ARCs are no fun

Whenever I mention how badly I want to read Throne of Glass, someone immediately points me to NetGalley to request an advance copy. But I don’t want an ARC. I’m more than happy to wait for the book to come out. 

Receiving ARCs feels like being part of a secret club. You get early access to exclusive content and you have to be “chosen” to receive them. Of course I was enamored with the idea when I first learned about it—who doesn’t like being special?  But after being in the club for a while, I found that ARCs aren’t as fun as I expected.

As a blogger:

ARCs are incredibly expensive to make and are part of the marketing and publicity plan of the book. When a publisher sends them out they are expecting something in return, an ROI so to speak. Maybe it’s because I’m in the industry. Maybe it’s because I have seen a profit and loss chart and a marketing budget. For whatever reason, I am really self-conscious about being a loss to the publisher. I’m not the book editor at a major magazine. Even by blogging standards my stats are negligible.  So whenever I get an ARC I try to go above and beyond to promote it. It’s exhausting and it’s a lot of (self-inflicted?) pressure. I tweet as much as I can, I share info about the author/publisher on Facebook, and write fun, unique reviews*.  Luckily, I have not read an ARC that I disliked. What a nightmare it would be if I did! I am fueled by passion so I usually only review books I love or hate. My review of a mediocre book would be awful: “I got this book for free. It was okay, I guess.  I give it 3 stars. Read it if you want.” 

My blog is supposed to be a hobby not a chore, a respite not a responsibility.  Sometimes the ARCs are more hassle than they’re worth, for both parties. Has anyone ever bought a book because of my blog posts? I’m not sure. I probably would be more useful to the publisher if I just bought the book.

*Some bloggers have an “I’m not obligated to review every book I receive” policy, but I don’t. I find it a bit disingenuous since (unless you’re a really big deal) free books don’t just show up on your doorstep without your approval. Not writing a review is akin to not holding up your end of the deal.

As a reader:

Reading ARCs is lonely. The problem with exclusive content is that it’s exclusive. What’s the fun in reading a great book if you no one else can gush over it with you? I can’t be the only one who likes to discuss the books I read. (If I were there would not be book clubs.) You can’t really do that with an ARC. All you can say is “You’re gonna love this!” Well, that’s not true. You can post small quotes out of contexts but publishers may not like that and it just confuses everyone who hasn’t read the book. You can also try to gush with the author (via Twitter or Facebook. Yay technology!) but they have a totally different relationship with the book so the fellowship is not the same. So in the end you’re left all alone, twiddling your thumbs, trying not to post spoilers, all while wanting scream, “I wanna share mah feels! Why haven’t you read this book yet?!” Oh yeah. It doesn’t come out for another six months. Womp womp womp.

When Throne of Glass is finally on sale, I will go to a bookstore and buy it. If I love it as much as I think I will, I’ll write a blog post about it. Not because I feel indebted to the publisher, but because I want to share my passion with others. Then I will go on Tumblr and Facebook and everywhere else that fans congregate and we’ll use caps and exclamation points to discuss the merits of the book. And it will be awesome. No ARCs involved.

Race/Ethnicity: ____________

I hate filling that blank - or worse picking a label from a list. Always have and probably always will. When filling forms I usually leave it blank or chose "Prefer Not to Answer." When that option isn't available and I am told I must answer I tend to become quite ornery.  I distinctly remember giving elementary school teachers headaches with my protest. "But I'm not African - American," I would complain. "I'm not even American!"

Many years and many forms later, I can finally articulate what bothered me about that question. I don't like to be boxed in. I don't want to be part of the statistics of how well or poorly x percent of black/ African - American / [insert vogue term used by the majority to Other minorities] perform on standardized tests. I don't want to be admitted to an institution so they can meet their quota or use me as their token. I had no interest in "reclaiming" a label originally used to marginalize me.

So, when faced with the same quandary as I  created a profile on a dating website (You don't want to know... Well, maybe you do but I'm not telling :P ) I reacted as I always did: I left it blank. The choices were ridiculously limited anyhow and I didn't want to be filtered out any results if someone happened to refine their search by race.

