My Very Own Blogetary (Blog: Web Log; etary or ary: engaged in or pertaining to)

Well, things are a little up and down here at La Maison d’Olivier. Let’s look at the bad stuff first:

1. Guy who says I don’t have a right to my logo is back though we already settled that I was moving on to something else. So, I reiterated that to him a few times so he’ll get it. Hopefully, he’s moved on.  I don’t know. We’ll see.
2. I recently changed banks and this new account they’re holding paychecks 9 days. I know it’s SOP and will be over when it’s over, but in the mean time, it’s a pain.
3. I think my thyroid is off again. Little things are kind of pointing me in that direction. So, I’ll need to talk to my provider about that next visit.
4. It’s going to be a tight holiday season.
5. Besides the businesses folding in this economic desert, other ventures are folding as well. Flytrap sent out a notice to subscribers that they’re suspending operations for a while. It’s not just the economy with them, I know. It’s life and stuff. But they’re a force in the small press world. I hope they’re back again soon and that other small presses in the speculative fiction world don’t follow suit. I hope they all hang in there, hang tough.
6. My schedule is off. I haven’t done much, if any, creative writing. I’ve done revisions. I’ve done article and review and paper writing. I haven’t really done creative writing. I know it’s just a matter of time, but right now I’m just off and “meh” about it all.
7. Prop. 8 is still on the books and there are still people out there who just don’t get it. They’re probably the same people who don’t understand how important the ERA was and the significance that it never really passed. They’re probably the same people who don’t get that Affirmative Action is an important program still.

That’s the bad. And it’s really not all that bad. Now for the good. Soon you’ll see why I saved the best for last:

1. I gotta yes on one of my stories tonight!  The Crow King. YAY! It will be in the September 2009 Aoife’s Kiss.
2. I’ll be getting hard copies of the issue of EV that has my poetry in it soon.
3. My Christmas story, Santa is My Homeboy, will be coming out online at Mindflights.com in December and I’m really excited about it.
4. Another Christmas story is currently on the positive side of maybe, maybe, and I’m hoping to hear back from them soon. Hopefully you’ll see that one in December as well.
5. Had the best dream the other night full of my orange tabbies and floating and cool stuff.
6. Despite held checks at new banks, I’m paying bills and paying rent. It’s still tight, but I love that I am once more able to kinda sorta take care of myself. I still have a long way to go to paying people back, and I still have little or no expendable income, but it feels a whole lot better.
7. After coffee with friends after my last writers meeting I came away with two cool gems of wisdom.
1. If my writing schedule is off, then all I need to do is figure out a new schedule that works for me. It will take time, but I will get there and I will find it (I do wonder when that will happen as I lie awake at 11 pm thinking I should be up writing cuz that’s when I wrote the last year but knowing I need to be in bed so I can get up in the morning to go to work).
2. If I’m feeling frustrated because I’m not connecting to someone, part of it is because I feel as if they should try to relate to me and I’m tired of being the one trying to relate to them (thanks, Leigh!). Looking at it that way makes me realize I don’t even have to try to relate. If it doesn’t happen, and they aren’t trying on their end, then it’s time for me to just walk away. Save the energy for other pursuits. I have friends already who relate to me just fine, thank you very much.
8. I really like my job. I really like my coworkers and boss. The other day, Friday, one of the women called me in to let me know that they like me, too. I want to try really hard to do a good job there. I don’t want to let them down. I don’t want to let myself down.
9. Even with my thyroid being weird again - at least my commute is only a minute or two away and not an hour and a half. So even though I’m having a hard time getting up in the mornings again, it’s still all good.
10. I’m learning a lot where I work about how a monthly print newspaper works. Writing for Chocolate Zoom has helped me understand a monthly online publication, but now I’m learning about print. It’s all fascinating and I love it all.
11. Criminal Minds is going to be filming in our office on Friday!  Yay!  We’re working early and out early and probably won’t see much, but I think it’s cool, as I am a fan.
12. After cataloging my gift cupboard and stuff I bought last year during the after Christmas sales, I’m further ahead than I thought I would be for Christmas and that makes me very happy.
13. I have friends coming to town in December and we’re going to go to Disneyland!  That will be fun. And I might even be able to afford it.
14. I’m enjoying being creative with my life and my Christmas.
15. Right now, at this point, it’s easier to see the dross and cut it from my life. The fog hasn’t filtered in to cloud issues. Yet. But right now, it’s good.

I haven’t gone through and hyperlinked everything cuz I figure if you’re really interested, then you’ll Google it and I need to get to bed so I can get up in the morning. You know how the internet works. If there’s not a link to click on, you know how to research it.

Good night. Angels on your pillows.

