Literary Snippets

The Piston of the Steam Engine

2012-02-25T14:11:00.000-05:00

It was a town of machinery and tall chimneys, out of which interminable serpents of smoke trailed themselves for ever and ever, and never got uncoiled. It had a black canal in it, and a river that ran purple with ill-smelling dye, and vast piles of building full of windows where there was a rattling and a trembling all day long, and where the piston of the steam-engine worked monotonously up and down, like the head of an elephant in a state of melancholy madness.

It contained several large streets all very like one another, and many small streets still more like one another, inhabited by people equally like one another, who all went in and out at the same hours, with the same sound upon the same pavements, to do the same work, and to whom every day was the same as yesterday and to-morrow, and every year the counterpart of the last and the next.

Charles Dickens, Hard Times

Painting; Vincent Van Gogh; Factory in Asnieres (1887)

Of Fasting and Feasting by Sonia G Medeiros

2012-02-24T07:00:00.000-05:00

Today is LLC Friday and I am a guest at Marcia Richard’s blog, where I talk about a fear that sometimes keeps us from doing what we're supposed to be doing: the fear of missing out or the FOMO.

I am thrilled to have as my guest, fiction writer, Sonia G. Medeiros. Please join me in welcoming Sonia.

Prayer

For many folk, the next several weeks will be spent in preparation for Easter with a season called Lent. Lent is a time of penance, sacrifice, preparation and spiritual renewal. The Lenten fasting prepares the body and spirit for the tribulations ahead and for the joys, the celebration and feasting.

(If you're struggling with that whole sacrifice bit, check out Jenny Hansen's solution to sinning.)

While our family observes Lent for religious reasons, I also admire the practical reasons for such a season of preparation. As our world grows ever more complex and fast-paced, we can easily lose sight of what's important and skid wildly out of balance.

This is especially true when we decided to follow a big dream or goal. The moment we open ourselves to it, the distractions, obligations and activities seek us out ruthlessly. Before we know it, our fledgling hopes can be buried. Our friends and family call us out for not paying attention to them and our work volume (in the home and/or out of it) seems to quadruple.

Buried Alive

It's enough to make anyone want to curl up in a fetal position nursing a bottle of whiskey and snorting pure sugar.

On the other hand, we can get so caught up in our dreams and goals we let everything else begin to slip.

Either way, it's the whiskey and sugar again.

But every once in a while, we need to step back and look at our lives, our dreams and our goals. Along with all the good stuff, the dreck builds up. We need to clear it out.

The dreck is all the things we do without a lot of thought. The things that we can't say "no" too, like those obligations that aren't essential but are so sweetly asked of us (and sometimes not so sweetly). The myriad ways we waste our time on activities that don't really do anything for us (*cough* playing Plants v Zombies or watching a Netflix marathon *cough*). While a little of all of this is good, too much is...too much.

Fasting from the dreck resets our inner compass, our sense of priorities and balance. Without that reset, the abundant times feel less like celebration and feasting and more like drowing...in whiskey and sugar.

This year, along with my usual Lenten rituals, I vow to take a good look at my life, schedule, dreams, work and goals. And I vow to remove as much of the dreck as possible. To streamline my priorities and to engage in those "extra" activities here and there but not to let them swamp me.

Perduta or Lost

Yeah, I've done this all before, the clearing of the dreck and the resetting of priorities. No matter how good our intentions or how hard we work, the dreck creeps up. But that's why Lent comes around every year. We human-type folks (no offense intended to those of us who may not be human...or entirely human ;)) need regular tune-ups.

How do you balance your dreams, goals and priorities? Do you set regular times to clear the dreck?

Sonia G. Medeiros is a writer of fantasy, science fiction, and horror. She's the author of more than a dozen short stories and flash fiction pieces, blogs at WordPress, and is working on her first novel, a dark fantasy. When she's not wandering along the tangled paths of her wild imagination, she wrangles home life with one fabulous husband, two amazing, homeschooled children, three dogs, one frog and two cats who battle each other for world domination.

Dawn Kissed her Brow

2012-02-22T06:34:00.000-05:00

Phoebe slept, on the night of her arrival, in a chamber that looked down on the garden of the old house. It fronted towards the east, so that at a very seasonable hour a glow of crimson light came flooding through the window, and bathed the dingy ceiling and paper-hangings in its own hue.

There were curtains to Phoebe's bed; a dark, antique canopy, and ponderous festoons of a stuff which had been rich, and even magnificent, in its time; but which now brooded over the girl like a cloud, making a night in that one corner, while elsewhere it was beginning to be day.

The morning light, however, soon stole into the aperture at the foot of the bed, betwixt those faded curtains. Finding the new guest there,—with a bloom on her cheeks like the morning's own, and a gentle stir of departing slumber in her limbs, as when an early breeze moves the foliage,—the dawn kissed her brow. It was the caress which a dewy maiden—such as the Dawn is, immortally—gives to her sleeping sister, partly from the impulse of irresistible fondness, and partly as a pretty hint that it is time now to unclose her eyes.

Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of the Seven Gables

Painting: Jean Francois Millet, Sleeping Nude (1844)

Have you Got an Idea?

2012-02-12T10:54:00.000-05:00

Not so long ago when someone wanted to send a message, they hired a messenger. The messenger got on a horse and delivered the message personally. The message was on paper, parchment, a clay tablet, or whatever physical medium was prevalent at the time.

This whole process seems wasteful now, but that’s because you and I are sitting comfortably at the dawn of the electronic age. The thing is: messages are ideas. Physical things like ink, paper and horses have little or nothing to do with ideas. These physical things are just carriers for ideas. But in reality, the ideas are paperless, horseless and messengerless.

The neat thing about computers is that they manipulate ideas efficiently. A computer network, carries nothing but the ideas. They do this with no muss, no fuss, and no extra physical baggage.

When you start dealing efficiently with ideas, very nice things can happen. Suddenly, all the overhead is gone. Instead of pushing paper and trees, you’re pushing numbers and concepts. Without the overhead, you can do more, faster, and accomplish things that are much more complex than ever before.

Inspired by Barry Burd, Java for Dummies, 4th Edition

Painting: Henri Matisse, L’Odalisque - Harmonie Bleu (1937)

Guest Post: 3 Ways to Love YOU by Marcia Richards

2012-02-10T07:30:00.000-05:00

I'm thrilled to be a guest at Gary's place today! See you later, Gary! He's off to guest post at Sonia Medeiros' blog. So be sure to go visit him there when you're done here. He's talking about creativity today.

Valentine's Day is right around the corner. It's all about love, giving and receiving. We scurry around making sure our Moms, kids, and significant others have a special day so they know how much we love them.

Uh, oh...you forgot someone. "Who did I forget?" you ask, slightly offended by the inference that you hadn't thought of everything and everyone.

YOU...that's who you forgot. YOU. I know, making everyone else feel special makes you happy, too. And they do their part to make you smile. But what have you done for YOU lately?

1. Kick Your Own Butt Have you been slacking in some pocket of life? Don't feel like exercising, don't feel like cleaning, don't feel like working? Maybe it's hormonal, or it's holiday letdown hanging on, or it's the gray cloudy days.

If you read my last ROW80 post, you now that I haven't felt like writing for about a week. Yes, I've written my blogs, but they were sometimes really tough to complete. I hadn't fulfilled my ROW80 goal of writing 2500 words week on my WIP.

Then my good friend, Diana Douglas, came to my blog and simply said, "It's a daily job". Well, kick my butt! Of course, I knew this but had conveniently "forgotten". That simple comment from Diana got me back on track. I'm doing it for ME. I want to feel good about my writing, so I'm getting back to it.

2. Check Your List When was the last time you looked at your life list? Do you even have a life list? If not, take a moment to think about a few things you'd like to accomplish in the next few months. Small or large, it doesn't matter, just jot them down. If you need an example of a life list, click HERE.

Now, look at the list. Find something on that list you can do for yourself today. Eat an extra piece of fruit, stash a few dollars in your savings jar, put down that piece of cake, write 250 words on your story, take inventory of your clothes closet to see what needs to be repaired or replaced, go buy the paint for the room you've been meaning to get to. Choose to do something that will give you the feeling of moving forward.

3. Reward yourself I saved the best for last! So, you've been getting things checked off your life list or your to-do list? You are exercising regularly? You wrote 20 pages on your manuscript? You've saved enough cash to pay of a bill? You've just been an extra loving and supportive friend/spouse/parent/child?

Do something nice for yourself - go out to dinner, get a new haircut, get a facial/massage/manicure, buy those new shoes you've drooled over, go dancing with your main squeeze, luxuriate in the tub with a book and a glass of wine.

With the heavy schedule most of us keep and with all that we do for others, it's necessary for our mental and emotional health to give ourselves a break. Otherwise, our immune system is overloaded and we get sick. Gary offers up some other ideas to take a break and feel good HERE.

Valentine's Day has always been a day for loving others. Institute a day every month for loving YOU.

What do you do regularly to show a little love for yourself? Do you do it often enough? Please share your ideas for ways to make ourselves feel good.

Marcia Richards is a veteran blogger and author of Marcia Richards’ Blog…Sexy. Smart. From The Heart. Marcia writes about SSS (strong, smart, sexy) Women, Health and the path to realizing your dreams. She has a Historical Trilogy and a collection of short stories in progress. When she’s not writing, she can be found playing with the grandkids or her husband, seeing the sights of her home state or turning old furniture into works of art. She believes there is always something new to learn and always time to play.

Visit Marcia at: Marcia-Richards.com. Hang out with Marcia at: twitter/@MarciaARichards or facebook.com/MarciaARichards.

My Ideas, Take Them or Leave Them

2012-02-03T04:44:00.000-05:00

I am far luckier than most men, for I have been able since boyhood to make a good living doing precisely what I have wanted to do—what I would have done for nothing, and very gladly, if there had been no reward for it. Not many men, I believe, are so fortunate. Millions of them have to make their livings at tasks which really do not interest them.

As for me, I have had an extraordinarily pleasant life, despite the fact that I have had the usual share of woes. For in the midst of these woes I still enjoyed the immense satisfaction which goes with free activity. I have done, in the main, exactly what I wanted to do. Its possible effects on other people have interested me very little.

I have not written and published to please other people, but to satisfy myself, just as a cow gives milk, not to profit the dairyman, but to satisfy herself. I like to think that most of my ideas have been sound ones, but I really don’t care. The world may take them or leave them. I have had my fun hatching them.

H.L. Mencken, Letter to Will Durant

Painting: Salvador Dali (1904 - 1989), Apparition of the Visage of Aphrodite

The Palace at Versailles

2012-01-29T05:56:00.000-05:00

And despite all this, legacy publishers don't realize a revolution is afoot.

I think they're aware of it, but in an abstract way. I talk to a lot of people in the business, and when most of them talk about digital and the changes it's causing in the industry, you can tell they're imagining a future that's safely abstract and far off. Something you acknowledge in conversation, of course—you're not in denial, after all—but that fundamentally feels to you like theory. Because you're still having your Tuesday morning editorial meetings, right? And you just launched a new title that made the New York Times list, right? And signed that hot new author, right?

Sure, there are rumblings in the provinces, but at court in Versailles, the food is still delicious and the courtiers still accord deference appropriate to your rank. When you live at the palace at Versailles, the rumblings in the provinces always sound far away. Right up until the peasants are dragging you out of your bed in the middle of the night and setting fire to your throne.

Barry Eisler, Joe Konrath: Ebooks and Self-Publishing: A Conversation Between Authors

Painting: Madame Adelaide, Louis XVI's Aunt (1787) by Adélaïde Labille-Guiard

The Infinite Goodness of the Creator

2012-01-28T08:19:00.000-05:00

Your loss is so terrible that I can only explain it to myself as a special providence of God who, loving you, wishes to try you and your excellent mother. Oh, my friend! Religion, and religion alone, can—I will not say comfort us—but save us from despair. Religion alone can explain to us what without its help man cannot comprehend: why, for what cause, kind and noble beings able to find happiness in life—not merely harming no one but necessary to the happiness of others—are called away to God, while cruel, useless, harmful persons, or such as are a burden to themselves and to others, are left living.

The first death I saw, and one I shall never forget—that of my dear sister-in-law—left that impression on me. Just as you ask destiny why your splendid brother had to die, so I asked why that angel Lise, who not only never wronged anyone, but in whose soul there were never any unkind thoughts, had to die. And what do you think, dear friend? Five years have passed since then, and already I, with my petty understanding, begin to see clearly why she had to die, and in what way that death was but an expression of the infinite goodness of the Creator, whose every action, though generally incomprehensible to us, is but a manifestation of His infinite love for His creatures.

Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace

Painting: Walter MacEwen (1860 – 1943), The Absent One on All Soul's Day

Standing at the Crossroads by Jess Witkins

2012-01-27T06:07:00.000-05:00

It’s been a week of life lessons. I’m hoping Gary won’t mind my commandeering of his blog to share one of them with you. But you shouldn't miss the eloquence of what I imagine to be his soothing baritone voice. You can find him safe and sound talking about wizards and magicians at Jenny Hansen's blog. It’s another edition of the Life List Club and we’re hoping you’ll join us on our tales of inspiration and honest mistakes. Share with us your own, we all love hanging out in the comment boxes, so please feel free to chat and know you’ve got support from us!

This past week I’ve been on the last of my remaining vacation days for the fiscal calendar. I had hoped the time off would result in incredibly productive writing time. I mean I intended 8 hour days of writing non-stop, complete chapters coming to fruition! Well, if I wanted that to happen, I shouldn’t have gone home.

What I should’ve done is found a little corner in the library and hid out with my laptop, a can of Pringles, a water bottle, and my gloves with rubber on the fingers so I can type and still keep warm when they turn the heat off for the night!

Shhh! I’m doing research!

Instead, my time was otherwise spent with family activities. And you know what, I don’t often see my family, so I think it’s ok. I attended my 3 year old niece’s princess-themed birthday party, Church service with my dad, helped babysit my niece for a day, took mom out for coffee and a movie, and forgive me, used my spare time to take a bath. I LOVE BATHS! And at my house, I live with all boys, so I will not set a TOE in that tub!

Ok, back to the life lessons! I promise I learned more than what a properly clean bathroom looks like. Honestly, I feel like this whole week has been one of those times when life sends you sign after sign after sign alerting you to the direction and path your life is on. First, it was dealing with my newly damaged car and rearranging when I can take it in to the garage to get it fixed, cause I had to drive it home first and it felt like a long 3 hours with no cruise control and all the bigger cars sloshing muddy snow in my windshield. Then it was the pastor’s lesson in Church with my Dad, on how can we demonstrate audacious faith in times of difficulty? Then it was watching a toddler for a day, which was fun, but completely wiped me out. And I took the drives around town with my parents as a chance to ask them what the hardest things they had overcome in their lives were. The main message I kept hearing was this: crossroads. Everyone has them, and it’s not always easy to know the next step.

Whether it’s looking at your finances with eyes of disbelief, or finding yourself craving something more in life but unsure of how to proceed, or teaching a toddler good manners from bad, or hearing for the first time how the harsh realities of a marriage, a parent dying, and an illness can all alter your life. Yes, I was learning a lot.

I haven’t yet shaped all these lessons into a resulting answer for my life, but I can feel it coming. I am at a crossroads. I have sat idle too long waiting for life to happen, and pretty soon I’ll be making tough, but necessary decisions about the direction my life should head.

What have you learned this week? What crossroads are you facing in your life right now? I know this year would be even more difficult for me without the encouraging voices of the LLC members cheering me on. Who’s keeping you accountable? Are you like me and realize you need help? Then I’ll see you in the comments, friend!

Bio: Jess Witkins claims the title Perseverance Expert. She grew up in a small Wisconsin town as the much younger youngest sibling of four, she’s witnessed the paranormal, jumped out of a plane, worked in retail, traveled to exotic locations like Italy, Ireland, and Shipshewana, Indiana, and she’s eaten bologna and lived to tell about it! She deals with it all and writes about it! Come along on her midwest adventures; Witkins promises to keep it honest and entertaining. Go ahead, SUBSCRIBE, you know you want to.
Follow Jess Witkins on Twitter: @jesswitkins

The Conception of the Infinitely Small

2012-01-26T16:16:00.000-05:00

There is a well known, so-called sophism of the ancients, that Achilles could never catch up with a tortoise he was following, in spite of the fact that he traveled ten times as fast as the tortoise. By the time Achilles has covered the distance that separated him from the tortoise, the tortoise has covered one tenth of that distance ahead of him: when Achilles has covered that tenth, the tortoise has covered another one hundredth, and so on forever. This problem seemed to the ancients insoluble. The absurd answer (that Achilles could never overtake the tortoise) resulted from this: that motion was arbitrarily divided into discontinuous elements, whereas the motion both of Achilles and of the tortoise was continuous.

A modern branch of mathematics having achieved the art of dealing with the infinitely small can now yield solutions in other more complex problems of motion which used to appear insoluble.

This modern branch of mathematics, unknown to the ancients, when dealing with problems of motion admits the conception of the infinitely small, and so conforms to the chief condition of motion (absolute continuity) and thereby corrects the inevitable error which the human mind cannot avoid when it deals with separate elements of motion instead of examining continuous motion.

Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace

Painting: Pompeo Girolamo Batoni, Achilles at the court of Lycomedes (1746)

Sophism: Noun; An argument apparently correct in form but actually invalid; especially, such an argument used to deceive.

Unselfish and Self-Sacrificing Love

2012-01-24T17:02:00.000-05:00

From my infancy I was noted for the docility and humanity of my disposition. My tenderness of heart was even so conspicuous as to make me the jest of my companions. I was especially fond of animals, and was indulged by my parents with a great variety of pets. With these I spent most of my time, and never was so happy as when feeding and caressing them.

This peculiarity of character grew with my growth, and in my manhood, I derived from it one of my principal sources of pleasure. To those who have cherished an affection for a faithful and sagacious dog, I need hardly be at the trouble of explaining the nature or the intensity of the gratification thus derivable. There is something in the unselfish and self-sacrificing love of a brute, which goes directly to the heart of him who has had frequent occasion to test the paltry friendship and gossamer fidelity of mere Man.

Edgar Allan Poe, The Black Cat

Poster: Théophile Alexandre Steinlen (1859–1923)

Gossamer: adj; flimsy, insubstantial, like the texture of cobwebs

A Pavilion Among the Clouds

2012-01-22T11:14:00.004-05:00

When Georgiana recovered consciousness she found herself breathing an atmosphere of penetrating fragrance, the gentle potency of which had recalled her from her deathlike faintness. The scene around her looked like enchantment. Aylmer had converted those smoky, dingy, sombre rooms, where he had spent his brightest years in recondite pursuits, into a series of beautiful apartments not unfit to be the secluded abode of a lovely woman.

The walls were hung with gorgeous curtains, which imparted the combination of grandeur and grace that no other species of adornment can achieve; and as they fell from the ceiling to the floor, their rich and ponderous folds, concealing all angles and straight lines, appeared to shut in the scene from infinite space. For aught Georgiana knew, it might be a pavilion among the clouds.

Nathaniel Hawthorne; "The Birthmark," Mosses from an Old Manse and Other Stories

Painting: William Adolphe Bouguereau Return of Spring (1886)

Recondite: adj; 1) Requiring a high degree of scholarship or specialized knowledge; 2) Difficult for one of ordinary understanding or knowledge to comprehend.

I Stood in Ignorance on the Shore

2012-01-14T19:30:00.000-05:00

A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other. A solemn consideration, when I enter a great city by night, that every one of those darkly clustered houses encloses its own secret; that every room in every one of them encloses its own secret; that every beating heart in the hundreds of thousands of breasts there, is, in some of its imaginings, a secret to the heart nearest it!

Something of the awfulness, even of Death itself, is referable to this. No more can I turn the leaves of this dear book that I loved, and vainly hope in time to read it all. No more can I look into the depths of this unfathomable water, wherein, as momentary lights glanced into it, I have had glimpses of buried treasure and other things submerged. It was appointed that the book should shut with a spring, for ever and for ever, when I had read but a page. It was appointed that the water should be locked in an eternal frost, when the light was playing on its surface, and I stood in ignorance on the shore.

Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Painting: John William Waterhouse, Ophelia (1910)

Unfathomable: adj; 1) Too deep to be measured; 2) Impossible to understand for being mysterious or complicated.

Walking the Walk by Lara Schiffbauer

2012-01-13T07:00:00.000-05:00

Today is LLC Friday and I am pleased to host Lara Schiffbauer, the newest member of the Life List Club. Visit me at David Walker's Blog where, in an open letter, I make a modest proposal for traditional publishers. But first, please join me in welcoming Lara.

Discipline, Planning and Work. Eeew…

Our imagination gives birth to our dreams. It allows us to re-experience our past, and decide the direction of our future.

Not only that, but our imagination works the same way when we write. It allows us to call upon our past experiences and weave them into alternate realities also known as stories. It lets us conceptualize how others may be feeling in any given situation, or what sensory experiences we might have in situations we have never experienced.

As writers, we really like that imagination stuff. There is a creative rush in stringing our experiences on paper, knitting them together with ink, and ending up with a new individual in a new world that could only have come from the recesses of our minds.

It is easy to get stuck in the daydreaming part of ourselves, talking the talk. It’s the fun part.

The unfortunate truth is that if we don’t walk the walk, we aren’t going to go anywhere with reaching our dreams.

That is where discipline, planning and work come into play.

Goal setting is a part of planning. It is taking a look at the dream (where we want to go) and coming up with a series of steps to get there. Goal setting is moving our dreams from the left side of our brain into the right side.

After we set goals, though, we still have to see them through. We have to have self-discipline.

My experience with self-discipline is rather iffy. I married a man who was incredibly disciplined. I hoped it would wear off on me. Discipline by osmosis.

The reality is that, apparently, chaos is a stronger force than discipline. The poor guy was doomed from the day we got married, and I didn't have an easy fix. I had to learn to monitor myself, and hold myself accountable to meeting my goals and finishing my projects. My husband had to go to self-discipline rehab.

Yes, it is work. It isn’t always fun and sometimes includes sacrifice. But, if we want to give our dreams their best chance at becoming reality, it is work worth doing.

What has been your experience with moving your dreams from the left side of your brain to the right side? Is it easy to make that switch, or difficult?

Lara Schiffbauer writes contemporary fantasy and general fiction, and has been lucky enough to see some of her short stories published. By day she works as a school social worker in an elementary school and at night juggles writing, playing with her two adorable little boys, and doing everything else that has to get done in a day. You can find her blogging at motivationforcreation, or tweeting at @LASbauer.

My Love Grip on the Comma

2012-01-09T08:58:00.000-05:00

In early texts there was no punctuation, just letters, one after another . . .

If I lived a past life, I’m certain that, in it, I was one of those readers of early texts busy inserting my own punctuation wherever I felt it enhanced the telling of the story.

I still do it. Worse, most times I am completely unaware of the number of commas on my own written page. They hide from me, chameleon-like, knowing if I can’t see them, I can’t remove them.

Even when I try to limit the use of my precious commas, I still over-insert them. Forget “word count” devices, someone needs to invent “comma count” software for the dramatic reader in all of us—okay, in me—who thrives on pregnant pauses.

Love those, as often as possible.

So, I ask you, if I relinquish my love grip on the comma, what will happen to me? Will I find myself making goo-goo eyes at the semi-colon (oh, please, no) or suddenly writing very short, plain sentences (anything but that) or…?

As you can see, I can’t change my punctuating ways—the risk of the unknown is far too great.

Here, in this moment, I publicly declare that I shall continue my love affair with that magic, breath-stopping, transformational little mark, the comma.

And, together, we will live happily ever after on the e-pages of romantic thrillers on Kindles, Nooks, iBooks, Kobo, Smashwords, iPads, PCs, and smart phone screens everywhere.

Ashley Barron, Comma Chameleon

Painting: William Adolphe Bouguereau, The Difficult Lesson (1884)

What Makes London so Magical

2012-01-07T06:23:00.000-05:00

It's very hard to explain what you miss about London, until you're in this particular position, like I am, counting down the hours to return. When I'm there, sometimes I wonder why I'm bothering; I obviously can't afford to keep up with London, I mean next to nothing in the eyes of the big city, and, as a lot of my friends have found out, even if I did work full time I would still not really have enough money to enjoy life here. I've been thinking for a long time about the practical choices, and am facing them now, and am filled with heartache at the idea of quitting the city.

