Josiah Jacobus-Parker

Well, in light of all these helpful comments, I guess AD is just going to have to wait for it. Maybe I can write you a short story for All-hallows. I like the idea of posting a series of 10 or so chapters at a regular interval, and then taking a break. Kind of like a TV series has seasons. So perhaps that's what I'll end up doing. And just to quell and rumors that seem to have sprung up already, no, it's not a sequel to The Angel. But it is going to be darker.

So, I've been writing a new serialized novel to add to AD, but so far, I only have a few chapters. For lack of better place to put this, I'm going to ask this here. When should I start submitting it for posting? I know where I want the story to go, and how it's going to get there... what I don't know though, is when I'm going to have the time to keep sending it there so to speak. Should I wait until I've almost finished it to start posting? Or should I just go ahead, submit the first chapter now, and then just follow up with the rest when I finish each chapter? I waited until I had the first eight chapters written of The Angel, before I even started posting it, but then life caught up with me and I suddenly found myself with a lot less time on my hands to spend writing. And then of course, when you do have time, you have to also have the spark, the inspiration, the flow, whatever you want to call it, to write AT THAT TIME. The result was that sometimes there were gaps of several months between chapters. I know how frustrating it can be for readers when a story seems to just dissapear for months on end. So I guess what I'm trying to ask, is what people think I should do? And do they mind if there's no regular chapter up-date? My plan was to get the prologue and the first chapter posted for Halloween... but now, since I don't know when the following chapters will be ready, I'm not sure if I should do that anymore. Maybe wait until I have a more substantial block of chapters which I can space out while I'm writing the rest? I guess this is contains a more general question for all writers and readers. That being, when is it right to start posting? How much do you have to write before it's right?

Maybe it's just personal taste... but I can catagorically say that there are hotter gay men in the UK than he.... But good on him for having the guts to do it and provide something of a role model for gay youths. Even if it doesn't carry much weight on it's own... And no, British police officers still don't carry fire arms, with the exception of airport and train station security. And of course Pallace Guards. They still wear those big hats too.

Well, obviously, we could start by electing him president of the US, not just my university . Ahem. But seriously, you're right. It would be a nightmare to try to coordinate and achieve. But not impossible. I doubt though that such a plan could ever be put into action, at least not any time in the near future, due to all of the resistence that would no doubt be kicked up by religious organisations and by supporters of current marriage policy. I think this is a very different subject. Young and elderly people are offered cheaper admission prices and amneties based on the (usually correct) view that they don't earn as much (if any at all) and so have fewer resources with which to support themselves than regular adults. Student fares exsit because people realise that students can't have full time jobs and can't afford to pay such high prices with such regularity. Therefore, it makes sense for companies to have amneties for students and the elderly to gain a smaller proffit--but still a proffit. Marriage can't really be compared to something like this as it's not based on financial status or ability to earn.

It's interesting that this topic has come up on the AD forums, as just the other day, I had a similar discussion with the president of my university. He had some interesting (but radical) views on the subject of marriage, and I found myself agreeing with many of his points. He (I shall sometimes refer to him as LBott) feels that marriage should be completely removed from the state, for all sexes, genders, races, etc. Rather than just remove religious or secular connotations from marriage or from civil unions, the government should simply remove all economical, federal and social benefits to being married. Meaning, either tax benefits to married couples should be extended to couples who have been co-habbiting for a certain amount of time, or simply withdraw it all together. LBott was of the opinion that social values of marriage put undue pressure on people to enter into marriage. He was in favor of private religious ceremonies, but he felt that the state should have no part in them and they should have no effect on state bearings. Though radical, if you consider the subtle differences from other proposals, LBott's idea makes significantly more sense. Religious groups would have no grounds to base their claims of opposition on. After all, we live in a SECULAR state (well, we're meant to anyway). It would also mean that straight couples would have no extra benefits that weren't avaliable to gay couples and vice versa. It is extreme, to simply do away with deeply entrenched tax benefits and legal rights such as inherritance tax and next of kin issues, but it would lead to a more equal environment. Perhaps even a more stable one, once people stopped prematurely entering into legal contracts which they're not prepared to adhere to. And by that of course, I'm referring to the growing divorce rate in Western culture. Anyway, what do you think about it?

