Ball of Confusion=Planet Earth

Recently I was having a spirited discussion via e-mail with my sons and my husband, about the problems with the economy, and by extension, the world. One son said that it seemed to him that we all forget that all around us are confused people who don't know how to solve any of our problems...some seek answers in religion, but that's wrong because religion should be a quest, not an answer. Seeking to know God is the purpose of life, but there are no easy answers, and each answer is individual. Some seek answers from the government, but that is made up of people just as confused as the rest of us. Some seek answers in alcohol or drugs, in gambling, in just about anything that can be done to addiction-rates, because those provide what appear to be easy answers, or at least a temporary relief from the pain of asking questions. Some zealously hold onto all of their money because they don't know any other way to live, and the idea of giving some of it to help others, either via donations or enforced taxes, scares them too much. We are all scared and anxious and no one has the answers. We are living on a "Ball of Confusion".



Remember that song by the Temptations from 1970? Google it and there is an excellent u-tube video with images from our current time, shown along with the song being sung by the original Temptations. Remember these lyrics?



"Segregation, determination, demonstration,

Integration, aggravation,

Humiliation, obligation to our nation.

Ball of Confusion.

That's what the world is today." (Copyright 1970, Jobete Music Company, Inc.)



The words could have been written today. Yet each of us has no choice but to continue living our life as if these problems weren't so insurmountable. The rich/poor dichotomy has been with us since the first caveman had more meat to eat than the other one...one might have tried to kill the other for it, and you can bet there was a woman who was willing to sleep with the winner. The beginnings of romance?



We each try to find our own answers and hope fervently that we won't be judged too harshly in the afterlife for anything we might do wrong. Along the way we seek to find love, because to feel love and be loved is the only real security we can have. And love is available to even the least among us, as it is to those who have the most.



What was it the Beatles sang? "All You Need Is Love." More words as true today as the day they were written. And as authors, we seek solace in doing what John Lennon asked us to do: "Imagine".



In my latest book, I once again have an inter-racial romance. I guess I'm an eternal optimist, thinking that somehow if we can just remember that we are all humans, then color/race/nationality/religion will take a backseat to our essential shared humanity. The heroine is what euphemistically would be called "a free spirit", meaning that in college, she enjoyed the selection of eligible men so much that she joked she was trying to get the college to let her minor in sex! The hero is on a hardship scholarship that only gives him one chance to escape the ghetto he was born into, and he is determined not to waste it. A chance meeting brings them together, leading to a night of passion, which becomes a weekly affair. Just when they both acknowledge what they mean to each other, they graduate and she moves to another state. Years later, in the middle of a divorce, he decides he needs to find her again, to see if they can rekindle what they had in college.



http://www.whiskeycreekpress.com/torrid/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=589&zenid=21d5b183b8c0fcac4cfb49e0f2f2d4a3

For mini-reviews of books I've read recently, and movies I've seen, and more about my books, my blog is the first page of my website: www.fionamcgier.com

Paperback Writer

I am listening to The Beatles LOVE CD and I do love it! When I was a pre-teen the Beatles were the boy band that stole my heart and I have a special place in my heart for all of their wonderful music. There are so many of their songs that are associated with some memorable time in my life, but the one song I’d like to talk about is “Paperback Writer” (which is actually not found on the LOVE CD). The pure longing and desire to become a novelist comes across loud and clear in that song. It just amazes me that those twenty-something year old musicians were able to capture what so many of us are now experiencing in our quest to become published or republished.

The lyrics say it all…

“Dear Sir or Madam, will you read my book?
It took me years to write, will you take a look?
It's based on a novel by a man named Lear
And I need a job, so I want to be a paperback writer,
Paperback writer.”

Then the lyrics turn to something akin to desperation. Who among us hasn’t felt this at one time or another? Like we would do anything they want to our manuscript, if they would just accept our work?

“It's a thousand pages, give or take a few,
I'll be writing more in a week or two.
I can make it longer if you like the style,
I can change it round and I want to be a paperback writer,
Paperback writer.

If you really like it you can have the rights,
It could make a million for you overnight.
If you must return it, you can send it here
But I need a break and I want to be a paperback writer,
Paperback writer.”

So, was I influenced by the song at the tender age of 12? At the time I liked the song, but didn’t think much about it. But now it pops into my head with frequency…particularly when I’m drafting a query letter to an agent or editor. The yearning expressed in the song to become a Paperback Writer is not just a bunch of empty words, it is a true heartfelt wish that we authors put in the hands of others with a wing and a prayer. We hope with all our hearts they don’t stomp on our heart’s desire.

~Diane Wylie
http://www.dianewylie.com/