Dream State - Book One of The Sleeping Detective Series - by Charles R. Hinckley

August (Gus) Chase dreamed dreams just like we all do, sometimes enjoying dreams of somebody women who meant a lot to him... but something changed about five years ago...

The dreams started about five years ago, around the time I turned thirty. I was walking home early one Sunday morning after a previous evening while chasing a pretty girl named Sarah, playing a flirty cat and mouse game, tring to get her to come home with me. I failed in my attempt, and in the process had way too much to drink. I got sloppy drunk, maybe a bit obnoxious, and she ended the game. With time on my hands and little money for a cab, I began to walk the fifty-something blocks back to my apartment.
It was freezing. Anemic snowflakes fluttered through the air around me. After a while the snow grew heavier, stopped melting, and began a rapid accumulation. The light sputtering transformed into a white curtain and obscured visibility beyond a half block in any direction. The wind began to pick up and swirling blasts hit me in the face, numbing my cheeks and nose. I grabbed a newspaper from a nearby trash bin and held it over my head. I looked down to protect my fact from the biting wind, and watched one foot methodically plod in front of the other.
That was when I saw the blood. There was a large drop of it on my shoe, then another on my knee. Putting a finger to my nose, it returned covered in thin red liquid. I collected snow from the ground and put it on my nose. My legs felt heavy. I was no longer capable of walking properly, and dragged my feet across the sidewalk as I fought the pull of gravity. Wooziness enveloped me, but I trudged on.
After what seemed like hours, I finally made it home. I unlocked the door, staggered into the building and fell to the floor. Fighting to get back to my feet, I grabbed the stair railing and tried to pull myself up, but hadn't the strength. I slumped back down, my dead thumping onto the linoleum floor, and everything went black.
That's when I had the first of many special dreams, the specifics of which are not important now. What I didn't realize at the time is that the snippets of information I was acquiring through this Dream State would later enable me to save lives.
This life-saving dream data came to me in short black and white images, similar to a video clip or micro movie, that I eventually learned I could play back in my head and try to comprehend, but only if I could wake up immediately. If I didn't wake up right after the dream, the information slowly dissolved from memorable pictures into a mist of crumbling gray dots.
I didn't choose for this to happen to me. I didn't believe in ESP, precognition, mind melding, kinetic energy transference, time travel, or anything else you can cram into that mystical category. I was just an ordinary guy.
Pablo Carrillo, the man I'd identified as the driver of the car, didn't realize his life was in danger. Nor did he think the gringo who knocked on his door that afternoon was anyone worth mentioned to his wife, Phyllis. It wasn't until the gringo started hanging around the corner deli near his apartment that he began to take the situation serious...

Dream State:
The Sleeping Detective Series
An August Chase Novel

By Charles R. Hinckley

The Paranormal - If you can think it, it could be true... Gus Chase hadn't a clue why, when he was around 30, he suddenly began to foresee into the future in his dreams... But he dreamed of only one thing--he could see when somebody was going to die...

Gus worked in a packing job...getting things ready to move in or out for his company...a boring job, that had never really been his chosen line of work. On the other hand, even if he now had this "thing" happening to him, how could it be anything but trouble for him? The first dream had been about a man who Gus had seen killed in a car accident. He had tried to warn the man, but Gus was, naturally, seen as some kind of a nut or a con man!

For one, Gus just didn't have the touch of our famous ghost whisperer who quietly explained that the person she was talking to was being haunted... But, of course, Gus was placed in a much more urgent position--he was trying to save somebody's life! Let's just say, he really wasn't good at telling somebody to listen to him to prevent their death... After all, he can't control his visions, nor can he tell when this "death" would be happening... What do you think? Would you listen to Gus if he was telling you that you'd be gone in the near future?

Yes, there is an underlying humor to this book that cannot be denied, even when the emergency is very real! But Gus does get better... I'd say by meeting a new friend in a local bar to whom he begins to share and talk about what his daily life had become... Mill was a genius who'd developed a high-tech company, with a money-hungry wife who was now bleeding him dry in a divorce... Mill seemed to be relieved to have found a friend and little by little began to lend his business acumen to his new friend and planning became part of what was going on...Gus was willing to consider becoming a private investigator, who happened to use his sleeping precognition to help...

His second dream was harder to take as he sees a young woman running into a dark alleyway with somebody chasing her, then brutally killing her... This dream really got to him as he tried to find the girl and prevent her death, only to fail... It was her sister who found out he'd been originally involved and contacted him to see if he could help her discover what happened, since the police were getting no where...

Without realizing an evolution, readers begin to see that Gus's dreams are slowly becoming connected...and it is only through investigation and some underhanded hacking and break-ins that a criminal case begins to be revealed...

The storyline was intriguing, even with the bumbling detective who was learning on the job... And, really, I did not see that a mystery was being solved. Gus is an interesting character and should improve if the series continues. However, one character which, fortunately, was not introduced until later in the book, the cop, was, for want of a better description, overdone... While it led to a climatic ending to the story, I was disappointed that the author chose to create a bad, violent cop... His actions didn't fit the feeling that was being created around Gus, who was trying to save people... The same results could have occurred by a good cop, albeit, less violent... He didn't fit with the other characters, at least in my opinion, and left a bad taste as the book was ending...

