Wednesday, January 18, 2012

SOPA and PIPA

There are a couple of bills going through congress now, and they're about internet regulation.


The basic gist is "The bills are intended to strengthen protections against copyright infringement and intellectual property theft, but Internet advocates say they would stifle expression the World Wide Web. In essence, the legislation has pitted content providers -- like the music and film industries -- against Silicon Valley." 


That's from this article.  While, as a writer who is completely aware that my work will be posted for free and without permission once I get published, I do agree that there must be some regulations in place, SOPA and PIPA are not what we need.  Free speech will be stifled, and that's not good for anyone.


So, here's a little animation, courtesy of The Oatmeal, about SOPA and PIPA.  Enjoy! 


Image courtesy of The Oatmeal

xoxo Sarah

Sunday, January 8, 2012

This gives me hope...

I just found this interesting little article today.  

JRR Tolkien, best known for some stories he wrote and now some long movies made from those very same stories, was nominated by his good friend CS Lewis (yes, the guy who wrote The Chronicles of Narnia...he and the LotR writer were BFFs) for a Nobel Prize.  

He didn't win; in fact, now that the Nobel documents have been released, one of the Nobel jury members even said that Tolkien's work "has not in any way measured up to storytelling of the highest quality".

I know, I know... 

Even though I know that rejection and negativity are something writers should expect by default, it's almost comforting to know that no matter what you write, someone will not "get" your story.

xoxo Sarah