WANDERINGS
Wanderings has moved! I've taken the editorial page and turned it into an easier to maintain weblog, courtesy of the Blogger service! To read Wanderings please go to http://mikedominic.blogspot.com/.
One of the advantages of being a self-publisher
is that I can take advantage of a forum for my own voice without
having to pass any kind of editorial muster other than my own.
"Wanderings" is that forum for me, could be for you
as well. I will regularly be posting my own editorials here,
but would also like to hear from the readers as to what they think
of the books and the ideas expressed therein. If I receive
a letter or an e-mail from a reader which is well thought out
or original in nature, I will post it here, and may also add my
own comments. Let me hear from you: you can rest assured
you will be hearing from me.
Is There Anybody Listening?
Is there anybody listening?
Is there anyone who smiles without a mask?
What's behind the words -
images they know will please us?
I'll take what's real. Bring up the lights.
Is there anybody listening?
Is there anyone who sees what's going on?
Read between the lines,
criticize the words they're selling.
Think for yourself and feel the walls...
become sand beneath your feet.
-Queensryche
I've been running this site for a couple of years now, and
it has been a thoroughly enjoyable experience, from an educational
and artistic viewpoint. It has been a pleasure to be able
to provide my work to the readers, and share my opinions through
forums such as this.
However, one thing I have not enjoyed has been the lack of response
I have gotten from the people who read my work. If I'm reading
my monthly stats right, I get plenty of readers....plenty enough
for a complete unknown, that is....so I know people are out there
viewing what I offer. But strangely, I don't get much in
the way of a response from those people. I'm not talking
about money (although great horse-choking gobs of it would not
be turned away); I'm simply talking about feedback, that other
thing a creator needs to be able to function.
See, I'm of the opinion that work like mine cannot function in a vacuum; there needs to be more interaction in the creative process in order to be able to refine the work and the ideas it contains. An idea need to be challenged, and work needs to be criticized (constructively) in order for it to grow and attain its best possible value. Without that interaction, the creator runs the risk of becoming introverted, self-referential and obtuse. The act of communication, the essence of any good work of art, fails.
So I'm asking you, the person reading this: if you have read even one of my stories, and have even the slightest thing resembling an opinion about it, share it with me. Praise, criticism, even venom; all are welcome. I want to know what people think about what I am doing, and perhaps where I could improve. Email me, post to my message board, write in the sky over my house....you choose the method and the message, but please, let me know you're listening!
-Dominic
21 June, 2002
P.S. In case you haven't picked up on it, my email address is paladinfreelance@hotmail.com, or you can find my bulletin board here.
Visit the Wanderings Archives here.