I don't think I will recommend this, even though I'd rank it a four for overall storyline, but do check it out further by reading other reviews... The series has potential, but this debut may not be the best one to explore...


GABixlerReviews

Charles R. Hinckley is an author, audiobook producer, playwright and fine artist. His short stories and articles have been published by several online magazines and News America Syndicate. His plays have been produced regionally. As a producer-voice actor, Charles has several titles available through Audible and Amazon.

from Downloading the World...Shared by Poet Gilbert Wesley Purdy

from Downloading the World

The empty pizza boxes stacked beside the door, 

the tamped-out smokes, the laundry on the floor, 

all bathed in bluish glow, 

he settles back and clicks his mouse, 

at which the room is filled with music

 and the screen with joyful dancing at a wedding feast, 

from Bosnia, perhaps, or from Khartoum,

 the bridegroom flushed with pride, the bride demure, 

the revelers all in third-world couture.

Another click: his favorite team.
The highlights from an earlier game:
homerun, homerun, homerun,
a fielder backed against the wall for each.

Another click he’s on the fan blog commenting,

a virtual chaw now adding menace to his virtual jaw:
Ace should have pitched around the clean-up man.
Instead his curveball hung.
 The outfield shift,
when so-and-so was up, was off a bit.

Fan Page

Click, the Paris Universal Exposition, 1900,

passersby, the question in their ageless faces turning smile
 as they realize the wondrous world they live in,
tip their bowlers, think to tell their friends
 they’re moving pictures now,

 and click, a dark sky turning ponderous,
bolts illuminating towering arches,
where tornado chasers keep the watches.

~~~

Used by Permission

Gilbert's poetry manuscript, *Mind Dance*, has been shortlisted for the Anita Dorn Memorial Award for Poetry. His poems have received numerous awards from World Order of Narrative and Formalist Poets and other literary organizations.

Gilbert Wesley Purdy is a widely published freelance essayist, translator, reviewer and poet, and the Review Section Editor at Eclectica Magazine. His work has appeared in many fine journals, paper and electronic, including: Jacket Magazine, Poetry International (San Diego State University), The Georgia Review (University of Georgia), Grand Street, SLANT (University of Central Arkansas),The Evansville Review (University of Evansville), Consciousness Literature and the Arts (University of Wales, Aberystwyth), Orbis (UK),and Valparaiso Poetry Review. His books include: Edward De Vere was Shake-speare: at long last, the proof; Was Shakespeare Gay? Straight Male Scholarly Angst and Shakespeare's Sonnets ; Henry David Thoreau and Two Other Autistic Lives: before the diagnosis existed; Discovered: A New Shakespeare Sonnet (or three, actually); and Red Pill, Blue Pill: the Real Matrix.

This is a fun poem, isn't it...It is a superb picture of our lives as we daily use the Internet to tour the world... Note, selection of team was selected by me on the three home run phenomena and does not reflect the author's favorite team...as far as I am aware! 😉

Characters Win Over This Reader in In Albuquerque, Abandoned!

In Gallup, Cinnamon and Burro had traced Momma through an old roommate named Mirage. And Mirage reported that Momma had moved to Albuquerque. “Look, if she moved to Albuquerque, why not? Magan only recently moved out of Southern Ridge, a group of low-end apartments in SE Albuquerque. We think your mother was low on money when she left Gallup, so it makes sense.” “Have you got Magan’s phone number?” “Of course – and his address. He said it was fine to visit. He’s intrigued.” “I’ll look into it this week.” Cinnamon finished the last of the pastry. “Burro and I Cinnamon finished the last of the pastry. “Burro and I have a new case in Albuquerque.” “Burro told me about it – a disturbed man named León who looks for a baby in a dumpster. Pretty odd.” Alice said. “Burro will get one of his visions, and we’ll start there.” Cinnamon’s partner had treatable schizophrenia. The solutions to their cases were based on the clues he noticed in his visions. Alice offered a small hug and left the Counterculture patio. Cinnamon stayed behind, ordered another coffee, and watched the black and brown dogs, who remained with their owners, sleeping under the table, completely trusting that they would be cared for and loved each and every day.

~~~

León was about six feet tall, wore a denim vest and a yellow oxford shirt, and stood in the center of the dumpster with his hands in the air. A police car was parked across the street, lights blazing, and an officer stood by the open door. It was the first Monday in October, and the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta was in full swing. Colored globes, launched against a crisp, blue sky, surged over the man’s head, A blue and yellow balloon sank low into the neighborhood, breathing hot gas like an asthmatic troll.

“Baby in the dumpster!” shouted the man. Cinnamon watched Burro creep around a tree near the trash container to try to get a better look. Red and blue flashing lights made a pattern on his cheeks and in his blond braid. 

