Goodness, hope this gets cleared up! I wondered if an earlier version had no name at all since I clearly saw a byline when I read it. Your writing is "D" lightful!
Let's get names posted properly -- I almost trashed this wonderful piece of writing for its seeming anonymity. I also stopped reading much of what FAIR sends as I have found FAIR to be TOO gentle in its approach to idiocy. But this piece, Kimberley, is spot on and composed with passion and alacrity. Brava! One note: you use the word "beauty" a lot, which is fine. However, there are blistering, brilliant works which that word doesn't describe or at least doesn't connote. I may find the "ugly" beautiful, but it's probably not the word some would associate with horrors like "The Jungle" by Sinclair, "Blood Meridian" by McCarthy, or "The Rape of Nanking" by Chang.
Dear Ralph, I'm delighted to read your reaction to the article, and also share your exasperation with anonymous posting—being in the arena should require wearing your name on your jersey! (Kirkus Reviews drives me mad for this reason—the author needs to disclose their identity and face the music, but the reviewer stays concealed and protected atop their tower.) Alas, the wrong Kimberley Tait was bylined in the article, and I have asked FAIR to update the author link to my profile. I love and appreciate your thoughts on beauty, which made me realize I need to do a better job of explaining how broadly I think about the concept, not limiting it to attractive aesthetics (though I do believe the world sorely needs more artfulness, including artful prose—something else mainstream publishing has abandoned). I think of beauty as the pursuit of craft, truth, and light—elevating pain and darkness into something profound and life-affirming. I totally agree the word may not be universally applicable, especially in horror-steeped works. Though I do believe there is inexpressible beauty to be found in tragedy and suffering, no doubt influenced by my Catholic upbringing and my approach to dealing with tragedy in my life. I made beauty and sincerity integral to Dogstar Press because they have always been my north stars when writing; they are the heart of why trends in mainstream publishing over the last 10+ years have appalled me so much. You are inspiring me to think more and put pen to paper on this. I think the word beauty has been distorted and coopted in our modern world—much like romance, which has been completely ruined—and need to be redefined. Thank you for getting my wheels turning on this!
And I very much appreciate your comments and want to read what you come up with. Beauty and horror (or ugliness) are ongoing concerns of mine. I tried to contact you through your website, but my response would not go through. Please get in touch with me through my email: RHAMMANN42@gmail.com.
You might also be interested in my website and present project: FIlm-Odysseys.com
The assault is on both demand for, and supply of, literature.
Schools introduce kids to reading through pop dreck or branded, leveled readers because they fear charges of Euro/white bias, or because large publishers have bought state/district curricula. Then they assign 'texts' designed around political or social dogma, or brief excerpts that leave students without context or any appreciation for how a writer develops plot or character. It would look like sabotage if you thought the schools were capable of planning such a thing.
My children loved reading before their school assigned them any. They started avoiding it, though, long before they found screens or busy social lives, thoroughly dispirited by the garbage they were forced to wade through.
Thankfully I avoided this by homeschooling. I didn't allow my kids, at least through 8th grade, when I stopped, to read any twaddle, a term coined by Charlotte Mason, a British educator from the 19th century. She used twaddle to describe trivial or foolish speech or writing. It's a term well known in the homeschool world.
Richard, thank you so much for your kind words. The wrong Kimberley Tait was linked in the byline but I appreciate your looking for my work! The "doing something about it" part is key—it isn't easy but as Clifton Duncan writes about beautifully, we're part of the problem if we don't move past disappointment and grievance. My forthcoming novel is BRIGHT STARS, publishing on September 8th via Dogstar Press. I have a copy of Lionel's latest on my desk and can't wait to read it this weekend. I am searching for the best way to contact Lionel without going through her literary agency (my original literary agency!), as I have lost all trust and faith in literary gatekeepers. Warm wishes to you!
Dear Hope, thank you so much for your positive feedback—I'm so happy the Dogstar Press concept resonates with you. The wrong Kimberley Tait was bylined in the article, but I'm grateful you and others were able to read my perspectives nonetheless! I hope you'll follow our journey into the world. Warm wishes!
