Mama Needs A Book Contract

The Eve of Ramadan: Aug. 21, 2009

2009-08-21T20:06:00.000-07:00

It is confirmed. Ramadan will officially begin Saturday in the U.S. and most in countries that celebrate Ramadan. Like my sister said, "It seems like the majority of Muslims are starting on the same day." I agreed with her. I heard only two countries that began Ramadan on Friday. Could be a good sign.

I will once again journaling my days during Ramadan. Can't promise you if it will be exciting or adventurous. However, I can promise you that you will see a beautiful experience that occurs during Ramadan.

Just to clarify Ramadan is a month (about 29 or 30 days) when able-bodied Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. Muslims are exempt from eating, drinking, smoking, sexual intercourse, and as well as working on building excellent character. Once it sunsets, Muslims come together and break their fast with either a sip of water or some dates. After the fifth prayer of the day, Salatul Isha, Salatul Taraweeh takes place in mosques around the world. In Salatul Taraweeh, the Imam (religious or spiritual leader) will begin up prayers and begin with first Surah, Chapter in the Quran. He will recite so many Chapters per night, thus reciting the entire Quran in about 29 or 30 days. (There is 114 Chapters).

I invite you my dear readers to come back everyday and also to comment and post questions. For those that will fast during Ramadan: Have a Happy and Blessed Ramadan!

Birthin' a Book & Lessons Learned

2009-08-01T09:24:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago Kai and I were discussing "having a baby" and "writing/publishing a book". She asked about why I made the analogy about birthing a baby and a book. So here is a little more discussion on that topic.

Let's see how we make a baby. (Sorry, no videos for this one!)

Girl meets Boy & They Fall In Love
There's a proposal.
They Get Married (hey, its my analogy so we're going down the traditional path! )
They have a honeymoon and love each other A LOT.
They work hard at their marriage, realizing it's not like the movies.
They Get Pregnant.
For nine months she's a little crazy.
For nine months he's a little afraid.
They prepare, they read books, they ask other people.
They get lots and lots of unsolicited advice and everyone contradicts each other.
Labour begins and they realize they couldn't have prepared for this.
Baby enters the world.
They realize that there's a lot more work AFTER baby arrives than BEFORE!

So how do we make a book?

Writer gets a great idea and loves it a lot.
There's a proposal. The writer writes it. No rings involved.
Writer finds an agent and signs with her.
They like each other a lot.
Writer gets an offer from a traditional publisher. (Hey, again, it's my analogy!)
They sign the contract! Nine months until delivery!
For nine months the writer is a little crazy.
For nine months the writer's family is a little afraid.
Writer does lots of research, writer interviews a lot of people. Some people contradict others.
It's down to the wire and there are bits to review and edits to make.
Deadlines within deadlines come hard and fast.
The book arrives.
The writer realizes that there's a lot of work after the book arrives. Marketing, writing, interviewing, obsessively checking Amazon stats, wondering when it will ship, holding contests, getting press.....

Now, neither of these represents a complaint about the process. I loved being pregnant (if I had my druthers...) and I loved getting a contract and writing my book. But they were both learning experiences, especially the first ones!

I learned:

1) Plan ahead to be done all tasks before your deadline/delivery date.
2) Don't think you know it all.
3) Research like crazy.
4) Asking for advice will result in better info than receiving unsolicited advice.
5) There are people around you whose job it is to help you. Accept their help.

(Cross-posted at The Writing Mother)

Growing into my very geeky job

2009-07-21T05:24:00.000-07:00

When this blog first started I'd *just* been accepted into a University course in Creative writing and Criminology. I dropped the 'criminology' part, and focussed, instead, on Psychology for the five 'spare slots' that I had. That was just under two years ago - and last year, around this time, I finally worked out what I wanted to do when I graduated.
It's been a long path this year - because soon after I researched and discovered the fun that is my new carreer (and it's FUN with several invisible exclamation points after :D) I was quite badly injured - something I haven't - really - recovered from. But this week I finally, perfectly, married my love of writing with my love of psychology and crime, in a not unexpected (for me) way. And I'm hoping over the next couple of months that I can share it with you guys and other writers.

And that's why I'm so geeked out right now. I can do this - and I can teach it, and write about it, and talk about it passionately. It's growing, with my interest, and it's just about boundless.
And that's where I am. Training to be a forensic linguist 'by day', via a degree in Creative Writing and Psychology, and a postgrad diploma, and working on this 'by night'. I'll get to geek about it properly very soon, but until then I'm just delighted to get to take a run at it. Till then it's kinda hush hush, cause the platform is probably a 'one off' and I want to be fully ready to do it. But yay!

How's your summer looking?

It's Here! It's Here!

2009-07-02T18:45:00.000-07:00

Finally, finally, finally.... I'm holding it in my hand.... my first ~~baby~~ book!

In case you are wondering. I sold this book in October 2007.

That's a 20 month gestation period.

:)

An analogy that fits

2009-06-22T02:10:00.000-07:00

Since my head injury I've found there are times that I can't sit at my computer, and I need to think about writing, but not in that active, 'I'm brainstorming' way.
So I took up knitting again, and have discovered the addictiveness of actually completing something that's small and useful.
I remember feeling that way, in the start about articles and content that was being crafted especially for clients. I'd make a made to order set of articles, each word carefully locked into place and each concept made stronger by it's surrounding ones. Dishcloths might be shorter articles, but blankets are whole chapters of books.
So instead of sitting and mindlessly staring at the TV all day, I knit. I think about stories and I let things just cascade into place.

It's an analogy that might just fit for most of us - we craft something out of the other materials - and taking it right back, most of us 'spin' our wool from the words that are fed in, before repurposing it to something else. I get the feeling that it's going to be very difficult to work this summer on much, writing wise, but I can knit whenever I've got a spare few minutes.

What craft analogy can you find for writing and the craft of your choice?

(xposted to exceptionalmundane)

Interview: Christina Katz

2009-06-15T19:46:00.000-07:00

Today I'm featuring a Guest Post by author Christina Katz. I have been inspired and encouraged by Christina's writing for many years now and love her writing! So enjoy...

Get Known Before the Book Deal, Use Your Personal Strengths to Grow an Author Platform

Bio:

Christina Katz is the author of Get Known Before the Book Deal, Use Your Personal Strengths to Grow an Author Platform (Writer’s Digest Books). She started her platform “for fun” seven years ago and ended up on “Good Morning America.” Christina teaches e-courses on platform development and writing nonfiction for publication. Her students are published in national magazines and land agents and book deals. Christina has been encouraging reluctant platform builders via her e-zines for five years, has written hundreds of articles for national, regional, and online publications, and is a monthly columnist for the Willamette Writer. A popular speaker at writing conferences, writing programs, libraries, and bookstores, she hosts the Northwest Author Series in Wilsonville, Oregon. She is also the author of Writer Mama, How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids (Writer’s Digest Books).

Q: What is a platform?

CK: Long story short: Your platform communicates your expertise to others, and it works all the time so you don’t have to. Your platform includes your Web presence, any public speaking you do, the classes you teach, the media contacts you’ve established, the articles you’ve published, and any other means you currently have for making your name and your future books known to a viable readership. If others already recognize your expertise on a given topic or for a specific audience or both, then that is your platform.

A platform-strong writer is a writer with influence. Get Known explains in plain English, without buzzwords, how any writer can stand out from the crowd of other writers and get the book deal. The book clears an easy-to-follow path through a formerly confusing forest of ideas so any writer can do the necessary platform development they need to do.

Q: Why is platform development important for writers today?

CK: Learning about and working on a solid platform plan gives writers an edge. Agents and editors have known this for years and have been looking for platform-strong writers and getting them book deals. But from the writer’s point-of-view, there has not been enough information on platform development to help unprepared writers put their best platform forward.

Now suddenly, there is a flood of information on platform, not all necessarily comprehensive, useful or well organized for folks who don’t have a platform yet. Writers can promote themselves in a gradual, grounded manner without feeling like they are selling out. I do it, I teach other writers to do it, I write about it on an ongoing basis, and I encourage all writers to heed the trend. And hopefully, I communicate how in a practical, step-by-step manner that can serve any writer. Because ultimately, before you actively begin promoting yourself, platform development is an inside job requiring concentration, thoughtfulness and a consideration of personal values.

Q: How did you come to write Get Known Before the Book Deal?

CK: I already had a lot of momentum going when I got the deal for a very specific audience. I wrote a column on the topic for the Willamette Writer’s newsletter. Then I started speaking on platform. When I gave my presentation, “Get Known Before the Book Deal,” at the Writer’s Digest/BEA Writer’s Conference in May 2007, Phil Sexton, one of my publisher’s sales guys, saw it and suggested making the concept into a book. Coincidentally, I was trying to come up with an idea for my second book at that time and had just struck out with what I thought were my three best ideas. My editor, Jane Friedman agreed with Phil. That was two votes from people sitting on the pub board. They converted the others with the help of my proposal, and Get Known got the green light.

Q: Why was a book on platform development needed?

CK: Writers often underestimate how important platform is and they often don’t leverage the platform they already have enough. At every conference I presented, I took polls and found that about 50 percent of attendees expressed a desire for a clearer understanding of platform. Some were completely in the dark about it, even though they were attending a conference in hopes of landing a book deal. Since book deals are granted based largely on the impressiveness of a writer’s platform, I noticed a communication gap that needed to be addressed.

My intention was that Get Known would be the book every writer would want to read before attending a writer’s conference, and that it would increase any writer’s chances of landing a book deal whether they pitched in-person or by query. As I wrote the book, I saw online how this type of information was being offered as “insider secrets” at outrageous prices. No one should have to pay thousands of dollars for the information they can find in my book for the price of a paperback! Seriously. You can even ask your library to order it and read it for free.

Q: What is the key idea behind Get Known Before the Book Deal?

CK: Getting known doesn’t take a lot of money, but it does take an in-depth understanding of platform, and then the investment of time, skills and consistent effort to build one. Marketing experience and technological expertise are also not necessary. I show how to avoid the biggest time and money-waster, which is not understanding who your platform is for and why – and hopefully save writers from the confusion and inertia that can result from either information overload or not taking the big picture into account before they jump into writing for traditional publication.

Often writers with weak platforms are over-confident that they can impress agents and editors, while others with decent platforms are under-confident or aren’t stressing their platform-strength enough. Writers have to wear so many hats these days, we can use all the help we can get. Platform development is a muscle, and the more you use it, the stronger it gets. Anyone can do it, but most don’t or won’t because they either don’t understand what is being asked for, or they haven’t overcome their own resistance to the idea. Get Known offers a concrete plan that can help any writer make gains in the rapidly changing and increasingly competitive publishing landscape.

Q: What is the structure of the book and why did you choose it?

CK: Writer Mama was written in small, easy-to-digest chunks so busy new moms could stick it in a diaper bag and read it in the nooks and crannies of the day. Get Known is a bit more prosaic, especially in the early chapters. Most of the platform books already out there were only for authors, not writers or aspiring authors. To make platform evolution easy to comprehend, I had to dial the concepts back to the beginning and talk about what it’s like to try and find your place in the world as an author way before you’ve signed a contract, even before you’ve written a book proposal. No one had done that before in a book for writers. I felt writers needed a context in which to chart a course towards platform development that would not be completely overwhelming.

Introducing platform concepts to writers gives them the key information they need to succeed at pitching an agent either via query or in-person, making this a good book for a writer to read before writing a book proposal. Get Known has three sections: section one is mostly stories and cautionary tales, section two has a lot of to-do lists any writer should be able to use, and section three is how to articulate your platform clearly and concisely so you won’t waste a single minute wondering if you are on the right track.

Q: At the front of Get Known, you discuss four phases of the authoring process. What are they?

CK: First comes the platform development and building phase. Second comes the book proposal development phase (or if you are writing fiction, the book-writing phase). Third, comes the actual writing of the book (for fiction writers this is likely the re-writing of the book). And finally, once the book is published, comes the book marketing and promoting phase.

Many first-time authors scramble once they get a book deal if they haven’t done a thorough job on the platform development phase. Writers who already have a platform have influence with a fan base, and they can leverage that influence no matter what kind of book they write. Writing a book is a lot easier if you are not struggling to find readers for the book at the same time. Again, agents and editors have known this for a long time.

Q: What are some common platform mistakes writers make?

CK: Here are a few:

They don’t spend time clarifying who they are to others.
They don’t zoom in specifically on what they offer.
They confuse socializing with platform development.
They think about themselves too much and their audience not enough.
They don’t precisely articulate all they offer so others get it immediately.
They don’t create a plan before they jump online.
They undervalue the platform they already have.
They are overconfident and think they have a solid platform when they have only made a beginning.
They become exhausted from trying to figure out platform as they go.
They pay for “insider secrets” instead of trusting their own instincts.
They blog like crazy for six months and then look at their bank accounts and abandon the process as going nowhere.

I’ll stop there. Suffice it to say that many writers promise publishers they have the ability to make readers seek out and purchase their book. But when it comes time to demonstrate this ability, they can’t deliver.

My mission is to empower writers to be 100 percent responsible for their writing career success and stop looking to others to do their promotional work for them. Get Known shows writers of every stripe how to become the writer who can not only land a book deal, but also influence future readers to plunk down ten or twenty bucks to purchase their book. It all starts with a little preparation and planning. The rest unfolds from there.

Q: Couldn’t any author have written this book? Why you?

CK: I have built a career over the past decade empowering writers. I’ve developed and built my own platform as a writing-for-traditional-publication specialist, and I’ve worked with others as a writing and platform-development instructor. Many of the people I’ve been working with are landing book deals and while the other hundred-or-so writers I work with a year are developing their skills, I notice patterns of behavior—what leads to success, where writers get stuck, and how I can be helpful in these rapidly changing times in the industry.

I’ve witnessed too many writers, who were off to a great start, hopping online and quickly becoming very lost. I started to write about platform in Writer Mama, How To Raise A Writing Career Alongside Your Kids, but I quickly noticed that more details on platform development were desperately needed. My platform is based on helping others. I have a vested interest in seeing the people I work with—and those who read my book—succeed. Writers are my tribe.

Thanks Christina! (Cross-posted at The Writing Mother.)

Mama has her contract (kinda)!

2009-06-11T00:04:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry I've been missing lately - it's been mad around here with end of year work for Uni, a photog shoot that just wouldn't line up with everyone that wanted to be there (and I can't post my part in it because it's 'ghostcamera' work - a bit like ghostwriting, just I loaned body pieces (my back specifically, because of my biohazard tattoo) and other fun stuff.

BUT - got my grades back this week and found out I got 3 B's and 2 D's (where the 2 D's are appealable because you can see where I was coping with my head injury (badly), or at least explainable), giving me a high 2:2 (C) for the year overall. Worse than 1st year, but in 1st year, I didn't have memory problems and serious trauma based writers 'block'.

And then, the week before we went off for the year, I wrote a book proposal, based on some of the stuff I'm studying right now (linguistics, forensics and some other stuff) and discovered I'd hit onto a great idea.
This morning I got my partial request back - with a note saying that they would want to see the rest once they'd evaluated this part unless my query didn't live up to the reality.
Contract for me!
And I'm back to blog. So...how have you been?

procrastwitter

2009-05-18T12:50:00.001-07:00

Let it be known that I'm the first to use this word. :)

procrastwitter
verb: the act of procrastinating via twitter

Optimism

2009-05-10T22:16:00.000-07:00

Just finished watching a documentary with Michael J Fox and his take on optimism. It was quite inspiring because he's simply an uplifting, beautiful person. I'm sure he has his dark moments, but overall, this is a guy who has taken what many might see as a death sentence and turn it into something to work towards.

(I recently purchased his book, Always Looking Up, but I haven't had the chance to read it just yet.)

In the documentary, they spoke about Bhutan, a country that focuses quite a bit of energy on their Gross National Happiness. While it has a lot to do with Buddhist values, I can still appreciate the value of choosing happiness and optimism above the alternative. I don't know if I'm a pessimist or optimist, I am hopeful, but at the same time, I always need to know what the Worst Possible Outcome is so that I can be prepared.

But it did get me thinking about the choices we make in our life and how they might define if we are optimists or pessimists.

Take freelance writers. We work at a career that is not guaranteed to leave us rolling in the dough. Quite contrary... most freelancers are earning below the poverty line in North America. But we still do it.

Or look at the 36,000 jobs that were added to the Canadian economy last month. A pessimist might say "oh yeah, but they were self employed jobs..." an optimist might say "these people choose to go start their own businesses rather than sit on social assistance".

I think that it might be our choices in life that reveal how we think. Do you keep writing query letters despite the rejections? Do we keep pitching book proposals despite the lack of response? Do we push the limits of what we can do, trusting that we will have the resources to finish what we start?

(x-posted at The Writing Mother)

My own brand of crazy...

2009-05-02T12:40:00.000-07:00

The other day my husband and I were having a "discussion" about my writing. Normally I don't post anything about our "discussions". (If you're reading those air quotes correctly, you'll know I mean "argument".)

He says I'm a bear to live with when I'm on deadline. I say that they only time I can convince him to watch the kids so I can write is when I'm on deadline. When the deadline is farther away (wait... further?) there's no NEED to write. Just the want. And we don't ask our husbands to watch the kids so we can go off and do something we want. Right? Right?

Maybe it's just me.

This was a tough argument because he felt that writing has an "emotional withdrawal" from our family bank account with less "emotional deposits".

And this is because the emotional deposit goes only into MY emotional bank, he says. I tried the "when mama ain't happy, ain't no one happy" bit. And there's some truth to that, I am happier when I'm more fulfilled. But how much does the family need to give for my happiness?

But wait, how much are they actually giving?

Yes, I'm a bear when I'm on deadline and I'm insistent upon getting time to write whether it's downstairs in our basement, out at a coffee shop.... wherever. Is me not being there THAT much of a drain?

He says "the woman's traditional role is to nurture".

After I took off my corset and burned my bra, I asked him what the traditional man's role is... and why *I* was doing that too. You know, out earning money in the workforce.

No answer.

I love winning "discussions".

What are your thoughts?

(Cross posted at The Writing Mother)

Two things - a contract and rebranding

2009-04-16T07:02:00.000-07:00

First up.
Not only do I have a contract (anthology) signed, sealed, and delivered, but I also have our book cover to show off! I'll announce again when the book is actually *out* but Footnotes to a Lesson, described as my 'thinking man's zombie' story is appearing in the 'Dead Worlds' Anthology, eta July 2009.

The story, which was the first one I waved at my new tutor after xmas has been highly praised but really *really* hard to place, because the protagonist isn't a traditional inhabitant of a zombie tale - and to be completely honest, I do some fairly gross, and unexpected things to her.

But it's in this anthology - under my pen name 'Sabrann Curach' (I hope!) which is really cool. Mama got a book contract ;)

And onto point two - I'm in the process of a massive shakeup of all of my 'stuff'. As I have stupid amounts of 'stuff' scattered all over the web (I am the proverbial spoiled child in a candy store because I can write, code and design quite readily - in other words I've got no barriers to creation - just upkeep!) it's taking me a while, but it got me thinking about rebranding.
As a starter, before I start sharing links and stuff, cause this will be a topic I'll be on for a while, do you have a brand? Are you at a point where you could start bringing stuff together and create a solid concept brand or are you scattered like me?
Is there anything YOU need ideas to get to or brainstorming? Stick em in the comments and we'll see what we can do ;)

Forget Celebrating Strunk & White

2009-04-13T05:20:00.001-07:00

April 16 is the 50th anniversary of that little grammar guide, Strunk & White's The Elements of Style, but should writers celebrate?

One writer and professor, Geoffrey K. Pullum, says he won't celebrate in an article published recently in The Chronicle of Higher Education. Pullum ends his argument by stating, "I've spent too much of my scholarly life studying English grammar in a serious way. English syntax is a deep and interesting subject. It is much too important to be reduced to a bunch of trivial don't-do-this prescriptions by a pair of idiosyncratic bumblers who can't even tell when they've broken their own misbegotten rules."

