Before you read this article, you may have thought your dog had the grossest eating habits ever. But Fido's penchant for poo is nothing compared to some of these sickos highlighted in Cracked. For example, Victorian scientist William Buckland: He didn't just stop at the meat of animals, either. While on a visit to St. Paul's Cathedral, a strange mark was found on the floor. A debate broke out as to what the stain could possibly be, at which point Buckland got on his hands and knees, licked the stain and confidently announced it to be bat piss. But the craziest thing Buckland ever did, at…
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Most Topular Stories
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8 historical figures who ate disgusting things
Holy Kaw!8 Feb 2012 | 11:26 pm -
Lock Out
The Everything Yoga Blog6 Feb 2012 | 7:41 pmI've been treating myself to a fair amount of bodywork lately (all I can say is ahhhhhhhhh!). Just last week I was getting a myofascial massage during which the massage therapist pushed my knee to my chest and straightened my leg back out on the table. I tend to not fight -- or tense up -- when someone (yes, I'm talking about professionals here, people!) is handling my body. And back when I trained in Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy and Thai Yoga Massage, I learned a fair amount about handling someone's body. Perhaps that why I noticed myself feeling uncomfortable with how the therapist handled… -
Random Progressive Thoughts on Watching the GOP Pick Their Candidate
MidLifeBloggers8 Feb 2012 | 10:20 amby Mark Paxson of King Midget Ramblings The power of money and the development of Super PACs since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision continue the distortion of our democratic electoral process. It is remarkable that President Obama has raised over $200 million already and that Super PACs aligned against him will raise much more than [...] -
Raspberry ketones and weight loss
Midlife Crisis Queen: It's never too late to find out who you might have been!7 Feb 2012 | 6:31 amIf you saw Dr. Oz yesterday, you heard about the amazing claims being made about consuming raspberry ketones to lose specifically fat while dieting. Raspberry ketones are a product that uses a natural ingredient found in raspberries to produce the protein hormone adiponectin.Recently it has been discovered that adiponectin, already known for its antioxidant properties, is also an aid in the loss of body fat. Raspberries have been used throughout history as a supplement, as well as in many medicines. Known to be high in antioxidants, which help to keep the body functioning properly in spite of… -
How to Succinctly Report a Blog Issue to Tech Support
@ProBlogger8 Feb 2012 | 6:07 amThis guest post is by Matthew Setter of Malt Blue. How often do you find it happening to you? You discover an issue with your site, or one of your community members emails you to tell you about it, and soon you start to see tweets about it too. Maybe it’s as simple as an error message that detracts from the professional appearance of your site. Perhaps the contact form doesn’t send messages to your contact email address. Or is it that the whole site just displays as a blank page, otherwise known as the white page of death? You’re not a programmer, a software engineer or a seasoned…
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Holy Kaw!
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8 historical figures who ate disgusting things
8 Feb 2012 | 11:26 pmBefore you read this article, you may have thought your dog had the grossest eating habits ever. But Fido's penchant for poo is nothing compared to some of these sickos highlighted in Cracked. For example, Victorian scientist William Buckland: He didn't just stop at the meat of animals, either. While on a visit to St. Paul's Cathedral, a strange mark was found on the floor. A debate broke out as to what the stain could possibly be, at which point Buckland got on his hands and knees, licked the stain and confidently announced it to be bat piss. But the craziest thing Buckland ever did, at… -
5 explanations of why teenagers act the way the do
8 Feb 2012 | 11:22 pmUnderstanding the teenage mind could be a life's work. For those of you who don't have that kind of time, however, Mental Floss gives five things that could explain the mind of the teenager. For example, parents, have you ever wondered if your teenager is somehow getting dumber? Parents of teens often wonder what happened to the bright child they used to have. How can someone go from getting A’s to getting C’s when they seem to be doing the same amount of work? Once again, changes in the brain are to blame. While the merits of IQ tests are debatable, scientists used to think IQ… -
Surviving the loss of a star employee
8 Feb 2012 | 11:16 pmSome groups have stellar members who carry the team. That's all well and good until that member leaves. Then what? This Smartblog video will help you answer that question: Full story at Smartblog on Leadership. Top news for leaders. Permalink | Leave a comment » -
Disneyland circa 1957 [video]
