My Turn on The Next Big Thing

The Next Big Thing!?  Yep, that's what *she* said.  Ok, I imagine that joke has been done to death by now.  So sue me.  It's a Sunday and I just got back in from chainsawing fallen branches (and maybe just a little of my hand).

Anyway the Next Big Thing is a blogfest to highlight authors and their current works in progress.  The way it works is that someone tags you, you mention them, write a bunch of stuff, and then tag a bunch of other people.  Simple no? Of course it is.  Thus, as usual, I'm probably going to fuck it up because...well...because I can.

For starters let's mention the awesome people who tagged me.  Yes, I said people.  First up is Narcisse Navarre, author of An Endless Hunger and The Olive Grove.  She's currently hard at work on a new fantasy series.  I for one can't wait to read it.  Narcisse is quite the talent. I'm not sure what she can do better, writing or graphic design, but she does both pretty damn impressively. 

Next up is Carrie Seymour, who's writing a cool new vampire novel tentatively titled A Lonely Road.  Carrie didn't actually tag me; however, she offered to.  I had to to turn her down because I was absolutely swamped the past few weeks. Regardless, intentions means a lot to me, thus I think it's only fair I give her a shout out for thinking of me. It is always appreciated, Carrie...now get back to work!  :)

So up next I'm supposed to talk about my own stuff.  Dangerous to ask me as I'm sure to blather on endlessly.  But hey...here it goes anyway!

What is the working title of your book?
The title is Holier Than Thou.  It's book 4 in my Tome of Bill Series.  I'd say I'm about a quarter way through the first draft. 

Where did the idea come from for the book?
This book has been planned for a while.  It continues the story of Bill Ryder, a dateless dweeb turned legendary vampire. Less than a year ago the most pressing thing in his life was talking to one special girl and worrying about the fate of his D&D character.  Now, well he's still having difficulty talking to that girl, but the list of items on his plate has grown just a bit to include such mundane matters as, say, the fate of the world.  Yeah, Bill is a bit stressed.

What genre does your book fall under?
Foul-Mouthed Comedy/Horror, the same as all of the other books in this series.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
That's an easy one.  I always envisioned the cast from Super Bad being in this series.  Emma Stone would make a particularly awesome Sally. As for the rest of the cast, well, depending on the day I might rearrange them between Bill and his roommates a little.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Bill Ryder has girl troubles...really really bad ones. The girl he wants can kill him with but a touch, the girl who wants him is more than happy to murder anybody who stands in her way, and then there's one girl who just doesn't want to deal with any of their shit. Ok that was more than one sentence.  :)

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
I'm kind of in between.  This series is currently under the Wayman Publishing banner, but I retain full control over its destiny.  Kind of a best of both worlds scenario. Yeah, I gotta be difficult about these things.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
It's still ongoing.  I expect to be working on it through the holidays at the very least.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Do the first three in the series count?  If not, I'd say perhaps Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series. Bill is kind of a mirror image to that series.  His is more fantasy & horror with a touch a humor, whereas Bill is more humor with the horror layered on top. The Dresden Files is tons of fun to read, and I likewise hope Bill is too.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?
I got the idea for the original book and subsequently the series from hanging out with a group of my friends. They're the type who are typically too busy cracking wise to give a shit about the situation at hand. After kicking the idea around for a while, I came to the conclusion that a group like this would be the perfect foil for the supernatural world. An ancient creature could be speaking about a prophesy of doom and they'd be too busy laughing at what a dipshit he is.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
I write this series purely for entertainment purposes. There's no real moral to the story and no hidden commentaries on society, etc etc. In short, Bill is not high art. I feel it's truly a series that adults can simply read to have a few laughs and enjoy. That's not such a bad thing is it?

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Thus comes the honorary tagging. It's difficult this time of year. A lot of the writers I know have either done this blog hop already and/or are knee deep in NanoWriMo, but I think I have a winner nevertheless.

Jessica Cordova and her wonderful What? Another Hobby? blog. Even if she decides to drive down and beat me with a rock for tagging her (a fair response since I'm pretty much giving her no notice on this), you should pop by her blog. Her dry wit and often hilarious musings on life are well worth it and, hey, maybe she'll even give us some insight into the book she's working on.

ps: I regret nothing!

