Jane's Ride

Dreams of Inspiration

2009-07-16T06:00:00.001-04:00

“Dreaming is an act of pure imagination, attesting in all men a creative power, which if it were available in waking, would make every man a Dante or Shakespeare.” -H.F. Hedge

A dream was the inspiration for The Ride. However, when I began writing the story, it took a very different direction from my nighttime vision. About the only thing my dream and the finished book had in common was a backyard rollercoaster. (I know, an amusement park ride in the backyard sounds strange but it isn’t. Google backyard roller coasters if you don’t believe me!)

Anyway, back to the topic—dreams. Evidently dreaming and writing goes hand in hand as I discovered in a couple of posts by Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen, How Dreaming at Night Inspires Famous Writers and Published Authors on the Dreaming and Writing Process.
The information for the blogs came from the book called Writers Dreaming: William Styron, Anne Rice, Stephen King, and 23 Other Writers Talk About Their Dreams and the Creative Process by Naomi Epel. I haven’t read this book, but I plan to look for it next time I visit the library.

According the posts, Stephen King added one of his own dreams to his book It, without changing anything about the dream.

Sue Grafton and Maurice Sendak say that dreams only affect their work in the emotional sense.

Several writers including Stephen King, Anne Rice and Amy Tan mention a dream-like state while writing.

Be sure to visit both posts if you’d like to read the direct quotes from these authors and others. I found them quite interesting.

From Twelve Famous Dreams, I learned that Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, and Misery by Stephen King were all inspired by dreams.

I really recommend the article for details about the dreams mentioned above as well as for other interesting information, such as a dream that led to a Nobel Prize in medicine; how Paul McCartney dreamed the tune to Yesterday; and, how Lincoln dreamed of his assassination.

Do you remember your dreams? Do dreams ever inspire your writing? If you’re not a writer, do dreams affect your actions in any way?

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: H.F. Hedge, dreams, The Ride, Shakespeare, Dante, Stephen King, Amy Tan, Anne Rice, Shelley,R.L. Stevenson,

Another Dying Art Form

2009-07-13T06:00:00.000-04:00

“A man’s penmanship is an unfailing index of his character, moral and mental, and a criterion by which to judge his peculiarities of taste and sentiments.” – Philip Dormer Stanhope

Last week I wrote a post expressing my regret that future generations would no longer have the joy of finding yellowing letters hidden in a dusty attic or forgotten in the back of a drawer. Letters that expressed love and revealed the dreams and thoughts of a past generation. At the time I wrote the blog, I believed hand written letters and notes faced extinction due to email and texting. Now I am shocked to discover there is another reason for their demise.

I read that some schools are no longer teaching cursive at all. Those schools that still teach it, dedicate 10 minutes a day or less compared to two or more hours a week in the 1940s and 50s. There are kids that cannot write their own name in cursive, much less read anything written in letters that flow. To me this is a form of illiteracy and I didn’t want to believe it.

I asked my son-in-law, a ninth grade counselor, about this and he said it’s true. He sees kids panic all the time when faced with having to write out anything in longhand, including their name.

Evidently this is not new. I ran across articles dating back to 2003 discussing whether or not cursive was an important skill to learn in this age of technology. I guess my head has been buried in the sand on this subject.

The following is from an article in Idahostatesman.com: According to the College Board, when the SAT added a handwritten essay to its 2006 exam, just 15 percent of the almost 1.5 million students wrote their answers in cursive. But those who did earned slightly higher scores.

And, according to the LongIslandPress: The demise of handwriting is also a cognitive loss. The enhancement of neurological processes involved in the skill of writing is wide-ranging.

If our kids can no longer sign their names, how will they make credit card purchases? Oh, right…online. Well, how about signing checks, oh yeah…online banking. Okay, but at least consider those poor souls whose job is to analyze handwriting—what will they do now?

I’ll admit I don’t know if the ability to read and write in cursive is necessary for success in the future, I only know it makes me sad to see it disappearing. After all, if spending hours a day making endless circles and loops and curlicues was good enough for my generation…

Should all schools require a proficiency in handwriting in order to graduate? Or, should cursive be allowed to go the way of the dinosaurs?

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: Philip Stanhope, cursive, SAT,

The Lost Art of Love Letters

2009-07-09T06:00:00.001-04:00

“What a lot we lost when we stopped writing letters. You can’t reread a phone call.” – Liz Carpenter

My parents met when my mother was 14 and my father 16. They married about ten years later. Last July my parents passed away within two weeks of each other. My mother was frail and we knew her end was near. It didn’t make it any easier, but it didn’t catch us by surprise. My hale and hearty father, however, was a different story. He was buried exactly two weeks after my mother, proving that it is possible to die of a broken heart.

Along with my memories, they left behind a stack of letters they’d written to each other after my father enlisted in the Navy. Thought I haven’t put them in chronological order yet, they seem to be written between June 1944 and February 1946.

I’ve only just begun to read the letters. I feel like an eavesdropper listening in on a private conversation because I can so clearly hear their voices saying the words as I read the pages. However, I think they kept the letters all these years not only for their sentimental meaning but also because they wanted their kids, grandkids and so on to learn more about of their personal history together and “the good old days.”

The letters are censored by the Navy so there is very little war talk. In fact, in a few of the earlier letters you wouldn’t know a war was raging at all. Their world, at that time, consisted of each other.

Still there is much to be learned from them. For instance air-mail postage was six cents in 1944 but went up to eight cents in 1945. My mother’s sense of humor never changed – when talking about things they’d need after their wedding my mother wrote, “I bought an iron today. I hope you know how to use it.” I also discovered they planned on having two boys and one girl (they ended up with two girls only). My father never wrote professionally, though he should have. He had a marvelous way with words and his letters were beautifully written.

I still miss them both so much, but I am so appreciative that my mother, Coleta Weiss Kennedy, (March 29, 1921 - July 9, 2008), and my father, James Francis Kennedy, (October 14, 1918 to July 22, 2008) had the foresight to leave this wonderful treasure behind.

It makes me sad to think that the writing of a love letter may be a lost art. With the advent of technology – email, texting and so on, will future generations ever again find a bundle of yellowed letters tied lovingly together with ribbon?

Thank you for stopping by,

Tags: Liz Carpenter, Love Letters, WWII,

Bad Sex in Fiction Awards

2009-07-06T06:00:00.000-04:00

“I sometimes think novelists write about sex in order to avoid boring themselves to death.” – Walker Percy

While writing The Ride, I came to a place in the story where the next logical step between two of the characters was a steamy sex scene. This is going to be fun, I thought. With my hands poised above the keys, I froze.

“You don’t have a clue what to do here, do you?” I heard my Muse mutter.

She was right, I didn’t. Each word sounded forced or hokey. I deleted a few of the words immediately. “Your mother is going to read this," I reminded myself. Though no easy task, I finally worked my way through it and was pleased with the outcome.

After running across information about Britain’s Bad Sex in Fiction Award, I feel even better about the scene. I didn’t make this award up. According to LibraryThing Beta,

“The Literary Review Bad Sex in Fiction Award is an award given annually to the author who produces the worst description of a sex scene in a novel. The award is in the form of a "semi-abstract trophy representing sex in the 1950s", which depicts a naked woman draped over an open book. It has been presented each year since 1993 by the Literary Review, a London literary journal. The award was originally established by Rhoda Koenig, a literary critic, and Auberon Waugh, then editor of the Literary Review.The given rationale is "to draw attention to the crude, tasteless, often perfunctory use of redundant passages of sexual description in the modern novel, and to discourage it".”

The 2008 award went to Rachel Johnson for Shire Hell. From guardian.co.uk,

“Johnson was singled out for her novel's slew of animal metaphors, including comparing her male protagonist's "light fingers" to "a moth caught inside a lampshade", and his tongue to "a cat lapping up a dish of cream so as not to miss a single drop".”

