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1. "My Book Published"
Posted by dave rehak on Apr-6th-02 at 2:46 PM

Hi Everyone!

I've continued to read the board with much interest. This is a good place for me to come to in the evenings or weekends and catch up on the latest Lizzie debates, many of them informed and enlightening. I felt compelled to leave the board becuase I felt my "free speech" very much constricted, if not choked altogether; and the unkind personal comments really stunned, hurt, and saddened me, very very deeply. And all becuase i dared to write about unpleasant reality in the appropriate "section" of the board devoted to "Beyond Lizzie" content, which has since been re-named to something that really makes no sense to me, but it's politically correct and "sounds nice" and thats the important thing. You see, truth and reality dont matter anymore, only what is politically correct. Its actually more scary than many people realize. In my dialogues which have since been re-located to a place where most of u cant read them anymore (lol), for example, I exposed, and even light-heartedly poked fun at, extreme personalities, while my character "Dave" (me) frowned on their message. BUT becuase I simply dared to EXPOSE these extreme personalities and to parody them, I got into hot doggie-doodoo . I dared to expose an unpleasant politically incorrect reality. I dared to speak the truth. You know, we writers and other artists are under attack by "PC" now more than ever, and in some cases Political Correctness is reaching its illogical extremes. It is killing originality and honesty in the Arts.

There were a few people, namely one or two, and I have strong and justified suspicions about exactly who they are, who have for a long time now, often behind my back, been trying to silence and/or censor me and tear me down for no apparent reason than jealousy, spite and/or personal dislike. They have tried to turn the rest of u again me, to hound me away, even humiliate, etc. Their tactics have worked and, sadly for me, too many of u have played into their hands.

But on to more cheerful news! . My new novel is just hot off the press since Thursday and will eventually be available online thru Amazon, B&N, Borders, etc and in regular bookstores. Its been a long wait for my book to come out, but thats just one of the realities of the book-publishing world. Anyways, I've been published in the past in various lit journals, reviews, anthologies and even a newspaper, but this is my first published book, so its a big moment for me . Of course I'd love to fulfill my deepest dream and make some kind of living by my pen. I feel I have much insight into human nature, especially sexual human nature, and I like to take real-life psychosexual "cases" and turn them into a story. I'm not one of these writers who's very good at relying too much on his imagination, my work is usually saturated with things I've seen/heard/experienced; of course, its all cleverly disguised . I cant help but put many autobiographical bits and undertones in there.

Anyways, my novel is called A YOUNG GIRL'S CRIMES. I originally wrote it years ago but didnt revise/ready it until much more recently. My heroine in the story, Flora, is a composite of several girls I've known--and maybe a bit of myself thrown in. I think I've invented a new writing style that is extremely concise, clear, fast-paced, plot-driven, and entertaining. The style of it is extremely readable, and the storytelling I'm told is grippingly compelling. I strongly believe its one of those titillating page-turners (my words); and that it has a "magnificent storyline. I loved it!" (my agent's words when I first sent it to her). I also sent a manuscript of it to a colleague in the UK who does book reviews and he told me "Well, Mr. Rehak, this is not quite like anything I've read before. I was rather taken aback actually, it surprised me. So compact, yet you say everything you need to say. And where did you get this odd story? Your mastery of plot and dialogue is undeniable. Yes, quite a unique achievement. I really don't know who or what to compare it to. Good luck in placing it! It won't be easy, but don't give up," etc. I havent been in touch with him for over 2 years. I'll ask him to give me a nice review in the literary supplement!!

Of course, this is only my first book and I'm a young new author, so I'll need to establish a readership--book-signings, etc. Anyways, I'll be DEEPLY grateful to those of u who decide to get a copy of my book and thereby make it easier for me to get a foothold in the publishing world and succeed with my pen even in the face of adversity. Its been my dearest dream since i was 16 and noticed that girls like love poetry, so I wrote it to "get chicks" LOL

Because it's so very early still and hot off the press, my book is currently only available thru my publisher's website. Heres an easy way to get to my new-born baby :

1) Click on http://publishamerica.com
2) On the right above "Search" type REHAK
3) Press "Search."


