Jul 17, 2006 | Uncategorized |
In 2.5 years in Hawaii, I've never yet set up my scanner. So I had to take a photo of the flyer for my reading on Wednesday in order to share it here.
I'm reading with three other Aloha Chapter members. The only other person on here with a website is Michael Little (see sidebar). Michael is a fabulous reader, having appeared on the Aloha Shorts radio program and given readings at various other venues across the island. Go read his wonderful short story, “Walter! Walter!”, which won the Honolulu Magazine fiction writing contest a few years ago. Great story, told from a local angle. The Hawaii that tourists have no idea exists.
I'll be reading an excerpt from “Maddie's Marine,” which appears in Strong Currents 2 (see pic in sidebar). I'm working on a new submission for SC3, which should be out next spring.
Jul 14, 2006 | Uncategorized |
Early Shakespeare Folio Auctioned for Millions
Morning Edition, July 13, 2006 · A rare first edition of Shakespeare's complete plays sells for over five million dollars at auction in London. Peter Selley, Sotheby's English literature expert, talks about the importance of the folio with Renee Montagne.
Update: the Morning Edition link takes you to a story about Rembrandt. Here's the correct link for the Bard.
Jul 14, 2006 | Uncategorized |
The thesis proceeds apace (see word count meter in the sidebar). I've written around 3000 words this week, which is good. My goal today is to finish the chapter on Mrs. Dalloway. Monday begins To the Lighthouse, which should be easier for me (I hope) because I already know exactly what I want to do in this chapter. Orlando and the conclusion come next.
And now you're wondering, with so much hanging over my head, what I'm doing here. Well, quite honestly, I've discovered that one needs a break from all this intellectual stuff. I can immerse myself in my fiction and write non-stop for hours and hours, but academic writing tires me out. So, I don't begrudge myself a break. 🙂 It's needed for sanity.
An amusing post today over at Miss Snark (what's new about that!).
Every year, English teachers from across the country can submit their collections of actual analogies and metaphors found in high school essays. These excerpts are published each year to the amusement of teachers across the country. Here are last year's winners…..
Just a few of my favorites are:
6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.
8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM machine.
11. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.
23. The ballerina rose gracefully en Pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.
You really have to go read the rest. Some aren't bad at all, and some are hysterical.
You should also check out Alison Kent today. Seems as if an unpublished writer went and wrote a nasty review of a published novel on Amazon.com. Never, ever a good idea. Yes, writers are readers too, but if you want to have a career in publishing, you simply MUST realize what a small community it really is, especially within genres. This woman wants to publish romances, but she publicly trashed a romance and didn't hide her identity when she did it. Not good, because now this post is making its way around the cyber-community like a house afire. And as we know, editors and agents blog too. Ahem.
Does this mean that writers can't have opinions? Of course not, but there are better ways to say you didn't like a book. Just state the reasons why it didn't work for you, without insulting the author, editor, and readers. But, if you want my advice, don't say anything if you can't say anything nice. There are plenty of non-writer reviewers out there for that. And just remember, if you DO sell a book one day, it'll be up for review. If you wouldn't want it said about you, then don't say it about someone else.
Live aloha, baby.
Jul 13, 2006 | Uncategorized |
Western will not do (some of you thought the previous template had an Old West feel), so until I have the time to build my own template, here's something nice and readable. 🙂 Whew, darn Blogger. If it hadn't eaten my other one yesterday, I wouldn't have to do this!
Jul 13, 2006 | Uncategorized |
I did not set out today to change the look of this blog! One minute I was reading comments and the next the background was gone. I kid you not! I wasn't even signed in, just hit the refresh button, and my template was gone. Lots of white space, no colors or columns or anything. All my material was still there, but the background was MIA.
That, of course, would not do. I checked out other people on Blogger and saw that no one else seemed to be having a problem. I waited several hours, refreshing periodically, and still no template. I checked the HTML — it was still there and should have worked.
Finally, I gave up and went in search of a new template. So, voila! I unveil for you the new Romancing Paradise, soon to be renamed Romancing the South or something like that. 🙂
And if any of you have a clue what the hell Blogger did when it decided not to display my template anymore, I'd love to know. For once, I'm stymied. It can't be my fault because I wasn't signed in and fiddling!
Hope you like the new look.
Aloha.
Jul 11, 2006 | Uncategorized |
I'm coming out of thesis overdrive to sample the blogs (because let's face it, a non-stop diet of Virginia Woolf, no matter how amazing her work, can get depressing without something else to think about periodically). I surfed over to Allison Brennan's site and found this link to an article by Sarah Weinman about blogging. Great article! Check out her 8 tips to a successful blog.
I used to try to post every day, but I just can't manage it lately. Maybe I need to plan better, definitely post on certain days of the week. I like to take weekends off because I'm spending it with the hubby and I can never predict what we're going to be doing.
One of the things Sarah talks about are long-term goals. I don't think I have any. I started blogging as a way to reconnect with other writers and with the writing community. Several years ago, one of the best writers' communities anywhere was a bulletin board. It was on the GEnie network and was a meeting point for romance writers everywhere. The sense of community was amazing, and when it went the way of the dinosaur (individual web presences becoming de rigeur) I missed it very much. Starting a blog, and reading blogs by other writers, gives me that same sense of community I had on the RomEx. (And I get to connect regularly with at least one other writer who was a part of my intimate circle on RomEx, the fabulous Terry K. who blogs at I See Invisible People.)
Beyond that, I had no long term goal. I suppose I wanted a web presence because I was also looking ahead and thinking that when I sold my first novel I didn't want to have to learn how to do all this. I wanted it ready to go, the learning curve long since mastered.
I know I've asked before why you blog, but how about if I ask what your long-term goals are, if any, with the blog?
In 2.5 years in Hawaii, I've never yet set up my scanner. So I had to take a photo of the flyer for my reading on Wednesday in order to share it here.