Also according to the article, her prize was a plaster foot and not the trophy of a woman draped over a book. I’m trying to keep this a PG so you’ll have to read the article in the guardian.co.uk for more details. You can also read about the other nominees and Updike’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Entire “nominated” passages for previous years can be found at Literary Review. But, here are excerpts of a few of my favorites (that I could print without blushing too much).

From I am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe winner in 2004: “Hoyt began moving his lips as if he were trying to suck the ice cream off the top of a cone without using his teeth.”

From Bunker 13 by Aniruddha Bahal, winner in 2003: "She's taking off her blouse. It's on the floor. Her breasts are placards for the endomorphically endowed.”

And from Kissing England by Sean Thomas, winner in 2000: "She is his own Toshiba, his dinky little JVC, his sweet Aiwa. Aiwa - She says, as he enters her slimy red-peppers-in-olive-oil ****(word censored by the author of this blog) - Aiwa, aiwa aiwa aiwa aiwa aiwa aiwa aiwa aiwa aiwa aiwaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh"

Have you read any scenes that should be nominated for this award? Do you have any advice for writing sex scenes?

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: The Ride, writing sex scenes, Bad Sex in Fiction Award, Literary Review, Rachel Johnson, Updike, Tom Wolfe, Bahal, Sean Thomas, Walker Percy,

Why Do We Write?

2009-07-02T06:00:00.002-04:00

“Find something you love to do and you’ll never work a day in your life.” – Harvey MacKay

I am reading a captivating, well-written novel, the girls, by Lori Lansens. I haven’t finished it, but I ran across a passage that rang so true for me as I writer, I wanted to share it.

“…I’m filled with confidence when I begin, but by the end of a writing night I’m left to wonder if other writers feel the way I do—that with each letter, word, phrase, sentence, paragraph, I’m digging a toehold, gripping a rock, a fool on a mountainside, alone and ill-equipped, a disastrous fall more likely than a gloried ascent. Why did I start climbing? Where am I now? Who gives a shit if I reach the summit?”

Though I could never have worded it as eloquently as Lansens did, I do have those “why” and “who cares” moments. My answer is always the same – I’m doing it for me, I care. The joy I get out of writing is enough to keep me going.

I don’t support myself by writing (though I’d like to), so I’m certainly not in the same league as the writers interviewed in the guardian.co.uk for the article, "Writing for a Living: a joy or a chore?" I found the replies to this question very interesting.

I liked Al Kennedy’s (no relation, as far as I know) comparison—“To use a not ridiculous analogy: Sex = nice thing. Sex For Cash = probably less fun, perhaps morally uncomfy and psychologically unwise.”

Carol Joyce Oates said, “…most literary writers obviously don't write for money – a prose fiction writer's hourly wage, broken down into units, would be in the modest range of the US minimum wage of the 1950s – approximately $1 per hour.”

She goes on to say, “To me, who has written for most of her adult life, in a number of genres and with wildly varying degrees of "enjoyment" and/or "misery", it's likely that writing is a conscious variant of a deep-motivated unconscious activity, like dreaming. Why do we dream? No one seems to really know, just as no one seems to really know why we crave stories, even or especially stories we know to be fiction. My experience of writing – of writing these very sentences, for instance – is invariably a blend of the initially "inspired" and the more exacting, or plodding, execution of inspiration.”

John Banville said, “The novelist daily at his desk eats ashes, and if occasionally he encounters a diamond he is likely to break a tooth on it. Money is necessary to pay the dentist's bills.”

Julie Meyerson sums it up, “I feel very lucky to be paid to do it, but even if I'd never been published, I think I'd still be writing. I love being read, but the person I'm really always writing for is me.”

So you tell me, is writing a joy or a chore?

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: Harvey Mackay, Lori Larsens, the girls, Al Kennedy, Joyce Carol Oates, John Banville, Julie Meyerson,

Lucky Winner of Fried Green Zombies

2009-07-01T07:41:00.004-04:00

"A good book on your shelf is a friend that turns its back on you and remains a friend." - Author Unknown

Some lucky soul is winning a friend today. I know this isn’t my ‘usual’ posting day but it is July 1, and time to announce the winner of a signed copy of Fried Green Zombies, by John Allen. I didn’t want to keep you in suspense a moment longer.

I’d show actual pictures of the drawing but it is early in the morning and, well…I look like I just rolled out of bed. It’s not a pretty sight! So I’ll take you through it step by step.

All entries from June 1 to midnight June 30 are in the basket. I have my hand in the basket making sure they are thoroughly stirred. Hey, this is fun. I give them another toss or two.

Now, my husband, an impartial drawee, has reached into the basket and his hand is scurrying around selecting a random entry.

And, the winner is…a drum roll please…

Congratulations Galen Kindley! The chosen entry is from a comment you left on June 10. If you e-mail me (jane@janesutton.com) your mailing address, I will drop your signed copy in the mail.

For those who didn’t win, you can still purchase a copy of Fried Green Zombies on Amazon.com or on John’s website. And in case you missed John Allen’s interviews you can find them here, here and here.

I want to thank all of you who left comments and became followers in June. I really enjoyed hearing from you all and appreciate your support. Because, I had so much fun doing this, I am going to do it again.

For the month of July, when you leave a comment and/or become a follower you’ll be entered for a chance to win a signed copy of Tina Murray’s, A Chance to Say Yes. This is another book, I thoroughly enjoyed. In fact, my blurb made the jacket cover. I interviewed Tina in June of 2008. You can find out more about Tina, A Chance to Say Yes, and the sequel by visiting her lovely new website.

And on a different subject, I’d like to announce that The Ride was reviewed by Linda Fasulo on WGCU Public Media radio. If you’re interested, you can listen to it by going to WGCU. Click on the "Arts" link and then "FL Book Pages."

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: John Allen, Fried Green Zombies, Tina Murray, A Chance to Say Yes, Linda Fasulo, WGCU, The Ride,

Longest Book Title

2009-06-29T06:00:00.001-04:00

“There's a great power in words, if you don't hitch too many of them together.” – Josh Billings

While researching last week’s post on the Longest Books Ever Written, I ran across a really long book title. I couldn’t let it go. One long title led to another and another. That I’m easily entertained is the only excuse I can come up with for my fascination with this sort of nonessential information. But, unable to keep such trivia to myself, I am introducing you to the three longest book titles I found.

The winner has 1022 words with no spaces. Books average 250 words per page, so the title alone equals four pages. I’m not going to type out the full title because…well, it’s four pages. (Did I hear you say, “Thank you?”) Actually, the main reason I’m not writing it out is that I couldn’t find the entire title anywhere. Blowing up the size of the book jacket, didn’t help. The words were a blur. Daniel Radcliffe the story of the not so ordinary boy chosen from …….’ and ends with ‘to his ever royal crown of fame’ is the longest piece of the title that I came across. The Amazon listing simply reads, “Daniel Radcliffe……..(1022 words).” The author, Dr. Subramonian, submitted this title to the Guinness Book of World Rec ords. Though the doctor does hold two Guinness records, longest title isn’t one of them—yet. You can read more about Dr. Subramonian he re.

I guess it should come as no surprise that Nigel Tomm, author of the 13-million word The Blah Story, has also written a book with a long title. The title consists of 670 words. Once again, I’m not going to print the whole title, but this time the reason is due to the title being downright boring. It starts off Selected Works of Nigel Tomm (2006/2007) (Shakespeare's Sonnets Remixed 2006 / and never gets any more exciting. However, if you’re interested, you can read the whole title here.

The third book is listed on guinnessworldrecords.com as the longest book title though it has only a mere 290 words. The book, published in July 2007, is written by Davide Ciliberti. Ciliberti is an Italian, which means the title is written in Italian, which means I can’t read it, so I’m not writing it out either. If you’d like to practice your language skills, you can read the entire title here.

