Friday, June 30, 2006

Scott’s Rant Box: How Peter S. Beagle is Getting Ripped off & What We Can Do about It

I had planned to start off with a different rant until this came to my attention. Many of you have seen, or at least heard of, The Last Unicorn animated movie. And many of you may also know that the movie was based off Peter S. Beagle’s novel of the same name. It has recently been redistributed on DVD and sold well without any advertising by Granada Media.

But what you may not know is that Peter S. Beagle, author of The Last Unicorn, has not seen one single dime of the royalties promised to him. In fact, they even went so far as to tell him, in so many words, “Try to get it from us.” That’s just plain wrong and really bad for business.

Now, I’m a Capitalist. I firmly believe in the benefits of a Free Enterprise system. So nothing pisses me off more than to see that system get abused by unscrupulous dunderheads who think they can get away with ripping people off.

For the moment, negotiations have opened between Beagle’s legal representatives and Granada Media. A decision should be forthcoming by July 12. Hopefully, Granada Media will wise up. But if not…

You can find all the info you need on how you can help at:

http://www.conlanpress.com/youcanhelp/

And here’s the url for the interview where Peter S. Beagle talks about it:

http://www.fast-forward.tv/archive/current.htm


The “Good Twin” in me hopes they come to a satisfactory agreement, for Beagle’s sake. But the “Evil Twin” in me dares them to keep screwing him. In fact, I double dog dare them. Because I want them to see what happens when the writer community in general and his fans in particular take action. I want to see their sales drop to a level they can’t maintain. I would love to see Granada Media become an example for the others on What Never To Do.

Maybe then other companies will at least think twice before attempting the same. But I’m probably just being idealistic.

Thursday, June 29, 2006

Two Days Away

Two days away before the official launch of SpecMusicMuse, so I'm going to give the full list of what will appear in July. But first, a little about why I'm starting this project (other than hope of financial gain, of course). A few weeks ago I received an email from a man who, being of elderly age, asked me for information regarding a writer's group. And by doing so, he blessed me with the epiphany that you're never too old to pursue your dreams.

He found me through my promotional website, on which I also have a Writer's Resource page, and had already gotten most of the books I suggested in my reply email, by seeing them listed on my webpage. And so, he blessed me with yet another epiphany: even an "unkown" like me can have a positive impact on the lives of others.

Suffice it to say, upon such realization, I nearly broke into tears (but let's keep the tears part between us, shall we). I don't want such feelings to end.

I have a passion for music surpassed only by my passion for fiction writing. So I had entertained the idea of combining the two passions in some way. After encountering a musician on another blog, and discovering we shared similar tastes in fiction, the idea for SpecMusicMuse started to form in my mind.

Through this blog, I have a means of helping others by giving them one more place to get their name out, to promote themselves and their art. To have it open for independent musicians and bands as well as writers of "small press" publications. To introduce writers to inspiring music, and to introduce musicians to inspiring stories.

In short, I get to help others out and keep that feeling going.

And, if I happen to make a little money here and there, that's just icing on the cake.

Well, enough with all that mushy stuff. Here's the full list of what's coming this July along with the dates:

Saturday, July 1st: "Scott's Rant Box - How Peter S. Beagle is Getting Ripped Off and What We Can Do About it."

Sunday, July 2nd: Review of Lacuna Coil's new CD, Karmacode.

Sunday, July 9th: Interview with Eclypsis.

Sunday, July 16th: Review of E. Sedia's novel According to Crow.
Sunday, July 23rd: Interview with E. Sedia.

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Welcome

Welcome to SpecMusicMuse, a blog about inspiration.

Music and fiction have always been co-inspirational. A song inspires a story that inspires more songs that inspire more stories, and so on. So now that you know what the Music and Muse part of the title is for, on to the Spec: better known as Speculative Fiction.

Music inspired by Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror, and vice versa.

My goal is to bring you - on a weekly "rolling content" format - book reviews, music CD reviews, and (when I get them) interviews of Spec-fic authors and musical artists. I will focus more on writers of "small press" books and independent bands, but I certainly won't turn down an interview with Rob Zombie or Stephen King if I can get one!

The content here will be free, but if you feel generous and wish to support this endeavor, a PayPal Donate Button will be available.

Coming this July (so far):

CD Review: Karmacode by Lacuna Coil.
Book Review: According to Crow by E. Sedia.
Band Interview: Eclypsis
Author Interview: E. Sedia