Think
Opinion pieces offering commentary on various aspects of book culture, publishing and self-publishing.
The wonderful Randy Rainbow
Trigger warning for Trump fans and non-humorous religious people.
If you haven’t heard of Randy Rainbow you have so missed out! Randy is so funny and talented as well as my eyeglasses muse. (Mine are like his but purple and a little more sparkly!)
He pokes fun at all things Trump administration with his musical adaptations with an “Okay girl” thrown in. This one is my favorite but check out all his videos for a laugh.
The Dead South – In Hell I’ll Be In Good Company [Official Music Video]
Not my normal music taste, I am more a alt/punk/classic rock kind of person but this is too awesome not to share. Such talent all around. Also reading the comments on Youtube is a must – “Just saw them live last night. Afterwards, I bought a horse and robbed a bank, two stagecoaches, and a train.”
And here are the lyrics! Enjoy!
Dead Love couldn’t go no further
Proud of and disgusted by her
Push shove, a little bruised and battered
Oh Lord I ain’t coming home with you
My life’s a bit more colder
Dead wife is what I told her
Brass knife sinks into my shoulder
Oh babe don’t know what I’m gonna do
I see my red head, messed bed, tear shed
Queen bee, my squeeze
The stage it smells, tells, hell’s bells
Miss-spells, knocks me on my knees
It didn’t hurt, flirt, blood squirt
Stuffed shirt, hang me on a tree
After I count down, three rounds
In hell I’ll be in good company
Dead Love couldn’t go no further
Proud of and disgusted by her
Push shove, a little bruised and battered
Oh Lord I ain’t coming home with you
My life’s a bit more colder
Dead wife is what I told her
Brass knife sinks into my shoulder
Oh babe don’t know what I’m gonna do
I see my red head, messed bed, tear shed
Queen bee, my squeeze
The stage it smells, tells, hell’s bells
Miss-spells, knocks me on my knees
It didn’t hurt, flirt, blood squirt
Stuffed shirt, hang me on a tree
After I count down, three rounds
In hell I’ll be in good company
In hell I’ll be in good company
In hell I’ll be in good company
If you have a song you want to share, let me know! I am always open for good music of any kind and am always looking to increase my playlists!
On algae as fuel
and for your housing fuel,
even feed it to your mule!
Grows great just about anywhere,
treats the world so fair!
What’s not to love!
A recent discovery of a particular type of algae that absorb more light for photosynthesis by adapting itself to a wider spectrum of light energy has got me thinking. It’s a great Smithsonian article if you want to read it, but what I wonder is if this could help with the effort to turn algae into bio-fuel.
You might remember that there was quite a bit of hype a few years ago about algae bio-fuel and there was a bubble and bust. At first glance algae bio-fuel seemed very promising but after the initial effort there were a lot of issues that needed to be tackled. One of the issues was the rate at which the algae could be grown.
There are some other problems that need to be tackled, such as finding a way to retrieve the bio-oil from algae in a way that takes less energy than what is ultimately produced. There have been great strides in this area.
All this is very exciting, because if we can find an economic way to extract the algae oil then this would prove to be a very sustainable way to get energy. Algae can grow in saline or waste water, so the ongoing clean water issues are not impacted. There is no problem with spills as Algae is biodegradable. It’s a very renewable source. What’s not to love.
Let me know if you hear anything about it this, and I will keep my eyes open as well.
Science is awesome!
It’s my blog and I will write what I want to!
You may be wondering if all these posts are going to be about NaNo. Good question. Probably not. But the future looks hazy, shake again.
That was part of the problem, and one of the reasons why blogging was so hard. I was trying to think about all of you. The potential readers. What did you want from me? You are not very good at letting me know. The silence was deafening.
I spent so much time worrying about what to write and just knowing that I was going to be wrong and people would hate me and gamergate shit would happen. Somehow I would be doxed and put my family in danger. Yes I am very good at catastrophizing. Creative people create no matter what.
This is different. I still care what you think. I would like you to like me, my writing. But for now I am going to focus on what I want to write. Buckle up, it’s going to be a strange ride. I have a lot of different interests.
So the goal is thirty days of posts. Any kind of posts. (It would have been 31, but I missed the first day of NaNo.
Ideally at the end of thirty days, I will find my feet, my voice, and perhaps some other wanderers out there looking for a place to hang for a little bit and this can go on. We’ll see.