Basically, Pullum argues that Strunk and White didn't understand or follow many of the grammatical rules the pair touted. Pullum also notes that some of the original text written by Strunk was later revised by White including additions and deletions that didn't exist in the original nor did those additions or deletions make sense.

The Chronicle of Higher Ed's web site is a subscription-based site, but here is the link to Pullum's article titled, "50 Years of Stupid Grammar Advice."

And here is an article that doesn't mention the bad quality of the advice but does talk about the anniversary published in Newsday.

And supporting Pullum's more recent article is an article published in 2005, which Pullum applauded, by Jan Freeman titled, "Frankenstrunk."

Amazon Deleting Reviews Online

2009-04-04T12:55:00.000-07:00

Recently, I was forwarded an email from Cheryl Kaye Tardiff, Author and Book Marketing Coach. It seems that she started to notice some of her reviews were being deleted. Not just ones for her books, but reviews for other books.

I am sending this to ALL writing associations I belong to because I really want you to have this information before Amazon deletes all your reviews.

A week ago I found that all 85 of the reviews I've written for other books had been deleted. It has been a very difficult and stressful week dealing with Amazon. They are not very accessible and I was given at least 3 different reasons for why my reviews had been deleted. After numerous emails, this is what it's come down to:

Their final ruling: "Please know that our participation guidelines don't allow customers to promote their own titles in their reviews."

If you sign your review with anything other than your name, your reviews could be deleted. If any of you are in the habit of signing your reviews with something like ".., author of Whale Song", which has been common practice for years, Amazon has deemed this as "inappropriate" and will be deleting them. It seems they're on a campaign to go through reviews posted. They recently made changes to the Amazon Connect program and all our blogs were temporarily gone too. Most are back up.

They also will delete your reviews if you have added the book link (that they supply) and directed it to your own book title's Amazon page. Many authors have used that in their signature line. It can lead to deleteion and suspension, according to Amazon's latest email.

I argued the fact that thousands of authors sign their reviews like this, and that it's common practice in our inductry. I was told by my last publisher to sign my reviews like this; he even wanted us to include the ISBN, which I only did a couple of times then stopped. It made no difference to Amazon that this is what my publisher wanted me to do; they aren't accepting signatures with titles.

Amazon is starting to take note of such practices and you'll get no notice; they'll just pull all the reviews you have written. That's what they did with me, even though many of my older reviews were signed with just my name.

So to clarify, according to Amazon, when posting a review, you are not allowed to have a signature of anything more than your name, and NO links to or mention of your books whatsoever in the review or sig line. I am giving you the heads-up now so you can go in and edit your reviews if you choose. That's what I'd do, to be honest, because fighting with Amazon is not easy. There is no one who will talk to you by phone, and waiting for their response is not easy. This rule also applies to any comments you leave on a book review. Amazon does not want authors to mention their own books anywhere on the reviewpages.

I haven't heard from Amazon.ca yet, but I expect this will be funneled over to all the Amazons, so I'll be working on editing my reviews there next week.

Please forward this on to all authors you know and any writing organizations or associations you belong to.

Thanks for letting us know, Cheryl! By the way, you can find out more about her latest book, Whale Song, over at her web site!

(Cross-posted at The Writing Mother.)

Help! I have a fiction idea and I give up!

2009-04-01T19:10:00.000-07:00

Truthfully I have always wanted to be a fiction writer. And yet here I am, with the non fiction. And I like to read non fiction, but I LOVE fiction. It's the dessert and the non fiction is the steak. So I live vicariously through other writers:

Joshilyn Jackson
Shirley Jump
Sheila Curran
Jennifer O'Connell
Shanna Swendson
Jennifer Weiner

The problem is that whenever I come up with a great idea, I immediately thing, "oh yeah, that's a great idea because I heard it... wherever". Either it spikes in my brain for about 1.5 minutes and then I realize what a tired idea it was... or it doesn't even become fully formed before I shoot it down.

Except earlier this week I was thinking about one of my customers and something he said... and it spawned an idea, which spawned an idea and soon I thought "this is a REALLY good idea!" and it's stuck for the last week.

Except! I'm almost scared to put words onto page... I know my process for writing non fiction, but I'm afraid if I put my idea onto page... I might somehow wreck it. Weird, huh?

Touch Typing Typical?

2009-03-02T12:40:00.000-08:00

I am a touch typist, which means I can type without looking at the keyboard. It has been years since my typing skills have been timed, but I suspect that I am well over 100 words per minute for typing, and pretty close to that when I compose as well.

I learned to type when I was a freshman in high school. I had one semester of typing, and we were typing on very old, very stiff manual typewriters. It was when writing was loud work (I love my silent computer keyboard, but even my silent version is a bit noisy.) Although I didn't know it then, that class was one of the most valuable classes I took in high school. Being able to type saved me a lot of time in the future. I can't imagine working with a deadline and not being a fast touch typist.

But I wonder if I am the norm among writers? Are most writers touch typists? Or am I strange?

And am I *really* a touch typist? I have the alphabet completely memorized, and I can type words without any hesitation what so ever, but I need to sneak a peak on the those rare occasions when I have to hit keys I don't normally use -- like most of the F keys and some of the less used shift options on the number keys like ^ which is what you get when you hit shift AND the 6 key. Confession: When it comes to touch typing numbers, I prefer the number key pad to the numbers spread out above the letters. Alas, my laptop does not have the number key pad.

And when it comes to all of the variables available on a computer keyboard like the function key and the windows key and the page up, down, etc., I have no idea. I don't use them often, and if I do, I have to look. But keys I use frequently, like the "CTRL, ALT, DELETE" combo, I figure out even though placement tends to vary from keyboard to keyboard.

I know it wasn't that long ago that I read a post by Jenny Crusie that she was buying a keyboard that was completely blank, and I knew as I looked at a picture of the black blank keyboard that I am not that good nor would I ever be that good. I can get by with the keys that I have worn so much that you can no longer see the letter, but I can't go completely blank on a computerized keyboard. I have been using my current laptop since May, and the N key is starting to get stabbing marks on it from my fingernails and the "N" is slowly disappearing. I suspect it will be completely gone sometime this summer.

I know that for me, I have to be a touch typist. I'd never be able to do the writing work that I do without the ability to touch type. But I realize that there is more than one way to be a writer. I've never tried options like the voice to text options, but I've heard good things about them. Plus once, long ago, I used to write by hand and then type things up on a electric typewriter with the aid of a lot of Wite-out and patience. So there are other options to knowing how to touch type.

I once tried to sell my electric typewriter in a yard sale, but my mom bought it. And for a while, I was collecting very old manual typewriters, but they take up a lot of space and are very happy. I now only own one Underwood, which is a very old manual. I've never really typed on it, but I like having it in my office.

And it seems I am not alone in hanging onto old typewriters. NPR promoted the love of typewriters with QWERTY Love. Read it at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100900163

What about you? Are you a touch typist? Do you have a typewriter lurking in your house? Has the computer changed the way you write?

The writer in all of us

2009-02-21T13:51:00.000-08:00

Bear with me on this one, it's a biggie.
We've been talking about how to give you guys, our faithful readers, *more* from our shared blog, and there's been a lot of back and forth about what MNaBC actually is. And the question boiled down to, at one point, ‘are we all really looking for contracts? ‘
My answer to that was no...well...yes. No. I should be. I’m not, but I am. Errr...
And it occurred to me that this, of all the things I’ve been thinking about lately, might actually be something important to share.
What does a contract – or contracts mean to me? (and the ‘me that is a writer’ in all of us)

The writer in me
A contract, for me, would be validation that I’ve not wasted my *life to date* that didn’t involve raising the kids, being a good friend, supporting other writers, learning my way as a bipolar and all of the other personality quirks I have and the myriad of adventures I’ve undergone because of the subtle blend of that list, which isn’t exhaustive.
It would be a reason to actually continue to finish, because I don’t do well with finishing and letting go. I can handle crits, but that’s because I get to go back and polish some more. I can handle writing, because I can always circumlocute the end of the story, or bury it somewhere so that I’m into the next book without noticing.
I’d be able to stop faking my joy at being unpublished, and I might – finally –get over my fear of success. I’m actually scared of being a success. I’m scared of the attention that writing might bring down on my family. I’m scared that people will think I’m just like my characters, and wonder how in the world I come up with such dark stuff without any real world experience. I’m scared I’ll discover that I don’t fit where I thought and be cast adrift again.
A contract, for me, doesn’t equal money or freedom, though I don’t doubt that they would bring some of that. And it’s true – had I chosen to deal with my fears before now, we might not be quite in *this* situation right now. We’d have been in another one, probably just as hard to work through. And I’d never be free – none of my books are singles ;).

The writer in all of us

Contracts, from what I can tell, are validation and a ‘get out of jail’ pass for those of us with people that don’t understand what it is to be a writer. It makes our work as real to others as it is to us, but at the same time, it makes the next one just as hard to get. There’s no such thing as an ‘established’ author until you have a huge following. Sure, you can show your publisher and agent that you can ‘do deadlines’, but no publisher will gamble on you – again – unless your sales have been something to write home about.
Contracts aren’t a badge that we’ve made it – instead, they’re a responsibility to do it right, and not let others in our band – fraternity – down. Because heaven forbid any of us give credence to people like James Frey – contracts ARE NOT tickets to fame.
Contracts aren’t what we are – though we go from writer, to author after publishing. Contracts might afford us that, but they aren’t what bring us there.
Our writing is.
Our writing is what should sustain us – should be what brings us our heart’s desire, and should be the all consuming passion that we thrive on. And even in our darkest times, contracts shouldn’t be our guiding light – writing should be.
So this mama says – ‘contracts are nice, but give me my writing, any day!’

(xposted to Work, back to...now?)

Wasn't I a Writer?

2009-02-18T12:08:00.000-08:00

I've been working on my taxes this week, and I can't believe the changes this last year. The biggest change was on that line that identifies my job. For as long as I can remember, the answer has always been "journalist." Until 2008, and my new job description is "teacher." Out of all the money I made in 2008, only $500, earned during the first two weeks of the year, was from writing.

I can't complain. It turns out that my jump from journalism to teaching came at the perfect time. My friends still working at the local newspapers report that their hours have been cut back to 35 hours (or less) a week. When I worked as a full-time reporter, I routinely worked well over 40 hours a week. A cut to even 35 hours, would have meant a loss of a good chunk of my income.

Another thing doing my taxes made me realize -- I haven't had any of my writing professionally published for over a year. This is unheard of. I began writing professionally when I was still in high school. When I was still an undergraduate, I landed a job at a local newspaper. For most of the last 20 years, I have had a byline on an average of 7 articles a week plus I did freelancing and other writing work. In 2008, except for those first two weeks, I didn't write a single thing for publication other than blogging here (which was few and far between) and on my own site.

Could I still claim to be a writer if all I'd written were comments about other peoples' writing?

And then today, I went to my post office, and I found a check. It was from BlogHer, and it was my first advertising revenue from my blog. It wasn't a direct payment for my writing, but it suddenly renewed my pledge for 2009. I am going to write again.

This semester ends May 2, and I will have a bit of last minute things to finish up, but I also have plans. I have that research paper about plagiarism that I want to submit for consideration in an academic journal. And I have my memoir, with approximately 30,000 polished words, waiting for another 40,000 or so.

I am a writer, and I have been sidetracked the last few years with teaching, and I know I no longer want to be a journalist, but I am a writer, and I need to remember writers write, but I am a writer who writes for an audience, and I can't let my audience down.

Doing Your Research

2009-02-14T09:12:00.000-08:00

How do you research an article or a book? Do you research before or after you write the proposal? Do you know your 'stuff' inside and out?

With my second book, the one on Green Horsekeeping, I admit, I did not know the topic inside and out. I knew quite a bit, but during my research, I learned A LOT.

The first part of the book talks about the history of horses on the planet. This can be a tough subject to navigate when you're a creationist, believe you me. But being a "creationist" does not necessarily mean I don't believe in natural selection and some forms of evolution. I don't believe that there's one camp or the other and that you have to plant your flag in your chosen belief camp forever.

So I did some research. I'm curious, for those who believe in evolution, have you ever ACTUALLY READ Darwin's Origin of the Species? I mean cover to cover. You can download it here. It's a fascinating read and even starts off quite good. He references God in the early quotations and says, paraphrasing, that man should be as knowledgable about God's book as he is about God's works. I like that.

He also goes on to say in the very introduction that Origin of the Species is not a finished work. It's his abstract - his initial insights - and that the fullness of his work will take many years. In the introduction he states clearly that there are errors, that it's imperfect and that he has basicially no references to back up some of his statements. He doesn't go anywhere near human evolution except to say that we'll know more later as we learn... He was not an athiest, but more of an agnostic. He questioned God, as I believe we all do at many times in our lives. He saw God as a bit more of a programmer of laws than a creator.

Now Darwin's research has been discussed at great length for many years, it has evolved (har har) and people use the term Darwinism without really knowing who Darwin was and what his beliefs were. That's sad, because I think he was really on to something beautiful and complex and I think that if HE could have finished his work fully without the illnesses and hear problems, Darwinism would have meant something different from what it does today.

At the very least, it's helped me win a few arguments with my athiest friends and family members. :)

Now where was I... oh yes, doing your research. I think that now that we have Wikipedia and Google, we forget about the vastness of what came before. We forget to actually READ Origin of Species before we start referencing it. We think we know what it's about because we read the Coles Notes version in high school. Or skimmed it. We know that the people with the fish on the back of their cars are Christians and the people with the walking fish on the back of their cars, are not.

But I challenge you to go beyond. To not research by way of the wikis and the search engines. Actually read the books. Wade through their thick pages with their complex sentances and read what the writers before you actually said.

You can start with Origin of Species if you like. It really is fascinating!

(Crossposted at the Writing Mother)

WOW, Twitter and writing

2009-02-10T09:57:00.000-08:00

Talk about title stuffing huh, but that's the kind of attention span I have at the moment.
Anyway...
World of Warcraft is eeeebil. With four capital E's. For a start, I'm finding it very difficult not to stand up and scream 'Pwned' at the top of my lungs in creative writing board meetings, and for seconds, I'm trying to find a way to incorporate writing and WOWing. And it' isn't happening.
The thing about World of Warcraft is it's repititon on an ever increasing difficulty slider, but it's more like this buzz tooth scale, cause for a little while, at your new level, you're a 'harder' target for most mobs (non player characters, controlled by the program, that you have to kill). It's a bit like writing really - in some ways at least. You write up the scale, 'level' and then things are easier for a bit, till you tackle the next 'boss'.
Screaming PWNED at your manuscript won't win you points though.

Twitter is one of those things I'm now discovering is an intregal part of my 'day'. Since I got myself a very shiny G1, it's easier to do social networking basics, like tweet, so my feed has become just as innane, but updated no matter where I am, so it's slightly more random. No Pwning (ok, I'll stop it now), but plenty of silliness abounds. The great thing about the updater I use is it does my facebook and myspace feed - the downside is 'is ' is three outta 140 characters, so I miss it off most of the time, so my Facebook looks kinda wierd.
I'm looking for more people to add to my feed though, so if you're there, feel free to @kaiberie me and I can add you (and you can add me, if you like ;))

Writing on the other hand, unless you include my tweets and WOWage has gone....interestingly. I'm still halfway through my degree, and it's kinda hard to keep focus, to be honest. I'm constantly tired, and headachey, and have been coping with the snow on top of that, but lately, I'm finding that my non creative writing stuff (psychology and crime) is making me write more fiction. Poetry is intermittently sucky, depending on whether I'm focussed enough or not (usually not) and blogging is a complete non starter at the moment.

And that's my round up. Now, I'm curious, as ever. If you had to choose three words to sum up your week, what would they be, why and what slant can you put on them?

$elling

2009-01-31T09:29:00.001-08:00

Recently I posted over at The Writing Mother about being a salesperson and a writer. Personally, I think that you absolutely have to be a salesperson to be a successful writer. You can be a writer without a sales bone in your body, but if you want to be a success (as defined in a financial term) then you need to SELL what you write.

I'm wondering... what do you think of that? Do you think it's hard/easy/impossible to sell your writing? What sort of objections to you encounter?

Words that manifest change

2009-01-28T03:17:00.000-08:00

Ok.
So, how have you been?
I can't believe that I've been MIA for a month, and I can explain...I think.
Actually, no, I can't. I've spent the last few weeks/months/half year dealing with what is increasingly becoming more likely that I've got 'brain damage' of some description. Not severe, I would hope, but having just been for a 'head to hip' MRI, and referred to some teams in our local hospital that deal specifically with head injuries, I'm having to face up to that.
Added to that, my University time table got shuffled quite interestingly, and I'm spending a lot of time at home, reading and studying and creating more work for myself.

My new year's resolution this year was one word.
Start.
There's a logic that I explained on my blog a couple of days ago, that if we choose one key word for our year, that we can manifest far easier. It's easier for example to say 'I want to start writing' than to say 'I want to write x words a day' It's easier still to say ' I want to have completed 'x'(where x= the amount you really need to get done this year) and then divide it by 12, and then by 4 - and plan accordingly, but when you're in a position of flux, choosing one word (start, continue, care, stop) is probably the best plan.

Words that manifest change aren't a new concept, but I don't think we use them enough - and I've had some really cool ideas how to support anyone looking to build change in their lives - something I may or may not pursue, or just document and hand off. It's hard sometimes - you get an idea, and you think it's great, and you pursue it, till another one comes along. I come up with so many ideas that I don't know what to do with myself sometimes ;).

Now, I know that I have lots of projects on the go. That's more accurate though if you say 'had'. I still own them, but one by one, I let things slide - or, in an effort to keep up, started to streamline and never finished. I have things on my todo list from before I bumped my head that just keeps getting pushed further and further down my list.
So, this week, I made a fresh start. Or started to. I don't know how it'll go, but I've pledged to document it, and document it I will.
How are your goals looking though, nearly a month in? Are you 'winning' - are they challenging enough? Too challenging?

Very Excited

2009-01-18T20:56:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow I should be able to download the layout for my Green Horse book. My job is to go over all the text and sketches and make sure that all is kosher. I also have to add some content and have chosen to add a reader's application guide. This was my idea so that 4H groups and other horse-related groups around North America can USE the book, not just read it. But that's so intimidating to even think of... I've never created a reader's guide before. Then again, I'd never written an 85K book before and I did that without dying.

On another great note, the second half of my advance check (or cheque as we say in Canada) is making its way to me from my agent's office. And wouldn't you know it, I have something that needs buying.

Back in November some jerk hit my car. I'm sure he's not a jerk to everyone, but he sure let me know what he thought of me. I (for once in my life) kept my mouth shut and let him babble and then drove off and filed my police report. He was at fault and his insurance company accepted full responsibility. (Note to jerk, after you hit someone, it's not usually a good idea to blame them for not "getting out of" your way.)

Long story short, his insurance company has decided to write off my car because it's old and not worth fixing. It has a cracked quarter panel, that's it. What made me most angry was the fact that we don't get a choice in the matter. Even if I said "ok, I changed my mind, no claim, walking away... kthxbai..." I have no choice. His insurance company WILL be de-registering my car.

I've decided to look on the bright side and say "hey, my advance check is coming and we have good credit... AND it's the best time to buy a car." We're looking at maybe even buying new, I'm thinking a Dodge Caravan, but that's because my secret plan is to have another child eventually and we need the room!

What feels really good right now is having something to put my advance check to that benefits my family directly. Lately Major Man has had something in his craw about how much my company makes and how much I rely on our credit card to "float" my business. I just haven't gotten around to get a business credit card and I suck at accounting and bookkeeping so it's never really evident what is going where.

I think one of the things I'd like to do in 2009 is get a good bookkeeper or accountant!

And This is Why I Can't be Super-WAHM Every Day...

2009-01-12T06:54:00.000-08:00

Or, "This is Why I Can't Stick to a Schedule"

It seems like it never fails: I craft my plan for the day or the week, carefully including all the different aspects of my busy week, then something derails it.