Money is very tempting. To get grants, funding, published, jobs, etc. many must follow the dogma. Wokeness, inclusiveness, equity, critical social justice, political correctness... whatever you want to call it, seems to do more harm than good wherever it pops up. It is not a real representation of the world in so many ways. It is sort of that simple. Once you convince people of that, I feel they're more likely to truly live, which means living outside many such artifically constructed bounds.
The real stories will continue to be told through other mediums. Those who have the spark of curiosity to understand human nature...and there will always be some of us... will continue to seek out those stories and find those new avenues.
Kimberly, this was exquisite.The soul is what speaks through great writing, and while it’s true that AI has no soul, I sometimes think the mainstream publishing industry has lost its soul—which may be even worse. I’m excited for Dogstar Press and will be following your work with great interest.
Dear Michelle, thank you so much for your positive response and enthusiasm! The wrong Kimberley Tait was bylined in the article but I'm grateful for your following Dogstar and my work! Everything you wrote above resonates deeply: mainstream publishing does feel completely void of soul. It sold it to shallow ideology and short-term commerciality, turbo-charged by the entrance of private equity in the industry, who'd love nothing more than replacing messy artists with hyper-efficient, scalable bots. Vile on every level. The soulful do not need to lower ourselves to this! We need to build our own refuge elsewhere.
Who wrote this? It’s good, but I don’t see a name anywhere.
@Barbara Vice I am glad you liked my article—I’m trying to get the byline corrected!
Kimberley Tait
Hi Ken, the wrong Kimberley Tait is being credited in the byline. I am the author!
Goodness, hope this gets cleared up! I wondered if an earlier version had no name at all since I clearly saw a byline when I read it. Your writing is "D" lightful!
Ken, you are the best! Thank you for your kind words—it's now corrected!
Let's get names posted properly -- I almost trashed this wonderful piece of writing for its seeming anonymity. I also stopped reading much of what FAIR sends as I have found FAIR to be TOO gentle in its approach to idiocy. But this piece, Kimberley, is spot on and composed with passion and alacrity. Brava! One note: you use the word "beauty" a lot, which is fine. However, there are blistering, brilliant works which that word doesn't describe or at least doesn't connote. I may find the "ugly" beautiful, but it's probably not the word some would associate with horrors like "The Jungle" by Sinclair, "Blood Meridian" by McCarthy, or "The Rape of Nanking" by Chang.
Dear Ralph, I'm delighted to read your reaction to the article, and also share your exasperation with anonymous posting—being in the arena should require wearing your name on your jersey! (Kirkus Reviews drives me mad for this reason—the author needs to disclose their identity and face the music, but the reviewer stays concealed and protected atop their tower.) Alas, the wrong Kimberley Tait was bylined in the article, and I have asked FAIR to update the author link to my profile. I love and appreciate your thoughts on beauty, which made me realize I need to do a better job of explaining how broadly I think about the concept, not limiting it to attractive aesthetics (though I do believe the world sorely needs more artfulness, including artful prose—something else mainstream publishing has abandoned). I think of beauty as the pursuit of craft, truth, and light—elevating pain and darkness into something profound and life-affirming. I totally agree the word may not be universally applicable, especially in horror-steeped works. Though I do believe there is inexpressible beauty to be found in tragedy and suffering, no doubt influenced by my Catholic upbringing and my approach to dealing with tragedy in my life. I made beauty and sincerity integral to Dogstar Press because they have always been my north stars when writing; they are the heart of why trends in mainstream publishing over the last 10+ years have appalled me so much. You are inspiring me to think more and put pen to paper on this. I think the word beauty has been distorted and coopted in our modern world—much like romance, which has been completely ruined—and need to be redefined. Thank you for getting my wheels turning on this!
Dear Kimberley,
And I very much appreciate your comments and want to read what you come up with. Beauty and horror (or ugliness) are ongoing concerns of mine. I tried to contact you through your website, but my response would not go through. Please get in touch with me through my email: RHAMMANN42@gmail.com.
