Jennifer Cloud's MySpace Blog | Thoughts from Jennifer Cloud

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December 20, 2009 - Sunday

One more note to add

I do believe that

"Obscurity is a far greater problem for authors than piracy will ever be." Quote from James MacDonald.

2:18 AM

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December 20, 2009 - Sunday

Ebook Pirates

I recently joined a file sharing community under a different name. I'm starting to understand these pirates a bit more. I've stopped sending out take down notices for my out of print work. I don't think they help anyway. Don't get me wrong. Those ba$!ards that were illegally selling my titles p!ss me off to no end. They will be stopped. However, for work that's no longer available, I don't see the harm in sharing. I only worry that the readers will get a virus from those sites. Some people plant the nasty things in those PDF files. Anyway, however you read, enjoy. Just don't sell what isn't yours.

1:52 AM

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December 10, 2009 - Thursday

Kirkus Reviews no more

http://www.businessinsider.com/nielsen-sells-all-its-magazines-2009-12

Interesting news. I never thought that would happen.

5:44 PM

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December 8, 2009 - Tuesday

One of my favorite Christmas songs

12:39 AM

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http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/a-good-author-is-hard-to-find/Content?oid=2820559

December 7, 2009 - Monday

Found this Rant

A friend forwarded me this bit.

If MySpace zaps the link, go to thestranger.com.

It's another poor abused agent's helper. Yes, this person is complaining about the horrible things crossing the slush. My friend is a NY pubbed author. We often discuss publishing, its limits and merits. Blogs vary. They usually consist of writers telling the unpublished that they have no talent if they aren't NY published. How dare they offend by clogging the works with their tripe. Now agent helpers are jumping on the bandwagon. This isn't new. Many agents complain that unknowns submit to them. Miss a comma and you are an untalented imbecile. In short, if you are in a slush pile, you aren't worthy.

One of the books I read this month was by a NY pubbed, highly successful author. She used molten, man nipple, cock stiffened, and squelched repeatedly. No, it wasn't supposed to be an erotica. It was a poorly written, badly plotted piece of sci-fi crap by an author without a thesaurus. It was marketable though. She even thanked her agent. Hmmm. Wonder why he signed her?

We've all read heroes from the slush pile and we've read about famous authors whose works went unnoticed until (insert famous name) read them. We've all read that authors are untalented elitist and we read that the publishing industry is filled with wannabe untalented elitists. It's sad when professionals make generalizations about the very authors trying so hard to get attention for their work. After the agent twitter fiasco, do we really need "professionals" basically telling us to not submit our work. I know there is a lot of crap out there. I know not every writer has the talent it takes to write a postcard much less an entire book. Complaining about people following their dreams and bothering you is disturbing. It is especially troublesome when a person reads what is being published.

On a brighter note, if anyone has any good authors to recommend, email me. I'm running out of books.

11:47 PM

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December 2, 2009 - Wednesday

December is here

I've finished my Christmas shopping. Of course my 9-year-old found the Walmart receipt and discovered a present on there.

It's hard to hide things from her.

GameStop finally decided to ship the missing DS. I think they might be running a UPS scam. They don't ship all the goods, don't require a signature upon delivery, then claim they couldn't have made a mistake. It has to be UPS. Hmmm. UPS didn't pack the box. I'm glad that's settled now.

I'm getting in the holiday spirit. The Christmas tree is up, presents are wrapped. The chilly air makes it feel like Christmas. Much better than in Florida. Of course I'll probably freeze. At least it feels like Christmas time.

As for recent reads-

MAGIC STRIKES by Ilona Andrews-Loved it

ODD HOURS by Deen Koontz-loved it

GHOSTLANDS- Well if you can't say anything nice....Um...pretty cover.

BY THE SWORD-F. Paul Wilson-I enjoyed that one.

I'm waiting for the new Jim Butcher (Dresden) and Lindsay (Dexter) novels to come into paperback.

Well, lots more to do. Have a great day.

1:16 AM

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November 26, 2009 - Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone has a great day.

2:22 PM

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November 26, 2009 - Thursday

Bad day

I need a job where I don't have to be around the public. Sorry, bad day at work. People are evil.

Started reading a new novel. Head hopping from hell. How in the world does this crap get published? I mean really. Newbies are better than this NY pubbed author. She must know the right people or something because this thing is crap.

I ordered some Christmas gifts from Gamestop. They screwed me over. Instead of 2 DS Lites for my daughters, they shipped one and don't believe they could've made a mistake. I spoke with 4 different people (1 of which was a supervisor). They are going to investigate through UPS. WTF. I received my packages. The packing slips clearly state what should be in the boxes. It wasn't there. The boxes weren't tampered with. Gamestop made the mistake and won't acknowledge it. They are such a scam. DO NOT ORDER FROM GAMESTOP.COM. I ordered refurbished DS since I can't afford new ones. Now I'll have to be screwed over and send the rest back. I can't afford to buy another DS and I can't gift one child and not the other.

I repeat. DO NOT ORDER FROM GAMESTOP.COM.

Now my day is improving. I get to do laundry.

12:07 AM

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November 5, 2009 - Thursday

A Sad Discovery

For those that don't know, I work two different jobs. Both deal with the public. I have to say that I'm not pleased with either job. One is in sales, the other retail. Both show me the lowest in humanity.

I've been in Missouri since June. The people here seemed so nice. I'm starting to understand that the region's generous nature is nothing more than a ploy to bring in money. It's simple. The visitors here are mean, greedy, crude, stupid, and in general lack basic morality. The area in which I live entertains them but doesn't hold them in high regard. They see them for what they are. To put it bluntly, many of the visitors here have been building a coffin since the day they were born. They hope to use as many people as possible before climbing into their casket and declaring their run finished. Most of them are retirement age and feel that the world owes them. Everyone they see owes them. It's sad. I often say that people never cease to disappoint me. I never imagined how low they would go.

When I speak to these people, I find hate. They hate their children, their lives, their spouses. They enjoy being mean as if it is the only sport they can play. It's hard to keep that mentality from corrupting the spirit. It's like I'm surrounded by a lowly virus spreading from these purveyors of things unworthy. I desperately do not want to join them. It's very hard to keep from reflecting their behavior. Very hard indeed.

Some days I wonder if there isn't some emotionally crippling bacteria slowly spreading through the populace. A sort of reverse evolution if you will. They are regressing to some primitive animal form incapable of understanding. Hmmm. Sounds like a novel doesn't it?
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4:56 AM

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