Some days I have monumental plans for being the ultimate writer, a model of efficiency, speeding through first drafts as if there was a fire sale on verbs. Then it happens: the interviewee is out of the office all day despite our scheduled appointment, or the school calls and I have to pick up my daughter, or the dog is sick and I have to haul out the carpet cleaner immediately or we'll have a weird green stain by the back door. (Okay, the last part was TMI maybe.)

Other days, the homemaking side of my life is at the forefront of my plans. I'm going to wash, dry and fold 7 loads of laundry, get $300 worth of groceries for $75, and finally repot that poor, wilting houseplant. Then the washer breaks, or the email dings with a rush assignment or, as is the case today, my favorite couponing site is kaput.

I'm not very flexible, really. Or maybe I'm just stretched so far that even ElastiGirl would snap under similar circumstances. Whenever a monkey-wrench is thrown into my plans, it takes me some time to wrap my head around this new course of events and switch over to a new groove. (<--That paragraph, my dears, is pure genius use of cliches and mixed metaphors. Not to be attempted by mere amateurs! :P )

Not every day is like this, of course. It's just that for every day that being a work-at-home mother seems to be the ideal lifestyle, there's a day when getting up early to shower, dress and commute seems easier.

I know it isn't true, but it's a nice little fantasy that wahm-types occasionally indulge in. It's ironic, then, that when I had an office job, I dreamt that being a writer working from home would be all rose petals and chocolate.

This has been another installment of the ongoing whine that can be heard across the Internet. :) It's not really all that bad - it's just that my $75 might only buy me $75 worth of groceries today.

This Chaps My Butt

2009-01-11T21:50:00.000-08:00

Yet again, another author has been found guilty of being a lying liar pants on fire. And again, it's with Miss Oprah.

"On December 27, 2008, Herman Rosenblat admitted to fictionalizing portions of his life story, including how he met his wife. Based on this admission, the publisher of his forthcoming memoir — Angel at the Fence — canceled plans to print his book."

I wonder why she even has her book club. Oh, I forgot, to highlight the books SHE likes. I'm still holding a grudge against her after she made a comment about there being a lack of good books being published today and that's why she was choosing older, "classic" books. Perhaps she simply reads the books and decides what will have the best STORY. To do that, of course, she has to make it about the writer.

But most writers I know don't want it to be about them. I certainly don't want to sit and chat about me, me, me when it's about the book. The book sells the book... not the writer.

What are your thoughts?

Just keep writing, just keep writing...

2008-12-31T12:30:00.000-08:00

The end of the year is always a time for reflection. Sometimes when we reflect on our past, we don't always like what we see. Maybe we're going through a rough time or maybe we just didn't accomplish what we wanted to. This can color the future for us. It can change our rose colored glasses into dingy grey glasses.

This is especially true for those who might be prone to depression, have seasonal affected disorder or maybe even expectations that are too high. Note I'm not talking about anyone in particular here, though I could be referencing myself. I'm not really a depressive-type of person, but I am definitely prone to some hormonally induced mood swings!

I was looking for some uplifting material to post here at the end of 2008 when I came across a guest blogger, Jeanette Hanscome, who was blogging at Tricia Goyer's site. Jeanette has had some health issues and has had to pray and re-evaluate some of her goals.

Her decision? Just keep writing. It helps if you say it like Dori would. :)

Go ahead and click on that link above and I hope you find some encouragement there!

Writing Goals for 2009

2008-12-27T20:19:00.000-08:00

Well, it's that time again, isn't it? The time when we sit down and gather our thoughts . . . reflect over what we have done in the past year and set goals for the coming year. I can't say that they are resolutions, I don't know if I like that word or not, I much prefer the term "goals".

I try to set business goals that are specific. Like $1000 per month. But since I have sold these two books, I have to look at my goals differently. I can't hit the $1000 a month because I don't have the time to write the extra articles. But with my book proposals I can average $1000 a month, it's just paid in lump sums.

Also, I have goals to set at my full time sales job. I'm a sales manager and I work with a team of 9 salespeople. My portfolio does about $1,000,000 in sales per year and it definitely takes some planning to accomplish.

We do something called KSS. Something you are going to Keep/Start/Stop. But it's too vague for my writing.

I need something specific, a goal to hit each week. Or even goals. I've long since stopped querying (not enough time, too much to do!) and I worry that I won't have time to actually write the articles I query.

What about you? Do you have specific writing related goals? Care to share?

The Red Penis Your Friend

2008-12-19T20:33:00.001-08:00

I could hardly stop laughing!

The Return of the To Do List

2008-12-19T08:40:00.000-08:00

Recently I blogged about having a lot of things on the go ... specifically related to my book's pending release. For the past year I've gotten away from doing a "to do" list, but now I feel compelled to start up again. Now excuse the yucky colouring in the picture... silly yellowish lighting in my office (didn't seem that yellow!) but this is the list... due by Christmas.

I try to put an inspirational quote up on the list and this time I'm going for some tough love. It says "It is not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what is required." (Churchill)

This reminds me to just shut up and write.

So I'm going to do that now.

To-Do, To-Do, To-Do

2008-12-17T10:33:00.000-08:00

With the upcoming release of my book, The Green Guide for Horse Owners and Riders, I have a few things on the "to do" list of my writing duties:

- figure out a good domain name (I'm considering EquineGreenGuide.com)
- decide on what prize to offer for the "pre-order" contest
- get a logo done up for the book for t-shirts and such (suppose I could choose the domain name!)

I'm really fortunate that I work in a day job that does logo and embroidery application, but I need to find a designer to create the logo.... and I'm sure I should run it by the publisher as well.

Because this is the first book that I'm going to have published, I am doing everything for the first time. I need to find a balance between spending money to make money and just waiting for money to roll in. (hahaha) Because this publishing thing is NOT quick. Every publisher is different, mind you... they have their own way of doing things, their own schedule and processes. When you sell a book and when it's published are SO different!

My other question is how one throws a "book launch" ... I know you can have more than one... one in your hometown, one somewhere else (maybe!)... so many things to do.

Oh crap and it's almost time to do my taxes again!

Driving home for X-mas

2008-12-16T03:46:00.000-08:00

We're heading home for Christmas, as usual - since moving to a new home in 2006, we commute six hours to our family home - and we leave on Saturday.
I've written an article about handling the holidays in a stressless way, but I know that I'm going to spend the whole week running around - visiting family members in hospital - my father and his grandfather are both sick - so we're spending our time between families - and fitting in whatever we can around the rest of our time at home. It's odd to think that I lived there for so long and it feels like a different world now.
I'm finally coming to terms with our move - and I'm hoping that as soon as we've gotten settled in when we come back that I can continue to rebuild the work I've started putting foundations in place for.
I do have a question for everyone though.
one of the traditions my partner and I started after moving here was curling up in front of the fire and talking about our year - usually as close to New Year as we can manage. We set up our resolutions, and discuss goals and work out what, as a family, we want to achieve.
Do you have a ritual - or goals already? Are you looking forward to 2009 and what you can achieve?

Woot! Woot! My Book is UP!

2008-12-13T09:32:00.000-08:00

It's not out yet, but it's UP..... on Amazon! (And Chapters in Canada! Which is like B&N or Borders.... oh look it's also up at Borders)

What do you think of the cover? I love it, love, love, love it! From what I understand, the cover illustrator entered in into the annual for the Society of Illustrators and was accepted.... now I don't know much about that but my publisher seemed really excited!

Unfortunately it won't be out in time for Christmas as it has a Spring release date, but I'm thoroughly excited to see it OUT THERE.

What I still find kind of funny is that this was the second book I sold to a publisher. The first is still with its publisher and getting ready. The second one just moved faster, not sure why! But after speaking with the editor on the Green Guide, she said that the book was going into production this coming week. Wow! It's, like, really, really real!

"I" is Interesting

2008-12-10T20:38:00.000-08:00

My gentle high school English teacher Mrs. Callaway spent the first several months of my senior year striking all of the "I"s out of my literature essays. She was one of my favorite teachers of all time - she was strict but encouraging. (I can still see her face, stricken with the joy of epiphany, whenever she read one of my essays. It wasn't that I was really that awesome, I suspect. She was just thrilled anytime one of her students showed genuine interest.)

After a year in her class, basking in her praise and sweating under her tutelage, I finally managed to write something without the word "I" in it.

But Mrs. Callaway couldn't have predicted the breakout trend of blogging. And that's why I don't feel any tremendous amount of guilt for rejoicing like a heathen when I read How Freelance Writing Almost Destroyed My Blog. Rebecca Laffar-Smith, an Australian freelance writer and author of the Writer's Round-About blog, explains how site stats finally convinced her to make her posts more personal. And that means using "I" once in a while.

"I" couldn't be happier. And "I" didn't need more convincing. But if you want more proof - complete with graphs and bullet-points - check out SelfMadeChick.com's post: The One Word That Helped My Blog Grow to 800 Subscribers in 17 Weeks

Obviously, there are blogs that do quite well by giving readers useful, helpful information without a lot of navel-gazing. But you know, when I think about the blogs in my feed-reader, I can't think of ONE - even technical ones - that isn't written in first-person.

"I" is interesting. And I really don't think Mrs. Callaway, if she were alive and reading blogs today, would disagree.

Can you step back from your online life?

2008-12-02T15:10:00.001-08:00

Image by uomoelettrico via FlickrI'll be honest with you, I've spent the last two weeks soul searching and wondering what I'm supposed to do with myself because of an accident that occured this last September.
I've always been a fairly independant, sharp articulate woman. I could always spell just about anything (other than my i before e's - and when my fingers go slightly faster than my brain) but at the moment, I'm finding it difficult.
My memory is shot - and there are definitive gaps where stories, characters, and plotlines used to reside - I think. The only reason I *know* the stories are missing are because I have notes that otherwise make no sense.

So the soul searching is kinda hard. I know that I have some sort of brain damage - though, I have to say, it fees really bad to say that. Like I'm belittling that kind of injury, because I'm almost as functional as I was. But I've been going looking for a lot of approval lately.
My partner noticed it first. I stopped writing and wouldn't continue till he told me it was 'all right'. Normally I have to beat him and other freinds off with metaphorical crowbars and they have to distract me to read anything that isn't second to last draft.
I did it again later in the week. I wouldn't continue with the story I was narrating till someone told me to and got REALLY frustrated, because I couldn't say what I was waiting for.

And that brings me full circle. I AM waaaay reliant on other people's opinions - and to be honest, I think that many writers and bloggers are. We seek approval all over the place, and when we don't get it, some of us start to wilt. I never used to 'need' approval, or at least, so I thought, but reading back some of the stuff that I've said and done this last year, because a freind said that I wasn't doing as 'they' expected, or because someon had attacked one of my principles, I'm beginning to wonder if that's part of the deeper problem that's taking hold. I wonder if I'm being 'wierd' like this because I've got nothing left to relate to and need to restart with *just* writing.
So I put my websites on 'dark'. It'll give me a chance to write, and find myself again, as a gift for Christmas. And to be honest, from some of the emails I've had, I think some of you need to do the same.
Give yourself the gift of joy this year and don't keep putting 'it' off. I did and I'm not REALLY regretting it. I might get a second chance, and just watch me, I'm already just itching to grab it with both hands and never let go.

I Turned Down a Book Contract

2008-11-22T09:50:00.000-08:00

Ok. Not really. But sort of. One of my publishers was interested in a second book proposal on a specific topic and I wrote said book proposal. But when I got to the section that listed the competing books - I ran into a snag.

All of the competing books were really good. Written by good, knowledgeable people. And there were a lot of them. That meant that my little baby, my book, might only ever be a small fish in a big pond. Oh, sure, I would write my heart out and make it the best book I could. But the risks were that it wouldn't be as good as those other books. Some of them said *exactly* what I wanted to write about.

Could I write it better? Maybe. But there is a LOT of effort that goes into writing a long, non-fiction book. And I don't want to write a small stable of mediocre books. I want to write a selection of books that are very good. So that readers can have faith that my books will be well-written, well-researched and at the top of their class. They will be the big fish in the pond.

It's hard to get part-way through this book proposal (one that the publisher pretty much asked for) and say, "this doesn't feel right" because I could use the money. And suddenly I run smack into the words I've always said "I write for money". Now I'm not so sure. I might also write for the love of it, for the sake of a writing career, for the identification with other writers and for the desire to communicate with others.

And that's why I'm turning down a book contract.

Public service announcement - are you backing up?

2008-11-19T10:41:00.000-08:00

Let me tell you a horror story.
Last Wednesday I turned 30...
I know it's terrifying, but stick with me. You can hide behind me if you like.
Mom was down visiting - so we got round to the subject of photos of her grandkids, and how I NEVER sent her copies of any of them. Partially because I've got a brilliant camera that takes HUGE pictures, and partially because I've got a habit of saying 'I'll do it tomorrow'.
We discovered the day before she went home that the external drive had died so badly that even after we'd taken it out of the caddy it was so unreadable it was crashing the system we attached it to.
It got me thinking about backups.
And the system we're using now is far better.

All it took was an external hard drive, some file reorganisation, some serious ruthlessness, a tiny bit of techie knowhow (provided by my other half, though, to be fair, the drive that we bought is plug and pray...errr...play.

First up - we bought a new drive - external, that networks to our router. We ended up with a 320gb Iomega (same guys as used to do zip drives), that plugs directly into our internal LAN.
It also came with software that backs up, but I've now (finally) subscribed to a site online that offers backups. I use Mozy, but I've heard things about Carbonite too.
My laptop backs up to my network drive (daily for my Liquid story binder files - weekly for things like email) - I also run a second, identical weekly backup from the laptop to the file server/older desktop in our attic - plus a once monthly backup of the network drive. Plus I backup my important stuff to Mozy.
One of the things that bugs me about my backup/duplicate system is that if I delete a file, it deletes it from the backup, unless I've moved it first. It means making sure things like my photos are moved to a folder that doesn't get touched at least once a week is kinda important. Once a month I also back up the photos and my finished work to CDs.

It's slight overkill I think, if it weren't for the fact that my laptop is one of the most fluid file stores I've ever worked with. I delete and move stuff off it all the time. I have to make sure the files play nice and are safe, so that's my backup system.
How about you?

X-Post: Slackers-Not-So-Anonymous

2008-11-16T21:26:00.000-08:00

I put up a post at The Writing Mother Blog about my trip down slacker lane and back. Please have a look! :)

Work/Life Balance

2008-11-12T06:05:00.000-08:00

The problem with having a bunch of Writing Mothers blogging here is that we're all in the same boat as far as work/life balance is concerned. :) The question I always seem to have is which part is life and which part is work? The waters get murky in this respect.

I mean, is laundry work? Yeah, but it's sort of life, too. And NaNo? Which side of the scale does it belong on when you are a writer? What about visits to the school to volunteer in the classroom? Well, I guess that one is life, but it usually happens during work hours.

Blogging?
Networking? (Either via Internet or coffee with writing friends)
Planning and scheduling?
Housework and shopping?
Backing up the hard drive (and/or otherwise fiddling with the computers)?
Reading magazines, newspapers, blogs?
Participating in your country's election process?
Volunteering for a church or other charitable organization?

Are any of those things firmly in one category or the other? I can't tell.

If the measure of "work" is defined by income produced, then I guess I can say I have a little bit of work and a whole lotta life.

That's not a bad deal. :)

Good news

2008-11-08T21:15:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to pass on this good news.

KABUL, Afghanistan — A female Canadian TV journalist abducted and held for four weeks in Afghanistan was freed Saturday after Afghan tribal leaders persuaded the kidnappers to release her, officials said.

Mellissa Fung, a reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., was taken hostage Oct. 12 after reporting in a refugee camp in Kabul.

Fung, who was on her first trip to Afghanistan, had been taken out of Kabul by her captors and held in a dangerous Taliban-controlled region of Wardak province, one province west of Kabul.

Read on . . .

Know thyself...

2008-10-21T03:28:00.000-07:00

I spent the last few weeks doing a lot of 'soul searching'. As angsty as that sounds, its accurate.
And there's been a lot of conversation, on various lists I'm on, about knowing yourself - about being sure of who you are - and Carolyn's post about freelancing got me thinking some more.
As I said in the comments on Carolyn's wonderful post, I got into freelancing - especially ghostwriting - for the wrong reason. Well - the right reason for my family - but the wrong one for me.
Getting into ghostwriting for money - short term - isn't actually a bad thing. I only - ever - meant it (and coding) as a short term stopgap till I started making more money from writing. But, because I've spent the last three years ghostwriting, coding...I've had very little time for fiction writing.
And then I started at Uni!
So this week, I took on two new members of staff (both students) and am going to slowly pull back from working on non fiction, unless they are my own books. Hopefully, I'll be able to support both of my 'staff members' by offering work that's more in line with what they'd like to do with thier degrees, and later careers.
But, in four weeks, I'm hoping that my life will go back to coding - which, again I'm planning on training my two VA's - and fiction writing. I can work when I'm needed, without destroying my new routine - I can ghostwrite the stuff I'm best at, and pass over stuff that my team is better at - and still support everything I need to do in the next few years.
This works - and it's the right reason for me to freelance. I'm a facilitator - hence, my new blog - 10 freelance fingers - I'm going to talk blogging, freelancing, writing, jobs, legalities - everything. I got into freelancing for money - I should have gotten into it to support others - and that's why I'm working on changing that now.
I know, deep down, that though we sometimes 'need' money - it's more important to support others in thier time of need. And that's what I'm going to do - once I get the staff I'm letting take over from me trained :).

I Am A Lost Writer, You Want To Know Why?

2008-10-20T19:36:00.001-07:00

I am a lost writer right now. I feel a part of me is missing. Today (actually last night DH informed me), my electrical cord for the laptop decided to stop working. I could not believe it. As I plugged in my laptop, I noticed the battery wasn't charging. At first, I thought it was nothing because I thought it would take a minute or so. It didn't, the battery kept losing life until the laptop died.

I played with the cord. I wiggled it. I even put tape around certain parts thinking if it had stronger support, the currents would reach the laptop. Nothing worked, so when DH called me today, I told him about my laptop. He told me it actually happened last night after I went to bed. Then why didn't he tell me that today??
Instead, I had packed my laptop with me to my parents' house, instead of having a productive afternoon on the laptop, I had a dead laptop. Oh the irony of all this. Um, I am not exactly what the irony is but I felt like putting that in this post.

So DH says that he will get me a new laptop cord. I know he will, but it totally feels weird without my laptop.

You know how some writers love pens? I do, but I also love my laptop.

Freelance Writing Workshop, Direction and Goals

2008-10-18T00:00:00.000-07:00

Today I'll be speaking to a local writer's group about freelance writing. I'm jazzed about the prospect of helping would-be freelancers get started, hopefully help them avoid pitfalls, and basically pay forward all that I've freely received from fellow freelance writers over the years. (I'm thinking of many, many Writing Mothers here!)

One of the points I want to make at the workshop today is to know why you want to freelance. There are many possible (and acceptable) answers. Whatever your answer, it should be YOUR reason.

Knowing what you want to get out of freelance writing helps you make decisions and direct your time and energy. If, for instance, your goal is to change the world with your words, spending hours perusing Craigslist in search of SEO gigs might not get you there. On the other hand, if your primary purpose is to earn an income from writing, that may be time well spent.

There's a poem I love by Ella Wheeler Wilcox that shows how a person's intent can drive his life regardless of circumstances. I have a sneaking suspicion that I've posted this before, but with uncertainty being the word of the day economically, politically and a zillion other ways, this poem offers a little bit of solid comfort.

The Winds

One ship drives east and another drives west
With the selfsame winds that blow.
'Tis the set of the sails,
And Not the gales,
That tell us the way to go.
Like the winds of the sea are the ways of men;
As they voyage along through life,
'Tis the set of a soul
That decides its goal,
And not the calm or the strife.

Is Being A "Muslim" or "Arab" an Insult in U.S. politics?

2008-10-15T22:03:00.000-07:00

This year we have seen some of the most interesting political campaigns in the U.S. Many are cautiously watch this election, wondering exactly who should we vote for, and what happens if you don't want to vote either of them.