Post Halloween/Hurricane Check-in

Hey everyone!  I know I've been a little quiet on here as of late.  Let's just say it's been a busy month.  I've been trying to fit in writing a new work-in-progress (book 4 in my Tome of Bill Series) in addition to planning a big-ass Halloween party, starting a new day job, and...oh yeah...keeping my family safe and sane (we're good on the first...a little iffy on that second) while an even bigger-ass storm was bearing down on us.  So in case you're wondering, yeah I'm a bit tired. Still, no rest for the wicked.

So first some awesome news.  Hopefully some of you remember the Labor Day Blogfest for Diabetes I was a part of.  Well I am exceptionally pleased to announce that, thanks to the help of all of you, we were able to raise nearly $2000 (!) for the American Diabetes Association.  Pure goodness all around and I am happy to have been a part of it.

As for Holier Than Thou, book 4 of Bill the vampire's adventures, I am happy to say it's progressing.  I even got a little work in during the past few days even with the power out.  Gotta love the iPad and its massive battery life.  Mind you, it wasn't as much work as I'd like to have gotten done...bored kids are hard to ignore.  Talk about a Lord of the Flies scenario.  Power is out, the natives are restless, and I'm the lone guy with some functional technology. Forget about writing, I'm lucky they didn't sacrifice me to some pagan gods.

Speaking of the big storm, we definitely got off lucky.  The pic above shows the worst damage to my yard.  We're talking a big tree limb, a ripped pool cover, and a smashed fence.  All in all, I'm not complaining because somehow that branch missed both my house and my neighbor's. If it had to fall, it fell nearly perfectly. I couldn't have called a better shot had I tried.

That pretty much leaves the party.  If you've been following me on twitter, you've been reading my inane posts and seeing my dopey making-of photos. We're talking about three weeks of solid work here to create a haunted maze in my basement...all for about two hours of people going through it. Well all I can say is it went down just dandy. We got a few crying kids and even one report of nightmares the next day.  Music to my ancient ears, I tell ya!

Unfortunately, with the storm looming, it all had to come down much faster than it went up.  Three weeks to build followed by a full day of hauling ass to tear it down.  See, my basement tends to flood.  A foot of water (or sewage...that happened one year) is bad enough.  A foot of water in a dark maze, full of decorations...well that would have been a true horror show.  On the upside, I could have probably inflated a few rafts and made it a boat ride.  Note to self: remember that for next year.

But oh well, it's all over now.  To that I say, thank goodness!  Here's to hoping that my life can settle down again into its normal level of insanity (easier said than done with the holidays just around the corner) and I can get back to the basics...namely writing vampire dick jokes and posting blog stories about it.  :)

Sanity Vacuum by Thea Isis Gregory

I am extraordinarily pleased to present to you the cover and synopsis of Thea Isis Gregory's newest work: Sanity Vacuum.  I've known Thea since I started my own insane journey into the world of writing and have both enjoyed her work and watched her grow.  She's the author of the awesome Zombie Bedtime Stories series, which I have greatly enjoyed (and can't wait for the next release...write faster, Thea!).

She's stepping out of horror and into the craziness of Sci-Fi with her newest release.  I for one can't wait to see what strange new worlds she takes us to.

Sanity Vacuum.  Coming Dec. 6, 2012.

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Vivian Skye just finished university, and qualified for her first-choice internship. Not many would consider the distant and isolated Extra-Galactic Observatory cushy, but it’s a dream come true for Vivian. Hailing from the low-tech planet of Aurora, she studied hard for this opportunity—and to leave her old life, and planet behind.

Her assignment is simple: perform a routine upgrade for the station’s supercomputer, quIRK. Her reception isn’t a friendly one, and eccentric quIRK becomes her only friend. However, the station’s administrator, Bryce Zimmer is obsessed with quIRK—he suspects that the station’s computer may have achieved sentience, something explicitly prohibited by the ABACUS Protocol. Compounding their issues, Bryce’s traumatic and privileged past makes him distrust Vivian from the beginning. Desperate to keep control, he sabotages quIRK in order to eliminate Vivian. But, his plan threatens to consume the entire station and send them into the unknown void of intergalactic space.

Vivian must struggle to survive not only Bryce’s megalomania, but also the emerging artificial super intelligence that is quIRK. Can Vivian and quIRK learn to trust each other and work together, before it’s too late?

Sanity Vacuum is book one of The ABACUS Protocol.

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Thea Gregory is a farm girl from English Western Quebec, a total nerd, and she loves science fiction, zombies and physics. Between marathon cooking sessions, her clerktastic day job, and part-time studies, she manages to find time to write. Author of the Zombie Bedtime Stories, her debut sci-fi novel, Sanity Vacuum releases December 6.