Dear god, you have no idea how much I wish that were true right now. I have 30 of 120 pages left to read tonight, and then wright a 2 1/2 page essay about the conflicts in Scene 1 of Antigone. Where are those slave-labor writing gremlins when you need them?

Ok, so I feel kind of... I don't know, disquieted? that my first posting since god-knows when is from college in the form of an in-class exercise done today. The exercise was simple enough: Use "The way things work" four times Use "I believe" three times End with "Eventually something swerves" And use only sayings and messages from Epicurus' The Extant Letters without changing his meanings. This was what I came up with in the fifteen minutes given: Wake up to the blessedness! We must heal ourselves. That is the way things work. Troubles, concerns, anger, I believe These things are Weakness, fear, And dependence on one?s neighbors The fruit of self-sufficiency-- That is freedom, That is the way things work. I believe What is active is raging Madly. The cry of the flesh: Not to be hungry, Not to be thirsty, Not to be cold, Are all that can be Answered by the soul. For in this unlimitedness of worlds Wealth is poverty when it comes To desires. The way things work Is that nothing comes from nothing And all thinks continue to flow. I believe that atoms fall Throughout the void. They are the seeds of creation And the way things work, Is that, eventually, Something swerves. --------------------------------- I'm just looking for some thoughts and ideas of maybe tweaking it a bit to make the timing better or... anything? Obviously, only certian things can be changed because they are Epicurus' words. But any help at all would be greatly appreciated.

Although the first few chapters of mine need a good going-over to edit and re-write. Hmmm maybe I should spend some time on that this summer? Squeeze it in around some other frenetic scribblings...

I've actually changed my ways. No longer do I fold down the corners of pages and thusly damn myslef to an eternity of having my limbs folded in on themselves by vengeful books in a literary hell full of trashy Mills & Boon novels. I'm currently using a Chinese bank note for 50 custom gold pieces that I found in a drawer. I don't think it's still in circulation, which was a bit of a bummer when I found it. But still it makes for a rather dandy bookmark.

Any idea when this show will be airing? I'm in Cambridge until early July, and would like to catch this. Channel 4 has produced some of the better documentaries in recent years--after the BBC of course.

Delicious bourbon Finest of all the spirits A drunken haiku

Oh gosh, no! I'd never write in a book I was giving back to someone. And I didn't really mean text books so much as books read for class. Take for example my copy of Paradise Lost or Lolita, both have almost as much of my writing in the margins as there is text. And then, I usually color code for different refferences, so I have to use something non-erasable. Something like a history text book... No, I don't write or even highlight in those. And not just because they deduct $$ for that. Highlighting isnt really a very good way for me to take in info, so if I'm doing that sort of thing and come across something I know I'll need to remember, I actually just write it down in a file or the like. public books are sacrasanct and shouldn't be written in. There's nothing worse than getting a book out of the library and finding someone else's scrawl all over the pages. But I'm kind of a pack-rat with books. If they leave my posession, then it's to be leant to a friend. Thus, all my bookshelves are crammed, sometimes two rows deep with books. :roll:

I tend to just fold down the corner of the page if it's a paperback, but then girls around me are all "AGH! ohmigod, how can you do that to a book? ABUSE!" and I'm just like "wtf mate?" But with a hardback, I'll use the dustjacket. Hey, if it's there, use it! Also those pages are made of tougher stock and don't fold/unfold as nicely. I definitely have a habit of writing in my books, and not just books for classes. I just leave myself little notes or underline bits that I think are really great. Of course, none of the comments make ANY sense to anyone else who picks it up.

I assume the well know title you're reffering to is Gone With The Wind, because you also used the word 'tempest' as in the well known Shakespearean play of the same name. I guess it's important that I had that confusion with which you meant because really both are used in the same sense. A Tempest is a thing, not just the title of a play, so you can't get in trouble for using it. And 'gone with the wind' was a phrase long before it became the title of a novel. The author was most likely drawing on the phrase for a sense of how things are fleeting and seem to simply vanish like sand on the wind. Basically, you won't get in trouble for saying it. If I'm going to mentioned the title of another work in something I write, I usually italicise it or underline it to make clear it's a title. Also, important to note is that essentially all you've done is make an analogy. Plenty of modern novels use classics or well known stories to compare something to something else. That's not plagiarism. And you can't get in trouble with copyright for just mentioning the title (I don't think). That's more just advertisement which I'm sure most authors are happy to have. Plopping the name of a great work or book you liked in a piece of writing can be like saying "Hey, look how learned I am, I've read this book and know all about it" or "Hey, check out this book by this other guy who I think is great."