Cue the paranoid insecure little girl inside my head. Among many other doubts I began having, I also was reconsidering my decision. Just because I am comfortable with interracial relationship doesn't  the other person is. Though I rarely came across a profile that listed a particular race/ethnicity in the "What I look for in a partner" section it is likely the omission is due to a sense of political correctness. (One guy did include ethnicity in his laundry list of qualities a partner must have. He self-identified as Caucasian but was looking for "non-Caucasian women; preferably Middle Eastern or South Asian." It's not my place to judge but take from that what you will.) This is not a post-racist world.

I took the advice of my inner worrywart and of a close friend and added race to my profile. I am now listed under "black" - whatever that means. To be perfectly honest, I don't want any surprises and I don't want to be a surprise.  Besides, if someone is filtering their results by race, I probably don't want them to find me anyway.

Watching What Happens

I did not write a blog post about the season premiere of Being Erica because, truth be told, I found it a bit underwhelming. But, as I am not one to publicly bash my favorite show, I will wait until after the second episode to give a good critique.

So instead I turn to my favorite reality show. I watch way more reality TV than I would like to admit but since Top Chef is pretty respectable (it did win an Emmy after all) I don't mind talking about it.

I am very excited for Top Chef: All Stars. I think any fan who had been watching since the beginning (Remember that season? The one with the host who was not Padma?) always wondered what would happen if their favorite cheftestants went head to head. Now we will finally find out!

The official list is on bravotv.com so I won't rewrite it here. I do have my own list of the chefs I am most excited to see back.

From Season 1, I can't wait to see Tiffani back in the kitchen. She was bold, sometimes abrasive, and the inspiration of what I would argue is the most memorable Top Chef quote of all time: "I'm not your bitch, bitch!" She made it all the way to the finals and, as Tom Colicchio said, could have won. Maybe she she will prove once and for all that the original is still the best!

The return of Casey from Season 3 is also exciting. My heart broke when I watched the finale of her season because I felt she was just off her game that day. She had shown throughout her season that she is a phenomenal chef.

Season 4 had so many talented chef so it is not surprising that out of the four contestants they brought back I am excited to see three. Richard, Spike and Dale are very different chefs with very different personalities but there was never a time during the show that I doubt their passion and ability to put out delicious food. Sigh. Someone really needs to invent taste-o-vision. Or Top Chef needs to come to Toronto.

Fabio and Carla are returning from Season 5 and apart from being great in the kitchen they also had really fun personalities. Carla went all the way to the finale. There was some controversy, with some people blaming Casey (who was her sous chef) for the loss but I think that's nonsense. Carla had an off day and did not cook "her food." After learning that lesson I'm sure she'll be a force to be reckoned with.

I liked Jennifer from Season 6 because she was such a hard-core chef. She was clearly one of the forerunners from the beginning and I think she will do well in this new season.

And then of course there is Season 7's fan favorite. I really love Tiffany. She was fun and smiley and always brought her A game. I teared up just a tad when she got eliminated.

Top Chef: All Stars will premiere December 1st. I'll be watching. Will you?

Spot the differences

Let's play a game. The title links to the article The Varsity published entitled "Do more than donate' The following is the the second draft of the artcile I wrote. Let's see if you can spot the differences.

***

I cannot pretend to be impartial. My heart grows heavy as news from Haiti filters in. The Haiti I heard about growing up, the Haiti of my parents' childhood was "La pearle de les Antilles.". The Haiti of today is much battered but still resilient. Every image compels me to do something, to take action, to get involved.

Luckily there is no shortage of response here at U of T. Following the quake, President David Naylor issued a statement and held an event in solidarity. UTSU, in conjunction with both the Scarborough and Mississauga campuses, has formed a coalition of student, faculty, and community members to launch a campaign in support of Haiti. Other student groups have hosted (and continue to host) smaller events that shed light on the crisis in Haiti.

One such event was "Haiti up against Neoliberalism." Hosted by the Women and Gender Studies Student Union on Wednesday January 27th, the event was an important part of the re-emerging discourse on Haiti. In an email, Savitri Persaud, Co-President of WGSSU, highlighted the many dimensions of Haiti's social and political history: "The events in Haiti are directly linked to the WGS curriculum because this interdisciplinary program asks its students to critically assess and engage with world issues, and to analyze them as issues that are apart of a much larger web of interlocking multiplicities, whose matrix is connected to matters not only concerning gender, but race, colonialism, imperialism, globalization, and poverty to name a few."