A local teacher, 5’ 2” with a discrete mustache, stood next to her on the sidewalk. “This happens every day,” Martin Trujillo said. All three were focused on the man in the dumpster. Martin had brought Cinnamon and Burro here to investigate the incident. “First,” Martin continued, “León Baca climbs inside the trash bin and begins to search through the rubbish. Next, Officer Chip Anderson shows up in the police car with the lights going and starts screaming at León. 

My students see this every morning out the window of our math classroom. It drives me crazy.” 

“How does it end?” Cinnamon asked. 

“Watch,” he said. “Get the hell out of there,” Anderson yelled. From the street, a man in a gray sweatshirt and woman in electric blue spike heels entered the scene. “Leave him alone,” the man yelled at Anderson. 

“That’s Booth Baca,” Mr. Trujillo said. “He’s León’s brother. The woman is Angela, Booth’s wife.” “León, honey,” Angela tottered slowly towards the dumpster. “There’s no baby there. You’re okay.” “There’s a baby in here.” 

Anderson drew his weapon. “Get out of the dumpster, León.” 

“You stupid idiot,” Booth called out at the cop. “Let us take care of this. He doesn’t understand.” 

“He needs to stop this. There’s no baby.” The officer’s arms tightened at the elbows. 

“He doesn’t have the right to shoot him, does he?” Cinnamon asked. 

“No,” Trujillo answered. “But one day he might do it anyway. He draws the gun every morning, and if the principal of my school knew, we’d have a lockdown at 9: 00 am every day.” 

León moved side to side and started to moan. “Come on, honey,” Angela said. Booth moved closer to the policeman. 

“Put your gun away, dimwit.” “Okay, León, come on now. Get out.” 

Angela spoke in a low voice. 

“León is mentally ill,” Trujillo told Cinnamon and Burro. “He hears a baby in this dumpster every night.” León swayed for at least another minute, but he was moving towards the edge of the dumpster now, squatting low. Booth moved closer to Anderson and the cop car as if to redirect the cop’s attention away from León.

 “Angela has him now,” Booth said to Officer Anderson. “León will leave.” 

Anderson glanced at the trash container where León was stepping out with Angela’s assistance. He lowered his gun and returned it to the holster. “You need to take care of this guy. There’s no baby in the dumpster. The neighbors complain.” 

“Screw the neighbors.” 

“Easy for you to say, Booth. Half of them think he’s a nuisance, and the other half think there really is a baby...

~~~

Rainy Blue shot back. “But, I do want to catch the Special Shapes Glodeo in the evening. They light up all the balloons on the ground at dusk, as I’m sure you know. It happens Wednesday. You want to go?” 

“I’d go anywhere with you.” He looked at her with glazed over blue eyes, and she saw the beads in her earrings reflected in his eyes. “You’re beautiful,” he said. (Burro has found a friend!)

~~~

In Albuquerque, Abandoned

By Tower Lowe

Arrived in Albuquerque! Guess what, I immediately met a couple of old friends I was happy to see. Cinnamon and Burro, who I had met earlier in the book, In Gallup, Greed! That review got over 700 hits, so I'm hoping this one goes higher... Yes, I still don't know much about Cinnamon and Burro, and, yes, Cinnamon is still hunting for her mother...but I also went ahead and got the mystery sample that was offered by the author. In other words, by the second book, spending time with these two characters, I was hooked!

Cinnamon and Burro are a wonderful team... Because their jobs in relation to schools in the area, takes them all over, the two can easily merge in the tracking of Cinnamon's mother as they "go to work..." 

And, somehow, they always get hired for additional jobs that lead to a mystery... Cinnamon is driven, and believes she actually saw her mother in this book...as she was leaving...so we already know where they are headed next!

But the mystery in Albuquerque is really cool, and certainly character driven...The characters have become the overall series triumph in my opinion.  Once readers become personally involved with the characters, you want to read more...

You see, I think, the characters created by Tower Lowe remind us of people we know...maybe even ourselves...or they are people that have been affected by today's culture, such as using drugs, and readers watch to see how each individual deals with their particular quirks. Cinnamon is obviously obsessive, but also a caring and inquisitive individual who also becomes driven to find out what is happening and solve the latest mystery that comes along... Burro, on the other hand, has been diagnosed schizophrenic, but that has also given him some paranormal gifts that result in visions regarding his surroundings. 

In this story, there is also another schizophrenic man who Burro personally takes under his wing, trying to help him via their mutual issues...