I think there's a very fine line between plagiarism and inspiration. For example, I remember a few years ago when JK Rowling went to court with a Swiss (I think, but don't quote me on that) writer who had written a book very similar to Harry Potter. The main character of this new book was a young orphaned boy with a scar on his head who discovers he is a wizard and goes off to school at a private academy for wizards and witches with his two best friends. He also plays sports on broomsticks. Sound familiar? I'm not sure if JK Rowling won the case--my guess is she did. If I remember correctly, it was almost exactly the same, except for names and a few minor details-- but I think it's a fairly clear-cut case of plagiarism. But then take Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita. Few would consider accusing him of plagiarism in this case. After all, who, prior to the 1950's had written such a novel? Pedophilia was only just becoming an issue that people were aware of. But as it turns out, someone did. Nearly twenty years before Lolita was written, a German writer composed a short, forty page story about a man who falls in love with a young girl named Delores. Noticeably, Delores is also the real name of Lolita in Nabokov's novel. But does taking a forty page short story and turning it into a developed 457 page novel following the descent into madness of the main character, constitute as plagiarism? Nabokov was undoubtedly aware of this earlier story, he in fact mentions the title in one of his notes from writing the story. You might say that it was plagiarism of a great sort. But is it really? In the novel, Nabokov (writing as Humbert) writes, ?Only the other day we read in the newspapers some bunkum about a middle-aged morals offender who pleaded guilty to the violation of the Mann Act and to transporting a nine-year-old girl across state lines for immoral purposes?. In this case, he is actually referring to a real life event in 1948 (even though the story is set in 1947). The incident he was referring to, was the of a twelve year old girl named Sally Horner by Frank La Salle, a 50-year-old car mechanic. Horner spent 21 months living and traveling with La Salle before she confided her secret to a friend in Dallas, Texas, where she attended school, and was rescued by the FBI. Lolita and Humbert spend almost a year traveling across the US in his car. The story of Sally Horner was reported through several articles in newspapers across the US, which Nabokov undoubtedly would have read-- if not at the time, then later while researching his novel. But is this plagiarism also? I'm inclined to say it isn't because Sally Horner was a real person, not a fictional character created by another author, and the real world is fair game to anyone writing. You can't put a copyright on life. But is the newspaper article really that different from the short story? Both existed prior to the novel, and both were read by the author... but the author has developed his story much further than either. Is it all right to take an idea or a premise from something you read and write your own story of it? How much further does one need to develop an idea before it stops being plagiarism? Can an author even have an original thought anymore? One can?t imagine something that they?ve never experienced before. I?m not saying everyone just copies other people?s work, don?t get me wrong. But certainly someone has to have had something to inspire a certain idea or imagination. They don?t come from nowhere, they are unconscious alterations to something previously experienced. Lock a person in a room from birth and then let them out after twenty years. They won?t be able to imagine angels, nuclear weapons, giraffes, even mirrors, without exposure to other ideas. The human brain simply can?t work like that. If it did, it wouldn?t have taken ten thousand years to develop electricity. We had to spend years building on the conjectures of those before us before people even realized it was possible. I was going to write more, but then I realized that this is already horrendously long, much longer than I intended, and I?m starting to ramble now. So I?m going to end it here and see how people respond.

Free indirect discourse (or free indirect speech) vs. solid third person narration (eg. He thought, 'how beautiful the sky is today'). Which do you think works best? And under what circumstances? If you're usnure what I mean, here's a helpful link: http://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?re...ec=true&UID=444

Once again, Blue's wisdom shines through and manages not to insult or discourage anyone. I tip my hat to you.