You can visit Thea on the web at Twitter and her blog.

October...the perfect month to be Necromantic

It's my pleasure to present to you the newest release by a stupendously awesome new author in the 18+ genre by the name of Cole Vance. The book's name is Necromantic and it's about...

Wait a second!  Stupendous?  Laying it on a little thick aren't you?  I've never even heard of this clown.

Now that's not very friendly.  He's a nice guy.  Besides which, you should trust me.  I'm a good judge at these things.

Uh huh.  This is actually you writing under a psuedonym isn't it?

What!?  How dare you insinuate such?

Yeah I thought so.

Now wait just a minute.  I'll have you know, this book is in a genre I don't write in.  Not that there's anything wrong with adult-fare, mind you. It's just not my cup of tea.

Yep, hence why you're using a different name.

Stop saying that!  That isn't me.

Methinks the lady doth protest too much.

Screw you!  I'm just trying to help a fellow author out.

Admit it.  You're a smut writer now.

Hardly.  I'll have you know, I write good fun family fare.

You mean that book about a dorky vampire named Bill who says "fuck" a lot?

Well maybe I'm stretching a bit with that family thing.  Still, have you heard the language that some kids use today?

Don't try changing the subject, smut-boy.

Grrr...getting back to my point,  Necromantic is a darkly comedic paranormal erotica not written by me (seriously!).  Here's a little of what it's about....

---

Lydia Strom has an incredible sex life with her husband, Harold. There are no pleasures too intense, no kinks off limits, no boundaries that can’t be crossed. There’s just one small problem: Lydia has been dead for three years.

Somehow Harold has found a way to bring her soul back. Each time Lydia awakens, she’s in a different body. She gets to experience her husband’s touch through the senses of multiple different women, allowing her to enjoy him in ways she never thought possible.

But not everything is as it seems. Her husband has been keeping secrets from her...secrets that will turn her whole world upside down. Now Lydia must decide between the Earthly pleasures he offers and the comeuppance he deserves.

---

18+ audiences only for explicit/graphic sex...which I totally don't write.

You really don't get how this whole psuedonym thing works, do you? Kind of sad really.

Oh bite me!  Necromantic is available now on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo. Check it out.  I for one see a bright future for the studly young author behind it.

Studly!?  That's it, I'm outta here.

Famous for an Hour

A curious thing happened this month. Out of nowhere one of my books, Bill The Vampire, started selling.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s done OK in the past...a (semi) solid mid-lister on good days.  However, it’s never done anything like this.  I uploaded a new version earlier this month for a very minor fix (I noticed I had spelled Febreze wrong) and suddenly it started climbing the charts. 

Finally this week, the coup de grace: Bill’s rank climbed to the high four-thousands and it entered the top 100 selling list for one of Amazon’s major categories (fiction & literature / Humor).  It didn’t stay there long.  An hour or so later it dropped a bit in rank and that was the end of that.  But you know what, that’s OK.  I saw it (and sorta made sure others did as well).  I know it’s real.  For one brief moment I had a best seller.

I felt like a minor leaguer who had been given one shot at bat during a major league game. It didn’t matter if I struck out or hit a homerun.  What mattered was that for a few moments, I - a schlub from NJ with a hard to pronounce name - was able to stand alongside some of the titans of the industry. Now some might bemoan this; that it peeked its head up for barely a moment before ducking down again.  For me, though, this is awesome beyond words because of what it represents: potential. 

Thanks to Amazon, which allows us the privilege of self-publishing to a mass audience, we - the unknowns who simply have a story to tell - have that fighting chance. Truth be told, I’ve at least partially believed this for a while now. As I put out more books and improve my craft, I’ve seen a modest increase in my rankings. Heck, even a handful of sales are more than I would have dared hope for just a few years ago.  However, this month proves to me once and for all that while the ladder is steep, it isn’t impossible to climb.

For you other authors, take heart. The deck is not stacked against you.  Keep writing. Keep learning. Keep doing your best. Good things can happen when you least expect it. Will it last?  Who knows?  All I know is if I can climb the mountain once, it tells me I can quite possibly do it again. At least I hope I can.  The view is pretty darn spectacular. (I won’t lie, the sales aren’t bad either.  Let’s just say that I have my family’s Christmas fund now).

Of course, none of that would be possible if not for the awesome people who are willing to take a risk on new authors.  Thank you for giving me and others like me a chance to entertain you.

