The final count for the story was 4,827 words. Took several rounds of editing, but I just emailed it. Twice, actually. The first time I didn't put in some information that Paula B. might find handy, like the title of the story...
But it's done. I can work on a second one but right now it's time for a break, I think.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
The Writing Show Contest Update 7
Ah, lucky update number seven. My wife had gone through the draft again, more edits and cuts were made, and it was still over the limit. I went back through and cut another four hundred words. The current word count is now 4,826!
I'm printing it out now for another run through and then if it's deemed "done enough" I'll convert it to PDF and send the entry.
It's hard to edit a story. My wife is far better with the grammar and punctuation thing, but when it comes to cutting and rearranging, to changing words...that is hard in a different way. In my head I have a better idea of what I meant. On paper, it comes out different. Then with a word limit, you end up making cuts to details and information that seems to subtly change the story in ways you prefer not to change it, but at the same time you need to fit the requirements of your audience.
In the end the story isn't quite as "good" as you'd like it to be in some ways. But that comes with the territory I suppose. I know I was cutting words out with descriptions and dialog that I thought helped show some of the characters personalities and better illustrate to the reader what the environment and characters looked like.
So I tell myself that if I suddenly become very rich and famous, I can rewrite the story as a "director's cut". I know very well that in truth I'll probably never touch the story again, but this achieves the short term goal.
Hopefully this means that this weekend my entry will be ready to email to Paula B.!
I'm printing it out now for another run through and then if it's deemed "done enough" I'll convert it to PDF and send the entry.
It's hard to edit a story. My wife is far better with the grammar and punctuation thing, but when it comes to cutting and rearranging, to changing words...that is hard in a different way. In my head I have a better idea of what I meant. On paper, it comes out different. Then with a word limit, you end up making cuts to details and information that seems to subtly change the story in ways you prefer not to change it, but at the same time you need to fit the requirements of your audience.
In the end the story isn't quite as "good" as you'd like it to be in some ways. But that comes with the territory I suppose. I know I was cutting words out with descriptions and dialog that I thought helped show some of the characters personalities and better illustrate to the reader what the environment and characters looked like.
So I tell myself that if I suddenly become very rich and famous, I can rewrite the story as a "director's cut". I know very well that in truth I'll probably never touch the story again, but this achieves the short term goal.
Hopefully this means that this weekend my entry will be ready to email to Paula B.!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
The Writing Show Contest Update 6
My wife had a few edits that she wrote in and gave to me last night; today I made a couple changes and re-printed the story for her to look at again. She said this time she's going to help with trimming things and look at the second half for grammar mistakes.
I'm hoping to have something to turn in soon. The ending was a bit cliche, she said, and I agreed. Mainly because I had other things in mind and found out that the things I had in mind would go way over the 5000 word limit so I ended up putting in a cheap ending that feels rushed.
But like I said...I was aiming at trying to enter, not necessarily expecting to win.
I'm hoping to have something to turn in soon. The ending was a bit cliche, she said, and I agreed. Mainly because I had other things in mind and found out that the things I had in mind would go way over the 5000 word limit so I ended up putting in a cheap ending that feels rushed.
But like I said...I was aiming at trying to enter, not necessarily expecting to win.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Hesselbeck Sued for Copyright Infringement
Elisabeth Hasselbeck is being sued for stealing a book idea. I found the stories here and here.
I personally think Hasselbeck's an idiot. I've consistently found that her views are illogical, naive, unreasonable and/or little more than the same rhetoric spouted by the likes of Rush Limbaugh. But is there merit in this case?
Without actually seeing the work I don't know. Supposedly author Susan Hassett had sent Hasselbeck a copy of her self-published book "Living With Celiac Disease" and Mrs. Hasselbeck copied it word for word in her own book "The G-Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide".
If she did indeed copy it "word for word" then I'd think there's not much to save her; it's a pretty clear cut case of infringement. If Ms. Hassett is lying about that, then I suppose she has found a great way to promote her own self-published book...go ahead and google her name. apparently alleging that a moron celebrity has wronged you will pop you up in the Google rankings faster than an eel moving on a slip-n-slide downhill. If nothing else she found a great way to advertise.