PS If you NaNo and want to connect search for Paula1849.
It’s complicated and sometimes you have to break the rules
One of the nice things about NaNo is that even if you are a socially awkward wannabe writer dealing with medical issues, you can still meet cool people that you have at least something in common with. Topics of conversation are built right in! What are you working on? How many words? How many NaNos? Even I can’t screw it up much!
For me, NaNo is a bunch of positives. I get to focus on a creative project for myself! But I also use this time to focus on what writing skills I need to improve on. Totally against the NaNo code! Such a rebel!
I have found that lots of people use this time the way that they need to. Finishing up stories, starting new ones, and even *gasp* editing. Last year I focused on creating dialogue as that was something I was not comfortable with.
You know how it goes. As you are writing, you become painfully aware of how many times you have used the words “she/he/they said” but if you try and become too creative with your dialogue, your writing becomes almost incoherent. I also spent time that year noticing how other favorite writers compose their dialogue while I read. That helped me to find balance.
This year I am facing a bigger fear. Blogging. I have a hard time writing posts and putting them out there.
I am not sure what my fear is. Ok, that is a lie, I know exactly what my fear is and I will spare you the deep introspective for now. Being a follower of the lizard brain theory I know that when the primitive section of my brain tells me not to do something because of a vague fear, then it is probably something I should face and culture.
So here I am. Facing fear and forcing myself to grow. By blogging…. I guess it sounds really silly when it is put that way. But that is what happens when we don’t face the issues that hold us back. Forcing yourself to deal with your lizard brain (but be kind) will put the issue in perspective.
A little tough self love is all it takes but I do suggest if you are interested to google the “lizard brain”. Very interesting reading.
PS If you NaNo and want to connect search for Paula1849.
Oh Shit! It’s November 2 and I missed the start of NaNoWriMo!
Usually I am excited and look forward to each NaNo as a time where I get to put myself first and do something I enjoy. I love being creative and love telling a tall tale. The work that goes into writing well is a bit daunting to be honest.
I don’t know exactly how many NaNo’s I’ve participated in but looking at all the swag from past years, we have a long history together.
But that is the beauty of NaNo. You don’t have to write well, in fact editing is discouraged to allow you to focus and just get the words down.
The goal of 50K words in thirty days is challenging but quite doable. Usually I try to pace myself with the requisite number of daily words to meet my goal – 50,000 divided by 30 = 1667 words per day. I have never held to that goal.
Sometimes I have come close and been able to sort of keep up. But my words stumble after the initial excitement and of course life intervenes. Everyone has Thanksgiving to deal with but I also have two birthdays and some personal events to manage during the month as well. One year was particularly bad and I ended up spending the last three days of November writing over 45K words to win.
So I missed the first day. No biggers, that just means that this NaNo is a little different and a little normal too!
PS If you NaNo and want to connect search for Paula1849.
Somedays I am Princess Lea, somedays I am Poe Dameron….
And I hope they paid Oscar Isaac well for getting hit in the face so many times!
Today which one are you?
- Princess Lea (50%, 1 Votes)
- Poe Dameron (50%, 1 Votes)
- Neither, this is really silly and I don't know who those people are. (0%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 2
Loading ...Pretty pop-ups!
I love and have a small collection of pop-up books including a huge Game of Thrones map. These pop-up art pieces by Peter Dahmen are just breathtaking. Have a look yourself.
For more on the artist here is a featured video:
and even a link to tutorials!
The Pop-Up Book ▶ https://amzn.to/2IM7odi
Free Tutorials by Peter Dahem ▶ http://bit.ly/peter-dahmen-tutorials
Do you want to know what information Facebook has about you?
Here’s how you can find and download what information Facebook has on you (and has probably shared with other people).
Log into your Facebook account. At the top right corner is an arrow. When you click on it you will get the drop down like the image on the right.
Towards the bottom is the “Settings” link. Click on that.
At the very bottom in small print is a link that says “Download a copy of your Facebook data”.
Click on that and you will need to fill in your password again to verify it’s you.
You will need to keep an eye open for the link email. Once you get the download link you only have a few days to download it or have to start the whole process over again.
The download will be in the form of a zip file, which you can extract on your computer. In the extracted folder you will see a file called index.htm.
