I'm Very . . . Controversial For Some Reason

Hi ,

Wow! What a week! The heat here in the sunny U of K has been off the charts. Literally, off the charts. Temperatures never before recordered. I'm told we've had more wildfires this summer than all of last year combined! Crazy. The world is melting.

#theendisnigh

The authory world is ablaze also with the attempted assassination of Salman Rushdie. Now we're not going to go too deep here, but as far as it affects those who commit pen to paper for a living (or pixel to screen as the case may be), it poses an interesting question; should someone be prosecuted for their stories?

Obvioulsy the written word evokes power or these people would simply be ignored. It's interesting to look back and see our history with the written word. Today there's resistence to technology overuse, and yet rewind over a hundred years and there was just as much resistence to children being given formal education and access to books. The advent of the printed book which allowed for widespread distribution was thought by some to bring in a generation of mindless idiots!

Now we're coming to the people who write those words. The novel is now accepted as commonplace. The ideas in them? The people writing them? Not always the same. Salman Rushdie is an example of a controversial author in the political/religious space. Philip Pullman attracted controversy for openly panning Tolkien. Terry Goodkind was controversial in the fantasy space for extoling the beliefs of Ayn Rand.

Controversy needn't always be a bad thing. Stephen King provoked his fair share when critics said his books sold because of his name. What's he do? Write under a pseudonym and sell just as well to prove the critics wrong.

So I put it to you; what's the most controversial author you've heard of and for what reason?

Here at home base there's been things going on behind the scenes. The follow-up to A Pale Winter is with the editor (hoping for few red marks!), and with its release now on the horizon I decided to celebrate with a brand new cover for A Pale Winter! Check it out -

Oops. Note quite yet. The full thing is going to be unveiled very soon alongside a flash sale! So if you haven't grabbed a copy yet that'd be your perfect chance.

Until then, have a gander at these other (maybe controversial?) authors -

Beyond Imagination

Beyond Human

Discovering Your Neighbor

The Iron Crown

Thanks for joining me for this one. I'll see you again soon and until then, have a great read!