I tried looking on Hassett's website at the table of contents for her book and the contents weren't quite "word for word", and personally I think that when you're dealing with a topic like Celiac there probably will be a lot of overlap in material. Unless there truly are passages that are copied between the two books I'm wondering if this is more a case of publicity seeking.
EDIT: A popular author's website, Writer Beware Blogs!, has a piece on the lawsuit. Sounds like it takes a stronger stance on the side I came down on...in other words, WBB says Hassett is being an idiot.
I personally think Hasselbeck's an idiot. I've consistently found that her views are illogical, naive, unreasonable and/or little more than the same rhetoric spouted by the likes of Rush Limbaugh. But is there merit in this case?
Without actually seeing the work I don't know. Supposedly author Susan Hassett had sent Hasselbeck a copy of her self-published book "Living With Celiac Disease" and Mrs. Hasselbeck copied it word for word in her own book "The G-Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide".
If she did indeed copy it "word for word" then I'd think there's not much to save her; it's a pretty clear cut case of infringement. If Ms. Hassett is lying about that, then I suppose she has found a great way to promote her own self-published book...go ahead and google her name. apparently alleging that a moron celebrity has wronged you will pop you up in the Google rankings faster than an eel moving on a slip-n-slide downhill. If nothing else she found a great way to advertise.
I tried looking on Hassett's website at the table of contents for her book and the contents weren't quite "word for word", and personally I think that when you're dealing with a topic like Celiac there probably will be a lot of overlap in material. Unless there truly are passages that are copied between the two books I'm wondering if this is more a case of publicity seeking.
EDIT: A popular author's website, Writer Beware Blogs!, has a piece on the lawsuit. Sounds like it takes a stronger stance on the side I came down on...in other words, WBB says Hassett is being an idiot.
Monday, June 22, 2009
The Writing Show Contest Update 5
Well, it's Monday night.
I originally said I'd be aiming to have an entry by Monday; I said this on Thursday.
After I posted it online I realized that the 5000 word limit on the short story came to about 20 pages of text. There's no way I could do that in only five days' work; you're not an author, this isn't your full time job.
I don't have an entry ready for submission. I do have one ready for editing, though. The word count when all was done was about ten words shy of 6,000 words.
I am rather dissatisfied with it too. I felt that as the ending (and my self imposed deadline) loomed I had taken the quick way out and the ending seemed too tacked on, too much like something you'd expect from a young adult story.
There was more I wanted to do with it, but if I realized those ideas it would probably end up being 10,000 words or more, easily. And this was without editing. I don't know if the tone or voice was anything worth reading by someone else. I'm fully prepared to have my "first reader" come back to me telling me that it sucked.
Unfortunately it's my wife that will be reading it first, so chances are she won't come out and say how horrible it really is. But once it's trimmed by about a thousand words and any glaring errors are corrected I am hoping that it will be an entry. I also doubt I'll win, but my goal is to manage an entry. If I'm really lucky I'd have some feedback. I'm trying to face my fear of failure and criticism by entering this contest so I suppose that by redefining "winning" as even entering the thing...I'll reach that goal.
Right now I'm waiting for my wife to look at it and see what she can cut out and reword. Maybe there will be sections to redo, I don't know. But at any rate I'm hoping that I'll be able to export it to PDF and email it in to Paula B. at The Writing Show within a couple days.
I originally said I'd be aiming to have an entry by Monday; I said this on Thursday.
After I posted it online I realized that the 5000 word limit on the short story came to about 20 pages of text. There's no way I could do that in only five days' work; you're not an author, this isn't your full time job.
I don't have an entry ready for submission. I do have one ready for editing, though. The word count when all was done was about ten words shy of 6,000 words.
I am rather dissatisfied with it too. I felt that as the ending (and my self imposed deadline) loomed I had taken the quick way out and the ending seemed too tacked on, too much like something you'd expect from a young adult story.