An elevator pitch is the 20 to 60-seconds a writer has to pique the interest an agent, publisher, or reader in the hopes that the person hearing the spiel will represent, publish, or buy a particular book. This summary is no easy feat to accomplish. Therefore, I can’t help but wonder what do these authors do? How can you pitch a book whose title alone would probably take 10 minutes to recite? Is it possible to condense 13-million words into a speech of no more than a minute? Have these authors memorized their titles?

I can’t think of one good reason to weigh down a book with a ridiculously long title, not even to make it into the Guinness record books. I’m anxious to hear your thoughts on this very important topic?

Off subject, I wanted to let everyone know my excitement upon receiving the prestigious, Galen Kindley Award for Enduring Admiration, for decoding a message in his post (with the help of a couple of hints, but that’s not important). You can view the award by clicking here. If, for some unimaginable reason you’re not interested in the award, you’ll probably want to visit his blog Imagineering Innovative Fiction anyway because the posts are always fun, interesting, and informative.

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: Josh Billings, Guinness Book of World Records, longest title, longest book, Dr. Subramonian , Columbine, Nigel Tomm, Ciliberti, elevator pitch,

Longest Books Ever Written

2009-06-25T06:00:00.000-04:00

“Good things, when short, are twice as good.” -Baltasar Gracian

Before starting, I’d like to thank Helen Ginger of the Straight From Hel blog for granting me the Friendship Blog Award. It’s an honor to be included in that list of outstanding blogs. In case you don’t know, Helen writes an excellent blog offering writing advice, publishing news, and book reviews.

Now for today’s subject – long books. I recently read that Stephen King’s new book Under the Dome, to be released in November, will be 1,200 pages. Using the average of 250 words per page, that’s the equivalent of approximately 300,000 words. The average novel usually runs between 80,000 to 150,000 words.

This led me to wonder about the longest books ever written. Much to my surprise, other people have wondered the same thing and answered this question for me. I first read A List of Longest Novels on the Writing Pages which referenced a Wikipedia article.

According to Wikipedia, a couple of self-published books are way out in front. Marienbad My Love by Mark Leach weighs in at 17-million words and The Blah Story by Nigel Tomm is13-million. Hmmm, I think I may know why they are self-published.

At Listverse.com, only traditionally published books written in English are listed. Out of the ten mentioned, the top three were L. Ron Hubbard’s, The Invaders Plan, at 1,200,000 words; Sironia, Texas by Madison Cooper at 1,100,000 words; Clarissa by Samuel Richardson at a mere 969,000 words. For the top 10, visit the site, which also shows the cover of each book and gives a nice synopsis.

In comparison to these books, The Dome, will look like a novella.

In the past, length was never a factor in whether or not I read a particular book. However, I’m growing older at an alarming rate and there are still so many books I want to read with new ones being added everyday. Now I’m beginning to ask myself if I should be more discriminating. Do I want to invest the time needed to make it through one really long book or read several shorter books?

When the author is Stephen King, I feel certain I will read the book regardless of the word count. In the end, I guess it all boils down to quality over quantity.

Would the length of book ever kept you from purchasing or reading it?

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: Gracian, Stephen King, L. Ron Hubbard, Madison Cooper, Samuel Richardson,

Lessons Learned From a Toddler

2009-06-22T06:00:00.000-04:00

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” - Albert Einstein

The past week my life has been topsy-turvy. My imagination has been boosted into overdrive. My written words are short and appear in bursts of colors. I’ve read the same several dozen books over and over again. This creative surge has nothing to do with my current projects. I didn’t discover some super pill or eat a magic mushroom. My husband and I have simply spent the past 5 days with my 2 ½ year old grandson while his parents are away.

I see him frequently because they live nearby. But regular visits can’t compare to the exhausting responsibility of being a round-the-clock caregiver. I keep reminding myself, I’d done this before and survived. My grown daughter and said grandson are my proof.

Though I can’t remember the last time I felt this tired, and my normal routine is way out of whack, it’s been a fabulous experience because he’s reminded me about the important things in life. Such as:

It’s perfectly fine to burst out into a song in the middle of the grocery store, if the mood strikes.

Getting down on your hands and knees to look at a bug crawling in the driveway provides a whole new perspective to the world. The expectation of a reply to the question, “Where’s he going?” can act as a verbal writing prompt.

Sometimes you should stop everything you’re doing to spin in circles in the living room for no particular reason.

The most important use of a dining room table is to make a tent. Forts can be made out of any available materials.

It’s possible to travel in space, back in time, to the beach, or to undiscovered lands without leaving your bedroom.

Stuffed animals and other inanimate objects have a distinctive voice of their own and love to say what they’re thinking.

Kissing an owie and then placing a Dora or Diego Band-Aid on the spot really does make the hurt go away.

Crayons make great rocket ships.

An entire house can become the Village of Sodor for Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends.

I’m confident now, that the next time I come up against the brick wall of writer’s block or my muse goes on an unplanned hiatus, I won’t panic as I’ve done in the past. Instead, I’ll simply sit back and try to look at the world through the eyes of a child.

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: Einstein, Toddler, Imagination, writer’s block, muse,

Celebrity Memoirs

2009-06-18T06:00:00.000-04:00

“The celebrity is a person who is known for his well-knownness.” – Daniel J. Boorstin

I obviously have a fascination with book titles. My post, Choosing a Book Title, was about 10 great novels with terrible original titles; and the post, Picking a Winner, listed 10 of the funniest book titles. When I ran across 14 Awful Titles of Celeb Memoirs in Entertainment Weekly, I couldn’t pass it up.

In all honesty, I didn’t know who a couple of the celebrities were and I wasn’t interested enough to investigate further, so I can’t comment on all the titles. Also, I didn’t find all 14 titles awful. For instance, I think Lettin it all Hang Out by Ru Paul is funny and that Jerry Seinfeld’s, SeinLanguage is clever.

I’m not sure anyone born in 1992 needed to write a memoir, but Miley Cyrus has Miles to Go. That might be a witty play on words if her birth name wasn’t Destiny Hope.

I do think a few titles were a bit hokey. Melissa Gilbert of Little House on the Prairie fame has a memoir titled Prairie Tale; then there’s sTori Telling by Tori Spelling; Don’t Hassel the Hoff: The Autobiography of David Hasselhoff; and, Roger Moore’s, My Word is My Bond.

At BookGuide I found a list of the Top Ten Celebrity Memoirs that have stood the test of time. The list was taken from the April 30, 2009, issue of People magazine. I bring this up because I couldn’t help but notice the older memoirs don’t have the cutesy names. For example, Eric Clapton’s is simply titled Clapton: The Autobiography; Katharine Hepburn’s memoir is Me; Bob Dylan’s is Chronicles; Julia Child’s is My Life in France.

Does this mean that in today’s book market being a celebrity is no longer a guarantee that a book will sell by the thousands? Is it now the title that grabs the attention of the buyer and not the celebrity shown on the cover? Do you know of other memoir titles that should be included on either of these lists?

Thanks for dropping by.

Tags: Boorstin, Seinfeld, Ru Paul, People Magazine, Hepburn, Tags: Clapton, Dylan, Julia Child, celebrity memoirs

Aahhh—The Smell of a New Book

2009-06-15T06:00:00.000-04:00

“Nothing awakens a reminiscence like an odour.” - Victor Hugo

Just when I think I’ve heard everything, such as the blog I wrote about a horror book written on toilet paper, something else comes along. This time it’s Smell of Books™. This is an aerosol spray to make your e-book smell like a real book. I guess it has been tested because there is a list of compatible e-reading devices and formats.

Smell of Books™ comes in New Book Smell, Scents of Sensibility, Classic Musty, Crunchy Bacon and Eau You Have Cats. Visit their site for descriptions of the scents and warnings. It’s a fun read. For instance, the Crunchy Bacon scent is not recommended for Vegans. None of the scents are to be used on real books or on burning books.