The event was part film screening, part discussion. First was "Aristide and the Endless Revolution", a film that examined the coups d'etat in 1991 and 2004 that removed Haiti's president, Jean Bertrand Aristide. The second film, "Poto Mitan: Haitian Women, Pillars of the Global Economy" explored the experiences of a group of Haitian women and how neoliberal policies (what is known as the Washington Consensus) has affected them.

The heart of the event was the discussion facilitated by Dr. Rachel Gorman, a professor in the Women and Gender Studies program whose courses include WGS385: Gender and Neoliberalism. More than anything, the event was successful in creating a space for learning. Sitting on couches and pulled-up chairs, munching on pizza and other snacks, students were able to share their thoughts, insights, and knowledge surrounding the current events in Haiti, the many factors that precipitated it and and the implications it has for the future. More than anything however, they were able to ask their questions. The key here was that they were not experts, nor were they expected to be. The students genuinely wanted to learn more about a situation that affects everyone.

What was conspicuously absent from this event was a donation jar. When asked why, Persaud answered, "It was a conscious decision not to collect donations. ‘"Haiti up against Neoliberalism’" was intended to educate. Ultimately, the decision to donate is a personal one and our hope is that through awareness raising, people will make informed decisions about where to donate should they choose to do so."

The earthquake itself may be a natural disaster, but Haiti is going through a man-made catastrophe too. Understanding the underlying issues requires time, energy and a conscientious effort. Haiti's problems did not begin on January 12th 2010. They can be traced much further back to political instability, foreign occupation, unequal terms of trade, resource extraction, imperialism, colonialism, slavery and beyond. I challenge everyone to attend an event with depth—one that will reshape your conceptions of the country the ignorant so often write off as "the poorest in the Western Hemisphere." Such events are not hard to find, especially now. If your group or organization is not already planning something about Haiti, tell them to.

By no means do I frown upon donating money; Haiti needs as much money as the can get. But sometimes giving money is not enough. With collection jars popping up everywhere and the words "proceeds will help Haiti" appearing anywhere, it is easy to lose sight of what is at stake. A Sex and the City theme party does not help Haiti. Haiti has reached a tipping point. Whether this earthquake becomes an opportunity for Haiti to start fresh or a chance for the exploitation and strangulation to become more complete will depend not on how much cash is raised, but by how many people stand to defend Haiti and work to see her rise as the Pearl of the Antilles once more. L'union fait la force—In unity there is strength.

***

 

Needless to say I am unhappy. My next post will explain why.

Do the Ten Commandments still matter?

Today's lesson: Writing an opinion/comments article is not equivalent to writing whatever you want. It involved substantiating your arguments and at least in part engaging with the discourse that already surrounds the topic.

I don't think this article was entirely successful because it began as my using it as a platform and trying to be funny. As the editing process wore on the "funny" was stripped out of it and we're left with an article that, though satisfactory, does not address all facets of the issue.

But still it was a learning experience.

Superman must have been a contortionist...

I spent the day working in a telephone booth. You know the ones: red, very British looking? Yeah, those. They look absolutely lovely from the outside. But from the inside... well, claustrophobic would be putting it lightly.

Granted I was outside most of the time, and it was actually two booths put together. But still. When I had to fill out my paperwork at the end of the day I was twisting and turning trying to find a comfortable position.

Which brings me to Superman. Didn't he used to change in these things? From unassuming Clark Kent to the amazing Superman? That's incredible! I mean he was what, six feet tall at the very least? I'm a measly 5' 5" and felt like a sardine in that thing! Was the Man of Steel more malleable than once presumed? He had to be. Only explanation for it. Superman: faster than a speeding bullet, more flexible than a bendy straw.

Missing Erica

Tomorrow is Wednesday and I have nothing to which I can look forward. She would come by every week to fill my heart with laughs and tears. But now she's gone. I miss her already.

Okay, maybe that's a tad overdramatic. But when "Being Erica" had it's season finale almost a month ago, I was left with an entertainment void that has been hard to fill. It's amazing how attached one can get to television.

This time last year, I was in South Florida preparing to move to the arctic tundra. My first priority was to catch up on pop culture. Though I would be a repatriated Canadian (I was born in Montreal, raised in Florida, and now lived in the Greater Toronto Area) I did not for a minute think I would be exempt from culture shock. So, I changed my homepage to cbc.ca and tried to learn Canadian culture by osmosis. It didn't work.