As for myself: two things.  First off, I’ll be getting back to work.  I have plenty more stories in me and they all need to be told.  Second will be ending the one little indulgence I’ve been giving myself this past week.  Let’s just say that my family is starting to get annoyed that I’ve been arriving home in the evenings and saying, “Greetings wife and children of best selling author, Rick Gualtieri!” Pity that, but it’s for the best.  Humility is a good thing...and getting the crap kicked out of me by them would just be embarrassing (if deserved ;-).

Onward and upward!

The Poptart Manifesto

I normally don't give a lot of marketing love for my first book, The Poptart Manifesto. No real reason, other than I usually focus more on my full length stories. The Manifesto (after which this blog is named) is unique amongst my writings. For starters, it's a collection of short stories. Secondly, it's the closest I've come to non-fiction. With a few exceptions, most of the stories within The Poptart Manifesto, have a solid basis in reality. Sure, I've changed names and some facts to fit the story (and to keep myself from getting the beating I probably deserve :), but a good chunk of it actually happened to me. It's not a bad way to discover some of the (dorky) skeletons buried in the closet of my college-aged self.

Amongst those tales is this little narrative, the story for which the book itself is named. I figured I'd give it the spotlight this week...as well as put something up lest people forget I'm alive. Enjoy!

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THE POPTART MANIFESTO

I love Saturday mornings. They make me feel like a kid again. Coming downstairs on a weekend is like reliving those moments from when I was ten and had no school, no commitments, hell no purpose at all waiting for me. I make it a point to celebrate those feelings by indulging in a few kidlike activities, not the least of which is to plop down in front of the TV for a few hours of mind-numbing cartoons...or at least some DVDs of cartoons as the TV networks seem to have come to the conclusion that the news is of far greater importance to the world than Super Friends and Bugs Bunny.

This particular Saturday, I came downstairs with my girlfriend of about a month, Rachel (after a night of non-kidlike activities), and proceeded, as I normally do, straight to the kitchen for my typical weekend breakfast. She followed and immediately began digging through the refrigerator for eggs, juice and other standard fare. Finding what she was after, she turned to see me pulling from the cabinets my weekend staple: a box of strawberry Pop-Tarts.

“That’s what you’re eating?” she asked.

“Yep. Strawberry Pop-Tarts and a glass of chocolate milk...mankind’s greatest achievement in the breakfast arts!”

“Are you seven?” was her reply.

“If I was, then that would make you a pedophile,” I quipped back giving her my best smirk.

She gave me a slight look of disgust and went back about her business. A pretty good response to my feast of choice, all things considered.

My last girlfriend had never stopped needling me about this little weekend fetish of mine. It was an annoyance, albeit a manageable one, and definitely a battle she wasn’t going to win. I had hoped she would finally come to an acceptance of sorts about it. Whether or not that would have come to pass, I don’t know. It never got that far.

What I do know is that, at some point she had apparently read one too many sensationalist news stories and developed this mad-on against all things containing high fructose corn syrup. One day we were happily sitting around drinking our Pepsi’s and eating whatever junk we pleased, and the next it was the devil’s sweetener and god forbid we eat one more bite lest we begin growing tumors out of our eyes. Never one to over-indulge in anything, I could have cared less. She could fool herself into thinking she’d live forever if she only stuffed herself with cane sugar, and I’d just go about my days as before. All was fine.

Unfortunately it wasn’t fine with her. Curse whoever invented the spare key! I came home one day to find she had tossed out all of my food containing the verboten HFCS and replaced it with, no-doubt, foul tasting all natural alternatives. In a panic, I threw open my cupboards and discovered that even my beloved strawberry tarts had not been spared her wrath. They had been cast away and in their place was a box labeled Organic Toaster Pastries.

“What the hell is this!?” I demanded of her.

“They’re all-natural. If you insist on eating crap, it might as well be healthy crap.”

“Healthy? What on earth could possibly make these things healthy? Are they genetically engineered in a secret lab? Do hippies lovingly bake them in ancient stone cairns? Are they free-range Pop-tarts?”

“Stop being a baby! Just try them. They taste just as good.”

So I did.

My response to eating one was to compose this lovely Haiku to her:

Organic Pop-Tarts
I drink a gallon of bleach
Your taste is still here.

We broke up a short time later. Coincidence? Perhaps not.

