This is one of my favorites. The barbershop quartet “Main Street” imagines what their music will sound like twenty years from now. They are really good. You owe it to yourself to spent 8 1/2 minutes listening to the fun. Hope this brings a smile to your day.
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Do You Write in Your Books?
When we were first married, my husband bought a new Bible. The first thing he did was to sit down at his desk with a pen. I gasped. “What are you doing?” “I’m transferring notes from my old Bible so I’ll have them.” At that point, I think he’d also started in with a yellow highlighter. I had never seen anyone do this. When I was growing up, I had one Bible. When I was in the third grade, my …
The Sound of Words
One of the things I love most about working with words is that I will never reach the point where I can say, “There, now. I’ve learned it all.” Love, love learning new things. Especially when it’s something I can share with all of you. So, have you ever heard of phonesthesia or sound symbolism? Basically, it’s the idea that the sound of a word plays into it’s perceived meaning. That there are …
You Might As Well Face It, You’re Addicted to Input
With great fear of being sued by Robert Palmer for messing with his song lyrics: You like to think that you’re immune to the stuff…oh yeah It’s closer to the truth to say you can’t get enough You know you’re gonna have to face it You’re addicted to love INPUT. Publishing is such a subjective field of endeavor that at one point or another an author, editor or …
Books on Sports to Fill the Void
The Super Bowl is over. Baseball won’t start Spring training for another month. The basketball season is another month away from March Madness and the playoffs. Hockey is in mid-season. What is a sports fan to do? I know, read about sports! I have read dozens of these kind of books and would like to suggest a few. This is by no means a definitive list. In fact, it reflects my own tastes more than …
Fun Fridays – February 5, 2016
A tender animated short film (4 minutes). Watch it all the way through. You’ll be glad you did. This short film, by film student Jacob Frey, just finished a circuit of 180 film festivals where it won 50 different awards. Now that you’ve watched the film you can see the short web-comic it was based on. (click here) Like it on Facebook! (Facebook Page: The Present)
Sending Your Submission to an Agent
Submitting your work to an agent can be scary, but it doesn’t have to be. A few simple steps will help you gain confidence, regardless of your method. Unsolicited submission This is when you are querying several agents and you have no connection other than seeing them on a list. I really don’t recommend the cold call submission, because it’s not likely you’ll find exactly the right agent for …
Don’t Waste Your Time
Some days…those rare, out-of-the-blue, once-in-awhile days…God speaks an amen that reminds me all this is worth it. This past Saturday was a day like that. I spoke at a writer’s conference and had a delightful time. At the closing sessions I spoke on passion and why we Christian writers do what we do. How the goal can’t be publication, but obedience to the task God has given us. How writing for …
Ned Ryerson and the Startled Rodent
Much has been discussed about the growth (or shrinking) of digital book content delivery. I figured today was the perfect day to put in my two cents. Here is what happened in the last few years, explaining why digital sales have slowed, as told through a little story I conjured up. Avid book reader Barbara got up early one morning, made coffee and sat down to read with her e-reader. She noticed …
Fun Fridays – January 29, 2015
Imagine Mozart and Adele co-writing a song together. You might end up with something like this latest piece from The Piano Guys. A combination of Adele’s “Hello” and Mozart’s “Lacrimosa” from his Requiem in D Minor (if you want to hear Mozart’s original piece it is posted below). Below is Mozart’s “Lacrimosa” complete with translation …