I am not gonna tell you who you should vote for and why. What I want to tell you is that I am kind of disturbed how many see being a "Muslim" or being an "Arab" is a bad thing. Why should that be? Don't you see that this is a form of racism? With this type of mentality, you are oppressing Arabs and Muslims, when in fact you and they can benefit or learn from each other.

About one week ago, a lady tells John McCain that she didn't want Barack Obama to be president of the U.S. because he is an Arab. Ummm...what is that supposed to mean? We are living in 2008, not 1868 or even 1968. I thought we have come a long way from that kind of thinking.

Many people will say, yeah but Faten, look what happened in 9/11, etc. I say ok, but you can't hold every single person from that same ethnic group responsible. It is not fair or realistic. Then every human on this planet would be just as guilty. Now tell me what a child had to do with a tragedy? That is what I thought.

A fantastic article I think every person should read is Commentary: So what if Obama were a Muslim or an Arab?. I give Campbell Brown kudos for this awesome piece that she wrote. I appreciate her attempts on educating the public on deconstructing the myth of equalizing Arab and Muslims with insults and "bad". Good job Campbell--you just gained a faithful reader.

The facepalm week

2008-10-14T04:41:00.000-07:00

It's been a *facepalm* week. (swiped from the vernacular of my nine year old who idolises Homer Simpson. Everything is 'doh' or *facepalm*!)
I planned everything out meticulously - even worked out that if I break my tasks into blocks of half an hour, or an hour, I cope better than four hours of working on one project. I actually get MORE done mixing up my day a bit, instead of blitzing through everything in massive chunks.
So there I was, calendar ready. Everything fit. I mean - I even managed to plan stuff around my odd uni hours (my university insists on having classes at 15 minutes past the hour, instead of on the hour).

And then - facepalm moment. I'd done a bragging twitter about it (which I have since removed) and another freind responded in IM - so you even fit your non fiction and fiction writing in? WOW! go you.
*FACEPALM*.

No, no I hadn't. Queue lots of desperate scrambling. I think, by getting up two hours earlier a day, I can be a zombie, and at least be too tired to care that I'm not working on my books, and own projects this week - after all the rearranging I did, other stuff just seems to have seeped into my gaps.

Another facepalm moment - I'm giving a presentation, on a wonderful book, called Beloved, by Toni Morrison, at my uni...wait for it...on my birthday! And not just any birthday, oh no. It's my 30th, and mom is coming down especially. Woooooo.

Anyone else had any facepalm moments this week?
Anyone else wanna share thier twitter id?

the things they forget to tell you

2008-10-11T10:48:00.000-07:00

I quite enjoyed this video:

It's about that dreamy view we have of what life will be like as a writer.

For a quick smack upside the head of reality, I bring you: MY LIFE.

I really hesitated in showing that to you. Afterall, who wants to admit that their house is truly a disaster and that they child is running around naked, watching Dora and generally fending for herself while you type on a computer and wrestle with edits.

It's truly a disaster zone, I know. Five days until house possession. Five days until edits are due. Seven days until moving. Husband is working shift work and is currently asleep.

It's all fun and games until someone loses their kid in the laundry pile.

The 10,000 rule theory

2008-10-08T02:41:00.000-07:00

There's a suggestion circulating, that's been repeated in several formats, but that summarises down to 10,000 hours of writing before we become 'expert'.
So, at 24 hours a day, it takes just over a year and three months to master parenthood after our first child (discounting instinct and natural ability). I would say most parents agree with that idea - I know I still have my doubts about the 'newer' parts of parenting, and my kids are 9 and 7. At eight hours a day, every day, it would take almost three and a half years to become an expert writer. Longer if we're not writing for the eight hours a day.

Focusing onto writers specifically though, Hemingway/Bradbury it takes "1,000,000 words of crap" (Neil Gaiman said once, in a speech in 2005, that Bradbury said it - others have accredited it to Hemingway). If we're writing 10,000 hours to get to our 'expert' status, then we 'only' need to write 100 words an hour for eight hours. 100 words an hour is fairly low, so it got me to thinking about what else we'd need to master as a writer.
This is what I suggest, but I'm interested in hearing what people think on the theory.

Writing - should take up the lions share of it, but believe it or not, it doesn't. 1000 words a day would burn through 1000 hours. That leaves 9000 hours.
Before that, plotting, research - I'd say two hours per 1000 words is a generous allowance - and we're up to 3,000 hours.
Afterwards - editing - another three hours per 1000 words. You can include the redrafting in there, and use some of your 1000 words a day, which would cut it by an hour a day. So that's 2,000 hours, taking us up to 5,000 hours.

That leaves 5,000 hours to master the other stuff writers need to learn. Promotion, networking, querying, effective critical analysis of our writing. Plus we can and SHOULD add reading into there, both fiction, and non fiction. And when you look at it that way, 10,000 hours isn't really all that much.

How about you? Do you agree with the breakdown? Even the most generous estimates on research/plotting is more than I currently undertake, but less than some writers that I know.

The result of all of this - no matter what way you look at it, is that writers have to buckle down and write. We have to continue to work hard at our craft - probably past the 10,000 hours that takes us to our goal.
I'll be doing articles on this over at Dynamic-author, but for the moment, I'm keen to hear what everyone thinks ;) More hours on writing, editing? Less on research and plotting? What's your take?

(x-posted to Mamaneedsabookcontract, Spirit-tome and my personal blog)

Conversations with the cat

2008-10-07T07:43:00.000-07:00

We adopted a bengal cat about three months ago - with health problems that include sneezing goo worse than a toddler that has a cold and no hanky handy.
Having sat and listened to her though, I've been fairly amused to work out she has her own language - one 'meow' for I'm hungry, usually accompanied by licking, desperate snuggling up, headbutting and begging shamelessly. Unfortunatly, her old owner gave into this, where we're trying to train her that she eats at various times (and she's on a diet) so though I 'understand' that one, I try to ignore it. Mainly because feeding her at 4am is a bad plan.
The other is 'Ouwww' 'Ouwww'. She's insistent and firm when saying this - usually standing by one of the doors, or batting the glass of the back door and stretching up to nearly hip height, claws extended (she's a fairly petite bengal, but really long). We translated this to 'out please!'
And she gets out - she defends her territory, and comes in either looking a bit shame faced, or proud, depending on what happened and how dark it was.
You might wonder what this has to do with writing.
If you've got a muse like mine, you get the 'I'm hungry' behaviour (translated to 'write this piece now/pay attention to me!) - usually at 4am in the morning. 'Ouwww' 'Ouwww' or 'Out please!' for muses is usually just another 'pay attention' though, some people feel that thier muses/characters also encourage them to submit. Again, I know mine does. And just as Kushie refuses to go into the garden when it's raining, ten to one, your muse won't be at her 'best' when conditions aren't right. That said, and also like Kushie, 'muses' also need to be trained into behaving appropriately. If that means training yourself to sit down and just get on and write, then that's a good thing too.

An Open Letter to Ann Brashares

2008-10-05T22:45:00.000-07:00

It's almost 2 AM here, but I sit in my recliner, listening to the crickets and a million frogs sing. The night is filled with them. This is the second night this week that Ann Brashares has kept me awake. I refer, of course, to the famous author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and sequels. It is the second book The Second Summer of the Sisterhood which kept me awake this night. I went looking for an email address, a web site--can you believe she doesn't HAVE one, except the publisher's site--to write a fan letter. Even my famous Google skillz came up short. I am reduced to writing this open letter, which I am assured she will never see, but feel compelled to write anyway. So I will begin it like I begin so many fan letters:

Dear Ms Brashares,

I'm one one of those odd fish, a grown woman who reads YA. Maybe this is because I write YA. Please don't stop reading. I don't want anything from you. I just want to say how much I have been enjoying your Traveling Pants series. I'm sure you hear that a lot. Or, perhaps you don't, as you don't have so much as an email form for fan mail, you don't. I suppose when one becomes a big and popular author, it becomes a burden.

I've stayed up two nights this week, reading the first and second Traveling Pants books. The end of the second book leaves me unable to sleep, mourning and angry over Lena and Kostos. Young girls heart heal quickly at a 4-top at the grill, but not so us older hearts who still remember that first insane love of our 15th year. Perhaps such a love lurks in your heart as it slumbers in mine--lulled through the years by a truer, deeper, more satisfying, less impossible love, not the love of a foolish girl's heart, but the abiding love of a sadder but wiser woman. And yet...

I don't know if Kostos was honorable or a coward, or both. I'm not sure that you know either. I think my anger might be yours... about how messy and impossible life can be. And how 15 year old girls fall in love and 16 year old girls get their hearts broken when the seemingly impossible becomes truly impossible. I have no regrets, but I still remember his kiss and the soft caress of his hands, and the yearning for... something I didn't begin to understand.

But what struck me as I read on, into the reader's group Q&A and the author's interview, was the impossible similarity between us. We write the same way, you and I: all at once, or nothing at all. It comforts me to know that someone else shares that agony and ecstasy. I'm in a dry spell right now, pondering the revisions for my sixth as-yet-unpublished novel. There was a time when I had such a long drought, I didn't think I would ever write again. I railed against it, cried, and finally accepted that I was a dead woman waiting to die. But like broken hearts mend at Dizzy's Grill, the muse returns (mine lives in Tahiti and visits in February--go figure)... eventually. Until she returns with that low slung Uzi and says "write," I wait.

We're also both tech book authors... strangely though, my tech books have sold better than yours. Nyah. Nyah! I suppose that's not the least distressing for you. Makes me chuckle out loud thinking about it though. Yes, it's a bitter, noir sort of chuckle. Anything brighter and more sprightly wouldn't be appropriate.

I finish the author's note and find "I knew better than to form any hopes for Lena and Kostos--not in this book anyway." That lands me square on the border between hope and cold rage. We both know there are some characters who are not meant to be happy. They are not meant to have their heart's desire. We torture them--and our readers who love them. We do it to make them grow, to make them real, to further the plot, to sell books. We do it because this is what we do. That's the last way in which we are alike.

I should go to bed. It's difficult to get the kids up and out to school when I've been up half the night. This is not really a fan letter. it's become an essay, I guess, and not a terribly coherent one. So perhaps I won't post the URL to your agent who I found on FaceBook. But maybe I will. I don't expect a response, particularly if it would be a burden. But my email is in the copyright notice at the bottom of my personal blog, linked to my name at the right.

Sincerely,
dej

If she answers, I'll let you know (at least by announcement). Now, I REALLY must go to bed.

Critical Thinking versus Just Plain Critical

2008-10-04T08:48:00.000-07:00

There's a difference.

God Bless America. :)

Freedom is a writer and a pen...

2008-09-30T03:23:00.000-07:00

I never realised how deeply University affected my attitude until I returned last week. DESPITE having a headache - DESPITE being bone tired and worried about a million and one things. I wandered onto campus, Tuesday afternoon, a week ago today, and sat down in my poetry lecture. A lightness lifted my spirit - and it's lasted the whole week.
Today, I go into a workshop, for a booster.

Freedom though, for me, is as simple as that. I'm free to go to University, and for that I'm infinitely grateful. But I can find that freedom just as easily when I'm writing. And it's something I forgot in my hurry to write and sell my work.

I should probably say for the record, that I'm a really spoiled person in many ways - I've got a partner that supports my writing and allows me to go to Uni without worrying about too many bills. He also supports my writing 100%. He's given me room to try out being several kinds of freelancer - and when it's gone badly, he's helped me work out why. When it's gone well, we've built on it. But, ultimately, he knows what makes me unhappy - and that is, struggling to keep my income at certain levels. I hate having to work out anything where money is involved - I always miss something, or overlook something, or forget something.
That's what dissipates the lightness - and the happy feelings I get from writing. So I'm working on understanding the business side of freelancing more - which has had an unintended side effect of making me timetable my writing.
AND BAM!
I've written more this last week - despite being at uni, than I managed in the last four (unscheduled weeks) of the holidays. Given Linda was talking about this too, I thought it was important to share this.
You can find freedom, even in places that are timetabled, scheduled and managed to the max. Cause, for a writer, freedom is a pen, some paper, and a bit of free time, IMO.
What do you think?

Ramadan Day 29

2008-09-29T18:33:00.000-07:00

I felt sad a bit today.

The last day of Ramadan is today. I found about 12:30 p.m. through a friend, and then it was confirmed from the Muslim Community Center via email and answering service to DH. So, I immediately emailed my son's teacher to explain that he will not be attending tomorrow due to our holiday Eid al-Fitr (Festival of Breaking Fast Holiday--it sounds more elegant in Arabic haha). So, when I picked up DS from school, his teacher told me that his homework is in his book bag.

So, DS and I will be working on making treat bags for his class of 16, plus he will be giving a gift to his teacher and the office staff as well. We also acknowledge Christmas by giving gifts to his teacher and office staff as well. Not only is cultural diversity beautiful, it is respected and tolerated in our home. It has been like that since I was born and same with DH. I am hoping to have the treat bags ready for Wednesday. If I feel ambitious, I will send some cupcakes as well--otherwise they will be store bought--shh, don't tell.

I have presents to wrap and clothes to get ready for DS and myself tonight. I am waiting until DS is asleep, otherwise it will be too complicated to get those two tasks ready.

We are hoping to leave by 7:15 a.m. to head to the convention hall which is about one hour away where prayers will take place with hundreds of Muslims there. This year will be the first year at the convention hall because at my beloved Muslim Community Center is becoming smaller as more people come and pray.

Why I'm not writing....

2008-09-28T21:36:00.000-07:00

A long time ago (I believe it was Winter 2007), I printed out a comic to inspire me to "finish" my book. It was a comic (or is it a cartoon?) by Debbie Ridpath Ohi (who I have admired since she ran that great writing site -- inkspot). I found the cartoon at www.inkygirl.com, and it was a perfect inspiration. It was a snowman typing and declaring to finish the novel before spring if it was the last thing.... OH, just go see it.

The timing was perfect.

I was writing my thesis for my master's degree, and I had to finish by spring. My thesis was a memoir titled "Fat Man's Daughter," and I had to have about 30,000 words.

I printed out the comic and hung it up in my office as motivation.

Spring came. My thesis was done. I defended it in June, and I officially graduated in August.

I kept the comic hanging in my office because I hoped to turn the 30,000 words into about 80,000 words (or at least 60,000), so I would have a memoir worth publishing.

I have not done a word count in a very long time. But needless to say, I have not finished the book, and spring 2008 has passed, and I am looking at spring 2009.

I brought the printed out version of the comic with me when I moved offices from Kirtland to Ferris. I need the inspiration to keep writing. I need to get back in the groove and blog at Fatmansdaughter.com as well as generate that rough material and work on polishing it. Without a deadline, however, I am finding it hard to write.

One big block for me has been physical -- or actually it is mental having to do with my physical.... (how is that for confusing?). The memoir is about weight issues, in particular how they relate to parenting and being a kid of an overweight parent. And I'm overweight.

I had lost 40 pounds and was holding steady. Recently, within the last month or so, I gained back 10. I want to lose, at minimum, another 40 pounds, but at this point, I would be happy just to be losing something rather than maintaining.

By not writing about my weight and weight issues, I have allowed myself to slacken off on my own weight loss goals. I need to remotivate myself as both a writer and a dieter.

I think the only way I'm going to get it done is to schedule my writing time.

What has worked for you?

Ramadan Days 26-28

2008-09-28T20:35:00.000-07:00

Day 26

My family and I realize that there are only a few days left of Ramadan. We discussed how quickly it went by and it didn't seem hard or a burden on us. Many of our colleagues and friends were very supportive throughout the month of Ramadan. That was an awesome feeling. Thanks guys!

Day 27

Almost the entire immediate family got together to have our Iftar at my parents' home-the main central point of meeting. While we were having desert, my aunts stopped by to see how everyone was doing. That was nice. We caught up with each others lives over apple cheese cake and chocolate silk pie (I am a chocoholic and proud of it :D). We start thinking about Zakatul Fitr, the required alms to help those who need it financially.

This year, each Muslim who can afford is to pay $8. Wow. Imagine if my entire town of 9,000 people paid $8, total of $72,000, and send to to help humanity socially. So, if you and your spouse are doing well financially then you are obligated to pay $8 per person for each person living in your home, that means you must pay your child's or grandparent's alms if they are living with you. Now, don't get me wrong an adult living with you can pay his own if he can afford it.

Day 28

Today is Sunday School for DS. What makes this day unique is that not only is this the last Sunday that we will go fasting, but my mom and dad went with DH, DS, and myself today. My parents were co-sponsoring the Community Center's meal. What makes a little more special than being a co-sponsor is that my dad coming with us. He went through a major medical crises in 2007 that we thought he was a goner, including his doctors, but he surprised everyone that doctors today call him the "Miracle Man." (Which honestly, we believed prayers from Muslims, Christians and others, were half of the medicine because doctors told us there was nothing else they could do.)

We dropped DS off at Sunday School, and my mom gave her food items to some of the chefs in the kitchen who were preparing the rest of the meal.

Then we went off to our friends' home and hung out until it was time to eat at the Community Center. My mom made homemade Arabic bread and brought fruit with her, while other families provided other parts of the meal. Today, we had Arabic food, rice and lamb to name a few things off. The place was packed as usual.

My dad did really well. Many people hugged him and shook his hand with tears in their eyes. The last time some of the people saw my dad, he was in a coma. Many told him, this is a blessing from God--which is what we believe.

Why didn't I think of this sooner? Going local.

2008-09-27T11:57:00.001-07:00

The appeal of the Internet, for me, has always been that I had unrivaled access to people and information all over the world. Want to know what's going on halfway around the world? Go there - virtually. Want to send a quick note to your brother, cousin, uncle or childhood friend, but don't have any stamps? Want to take college classes, get a recipe, or find other writing mothers?

You get the idea. So in all of my 11 glorious years on the Internet, I never thought about meeting online the people I might bump into at the grocery store.

Until recently, when a local entertainment columnist wrote about Tweet-Ups. "Hey," I thought to myself. "I'm on Twitter. She's on Twitter... Who else might be on Twitter?"

And this matters because I've been thinking of focusing my writing efforts more locally. My local clients are GREAT to work with, so I reason that having more like them would be a good thing. But walking up to someone and introducing myself in real life is a bit more problematic than it is online. Meeting another local person on the World Wide Web is like meeting another American in a foreign country. Instant comaraderie.

And truth be told, I probably wouldn't meet these folks around town. We don't run in the same circles. (My circle is the one that goes from the living room to the dining room to the kitchen.) The vast majority of people I have found who share my city as well as the Internet are in either journalism or tech. They're also a mite younger, I suspect. Yesterday I read a Tweet from someone local that said "What do senior citizens have to do online? Geneology?"

LOL and ROFL.

I have yet to see whether friending local folks will yield any real results in terms of local business, but it has led me to discover some great local content, and make a few connections I wouldn't have otherwise made.

What about you? Do you frequent your local WWW sites? Have you made any new connections with people in your own city? Am I the only one who hasn't thought of this yet? :)

Libel Insurance: The Non-Product

2008-09-27T09:45:00.000-07:00

(reposted from The Writing Mother)

So I'm phoning around for house insurance quotes.

I was surprised to hear that the last insurance company offered me "Libel" insurance on my home insurance. To understand the libel issue, you really have to be Canadian. For Americans you have your "freedom of speech". In Canada, the onus is on the WRITER to prove that what they wrote is true. This means you can be sued by anyone for something you wrote, even if it was completely true. If they don't like you and want to shut you up, well, they just have to sue you and put you tens of thousands of dollars in debt, you lose your home and are destitute and suddenly you don't want to write anything risque any more.

Truth is a defense, yes, but it won't stop you from being sued and spending thousands upon thousands in legal fees. So I was kind of hoping that this libel insurance thing was the real deal. But here was the very frustrating conversation:

Her: We offer libel insurance for $200 a year.

Me: Oh yeah? Even if I'm a writer and I write books?

Her: Yes.

