Category Archives: nonfiction

Literary Loitering romanticized notions about writers

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In a certain writing magazine a certain author was featured, and in that story, we are told The notebooks filled. But he reached a point where he had to stop. “I just begin, and then find I write myself into a corner of human experience about which I’m totally ignorant,” he says. Writing paused for about six months while he plowed into research. He read 33 books, including the Koran twice. He came to the point where he felt he could teach a class on Islamic extremism. Informed and enlightened, he finished the novel. Which took five-and-a-half years to write. … Continue reading →

Nonfiction & Non-nonfiction It bothers me when anything is referred to as a negative of something else

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It bothers me when anything is referred to as a negative of something else,  such as nonfiction is NOT fiction. Its only identity is about what it is NOT. Like Man and non-man.  Like white and non-white. Like yellow and non-yellow. I find it so pejorative, with this word in particular, and I wish there was another way to say “nonfiction” that was about what it IS, not what it is NOT. Fiction is also referred to as literature or fictional prose, but it is a positive–it is fictional. It’s not even non-nonfiction, perhaps only because that would be cumbersome. … Continue reading →

Going Mainstream

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CAUTION: FRUSTRATED RANT HOVERING NEARBY. When you find yourself, as a writer, lamenting about why you’re even writing at all, and entertaining the idea of not writing any more, something has to change. I’m growing more and more frustrated with, and weary of, the lack of support from Lesbian Readers for what I want to offer them. I am sick to death of their constant praise of bad writing in the LesFic market, and their unwillingness to demand better, and try anything out of their narrow reading interests. It’s painfully clear that most LesFic Readers have literary blinders, and will … Continue reading →

Scott Crowder Interview of me on House of Fists (reblog)

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reblog Kelli Jae Baeli   My favorite of her book covers. Grumpy Cat cracks me the hell up. Kelli Jae Baeli is different from most of the writers I interview here at The House of Fists in that it was her non-fiction that first drew me to her work, as opposed to the horror or dark fiction practiced by the other interviewees. I’m trying to learn more about writing, though, and not just about writing horror, so I immediately asked her to do me the honor of being interviewed here. She writes very clearly and persuasively, her tone neatly balanced … Continue reading →

Scribe’s Melancholia, Literary Mind-Expansion & 50 Shades of Grape It's just too difficult to pinpoint the fickle and often inexplicable tastes of the readers

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  I’m in a bit of a funk, a tizzy, a doldrum (take your pick) about writing at the moment. Call it Scribe’s Melancholia. I’m having to seriously consider ignoring my book-marketing, because it’s so time-consuming and takes me away from what I’m really supposed to be doing–writing (Hello). Back to old-school, where writers were sequestered in a dark room with a candle and their muses, and never had to actually market themselves as a product, nor deal with their creations after they were delivered to the publisher. Further, it’s impossible to predict what people will buy anymore. And as far … Continue reading →

Thoughts from a Literary Contrarian  I have developed a zero-tolerance for all the tripe out there

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Let’s face it: the fairy tale never happens like that in real life. So if it’s not naïveté, then it’s compliant escapism; and what a sad commentary on a life, that one would need such callow, fanciful stories to avoid being present in it. I enjoy the commonality and compatibility in my current relationship. (Wait. Current relationship makes it sound temporary. It’s not. Let me give that another go: I enjoy the commonality and compatibility with my love, my life, my lovely wife. (Better). Anyway, we have this ritual of reading every night before sleep, if not also in blocks … Continue reading →

Along Came a Spider A vitriolic critic of my 6 volume explanation of my atheism

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It’s not like I didn’t expect to hear from the usual suspects in regard to my 6-volume book, God on a Stick (An exhaustive investigation into Christianity and why I decided it made no damn sense) formerly titled, Supernatural Hypocrisy: The Cognitive Dissonance of a God Cosmology But even now, I can be surprised by the variations of hubris and ignorance, even among those who claim no religion. My Facebook friend, Jackie LeMerand, posted on her wall that she had just purchased my book, and then, shall we say, Along Came a Spider.   Jackie LaMerand Yesterday at 9:13am · Kelli‘s … Continue reading →

Condemned to Repeat it?