There was more I wanted to do with it, but if I realized those ideas it would probably end up being 10,000 words or more, easily. And this was without editing. I don't know if the tone or voice was anything worth reading by someone else. I'm fully prepared to have my "first reader" come back to me telling me that it sucked.
Unfortunately it's my wife that will be reading it first, so chances are she won't come out and say how horrible it really is. But once it's trimmed by about a thousand words and any glaring errors are corrected I am hoping that it will be an entry. I also doubt I'll win, but my goal is to manage an entry. If I'm really lucky I'd have some feedback. I'm trying to face my fear of failure and criticism by entering this contest so I suppose that by redefining "winning" as even entering the thing...I'll reach that goal.
Right now I'm waiting for my wife to look at it and see what she can cut out and reword. Maybe there will be sections to redo, I don't know. But at any rate I'm hoping that I'll be able to export it to PDF and email it in to Paula B. at The Writing Show within a couple days.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
The Writing Show Contest Update 4
I worked a bit on the story again today. We actually spent some time at the park for a Father's Day picnic lunch, and while there I managed to add a few more words. I also worked on it while at my parents for a Father's Day dinner and a few more words when I could sneak them in.
Turns out I was wrong, it is very possible in spare time to fill in five thousand words over four days. I am currently at 4200 words. That isn't to say I'm keeping all those words, though. A lot of it will no doubt need to be trimmed. I just introduced the conflict in the story and next will come a bit of the twist. Then it'll need some major heavy-handed editing.
At this rate I may not make it in time for my Monday-night deadline, but I might be somewhat close. So instead of submitting it by Monday I may need to send it Tuesday or even Wednesday (although my family is planning an outing to see Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen that night...).
So now it's nearly nineteen pages. It's slowly shaping up.
Turns out I was wrong, it is very possible in spare time to fill in five thousand words over four days. I am currently at 4200 words. That isn't to say I'm keeping all those words, though. A lot of it will no doubt need to be trimmed. I just introduced the conflict in the story and next will come a bit of the twist. Then it'll need some major heavy-handed editing.
At this rate I may not make it in time for my Monday-night deadline, but I might be somewhat close. So instead of submitting it by Monday I may need to send it Tuesday or even Wednesday (although my family is planning an outing to see Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen that night...).
So now it's nearly nineteen pages. It's slowly shaping up.
The Writing Show Contest Update 3
I managed to work on the story some more yesterday; an hour or so at home, a couple hours in the coffee shop at a Barnes and Noble. The page count came to 12 pages now...2400 words so far.
Again I'm worried because it's just getting into the story; everything else has been leading up to it, background and such. I don't know how much material of that nature is acceptable but I'm pretty sure that in a short story, that's a bit much. I'm hoping to trim it down after the fact. I'm really really hoping that maybe my wife would be willing to help with suggestions and editing since she would see it from the perspective of a reader while I'm seeing it from the perspective of, "Damn, this isn't how I pictured it..."
I'd spend the next three weeks trying to make it much better and still not have something I'd be comfortable turning in for the contest. Ugh.
Have I mentioned how crazy it is to work in a coffee shop? For some reason it was really full while we were there. Probably because of the rain. I was still surprised though given the number of studies that are more and more often painting the picture wherein Americans are basically illiterate hicks that can't tell the difference between reality shows and actual reality.
While sitting there I think I was privy to no fewer than three cell phone conversations. I enjoy it though. I make sure that people know I'm enjoying listening to their discussions. It makes me feel more like a participant in the world. I figure if they didn't want more participation from strangers, they'd take the conversation somewhere more private. Some of the looks I got, though, puzzled me, since this seems to make perfect sense to me but their glares say otherwise.
Anyway I hope to get into the meat of the story today. Wish me luck!
Again I'm worried because it's just getting into the story; everything else has been leading up to it, background and such. I don't know how much material of that nature is acceptable but I'm pretty sure that in a short story, that's a bit much. I'm hoping to trim it down after the fact. I'm really really hoping that maybe my wife would be willing to help with suggestions and editing since she would see it from the perspective of a reader while I'm seeing it from the perspective of, "Damn, this isn't how I pictured it..."