Flash forward to January. Walking through Union Station I was bombarded with the building's wall to wall "Being Erica" wraps. There was something unnerving about walking over the face of a smiling woman. Still I paid no attention. Until that fateful day when I accidentally clicked the sidebar ad for the show. Don't you hate that? You're on the internet trying to procrastinate and then some ad pops up and next thing you know you can't even remember what you were trying to do in the first place! Very annoying.

The ad brought me to the "Being Erica" website, which led me to the blog. It was hilarious. So I did the logical thing and watched the episodes that were online. Fabulous. From that day on I was hooked. I watched every episode as soon as I could both on TV and online. I would then immediately run to Erica's wall (because by this time of course, Erica was my Facebook friend) and leave comment. Then I would scurry over to the Facebook group dedicated to the show. It was great fun. Before I knew it, I had a favorite show in Canada.

That was invaluable. Prior to "Being Erica" I was scouring YouTube for episodes of my favorite American programs. I remember bawling because I missed the finale of "Top Chef Season 4." But now there was a show that was Canadian through and through: it was shot in Toronto with Canadian actors and was aired on CBC. That's as canuck as you can get with out picking up a hockey stick. There was a sense of community and exclusivity; I had the joy of both recognizing my city as the backdrop to the show and of knowing that for once Americans were clamoring to find a Canadian show. (A quick aside: I find it strange that ABC Family has picked up "Sophie" which was kind of lame in my opinion, while, as far as I know, no American stations have picked up "Being Erica.")

And then, all too soon, it was over. The show concluded with an emotionally charged cliff-hanger of a finale. Then nothing. The marketing team, who up to this point had been amazing on giving Erica presence off the show, cut the cord and left viewers desperate for more. The video blog that preceded the season was not resumed. Erica's Facebook page is not updated. And every Wednesday at 8:59 EDT I realize that there's nothing to watch.

Nicki BluIs

I always try to make sure my online presence portrays exactly the image I want it to and thus I google myself on a regular basis. The latest time, though, I took it one step further. I googled the penname that I use on many websites. What I found was not shocking. There was nothing of which I was particularly ashamed. In fact I am quite proud of some of the pieces of fiction that are attached to that psuedonym.

But still, in my hyper-sensitive, workforce oriented frenzy, I began to wonder: What if potential employers found these things and linked them back to me? What if they weren't impressed with my poetry? What if they thought my writing was crude and distasteful? What if... they thought this was enough to disqualify me for a position?

I broke all ties with that penname. Every link that could connect "Leonicka Valcius" to "Nicki BluIs" was deleted. With that I breathed a sigh of relief and thought myself safe.

Then the pesky voice of doubt came back. Did I do the right thing? Should I hide such a major part of who I am? Do I want to work at a company that would discount a person's qualification over a trivial nonissue? Was I engaging in self-censorship?

We are living in an age where all our lives are open books. The lines between public and private are blurred beyond recognition. The places where we can "be ourselves" are getting smaller and smaller until we spend every other moment holding our tongues and looking over our shoulders because Big Brother is watching.

And what does he see? He sees that I am nineteen years old. That I am working very hard to forge my own path. He sees that I like to express my hopes, my dreams, and my feelings via the written word. He acknowledges that not all those words are polished and professional. Some are silly. Some are strange. Some are rude and defy the rules of etiquette and political correctness. But all are real. And none are out of the ordinary.

So I proudly present Nicki BluIs! Love her or hate her, she is here to stay.

Earth Hour

At 8:30 pm I ran around the house and turned off all the lights. A year ago I wouldn't have done so - I don't think I even knew about Earth hour last year. But after working with my university's sustainability office I felt that I had an obligation to do what was right. So off the lights went.

It felt like the slowest hour of my life. It wasn't the darkness so much - days with shuttered windows during hurricane season had made me used to darkness. It was the inherent passivity of it all. I turned off the lights and thought to myself, "Okay. Now what?" Earth Day felt like a fun, hip thing to do but I wasn't really sure how it was helping the cause.

Raising awareness, maybe? That's always a worthwhile goal. But what exactly was Earth Hour trying to communicate? What were we, as a global community, being asked to think about? How did turning off the lights for an hour affect our collective attitudes about energy conservation? Do we really care? Or was this a gimmick? A quick and easy thing to do to stay part of the "green" trend? Or worse is it a sort of atonement? Turn off your lights for an hour and wipe away the guilt of a year's worth of wasteful practices?