New Book Smell is $28.99 per can, though other scents are cheaper. I might consider purchasing a can at any cost if they come out with a “Guaranteed Best Seller” scent that can be used on paper as well as e-books. How great to have crowds drawn to a display of The Ride by the tempting book cover and then watch as the irresistible aroma entices them to immediately carry it up to the checkout desk.

Personally, it’s not the scent—it’s reading a book on a screen that keeps me from buying e-books. I spend too much time in front of a computer as it is.

Is the ‘new book smell’ something you miss with your e-readers? Would you be tempted by any of the scents? Do you have suggestions for other book flavors?

One last thing, in an effort to finish the editing on my current manuscript and start a new project or two, I am going to reduce my posts from three days a week to two (at least for the summer). I’ll post new blogs on Mondays and Thursdays.

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: Smell of Books, The Ride, e-books, e-readers, Victor Hugo,

Overcome Social Media Overwhelm

2009-06-12T06:00:00.006-04:00

“And I'm happy to report that it is possible to write for a living and have a life!” Elizabeth Grace Saunders

I ‘met’ Elizabeth Grace Saunders when she left the above encouraging message on my “Tackling Time Issues” blog. Intrigued, I wanted to know how. Therefore, I was quite excited when she agreed to do a guest post for me. So without further ado, here’s Elizabeth.

My time coaching and training business actually emerged from my personal struggle to achieve work-life balance as a freelance writer. In 2005, I “accidentally” began my career as a full-time freelancer based on the fact that editors started handing me work after I resigned from my magazine position. It was a blessing to have a business emerge relatively effortlessly but a curse to not have had the time to think through how I would structure my life. Everything just happened, and I just responded as best as I could.

About a year and a half into this venture, I started to feel burnt-out. I enjoyed writing but didn’t want to feel like a prisoner chained to my computer, and I hated the sense of guilt I felt whenever I was home but not working. I wanted to succeed professionally and financially, but I also wanted to relax once in a while and enjoy the relationships that make my life truly rich.

That's when I began a journey to work/life brilliance™ that I still live out every day. And over the last year and a half, I realized I loved to empower women in business to do the same with Real Life E® Schedule Makeovers™ and time coaching and training.

As I’ve gone through this process and guided others on the journey to work-life balance, a common problem that emerges is how to keep social media from taking control of our time. Every day some must-have application pops up or some get-rich method comes out. To combat this time assault, I’ve developed this three-part method:

Ask Yourself, Why?

Before you engage in any business activity, always ask yourself questions such as:
• Why am I doing this activity?
• Why am I spending this much (or this little) time on it?
• Why would someone care about what I’m doing?
• Who reads this information?
• Will this win me new clients or preserve my current ones?
• How does this activity reflect on my brand?
• Does this activity energize me and focus me on my important goals?

These kind of questions work with anything from networking events to Twitter updates—basically if you can’t see a clear ROI on an activity, you might want to stop or reduce your time doing it. If you simply enjoy doing something, you can still do it on your personal time. But don’t waste time on “business development” that produces no results.

For instance, when I worked exclusively as a freelance writer, I did not write a blog. I made this decision based on the fact that my business-to-business clients were not interested in hiring me based on blogging. Instead, my clients cared more about seeing me face-to-face on a somewhat regular basis. At that time, it made more sense to spend a couple of hours a week visiting their offices rather than writing posts.

Stick with a Theme

Just like the most successful novelists develop a reputation for a certain style and subject matter, you need to establish an online reputation that’s aligned with your brand. If your main “Why” for engaging in social media is to build your business and your status as an expert, you must pick a theme and stick with it.

When I decided to do time coaching and training for work/life brilliance™, I began a blog to establish my expertise and develop my well of online content. To make it a go-to resource, I chose to focus on time management for women in business.

Around the same time, I started using Twitter. At first, I would just put up tweets about random articles or thoughts. But after a little bit, I realized it would be much more effective to have a consistent tweet each day. That’s when I began a daily “E time management tip” which evolved into an “E Schedule Makeover Tip.” Now my hundreds of Twitter followers can expect a daily tip to assist them with their schedule. This builds my reputation and expert status, and by using Google analytics, I found out that Twitter is the top driver of traffic to my Web site.

Time Block Everything

The mental state required to effectively process e-mail or scan tweets is not the same as the one you need to write a cohesive article. One of the biggest ways to make writing or any project that requires a high level of mental concentration take FOOOREEEVER is to flit between the project and e-mail or social media.

I’ve found it most effective to answer all of my e-mail and do all my processing at the beginning of the day. Then I can take a little break to get a cup of coffee or stretch my legs and focus completely for a couple of hours on a major assignment such as an article. Once that’s done, I take a little break, maybe check e-mail for 10 minutes, and then focus on the next important task.

To stick to your schedule and overcome distraction, try these techniques:
• If you’re a twitterer, decide when you will go on Twitter and for how long, then stop once you reach your limit.
• If you’re a blogger, designate a certain day and a certain time slot or at least number of hours you will spend blogging, then stick with it.
• If you like to read lots of content, collect it all in a single folder and then designate a certain amount of time each week to review it. Stop when you reach the limit.

Read Less, Do More

With the onslaught of social media, the lie is that you will always benefit from more information, but that’s simply not true. By picking the best information, learning from it, and applying it, you will be far ahead of the people who fritter away their lives reading yet another article about Facebook, yet doing nothing.

It will take time to develop the habit of focus when you’re used to falling for the lure of mindless social media. But as you decide on what’s most important, focus on a theme, and set time limits, you’ll start to develop new habits and the ability to maximize the value of your time on and off social media.

If you want to end your feelings of overwhelm and guilt and step into the future with confidence, check out www.ScheduleMakeover.com or contact Elizabeth Grace Saunders at esaunders@RealLifeE.com. Elizabeth can develop an ideal schedule for you that includes specific time blocks for social media activities.

Elizabeth Grace Saunders is a time coach and trainer who empowers women in business to achieve work/life brilliance™ through her exclusive Schedule Makeover™ process. Inc magazine, NBC, and The Chicago Tribune are just a few of the places where Elizabeth has appeared.

Thank you, Elizabeth. I appreciate you taking the time to visit my blog. I’m so looking forward to using your suggestions to help overcome my social media overwhelm. And, as always, thank you readers for stopping by.

Tags: Elizabeth Grace Saunders, RealLifeE, Twitter, ScheduleMakeover, time coaching,

Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses

2009-06-10T06:00:00.002-04:00

“Classic - a book which people praise and don't read.” - Mark Twain

Due to technical difficulties, I am unable to post the guest blog from Elizabeth Grace Saunders. My apologies to you all and to Elizabeth. I will be posting her article as soon as I can get the glitches worked out.

So today I thought I’d share an article I read on The Happiness Project, “Ten hilarious tips for writing from Mark Twain." Twain obviously didn’t care for fellow writer Fenimore Cooper, author or The Deerslayer and The Last of the Mohicans.

According to Twain:

Cooper's art has some defects. In one place in "Deerslayer," and in the restricted space of two-thirds of a page, Cooper has scored 114 offenses against literary art out of a possible 115. It breaks the record.

There are nineteen rules governing literary art in domain of romantic fiction -- some say twenty-two. In "Deerslayer," Cooper violated eighteen of them.

Some of the requirements are:

That a tale shall accomplish something and arrive somewhere. But the "Deerslayer" tale accomplishes nothing and arrives in air.

They require that the personages in a tale, both dead and alive, shall exhibit a sufficient excuse for being there. But this detail also has been overlooked in the "Deerslayer" tale.

Say what he is proposing to say, not merely come near it.

Use the right word, not its second cousin.

Read The Happiness Project for more on this essay or read the entire essay for examples of "…Cooper's high talent for inaccurate observation…”

Would Mark Twain’s review have kept you from reading Fenimore Cooper’s work?