What makes London so magical is, in a way, it's overwhelming humanity despite the harshness. The fact that some of the greatest minds in the world flock to it. The fact that you can pay a fiver to go upstairs in a pub and witness some of the finest storytelling of your life. The ability to go see some of the most important artifcacts in the world for free in the museums. The walks, oh God, the walks. Nothing for me beats getting lost in London. Turning the corner into what seems like another world. The only thing that excludes me is money, but I don't feel that as harshly as when I return home.

Rae Leaver, Returning to London

Painting: William Lionel Wyllie, Houses of Parliament (1901)

The Art of Reading, Then and Now

2012-01-06T13:46:00.002-05:00

The cover-to-cover deep reading that was typical of my generation when we were students is now almost extinct, and instead you’ve got superficial reading: reading snippets and tweets and cutting texts up into tiny units that really prevent any appreciation of the whole sweep of a text. I have one half-answer to that, which isn’t adequate but I think deserves consideration. And that is, first of all, that this cover-to-cover deep reading shouldn’t be exaggerated as something that occurred in the past. We have learned a lot about the history of reading, which is one of the aspects of the history of books that we’re trying to develop, and one thing we have learned is that, for example, sixteenth-century humanists rarely read a book from cover to cover. They were reading what we today would call ‘snippets’, or even ‘tweets’, they were taking - . . .

They were taking short passages out, copying them into Commonplace Books, and using those passages for various purposes, often rhetorical battles at court by their patrons, or what ever it was. But this was not reading in the way that we like to imagine it. Now, of course, deep reading also did take place. I’m not denying that for a minute. But I’m not sure that we can assume that it was typical.

Professor Robert Darnton, Harvard University

Painting: Teodor Axentowicz (1859 - 1938)

Thanks to Jane Friedman for pointing me to Darnton's interview

Network Effects: Membership Has Its Privileges

2011-12-30T06:30:00.000-05:00

We live at the dawn of the digital age. With a little work, we can have hundreds of “friends” and followers. Nowadays, it doesn’t take a big achievement to have thousands of followers. We take for granted how easy it is to connect and to belong. I can imagine a teen-ager wondering how folks formed new connections and stayed in touch before the age of social media. Actually, sometimes I myself wonder.

Creative Folks Want to Be Noticed
All creative folks like their work to be noticed and appreciated. And if we’re lucky, we enjoy the ultimate experience of getting paid to share our talent. Social-medial platforms help us to develop our brand, gain visibility and build an audience. We can choose from a large array of social-media networks to help us get noticed.

Lots of Small Fish Go Unnoticed
While huge networks like Facebook and Twitter have their benefits, each member is only a small fish in an ocean. If you are not well known, your voice and your presence can easily go unnoticed.

You Can Be a Big Fish
Many writers relish the opportunity to write a guest post on someone else’s blog. It gives us the chance to be a big fish for a time, even if it’s in a small pond. The exposure, a mini network effect, is the intangible but valuable benefit. A very effective way to increase your visibility and showcase your talent is to join a small network.

We Extend an Invitation
If you are a blogger, we invite you to investigate what the Life List Club is all about. Our small network will give you the opportunity to be a guest blogger twice a month. Your blog and your writing will be exposed to all our existing readers. You will make new friends. Just like any other network, the more connections it has, the more powerful our LLC network becomes.

How I Benefited
I’ve been a member for a mere three months. In that short time, I’ve made wonderful friendships with talented writers. My blog receives guest posts on a regular basis. Many of my visitors “discovered” my blog because I belong to the LLC. I haven’t asked them yet, but I’m sure some LLC members will want to write a review for me when my novel is completed.

The Life List Club encourages members to set goals that are shared publicly. This exercise provides good grounding for a self-evaluation. I can look back three months ago and see what I’ve accomplished since then.

Have you previously benefited from your membership in a network? Do you belong to a network that helps you to build an audience for your blog?

Milestone Party
Today, we are celebrating the end of the year with a Milestone Party and we are giving away lots of prizes.

Prizes
Here’s a list of all the prizes you could be eligible for when you visit each member's blog:

I'm giving away an ebook to anyone who becomes a follower. If you are a follower and post a comment, you will also receive a free ebook. You will have a choice of 50 Classic Love Poems In Rhyming Verse or Illustrated Basho Haikus. To claim your prize, send me a message via twitter, Google Plus or Facebook with your email address.

• Jess Witkins: To 1 subscriber/commenter, an iTunes gift card and the opportunity to guest post or be interviewed on Jess’ blog

• Marcia Richards: To 1 subscriber, new or existing, an Amazon gift card and the opportunity to guest post or be interviewed on Marcia’s blog.

• Jennie Bennett: To 2 commenters, a copy of Totally Cliche’, the ebook in which her work is published

• Sonia Medeiros: To 1 commenter, a $15 Amazon gift card

• Pamela Hawley: To 1 subscriber and 1 commenter, choice of one prize: guest post @ Hawleyville, be interviewed @ Hawleyville, OR Pam will guest post at winner’s blog and promote @ Hawleyville

• Jenny Hansen: To 1 commenter and 1 subscriber, choice of 1 prize: be interviewed @ More Cowbell or Jenny will guest post at winner’s blog

• David Walker: To a subscriber and/or commenter, 1 interview and 1 guest post trade

Publishing In The Golden Age of Competition

2011-12-20T16:41:00.000-05:00

There are numerous parts to the debate currently swirling in the publishing industry. One part is the question of the value that traditional publishers provide to established authors. Another part of the debate is whether new authors can bypass legacy publishing on their way to success. Some suggest that this is the dawn of a new and golden age for writers. Others argue that things won’t change much after the dust settles. The best way to become a successful author will remain the first contract signed with a traditional publisher.

The familiar tends to give us the false impression of stability and permanence. History reminds us that it is easy to underestimate the power of new technology. Western Union turned down an offer to purchase Bell’s telephone patent because telegraph communications were more efficient and reliable. The telephone patent, today, is widely regarded as the most valuable patent ever registered.

Some believe that the large publishing houses have been caught in a draft, will survive almost intact and will continue to enjoy their monopoly and influence. The current flux is similar to catching a cold, a temporary disruption from which they will eventually recover. One of the arguments to support this point is that publishers have hard drives upon hard drives filled with mid-list titles that soon will be published as ebooks. This large back catalog will flood the market and will effectively kill whatever challenge to their hegemony was posed by the advent of e-publishing. The likes of Amanda Hocking and John Locke will prove to be historical aberrations. Writers who are not established will have to compete with this huge backlist of “new” releases.

Some who believe in the value of legacy publishing don’t have convincing arguments but are really hoping that the status quo remains and the publishers maintain their market dominance. Their position comes from a vested interest in the order of things or out of respect for the proper order of things. Legacy publishers, after all, have played an important role in society for the past five centuries.

This article argues that legacy publishers are part of an industry that is forever changed. The biggest competitive advantages they previously enjoyed have lost much of their value. The infrastructure that specialized in printing and distributing books is becoming superfluous. Talented, creative and knowledgeable writers will greatly benefit from these changes.

Consider these propositions:

• Legacy publishing specializes in servicing mass markets.
• Technology enables readers to find what they like.
• The market for books will grow.
• Technology empowers writers to create niche markets.
• Specialized knowledge, talent and creativity are the trump cards of writers.

Legacy Publishers Cater to Large Stagnant Markets.
Before a legacy publisher agrees to publish a book, they need to feel secure about which readers will read it. Their universe of readers is artificially defined by genres and types of books. They are forced to serve large, well-defined market segments. This is due to the limitations of their business model which is based on wide-scale distribution. The feedback loop between the market and the publishers is necessarily slow and cumbersome. Accurate information on what the market cares about and would like to read is not readily available. Many tastes are ignored for lack of information or want of market size. This legacy system stifles creativity because the prudent course is for publishers to minimize the risk of bad investments. When you enjoy what amounts to monopoly or cartel status, there is no incentive to develop niche markets. Publishers do not have strong incentives to experiment with anything outside of what they believe to be the tried and true. On the contrary, recent competition from independent publishers made them more conservative.

Technology Empowers Readers to Find What They Like.
Publishers are forced to acknowledge the ascendancy of ereaders or face their peril. Consumers are the beneficiaries of technological innovations that give them more choices than ever before. Search and recommendation algorithms for books will continue to improve. Search technology is a recent development that came after the widespread adoption of the Internet. As recently as the 1990’s, the most helpful algorithm for finding a book was the Dewey decimal classification system. For the most part, you also had to be physically present at a library or a book store. Choice was very limited and the publishers had tremendous power because they decided what to print and therefore what was available for people to read.

The Market for Books Will Expand
As ereaders and the number of ebooks proliferate, the population of avid and regular readers will increase. Ereaders and tablets attract new readers and they make existing readers more voracious in their reading habits. In large part, this is because readers have more choices and have quick access to what they like to read. Finally, ereaders are a form of storage for portable libraries that reside on the devices. In a society that values literacy, there is no downside to everyone owning a portable library. Young children should have one suitable for their age as soon as they learn to read.

Authors Are Creating Niche Markets. The old paradigm of competition in publishing assumes that markets are already defined and tend to remain static. The business model of the legacy publishers relied on this paradigm and it proved successful.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that a few leading authors who are standouts in a particular genre are “the competition” for new authors. Their books are prominently displayed in the remaining bookstores and are reviewed and critiqued by respected voices. But this type of thinking misses the point. In the information age, new authors don’t have to compete with established authors for the same readers. Social media tools allow unknown writers to jump into the fray and carve up new niches that previously didn’t exist. There is no killer tool, but rather a large and growing number of media platforms. Writers can use podcasts, videos, blogs, facebook and twitter to test and create their brand and build a rapport with an audience. The old metaphor of a pizza pie limited to eight slices is stale and no longer accurately represents the market for books.

Amanda Hocking wasn't "competing" with any established authors when she released her first book. An apt metaphor that explains the strategy of creating a niche market is staking claim to a plot of ground and cultivating it into a garden. It’s easy to give a few examples. A writer can cater to an audience that is primarily interested in contemporary urban short stories or romance novels set in medieval England. These potential markets won't care about and won't notice the coming flood of mid-list ebooks. Does anyone know the size of the market for science-fiction stories that focus on nano-technology?

A lucrative niche for an individual author doesn’t have to be large by conventional standards.

Writers and Readers are In Direct Communication.
Today's communication technologies empower authors as well as readers. Years ago, it was mostly a one way conversation with a reviewer telling the public the relative merits of a new book. This information was mostly limited to newspaper and magazine reviews that were of the utmost importance to a particular book or an individual author.

Today, by contrast, authors have a virtual arsenal of communication tools at their disposal and a geographic reach that is bounded only by language. If the author chooses, the conversation with his readers can be two-way, ongoing and dynamic. Author and audience can influence each other.

The Real Competition
The new competition is between forms of communication. On one level, it is the battle of the old way of communicating to mass markets versus the new way of communicating to niche markets. On one side are the anointed, respected voices who speak to the masses on behalf of legacy publishing and selected authors. On the other side are writers who are able to maintain a meaningful relationship with their audience. Each method has its benefits and unique advantages.

Talent, Creativity and Access to Markets
Every business school student knows that an entrepreneur can develop a soft-drink that tastes better than Coke (the real thing), and that the big challenge is to market and distribute this new product effectively. Technology allows writers to create and service niche markets based on their specialized knowledge, talents and creative disposition. The problem of access to markets and the challenge of physical distribution are solved by digital technology. These previously served as a moat that protected the cartel of legacy publishing from competition.

A Glimpse of the Future
The changes in publishing began almost imperceptibly and recently have been gaining momentum. The tip of the iceberg is the small number of successful, name-brand authors who are starting to self-publish. Established authors will begin to evaluate their options in light of their audience size and the opportunities afforded by technological advancements. There is no doubt that the existing infrastructure of traditional publishing remains a valuable business asset. But as e-publishing matures and the economic ramifications play themselves out, the declining value of a publisher's services will become more pronounced. Authors will negotiate tougher deals (do I own ebook rights?), demand more services or walk away from contract offers.

Amazon is now handing out publishing contracts and its business specialty used to be that of a retailer of non-perishable items that could be shipped. Who else will want to finance authors? Google and Apple are in the ebook and ereader business and facebook recently purchased an ebook company.

The golden-age metaphor for writers has yet to prove itself. The mythology of legitimacy and authority inherent in being an indispensable institution for 500 years will continue as myths are wont to last long after the historical conditions that created them are only a memory. Economic realities, however, will continue to erode the already diminished cachet of traditional publishing.

