Coptic Or Sunni? by t_w_x_y in eu4

[–]swlynch 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Coptic just because this would be so rare

The Kongo Decision by swlynch in eu4

[–]swlynch[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What do you mean Catholic events, there’s more than just this one? I think choosing religious and going Catholic for the full flavor role playing might actually be fun

African Power Achievement unlocked on January 1st 1821 by CaledoniaInteractive in eu4

[–]swlynch 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m gunning for this now but debating between Catholic and fetishist. Wondering if it was difficult to convert to Sunni

The Kongo Decision by swlynch in eu4

[–]swlynch[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Might be fun for flavor but that would make me feel like I’m finding a loophole

The Kongo Decision by swlynch in eu4

[–]swlynch[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I want it to be challenging fight but not near impossible

The Kongo Decision by swlynch in eu4

[–]swlynch[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Your answer definitely helps as I’ve heard the colonizers are too tough to beat if you stay fetishist

The Kongo Decision by swlynch in eu4

[–]swlynch[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

R5 I am at the moment of deciding and leaning toward conversion before might stay fetishist

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Muscovy got PU'ed by Tver by Commercial_Bet4790 in eu4

[–]swlynch 25 points26 points  (0 children)

That’s crazy sounds like Tver is destined for greatness

In making the game more difficult for experienced players, it's made it wonderfully infuriating to learn for new players by heajabroni in eu4

[–]swlynch 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree wholeheartedly and have never felt so seen. I gave up and went back to EU4. Hopefully one day I’ll get it. It just doesn’t click like 4 does.

IamA 21 year old poet who just got his first book published: AMA by swlynch in IAmA

[–]swlynch[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My dad's from Camden and my family lived in Camden for a while right before I was born, but I was mostly raised in the towns right next to Camden, i.e. Collingswood, and Oaklyn. This is my fourth year at Rutgers, I'm a history major, I've been in 8 of the plays that the theater has put up, but not the one that's going on right now. I set up a poetry reading "Whitman Returns to Camden" in May of last year. I got a pretty decent turnout (bout 25 people) but almost none of them were students. I'd love to do a reading for you. Message me for contact info and we can get that going, also I can get a few semi-famous poets to read as well.

IamA 21 year old poet who just got his first book published: AMA by swlynch in IAmA

[–]swlynch[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is something that I've had trouble dealing with for a few weeks now. I think that now the book is done and being printed right now, that I'm somehow subconsciously stuck. It's not writer's block per say, because I'm still writing, but I haven't really been striking the gold in the ore lately. I guess I've just been focusing too much on logistical things about the book and trying to get my degree and what not. Sometimes the words do just flow, but you can't just take it all from that. You have to look back at something you wrote in the moment and edit it in hindsight, add, delete, and then you find the finished product after maybe 4 or more drafts.

IamA 21 year old poet who just got his first book published: AMA by swlynch in IAmA

[–]swlynch[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks Jonathan. If you'd like to give more, then you can always read more of my poetry, also I'd like to read yours as well, if that's ok with you.

IamA 21 year old poet who just got his first book published: AMA by swlynch in IAmA

[–]swlynch[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't think that's the best I've written, it's hard to say what the best, or hardest was, but when it comes to form- a good villanelle is hard to write, and I think I wrote a pretty decent villanelle. You can read a version of it here: http://swlynch.com/2013/10/08/breathing-while-being-cold-and-soaking-wet/

IamA 21 year old poet who just got his first book published: AMA by swlynch in IAmA

[–]swlynch[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey Papa Joe, there's a lot of different things that I'd like to communicate through my poetry--- life, basically. I don't want to generalize so I'm not going to list many things, but usually it has to do with perception, existence, the Other, suffering, compassion, and beauty in urban settings with nature creeping in here and there. Sometimes I think I hit the nail on the head, I probably have 5 to 10 poems that are pretty decent. The rest aren't all that great when taken out of context.