If you double click on the index.htm file or drag it to a browser it will open up a page where you can easily see the files you downloaded. While you are viewing the different files in your browser, all this information is now saved to your local hard drive on your computer.
Have a good day!
Paula
Better Facebook privacy – for Firefox users
Sorry for the silence. I have been working hard on an important project. Such is the life of an indie software engineer. Projects need to be done yesterday and then once you are done you have a slight break while you hustle for the next job.
But if you have been concerned with all the privacy issues that have in the news about Facebook, and you use Firefox as your browser you might want to use the Facebook Container add-on found here – https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/facebook-container/
While the add-on helps, not all functions will work on Facebook if you use it and not all information will be blocked. Anything you do while you are on Facebook is still recorded. Read the “About this extension” for full details.
And if anyone else has any suggestions for other browsers, questions, or just privacy suggestions in general please leave a comment and let us know!
Thanks and have a good day!
Paula
Four Dangerous Pieces of Advice for Writers (And What to Do Instead)
We often hear the same advice over and over again and some of it is a bit of really good wisdom like “show don’t tell”. Then there is the rest of the stuff.
Four Dangerous Pieces of Advice for Writers (And What to Do Instead)
Any writing-related advice that says you should always or never do something can generally be taken with a very large pinch of salt!
I’m sure you’ve heard lots of poor writing advice over the months, years or even decades that you’ve been writing. Here are some that I come across quite frequently – from often well-intentioned people.
Several of these might work for some people in some circumstances. Some are best ignored altogether!
Today, I want to look at some advice that almost all writers will hear at some point, whether it’s from an interested friend, a fellow writing group member, or a self-styled guru…
Bad Advice #1: “Write, Write, Write! It’s All That Matters”
Read the full post on Aliventures!
Getting to Know Your Protagonist
How much time do you spend getting to know your protagonist? While reading this post, I was inspired to go back to a character I had written quite a few words about but never really felt I got her motivations and perceptions quite right. I am inspired to go back now and take the time to fill out the character a little more and then rework my story.
Getting to Know Your Protagonist
Today’s guest post is by Steven-John Tait.
If you’ve ever struggled to get under the skin of your protagonist, don’t lose hope. This post tells how mine went from a protagonist I couldn’t relate to to someone so real to me that I felt guilty about finishing the novel and therefore his existence.
Here’s my experience from initial inspiration to the creative processes I used, and my eventual breakthrough and tips you can apply to your own work.
On vacation in a town in North Brazil, I was drinking a beer at one of many beachside bars, when I noticed a haggard man walking between the tables and chairs trying to catch anyone’s eye. It was obvious he was looking for someone to take advantage of. Nobody returned his gaze except me.
He sat down across from me and asked the waiter for a beer and a cachaça. The waiter looked to me for approval because we both knew that I’d be the one paying. I couldn’t understand much of what my guest said because my Portuguese hardly gets me from A to B, but he interested me, as did the faded tattoos over his arms and the white lines he’d drawn on himself using acid from cashew nut shells.
Here I was on the other side of the world, drinking beer with someone I’d never otherwise have met. I’d been looking for this since I set the goal of writing a novel. Here was my protagonist, and this town would be the setting. From then on I couldn’t think of one without the other.
I returned home, and having found the initial spark sat down to write the novel, but I had a problem: my protagonist.
Read the full story on Live Write Thrive!
5 Important Things That Authors Need To Know About Self-Publishing With Mark Dawson
This is a great podcast to get your feet wet with indie publishing. There is a transcript if podcasts are not your thing.
5 Important Things That Authors Need To Know About Self-Publishing With Mark Dawson
If you’re just getting started in self-publishing, there are some things that you need to know upfront in order to save yourself time, money and heartache along the way.
In this interview, I discuss the basics with Mark Dawson from Self-Publishing Formula.
In the intro, I discuss the first album produced entirely by AI as reported by Digital Trends. The article goes into how the artist, Taryn Southern, uses AI as a creative tool and also starts to question whether AIs can be trained with copyrighted material. The beginning of a new form of copyright discussion, for sure.
I talk about why it’s so important to capture ideas in the moment, because time moves on and things change, based on the map shop around the corner from me closing recently. Walking past that shop almost every day inspired Map of Shadows, so it’s sad to see it go. [You can see a picture of it here Instagram.com/jfpennauthor]
Read the full post on The Creative Penn!