Anyway, I was jostled from of my reverie just as I was about to take my first bite. It was Rachel and she sounded in a panic...well maybe panic is a bit strong of a word, but as near to panic as one can get from a strawberry filled breakfast pastry.

“Wait!” she said. “What are you doing? Aren’t you supposed to toast those first?”

“I have to do nothing of the sort!” I countered. “I like them cold.”

“Eww, they're no good cold. Why do you think that they're called POP-tarts? Because they're supposed to POP up out of the toaster nice and warm. Christ, even a three year old knows this.”

*sigh* Perhaps this wasn’t going to go as well as I had hoped.

“Don’t get me started,” I said, hoping that was the end of it.

“No seriously! You’re supposed to toast them”

“Listen,” I said, knowing that there was likely no stopping the rant that I could feel bursting up from within. “I know that Kellogg’s spends millions of dollars per year on an advertising campaign to make us think that we have to eat them hot. They’ve also tried to convince us that we should try them frozen, but I don’t see you bringing that up? Why? Because deep down you know it to be a blasphemy!”

“I didn’t...”

“Blasphemy, I said! And if one of their campaigns is just a lie, doesn’t that make all of their others suspect too?”

“I hadn’t really thought of it.”, she answered, nonplussed.

“Of course not! Because THEY don’t want you to. But not I! I am a free thinker. I have long since wondered: if we were truly meant to eat our pop-tarts hot then wouldn't it just be simpler to make them toxic to eat cold? There are several foods out there that are downright lethal if not prepared properly. Try eating improperly prepared Fugu and see where it gets you.”

“Did you just compare eating pop-tarts to blowfish?”

“I’m trying to make a point here. A few random cold pop-tart related deaths and the world would surely abandon all thought of eating them right out of the package. Yet this is not the case. Upon much inner reflection regarding this conundrum, I think I have finally seen meaning to all of this.”

“Please, do tell. I can’t wait to hear this,” she added as she began to go about making her own breakfast.

Not even remotely fazed by her insolence, I continued, “What it essentially comes down to is the classic struggle between the haves and the have-nots. In this case, the conspiracy goes even further then the sad divide between those who have toasters and can afford the time to use them and those who cannot.”

“Fascinating.”

“You don’t get it do you? What you see as just a cute commercial with cartoon pop-tarts frolicking about is, in fact, nothing of the sort. Kellogg’s is calling out to the Bourgeois society and telling them to show their superiority to the filthy huddled masses by eating their pop-tarts warm and laughing at us while they do so. They can do this because they know the working class is forced to endure the humiliation and scorn of eating their toaster pastries cold. They mock the lower classes by pretending to sell the same pop-tarts to both the rich and the poor. At the same time, however, they are creating further class segregation by knowing that your average nine-to-five Joe Sixpack doesn't have the time to plug in his toaster and enjoy the rapture of warm, semi melted, fruit filling.”

“There is a point you’re getting at here, right?” she interrupted, buttering some toast.

“The point is that you need to open your eyes to the bigger picture. This is but one more way that the wealthy scoff at the workers of the world. They sit there in their high rises, eating their toasted pop-tarts, which have no-doubt been cooked for them by their servants, knowing that they and they alone have the idle time to unlock and enjoy the hidden heat-sealed magic within. This they do whilst knowing the closest the working man shall ever come to knowing that magic is if his house catches fire and burns down in the morning. This is the hidden message which Kellogg’s seeks to deliver upon us.”

“I’m going to take my food into the other room. Let me know when you’re fin...”

“BUT THEY HAVE FAILED!!” I triumphantly yelled, jumping in front of her. “And why? Because we, the proletariat, have taken the poor, cold, untoasted pop-tart and made it into one of our symbols of strength. Indeed, some of us revel in the cool crunch of the frosting and take pride in the cold, damp chewiness of our fruit fillings.”

At that, I turned to the kitchen window and raise my arms high in triumph.

“So rejoice with me, my brothers and sisters!” I shouted as I once again turned to face her. “Hold aloft your Pop-tarts! Hold them high and heat them in the warm glow of FREEDOM!!!”

I was met with a polite golf clap and her response of, “And the point of all of this was again?”

“I like my pop-tarts cold. Except for the organic kind, that is. The wealthy can keep those too.”

“I didn’t say anything about organic Pop Tarts.”

“Perhaps not, but you would have. Trust me on this one.”

---

I hope you found some amusement from that, I know I did (especially at the time). Twelve other humorous stories like it await you in The Poptart Manifesto.

Are Writers Their Own Worst Enemy?