If you haven’t seen the YouTube video of Harlan Ellison talking about how writers should get paid for their work, then you should check it out here. Then read Angelo Hoy’s article on getting asked to write for free here.

When you’re first starting out, yes, you do end up doing a lot for free. You have to prove yourself. The more competitive the field you’re writing in, the more you will have to prove yourself before you begin getting paid. That’s just the way it is. Fiction and poetry are both very competitive fields. There are millions of writers out there who write fiction and poetry, and sometimes the demand for it is not so high. So, writers in these fields can go a long time writing for free, or contributor’s copies, or exposure, or an “honorarium” (one of the more polite terms I’ve heard for it) before they begin to actually get paid any kind of pro rates.This is the accepted way of doing things.

However, when it comes to the more utilitarian writing, the writing that no one likes to do but but everyone needs to have done, then writers do need to be paid.  And paid a regular market rate. I don’t know how many times on the job boards I’ve seen offerings of people saying they’ll pay up to a $1 for a 500 word SEO article written in “good English” or “Must have native English speaker” that reviews this, that or the other.  *$1* Yup. Just to let you know, 500 words is about two pages of double-spaced Times New Roman text.  That’s two pages of well thought out words put together by a good brain and in a professional manner.  I don’t know what kind of people they actually get, but if some of the descriptions out there in cyber-land are any indication, they got what they paid for.

I know. I’m preaching to the choir here.  But just remember that. The worker is worth his wage.  You deserve to be paid.

It’s better over the phone or in person, but online is good as well. I just love conducting interviews. Of course, I’ve only ever had to conduct interviews with people I like and are really cool.  But I do enjoy it, possibly because I’m such a nosey parker. And it’s interesting to get insight into how other people have come to where they are, how they were inspired, etc. I don’t ever think I could conduct a “hard-hitting” interview. But I enjoy the “getting to know you” interview. I like to hear people’s stories.

After the interview is over, I let it “set” for a while. I know, I should probably type it up as soon as I’m done.  It seems to work better, though, if I just put down the paper I’ve been scribbling on for the last hour and go do something else. I let it “set” for a day or an hour or whatever. Then I come back to it fresh and I’m better able to write it up.

By the way, if anyone is interested, there is a Dark Shadows Tarot set! It isn’t out, yet. But keep track. It should be out soon.

Well, nothing new to really report today. Things are just about the same - hanging by a frayed thread. That means they haven’t gotten any worse - yet (as in the thread hasn’t snapped). But, they haven’t gotten any better, either.

Today, I’m making another trip to Amoeba Music to see what they’ll buy. Hopefully, I’ll get enough for postage to send out stuff I sold on Amazon, plus some grocery money. Cool news, though! I’ve been trying to save, or just plain too broke to take the bus, so I’ve been walking to Amoeba (in the hot sun, with a load of DVDs and CDs). It’s not too far, but it’s far enough to be a bit of walk there and back with stuff to haul and in sandals and not supportive shoes. Last night, however, I remembered about the LA Dash system, which is funky little system of neighborhood bus routes. Usually you only need to pay between .25-.75 depending on the route (On Metro it’s $1.25 per trip, no transfers, no smiles, broken air conditioning, crowded buses). And one of the funky little Dash routes will get me from close to where I am to close to where I need to be, for a quarter!  I gots a quarter!  I was going to save it to get a package of Top Ramen but hey! It will get me to Amoeba without my blowing out an ankle or breaking my back. So that’s cool!

For those of you wondering about my poetry/fiction (short and novel) pursuits, here’s the thing. I am so worried and concerned about either getting a job or getting paid writing/proofreading gigs that it’s just really hard for me to focus on the fiction or the poetry. Fiction and poetry do not bring in a sizable income on their own. Writing resumes, proofreading and copy editing technical documents, and all that does help bring in something of an income, though most of my sources have been drying up lately.  So, all of my effort lately has gone into trying to either find a job, or look for more gigs, or write (free) samples for people who are trying me out for possible gigs, or researching, writing, etc for people who are actually going to pay me.

If you know of anyone who is looking for help with writing, editing, etc, send them my way! And if there are any doubters out there (and I know there are), one of my resumes is being used as a sample of a well-written resume in the companion CD ROM to How to Write and Design a Professional Resume to Get the Job.

As to the fiction writing, every day I bring up the short stories, poems, and novel stuff so that I can get to it. Every day I stare at something, start on it, and then think, “Have checked Guru yet, today? Do I have any bids left on Elance? Should I double check Monster again? Can I link up with anyone else on LinkedIn?”  And then get distracted by looking for more work. That doesn’t mean nothing is getting done, it’s just very slow. Word by word.