Burro turned to Cinnamon
and Mr. Trujillo.
“There is a baby,” he said.
~~~

Leon was good in high school, and heavy into sports, so very popular; that is, until he developed schizophrenia. Now, he lives with his brother and his wife, who has been delegated to be nurse for Leon--and greatly resents it...

Cinnamon and Burro come into the picture because Leon has been hearing a baby cry every night...and linking it with a newspaper clipping of two boys actually finding a baby in a dumpster in another city... In his mind he'd developed the theory that this baby he was hearing was in a nearby dumpster...and every morning he would go directly there, get in and try to find the baby... agitated and unable to think rationally about the baby never being there, no matter how many times he searches...

It was disturbing to the class in the nearby school, and the teacher, who had known Leon, hired Cinnamon and Burro to help...hopefully to find the baby he was hearing, or to prove to Leon that there was no baby...

While the dumpster dips continue daily, a local cop has come to be there every morning and starts to hassle Leon, oftentimes pulling his gun and causing more trouble than he's helping... Yeah, meet Chip...he has some issues...

Then there is Booth, Leon's brother, who has gotten into some criminal activities, while Angela is having an affair...all this surrounds Leon, but nobody considers that Leon is intelligent and, most times, he realizes there is no baby, and he hears things that are happening all around him...

Then Booth is killed...and Leon disappears...

There are many more people involved in the various story lines running through the book and so many angles that increases the complexity of the mystery, or should I say mysteries, that are also running concurrently... But, the real kicker was in the climatic ending, which, I guarantee, will be a total shock to all readers! (Let me know if you guessed it!)

The merge of various cultural norms is prevalent in the book and especially adds to the intrigue since there are obviously differences that are not necessarily known before you read

about them. I was enthralled enough to easily ignore that it will take the entire series to maybe find Cinnamon's Mom...but, in the meantime, readers will be heading to Taos next!

Highly recommended! I think you'll love unique the characters as much as I do!


GABixlerReviews

Tower Lowe (aka Donna Tower Pecherer) is published in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and is the author of mystery novellas and full-length novels featuring Cinnamon and Burro. Her new series of historical mysteries features Cotton Lee Penn and Max Mayfair. She lives in New Mexico and grew up in Homeville, Virginia. 

Contact her at towerlowe.com

Culture Vs. Copyright by Anatoly Volynets - Attention Authors...

Materials Beyond My Review was Used Under... 

Authoright Notice

Anatoly Volynets: Contents

Sasha Willins: Graphic Design & Editing

Ilya Volynets-Evenbach: Technical Support & Structure

Permission is hereby granted to anyone to use, copy, redistribute, or create derivative works from all the materials on the site and the site design and its elements for any purpose, as long as proper attribution in reasonable form is given to respective authors, clearly stated that all the materials are used under Authoright license, and functional link to this site and respective material on it provided.

The full text of Authoright License located at Dialogue of Cultures

Many of you may have noted that on the bottom of my Blog, the following is provided..

All Material Copyrighted to Glenda A Bixler But May Be Used With Appropriate Attribution Back

That was my decision... I wanted all authors, and others, of the books I review to be able to use them in any way they wished, as long as attribution was given... By now you will have seen most of the book posted on Book Readers Heaven, per the Authoright License provided by the author of the book... Culture Vs. Copyright is an excellent discussion of the issue of copyrighting law within today's culture...

I do not support the book one way or another as it relates to books or other types of cultural art; however, I do believe and recommend that every author read it.... For me, I want a book like this in print so I can easily reference it. On the other hand, you can now find the entire book here and on the author's site as well. The reason I do not support the book is not a negative statement. Rather, in my opinion, it is about time somebody started talking about this important issue in our ever-changing culture. I would consider this book an excellent tool, but there is much to consider, even though the book has covered just about anything that needs to be covered to start a major look of publishing! Note that the book covers all types of cultural art; I am writing purely on books, because that's what I know...

First Graders on the Magic Planet - Chapter 1

I was sleeping once and saw a dream. There was a strange planet. Something magical happened there every time an artist created a new work. The very moment the artist took his work out of his house the work became as widely known as it was talented. There was a specific law working there also: nobody was required to pay the artist while using his work in any imaginable way.

Amazed, I woke up and tossed and turned for the rest of the night, trying to grasp if there was any way for an artist to make money there? I couldn’t wait to bring this up with my first graders. They do so love magic! So the next morning I asked them about it, and look at what I got.

Who Gets Money on the Magic Planet and Why?