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: Mark Twain, Fenimore Cooper, Deerslayer, Last of the Mohicans, Elizabeth Saunders,

Dork-o-meter Red Alert

2009-06-08T06:00:00.004-04:00

“The trouble with learning from experience is that you never graduate.” - Doug Larson

When etiquette questions arise in real life social situations one might refer to Emily Post. Is there an internet equivalent for proper behavior on social media sites? I’m asking because I unknowingly committed a faux pas and my cheeks are glowing with shame. My transgression—‘signing’ my name and leaving a link at the end of my comments.

According to an article on Lorelle on WordPress, including my signature not only identifies me as a novice, but it also classifies me a dork. Not exactly good for one’s self-esteem, but then again, I have been called worse.

The signature is redundant, she says, because the comment usually starts with the name of the person leaving a comment. If you click on that name, you have access to commenter’s info including their blog or blogs. I tried it and it works. What can I say? Life is all about living and learning.

Dorky as it might be, I still think the signature line saves a step for those of us interested in checking out different blogs. I haven't decided if I'll try to break my signature habit or not.

Too intimidated to leave a comment on Lorelle’s blog (that and the fact it was written in 2007), I did take heart in that many of the 45 comments she received took her to task for her unkind remarks. Most of them said, “Who cares.”

Although Lorelle called me a name, I did find some other interesting information on her site. There are tips and advice on blogging so I’ll probably go back and visit again—once my pain vanishes. For those using WordPress, she offers specific help and techniques. But, remember my warning should you leave her a comment—you don’t want to set off her dork-o-meter.

In my search to improve my manners and maybe reduce the dork-o-meter to yellow, I ran across 8 Sure-Fire Ways to Tick Off the Twitterverse and Golden Rules of Social Media.

Now that I have learned something about etiquette on social sites, I am ready to move on to finding out how to spend time tweeting and blogging and still get work done. Therefore, I am excited to announce that on Wednesday, Elizabeth Grace Saunders will be a guest here with information about time management relating to social media. Elizabeth is an inspiring keynote speaker, women in business trainer, life coach, and nationally published writer. You can find out more about her at Reallife.

Leave a comment or question and you’ll have a chance to win John Allen’s book Fried Green Zombies. Rest assured, I do not own a dork-o-meter. I like comments and I don’t care if or how they are signed. I simply appreciate the fact that you visited and took the time to let me know.

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: Doug Larson, Emily Post, WordPress, self-esteem, Elizabeth Saunders,

Fried Green Zombies, Part Three

2009-06-05T06:00:00.001-04:00

So it was a race now. Which was going to kill him first? The cops or the truck-driving zombies from hell? – From Fried Green Zombies

We’re back with John Allen, author of Fried Green Zombies. If you missed part of the interview, you can catch up by clicking on Part One and Part Two.

Have you always known you wanted to be a writer?

Yes and no. The first “novel” I wrote, I wrote when I was in seventh grade. It was a short little thirty-thousand word thing, completely atrocious, but I really enjoyed the story-telling side of it. I took creative writing in High School, but my teacher was more inclined to set up coffee pots in the classroom and make us write about the meaning of song lyrics than to actually compel us to tell stories. But I did win a little award in high school for a little story I wrote – and looking back on it, it had all the elements of FGZ, minus the zombies and monster trucks, of course. The dark humor was there, as were the “mixed” elements of FGZ. Meaning while FGZ had zombies and aliens and dirty cops, the short story I wrote in high school – “The Chronicles of Charming,” had the mash-up of fairy tales and nineteen-thirties’ era gangsters told in a film noir style.

With a full time job, are you able to write everyday? Do you have a routine you follow before you begin to write?

My full time job gets in the way of writing. I jest, but writing every day can be difficult. My oldest girl is three, and my youngest is one. I’m at work every day by eight, and I leave by five. Then there’s dinner, chores, playing with the girls, putting them to bed – so that by the time my day stops, it’s nine o’clock at night. I try every night to write for at least one hour. If I’m on a good roll and have spent a little time during the day plotting where I want the story to go, I can get down a thousand words or so. Then, on the weekend, if I can steal the time, I’ll go to a coffee shop from noon until three, while the girls are having their naps, and get another three or four thousand words down.

My last job was much less demanding than my current one, and I was able to actually write quite a bit while I was at work.

Are there special items in your work area that inspire you or help you concentrate?

There are no special items that either inspire me or help me concentrate. All I need is my laptop and relative silence. My wife likes to spend nap time on the weekends watching television, so I escape to the coffee shop or to my office where I can work in silence. I find it very important to get up a head of steam and maintain it. Constantly starting and stopping makes for sloppy sentences and thoughts.

Why did you decide to self-publish and are you satisfied with that decision?

I decided to self-publish simply because I haven’t heard from any publishers. I was actually approached by a small publisher last week, an approach that was actually unsolicited – meaning it was a publisher to whom I had not sent a manuscript. Being approached felt nice. It felt like maybe someone had noticed.

But again, I didn’t write FGZ to make a lot of money. I’d be lying if I said that making money wouldn’t be nice, but I wrote it to have fun. The decision to self-publish is a tricky one.

I actually took part in a conversation between two authors the other week. One is completely self-published, and making a good living. The other has a traditional publishing contract, is better known, and sells a lot more copies (with a six-figure publishing deal on his last book).

But guess who makes more money (at least right now)? The self-published author. He makes roughly three to eight times as much money per book as the published author does, and gets to call all the shots. He can sell books online, and doesn’t have to sell nearly as many as the published author. He can market however he chooses. It took him longer to build up a dedicated audience, but he loves it.

Well, that’s all good and well, because they’re both making a good living. But for me, being self published has its pros and cons. I’ve had to market creatively. I promised my wife that I wouldn’t spend a dime on this endeavor, and with the exception of purchasing the ISBN numbers, I’ve stuck to that plan. Any books that I sell go into ordering more books or advertising. I use a print-on-demand service that handles all my printing and fulfillment, and does it pretty cheaply.

But being self-published also means that it’s tough as nails to get into the brick-and-mortar stores like Books-a-Million and Barnes and Noble. I really would love to be in stores, but haven’t been able to make that happen yet.

How did you decide on the company you selected for self-publication?

I have two companies that I use for printing, chosen more or less by what they cost. Right now, one company handles my paperbacks, and another my hard covers.

What is your most helpful book on writing? Why?

This is a good question. My most helpful book on writing… (ready for it?) was probably “The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove” by Christopher Moore. Probably didn’t expect that one, did you?

I wrote a story like I like to read stories, if that makes any sense. I know what I like, and what I don’t like, and when I wrote Fried Green Zombies, I didn’t exactly want to emulate a certain story or style, but I knew how I wanted the elements and the arc of the story to flow. I knew how I wanted the humor to originate.

And when I read “The Lust Lizard”, I thought, “Wow, here’s a guy who can take a blues musician, a slightly-crazy former B-movie actress, and a giant Godzilla-like monster and make a fun story.” Then when I saw that he had a large audience, I thought “Wow, there are actually people out there who might like my type of storytelling,” because he had that mash-up mentality of juxtaposing several wildly different ideas and letting the fun go from there.

What is your favorite and least favorite marketing technique?

Favorite marketing technique: Having an open dialogue with people who enjoyed the story, asking them what they did and didn’t enjoy. I use facebook and twitter, and I openly encourage people to seek me out and talk to me. I also released a free podcast version of the book, available at the website (www.friedgreenzombies.com) and at www.podiobooks.com. That worked really well in getting the word out.

My least favorite marketing technique has been trying to get in stores. I lose a bit of the element of impulse buy when people don’t just see my book in front of them.

What bit of advice do you have for writers who have yet to be published?

This is another good question. I don’t know what advice I would have to give, except keep trying. I’ve read a lot of the hundreds of rejection letters that people receive, and I’ve certainly been turned down by plenty of agents. But the talk on the street is that the publishing industry is changing. There are all sorts of articles on CNN.com and other credible sites where more and more, the success stories are coming from the unpublished authors.