_______________

See also: Steve Donoghue, Authors Take Control of the Publishing Process

Guest Post: Marcia Richards

2011-12-16T08:32:00.000-05:00

It's close enough to the time when we can start saying Happy Holidays! and wishing folks a Merry Christmas! Thank you for visiting. Today is Life List Club Friday and I am delighted to have fellow LLC member, Marcia Richards as my guest. In my post for today, I share some thoughts I had after I did an Internet search on "reasons not to self-publish." Thanks to Jenny Hansen for hosting the article on her blog.

You may not have finished your holiday shopping, but Marcia has a few tips for you to consider after the holiday cheer has subsided and the new year has begun.

10 Tricks to Ward Off the Post-Holiday Blues

Only 9 more days until Christmas and New Year's Day is another 7 days. Your house looks amazing! It's clean, bright and expertly decorated! You've been scrambling to buy everyone's gifts without going over budget; wrapping presents; baking cookies; planning the meal; getting party clothes ready; making reservations for New Year's Eve; hiring a babysitter and maybe helping family with travel arrangements.

It's your busiest time of year. It's when you accomplish the most and you love almost every minute of it - the fun, the friends and family, the food - and then, 16 days from now... IT'S OVER.

Suddenly, you're not so busy. What will you do to fill your time? The kids are going back to school, you'll be back at work and able to focus, the tree is out by the curb, and you have all those decorations to put away. Bleh!

Part of you is glad to 'get back to normal'. But, maybe a bigger part of you is feeling the letdown. It's much like grief. You're experiencing loss. The blues have set in because you're left with gray skies, cold, messy snow, an empty house and nothing to anticipate. The days seem dreary and darkness comes early.

Wait just a minute! We can turn this around!

10 Tricks to Ward Off the Post-Holiday Blues

You can start working on some of these tricks right now! The rest will keep you going long after January 1st! Yay! Calmer activites to keep that spark flickering!

Right now you can:

1). Freshen up your house – Make a note to refer to after January 1st take a close look - does your kitchen need a coat of paint? Maybe new curtains for the living room or new pillows for the couch? Rearrange wall art or buy new kitchen towels. Whichever you choose, you will have a fresh look in your home and a fresher outlook on your day.

2) Plan a vacation - Start thinking now where you might like to travel. Go online to a state's website and order a free tourism catalog. I have a whole shelf of these on most every state. Rent travel DVDs to help you decide on a destination or just for armchair traveling to exotic places when it's -10 degrees outside your door.

3) Scrapbook the memories - Instead of uploading your digital pictures to your computer, print them out. Create a memory book for all those fun moments you enjoyed through the holidays. Scrapbooking is still a popular hobby and with just a few pretty papers, you can create show-stopping pages that will enhance your best photos. Depending on how many pictures you shot, this activity can keep you busy for months and the kids can help, too.

4) Exercise for endorphins - Right now you can begin an at home or gym exercise program. You'll boost your mood and, the big bonus will be burning off the extra calories that sneaked onto your plate. Your energy level will get back to normal and you’ll kick butt on the leftover stress. Walk on a treadmill and use light weights, if you haven't worked out for several weeks, to work back into a routine. Just do 15 minutes a day or 10 minutes twice a day if you’re in a real time crunch.

5) Dream up a new tradition - We have our traditions in place for holidays, but what about post-holiday traditions? Begin talking with your family or friends to get ideas for January and beyond. It could be a weekly outing at an ice skating rink; attending a play at a local theater; entering your favorite cold weather recipe in the Winter Festival's contest.

After the New Year Has Begun:

6) Don't miss the post-holiday sales - Grab your stash of Christmas gift cards or the homely sweater your sister gave you and head to the nearest mall or specialty shops for some retail therapy. Buy next year's Christmas cards and add to your cache of decorations. Pick up stocking stuffers while you're there. Maybe you'll even find some sexy shoes or filmy lingerie on sale that would spark thoughts of a special way to celebrate a savvy shopping spree.

7) Find your comfort zone again - Take time to relax. Indulge in a few do-nothing days. Reconnect with your main squeeze, your kids or your best friend. Plan a girl's only lunch or spa day. Lounge in the bath with your scented oils and a romance novel. Get back to you!

8) Make new goals - Roll into the new year any goals not completed in December. Make new ones and detail the baby steps to reach them. Include some for fun like learning a new language, taking dance lessons or spending more time writing in your journal. To learn how to set reasonable goals and reach them, click here.

9) Carry on the spirit of the holidays - Volunteer at Meals on Wheels or the Red Cross, cook a meal for an elderly neighbor or spend time talking and listening to the senior's stories. Tutor a child, send a care package to a soldier, donate old clothing to Goodwill or food to the Foodbank. If you have children, help them learn to love the act of community service.

10) Find a new creative outlet - Try painting, learning to play an instrument or writing a book. Knitting, quilting, singing with a group, or gourmet cooking. All creative work requires focus and creates a calming effect on your psyche.

Even though January usually means cold, gray weather, filing tax returns and paying off credit card debt, choose to carry on with warmth in your heart and a smile in your eyes in spite of it all!

Which will you try? Do you have other ideas to share?

Marcia Richards is the author of Marcia Richards’ Blog…Sexy. Smart. From The Heart. Marcia writes about women, history, and the path to realizing your dreams. She has a Historical Trilogy and a collection of Short Stories in progress. When she’s not writing, she can be found playing with the grandkids or her husband, traveling or turning old furniture into works of art. She believes there is always something new to learn.

Come hang out with Marcia at: twitter or facebook. VisitMarcia at her blog.

Guest Post: J. A. Bennett

2011-12-02T10:44:00.001-05:00

Keeping the Pace during the Holidays
My name is J. A. Bennett and I'm visiting from A Book, A Girl, A Journey for another life list Friday. Gary is a guest at Pam Hawley's blog today so be sure to hop on over there when you're done here.

Like many of you, last month I participated in NaNoWriMo. Those of you who joined will understand my trepidation about taking on the venture. Fifty. Thousand. Words. Stop and think about that number for minute. If you told someone you planned on running Fifty Thousand miles in a month how do you think they would react?

Let's do a little comparison here - running and writing. Before NaNo, I felt like someone who had never really run before. Sure, I had taken a few jogs around the block, I maybe even sprinted a few hundred feet. But running, and staying dedicated to running, that was the idea that frightened me from wanting to participate in NaNo.

The other thing that held me back was the gaping hole on the calendar. My husband and I had been planning a trip to Colorado and we would be gone six days. Two of those days would be spent driving. One of those days was Thanksgiving, and another one we reserved for some old friends we hadn't seen in a while. That only gave me two days to do any form of writing and even then I wasn't sure how much I could get done.

Well guess what, despite my reservations, I did it! I wrote Fifty thousand words. Whoa.

Here are a few things I learned along the way that might help you through the busy holiday season.

1. Keep a Schedule

I am mother of two toddler aged children, I am busy all day long. Any life lister will tell you how important my kids are to me, and I didn't want to shove them in a corner just because it was the month of November. So I set a time. Actually I set two times. The first was while my daughter was napping. I would make sure my son had gone potty, gotten his snacks, gotten his blankie, and then I would let him watch TV. For that hour, it was mommy's writing time and he was not allowed to ask for anything.

The second time was after everyone was asleep, it usually started about 10:00pm and went to midnight. Yes, I got less sleep, but I achieved my goal.

2. Tell People

I made sure my husband knew ahead of time that I wouldn't be coming to bed with him every night, and my family in Colorado knew that I might be taking a bit of time away to squeeze a little writing in. No one got mad at me for wanting to work at achieving my dreams. In fact just the opposite was true, they wanted to encourage it. It doesn't hurt to have people pushing you to write.

3. Don't Expect Perfection

There were days during Nano when I didn't write much and other days when the words just came. It's okay, not every day is going to be perfect (and neither is your writing so just put the editor away for a while). Your only expectation should be that you're willing to continually chip away at your goal until it is done.

What did you do to get through NaNo? If you didn't do NaNo what do you do when you feel like giving up on your dreams?

***

J. A. Bennett is a stay-at-home mom of a three-year-old boy and a one-year-old girl. Besides writing, she has a passion for cooking and good movies. She blogs at A Book, A Girl, A Journey about writing and other life musings. She is currently working on a young adult novel that involves time travel, world destruction, and the awkwardness of teenagedom. She is also on Twitter, Facebook, and Google plus.

Guest Post: Sonia G. Medeiros

2011-11-18T09:06:00.000-05:00

Today is LLC Friday and I have the pleasure of hosting fellow writer, and LLC member, Sonia G. Medeiros. Sonia is all set to address a topic that many readers and authors have strong opinions about: the pricing of books. Both sides probably will agree on this: It should be a fair price. But, then again, it's all a matter of definitions.

What's It Worth to You?

Recently, I read a blog post by author Roni Loren on why a good story should be worth more than a cheeseburger. And it was just one of those posts that made me stop and think. A lot. I found myself questioning my knee-jerk response and considering not only the issue discussed in the post (the pricing of ebooks and how we value an author's work) but also how the way we value another author's work reflects on how we value our work.

Check it out, guys. These pellets are on sale. Cheap!

First of all, Roni made the point that we're willing to shell out for fast food, delivery pizza, a movie, etc without much thought but we often grind to a halt when it comes to shelling out the same amount for a book. Why should a book we'll enjoy for hours if not days be worth less than a pizza that will likely be gone in under an hour (unless you count the time the extra calories will spend stored on our butts and/or spare tires)?

My first response was something like "heck, I only have so many dollars in the budget and I just can't justify spending $10-20 bucks on a book." I don't go to the theater all that often, preferring to wait for the DVD until I just have to see it on the big screen. We also try to limit our eating out. Buuut...I'll spend $10-20 bucks on a pizza with less anxiety than buying a book at the same price.

Okay, okay...some of that reaction is because a book is generally just for me while the pizza is for my whole family. But still...am I saying the author's work is not worth a pizza? And what does that mean for how I value my work? Is that why I'm willing to shunt aside my writing for things around the house that really could be put off or at least balanced with the writing time?

And, when it comes to ebooks, especially self-pubbed, I find that grousing about price really kicks in. Suddenly, over $4.99 for fiction ($9.99 for reference/writing craft books) feels expensive.

Whoah!

Really? Expensive?

And obviously I'm not the only one. There seems to be a huge push for cheap or even free entertainment to the point where people are giving bad reviews for price point. Hmmm...all is not quite right with the thinking here.

If people tend to equate the price of something with its inherent value, what are we saying about a writer's work when we're only willing to pay $0.99 for a novel? A novel represents considerably more work than a dollar cheeseburger.

And, if writers accept that mindset, how will we perceive our work? Will we give our writing the respect it deserves? Treat it like an art or like a cheeseburger thrown together in a fast food joint?

I know there's other factors involved in buying a book. The VP of awesome, author Kristen Lamb explains that books are a high consideration purchase. Choosing a book tends to be emotionally driven, especially for those who do not consider themselves avid readers (that and some avid readers don't want to go bankrupt buying all the books they want to read). With ebooks, there's also the understanding that they don't incur nearly the same costs to produce as print books. And self-published books allow the author to take a much bigger cut of the profits than traditionally published books.

But if we go along with the push for cheap books are we setting the bar too low? Allowing market conditions to develop that force new writers to sell their work for bargain basement prices? Are we promoting the idea that a book is barely worth the price of a cheeseburger, no matter how excellent the story?

I'm not entirely sure where I sit on the issue. I do know that I'm thinking about it more now. What does it mean when I tell myself that $6 ebook is "too expensive" and look for the $3 one instead? What am I saying about the butt-numbing hours I spend working on my manuscript-in-progress? And asking questions is always the first step to finding the answers.

What do you think about the price of books and how it reflects on the value of the author's work? Do you find yourself looking for cheap deals or turned off by them? Do you value your work as a writer or do you consider it something of a guilty pleasure?

Sonia G Medeiros is a writer of fantasy, science fiction, and horror. She's the author of more than a dozen short stories and flash fiction pieces, blogs at WordPress, and is working on her first novel, a dark fantasy. When she's not wandering along the tangled paths of her wild imagination, she wrangles home life with one fabulous husband, two amazing, homeschooled children, three dogs, one frog and two cats who battle each other for world domination. Visit Sonia's blog and follow her on twitter.

