especially when stressed. Just ask my husband, friends; strangers!

That said, my mother’s was a story that needed to be told. So encouraged by family and friends, I have. Mom was a kind, talented and brilliant woman, attributes I’m sure I didn’t appreciate during the feisty teenage years. But in the end she was none of these as Dementia steadily invaded her persona. Like little Pac Men, Alzheimer’s gobbled up her brain cells bit-by-bit leaving an agitated, disoriented and painfully bewildered woman in its wake.

I was determined that the kind mother who raised me, the brilliant woman who once taught high school calculus, the talented lady who crafted masterful stitching projects, would be remembered for her lifetime of stellar accomplishments and not her final years of bizarre deterioration. Like the phoenix, from Mom’s ashes rose my winning memoir, “I Will Never Forget.”

Click here to read the full article

Read More

Path to a Better World

James S. Albus

iUniverse, 178 pages, (paperback) $16.95, 9781462035328

(Reviewed: July, 2013)

In Path to a Better World, the late James S. Albus, a well-known expert in the world of robotics and intelligent systems, presents a new economic system that adjusts for the negative effects of greater technology-based productivity. (The book was published in 2011, the same year Albus, then in his 70s, passed away.)

Albus’s primary contention is that, in light of increasing mechanization in the workplace, eventually there will not be enough demand for human workers in order to provide jobs for all those who need an income. His solution is a new form of capitalism in which individuals are granted credit by the government and required to invest that money in capital assets that can be expected to produce an income. He compares the program to 401(k)s, in that people would be given approved investment choices to pick from. This is not socialism under another name—there would still be the very rich at the top, but, as Albus puts it, “there would also be a rising floor at the bottom that would prevent anyone from sinking into poverty.”

Before detailing his preferred vision of the future, Albus explains the current version of capitalism, its defects, and the historical effects of technology on economies and workers. Albus references over 100 different sources, from government publications to his own academic papers, and the book is well-written, if a bit dry and repetitive at times.

As with most books that involve a radical rethinking of the status quo, it’s easy to come up with potential flaws: for example, Albus seems to believe that as long as poverty is eliminated, everything will go smoothly, but he admits that disparities between rich and poor may continue to grow, which seems like an alternate path to the very lord-and-serf system he wishes to avoid. Still, Albus presents bold, interesting, understandable ideas to what could be a significant problem in the 21st century economy.

Also available in hardcover and ebook.

Author’s Current Residence

Kensington, Maryland

Source: BlueInk Review

Read More

iUniverse author Timothy Jay Smith 2

In this second of iUniverse Rising Star Timothy Jay Smith’s posts he describes how he put his book marketing strategy into action to achieve his goal of becoming a successful published author.
Choosing the right target market

“I had two novels ready to go, and chose “Cooper’s Promise” over my actual first novel, “A Vision of Angels”, precisely because it had a gay protagonist. I knew the gay community would ‘forgive me’ for being a self-published author in the sense that it might take a look at my novel—and it did. Using the internet, I reached out to the gay community worldwide, and within weeks I had reviews, book posts, and sales on four continents. Straight press picked me up, too; and Kirkus Review, calling Cooper’s Promise “literary dynamite,” selected it as one of the Best Books of 2012.

And I got noticed.

By spring, I had a two-book deal with Owl Canyon Press, a literary publisher out of Boulder, CO. We pulled the self-published edition of “Cooper’s Promise” from the market, and brought it back out as a new book six months later. “A Vision of Angels” will be released in July.”

Click here to read the full article

Read More

iUniverse author Timothy Jay Smith

iUniverse Publishing asked Rising Star author Timothy Jay Smith to contribute a follow-up to the Kirkus Review of his novel, “Cooper’s Promise”, that we first covered in the blog back last December. Now Timothy has very kindly got back to us; and wow has he in this two part post.

Book publishing – the traditional way

“I became a full-time writer nearly fifteen years ago. It took me a couple of years to complete my first novel. By then, the publishing industry was already in an upheaval over the rapidly mounting threat of e-retailers. Buy-outs and mergers were an effort to build a cost-competitive fortress against them. In other words, the industry was hunkering down and taking no risks.

The former President of the Book of the Month Club ‘discovered’ my novel and passed me along to one of New York’s leading boutique agencies. My new agent sent out my manuscript on a Thursday afternoon, and the first call she received on Monday morning was a leading publisher saying she loved the book. “Let’s get together and talk numbers,” she suggested, until three days later, she called back to say that the publishing house had been acquired by an even bigger publisher, and it had fallen off the new publisher’s list.

No other offers came in.

My agent told me not to worry, it was a good book, it would eventually sell. Just keep writing.

It wasn’t a good book—not that draft—but I did keep writing.”