Maybe one day, I’ll be one of them. Maybe not. Either way, it’s not going to stop me from writing. I love to write. It’s a form of relaxation for me.

I’m looking forward to a sequel. When can we expect to read more of the adventures of Bob, Chett and Harry? What other projects are in the works?

Thanks! I’m currently working on two (yes, two) novels at once. One is called “Demoness – a Story of Amputees, Treasure Hunting, and Hard Luck Love” – it’s the story of a down-on-his luck guy and his run-in with the demon Lillith. It’s based on early Christian and Judaic mythology, so I’m having fun researching and telling the story. The novel is roughly one-third complete.

The other story, “Dead Man’s Blues,” fits into the FGZ universe, though it isn’t a sequel. I’m still very early in the writing phase on it, standing at one-ninth complete, so I’ll tell you more when I get closer to the middle. However, unlike, FGZ, this story is a much more serious story, though it is still action-packed, and while still being fast-paced, it is a deeper book than FGZ.

And then, of course, already in the very nascent stages, is FGZ2.
But beyond that, I have a page full of one-line story ideas that I want to explore in the future. I seriously doubt I’ll ever run out of ideas.

Anything else you’d like to say?

Other than a huge thanks? I’d just like to say that I’m glad you enjoyed the story! When someone like you, who has a bit more experience in the industry, has something nice to say, well, it’s a really good pat on the back. The world needs more of those.

Thank you, John. I’ve really enjoyed this. Good luck with this book and your others. I have a very good feeling we’re going to be hearing a lot about you and your work in the future.

You can follow John on Twitter, or visit his website. You can buy Fried Green Zombies now in a variety of formats from his site or on Amazon.

For a chance to win a signed copy of Fried Green Zombies, leave a comment or question for John.

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: John Allen, Fried Green Zombies, contest,

Fried Green Zombies, Part Two

2009-06-03T06:00:00.002-04:00

He had learned that human women didn‘t make any sense. Why would alien women be any different? - From Fried Green Zombies

Here we are, back with John Allen and Fried Green Zombies. If you missed yesterday’s post you can catch up here. Don’t forget about the contest. Simply leave a comment and/or become a follower for an opportunity to win John’s fun and exciting book.

I love the title, how did you come up with the name?

Thanks! Originally, Fried Green Zombies started out as another story all together, called (tentatively, mind you), “Space Cowboys” or something like that. But as I started writing the story, it became apparent that I needed to tell more of the back-story, as it were. So, FGZ was born. The name came to me as I was writing the story. People who are inclined to think about zombies always think of them as these disgusting creatures with gray and green skin. Towards the end, there was a scene involving not only a firefight, but a fireball as well. Some of the zombies catch on fire, and I thought “Wow, those are some fried green zombies”, and the name stuck. Add to that the fact that when people think of fried green tomatoes, it has a very southern connotation. Voila!

Aliens, zombies, a couple of rednecks and the Dodge of Death make for an unusual combination. Where do your ideas come from?

My own twisted mind. I’ve always loved Edgar Allen Poe and his sense of the macabre. I’ve always loved Vonnegut and his humanism and his sense of an altered reality. And I’ve always loved Christopher Moore and his sense of the inane and weird. I grew up with a lot of the characters in FGZ – Chett, Harry, Clayton, Uncle Crank, Sheriff Barrack, Detective Moses – every single character is based off of a composite of characters with whom I interacted on a daily basis. These people were my friends and associates growing up in the rural south. I really grew up in Bovina, the location of the story. I really knew people whose sole hobby was mud-riding. And I loved those people, and they’re still dear friends of mine. I chuckled with an idea one day after watching some zombie movie. I thought, “Wow, if zombies invaded Bovina, they’d be in for something else,” because everyone I grew up with was well-armed, to say the least. So the idea was born.

Your cast of characters is wonderful. Bob is my favorite but they all came to life and I could visualize them easily. Are they based on your imagination or people you know? Do you write detailed character sketches before starting a project or do they develop as you go?
I wouldn’t have thought it possible to tie aliens, zombies, humans and vehicles together in such an entertaining and believable way, yet you did it beautifully. Do you write from an outline, storyboard or let the story or characters lead you?

I want to answer these two questions simultaneously, because I feel that they lead directly into each other.

The characters are definitely based on people I know. I do start with a character sketch, but it’s not very detailed. Basically, I think, “Okay, these are my lead characters, these are my supporting characters, and these are my background characters.” Then, with Chett, Harry, and Clay, I instantly knew who they were, their motivations, their friendship, and just generally who they were. Again, they were based off of composite caricatures from my life. I wanted Bob to be a true heroine, unabashed and unashamed of the person that she was. She obviously hails from a different culture with different norms and customs and acts accordingly. I wanted her to be like the heroines of the stories I read as a child, only more adult. Innocent, cute, charming, but brave and strong as an ox, outshining the guys.

So, in a way, the growth of the characters is an organic process, starting from an idea, and allowing them to grow through the story.

The characters help the story grow as well. I started FGZ with a very, very rough mental outline of what I wanted to happen. As I wrote it, I began an actual note-based outline and would fill it in from both the beginning and the end as the story progressed. I would introduce a new element and make sure that I included it in the wrap-up, or I would have to make changes down the line. But a lot of FGZ really, really surprised me. Characters would wind up in situations that I hadn’t imagined, and it was extremely fun writing them out of it. A lot of times I would chuckle at their responses.

In a nutshell: I write like I’m watching a movie. I have the characters in my head; I introduce them to different stimuli and situations and merely record how they react. That’s how FGZ came to be.

Were you surprised to learn that your book is enjoyed by a diverse demographic of readers and not simply your targeted audience of males between 18 and 34?

That’s an understatement. To be honest, I consider myself fortunate to have found anyone who enjoyed it – it’s not exactly a mass-market book. Like I said, I wrote it for me, and anyone else who enjoys it, male or female, young or old, is just really cool by me.

But to answer your question: Yes. I have been lucky enough to get emails from all over the world from listeners (to the audiobook) and readers who loved it. One of the first emails I received was from Austria, and I thought to myself, “Do you even have four-wheel-drives and mud-riding in Austria?” Of course, I don’t see why not – we as humans are a lot more alike than we like to believe sometimes.

Join us on Friday when John talks about writing and discusses self-publishing versus traditional.

In the meantime, you can follow John on Twitter , or visit his website. You can buy Fried Green Zombies now in a variety of formats from his site or on Amazon. Remember books make great gifts, particularly when they are signed. If you are the lucky winner and you’ve purchased the book earlier, you will have a thoughtful gift on hand.

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: John Allen, Fried Green Zombies, Bovina , Christopher Moore, contest,

Fried Green Zombies, Part One

2009-06-01T06:00:00.002-04:00

It was Thursday. The end of the world was still a few days away. - From Fried Green Zombies

Have you ever picked up a book not expecting too much only to have it wow your socks off? That happened to me (and living in Florida ,I don’t even wear socks) when I read Fried Green Zombies by John Allen.

John handed me a copy of his book when we met at a television station in Biloxi, Mississippi. Though a story involving a Dodge pickup truck, UFO’s, zombies and a couple of rednecks didn’t really sound like my cup of tea, I decided to give it a chance. Am I ever glad I did! It’s a well-written book with eclectic characters, lots of action, and loads of laughs. You can’t help yourself—you’re forced to keep turning one page after another. To me, John’s writing is a cross between Carl Hiaasen and Christopher Moore.

I was thrilled when John agreed to an interview and decided to try something new—making him the featured author of the week. So today you’ll find out a little about John and the book. Wednesday, he’ll talk about how he came up with the title, characters and idea for the book. Friday, he’ll talk about the writing in general including thought provoking insight on self-publishing versus traditional. So don’t miss a day. And feel free to leave questions for him in the comment section.

Here’s John:
To begin, I’m a father of 2.5 kids (two here actually running around, and one on the way), and a bit of a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none kind of guy. I dabble in science, music, magic, anthropology, history, religion, writing, and marketing. It is the latter that I made my career, and the next-to-last that I wish to make my career in the future.