More Wishbone Than Backbone? Guest Post by Jess Witkins

2011-11-04T20:52:00.000-04:00

It's still Friday, right? It's late, but it's still Friday. Due to technical difficulties over at The Life List Club headquarters, I'm posting Jess's column in the evening. You can blame me. But I'm thrilled to have Jess as my guest. Before I give Jess the floor let me say that Jess Witkins and I are members of the Life List Club and that you may want to consider joining. The basic qualifications are that you operate a blog and love the craft of writing.

I was over at LLC member, Sonia G. Medeiro's blog earlier today and tried to be inspirational and wrote about embracing your life's journey. Enough from me, I'm turning things over to Jess:

More Wishbone Than Backbone?

Hello Life List Club! Today I want to talk to you about your backbone. You know that knobby thing that runs up and down your spine. Well, if you’re not sure where it’s located, this song might help:

All together now! The hip bone’s connected to the backbone! Ok, you’re right, I didn’t steal Gary’s blog to make you all sing. I do want to talk about backbone though, and more than just that thing your Chiropractor cracks after you work a 10 hour day of holiday retail. Just me? Moving along...

The Life List Club was formed with the goal in mind to support one another in our life list plans. Many of my goals centered around writing, so I’ve been blogging regularly three times a week, learning about the craft and social media by taking courses online, and partnering in critique groups to get feedback on my book. Two classes I’m taking are taught by author and social media expert for writers, Kristen Lamb. In one of her recent lessons she talked about taking initiative towards the goals we want to achieve. For me, that goal is being a writer. Your goal could be meeting new people, traveling somewhere you’ve never been to, trying a new food at least once a week, keeping up with an exercise plan, or watching all 500+ youtube videos of cute kittens doing ridiculous things. It is so good to have goals.

When Kristen talked about starting out in her writing career, she admitted she had a hard time completing her word count goal. Writing for long hours and producing well-written text was a developed skill for her. Before she could be successful, she had to admit she had “more wishbone than backbone.”

The Backbone to See It Through
I think all of us reach a point where we feel we’re doing the best we can, but we wish we were doing more. I know I do almost everyday, but I’m self deprecating and over-analytical, which I say adds to my natural charm. ;) The point is, we do take initiative to make change in our lives, and any goal we try to succeed at requires work. Steps that helped me improve my goal progress are time management, such as focusing my hours at work more so I could leave relatively on time and allow for more writing to happen. I also set realistic goals. If we make a wishbone kinda list, we won’t have the backbone to see it through. Make your goals attainable, while still moving forward. And most importantly, take action! Why are action movies so entertaining? Because things happen!!! It’s called an action plan for a reason. Sure, you could make a dramatic plan; I suggest framing it and sprinkling it with fairy dust then cracking a wishbone for extra good luck. You could make a horror plan, carving out your goal list with a chainsaw, but you might amputate a body part and then you’ve just gone and bled all over your goal list. Ew, gross!

So you see, having a backbone is better than relying on a wishbone. And, you’ve always got one with you, no digging around in a greasy dead bird pulling veins off and pushing itty bitty organs out of the way, washing and drying the thing, ruining your good towel and then waking up your roommate to snap the damn thing necessary! *I’m a visual learner!*

Now tell me, have you let your wishbone take over backbone? What is it you want to accomplish? What do you know about yourself that will help you achieve your goals and what opportunity do you have to move yourself forward more?

Bio: Jess Witkins claims the title Perseverance Expert. She grew up in a small Wisconsin town as the much younger youngest sibling of four, she’s witnessed the paranormal, jumped out of a plane, worked in retail, traveled to exotic locations like Italy, Ireland, and Shipshewana, Indiana, and she’s eaten bologna and lived to tell about it! She deals with it all and writes about it! Come along on her midwest adventures; Witkins promises to keep it honest and entertaining. Go ahead, SUBSCRIBE, you know you want to. Follow Jess Witkins on Twitter: @jesswitkins

The Height of Folly

2011-10-30T12:27:00.002-04:00

Outrageous as it was to open a leaden coffin, to see if a woman dead nearly a week were really dead, it now seemed the height of folly to open the tomb again, when we knew, from the evidence of our own eyesight, that the coffin was empty. I shrugged my shoulders, however, and rested silent, for Van Helsing had a way of going on his own road, no matter who remonstrated. He took the key, opened the vault, and again courteously motioned me to precede. The place was not so gruesome as last night, but oh, how unutterably mean looking when the sunshine streamed in. Van Helsing walked over to Lucy's coffin, and I followed. He bent over and again forced back the leaden flange, and a shock of surprise and dismay shot through me.

There lay Lucy, seemingly just as we had seen her the night before her funeral. She was, if possible, more radiantly beautiful than ever, and I could not believe that she was dead. The lips were red, nay redder than before, and on the cheeks was a delicate bloom.

Bram Stoker, Dracula

Painting: The Return of Pershephone, Frederic Leighton

Persephone, the daughter of Zeus, was abducted by Hades to be queen of the Underground, but allowed to return to the surface of the earth for part of the year.

Mephitic and Abominable

2011-10-25T02:36:00.000-04:00

My skin grew cold, and my hair stood on end as I listened to that steady and ponderous footfall. There was some creature there, and surely by the speed of its advance, it was one which could see in the dark. I crouched low on my rock and tried to blend myself into it. The steps grew nearer still, then stopped, and presently I was aware of a loud lapping and gurgling. The creature was drinking at the stream. Then again there was silence, broken by a succession of long sniffs and snorts of tremendous volume and energy. Had it caught the scent of me? My own nostrils were filled by a low fetid odour, mephitic and abominable. Then I heard the steps again. They were on my side of the stream now. The stones rattled within a few yards of where I lay. Hardly daring to breathe, I crouched upon my rock. Then the steps drew away. I heard the splash as it returned across the river, and the sound died away into the distance in the direction from which it had come.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Tales of Terror and Mystery

Painting: Nymphs and Satyr, William Adolphe Bouguereau (1825 - 1905)

Mephitic: adj., Poisonous or foul-smelling
Abominable: adj., A thing of evil omen, loathsome, detestable

Guest Post, Featuring Author Pamela Hawley

2011-10-21T09:00:00.000-04:00

Today, we are pleased to have author, Pamela Hawley as our guest. In her article, Pamela shares some personal experiences of her life at work and talks about being able to slow down so you can catch up with yourself.

I also have a blog post today and author, Jennie Bennett has graciously agreed to host it on her blog, A Book, A Girl, A Journey. Thanks Jennie! Pamela and Jennie are both fellow members of the Life List Club. Now, here's Pamela:

Like A Meandering Stream
There’s a lot of truth to the expression “still waters run deep.” Personally, I haven’t been able to figure out how to truly be still. But I have discovered the beauty of living life like a gently meandering stream rather than a raging river.

For about a five-year period in my thirties, my job was a never-ending rat race. We were implementing a new information system at work, and I was the project lead. On top of that, we were going through a period of high turnover and I was one of just a few managers in an office serving a decent-sized university.

I worked around the clock. When I did fall into bed, I tossed and turned and cursed my old pal sleep for refusing to visit me. When the weekends rolled around, all I did was rest and recuperate enough to tackle another killer week. My bruises were mental, but they zapped me as much as any physical beating.

During that period in my life, I wrote nothing at all, unless it was a work-related document.

In the last year or so, things have calmed down at the office. There’s still more than enough to keep me very busy during the workdays. But most of the time, I can leave it behind me at the end of the day and go home to live my life.

This has been a slow and gradual change, one I didn’t really think about much. It happened sort of like healthy weight loss - a pound here and a pound there, and you don’t realize how much better you look until you try on your skinny jeans and realize they fit perfectly.

The transition was partly due to the implementation being over, but there was more to it than that. Recently two young, hard-working and talented staff members in my office were promoted to positions similar to mine. I was thrilled for them and for myself too. I finally had others who had the skill set to share the load and the titles and compensation that made doing so part of their job description.

So imagine my surprise when a friend asked me if I felt slighted by or worried about these changes. Those feelings had never even occurred to me. There’s plenty of work to go around, and my colleagues more than deserved their promotions. Besides, I’ve been too busy enjoying the life I’ve gotten back to see shadows where there aren’t any.

The Rat Race
Sadly, I can see how some might be threatened. The economy is tough, and everyone fortunate enough to actually have a job is holding onto it with an iron grip. People want to be indispensable, to know what no one else knows, to be seen by bosses and higher-ups as one who will work round the clock to get the job done. Many gladly do the work of two or three people to lessen the chances of being let go.

Talk about a rat race. Being committed to the work that pays your bills and doing it to the best of your ability is a good thing. So is going the extra mile for your employer. But unless your job is truly your passion, living to work instead of working to live can put out the creative light that shines on the rest of your life.

That’s why I never once thought about others being given some of my workload as a threat. Instead, it is an opportunity to finally do my job even better because I’m not spread too thin, and still have time and energy left over to be myself and pursue my writing dreams.

Since our restructuring, I have finally been able to rededicate myself to writing, because I don’t have to pour every ounce of my brain into earning a living. After 5 years of writing nothing at all, I have written several short stories, regularly maintained a blog, and begun a novel. In the last 3 months, I’ve had two short stories accepted for publication.

This has happened because instead of living my life like a raging river, just rushing at top speed from one destination to the next, I’m able to roll more like a meandering stream. I’m still moving, but at a pace that lets me observe and be in touch with my surroundings, my life and my emotions. For me, living at a pace that lets me experience my surrounding and “just be” sometimes is essential to quality writing.

Things would have turned out much differently if I had seen my job changes as threatening. I’d be in the office all hours of the night, trying to prove a worth that instead I’m confident others already know is there. I’d still be rushing like that river, missing all the good stuff along the way.

How many people do you know who don’t fully pursue their passions because they work such long hours to support themselves that there is nothing left over? For some, circumstances may not give them much choice.

But many of us put ourselves in those shoes, and not just in the workplace. Have any of these descriptions ever fit you?

- Always the first one in the office and the last one to leave, to make sure the boss sees your dedication? Yet you constantly feel like you’re missing out on fun, family time, and creative outlets.

- The person who is reluctant to share your job knowledge with others because being the only one who can do a critical task makes you indispensable, even if it also means you’re constantly working overtime.

- The frazzled homemaker who wishes your family would help more around the house. But when your husband does a load of laundry or your daughter washes the dishes, you end up giving their work a “do-over” because it isn’t quite up to your expectations.

- The person who craves quiet alone time to write or read or think, but who never has it because you say “yes” to every social invitation that comes your way? Somehow, you also usually end up coordinating or hosting the events yourself.

- The mom or dad who needs some time alone to write, but is always hesitant to take family and friends up on their offers to watch the children for a few hours or even overnight.

If any of these fit you, don’t feel bad. We’ve all been there. We want to be involved in the world around us and give it our best. We want to do it all and do it well.

But sometimes, we can’t.

Finding a Blessing
If I hadn’t seen the changes in my work environment as a blessing rather than a threat, I wouldn’t be writing this guest post. I wouldn’t be a part of the Life List Club at all, because I’d have never set ambitious goals and expected myself to keep them. Instead of spending my early morning hours in the gym and my evenings and weekends writing, I’d still be carving out extra hours to work.

If your life feels like a raging river, you may have to let some things go so you can experience the world as a meandering stream. You can still travel long distances, but you’ll see and do much more along the way.

Have you reprioritized or let go of other expectations you’ve had of yourself to make room for your writing? Has doing so improved your life?

About Pamela Hawley:
In addition to short fiction, Pam Hawley writes humor pieces and is working on her first novel, which blends the creepy and the funny by bringing a brutally murdered “player” back to life as a naked ghost. Her short story “A Wingding and A Prayer” appeared in the July issue eFiction Magazine. Her short horror fiction, “Peanut Butter and Jelly,” will appear in The Spirit of Poe Anthology due out on October 31st and available at Literary Landmark Press When not working, writing or in the gym, Pam can most likely be found curled up on her couch reading, hanging out at her family pub Hawley’s in Baltimore, or cheering the Pittsburgh Steelers. She blogs regularly at Hawleyville.

By the Dim and Yellow Light of the Moon

2011-10-08T11:45:00.001-04:00

I started from my sleep with horror; a cold dew covered my forehead, my teeth chattered, and every limb became convulsed; when, by the dim and yellow light of the moon, as it forced its way through the window shutters, I beheld the wretch—the miserable monster whom I had created. He held up the curtain of the bed; and his eyes, if eyes they may be called, were fixed on me. His jaws opened, and he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks.