My book will appear. Happy reading! . Please email me afterwards with yr thoughts: d.rehak@shaw.ca Whether yr a regular poster or an all-time lurker, your comments will be very helpful to me in shaping my future work. I strongly encourage u to email me after.


All the best!

Dave, I am uncertain what you mean by "unkind personal comments". No one dissed you to me, no one said anything about you personally, no one wished you would go away, no one said one mean thing about you. In fact, the majority of the members on this forum (I know because the majority did vote on the topic) thought that your Lizzie-related contributions were enlightening and welcomed. It was only your off-color posts that were offending members. Every single member who wrote me could differentiate between you the fiction writer and you the Bordenite. Did people write you off the forum and say nasty things to you? If so, that is indeed unfortunate.

Now to your other argument: political correctness. I will be blunt, so prepare yourself. Ready? (I warned you!)

Most of your non-Lizzie related posts were offensive to most of the members of this forum. Regardless as to how you couched your words and put them into the mouths of others, the words and the sentiments (and the negativity) were there for all to read. And they were read and people reacted. 

You who deign to write the things you write, to say the things you say, have NO RIGHT to feel hurt when your words hurt others. You are NOT ALLOWED to be sensitive only to your own feelings. If somebody says they are offended, you are not allowed to be offended that they are offended. You cannot inflict and be victim at the same time.

Political correctness has nothing to do with what happened here. Censorship has nothing to do with what happened here. Let me explain. There are certain words that are "fighting words" ---that have become, for whatever reason, off limit words. Whether you like it or not, when those words appear before us they have the power to shame and hurt and offend. You know that. I know you know that. So to live in a polite society (and that is the society I wish to live in) one decides to stay away from those words. Why make people angry when there are other ways to communicate? Why go to all the trouble to write things that YOU KNOW others will find offensive just so that you can test limits. And then when you find out that people don't want to hear what you have to say, you lash out at them as small minded censors. In your world, you are always right, aren't you?

If I were dating you, and you said something offensive to me, and I told you I was offended, would you then tell me I was narrow-minded for being offended? Or would you care about how I felt and take my feelings into consideration and next time choose another way to say what you want to say? I think this is how the members here felt about it. They felt that you didn't care about their sensibilities. They felt that you didn't listen to their pleas to be less overt in your writings. That their voices were not important TO YOU. Yet, with all that said, no one said one bad thing to me about you. No one thought ill of you or wished you would go away. That is the quality of the people who populate this forum. I am very proud of that.

There are other avenues for your expression available to you. This is not the home for them. This is not the place to incite riots. This is not the place where you can do what you want when you want to do it. This is not FREEDOM. We are all GUESTS HERE.  This site is owned by Arborwood and they have a policy against inflammatory words and rhetoric. Your words could have very easily gotten this forum shut down. Did you happen to think about that? Or were you too busy being FREE to do as you wanted?

(I warned you I was going to be blunt)

Now, that said, you are ALWAYS welcome here to post your Lizzie-related thoughts and ideas, to let us know of your accomplishments and your whereabouts. Because we care about you.

Stef, I realize that this is not the forum for my creativity, and I have ceased to make those posts. I NEVER made any personal swipes at anyone, all I did was expose certain unpleasant realities in my writing. It was MEANT to be contraversial, to make people THINK, to show them people they perhaps have never even heard about. I received over a dozen emails from people telling me they sympathize and support my work and that it was "well-written" or "funny." Are these people cruel insensitive bastards? I dont believe so. They understand I was merely exposing unpleasnat realities, and often in an amusing way. I'm deeply apologetic if anyone was offended, but reality isnt always "nice." As writers and artists, its our job to push boundaries and tell what we feel is true about things we see in the world. The majority of members didnt complain. 46% isnt the majority, even if every single one of those people voted to remove, which wasnt the case.