8 Feb 2012 | 11:14 pmThis video was shot in 1957, less than two years after Disneyland had opened. The footage is newly restored and ready to take you to the happiest place on earth as it was in its early days. Full story at Mental Floss. All the top Internet videos in one place. Permalink | Leave a comment » -
People unplugging their TVs during the Super Bowl
8 Feb 2012 | 11:08 pmThere's no faster way to ruin an American's day than to unplug his or her TV during the Super Bowl. Think we're exaggerating? Take a look at these folks go form 0 to 60 in less than a second, all thanks to Jimmy Kimmel's latest Challenge. Full story at Jimmy Kimmel Live. Top sports news. Permalink | Leave a comment »
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The Everything Yoga Blog
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Lock Out
6 Feb 2012 | 7:41 pmI've been treating myself to a fair amount of bodywork lately (all I can say is ahhhhhhhhh!). Just last week I was getting a myofascial massage during which the massage therapist pushed my knee to my chest and straightened my leg back out on the table. I tend to not fight -- or tense up -- when someone (yes, I'm talking about professionals here, people!) is handling my body. And back when I trained in Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy and Thai Yoga Massage, I learned a fair amount about handling someone's body. Perhaps that why I noticed myself feeling uncomfortable with how the therapist handled… -
Fear and Safety
31 Jan 2012 | 2:26 pmI've heard yoga teachers say that fear is excitement without the breath (heck, I've said it myself). I guess you could say that I've taken lots of deep breaths over the past few months. Most of what I've experienced is what I'd call "good fear," or the kind that you face when you try something new or push your boundaries. It's an exhilarating feeling, one that charges you up and makes you feel as if anything could happen. I'll admit that I'm a bit of a good fear junkie, as I often like putting myself into new, scary places/circumstances. Then of course, there's the more negative type of… -
Box Cutters, Back Aches, and Baring it All (with a laugh)
26 Jan 2012 | 1:55 pmI certainly enjoy blogging, but sometimes I get sick of hearing myself talk (or maybe it's more accurate to say that I get sick of reading what I write). Today I'm going to let the links below talk for themselves... Box CuttersWhat if I told you to take a box cutter to your mat? Here's an excellent blog post about the idea that more is less and an idea for taking a bite out of the yoga mat SUV equivalent: What Is Your Yoga Footprint? Back AchesI sure am happy that there's not a lot of snow to shovel this year (so far, anyways) and so is my back. If you're not so lucky, or if you suffer from… -
Being a Reactionary
22 Jan 2012 | 8:13 pmReactionary: one who responds to a situation, person, or circumstance, oftentimes quickly without forethought. [Please note that this is the blogger's definition and Webster is not resposible for this hack job] One of the reasons I love yoga and meditation is because both provide the practitioner with something very important -- space. There's nothing quite like getting quiet, calming the mind, and taking a pause. That ever-important pause is that prevents us from being a reactionary and saying the hurtful comment or acting rashly or making the mistake in haste. Of course assumptions and… -
Injury: Your Wake Up Call
16 Jan 2012 | 3:23 pmWe all know that the words "wreck" and "yoga" have been used together quite a bit lately. It's like watching a tennis match -- someone lobs a ball over the net and the player on the other side returns it. Back and forth the ball goes, volley for volley (yes, I'm following the Australian Open, so it's no surprise that I'm using this analogy). Is it a bad thing that people are talking about yoga and what happens when bodies are forced into postures that they aren't ready for? Certainly not. Perhaps this makes me a bad yoga teacher, but I don't want to talk about vertebrae or cervical spine…
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MidLifeBloggers
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Random Progressive Thoughts on Watching the GOP Pick Their Candidate
8 Feb 2012 | 10:20 amby Mark Paxson of King Midget Ramblings The power of money and the development of Super PACs since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision continue the distortion of our democratic electoral process. It is remarkable that President Obama has raised over $200 million already and that Super PACs aligned against him will raise much more than [...] -
I Was a MidLife Runaway
3 Feb 2012 | 10:39 amMy plan was to write about my life, or write a book, or accidentally be discovered by someone connected to Oprah. -
Writing Practice: A Rose By Any Other Name Still Has Thorns
2 Feb 2012 | 11:45 amI bet you think I'm going to write some rumination on the ways in which nature nurtures our creativity. You don't know me very well, then, do you? -
Wednesday Writers Workshop: Writing Practice
1 Feb 2012 | 12:07 pmWhat do you see in this photo? Where does it take you? -
The Norovirus and Divorce: two topics not related
27 Jan 2012 | 11:34 amMy apologies, then, for being totally MIA with the Wednesday Writers Workshop this week. I offer instead the post I wrote before I got sick for ShePosts.com about bloggers as celebrities.