Alpha: There is nothing to talk about here. If nobody has to pay an artist, then nobody will, no matter how famous he is. I say, the more famous an artist is, the more money he loses on that stupid planet.

Beta: He ain’t losin’ money because nobody gets money there.

Gamma: How come?

Beta: If nobody’s has to pay for use of an artwork, then everybody may copy it and have it for free.

Delta: Yeah, except for the money spent on copying.

Gamma: So somebody does get money? The copy machines! Ha ha ha!

Kappa: And somebody owns those machines.

Beta: People could sell or rent copy machines and other things you need for copying, right? By the way, if copying takes money and time, then people may come along and do it for others, right? What are people that copy for others called?

Teacher: Publishers?

Beta: Publishers.

Alpha: So what? The artist still gets nothing. Only your “publishers” and the factories that make the Xerox machines. That’s not fair!

Beta: Hmm, this is interesting… The planet makes a work as known as it is good, right?

Delta: Right. So?

Beta: If it is known, then people want it…

Delta: Hey, hey, I’m starting to get where you’re heading. The more people want it, the more those publishers get, right?

Beta: Right, and they start to have a competition.

Delta: Yeah! Who can get people to buy more of his copies!

Alpha: What baloney! How can they have a competition if the work is the same for everybody?

Beta: How? How do they always compete? Some put lots of ads on TV―that’s how they compete. Some sell their copies cheaper―that’s how they compete. Some make their books in hardcover―that’s how! Everybody understands that!

Alpha: OK, OK. Publishers get money. They compete and steal each other’s business… All right, who cares? They don’t bug me. What about the artists?

Beta: What about them? Use your imagination, Alpha.

Alpha: Use yours.

Beta: I am. They all live there and know how it works…

Alpha: We know too. So?

Beta: So? Publishers know. The very moment a work pops out of the house, it becomes available for everybody.

Alpha: Yes, and you don’t understand, Beta. That’s the catch―the artist loses it right away!

What Does an Artist Get?

Delta: Careful there! To become famous for your work does not mean to lose it! It is the best thing that can happen to an artist!

Alpha: I love it! Everybody gets money, and the artist gets famous and hungry! What luck! Thank you sooo much!

Gamma: Hold on. Let Beta finish his train of thought. He was up to something.

Beta: I still am. And we are close…

Delta: I know, I know! I used my imagination! I got it―the publishers will line up in front of the artist’s house to get the next work first and have any advantage on the market!

Beta: And?

Delta: And they will pay to access it before it gets out of the house! They will fight and try to kill each other to get it today because it will be for everybody tomorrow!

Teacher: Well, not quite. Remember, it only becomes as known as it is brilliant.

Delta: Yes, yes, I got it. The more talented it is, the more fierce the competition!

Alpha: Oh yea, exactly! I wouldn’t stay in this line. No publisher would! What are the conditions for the business here? No, thank you!

Gamma: Nobody would do publishing?

Alpha: Nobody!

Beta: Great! Does anybody know where to buy a ticket to fly there?

Alpha: Are you that stupid? What are you going to do there?

Delta: I know―he is going to be the very first and the only publisher there! Right, Beta?

Beta: You bet.

Delta: He will become a mufti-billionaire in one month and hire all of us! Hey, Beta, do I deserve a good salary?

Beta: You bet. Everybody does, even Alpha.

Delta: What’s he for?

Gamma: What for? Who was igniting all of the talk? It’s worth paying for!

Delta: Igniting? You mean like a car?

Beta: Yeah, like a fire.

Alpha: You’re all crazy. I’m not going.

Kappa: All right, get serious.

Alpha: Yeah, I’m still wondering whether the artist really gets paid.

Gamma: Wasn’t it convincing―that long line of publishers under the artist’s window?

Delta: It actually was… They will line up, one hundred percent… after they learn that Beta bought a ticket and is going to cut them off!

Alpha: Hey, we wanted to be serious, didn’t we?

Beta: We are, Alpha. And we haven’t finished yet.

What Does a Publisher Get?

Gamma: Hold on, all of you. I want to ask Alpha what was wrong with the picture? Can you put forward some argument and save the exclamations for yourself?

Delta: Gamma, you always sound so smart.

Gamma: I was watching the news with my parents last night.

Beta: Well anyway, I don’t mind the exclamations, but I would like to get some more logical “ignition” as well.

Delta: Me too. Say something, Alpha.

Alpha: What, you can’t remember? I told you―nobody will pay an artist, all right?

Gamma: But how about a fat publisher that can pay to be the first?

Alpha: I don’t buy it.

Gamma: That’s all?

Alpha: All right. But he won’t pay much because all of the advantage expires the moment the work gets out!

Beta: Hey, Alpha, if you understand business so well, why don’t you use your imagination a bit more?

Alpha: I take that as an insult.

Kappa: Cool down, guys.

Delta: Hey, hey, I understand! He may pay the artist very well so that he keeps the work inside!

Alpha: So what? It gets outside when it gets published anyway!

Delta: So what? The first is the first! Customers value that! This is how a brand develops! It pays, all right.

Alpha: So what? So your fat publisher develops a brand. Oh, he makes money all right, but what about the artist?

Delta: Are you nuts? Who can’t remember now? How does the publisher gain all these things? He has to pay the artist, remember? He has to pay very well, remember!

Kappa: Cool down, guys.

Some More for the Artist

Beta: I have some more for the artist.

Alpha: More baloney, I’m sure.