Mary W. Shelley, Frankenstein

Painting: Vincent Van Gogh (1853 - 1890)

Guest Post: Author Jenny Hansen on Creativity

2011-10-07T08:23:00.000-04:00

Please join me in welcoming author Jenny Hansen as our guest today. In her post, Jenny shares some thoughts on the creative process and also reveals one of the sources of her own creativity. This is the first of a column that will appear regularly and feature a member of The Life List Club. I recently joined the Club, whose members each share a Life List that contains their projects and personal goals. The club members also post articles every other Friday on the topic of getting things done and achieving your goals.

My article on how to stop procrastinating is on LLC member, Marcia Richard's Blog.

Kicking Your Creative A$$
by Jenny Hansen

Thanks for hanging out with Gary and I on his first Life List Friday! I’m honored to be hosting the party here at his place on this auspicious day. Enjoy the blog hop! J

This Saturday marks my 11^th year with my local writing chapter, OCC/RWA. I’m fired up about this month’s meeting as it honors our 30^th Birthday. It should be a rip-roaring day of fun and learning. The monthly meetings nearly always bolster my creativity.

Speaking of creativity, I’m sad about the passing of Steve Jobs, one of the most creative and innovative industry leaders that I will see in my lifetime.

The depth of his impact on the world at 56 years-old is almost unfathomable. Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt summed it up perfectly: "Steve defined a generation of style and technology that's unlikely to be matched again."

In his short time on Earth, Jobs lived at least a full lifetime. Possibly two. His diligence and hard work combined with his creativity to produce brilliance. Since finding out the news, I’ve been ruminating on the lessons available from Jobs, particularly for us artists. Because, make no mistake, he was an artist, especially when it came to product development.

On the artist front, I made dinner for good friends of ours a few weeks back. The husband in this clan is a very successful musician. It hit me, before he came over, that I know a great man, who is very successful at his CREATIVE career, and not once have I asked him about his creative process.

Here I spend all this time on writing craft and process… Why have I never asked my friend about his creativity?

I can only say that it falls along the lines of not wanting to act like a groupie with him when he’s off stage. I like to think that when all of us are successful New York Times Bestselling authors that our friends will give us a break when we go to dinner at their house.

Rather than pepper us with all the “writer groupie” questions like – Where do you get your ideas? How is the book going? Blah-blah-blah – I’d like to think my friends will just tell me about their insane mothers, or provide advice on how to fix my complete lack of fashion sense. (In other words, the things we talk about NOW.)

Still, that particular day had been full of Creative A$$ Kicking with my own WIP and my enquiring mind wanted to know. "Walter,” I asked, “you’ve made an album a year for TWENTY years now. What is the creative process that allows you to do that?”

He smiled at me, a really benevolent cozy smile that made me feel better about bringing work to his Saturday night of fun. And then he said, “I don’t really know.”

My response was, “WHAT? That’s it? Come on! I thought this music business was different than being a writer. That’s what all my writer pals would say.”

He looked at his wife, who is a major force in his success, and said, “Well SHE books the studio each year and tells me about three weeks beforehand that I need to write fifteen songs.”

She and I exchanged an eye-roll and I said, “There’s got to be more to it than that.”

His response: “Jen, every year when it’s time to record a new album, I feel like I’ve done it already and those are all the songs I have to write." He paused a moment and added, "Then I’ll hear my mother’s voice in my head, like she’s right there talking to me”:

“Walter, you said you wanted to be a musician; it was what you trained for and practiced at. It was the only thing you EVER wanted. So, get off your a$$ and write some music, and quit crying about it.”

And he does, every single year. He goes to the place in his mind where his music lives and hangs out there, scribbling, until the music comes.

Ever since this conversation, he’s been one of my creative inspirations: He trusts in his creative process and has the discipline to sit down and kick himself in the keister, now that his mother isn’t there to do it.

His answer challenged me to create a writer's version of that Memo from Mom above my computer screen, to assist me on those really crappy days:

You want to be a writer. It’s all you’ve EVER wanted to be.
It’s what you spend all this time and money on, training and practicing your craft.
Get off your a$$ and write your page and QUIT CRYING ABOUT IT.

It’s working for me so far.

What about you? What helps you bolster your creativity? What helps you finish a page that’s going badly? Do YOU ever feel like you just can’t write another word? What has helped you bust through this fear and get to the other side?

Jenny

About Jenny Hansen:

Jenny fills her nights with humor: writing memoir, women’s fiction, chick lit, short stories (and chasing after the newly walking Baby Girl). By day, she provides training and social media marketing for an accounting firm. After 15 years as a corporate software trainer, she’s digging this sit down and write thing. In addition to being a founding member of Writers In The Storm, Jenny also hangs out on Twitter at jhansenwrites and at her solo blog, More Cowbell.

Visit other Life List Member's blogs for more insights on getting things done.

Nightly Quest

2011-10-05T10:15:00.000-04:00

The dominant spirit, however, that haunts this enchanted region, and seems to be commander-in-chief of all the powers of the air, is the apparition of a figure on horseback, without a head. It is said by some to be the ghost of a Hessian trooper, whose head had been carried away by a cannon-ball, in some nameless battle during the Revolutionary War, and who is ever and anon seen by the country folk hurrying along in the gloom of night, as if on the wings of the wind. His haunts are not confined to the valley, but extend at times to the adjacent roads, and especially to the vicinity of a church at no great distance.

Indeed, certain of the most authentic historians of those parts, who have been careful in collecting and collating the floating facts concerning this spectre, allege that the body of the trooper having been buried in the churchyard, the ghost rides forth to the scene of battle in nightly quest of his head, and that the rushing speed with which he sometimes passes along the Hollow, like a midnight blast, is owing to his being belated, and in a hurry to get back to the churchyard before daybreak.

Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Painting: John Quidor (1801 - 1881)

Fearful Shapes and Shadows

2011-10-05T09:52:00.000-04:00

What fearful shapes and shadows beset his path, amidst the dim and ghastly glare of a snowy night! With what wistful look did he eye every trembling ray of light streaming across the waste fields from some distant window! How often was he appalled by some shrub covered with snow, which, like a sheeted spectre, beset his very path! How often did he shrink with curdling awe at the sound of his own steps on the frosty crust beneath his feet; and dread to look over his shoulder, lest he should behold some uncouth being tramping close behind him! And how often was he thrown into complete dismay by some rushing blast, howling among the trees, in the idea that it was the Galloping Hessian on one of his nightly scourings!

All these, however, were mere terrors of the night, phantoms of the mind that walk in darkness; and though he had seen many spectres in his time, and been more than once beset by Satan in divers shapes, in his lonely perambulations, yet daylight put an end to all these evils; and he would have passed a pleasant life of it, in despite of the Devil and all his works, if his path had not been crossed by a being that causes more perplexity to mortal man than ghosts, goblins, and the whole race of witches put together, and that was—a woman.

Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleepy Hallow

Painting: Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841 - 1919)

Out of Order

2011-09-30T21:50:00.000-04:00

It was the kind of question that might be termed out of order, and the ladies glanced at each other as though disclaiming any share in such a breach of discipline. They all knew there was nothing Mrs. Plinth so much disliked as being asked her opinion of a book. Books were written to read; if one read them what more could be expected? To be questioned in detail regarding the contents of a volume seemed to her as great an outrage as being searched for smuggled laces at the Custom House. The club had always respected this idiosyncrasy of Mrs. Plinth's. Such opinions as she had were imposing and substantial: her mind, like her house, was furnished with monumental "pieces" that were not meant to be disarranged; and it was one of the unwritten rules of the Lunch Club that, within her own province, each member's habits of thought should be respected. The meeting therefore closed with an increased sense, on the part of the other ladies, of Mrs. Roby's hopeless unfitness to be one of them.

Edith Wharton, Xingu

Painting: Federico Zandomeneghi (Italian, 1841-1917)

Write a Review and Win a Book

2011-09-30T10:46:00.001-04:00

There are all sorts of contests for freebies. If you do this or that you have a chance to win, just like a lottery. Well, this is a contest too, but it's different. Here, you can't lose. If you participate, you win. To enter, simply review one of my books and post the review on Amazon.

I'm sure you've seen offers that limit your choice to an item of equal or lesser value. Well, it's not the case here. You review the 99 cent book and the 4.99 book is yours for free.

There are five books to choose from. Each book contains color reproductions of paintings. They're all in Kindle format and are designed for color ereaders. A computer with Kindle software will also work. If you need a book to get started, just let me know. This is my amazon author page.

Embers of a Bonfire

2011-09-28T04:58:00.001-04:00

The moon was climbing higher and higher, its light began to fall here and there in masses through the more open districts of the wood, and right in front of me a glow of a different colour appeared among the trees. It was red and hot, and now and again it was a little darkened—as it were, the embers of a bonfire smouldering.

Robert Louis Stephenson, Treasure Island

Painting: Claude Monet (1840 - 1926)

A Rededication of Lives

2011-09-25T04:04:00.000-04:00

Frédéric Soulacroix (1858 - 1933), The Marriage Proposal

No marriage could have been more true, more fitting in every respect. The solemn relation was never entered upon in more holiness of purpose or in higher resolve to hold themselves strictly to the best they were capable of. It was a rededication of lives long consecrated to God and humanity; of souls knowing no selfish ambition, seeking before all things the glory of their Creator in the elevation of His creatures everywhere. The entire unity of spirit in which they afterwards lived and labored, the tender affection which, through a companionship of more than forty years, knew no diminution, made a family life so perfect and beautiful that it brightened and inspired all who were favored to witness it. No one could be with them under the most ordinary circumstances without feeling the force and influence of their characters.

Catherine H. Birney, The Grimké Sisters

It Was a Cookery Book

2011-09-23T13:06:00.000-04:00

She stood by a window, holding a book in close contiguity to her nose, as if with the hope of gaining an olfactory acquaintance with its contents, since her imperfect vision made it not very easy to read them. If any volume could have manifested its essential wisdom in the mode suggested, it would certainly have been the one now in Hepzibah's hand; and the kitchen, in such an event, would forthwith have streamed with the fragrance of venison, turkeys, capons, larded partridges, puddings, cakes, and Christmas pies, in all manner of elaborate mixture and concoction. It was a cookery book, full of innumerable old fashions of English dishes, and illustrated with engravings, which represented the arrangements of the table at such banquets as it might have befitted a nobleman to give in the great hall of his castle.

Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of the Seven Gables

Painting: Adriaen van Utrecht (1599 - 1652)

Indescribable Grace

2011-09-23T04:54:00.000-04:00

He made a salutation, or, to speak nearer the truth, an ill-defined, abortive attempt at curtsy. Imperfect as it was, however, it conveyed an idea, or, at least, gave a hint, of indescribable grace, such as no practised art of external manners could have attained. It was too slight to seize upon at the instant; yet, as recollected afterwards, seemed to transfigure the whole man.

Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of the Seven Gables

Painting: John Collier (1850 — 1934)

The Dead Imago

2011-09-22T15:01:00.001-04:00

He woke in a start. His heart raced. Had it been a dream or was this a nightmare that even daylight could not chase away? The first sign of where he was came by way of the assault on his sense of smell. A miasma of stale alcohol and tobacco odors hung about the chamber and made the air heavy and difficult to breathe. He felt nauseous.

What sort of life could he lead if the dark deed loomed over him everywhere he went? During the day, he felt he was being followed. It could be an agent of vengeance or retribution. It could be an agent of the law. Maybe it was both. At night, he was tormented by lurking images and crouching shadows.

He had meant no harm; events simply got out of hand. His only lacuna is a failure of decisiveness, but that's not a crime. He didn't know whether to oscitate or laugh out loud. If only he could do it over again. But wait, how absurd! He caught himself imagining a magical and serendipitous turn of events, or the unfolding of some felicitous synchronicity, as the most plausible resolution to his horrific plight.

Painting: Caravaggio (1571 - 1610), The Sacrifice of Isaac

This piece of fiction was inspired by the Writer's Campaign Second Flash Fiction Challenge:

Write a blog post in 200 words or less, excluding the title. It can be in any format, whether flash fiction, non-fiction, humorous blog musings, poem, etc. The blog post should:
* include the word "imago" in the title
* include the following 4 random words: "miasma," "lacuna," "oscitate," "synchronicity"

A Boundless Sheet of Unruffled Ocean

2011-09-21T05:41:00.000-04:00

The view of the earth, at this period of my ascension, was beautiful indeed. To the westward, the northward, and the southward, as far as I could see, lay a boundless sheet of apparently unruffled ocean, which every moment gained a deeper and a deeper tint of blue and began already to assume a slight appearance of convexity. At a vast distance to the eastward, although perfectly discernible, extended the islands of Great Britain, the entire Atlantic coasts of France and Spain, with a small portion of the northern part of the continent of Africa. Of individual edifices not a trace could be discovered, and the proudest cities of mankind had utterly faded away from the face of the earth.