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Midlife Crisis Queen: It's never too late to find out who you might have been!
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Raspberry ketones and weight loss
7 Feb 2012 | 6:31 amIf you saw Dr. Oz yesterday, you heard about the amazing claims being made about consuming raspberry ketones to lose specifically fat while dieting. Raspberry ketones are a product that uses a natural ingredient found in raspberries to produce the protein hormone adiponectin.Recently it has been discovered that adiponectin, already known for its antioxidant properties, is also an aid in the loss of body fat. Raspberries have been used throughout history as a supplement, as well as in many medicines. Known to be high in antioxidants, which help to keep the body functioning properly in spite of… -
What will you regret on your dying day?
6 Feb 2012 | 9:45 amDO NOT miss this excellent article on the: REGRETS OF THE DYING. These regrets DEFINE midlife for me. They are exactly what I started focusing on when my life fell apart eight years ago. “Life is a choice. It is YOUR life. Choose consciously. Choose wisely. Choose honestly. Choose happiness.” -
What makes us feel closer emotionally?
6 Feb 2012 | 6:50 amSince Valentine’s Day is coming right up, I thought I might talk a bit about what makes us feel intimate with others. Here are findings from some scientific studies that have been conducted on this topic in recent years: * People feel closer when they do new things together. * Emotional bonds are strengthened when people do physical activities together. * People tend to bond when they’re in frightening situations together. * Feelings of love grow when total strangers simply gaze into each other’s eyes for two minutes. Emotional bonds often get stronger when people feel vulnerable,… -
Re-capturing the romance in midlife
3 Feb 2012 | 8:26 amHere I am six years into my own marriage at age 50, and I know most of you have been married much longer. What is the secret to keeping love alive? How do you keep getting excited about your husband all over again? How do you keep him excited about you, when half of the time you feel like there should be steam coming out of your ears? Or your mood is swinging in ways that Tarzan would envy! Not to mention hormonal changes with andropause and menopause that make romance much less likely to happen. Should you simply give up on romance for this lifetime? I say NO! Just because… -
For those in the blogging business…
3 Feb 2012 | 6:29 amCheck out my new article over at BOOMBOX NETWORK!
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@ProBlogger
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How to Succinctly Report a Blog Issue to Tech Support
8 Feb 2012 | 6:07 amThis guest post is by Matthew Setter of Malt Blue. How often do you find it happening to you? You discover an issue with your site, or one of your community members emails you to tell you about it, and soon you start to see tweets about it too. Maybe it’s as simple as an error message that detracts from the professional appearance of your site. Perhaps the contact form doesn’t send messages to your contact email address. Or is it that the whole site just displays as a blank page, otherwise known as the white page of death? You’re not a programmer, a software engineer or a seasoned… -
Make Your Blog Load Faster than ProBlogger: Part 2
7 Feb 2012 | 12:05 pmThis guest post is by Devesh of WP Kube. A few months ago, I wrote a guest post here called How to Make Your Blog Load Faster than ProBlogger. Today, I’ll go into some more detailed advice to help you speed up your site even more. If you’re a blogger, you already know about the importance of blog loading speed, and the role it plays in search engine rank and marketing your blog. But if this is new territory for you, here are three quick reasons why you need to speed up your blog: Google includes website loading speed as an important metric in their ranking algorithm. If you want… -
How I Beat my Best Month Ever by Doing Something Good, Better [Case Study]
7 Feb 2012 | 6:04 amMid-December 2010: on my photography site, we launched a new campaign—our first ever 12 Days of Christmas promotion. The result was my biggest month of earnings ever up to that point. The idea was simple: offer discounts on 12 products over the 12 days leading up to Christmas. I used a mix of my own ebooks and products from other photography sites with affiliate commissions. The result was massive. Not only did we see some great revenue generated, it created some lovely buzz on the site. Due to the success of the 2010 campaign, in mid-December 2011 we launched our second 12 Days of… -
Six Steps to Make Sure Your Site Is Ready to Go Viral
6 Feb 2012 | 6:00 amThis guest post is by Nancy Sathre-Vogel of Family on Bikes. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Surely Google Analytics was confusing my site with another, way more popular site. There was no way my visitor numbers could be so high! And yet they were. One of my posts had taken off and was spreading like wildfire. Those viral post phenomena that happen to others were now happening to me. The first day, 17,000 visitors came to my website. The next day we topped out at 56,000. Readers were coming in droves. It was exciting. It was exhilarating. My site, viral! Wow! And then I took a… -