Click here to read the full article

Read More

iUniverse author Dr. Frederick D. Mondin

iUniverse author Dr. Frederick D. Mondin takes us through his writing and self-publishing experiences, culminating with him having an award winner on his hands.

“iUniverse “Erotic Marriage” sub titled “Break Free From the Negative Sexual Script and Improve the Sexual and Emotional Quality of Your Relationship” is a book that I had no idea how to write. After having taught Human Sexuality at Boise State University for almost thirty years and counseling couples for almost forty, I had the research data and the clinical information for a book. Feedback from my students made it clear that although they were having sex, they had problems with guilt, shame, inhibition, and sexual ignorance. The many couples I have counseled also had some of the same problems with shame, guilt, fear, and ignorance. The males struggled with frustration and the females with having sexual desire, having orgasms, even talking openly about the subject with their partners. I had a lot of information but little knowledge about how you write a book.”

Click here to read the full article

Read More

iUniverse Rising Star author Bill Treasurer

iUniverse author Bill Treasurer, the bestselling author of Courage Goes to Work, has now self-published “Leaders Open Doors” with ourselves. As CEO – that’s chief encouragement officer- of Giant Leap Consulting, Bill is well positioned to write about leadership as he has worked with thousands of executives from many leading blue-chip organizations to bring greater understanding of what leadership in business means and how to deliver it through such innovative tools as his DIY training program- Courageous Leadership.

Not only is Bill a leading motivational consultant in his business life, he is a former member of the US High Diving Team, a cancer survivor, and a champion for the rights of people with disabilities.

Click here to read the full article

Read More

iUniverse Author Alfred Dennis

iUniverse recently came across one of our authors, Alfred Dennis, who has self-published nine books with us; the latest being “Yellowstone Brigade”. When we spoke he told us that he wasn’t much of a writer:

“ just an old cowboy that likes to tell stories”

However when you read his books, you will see he is just being modest as they are all riveting reads and we believe that he is up there with that most prolific author of the western genre, Louis L’Amour. And do not just take our word for it see what some of his many readers have said:

Click here to read the full article

Read More

iUniverse author Lora Condon Episode 3

In the last of the three videos from the iUniverse author and beauty expert, Lora Condon’s appearance on the Dr. Oz Show, she really delivers the goods by demonstrating that you do not have to spend a small fortune on expensive beauty products to appear 5 years younger-just $5.

After watching the video check out Lora’s fascinating book about the beauty industry, “Spa Wars: The Ugly Truth about the Beauty Industry”, in the iUniverse Bookstore. It’s packed full of more cash saving tips, tricks to keep your skin looking young and fresh and also it strips bare the common myths and lies promulgated by the industry.

Read more: iUniverse author Lora Condon wows Dr. Oz Episode 3

!

Read More

iUniverse author Lora Condon Episode 2

In this video of beauty expert Lora Condon on the Dr. Oz Show, the iUniverse published author of Spa Wars highlights more anti-aging secrets the beauty industry doesn’t want you to know about here.

If you missed the first episode of this remarkable expose, then take a look here.

Read more: iUniverse author Lora Condon wows Dr. Oz Episode 2

Read More

iUniverse self-published Author Bill Pottle

iUniverse blog was in contact with Bill Pottle, the other day who after self-publishing his first book, “Dreamquest”, with iUniverse has made the journey across to a “traditional” publishing company. We congratulate Bill on his success and thank him for both publishing his first book with us and for his candid assessment of the current publishing environment and our role in that.

Here is a taster from Bill:-

How I went from being a POD author to landing a traditional publishing contract:- (It’s not as impossible as it seems)

“This post and the ones that follow describe how I went from being a POD author to gaining a traditional publishing contract. It is a journey that has taken several years, but could be done much faster with more time dedicated to writing and promoting. This is, of course, unique to my situation, but hopefully the principles will aid other writers as well.

I’ve always loved to write. I started work on my first book, DreamQuest, in 1991 when I was in 6^th grade. During high school and college I mostly concentrated on my schoolwork, but would write whenever I could. I ‘finished’ the book in 2002 and sent it out to many publishers. As with most authors, I got a number of form rejection letters. The fact that a few of the publishers wrote helpful notes or that they liked the work but it wasn’t quite for them was of little consolation. I was fortunate that this was about the time that Print On Demand (POD) publishing was starting to become available. Print On Demand companies changed the traditional publishing model by allowing all work into the marketplace, and letting the market determine what would be successful rather than having editors determine what would sell. This made a lot of sense to me, given the fact that many books are printed, shipped to stores, sit unsold on shelves, and then have their covers ripped off and sent back as proof that the books were never sold. The whole process is terribly wasteful.”

Read more: iUniverse author Bill Pottle shares his publishing journey

Read More