Edgar Allen Poe: The Unparalleled Adventures of One, Hans Pfall

Painting: Johannes Vermeer, The Geographer (1668)

I Used to Read Fairy-Tales

2011-09-16T14:47:00.000-04:00

When I used to read fairy-tales, I fancied that kind of thing never happened, and now here I am in the middle of one! There ought to be a book written about me, that there ought!

Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Painting: Pierre Carrier-Belleuse (1851–1932)

A Ridiculous Exaggeration

2011-09-14T15:12:00.000-04:00

Those were drinking days, and most men drank hard. So very great is the improvement Time has brought about in such habits, that a moderate statement of the quantity of wine and punch which one man would swallow in the course of a night, without any detriment to his reputation as a perfect gentleman, would seem, in these days, a ridiculous exaggeration.

Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Painting: Gabriël Metsu (1629 - 1667)

Honorable Mentions

2011-09-14T00:13:00.000-04:00

This is the first of a recurring column. It will be used to thank my fellow bloggers, followers and guests for their support. It will also be used to recognize their achievements and to highlight some of the comments we exchange. As the title suggests, this is an opportunity to issue honorable mentions. I would be terribly remiss if the first honorable mention did not go to Rachael Harrie who organizes and manages the Writer's Platform-Building Campaign. Thank you Rachael. I think everything that needs to be said probably has been said already. You are an amazing person and you deserve all the credit in the world for organizing such a successful event that impacts so many authors.

I want to thank Ruth Schiffmann for nominating my blog for the Liebster Award. Thank you Ruth! Because of the buggy Blogger platform, I couldn't post a comment on her blog to thank her. I apologize, Ruth. I just checked and still can't post!

I want to thank Christy Farmer for being the very first follower to leave a comment on my blog and for being so supportive of a fellow campaigner. Thanks also, Christy, for including my blog on your Links I Love Page.

I want to thank Ishta Mercurio for taking the time for our excellent discussion on the changes coming to the publishing industry.

Books of Travels

2011-09-13T16:11:00.000-04:00

Paul Gauguin (1848 - 1903)

I have perused several books of travels with great delight in my younger days; but having since gone over most parts of the globe, and been able to contradict many fabulous accounts from my own observation, it has given me a great disgust against this part of reading, and some indignation to see the credulity of mankind so impudently abused.

Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels

The Keys of Great Authorship

2011-09-12T08:35:00.000-04:00

The habit of journalizing becomes a life-long lesson in the art of composition, an informal schooling for authorship. And were the process of preparing their works for publication faithfully detailed by distinguished writers, it would appear how large were their indebtedness to their diary and commonplaces. How carefully should we peruse Shakespeare’s notes used in compiling his plays—what was his, what another’s—showing how these were fashioned into the shapely whole we read, how Milton composed, Montaigne, Goethe: by what happy strokes of thought, flashes of wit, apt figures, fit quotations snatched from vast fields of learning, their rich pages were wrought forth! This were to give the keys of great authorship!

Amos Bronson Alcott, Table-Talk of A. Bronson Alcott

Painting: Herman Nieg, Benedict of Nursia, 1926

A word from the editor
A commonplace book, or simply a "commonplace" is a scrapbook containing items of special significance to its creator. They can be poems, scientific facts, aphorisms or literary snippets. Commonplaces are used as an aid for cataloging quotes, recipes, interesting facts or otherwise useful pieces of information. A commonplace book serves needs, goals and interests unique to its creator.

See also: Blork's Literary Snippets

Mystical Books

2011-09-09T10:39:00.000-04:00

I never could understand the fondness some people have for confusing their minds by dwelling on mystical books that merely awaken their doubts and excite their imagination, giving them a bent for exaggeration quite contrary to Christian simplicity. Let us rather read the Epistles and Gospels. Let us not seek to penetrate what mysteries they contain; for how can we, miserable sinners that we are, know the terrible and holy secrets of Providence while we remain in this flesh which forms an impenetrable veil between us and the Eternal?

Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace

Painting: Felix Vallotton (1865 - 1925)

Fond of Reading Books

2011-09-08T12:19:00.004-04:00

Julius Garibaldi Melchers (1860-1934)

I am too fond of reading books to care to write them, Mr. Erskine. I should like to write a novel certainly, a novel that would be as lovely as a Persian carpet and as unreal. But there is no literary public in England for anything except newspapers, primers, and encyclopaedias. Of all people in the world the English have the least sense of the beauty of literature.

Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Enchanted Palaces With Fiery Dragons

2011-09-08T12:15:00.001-04:00

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres
(1780-1867)

Man does not appear to me to be intended to enjoy felicity so unmixed; happiness is like the enchanted palaces we read of in our childhood, where fierce, fiery dragons defend the entrance and approach; and monsters of all shapes and kinds, requiring to be overcome ere victory is ours. I own that I am lost in wonder to find myself promoted to an honor of which I feel myself unworthy—that of being the husband of Mercedes.

Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo

Increasing Confidence

2011-09-08T05:55:00.001-04:00

Jean Raoux (French, 1677-1734)

You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings. I arrived here yesterday, and my first task is to assure my dear sister of my welfare and increasing confidence in the success of my undertaking.

Mary W. Shelley, Frankenstein

Seeing the World for the First Time

2011-09-08T04:22:00.001-04:00

He looked around, as if he was seeing the world for the first time. Beautiful was the world, colourful was the world, strange and mysterious was the world! Here was blue, here was yellow, here was green, the sky and the river flowed, the forest and the mountains were rigid, all of it was beautiful, all of it was mysterious and magical, and in its midst was he, Siddhartha, the awakening one, on the path to himself. All of this, all this yellow and blue, river and forest, entered Siddhartha for the first time through the eyes . . . and if also in the blue and the river, in Siddhartha, the singular and divine lived hidden, so it was still that very divinity's way and purpose, to be here yellow, here blue, there sky, there forest, and here Siddhartha. The purpose and the essential properties were not somewhere behind the things, they were in them, in everything.

Hermann Hesse, Siddartha

Painting: Claude Monet (1840 - 1926)

A Mighty River of Life

2011-09-08T04:16:00.001-04:00

As a mere object of sight, nothing is more deficient in picturesque features than a procession seen in its passage through narrow streets. The spectator feels it to be fool's play, when he can distinguish the tedious commonplace of each man's visage, with the perspiration and weary self-importance on it, and the very cut of his pantaloons, and the stiffness or laxity of his shirt-collar, and the dust on the back of his black coat.

In order to become majestic, it should be viewed from some vantage point, as it rolls its slow and long array through the centre of a wide plain, or the stateliest public square of a city; for then, by its remoteness, it melts all the petty personalities, of which it is made up, into one broad mass of existence,—one great life,—one collected body of mankind, with a vast, homogeneous spirit animating it.

But, on the other hand, if an impressible person, standing alone over the brink of one of these processions, should behold it, not in its atoms, but in its aggregate,—as a mighty river of life, massive in its tide, and black with mystery, and, out of its depths, calling to the kindred depth within him,—then the contiguity would add to the effect. It might so fascinate him that he would hardly be restrained from plunging into the surging stream of human sympathies.

Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of the Seven Gables

Painting: Claude Monet (1840 - 1926)

Magnificent Hills

2011-09-08T04:13:00.000-04:00

Dejah Thoris related many interesting facts and legends concerning this lost race of noble and kindly people. She said that the city in which we were camping was supposed to have been a center of commerce and culture known as Korad. It had been built upon a beautiful, natural harbor, landlocked by magnificent hills. The little valley on the west front of the city, she explained, was all that remained of the harbor, while the pass through the hills to the old sea bottom had been the channel through which the shipping passed up to the city's gates.

Edgar Rice Burroughs, A Princess of Mars

Painting: Claude Monet (1840 - 1926)

As the Sun Rose

2011-09-08T03:55:00.002-04:00

All night their course lay through intricate defiles and over irregular and rock-strewn paths. More than once they lost their way, but Hope's intimate knowledge of the mountains enabled them to regain the track once more. When morning broke, a scene of marvellous though savage beauty lay before them. In every direction the great snow-capped peaks hemmed them in, peeping over each other's shoulders to the far horizon. So steep were the rocky banks on either side of them, that the larch and the pine seemed to be suspended over their heads, and to need only a gust of wind to come hurtling down upon them. Nor was the fear entirely an illusion, for the barren valley was thickly strewn with trees and boulders which had fallen in a similar manner. Even as they passed, a great rock came thundering down with a hoarse rattle which woke the echoes in the silent gorges, and startled the weary horses into a gallop.

As the sun rose slowly above the eastern horizon, the caps of the great mountains lit up one after the other, like lamps at a festival, until they were all ruddy and glowing. The magnificent spectacle cheered the hearts of the three fugitives and gave them fresh energy. At a wild torrent which swept out of a ravine they called a halt and watered their horses, while they partook of a hasty breakfast.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet

Painting: Jan Both (Dutch, 1610 - 1652)

It's a Law, Something Like That

2011-09-08T03:50:00.000-04:00

Where was the chap I saw in that picture somewhere? Ah yes, in the dead sea floating on his back, reading a book with a parasol open. Couldn't sink if you tried: so thick with salt. Because the weight of the water, no, the weight of the body in the water is equal to the weight of the what? Or is it the volume is equal to the weight? It's a law something like that.

James Joyce, Ulysses

Painting: Jean Frederic Bazille (1841 - 1870)

Forsaking the Disguise of Friendship

2011-09-08T03:41:00.000-04:00

The soft thing looked askance through the window: he possessed the power to depart as much as a cat possesses the power to leave a mouse half killed, or a bird half eaten. Ah, I thought, there will be no saving him: he’s doomed, and flies to his fate! And so it was: he turned abruptly, hastened into the house again, shut the door behind him

. . . and when I went in a while after . . .

I saw the quarrel had merely effected a closer intimacy—had broken the outworks of youthful timidity, and enabled them to forsake the disguise of friendship, and confess themselves lovers.

Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights

Painting: Emma Florence Harrison

Wine, Brandy, Rum and Sugar

2011-09-08T03:34:00.001-04:00

They went into a dingy room lined with books and littered with papers, where there was a blazing fire. A kettle steamed upon the hob, and in the midst of the wreck of papers a table shone, with plenty of wine upon it, and brandy, and rum, and sugar, and lemons.

Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Painting: Willem Claeszoon Heda (1594-1680)

A Husband’s Cruelty

2011-09-08T03:32:00.002-04:00

Here is the first heading upon which I come. 'A husband’s cruelty to his wife.’ There is half a column of print, but I know without reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of writers could invent nothing more crude.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: A Case of Identity

Painting: Amadeo Modigliani

A Man Falling Into Dark Waters

2011-09-07T09:19:00.001-04:00

He rose and placed his candle unsuspectingly on the floor near his loom, swept away the sand without noticing any change, and removed the bricks. The sight of the empty hole made his heart leap violently, but the belief that his gold was gone could not come at once—only terror, and the eager effort to put an end to the terror. He passed his trembling hand all about the hole, trying to think it possible that his eyes had deceived him; then he held the candle in the hole and examined it curiously, trembling more and more. At last he shook so violently that he let fall the candle, and lifted his hands to his head, trying to steady himself, that he might think. Had he put his gold somewhere else, by a sudden resolution last night, and then forgotten it? A man falling into dark waters seeks a momentary footing even on sliding stones; and Silas, by acting as if he believed in false hopes, warded off the moment of despair. He searched in every corner, he turned his bed over, and shook it, and kneaded it; he looked in his brick oven where he laid his sticks. When there was no other place to be searched, he kneeled down again and felt once more all round the hole. There was no untried refuge left for a moment's shelter from the terrible truth.