How to Handle Criticism: a Practical Guide
5 Feb 2012 | 12:03 pmImage by Stuart RichardsAs bloggers, each of us has to deal with criticism. Blogging is a very public activity—almost all of us has the goal of gaining readers to our blogs—and the more people you reach, the more likely it is that you’ll hear criticisms. “You’re wrong…” “How can you say that? You don’t know what you’re talking about.” “I couldn’t disagree more…” “This is the last time I read this blog!” These are just some of the criticisms bloggers regularly face—I’ve received versions of…
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chrisbrogan.com
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Throw Away the Maps
6 Feb 2012 | 1:30 amPeople judge us by the path they’ve seen us walk before. They can’t anticipate our future steps. We, ourselves, look to how things have been, what seems to be the lay of the land, without realizing that the maps are not the territory. Want to succeed at work? Then don’t try to do your job. Instead, work towards something larger, more meaningful, and something that blends your convictions internally with your best ability to help others externally. Want to create something new? Then throw away the old, or maybe join two disparate old things together into something new. The… -
The Next Social Networks
5 Feb 2012 | 1:30 amThe rage in social networks right now is Pinterest, partly because it’s probably the first social network that has a much higher adoption rate by females than males, and partly because it’s an interesting concept: somewhere between visual social bookmarking and scrapbooking. What also might not be immediately obvious is that it’s just “easier” to interact there. In that way, Pinterest has something in common with Instagram, which is community around photos. What I’m interested in, though, is Gentlemint, which I keep calling “Pinterest for… -
Learn From Adele – Build Your Platform
3 Feb 2012 | 1:30 amJacq and I just watched Adele Live At The Royal Albert Hall (amazon affiliate link), and though every song was just wonderfully done, I found myself fascinated by what Adele was doing in between each song. Because even though most people would be interested in hearing her belt out her amazing repertoire of hits, what I took away from the performance was Adele’s real magical ability: the ability to resonate with her audience. What Adele Could Teach You About Impact I’m writing something about this right now for my upcoming book with Julien Smith, but I had to share some of the… -
Rob Gokee is a Musical Wizard
2 Feb 2012 | 8:05 amI had such a great experience working with award winning musical composer Rob Gokee. We did some musical work together, and the process was so amazing. Rob helped me create my theme song for Shhh! The Secret Show. So anyhow, he and I sat down to do an interview, and it’s a bit long, but it’s totally worth it. We talk about what collaboration feels like at a distance, what it takes to get music like this made for your own show, and a lot more. Rob’s a hero to me, and has been part of the community for a while. I was so fortunate to have worked with him. Can’t see the… -
Build Your Platform – Start
30 Jan 2012 | 1:30 amThe following is part ONE of a series called Build Your Platform. If you find it interesting, please consider subscribing for free to get the rest of the series. This post is long. You might want to bookmark it for later. The age of social media oversaturation is upon us. People are declaring Twitter bankruptcy to go along with their email bankruptcy. They cite not wanting to start on yet another social network as their reason for not getting more involved with Google+. And just as soon as you start getting into Pinterest, you hear about Path, but wait: there’s Gentlemint, which is…
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Janet Fouts - Social Media Coach
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Social Media Doesn’t Make Sales – People Do
8 Feb 2012 | 10:40 amThere’s a deep, dark secret that the social media marketers don’t want you to know. It doesn’t matter what your social media strategy is unless it includes what you expect the prospect to do after they find you through social media. You can have the biggest following on Twitter and Facebook and Google+, the best videos on Youtube and a constant flow of repins on Pinterest and still not make a single sale. Whaaat? I know, social media is what I do, and I love it, but in the end it’s a tool. Just one of the tools you should have as part of your online marketing. -
#TakeBackthePink – @Komenforthecure’s social media nightmare
4 Feb 2012 | 10:59 amI doubt you could have missed it by now, but just in case; Tuesday evening the story broke that the Susan G Komen fund pulled support from Planned Parenthood across the US. Rumors abound as to why they did it.Some say it was politically motivated. Komen says it was because their policies changed and because Planned Parenthood is under investigation. After a couple of days of sticking their head in the sand and hoping it would all blow over, Nancy Brinker, the founder of Susan G. Komen made this announcement: “We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned… -
Are Google+ Business Pages Replacing Facebook Pages?