Personally, I feel that you're better off ending the story somewhere long before you run out of ideas. That way, you can always write another story if you want and use those ideas, and you don't end up with a story that drags on forever becoming increasingly desperate to cling to existence. I'd be much happier with an author just saying "Yeah, this is the end. I could write more, but this is where I want it to finish" and come to a decent conclusion. Asking your readers where they want a story to go is probably the worst way to write. Firstly, because you can never please everyone, and secondly, it won't be your story! Reader's don't want to tell their writers what to write... then they might as well go and write the story themselves. It's so much less exciting when you know what's coming. Just my two pence.

Well I liked it. :p

Strange Eyes Strange eyes, blue clocks without hands, Little blue mysteries twinkling in the light. What did you see in me, strange eyes? Your ocular gems like early Picassos. They call me even when you don't, If only from pictures. Waiting by the phone, Flipping through these wasted rolls. Not wasted. Spent. Exhausted under my fingers, It having been three years now. They follow me in all my dreams, Those blue diamonds. Oh God I'm still in love with you. Strange eyes, Two little star charts casting me adrift. After all this time, how do you still haunt me? Leave me languishing without your piercing eyes. Plunge your knives into my poor heart. Stab me with your gaze again and again. Leave me broken, bleeding on the floor? Just look at me again! As lovely as a tree they endlessly recede, So full of life and beauty. Strange eyes, Two little whirlpools made by God To destroy fools. To destroy me. I was a fly caught in your spider?s web. I still am. I won?t struggle. I promise. Two pearls of infinite cost. Two paradises lost. Think what we could have had? Don?t you want me anymore? They swallow me in all my dreams. Those haunting colors, dazzling bright. I?m getting sucked in again Again? When did it stop? I?m drowning in you all over again, In these pictures of you. Oh God I'm still in love with you.

this probably wasn't about me, but after reading what you had to say, I have to agree that it is very annoying when you dont know if a story is finished or not. That said, I'm happy to announce that this week, I'm putting the finishing touches on chapter 30 of The Angel--which will be the final installment.

AND WHAT IF I HAVE? HUH? Boy oh boy do I know this! It's taken me--how many months now? Four?--to get where I have with Chapter 30 of The Angel. Interestingly though, it seems I get more inspiration when I'm avoiding doing something important. Hmmmm. Procrastination = food for thought? Thanks! I don't really know what else to say. I get really awkward when people compliment me and then I just have no idea what to do. :?

Aaaah, the joys of dual-citizenship! Flying in and out of the UK and US, I just switch my passports. Which looks kind of weird to anyone checking them... I have loads of one-way trips on each passport, always coming into the country. But I never leave...heh. The problem comes when traveling with other people. Last summer when my boyfriend flew with me to the US, I got through immigration control, collected our bags and still had an hour's worth of reading time before he made it through. ::sigh:: It's so stupid too. The government has got everyone so concerned about Islamic terrorists, they've made everyone for get that we're perfectly capable of having our own, home-grown, terrorists. Have we already forgotten Ted Kaczynski and Tim McVeigh? You don't need to be Islamic to be a terrorist, you just need to be sufficiently pissed off with the government. p.s. If I'm arrested in the next few weeks for something that seems out of character, then you'll know it was the FBI or something, 'cause I hear they're monitoring the internet now-a-days.

I think you're right, it definitely does have the potential for a whole novel--but I think that's a task I'll leave for someone else to take up. I'm having enough trouble finishing off The Angel as it is. heh.

I met this boy. He is perfect in every way. He has beautiful hair And a wonderful smile And we have so much in common. I met this girl. She wants to own the boy I met. She was there first. I really like her a lot. She's quite nice, and fun, And I could get used to it. I want so much from the boy. I want to give him everything. I want him to hug me and keep me And I want to do the same to him. But she was there first. And he can hardly see me Because she?s always in the way. She owns the boy I met. It's not fair. I always lose out. I never get what I want. I met this boy. He?s with this girl. He treats her like dirt. She thinks he?ll change. I know he won?t. I met this girl. She says she fell down the stairs. But I see her flinch when he raises his hand. She says she?s happy. She doesn?t own the boy. I met this boy. His smile is false. We?re not much alike. He?s not very perfect. He thinks he owns this girl. I met this girl? She saved me once Now it?s time to save her. If I pick up my life, And start making it worth someone else?s time, I might win. For once.