Author Archives: Raymond Alexander Kukkee

About Raymond Alexander Kukkee

A published author and freelance writing professional, Raymond lives and writes in Northwestern Ontario.

Writing Life: New Beginnings

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Raymond Alexander Kukkee
©2013 by Raymond Alexander Kukkee

Changes in the Wind

Happily,  a new and unquiet revolution in the world of writing is on the wind.  Writers are increasingly realizing it is a good idea to step away from traditional content mills with good reason.  Site ranking  and revenues of various sites have fallen, punitive search engines are inferred to be the reason.   Sites shut down, or promise "change".  Writers, having been burned with severely diminished incomes, are smartly moving on to potentially bigger and better personal opportunities. Let's face it, even in the optimism of the writing life, eventually reality has to set in;  writing free content for promises of mere pennies for thousands of page views, and "maybe or maybe not" reader clicks on ads --euphemistically called 'revenue share'-- with tiny if any 'upfrontnothing' payment offered for new content  --was hardly a guarantee of  income for neophyte or professional. The disquieting and unacceptable, unethical content mill  "Terms of Service" including a self-assigned 'free license' to "use" writer's content and copyrighted material   'forever' without compensation was, and remains both arrogant and problematic.   The refusals to take down content,  --even if the author leaves the site requesting content deletion and withdrawing permission  to use the content--- is hardly ethical business practice or logical enticement to submit additional free content. "Why would that be?" you ask. Copyright infringement comes to mind.   Arbitrary theft of intellectual property comes to mind.   A clear lack of business ethics comes to mind.  Arbitrary, heavy-handed and less than stellar treatment of writers that have generated millions of dollars in revenue for content mills comes to mind. "Let us NOT write more FREE content for unethical content mills" most resolutely comes to mind.  Karma does that. How predictable.  Who says destiny isn't predetermined?  No matter. Let us cheer for common sense and Karma.

Moving On

It seems to me writers shall prevail. Writers are a hardy lot; we shall not be silenced or discouraged. The pen continues to provide power.  We studiously move onward and upward to better things, new beginnings. Publishing.  New blogs. Specialized niche websites built on new and more honest business models. High-earning, custom-written articles. Books. Self-publishing of books both in print and eBook formats is growing exponentially. Why not?  Life is what you make it and  2013 is The Year of the Writer  We  kick butt. smile. In fact, we laugh.  Life has never been better.  Why?  Great things are happening!

 

New Beginnings-  My Gardening Network  ( MGN )

Guess what?   New, GREAT projects are sprouting.   I am happy to be involved with a start-up gardening specialty website,  "My Gardening Network"   which recently went online and is already "Growing a community of gardeners' [caption id="attachment_1741" align="alignleft" width="584"] Flower garden -- photo courtesy of MGN[/caption]    My Gardening Network  (MGN) was conceptualized and founded  by outdoorsman Mike L.Williams, writer and blogger at Saturday Sunshine, (  -stories ,outdoor adventures and outdoor skills, --yes, the adventurous rascal himself ....   Mike dares to test deep waters, catch fish the hard way, and shoot rapids simultaneously  while others stand in awe. ) MGN is unique in that the content remains the exclusive intellectual property of the authors and contributors;  content on MGN  is used only with the express permission of the creators. My Gardening Network  offers specialized garden content  written by experienced and expert  gardeners --especially  for the use of gardeners at all skill levels from the neophyte starting out in the back yard to highly experienced  gardeners who may  delight in the technical aspects of botany as well as the mysteries hidden in compost.  MGN  is taking off fast.  Drop in and check out the progress of the garden at MGN -- "Growing a Community of Gardeners".      .....and this just in---more good news, MORE wonderful 'incoming' ! [caption id="attachment_1739" align="alignright" width="200"]Christy D Birmingham Christy D Birmingham[/caption]   A unique poetic voice  is published!    An amazing writer and poet, Christy  overcame the status quo and has bravely stepped out to offer her vision to the literary world. She is none other than  Christy D. Birmingham of Poetic Parfait fame. "Christyb"  as I call her, has reached her goal!  We are so proud of her accomplishment and happily offer our very  best support and  wishes to Christyb!   Christyb speaks volumes about hope and the future in her new book of poetry "Pathways to Illumination"  --an exceptional book of poetry. What becomes immediately clear is that Pathways to Illumination is written by an artistic, poetic voice flowing gently from a gigantic heart.
"Birmingham’s intense collection of poetry follows the trail of a woman’s journey from the end of an abusive relationship to the valiant growth of a newly-awakened, independent spirit. Inner light shatters layers of powerful verse....  
[caption id="attachment_1738" align="alignleft" width="200"]Pathways to Illumination Pathways to Illumination[/caption]     Pathways to Illumination is available online  in print and eBook formats NOW  at: http://redmundpro.com/book-store/pi/         At Incoming Bytes we offer the most sincere and heartfelt congratulations to Christy for her magnificent  accomplishment. ---Kudos to you, Christyb! That, people, is why life is amazing, and  why 2013 is The Year of the Writer.  The beat goes on.... #   Is that Incoming I hear?   +  
Posted in Landscaping, Writing Life, Yard & Garden | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Writing Life: Time Frittered Away

