…when this ol’ Jurassic was at infant school along with Methuselah and Co., primary sources of reading amusement were the comic cuts… in the UK, these included ‘the Dandy’, ‘the Beano’, and ‘the Topper’…
…and unforgettably, the characters populated within their covers ranged from Dennis the Menace, Beryl the Peril, Desperate Dan, and the Bash Street Kids… as role models for modern-day children, I s’pose they would be frowned on, as the naughtier their exploits, the funnier, and therefore more interesting to us wee readers, they became… but survive they all did, week after week, scrape after scrape, mischief after mischief… now here’s the thing… much as their behaviour may have pulled a tut-tut or three from their comic long-suffering parents and exasperated schoolmasters, NUTHIN they did was too outrageous… they were fun, entertaining, and truth be known, they provided another means of adding to our junior propensity to read…
…the authors of these evergreen cartoon characters and stories knew the limits of propriety… I think there’s a strong pointer there, for me at least, as to what is ‘appropriate’ content in my own scribblings here in my blog… as an Author, my novels hopefully will carry my ‘Author’s Voice’, a recognisable pattern and style of writing… but, the Blog, for me, is the vehicle that carries my ‘Author’s Brand’… how readers perceive the person behind the quill-scraping… of course, it will never replace face-to-face, frequent interaction with people… but, y’know, Mabel, maybe that’s not such a bad thing… among the fabulous friendships I’ve been fortunate enuff to garner across the SOSYAL NETWURKS, I have impressions in my own head of the personalities with whom I engage online regularly… and unlike non-virtual relationships, if I feel disinclined to continue to engage because of ‘bad vibes’, a simple click of the mouse solves the issue… which reinforces for me that I have to take care to protect my own Author’s Brand… by not indulging tasteless Author Blog behaviour… ‘not in my back yard’ kinda stuff… I’d be interested to hear if yeez Lads and Lassies of Blog Land out there share this view?… are yeez conscious of yer own Author’s Brand?... see yeez later… LUV YEEZ!…
ALL MY BLOG POSTS ARE FREE TO SHARE/RE-BLOG SHOULD YOU SO WISH—BE MY GUEST!
Takes me back a bit Seumas! Yes, you do get a vibe from folk online…
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..and thankfully, most of it is genuinely positive,,, some great people on here, m’lady, yerself included :):)
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Why thank you, kind sir 😉 Yes, there are.. I’ve made some great friends, online and eventually in person, through this medium.
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I totally agree Seumas. If someone writes a book and wants to put violent and/or x-rated material in it they can give a warning. There are reviews of stage plays and shows, so people have a choice there also. I’m not going to judge others as they have their own ways of thinking, but I keep my blog writing in the family zone and my brand, hopefully, is on it so I don’t want to be known for anything else. If I write a story or book in future with any violence, it’ll be known by the reviews, will have a place in the story, and not be gratuitous. Even some horror mags state that they don’t want excessive carnage just for its own sake. They want the horror to be more subtle. — Suzanne
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…excellent observations, m’lady, Suzanne:)
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I agree with your points here Seumas, though my own usually very accurate sense of people has sometimes been wrong here on the internet. It’s still all too easy to pretend to be something one is not.
For myself, I’m not sure if my “brand” comes though. I’m new-ish to public writing and with a handle that includes “eclectic”, I know there’s much diversity in my writing. I do keep darker material on a separate blog (with an advisory in the header) as I could see distinct differences in my readers’ taste by way of “unfollows”.
For this reason, I try to look at the people who I read as whole people. Like me, they will write in different seasons and moods. Odds are, I won’t like every piece. I would never cease to follow a writer because they wrote something I thought was bad, tasteless, etc. (some obvious exceptions of course!) I’ve only “unfollowed” a handful of times and it had everything to do with the “Vibe” that you pointed out, or with interaction that left me shaking my head and not the writing itself.
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…spot on, m’Lady, Karin… I would rarely ‘unfollow’ on a single incidence… pretty much like face to face relationships, too…
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Memories of my own misspent youth reading those and similar Comic Cuts back in the dim and distant past Seumas – they never did ME any harm – sorry, can’t stop for long, the local Bobbies are closing in fast and I have a getaway car to hotwire LOL 😀
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…I got yer wheel man lined up for the next gig, that man 🙂
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😀 😀 😀
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Some people go beyond “bad vibes” to horrifying.
Like the one who followed me because we liked same band. We tweeted about music for months, then one day he DMd me to say he was “depressed” because his psychologist had called police after he admitted he “couldn’t stop forcing 10-12yo girls to have sex with him” and that he “needed a friend” and I seemed “nice”. BLOCK AND REPORT!
I’m with you, Seumas: trust your instinct & protect yourself & your professional reputation.
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..wow, that’s a bummer, m’Lady, Alexandria… but the old adage in any ‘business’ relationship is that you can build a reputation over years ,,,and lose it in minutes… 🙂
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I see a number of bloggers serve up all kinds of questionable stuff. It is their place so they can do what they wish. Not my style. I’m with you.
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… quite so, John, in the same way that others can elect to unfollow me, I can also decide to discontinue with those whose content becomes not to my liking..:)
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Seamus,
You are a breath of fresh air in blogland! I agree with you 100%. Does it count that I’m not a recognised or published author of a novel, yet?
Time will tell on that score as I scribble away getting my ideas and characters woven into the tapestry of my story 😊. Yet I still have to say I have found some weird coves in the blogosphere and that wonderful choice of simply unfollowing has been a saviour.
Some day, in the not too distant future I’d like to think I might hang my shingle in the august hall of authors wherein dwells Seamus Gallacher. 😊.
The question which puzzles me though; Why on earth.do some people feel the need to travel outside the bounds of propriety when.writing on this open forum? When did good manners become a wasted sentiment for so many?
Oh for the days of Dandy and Beano – and for the girls Wendy! 😃
Thanks for the trip back to less fraught days.
Susan 💖
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…hello, Susan… it matters not a jot if you are an ‘author’ or not as to what ‘persona’ you wish to portray on your blog…or indeed, in any communication with others… I only pointed out to those who may also be in the scribbling game, that there is a distinction between the ‘voice’ in their masterpiece versus the regular online internet stuff… I’m certain your efforts in getting your stories ‘out there’ will be great in due course…. anything i can help with or tell you what I did to avoid any pitfalls, I’m only too glad to be of service, m’Lady 🙂 …that some folks wanna be boors is there choice, and the ultimate, the trolls, should be ignored completely… I’ve never found good old-fashioned manners to be a hindrance in any of my dealings with others… LUVZYA! 🙂
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Reblogged this on theowlladyblog.
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