tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-136390872024-03-27T02:36:01.538-04:00MuseInksPerseverance doesn't guarantee success, but nothing assures failure like quitting.Ami Hendricksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16113842141579251283noreply@blogger.comBlogger629125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13639087.post-89385047997049678432023-08-21T08:00:00.001-04:002023-08-21T08:00:00.145-04:00The MuseInks Interview with Ghostwriter Madison Fitzpatrick<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: #3d85c6; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: times; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm excited to introduce you all to <a href="https://madisonfitzpatrick.com/" target="_blank">Madison Fitzpatrick</a>, a ghostwriter with one goal: crafting clear messages about complex stuff. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: #3d85c6; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: times; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirtyhPNd9gpZ0xbvomlbcPSzHK6juCiTK-QHJ_jbwA5_zhx6NG-Si7N1ukKp97PlMSFYI8CCMURfgurBdiDUIegbrseNhR9TiSTxSyAOI-FYWxM_fIwQSJnmL1XyH7AUuWbyYZcKl1qb7G60PE2uuTI6s5rrQVIYQpnN8apV7qVSCGvB1O8lzQ_w/s1220/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-20%20at%205.08.11%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1220" data-original-width="816" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirtyhPNd9gpZ0xbvomlbcPSzHK6juCiTK-QHJ_jbwA5_zhx6NG-Si7N1ukKp97PlMSFYI8CCMURfgurBdiDUIegbrseNhR9TiSTxSyAOI-FYWxM_fIwQSJnmL1XyH7AUuWbyYZcKl1qb7G60PE2uuTI6s5rrQVIYQpnN8apV7qVSCGvB1O8lzQ_w/s320/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-20%20at%205.08.11%20PM.png" width="214" /></a></div> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: #3d85c6; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: times; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Madison loves wading into other people’s brains and sorting their tangled thoughts into flowing prose. Logic and structure are her jam (chalk it up to her engineering background), and so is the fine art of channeling other people’s voices (maybe thanks to her music-trained ear). </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: #3d85c6; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: times; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: #3d85c6; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: times; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">In this brave new world of “effortless” AI-generated content, she knows genuine human connection is the only thing that will transcend the noise, and building it takes originality and authenticity. Her mission is to help leaders, experts, coaches, innovators, and business owners find the words that make their audiences fall in love.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: #3d85c6; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: times; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: #3d85c6; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: times; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm grateful to Madison for taking the time to answer my questions about ghostwriting and about her views on publishing. </span></span><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: #38761d; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: times; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Ami: How long have you worked in the publishing industry? What are some of the positions you’ve held? </b><br /><br /><b>Madison:</b> I’ve been ghostwriting since 2019. At the time, I had been a freelance writer for a couple of years, doing mostly short-form content and copywriting. I had been helping my husband blog about his teaching experiences, and after a few months, we realized we had enough material to create a book. That book was my first ghostwriting project, and I enjoyed the process so much that I decided to look for more opportunities to do it.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">There's so much satisfaction in helping someone untangle their ideas and organize them into a cohesive narrative that other people can latch onto, which is exactly what I specialize in now.<br /><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Ami: What is your writing superpower? How did you discover it?<br /></b><br /><b>Madison:</b> I help people craft clear messages about complex stuff. I love to tackle a complicated, abstract idea and lay it out in concrete terms anyone can understand. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Part of this comes from my background in engineering, where logic, structure, and clarity are so important. I also did quite a bit of teaching in grad school, and I found that I had a knack for breaking down difficult concepts and explaining them in ways my students could grasp. My time as a management consultant strengthened those skills as well, both on the analytical side and the communication side. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Funnily enough, I have no formal training in writing, beyond my high school AP Literature class. That hasn't stopped me yet! <br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /><b>Ami: Tell me about some of your recent career successes.</b> <br /><br /><b>Madison:</b> By the end of this year, I'll have 10 published books under my belt, most of which were written in the last 2 years. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">What I've found particularly surprising and rewarding is that several of those authors are repeat clients. They have a lot to say, and once we've established trust and rapport on one book, they can't wait to work together on the next one. It makes sense--I get deeply embedded in how they think and speak, so the more we work together, the more effortless it becomes for both of us. That kind of thought partnership is what I love most about this work.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Ami: Do you have a particular genre or niche that you most enjoy working in? <br /><br />Madison:</b> In truth, my enjoyment comes more from the author relationship than from the content. I've always been a curious person, so I'm game to dive into any topic, and I can promise I'll have fun with it as long as the author is excited to share their message. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwlVbjUus96DwZxC8s6QIrw8vh-n9El-0J8oaeICJyeTx5YkYBPlIcNCiktSHMDe0P6Mol-Pe5FEZOMlQLwjk_Gj7Kt7mXoG0INUVFb9YMcVUKDBdL-fjQjfjm4hGx3ZHoFqzpxdtbdjZMt2i41uWMVcMqKD0m74BwLRH-ncWxGVUspL_O33yvBg/s1330/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-20%20at%205.15.09%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="862" data-original-width="1330" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwlVbjUus96DwZxC8s6QIrw8vh-n9El-0J8oaeICJyeTx5YkYBPlIcNCiktSHMDe0P6Mol-Pe5FEZOMlQLwjk_Gj7Kt7mXoG0INUVFb9YMcVUKDBdL-fjQjfjm4hGx3ZHoFqzpxdtbdjZMt2i41uWMVcMqKD0m74BwLRH-ncWxGVUspL_O33yvBg/s320/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-20%20at%205.15.09%20PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>In practice, I do a lot of writing on business-related topics, but I've also written about psychology, leadership, education, personal growth, and more. Then there are my personal interests, which include music, art, nature, science, travel... There's a very wide range of things I would enjoy writing about.<br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /><b>Ami: What are some of your favorite projects that you’ve worked on? What made them so special?</b><br /><br /><b>Madison: </b>One of my favorite projects was a book for entrepreneurs about how to manage the "people side" of their organizations as they scale up. The author was an executive coach who came to me with only a vague idea of what the book would be about, and we developed the manuscript over the course of a year. We started out by writing a weekly blog to get all the important ideas out on the table, then we pulled that material together into a more comprehensive book. <br /><br />The best part was that the author was looking for a true thought partner and was highly receptive to my questions and suggestions throughout the process. The raw material was his, but he allowed me to play a significant role in shaping it, which I thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /><b>Ami: In a perfect world, what will your writing career look like by this time in 2025?</b><br /><br /><b>Madison:</b> Of course, I fully intend to continue working one-on-one with authors to ghostwrite complete manuscripts. However, I also have plans to explore some one-to-many services, like group book coaching and online courses--anything that helps more people put their ideas out into the world in an impactful way. <br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /><b>Ami: What advice would you give to someone who is considering hiring a book coach or ghost?</b><br /><b><br />Madison:</b> Don't worry too much about whether they've written "bestsellers" or traditionally published books. What matters most is whether they make you feel understood, both in conversation and in their writing. If you can tell that they get you and your message, you have a winner. That rapport makes it so much easier for you to express yourself, and it will make you more receptive when they ask questions and make suggestions. <br /><br />At least twice, I've taken over projects from much more experienced ghostwriters because the authors simply didn't click with them, and I learned from those experiences that a good relationship means everything on these long-term, demanding, emotional projects.<br /></span></span></div>Ami Hendricksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16113842141579251283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13639087.post-11197080041240878002023-08-14T09:00:00.028-04:002023-08-14T09:00:00.140-04:00The 5 Things You Need to Succeed at Writing Your Book<p>Over the past two decades, I have helped scores of people write to "The End." I've been a ghost, a co-writer, a developmental editor and a book writing coach.</p><p>I have come to the conclusion that there are 5 things the successful "new" author needs to write a good book:</p><p><b>1. Something Worth Saying</b> <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5B9U0_qRnsvlu3vp1aUtnfpyy_oeyNUkPSjmBTSr693h_qEE7ShZ86Z0NXnZQTZ9f9AKhSmcOwneUxA0pGRhF9RyRNS8y50z5m5tKjEd0HlmY2YNFgs43CHKz5JZk_IaIx5GWhDuuHYqHsXkq6YEJE-oFa23_kdSvAHz_eHV3xQ-RHBM5k0kJ5Q/s1410/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-13%20at%209.49.32%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="1410" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5B9U0_qRnsvlu3vp1aUtnfpyy_oeyNUkPSjmBTSr693h_qEE7ShZ86Z0NXnZQTZ9f9AKhSmcOwneUxA0pGRhF9RyRNS8y50z5m5tKjEd0HlmY2YNFgs43CHKz5JZk_IaIx5GWhDuuHYqHsXkq6YEJE-oFa23_kdSvAHz_eHV3xQ-RHBM5k0kJ5Q/w320-h153/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-13%20at%209.49.32%20PM.png" title="From F.S.F's "Notebook E."" width="320" /></a></div><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">Recognizing the intrinsic value of what you're writing about motivates you in ways that simply saying "I want to write a book" can never do. </p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">Some of my clients are working on their memoirs. One has written a portion of his father's biography. One long time client is continually looking for ways to make the subject in which he earned his doctorate degree interesting and accessible to the average person. They all strongly believe in the value of what they write. That propels them forward.</p><p><b>2. Simple Sentence</b></p><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">I encourage every client, before they write Word One, to develop a single sentence that encompasses their project. Ideally, the sentence includes the genre and scope of the work, while also presenting a promise of what the book will deliver.</div><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">That sentence can take some new authors longer to write than an entire chapter later in the process, but it is invaluable. It allows the writer to have a ready answer to the question "What's your book about?" And it provides a firm foundation on which to build the rest of the project.<br /></div><p><b>3. Structural Integrity</b></p><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">Sure, you can write a book without paying attention to structure, Punkin. But it won't be any good. Imagine a house without a framework. That's a book without structure.<br /></div><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"> </div><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">If you're working with a book coach who does not make absolutely certain that you understand the critical importance of structure <i>and</i> teach you how to apply basic structural tenets to your project, they are either incompetent or using you as their personal cash cow. <br /></div><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">I said what I said. And I stand behind it.</div><p><b>4. Single-mindedness</b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxCN5ZwL89MITxb_ogJDXLUzXs6-q2otGi9YoOxMiMIPs1ZNPIb4YoNeGtA6LGfumltrzjIvAYbmQjuCcJv_uJU05t-wPFeO4Vjxja-1krrvnLodzHlsZz33chEri9CvaxGp7zJ_wmrBGi0GSQ6-rF9YMN7MZpyajbQuRbwJpu9C0c5UKbkGBQ-g/s934/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-13%20at%209.33.37%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="934" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxCN5ZwL89MITxb_ogJDXLUzXs6-q2otGi9YoOxMiMIPs1ZNPIb4YoNeGtA6LGfumltrzjIvAYbmQjuCcJv_uJU05t-wPFeO4Vjxja-1krrvnLodzHlsZz33chEri9CvaxGp7zJ_wmrBGi0GSQ6-rF9YMN7MZpyajbQuRbwJpu9C0c5UKbkGBQ-g/s320/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-13%20at%209.33.37%20PM.png" width="320" /></a></b></div><b></b><p></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">This is where many authors -- new and not-so-new -- sometimes struggle. It's easy to get in the middle of a project and be distracted by a different project: one that's newer, sexier, flashier, more timely, or more salable.</p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">I <i>know </i>that Sir Terry Pratchett would often have 8 or 10 or more books in various stages of completion at a time. Isaac Asimov could work on multiple books at a time. Maybe one day you can do that too. But let's get the first one done first. </p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">That means no dithering. No stopping and re-starting (once you've done your structure work, there's no need for such things). No chasing after other shiny projects. Just focus on getting This One Done. <br /></p><p><b>5. A Solid Support System<br /></b></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">Your family and friends may or may not be a part of your writing support system.</p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">That guy who keeps spamming your Facebook writing group asking for agent recommendations is definitely <i>not</i> part of your book support system.</p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">Your support system includes every one who says, "Let me know when it comes out and I'll buy it." </p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">It's every person who hears you are writing a book who doesn't start telling you about this kid they know who wrote a book and got an agent and sold a bazillion copies without even trying. </p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">It's every person who learns you are writing a book and who doesn't remind you that you once failed English class and had to repeat it.</p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">It's your book writing coach. It may also be your neighbor, your co-worker, the girl you talk to at the gym, the family you meet at the dog park, or your dentist. </p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">Tell people you're writing a book. When they ask what it's about, tell them your simple sentence. Look for those people who light up when they hear it, who want to hear more. They exist. Their interest will support you as your write your book. Because -- like you -- they can't wait to read it!<br /></p>Ami Hendricksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16113842141579251283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13639087.post-65165814939748035652023-08-07T06:00:00.002-04:002023-08-07T06:00:00.131-04:00The MuseInks Interview with Activist, Storyteller, Screenwriter, and Poet Andie Woodard<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: small;">Andie Woodard is a queer writer and activist. They recently earned an </span><span style="color: #38761d;">MFA in Creative
Writing at Antioch University, where they developed their skills at writing culturally
sensitive, relevant creative nonfiction and poetry. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #38761d;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiT9nZH2b9MkVWT68hHkFrQh3p8PV_S1jFqkp7Lgdk95Bdy0SuqdK1FuhKki4gMqITNfQbfz1tRS0afrgYsDl63tCehnJurMsKxZYn5L2XzUguAztOWzwH-qZZSaeTWHP0oclNVUZWYkUjEqE10TZ-zEvfWUH-nARt08UrvYClzHItKViynzoz5w/s914/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-31%20at%208.39.02%20PM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="914" data-original-width="784" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiT9nZH2b9MkVWT68hHkFrQh3p8PV_S1jFqkp7Lgdk95Bdy0SuqdK1FuhKki4gMqITNfQbfz1tRS0afrgYsDl63tCehnJurMsKxZYn5L2XzUguAztOWzwH-qZZSaeTWHP0oclNVUZWYkUjEqE10TZ-zEvfWUH-nARt08UrvYClzHItKViynzoz5w/s320/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-31%20at%208.39.02%20PM.png" width="274" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #38761d;">Andie has been
awarded runner-up twice in the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference’s
Personal Essay Contest and received a Best of the Net nomination from
Prometheus Dreaming for their poem “Self Portrait.” They are also an accomplished screenwriter.</span><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: small;">I met Andie when we both freelanced for Scribe Media. We became "publishing siblings" when we both had chapbooks published this year by Bottlecap Press (read on!). </span></p><p><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: small;">I'm so glad they agreed to chat with me about their writing journey. Take it away, Andie!</span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Andie Woodard:</b></span><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">I have always wanted to be a writer, since I was a little kid. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">I had multiple interests, so I always thought I'd be a writer <i>and something else</i>—a lawyer, or a detective. But I'm grateful for that perspective these days, in this "gig economy." It set me up for success to know early on that writing would always be <i>part </i>of my identity, part of what earned my living, but not all of it. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">I journal several times a week, and out of those journal entries will bloom a poem or a gnarled part of an essay that needs to be straightened out with a lot of elbow grease. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">I'd say I produce more poetry than anything else, but that has more to do with the volume of words, how quickly you can call a poem "done." This perspective is also why I tell people I'm a writer who happens to write poetry, but I wouldn't call myself a "poet." Poets have a particular way of seeing the world and will languish over each word, each line break, in the poems they produce. They're careful. My philosophy has always been, "Good enough means done." When it comes to succeeding in Capitalism (I'm not a fan, as a general construct, but whether you're winning or losing in Capitalism, you're still playing the game, right?), you could say that this mindset makes me marketable. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">My writing superpowers, though, are my introspection and curiosity. I know what questions to ask to fill in the gaps. I know how to communicate a feeling as well as an idea because of these values I hold in my back pockets.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyhuCy6FpDpGv4TKzNf1t4YKUVxef8dofmxZjxsgVana1dkz_uZEP23F-l4fgyBZT2r9t6VdKOanl62tp69dko_017VGjeXOhvaWavdpQIYNlk06ExJEWscz1kKlDPm6mbRQjD32HfxEJSoiW1ukS4W7aeLGE0z5GWGGYCmyq7w11PR8cNjwdexQ/s1042/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-29%20at%2010.15.24%20PM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1042" data-original-width="694" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyhuCy6FpDpGv4TKzNf1t4YKUVxef8dofmxZjxsgVana1dkz_uZEP23F-l4fgyBZT2r9t6VdKOanl62tp69dko_017VGjeXOhvaWavdpQIYNlk06ExJEWscz1kKlDPm6mbRQjD32HfxEJSoiW1ukS4W7aeLGE0z5GWGGYCmyq7w11PR8cNjwdexQ/s320/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-29%20at%2010.15.24%20PM.png" width="213" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><span style="font-size: small;">My biggest writing success to date is having my chapbook, <i><a href="https://bottlecap.press/products/trailer" target="_blank">Trailer Trash</a></i>, published by Bottlecap Press. I have been working on <i>Trailer Trash</i> since 2016, and it has seen a number of revisions. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">I thought I had a full-length collection of poetry, but upon closer inspection, I realized I had just 25 polished, succinct pieces that communicated what I wanted to say: being perceived as a woman in Capitalism means you're already losing. But: when we share that burden together, when we do not look back at trauma with gratitude for "making us stronger" but envision a future where the people we love may be treated more fairly, there is hope.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">I started working in publishing in September, 2020. Honestly, at the time, working for Scribe Media was my dream job. I found the company by doing a search online in early 2019 and applied as an Author Success Manager, but then, I had no experience in working with books of any sort (I had just been working in content marketing), so they didn't move forward with my application. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">The online videos about the Scribe Tribe encouraged people to apply again and again if they felt this place was the best fit for them. There was a video of a woman who had applied three times before she was brought on. When I applied again in August, 2020, I didn't expect Scribe to hire me. I did have one book under my belt at that point—a wonderful man found me on LinkedIn and took a chance on me because he liked my writing voice and thought I was the right person to help him finish his book—but it was just the one. I thought this would be my second "no," one step closer to getting hired, maybe when I finished my MFA. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">To my surprise and delight (and to the chagrin of my Imposter Syndrome Demon), they hired me, and I have enjoyed basking in the literary realm ever since. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">With the flexibility of "full-time" freelance work from Scribe, I finished my MFA in Creative Writing, with a focus in Creative Nonfiction and a "genre jump" to Poetry, at Antioch University in 2022. Antioch is focused on "literacy citizenship," writing about identity with thought, research and care, which has helped me "babysit" the books I worked on at Scribe as well as write more carefully for my full-time work in the nonprofit sector.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">I no longer work with Scribe, but I still make time for literature. I work full-time at a nonprofit funder, working to fight sexual violence by uplifting nonprofits with relevant missions across the country, but in my off time, I help other authors cross the finish line of their own books. Whether they need structural editing, line editing or proofreading services, I'm there for them.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">People who are interested in my services may email me at <a href="mailto:ModusOperandiee@gmail.com" style="-apple-color-filter: none; color: var(--accent-color) !important; text-decoration: underline;">ModusOperandiee@gmail.com</a> or call or text me at 972-341-4802. They can read samples of my work—from books to short screenplays to media criticism—on my website at <a href="https://modusoperandiee.com/" style="-apple-color-filter: none; color: var(--accent-color) !important; text-decoration: underline;">https://ModusOperandiee.com</a>. </span></p>Ami Hendricksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16113842141579251283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13639087.post-50198884471032630272023-07-31T06:00:00.001-04:002023-07-31T06:00:00.155-04:00"Never Quit Learning": The MuseInks Interview with Writer and Writing Professor Julie Bonner Williams<p><span style="color: #cc0000;">It is my pleasure to welcome my writer friend (and fellow tea aficionado) Julie Bonner Williams and introduce her to you. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoYsmCxDAlZpqrrLTPV7-F5EOFEvuOdnNOj2n0BBylKJwh_8dmVdu6XfYL0js_srziheTh3PNnCgeDaIKPODaMbXcaWHUN53Qbdp3xsvYX2Ql6aIrQYUGNC3qMLwIIppLArccScWUnsvxo41jpIPwCkxJbZfLlv9VPBWpX1QQfnZdCgtts7xi_XQ/s1512/Julie%20Blue%20Shirt%20Hair%20Up%201.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="1512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoYsmCxDAlZpqrrLTPV7-F5EOFEvuOdnNOj2n0BBylKJwh_8dmVdu6XfYL0js_srziheTh3PNnCgeDaIKPODaMbXcaWHUN53Qbdp3xsvYX2Ql6aIrQYUGNC3qMLwIIppLArccScWUnsvxo41jpIPwCkxJbZfLlv9VPBWpX1QQfnZdCgtts7xi_XQ/s320/Julie%20Blue%20Shirt%20Hair%20Up%201.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">Julie writes across many genres: fiction, essay, non-fiction, and poetry. Publications that have featured her writing inclu<i>de Seventeen</i>, <i><a href="https://www.mibluemag.com/author/jbwilliams/" target="_blank">MichiganBLUE Magazine</a></i>, <i>Grand Rapids Magazine</i>, and <i>The Grand Rapids Press</i>. She has
taught writing at Grand Valley State University, Kendall College of Art and
Design/Ferris State University, and Grand Rapids Community College. </span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;">Julie lives
on the Michigan lakeshore, where she has amassed an absurd amount of legal pads
and Bic pens. Her interests include playing with her dogs, </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">antiques, learning</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"> French, and growing organic lavender.