Fried Green Zombies is actually my second novel. The first, “Dinner with the Devil,” was a bit of a think-piece about this guy who goes out to eat and always has his dining companion, whomever they may be, possessed by the devil. Needless to say, I hit print and stuck it in my library, where it will forever sit, collecting dust.

Fried Green Zombies was written, believe it or not, completely for me. I needed something that would allow me to escape into another place, and Fried Green Zombies was born. I wrote it because it was fun for me to write.

Tune in Wednesday for more.

In the meantime, you can follow John on Twitter , or visit his website.

Also I’m announcing a contest starting today. The prize will be a brand new, signed copy of Fried Green Zombies. Entry is easy. For the month of June, each time you leave a comment, your name will be jotted on a piece of paper and tossed into a basket. During the month, those that choose to ‘follow me’ will receive an extra entry. To make this fair to those that have been ‘followers’ for sometime now, your names have already been thrown into the basket. On July first, a winner will be drawn at random from the entries. The more times you comment, the better your chances of winning.

But, don’t wait until July 1 to read Fried Green Zombies because you can buy it now in a variety of formats from John's site or on Amazon. Remember books make great gifts, particularly when they are signed. If you are the lucky winner and you’ve purchased the book earlier, you will have a thoughtful gift on hand.

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: John Allen, Fried Green Zombies, Carl Hiaasen, Christopher Moore, contest,

Publishing Opportunity or Marketing Technique?

2009-05-29T06:00:00.000-04:00

“Do something. If it doesn’t work, do something else. No idea is too crazy.” – Jim Hightower

Move over hardbacks, paperbacks, soft covers, Kindles, and e-books! Clear the shelves! We need room for toilet paper books. Yes, you read that right—toilet paper. Sorry to be a bit indelicate here, but if the new literary experience being launched in Japan succeeds, carrying reading material into the bathroom may no longer be necessary.

According to a recent article on news.yahoo.com, “Horror Story Printed on Toilet Paper in Japan,” a Japanese company is now selling a nine-chapter novella printed on bathroom tissue. Click here to see a photo of the packaging.

The novella, Drop, is written by Koji Suzuki. He’s a best-selling author and has been described as Japan’s answer to Stephen King. Being promoted as “a horror experience in the toilet,” the roll sells for about $2.20. The story takes up about three feet of a roll and requires only a few minutes to read. Appropriately, the setting is a public restroom.

I’d like to know if Suzuki’s royalties are paid by the sheet, roll, or Costco size bundle. Read more about Koji Suzuki here.

Will the trend catch on here? If so, perhaps we’ll soon see an American version with Stephen King’s A Very Tight Place, which for the most part, takes place in a portable bathroom. Personally, I find visiting public restrooms scary enough. I don’t really want to read more horror stories about them.

What do you think of this idea? Are toilet tissue books a new avenue in the publishing world or are they an ‘outside the box’ marketing idea?

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: Jim Hightower, Koji Suzuki, Stephen King, novella on bathroom tissue, A Very Tight Place, Drop,

The Many Awards of Blogging

2009-05-27T06:00:00.000-04:00

“To have a little recognition, that is very nice, you dig. It is good for the ego, for the psyche.” – Dexter Gordon

I have received an honor from Liyana at LiyanaLand. My blog was included on her list of 100 blogs to receive the One Lovely Blog Award, Let’s be Friends Award, #1 Blogger Award, Flower Bear Tagging Award, You Don’t Say Award, Splash! Award, and last but not least, the 2009 Friendly Blogger Award. There are cute pictures to go along with all of these, but I am lazy and Liyana has them posted for easy viewing.

I don’t deserve this honor because I have never done well with these awards, also known as memes. It’s not that I’m not appreciative. I am. VERY. Acknowledgment from fellow bloggers means a lot to me. However, memes remind me of the old fashioned chain letters and I’m not comfortable passing them along. Therefore, they end up dying on my end and that makes me feel bad (but not bad enough to pass them along). The last one I killed was The Lemonade Stand, and I love lemonade. Now seven more have reached a dead end. So sorry.

Thank you, Liyana. I am in awe of the work that went into your blog. Think about it—100 links! Whew. I am pleased that you thought enough of my blog to include it. I hope you won’t hold it against me that I am a meme party pooper.

I do hope all of you will stop by Liyana’s site and take a look at my beautiful awards and admire her hard work. Plus she has other interesting things going on over there. If there’s anyone who would like to receive one or all of these awards, let me know. I’m happy to oblige when I know they are going somewhere where they are wanted and will be passed along as they should.

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: Dexter Gordon, memes, LiyanaLand, chain letters,

Memorial Day Facts

2009-05-25T06:00:00.001-04:00

“How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!” - Maya Angelou

My family, at one time or another, has had members in every branch of the military except for the Coast Guard. Yet, the only thing I knew about Memorial Day was that it was set aside to honor Americans who died in battle. That’s a bit embarrassing, so I decided to dig deeper. Here are a few things I found out:

It was originally called Decoration Day.

Proclaimed by General John Logan on May 5, 1868, it was first observed on May 30 of that year by placing flowers on Union and Confederate graves at Arlington National Cemetery.

New York was the first state to officially recognize the holiday in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all northern states.

The South refused to acknowledge the day and honored their dead at a different time until World War I. At that time, the day was changed from honoring those who died fighting in the Civil War to Americans who died fighting in any war.

There are disputes over which town first came up with the idea, but in 1966 President Lyndon Johnson declared Waterloo, New York, the birthplace of Memorial Day.

In 1915, Moina Michael came up with the idea of wearing red poppies on Memorial Day after writing the following poem:
We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.

Since the late 50's on the Thursday before Memorial Day, the 1,200 soldiers of the 3d U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. They then patrol 24 hours a day during the weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing.

To help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the "National Moment of Remembrance" resolution was passed in 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, all Americans "To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to Taps."

Many people today think of Memorial Day only as a chance to have a cookout and celebrate a three-day weekend. A movement, Help Restore the Traditional Day of Observance, is an effort to bring respect back to the day.

For more information visit usmemorialday.org. There’s also a touching video. Unfortunately, it’s preceded by a brief commercial but still worth watching as a reminder of what so many men and women have gone through for our country.

One can only hope that there will come a time when people of the world can live together in peace and future generations will only know about war from what they read in history books. In the meantime, my wish is that the men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan stay safe and return home soon.

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: Maya Angelou, Memorial Day, General Logan, Decoration Day, Moina Michael, poppies,Arlington Cemetery,

Not the Usual Kindle Discussion

2009-05-22T06:00:00.003-04:00

"Once a new technology rolls over you, if you’re not part of the steamroller, you’re part of the road.” – Stewart Brand

We’ve all heard the arguments about what the Kindle and other electronic book readers will do to the publishing industry. However, have you ever thought about some of the more atypical effects? Joanne Kaufman has in her humorous article, “With Kindle, Can You Tell It’s Proust?” from nytimes.com. Here are a few excerpts:

“The publishing world is all caught up in weighty questions about the Kindle and other such devices: Will they help or hurt book sales and authors’ advances? Cannibalize the industry? Galvanize it?”

“Please, they’re overlooking the really important concern: How will the Kindle affect literary snobbism?”

“The practice of judging people by the covers of their books is old and time-honored. And the Kindle, which looks kind of like a giant white calculator, is the technology equivalent of a plain brown wrapper.”

“But for the purpose of sizing up a stranger from afar, perhaps the biggest problem with Kindle or its kin is the camouflage factor: when no one can tell what you’re reading, how can you make it clear that you’re poring over the new Lincoln biography as opposed to, say, “He’s Just Not That Into You”?”

“And as books migrate from paper, it means the death of the pickup line, “Oh, I see you’re reading the latest (insert highbrow author’s name here).”

Read the entire article here.