I'd spend the next three weeks trying to make it much better and still not have something I'd be comfortable turning in for the contest. Ugh.
Have I mentioned how crazy it is to work in a coffee shop? For some reason it was really full while we were there. Probably because of the rain. I was still surprised though given the number of studies that are more and more often painting the picture wherein Americans are basically illiterate hicks that can't tell the difference between reality shows and actual reality.
While sitting there I think I was privy to no fewer than three cell phone conversations. I enjoy it though. I make sure that people know I'm enjoying listening to their discussions. It makes me feel more like a participant in the world. I figure if they didn't want more participation from strangers, they'd take the conversation somewhere more private. Some of the looks I got, though, puzzled me, since this seems to make perfect sense to me but their glares say otherwise.
Anyway I hope to get into the meat of the story today. Wish me luck!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
The Writing Show Contest Update 2
Last night I was out rather late, but I did put in another hour or so and go the potential story length up to four and a half pages.
The opening seems to be way too long before finding a hook...I'm hoping that as I add more material to it there will emerge a better "entry point", and I'll just trim off the material that rambles before it.
I think my "hooking" skills need polishing.
Um...maybe that's not the right way to phrase the sentiment...
The opening seems to be way too long before finding a hook...I'm hoping that as I add more material to it there will emerge a better "entry point", and I'll just trim off the material that rambles before it.
I think my "hooking" skills need polishing.
Um...maybe that's not the right way to phrase the sentiment...
Friday, June 19, 2009
The Writing Show Entry Update 1
Well, I said that I'd be trying to create an entry of some kind for the contest being held on The Writing Show's website for the Halloween holiday.
The story can be up to 5000 words...given the industry estimates of 250 words per page, that's a 20 page story. There's no way I could reasonably do that before Monday, but the goal is to write a story with a Halloween theme, not necessarily fill 20 pages just to fill 20 pages.
I spent some time last night at the keyboard trying to come up with a good start of a story. I spent a bit of time staring into space mulling over concepts, none of which seemed particularly scary and then having a few false starts before completing two pages of an opening.
My wife thought it could use some punching up. I don't disagree. But I figure I can worry about that later, if more of the story takes shape. I guess I can sit and polish the opening for days and not feel that it's good enough...but at some point I need to still actually have a story to edit.
So to that end I will worry about altering the opening later. I need to get some meat onto the skeleton now. Will I hit my goal of having a story ready by Monday? Maybe not. But I'm going to try...
The story can be up to 5000 words...given the industry estimates of 250 words per page, that's a 20 page story. There's no way I could reasonably do that before Monday, but the goal is to write a story with a Halloween theme, not necessarily fill 20 pages just to fill 20 pages.
I spent some time last night at the keyboard trying to come up with a good start of a story. I spent a bit of time staring into space mulling over concepts, none of which seemed particularly scary and then having a few false starts before completing two pages of an opening.
My wife thought it could use some punching up. I don't disagree. But I figure I can worry about that later, if more of the story takes shape. I guess I can sit and polish the opening for days and not feel that it's good enough...but at some point I need to still actually have a story to edit.
So to that end I will worry about altering the opening later. I need to get some meat onto the skeleton now. Will I hit my goal of having a story ready by Monday? Maybe not. But I'm going to try...
Thursday, June 18, 2009
A Self-Imposed Deadline: The Writing Show
I've been lazy. Sort of.
I have plenty of excuses here...I have a four year old. I ride a stationary bike for an hour a night. I don't often get home until 5:00.
We have a comfortable schedule where usually I expect to get home around five, get things put away and sit for a moment, take time to pay bills or catch up on mail, dinner is usually anywhere from six to seven thirty, ride bike for an hour after changing clothes, come up and then I have some "free" time. I sometimes fill in some of that with reading. I also spend time on the blog, of course, and we as a family run errands and get shopping done usually around the dinner time, shoving everything further up so it feels like there's not much time or energy to accomplish more. Go to bed at around ten or eleven, alarm goes off near six in the morning, repeat...the truth is that because of my need for routine, this "comfy" routine is difficult for me to break out of; my routine becomes my excuse to use as "I'm too busy to do XYZ."