I'm grateful she agreed to chat with me and share her writing journey with you.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Ami: How long have you worked in the publishing industry? What are some of the positions you’ve held?</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><b>Julie Bonner Williams:</b> This is a tough one to answer, because I’ve had such a variety of roles over a lot of years. In my own work being published, that began when I was seventeen. I submitted poems to <i>Seventeen</i> magazine and, over the course of a year or more, they accepted five of about eight I submitted. I was underage, so my mother had to sign my contracts. I made $15 per poem, which I thought was awesome at the time. I was, after all, making minimum wage ($3.35/hr) at my part-time retail job. So if we start here, I’ve been in publishing – with having my work published – since about 1982. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">If we’re talking about being in the publishing industry in regard to publishing the works of others, while I was an adjunct English professor at Grand Rapids Community College, I was the English department advisor and writing contest organizer. At the time I was also teaching Writing for Publication and composition writing courses. Years later I worked as managing editor for an imprint of HarperCollins.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Ami: You've been involved in publishing from both sides of the editorial desk. What specific skills does a working writer need? How does one go about developing those skills?</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><b>Julie:</b> What first popped into my mind with this question was, "A working writer needs a thick skin and tenacity." </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Being a working writer comes with a lot of "no’s." Keep in mind both Ernest Hemingway and Stephen King accumulated dozens of them. King strung his on a huge nail at his desk. It’s discouraging. It’s sometimes disheartening, even defeating. I read recently that seeing “NO” as an acronym for “Next Opportunity!” is a positive way to think of the word. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">The tenacity piece here is necessary to not simply give up as a result of getting rejections or -- sometimes worse -- getting no response at all. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Developing those skills is an individual thing. Some people are naturally able to let things roll off easier than others are. I feel the pain. Then I look for ‘uplifters’ – people who encourage me, quotes that inspire me to keep going, songs that boost my mood and have a ‘go get ‘em’ message. The paradox is sensitive people are often the ones in the arts, and we’re also the ones who are hurt easily.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Ami: What is your favorite part of the writing process?</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfmORdjLvm6k67oOnqqbr_W11wpO3-wXtR57XVUpiBBK5EgboFP5hMw62pWQkjrUbLqpVukSXCvPvAeXqtVoyp_azhWFlCtI56qSdUNNhUwb4rlN4CNyshNh0ayj-tXLwxgoKXPbRXp1HUVTbnhHsJ7fumwqQq1qsTyewvUHMnsdI-FH3AzkaNlQ/s616/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-29%20at%209.32.05%20PM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="616" data-original-width="456" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfmORdjLvm6k67oOnqqbr_W11wpO3-wXtR57XVUpiBBK5EgboFP5hMw62pWQkjrUbLqpVukSXCvPvAeXqtVoyp_azhWFlCtI56qSdUNNhUwb4rlN4CNyshNh0ayj-tXLwxgoKXPbRXp1HUVTbnhHsJ7fumwqQq1qsTyewvUHMnsdI-FH3AzkaNlQ/s320/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-29%20at%209.32.05%20PM.png" width="237" /></a></b></div><b>Julie:</b> Ha! To quote Dorothy Parker, “I hate writing, but I love having written!” <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">My favorite part of writing is after I’ve completed a piece, edited it a couple of times, and can sit back with a gleaming smile of satisfaction. It’s that moment when it all comes together. I also love research, specifically anything to do with history or hearing people’s stories.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Ami: What are some of your favorite projects that you’ve worked on? What made them so special? </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><b>Julie:</b> I was a contributing writer for two magazines owned by Gemini Media in Grand Rapids (since sold to Hour Media in Troy, Michigan). I was given a coveted assignment to write an entire supplemental magazine featuring a world renowned architect and his work and lifestyle. I worked with one of the best photographers in West Michigan and the two of us created the publication. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">I also loved having assignments I co-wrote with another writer or writers, each of us writing a portion of a large, multi-part feature. When you partner with talented people who are top in their game, it’s an amazing experience.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Ami: What subject area are you most interested in writing about? Why?</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><b>Julie:</b> I love memoir. Love it. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">I love hearing people’s stories. When I go to the dentist, knowing I have to sit there for 20 minutes with instruments in my mouth so I can’t talk, I tell the hygienist, “Tell me your life story.” </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">I did this just a week ago, and she started with, “I was born in Grand Rapids… then I went to dental school…” so of course I asked, “Did your mother come to the college to change your diapers? I think you skipped a few years there.” </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">We backed up a bit and I heard about the New Kids on the Block posters on her bedroom wall as a kid, and how she married her high school sweetheart.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">It's cliché, but it’s true – fact is stranger than fiction. A lot of the great writers knew this. Hemingway and Fitzgerald wrote about people in their social circle and their lives. Truman Capote did the same – which cost him pretty much every friend he had. Come to think of it, that came full circle </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">–</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> he was a character in <i>To Kill a Mockingbird, </i>written by his<i> </i>childhood friend, Harper Lee. There’s a lot of good stuff in real life.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Ami: How do you choose which projects on which to focus your time?</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><b>Julie:</b> One word: </span><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 17.12px;">deadline</span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">I do well with accountability. If I have a deadline – and/or a contract and pending check – that accountability gets me moving. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">I don’t know if all creatives are like this, but I can be a fickle writer. I’m in love with a project and as I’m working on it, it sparks some too-amazing-to-not-start-writing-right-now idea and *poof!* off I go to start in on that new one. So, deadline, accountability, and falling in love in the moment.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Ami: What advice would you give to someone who wants to write for a living?</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><b>Julie: </b>I'm going to address this one in stages: <br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">A. Writing “for a Living”: </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">If the person wants to support him/herself solely on writing (and there’s no second income or sources of financial support), my advice is to find more than one stream of writing income. The kind of money needed to support oneself is going to come from gigs other than trying to write and publish a novel that may or may not be published and may or may not sell copies. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">A lot of writers teach writing (or literature) as K-12 teachers or college professors (part-time or full-time). There are other options that can be more lucrative and allow more freedom, such as teaching writing workshops. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">B. Be Open to Learning from Others:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">After years of teaching writing in various forms (Creative Writing, Writing for Publication, Journalism, Composition Writing, Business Writing) and taking writing courses years ago, I offer this: check your ego at the door. Remember to remain humble. No one likes a prima donna. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">I have been stymied by the outright arrogance of students in college writing courses, my own and others. I once took a course taught by a successful Hollywood screenplay writer. A student, maybe 18 or 19 years old, argued rudely with the professor that, “If it don’t rhyme, it ain’t poetry! Poetry has to rhyme!”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">The professor tolerated it to a point, but the guy wouldn’t stop, and finally, through gritted teeth, the prof half turned from the eraser board, and stated loudly and bluntly: ”No. It doesn’t.” </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Not long ago, while teaching a writing course, I asked the students to write their introduction paragraphs, then to write their conclusion paragraphs immediately after. A student in the class didn’t want to, insisting loudly, “I don’t write like that!” -- It’s a class. You’re here to try new things. You don’t have to adopt it for the rest of your life. But you do have to open your mind and try it now.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">C. Get That You Can Always Glean Something from a Writing Book or Course</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">I used to have this "I know how to write" thing going on. The more I read great writing books and listened to successful writers on YouTube and other sites, the more I realized there’s always a new perspective, new ideas, and new approaches. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Sometimes I hit a chapter or book and yeah, I already know what they’re talking about. But then I may flip forward a chapter or so, and sometimes find a cool quote or insight that’s useful.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Never quit learning!</span></p><p><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Ami Hendricksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16113842141579251283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13639087.post-2847457789816232102023-07-24T06:00:00.001-04:002023-07-24T06:00:00.131-04:00The MuseInks Interview with Publishing Operations Consultant Vi La Bianca<p><span style="color: #274e13;">I am beyond thrilled to introduce you to the incomparable Vi La Bianca! </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisM6U_jOWvIIsFoa54KmF4STG9LetnaptqMs5O2-4v2ECJgie1LYeWwZu1CqWwqg92PGvHWjFfVDr16OvUnnSyv_w8a_wQeK1yeQVpqgOZcJUwcgngcqtPsiwNBxDz12DO5R59-Gdz6GE0i25pwVc_RRKdqugSnH5FigaiHHV1JGU8_QRUpasLjA/s886/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-23%20at%202.27.14%20PM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="886" data-original-width="846" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisM6U_jOWvIIsFoa54KmF4STG9LetnaptqMs5O2-4v2ECJgie1LYeWwZu1CqWwqg92PGvHWjFfVDr16OvUnnSyv_w8a_wQeK1yeQVpqgOZcJUwcgngcqtPsiwNBxDz12DO5R59-Gdz6GE0i25pwVc_RRKdqugSnH5FigaiHHV1JGU8_QRUpasLjA/w306-h320/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-23%20at%202.27.14%20PM.png" width="306" /></a></div><span style="color: #274e13;">A writer, editor, and publishing operations consultant ("What is that?" you may be asking? <i>Read on!</i>), Vi lives in Portland, Oregon with their partner and one-eyed rescue cat. Vi holds a BA in Journalism and has a Master's degree in Writing and Book Publishing from Portland State University.<br /></span><p></p><p><span style="color: #274e13;">Vi is the founder of <a href="https://www.mediaalchemyguild.com/" target="_blank">Media Alchemy Guild</a>, a one-stop shop for industry experts in content creation, writing, and publishing. They are also an Associate Editor at SAGE, a global academic publisher. I've had the great good fortune to work on numerous projects that Vi spearheaded, and their drive, organization, and project management skills are second to none. <br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #274e13;">Go to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/viroselabianca/" target="_blank">ViRoseLaBianca on LinkedIn</a> to learn more about their services. I'm so grateful to Vi for taking the time to answer my questions. </span></p><p>***** <br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Ami: How long have you worked in the publishing industry? What are some of the positions you’ve held?</b><br /><br /><b>Vi:</b> I’ve worked in publishing since 2014. I’ve worked in trade publishing, indie publishing, hybrid publishing, even headed up the content publishing division of an SEO marketing firm. Most recently, I’ve picked up an editorial position with an academic publisher. So I’ve seen this industry from just about every angle. <br /><br />As far as positions I’ve held, I’ve pretty consistently gravitated to content. I’ve got over a decade of writing and editing experience, but in the last five years I moved into the operations and management side of things. Turns out, I love it! I served as Head of Content at First Page Sage and Content Operations Manager at Scribe Media. Now I’m back in the editorial world with Sage Publishing and doing growth and operations consulting for small to medium-sized publishers as a passion project. <br /> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Ami: You include “process refinement” as one of your specialties. What does that entail? What kind of client benefits most from it? </b><br /><br /><b>Vi:</b> Process refinement can look very different based on where you are as a company and what your services are, but basically it looks at how you do what you do. Can you do it more efficiently or effectively? Is it scalable? Is it agile? <br /></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC7ktkei9bJBPxGZ9YqjCq3NP8HriI4y6jJ3Iz6XGm3Z2-BTE0U7joInUlV32DyzA3fBnk5X4JdgTjdCp8o72VmN_OnUnWE9kScfJNB3RG1bcMtat0qMq-NW-WEmTUz2MX7mGpGIGKCPcR3uhKqC_uwIArF4C_4oeQkmHg0BAhhkGxE1S-tOxOSg/s1110/Screen%20Shot%202021-01-13%20at%208.58.02%20PM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="856" data-original-width="1110" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC7ktkei9bJBPxGZ9YqjCq3NP8HriI4y6jJ3Iz6XGm3Z2-BTE0U7joInUlV32DyzA3fBnk5X4JdgTjdCp8o72VmN_OnUnWE9kScfJNB3RG1bcMtat0qMq-NW-WEmTUz2MX7mGpGIGKCPcR3uhKqC_uwIArF4C_4oeQkmHg0BAhhkGxE1S-tOxOSg/w320-h247/Screen%20Shot%202021-01-13%20at%208.58.02%20PM.png" title="The pre-process refinement publishing company." width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The pre-process refinement publishing company.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Pretty consistently, I’ve seen small to medium-sized publishers grappling with implementing a technology stack that may have served them in the past, but is struggling under the weight of their new goals. It could also look like not having an up-to-date playbook or resource library that effectively trains new hires and maintain quality assurance. Process refinement identifies and repairs the holes in how things work to save time and money. </span> <br /></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b> </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Ami: What role does a publishing operations consultant play in a startup company’s growth and development? How do you find a good publishing operations consultant? </b><br /><br /><b>Vi:</b> In general, a publishing operations consultant is an industry expert who can provide guidance to startups who are hoping to avoid pitfalls and take advantage of market trends. Want to know what kinds of structural stressors stop hybrid publishers from scaling successfully? Hire a publishing operations consultant! Curious about what services authors or other clients want and how to build those services into your process? You guessed it: publishing operations consultant! <br /><br />Finding the right consultant is going to depend on what you’re looking for, and that individual’s background. Some consultants are going to be much more attuned to the trends happening in the trade publishing universe. Some are going to get down and dirty in your technology and CRM architecture, others are going to be more high-level and offer more holistic growth and development coaching. <br /><br />Personally, I offer both one-on-one consulting for company founders and CEOs as well as what I call “strategic integration,” which allows me to get deeper into the inner workings of the company and do the hands-on process refinement and resource creation many of these publishing startups need during that first big growth phase.<br /> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Ami: What is your favorite part of the publishing process?</b><br /><br /><b>Vi:</b> Whether you’re talking to me as an editor or an operations specialist, my favorite thing is taking something with a lot of potential and polishing it into an impactful, shiny final product. <br /><br />If you think about it, a startup is very similar to a manuscript: lots of time and attention has gone into it, it’s someone’s baby. The best ones are a perfect blend of creativity and technical skill. The most successful ones understand it’s all about audience building, whether you’re talking about a readership or client base. <br /><br />That moment--where you’ve got a tangible, functional, and exciting thing you’ve built with blood, sweat, and tears, and you need someone to help you get it to the next level so you can share it with others--that moment is where the magic lives. And I thrive in that space. It’s the thing that makes publishing a uniquely exciting industry, whether you’re talking about the books or the companies that make them. <br /> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Ami: What is one of your favorite (or most memorable, or most rewarding) projects that you’ve worked on? </b><br /><br /><b>Vi:</b> One hybrid publisher I worked with had a problem with author experience when it came to their editing-only offering. They noticed that across their services, most of the dissatisfied clients had signed up for this one service. The internal teams were the same, the editors themselves were exceptional, and it was a substantially less expensive option than their higher-end, full-service offerings. So what could the problem be?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">My job was to answer that question and propose a solution. <br /><br />After speaking with the teams on the ground, picking the brains of the subject matter experts on staff, and doing a deep dive into their process of delivering an edit, it became immediately clear: this offering was unique in three ways: <br /></span></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">wait time between contract signing and first deliverable </span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">level of additional contractual negotiation before beginning their project </span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;"> number of people the authors talked to prior to seeing any return on investment </span></li></ul><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Once I had identified what was going wrong, I was able to propose a streamlined process that not only eliminated these pain points but also saved the company weeks of work hours and thousands in expenses per project. <br /> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Ami: You have worked “behind the scenes” of publishing for some time. What sort of future do you envision for the industry?</b><br /><br /><b>Vi: </b>Many of the folks I’ve talked with have asked: “Is the publishing industry oversaturated?” and I genuinely don’t think it is. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Humans are storytellers first and foremost. We will always want to tell our own stories and read other people’s stories. It’s as close to a renewable resource as we will ever get. There will always be content and a market for content. <br /><br />That said, for the publishing industry to hold onto their positions as valuable team members in this universal collective storytelling endeavor, they will need to care about quality and long-term sustainability. Use AI, but know how and when. Conserve costs, but know when investment is nonnegotiable. Branch into tangential markets, but don’t lose focus on the core of what you do. <br /><br />There will be many flashes in the pan in the next ten years, but what will come out of it is a new ecosystem of established gatekeepers and changemakers, even as corporate publishing begins to falter and lose relevance. Only the publishers who focus on quality and long-term sustainability will be able to claim their place at that table. <br /> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Ami: What advice would you give to someone who is considering starting a publishing company?</b><br /><br /><b>Vi:</b> Be realistic about your goals and don’t go too fast. What will set you apart is not how flashy you are, or how many ancillary services you offer, or how fast you can fill up a backlist. In fact, focusing on those things will ensure you don’t make it past your first big restructure. <br /><br />Focus on doing one or two things really well. Make access to those one or two things so irresistible that you build a waitlist. And then make them wait for it. Take your time making sure that you’re set up for success from a structural, operational, and process standpoint so that when you do scale, you can do so seamlessly and sustainably. <br /><br />And if you want help doing that--or if you suspect that you haven’t done that and want to correct it as soon as possible--invest in an industry expert who knows the terrain and can guide you on that journey. <br /><br /></span></p>Ami Hendricksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16113842141579251283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13639087.post-62259126364142852182023-07-17T09:30:00.001-04:002023-07-17T09:33:47.255-04:00The MuseInks Interview with Ghostwriter Anastasia Voll<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: times; font-size: small;"><span>It is my absolute joy to have you meet ghostwriter and editor Anastasia Voll. They are the founder and owner of <a href="https://vollcontentmarketing.com/" target="_blank">VCM</a>, dedicated to helping businesses thrive through compelling content. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: small;"><span> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: small;"><span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjONAYxkqJUhPVK5LPAeyY5K-ga4g1bSJ6PYyWqFJAgLlhC6h3OAsaoHarsbbgYX3SxX5fhOiUahCgGXFErPu7ck0djef93dksmFopbPJSp03LOeAqEYE0e1NGMjRS-oPnPp6eQWnM0SdUc5KqHZHnF-rxAoFEfPbFJAllk8BH_6fI6aGWDZhfnFQ/s848/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-16%20at%204.10.05%20PM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="798" data-original-width="848" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjONAYxkqJUhPVK5LPAeyY5K-ga4g1bSJ6PYyWqFJAgLlhC6h3OAsaoHarsbbgYX3SxX5fhOiUahCgGXFErPu7ck0djef93dksmFopbPJSp03LOeAqEYE0e1NGMjRS-oPnPp6eQWnM0SdUc5KqHZHnF-rxAoFEfPbFJAllk8BH_6fI6aGWDZhfnFQ/s320/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-16%20at%204.10.05%20PM.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">Anastasia is passionate about the power of words. For more than a decade, she has specialized in <span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">transforming rough ideas into literary gems. As a professional ghostwriter and editor, they help people take their rough ideas and polish them into nonfiction books that both start conversations and grow brand awareness.</span></span></span><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: times; font-size: small;"><span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'm so happy they agreed to talk with me about how words can boost a brand...</span><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div></span></span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span>Ami: How long have you worked as a ghostwriter?</span></b><span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span>Anastasia: </span></b><span>I’ve
worked in communications, editing, and copywriting my entire career, starting
as an intern at a Fortune 500 company while in college. I moved around in my
career from communications to advertising to project management to marketing. I
started freelance ghostwriting blogs, articles, and website copy in 2019 in
addition to my day job. I started ghostwriting books in 2020, moving to
full-time freelancing in 2022.</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span>Ami: How did you get started ghostwriting books for
other people?</span></b><span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span>Anastasia: </span></b><span>I started
off working as a contractor through a company that’s since gone under, but that
introduced me to an incredible network in the publishing industry. Since then,
I’ve mostly gotten clients from word of mouth and through my LinkedIn
presence. </span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span>Ami: What exactly is a ghostwriter and what specific
skills does one need? </span></b><span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span>Anastasia: </span></b><span>A
ghostwriter is the person who takes your vague book idea, helps you build it
out into something that will actually fill a book, organizes it in a way that
will resonate with your target audience, gets all of the information out of
you, writes it in a way that is both coherent and sounds like YOU, and then
revises it with you to ensure everything that sound be included is and
everything that distracts is removed.</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A ghostwriter needs to be able to </span><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span>interview</span></i><span>, </span><i><span>organize</span></i><span>, </span><i><span>write</span></i><span>, and </span><i><span>edit</span></i><span>. </span> <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">That’s very broad, so let me drill down a bit. You need to
be able to sit with (or get on a call with) your client and ask them the right
questions to get the information you need to write the best possible version of
their book. That means keeping them on topic, clarifying where points get
vague, confirming when things sound weird, etc. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">You need to be able to take all of that information and
organize it in a way that will make sense to the reader. Clients have a
tendency to jump around when they’re talking about a topic, and it’s your job
to put it in an order that makes sense, both on a chapter level AND an
overarching book level. </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Then, you have to do the actual writing part. It’s more than
just grammar though. It’s being able to write in a way that the reader can hear
the client’s voice in their mind when they’re reading it. It’s a hard thing to
explain and harder to teach. </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And of course, you have to be able to edit your writing
based on feedback from the client. At each step of the way, you also need to
know how to push back when the client is going to make a decision that hurts
their book, rather than help it. It’s a fine line to balance. </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span>Ami: What is your favorite part of the ghostwriting
process?</span></b><span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span>Anastasia: </span></b><span>Interviewing
my clients! It’s so much fun talking to them about something they’re so
passionate about they’re writing a book on it. I love getting to know them on a
deeper level in the process. I’ve become great friends with many of my
clients. </span></span></span></p> </div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span>Ami: What are some of the ghostwriter’s unique
challenges?</span></b></span></span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span>Anastasia: </span></b><span>The
biggest challenge I’ve faced is knowing when and how to push back against an
idea that the client thinks is great but that you know through experience is a
bad idea. It sucks to burst someone’s happy bubble. I don’t like doing it. But
I also want to make sure they get the best possible book out at the end of the
process. Usually what I’ll do is try to come up with other options that
won’t detract from the book but scratches whatever itch the client has. </span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Another challenge is knowing when a client has crossed the
line from providing necessary context for their book into trauma dumping/be my
therapist space. When you work so closely with someone and connect with them,
it’s really easy for that line to blur. </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Every ghost will have their own level of comfort with where
this line is, and you probably won’t find it until someone’s crossed it.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span>Ami: In your experience, what kind of person benefits
most from working with a ghost? </span></b> <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span>Anastasia: </span></b><span>I’ve
found that people who do best are people who: </span></span></span></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>are better verbal processors than writers</span></span></span></li><li>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>don’t have time to sit down and write
for hours at a time</span><span> </span></span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>struggle to organize their thoughts in
a way that makes sense in a table of contents</span><span> </span></span></span></li><li>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>can talk about a topic well but
struggle to make that translate to the page</span><span> </span></span></span></li><li>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>who already know they don’t want to
physically do the writing themselves</span></span></span></li></ul></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">
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{margin-bottom:0in;}</style><span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><p role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"></span></p><p role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"></span></p><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWaFN1UwebROKxHLz9N_aIGyIkREeTxq8jFvmpTnXuu_myhwarDByEUSrAfFiAstfQWTVFKzKejGMPn2m-tUSz-RXVv5bvy6rXg3BgFTI4CWK-b8CV9-7Ibz0GVy7XDihqxpsXfjDnHMcNM1jTjNg_bRzyPAKmtlLDcqn01delNFDWWcJRk4QxJA/s1972/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-16%20at%204.28.45%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1056" data-original-width="1972" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWaFN1UwebROKxHLz9N_aIGyIkREeTxq8jFvmpTnXuu_myhwarDByEUSrAfFiAstfQWTVFKzKejGMPn2m-tUSz-RXVv5bvy6rXg3BgFTI4CWK-b8CV9-7Ibz0GVy7XDihqxpsXfjDnHMcNM1jTjNg_bRzyPAKmtlLDcqn01delNFDWWcJRk4QxJA/s320/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-16%20at%204.28.45%20PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A Sampling of Anastasia's Titles</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"></span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><b><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;">Ami: What should a
person expect when working with a ghost?</span></b><span style="color: #134f5c; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><b><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;">Anastasia: </span></b><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;">Hiring a ghostwriter does (or it should, if you
choose a high-quality, dependable ghostwriter) cost you a good chunk of money.
But it’s absolutely worth it. In addition, you should know: </span><span style="color: #134f5c; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;">We can't read your mind.
If you don’t tell us all the nuances of your story or every step to take, we
can’t write it. This leads us to…</span><span style="color: #134f5c; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;">We don't make
assumptions on what you mean. If you aren't clear, the writing won't be clear,
no matter how talented the writer.</span><span style="color: #134f5c; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;">We can’t make you
something you aren’t. If you want your book to be funny, you have to make some
jokes. Even if we can add some extra <i>oomph</i>, you still want your book to
sound like you.</span><span style="color: #134f5c; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;">For the best
collaboration, be as detailed as possible when talking through content with
your ghostwriter, and be yourself. Your ghostwriter will make sure your
personality shines through the writing, but only if you're authentically
yourself with them. </span><span style="color: #134f5c; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;">A ghostwriter is a
partner in the writing process. But there are a few things we are definitely
NOT: </span><span style="color: #134f5c; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span></p>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif">Your therapist: It’s fine to
tell us about a life event that you want to include in your book, but
don’t tell us all about events and situations that aren’t useful for your
book OR expect us to talk you through your feelings on a situation (aka
trauma dumping).</span></span></li></ul>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif">A mind reader: Don’t expect us
to read between the lines to know what you really meant but didn’t say.
Explain exactly what you mean, or else you won’t be happy with the copy we
produce.</span></span></li></ul>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif">Your decision-maker: At some
point, you’ll have to make final decisions about your book: whether to
keep that section or not, whether it’s time to lock the manuscript and
send it off to layout, whether you want to put this topic in chapter four
or chapter five. We can advise, but in the end, it’s your book and your
decision.</span></span></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;">You don’t have to tell
people you used a ghostwriter! That’s why we’re called ghosts. If you really
like your ghost, though, and want to mention them without saying they did the
writing part, you can always credit them as an editor, researcher, or
coach. </span><span style="color: #134f5c; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;">Writing your book will
take some time investment on your part. A lot of ghostwriters use an interview
process to get the information out of your head to put on the page, which means
you have to show up to the interviews. You’ll need to show up for the revision
process too, meaning you’ll need to read the manuscript several times and show
up to editing calls. However, that’s a fraction of the time you’d be putting in
if you did the writing yourself.</span><span style="color: #134f5c; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><b><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;">Ami: What are some
reasons people write a book in the first place? </span></b><span style="color: #134f5c; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><b><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;">Anastasia: </span></b><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;">There’s a never ending list, really, but the
biggest reasons I’ve heard from clients are: </span><span style="color: #134f5c; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span></p>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif">Establish themselves as a
thought leader in their space</span></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif">Use as collateral to get
speaking engagements or bring in clients</span></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif">Ego booster: “I’ve written a
book.”</span></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif">Genuine desire to share
knowledge</span></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif">Inspire readers to take
action/improve themselves</span></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif">Leave a legacy</span></span></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><b><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;">Ami: What subject
areas are you most interested in ghostwriting books about? Why?</span></b><span style="color: #134f5c; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><b><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;">Anastasia: </span></b><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;">My favorite subject areas are spirituality (aka
"that woo woo shit"), science, history, and productivity books</span><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">**</span><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;">.
They are always so fascinating! I always learn something new that I can apply
to my life—and without fail, that thing has always improved it for the
better. </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;">Writing health books
taught me about the more subtle ways food intolerances can show up in your
body, which led me to find that I have several major food sensitivities.
Cutting those foods out has made a DRAMATIC impact on my overall health. </span><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;"> <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;">Writing spirituality
books has taught me new ways to show up for my mental and soul health and
helped me reconnect with myself, which can be hard to do in our fast-paced
world. My stress levels have decreased dramatically since I wrote the last “woo
woo” book. </span><span style="color: #134f5c; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;">But my favorite type of
book to work on is the one where the author is over-the-top passionate about
the subject matter. Passion is infectious! I love working with nerds who are
unashamed of their nerdiness. They’re my kindred spirits. </span><span style="color: #134f5c; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #134f5c; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><b><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;">Ami: What advice would
you give to someone who is considering hiring a ghost?</span></b><span style="color: #134f5c; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><b><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;">Anastasia: </span></b><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;">Go in knowing that it’ll cost you quite a bit of
money. </span><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;"> <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial", sans-serif" style="color: black;">Writing a book is an
investment. People tend to get sticker shock if they’ve never talked with book
ghostwriters, but it’s definitely one of those things where the adage “you get
what you pay for” really is true. If you’re still shocked, think about it in
terms of time. How much do you charge your clients (or do you make) per hour?
Now think about how many hours you would spend writing your book yourself and
do the math. A ghostwriter will get your book done on time and done well. </span><span style="color: #134f5c; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Times;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Times;">** <i>For
everyone who wonders why I love to feature other ghostwriters on my blog and
asks, "Aren't you afraid they'll take business away from you?" I
present THIS answer as Exhibit A. I can conclusively say that woo-woo
spirituality topics and productivity tomes are not my cuppa tea, but I'm
thrilled to know that Anastasia eats them for breakfast! Ami</i></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></p>
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{margin-bottom:0in;}</style></span></span></span></div>Ami Hendricksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16113842141579251283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13639087.post-88772300098283696902023-07-03T22:00:00.001-04:002023-07-03T22:08:25.205-04:00When Life Gives You Vinegar...<p>One of my favorite YouTube channels is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@TastingHistory" target="_blank">Tasting History with Max Miller</a>. Every Tuesday -- sometimes more often -- Max makes an old recipe and "while that's cooking," he dives into the history behind the dish. He is charming and informative and blessed with a hundred ways to reference hard tack.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKxh9-6UQJhLfeZ_ccmleX_UehPriIv33qHEEvX2iUCcaR4wesqiJTGxlg08Qjbhk4x-F4YhUboZn5JeUlMV_9YRfhLQjzTK8wucd49wTJi8KycbrbkEF0aOFUG-d36M1K6DH3GVnFH8Ljhjs7tOEEQ1bc70n2NNy2jf_2kFOA0jwOEBEUUiGJxg/s1467/MaxMiller%20Hard%20Tack.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1305" data-original-width="1467" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKxh9-6UQJhLfeZ_ccmleX_UehPriIv33qHEEvX2iUCcaR4wesqiJTGxlg08Qjbhk4x-F4YhUboZn5JeUlMV_9YRfhLQjzTK8wucd49wTJi8KycbrbkEF0aOFUG-d36M1K6DH3GVnFH8Ljhjs7tOEEQ1bc70n2NNy2jf_2kFOA0jwOEBEUUiGJxg/s320/MaxMiller%20Hard%20Tack.png" width="320" /></a></div>Usually, I watch from the comfort of my couch as Max cooks and noshes on historical foods. However, he recently made something that I just had to try...<br /><p></p><p>The past 5 weeks since my main source of income dried up have been... interesting. The future is more steeped in uncertainty than usual, which leaves a sour taste in your mouth.<br /></p><p>If I had a dollar for every person who told me "when God closes a door, He opens a window," I'd be able to pay this month's electric bill. </p><p>Sure, make lemonade when life gives you lemons. But what about when life hits you with vinegar...?</p><p>Well, Max recently came up with the solution:</p><p><br /> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AWqxSnArKk&t=181s" target="_blank"></a>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3AWqxSnArKk" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe> </p><p>Make shrub! </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKUHa40b20smbEzpQyY9Qfpxz0BSUTyXMV7YxW3-sJ6-NhK7k-tyrlJqaviKTIBeKNBxHpXlJOrwgR3h-_RZRy_j5NJvUr3lYXllZObWyxqgq7l-dROqrkg0mhIuow8sbqKCbcOBibLSV00wAmcA5pfLDPFu7WrMtNf9p8XliTfiFD5Zp973n-mw/s1314/Shrub%20in%20pot.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1314" data-original-width="710" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKUHa40b20smbEzpQyY9Qfpxz0BSUTyXMV7YxW3-sJ6-NhK7k-tyrlJqaviKTIBeKNBxHpXlJOrwgR3h-_RZRy_j5NJvUr3lYXllZObWyxqgq7l-dROqrkg0mhIuow8sbqKCbcOBibLSV00wAmcA5pfLDPFu7WrMtNf9p8XliTfiFD5Zp973n-mw/s320/Shrub%20in%20pot.jpg" width="173" /></a></div><p>This once in-vogue drink made from a sweetened vinegar-based syrup hearkens back to Colonial America. Delicious, beautiful, and oh so refreshing, it pairs as well with sparkling water as with gin.<br /></p><p><b><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: arial;">To Make Shrub:</span></i></b><br /></p><p>Simply cover bruised, mashed berries (<span style="color: #cc0000;">I used strawberries</span>) with white wine vinegar and let sit undisturbed for a day. </p><p></p><p>Yes, it smells like vinegar. Ya can't avoid sticky situations when making shrub. Instead, you just have to soldier through...<br /></p><p></p><p>At the end of 12 - 24 hours, boil for a minute, then strain the mixture through a sieve, saving all that clear liquid. Discard any seeds and pulp. (My chickens thought it was Christmas!)<br /></p><p>Add sugar and simmer till well dissolved. </p><p>Cool. </p><p>Chill. </p><p>The result is a decadent jewel-tone syrup. It's the sort of thing that makes you hold it up to the light and drown your gaze in its super-saturated color.</p><p>Just pour a bit of the shrub over ice, fill the rest of the glass with sparkling water, and stir. It. Is. Divine. No vinegar taste. The vinegar ordeal is over.<br /> <br />Mmmmm... </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu2tFumBSgEBQEh9PhUlB0hn0jYtYD_a1IambLYo-4EXRqWNF2qR5jIZPo4jF4d9dUz5Zhov4D9qcrCaav_KR7_GRYMKY42vKld1FB8T2K2DefIooSrrvnGE9MOggi-bUszwIpNC48erbUzQmUfkcnmPiHnmY2dNB8bvA-pyPUU50oXzQxiDsLYw/s1062/Strawberry%20Shrub.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1062" data-original-width="666" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu2tFumBSgEBQEh9PhUlB0hn0jYtYD_a1IambLYo-4EXRqWNF2qR5jIZPo4jF4d9dUz5Zhov4D9qcrCaav_KR7_GRYMKY42vKld1FB8T2K2DefIooSrrvnGE9MOggi-bUszwIpNC48erbUzQmUfkcnmPiHnmY2dNB8bvA-pyPUU50oXzQxiDsLYw/w201-h320/Strawberry%20Shrub.jpg" title="Strawberry shrub" width="201" /></a></div><p>Shrub is my new favorite summertime drink. It is impossible to make without the vinegar. And it got me thinking... <br /></p>When your plans have been smashed, doused with an acid bath of setbacks and naysayers, it's in your best interests to take some time to ruminate. To sit undisturbed and reflect. To let good ideas marinate.<p>Then you owe it to yourself to act. </p><p>This past week, I began working with a superb business coach. I can confidently say that had Scribe not imploded, I would never have entered into this new relationship. I can also state with equal confidence that this new adventure has energized me more and brought me more creative excitement than anything else has done for years. It's a very shrubby experience.<br /></p><p>Don't be afraid to put your good ideas to the test -- to see how they react when you get fired up.</p><p>Keep your vision clear on what you intend to accomplish. Discard what threatens that clarity. <br /> <br />Sweeten your new endeavor with supportive allies as you persevere toward your ultimate goal. </p><p>I have no doubt you're like me -- you've been around the block enough to know that life ain't always easy. It's full of complex ferments and unexpected acid tests. When overwhelm threatens to mash us down, that's when it's time to take a page from the ones who came before us: </p><p>Make shrub and find a way to enjoy, rather than be overcome by, this wild ride that is your life!</p><p>Chin up, my pretties! I have faith in you. You can do this!<br /></p>Ami Hendricksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16113842141579251283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13639087.post-53089310785150849462023-06-26T17:17:00.002-04:002023-06-26T17:17:46.722-04:00The MuseInks Interview with Book Coach Erik van Mechelen<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: small;">I'm so pleased to introduce you all to fellow <a href="https://www.samwisebooks.com/coaching/" target="_blank">writer and book coach, Erik van Mechelen</a>.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="color: #990000; font-size: small;">In third grade he colonized Mars while living in Jakarta, Indonesia -- through a short story. These days, he writes novels and non-fiction and helps others write better, exploring the depths of the human mind and heart through imaginative writing.</span><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: small;"> <br /></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: small;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgInkI430OprBpqHvBJsZarbmsawaDGk3P3OqND-vECxQe_KNGE0JKr6UFTlzJ17ZrWpZrzxKYW4pWxge214QG1IcBayj5eYW_143ZCYPBQ1zGhcHUJkHhglYbjdCA848JW2SRieQO_YJFp2RXVyuT1b-miQOV6G04_tO7WGvtC-CCkZxhBD3Vg7A/s560/Erik%20Van%20Mechelen.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="560" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgInkI430OprBpqHvBJsZarbmsawaDGk3P3OqND-vECxQe_KNGE0JKr6UFTlzJ17ZrWpZrzxKYW4pWxge214QG1IcBayj5eYW_143ZCYPBQ1zGhcHUJkHhglYbjdCA848JW2SRieQO_YJFp2RXVyuT1b-miQOV6G04_tO7WGvtC-CCkZxhBD3Vg7A/w200-h193/Erik%20Van%20Mechelen.png" width="200" /></a></div>Since 2014, Erik has </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #990000;">worked with more than 100 authors on every stage of their book writing and publishing process. Here, he discusses his craft:</span></span><br /></div><div style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b> </b></span></div><div style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Ami: How long have you worked in the publishing industry? What are some of the positions you’ve held?</b><br /><br /><b>Erik</b>: After starting the first one as a teenager, I self-published two novels in 2018 in my mid-to-late twenties. My first audiobook (a strategy guide for my favorite board game, Diplomacy) came out in 2020. And my most recent book, published in 2022, explored elections in Minnesota.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br /><br />I've worked with fiction and nonfiction authors since the mid-2010s with writing, editing, marketing, and publishing. While helping over 90 authors choose the title and subtitle of their books gave me insight into many genres, working closely with independent clients as<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>a book coach has lately been the most interesting. Why? Because I think these smaller scale engagements are not only the future of writing and publishing, but also storytelling more broadly.<br /><br />I also recently accepted a role with Reedsy to help authors meet freelancers to bring their books to life. </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://leanpub.com/sim2020?ref=samwisebooks.com" rel="nofollow" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1010" data-original-width="640" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxf9TkkiDevWx5CMLiMwC0trKhfNGDYQzkjzj4NWtzKMN-FH8cvDZvmdLG59U7Og6VmiM5W7582otp5iemUOHG1bo7iEP6KSfeOOfGGfvdAOmI5pHJfKcq0vMX_As78VgsYCZDxCCqdlaxffVDuIiKZnXwTxX1rCXAVpPznmJZn2XAvfIRzqayDg/w127-h200/Screen%20Shot%202023-06-25%20at%204.28.08%20PM.png" width="127" /></a></div></div><div style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /><b>Ami: In your experience, what is a writing coach?</b><br /><br /><b>Erik</b>: A combination of project management, teaching, editing, and strategy to help a writer or author build a practice of writing and meet their goals. If they can imagine writing a book, I can help them write, design, and publish it. <br /><br />For me, a writing coach also provides an editorial lense, accountability, and strategic support to bring an author's writing into the world, whether in book or some other form.<br /><br />Book coaching is definitely quite separate from ghostwriting. I'm able to distinguish the two because I've done some ghostwriting and ghostwriting-adjacent collaborations on book-length works. <br /><br />Maybe this analogy can help to understand how I look at it. <br /><br />I recently began group fitness coaching for a local gym. Now, imagine that </span><span style="font-size: small;">during class </span><span style="font-size: small;">I noticed a member using improper form on a dumbbell movement. Next, suppose I tried to help this member by taking her dumbbells and performing the movements for her. Would this actually help at all? No. And while it is apparent that demoing movements can help an athlete perform better, it is preferable for the member to practice and make adjustments for herself, with guidance. The role of the coach is to use various visual, auditory, and tactile cues to assist and encouragement improvement. <br /><br />This is my general approach to writing and book coaching too. <br /><br />However long it takes — and it will take a good amount of effort and time — I am there to support a book writer toward their good first draft and beyond. <br /><br />Whatever writing project or book an author or writer can imagine, I help them to make a plan to get there and hold them accountable to it.<br /><br /><br /><b>Ami: How long have you been coaching other writers? How did you get started?</b><br /><br /><b>Erik</b>: Very recently, officially, though I've long helped friends, family, and acquaintances with everything from short stories to essays to autobiographies.<br /><br /><b><br />Ami: What are three of your favorite things about coaching?</b><br /><br /><b>Erik</b>: Seeing someone solve their own problems, teaching how to let go of limiting beliefs, and being a guide toward steady improvement as a writer. <br /><br /><br /><b>Ami: What kind of person needs a writing coach? What is their goal? How does a coach help them reach it?</b><br /><br /><b>Erik</b>: [The best people to coach are] authors and writers who understand the value of continuous improvement in their writing. Writing is a stepping stone to better communication. Writing with a purpose leads to the manifestation of a story or book which changes how readers comprehend something inside themselves or in the world. </span></div><div style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">The coach helps them to reach this by sparking a deep awareness of where one is at as a writer and where one wants to go, and then helping put together a route given one's current capabilities and potential for growth en route.<br /><br /><br /><b>Ami: What is one of your favorite projects that you’ve worked on? What made it so special?</b><br /><br />About 9 years ago, I bought my dad voice recognition software so he could speak his autobiography into existence instead of typing it. A few years ago, he finished it. </span></div><div style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Along the way, I read drafts and offered encouragement. I didn't know it at the time, but that was my first experience book coaching and the book my dad wrote helped me understand him, his history, and really how great a father he was. <i>Side note: One benefit of my dad's work was that my brothers and I grew up in places like Libreville, Gabon, Jakarta, Indonesia, and Beijing, China. Perspectives from those formative years I carry with me.</i><br /><br />More recently, I helped an author evaluate his early draft of a book introducing new readers to the Bible. With the help of a mentor, I learned how to give critical yet constructive feedback that, instead of dissuading him, actually encouraged him to do the hard work of clarifying his writing during revisions. <br /><b> </b></span></div><div style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b> </b></span></div><div style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Ami: What do you envision for the future of publishing? Why?</b><br /><br /><b>Erik</b>: Books, when well written, artistically designed, and strategically marketed, are a unique package of information that immediately impacts its readers. Books, whether print, audio, or digital, will remain a vibrant living aspect of our culture, perhaps in the future more than at present. Books teach, heal, and uplift. <br /><br />How books get created and put into readers' hands varies. <br /><br />Just as very few people would wish elections to be centralized and controlled by one entity, publishing, which is really just the distribution of information and stories, should be decentralized. This means, at an increasing rate, independent writers and authors will work with freelancers or small teams to get their manuscripts to completion, edited, and published to serve their ideal readers. <span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"" style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">While there are observable patterns in book creation, the magic happens on the author's internal landscape and on the external landscape traversed with trusted adventurers, all in service of sharing something thoughtful and meaningful with readers.</span></span></div><div style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">******<br /><span style="font-family: times;"><i><span style="color: #274e13;">Thank you for reading!</span></i></span></span></div><div style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><i><span style="color: #274e13;"> <br /></span></i></span></span></div><div style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><i><span style="color: #274e13;">If you've worked with a book coach before, what was your experience? <br />If you've thought of hiring a book coach, what do you expect to get out of the relationship?<br />If you are (or have been) a book coach, what are your thoughts on the process?<br /></span></i></span></span></div><div style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><i><span style="color: #274e13;"> </span></i></span></span></div><div style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><i><span style="color: #274e13;">Onward and upward, my pretties! A.H.<br /></span></i></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span>Ami Hendricksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16113842141579251283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13639087.post-82895670666781827702023-06-18T22:09:00.000-04:002023-06-18T22:09:53.761-04:00Scribe has Fallen and Can't Get Up<p><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: large;">(or: The Big Blog Reboot, 2023)</span><br /></p><p>On May 25, I opened my computer, expecting to get to work writing copy for upcoming books from Scribe Media's authors.</p><p>I checked in on the company Slack feed, and discovered that most of the freelancers there were asking about a missed paycheck. I double checked my bank transactions -- sure enough, I hadn't been paid for the previous week.</p><p>That missed paycheck was my<span class="break-words
"><span dir="ltr"> first inclination of anything wrong.</span></span></p><p><span class="break-words
"><span dir="ltr">Only later (much later) did I discover that the company I worked for was in its death throes. The day before, on May 24, our much-lauded CEO, who clearly believes his own press, had posted some dreck on Linked In about why he's so excellent and why he has to work <i>so much harder</i> than everyone else shortly before firing the vast majority of Scribe's employees via Google Meet without any severance, PTO, or healthcare... and then resigning his position.</span></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1194" data-original-width="1748" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBkzDGAfde85OlqlHow74dvdcANtyy69RK7Ht9McaA7N_0QKV5Kq-VUVoCe1LPgBeYoyBx5rofLjquX36XWCyc9xZHVlIW9SM4Lbynpm8yIi1YAShhTW-i_F7vott41Ul5Jj6dPdkFS2ECpm7W7C5AN-s96vkb1MOG41w-D5sKCC50VgVOtFM/w320-h219/Screen%20Shot%202023-06-18%20at%208.32.50%20PM.png" width="320" /></div><span class="break-words
"><span dir="ltr">The few full-timers remaining (most of whom have since exited the company) tried valiantly to keep calm and carry on, but the iceberg of inevitability had already breached the hull.</span></span><p></p><p><span class="break-words
"><span dir="ltr"></span></span></p><p><span class="break-words
"><span dir="ltr">In the past few weeks, much has been written and <a href="https://samlacrosse.substack.com/p/the-scribe-media-files" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">podcasted</a> of Scribe's demise. I've heard many things that I can neither confirm nor deny. I wasn't privvy to the working of Scribe's Inner Circle. I was just a freelance copywriter. I showed up, wrote my copy, and moved on. And I <span style="color: #38761d;"><i>LOVED</i></span> my job.<i><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></span></span></p><p><span class="break-words
"><span dir="ltr">I was not alone.</span></span></p><p><span class="break-words
"><span dir="ltr">I can absolutely confirm that, once we learned the awful extent of how
badly we were all screwed, the #1 topic freelancers worried about on the
Scribe message boards was who would take care of their authors.
No lie. Almost without exception, the writers wanted to continue working
-- even if they didn't get paid -- at least long enough to contact
their authors and let them know what was going on. Their commitment to
excellence went far beyond their expectation for compensation.</span></span></p><p><span class="break-words
"><span dir="ltr">"Don't contact your authors," freelancers were told. "We'll make sure they know what's going on. No one's going to miss their publishing deadline. Things will go on as usual."<br /> <br />All that was about as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/25/tech/cnet-ai-tool-news-stories/index.html" target="_blank">fact-based as the average AI-generated magazine article</a>.<br /></span></span></p><p><span class="break-words
"><span dir="ltr">In fact, as of today -- more than three full weeks later, after Elvis has left the Scribe Media building (and the doors have been padlocked by the landlord, if reports are to be believed) -- many authors who had contracted with the company to do their books have not yet had anyone in a position of authority tell them the truth:<br /><br /></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD3YcX9goSqfmU2je08jkmUDEQGm0FTsKRWS1IIgYHKyAf7OG4ZzI6pDX5dqO1dLUyznC-murnIhVBKq9EnexpIzOl0MvvrO06pnOzAZzaMeEx2zF2kl2H_Nn8q6Dp60bQYzh6g_sx5uTtY6McVzEdBnAWlNL_UNIIgx-fizQOZwpe5w68YvA/s1266/Screen%20Shot%202023-06-18%20at%209.09.58%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1008" data-original-width="1266" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD3YcX9goSqfmU2je08jkmUDEQGm0FTsKRWS1IIgYHKyAf7OG4ZzI6pDX5dqO1dLUyznC-murnIhVBKq9EnexpIzOl0MvvrO06pnOzAZzaMeEx2zF2kl2H_Nn8q6Dp60bQYzh6g_sx5uTtY6McVzEdBnAWlNL_UNIIgx-fizQOZwpe5w68YvA/s320/Screen%20Shot%202023-06-18%20at%209.09.58%20PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>It's over.<p></p><p><span class="break-words
"><span dir="ltr">It's been over for weeks.</span></span></p><p><span class="break-words
"><span dir="ltr">In 2018, <i>Entrepreneur Magazine</i> rated Scribe the #1 Company Culture in America. The <a href="https://scribemedia.com/culture-bible/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Scribe Culture Bible</a> is still available online, for anyone who wants to compare their happy-dappy "we are family" <span style="color: #38761d;">words</span> with their take-the-money-and-run <span style="color: #38761d;">actions</span>. <br /></span></span></p><p><span class="break-words
"><span dir="ltr">Working
at Scribe Media was, without exception, my favorite freelance gig ever.
Every single person I had the pleasure of working with was an absolute
pro, supportive, talented, and genuinely nice to work with. As I posted on LinkedIn: <b>If you ever
have the opportunity to hire anyone who worked for Scribe Media and who
was summarily axed, you should jump at the chance.</b></span></span></p><p><span class="break-words
"><span dir="ltr">In the past few weeks, as we've all been reeling at how quickly our airship went down, I have been endlessly amazed and inspired at the resilience my fellow Scribe-siblings have shown. </span></span></p><p><span class="break-words
"><span dir="ltr">They have finished courses and gained certification in new skills. They have dived head-first into entrepreneurship, opening their own businesses, reinventing themselves, and bringing tons of needed value, experience, and energy to the wild and wonderful world of hybrid publishing. And through it all, they have continued to worry about the authors who were caught up in the gill net of the collapse.</span></span></p><p><span class="break-words
"><span dir="ltr">I predict that the fallout of the demise of Scribe Media will affect much of the hybrid publishing industry. I also predict some hefty lawsuits, as authors who have pre-paid get testy about little things like contract fulfillment, and former employees start to kick the tires of Texas' WARN Act. <br /></span></span></p><p><span class="break-words
"><span dir="ltr"></span></span></p><p><span class="break-words
"><span dir="ltr"></span></span></p><p><span class="break-words
"><span dir="ltr"></span></span></p><p><span class="break-words
"><span dir="ltr">It's been a very long time since I've blogged. I've been doing lots of writing for other people, but put some of my own things (like this little slice of interwebs real estate) on hold.</span></span></p><p><span class="break-words
"><span dir="ltr">Welp.</span></span></p><p><span class="break-words
"><span dir="ltr">It's high time I fired the ol' girl up again. </span></span></p><p><span class="break-words
"><span dir="ltr">And I can think of no better way to kick things off than to introduce you to some of the fabulous things that former Scribe employees, freelancers, and authors are up to. I can't wait for you to meet some of the most driven, talented people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing.<br /></span></span></p><p><span class="break-words
"><span dir="ltr"></span></span></p><p><span class="break-words
"><span dir="ltr">Good things are coming...</span></span></p><p><span class="break-words
"><span dir="ltr">Onward and upward, my pretties. </span></span></p>Ami Hendricksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16113842141579251283noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13639087.post-42417805084603276882021-07-26T22:02:00.000-04:002021-07-26T22:02:21.919-04:00Cynisca: Badass Horsewoman and the First Female to Compete in the Olympic Games<p><span data-offset-key="ee85b-0-0"><span data-text="true">My admiration for Cynisca knows no bounds.</span></span></p><p><span data-offset-key="ee85b-0-0"><span data-text="true">This Greek princess was born in the early 440's B.C.E to Archidamus II, the King of Sparta. She owned several race horses, enjoyed chariot racing, and -- thanks to her brother Agesilaus II, who encouraged her love of horses at an early age -- was an avid horsewoman. <br /></span></span></p><p><span data-offset-key="ee85b-0-0"><span data-text="true"><span data-offset-key="ee85b-0-0"><span data-text="true"></span></span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHicE2Xyzn5nnXE4Zf61Q6qYX0widug4TCjdlUHGBZbxBF2S7IyHwVdYPRDQ_McLrM9iyKYzVg2_7FTKod112poyAt4mydzgEAkB1kDKJv9XJDFA7gTcCYVflAbd07Qm12jgn6uQ/s2048/Cynisca.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1296" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHicE2Xyzn5nnXE4Zf61Q6qYX0widug4TCjdlUHGBZbxBF2S7IyHwVdYPRDQ_McLrM9iyKYzVg2_7FTKod112poyAt4mydzgEAkB1kDKJv9XJDFA7gTcCYVflAbd07Qm12jgn6uQ/w404-h640/Cynisca.jpg" width="404" /></a></div>Birth records are dicey here. Some historians put Cynisca's birth as early as 444, others as late as 440. <p></p><p><span data-offset-key="ee85b-0-0"><span data-text="true">Though women were forbidden from watching the Games, let alone compete in them, there was a loophole with regards to the equestrian events.</span></span></p><p><span data-offset-key="ee85b-0-0"><span data-text="true">Since owners and trainers rarely handled the horses during the actual competition, there was no rule against women being involved behind-the-scenes, as long as someone else did the actual horse-handling during the races.</span></span></p><p><span data-offset-key="ee85b-0-0"><span data-text="true">So Cynisca got busy. </span></span></p><p><span data-offset-key="ee85b-0-0"><span data-text="true">She owned a string of race horses and trained them for the *extremely dangerous* 4-horse tethripon chariot races.</span></span></p><p><span data-offset-key="ee85b-0-0"><span data-text="true"><span data-offset-key="ee85b-0-0"><span data-text="true">Though historians may not agree on her precise birthdate, all recognize that in 396 B.C.E., <i>in her 40's</i>, Cynisca became the first woman to compete in the Olympic games, as both owner and trainer.</span></span></span></span></p><p><span data-offset-key="ee85b-0-0"><span data-text="true"><span data-offset-key="ee85b-0-0"><span data-text="true">And she won!</span></span></span></span></p><p><span data-offset-key="ee85b-0-0"><span data-text="true"><span data-offset-key="ee85b-0-0"><span data-text="true">To prove it wasn't a fluke, four years later, at the next Olympic games, she entered another team <i>and won again</i>.</span></span></span></span></p><p><span data-offset-key="ee85b-0-0"><span data-text="true"><span data-offset-key="ee85b-0-0"><span data-text="true">She may have been forbidden to be present while her horses were racing, and was unable to see their victory, but that didn't stop her from mopping the hippodrome's floor with the competition.<br /></span></span></span></span></p><p><span data-offset-key="ee85b-0-0"><span data-text="true">Xenophon, the quintessential Greek horseman, wrote glowingly of her accomplishments (however, he was careful to keep her under the shadow of her elder brother). </span></span></p><p><span data-offset-key="ee85b-0-0"><span data-text="true"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Statue_base_of_Kyniska_(close_up_of_inscription),_Museum_of_the_Olympic_Games_in_Antiquity,_Ancient_Olympia.jpg" imageanchor="1" rel="nofollow" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1108" data-original-width="1484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifRH2UZ4IWia4HImJkVAU7aYucJbI6rpFKOjS38qtx6pkhhjMA5HLYPWkSWKrkt16yI7HUhBKmxs1lMynRHyyopvUjuDO3QVNmyxYQVKra_DbjFOn9c-yCUW2ZQM7teNdWnxEtjA/s320/Screen+Shot+2021-07-26+at+9.39.59+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span> <i>The base of Cynisca's statue from Olympia.</i></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span><i><br /></i></span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></p><p><span data-offset-key="ee85b-0-0"><span data-text="true">In
Olympia itself stood a statue of the great horsewoman in a chariot
pulled by her winning horses. </span></span></p><p><span data-offset-key="ee85b-0-0"><span data-text="true">Modern archaeologists have discovered the
base of this statue, which includes an inscription with Cynisca's name
and accomplishments.<br /></span></span></p><p><span data-offset-key="ee85b-0-0"><span data-text="true">So impressed were the Spartans with their princess that upon her passing, they built a heroön, or hero shrine, in her honor. Hero shrines were often used to instill long-lasting civic pride in a noteworthy member of the community. Cynisca was the first woman to have such a shrine built (other shrines were reserved for deceased kings). </span></span></p><p><span data-offset-key="ee85b-0-0"><span data-text="true">For years after her death, a hero cult of super fans kept her legend alive. Which is only right.<br /></span></span></p><p><span data-offset-key="ee85b-0-0"><span data-text="true">As I said before: BOUNDLESS admiration.<br /></span></span></p><br /><div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="j5u0-0-0"><span data-offset-key="j5u0-0-0"><span data-text="true"><br /></span></span><span data-offset-key="j5u0-0-1" style="background-color: #fd9bb0;"><span data-text="true"></span></span></div>Ami Hendricksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16113842141579251283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13639087.post-37752527941408320402021-07-17T23:34:00.000-04:002021-07-17T23:34:25.808-04:00The Surprising, Stunning Seaweed Scrapbooks of Victorian Ladies<p>Seaweed.</p><p>You wouldn't think such a humble, slimy, smelly thing would appeal to Victorian sensibilities. But you would be wrong. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2ADHT_VfiYmQde91IAGhHeecN7J2nLCcAqXjRkxpFHcjONoieMVozuiXLUw7s4pSaGKTOphvMSwht8Uo8wN2cHEOhSmOV5NuQT1IcZCen8R9Ma179PWYe1A66bWATGG1wkMH5dw/s1923/Algae+Collectors.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1302" data-original-width="1923" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2ADHT_VfiYmQde91IAGhHeecN7J2nLCcAqXjRkxpFHcjONoieMVozuiXLUw7s4pSaGKTOphvMSwht8Uo8wN2cHEOhSmOV5NuQT1IcZCen8R9Ma179PWYe1A66bWATGG1wkMH5dw/w640-h434/Algae+Collectors.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>According to conventional wisdom at the time, Queen Victoria kept a scrapbook of various seaweeds and algae when she was small. Since nothing says "influencer" quite like being royalty, soon the entire nation had adopted her hobby. <br /></p><p>Seaweed scrapbooking had great appeal -- especially to women -- for several reasons. </p><p>In addition to giving them something in common with their beloved queen, padding about the seashore afforded one of the few socially acceptable ways to be in public with ::gasp:: bare feet and bare ankles.<br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDyjQgip6ztbRB7WtIVSlLjcwLdrVtFc30XGilhSSPj8Y8jgOlkb5Ca0zXGNwXE1Zv8gtBH4AkuzaaM3uicnv6qb-sfSCMI6DNTYIc5dRj_ltZFJmwqXYMslukNbJIrHYTDFJnMg/s1140/Screen+Shot+2021-07-17+at+7.53.36+PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="964" data-original-width="1140" height="339" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDyjQgip6ztbRB7WtIVSlLjcwLdrVtFc30XGilhSSPj8Y8jgOlkb5Ca0zXGNwXE1Zv8gtBH4AkuzaaM3uicnv6qb-sfSCMI6DNTYIc5dRj_ltZFJmwqXYMslukNbJIrHYTDFJnMg/w400-h339/Screen+Shot+2021-07-17+at+7.53.36+PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Detail of A.B. Hervey's lovely "Sea Mosses" book, c. 1881.</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>It also enabled them to indulge their astounding creativity in a way that did not involve sewing or needlework. Seaweed scrapbooking was not a mere matter of snagging a bit of algae and splatting it down on paper. Hardly! In order to be preserved, every specimen was carefully collected, washed, arranged, affixed on the page, and pressed for posterity.<p></p><p>The scrapbookers used special tools including needles, forceps, scissors, and tweezers to meticulously arrange every specimen on the page, fanning it out to display it in all its glory.</p><p>In 1881, Alpheus Baker Hervey wrote "<a href="https://archive.org/details/seamossescollect001herv/page/n11/mode/2up" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sea Mosses: A Collector's Guide and an Introduction to the Study of Marine Algae</a>." </p><p>This booklet contained 281 pages of text and stunningly gorgeous color plates detailing everything the avid collector needed to know to preserve their own specimens on paper, presenting both their delicate structures and their vibrant colors.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Xx5PuklFHJXLCMYfxT03S6b6zhj6cI4kZ8cWSvI8VuObmK6ISRYNjUs1p0Go4kfviAQlEqpZxnAU1J3g8OMjuzLniLaDGxxl8n3MCN5vASZreemdHRXGOb8NnTULobZpTXWIKg/s1300/Screen+Shot+2021-07-17+at+7.57.54+PM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1300" data-original-width="1064" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Xx5PuklFHJXLCMYfxT03S6b6zhj6cI4kZ8cWSvI8VuObmK6ISRYNjUs1p0Go4kfviAQlEqpZxnAU1J3g8OMjuzLniLaDGxxl8n3MCN5vASZreemdHRXGOb8NnTULobZpTXWIKg/s320/Screen+Shot+2021-07-17+at+7.57.54+PM.png" /></a></div>Some scrapbooks went far beyond mere seaweed samples. Creative artists used the seaweed as a medium in which to write words, do intricate decorative designs, and even construct images.<p></p><p>In 1848, Eliza A. Jordson fashioned a scrapbook that remains a work of art. The cover includes the words "Sea Weeds" in flowing cursive, spelled out with actual algae. </p><p></p><p></p><p>In some parts of Jordson's book, seaweed explodes on the page like a beautiful Rorschach test. In at least two pages, she uses it to "paint" tiny still-lifes of houses and trees.</p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLWSw8vn1zpy-cNH4bn1U40lwOkH64-VO0JB36yZ6TD5UPyJEBMPIp1KemadnaSxh_OtpJO5m7AODjy1zKozp_PoSkzoP2ZUfNPmXFHOXEtBYcwR3QuJjNTqcBhn9r0IcJWmlQOg/s940/Screen+Shot+2021-07-17+at+9.21.45+PM.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="940" data-original-width="676" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLWSw8vn1zpy-cNH4bn1U40lwOkH64-VO0JB36yZ6TD5UPyJEBMPIp1KemadnaSxh_OtpJO5m7AODjy1zKozp_PoSkzoP2ZUfNPmXFHOXEtBYcwR3QuJjNTqcBhn9r0IcJWmlQOg/s320/Screen+Shot+2021-07-17+at+9.21.45+PM.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span><i><br /></i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A few years before Jordson's scrapbook, Anna Atkins, a botanist and avid student of the brand new, developing (ha! -- sorry, not sorry) field of photography, created the first book of photographic images <i>ever.</i></p><p>Its subject: British algae.</p><p><a href="https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/cyanotypes-of-british-algae-by-anna-atkins-1843" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions</i> </a>was painstakingly handwritten and illustrated with beautiful blue-tinted cyanotype photographs. Published in 1843, the book is extremely rare, with fewer than 13 complete copies in existence.</p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB-UAth9ij53skGIMoIjZ8unXuhg0sh0nDhd5zPb7jU0kFImmYwzUkKNcScex5idsfBiNU159Fhj1smX4ziU11dC5XdErQ0ozJ255jbexoPIjWX83H7ti2FUSLnJngiLcUGt2JAA/s1048/Screen+Shot+2021-07-17+at+9.35.33+PM.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1048" data-original-width="942" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB-UAth9ij53skGIMoIjZ8unXuhg0sh0nDhd5zPb7jU0kFImmYwzUkKNcScex5idsfBiNU159Fhj1smX4ziU11dC5XdErQ0ozJ255jbexoPIjWX83H7ti2FUSLnJngiLcUGt2JAA/w288-h320/Screen+Shot+2021-07-17+at+9.35.33+PM.png" width="288" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span> <i>A page from Anna Atkins' book.<br /></i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p>For some reason (perhaps the Queen's interest?), though nineteenth-century women were excluded from most scientific studies, seaweed collecting was allowed, if not actively encouraged. </p><p>Children's author, translator, and naturalist Margaret Gatty became enamored with algae collecting. In 1848, while convalescing at the seaside in Sussex, Gatty was introduced to seaweed collecting, which she described as her "consolation of consolations."</p><p>Three years later, she was so enamored with the past time, she coined the word "algologist" to describe herself in the census.</p><p>Though Gatty could not afford a microscope to fully explore the algae that fascinated her, she began corresponding with several noted scientists, including William Henry Harvey, the pre-eminent phycologist of the time. She borrowed books and equipment from Harvey and eventually worked alongside him.</p><p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE5y2f9KvGNdv_RCOVKOJ0wIZ-ytBYXlvlwaGffBSQ18E-R6oLTrVTdeRnHc6eURoua0OtRJfib_56w5vs8e68ybHV7TfRCGg3-mcIp5v4i6PaY2wDQr3hPmh6RyYv3JT5937Rig/s626/Screen+Shot+2021-07-17+at+11.23.34+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="626" data-original-width="506" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE5y2f9KvGNdv_RCOVKOJ0wIZ-ytBYXlvlwaGffBSQ18E-R6oLTrVTdeRnHc6eURoua0OtRJfib_56w5vs8e68ybHV7TfRCGg3-mcIp5v4i6PaY2wDQr3hPmh6RyYv3JT5937Rig/s320/Screen+Shot+2021-07-17+at+11.23.34+PM.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <i>Margaret Gatty, 1809-1873<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table>During the 1850's, Gatty wrote a manuscript discussing ways to simplify the classification of algae. However, the project was never published. Instead, she was commissioned to write and revise the prestigious<em> <a href="https://www.andrewisles.com/pages/books/41397/alfred-gatty/british-sea-weeds-drawn-from-professor-harveys-phycological-britannica-with-descriptions-an" target="_blank">Atlas of British Seaweeds Drawn from Professor Harvey’s Phycologia Britannica</a>. </em></p><p>Gatty suffered from debilitating pain throughout most of her adult life. Most biographers suspect she lived with undiagnosed multiple sclerosis. Though her health deteriorated until she eventually lost the use of her arms and her legs, she continued her studies.</p><p>Several species of algae bear her name, including <i>gattya pinella</i>, <i>gattya humilis, </i>and <i>gattya obtusa</i>. </p><p>Gatty died in 1873. Today, her collection of nearly 9,000 specimens and over 500 plates has a home in the St. Andrews Botanic Garden.<br /><em></em></p>Ami Hendricksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16113842141579251283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13639087.post-56769040736317345952021-07-03T20:28:00.000-04:002021-07-03T20:28:23.315-04:00The Tiny Squid that Pretends It's the Moon<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKaxtSUkYwVakaM6ACDuUPs_8ZJ-4iYXAW06hyHONzAJyO5wrHUNye7l2N_A7ir7lLTKNUYkTzsBjuZaQNc_TjGJjaVHIJskx_3l9MmakbZ3IY6ONVIL1cDivhJbSeFpHPMcBvrw/s1920/bobtail+squit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1274" data-original-width="1920" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKaxtSUkYwVakaM6ACDuUPs_8ZJ-4iYXAW06hyHONzAJyO5wrHUNye7l2N_A7ir7lLTKNUYkTzsBjuZaQNc_TjGJjaVHIJskx_3l9MmakbZ3IY6ONVIL1cDivhJbSeFpHPMcBvrw/w640-h424/bobtail+squit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />The bobtail squid are tiny little ocean denizens. Some have a mantle as small as half an inch and most are less than 3 inches long -- just the right size for some fish's tasty snack. These tiny things prefer to live in open water with strong currents, so you'll rarely find them in captivity in any but the most specialized of aquariums. <br /><p></p><p>In many ways, these stubby squid are similar to cuttlefish, though they have no cuttlebone (so: <i>not </i>cuttlefish, then) and a rounder mantle (the large blobby part of their body). Bobtail squid are classified with coleoidea, which includes squid, cuttlefish, and octopus, but this classification is, evidently, a hot-button item currently under debate by those who know far more about these creatures than I.<br /></p><p>In addition to all the cool things coleiods have, including eight little legs with suckers on, two tentacles, the ability to swim by jet propulsion, and ink, these little "dumpling squid" have two other nifty attributes. </p><p>Firstly, their entire body is rife with <i>chromatophores</i>, a sort of shape-and-color-shifting freckle dotting the squid. The chromatophores pulse and change producing an ink-spreading or kaleidoscope effect.</p><p>And they also have a light organ. Which is about the coolest thing ever. This light organ, located deep inside the blobby head-like mantle, is a gated housing community for a specialized type of bacteria. (<i>Vibrio fischerii</i>, in case you were wondering. Which you probably were. Now you know.) </p><p>Baby bobtails hatch from a clutch of eggs. When the newly-hatched squidlings hit the water, they are immediately surrounded by <i>fischerii</i>, which infiltrate the squid's body, swimming through thick mucous-like gunk, along a highly specialized series of tunnels, into the squid's light organ. There they set up housekeeping and remain in residence throughout the little dumpling's life. It is the start of a beautiful relationship.<br /></p><p><i>V. Fischerii</i> and the bobtail squid have a symbiotic relationship. The light organ fills with a solution high in glucose and amino acids that is perfectly calibrated for the bacteria. </p><p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPe6IrpSvWkR9REYHJvZCl2n7C1a5p4fQ8PgTbKA0kJzx-4VmPWERKn2-qWSWyrROtyvRXjp7kpIfDQPeAt_PZ7bqFeAtmhUlOpnjwJcLnGpSKTPtwzqhMluyaKpNNcD7zMsd2ow/s1020/Screen+Shot+2021-06-26+at+8.47.53+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="914" data-original-width="1020" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPe6IrpSvWkR9REYHJvZCl2n7C1a5p4fQ8PgTbKA0kJzx-4VmPWERKn2-qWSWyrROtyvRXjp7kpIfDQPeAt_PZ7bqFeAtmhUlOpnjwJcLnGpSKTPtwzqhMluyaKpNNcD7zMsd2ow/s320/Screen+Shot+2021-06-26+at+8.47.53+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="Nick Hobgood, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons" rel="nofollow">Photo by Nick Hobson CC BY-SA 3.0</a></td></tr></tbody></table>Safely ensconced in the light organ, the bacteria feed on the solution and begin to glow. If they glow, so does their host. The bacteria's bioluminescence affects gene regulation in the squid's light organ, allowing the squid to ability to tinker with the feeder solution to control the light it emits.</p><p>You would think that a brightly glowing squidly glob would be akin to an "EAT HERE" neon sign for predators. Ah, but don't be so quick to leap to conclusions, Sparky. </p><p>Essentially, the light from the little squid perfectly simulates moonlight or starlight filtering through the ocean. This counterillumination renders the squid virtually invisible while keeping it from casting a shadow. </p><p>Lit up like a dance party, the tiny bobtail squid puts on a show that mimics the moon. Of course, if the party gets too raucous and the light becomes a bit too bright, the squid can always hit the "emergency ink" button and dim things enough to swim away so it can live to glow another day. <br /></p><br />Ami Hendricksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16113842141579251283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13639087.post-10829165672985449252021-05-22T20:10:00.004-04:002021-05-22T20:16:21.050-04:00The Patron Saint of Struggling Authors<h3 dir="rtl" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">More Thoughts on the Life and Times of <span style="font-size: medium;">Rev. Robert Stephen Hawker</span></span></b></h3><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Last week, I mused on the <a href="https://museinks.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-unsung-story-of-sinful-cat-and.html" target="_blank">pranks and practices of Robert Stephen Hawker</a>, the Vicar of Morwenstow, in Cornwall, from 1834 to 1875.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSHyOocPRVC1QbtnV2Td27wy-DbLVCNoFhYNtlKJNMDpCjgmPy0xfBk-wzlze3cDo8j-shoP6Aa_mmWLEL63volR9eaDaJVRyMNLJ_yjxPRpFsIBR2dzNACGMc6EplTdwQHSmzpQ/s928/Screen+Shot+2021-05-22+at+8.14.10+PM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="928" data-original-width="538" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSHyOocPRVC1QbtnV2Td27wy-DbLVCNoFhYNtlKJNMDpCjgmPy0xfBk-wzlze3cDo8j-shoP6Aa_mmWLEL63volR9eaDaJVRyMNLJ_yjxPRpFsIBR2dzNACGMc6EplTdwQHSmzpQ/w233-h400/Screen+Shot+2021-05-22+at+8.14.10+PM.png" width="233" /></a></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">From Hawker's antics early in life, one could be forgiven for thinking he was a hopeless jester or worse, a clown. In fact, some sloppy pseudo-biographical articles slant their content in such a way to suggest the whole Mermaid phase (see previous post) occurred while Hawker was a vicar, instead of during his student years. ::<i>sigh</i>::</span></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Hawker was more complex than that. <br /></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">He loathed the traditional black vestments the clergy wore. When he became a vicar, he refused to dress "like an undertaker," choosing instead to assemble his own unique outfit -- each element signifying his beliefs. </span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">For instance: he wore a blue fisherman's jersey with red stitching in the side, symbolizing Jesus' call to His followers to be "fishers of men," with a constant reminder of the soldier's spear that caused Christ's final wound.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">He also believed he could communicate with spirits, both divine and demonic, which explains why he declared the long brown cassock he wore was "the exact hue" of both Mary's and Jesus' hair.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9GDy5ZujKoknERjDNb6tou4m6RZv_DI1qb92ve4DgZEuqA0X6nfVX7wZ9g5rMw5-UYz-_wSwwrhukcVpdQe4f4LxQBR4Y33XfZih9EbjeMnYKFtp4gjZmTu9f0-ORH0VJnLjNTg/s998/Screen+Shot+2021-05-22+at+3.41.46+PM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="492" data-original-width="998" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9GDy5ZujKoknERjDNb6tou4m6RZv_DI1qb92ve4DgZEuqA0X6nfVX7wZ9g5rMw5-UYz-_wSwwrhukcVpdQe4f4LxQBR4Y33XfZih9EbjeMnYKFtp4gjZmTu9f0-ORH0VJnLjNTg/s320/Screen+Shot+2021-05-22+at+3.41.46+PM.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Sometimes he wore a "flamboyant fez" instead of his typical wide-brimmed hat. (I can find no record of what the fez was supposed to denote. Still: Hawker thought fezzes were cool...)</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #800180;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The Vicar hated <span style="color: black;">black</span> so much that after his death, mourners honored his wishes and wore purple during his funeral.</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Hawker's generosity for others often caused hardship for his own family. He routinely dipped into the family finances to feed and clothe poorer members of his community. </span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The Hawkers' generosity extended to their parish infrastructure. They built a bridge over a deadly river crossing. And they built a school and restored the 13th-century "Well of St. John," all at their own expense.<br /></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Hawker was also a conflicted creative soul. </span></span></span><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On the one hand, he craved quiet time alone. To facilitate that, he built what is now known as "Hawker's Hut," a tiny turf-topped structure with a stable door, tucked into the hillside, facing the sea. He assembled it out of driftwood and wood salvaged from shipwrecks. Today, it remains the smallest property on the National Trust. <br /></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJCzxUzZqXZsSSuoe2GpbtZiA-LIp1RkY1BUQolBuCl3Qm9-StQjL_pEWcrbXbAjznsszu23I6FO-UF18ytPlDgQL7AJHNYCOlERAx_dIfixxqHChZowdDRIO1TsV3Vm6D9PIdQA/s2001/HawkersHut.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1296" data-original-width="2001" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJCzxUzZqXZsSSuoe2GpbtZiA-LIp1RkY1BUQolBuCl3Qm9-StQjL_pEWcrbXbAjznsszu23I6FO-UF18ytPlDgQL7AJHNYCOlERAx_dIfixxqHChZowdDRIO1TsV3Vm6D9PIdQA/w640-h414/HawkersHut.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">He and Charlotte would go together to the hut to pray and meditate. He also spent many hours there alone, smoking opium or writing.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It is clear that he relished the solitude. However, he also recognized that his remote village was, in some ways, a cross to bear.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">A passionate accomplished, prolific writer, he enjoyed little acclaim or recognition, though his work sold well. In 1824 he wrote "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fq1UVqWrWGY" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Song of the Western Men</a>," or "Trelawney," which was published anonymously in 1826 and which -- to this day -- is considered the unofficial Cornish National Anthem. (Credit Charles Dickens who, years later, told the world about "Trelawney's" authorship.)</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In 1848, Alfred, Lord Tennyson visited Morwenstow. He and Hawker hit it off, connected by their mutual love of poetry and obsession with Arthurian legends (the Hawkers had honeymooned at Tintagel, associated with King Arthur since the 12th century). But Tennyson went back to the world of letters and publishing, while the vicar remained on the northern coast. </span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Hawker desperately wanted to be known as a writer. He remembered the days of university, when his writing won awards. Lonely, keenly aware of the rapid passage of time, he blamed both his isolated location and gatekeepers in the publishing world for his inability to break in. </span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">One heartbreaking journal entry includes these words: </span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><i>"I have lived on among these faraway rocks, unprofited, unpraised, and unknown."</i><br /></span></span></span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>Every manuscript of his had sold, but "to no advantage of mine."</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span>"And here I am at the close of my
days," he wrote, "unnoted, unknown, and – worst of all – unpaid."</span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
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{page:WordSection1;}</style> <span>In another entry, he lamented his place "here among the rocks" as well as not having any publishing connections:</span></span></span></p><blockquote><p><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>"I never had friends [in publishing]. In my whole struggle into manuscript, I hardly remember a word of encouragement."</span></span></span></i></p></blockquote><p><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>{Ami's note: Brother, I feel ya.} </span></span></span></span><br /></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">When his wife Charlotte died in February, 1863, Hawker was more alone than ever. He was 60 years old, widowed and childless. </span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Still wrestling with both his talent and his purpose, he plunged into deep depression, wishing to create <i>something</i> that would outlast him. </span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0lOZUK2GvgVOM1kTeuiw1_3Pxfz2hs6712vdfQXhrcQSH5t3rMgv6TdC8BGVCOSxxZFA7LdI-wUTQN05Lj0F1CRt55Gl1a6v1QOMZ3arRS7_AzyjqF03BqJPszTHJcIz9NfnKAg/s1190/Screen+Shot+2021-05-08+at+5.32.42+PM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1190" data-original-width="888" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0lOZUK2GvgVOM1kTeuiw1_3Pxfz2hs6712vdfQXhrcQSH5t3rMgv6TdC8BGVCOSxxZFA7LdI-wUTQN05Lj0F1CRt55Gl1a6v1QOMZ3arRS7_AzyjqF03BqJPszTHJcIz9NfnKAg/s320/Screen+Shot+2021-05-08+at+5.32.42+PM.png" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">For the next few months, he wrote, furiously channeling his grief into a creative outlet. The result was "<a href="https://sacred-texts.com/neu/arthur/art080.htm">The Quest of the Sangraal</a>," a Cornish-themed poetic exploration of the Arthurian legend of the Holy Grail. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Published in 1864, the poem met with both critical and public approval. Even Tennyson praised the work saying, "Hawker has beaten me on my own grounds."<br /></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="font-family: georgia;">At the end of 1863, 60-year old Hawker met the 20-year old Pauline Anne Kuczynski, a governess. Though she initially considered him "slightly cracked," the two fell in love and married a year later.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="font-family: georgia;">They had three children before Hawker died at the age of 72.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="font-family: georgia;">But even in death, he colored outside the lines. </span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="font-family: georgia;">An Anglican priest his entire adult life, Hawker converted to Catholicism the day before he died -- causing a country-wide uproar as people accused Pauline of undue influence. The conspiracy theories and general religious outrage lasted for <i>years</i>.</span><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="font-family: georgia;">So ends the tale of the Rev. Robert Stephen Hawker, eccentric, talented, mystic, poet. A prankster, an animal lover, faithful husband, and natty dresser. Publishing anonymously, then craving recognition. Simultaneously embracing and eschewing solitude. Sometimes he used controlled chemicals for temporary escape. Sometimes he wallowed in self-pity. Sometimes he heard angels. And finally, memorably, he accomplished a bona-fide publishing miracle. For these and other reasons, I consider him a contender for Patron Saint of Struggling Authors.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></span></b>Ami Hendricksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16113842141579251283noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13639087.post-38526432966816100632021-05-15T20:45:00.003-04:002021-05-15T20:45:39.683-04:00The Unsung Story of the Sinful Cat and the Victorian Priest Who was Once a Mermaid<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Thoughts on the Life and Times of Rev. Robert Stephen Hawker </span></b></span><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipzUo4eixaRbmlW2i46LNf3VGVi8frwwRJOVOYxH2tLLSXXHDiiB-0XhuLDrta_Wv-Oc3GmRvt1ZzdK2YbzqyyAy8k6FMTvDWqUcWBm5hFtUiRPP0jR2LCw7JIHrhyphenhypheniqUAyrXN9Q/s2048/hawker1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1318" data-original-width="2048" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipzUo4eixaRbmlW2i46LNf3VGVi8frwwRJOVOYxH2tLLSXXHDiiB-0XhuLDrta_Wv-Oc3GmRvt1ZzdK2YbzqyyAy8k6FMTvDWqUcWBm5hFtUiRPP0jR2LCw7JIHrhyphenhypheniqUAyrXN9Q/w640-h412/hawker1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <p></p><p class="MsoNormal">The mermaid perched on a rock in Bude Bay, wailing songs
with unintelligible words. In the mid-1820’s, people did then what people do
now: they stopped and stared at the screeching spectacle. A small crowd
gathered, pointing and gossiping until the creature
splashed into the water.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The next night the mermaid returned. And the next. And the
next. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With each successive night, the crowds grew as news of the
wondrous being spread. People came from nearby towns to see the sight. Many of
them brought their telescopes, through which they could see the mermaid
emitting brilliant flashes of light and combing its long hair of seaweed as it
sang.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For weeks, the mermaid was a regular attraction – until one
day a local farmer, angry at the crowds and the nightly circus, brought out his
shotgun and fired at the singer.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With a lusty rendition of “God Save the King,” the mermaid
splashed into the water for the last time.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The musical mermaid was Robert Stephen Hawker, a university
student with a penchant for practical jokes. Hawker would strip naked and swim
to a rock away from shore. A waterproof cloth wrapped around his legs provided
his “tail.” A seaweed wig completed the ensemble. If the moon were near full, a
small handheld mirror held at the correct angle provided flashes of moonlight.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Predictably, the local population was enthralled.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Robert Stephen Hawker was born at the end of 1804 to a poor
British doctor, the first of 12 children. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">From a very young age, he developed a reputation as a prankster. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">He once painted zebra stripes and cut the mane off the local doctor's horse -- then called for the doctor in a fake emergency, ensuring that many would see his handiwork.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">
</p><p class="MsoNormal">Young Harker became convinced that two spinster sisters had their sights set on
his grandfather, with whom he was living. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">He played a series of pranks on
them that escalated to sending an undertaker to measure them for their coffins,
ordering freshly dug graves in St. Andrew’s cemetery, and sending a hearse to
take them to their eternal rest. Though this was too much for the old women,
who left town and never returned, Harker’s pranks also succeeded in getting
himself kicked out of his grandfather’s house. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">
</p><p class="MsoNormal">From an early age, Hawker enjoyed writing poems and stories. He published his first book of poetry in 1821, when he was 17.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hawker's father was a doctor who became a curate. With so many children, the family could not afford to send
Robert to Oxford university. So in 1824, when Robert learned he would have to
leave school, the boy ran from Stratton to Bude (a distance of several miles),
to the home of Miss Charlotte I’Ans, his godmother, who had an annuity of 200 pounds. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">He
proposed to Charlotte, who at 41, was a year older than his mother. They
married in November, when Robert was 20. By all accounts, the marriage was a happy one. They remained together, devoted to each other, until Charlotte's death.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">When Hawker became a vicar, he and Charlotte moved to the tiny hamlet of Morwenstow, in north Cornwall, where he served from 1834 to 1875 (more on the later years of his Vicar-ship in the next post). </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">
</p><p class="MsoNormal">Hawker was the first resident vicar in over a century. He
called the members of his parish “a mixed multitude of smugglers, wreckers, and
dissenters of various hue.” He especially used the “dissenters of various hue”
to describe the Methodists in his parish. He strongly disapproved of the
Methodist religion, sneering at their lack of a priest or confession, calling
their beliefs “salvation made easy.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">(How I would have loved to have debated the concepts of "salvation made easy" vs. salvation made difficult with the man. I suspect we both may have found some enlightenment.)</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">His mention of "smugglers" and "wreckers" wasn't hyperbolic. Many ships foundered and sank in the rocky northern waters. Until Hawker's arrival, the townspeople rejoiced at such disasters, looting the ships and often dispatching of surviving sailors in order to keep the spoils for themselves.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Hawker ended the looting. He insisted on helping shipwrecked sailors and provided a Christian burial for scores of souls who drowned off the Cornish coast.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkMlu9-pNTvwiZpfynLohzy6YZHzN1UuvlA8FDrii8Rp9xk8Not0rEdUIiptgV49AUdVa8nh2_svMQ1hLXQPYs1sKyQqlqEdtfwFAyY0F0sK2TG0_TPQ1itJ5czKoMItuvxzj2tQ/s2048/hawker2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1305" data-original-width="2048" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkMlu9-pNTvwiZpfynLohzy6YZHzN1UuvlA8FDrii8Rp9xk8Not0rEdUIiptgV49AUdVa8nh2_svMQ1hLXQPYs1sKyQqlqEdtfwFAyY0F0sK2TG0_TPQ1itJ5czKoMItuvxzj2tQ/w640-h408/hawker2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal">Hawker loved animals. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">He had a pet pig and a pet stag who followed him everywhere. He especially loved cats. Though few humans came to hear his sermons (often, Charlotte was the sole person in the congregation), his 10 cats regularly attended services. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">However, when the vicar saw one cat catch a mouse one Sunday, he immediately excommunicated it! History is unclear whether or not the cat ever saw the error of its ways and confessed its sins, or whether the vicar offered it absolution.<br /></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Ami Hendricksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16113842141579251283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13639087.post-54797618744948233942021-05-01T18:38:00.002-04:002021-05-01T18:38:53.906-04:00The Curious Case of the Poet's Missing Heart<p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="font-size: large;"> or: Thomas Hardy, Eat Your Heart Out</span></span></p><p><i>(Note from Ami: It's been *forever* since I've blogged. I've spent much of the past year thinking about how to update / streamline / organize MuseInks. But it seemed like such an overwhelming chore that I just shelved it for a later date. [I mean, seriously, there are over 15 years of posts here.] </i></p><p><i>In the meantime, I've had some fun playing around with some cartoon ideas. You can see them on my <a href="https://dazeofnoah.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Daze of Noah</a> blog. In the past year, I've been playing around some with sketching, scribbling, and illustrated journals. Are they "good?" Nope. I have no illusions about my artistic ability. But I find the exercise incredibly fulfilling, so I thought I'd use this space to share some of them.)<br /></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWTZc0I86RZ9siO7qGs3wiaDKHD2igDEuUtB-VhQu-eVaewOlULfcIVEFKdv_fKLPhFSpYMTrHRrWlaLEyQH4zeYkztF_wtyQNhZJOLoCPPo1HpeVg-Et39oBmrdywVV_x98Tp9A/s1842/HardyCatHeart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1410" data-original-width="1842" height="490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWTZc0I86RZ9siO7qGs3wiaDKHD2igDEuUtB-VhQu-eVaewOlULfcIVEFKdv_fKLPhFSpYMTrHRrWlaLEyQH4zeYkztF_wtyQNhZJOLoCPPo1HpeVg-Et39oBmrdywVV_x98Tp9A/w640-h490/HardyCatHeart.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p>I only recently learned about the wild and woolly demise of Thomas Hardy, beloved Victorian English writer. </p><p>Hardy lived over 100 years ago and wrote books you've actually heard of, like "The Return of the Native," "Far From the Madding Crowd," "The Mayor of Casterbridge," and "Tess of the d'Urbervilles." You may have even read some of them. </p><p>He was also a poet, writing over 1,000 poems that were published during his lifetime, in addition to "The Dynasts," a massive, epic, nineteen-act play in verse featuring speculative fiction elements set against the Napoleonic Wars. The piece was so sweeping in its scope that it was never performed. Hardy himself called it "the longest English drama in existence." </p><p>So when Hardy passed away in January, 1928, it only made sense that England's elite would wish to honor him by burying his remains in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey. However his wife balked at the idea. He had so loved the area around Dorset that she wanted him to be buried at home.</p><p>A compromise was soon reached. Hardy's heart would be removed and buried in Dorset. The rest of him would be cremated and his ashes placed in Westminster Abbey.</p><p>A doctor removed Hardy's heart, placing it in a biscuit tin (cookie box) for safekeeping, and the rest of the body was taken to Westminster. The next day, however, before the heart was interred, Hardy's beloved cat, Cobby, discovered the tin and ate the heart.</p><p>So...</p><p>When Cobby died, <i>he</i> was buried in Dorset, in a grave marked "Here Lies the Heart of Thomas Hardy." (Here history gets a tiny bit foggy -- because there is nothing to suggest that fluffy Cobby died of natural causes. I strongly suspect that Hardy's heart was kitteh's last meal.)<br /></p>Ami Hendricksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16113842141579251283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13639087.post-70861354261504029172020-04-04T21:29:00.002-04:002020-04-04T21:29:38.894-04:00Learning Curve (cartoon)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-V3mcHazQXwcmBb863uX17YXZgToairK1d4O0Oxtru592jzyiV2pOaLCWyfMIWjMFcUD_fIboEdraUFseovS-URKwSe3QObqXyoQvtIQo5ufu-AlGZ0CVfW4lAxU0zJ_mxez0Hg/s1600/Pt1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1338" data-original-width="1008" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-V3mcHazQXwcmBb863uX17YXZgToairK1d4O0Oxtru592jzyiV2pOaLCWyfMIWjMFcUD_fIboEdraUFseovS-URKwSe3QObqXyoQvtIQo5ufu-AlGZ0CVfW4lAxU0zJ_mxez0Hg/s640/Pt1.jpg" width="482" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRQ3yWfbSTRR7fvgCwOalZ_R6sNQzPPV_AhlyRakUpzuVlaXV1kmzmhE2gI2ETTExY15uJVO0-cLLl9rMSpzykqFfJuVF3Ynq8KeulCBAlOfkhzZLLEsucQpPsgf8X-i0bLzPsqA/s1600/pt2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1474" data-original-width="948" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRQ3yWfbSTRR7fvgCwOalZ_R6sNQzPPV_AhlyRakUpzuVlaXV1kmzmhE2gI2ETTExY15uJVO0-cLLl9rMSpzykqFfJuVF3Ynq8KeulCBAlOfkhzZLLEsucQpPsgf8X-i0bLzPsqA/s640/pt2.jpg" width="410" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU3dmdBPxze0_96QcQ_7nJtnGVjvqoxg8GWYwx3vGSU2j9Z3sl1qN1gMgxcVHCjnMY6WNDuKfHTiyIVFBV0NLWGuu2QT6pT3DD-2aXNUvN3De-oEFb0WzOgbrsJrLRuKbkKnM_Fg/s1600/pt3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="992" data-original-width="924" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU3dmdBPxze0_96QcQ_7nJtnGVjvqoxg8GWYwx3vGSU2j9Z3sl1qN1gMgxcVHCjnMY6WNDuKfHTiyIVFBV0NLWGuu2QT6pT3DD-2aXNUvN3De-oEFb0WzOgbrsJrLRuKbkKnM_Fg/s400/pt3.jpg" width="372" /></a></div>
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Stay inside.<br />
Stay safe!<br />
Wash your hands.<br />
Tell those you love what they mean to you.Ami Hendricksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16113842141579251283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13639087.post-28106741742346760522020-03-27T12:59:00.001-04:002020-03-27T12:59:54.618-04:00Super Simple, Easy, 4 Ingredient Homemade Artisanal BreadI don't usually use this blog for recipe posts (my exploration of some of my <a href="https://museinks.blogspot.com/2018/10/grandmas-recipes.html" target="_blank">Grandma's recipes</a> was an exception, rather than the rule). But I can't stop telling everyone about this bread and how easy it is to make.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoNIbx8zqZPq72jciVWc18I9ehPTREb4lAYHDWOY8r-uKv-i1MkXT2P_rPlPku-1fQCVktEJV_0CvjmN5RIpAja0m0fDfyA881kH6RRll-44KP3hcLAZVnG6gwpg6IoL4nFOvqeg/s1600/Sliced+bread.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1190" data-original-width="1600" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoNIbx8zqZPq72jciVWc18I9ehPTREb4lAYHDWOY8r-uKv-i1MkXT2P_rPlPku-1fQCVktEJV_0CvjmN5RIpAja0m0fDfyA881kH6RRll-44KP3hcLAZVnG6gwpg6IoL4nFOvqeg/s320/Sliced+bread.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Since many people are trying their hand at baking as they self-isolate to keep the Coronavirus at bay, I had to share. (And since I loathe those recipe blogs that take six days of anecdotal storytelling to get to the point, I'll just skip to the good stuff.)<br />
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SUPER SIMPLE, EASY, 4 INGREDIENT HOMEMADE ARTISANAL BREAD<br />
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<b>3 C flour</b> (Any kind. Bread flour. White. Wheat. Rye. Doesn't matter. For this loaf, I used 1 C whole wheat and 2 C unbleached white.)<br />
<b>1/4 tsp. dry yeast </b>(NOT a whole packet. If using pre-packaged yeast, measure what you need & save the rest for another batch.)<br />
<b>1 tsp. salt</b><br />
<b>1 1/2 C very hot tap water</b><br />
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(* Optional 5th ingredient: 1 Tbsp. sugar, honey, molasses, or other sweetener. For the loaf featured, I used raw sugar.)<br />
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Step 1:<br />
Dump all ingredients in a large bowl.<br />
Mix with a spatula or wooden spoon until well combined.<br />
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No need to knead.<br />
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Step 2:<br />
Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to proof <i>at room temperature</i> for 3 to 5 hours. Instead of rising, like typical bread dough, it will look more like a gummy, pillowy porridge.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4R5hWwt1ZlBlrk1aQdgo4nmPPULG2pypfaNHoR-QXJul2aBYjaCceHb2rCGSqJ-EkKJ8lQpNLcL9vUUfrD946VBpa-bvnI6or1yiU-zBiXI4wIGy4Tjj_eP21XvrQ7FK4BxnATw/s1600/Proofed+3+hours.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1546" data-original-width="1600" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4R5hWwt1ZlBlrk1aQdgo4nmPPULG2pypfaNHoR-QXJul2aBYjaCceHb2rCGSqJ-EkKJ8lQpNLcL9vUUfrD946VBpa-bvnI6or1yiU-zBiXI4wIGy4Tjj_eP21XvrQ7FK4BxnATw/s320/Proofed+3+hours.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Step 3: After proofing 3 hours.</i></td></tr>
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<br />Step 3:<br />
After proofing, remove plastic wrap and discard. <br />
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Step 4:<br />
Sprinkle dough with 1 to 2 Tbsp. flour. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, work dough into a self-contained ball.<br />
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At this stage, you can add a few tablespoons of old-fashioned oats as an optional 6th ingredient. Just sprinkle them over the dough and roll it a bit so they stick. (I didn't do that this time.)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0XX4E9qYnlh4NYIBIfwzXXxTUDhM7vHFRWt_0um6Adw4HIKo_qpIMmFhpZcJemdTrQgXMmo_FM5TC1FVUA4J0zB-_yX2LJEkUzDfev8CEHj-tWi8aLRbsfInmHbSaSfUgV94RAw/s1600/Rolled+Ready+to+Rise.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1571" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0XX4E9qYnlh4NYIBIfwzXXxTUDhM7vHFRWt_0um6Adw4HIKo_qpIMmFhpZcJemdTrQgXMmo_FM5TC1FVUA4J0zB-_yX2LJEkUzDfev8CEHj-tWi8aLRbsfInmHbSaSfUgV94RAw/s320/Rolled+Ready+to+Rise.jpg" width="314" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Step 4: Resting on parchment.</i></td></tr>
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Tear a large square of parchment paper. Place dough in center of paper. Place paper back into bowl.<br />
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Cover with clean towel. Let rest 30 - 40 minutes.<br />
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Step 5:<br />
Place empty Dutch oven, with lid, in oven and preheat to 450 F.<br />
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When oven is hot, place dough (parchment and all) in hot Dutch oven. Cover and bake at 450 for 30 minutes.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW1dGvjYF140gP1RoSYYGmdaa-F4HpyQmhyCdTTGDxfoqfoVznTKiaZuR2mG7I6-mgG4BDH_ajBbjy3OUQalWbg3YfvqLL0q4RLtcL_bvFvFMojjbrsshKB2mnQWdxo1m4QBV5pg/s1600/First30min.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1429" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW1dGvjYF140gP1RoSYYGmdaa-F4HpyQmhyCdTTGDxfoqfoVznTKiaZuR2mG7I6-mgG4BDH_ajBbjy3OUQalWbg3YfvqLL0q4RLtcL_bvFvFMojjbrsshKB2mnQWdxo1m4QBV5pg/s320/First30min.jpg" width="285" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Step 6: Baked for 30 minutes. </i></td></tr>
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Step 6:<br />
Remove cover.<br />
Remove bread from parchment.<br />
Return loaf to Dutch oven and bake, uncovered, for 30 - 45 minutes.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg64hUyWXSxUsAqLyTDPHCPupGpbk6-PG2WpIkrFxU1GEHqy0cRVPhHlgD_Z8dpalUgRdDO2tHzHNkJgvR2Hpi081K7TQagQrJjgH4ljc0qeHO1gQ-M2TDhJgmFf0k0VfLrE-Vkg/s1600/Bread+done+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1471" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg64hUyWXSxUsAqLyTDPHCPupGpbk6-PG2WpIkrFxU1GEHqy0cRVPhHlgD_Z8dpalUgRdDO2tHzHNkJgvR2Hpi081K7TQagQrJjgH4ljc0qeHO1gQ-M2TDhJgmFf0k0VfLrE-Vkg/s320/Bread+done+2.jpg" width="294" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Between Steps 6 and 7. Mmmmmm!</i></td></tr>
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Step 7:<br />
Cool completely before cutting and eating. (From start to finish, the hardest part is waiting for the bread to cool before cracking it open...)<br />
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This recipe is (mostly) taken from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0t8ZAhb8lQ" target="_blank">"Faster No Knead Bread" via Jenny Can Cook</a> -- a 7 minute how-to video version of the process. Share and enjoy!<br />
<br />Ami Hendricksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16113842141579251283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13639087.post-34750739955604569742020-03-20T15:35:00.001-04:002020-03-20T15:35:08.575-04:00Sketch Notes: One Way to Help Focus Attention For Sermons and Online Learning<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiok_STvHV5YMzY9sUxvbIb9psSM8yqdqpCgarmQkl3QI0465ooPBTnEttLnoJl5pZrXKH8ZNgvDWC5bZYBhzApvnsFOcG2VXM4bORH9knkLAmPfsalMvvbrkOModQsEhkDB5BY4A/s1600/Jeremiah+1_8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1296" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiok_STvHV5YMzY9sUxvbIb9psSM8yqdqpCgarmQkl3QI0465ooPBTnEttLnoJl5pZrXKH8ZNgvDWC5bZYBhzApvnsFOcG2VXM4bORH9knkLAmPfsalMvvbrkOModQsEhkDB5BY4A/s320/Jeremiah+1_8.jpg" width="259" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>TBH: shouting rocks have always intrigued me.</i></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">(Future readers [if, indeed, there is a future], please note: this blog post was written at the beginning of the COVID-19 / coronavirus pandemic. Michigan, along with most of the free world, is shut down. Grocery stores are devoid of toilet paper and hand sanitizer. Schools, churches, restaurants {::sob!::}, salons -- all closed. The times, they are *weird*, and only expected to get weirder.)</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv99X3RlkpMNzvkg4Z_d4wsq5eR6E_LPw96bftzeQ3Vwy-B6CMHtVA-uXNksp-k8FvR7jGBnL_FcXRwXwTFqIP_Py3Fco_yFbC067KSsoN2l3JctJfsitfgd1twS306LK704qnFQ/s1600/Matt+9_9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1086" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv99X3RlkpMNzvkg4Z_d4wsq5eR6E_LPw96bftzeQ3Vwy-B6CMHtVA-uXNksp-k8FvR7jGBnL_FcXRwXwTFqIP_Py3Fco_yFbC067KSsoN2l3JctJfsitfgd1twS306LK704qnFQ/s320/Matt+9_9.jpg" width="217" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>I'm especially happy with the party<br /> limo and the "Jesus Prius."</i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></td></tr>
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As the realities of quarantine settle in, the name of the game right now is Online Learning, which involves parking on the couch in your PJs, nibbling on a stale bagel, trying to stay focused on the tiny talking head on your screen that is attempting to enter your home via the internet in order to impart knowledge into your noggin.<br />
<br />
One thing I've noticed: the older I get, the more easily my attention wanders. Especially during lectures. Even lectures that I want to pay attention to.<br />
<br />
Though I no longer spend a lot of time in the classroom listening to lecturing professors, I do spend a significant amount of time in church. And though it pains me to admit it, if all I do is sit and listen, I have a mortifying tendency to ... dozzzzzze offff... <i>~ZZZzzzzzz~</i><br />
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Or, rather, I *did.* Until I started taking sketch notes as a way to focus my attention and absorb the information coming my way. Not only did they stop me from falling asleep, but when I return to them -- even months later -- I find myself readily remembering the source content.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikJA0LeYbzm9gcuNJm4GslFCMUdEKpV9euiCVlg9_lVbGkj6ceaRF-6rD6a31MDFn_2xCL4Ad9NnnYSiiVkjYUrtFN14LhASqaBGPSANjAww_ngkMw_zHJdAZsXWYaCg04W8pLUA/s1600/Luke19_9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1108" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikJA0LeYbzm9gcuNJm4GslFCMUdEKpV9euiCVlg9_lVbGkj6ceaRF-6rD6a31MDFn_2xCL4Ad9NnnYSiiVkjYUrtFN14LhASqaBGPSANjAww_ngkMw_zHJdAZsXWYaCg04W8pLUA/s320/Luke19_9.jpg" width="221" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Got a little carried away with<br />treeing Zaccheus.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Now that so many religious services are being held online, not to mention business meetings and educational classes, it occurred to me that perhaps sketch notes can help others as well.<br />
<br />
<b>The Point </b><br />
<br />
There are three primary purposes of sketch notes.<br />
<br />
One is to <span style="color: #38761d;">give your hands something to do to keep you engaged </span>while your brain focuses on whatever words are being said. Doodles, patterns, drawing things in close proximity (since most of these examples were drawn in church, that explains the sheer number of sketches of the backs of people's heads). The sketch doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the content of the lecture, but it does anchor you to the place and time.<br />
<br />
Another is to <span style="color: #674ea7;">jot down important data</span>. Write out verbatim quotes and references that are important or that you want to be able to revisit for further study at another time.<br />
<br />
The third is to <span style="color: #3d85c6;">make intuitive jumps</span> between what was said, and what you got out of it. (See the party limousine contrasted with the "Jesus Prius" as part of the story of calling Matthew, for instance...) <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAVtYLlgD2wF1J1634S6Xz0t8_cFnd-RiHWTi8Eht6NoLhnocK_GKIbPvFnvMfOgYcL3aMKcZ6G1GB4aeWrFTqqVPHnQ-R6u0qD7NgxOkcuHwZJMmylz_eRZ2VhYqM7Vy9EIUwhw/s1600/Moose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1319" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAVtYLlgD2wF1J1634S6Xz0t8_cFnd-RiHWTi8Eht6NoLhnocK_GKIbPvFnvMfOgYcL3aMKcZ6G1GB4aeWrFTqqVPHnQ-R6u0qD7NgxOkcuHwZJMmylz_eRZ2VhYqM7Vy9EIUwhw/s320/Moose.jpg" width="263" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>FWIW: the kids' story was about a loose moose...</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The purpose of sketch notes is not to take down extensive content verbatim. Rather, it is to find ways to encapsulate the information or anchor it in your mind for later recall when you revisit the sketched pages.<br />
<b></b><br />
<br />
<b>Required Items</b> <br />
<br />
All you need for sketch notes is a sketch pad and a writing utensil. Artistic talent is irrelevant (as you can plainly see in the accompanying photos).<br />
<br />
I find that too many options (say, a complete array of colored pens or pencils) is too distracting. With so many choices, instead of concentrating on the information coming my way, I'm deciding which color is best to work with.<br />
<br />
For me, my "sweet spot" is a pencil, a pen, and a marker. Those three mediums are enough to provide a nice variety without overwhelming me with choices. Your actual mileage may vary -- do what works best.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXm1n6rrqUxPKIFEInLnjJJQXZ1p1GYnCJtvyOdUNiBiWSzIqomt1I66i1r5k9bn7HbT8T7w-epZiNEmDeKVRB-2uh0EZwCXIxQ-GhnU0US9oM_P98e54j7k5mxBaU-qE-FmLZ2w/s1600/DorySermon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1129" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXm1n6rrqUxPKIFEInLnjJJQXZ1p1GYnCJtvyOdUNiBiWSzIqomt1I66i1r5k9bn7HbT8T7w-epZiNEmDeKVRB-2uh0EZwCXIxQ-GhnU0US9oM_P98e54j7k5mxBaU-qE-FmLZ2w/s320/DorySermon.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>From snakes named Prince to pet huskies<br />to "Finding Dory," one sketch page<br />helps me remember it all.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>The Approach</b><br />
<br />
I like to start with a date, so I can quickly locate a particular note at a later time.<br />
<br />
When the speaker starts, I begin filling up the page, using one of the three methods mentioned earlier. Generally, I'll start a doodle and noodle around with it for a significant portion of the lecture -- but I'll often leave it to cite specifics or to note connections, then return to it as the lecture progresses.<br />
<b> </b><br />
That's what works for me.<br />
<br />
The point is to use your sketching to help focus your thoughts on the new information coming at you. Whether learning online or in a more traditional lecture setting, fiddle around with sketch notes to see if they can work for you too.Ami Hendricksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16113842141579251283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13639087.post-67075397638594963572020-03-11T20:47:00.000-04:002020-03-11T20:48:05.116-04:00After the Crash: Getting Unstuck and Back on TrackI haven't written in awhile. Months, in fact. Almost a whole year.<br />
<br />
::sigh::<br />
<br />
I know. I know.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKQwBwsnr7jJrWZueyM-IHKuSDlXjIgrb7gKzF1Yjox0Ld-qMayZaMQb9ydReomQen1tB-Iw6HunINafgWq4wcbjXEy5Hn-RUC7NyIm6Qp4OwhN3Su3Di8eLOgSpYRnzTplLEMpw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-03-11+at+7.55.04+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="832" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKQwBwsnr7jJrWZueyM-IHKuSDlXjIgrb7gKzF1Yjox0Ld-qMayZaMQb9ydReomQen1tB-Iw6HunINafgWq4wcbjXEy5Hn-RUC7NyIm6Qp4OwhN3Su3Di8eLOgSpYRnzTplLEMpw/s320/Screen+Shot+2020-03-11+at+7.55.04+PM.png" width="320" /></a>I thought about taking the blog offline, but that seemed defeatist. I thought about taking it in one of several dozen different directions, but I couldn't dredge up the energy it would take to completely reconfigure and reinvent the thing.<br />
<br />
For awhile, I thought laziness was the culprit. But I think the real problem was The Rut.<br />
<br />
As in "I was seriously stuck in..."<br />
<br />
For months, I explored pursuing several things, including starting my own publishing company, only to feel that I was doing nothing more than spinning my wheels and getting more and more stuck. <br />
<br />
Recently, I came to the conclusion that now is Not The Time. I'm a single parent and an only child. The last thing I want to do right now is be the sole person responsible for One More Thing.<br />
<br />
I had a conversation along these lines with one of my dear clients, a wonderful woman whose book deserves to be in print. "Do you feel like you're in Limbo?" she asked.<br />
<br />
<i>Yep. That's it exactly.</i><br />
<br />
"It's ok," she said. "I've been there. The thing about Limbo is, it's only for a season. It's not permanent, though it may seem like forever when you're in it. But, like any season, it will pass and you'll come out the other side better and wiser for having gone through it."<br />
<i> </i><br />
I have the *BEST* clients. Just sayin'.<br />
<br />
Her words were exactly what I needed to hear. They gave me the <i>oomph</i> I needed to slog on, to push forward, to keep reaching out in the hopes that I'd make some sort of progress.<br />
<br />
Maybe they're what you need to hear, too.<br />
<br />
If so, take them to heart, take them to soul, and make good use of them. Hopefully, you won't have to experience an in-your-face moment with your own mortality to further hammer home this truth, as I did.<br />
<br />
Here's what happened:<br />
<br />
Yesterday, Dad and I were at our Township Hall to vote in Michigan's presidential primary. We stopped by on our way to lunch and were surprised at how few people there were waiting to vote. Yes! No lines! W00t!<br />
<br />
I voted and was waiting for the clerks to get Dad's paperwork finished when --<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">KA-BOOOM!</span></span><br />
<br />
The building shook as if hit with a massive explosion. The wall buckled. Wood splintered. Bricks flew. The table that held voting materials shot across the walkway. In all honesty, at first I thought a bomb had gone off. Especially when the initial BOOM was followed by an ominous high-pitched whine.<br />
<br />
It wasn't a bomb.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.woodtv.com/news/southwest-michigan/car-crashes-into-coloma-twp-hall-amid-election/" target="_blank">It was a car.</a> Embedded in the wall, with the grille poking into the voting area. That whine was the accelerator still revving.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRecX5wl-JJqpWlOHTnBcqwLpc4OzuC82DlLBqteVWCe1nQb9V5zw5mSS1jcrVm4I-LQbafB_QJVhGKWZSsCAq0Fz-ScYWTr6ihezim05wpbILMwBaltF7bZOKfPkbeuX9kQnqTw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-03-11+at+8.24.18+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="922" data-original-width="1600" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRecX5wl-JJqpWlOHTnBcqwLpc4OzuC82DlLBqteVWCe1nQb9V5zw5mSS1jcrVm4I-LQbafB_QJVhGKWZSsCAq0Fz-ScYWTr6ihezim05wpbILMwBaltF7bZOKfPkbeuX9kQnqTw/s320/Screen+Shot+2020-03-11+at+8.24.18+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
Had it happened only a minute or two earlier, it would have likely smacked into both Dad and me. As it was, we were all supremely fortunate that no one -- including the driver -- was seriously injured. In fact, she said <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/michigan-woman-crashes-car-town-hall-polling-location-says-she-will-talk-insurance-come-back-1491581" target="_blank">she intended to vote, just as soon as she had spoken with her insurance</a> company.<br />
<br />
As the dust settled, I helped to move some of the larger pieces of drywall to clear a path so we could get out and future voters could come in.<br />
<br />
Adrenaline ran rather high as Dad and I went off to lunch at El Asadero. (It takes more than a little car crash to keep us away from Taco Tuesday.)<br />
<br />
By the time our food had arrived, word of the accident had gotten around. (It's a small town. News spreads like wildfire.)<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE7aCJR0_z213M9am4AwxuBQmcFFZ3SJKpLMHdwpL6AJhw4hoE-1cARwxX7wa_rttxWIbVVDTlgzywWkdetF1PgwNG0_FGZ206MJVfnFhruDWvX__nPdRJ6cfLi0HZrTcvnpoonA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-03-11+at+8.27.38+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="310" data-original-width="530" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE7aCJR0_z213M9am4AwxuBQmcFFZ3SJKpLMHdwpL6AJhw4hoE-1cARwxX7wa_rttxWIbVVDTlgzywWkdetF1PgwNG0_FGZ206MJVfnFhruDWvX__nPdRJ6cfLi0HZrTcvnpoonA/s320/Screen+Shot+2020-03-11+at+8.27.38+PM.png" width="320" /></a> <br />
By the time we finished eating and headed home, the wreck had been cleared, the wall was in the process of being patched, and voting was continuing.<br />
<br />
It does no one any good to dwell on the damage that's been done. What matters is not the Bad Stuff that happened. Rather, what matters is clearing away the debris and doing The Thing that needs done.<br />
<br />
In the aftermath of the wall crash, I found myself energized. "Inspired" isn't quite the right word, but neither is "stuck" any more.<br />
<br />
So I'm going to do my best to clear the debris, tow away the things that are blocking progress, and continue to press forward. The plan is to update things here regularly -- once a week at least, probably on Sundays. Definitely more than once a year.<br />
<br />
If you're stuck in a similar rut: onward and upward!<br />
<br />
With any luck, this season will soon be history. Here's to pushing ahead and getting back on track.<br />
<br />
<br />Ami Hendricksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16113842141579251283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13639087.post-60461674304826169792019-05-22T20:45:00.001-04:002019-05-22T20:45:49.736-04:00Words For Worried Writers: Answering the Question "Am I Wasting My Time?"<div style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: HelveticaNeue; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 16px;">From the in-box:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-size: 16px;"><i>"I may need a bit of encouragement. I've queried fifteen agents -- two asked for partials, then rejected after a lengthy time. Others outright rejected the manuscript. Now I am wondering if I am wasting my time. Should I move on to something new? Did I kill my book before it even had a chance? I believed in my beta readers who said it was ready, and I think that's what bothers me most."</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px;">These questions, in some form, are the most commonly asked ones in the Writer's Realm. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggYdI7i2m-vxobjvSsolIeYA4_bXyFfZZsqrsRpS9GY2ECPESFBRDXZEjAikqAsmzeav1HlfVqnBg3Hu0YN0hoUrgL8NNOztUllyZZSrdzDqTr_JlAfzVoblGgmIILL_pQubUB8g/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-05-22+at+2.50.15+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="640" height="84" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggYdI7i2m-vxobjvSsolIeYA4_bXyFfZZsqrsRpS9GY2ECPESFBRDXZEjAikqAsmzeav1HlfVqnBg3Hu0YN0hoUrgL8NNOztUllyZZSrdzDqTr_JlAfzVoblGgmIILL_pQubUB8g/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-05-22+at+2.50.15+PM.png" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px;">It may have something to do with an industry that requires me to spend days researching an agent's likes, dislikes, sales record, social media presence, online interviews, and current client roster, and to spend at least an hour filling out their personalized form (Who <i>is </i>my favorite Muppet, and why? What song <i>am</i> I most likely to sing out loud in the shower? <i>Hmmmm</i>), only to receive a "not for me" reply in less time than it takes for me to refill my coffee cup.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I asked permission to share this writer's email and my response to this and every other unsure / underappreciated / self-doubting / anxiety-ridden / apprehensive creative soul out there standing at the precipice of a Career in the Arts and wondering "<i>Can I do this thing?"</i></span></span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So -- here is my response:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9WWxvKhdSMzG1VOFI4UqBnspN4CyOyzmdsvhhIKVQJzOFItajcRm3JmsHIG_Javd1T3WZ7tusrySddHacdOfjROYZEhagF0YujvWYvBwcji2z7Ox-nJLjoutYywrlzN0p7KPP6A/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-05-22+at+2.47.06+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="638" height="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9WWxvKhdSMzG1VOFI4UqBnspN4CyOyzmdsvhhIKVQJzOFItajcRm3JmsHIG_Javd1T3WZ7tusrySddHacdOfjROYZEhagF0YujvWYvBwcji2z7Ox-nJLjoutYywrlzN0p7KPP6A/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-05-22+at+2.47.06+PM.png" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>::ahem::</i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px;"><i style="font-family: times, 'times new roman', serif;">Dear Awesome Writer,</i></span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Here’s the short version: You want a career in writing? Buckle up for a LONG HAUL. </span></span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Writers are called. We start out writing a story or a book, looking at it like we’re going to run a 5K on a weekend. Then people start warning us of “marathons.” Those people are wrong. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 16px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDSz00Ptz-11oGZ1d9JXkHvPwyNTyICdnFGCRVFmwzj4q_qJGJ0iV6cO6SKw_0slRpTwNm0ayElStXnbspkRkEoOpGD0bc4kT41N37uY73lut-6562vMJQ_1v1VmH5k88x3F_7Ow/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-05-22+at+2.46.25+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="158" data-original-width="588" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDSz00Ptz-11oGZ1d9JXkHvPwyNTyICdnFGCRVFmwzj4q_qJGJ0iV6cO6SKw_0slRpTwNm0ayElStXnbspkRkEoOpGD0bc4kT41N37uY73lut-6562vMJQ_1v1VmH5k88x3F_7Ow/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-05-22+at+2.46.25+PM.png" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">A writing career is not a marathon, which is over in a few hours. It's more akin to circumnavigating the globe. It is a lengthy, exhausting, imperfect, messy, unfair process. You are at the very beginning — at the starting gate. If you give up easily or are readily discouraged by what others say, quit now. Seriously. I cannot overestimate how hard the process is.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So why do it? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOi0DtiJLkGns0pXIhWGK7acIKVu87s1av64xROknmL41c9-q33HnIaI0QR7-Tav67R8BG6g47ghBVtnAakppwDVzrUHyfv8LSxP_SigcbYAYHKQ7X3hayxyerOG18dJGLs8nGSQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-05-22+at+2.53.40+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="926" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOi0DtiJLkGns0pXIhWGK7acIKVu87s1av64xROknmL41c9-q33HnIaI0QR7-Tav67R8BG6g47ghBVtnAakppwDVzrUHyfv8LSxP_SigcbYAYHKQ7X3hayxyerOG18dJGLs8nGSQ/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-05-22+at+2.53.40+PM.png" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">If you’re like me, and the other writers I know, it’s because you<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>must</b>. You have a story to tell. You love telling stories. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And you’re not going to let the querying odds (fewer than 1 in 1000 queries get an offer of representation), the money (the vast majority of published writers must work at another job to make ends meet), the rejections (<a href="https://twitter.com/Lin_Manuel/status/1106643280836612097" target="_blank">Lin-Manuel effing Miranda was rejected for arts grants</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> only</span> 15 short years ago), the naysayers (“The Great Gatsby,” which is considered a classic and is one of my favorite books — the book that made me want to become a writer — tanked when it was released. It never became “successful” until after its author’s death, when the publisher cleaned out their backstock to send cheap reading material to soldiers in WWII), or your own inner voice derail your dreams.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">As long as you love what you are doing, you are not “wasting your time.” Think of all those poor saps out there who have no North Star passion.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Your betas encouraged you. They weren’t wrong to do so, but they probably know jack about publishing. Don’t blame them. We all need fans. Put them in the “fan” category and turn to them when you need cheerleaders. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The people who work in publishing will often not be as encouraging as your betas were. That’s why my goal for all my clients is to work on a project and polish it until it is as good as we can possibly make it, every word has fought for the privilege of remaining in the manuscript, and you<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>love it</b>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Realize that once the project finds a publisher, you will rewrite it again with the editor — your Publication Sherpa.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">It is entirely possible that this book may not be the one that lets you break into publishing. (“Carrie,” Stephen King’s first published book, was his seventh manuscript, I believe. He was so discouraged that he threw the draft in the trash, but his wife dug it out and encouraged him to keep going. Even so, over 30 publishers rejected it.) But the tools you learn from working on it will apply to your next book. And your next. And your next. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Your book is hardly dead. There are hundreds more agents to approach when its time. Fifteen agents is *nothing*. And they were right to reject it. It was nowhere near ready to query. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">My job, and the job of any other writer you ask for help at this stage, is to help you get your book query-ready. We won't lie to you. We'll help you identify your weaknesses and point you toward the tools to fix them. When it's ready to query, we'll join your beta-fans and cheer you on every step of the way!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlQ_Osbko3FIkydiniyIIq_-bCSDA6JEDeO5OBcl5skfWP215HqXguQZvG7m_Ad5tXGCNh6eGM0TTmjFm130Lgq6MY9u37r0HSyKXSvS79t8TgbCzeTYhoAIE2XL8H1cjSlaFBVw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-05-22+at+3.29.55+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="252" data-original-width="590" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlQ_Osbko3FIkydiniyIIq_-bCSDA6JEDeO5OBcl5skfWP215HqXguQZvG7m_Ad5tXGCNh6eGM0TTmjFm130Lgq6MY9u37r0HSyKXSvS79t8TgbCzeTYhoAIE2XL8H1cjSlaFBVw/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-05-22+at+3.29.55+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Every so often, the blind pig finds the truffle...</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Chin up! Soldier on!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Onward and upward!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><span style="font-size: 16px;">[Of course, I had no sooner replied to this writer than I noticed that Don Jr. announced a publishing deal. Because of course. ::sigh:: In this TED Talk, I will discuss...]</span></i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">tl;dr ~ Yes. You can do this thing. You will fail along the way. Get used to it -- especially if you are not a member of the Automagically Privileged Elites (APEs). If you can actually walk away and leave your creative soul unexplored</span><i style="font-family: times, 'times new roman', serif;">, do it now</i></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">. If you can't, then suck it up and get to work! </span></span></span></div>
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Ami Hendricksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16113842141579251283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13639087.post-62534998164203283142019-02-17T20:35:00.001-05:002019-02-17T20:35:25.627-05:005 Ways Online Magazines Can Energize Your Writing MojoIt's no secret that the Writing Life can contain a few pitfalls. Slogging through the query trenches is a lonely, soul-crushing experience, often flavored with loneliness, angst, and self-doubt.<br />
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One antidote to such misery -- far better than spiraling into either a Fitzgerald or a Hemingway of despair -- might be online magazines. Literary ones, genre ones, big ones, startups: each has a special place in the heart of my career. The top 5 reasons for my love affair:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLTFaGxG9kM0gYxYxO6y27dMNMh98Ua-GWq5yU1eOu315_a9KrQ-BPRhwXb_sSK-JqFD8TAOkKJ3se8pL9YwNMX9auxgt8BqulAgc2VwJZCR8M2x1XM_7UzG1XNPLa8bfJxf6_YQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-02-17+at+3.22.03+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="616" data-original-width="1268" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLTFaGxG9kM0gYxYxO6y27dMNMh98Ua-GWq5yU1eOu315_a9KrQ-BPRhwXb_sSK-JqFD8TAOkKJ3se8pL9YwNMX9auxgt8BqulAgc2VwJZCR8M2x1XM_7UzG1XNPLa8bfJxf6_YQ/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-02-17+at+3.22.03+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>This is no time for a trail ride...</i></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #990000;"><b>1. I Feel the Need; The Need For Speed</b></span><br />
Every writer knows this business of ours moves at a g-l-a-c-i-a-l pace.<br />
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Glacial.<br />
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Writing a good book takes months, at least. Often, it takes years. Finding representation can take longer than your child lasts in elementary school. Getting a publisher to take a chance on you is an exercise in not eating one's own liver.<br />
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But magazines, especially digital ones, have a much shorter publication schedule. The submission-to-publication time frame is measured in mere weeks or months, instead of geologic eras. While I'm waiting for a book editor who has had a manuscript since May to make a decision, a short work sent out this month can be published before the snow melts. That's about as close to instant gratification as the writing world gets.<br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>2. Exciting Editorial Interaction</b></span><br />
Every publisher, every publication, has a particular vision, tone, or style that sets it apart from the rest. This includes e-zines, from the bigwigs to the tiniest literary startup. Working with editors to polish shorter pieces for their publications builds critical skills and awareness that will be invaluable when working with an editor on longer projects.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv62HnadzgupVLAUuJpn6u5tADFpInD0IrNBIBoTUPUWlgNge3V_4xQTVMrUcEQUsbzuF-dcLja_xToaXujWsdetRmShspLYnAU8jRpGo8q4NfSuDT270SsZvAM4IPBhlWrRaZBg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-02-17+at+7.26.03+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="538" data-original-width="702" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv62HnadzgupVLAUuJpn6u5tADFpInD0IrNBIBoTUPUWlgNge3V_4xQTVMrUcEQUsbzuF-dcLja_xToaXujWsdetRmShspLYnAU8jRpGo8q4NfSuDT270SsZvAM4IPBhlWrRaZBg/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-02-17+at+7.26.03+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>There is no such thing as "too many bylines."</i></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><b>3. Bylines, Beautiful Bylines</b></span><br />
Call me shallow, but I like seeing my name in print. "By Ami Hendrickson" never ceases to fill me with an Enterprise-sized payload of warm fuzzies.<br />
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Fun fact: people who are not in the publishing biz (your mom, your kids, your dentist) often do not make a distinction between having a <i>book</i> published and having a <i>thing</i> published. They do, however, understand being <i>un</i>published.<br />
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While waiting for the book deal, the script option, or the staging of your play, placing a few poems, or articles, or short stories with e-zines can not only help mitigate Byline Fever, but it can also help shut up those people who wonder aloud, within earshot, when you're going to be a "real writer."<br />
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<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>4. Reckoning with Rejection</b></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT6FiZITVYrQCDMM-ceXGWyeodusrOKgjIlqpHeIb9OhOzdYPbnDriw5eRiijNYmu9jucOJQH54DKuU0JpzXQ2A5u80m6nFl32QEEEIBc4nQ_Vtbn_mTNJv9h7NW7qgx29qnyrdg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-02-17+at+8.06.03+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="716" data-original-width="1088" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT6FiZITVYrQCDMM-ceXGWyeodusrOKgjIlqpHeIb9OhOzdYPbnDriw5eRiijNYmu9jucOJQH54DKuU0JpzXQ2A5u80m6nFl32QEEEIBc4nQ_Vtbn_mTNJv9h7NW7qgx29qnyrdg/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-02-17+at+8.06.03+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>We fall down. We get up again...</i></td></tr>
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I know some writers who are paralyzed with fear at the thought of rejection. Somehow, they have equated rejection with failure. (This, of course, is ridiculous. Even Lin-Manuel Effing Miranda got rejected when he <a href="https://twitter.com/Lin_Manuel/status/1073205733011922944" target="_blank">applied for the Jonathan Larson grant in 2004</a>.)<br />
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Getting published is like playing a massive game of Concentration. (Remember, from when you were a kid? There's a deck of a jillion picture cards. Each card has a match. You lay all the cards face down and then turn two over, hoping for a match. You get a match, you keep the cards and go again. No match, your turn is over.) You send out a piece hoping it finds an editorial match. If it does, it gets published. Yay! Confetti-flinging ensues. If it doesn't, you send it somewhere else. Lather, rinse, repeat.<br />
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I used to worry about rejection. Now, I realize it's just part of the game. FWIW, I even sent queries out when my husband was dying. I figured no rejection could possibly compare with losing my WunderGuy. You can't win if you don't play. You can't get published if you don't go out on sub. If rejection worries you, let the quick turnaround of e-zines help you get used to it. The sooner, the better.<br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><b>5. Bend! And Stretch! And Reach for the Stars!</b></span><br />
The shorter length of pieces for online magazines allows me to stretch myself, trying something new with presentation, or with language, or with ideas, without committing months of my life to it.<br />
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If I run across an interesting tangent in my research (helloooooo, YouTube rabbit hole about Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians...), exploring it in poetry, or flash fiction, or flash non-fiction allows me to sink my teeth into it far enough to know if I need to devote a larger chunk of my writing time to it -- or if I can let this Bright, Shiny Object lie and return to my work-in-progress.<br />
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You never know what new interests you might discover if you give yourself permission to try them. I once wrote a contest winning six-word short story ("No taxidermist loved his daughter more.") that not only brought with it a lovely, unexpected winner's check, but it also permanently kick-started a love of micro-fiction.<br />
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<b>Added bonuses:</b><br />
As I review an e-zine to see if what I've written might be a good fit, I invariably find new writers that I like, wrestle with new ways to look at the world, and discover some new technique to put into play. My research almost always results in immediately improving my writing -- whether I submit something to them and get it published or not.<br />
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<b>Bragging Rights:</b><br />
If you've had something published online recently that you're proud of, tell me about it. It's ok to brag. Let the world know what you did this nifty thing.<br />
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I'll go first: I'm thrilled that my poem <a href="https://cabinetofheed.com/2019/02/08/drive-by-i-love-you-ami-hendrickson/" target="_blank">"Drive By 'I Love You'"</a> was published this past weekend in The Cabinet of Heed.<br />
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Ok... Your turn!<br />
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Ami Hendricksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16113842141579251283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13639087.post-16014296466456111082019-01-19T21:19:00.000-05:002019-01-19T21:19:34.925-05:00"I Traded My iPad for a Smith-Corona Typewriter": Q & A with Author Harry Marks
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRjtSMQHZLe2MyMkuHKN-te9pyrtuaVtK7MZSOH3YNz1D8tYbU8uwDkYwvAXE-URNZY9xRvI2snQK0qFHTqr-XbiEIeZLzi7JyRQ3E3MJWCVTwBRmhDZQy4PLYNS9Enr7MGQ5_ag/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-01-19+at+8.28.56+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="1030" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRjtSMQHZLe2MyMkuHKN-te9pyrtuaVtK7MZSOH3YNz1D8tYbU8uwDkYwvAXE-URNZY9xRvI2snQK0qFHTqr-XbiEIeZLzi7JyRQ3E3MJWCVTwBRmhDZQy4PLYNS9Enr7MGQ5_ag/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-01-19+at+8.28.56+PM.png" width="309" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Author and Typewriter Aficionado, Harry Marks.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>I am thrilled to present an interview with my Twitter-friend, author Harry Marks (<a href="https://twitter.com/HCMarks" target="_blank">@HCMarks</a>)</i>. </span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>When I discovered Harry uses a <b>typewriter</b> for his writing, I was simultaneously skeptical and intrigued. Here, Harry kindly answers my questions about where the typewriter fits into his writing process. Thanks, Harry!</i></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #990000;"><b>Q:</b></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>Tell me a little bit about yourself and your
writing. What do you write?
What are your favorite genres? Favorite formats?</i></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b>A:</b></span> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My name is Harry Marks and I’m the host of the
literary podcast, COVERED (<a href="https://t.co/5AzrR9rqCb" title="http://hologramradio.org/covered"><span class="invisible"><span style="color: blue;">http://</span></span><span class="js-display-url"><span style="color: blue;">hologramradio.org/covered</span></span><span class="invisible"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span></a>). I’ve been
published in HelloHorror, The Coil, and have written for<a href="http://baronfig.com/" target="_blank"> Baron Fig</a><a href="https://t.co/DS8OpM8tyE" title="http://BaronFig.com"><span class="invisible"><span style="color: blue;"></span></span></a>. Links to all
my writing can be found at <a href="https://t.co/fXNhShipR6" title="http://hcmarks.com"><span class="invisible"><span style="color: blue;">http://</span></span><span class="js-display-url"><span style="color: blue;">hcmarks.com</span></span><span class="invisible"><span style="color: blue;"></span></span></a>. </span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My short
fiction tends to be genre-focused. I really love experimenting with short
horror stories and flash fiction. My novels (I’ve completed five and I’m
finishing up a sixth) tend to skew more Literary. </span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #990000;"><b>Q:</b></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>In 2019, what is the Brass Publishing Ring
achievement you would love to unlock?</i></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b>A:</b></span> I
would love for 2019 to be the year I finally sign with a literary agent.
I think I might be nearing completion on the book that will get me where I want
to go. Fingers crossed! </span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #990000;"><b>Q:</b></span> <i>How
long have you used a typewriter for your writing? </i></span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>Do you have a preferred make or model? </i></span>What was your first foray
into the Wonderful World of Typewriters?</i></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b>A:</b></span>
I’ve been using a typewriter since 2015. I’d always wanted one for the reason
most writers want a typewriter—the romantic fantasy of clicking and clacking my
way to a best-seller like Stephen King. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-DBzWCwVWy7CT44Pl6ekAjLGRet7U5k19s9MSDjSj2qKfkQ5UY8b8EheexbMLw3S2YdfGAvUu2ORpyJg70bhYn88SnKPa1oVBezcJc2yjFah872tDKPhj3IRqfc-Utw73-GIphA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-01-19+at+8.29.15+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1044" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-DBzWCwVWy7CT44Pl6ekAjLGRet7U5k19s9MSDjSj2qKfkQ5UY8b8EheexbMLw3S2YdfGAvUu2ORpyJg70bhYn88SnKPa1oVBezcJc2yjFah872tDKPhj3IRqfc-Utw73-GIphA/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-01-19+at+8.29.15+PM.png" width="309" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Harry's Workstation.</i></td></tr>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My mother used to let me mess around on
an electric typewriter she had before we got a computer. This was in
the early ‘90s when the hottest computer game around was Solitaire. It’s only
recently that I’ve delved back into the analog world, having grown weary of the
constant blinking and beeping and buzzing of my digital lifestyle. [<i>I can SO relate... AH]</i> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I actually
sold my first generation iPad so I could buy my first typewriter: a teal 1950s
Smith-Corona. I wrote the first short story I ever had published on that
machine. </span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #990000;"><b>Q:</b></span> <i>What
about the typewriter appeals to you? </i></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b>A:</b></span>
The typewriter is a connection to the past, and I know how hipstery that
sounds, but that’s what’s so appealing. I grew up in a house where vinyl was
the primary source of music and paper books lined shelves in almost every room
in the house. </span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I love the dichotomy between the simple act of typing and the
incredibly complex network of levers and springs within. And most importantly,
my typewriter is over 60 years old and still works as well today as the day it
rolled off the assembly line. It’s a tank. I can’t say that about the iPad I
sold.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #990000;"><b>Q:</b></span> </span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><i><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Can
you walk me through a typical idea-to-draft-to-polished-piece project? How does
the typewriter fit into the process? </span></i></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b><span style="color: #134f5c;">A:</span></b> I tend to go to the typewriter during the drafting phase. Everything must
end up in my computer eventually, but first drafts are either handwritten or
typed on my Smith-Corona. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW0uXsi3eaLQTJlbCimOK_91mMYJMgoq6qGFY_M15xZApsOM6xpzZe3-RXJBmj_nctpYWPAwvr4Rh6wghtg-14H3P6XF4og_cqcBssxR9o8_9Q2JeKSKkbJHtNJpGq5XzvTjJDLQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-01-19+at+8.54.29+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="845" data-original-width="1136" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW0uXsi3eaLQTJlbCimOK_91mMYJMgoq6qGFY_M15xZApsOM6xpzZe3-RXJBmj_nctpYWPAwvr4Rh6wghtg-14H3P6XF4og_cqcBssxR9o8_9Q2JeKSKkbJHtNJpGq5XzvTjJDLQ/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-01-19+at+8.54.29+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #990000;"><b>Q:</b></span> <i>What
drawbacks are inherent in using a typewriter? How do you combat them?</i></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b><span style="color: #134f5c;">A:</span></b>
The typewriter has plenty of drawbacks that make the idea of using one to write
a novel seem absurd. </span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I don’t have correcting tape, so I tend to go over typos
with Xs until a word is blacked out. A lot of my first drafts look like
redacted military files. </span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">They’re also heavy, loud, and if you use them enough,
you’ll find yourself replacing the ribbon pretty often. </span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Also, if it breaks and
you don’t know how to fix it, you have to find someone who does. I work in New
York City, so I tend to take my machines to a tiny shop in Midtown owned by a
man who’s been fixing up typewriters for over 50 years. </span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #990000;"><b>Q:</b></span> <i>What
advice would you give to a writer who is intrigued by the idea of using a
typewriter and who wants to give it a try?</i></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b>A:</b></span>
For anyone interested in writing on a typewriter, my biggest piece of advice
is: try it in person. Don’t just buy a typewriter on eBay and hope for the
best. Most of them are garbage anyway. If you can, go to a brick-and-mortar
store where typewriters are sold (typewriter resellers, antique shops) and try
them out. Choosing the right typewriter is like choosing the right guitar:
you’ll know it when you feel it.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>Any other typewriter-using authors out there? I'd love to hear your process</i>. <i>Me? I draft either in illegible handwriting OR on my AlphaSmart. Chime in below on what works best for you!</i> </span></div>
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</style>Ami Hendricksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16113842141579251283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13639087.post-59503324323509839122019-01-06T16:10:00.002-05:002019-01-06T16:10:52.576-05:00Four Easy Ways A New Writer Can Rock Twitter (updated for 2019)A few years ago, I wrote a post full of suggestions for <a href="http://museinks.blogspot.com/2015/10/how-new-writer-can-rock-twitter-without.html" target="_blank">How a New Writer Can Rock Twitter</a>. Since then, Twitter has evolved. The "Favorites" star turned into a "Like" heart, storytelling with GIFs has burgeoned into an art form, bots and trolls are far more prevalent, and the 140-character limit has doubled. While I stand by the advice in the post from 2015, this shiny new year provides a good opportunity to add an upgrade.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIe8uV1WRuAcWci-OKyJ6KuBLqj78pKZudennBOQ-8Uhv09yGLKHY56cd5P8LlR915uTj6dnW6KW8q2bzdQKepHwiK5PrrvwHQMgdobxtvBIVxJovnPAEd5DUYNIGsJB4Gf5rKPg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-12-28+at+7.25.34+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="656" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIe8uV1WRuAcWci-OKyJ6KuBLqj78pKZudennBOQ-8Uhv09yGLKHY56cd5P8LlR915uTj6dnW6KW8q2bzdQKepHwiK5PrrvwHQMgdobxtvBIVxJovnPAEd5DUYNIGsJB4Gf5rKPg/s320/Screen+Shot+2018-12-28+at+7.25.34+PM.png" width="233" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #45818e;"><b>1. Crash the #WritingCommunity Party</b></span><br />
<br />
I got on Twitter -- dragged against my will, I might mention -- in 2010. Then, the #amwriting hashtag, brainchild of the lovely and talented Johanna Harness, was the Place to Be for Writing Twitter. In many respects, it still is, but it has been hijacked in recent years by spammers who shill their work, but don't interact with anyone.<br />
<br />
#WritingCommunity is different. For now. In some ways, it reminds me of Old Twitter, where people engage, retweet, support, and interact. IMHO, if you're new to writing, or new to Twitter and looking for community, this hashtag is a good place to start.<br />
<br />
Other incredibly useful hashtags:<br />
<br />
* <b>#MSWL</b> -- in which agents, editors, and other publishing pros list the things they are actively looking for.<br />
<br />
* <b>#amediting</b> is great for support while revising.<br />
<br />
* And <b>#TenQueries</b> provides essential insight into how Actual Agents and Editors approach their slush piles.<br />
<br />
<b>--> #PubTip</b> used to be a worthwhile hashtag, but has lately been overrun with noise.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><b>2. Beware What You Share</b></span> <br />
<br />
Beware of tweeting anything too personal, pessimistic, or damning about your writing and your process.<br />
<br />
I notice this most often on the <b>#amquerying</b> tag. As a writer, expect publishing pros to look up your social media profiles. You DO NOT want them to see something like "<i>Just got a fresh slate of rejections. Over 100 so far! Oh well! #Amquerying again...</i>"<br />
<br />
If you have over 100 rejections on a project: congratulations. We all do. Join the club. But wait to tell <i>that</i> story until after you've found the one person who sees your genius. After you have enjoyed significant success, by all means, tell the tale. Until then, just keep writing...<br />
<br />
Piggybacking on this: beware of using any form of "aspiring writer" in your bio. And, in general, refrain from the newbie move of putting "author," "writer," or similar words in your Twitter name.<br />
<br />
If your name is Hinkerpaler McSnickety, then make your Twitter handle @HinkerpalerMcSnickety. Or, say, @HinkerSnickety. But steer clear of things like @AuthorHinkerpaler or @McSnicketyWrites.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS1E-NxBO7HImCzjLidrVlD4DPJMnRctoo0pV-AXAneS703tydZCWdEuI-Lywy5J3BdpW7yDK2OQfMKvy6npMmbat6H1IrpHqVNHIxQEuvevcCmK_iA2IofTO3SsX7YFKrPWTRGw/s1600/Useful.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="554" data-original-width="388" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS1E-NxBO7HImCzjLidrVlD4DPJMnRctoo0pV-AXAneS703tydZCWdEuI-Lywy5J3BdpW7yDK2OQfMKvy6npMmbat6H1IrpHqVNHIxQEuvevcCmK_iA2IofTO3SsX7YFKrPWTRGw/s320/Useful.jpg" width="224" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #351c75;"><b>3. Be Supportive</b></span><br />
<br />
Twitter is full of supportive publishing professionals. Become one of
them.<br />
<br />
I have helped polish queries, made introductions, answered formatting and technical questions, and beta-read manuscripts. Thanks to Twitter, I have a few more clients and a lot more friends. Yet in the past nine years, I can count the number of times I've done a hard-sell promo for my work on one hand. <br />
<br />
If someone asks a question you know the answer to, answer it. <i>Then move along.</i> Do not treat every interaction as an opportunity to smack someone over the head with your book. <br />
<br />
Don't. Be. THAT. Writer. There are far too many of them on Twitter already. <br />
<br />
Likewise: when someone joyously announces that they have representation, or have a publishing deal, or have a book release -- congratulate them. Be sincere. Post happy GIFs and fling virtual confetti. Publishing is <i>tough</i>. Its wheels grind slowly, and they often grind writers into chaff. Celebrate the victories of others. One day, we'll celebrate yours as well. In the meantime, jealousy looks good on no one. <br />
<br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><b>4. Use Lists to Decide Who To Follow</b></span><br />
<br />
Twitter inundates new users with suggestions of people to follow. Often, these people are uber-famous celebrities with millions of followers. As if any of them are going to follow back and interact with us.<br />
<br />
But... who to follow? It's a bot-filled, troll-infested jungle out there.<br />
<br />
One way through the jungle -- at least while you're getting your bearings in the mine-filled Twitter landscape -- is to follow someone else's curated list. For instance, I have a list of over <a href="https://twitter.com/MuseInks/lists/agents/members" target="_blank">490 literary agents</a>. I have lists of writers, a list of editors, and one of interesting people whose tweets are always engaging.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix0NOygiAVd5RK4KoFIAhelh2equ-8SKZ4YzJZsyxQESqh2gWvMBdNTuKbyVoULV9iJICYg-8h4jgvRO27nKDMUfV9WP4Nzu2ZdtOiSmwAiY26LpuJP-5_66wtpMa7D3XIdkljNg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-01-06+at+4.08.07+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="104" data-original-width="832" height="50" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix0NOygiAVd5RK4KoFIAhelh2equ-8SKZ4YzJZsyxQESqh2gWvMBdNTuKbyVoULV9iJICYg-8h4jgvRO27nKDMUfV9WP4Nzu2ZdtOiSmwAiY26LpuJP-5_66wtpMa7D3XIdkljNg/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-01-06+at+4.08.07+PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>To find a person's lists, go to their Profile page and click on "Lists"</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Many agents and publishers have their own lists, too. Unless a list is locked and private, you can follow it. Following a list allows you to see the tweets of list members, even if you don't actively follow them. It won't take long before you know who you want to add to your feed.<br />
<br />
Remember: you don't owe anyone a followback. Just because someone follows you doesn't mean you must follow them. (<i>Full disclosure: for years, this was an unpopular take. But it's a hill I will die upon. I look at the feed of every single new person who follows me before deciding whether or not to followback. If they talk only about themselves, if they never interact with others, if they are rude, or if they only retweet saccharine feel-good quotes, I don't have room for them in my timeline. Those are *my* rules. It's up to you to make your own</i>.)<br />
<br />
Here's hoping you find this post helpful. What did I miss? What's your best advice to writers new to Twitter?<br />
<br />
[You're a blog follower, right? Hope so - 'cause 2019 is going to be <i>fab-u-lous!]</i> Ami Hendricksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16113842141579251283noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13639087.post-68963725215717711842018-12-31T14:02:00.003-05:002018-12-31T14:02:43.192-05:00Spinning the Story Wheel: the First, Best, and Last of 2018<span style="color: #38761d;"><i>I just spent the past three minutes trying to maneuver my cursor to delete a backslash ("/") from a document I'm editing.</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="color: #38761d;"><i>Turns out it wasn't a backslash at all. It was a piece of flotsam on my computer screen. </i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><i>Story of my life, eh?</i></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg50cNP4P2Z8AMZvqKw2cx23WEUjms4PK7NWNjONyjl_0pEuga7GalJ0HupXO5VTLaJJEZ-QLMUvLc8TzFIy2aHLSww4M_XuxwmmLcRZX_uVed7IsDE-09tNozHw2tWA_11CJxPAA/s1600/VibeDeerDamage.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg50cNP4P2Z8AMZvqKw2cx23WEUjms4PK7NWNjONyjl_0pEuga7GalJ0HupXO5VTLaJJEZ-QLMUvLc8TzFIy2aHLSww4M_XuxwmmLcRZX_uVed7IsDE-09tNozHw2tWA_11CJxPAA/s320/VibeDeerDamage.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>January, 2108. A first for me:<br /> hit a deer; totaled my car.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Last year about this time, I posted <a href="http://museinks.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-annual-extra.html" target="_blank">The Annual Extra</a>, resolutions of sorts for 2018. I was going to start a newsletter about cool stuff I've read, interesting factoids I came across in my research, and whatnot. I actually did this thing. (You're a subscriber, yes? Thanks!) Newsletters post infrequently, but -- and this is key -- they do happen.<br />
<br />
Unlike, say, the other resolutions I made. All of them fell by the wayside. <i>::sigh::</i> I've come up with a foolproof approach to New Year's Resolutions this year... which I explain in detail in my next newsletter.<br />
<br />
Unrealized resolutions aside, 2018 flew by in a whirlwind of activity and experiences. One of those experiences happened last night.<br />
<br />
Our friends invited us over for dinner. Several others were there who we didn't know well. After we ate, we played <a href="https://storyology.com/" target="_blank">Storyology</a>, which involves telling stories about random topics. On the first round, everyone tells a story about their <i>first</i> ____. Second round involves stories about the <i>best</i> ____. Final round is a story about the <i>last </i>____. The game ends as everyone, in turns, recalls details of the previous stories. It was a<i> </i>genuinely lovely way to spend an evening.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHAlL-qI04CNoXJTBp0_vCpun8UEKG5pJEUMLlPK4ioQBh5KHYMsqVYhyphenhyphenUoaD5bfduZhVgo0Wzacg2nQi2efY_wHCpcf_Aq2oCoLNPsSHmiL1mSRom0VqHdDspw5xobr8BJd7zQA/s1600/Ami+Zipline+Denali+smaller.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="538" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHAlL-qI04CNoXJTBp0_vCpun8UEKG5pJEUMLlPK4ioQBh5KHYMsqVYhyphenhyphenUoaD5bfduZhVgo0Wzacg2nQi2efY_wHCpcf_Aq2oCoLNPsSHmiL1mSRom0VqHdDspw5xobr8BJd7zQA/s320/Ami+Zipline+Denali+smaller.jpg" width="179" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>It me!</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In the vein of Storyology, I'm going to tell a few stories about 2018. (AKA: The Year Few Things Went As Planned).<br />
<br />
2018's FIRSTS:<br />
<br />
* Since Cas took Driver's Ed this summer, I now have a chauffeur. Not only is she a first-time driver <i>(</i>and a fairly good one) but this is also the first time since 1996 that I have not been the only driver in the family.<br />
<br />
* I went ziplining for the first time this summer in Denali Park, Alaska. Cas (who doesn't like heights) went, too, but she had been before, at summer camp.<br />
<br />
* I lost my voice -- completely -- for nearly a week. Nothing hurt; I wasn't sick. I was just mute. Gave me new appreciation for those who have difficulty speaking. Trying to make myself understood to salespeople or on the phone was a <i>nightmare</i>.<br />
<br />
* I wrote my first romance novel this summer. Romance is not generally my chosen genre, but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Even more surprising: I quite like the finished project. Better still -- so does my agent. (<i>Whew!</i>)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwW7Bf9LxtJ_pWVMPHndqmNFXiZ5A9BlCb0I1rppzzd-426oQ9NtaDM_cbEuV_90qFoh2qax30z70COJ61uixm7thmwQArsH_qGFFf1SaNuey4VdVZvEWLZMKUSx7Pyn6vNi1lWQ/s1600/Obama+in+Detroit+October+18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="892" data-original-width="1600" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwW7Bf9LxtJ_pWVMPHndqmNFXiZ5A9BlCb0I1rppzzd-426oQ9NtaDM_cbEuV_90qFoh2qax30z70COJ61uixm7thmwQArsH_qGFFf1SaNuey4VdVZvEWLZMKUSx7Pyn6vNi1lWQ/s400/Obama+in+Detroit+October+18.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
* Attended my first political rally AND got seated with my friends in the "behind the speakers / gonna be on TV" section. I was <i>this far away from Obama!</i> The last president I saw in person was Ronald Reagan when I was working for our college newspaper. This was way better.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7O5XFjw4AFr6QENnXfh2b1ZqpgrsnLIeqYysvNJbOAQBu0YnArTr5Qo2TdR0zYJXenVXEDplUjaClsbJVtgdLA-Y3kRaMk6wf-60x1TBnIQz02hxfiXGuU_m3G_jV0JZzTR689g/s1600/Dolly2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="760" data-original-width="1600" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7O5XFjw4AFr6QENnXfh2b1ZqpgrsnLIeqYysvNJbOAQBu0YnArTr5Qo2TdR0zYJXenVXEDplUjaClsbJVtgdLA-Y3kRaMk6wf-60x1TBnIQz02hxfiXGuU_m3G_jV0JZzTR689g/s320/Dolly2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Put on Your Sunday Clothes"</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The BESTS of the Year:<br />
<br />
* Best trip: went on a two-week vacation / cruise to Alaska with Cas and my friend Stacey. Saw whales, sea lions, bald eagles, and more. Went on the afore-mentioned ziplining adventure. Also went horseback riding in Denali, which was on my Bucket List.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz72FGG4gdV9Fe2DfGMPqEzCjjoiMqWvMi_3grPqAsPBttEWjJL9c1OkZU2o3ljMffo8pf9lmst7NAfYHVRYODWz8RbVGBo7mkGJZTPg_qaGyrA1VbicesR9y9a7OlBD-tnxW-jg/s1600/CasClaireJonIsabellaHelloDolly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz72FGG4gdV9Fe2DfGMPqEzCjjoiMqWvMi_3grPqAsPBttEWjJL9c1OkZU2o3ljMffo8pf9lmst7NAfYHVRYODWz8RbVGBo7mkGJZTPg_qaGyrA1VbicesR9y9a7OlBD-tnxW-jg/s320/CasClaireJonIsabellaHelloDolly.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Cas (Chef 2) & friends</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
* Best news: that Dad would be ok. He got critically ill while we were on vacation and spent most of the summer in the hospital (including 2 weeks in ICU) and in rehab. Today he is 90 lbs. lighter than he was last year this time, and in far better shape. Thank God! <br />
<br />
* Best live entertainment: Cas was in her high school's production of "Hello Dolly!" Which was phenomenal. Truly. I'm not saying that just 'cause I'm the mom. I went to every show and loved every moment.<br />
<br />
And the LASTS:<br />
<br />
* The last book I read was Pratchett and Gaiman's GOOD OMENS, which was, of course, excellent. <br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtinMAgE0AbvaVBQUkOXrfA76yUQRqGEOiAdeox1F8-axUz5T0QL4pVoRcUsqaeDpHbKmoxhkC0-psUMOI-SvILUvcHKtOagE1vKb4bFVUcog6NoccnJ_t34T6hwhv0CgsyY7Eow/s1600/Loews+Room+with+a+View.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtinMAgE0AbvaVBQUkOXrfA76yUQRqGEOiAdeox1F8-axUz5T0QL4pVoRcUsqaeDpHbKmoxhkC0-psUMOI-SvILUvcHKtOagE1vKb4bFVUcog6NoccnJ_t34T6hwhv0CgsyY7Eow/s320/Loews+Room+with+a+View.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The view from my hotel room.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
* The last trip I took was to Hollywood in November, for the annual Tobias Agency Retreat. While there, I got to meet up with some old friends, which is the highlight of any trip. Had a great room, met some amazingly talented people, and the <i>pièce de résistance</i>: was treated royally at a French Consulate 'do.<br />
<br />
* Last two movies I saw were "Mary Poppins" and "Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse." Liked them both. Not a bad way to spend a few hours in December.<br />
<br />
* Last colossally stupid thing I did was a week and a half before Christmas, which resulted in 15 stitches in my top lip. I don't want to talk about it...<br />
<br />
* And THIS is the last post of 2018. I'd love to say I've made a resolution to blog more, or to be more consistent, but you and I both know that I would just be blowing smoke. I'm looking forward to the next year; lots of writing and editing projects ahead, just waiting for me to dive into them.<br />
<br />
Here's wishing you the best of everything in 2019. May it hold many memorable stories for you.<br />
<br />Ami Hendricksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16113842141579251283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13639087.post-44486646021836579462018-10-27T09:00:00.000-04:002018-10-27T09:00:09.300-04:00Elizabeth Cady Stanton: Crusader for Votes and Rights<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnh5QeCmmU3gLS26DYS9KoUT0Ci1srL6UKcM130U4vtKxM1qXZJTHaFppJ2vWZoxj69-ErnQzAtLvnhvokJSjoEjo42BCQ9deOpquDOqsNR2ltUtYX1GKZM4lI7UOL7ShCqPQFbA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-10-01+at+2.20.53+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1038" data-original-width="762" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnh5QeCmmU3gLS26DYS9KoUT0Ci1srL6UKcM130U4vtKxM1qXZJTHaFppJ2vWZoxj69-ErnQzAtLvnhvokJSjoEjo42BCQ9deOpquDOqsNR2ltUtYX1GKZM4lI7UOL7ShCqPQFbA/s320/Screen+Shot+2018-10-01+at+2.20.53+PM.png" width="234" /></a>Recently I was reading about the remarkable Elizabeth Cady Stanton (whose journalist husband Henry co-founded the Republican party).<br />
<br />
Born in New York on November 12, 1815, Ol' Liz was a supporter of racial and gender equality, speaking up for women on everything from access to contraception, to property ownership, to voting rights.<br />
<br />
Liz was a good friend of Susan B. Anthony. Because of their passionate
commitment to women's causes, both refrained from supporting the 14th and 15th Amendments, arguing that, while the Amendments offered
protection to African-American men, they neglected to include women.<br />
<br />
In 1848, Stanton wrote The Declaration of Sentiments, a gender-equal
document presented at one of the first Women's Rights conventions and signed by 100 men and women.<br />
<br />
Predictably, not everyone was a supporter of allowing all humans to enjoy the same rights. (The very idea!) Detractors called it "the most shocking and
unnatural event ever recorded in the history of womanity."<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0kFkPm_2s7DFWj0j4xXdJncKAwkXGkdo_lcekaIBYStn3dunjsdKD_zylKAULjnq7z3YwZmwd2EBMJlzmTBFQd6hsxH8SsgmjyfP75ajSdBsxec_GEiZiVH3pMFLjkzT_8qUOcw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-10-01+at+2.25.59+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="668" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0kFkPm_2s7DFWj0j4xXdJncKAwkXGkdo_lcekaIBYStn3dunjsdKD_zylKAULjnq7z3YwZmwd2EBMJlzmTBFQd6hsxH8SsgmjyfP75ajSdBsxec_GEiZiVH3pMFLjkzT_8qUOcw/s320/Screen+Shot+2018-10-01+at+2.25.59+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
In the 1890s, Stanton wrote and published "The Woman's Bible," which
challenged the belief that women should be subservient to men. The views
in the book divided supporters of the women's rights movement, who
were afraid it was too controversial and would harm their cause.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkt3Fs9Qxg3wTpsSHc3Pd8j3c09LD1-VQ_t18Z8A_ZIujZ4WO8Baa0f4YPNu8gSUKntisJ9E60CEOVC8OD5TmNGugLP48n-Txgr7U3X9kAiclcRCMtmEYTkw0CUw8jvmYVC6mlcA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-10-01+at+2.25.40+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="686" data-original-width="436" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkt3Fs9Qxg3wTpsSHc3Pd8j3c09LD1-VQ_t18Z8A_ZIujZ4WO8Baa0f4YPNu8gSUKntisJ9E60CEOVC8OD5TmNGugLP48n-Txgr7U3X9kAiclcRCMtmEYTkw0CUw8jvmYVC6mlcA/s320/Screen+Shot+2018-10-01+at+2.25.40+PM.png" width="203" /></a></div>
<br />
Liz was in favor of equal rights for with regards to both race and gender -- she supported interracial marriage at a time when very few shared this view. However, she suffered from her own
prejudices: she supported the Spanish-American War and had a deep and
abiding dislike of all things Spanish.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj55JC2Ts5ONj0oH0yaIqOX2COMQrruGNOQZ0mBUqgmsQ2xpwBKXlgNOrNcx3kHqkuBuuDZlH0d72VohsTawbfnABnMDhV3FIyT6WpISLisBTqX50atLFHorD7I1yVMuBrRyOikGw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-10-01+at+2.29.08+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1028" data-original-width="710" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj55JC2Ts5ONj0oH0yaIqOX2COMQrruGNOQZ0mBUqgmsQ2xpwBKXlgNOrNcx3kHqkuBuuDZlH0d72VohsTawbfnABnMDhV3FIyT6WpISLisBTqX50atLFHorD7I1yVMuBrRyOikGw/s320/Screen+Shot+2018-10-01+at+2.29.08+PM.png" width="221" /></a></div>
Dear ol' Liz had a keen legal mind and a way with words.<br />
<br />
When the 14th and 15th Amendments
were passed, she argued that their language applied to women as well, but the male-controlled government did not agree.<br />
<br />
Though her popularity swung wildly between "influential icon" and "embarrassing zealot," she never let her other people dictate her views. She never sold out. She never gave up.<br />
<br />
Elizabeth lectured and published widely throughout her life. She died in 1902, 18 years before women
could vote, yet still she persisted and never let her fire burn out. Ami Hendricksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16113842141579251283noreply@blogger.com0