I’ve always enjoyed attempting to see what books people were reading or carrying. I will miss this ability to snoop as the electronic readers continue to gain in popularity. To date, I have no desire to own one, but I think I said the same thing about a cell phone.

How do you feel about electronic book readers? Do you own one? Have you ever used a book as a way to start a conversation with a stranger?

I'm going off topic here but I wanted to share what I consider exciting news. Because part of The Ride takes place on Route 66, it caught the attention of Route 66 News and was featured on the site on May 20.

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: Stewart Brand, Kindle, electronic book readers, Joanne Kaufman, nytimes.com,The Ride, Route 66,

Tackling Time Issues

2009-05-20T06:00:00.000-04:00

“It was really just a hobby that snowballed.” - Dominic Knight

I believe my problems with time issues stems from the fact that I had a very different life before I became a published author. In that other life, writing was a hobby. Hobbies are fun activities you do in your spare time when your work is all done.

Switching gears in my mind that writing is now work and everything else is a hobby hasn’t been an easy transition. I’m not complaining. Seeing my manuscript turned into a book has been a dream come true. It’s simply that changing from hobbyist to professional is a bit more daunting and time consuming than I ever imagined.

However, the response to Monday’s post made me realize I was not alone in my need to develop better time management skills. Therefore, I planned use today’s blog to write about helpful time management tips.

Obviously authors have a huge issue with time because Googling ‘time management for writers’ resulted in 15 million hits. I’m no pro on this subject, but even I figured out wading through all these sites would not be in my best interest or a valuable use of my time.

I checked a few sites and found mostly common sense rules, such as keep a ‘to do’ list, work at the time of day you are most productive, designate a workspace and set realistic goals. These are things I do already, so maybe I don’t really have a problem.

After reading “Time Is Not on Your Side: Time Management Tips for Writers,” by Michael Stelzner on copyblogger I realized I have a big problem. Step one in the article was a test to find out if you are a time waster; step two, a time log to help keep track of your activities and the time they take; step three, a form to help you set goals.

I took the test. I’ll never reveal my score—I’ll only admit that I qualified as a time waster extraordinaire. I printed out the time log and goal setting forms. I am ready to take the plunge and begin to change my bad habits when…well…as soon as I have the time.

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: Dominic Knight, time management, hobbies, Google, copyblogger, Stelzner,

A Writer’s Most Valuable Assets

2009-05-18T06:00:00.001-04:00

“You may be able to take a break from writing, but you won't be able to take a break from being a writer.” - Stephen Leigh

In 2007, I posted my personal list of the top ten assets I thought a writer needed. At the time, I had signed a contract with ArcheBooks Publishing and had been waiting, rather impatiently, for the production process to begin. Therefore, the number one item on the list was patience.

I revisited the list and decided it needed a little tune-up now that The Ride has been out for about eight months. Here is my latest list of assets I believe every writer needs.

10. A basic understanding of grammar and punctuation

9. The ability to take an idea and turn it into a novel, short story or article

8. The perseverance to revise and edit your work ad nauseum

7. The strength to delete a paragraph that you spent the last eight hours perfecting after realizing it has nothing to do with the idea you were hoping to convey

6. In order to resist the urge to slice your wrists open with any sharp object within reach, you must develop the ability to fluff off rejection notices and not so glowing reviews with a flick of your wrist.

5. The self-discipline to sit down and write or rewrite daily, even during those periods when playing solitaire might seem a bit more productive

4. To keep your publisher happy, you must be able to focus on writing the next book, while trying to arrange signings, interviews and other innovative marketing techniques for your currently available book(s)

3. The skill to set up and maintain a presence on dozens of social media sites—which also means you have the ability to express yourself in 140 characters or less.

2. The knack of retaining all the passwords and log-in info for the numerous sites and forums you’ve joined

And the number one thing a writer must possess: (imagine a drum roll here)

1. The ability to cram at least 48 hours worth of writing, marketing, blogging, reading and networking into a 24-hour day and still have a life

In 2007, patience was my number one concern and today it’s time management. I’m sure if I wait a few more years to re-examine this list, it will change yet again.

What do you consider a writer’s most valuable asset?

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: ArcheBooks, The Ride, assets, social media, time management, Stephen Leigh,

Wasting Time

2009-05-15T06:00:00.000-04:00

“Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.” – William Penn

I am in awe of authors who have several major projects going at once, write for a dozen different blogs, market their books, Tweet frequently, stay updated on other social networks, find time to visit and comment on other blogs, yet manage to eat, exercise and spend time with family and friends. Whew! Some do all of this while holding down a full time job. Sadly, I am not one of those authors. After noting my actions one afternoon while ‘working,’ I’m now know why.

I sit down to write and:

A brilliant idea pops into my head and pops out again before I have the chance to put it down on paper. I play a game of solitaire while trying to retrieve the thought. That game may snowball into two, three, or more before I convince myself to give up and move on.

I write down another brilliant thought and read back over it only to find it makes no sense at all. I sulk and play a game of solitaire or two or…

I turn the sound off on my computer but out of the corner of my eye, I see the ‘you have new mail’ icon pop up. I tell myself it can wait. Now I can’t write because I’m wondering what it’s about. I click on my mail. Thirty minutes later I’m still replying to email I meant to answer days ago.

I finally pick up momentum but find I need to do a little research to make sure something I’ve written is accurate. I log on and become captivated by a site or article I run across. I log off and realize that I never got around to finding what I went online for in the first place.

Clicking away on the keyboard like crazy with thoughts coming fast and furious, I grind to a screeching halt. I don’t like a word I used. I try to think of a better one. I can’t. I flip through my Thesaurus. No good. I go to an online source. I find an interesting word but not one that will work in the sentence. I try to write a sentence around the word. It sounds forced. I play a game or two of solitaire, mulling the sentence over in my head before going back and using the word I didn't like.

I write a few more pages before the clock strikes six and I hear my husband announce ‘happy hour.’ I don’t want to miss the news. Okay, I admit it, I don’t want to miss happy hour either, so I glance at my uncompleted ‘to do today’ list, shrug and think, ‘tomorrow is another day.’

Fortunately I do have days of extreme concentration when my characters take over and I’m simply a typist. On those days, an exploding stick of dynamite under my chair wouldn’t distract me and my productivity carries over into other areas. What I want to do is work that efficiently everyday.

I hope by writing my poor work habits down, I'm taking the first step to making them disappear. Any helpful hints on how to stay focused?

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: William Penn, solitaire, wasting time, social networks, Tweet, blogs,

Book Signing Venues

2009-05-13T06:00:00.001-04:00

“Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.” – Edward de Bono

My post on Monday on innovative marketing techniques and Tuesday’s blog on Straight from Hel, about thinking outside the box for book signing venues, elicited some interesting replies. For instance Marvin Wilson, once held a book signing at a farmer’s market; Morgan Mandel is planning one at a flea market; and, I’ve done signings at my condo’s pool and in a bank lobby.

I decided to do some online research and see if I could find other creative venues. What I found was a great site, BookConnector. The venue categories on this site are: bookstores, cafes, groceries, libraries and non-traditional. You input the city and state, check which categories interest you, and a list appears. This is a helpful aid for anyone planning their own book tour. You do have to be a member to use the site, but membership is free and signing up was quick and easy.

I’d recommend stopping by bcnews (no sign-up necessary) to read about Maryann Miller’s hilarious nightmare talk and signing at a senior center. The story had me laughing out loud. (For more nightmare stories see my January 16, 2009, blog.)

Along with Maryann Miller’s piece, there are write-ups about other non-traditional venues such as Colette Shaw’s signing at a KISS fan convention; or Ann Parker’s event at an upscale restaurant that was once the stomping ground for a high-class madam featured in her book, Silver Lies.

Feel free to share more unusual venues or nightmare signings.

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: Edward de Bono, book signing venues, book signing nightmares, Maryann Miller, Colette Shaw, Ann Parker, KISS, BookConnector,