Since the surgery I was promising myself to try one of two things to dedicate some time to. One is creating a program (I have a couple ideas of the type of application I want in mind) and in the process start studying a programming language. The other is writing a novel.
I spent many hours agonizing over the pros and cons of each and decided on working on the program. I have been trying to spend an hour here and there working on it, and it's slow going since I have to Google for information in order to get different bits of functionality to work. But so far I'm hitting several milestones for myself. It's taken forever, but hey, chipping away at it still counts as progress.
But I saw that contest that Paula B on The Writing Show is holding wherein you can submit a story with a Halloween theme and possibly win $75. It must be less than 5,000 words and just tell a good Halloween story. Well, actually, I heard of the contest as an announcement on her podcast. If you're a wanna-be author, check out the link above for information on the podcast, the contest, and various mentorship packages Paula offers.
I heard her talk of the contest and thought to myself that I should try entering. I even wrote a blog posting about it. Then Paula herself found the entry and left a comment on the blog, saying that so far entries have been slow to come in! Well...if they're not getting a huge turnout just yet...maybe that means I could have a better chance of scoring that $75!
So I'm pledging here to try getting an entry in by Monday. I'll even update the blog with progress on the story to try keeping it honest. I'm taking a big step here for me...I've had one item published in a local anthology from the EMWP Project, and that's it. It's probably enough to technically say I've been published but it's not something I've made money with.
Mur Lafferty, host of I Should Be Writing, has given some of the best advice for wanna-be fiction writers. "You're allowed to suck." This is a huge hurdle for me to even sit in the chair and type...fear. Fear of sucking. I have to keep telling myself that it's okay to suck. If it's rejected then it's rejected. At least I wrote something and tried, and maybe writing something will help improve my skills.
So that's what I'll do. A 5000 word story (well, less) by Monday for submitting to The Writing Show, not the suck part. Well the story may suck but I'm not aiming to make it suck. The story submissions are due by August 31st, and people may enter up to 2 stories, so I could theoretically write another one and try; especially if people are slow to enter the contest...it'll boost my chances of winning! So don't you people get any ideas!!
I have plenty of excuses here...I have a four year old. I ride a stationary bike for an hour a night. I don't often get home until 5:00.
We have a comfortable schedule where usually I expect to get home around five, get things put away and sit for a moment, take time to pay bills or catch up on mail, dinner is usually anywhere from six to seven thirty, ride bike for an hour after changing clothes, come up and then I have some "free" time. I sometimes fill in some of that with reading. I also spend time on the blog, of course, and we as a family run errands and get shopping done usually around the dinner time, shoving everything further up so it feels like there's not much time or energy to accomplish more. Go to bed at around ten or eleven, alarm goes off near six in the morning, repeat...the truth is that because of my need for routine, this "comfy" routine is difficult for me to break out of; my routine becomes my excuse to use as "I'm too busy to do XYZ."
Since the surgery I was promising myself to try one of two things to dedicate some time to. One is creating a program (I have a couple ideas of the type of application I want in mind) and in the process start studying a programming language. The other is writing a novel.
I spent many hours agonizing over the pros and cons of each and decided on working on the program. I have been trying to spend an hour here and there working on it, and it's slow going since I have to Google for information in order to get different bits of functionality to work. But so far I'm hitting several milestones for myself. It's taken forever, but hey, chipping away at it still counts as progress.
But I saw that contest that Paula B on The Writing Show is holding wherein you can submit a story with a Halloween theme and possibly win $75. It must be less than 5,000 words and just tell a good Halloween story. Well, actually, I heard of the contest as an announcement on her podcast. If you're a wanna-be author, check out the link above for information on the podcast, the contest, and various mentorship packages Paula offers.
I heard her talk of the contest and thought to myself that I should try entering. I even wrote a blog posting about it. Then Paula herself found the entry and left a comment on the blog, saying that so far entries have been slow to come in! Well...if they're not getting a huge turnout just yet...maybe that means I could have a better chance of scoring that $75!