Posted on July 5, 2013 by Raymond Alexander Kukkee
© 2013 by Raymond Alexander Kukkee   [caption id="attachment_1654" align="aligncenter" width="584"]Sunrise on Fire Sunrise on Fire    photo © 2013 by r.a.kukkee[/caption]  

Somehow, deep in the procrastinating mind we come to a default conclusion it is more satisfying, fun and entertaining to....

     

Time Frittered Away- Unawares, too...

Every  content-maker, fictioneer, scribbler, keyboarder paperwaster -writer on earth does it. We  eventually realize at some point in time --that a whole hour, day, or week--even a month-- has been frittered away unawares.  By simple distractions. A succinct instinct for self-preservation draws us ever further afield.   Without negligence, per se,  without thought, pre-planning or malice.  Without prejudice or casting negative dispersions on the pressing labour  at hand, which is, for all  interested, composing, creating, and yes indeed, even writing stuff.  Should we be worried? Panic?  Blame writer's block? No. Let us instead contemplate, wink at work in inner peace with a smile and mollify the disturbingly itchy, unrequited urge, nay, the obligation to write something, anything right now.

Where would YOU be?

Sadness may be close at hand --but best ignored--when we discover we could have  been famous,  incredibly rich, more productive to get into practicing a different profession, like brain surgery, dog whispering, pizza delivery, or rocket science, but let's ignore that. We're the driven.  Writer-driven, muse-driven, pen-to-paper-nose-to-the-keyboard-driven,  --the satisfied driven.  Driven Writers R US.  So with satisfaction, let's consider what lost time did to us. In overview, we probably could have written another satisfying paragraph, chapter, blog post, poetic verse, brilliant article  or song.  Somehow, deep in the procrastinating mind we come to a default conclusion it is more satisfying, fun and entertaining to have guests, drink coffee, play with pets, diddle in the garden, sort stuff, or fiddle old songs out in the fog whilst admiring the potatoes growing.   No, actually, fog and serene gardening and potato rows and bagpipes go together better, everyone knows that.

Make a Note of That

I always wanted to learn to play the bagpipes. There's an aside worth thinking about. I'll make a note of that.  1-Get bagpipes, 2-don't forget earplugs.  See?   I get distracted easily, and that's how time frittered away. Well, this morning, that is. No matter. We blog, pause, play with the pups and admire the sunrise on fire  instead. Much better. Today, at least. I smile and hit the keyboard again.  I'm making headway, 'knowing thyself' and all that. #   Is that Incoming I hear? photo by author  ©2013 +
Posted in Humanity, Life, Reflections, The Human Mind, The Unknown, Writing Life | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments