• Tarcher Top Artist: Drawing Competition: Although the deadline for the writing competition has passed, there’s still just over a month left to enter the drawing competition, based on Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. (Guess this is as good a reason as anything to get the book which has been on my to-buy list for a while now.)
• Etymology of First Names: I enjoy knowing where certain names come from; it helps me decide if a name has the right ring of appropriateness for a particular character. Plus the site has other interesting “name” type lists.
• Interview with Camilla D’Errico: I recently discovered D’Errico’s artwork and it mesmerized me.
• dotEPUB and EPUB Creator: A couple of tools for helping to make an EPUB file (sometimes out of a webpage).
• Month of Letters Challenge: Everyone loves to receive something other than bills or junk mail in the (snail)mailbox. Although the month is over, the spirit lives on. Send someone a letter. It might even help you become a better writer.
• Jerry Seinfeld’s Productivity Secret: The goal is to not break the chain. (h/t Ms. Bookish)

It’s not that I don’t enjoy writing this blog, it’s just that my mind jumps around quite a bit and sometimes I become so paralyzed by the possibilities that I don’t get around to writing at all (or I do and the result is…erratic). But I’ve been thinking about this blog and my hopes for it and realize it needs a tighter focus, but I still want it to incorporate all the things I enjoy: writing, reading, art.

With that thought bouncing around in my head, I decided I should sit down and sketch out a rough publishing schedule with planned topics. Part of the reason I didn’t do this sooner is because I had a strange notion that blogs (well, certain blogs under which my blog fell) should be spontaneous and shouldn’t be planned lest they become dull and uninspiring. What a silly notion that was. Because I now realize that this blog’s posts can be planned and still be inspiring and fun.

As it stands I’ve planned out a 7 day publishing schedule with a different area of focus for each day. One feature I’m particularly excited about is the (Short) Short Story Sunday where I plan to publish 5,000 (or fewer) word short stories based on story cubes or an inspiring picture. I also hope to open this up to other authors who may wish to participate. I figure it could be a fun writing exercise.

For now I’m happy with the proposed publishing schedule and I am praying it doesn’t become an exercise in futility.

So, I’ll just add my spare change: I’m a creative type. I write. I make art. Take photographs. Create software. I even make music. You know what else? I’ve also had my work pirated. In some cases I didn’t mind because, well, it was free advertising, but in a few instances, it stung for a minute until I brainstormed ways to (successfully) use it to my advantage.

But I’m veering too far off course. My point is, although I’m a creative, the type of person these bills are essentially designed to protect from piracy, I think it’s all a crock. These bills will do absolutely nothing to curb piracy or protect people like me and will do absolutely everything to stifle creativity and innovation.

Scenario: You write something that criticizes something else, using excerpts under Fair Use, but the person whose work you’re criticizing decides she doesn’t like it and calls foul. She then posts a link to a seedy pirate site on your site via comments (you know, so you look like a pirate supporter) and then all she’d need to do is send a letter to the ISPs and payment processors and advertisers (assuming you’re selling your books or have advertising on your site) to have them deny access to your site and cut all ties with you—due process be damned. If you’re not flush with money to fight it, you’re dead in the water.

Yes I believe something should be done about piracy, but SOPA/PIPA surely isn’t it.

Take a moment to learn up on the subject at AmericanCensorship.org and then call your congressperson.

• Drinking a mug of hot Ovaltine on a chilly evening
• Chewing fruit punch flavored Bubblicious gum
• Skipping rope in the backyard
• Hiding in my secret cubby under the stairs (which transported me, quite like the wardrobe in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, to a completely different realm)
• Watching episodes of Fraggle Rock while wearing my pajamas

As I look back over the list, I realize I’m not too old to do any of them (except the cubby thing…I’d need to find a space large enough for grown-up me). Maybe I should try them some time.

My first thought was, Has that always been there? Until I realized the giant site announcement: Announcing Goodreads Book Recommendations. (Answer: no, it hasn’t.)

Checking out the titles recommended for me, I’d say it’s fairly psychic so far because a few of the recommendations are books already on my want-list (or have read, enjoyed, but forgotten to add list). A nice touch is that whenever you hover over a book’s title, it gives you a little pop-out explaining what the book’s about and why it ended up on your recommendation list.

What concerns me, however, is that it ultimately won’t be as psychic as Netflix. And books do require more of a time investment than a movie or television show. Also it would have been nice if the new recommendation system offered a how much you’re likely to enjoy it star rating similar to Netflix.

Maybe in the future.

(Random thought: I figured Amazon would have been the first to jump on this, implementing their own Netflix-style recommendation system, but whatevs…I’m just glad someone is showing some initiative.)

So, it’s that time of year again…the time for all the aspiring authors to go out and purchase their appropriate Writer’s Market title which has all the goods on the people who might one day publish their work. That means it’s time to head over to Amazon.com (or your favorite online seller) to see what the guinea pigs who pre-ordered the books have to say about it before you shell out the cash.

And that’s exactly what I was doing when I came across an interesting trend: A flurry of 5-star reviews. One in particular made me lift an eyebrow and wonder, did she even read the book? A little bit of digging later, I’ve come to realize she was a shill.

(Update: After being called out in one of her reviews about her shill-iness, looks like Ms. Donahoe deleted all her reviews. Thank goodness I took a screen shot.)

It’s  possible that Ms. Donahoe spent over a hundred dollars purchasing each copy of the Writer’s Market books she reviewed, but something tells me she hasn’t. Maybe it’s the fact that she’s reviewed the Writer’s Market basic and deluxe editions–the exact same books, except one comes with an online subscription–plus every review was posted on the same day (today) with the exact same title and pretty much the exact same review (weighing in at less than a hundred words) with only slight variations.

And hers aren’t the only ones I’ve found, either. A few of the individual books have reviews published from people who’d never reviewed a single item prior…plus they weren’t listed as Amazon Verified Purchases and the reviews read like adverts. I know that people don’t always purchase directly from Amazon the items they review and I know that people have to start somewhere and that people like to gush when they love something, but coupled with the Donahoe flood above, I have to take those particular reviews with a giant grain of salt.

If this was, indeed, a ploy by Writer’s Digest (publisher of the Writer’s Market books) to game the system, then shame on them. I mean, really? It’s not like the books won’t sell (granted, for the past couple of years, the quality has been declining and the reviews have shown it, but still…).

I’ll just finish up with a public service announcement for anyone else thinking about purchasing a Writer’s Market book: before you assume that review is legit, check out the reviewer’s profile and review history…it also doesn’t hurt if the reviewer has the verified purchase tag.

The first book I attempted to make was one that didn’t require any stitching. (Frankly, the various Japanese stab binding methods looked tricky.) It was the Sketch, Jot, Journal which looked so adorable in the picture…

…and making it was a borderline disaster.  The hiccups were many and varied. I mean, who has a 46 1/4” length of scrap paper just lying around? No problem, glue a bunch of sheets together, which is all well and good until one of the glue seams ends up smack dab in the center of one of the pages, thus destroying the allure of the book.

As if that wasn’t enough, when I began flipping through my finished book, I was a little sad—the entire backside of that long piece of paper would go unused (read: wasted). I hadn’t thought about that when I decided to make the book.

But I was not to be deterred. Next, I tried a stitched book, so the front and back of each sheet could be used. Surprisingly, the second attempt was far more successful even though I thought the stab-binding techniques would be more difficult than good ol’ fashioned glue. It probably helped that I used one of the easier binding techniques requiring only three holes—a modification of the Recycle Bin Memo Pad. (Basically, I just made another Sketch, Jot, Journal book using the Recycle Bin Memo Pad instructions.)

One thing I can say about this new endeavor is that it’s rather eye-opening. After these two attempts, I realize there is nothing to fear from bookbinding. Depending on what you’re hoping to do, it’s actually rather simple. I now look at handmade journals much differently (and with more reverence), and I also feel confident enough to make my own in a pinch should the day every come when I’ve used up all of my journals (highly unlikely).

For now, I’ll simply use all that extra paper I have lying around (and I do have lots of extra paper) and create a variety of handmade books in which to write original short stories or novellas. I might even give some of the handmade journals away. (As if I really needed yet another creative outlet.)

About halfway through my swim (through the festering pool of self-pity), I realized that I’d packed on more pounds than my delusional self would care to admit and as part of the forward moving plan, I’m juice fasting. Sort of.

The plan is to gradually replace my solid meals with vegi-juice blends and then juice fast (i.e. no solid foods) for 10 full days before gradually re-introducing solid foods into my diet. I’m hoping the process will reset my taste buds so the withdrawal symptoms from my sugary substance addiction won’t be so horrible.

About three quarters of the way through my swim, I realized that I’d made absolutely no progress on any of my writing projects. Oh no. That simply won’t do. So along with juice fasting for the next couple of weeks, I’ll be camping out in my closet with my favorite pen, notebook, and a flashlight…writing. I might emerge every once in a while to provide updates, but all other minutes will be spent writing.

In better news, I found some amazing inks! And technically they aren’t inks, but liquid acrylic. The first color is Daler & Rowney Pearlescent Birdwing Copper and Pearlescent Silver Moss. Plus I also found some black cotton paper. I’m so in love with these two colors and my paper that I can’t wait to use them for an art project. Maybe the art project will become my next Wordless Wednesday (which is woefully behind). Happy days are here again. I know it’s silly to get this excited about liquid acrylic and cotton paper, but I have so very little in my life, let me have this.

Thus ends the update.

Abandon, as defined by Dictionary.com, is “to leave completely and finally; forsake utterly; desert.”

My father and I have an altered relationship. We don’t speak daily, or weekly, or even bi-weekly. Months can drift by without hearing each others’ voices or speaking each others’ names. But right around the three month mark, one or the other picks up the phone.

This time it was my turn.

On father’s day, I found the name “Daddy” in my contact list and dialed. I expected my father’s deep and accented voice to answer, but instead I heard a keening tone followed by a robotic operator tell me the number was no longer in service.

Maybe he missed a bill, I thought.

Two days later, the same robotic operator answered.

I piled into the car for a two hour road trip. The house was a different color than I remembered with an unfamiliar car in the driveway. Strangers answered my daddy’s door and told me, “The previous owners are gone.”

Where? I wanted to ask, but knew they wouldn’t have the answer. All I could think was that my daddy slipped away, no phone call or good-bye.

My father may not be much, but he’s mine and he’s gone and it hurts.

When I pass those people on the street begging for spare change or bumming a ride, I wonder if they’re someone’s father, or daughter, or uncle, or cousin, and if that someone wonders where they are, reaching for them like a phantom limb that still itches.

The new cable modem arrived, I hooked it up, and contacted the cable company to activate my service. I did a little jig first, but it didn’t help. I still had no internet.

Two weeks and several phone calls later, it turns out that someone had cut the cable and stolen the box that was supposed to be attached to my home. Why the first guy who came out to “activate” the service didn’t catch this, I’ll never know. All that matters is that I finally have internet again.

It’s like having a limb reattached. While I don’t have an actual frame of reference, it’s like I imagine it would be: glad to have it back, but hazy because you aren’t quite sure what to do with it yet.

But while I was out of touch with the world, I’ve discovered much since I had to find other uses for my time. I don’t watch much television (think less than 30 minutes a day) and I can only read for so many hours before losing my mind, so my options were limited. In fact, most of the internet-less time was spent uncluttering my home.

And what a behemoth task that was (and still is because, truth be told, I’m not finished). One of the primary areas of contention? Books. Lots and lots and lots of books. I stopped counting at 300. I got rid of two boxes of them and I still have too many.

Plus notebooks and journals.

I’m a stationary freak with a journal fetish. So if the journal is pretty or the paper seems ideal for writing a particular story or novel, it will end up in my collection.

The sad part is that 90% of those journals and notebooks are empty. Not a single word written in them. (I haven’t gotten rid of any of those though because the emotional attachment is still too strong.)

Not to mention the pens and pencils. Twelve pencil boxes full. TWELVE. Probably more that I don’t even know about. I like to draw and all, but what human being needs that many pens, pencils, highlighters, and other writing tools? I’m so ashamed.

But, I’m hoping to turn over a new leaf…a brutally honest and practical leaf.

So, as I continue going through my books and stationary and writing implements, I’ve decided to start giving away that which I know I won’t use in this lifetime.

First up will probably be my Pilot Varsity Disposable Fountain Pens. I’ve tried to like them, but don’t. The line they produce is too thick for my liking and the nibs aren’t flexible enough (I like line variation). However, they’re good basic fountain pens that I’m sure would make someone else happy.

In the interest of full disclosure, these pens are used. All of them, except red, are 90%+ full. The red, however, is almost depleted. Not sure how because I haven’t actually used it, but it is what it is.

They’re free to the first person willing to pay the $5 shipping. Just send me an email.

I figure if this works out well enough, I’ll start giving away more free stuff on the blog.