Pirates of Volunteer efforts

I'm not sure about the legal wranglings of the gripe I am about to express but I am so infuriated I think it's well worth the risk.

Three years ago, I was apparently still fairly green in the sometimes shady handling of publishers and freelance writers, like myself. So, when I was approached by a publisher in Chicago for them to use an article I had written, I was so stupidly flattered I didn't bother to have the contract read by someone who could have seen the sickening holes and exploitations, and instead signed my name and scanned it back to them.

Thus resulted in having my article published in an anthology that is still sold to this day at $19 and of which I have not seen a penny.

For sure I am not the first, nor sadly, will I be the last writer to be ridden like a donkey and not even given something nice to chew on in the process, but it doesn't make the practice less bitter.

I was just about to name the shameless cads, who simply copy and pasted the hardwork of others into a book, stuck their names on the cover as editors and then go on to sit smugly in Cosi coffee house, drinking lattes or eating cream cheese bagels, but I thought I'd better check with legal friends first.

The only positive thing gained from this is that as I have now been commissioned to work on a much longer nonfiction project, I am taking great pains to thoroughly read the small print and ensure I will be paid for my efforts.

Criticism

Is a very hard pill to swallow with grace and maturity sometimes. Especially when one's skin should be aged and leathery is actually as thin as rice paper.

But where would us writers be without those brave Editors and husbands who dare to tell us the truth, regardless of the royal rant we throw their way for it.

Without them, my art amounts to little.

Nouveau

Happy New Year,

Here we are on the cusp of doing it all over or doing it very differently. May the year be full of surprises, presents, learned lessons, wonderful accidents, gifts, sweet love and pure beauty.

Whatever it is you've been meaning to do-do it.

Here's a wee bit of simply soothing music from my good friend-Heather Millington.

http://www.myspace.com/heathermillington

Enjoy my friends.

x

Bliss

Photos by bohemianredimages.com

Just thought I would put up a few pictures of my recent adventures and life changes.

Love,

E.K. Ludwig

Carloman and Charlemagne

On this day in 771 AD King Carloman died and left his brother, Charlemagne in full control of the generously sized Frankish kingdom.

I have no idea why I've just informed you of that after many weeks of silence-but it does bring back memories of my lectures at King's College and how passionate Professor Jinty Nelson was about all things Carolingian.

On another note the re-write for, 'Ridley Sinclair and the Fae' is still very much so in full swing and leading me to write whole histories, backgrounds and even myths for some of the characters in the tale. Today I've had to discipline myself to finish the latest chapter I'm on and not make notes. But it's most enjoyable so there aren't any complaints :)

And on a completely separate note-do not watch, 'The Golden Compass'. What a royal waste of time. Too much going on it too short an amount of time, a thoroughly unbelievable and confusing world-ugh didn't like it one bit. It really isn't any wonder that we haven't seen it's sequel just as yet.

Human Zoos

A friend of mine made mention to Channel 4's documentary series: 'Race: Science's last taboo' on their Facebook profile status. And so naturally I went along to see what the big hullabaloo was (and you can too here: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-human-zoo-sciences-dirty-secret)

I haven't had a chance to watch any of it yet (still working out the whole streaming UK programmes from the US) but the thought and fact that both British and American anthropologists deemed it high science to 'collect' indigenous people from their homes and place them in zoos-made my stomach turn and my scrambled eggs return to the surface.

Ota Benga, a Batwa Pygmy, from the then Belgian Congo was taken to St Louis zoo in 1904 and then the Bronx zoo where he was gaped at by paying customers who left, probably thinking A.C. Haddon's conclusion in his 1898 book, 'Study of Man' that the white race had completely superseded the black race, was in fact true.

This is not my attempt to scream for maddened retribution, this is history and what was real and I am glad that Channel 4 have taken this acidic subject by the helm. If anything there needs to be more of this. Schools in the US and all over the UK should show this. If we are ever to break the myth that some people groups are not part of the same Human race then we need to tackle it head on. It is uncomfortable, it does make one cry and want to throttle bigots but the less we speak about certain issues the more power they get.

And I hope we can agree; racism really doesn't need anymore empowering.

Any Book readers?

Fancy reading some of my work, 'Ridley Sinclair and the Book of Riddles'?

If so let me know on erina.khanakwa@gmail.com

Ta :)