Me: That's very interesting, I'm a member of the Professional Writers Association of Canada and libel is a topic that comes up quite often. See, there's this thing called libel chill where freelancers don't write hardcore journalism as much because they are worried they'll be sued for libel.

Her: Um, can you hold?

Me: Sure.

I'm thinking, crap, why did I tell her that? Why did I admit it? I could have GOTTEN libel insurance. Oh, wait, because it would have been dishonest and they probably would have denied any claim anyway.

Her: Hi, um, so we can't offer that insurance because you publish your writing.

Me: But, it's LIBEL insurance. How would someone know I wrote something to sue me about if I didn't publish it?

Her: Well, if you say something and someone sues you -

Me: - no, spoken is slander, libel is written. Do you offer slander insurance then?

Her: Well, um, no, see, libel insurance is for if someone sues you over something you write. But you publish what you write.

Me: Right. Because for them to read what I write, I'd have to put it "out there", so I'd have to "publish it". How else would they read what I wrote? If you write something on a piece of paper and put it in your pocket, it's not published. But if you put it where someone can read it, like, say, on a blog or in a magazine or in a book . . . then legally it's published.

Her: Right, but you get paid.

Me: That doesn't matter, publishing is publishing regardless of whether or not the writer is paid.

Her: But, we can't offer libel insurance on anything you publish.

Me: Ok, so your libel insurance covers my diary and the notes I write and stick in my pocket.

Her: But if you say -

Me: - that's spoken, it's slander.

The poor girl, I felt a little bad for her at the end. Selling a non-product and not knowing what that non-product even is...

Ramadan Day 25

2008-09-25T20:05:00.001-07:00

Today, I answered a phone call from my uncle who lives in Ramallah,Palestine/Israel. Depending on who you are and what you believe, Ramallah belongs to Palestine and to others Ramallah belongs to Israel. (There is my teaching lesson for the day).

We were comparing notes about fasting in USA and in Ramallah. Depending on what part of the U.S. a fasting Muslim resides, is based off the sunset. I live in the MidWest. We currently break our fast at 6:40ish. My uncle said they eat about 5:40ish. The Middle East is 7 or 8 hours ahead of Central Time. My uncle thinks it is neat that the mosques and community centers offer "Iftar" meals to the community to break their fast. I believe it is not as common in the Ramallah area.

He also informed me that last day of Ramadan is Monday or Tuesday. Scholars will determine using the lunar calendar as the days get closer.

Ramadan Days 23-24

2008-09-24T20:50:00.000-07:00

We are now breaking our fast about 10 minutes to 7 p.m. If you remember, the first day of Ramadan we ate about 7:30 p.m. I just can't believe how early it is when it gets darker outside. Not only am I not genetically made for winter, I am STILL scarred from last year's winter. Although, I have been told last year's winter is the typical Midwestern snow storm that we haven't seen in more than 20 years. (I am a Midwestern native, but a youngin'--late 20s to early 30s).

See during Ramadan, we don't only eat international home cooked meals (my family has been known to eat from American, Arabic, Italian, Mexican, Spanish, Chinese...the list can go on), we also ate out from small-town restaurant. The restaurant is old, yet cute and classic. We had fry chicken--which is not my most favorite food. It is alright.

Family members and I have been reading or listening to Quranic recitations. We are hoping to read or listen to the Quran by the end of this month.

That's the sound of letting go...

2008-09-23T02:54:00.000-07:00

My daughter has a problem. She finds it very difficult to make freinds, because she's emotionally unable to cope with...I was going to say *some* situations, but if we're being honest, nine times out of ten, if she's gotten something into her head that she'd like to do, if she can't do it, she gets upset.
Freindship is one of those really fraught things - because she doesn't understand that just because SHE likes people, other people can't - or won't like her as rapidly. She takes it personally - and it escalates from there.
Last night we had to have a conversation about how to let go. She's only seven so we had to talk about it in terms that she understood - so, we decorated a wish box (she painted it pink, dipped it in glitter and then tied a rainbow of ribbons round it. We lined it with silk and a knitted square that she wanted for 'something'), and I taught her to write down her wishes. When she put something into the box, she rang a small bell. We've talked about how she has to empty the box if she doesn't get the small wishes - and take the ones out she gets. Most of all though, I taught her that she has to keep a smaller box - of wishes that may not work out. And that's her letting go box. Every ten things that she puts in that box that are valid and she manages to stick to, we give her a reward. And every evening, she and I sit down and discuss her day, over a hot chocolate.
So far, it's sorta helping. But I can't help but think that she's always going to associate wishes with ringing a bell - and letting go with closing boxes. I know it's better than tears, and yelling.
It got me thinking about my own stuff though - it seems to be a running theme with lessons in our house - the children learn, the adults learn, we move onto the next thing we all need to do.
When I sat and prioritised my most important 'things', I discovered two things.
One - short term, I have a lot of coding to do, but if I get it all done now, it's going to be much easier on me in the long run - and two, and probably more importantly, that's going to reduce by quite a bit, if I could just LET GO of some projects. Like my daughter, I have problems letting go - for different reasons, but it's ultimately the same thing.
If I want to make room for all of the 'new' I want to get up to - all of the short stories I want to write, all of the books I want to get stuck into. But I can't, if I have slivers of time that I have to fit dozens of things into.
Again, because this always comes up when I mention it, I have very few problems with time management - I just have a problem with ignoring new ideas.
So - there's another box in the house. It's a pretty black thing with silver ribbons (I got some samples in it ages ago). When I finish projects, I stick my hand in there, and I get to try something new. I find that I've got time, and I start something - but I've made sure that I can never overextend again.
I've already got a jar for story snippets, for when I get blocked (which, due to the nature of our cleaning sprees, gets 'backed up' to a database on my laptop) - so I think this is going to work.
Now - all I have to do is go swipe the bell...

Ramadan Days 19-22

2008-09-22T19:01:00.000-07:00

Days 19-20

Because of our hectic schedules, DS and myself break my fast at my parents' home during the week. And on Saturdays, at my parents' home again because it is a meeting place for all of my siblings when we meet.

On Saturday, I helped my mom make spinach pies. See picture. Yummm...(Thank God I am not fasting as I blog about this). My mom made the dough from scratch and made piles of balls on a tray waiting to be flattened out. Guess who had to flatten them out? Yours truly. My siblings seem "shocked" when I "cook" with my mom. (Ha ha). I get teased because I don't plan semi-elaborate meals for DH and DS (this is for another story one day). I flattened the pies, and my mom put a spinach mixture and then she folded the dough into a triangle. If you are interested in the recipe, you can find it a random link that I looked up: http://www.theepicentre.com/Recipes/mspies.html. Unlike one of my sisters who loves cooking, I don't actually mind it when it is a group cooking. However, once in a while, I do find that inspiration to whip up some fancy meal--but that hasn't happened in a while.

Day 21

DH and I took DS to Sunday School. While he was in Sunday School, DH and I went to explore a Forest Preserve. It was so beautiful and relaxing. We walked in the woods, sat near a river, and DH and I reflected, observing nature and sharing them with each other. After two hours, when we were driving out of the Forest Preserve, we saw some steps that were built in a semi-hill. I told him that we should climb this next week when DS is in Sunday School. DH said, "let's do it now." I agreed. The stones were very old and steep, yet I had to climb them. (DH did fine, I need to exercise some more). Half way up, I took a break while DH encouraged me to continue. I told him to go on. He made it to the top.

I thought wait a minute. Yeah, I am fasting, but so is DH. When I saw DH continue walking after he reached the top. My curiosity got the best of me and I decided to finish. I reached the top (huffing and puffing), and was it beautiful! The top was covered with more trees and a walking trail.

We ended up going back down. Then we stopped by some friends' home. They invited us to break our fasting together instead of at the Masjid. After we picked up DS, we headed back to our friends' home and broke our fast there. One of these days, I am gonna have to post some photos of Arabic food.

Day 22

Guess what I did, world. I jogged and walked with my running buddy. Boy did I feel it! I haven't done that since June of this year.I was very thirsty today because silly me had to jog and walk. It's all right because it was an opportunity to discipline myself and teach myself to forget about being thirsty.

By now, every fasting Muslim tastes the food differently. The taste has a very rich texture (no, I am not talking about hot spices). It is just that you become more sensitive to the taste that you haven't noticed in a while. I hate to sound like a commercial, but you enjoy every bite as you eat.

Until tomorrow, my fellow readers.

Another Book Video - Book Signing!

2008-09-21T18:31:00.000-07:00

Wheeee, one of my favouritest (totally a word) bloggers, Mir, had a book signing today! And one of her friends made a video of it.

Check. It. Out.

Possibly I've been hanging around with too many writers when one of my first thoughts was "Mir is friends with a DOCTOR!"

Creative Book Announcement

2008-09-21T11:51:00.000-07:00

About the book... "Once upon a time, a mom and her daughter were talking. (Moms and daughters tend to do a lot of that.) Daughter Corey had come up with an idea. She wanted to make Halloween healthier and more Earth friendly, so she founded Green Halloween. Mother Lynn thought this was brilliant (and not just because Corey is her daughter, although that may have figured into it a tiny bit), but wondered, why stop there? Why not apply the same principles to every holiday and celebration?" Read more...

I've "known" Lynn Colwell through a writing group and her emails are always a joy to read. She wrote the only authorized biography of the original writing mother, Erma Bombeck.

Lynn and her daughter Corey wrote Celebrate Green! together and this is their very creative book launch video:

Show me the way to oblivion, plz (x-posted)

2008-09-19T12:46:00.000-07:00

So, uhm. Sorry.

This week we had a freind visiting us - and between that and the almost permanent headache I've been stuck with, I've been fit for very little other than a tiny bit of Warhammer Online, and touring our gorgeous home with someone that was expecting something different. Although, what, we're not sure.

Next week, I start my new classes at Uni. I'm doing three double writing modules this term, and abnormal psychology - after x-mas, I'm doing the same doubles, and Psychology and Law. Plus, my I've started planning my Nanowrimo, and some interviews between now and November to give it max publicity. I can't believe I've been a municipal liason for six years!

Does anyone else have a plan?

Technorati : Kai, accident, headache, ow, pain, week

Ramadan Day 18

2008-09-18T19:51:00.000-07:00

The time to break our fast come earlier each day. Today, we ate at 7 p.m. (unlike the first day of Ramadan which was about 7:29 p.m.). That is because the sunset is setting earlier due to fall and winter.

Today, DS and I attended Parent-Teacher Organization--the same time I am to eat. This is not unusual because our lifestyle sometimes demands us to break at certain times and certain places. It is bound to happen that we might eat alone or break our fast with a snack. That is what I did. I broke mine by drinking water.

Considering that attending PTO is voluntary, I could have ate with family members. I chose not to tonight because PTO is only once a month. I do believe parents should get involved in their child's school to their best availabilities.

DH beaks his fast at work by snacking. He likes to enjoy his meals at his pace, not when his breaks are timed. When he comes home after work, that is when he will eat a good meal.

I realize that in a couple of days, we will be entering the last 10 days of Ramadan which has great meaning and that I will explain in a later post.

Ramadan Days 16-17

2008-09-17T19:06:00.000-07:00

Day 16

I have been reflecting on how quickly the days of Ramadan have gone by. Yes, I couldn't drink or eat during the day, but I didn't feel like it was a burden because I know the physical and spiritual benefits of Ramadan. For example, I continue to workout while I am fasting. Some of the health club members cheer me on for living life as normal as possible while I fast.

Fasting disciplines the mind, body and soul. It is all how you are going to handle fasting. Either you accept it or you struggle against it. I have chosen to accept it.

Fasting during Ramadan is not required for everyone. Women who are pregnant, nursing or menstruating are not required to fast. Children who are not of puberty age are not required to fast. The same applies to those who take medication and the elderly. I do have some family members who do not fast. It is because they have medical conditions that require them to take medications with food during the day.

Day 17
People are in a good mood, at least that is what I observed with my family and Muslim friends who are fasting. They appear to be in a relaxed state. They are a lot calmer because you also have to work on your personality as well. Although backstabbing, cheating and lying shouldn't be allowed at all, it shouldn't be allowed especially during the month of Ramadan. You have to try to improve your behavior as well. By cheating or lying, a fast could become broken.

I want to also point out that the behavior that we portray during the month of Ramadan is expected to be shown throughout the year. The way I see it, Ramadan is the month to practice, to turn an action into a positive habit. It is kind of like Christmas. Imagine the world being nice only during Christmas. What kind of world would we live in? Not a very kind one. (I know some might say it is not kind now).

Ramadan Days 10-15

2008-09-15T18:21:00.000-07:00

Wow. I apologize. I didn't realize nearly six days I have passed that I didn't journal about my fasting days. What caught my attention is that Google alerted me of some link love by fellow colleague writer Amel Abdullah at http://muslimwriters.blogspot.com/. Thanks Amel, that is a good reminder of to continue blogging about my days of Ramadan. :)

Day 15

Often words are not enough to describe the feelings of Ramadan because what the heart feels can't always be expressed in words. (Maybe that is why love is a complicated subject to many?)

Now we are in the second set of 10 days of Ramadan. See, some people say that Ramadan is divided into three parts. The first 10 days of Ramadan are of mercy. Second 10 days of Ramadan are of forgiveness and the third 10 days are of freedom from hellfire. I haven't verified this yet. As soon as I find out, I will you my dear readers know. However, I do know that the last 10 days of Ramadan is considered highly blessed, and many Muslims will try practice more acts of worship than the other days of Ramadan. But more about that as we get into the last 10 days.

Days 10-12, DH, DS, and myself broke our fast at my parents' home. Traditionally, when we break our fast, we break it by drinking water or eating some fresh dates because that is what our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) used to do. Today, studies show that eating dates offer many benefits such as being rich in vitamins and minerals. We usually buy fresh dates from Chicago or get it sent from Michigan or California. After we break our fast with dates or water, Muslims then go pray Salatul Maghrib (Maghrib Prayer). Then they come together and eat a meal.

DS is so cute. (Remember he is only five and he is not fasting). He would be playing outside with his friends, and when it is time to eat. He tells them, "I have to go break my 'fast' with my family." He will then wash his hands, and he then sits patiently at the table waiting until everyone can eat.

Day 13

The entire family (on my side) came together to break our fast at my parents' home--the central meeting place. My brothers came Chicago and "College town" and my other sister and her family. This was the first Iftar that we had together. Sad, I know, but that is how life is. We have our work, school, even family (I am a new aunt...I LOVE it)schedules. It was nice. We caught up on each others lives. We probably won't get together until a couple weeks later.

Day 14

DH and I took DS to Sunday School (Islamic style). When we dropped him off, we went to visit some friends who live in that same town. We hung out with them. Like DH and I, our friends were fasting as well. The time flew by quickly because we conversed on all sorts of topic--including Islam and work. We then prayed as a group Salatul Asr (Asr Prayer or the late afternoon prayer). That was nice. Once we finished, then we hung out for another hour, and then all of us, including our friends went back to Sunday School to break our fast there. Was it awesome. DS was sitting in the gym with his class until parents came.

The place was PACKED. There were smiles and greetings. Women hugged and kissed me. Some asked me how I was doing, and how was my mother doing. People were in a cheerful mood. Even my former Sunday school teacher and mentor asked me how I was doing. He also said that I was like his daughter. The atmosphere at the Muslim Community Center was very touching, DH and I agreed. We all picked up a plateful of dates, fruit and chicken noodle soup and sat at lunchroom tables. We waited for about five minutes when the Athan, call to prayer sounded by a young man in the gym. This is how it went, it is translated then Arabic is below. A reminder Allah is the Arabic word for God:

Allah is Most Great. Allah is Most Great.
Allah is Most Great. Allah is Most Great.
I bear witness that there is none worthy of being worshipped except Allah.
I bear witness that there is none worthy of being worshipped except Allah.
I bear witness that Muhammad is the Apostle of Allah.
I bear witness that Muhammad is the Apostle of Allah.
Come to prayer. Come to prayer.
Come to Success. Come to Success.
Allah is Most Great. Allah is Most Great.
There is none worthy of being worshipped except Allah.

Allahu Akbar. Allahu Akbar.
Allahu Akbar. Allahu Akbar.
Ash-hadu an la ilaha ill-Allah.
Ash-hadu an la ilaha ill-Allah.
Ash-hadu anna Muhammad-ar-Rasoolullah.
Ash-hadu anna Muhammad-ar-Rasoolullah.
Hayya 'alas-Salah. Hayya 'alas-Salah.
Hayya 'alal-falah. Hayya 'alal-falah.
Allahu Akbar. Allahu Akbar.
La ilaha ill-Allah.

We broke our fast. Then we got up to go prayer. The rooms were packed. Shoulder connected with other shoulders, meaning our shoulders literally touched our neighbor's shoulder. The Imam, religious or spiritual Muslim leader equivalent to a Rabbi (Jew), or Priest, Pastor, or Father (Christians) led everyone in pray. I guesstimated there were over 200 people in attendance. After we finished our prayer, we went back to the gym, and stood in line for food. As stated in another post, community iftars are sponsored by families Fridays through Sundays. Up to four families sponsor each of those days. We had four different kinds of ethnic foods because we had a Hispanic family who made Hispanic food, I believe it was rice; Indonesian family made noodles with chicken and vegetables; Pakistani family made Biryani, spicy rice with chicken; and I believe there was either an Albanian or Bosnian family made a type of pasta dish. They coordinated together the menus. Talk about team work and coordination. That is one of the beauties of Islam is that ethnic groups get along beautifully with each other despite language or culture differences.

After the meal, you had the option of hanging at the community center to pray Taraweeh (extra prayers performed in Ramadan) or go home. My friend and I opted to go home because we had young children with us, we figured we would let them play at her house while DH and friend would perform parts of the Taraweeh. At my friend's home, we drank coffee and chitchatted while our kids played together. DH and friend came after about one hour later. We all sat together and talked politics and social issues (where ever I go, I always seem to stat deep talks lol).

We left their home about 11 p.m. last night. It is an exception because DS is mostly asleep by 8:30 p.m.

However, it is Ramadan, the blessed month. I always make an exception for Ramadan.

Little Effort . . . Big Payoff

2008-09-13T13:43:00.000-07:00

Over here at the Cook Household it's been an exciting week. We bought a house, for one. But a second bit of excitement has me bubbly too.

When I wrote my first book proposal, I included a short couple of paragraphs about possible future books that the publisher might want me to write. I think I called it "Companion Books". Well, in our discussions, it turned out that they were interested in one in particular. Now that my edits are done on that book, they are willing to start to talk about the next book.

I still have some work to do, I have to make sure all my research is up to date and I have valid statistics . . . but they want more of a synopsis from me rather than a full out book proposal. It's like a proposal without the two or three sample chapters.

When you are writing your proposal, don't forget the companion books section. It was just a couple of paragraphs long and is now saving me a PILE of time!

Copywriting v. Journalism and Ethical Considerations

2008-09-13T12:20:00.000-07:00

A question about ethics came up recently on a Yahoo list for copywriters. Heather thought my answer might be helpful to others with similar questions, so here it is.

The situation: A business hires a freelance writer to write a profile of their company, and asks the writer to submit it to a magazine.

The question: Is it ethical?

It depends. There's copywriting, and there's journalism. Writers who do both are ethically and morally obligated to know which hat they're wearing.

1. If you're writing a company profile for the company, you do the best job possible for that client. Writing a promotional piece *as if* it is objective reporting is doing a service to your client (the company, not a magazine publisher). The whole point of an advertorial is to get people to read it, so it shouldn't look like an ad.

2. If you are a journalist working for a publication, you will never take payment from the subject(s) of the articles. That would be a conflict of interest and a HUGE ethical no-no. Now, if the editor wanted to run that company profile, knowing what it is and who you're working for, that's up to her. (They do it with press releases all the time.) As long as you don't misrepresent it as objective reporting. And if you REALLY want it to be nice and clear, the client should submit the profile to the magazine. Then there's no question.