So I'm pledging here to try getting an entry in by Monday. I'll even update the blog with progress on the story to try keeping it honest. I'm taking a big step here for me...I've had one item published in a local anthology from the EMWP Project, and that's it. It's probably enough to technically say I've been published but it's not something I've made money with.
Mur Lafferty, host of I Should Be Writing, has given some of the best advice for wanna-be fiction writers. "You're allowed to suck." This is a huge hurdle for me to even sit in the chair and type...fear. Fear of sucking. I have to keep telling myself that it's okay to suck. If it's rejected then it's rejected. At least I wrote something and tried, and maybe writing something will help improve my skills.
So that's what I'll do. A 5000 word story (well, less) by Monday for submitting to The Writing Show, not the suck part. Well the story may suck but I'm not aiming to make it suck. The story submissions are due by August 31st, and people may enter up to 2 stories, so I could theoretically write another one and try; especially if people are slow to enter the contest...it'll boost my chances of winning! So don't you people get any ideas!!
Monday, June 15, 2009
Lunacy and Ctrl+Alt+Delete
I just finished one book and am in the middle of another book that I thought I'd share.
The first one is Lunacy: The Best of the Cornell Lunatic. It is a large paperback filled with selections from, as the title suggests, the Cornell Lunatic, a student paper filled with satire and comics of various topics. The humor is a bit on the blue side at times so if you're more on the conservative side I'd recommend not bothering; if, on the other hand, reading an editorial by "Clark Kent" fighting rumors being spread in the media that a recent rise in breast cancer rates (especially in the Daily Planet building for some reason) are being caused by Superman's use of X-Ray vision makes you laugh like a crazed baboon then this book may just be worth checking out.
The second book is Ctrl+Alt+Del: Volume 1: This is a Great Idea. There's a great geek web comic called Ctrl+Alt+Del that chronicles the adventures of a computer gamer, Ethan, who is a total idiot, and his roommates and his wife (now). The first volume is a collection of the earliest comics of the series and was a nice revisit of his early adventures including the psychotic break he experienced when a certain video game sequel was released and how he met his gamer-girlfriend Lilah along with a few side bits commenting on new video games as they were released, such as some of the stupidities included with the programming logic of a certain Star Wars game. The whole King of Winter-een-mas arc during a heating failure in the apartment building was a nice setup for his later reign as the head of a video game religion (not covered in this book, though...I know about it from the online comic).
If you have any interest in geek comics, check out Ctrl+Alt+Del online. If you like humor on the risque side check out Lunacy. If you're not interested in either of them...well, thanks for reading anyway.
The first one is Lunacy: The Best of the Cornell Lunatic. It is a large paperback filled with selections from, as the title suggests, the Cornell Lunatic, a student paper filled with satire and comics of various topics. The humor is a bit on the blue side at times so if you're more on the conservative side I'd recommend not bothering; if, on the other hand, reading an editorial by "Clark Kent" fighting rumors being spread in the media that a recent rise in breast cancer rates (especially in the Daily Planet building for some reason) are being caused by Superman's use of X-Ray vision makes you laugh like a crazed baboon then this book may just be worth checking out.
The second book is Ctrl+Alt+Del: Volume 1: This is a Great Idea. There's a great geek web comic called Ctrl+Alt+Del that chronicles the adventures of a computer gamer, Ethan, who is a total idiot, and his roommates and his wife (now). The first volume is a collection of the earliest comics of the series and was a nice revisit of his early adventures including the psychotic break he experienced when a certain video game sequel was released and how he met his gamer-girlfriend Lilah along with a few side bits commenting on new video games as they were released, such as some of the stupidities included with the programming logic of a certain Star Wars game. The whole King of Winter-een-mas arc during a heating failure in the apartment building was a nice setup for his later reign as the head of a video game religion (not covered in this book, though...I know about it from the online comic).
If you have any interest in geek comics, check out Ctrl+Alt+Del online. If you like humor on the risque side check out Lunacy. If you're not interested in either of them...well, thanks for reading anyway.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Writing Contest on The Writing Show!