To Everyone: If I know yr email, you've heard from me in the last few days about my new book. If not, I can email u the front & back cover of the book in Acrobat to give u a better idea of what u are or aren't buying. Also, I'd like to achnowledge all the many kind and congratulatory emails. I was deeply moved.

p.s. The editor of the LBQ and I didnt come to an agreement on a submission I made many months ago last year. I showed the material to some of my Lizzie scholar/expert acquaitances and they agreed with me that the work was good and worthy of scholarly consideration, and inclusion in the quarterly. The editor Mr. Bertolet wanted to "dissect" the pieces, and that he MIGHT at some FUTURE DATE MAYBE accept ONE of the pieces, if I made the changes HE wanted. Such a biased and arbitrary hold over what goes into the Quarterly and what doesnt isnt helpful to Borden studies. I have since stopped submitting work to the quarterly and am saving it for a book on the case which will not be bound by the arbitrary biases and tastes of an editor. It is not a Lizzie-dunnit book, but one which open-mindedly explores all possibilities.

(Message last edited Apr-7th-02  2:16 PM.)

How 'bout those Red Sox...............

BC

I couldnt tell ya, I'm more of a hockey guy, m'self

Btw, BC may be who you are, but its where I live

Dave. If M. Bertolet wants to edit your work in order to print it, you have two options. Ok the edit and work with the man on your piece, as Terence and I did for our article, OR go someplace else. Lashing out at someone's credentials or abilities is a juvenile reaction to rejection, don't you think?

I found the editing sessions I had with Mr. Bertolet quite a learning expeience. It was good to know that he has standards and wishes every piece to be the best it can be. It is his job, after all, to work with writers to help them develop their arguments and theories. He is not simply the keeper of the newsletter, not simply a transcriber. He is an EDITOR.

You do realize you just burned a bridge, don't you?

Actually my line about those "red sox" was kind of an icebreaker after having read all the seriously toned writings...I live southeastern massachusetts, 25 miles from Fall River and 35 south of Boston...so GO RED SOX.

BC

BC:  I think the last pennant they won was 1976?
I was visiting friends in Boston at the time, and drove under the Banner, stretched across the road!  Have a photo to Prove it! (the Pennant, not the date...)
Go Red Sox!!!!!!!!--kk

(My brain insists it's '76, but my heart tells me it was '74...)

(Message last edited Apr-8th-02  12:48 AM.)

Well Kat, the results are in you should have picked the year in between...the following stats are from the MLB website and here are the ratings for our favorite New England baseball team, the RED SOX:

World Series: won in 1903, 1912, 1915, 1916, and 1918...long overdue

League Champs: 1986: Boston 4 California 3   1975: Boston 3 Oakland 0

Division Series: 1999: Boston 3 Cleveland 2

Fenway host the All Stars: 1946, 1961, and 1999

All this and soooooooo much more at www.MLB.com

BC

Well, faint praise is better than none i guess --I can see what yr implying, Kat hehe. However, I assure u that my articles are well-documented with sources and references. But dont take my word for it, any doubter will be able to see for himself when Stef posts them up on her site. Also (to Stef), I have absolutely no objection to working with an editor if I feel that my work is given its due open-minded consideration rather than treated dismissively. I had to work closely with my text editor (proofer) for A YOUNG GIRL'S CRIMES to make changes and cut out about 5 or 10 pages to alleviate my publisher's anxieties. This wasnt easy but we managed to do it without mutilating the story. But even given the cuts, it's still a contraversial story. And it has its definite parallels with Lizzie. My "heroine" Flora, too, is trapped in a "house of hate" and she wants desperately to break out. She commits murder.

Oh, by the way, I just received my new Quarterly issue (I'm in Canada, so it takes longer to get here). I especially look forward to reading Sherry Chapman's pieces. Shes a very fine writer and an even finer human being.

Yes, p. 2 of the Witness Statements. A man who "talked English"--probably a reference to the Englishman Clegg.

p.s. Go Canucks!

I don't know what you're talking about, sorry.

Also, I was not aware that Stefani had approved publication of every  piece submitted to her for the web-site by various members here.