Writers have the ethical obligation to clearly be working for either the client or the publication - NEVER both. There may be more to it than that (i.e., should you ever write a reported piece that includes a company you once wrote advertorials for?), but in the context of what we've been discussing, that's the basic difference.

Questions? Comments? Objections? Let me know. We should all strive to maintain a spotless reputation, in my opinion, not only for the good of our careers but just because we're great people.

Ramadan--Days 8 and 9

2008-09-09T19:29:00.000-07:00

Day 8

I have now been recruited to help develop a market campaign to promote Muslim consumers, so they can do their holiday shopping. These are small businesses that want to increase their consumer range, which I think is a great idea because a little market competition and attention to Muslims will give Muslims different choices and options to choose from. I mean how cool is it if you see products like paper plates or cups that say "Happy Eid (Holiday)" or Islamic designs just like they do for Christmas and Hanukkah.

Day 9
I can't believe tomorrow is our 10th day of Ramadan already. Wow, the time has definitely passed by.

Today was a little bit chilly and I nearly froze when I went outside. It was interesting because I thought to myself, "Wow. Why am I THAT cold?" It is not because of lack of food or drinks (I mean people it was 60 degrees Fahrenheit outside--which was not bad), it was because I have now become more attuned to my body. That is one of the miracles of fasting. You become more aware, not only are you going through a spiritual cleansing, your body is going through a physical cleansing. I mentioned this to my mom. She said that is due to fasting and that we are more aware of our bodies.

By not eating or drinking, you are gaining self-discipline against being tempted by a materialistic world, and you are gaining empathy to feel with those who are not as blessed as you. You are also giving your body a chance to rest from digesting.

Some of my friends who are not Muslim have fasted for one day--Muslim style,meaning that they did not drink, eat, or chew for an entire day until it was time to break their fast. They were impressed by our discipline and self-control.

Ramadan Day 7

2008-09-07T19:50:00.000-07:00

Today two of my siblings, my son and myself went to an Islamic community center, so that DS starts Weekend School, where he learns Arabic, Quran, and Islamic studies. Since it is only one day a week, DS will defintely need re-enforcements at home so that his knowledge may be strengthened in those subjects.

I registered DS at the school and then walked him to his class. Many people greeted me as I walked down the hallways. These are people I haven't seen in a year or so, yet they always welcomed me with open arms and smiles. (Just in case you are wondering it has been a year or so since I showed up at an Islamic community center it is because "Life" gets in the way. No seriously, work and other obligations. It is also a 30 minute drive from my home). Now that DS is a student of the weekend school, I will definately make appearances, and perhaps get involved as well.

Normally, weekend school starts at 10 a.m., but because it is Ramadan, the board moved it to 4 p.m.- 7 p.m., so that when the students are done, everyone, including adults, could break their fast in the gym/cafeteria. Families had already signed up to cook that evening. I have been told that Community fasts are available Fridays, Saturdays and Sunday evenings. How awesome is that! Since my siblings came with me to the community center, we didn't stay to eat at the center because we had made plans to eat with my parents again. Hopefully, DH will be willing to go on the weekend with DS and I. See, if you are wondering what happened to DH, he has been out of town for the last few days visiting his sister and her family. He is to arrive tomorrow night. DS and I cannot wait to see him!

Ramadan Day 5 and 6

2008-09-06T21:33:00.000-07:00

Day 5: We broke our fast at my parents' home. There is more blessings when you eat with a gathering, so it is always recommended to break your fast with a group of people. Don't worry. We bring stuff to my parents' home as well.

My son is starting to ask more questions about Ramadan. He would ask what is it and why do "big people" have to fast. I explained to him that "big people" (meaning adults) fast, so that they can feel how the less fortunate feel.

Day 6: Today, Sarah Militz-Frielink and I had the pleasure of interviewing Imam Shpendim about Ramadan. It was an awesome lecture because Sarah and I learned so much. Be sure to listen to it at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/faten-and-sarah. Do ignore the background noise, unfortunately my son was trying to distract me. Usually, DH occupies him, but he wasn't home when I co-produced my show.

Today, my son proudly says during the day, "I know why you cannot eat right now." I asked him why not. He replied: "Because you are seyeyum (fasting)." My son and I prayed together. Although, my son is not required to pray yet, it is good to have him practice or copy. We prayed during Asr (late afternoon) time which is about 4:30 p.m., Central Time. I told him to copy like me while I prayed. He did fine. He said he felt good when he finished.

Tonight, my parents, siblings, son, and myself ate at my sister's house. She cooked homemade pizza and vegetarian lasagna. She also prepared salad. Those I believe are her signature dishes. She takes great care and planning to make homemade pizza and her vegetarian lasagna. When the pizzas and lasagna are done cooking, they look like beautiful pieces of art when they are displayed on the dining room table. We ended the meal with an cookie ice cream cake. Talk about rich, but delicious!

Blog Stop Book Tour: Midwife of The Blue Ridge

2008-09-05T13:48:00.000-07:00

Midwife of the Blue Ridge
Christine Blevins
Berkely Trade Paperback

I know already I'm not going to be able to do this book justice in my review. It's that good. I absolutely LOVED it. Go. Get. It.

Not only was Midwife of the Blue Ridge a departure from my usual reading, it was a departure from the 21st century. It's a great story of a woman who leaves her home in Scotland and enters a completely foreign place - and finds *her* place.

Midwife has the appeal of an old-fashioned adventure, not unlike Huckleberry Finn. But this is no children's novel. I have to warn you - the violence and anguish of pioneer life is graphically depicted, as real and raw as if I was seeing it happen in front of me. But this added in every sense to the effect of transporting me to the rugged and beautiful wilderness of the Blue Ridge, and the hardships that were a part of our American history.

Maggie was an orphan who found a home with a skilled Scottish midwife and learned the trade as she grew. When she was an adult, she got passage aboard a ship to America in exchange for four years of slavery in the New World. Maggie's beauty, wit and outspokenness are as much hazards as they are the tools she uses to survive.

There is a love story here, but you won't find the same story arc as in a traditional romance novel. And ... (see this is where it gets hard not to give too much away) ... the author does not spare her character with formulaic plot devices involving brave knights sweeping in to rescue her. And that's all you're going to get me to say. ;)

The historical details are deftly painted into the novel; at no point did I feel bogged down by facts. And this feat is especially impressive to me since the main character is a healer, so botanical and common names of herbs and natural remedies are sprinkled throughout.

I realized while reading Midwife of the Blue Ridge that I have a personal measure of truly great books: I don’t want to reach the end, but I am unable to slow my reading.

Get. This. Book. It is awesome. Truly. In fact, I might start reading it again. (So you can’t have my copy.)

To read more about the author, and to see what other bloggers are saying, visit Blog Stop Book Tours.

Catching Up With Ramadan Days 2-4

2008-09-04T19:55:00.001-07:00

Catching Up With Ramadan Days 2-4
You want to know what is interesting abou THIS Ramadan? It is the first time in I don't know how many years we started to fast in the summer time. Every year, Ramadan comes about 10 days earlier from the year before because the Islamic calendar runs on a lunar cycle and not a solar one.

It is not that bad so far. Sure we get hungry or thirsty, but that is part of the fasting, to feel empathy with our fellow humans who aren't as lucky as you and I. That is why many Muslims will offer to cook in Ramadan for families, friends, and even at mosques. When families cook at mosques, the entire community, even travelers, are invited to attend to have their "Iftar". Due to our work schedules, DH, DS, and myself haven't been to the mosque yet. We are planning to go this Sunday. The generosity is not expected to stop after Ramadan is over. It is expected to continue year round. The way I see it is that the generosity in Ramadan is "practice" for us.

Today, I want to share with you one of my most favorite Surahs in the Quran. It is called Surah ar Rahman (The Most Gracious). This is not meant to be preaching to you. It is just to show you a typical Muslim's life during the month of Ramadan, although I do listen to Quranic recitation throughout the year, but during Ramadan, the Quran is more special because we believe the Quran was completed in the month of Ramadan. A great translation of Surah ar Rahman can be found at http://www.dar-us-salam.com/TheNobleQuran/surah55.html.

Above is Surah ar Rahman recited by an Imam Mohammad al Barrak, a relious leader for Muslim, like priests and rabbis.

Followers, time keeping and my biggest WAH bugbear

2008-09-03T03:33:00.000-07:00

I noticed recently that blogger released this 'nifty' function called 'followers'. I'm wondering how different it is from things like myBloglog, because, to be honest, I'm not so worried about who is reading any of the blogs I work on (though, I, and everyone else at MNABC adore you all, it goes without saying) - but who is commenting, and more importantly, why they aren't. It's nice being able to see how many readers a blog has, but I think that metrics, like statistics, are fairly pointless. I've got a PR6 blog (it used to be PR9, and I...ahem...ignored it for a while) that has thousands of readers daily, and dozens of comments, but I write it simply because I want to). Most importantly of all, I'm always most interested in knowing people are enjoying themselves, but that's another one of those 'goes without sayings'.
The thing I love about social networking, blogging and everything that groups into that 'medium' is that it's always moving forward, which, at the moment I'm not.
I'm in the process of testing out yet more time management tools, now that I've discovered I spend 'oh my god too much!' time on email (it's coming out as my top 'task' at two hours every day!). I've been looking at goals and goal setting, specifically for writers, so I'll have lots of fun observations to share. Sorry, did I say fun, I meant, soul numbingly depressing that I didn't work it all out sooner.
Heather's also already hit on my biggest WAH bugbear. It even comes behind people not taking me seriously - spam.
I hate being 'spamvertised' at by people that should otherwise know better. And it's kinda sad to say, but since joining Haro, as that's an address I only USE for Haro stuff, I am getting spammed. Haro's owner has said that he'll take action though, so I might start forwarding the spam instead of deleting it out of hand.
Given my email is my biggest time drain though, it's really not helping my second goal....

So - anyone else got anything they want to get off their chests? Any bugbears? Disagree that spam is worse than not being taken seriously? Don't care about spam? I'd love to hear from you!

You Are Worth the Time

2008-09-02T04:32:00.001-07:00

Generally speaking, I don't think of myself as an artist. It was never my goal to create great artistic works of fiction. I always wanted to just tell my stories and have people enjoy them. I just want to produce damned good entertainment.

This isn't mutually exclusive from the desire for recognition. I hold a secret yearning for some kind of artistic affirmation from the powers that be: good reviews, a slot on the best seller list, or some respected award. But I don't expect it. I don't ever really expect to do anything but labor in obscurity, quietly doing my job of entertaining. Perhaps someday, I'll be discovered, like Bach or Dickens, years after my death, to have been a transcendent artist and to have written classic works of literature proven by the only test that matters: time.

Hey, we can all dream, right?

This morning, I was woken up too early by my husband's alarm clock. I lost an hour of sleep on a morning when I was already set to get up a full 45 minutes before I had to be getting the little girls up for their first day of school. The little girls, who often dawdle to the point of driving me to insanity, got ready with a good will and are now cuddled up next to me. We have time to sit.

When I put them on the bus, they will be gone for the whole day, arriving home at nearly supper time. And the hours will stretch out before me, hours during which I feel like doing exactly nothing. How odd to plan on wasting a day on this particular day when I am already sensitive to the fleeting, and lasting, nature of time.

There is laundry to do. Pots still to wash. The bathroom is dirty. Perhaps I will do some of those things.

Perhaps not.

Perhaps, on this, the first day of school for so many of our children, we will remember who we are. We are artists--even me.

Missing Yous, Ramadan Fasting, and Whatever Else I Will Write About

2008-09-01T20:17:00.001-07:00

Hi world. Did you miss me? I sure missed you!

I have been busy hiding writing away. I have accomplished much. I have been working on a book in progress. Details later when it is available to the public. As my workload slows down, I have been thinking, hmm...how should I make my entrance in this blog.

Then it occurred to me about two days ago. Ramadan was around the corner. I thought then I could jump right in to blog about my days of fasting because mainstream media in the U.S. doesn't usually cover this kind of thing at least not yet. You, my dear readers, get to see what an average Muslim's life consist of during Ramadan. I need to point out that I do not represent all Muslims around the world--just myself and you could say my immediate family as well to a certain extent. But that is about it.

This year, I actually found out when Ramadan would actually begin two days ago. (By the way, Ramadan is the name of a Islamic month. Muslims fast during the month of Ramadan). I was impressed because normally, we used to didn't find out about Ramadan till the night before it began. Another thing I was impressed about was that most of the Muslims began fasting today. There is one or two countries who didn't.

Let me rewind a bit. My DH and DS had "Suhoor" at my parents house last night because we hung out late (yes DS was sleeping at his normal bedtime hour). Suhoor is a like having a midnight snack. Suhoor takes place in the middle of the night before sun dawn. Once sun dawn arrives, then the eating, drinking, smoking, and sexual relations must stop until sunset. Also actions must be avoided like no gossiping about people, no lying or cheating, etc.

Once sunset arrives, then families and friends get together to enjoy the meal. Many people gasp at the thought not being able to drink water at least, but it is not as difficult as it seems. The body actually needs time to rest from food and drinks. The body adapts.

That is why fasting is not only a physical cleansing, but it is also a spiritual cleansing. You become attuned to your body and aware of your environment in greater detail.

So what did we do today until sunset? Let's see. My ds just began kindergarten and turned five a few days ago, so he is beginning to understand pieces of the world. He doesn't fast yet, nor is he required to fast now. This year will be the first year where I actually had to involve him in festivities. I explained to him about Ramadan. We watched the prayers in Medina and Mecca, Saudi Arabia, live on the Internet. DS was amazed how packed the mosques were. After that I had made 30 colorful stars, out of construction paper, with numbers in Arabic and English on them and hung them on DS's door. We counted the stars, and then took one down to show how many days left of Ramadan. He knows that when the days of Ramadan is done, he gets to have (what every kid loves) presents! There is a catch though. He only gets one or two presents from us the parents because we do not encourage materialism.

Our second activity with our son was making a "Sadaqah" jar. Sadaqah is the term for charity. During the month of Ramadan, not only do we try to read more Quran and perform extra prayers, we also try to do extra charity work. So, I explained to my son that we are going to decorate a Sadaqah jar with construction paper, stickers and markers. He designed it, I taped it because glue wouldn't work. He then colored it and put stickers on it. I explained to him that each day he will be collecting change and then donating it to some social service organization at the end of Ramadan. He told my DH and I that he loves to help people. DH gave him some change to put in. After DS put the change in his jar. He carefully closed it and set it on his dresser.

So, today, I have decided that I am going to complete all 114 Surahs (Chapters) of the Quran during the month of Ramadan. What I need to do is read so many Surahs per day, and I don't mean speed read. I want to actually read and reflect on the meanings of each Surah.

Before, I changed to the next topic, I want to say that my DH, bless his heart, and my mom cooked the first Iftar, the "Breaking" meal. We ate our meal about 7:30 p.m. tonight. It is tradition to break our fast with some dates or a small glass of water before you start eating. It is healthier on your body. The irony is you think you are going to scarf down once it is time to eat, but you don't. In fact, you eat less than you think. So what did we have for dinner? We had cookout and rice and vegetables with lamb.

Now that DS is sleeping, I will be doing my own reflections and prayers before I go to bed. This is a good way to end the night.

So, I do plan to blog about my days of Ramadan. I will try to make it interesting, hmm...maybe I will even teach you some Arabic. If there are words you would like to know, leave a comment, and I will be glad to my best.

By the way, I now co-host a radio blog at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/faten-and-sarah with a colleague of mine, Sarah Militz-Frielink. The show is about connecting women and forming bonds and strengths amongst each other. At the show, we talk about all sorts of issues and we interview women of different careers and backgrounds and as well as males who have an interest in women issues. It is awesome. It is awesome because of two things, my co-host is a great person to work with, we bounce ideas and comments off of each other and second I get to do something I believe in which is strengthening women and supporters of women!

If there is something you would like to know about Ramadan, let me know!

The Definition of Spam & Rude People

2008-09-01T11:57:00.000-07:00

I have a bone to pick.

I am a member of a great list called Help A Reporter Ou t. It's awesome. I send a note through the site and I get dozens of PR people who have Just The Person I Should Talk To. Plus, I never get spammed. It's all good. I've used them less than a dozen times and not gotten a single off-topic pitch.

I was interested to hear that there's a Canadian version (who shall remain nameless, because I'm not out to damage his reputation, he's doing a good enough job himself). Except the reason I heard about this 'copycat-HARO' is because he spammed me (and several other writers). On his site he claims that his main purpose for his list is to stop PR spam. So you stop it by . . . spamming writers? I don't get it.

When I sent him an email about it he stated that it was merely my opinion that he was spamming. Um, no, honey. One unsolicited bulk email = one spam email. The definition of spam does not depend on the quantity. He said he wouldn't "loose" one night's sleep over my irritation. Ok. But guess how likely I am to recommend his service?

He says word of mouth doesn't work as well in Canada as in the US. Yes, we are a smaller country and many industries are microscopic compared to the US. So imagine how easy it is to shoot yourself in the foot here. Pretty easy. My original email to him didn't say "I'll never join you . . . you, you spammer!" It said "I've held off joining your group because ..." I was hoping for some altruistic response. That his mistake of spamming had been an actual honest mistake.

It could happen that he sends an email to his group saying "Don't use Heather Cook!!" but, I don't want to be "used". My job as a writer is not to make nicey-nice with PR people. They are but one way to get to talk to my sources. Are they beneficial? Sure, but imagine if you've hired a PR person and you learned that they were blocking certain journalists because the journalist dared to call a spammer a spammer.

It's supposed to be a mutually beneficial relationship: PR person working for his client, me working for a publication. PR person gets press for his client, I get a reliable source. But as a writer I need to be extra careful that the source discovered through a PR rep is a legitimate one, not one looking just for press.

In the end, it doesn't matter much. I have less invested than the average writer using these services because I work full time in a separate industry, I focus mainly on books at the moment, and I write for mostly US markets. Go ahead, blacklist me. You'll have to have lots of PR people in the western performance horse industry (which doesn't use PR people, we're about performance, not PR) to make any sort of dent in my career.

I love HARO. Warning: Don't use HARO unless you are prepared for the floodgate of sources. I recommend a reply to every source, just to be polite. That can be tough when you get 60+ emails, like I did!

Blogiversary!

2008-08-28T20:36:00.001-07:00

I'm later with my anniversary post than everyone else. Last week was a real pisser for me. I was PMSing and didn't realize it. I wish it was just bloating and irritation. No, last week it was overwhelming anxiety and panic attacks. I was a mess. Thankfully, PMS passes and the day before I ran the bravo flag (color: red, meaning: hazardous cargo) up the old flag pole, I started to feel sane again.

But, I still feel down. We are still renovating the house we were trying to renovate last summer. We are getting close to finished, but we've run out of money. It's breaking us and I'm making choices like "car insurance or food." It does not help that I cannot work on the city house and work-work at the same time. There are not enough hours in the day and my health has declined such that I simply cannot do it.

And the only thing I could think last week, between my depression and anxiety over problems both real and bio-chemical, was that THIS was the year I became too sick to work. Not that I'll be able to get disability any time soon--if ever. Just that I've lost so much of my nerve, and so much of my brain power and energy, I feel like a shadow of myself.

I am not the woman I was. I don't write very much and when I do write, it can be like drowning in anxiety before I can so much as type a single word. I can't even contribute to a damned BLOG in a reasonable manner. I'm terrified that if I went and sought out a gig that I wouldn't be able to overcome the anxiety and meet the deadline.

Yet, this past year saw many high points. My second technical book was published last October and like it's ancestor, was a best-seller. I landed a HUGE contract with a software publisher in NY and tallied my biggest year ever dollar-wise--one reason why the house STILL isn't finished--I spent the winter working on the contract.

My kids adjusted to their new school and we found that we really loved farm life. I became a Girl Scout leader--ME, a Girl Scout Leader! And I went CAMPING! It was amazing. I have had such a blast with those girls (my AK included). "this was more fun than I thought it would be," said AK of having me as a leader. You can't get better than that.