Kappa: We are listening, Beta.

Beta: Yeah, listen and be the judge. First of all, that fat publisher will put on the cover that he paid for it, that he didn’t get it for free like the others did…

Delta: I know! I know! Hurray! Beta, you are a genius! All artists of all ages and nations have to pool money to raise a monument in your name! I will personally donate a few bucks.

Alpha: Oh yes. I’ll put in a few more to have all of your names carved in the pedestal along with the inscription “This is for a few stupid kids who wanted artists to starve and art to die.”

Kappa: Delta, why don’t you step down from your desk? Alpha, you are complaining, but you are the first to insult others.

Gamma: Delta, what did you want to say?

Delta: Don’t you get it? Any publisher can pay to the artist to write it on the cover!

Gamma: Why should they? They have it for free!

Delta: They sure do. But why, then, the first one does? Who wants it for free, can use it for free. Who wants to develop a brand, will pay! Get me? They pay for marketing, anyway. Payment to the author will be just one out of many marketing strategies. I would even say that every publisher would want to pay the author to have it on the cover that they paid. Only those who cannot afford it, won’t pay the author. Get me?

Gamma: Look what we have here! All of the publishers can publish the same work and will pay for this to the author?

Delta: And the work gets spread like crazy. The author gets exposed to unimaginable heights!

Alpha: Yeah, unimaginable. That’s the word. Good fantasy.

Kappa: I like that magic.

What If It Is Not Magic?

Beta: Actually, now I do not understand why that magic was even necessary?

Gamma: Why? Beta, what’s come over you? How was that artist initially exposed? Remember all the good stuff we just got! All the riches, the champagne pouring from the sky! If it were not for the magic, then there would be no publishers in a line, no money for the first sale, not the slightest interest in proudly putting on the cover “I sponsored this author!” Nothing, Beta, nothing, just empty pockets!

Delta: Hmm… well, actually, if an artist is not known to the public, there is no way for him to get paid on any planet…

Alpha: How do they get rich, then?

Beta: Frankly, I don’t care how it happens here… By the way, I’ve heard many times that only a handful of artists get considerable money. The great majority of them are starving artists, anyway.

Alpha: So? A talented one gets money, untalented―does not. What’s wrong with that?

Delta: What’s wrong with it is that it ain’t true. As simple as that. My father says it is a rare coincidence when real talent gets real money.

Gamma: This is not the case on the Magic Planet! I am dying to learn how Beta was going to provide the magic without magic!

Alpha: I’m not. All you fantasized before wouldn’t work! And anyway, it’s impossible.

Delta: Oh, that’s clever. You don’t want to hear what Beta’s up to because you think it wouldn’t work?

Kappa: It is too early to judge. Beta, what was it that you wanted to tell us?

Beta: Look, can you imagine that publishers and others, who want to use a work of art, are free to do so?…

Delta: Like on the Magic Planet!

Kappa: Delta, do not interrupt, please! You’ll never hear the answer!

Beta: OK, I’m continuing. Everybody is free to use it but is obliged to attribute the work to its author…

Alpha: So?

Delta: Ah… the author gets exposed with every single use of his work!

Gamma: Hmm. Let me see… If artworks are not free to use, each publisher will have his own stack of books.

Teacher: Oh yes, that’s true on our planet; publishers feel safe with their portfolios.

Gamma: Yeah, but if it’s free to use by anyone, no publisher feels safe with his own “portfolio” and has to search continually for more good stuff…

Alpha: So?

Beta: So, any new work gets attention, no matter what!

Delta: Yes, yes! If it is really brilliant, there is always someone to grab it and show it off!

Kappa: Delta, get down off your desk, please. Why are you getting excited so easily?

One Flaw in the Common Perception

Alpha: I can’t understand why they are free to use a work? Why shouldn’t they pay the author? It is so simple and reasonable.

Gamma: Is it? That’s what I thought yesterday too, but now I’m not so sure.

Beta: Why should they pay if it works anyway?

Alpha: …An author can be granted exclusive rights for publishing and trade them off…

Beta: And how does he get exposed then?

Alpha: Listen, Beta, I’m not calling you nuts now, but you don’t understand the simplest things. The author sells his rights, the buyer advertises and sells the work. Is that so complicated to you?

Beta: It isn’t, except that it won’t work for the author!

Alpha: Why on the earth won’t it!

Beta: Because, within your scenario the author depends entirely on that one buyer, his capabilities, intentions, and good will. The author’s fame is limited and cannot be anywhere near the fame he could enjoy from the entire competing publishing community!

Teacher: We can say “exposure” instead of “fame.”

Beta: OK, “exposure.” The author’s exposure is limited in Alpha’s scenario.

Alpha: I don’t buy it!

Kappa: That’s easy to say, Alpha.

Word to the Reader

Well, my first graders haven’t made very clear points, but who expected this? I was intrigued. I started to ask myself what I really knew about the subject, where to dig for these not-so-simple answers. All of a sudden, I realized that we were discussing pretty strange things, which are different in nature from material ones… And I could only find the slightest trace of this subject matter in all the fuss around copyright related issues nowadays. Finally, I found myself thinking about this question: what is the nature of art?

