**Sigh** of the Times
"Sign of the times, mess with your mind
Hurry before it's too late"
"Sign O' the Times"...Prince
For those of you who
have followed me through the years, you know that once a year I try, albeit without too much success, to write a novel every November with the Nanowrimo website challenge. This year was no exception, but this year it was different.
You see, I have been a Prince fan since about the age of 12. His music has enraptured me inspired me, kept me in touch with God, and lifted my spirits on more occasions than even I can remember. So this year I decided that my novel would be inspired by his music. In "Stay in the Sunshine", a unique story of an unlikely friendship, I created characters with names that were inspired by names he helped make famous; Wendy, Lisa, Nate and throughout the novel I had written, so far, I had taken excerpts from song lyrics to set the mood for various chapters and scenes.
So, what happened? To be honest –Prince happened. He decided to sue 3 of his most popular websites. He had cease and desist orders placed on each one notifying them that they could no longer use his images or song lyrics on their sites…bummer. So upon hearing the news my vim and vigor for my novel went, well, flat and I have since stopped writing it.
I guess secretly I had hoped that I would write this stunning piece of work and I would then write to my longtime idol for permission to use his work as the source of inspiration, but alas, upon hearing the news I knew it would be "no go". Even my best friend redid her myspace page so that the ever famous "symbol" that was once his name would no longer adorn her page – such a shame.
While as an artist, I can respect what it is he is trying to do, as a fan I am deeply disappointed in his decision. There are so many fans that are moved by his work, myself included. I can't begin to tell you how many times I've played his music over and over during times of despair because it "spoke" to me or how many fond memories I have surrounding his music. Now, as I wait for the rest of the drama unfurl, I wonder how many people will be more turned off by him than turned on.
Maybe if he hears from enough of us he'll have a change of heart and I can get back to my novel…
Maybe…
We'll see.
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