Maybe I'm putting too much thought into it. Maybe if I had been rocking out at free concert in Nathan Phillips Square, the hour would have passed much faster and I would not have had the time to worry about silly things like the Earth.

New Things

I don't like 'em. New things, I mean. Why fix it if it ain't broke? Why get a new one if the old one works fine? These are words of wisdom folks, words to live by!

After I got the "Internet Explorer is not responding" message for the umpteenth time, I decided to take a big step and download Firefox. I know. I'm a rebel. :) So I click all the "accept" and "agree" and "install" and "run program" buttons and voila! I had a brand new, spic and span browser!

It was so pretty. It was sleek and modern and just felt right. At this point I am very proud of myself and my leap of faith. I went and told all my friends the good new (instant messaging rocks) and they welcomed me into the 21st century.

And then I tried to open a new tab. I had to go all the way to the file tab, and hit new tab. Huh. What a letdown. But when the resulting tab was so wonderful I let that little misstep go. Until I tried to access my bookmarks. I had been starring websites left and right but I couldn't find the list. I had to actually go to the bookmark tab hit "most visited" and choose from the drop down list. Ugh. What a drag. But the drop down menu was so efficient and well organized that I couldn't help but smile.

The smile quikly turned to a frown when I tried to watch a YouTube video. Oh injustice of all injustces! Firefox dared declare that my Flash Player or Adobe or Acrobat or whatever the young whippersnappers are calling it these days was outdated. So I followed the link to update. I updated the software three times and still I was slighted in my quest to watch silly videos!

Now there is probably a logical reason behind all of this. I do not pretend to know very much about technolgy or the interenet so it is very likely that a more astute person would have been able to fix it in two clicks of the mouse. But why would I go through all that trouble when good old Internet Explorer was waiting for me faithfully with a fully functional YouTube? That's right. I wouldn't.

So I'm back to IE and its ubiquitous bouts of non-responsiveness. And I have no intention of trying something new.

Girl's Best Friend Visits the ROM

I got another byline. Except there is no "WOOT" this time. Sure that's my name at the top, but that's not my article. At least not the way I wrote it.

My assingment was to cover the new exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum, The Nature of Diamonds, in 500 words. After going to media event I realized it was impossible. I had spent 2 hours at the exhibit and still had not seen everything. There was no way I could pack it all into 500 words. So I sent the editor an email proposing 4 smaller pieces: a quick brief on exhibit itself and 3 artist spotlights. This idea was shot down for space issue. Totally legitimate. As a compromise, the editor gave 1000 words.

I spent an entire weekend writing and proofing and editing and pulling my hair out to make it work. Finally I got down to a piece that was 998 words and that I was completly happy with. I emailed it as I was supposed to. Come Monday moring it wasn't published. That's fine. The deadline for Monday's issue is the Friday before; I had sent my piece Sunday. So I waited for the Thursday issue. There was none. I email the editor to ask what the deal is. After all I wasnt the only one waiting for this article to come out. Apparently they had taken that week off. But lucky for me, he had looked my article over and, although it had to be cut down for space, it was quite good. Again, no big deal. The paper has alot to cover so I understand.

So I wait. And on Monday when the paper finally hits the stands, I tear it open to see my name in print. And there it is. Stark against the gray of the newspaper, the byline is beautiful. But as I begin to read I don't recognize the words. Paniced, I turn on my laptop and cross reference my copy. I mean it had been a rough week. It's possible that I forgot what I wrote... But no. The differences between what I wrote and what was published were obvious. They did more then edit the length of my article. They completly stripped it of my voice. Without the byline I would not have recognized it as my own. And that hurts.

So as always you can click on the title of this post to read the latest published article that bears my name. Woot.

Goin' Green

My mom went sale hunting this weekend. Without me mind you. I was lucky enough to stay home and watch hours upon hours of mind numbing TV. Fun. She did well and found plenty of discounts, clearances, and two for one deals. So she was in a generous mood. In honor of Earth day she decided to buy a reusable eco - friendly tote bag - you know to carry all the stuff she bought.

So she gets to the checkout line to pay for the bag (which was on sale :). The sales woman scans the bag, rings it up and - get this - puts it in a plastic bag! I could have died when my mother told me. It just goes to show you that no matter how many people try to do the right thing, there will always be an idiot who screws it up.

Happy Earth Day everybody