But then the contract ended badly--and I lost a lot of confidence, because the reason it ended badly was the unbearable anxiety attacks I was having--now it turns out, maybe they were associated with the increased amount of pain medication I was taking. We ran through the money I had made and saved. I took the summer off to work on the city house. The price of gas shot up into the stratosphere making farm living much more expensive. And as the physical pain increased, and the financial pain increased, I started to spiral downward. Some days, I am hanging on my the nubs of my broken finger nails.

But, anyone who knows me from an email list has probably seen the Camus quote in my signature:

"In the midst of winter, I finally realized that deep within me there lay an invincible summer."

And lately, somewhere, deep inside, under the pain meds and the fear, I can feel that tiny., little, guttering season of hope--my own personal, invincible summer. And it's still warm. And I find an enthusiasm for working, for writing, that I didn't think I could muster. The city house WILL finally go on the market in a couple of weeks. And we will survive--maybe a bit dinged by slings and arrows of outrageous fortune--we WILL survive. And the anxiety will pass. And I will write again. And money won't be so tight. And I will write another technical book--may it be a best-seller too! I am not too sick to write. I WILL NOT BE TOO SICK TO WRITE! I refuse. I am every bit the woman I was.

I just have to hold on, bask in the glow of that inner summer, until the outter winter of late August is finally over.

Writing and Motherhood

2008-08-23T20:59:00.000-07:00

I came across this article in The Age, an Australian web site and I thought, "how neat, an article about writing and motherhood!"

And it has some good comments, like ...

They wrote when they could, in fits and starts between chores, over the baby in the lap; and when they couldn't write on paper or the computer, they wrote in their heads. They sometimes found that chaos and urgency became important, even necessary, to their writing.

But there were a few comments that irritated me, like the one about some Mr. Hoity-Toit that thought you couldn't possibly be a mother AND an artist (read: "arteest") because you were supposed to give your soul to your art. Hogwash. No one tells doctors to hold off having kids so they can give their soul to their work. No one tells a teacher or a salesperson...

Personally, I feel as though motherhood has made me a better writer. (As someone else in the article also mentioned) I was always a writer, but I didn't think I had anything important to say until I was a mom.

Reflection

2008-08-23T08:35:00.000-07:00

Wow, has a year passed? Really? When Carolyn emailed us the other day to give us a friendly kick in the pants, I wondered how I'd missed it... oh yeah, my son turned seven on Aug 12 and my daughter turned 2 on Aug 17.

Really? Did I start this blog on my daughter's birthday? I'd forgotten... what's really weird is that I received my first book contract the day she was born. I was in the hospital and brought my BlackBerry with me. I wish someone had taken a picture of me trying to be supermama.

So what have I done in a year?

Written two books - both of which are scheduled for spring 2009 publication.

Gone back to work full-time, something that I didn't do by desire, but necessity.

Um... that's about it I think!

I've learned a lot about myself and the way I work. I've vowed to put off procrastination for good, I am such a miserable person when I'm on a big deadline and I know I have wasted hours of time. I've also learned that going back to work full-time wasn't the death of me. In fact it probably saved our family. It allowed us to stay afloat here in Canada long enough for my husband to find a job that fits him perfectly.

If I'd insisted on staying home then hubby would have likely headed to the US to find a job. We were minutes away from booking a flight for him to go to Chicago to a military job fair when I chose to go back to work. It was one path or another.

At the moment I'm finishing up a few things for my last book (an illustration list that was SUPPOSED to accompany the manuscript... whoops!!) and thinking about what comes next. Spring 2009 will involve lots of promotion, so I've started working on that.

The last year has been a lot of "learn by doing"... which I love. And looking back, there isn't much I'd change! (Ok, I might have eaten a little less... during the typing of this post I broke my cheap office chair... I guess I sit on the edge too often and I broke the flimsy seat in half. Awesome.)

Hippo Barfday MNABC!

2008-08-22T01:38:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia How do you feed a blog cake? aha ---->
In all seriousness, Carolyn emailed us a couple of days ago and reminded us about our anniversary. I thought it was next month, which shows how much I was paying attention, huh?

This time last year was a mad rush of slo-mo organisation. The kids were going back to school, my mom was down visiting, I was getting ready for Uni. I was not the happiest or most settled of bunnies on the planet - stressed out to my eyeballs, trying to work out if we could even AFFORD University for me. Working through, desperately, the forms and information everyone wanted to have me send in. Accepting a place at a wonderful Uni (Gloucestershire, Francis Close Hall, which, this year, I'll get some snaps of ;)) and then wondering if I'm really worthy.

I could tell you - month by month - how hard it was - how fun it was - how amazingly validating it was, but instead, I'll let you in on a little secret - I still don't feel worthy. I'm a second year, passed with a 2:1, and am desperate to get back - which isn't for another month.
I've also had other milestones this year. We discovered my youngest has some fairly serious problems with her mental health, which I've been on courses, and support groups to help her with. The prognosis is better than it was when she started up, but we've still got a long way to go. That's OK though, because she's my daughter and I truly believe that we just need to find the 'right' solution for her. Mostly, at the moment, it's lots of cognitive behaviour modification, which is hard work, but seems to be paying off.
We adopted an adorable, if a bit sneezy cat, who has more allergies than I do! She wakes us up every morning by singing (licking, treadling and headbutting too) and goes to sleep at the foot of our bed every night. She's been with me eight weeks and made such a huge difference to my life and my outlook.
Writing wise, I've accepted posts, I've left posts. I've looked at contracts, but haven't signed (many) this year. Mostly, this has been a year of settling into my new world.
And my other half asked me to marry him...

Did we totally miss our anniversary? Yes, we did.

2008-08-20T10:34:00.000-07:00

Mama Needs a Book Contract started just over a year ago, on August 17, 2007.

Since our wee first post, lo, those many months ago, we've had FAMOUS guests, saw the Writer's Strike begin and end, joined the BlogHer network, noted happenings in the world, pointed out good resources, and blogged about life and writing as mothers.

With all that going on, no wonder we were so busy we forgot our anniversary.

Personally, we've reached a few milestones and blogged them in front of God and everybody. I'll let the other Mamas reflect on their own and tell you about one of mine.

I turned 40. That's generally considered a milestone. For me, it was only significant in that my 40th birthday had subconsciously become my mental deadline for everything I ever wanted to do. LOL.

What was I thinking? Did I think I was going to become shriveled and emaciated and utterly insignificant after that birthday? I suppose it's helpful to have goals and target dates. I did accomplish everything I set out to do, with the exception of the bulging-at-the-seams retirement account.

But I can only attribute my former attitude to the foolishness of youth... which I am now long past, being that I'm 40 and all.

So, now that I've garnered the wisdom of years, you should totally listen to any sage advice I impart. Like, it might be good to make plans for the second 40 years of your life too.

Back to School Sales and Stuff

2008-08-15T05:17:00.000-07:00

I do not see the appeal in shoe shopping. I do not get excited about shopping for clothes. But every year, starting in late July, you can find my excitement about shopping reach epic highs; it is no coincidence that this is also when the Back to School shopping sales begin.

Even after I quit going back to school and long before my own children were heading off in that bright yellow bus, I looked forward to BTS sales. I can spend hours wandering the aisles of the local office supply store. I seriously debate the attributes of various pen options.

I do not carry a purse, but I spent hours trying various laptop bags. At one point, I even requested a sales person remove a floor model of a laptop computer similar to my own, so I could be sure my 15.4 widescreen would fit smoothly in my top choice. At other times, I have been known to bring along my own laptop as I searched for the perfect bag. I was never interested in purses, but I have a "travel" laptop bag, a daily laptop bag, and then I have the laptop bags I rarely use or let the hubby/kids use.

When it comes to my choice in pens, I prefer blue ink. I also prefer a pen that glides across the paper. The way the ink flows is as important as the way the pen feels in my hand.

I have a well stocked office with a variety of paper available: printer (in various colors), notebooks (secretary and reporter sized), looseleaf (wide and college ruled), and various notepads and sticky notes. My well stocked office includes various staplers, tape dispensers, a wide assortment of writing utensils (including crayons, colored pencils, markers (wide, narrow and Sharpie), dry erase markers, blue ink, black ink, red and green ink too....

For folders, I prefer the two-pocket variety with the fastener in the middle for everyday use. I buy the plastic type OR I decorate the plain paper variety and seal it with clear contact paper to make it sturdier. I also use a lot of 3-ring binders to organize items for the long-term.

I haven't even started to mention my scrapbooking supplies....

My back to school shopping experience just keeps getting better. This year, in addition to the regular supplies, I am also carefully considering displays of jump drives, blank discs and storage cards (SD and compact flash).

If you'll excuse me, I hear there is a sale that I just can't miss....

....and relax....

2008-08-12T07:25:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia It's been interesting this month.
I'm still - woefully - behind on every one of my plans - something I'm fairly sure anyone with children at home over the summer can relate to. But I've been doing a lot of nice things that recharge my batteries.
One of them is role playing.
I play in two games where a group of us narrate and add to stories that each of help create. One of us - a 'games master' gives a basic plot line, and the others ask questions, narrate their actions, and more. All of us puts parts of the story forward, though some of it is still based on chance - you have to roll one of various dice, depending on the rules of the system you're playing in. So you still have the chance to screw up and tell a funny, touching, sad, angry or moving story from that. I tend to botch my rolls - A LOT.
It's a great way to remain creative without actually working on a story - much like the sites that allow you to add to chapters of stories, except you do it with friends.
Another form of role play - the more 'traditional' kind, like Dungeons and Dragons, involves using a board and models, but the action of role playing can be the same.
I've always found that being able to play games - create a shared story with others, is incredibly important to me. Not just because I can allow others to help me shape the story, but because, in some ways I won't be judged for what I choose to do. I've been several mages, a TechnoMage, a futuristic soldier-nun, clad in armor, several superheros, a vampire, Werewolf, artist, master singer, thief....I've been any character that I've wanted to be - played with the party or at odds with them - and narrated huge, enjoyable story arcs. I've also learned a lot about story telling.
Between that and reading books, I'm just waiting for the urge to actually write to take me again.
I play in games that can, in some ways, trace their lineage back to roman times - with the 20 sided dice they used to play with.

Now that I've admitted that deep - dark - secret I'm wondering what you do to 'recharge' or build new stories to work with. What's your way of tapping and enticing your muse?

Wisdom of a Mother, Unwise Me

2008-08-06T07:39:00.001-07:00

My friend "Sally" is going through an awful divorce. She didn't get custody of her kids, mainly through the perfidy of her ex, who is a lawyer. He gets the automatic benefit of the doubt and respect as a fellow "officer of the court." As a result, he lies like a Persian rug. He has done the one thing that I think is unforgivable in a divorce: he makes the kids choose. If they love their mother and want to see her, then they cannot see him, OR their brothers who make the opposite choice. The man is a monster.

Anyway, today she calls me. She thought for a while that she and her oldest son were reaching some kind of detente. He was being nice. He was nice on a visit to her parents' home. He was nice when she saw him at the court ordered visits. He called when he went to visit his other grand parents. Then his birthday came, and he got his gifts from her and her parents. He hasn't called since. And you could look at it one of two ways. Either he was being nice just so he could get his birthday gifts, or this could be another example of XH not playing fair.

Middle son won't talk to her at all. He blames her for the divorce and for the ugliness created by XH. It's really sad, because this is the same man who demands that the boys not see their mother.

Youngest son, only 8, wants to go live with his mother. But he's been told by XH that if he does, he will never see his father or his brother again. And poor Youngest fears that. The only way he can go be with his mother is if he stands up to his 6'2", 180 lb father and takes the chance that he'll never see his brothers again. What 8 year old could do that?

So today, all this pain has been hitting her very hard. Sally was in tears on the phone. She said that she had applied for a job in London and just wanted to run away, make a new life... forget. Her father, a retired lawyer, was against the idea. He said she can't throw away what hope she has. But she's lost hope, today at least.

It didn't seem like a great idea to me either. She can't walk out on Youngest, even if he's not old enough or brave enough to stand up to his father--what child that age would be? Maybe there is no hope with Middlest and Oldest, I don't know. Nothing about this crazy situation has gone the way it ought to. Nothing. I do know that hope has an odd way of keeping you going until the weirdest things happen. Maybe one day, her sons will wake up and realize what has actually happened. Weirder things have occurred!

What I told her is probably one of the wisest things I have ever said. I try to give good advice, and you don't have to know me very long to know that I like giving advice. But I'm not sure that I'm terribly wise. But this was. I said, "This is a Bad Day(tm). Don't make any major decisions on a bad day."

I try not to make decisions on Bad Days(tm). I've had bunches of them lately. I have arthritis and Fibromyalgia, two progressive pain disorders that are, well, progressing and becoming more and more painful. I have IBS which is no fun at all. I'm always exhausted. Fatigue comes with Fibro, but I've been more tired than usual. And life in the objective has been very difficult and worrisome. I discovered recently that one medicine I take for IBS causes both fatigue and irritability. Have I been irritable lately? Can you be irritable and not know it? Apparently, yes.

Bad Days seem to out number the good these days. I try to keep my spirits up, but I yearn for change--to just be healthy again, not to be sick and hurting all the time. Would it help if I lost weight? Could I get back to writing if I stopped spending all my time on email? Could I manage to live in a house that doesn't look like a hurricane hit it?

I made a big decision last bad day... I dropped out. I can't decide yet, if it was a good decision or not. If by dropping out, I open up my time and what energy I have to write and sew, do stuff that I claim to want to do, then maybe it wasn't a bad choice. But maybe it was, I guess we'll just have to see.

But I really ought to put it on a plaque, right up there with "Let the editor decide." It should say, "Don't make big decisions on Bad Days(tm)."

Now if I could only take my own advice...

How Do You Blast Through Writer's Block?

2008-08-03T09:40:00.000-07:00

I know that writers tend to fall into two camps: those that believe in writer's block, and those that do not. I've always fallen into the "not" category because normally I recognize that my block isn't really a block from outside of my mind... it's totally self-inflicted.

Someone (was it Linda? Joshilyn? Carolyn?) said that it's what happens when your inner critic is yelling and you can't shut her up. (Or him, I think my inner critic has a brother... I don't like him any more than I like his sister.) So the trick is to make your words (writing) louder and faster so that they can't keep up.

This is accomplished by just sitting your butt in the chair, putting your hands on the keyboard (BICHOK) and writing. It's not easy for those of us who want to write ~~good~~ well every time we sit down. But it's what Anne Lamott would call a "shitty first draft". Sometimes it's a draft that goes no where. There's a great internal sigh of relief when I write something truly gross and horrible and then I hit delete on the whole file. Somehow just writing it down and getting it out of my brain and onto my computer is like some new-age Pensieve.

Then hitting delete can just erase that horrible writing from my life... and free me up to write The Good Stuff.

Wordclay Writing Center offers five tips on breaking through that "block". I found the tips using StumbleUpon, a Firefox add-on that lets you pre-set some interests (writing, horses, parenting.. etc..) and then you can Stumble around the internet and it will bring you to sites that match your interests. If you see one you like, you can click the "I like it!" icon in your toolbar. Hey, if you use Stumble you could even "vote" for Mama Needs A Book Contract!

Time after time....

2008-07-30T04:34:00.000-07:00

We're a week and a half into the summer here.

I'm not sure about anyone else, but part of the reason I freelance is so that when we get to the holidays, I can take some downtime with my kids - so that there's no holiday problems with care for them, and so that I'm not spending every minute in work wondering whether I'll need to leave early and find they've caused riots.

It does mean, however, that all of the work I'd planned on doing is being is being sandwiched in between episodes of Hannah Montana and Tom and Jerry. It's a nice life, but it's hard to measure the value of the work I'm snatching in. It also means that I've been pushing back and pushing pack things like theme designs and my fiction writing. I got up on Sunday morning though and decided that I needed to stop procrastinating and actually take control!

So, I've written a post over at Publishhacks about the best, and worst freelance tools, in my opinion, for monitoring and supporting any freelance career.

I'm always expanding and testing them though, so I thought I'd find out what your favs and time sinks are.

(so far, I've got Xobini, RescueTime, WordPress, the Internet (wikipedia), The Internet (RSS), Zoundry Raven - some good, some bad ;)) What do you have, and come on over to PublishHacks, to find out about the tools I've mentioned.

Anbar Massacre Journalist Censored

2008-07-27T17:25:00.001-07:00

In a recent post, I linked to a photographer's blog. The embedded photographer had taken pictures of the results of a suicide bombing in Anbar province, Iraq. He had posted graphic pictures of the wounded and dead, including dead but not identifiable US Marines.

Since posting those images, which were within the embed rules as far as timing and content. The photographer has, on the flimsy pretext that he showed the results of the "effectiveness" the bombing, has had his embed terminated. In addition, he has been banned from all Marine installations in the world. In this shocking article from the New York Times, the Times reveals that four out of five photographers who have published photos of the war dead have been disembedded.

Why is this so shocking?

Photographer Miller puts it like this, “The fact that the images I took of the suicide bombing — which are
just photographs of something that happens every day all across the
country — the fact that these photos have been so incredibly shocking
to people, says that whatever they are doing to limit this type of
photo getting out, it is working."

Is it shocking that a military might want to control horrifying images of violence and death? Of course not. It's no shock that it's happening. We would easily expect this kind of censorship from the old Soviets, Communist China or the Axis of Evil's Iran or North Korea. No, the shocking part is that this is the US military, protectors of our most sacredly held freedoms.

And of those freedoms, the VERY FIRST freedom is freedom of the press. Our very first freedom is for the government not to suppress news of what is actually happening. Yet this is exactly what the military is doing: suppressing real news, punishing those who dare to report it anyway. This is not supposed to happen in America! Damn-it! This is America!

No, wait, maybe it's not anymore.

The Last Lecture

2008-07-25T11:16:00.001-07:00

Even though the years pass, we always have ties to our alma mater. Randy Pausch arrived at Carnegie Mellon University just after I graduated. I never knew him, but many of my friends and mentors did.

My best friend and the fellow who gave me away at my wedding was sitting in one of the front rows. Indira Nair--the women who introduced Randy in the Last Lecture--was the head of my double-major department and a good friend and guide. Before he became ill, Randy worked with Jim Roberts, my beloved mentor who taught me to teach and so many other things besides. And when Randy left CMU, he moved his family to a town not a half hour from me where I go from time to time.

Randy Pausch, like many professors at Carnegie Mellon, was a brilliant man. From all accounts and from all I can see, he was the kind of professor the students most loved: smart, knowledgable, but also interesting and animated, a fun man to learn from because he loved to teach. Unlike many other professors who guided and molded us, Randy left behind a video, a book, and his fame.

Randy Pausch died today. He was 47.

If only we could all live our dreams like he lived his.

On Argument

2008-07-25T07:53:00.000-07:00

This summer I have been teaching argument to college students. We aren't really arguing about anything, but we are figuring out the structure of arguments. We discuss questions like:

Which is more important -- to be right or to win?
Is it OK to win if you aren't right?
Is argument always about convincing people to change their stance/position/thinking?
When an issue is 99 percent decided, who should your audience be?
Which is more important - content or form?

And the big one that many seem to always fall back on when discussing writing and what makes "good" writing: Can good writing exist without good grammar?

With all of this in mind, I want to share a few interesting links:

This cartoon initially illustrated the idea that you have to get in the last word -- if someone writes something on the internet and you disagree, you feel compelled to correct them. But there is also a wonderful discussion about word order in addition to the cartoon: http://158.130.17.5/~myl/languagelog/archives/005424.html

This article suggests text-messaging does not mean the next generation will not be able to communicate using the English language. It even suggests texting is normal (as in, we've been doing this forever) and can help language skills. http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2289211,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=10

Plus, there is a great discussion about what writing instruction should look like (both are talking about writing instruction at the college-level, but I don't think the ideas are exclusive to college-level writing instruction). It is a reaction to an op-ed published in the New York Times, which is linked too. My question to you is what did your writing instruction consist of? Was it read and discuss content or did you look at form too? I know on many of my writing lists, including the Writing Mother, the advice is always to "read like a writer" or to "read back issues to figure out what editors want." To me, this advice means paying attention to the form and the content. It tells you to ask: What kind of topics will this magazine publish and how should that finished article be put together?