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Today, I woke, sat down to my first cup of coffee and found a headline that gave me the sensation of a lead weight in my stomach. North Carolina May Declare Official State Religion Under New Bill Republican North Carolina state legislators have proposed allowing an official state religion in a measure that would declare the state exempt from the Constitution and court rulings. The bill, filed Monday by two GOP lawmakers from Rowan County and backed by nine other Republicans, says each state “is sovereign” and courts cannot block a state “from making laws respecting an establishment of religion.” … Continue reading →

Irony-Fest on Giving it Away

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Welcome to the Irony-Fest, please sign in and wear your name tags. This topic has become a comedy of ironies. Herein lies the oft-repeated back-handed compliments and erroneous and mixed opinions we authors often deal with, in relation to our work. It seems that some readers just don’t understand nor appreciate what authors are offering, and why. And they don’t seem to understand the function of short works in this regard. Would that we could be treated with the same respect that other professions enjoy, without  suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. In one blog, Distracting Fiction: Brand … Continue reading →

Giving it Away:1st review

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So, got the first review on the eArticle I published today on Smashwords. The article is Giving it Away : Spoilers as Both Noun & Accusation (Why Book Reviews Matter & How to Write a Proper One)   Review by: David H. Keith on March 19, 2013 : I found this book timely, although a bit vague and short on specifics. I’m not knocking the book – it’s only some 5100 words long, after all – but simply saying Baeli could have done more with it even if that entailed a much larger book. I think the topic itself – … Continue reading →

Giving it Away Giveaway

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In response to the unusual interest paid to one of my recent blogs, Giving it Away: Spoilers as Both Noun & Accusation, I decided I  would publish that entry in digital form, so I could spread the word. I will be offering it for free download –that’s right: Giving it Away, will be GIVEN AWAY> on Smashwords, and on Amazon, too, hoping they match the FREE price. Otherwise, Amazon might list it for .99 at first. But I felt this information was too important, and it needed to be available to those who would write book reviews. from the article: … Continue reading →

Reading, Muses, Curses & the Pick-A-Project-Polka.

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  Since completing the third and fourth books (simultaneously) of the AKA Investigations series, I am doing that Pick-A-Project-Polka; a dance we writers do when we’re trying to decide what we feel like working on next; we listen to our muse, we dance with our muse, we kick our muse out and get practical, and we sometimes curse our muse and send it to bed without dinner. All of these I’ve done this time around, as well. Fortunately, I seem to have spent enough time on a particular draft to safely assume it’s the one I will be finishing next. … Continue reading →

No More Hall-Decking for You Guys

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“Twelve Jews were brutally murdered, huge numbers maimed, and many Jewish women were raped. Two million rubles worth  of property was destroyed.” ~ Lawrence Kelleman I sn’t Christmas a wonderful time of year? Consider this:      Thus says the LORD, Do not learn the way of the nations, And do not be terrified by the signs of the Heavens, although the nations are terrified by them; For the customs of the peoples are delusion; Because it is wood cut from the forest, The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool. They decorate it with silver and with gold; They fasten it … Continue reading →

Hanging the Moon and Lesbian Monikers

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I placed another personal ad on Craigslist. Hopefully this won’t turn into a freak-fest like it did last time. And if it does, well, more material for my writing. LOL. The Ad I used before was way more humorous, but I was afraid it might be overwhelming and make ME look a little crazy. Who knows? Here’s the one I used before: Only seek LOCAL friends & dates. Please & thank you. LDR’s are usually doomed from the start. It’s like being pecked to death by chickens. So not big on them unless you can afford to travel to date … Continue reading →

New Review of ISO

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  Another review on my book “ISO (In Search Of): Dating, Relationships & Sex for the Discerning Lesbian”… “Whether you are a ‘baby dyke’, a newly out older woman or someone who has just been away from the ‘dating scene’ for a time, this book is an essential tool in your belt. Not only does Ms. Baeli provide thought provoking answers to all those obvious questions we all have, but you might find some information here about scenarios you had never even considered. Read it cover to cover or jump to the section you’re most interested in, either way you … Continue reading →