I hate not getting it.

Lately I have been trying to catch up on a couple trilogies that I am in the middle of and seemed to come across the same problem: I just don't get what is going on. For example, I was a HUGE fan of The Traveller when it came out 3 years ago or so, and was fairly ok with Dark River (Book 2), so when Golden City came out, I was pumped. Two problems: I couldn't remember what was going on and I had a baby right when it came out. So I found some online summaries of the plot and everything came back to me, but when I got into the book, I realized that John Twelve Hawks really had no intention of resolving most of the issues and was more concerned with taking an Ayn Rand-like philosophical stand instead. Don't get me wrong, I love Ayn Rand, but I skip the 30 pages or so of her books where she goes off her relativistic tangents because I don't understand it (or care to) and I don't think that it has any relevance to the story. Purists will I'm sure tell me that I can't possibly understand the truth of the novels without getting the philosophy but really, that isn't why I am reading it. If I want philosophy, I'll read philosophy. Golden City had the potential to be really good and profound but then it just sort of stops. Ta-da, the end. Not a lot is resolved, there is no closure, and I am left irritated that I wasted my time on the story. I'm also left feeling like I am frankly not smart enough to be reading this.

Now, I am a pretty intelligent person: I have a fairly high IQ, great vocabulary, high SAT scores from high school, and was on the Dean's List in college without killing myself. I usually don't have too much trouble getting things, but lately I've noticed that it's getting harder and harder. Maybe it is because of the sheer volume of things that I read, so nothing seems to stick in my craw like it should. Or because I now have 2 kids age 3 and under (That will scramble anyone's brain, believe me. I'm lucky sometimes to have matching socks on.) and can't pay attention all the time. Whatever it is, it's annoying.

Another example is last year's Story of Edgar Sawtelle. Almost everyone that I talked to that had read it had this amazing epiphany at the end and I missed. It was a wonderful novel, beautifully written, but I kept feeling like I was just a little bit outside of what was going on. I hate that. I hate feeling dumb! Even 2 of my super smart best friends had the same problem (we were all in the same AP English class when we read Hamlet so maybe that was the problem . . . way to go Mrs. Shipman!) and we couldn't nail down what it was. I even had a Shakespeare seminar in college!

I guess it's just a little set back but it is still a blow to my ego. Maybe I should just stick to thrillers and scifi rather than the literary stuff. PFFFFTTTT!

Macmillan - 1, Amazon - 0.

In an interesting piece of news today, Amazon.com was forced to capitulate to the e-book pricing terms set by Macmillan. Gasp! Moan! Oh, how will the giant survive? PFHTTT! Who cares! Read the whole story here.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6717182.html?desc=topstory

I'm just so jazzed that Macmillan stood up to the big, bad, wolf and won. This proves that we indies aren't exaggerating when we say that Amazon is a predator out to control the industry. They have proved it here by taking away the "buy" button on their site of all Macmillan titles (which has still not been restored even after the settling of the dispute) like a spoiled child. All the publisher(s) were asking was for control of THEIR OWN PRODUCT. Amazon is not a wholesaler (even though they have somehow negotiated wholesaler terms . . . hmmm), they are a retailer. Since when did retailers get to dictate the price to the publisher, and therefore, the authors? Why did they allow Amazon to have that much power? Well, not anymore. Hopefully the rest of the major publishers will follow suit and be successful, therefore paving the way for the smaller presses in the future.

Although this victory has no real bearing on my life now, I'm sure that it will in the future because let's face it: ebooks are part of the future whether we like it or not. And for the publishers to be able to dictate the price rather than Amazon dictating it to the publishers, it is a better situation for all of us. Because really, if the publishers lose, who are they going to take it out on . . . Amazon? No, the Indies. Think about it.