And I wanted to point you to information about a big concern for Internet users: Net Neutrality. You can find more information at SavetheInternet.com. Now, it seems to me that this model being proposed by Internet providers (charging for premium access, etc.) is not new. (And it isn't for other services like cable/satellite TV. I am suggesting this isn't new for Internet access.) Isn't this what AOL used to do? I'm referring back to the early 90s when AOL was sending out their CDs to everyone and his brother while developing its own premium content for AOL-only users. This is why I referred to AOL as the "internet on training wheels" (although I did not come up with that description on my own, I no longer remember where I first heard/read it). If I am remembering right back when I first searched for an internet provider, I rejected AOL because it would limit where I could go on the internet. Now it seems more providers want to go back to that model. (Keep in mind I never was an AOL subscriber, and I am using my very old memory to recall this information).

And with full disclosure in mind, most of the links I am sharing here are ones I found at this blog: http://www.stevendkrause.com

Shoot!

2008-07-22T09:34:00.000-07:00

That's what I say whenever I cut off someone's head - in a photograph, silly - or overexpose, underexpose, blur or otherwise ruin what I hoped would be a great shot.

And then there are those times when, completely by accident, I take a breathtaking photograph. Either it is beautiful beyond compare, inherently funny, or provides a striking commentary on the world in which we live.

Okay, so I've never taken a photograph that provides striking commentary on the world in which we live, but it could happen.

What I would really like, though, is if I get those photographs intentionally at least 80% of the time. That's why I am taking Jodie Coston's Free Online Photography Course at Morguefile.

Heather is taking it too! She took the photos for her first book, Rookie Reiner, by the way. If you're looking for a book contract, you might want to brush up on your photography skills as well, so why not join us?

Heather has the results of the first assignment posted on her blog. I've got assignments 1 & 2 posted over at my blog.

And if you'd like to join us, I make a blogroll over at my blog, so we can see and comment on each others photographs. (I don't think I'll learn as much without constructive criticism and positive reinforcement, which is why I'm ~~pushing~~ promoting this course. ;)

You can also post your results at the Morguefile forum. (Don't post pics directly to the forum unless you mean to release them for use by others.)

What you need to know about the course:

It is open start/end. i.e. You can start when you want, take as much or as little time as you would like, and finish whenever you're done.

You don't have to sign up to read the lessons. You will need to login to post to the forums though, if you want to do that.

It costs nothing. It's free. It's just there on the Internet for whomever wants it. (Thanks Jodie.)

You can use any camera, although some of the assignments will be more difficult if you don't have manual controls. But don't run out and buy a new camera just to take the course (unless you wanted to anyway). Read this great article by Ken Rockwell about how cameras don't take pictures, photographers do.

Did I forget anything? What else do you need to know?

Charting Your Progress

2008-07-20T12:18:00.000-07:00

There is a white board that sits next to my desk, on it I catalogue my book progress. I'm a very visual person, so I know that I need this kind of motivation. Note the goal of "75K", "Sleep!", and of course "Beer!"

Every time I shut down for the night, I'd write down my word count. Sometimes I'd hide the word count by placing something in front of the lower left hand corner of my screen so that I wouldn't be tempted to look. Because you can bet that every time I paused to think of the right word or phrasing... my eyes would shoot down the left to see how I was doing.

Do you use any incentives or visual signs of progress during a big project?

Book Review: Bird by Bird

2008-07-19T18:43:00.000-07:00

Right after I finished and submitted my manuscript last week I surfed by Joshilyn's web site where she mentioned Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. I'd been a little flustered, not sure what to do now that I was done writing that book... and I immediately glommed on to the fact that I Had To Read That Book Now.

I had it around somewhere... but I couldn't find it. I went to two bookstores (including a used one) and couldn't find it. Everyone was looking for "mommy's bird book". It was finally located in the kitchen bookshelf (every room has a bookshelf!) and I dove in.

I loved it like the first time I read it.

I offer you this great review by Karen L. Alaniz.

Laptop Living

2008-07-19T09:21:00.000-07:00

In January 2006, I purchased my first laptop; I was finally liberated from my desk. I could take my computer wherever I went (and I do), and I could sit in the living room with my family while still working rather than being closed off in my office. I loved it.

And then summer came, and I was wearing shorts, and I have to say the bottom of this little laptop gets HOT. Plus it made unsightly little laptop feet marks on my lap. Laptops it seems are not really lap-top friendly. Plus I don’t tend to sit very well when I use my laptop. I sit crooked, so the laptop sits crookedly on my lap. This is probably not good for the laptop.

Plus, when you work in the living room, sometimes you tend to leave your laptop perched on the side of the couch with a cord stretched across an area that is hardly ever used for a walking path BUT is a magnet as soon as you leave your laptop perched. This is what caused the first initial crack in my old laptop that eventually led to its temporary and finally permanent replacement.

So, I have been looking at ways to fix this summer-time problem and hopefully extend the life of my current laptop. I finally purchased a laptop table with a split-top. Part of the top tilts to make it easy to type while the other side remains flat for a mouse and/or books. The picture on the box shows a drink there, but I don’t think so. It basically looks like a shorter-version of a hospital table.

It seemed perfect. Except most of my living room furniture is not meant to work with a laptop table. The living room furniture doesn’t have the space underneath it to allow the table to slide under it. And the table has to be able to slide under it in order to get it the right distance away to work. I’ve found a couple of options, and I really like it when I decide to work in my bedroom while perched on my bed. My lap doesn’t overheat, and I don’t get those little feet marks in my legs anymore.

Now I just need to get something that will make it easier to see my screen when I want to work outside in the sun. Maybe next summer.

The laptop table I bought sort of looks like this one, but there are others you can find too. The Lap Dawg looks interesting. And I like this one from Ikea too.

If you are interested in buying a laptop table, I recommend paying attention to how it will fit with your furniture (will the legs slide under the furniture easily?) and how the height adjusts. On the table I bought, the table tilts very easily, but to adjust the height, I have to unscrew two handles almost completely. It would have been nice if the set up was similar to the way the table tilts (I just need to pull, adjust, and put back in place).

Remembering to breathe (occassionally)

2008-07-14T05:02:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, just sometimes, you spend three weeks doing nothing. You can spend hours researching posts, days, writing and painting wonderful sketches for sites.
And then....like my article on 'feast and famine' (though, what I was referring to was building a buffer for the leaner times), things get madcap.
In the last four weeks, things got madcap for me.
I'm STILL designing the new theme for this place, which is a giggle and a half. I love doing themes, but I'm not overly fond of writing the documentation for them, and whilst I'm doing this theme, I'm also doing the docs for someone that decided that they needed them, after I designed thier theme :)
Most of all though, I'm working through documenting stories too. Following the 30 day manuscript book, I've finished adapting the worksheets to what I need (and they aren't - really - that different from the book) and I'm about to dive headlong into my third and fourth outline. And THEN I get to go back and clean up the first two, do five and six, redo three and four, etc. :) I've got 54 books to get through, so I'm thinking that this is going to be refined in about 10 books, and go so much faster after that.
And yes, I said 54. I'm always getting more ideas than I can use, so once I've sifted them, I might file some of them - though I totally love all of my ideas, I get the feeling some of my outlines - and some of my novel ideas are complete busts. And to find that out, I'll need to outline first ;)
And I've got the whole summer to work it out.
I just have to remember to breathe occassionally. :)

Writing Your Book Proposal - Part 3 (of 3)

2008-07-12T10:35:00.000-07:00

Ok, if you've followed along with part 1 and part 2 then you're ready for part 3.

1. Title Page
a. Name, sub-head
b. Your name, any representation (like your agent)
c. “A Non-Fiction Book Proposal”

2. Proposal Table of Contents
a. Note: not the book’s table of contents, but the proposal’s

3. Overview
a. This is a one page summary of the book and may include: Statistics; Possible or confirmed interview subjects; Some structure (i.e., Each chapter will include sidebars that highlight the most important take-away points for readers to remember…)

4. About the Author
a. Written in third person
b. Reads like the back flap of a book cover
c. About the Author (used in Rookie Reiner):

Heather Cook spent several years working in the reining industry as an assistant trainer, traveling as far as Austria to one of the country’s premiere facilities to teach reining and horsemanship lessons. She has worked for several notable trainers, including World Champions Bob and Jason Grimshaw. Currently Cook is an editorial team member with Canada’s number one western horse magazine, The Western Horse Review, a monthly columnist for The Quarter Horse News, has been published several times in The Reiner, the official publication of the National Reining Horse Association, and is an international reining correspondent for PhelpsSports.com. Using a humorous and conversational writing style, Cook has written about every aspect of the reining horse industry. She has covered recent rule changes and their effect on the industry, profiled top professionals, written training articles and spoken with hundreds of reining horse enthusiasts from the first time rider to the highest money earning rider of all time.

5. Target Audience
a. Write as much as you know about your audience
b. Stats from StatsCan
c. Research studies
d. Angus Reid Polls

6. Comparable titles
a. Include: title, author, publisher, format, page count, price
b. Two sentence summary about the book
c. Two sentence summary about how your book is different (and presumably better)

7. Marketing and Promotion
a. “The author is committed to promoting and has investigated the following:
i. Web site (including regular newsletter/promotion)
ii. Events you can attend
iii. Advertising in specific publications or sponsorship for events

8. Format and schedule for delivery
a. How many words?
b. How many photos, graphics and charts?
c. Full-colour or black and white?
d. When can you complete the manuscript?

9. Companion books
a. Pitch more books in the same line, propose a series or smaller supplementary books

10. Chapter Outline
a. All chapters should include number, title and a short description
b. You can use bullet points (no more than five) or a five sentence paragraph.

11. Sample Chapters!
a. Up to three
b. Normally it would be the first three chapters but can be any three if you already have some portions written, but be ready to answer the question “why didn’t you give us the first chapter?”
c. You will calculate the book length (from #8) by multiplying the number of chapters by the word count in one chapter. For example, a 50,000 word book with ten chapters should be 5,000 words per chapter.
d. If the math doesn’t work out, make a note that this chapter is slightly longer because…
e. You can include some formatting such as text boxes or “call outs”. No graphics, however note where a graphic might be include with

So that's about it! Now get to work!

Blog Stop Book Review: The Bunko Babes

2008-07-11T18:39:00.000-07:00

Blog Stop Book Tours helps authors promote their books by giving bloggers books to review. (If you have a blog and you like free books, you might want to check this out.)

I have the privilege of reviewing The Bunko Babes, by Leah Starr Baker. (See an interview with the author at BlogStop’s main site.)

The Bunko Babes is a departure from my usual reading diet of suspense and humor (but it has a bit of both). It reads like a journal, written entirely in present tense (which would have been annoying if the author hadn’t been completely consistent). The main character, Becca Thornton, is an upbeat (if somewhat shallow and sheltered) woman with twin children, a rock-steady husband, and a fun group of girlfriends – the Bunko Babes - who gather weekly to play Bunko in each other’s homes. Several of the friendships go back years - the characters’ problems and proclivities are paraded out at that night’s Bunko game.

During the game, Becca gets a call from her widowed mother who tells her she is getting remarried. Becca’s reaction to the news sets up one of the major conflicts that both reveal her character and give her plenty of room for growth.

Later in the story, Becca discovers an even more serious crisis she must endure. After months of odd aches and pains and a general fatigue, she's diagnosed with systemic lupus. In some passages, Becca’s symptoms were shown so vividly I felt uncomfortable reading them. Which is great. What wasn’t so great is that when Becca talks to friends and family about the disease, her dialogue reads like a brochure.

I had other problems with the book that sometimes kept me from engaging fully. For one, it wasn’t clear to me whether the author intentionally gave Becca the unlikeable characteristics of an unthankful, judgmental and self-centered child. And my two favorite characters – the mother’s new fiancé and Becca’s friend Mercedes – weren’t given nearly enough attention in my opinion. Alternatively, there was a park ranger and his wife who were described in detail but never seemed to play any real part in the novel.

Despite these things, I found myself wondering what would happen next. In a way, it was like reading letters from an acquaintance. Many of the situations seemed to be drawn from the author’s own life and her personal struggle with lupus.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from The Bunko Babes, and after reading it, I’m still not sure what I got. It was refreshing to read a book with Christian characters triumphing in very realistic circumstances. And throughout the novel, Becca has moments when she not only realizes that she was wrong, but understands how to begin to make the changes in her thinking. The Bunko Babes shows her subtle but relentless growth as a person and as a Christian, moving from being self-centered to truly interested in the happiness and well-being of others. Her friends and her family gather around her for support throughout the book, but only towards the end of the story does she seem to really realize what they bring to her life – despite her repeated assurances to the contrary. It isn’t until the end of the book that she really cares about their happiness and well-being.

The Bunko Babes was an interesting look into the growth of a woman’s character from leading a sheltered existence to being a woman with the strength to stand up under hardship and get outside of herself to care about others. It didn’t grip me from the first few pages, but it grew on me.

I'll be post-feminist in a post-patriarchy, part 2

2008-07-10T06:35:00.001-07:00

I was reading Broadsheet this morning, Salon's women's issues blog and came upon this gem of an editorial called Gender stereotypes hurt men too. I am pondering whether to send it to my husband or not. DH ("dear husband" for those not familiar with the term) is a wonderful mix of contradictions as far as women are concerned.

DH is a Chief in the Navy--that's a high ranking enlisted person, but not an officer--and when he went through the induction, he had to choose a sponsor. He chose his woman supervisor. He admires her terribly. For her part, she is both girly and a very, very tough, no nonsense Chief who is the Navy's literal #1 at what she does. His closest cronies are other women chiefs. His wife (me) is one of those tough, competent women, too. It's like magnetism, he's both drawn to and repelled by strong women in ways that neither he nor I understand.

Yet right now, he is waiting for his mentor to retire and he chafes under her running of the department. He describes it as being "under her thumb" and the expression on his face when he says that is of a little boy whose mother has told him not to do something he wants to do. He's a very stubborn man, but it irks me that he reacts so instinctively as if the woman in character is the mother/bitch. He's be chafing if he was in the same situation with a male leader, but the psychologial dynamic is really, REALLY different as I have observed in the past.

This is just one example of this kind of unconscious bias I find in my own, admittedly, quite evolved husband. There are others examples as well, some of them closer to home. It irks me. It's kind of like prefacing anti-semetic remarks with, "I have Jewish friends..."

The recent primary season has really affected me. I've seen the way Hillary was treated and I don't like it. A lot of the grassroots nastiness would not have happened to a man, even a man that is hated as much as some people hate Hillary. There were people who hated George W Bush that much in the last election and you didn't see nutcrackers in the airport. No one has asked Obama to pick some cotton--that would be offensive and racist. But it's okay to talk about Hillary as a ball-buster, an all too powerful image of the woman in charge, or to imply that she ought to be home ironing and housekeeping--that's humor.

Somewhere along the line, I realized that we are NOT living in a post-patriarchy like I thought we were. As many opportunities as women have now, we are living in a society where sexism is knitted into the fabric, and it's A-OK with a whole lot of the people! And I am just not A-OK with that. It jabs me on a very fundamental level. I am not sure that as a society, we have moved as far past sex as we have past race--and we haven't moved very damned far past race! It's hard to hope with Obama when you're watching even the main stream media grind Hillary for having--gasp--boobs and showing them under a relatively conservative neckline. And so, much as it chafes, and much as I can't figure out where I belong, I find that I have become a feminist.

I'm hoping, someday, my husband becomes one, too.

In the News: Copyright Office Goes Online

2008-07-09T21:22:00.001-07:00

About twenty years after the rest of us...

You can now submit copyright applications online. Previous to this, you had to submit applications on paper. The new system is called eCO. It's also $10 cheaper. Looks like I might finally gather together my corpus of work and file an application...

Journalism Raw

2008-07-08T11:41:00.000-07:00

(this was originally posted to The Writing Mother mailing list)

There's a lot of contention over these pictures: whether they should have been taken, whether they should have been published. They are NOT for the faint of heart. The worst of the pictures are on the second page.

Zoriah's Pictures of a Suicide Bombing in Anbar Province, Iraq

I'm on the fence about this. Is a picture of a dead marine with his brains hanging out (yes, the pics are graphic) disrespectful? Or it is an unsanitized view of exactly what we're asking of our young volunteer military (I'm a milspouse of some 14 years)? Are we demanding the sanitizing of war to the detriment of accepting responsibility for actions perpetrated in our name?

And key in this consideration is the fact that this particular event is not something the US did. This is the indiscriminate violence and hatred we're fighting against. These suicide bombers didn't just kill our Marines, they killed bunches of innocents, old men and children. yet the idea of using images like this to stir up support for what the US is doing in Iraq is unthinkable and awful.

What do you think? Whether you are for or against the war aside, do you think these pictures should have been published? Including or excluding the ones of the mangled Marines? Is this something the American people should be made to see? What are our responsibilities as journalists?

Hard questions.

Are there any good answers?

Writing Your Book Proposal - Part 2 (of 3)

2008-07-06T08:18:00.000-07:00

Tips Before you Begin

Know your topic inside and out. Know what you know and know what you don’t know. For example, with my environmental book there was a lot I didn’t know, but the reader didn’t know either and I knew which questions to ask and where I needed to do my research. Have three different versions, the 2 sentence version, the one paragraph version and the one page synopsis. And, structure your book. Write point by point every item you can think about that will go into your book. Write what you don’t know, write what you do. These are the bones for your proposal.

Know who is going to read your book. Try to narrow it down. If it’s parenting then what type of parent are you targeting? Saying “anyone with children” isn’t enough. You are the only one responsible for convincing the agent or acquisitions editor that there ARE readers out there for this book.

Get connected. If you are writing for any type of niche industry (which is one of the best ways to get published: writing in a niche) then how are you involved in that industry?

Platform – the catch all word for “I know there are readers out there”. If there are readers out there for your book, what are you doing right now to talk to those readers before the book is written? If this book is for them then you need to know what they want by “living amongst the gorillas”. And know without a shadow of a doubt that YOU are the writer for THIS book. If you have doubts that you are the writer, examine what credentials you think you should have and either compensate or go out and get them.

Read books you’ll compete against. Get as much data on them as you can, read Amazon reviews for other points of view or weak areas that the competition might be showing.

Exercise:

Write your book proposal idea down into two sentences.

Writing Your Book Proposal - Part 1 (of 3)

2008-07-06T08:10:00.000-07:00

Recently I gave a talk on writing book proposals and I thought I'd share some of the info here for all you future authors wondering where to start.

From Book Proposals That Sell by Terry Whalin: “According to a survey from the Jenkins Group Inc … 81% of Americans feel they should write a book …” and yet, only 2% of the population has ever actually written a manuscript, let alone gotten it published.

Writing fiction and non fiction is very different. At least it is for me. In fiction I feel like I can experiment, start from the middle, work my way through the story. But with non-fiction there is a lot more structure. It needs to be logical, it needs to have a straight forward plot.

Writing from word 1 through to word 50,001 may not work. You need to build a framework and then fill it in so you can be sure not to miss portions of the book or run into structuring issues.
Some things to think about AFTER the lightening strike IDEA and before you start the proposal.

To flesh out the idea before you put it on paper:

Readers very selfish, “what’s in this for me”. Publishers are also selfish, “what’s in it for me and will my customers (readers) like it.” The big question your proposal needs to answer, “will it sell”?

Why publishers like book proposals:

You are looking for a publisher to make an investment so this is almost like asking a bank to finance a project, except you are assuming no financial risk. $50,000 per book. Sales projections are calculated so that the publisher can factor costs right down to the amount of ink needed to create the book.
A proposal is a snapshot of the project as a whole and are used to take the book through the approval process from editorial, planning, concept, marketing meetings. All decisions are done by committee.
Proposals show how well the author knows her subject and that she has recognized that the publisher needs to examine many different aspects of the project

Stay tuned tomorrow for some more...