It’s not all grim and dim, though, by any means. I’ve got some great topics I’m working on for next month’s Chocolate Zoom. I have an interview with someone tomorrow. Another interview with someone else fell through, but it was probably a good thing. They sounded kinda clueless in regards to my particular topic.

One of my friends just put up a new website, and his book should be coming out soon. It’s already out, kinda, but not officially. And another friend just got the lease to a storefront so she’ll be going from running the business out of her home, to having an actual Brick & Mortar location. That’s exciting, and encouraging, in this economy. And yet another friend has signed a contract to write a short story for a YA anthology. So, exciting things are happening in the world around me, and that’s neat.

Still waiting to hear back from things I have out - poetry, short stories, queries, etc. I’m banking on the “magical maybe” and Schroedinger’s Cat and hoping that once I hear back it will be good and there will be checks in the mail. In the meantime, I kinda feel like the Hanged Man in the Tarot - in a mode of stasis. If I push too hard on any one thing then stuff will collapse, other than that, I have to wait.

Watch Harlan Ellison’s Timely Rant!

According to Wikipedia, the source for mostly accurate information on the web, the word journal comes from the Latin term diurnalis, or daily. The more pedestrian word is diary, though the term “journal” is considered more sophisticated and less personal than diary writing, but they really are the same. Although considered mostly the purview of teenagers, use of the diary was at one time common in most educated people’s lives. History would have a lot of holes if it weren’t for people faithfully penning their thoughts on a regular basis. Julia Cameron’s “Morning Pages” in her book The Artist’s Way, however, has pushed journaling into a renaissance of sorts, at the forefront of the public conscious. It’s become the new “thing” in a writer’s life.

At the very least, journals (or diaries) are used as a way to recount the days, documenting events, and in some cases used by the writer to think over and examine those events. Not only are journals and diaries used to provide the raw data for historical research, but workshop writers, therapists, and English teachers have used journaling as a way to get people writing, and get them into the mode of self-examination.  Journaling puts that inner dialogue with the self to work, to helping the writer work through problems. In fact, at least one study done by Dr. James Pennebaker at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, has shown that journaling can help relieve stress, thereby lowering blood pressure and increasing health. This study showed a link between increased good health and using a journal as a means of self-expression, including examining and expressing very deep, troubling, and traumatic events.

Could it be that writing in a journal could be equally as important as getting daily exercise? If writing three pages a day in a journal every day could improve your health, would you add it to you list of other healthy habits like drinking more water, eating more vegetables, and exercising? Whether one is a writer, or simply a thoughtful person in need of a safe space for introspective thought and venting, journaling is the way to go.

Journaling doesn’t help, however, if it is not done on a regular basis. Journaling doesn’t just mean buying a notebook, grabbing a pen and writing whenever the spirit moves (though there’s nothing wrong with that). Journaling is an intimate adventure with the self, as well as a good habit to cultivate. As with any good habit, such as exercising, it should be done regularly, especially at the beginning. Julia Cameron suggests writing three pages first thing every day, even before having that first cup of coffee, just as some people exercise first thing every day just so they are sure they get the exercise in.  If that works, fine. Other people might find it better to write in a journal in the evening so they can examine the day’s events.  Others snag the commute time on the bus or train for their journaling time. Again, as with exercising, it depends on whatever works.

Don’t think of journaling as a chore. This is a chance to express yourself without censure or correction. It might help to think of it as a reward; the one safe place where anyone can truly express themselves freely. That is what journaling is all about. Don’t get along with the boss? Don’t blog it or tell a coworker, that’s too risky. Put it in the journal. Have a problem that needs figuring out? Work it out in the journal. It’s the next best thing to a therapist. If you feel like saying that the sky looks purple, then say it. Anything you want to write you can put in that journal. No one else is meant to read it. It’s all yours, your very own. In that journal you can say whatever you want. It’s absolute freedom of speech and thought.

Journaling is meant to help the person journaling feel better and not make them feel like they need to “perform”. Forget about good handwriting, lines, spelling, punctuation, or grammar. Journaling is all about expression and breaking through to what is really going on inside.  In fact, the sloppier, the better. Loosen up, don’t tense up muscles or write as if someone were looking over your shoulder. Natalie Goldberg, in her book Writing Down the Bones, talks about how important it is to relax into the writing. As she points out, the act of writing is physical exercise (50). With hand on pen (or fingers on keyboard), the writer is physically engaged in pouring inner thoughts onto a visual medium – the blank page.

Other writers, such as Rita Mae Brown in Starting from Scratch and Orson Scott Card in How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy, also talk about the physicality of writing and how important the health of your entire body comes when it comes to being a writer (Brown 25; Card 134).  Anyone who has sat at a desk for hours at a time understands the back, shoulder and neck strain that can occur from being hunched over a computer too much. The same goes for journaling. Get the wiggles out of your system before sitting down. Dance around to a favorite song, do a yoga stretch, go up and down the stairs, take a breath, shake out the tension, then go.

