Strong Woman vs. Hater Girl

Posted on December 20, 2011 by thomsimonson

Recently I rode up a subway escalator with a 20lb bag of fish tank gravel in my shoulder bag. The escalator runs the length of 3 flights of stairs so I am always grateful it is working. More so, on this particular day because of the weight I was carrying.

Ahead of me were two women in their 20’s dressed in outfits that perfectly flattered their bodies, tramp stamps and all. They spent the escalator ride boisterously discussing which of their friends was the biggest “ho”. The conversation was lost on me but I was happy to enjoy the scenery while riding up to the platform.

When they reached the top they stopped right at the mouth of the escalator and looked around trying to figure out where they were going. This is one of my biggest pet peeves when commuting.

I said “Excuse me” as the escalator prepared to dump me on top of them but, they ignored me. In an effort not to trip up the people behind me, I pushed past these two and headed off to my train. As I walked away one of them shouted at me. “Fuckin’ bastard!”

There are definitely times when a woman has to assert her self in order to be taken seriously. Amanda Kerwood, the heroine of my short story Trash is a strong, independent, successful woman. I wrote her that way because they are qualities I appreciate. Being a man, I may not be the best person to judge, but I think cursing out random strangers on the subway goes past assertive woman all the way to nasty bitch.

I believe Amanda would agree.

Read Trash today (Amazon, Barnes and Noble)

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Unfair Treatment on Facebook

Posted on October 18, 2011 by thomsimonson

I tried to place an ad on Facebook for my new story Trash and the ad was rejected for being too suggestive.  The same photo was also banned from my profile page.

Facebook has the right to ban images it deems inappropriate, however, companies like Maxim and Victoria’s Secret use equally suggestive images to market their products.  Does that seem fair to you?

For more details check out my YouTube video.

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Celebrate Trash, $250 Gift Card Giveway

Posted on October 2, 2011 by thomsimonson

UPDATE: Congratulations to Abby Kizer who won the $250 Gift card!  Thank you to everyone who participated. 

To celebrate the release of my new short story Trash, on Kindle and Nook (List Price $0.99), I gave away a $250 gift card to either Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble.

Trash by Thom Simonson

Photographer Amanda Kerwood invested over a year photographing a series of women scarred by a vindictive surgeon. Women who put their trust Amanda. Driven by her concern for them, Amanda risks her own safety to seek out the thief who stole the photographs from her studio.

Contest ended October 31st, 2011.  Winner announced November 1st, 2011.

Prizes will be delivered via eMail so it is best to supply the eMail address associated with your eReader.

For additional information visit the Basic Contest Rules page.  Good Luck!

My deepest thanks to the fans who continue to support my writing.

 

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Child’s Play

Posted on July 22, 2011 by thomsimonson

Yesterday I was thinking about how most of the fun things we encounter as children are pleasing to the eyes.  Colorful blocks.  Toy trucks with shiny parts.  Dolls with glittery outfits.  Cakes with flames shooting out of them (what those boring adults call birthday candles).  We become accustomed to fun things in pretty packages.

Photo by Horia Varlan (Flickr.com)

After this message is irrevocably ingrained in our minds, the adults around us reverse course and start telling us that appearance is only skin deep,  you can’t judge a book by it’s cover and beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  It’s really psychotic.

Why was I thinking about this on the subway ride home from the office?

At one stop a remarkably attractive woman in her twenties boarded the train.  Hanging from her forearm was a pink leather Gucci clutch.  A matching Gucci belt was holding up a pair of fashionably distressed denim shorts small enough to make Daisy Duke blush.  The scoop neck collar of her blouse slung low enough to reveal cleavage that was fashion magazine perky without the aid of a bra.  She sat down and spent a full 10 minutes arranging her hair until it perfectly framed her face and spilled down to accentuate her breasts.

While observing her (perhaps ogling is a better word), I had the quintessential male experience.  The reasonable part of my brain reminded me that a woman with nothing to offer beyond a meticulously presented appearance isn’t worth serious attention.  But my inner child just wanted to play with the shiny parts.

Nearly all of my romantic relationships have been based on deep attraction to the hearts and minds of the women who’ve shared my life, as well as their bodies.  As it should be.  But to deny the attraction to the shiny parts is just, childish.

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Borders and the Book

Posted on July 18, 2011 by thomsimonson

Yesterday Mitch Albom of the Detriot Free Press blogged about the Borders bankruptcy and posed the question “What happened to the great American bookstore?”  Simple really.  The reader traded it for convenience.

Photo by doortoriver (Flickr.com)

It was the reader’s desire for convenience that initially allowed Borders, and other mega-stores, to take over a huge share of the distribution market, often to the detriment of indie bookstores.  And convenience is the force driving thousands of readers to purchase Kindles, Nooks and reader apps for their handhelds.

Given the tectonic shifts in the publishing industry today, Mitch Albom’s opinion that “the printed word is gasping” is understandable.  However, I disagree with the underlying premise of the post.  The print industry is suffering yes, but the word is enjoying a resurgence in the context of eBooks.

In the year and a half I’ve had my Kindle my book and periodical purchases have increased exponentially thanks to the electronic format.  An experience mirrored by most users of eReaders.  Greater readership can only benefit authors, the publishing industry and society as a whole.