You might also be interested in my website and present project: FIlm-Odysseys.com
Best,
Ralph
The assault is on both demand for, and supply of, literature.
Schools introduce kids to reading through pop dreck or branded, leveled readers because they fear charges of Euro/white bias, or because large publishers have bought state/district curricula. Then they assign 'texts' designed around political or social dogma, or brief excerpts that leave students without context or any appreciation for how a writer develops plot or character. It would look like sabotage if you thought the schools were capable of planning such a thing.
My children loved reading before their school assigned them any. They started avoiding it, though, long before they found screens or busy social lives, thoroughly dispirited by the garbage they were forced to wade through.
Thankfully I avoided this by homeschooling. I didn't allow my kids, at least through 8th grade, when I stopped, to read any twaddle, a term coined by Charlotte Mason, a British educator from the 19th century. She used twaddle to describe trivial or foolish speech or writing. It's a term well known in the homeschool world.
Beautifully written. I'll definitely be looking for your work. Best of luck in your publishing venture.
P.S. Just finished "A Better Life." Looks like Lionel is still in the Anger stage and, like you, doing something about it.
Richard, thank you so much for your kind words. The wrong Kimberley Tait was linked in the byline but I appreciate your looking for my work! The "doing something about it" part is key—it isn't easy but as Clifton Duncan writes about beautifully, we're part of the problem if we don't move past disappointment and grievance. My forthcoming novel is BRIGHT STARS, publishing on September 8th via Dogstar Press. I have a copy of Lionel's latest on my desk and can't wait to read it this weekend. I am searching for the best way to contact Lionel without going through her literary agency (my original literary agency!), as I have lost all trust and faith in literary gatekeepers. Warm wishes to you!
Thank you for introducing us to your work. Wonderful idea with Dogstar Press.
Dear Hope, thank you so much for your positive feedback—I'm so happy the Dogstar Press concept resonates with you. The wrong Kimberley Tait was bylined in the article, but I'm grateful you and others were able to read my perspectives nonetheless! I hope you'll follow our journey into the world. Warm wishes!
Money is very tempting. To get grants, funding, published, jobs, etc. many must follow the dogma. Wokeness, inclusiveness, equity, critical social justice, political correctness... whatever you want to call it, seems to do more harm than good wherever it pops up. It is not a real representation of the world in so many ways. It is sort of that simple. Once you convince people of that, I feel they're more likely to truly live, which means living outside many such artifically constructed bounds.
Girls like constrained realms, wherein they flourish (and rule).
The real stories will continue to be told through other mediums. Those who have the spark of curiosity to understand human nature...and there will always be some of us... will continue to seek out those stories and find those new avenues.
Ivan, I fully agree. The spark will not be extinguished. We will always find a way!
Kimberly, this was exquisite.The soul is what speaks through great writing, and while it’s true that AI has no soul, I sometimes think the mainstream publishing industry has lost its soul—which may be even worse. I’m excited for Dogstar Press and will be following your work with great interest.
Dear Michelle, thank you so much for your positive response and enthusiasm! The wrong Kimberley Tait was bylined in the article but I'm grateful for your following Dogstar and my work! Everything you wrote above resonates deeply: mainstream publishing does feel completely void of soul. It sold it to shallow ideology and short-term commerciality, turbo-charged by the entrance of private equity in the industry, who'd love nothing more than replacing messy artists with hyper-efficient, scalable bots. Vile on every level. The soulful do not need to lower ourselves to this! We need to build our own refuge elsewhere.
Cheers and much success!
Many thanks, Alexander—I am grateful for your good wishes!
Name the author of this wonderful piece, please.
@VenerableBede I am so happy the piece resonated with you—the wrong Kimberley Tait is in the byline. I am the author! Warm wishes to you.
By Kimberley Tait
Go Dogstar!!
Huge thanks, David! We need to build refuges in these mad times!
Amen!
So happy the piece resonates with you, Colin!
This is why I’m trying a classical school to educate my kids
HERO!
Dear Eden—thank you so very much! I'm thrilled the piece resonated with you!