George Eliot, Silas Marner

Painting: Vincent Van Gogh (1853 - 1890)

Resources of Science

2011-09-06T05:14:00.000-04:00

He began by remarking that soda-water, though a good thing in the abstract, was apt to lie cold upon the stomach unless qualified with ginger, or a small infusion of brandy, which latter article he held to be preferable in all cases, saving for the one consideration of expense. Nobody venturing to dispute these positions, he proceeded to observe that the human hair was a great retainer of tobacco-smoke, and that the young gentlemen of Westminster and Eton, after eating vast quantities of apples to conceal any scent of cigars from their anxious friends, were usually detected in consequence of their heads possessing this remarkable property; when he concluded that if the Royal Society would turn their attention to the circumstance, and endeavour to find in the resources of science a means of preventing such untoward revelations, they might indeed be looked upon as benefactors to mankind. These opinions being equally incontrovertible with those he had already pronounced, he went on to inform us that Jamaica rum, though unquestionably an agreeable spirit of great richness and flavour, had the drawback of remaining constantly present to the taste next day; and nobody being venturous enough to argue this point either, he increased in confidence and became yet more companionable and communicative.

Charles Dickens, The Old Curiosity Shop

Painting: Paul Cézanne (1839 - 1906)

On a Damp, Cold Morning

2011-09-05T17:02:00.000-04:00

The door swung open and Tucker ventured out just before dawn. The previous night, he had imagined what the day would be like when he awoke, what the necessary preparations would be, what the battle would require and what the squad meeting would be like afterwards. All this had been replayed in his mind, at least a hundred times.

It was damp, cold and overcast. The hour's eerie silence was broken by a tremendous roll of thunder, and rounding out the conspiracy, as if on cue, Tucker heard the supply train. It would cut off his path and slow him down by several minutes. Tucker was captain; he took his responsibility seriously. He learned the importance of honor, courage and discipline from his father. The old man was a war veteran and had played football in college. Tucker looked up to him.

As he finally made it to the dull-colored concrete building, he ran into the person everybody affectionately called the Sergeant, or Sarge. He was twice Tucker's age. The Sergeant asked him:

"You ready son?"

Tucker met the Sergeant's glance and shook his head yes. They walked together into the shadowy chasm and the door swung shut.

Painting: George Clausen (1852 - 1944)

Inspiration provided by: The Writer's Platform-Building Campaign

No Right to Mingle

2011-09-03T08:59:00.000-04:00

And, after many, many years, a new grave was delved, near an old and sunken one, in that burial-ground beside which King's Chapel has since been built. It was near that old and sunken grave, yet with a space between, as if the dust of the two sleepers had no right to mingle. Yet one tomb-stone served for both. All around, there were monuments carved with armorial bearings; and on this simple slab of slate—as the curious investigator may still discern, and perplex himself with the purport—there appeared the semblance of an engraved escutcheon. It bore a device, a herald's wording of which may serve for a motto and brief description of our now concluded legend; so sombre is it, and relieved only by one ever-glowing point of light gloomier than the shadow:—

"ON A FIELD, SABLE, THE LETTER A, GULES"

Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter

Painting: Albrecht Durer (1471–1528)

Everything That Is Charming

2011-09-03T07:01:00.001-04:00

Basil, my dear boy, puts everything that is charming in him into his work. The consequence is that he has nothing left for life but his prejudices, his principles, and his common sense. The only artists I have ever known who are personally delightful are bad artists. Good artists exist simply in what they make, and consequently are perfectly uninteresting in what they are. A great poet, a really great poet, is the most unpoetical of all creatures. But inferior poets are absolutely fascinating. The worse their rhymes are, the more picturesque they look. The mere fact of having published a book of second-rate sonnets makes a man quite irresistible. He lives the poetry that he cannot write. The others write the poetry that they dare not realize.

Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Patinting: Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841 - 1919)

Persuasion

2011-09-01T10:32:00.002-04:00

I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant. You alone have brought me to Bath. For you alone, I think and plan. Have you not seen this? Can you fail to have understood my wishes? I had not waited even these ten days, could I have read your feelings, as I think you must have penetrated mine. I can hardly write. I am every instant hearing something which overpowers me. You sink your voice, but I can distinguish the tones of that voice when they would be lost on others. Too good, too excellent creature! You do us justice, indeed. You do believe that there is true attachment and constancy among men. Believe it to be most fervent, most undeviating, in F. W.

I must go, uncertain of my fate; but I shall return hither, or follow your party, as soon as possible. A word, a look, will be enough to decide whether I enter your father's house this evening or never.

Jane Austen, Persuasion

Painting: Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841- 1919)

The Red Room

2011-08-31T07:56:00.005-04:00

The red-room was a square chamber, very seldom slept in, I might say never, indeed, unless when a chance influx of visitors at Gateshead Hall rendered it necessary to turn to account all the accom-modation it contained: yet it was one of the largest and stateliest chambers in the mansion. A bed supported on massive pillars of mahogany, hung with curtains of deep red damask, stood out like a tabernacle in the centre; the two large windows, with their blinds always drawn down, were half shrouded in festoons and falls of similar drapery; the carpet was red; the table at the foot of the bed was covered with a crimson cloth; the walls were a soft fawn colour with a blush of pink in it; the wardrobe, the toilet-table, the chairs were of darkly polished old mahogany. Out of these deep surrounding shades rose high, and glared white, the piled-up mattresses and pillows of the bed, spread with a snowy Marseilles counterpane. Scarcely less prominent was an ample cushioned easy-chair near the head of the bed, also white, with a footstool before it; and looking, as I thought, like a pale throne.

This room was chill, because it seldom had a fire; it was silent, because remote from the nursery and kitchen; solemn, because it was known to be so seldom entered. The house-maid alone came here on Saturdays, to wipe from the mirrors and the furniture a week’s quiet dust: and Mrs. Reed herself, at far intervals, visited it to review the contents of a certain secret drawer in the wardrobe, where were stored divers parchments, her jewel-casket, and a miniature of her deceased husband; and in those last words lies the secret of the red-room—the spell which kept it so lonely in spite of its grandeur.

Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
Painting: Delphin Enjolras (1857 – 1945)

Willpower Versus Taking a Coffee Break

2011-08-30T12:15:00.012-04:00

You’ve been working for a long time, thoroughly focused on the task at hand, and you need a break. The thought of an aromatic cup of coffee comes naturally to mind. As it turns out, this type of break may not be a good one, especially if you plan to go back to work.

Our brains need rest, much like our muscles do, after sustained periods of use. Concentrating for a long time or working at a monotonous or repetitive task will induce fatigue. If you’ve edited a manuscript or studied for an exam recently, I’m sure you can relate.

Studies have looked into the activities that are best for resting and refreshing the brain so that it quickly returns to peak function. One of the best activities for taking a break is taking a walk in nature, the proverbial walk in the park. Enjoying the sight and sounds of nature is the most refreshing and perhaps the most effective way to take a break according to researchers. Taking a walk on a busy city street provides no cognitive boost. You read that right, none. Apparently, walking down a busy city street involves paying quite a bit of attention. Even being in a quiet room listening to the sounds of nature and viewing pictures is more helpful than a walk in a city street.

Drinking coffee does provide an energy boost, but it does not help us perform tasks better. In one study, those who had access to unlimited coffee during breaks ended up feeling stressed. Researchers also found that men working in group activities performed worse when they drank more coffee than usual. Coffee also exacerbates feelings of stress if you are already in a stressful situation.

Your level of performance can also be maintained if you find a creative way to motivate yourself. Individuals who believe they have an unlimited amount of willpower are able to work longer at focused tasks. Subjects in laboratory experiments who receive subtle suggestions that their stamina could be replenished performed for longer periods. Surprisingly, the level of performance remains high. Similar research is being conducted on whether, based on willpower, people can make lasting changes to their lives.

Adapted from Shirley S. Wang, "Coffee Break? Walk in the Park? Why Unwinding Is Hard," Wall Street Journal, August 30, 2011

Autumn Poet

2011-08-28T14:06:00.006-04:00

By lonely roads
this lonely poet marches
into autumn dusk.

* * *

Illustrated Basho Haikus

Fall from Grace, Michelangelo

2011-08-27T14:27:00.007-04:00

At the time when I stood in the churchyard reading the family tombstones, I had just enough learning to be able to spell them out. My construction even of their simple meaning was not very correct, for I read "wife of the Above" as a complimentary reference to my father's exaltation to a better world; and if any one of my deceased relations had been referred to as "Below," I have no doubt I should have formed the worst opinions of that member of the family. Neither were my notions of the theological positions to which my Catechism bound me, at all accurate; for, I have a lively remembrance that I supposed my declaration that I was to "walk in the same all the days of my life," laid me under an obligation always to go through the village from our house in one particular direction, and never to vary it by turning down by the wheelwright's or up by the mill.

Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

Michelangelo's Fall from Grace is one of the scenes painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

The End of Books

2011-08-27T04:56:00.147-04:00

The Edinburgh International Book Festival hosted a debate entitled, oddly enough, The End of Books. It was held on August 20, 2011. To address the irony of it all, David Petherick wrote an article discussing the impact of the digital revolution on the publishing industry. The article quotes novelist, Ewan Morrison at length arguing the side of the publishing industry and endorses the view that "writing, as a profession, will cease to exist."

At the outset, let's all agree that even if books are dying as a form of recording stories and disseminating information, it's because other formats are being embraced.

The publishing industry, in defense of its own importance, would have us believe that the democratization of the printing press is bad for authors and bad for the reading public. Imagine how the Catholic church must have felt when it realized that any monarch could translate and easily publish their own version of the bible.

Part of the problem with Morrison's analysis is that he doesn't acknowledge that disruptive technologies create both winners as well as losers. As he explains it, everybody loses. In the age of independent publishers and e-readers, established authors who formerly commanded large advances may not fare as well because they are forced to compete in an expanded marketplace. The large publishing houses that once enjoyed the status of cartels have to figure out new ways to add value when access to the printing press is now essentially free. The winners are the thousands of authors whose works are being read by an audience whose size is increasing.

Morrison also mischaracterizes writing as a "profession." Novelists, journalists and academics all write for a living and all belong to different professions. Each will be impacted differently as the digital revolution unfolds. I can't think of one profession that is exempt from the impact of advancing technology.

The article cites many examples to show that creative work, in the future, will be considered as having little or no value. Just look at the music industry; everybody is listening to music for free. The life of a creative artist has never been a secure path to a comfortable living. Yes, creative artists will have to embrace technology and continue to be creative. No one is exempt and there are no guarantees. The work of those who are outstanding at what they do has the best chance of being recognized and compensated. That's how it always was.

The article arrives at the bizarre conclusion that the digital revolution is killing progress. Books are dying and the digital revolution will force all professions to reinvent themselves, but that's a far cry from concluding this will have a negative impact on civilization when all is said and done.

See also: Gary Gauthier, Publishing in the Golden age of Competition and Joe Konrath, The End is Nigh

For a different angle, see Charmaine Clancy, Phooey to the End of Books.

Writer's Platform-Building Campaign

2011-08-26T19:57:00.005-04:00

I Joined the Writer's Platform-Building Campaign. It runs until the end of October.

Membership allows me to do the following:

a) Network with new authors
b) Get help writing my novel
c) Write more words per minute
d) Make new friends
e) All of the above

The correct answer is choice "e" All of the above.

Special thanks to Rachael Harrie who organizes and manages the campaign.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)

2011-08-11T10:20:00.003-04:00

In the artist’s deep, thoughtful, all-observant eyes, there was, now and then, an expression, not sinister, but questionable; as if he had some other interest in the scene than a stranger, a youthful and unconnected adventurer, might be supposed to have. With great mobility of outward mood, however, he applied himself to the task of enlivening the party; and with so much success, that even dark-hued Hepzibah threw off one tint of melancholy, and made what shift she could with the remaining portion.

--Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of the Seven Gables

The Art of Reading

2011-08-08T10:07:00.022-04:00

The Art of Reading: An Illustrated Anthology is a portable coffee table book in ebook format. It features excerpts from literary classics.

* * *

I believed, and still do believe, that truth, is frequently of its own essence, superficial, and that, in many cases, the depth lies more in the abysses where we seek her, than in the actual situations wherein she may be found. Nature herself seemed to afford me corroboration of these ideas. In the contemplation of the heavenly bodies it struck me forcibly that I could not distinguish a star with nearly as much precision, when I gazed on it with earnest, direct and undeviating attention, as when I suffered my eye only to glance in its vicinity alone. I was not, of course, at that time aware that this apparent paradox was occasioned by the center of the visual area being less susceptible of feeble impressions of light than the exterior portions of the retina.

Edgar Allan Poe, The Unparalleled Adventures of One Hans Pfaal

Painting: Friedrich von Amerling (1803 - 1887), an Austrian, Academic painter.

Claude Monet

2011-07-27T18:17:00.001-04:00