The Askamar Journal

I am sorry I have been so silent. Life and work are just so madly and insanely busy right now. I am striving to complete the last of the writing and art for Oracle of the Wisdoms. The deadline I have set for myself is January 1st, and with much writing and painting still to do, it's going to be a hard deadline to meet. However, I would love to greet the new year with nothing else on my desk but the Dreams of Gaia Tarot. I am literally itching to get back to work on it.

For those who are wondering, my book, Dreams of Magic, is now at the printers. It will be available for purchase in first half of the New Year. That being said, I am no longer going guess or commit to a 'when'. I have now learned that with publishing it will be available when I have a copy of it in my hands, and until then, who knows? ... I will begin to take pre-orders once I have been advised that the books have been shipped and are on their way to the warehouse here in Australia.

For now, I ask you to come celebrate the dawning of a new decade with me by taking the opportunity to win one of my original artworks. Come visit at Dreams of Gaia.

Ok, this is an open post to all of those people out there who download books for free from pirate sites, torrents, etc. WHY???? Why do you do it? I am curious?

It can't be the cost. Heck, Fictionwise sells books for around $3 a book. There is a place that sells complete novels for $1. And most of the books that are pirated are small press romantica, erotica or romance. Do you realize that most small press authors make barely any money on their royalties? I will be honest. My last royalty check was under $5! Yes, FIVE FRIGGIN DOLLARS! And I can find lots of my books being downloaded for free all over the place.

And what's up with joining a site and PAYING the person for illegal downloads??? You're still paying. Why pay a person who had nothing to do with the book other than illegally obtaining it? Why pay that person? Why make that person wealthy? Why not pay the author who actually wrote the danged thing?

So, please, will those of you who download books for free, when they are clearly not free, please tell me why you do it? And don't tell me it's because you can't afford to buy books. That's a cop out answer. You can afford a $4 cuppa at Starbucks, you can afford a $4 book. And don't give me the spiel about authors all being wealthy and the can afford to lose the money. I know of NO author who is wealthy. Not one. And I know a lot of authors. Sure, there are some authors who make money at this, and some who make a lot of money at this. But they are few, very few. You could probably name them on two hands. That's not many writers.

And please, tell me how you would feel if someone decided that whatever you do for a living should be given away just because. For no reason. Just because. How would you feel if your boss suddenly decided that he/she didn't want to pay you? Or if you own a company, that a customer should just decide to not pay for merchandise. Or how about if you're an artist, they would just decide to duplicate your work and either keep it, distribute it or sell it themselves. I'll bet you wouldn't like it very much. Neither do authors.

Think twice before you download that book for free. Think about the author who might have spent years writing that book. Think about the publisher who spent considerable money getting the book out there (yes, even electronic books take money to produce). But mostly, think about your own morals.