If you're an author or wanna-be author or just enjoy banging out short stories there is a contest for you to discover at The Writing Show's website. It's a Halloween short story contest. Details can be found from The Writing Show's news column on the index page. There's no fee to enter, the story must be 5000 words or less, and you can potentially win $75. What's there to lose other than your time?
I have often thought about trying my hand at writing and have found that it's a bit of a phobia of mine...confirmation of failure. I've written one short selection for a local writing group that was published in their anthology but all things considered I'm not sure it gave much more cred than the technical right to say I was published. I don't think I have a copy of it anymore, though; my fuzzy memory tells me I gifted it to my mother. It made her proud so it was worth it to me.
Anyway, check out the contest. The Writing Show is a podcast by Paula B. (who, like Mur Lafferty, is usually quite responsive to feedback from her listeners) one different aspects of the writing profession and has tips and hints and general information and interviews giving listeners information that spans multiple genres of books and writing styles. She also offers consultation services for editing and writing. More info is at the website.
I have often thought about trying my hand at writing and have found that it's a bit of a phobia of mine...confirmation of failure. I've written one short selection for a local writing group that was published in their anthology but all things considered I'm not sure it gave much more cred than the technical right to say I was published. I don't think I have a copy of it anymore, though; my fuzzy memory tells me I gifted it to my mother. It made her proud so it was worth it to me.
Anyway, check out the contest. The Writing Show is a podcast by Paula B. (who, like Mur Lafferty, is usually quite responsive to feedback from her listeners) one different aspects of the writing profession and has tips and hints and general information and interviews giving listeners information that spans multiple genres of books and writing styles. She also offers consultation services for editing and writing. More info is at the website.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Heaven Season Five: WAR!
One of my favorite podcast authors has released the fifth (and final?) book in her Heaven series: WAR! Mur Lafferty has started releasing her novel on Podiobooks.com as a free audiobook. I've listened to every one of her Heaven series wherein two friends, Daniel and Kate, die near the time of the "end of times" on Earth and discover that the afterlife is not at all as they thought it would be; they travel through various afterlife worlds including Heaven and Hell and the Norse Heaven and even Dog Heaven and Hobo Heaven. They embark on a journey where they end up gaining god-like powers...there is simply too much from four books to round up here.
If you have an MP3 player...an iPod...etc...I really recommend checking out the novels. They are all free but if you want to donate to the author the donations can be made at Podiobooks.com, and the percentage given to the author is much better than what they normally get through a publisher. Even registering and getting a podcast feed from Podiobooks is free. You've got nothing to lose and enjoyment to gain!
Mur is one of my favorite podcast authors and is a well known personality in the podcasting world. She's also host of the podcast for wanna-be writers called I Should Be Writing. So next time you're plugged into your player while working out, trying to maintain your weight loss, consider adding Mur to your list of content to listen to!
If you have an MP3 player...an iPod...etc...I really recommend checking out the novels. They are all free but if you want to donate to the author the donations can be made at Podiobooks.com, and the percentage given to the author is much better than what they normally get through a publisher. Even registering and getting a podcast feed from Podiobooks is free. You've got nothing to lose and enjoyment to gain!
Mur is one of my favorite podcast authors and is a well known personality in the podcasting world. She's also host of the podcast for wanna-be writers called I Should Be Writing. So next time you're plugged into your player while working out, trying to maintain your weight loss, consider adding Mur to your list of content to listen to!
Monday, June 8, 2009
Book Review Followup: The Emotional First Aid Kit
I recently posted a review of the book The Emotional First Aid Kit by Cynthia L. Alexander. I noted that there wasn't any mention of addiction transfer and mused about emailing the author.
I managed to track her down (thanks, Kosmix.com!) and emailed her a note asking if another edition was in the works. She replied in part with the following:
Thank you so much for the feedback about the book, so glad to hear it is helpful to you. Interesting you should ask about this because we are coming out with a 2nd edition this summer and it will discuss transfer of addiction.