Printed books will never die.  They are headed to the lesser visited territory of the specialized reader.  Images, technical schematics and self help workbooks still represent better on paper than eInk.  Printed books will remain until eReader technology progresses to meet the more complex needs of these consumers.

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Push Comes to Shove

Posted on July 15, 2011 by thomsimonson

On July 12th Netflix announced their new streaming and DVD plans much to the annoyance of thousands of Netflix users, myself included.  A brushfire of consumer outrage spread through the Twitterverse and the Blogosphere.  Cooler heads, like Mike Issac at Wired.com, noted that this was a calculated move on the part of Netflix.  Backlash and all.  The idea was to push users toward the more lucrative streaming of movies and away from DVDs.  

I don’t like being pushed.  I don’t think anyone does.   That evening I thought about profit motives and personal choice and I wished that I was a kid on a playground that could walk up and give Netflix a shove.  The night went on.  I got over it.  These are only a couple of DVDs we are talking about.

After settling in at work the following morning, I noticed people people were bouncing between each other’s cubicles. There were hushed whispers and stunned reactions.  Eventually I learned that one of my coworkers was stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend. While I was caught up in the impacts of Netflix pricing policies the previous day, she was bleeding to death on her balcony with half the neighborhood watching.  

I didn’t know her well.  We exchanged the occasional “hello” in passing and some chat around the water cooler. Just enough to know she was a genuine, polite, and amiable sort.  Certainly not worthy to have her life cut short in such a violent fashion.  Her death pushed me to think about the important battles going on around me that I rarely notice. Battles with far greater consequences than paying a few extra bucks for DVDs.

What is pushing you today?

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Indie Scene

Posted on July 11, 2011 by thomsimonson

Independent musicians enjoy a cache in the entertainment industry that independent writers have yet to establish.

Photo by malias (Flickr.com)

Indie music is synonymous with an edgy, off beat, unrefined sound harboring potential for mass appeal.  The indie music scene is rife with fans who pride themselves on listening to unknown artists of quality and  A & R reps from major record labels troll the indie music spots looking for the next big band.

Conversely indie writers are perceived as unprofessional hacks producing inherently unreadable material.

The eBook has opened the flood gates on the independent publishing industry and writers of all skill levels are jumping into the water.  However, legacy publishers see this influx of new material as a threat rather than a place to pan for gold.

A bad book has no more power to drown the publishing industry than a bad song has to destroy the music industry.

Dedicated writers will always endure but, the scene for the eBook author is still coalescing.

What is your favorite place to find a good eBook?

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Search Engine Optimization: Obstacle or Incentive?

Posted on June 27, 2011 by thomsimonson

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of tailoring web content to ensure search engines, such as Google, catalog your content appropriately.  Since Google has the reading skills of the average 4 year old, SEO begs the age old question:  How does a writer balance the quality of the writing against the capabilities and expectations of the audience?

Search engines are continually evolving their algorithms for accurately indexing web pages.  To cater to these algorithms Search Engine Optimization suggests, among other things, the repetitive use of specific keywords and phrases throughout your writing.  As such, SEO contradicts one of the basic tenants of good witting.  If you must deliver the same piece of information repeatedly, you should find a different way of expressing it.  Even the most minor variations can be refreshing to the reader. (e.g. using “writing” and “content” interchangeably).

This is negotiable, though often awkward, territory for non-fiction writers to navigate.  However, it becomes untenable for the fiction author.

The keyword “fiction”, which accurately describes a short story, can reduce the story’s searchability if “fiction” does not appear in the text itself.  Wedging the word “fiction” into short stories solely for the benefit of Google’s algorithm is ridiculous.

Thus, writers who publish online are left with two options.  1) Publish on niche websites that capitalize on writer’s skills offering minimal profit sharing (read: slave wages). 2) Publish on your own blog or website and hope the middle aged soccer mom who searches “Keep the romance in a relationship” will be interested in your 4,000 word historical romance.  Assuming she makes it to page 14 of returned links where the story likely to appear.

In fairness, the search engine is neither friend nor enemy to the fiction writer.  It is just another member of the audience.  An influential member to be sure.  So are agents, editors and professional critics.  It is the author’s choice to cater to their tastes, or work around them.

Do you have any SEO success stories or nightmares?

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Bad Romance

Posted on June 20, 2011 by thomsimonson

Be it a novel, short fiction or a blog post, I’ve often found a well written story is similar to a failed romance. The first flirtation with an idea holds inspiration, arousal and mystery that builds throughout the getting-to-know-you phase. The gratification is immense when I finally get the idea undressed and I can explore every inch of it.

Then comes the cycle of literary lovemaking: create, elaborate, revise, repeat. As the story improves the initial sense of inspiration passes through a continuum of diminishing emotion. Thrilling becomes familiar. Familiar becomes uninteresting. Uninteresting becomes outright tedious.

Upon completion, the love for the idea is replaced with a genuine, albeit lukewarm, affection for the story. I’m grateful when we part company. Although part of me hopes we never see each other again, I want the best for my story and I hope it finds a fulfilling relationship with a reader. Ideally, many readers.

Eventually, I notice another idea from across a crowded room and I fall in love again. Don’t you?

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