~~~

In the Preface, the author presents three different options as to how this book came about: Somewhat Real, Somewhat Fictitious, and Somewhat Poetic (which was a poem I used earlier)... 

Obviously, to me, the book is both non-fiction and fiction...  In fact, I believe the above chapter is part of the fictional part. In perhaps trying to put a light spin on a heavy topic, the author invites readers into, for me, my first "think tank." I do support that idea, but I had trouble believing that first graders actually said what was attributed to them... 

In other words, this reader didn't need the fluff...although I could have agreed much more with the format if it had been adults, since the words and thought-processes were well beyond any first-grader, even if they possessed a high IQ at that age... I do feel, however, that some type of brainstorming activity did occur to have the author enter into the book itself... What did I do? I read the discussions, ignored the silly interchanges between students, and read the brainstorming material... Funny, though, I didn't see as much of a direct correlation of that activity with the true content of the book as I expected... just my opinion, so I will say that it didn't detract much from the book...

First, there are indications that Culture is significantly changing, almost daily, due to the Internet and improvements in publishing methodology. One of the things I've seen is that more and more people are creating books. I use the word creating on purpose, because many individuals are merely doing online research on a topic and putting it into book format and selling it under that individual's name.

Which leads to, I believe, the most important issue that must be addressed by writers and other product creators... Do you write, paint, write music, etc., because you must--because it is your personal self-expression? Or are you writing, primarily, to make (or supplement) a living? 

The premise of gaining sufficient notice of your work is already being tested by virtue of the thousands/millions of ebooks that are floating around at no cost... At present, for those people like me, the reason we don't share/reproduce ebooks is because of ethics... But what of the people who automatically share books to as many friends as they'd like? And, of course, you could substitute music, vids, photographs, and so many more that can easily be copied due to advancements in electronic equipment.

The author's proposes that in using the Authoright License, which requires attribution for each time a book is shared, in essence creates a market for that author of his future books.

In creating the book, I believe the author has presented his concepts in a well-thought-out and objective fashion. I couldn't think of anything that was not covered in the book. Therefore, knowing something needs to begin plans for the future, this book certainly lends itself to being used for that purpose.

On the other hand, the author also owns a company and that company sponsored the costs for writing the book. There is a clear indication that money paid for individual artist creations has been an expectation up to this point. While I agree now is the time to begin to coordinate efforts and plan for the future, which does not mean giving thousands of ebooks, for instance, away, without any visible credit to the author, the topic is an important document for use in further discussions... If nothing more, finding arguments against the book can still move us forward in thinking about the future! Highly recommended...

GABixlerReviews

Culture Vs. Copyright - Addendum: Authoright

Used Under... 

Authoright Notice

Anatoly Volynets: Contents

Sasha Willins: Graphic Design & Editing

Ilya Volynets-Evenbach: Technical Support & Structure

Permission is hereby granted to anyone to use, copy, redistribute, or create derivative works from all the materials on the site and the site design and its elements for any purpose, as long as proper attribution in reasonable form is given to respective authors, clearly stated that all the materials are used under Authoright license, and functional link to this site and respective material on it provided.

The full text of Authoright License located at Dialogue of Cultures

Addendum: Authoright

Once again, Authoright license have been developed with the idea in mind to ideally fit it to the nature of culture. This goal is stated in the license itself.

Glossary

author(s). An individual or a group of named individuals who have created a work. Beside direct creator of a work, these may include: translator, restorer, compiler, and so forth.

civilization. The realm of physical industries and products, social structures, and socially determined relationships.

cultural phenomena. All ideas, methods, theories, genres, literary personages, and other creations of the free human spirit, fixed in form in any medium, including mere oral statement.

culture. The realm of creativity and free communication. In other words, the realm of inner and outer dialogue and thus the realm of ultimate freedom. Different areas of culture are: arts, sciences, philosophy, engineering, religion, and so forth. Culture develops in works of art, philosophy, sciences, and so forth.

public use of a work. Publication, performance, production, dissemination, sale and so forth.

source. A citable medium. A publication, for example, is a source.

sponsor. Any entity providing incentives for an author and/or for a work.

work. The most important cultural phenomenon. In a work of art, philosophy, science, etc. other cultural phenomena are developed and refined. Thus, the cultural phenomena become part of the common treasury of a society. The works we are talking about are: books, paintings, sculptures, story boards, musical pieces, blueprints, models, programs, movies, Web sites, etc.

Theory

Intention

Authoright license’s intention is to build a legal framework that implements ideal social relations to provide cultural development and utilize its fruition.

General Idea

The world of culture differs from the physical one. It functions under different laws, depends on different circumstances and driving forces, and develops different powers. Ancient Romans said Natura parendo vincitur, that literally means “Nature obeying one wins.” In other words, we can get the best fruits from nature if we act in accordance with its laws. Likewise, we can get the best fruits from culture if we act in accordance with its own laws and do not project on it laws that govern civilization. The quintessential law of the nature of culture is “Ultimate Freedom.”

A Few Clarifications on the License’s Basic Ideas

Slavery

It has taken thousands of years to achieve the commonly accepted understanding that human being cannot be in private possession. A cultural phenomenon by its nature is much closer to human being than to a physical thing. For example, a hero of a book is an acting person for many people and influences them in a greater degree than physically alive ones. Therefore, law to govern culture has to be based on the laws to govern direct relations between people rather than ones to govern real estate.