Now, you have your favorite writing tools — favorite purple pen and blue paper for example (yes, that can be important for some people). It’s your favorite time of day. You have water, tea or coffee by your side. All you have to do is put down on the page whatever comes to mind. It doesn’t have to make sense. It doesn’t need to be meaningful or well written. You just need to get it out on the page.  Sometimes all you need to do is start with a sentence like “I don’t know what to write today,” and things will flow once you’ve set the pen in motion on the page. If you are journaling in the morning, maybe try to remember some of the dreams you may have had the night before. If you are journaling in the evening, think about something that happened during the day that struck you as odd or interesting. Natalie Goldberg suggests keeping a list of topics on one of the pages towards the back of your notebook (19). When you have ideas you want to write about but don’t have time to journal about them then put that idea on the list. Then next time you are journaling and can’t think of what to write you can go to the list and pick a topic  to run with, exploring more deeply in your journal what was just a nugget of an idea before.

Journaling can be a very important part of our physical, emotional, and mental health.  In journals we don’t have to worry about the approval or disapproval of peers, editors, agents, or readers. In our journals we can be ourselves.

Getting a yes NEVER gets old, and rejections always set ya back a little. Today, I got a yes for a little thing I wrote that I didn’t know what to do with. So, I sent it to an editor who tends like my writing more than dislike it and he knew exactly where to put it.

Yay!

That’s all I have to say. Back to work now.

I am pretty boring these days. If you run into me, don’t be surprised if I am monosyllabic, or tend to be self-involved and only talk about my website and my business. My brain is preoccupied with many things these days, things like what free advertising can I find online? How many names can I remember  from high school and college that I can Google and find on Linked In or can use as a business connection somehow? Where else can I put out my website and email address so I can get orders in for resumes, cover letters, and proofreading and copy editing? When will I be able to pay my phone bill? Should I finally take Johnny Depp off my voicemail and put on a more business-like message? How long will it be before I can pay my parents and friends back? Will I ever be able to afford to pay for advertising and will it be worth it? What can I do to keep my talents and skills at the forefront of everyone’s minds so that I’m the first one they think of when they need writing, proofreading, or copy editing help? How can I get Pye to sleep on the bed and NOT on the desk? Does he understand I still love him if I move him out of my way? Should I keep trying to sell stuff on Amazon, or should I give up and sell at a loss to Amoeba?

I wake up with these questions. They run through my brain all day. I go to sleep with them. As a result, I am not doing any reading (I just can’t - my brain is not there). I do skim through the blogs and leave a comment occasionally, so even if you don’t hear from me, I am reading you (you out there with the blogs….). Another result is that I am writing less because I am so preoccupied with trying to get more writing jobs. Backwards, I know. But I sit down to work on an article, or story, and the next thing I know I’m wondering if one of the guys from my graduating class who is a writer now has a website or is online somewhere so I can connect with him, or maybe there’s one more free online directory I haven’t checked out yet, and I’m off.

So, I am really going to need to buckle down to get this writing done, and the reading, if I can get my brain to settle down enough to do it. I may need to cut out any blog reading altogether. Doesn’t mean anything other than I’m just pretty darn busy. Don’t worry, you’ll hear from me when I re-emerge from the business/writing/organizing fog. It just may take a while.

If you are in the mood to read about chocolate (and remember, when you read about it, you want to eat it, so have some stashed away somewhere), then check out August’s Chocolate Zoom.There are lots of articles on chocolate and movies for the summer, plus a rather downer article by me on chocolate with a conscience.

WOW! (or Women on Writing) has a quarterly flash fiction (250-500 words) contest. Sometimes there is a prompt, lately it’s been an open prompt. The Summer 2008 Flash Fiction Contest is open until August 31 if you’re interested.

From what I understand, WOW editors go over the submissions for the first go round before handing them to the  guest agent/judge who goes over the finalists’ stories to decide from there.  It only costs $5 to enter, and for an extra $5 you can have your story critiqued.

Well, I haven’t heard who’s won yet. I know I made it past the first round (:-)), so I am cautiously optimistic. Tonight, however, I did receive my critique back, and it was very encouraging. Very, very encouraging. At this point, winning doesn’t matter, it was that encouraging.

HOWEVER - I did notice one eentsy, teensy little mistake that both I and the critiquer missed (and I went through that story I don’t know how many times before submitting it!) and it was in the very first sentence of the story.  Kills me that I didn’t see it. Amuses me that they didn’t either!

Ha!

So, that’s my news.

Ludo et Vexo!