Holy Crap! We already have a Lex Luthor. His name is Trump!

If there’s one thing that I dreamed of doing as an author, is to have the chance to write a screenplay for a Superman movie. I’ve always admired how the Man of Steel—being an immigrant from another planet—integrated into American society, grew up with a strong work ethic, not show any prejudice towards humans because of his superior strength and unique abilities, fought the good fight, and even chose to build his Fortress of Solitude in Canada.

But as it always turns out, where there’s a great hero, there’s always going to be a powerful villain. Alexander Joseph Luthor, better known as Lex Luthor, is without a doubt, one of the most infamously wicked criminal masterminds ever known. Over and over again, he has attempted to destroy the Last Son of Krypton, either by having him killed, or by ruining his reputation. Donald Trump, on the other hand, may not be a criminal mastermind, but his latest stunts at attempting to embarrass President Obama by questioning his birth and then his Ivy League education, not only stinks to high heaven, but leads me to believe that he just might be trying to be (not necessarily the right way) Lex Luthor.

Interestingly after having read up on Trump, I couldn’t help but notice several similarities between the two men. So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, may I present the top ten reasons why I believe that Donald Trump is trying to emulate Lex Luthor.

10. Trump is a business tycoon and CEO of his own company, The Trump Organization—Lex Luthor has LexCorp.

9. Like Lex Luthor, Trump has a strong affinity to real-estate.

8. Both are Billionaires who have used their wealth to influence others.

7. Trump has his own helicopter with his name branded on the side—Luthor has his name branded on everything he owns.

6. Trump clearly has a dislike for people who rise to fame and popularity faster than he did, as illustrated in his recent negative rants towards President Obama. Luthor has a similar dislike towards Superman and would most likely dislike President Obama as well for the same reasons. However, it should be noted that Luthor would not have been so stupid to say anything that could be interpreted as racist, such as Trump’s recent comments about Obama’s Ivy-league education (1).

5. Both men flagrantly have a hair-growth problem.

4. Like Lex, Trump has a super-inflated ego.

3. Although both of them are brilliant men, they’ve led campaigns against their foes that have backfired on them—Lex lost his Presidency. Trump tried to play the Birther card on Obama (2). Well, we all know how that ended, don’t we?

2. Trump has aspirations to move into the White House—So did Lex.

And the number one reason why Trump is trying to emulate Lex Luthor…

1. Trump has attempted to use Obama’s heritage as a weakness (Trump’s Birther comments, ‘Nuff said)—Lex Luthor has often done the same thing with Superman.

On a side note, if Superman were around, Trump would most likely ask him to show us his birth certificate to prove that he wasn’t produced in either a Chinese or Russian laboratory.

Russell Brooks is the author of the action/thriller, Pandora's Succession, and Unsavory Delicacies.

So you got a bad review. Grow the f*ck up and move on!

Dear Jacqueline Howett,

Not too long ago, the publishing world was rocked when bestselling thriller author, Barry Eisler, announced that he turned down a $500,000 book deal from his publisher in order to go Indie. In other words, he decided to self-publish his upcoming thriller, The Detachment, which will be available around Father's Day. As an Indie author with one novel to his name (soon to be two), I found this news to be exciting. With Eisler's move, I had a feeling that the negative stigma that surrounds Indie authors was showing signs of eroding.

And it couldn't have come at a better time because unfortunately, the majority of readers only talk about Indie authors that publish substandard novels. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that all traditionally-published authors put out quality novels. Believe me, I've read one or two NYT Bestselling authors whose novels I couldn't even finish because they were so badly written.

Then you came along with your novel, The Greek Seaman. Truth be told, I never would've heard about your novel. That was until there was so much internet buzz on how you behaved like a complete bitch on Big Al's Books and Pals. And it was because he gave your novel a bad review.

Congratulations. Not only have you ruined your own reputation as an author and an individual, but you have singed the reputations of indie authors worldwide who have worked hard for several years, and continue to do so, in order to be accepted by readers—especially those who dismiss indie authors as amateurs who aren't good enough to get a book deal. And it hurts when I hear someone dismiss me or other indie authors as not being a real authors.

You ought to know that in this business—whether you are traditionally published or an independant—there are readers that will either like or dislike your novels. That's life. I'll admit that I made the mistake of sending the wrong advance reading copy of my novel to reviewers. Fortunately a few of them alerted me to the problem and I was able to get them the right copy before the novel went on sale. I'm not saying that I'm the best novelist around, because I've already accepted that I'm still learning. And I know that I can and will still improve. That's what being professional is all about.

I didn't bother to comment on BigAl's Books and Pals because at this point it would be pointless. But tell me, wouldn't it have been easier to simply ask the reviewer where the problem areas were? At least you would've known whether you needed to either hire a professional editor and/or fire your old one. Wouldn't it have been easier for you to take advantage of digital publishing where you could easily upload a revised copy to Amazon or any other vendor? Believe it or not, readers still check out books that have negative reviews, and they do so by clicking the Send Sample Now that would allow them to judge the book for themselves. Don't you think that would've been preferable than going Chris Brown on the reviewer? Because as you must know by now, the worst place to have a meltdown—especially when you're wrong (which you were)—is the internet.

Way to go! You've singlehandly brought more negative attention to yourself and to your novel in one hour than ten reviewers could've done in a year. You want proof? Look at the number of 1-star reviews you've received. Maybe that's what it'll take for you to know that that's it's high time that you grew the f*ck up.

Best,

Russell Brooks
Author of Pandora's Succession and Unsavory Delicacies.

PS. To prove my point on the advantages of digital publishing, I invite every reader of this blog that spots any typos or repeated words to please comment about them so that I may correct them.