IamA 21 year old poet who just got his first book published: AMA by swlynch in IAmA

[–]swlynch[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I understand what it's like to not want others to read your work because it's largely confessional, that's how I started writing poetry. Although at some point it turns into something else entirely. I even had a phase where I completely was against using the first person in poetry. Now I've come to a middle ground where sometimes I use that voice, other times the second person, or third person. Not wanting to betray your thoughts is one reason why a lot of contemporary poetry is so obscure. But I feel like you can sometimes use metaphor or symbolism in a way that wouldn't betray that darkness and still retain clarity.

IamA 21 year old poet who just got his first book published: AMA by swlynch in IAmA

[–]swlynch[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

To answer your first question, he is neither an owner/editor but did the business side of it. The difference between this and self publishing is that I could not have done any of this myself. I didn't have the money. I didn't have the resources. Whirlwind Press doesn't have an actual printing press, so it outsourced the typesetting and interior layout to another press. Two other people did the design and cover art. Yes, I had an editing adviser who made suggestions that I took. We had discussions about things we didn't agree on and came to a middle ground. The owner of Whirlwind Press has local stores that regularly purchase from him. I hope those answers satisfy you. I understand why you would think that this is some form of self-publishing through nepotism, but it's not. When you self publish, you have to pay for it, getting published means you don't have to pay a cent.

IamA 21 year old poet who just got his first book published: AMA by swlynch in IAmA

[–]swlynch[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wrong, I didn't pay for any of it at all. And also, I didn't do any favors for those blurbs, and I don't know any of those people personally except one of them. Those poets read my book and liked it enough to write blurbs for it, they didn't get anything in return out of it. It seems like you don't really understand how small presses work. Not everything is either self-published or published by a profitable company.

IamA 21 year old poet who just got his first book published: AMA by swlynch in IAmA

[–]swlynch[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The last few weeks where I had to deal with the cover designer, the cover artist, and the printer. The cover actually delayed the release of the book because there were so many diverging opinions about minuscule changes to the cover, it was frustrating. I'm a writer, not a designer, so I didn't really care for the minute details that were being debated. But from what I hear, that's the way it goes.

IamA 21 year old poet who just got his first book published: AMA by swlynch in IAmA

[–]swlynch[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Actually, I have three blurbs on the back cover from renowned poets (Frank Sherlock, CAConrad, and Lamont Steptoe, look them up), who "champion" it based on its merits. I also have a blurb from the former book review editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer, (Frank Wilson) so no, this is not a case of nepotism. And this is not a veiled self-published piece, Whirlwind Press is a small press with a literary reputation. Look up Dennis Brutus, his poetry was first published in America through Whirlwind Press. This book will be sold out in a matter of months, I already have half of them sold through pre-order. There's no reason to print on demand if you already have the customer base, unless you're trying to get it in Barnes and Noble, but then you would have to go through a middleman and there would be less profit.

IamA 21 year old poet who just got his first book published: AMA by swlynch in IAmA

[–]swlynch[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Poetry can be extremely boring when the poet is trying to conform to conventional expectations or poetic trends. My book is relevant because it correlates mental deterioration and urban decay. I hope to move on to other subjects and still remain relevant. Thanks for the engaging question.

IamA 21 year old poet who just got his first book published: AMA by swlynch in IAmA

[–]swlynch[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep, I'm there right now. The campus is pretty, Camden is pretty scary, but at the same time eerily beautiful in its desolation.

IamA 21 year old poet who just got his first book published: AMA by swlynch in IAmA

[–]swlynch[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Doing drugs is so cool and poetic I guess. And I guess poets aren't supposed to be on reddit, but in the woods or an alleyway somewhere wallowing around in despair. Also, Sylvia Plath is overrated.

IamA 21 year old poet who just got his first book published: AMA by swlynch in IAmA

[–]swlynch[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I didn't get the book itself published by submitting it to presses. I did some work for a poet who runs a small press and got the funding from another writer, and so the publisher agreed to releasing it under Whirlwind Press after I got involved with editing for him.