The second edition is really the original book, plus a few new chapters.
There you have it! If you liked what you saw from the review and Amazon links, wait a couple months and look to see if the 2nd edition is out yet!
I managed to track her down (thanks, Kosmix.com!) and emailed her a note asking if another edition was in the works. She replied in part with the following:
Thank you so much for the feedback about the book, so glad to hear it is helpful to you. Interesting you should ask about this because we are coming out with a 2nd edition this summer and it will discuss transfer of addiction.
The second edition is really the original book, plus a few new chapters.
There you have it! If you liked what you saw from the review and Amazon links, wait a couple months and look to see if the 2nd edition is out yet!
Saturday, June 6, 2009
The Emotional First Aid Kit
I just finished the book The Emotional First + Aid Kit: A Practical Guide to Life After Bariatric Surgery by Cynthia L. Alexander, PsyD (Yes, the book has the plus sign, but Amazon lists it without...look at the cover shot from the link!)
It's a great guide for people who are considering bariatric surgery or are nearing the time for their surgery. It isn't anything I'd consider breakthrough; it's more of a personal coach to reiterate what your surgeons and support group will tell you about the surgery and life changes that go hand in hand with the surgery. It has several small case studies and tips sprinkled in text boxes throughout and many large-print repeats of sound bytes for inspiration and memorization. The book also has several exercises to follow, such as writing a pros and cons grid if you're on the fence about having the surgery.
The book explores the decision to have surgery, self-talk about the surgery and your weight, a plan to handle yourself in different situations after the surgery such as family dinners, and beginning a consistent exercise program and how relationships can change post-operatively (or post-weight change). There are also chapters dealing with depression and how the patient and other people react to the weight loss, as well as handling relapses and how to affect a change in behaviors and habits, as those will help or hinder your weight loss and weight maintenance success (the book differentiates between weight loss and weight maintenance, as many people are successful at weight loss...they just go "off" their diet and regain the excess weight.
At approximately 163 pages the book is a relatively quick read and is a good refresher of the information that patients should have received, but may not have or may not have listened to, as they went through the process of having the surgery. I recommend it to anyone about to go through the process as there aren't too many guides like this out there tailored specifically to bariatric patients.
Edit: The book does not cover information on addiction transfer, a phenomena I recently blogged about; I am beginning to suspect that this area of study is only recently gaining attention as a phenomena for bariatric patients...but still the book does contain useful information for anyone undergoing the surgery. Perhaps someday an updated edition could be released...I wonder if I could contact the author and find out?
It's a great guide for people who are considering bariatric surgery or are nearing the time for their surgery. It isn't anything I'd consider breakthrough; it's more of a personal coach to reiterate what your surgeons and support group will tell you about the surgery and life changes that go hand in hand with the surgery. It has several small case studies and tips sprinkled in text boxes throughout and many large-print repeats of sound bytes for inspiration and memorization. The book also has several exercises to follow, such as writing a pros and cons grid if you're on the fence about having the surgery.
The book explores the decision to have surgery, self-talk about the surgery and your weight, a plan to handle yourself in different situations after the surgery such as family dinners, and beginning a consistent exercise program and how relationships can change post-operatively (or post-weight change). There are also chapters dealing with depression and how the patient and other people react to the weight loss, as well as handling relapses and how to affect a change in behaviors and habits, as those will help or hinder your weight loss and weight maintenance success (the book differentiates between weight loss and weight maintenance, as many people are successful at weight loss...they just go "off" their diet and regain the excess weight.
At approximately 163 pages the book is a relatively quick read and is a good refresher of the information that patients should have received, but may not have or may not have listened to, as they went through the process of having the surgery. I recommend it to anyone about to go through the process as there aren't too many guides like this out there tailored specifically to bariatric patients.
Edit: The book does not cover information on addiction transfer, a phenomena I recently blogged about; I am beginning to suspect that this area of study is only recently gaining attention as a phenomena for bariatric patients...but still the book does contain useful information for anyone undergoing the surgery. Perhaps someday an updated edition could be released...I wonder if I could contact the author and find out?
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