Private Property

It has taken thousands of years to achieve the commonly accepted understanding that real property acquired through labor and trade cannot be taken from the owner at someone else’s will. This principle is defining any law development regarding real property, regardless of countless details and nuances in possession and usage of it. Likewise, law regarding “possession and usage” of cultural phenomena must be based on one fundamental principle in accordance with the nature of the culture, regardless of countless details and nuances in creation and existence of cultural phenomena.

Culture

No commonly accepted understanding on proper social relations within culture has been achieved so far. Laws to govern culture are built on some kind of compromise between those to govern private property and something else, which has never been clearly stated. What is this “something”? This question has never been discussed publicly. The question must be asked and answered, and the answer must be one principle based on the nature of culture itself.

Few Discrepancies between Culture and Civilization

When it comes to culture, all imaginable relationships within it work in the opposite way to compare with relationships seemed to be their counterparts in civilization.

Message Versus Trade

Essentially, a work of art is a message to everyone. This is its very nature and driving force. You write (say, paint, sing, etc.) to be read (heard, watched, etc.) and responded to. Even when it is done for some superficial reason such as for money, in fear of punishment, or reaching for fame, this may only work on the surface. Under the surface, creating is free communication, an unrestricted sharing of ideas. But a message is not lost when it goes out. It becomes more powerful and valuable if it is heard. When you share your idea with someone or let someone copy your work, by the very nature of it, you are not losing it but developing the idea or make the work more known, and thus, you are becoming richer.

Moreover, an author even in his inner dialog, while creating, is as much a receiver as he is a contributor. Author and mankind are always on par, and no one owes anything to the other side.

That is why an author does not lose his work when it gets distributed.

In the world of physical things, it is opposite: if you let a thing go, you lose it, even if you trade it for something else. The trade can or cannot be profitable for either party, but regardless, it is action of different nature than sharing of an idea or copying an artwork.

Communication Versus Depreciation

Having said the above, we understand that a work of art gains value every time it meets an audience. No matter what all other circumstances are, the more it is “used,” the more valuable it becomes. In the world of physical things, it is the opposite―the more you use something the more it depreciates.

Humanity Versus Call of Nature

Culture is the only reality where humanity develops. The deeper you get into it, the more you need it. Thus, the less you get into it, the less you need it, the less you know it is important and necessary for you. In the world of physical needs, it is opposite― if you need something then your body tells you about it, you satisfy the basic need and it stops bothering you.

Technical Principles

Legitimacy

Ideally, Authoright should be based on a specific Authoright law, directly addressing the scope and features of the Authoright. However, there is no current proper law to base Authoright on. The closest by its subject, but not the only legal framework, is set by the copyright and patent law. Therefore, Authoright license can be based on and enforced within any existing law. Any law or contract, whichever singularly or in conjunction with, is suitable, may be used by the author(s) to support Authoright license for a work.

Flexibility

Due to the general idea to create a license ideally corresponding to the nature of culture, it is important to keep the license scope and features flexible in order to make it to fulfill its initial goal. Despite it, it can be changed in order to better suit its fundamental purpose; the Authoright License does not have separate and different versions.

Reflexivity

The Authoright License is reflexive, i.e. it is released under Authoright based on whatever laws are suitable at the moment and place the Authoright is challenged. Specifically, this means that any license built upon one presented here has to clearly state this and make a reference to this text.

The License

Coverage

Authoright covers the use of any and all cultural phenomena.

Freedom of Use

Any cultural phenomenon may be freely used by any entity for any known or currently unknown purpose, creative, commercial, or noncommercial without limitations, permissions, control of any kind from any individual, organization, government or international agency, and so forth.

Attribution

Any and all public uses of a cultural phenomenon require attribution, when applicable, to all of the following:

• Author(s)

• Source and its sponsors

• Original source and its sponsors

No Transfers

The right for attribution is perpetual, unalienable, nontransferable, and non-sharable in any way.

No Organizations

An author entitled to attribution may be an individual, or group of named individuals only. No other entity of any kind, such as a business of any kind and legal status, an agency, a union, a fund, family, public association , an organization of any kind could be considered and attributed as author.

Sponsorship Agreement

Any entity may be attributed as a sponsor for an author or specific work if the entity has paid to the author a sum of money or provided any other incentives to the author that the author and the sponsor agreed upon.

That particularly means an employer may be attributed as a sponsor only and cannot have any exclusive rights over his employee’s creative work, whatsoever.

Derivatives

Any derivative work based on a work under the Authoright License can only be licensed under Authoright. This does not apply to collections, where Authorighted work is included.

Legality

The license allows an author(s) to use any set of laws and contracts to support Authoright. Those may be openly listed in an Authoright notice. For example, Authoright (First Amendment to the United States of America Constitution; Copyright, United States of America; Commonwealth, California)

public use>. If a specific law, or right, or any derivative thereof that Authoright was based on expires, then the license must be restored based on current laws.

Authoright Notice

Authoright notice must be attached in a clear and reasonable manner to any derivative built upon Authorighted work . Any public usage of an Authorighted work must be accompanied by clear and reasonable display of the Authoright license attached to the work.

Location

The full public text for the Authoright License is located at:

www.culturedialogue.org/drupal/en/authoright