This had originally started life as a discussion primarily around self-published authors.  However, I realized it probably applies to any and all writers: big or small; self, indie, or traditionally published.  Today, writers have more power than ever before because they have more choice than ever before.  There's a downside to this, though.  The old saying "give a man enough rope and he'll hang himself" comes to mind.

It wasn't too long ago that the death knell was sounded for the big six traditional publishers.  People cited them on their seemingly archaic business models, their attempts at stifling new technologies, and their unfair treatment of authors. With the Department of Justice's price fixing lawsuit, blogs like JA Konrath's declared (and continue to) that the writing was on the wall for their obituaries.  With the rise of Amazon's Kindle Program, Pubit for Barnes and Nobles, and others, there was a new economy on the rise.  Aspiring writers could bypass the gatekeepers and reach a massive audience, all while reaping unheard of royalty rates. 

However, it may be that the big six aren't going anywhere.  It may be that their best strategy against this upstart new business model is to sit back and do nothing save make a bowl of popcorn and watch all the writers who seem determined to shoot themselves in the foot.  Indeed this has not been a kind summer for self-publishers or the writing world in general.  If the self-publishing world were to be condensed into a person, they'd definitely still be scrappy, but would certainly now be sporting a pair of black eyes thanks to the actions of a few.

I'll cite just a few examples:

• Many major media outlets have been running with a story regarding paid reviews on Amazon.  John Locke, the poster boy for self-publishing success, had admitted to doing this.  This has polarized the writing community between those who say it's wrong and those who shrug their shoulders and claim that it's necessary to succeed.  The end result, though, seems to be pointing toward a general suspicion for all reviews now.
• Author Carroll Bryant posted a list of blogs he felt had cheated him out of reviews.  The entire situation then quickly spiraled out of control into a tale of outright stalking.
• UK writer, RJ Ellory, was recently exposed for writing self-reviews as well as panning his competition, leading to what some are calling a questionable apology.
• At the top of the infamous list has been the Stop the Goodreads Bullies website (no link, sorry.  I have no interest in sending them traffic), which went so far as to list personal information for previously anonymous reviewers.

Indeed this is just the tip of the iceberg.  Entire discussion threads, across countless websites, cite the bad behavior of writers.  I’ve read about everything from authors creating numerous sock puppet accounts so as to bolster their own rankings to reading comments where writers have outright attacked those who dare give their "baby" anything less than a glowing review - as if they were three-year olds on the playground

There are those who step back and call this business as usual, that what's going on has always gone on.  They say that every industry is like this and that there will always be those who game the system to get ahead.  I can't disagree with this.  However, I do have to ask those people some questions:

- Why should we have to accept this?

- Why should we tolerate bad behavior just because previous generations did?

- Why can't we try to be better than that?

Everyone wants to succeed.  That's not a new thing.  Ultimately, though, only a few of us are going to be able to scale that mountain and even less will be able to remain atop it.

Consider this, though:  If you're a new writer what will such behavior gain you?  Maybe a few sales, maybe even a little ego gratification. But how long will it last?  If you're just here to make a quick buck, you probably don't care (and you're probably not reading this anyway).  However, if you're truly looking to make a name for yourself, how long do you think it'll be before your behavior is uncovered?  The internet has a long memory and it's like a bulldog if it suspects wrong doing.  Is it really worth tarnishing yourself from the start, jeopardizing what you hope to be a career, all because you didn't have the patience to aim for the long term?

If you're an established writer with a large fan base, that's a wonderful thing.  However, if you've used questionable tactics to get there, how will that reflect upon you?  Sure you might be laughing all the way to the bank, but whatever legacy you hope to have could suffer for it.  Do you want to be remembered 50 years from now for your works or because you were part of a scandal?

I can't help but think that all of these events happening in such a compressed time frame will have / are having a cumulative effect on the entire industry...which should be a concern for all of us (writers). Already I've seen several blogs either shuttering their windows or becoming a lot more selective about who they review. It's one thing if a person wants to commit career suicide, but I'd wager that their actions harm us all.

I'm not saying everyone has to be squeaky clean or saint-like at all times.  I'm not that naive.  We're all human.  That being said, it would behoove us all to think things through before we act and consider the consequences...to try and act with a little integrity and professionalism.  If enough of us take a stand and try to take the high road against this behavior, we can steer this industry back on the right track and help ensure that when the day comes that the news decides to run a story on one of us, they'll put the focus on what we all want them to: our books.