I cannot think of a more crass, stupid, pointless exercise in making yourself look inadequate than the one Lynn Shpeherd in which recently indulged. Who is Lynn Shepherd anyway? Why, that would be the well-known author (no, I'd never heard of her before either) who has made a name for herself by having a go at JK Rowling: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/lynn-shepherd/jk-rowling-should-stop-writing_b_4829648.html.
According to this article, the reason our Lynn isn't selling enough books is because Rowling has moved into the adult market, turned their minds to mush and turned them against more adult fare!
Apparently the consideration that her own writings don't appeal hasn't occurred. The idea that Rowling brought a whole generation of readers into the literary fiction market has passed her by. The concept of competition seems alien to her. At least, it does when a competitor has better name recognition and sales.
She suggest herself that this article will seem like 'sour grapes'; one rather suspects that is because that is exactly what this appears to be.
Her friends told her not to express this opinion in print and they were right. She sounds like an entitled, spoilt wannabe who should go away and work on her writing skills. Very, very, very, very few people will ever sell as many books as JK Rowling and being jealous of her success doesn't make a new writer seem all that appealing.
Time for Lynn to get a new pen name and start again, methinks!
Wednesday, 9 April 2014
Tuesday, 1 April 2014
England plumb new depths with their complacency
This is a brief moan about the England team. The England cricket team one might add, so if you're here to decry the poor performances of another set of English sporting luminaries then please get in line. The England cricket team have been so inept this Autumn/Winter that it is their absolute right to be at the head of any criticisms that are forthcoming.
Whilst reflecting on the nadir of a humbling one-sided defeat to a bunch of part-timers representing the Netherlands, both coach and captain of the T20 team made mention of a possible complacency coming into the tournament.
Complacency?!? This is barely fathomable. How doe a team that spent the Autumn/Winter season losing 5 out of 5 test matches (none of which were close), 8 out of 10 One Day Internationals and 8 out of 10 T20s become complacent?
Perhaps if they had been sweeping all before them and were riding a crest of overconfidence then complacency would make sense, but not with that record! Of late, it's felt at times like England are involved in a protracted experiment to test the loyalty of their supporters. We all expect thick and thin - as it were - but the 'thin' here has become almost transparent! It's not just the monotonously recurring sensation of defeat either, it's the nature of those defeats.
England fans, like any fans, will be forgiving if they sense passion, commitment and endeavour on the part of their players. What they cannot tolerate, let alone comprehend, is 'complacency' from a team that has become so astonishingly average (and here I'm being generous).
Complacency seems to be a byword here for not taking personal responsibility. Now we are at the bottom looking up, perhaps the time for such 'complacency' is over?
Whilst reflecting on the nadir of a humbling one-sided defeat to a bunch of part-timers representing the Netherlands, both coach and captain of the T20 team made mention of a possible complacency coming into the tournament.
Complacency?!? This is barely fathomable. How doe a team that spent the Autumn/Winter season losing 5 out of 5 test matches (none of which were close), 8 out of 10 One Day Internationals and 8 out of 10 T20s become complacent?
Perhaps if they had been sweeping all before them and were riding a crest of overconfidence then complacency would make sense, but not with that record! Of late, it's felt at times like England are involved in a protracted experiment to test the loyalty of their supporters. We all expect thick and thin - as it were - but the 'thin' here has become almost transparent! It's not just the monotonously recurring sensation of defeat either, it's the nature of those defeats.
England fans, like any fans, will be forgiving if they sense passion, commitment and endeavour on the part of their players. What they cannot tolerate, let alone comprehend, is 'complacency' from a team that has become so astonishingly average (and here I'm being generous).
Complacency seems to be a byword here for not taking personal responsibility. Now we are at the bottom looking up, perhaps the time for such 'complacency' is over?
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