Category Archives: Writing

Props Week: Recipient #2–The Creative Penn

I created a two-minute tour of Joanna Penn’s impressive work. [Again, no ulterior or profit motives. Just wanting to share online wealth with my site’s visitors.] Here it is…

 

Props Week: Recipient #1–Sell More Books Show

Going to take a little time this week to acknowledge people who provide good, helpful content for interested listeners/visitors.

No brown-nosing intended here. No profit motive. I just appreciate the updated information, tips, and tutorials these sites offer for free.

While slapping together some chile verde, completing today’s neighborhood walk, and following through on kitchen cleanup, I binge-listened  to three episodes of the Sell More Books Show, a team effort of Jim Kukral and Bryan Cohen.

Some of today’s takeaways:

  1. Author Mark Dawson’s recent book launch [Episode 152] can teach us newbies a few key lessons.
  2. Go into business to help people and solve problems, says Jim. Making money will grow from that.
  3. Jim believes that, with the ever-increasing heap of Web content and our diminishing attention span, the future of books may well follow a micropayments for short books/chapters/serials’ model. [Episode 152]

Good stuff.

Next post: The Creative Penn

 

 

Farewell to our ‘boy’…

boo-retirement

Had to say goodbye to Boo last week. Cancer.

As the photo suggests, he was my career counselor.

We have no kids, so there you go–he was our boy.

September 11, 2012– Seems like just yesterday when he hopped in our car in the parking lot of SafeHaven Humane Society. I placed a dog cookie on my shoulder and waited…all of about two seconds. He took the cue…and the cookie…and he was ours.

When you say goodbye to your pet, you’re not just feeling the loss and the emptiness, and, for many of us, wishing we could rewrite the script for his, and your, benefit.

You’re closing a chapter in your life. In this case, an abbreviated chapter.

Thanks, Boo. I’ll miss your spirited, though unsolicited, paw shakes during afternoon snack time and, most of all, your enthusiastic front-door greetings.

As always, I feel blessed you joined our home.

On video this time…Writing Warmup #318 “Aha!”

Tried something a little different…

It’s two minutes long.

There is a little thinking aloud early on, but then I back off of that, for the good of all.

I’m wondering if any viewers start filling in their own snippets of dialogue, plot twists, and more effective word choices as they’re watching. I know that I did when I replayed it.

Here it is…

 

A confession…

The other day I was at a loss to describe my inability to solve an annoying situation.

And I heard myself say, “It is what it is.”

Yes, “It is what it is.”

To quote Boon from Animal House, “A new low. I’m so ashamed.”

Not sure I can forgive myself for that…so I’ll turn to readers for forgiveness.

;-]

begging

Writing Warmup #137: “You’re on the air! Say something!”

I gripped the microphone and looked at the producer who whirled one hand around the other.

microphone-and-hand cropped

“A hamster wheel?” I thought.

My armpits were spritzing.

Oh-yeahhh! A referee’s signal for traveling.

My thought process? Glacial.

The pounding on the window was one hint.

The scrawled message of Keep it moving!!!!!! on the back of the pizza menu was another.

Geez, though, did he really need six exclamation points?

“So,” I said into the mic. “How ’bout those Yankees!?”

 

Writing Warmup #413: “I don’t know about you, but I’m outta here.”

And just like that, my now ex-best buddy was gone.

And I was left holding the bag. Literally.

“So, whatcha got there?” asked the large one.

“I’m not really sure,” I said, and backed up toward the door.

“Looks like it might be just what we’ve been looking for,” said the larger one. “What should we do with this clown?”