19 Jan 2012 | 4:22 pmI speak a lot about Google+ as a tool for business. In fact I’ve just written a book called “Google+ for Business Tweet” and I’m presenting a second Focus.com Roundtable in February. So you might think my position would be that Google+ is the be-all end-all social media network for business and people should be pitching their blogs and Facebook pages out the window in favor of Google+. And there you’d be mistaken. Here’s the thing. Google+ is a social network with huge potential for businesses, but it’s best value is as an individual user, not a… -
Am I participating in the SOPA strike? You betcha!
17 Jan 2012 | 11:16 pmOn January 18 websites all over the net will go dark from 8AM to 8 PM, and this will be one of them. Why? Well for one, because I still can. One of the most powerful things about the internet is that it is largely not controlled by government. Sure, I’m against piracy, but not if it means DNS filtering that could actually penalize lawful businesses. Not if it means messing with the Domain Name System and push users towards unreliable, less secure DNS servers just to avoid frivolous lawsuits, block “suspicions Foreign websites”, and squash the entrepreneurial spirit of the… -
How are you going to change the world in 2012?
3 Jan 2012 | 11:13 pmMaddie Grant threw down a glove challenging a number of people to participate in a meme answering the question “How are you going to change the world in 2012?” It’s a great question. I love the chaos theory metaphor called the butterfly effect. The idea is that a small, relatively insignificant act can created marked and sometimes unexpected change. The flap of a butterfly’s wing can cause a hurricane on the other side of the world. Small business that we are at Tatu Digital Media, we have been fortunate to impact corporations and individuals and show them how to be…
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Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing
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310 GG Stationary, Stationery, Complement, and Compliment
2 Feb 2012 | 8:48 pmMemory tricks! -
111 GG Everybody Wants Some
27 Jan 2012 | 9:48 pmIndefinite pronouns. The Grammar Girl print book is now available on Amazon.com! http://tinyurl.com/2pkej7 -
307 GG Omitting "That"
19 Jan 2012 | 8:48 pmWhen you can and when you can't -
306 GG "The Night Circus": Well Done Second Person Narrative
12 Jan 2012 | 8:48 pmDid you know there are three kinds of second person? -
305 GG Where Did the @ Symbol Come From?
5 Jan 2012 | 8:48 pmWhy does it look like a snail?
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life-story-writing at Yahoo! Groups
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Memoir Writing: Playing the Hidden Memory Game
8 Feb 2012 | 8:25 amSharon Lippincott is a long time friend of Lifestory Writing...she shared this on Facebook this morning Memoir Writing: Playing the Hidden Memory Game -
Write on!
5 Feb 2012 | 7:11 pmwww.lifestorywriting.net My stories are not perfect, but they are written! -
From Facebook today, for LSW
31 Jan 2012 | 9:34 am‘Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader–not the fact that it is raining but the feeling of being rained upon’ ~ E.L. Doctorow Try -
Dumb Thumb by Thelly and Kathee
22 Jan 2012 | 7:53 pmThis is proof that you can write a memory for your family totally outta nothing! They will know you had silly moments in time and that just maybe they have -
Oh Ye of Little Faith by Thelly Reahm © Tidbits of Time
18 Jan 2012 | 3:11 pmThere's many vignettes about memories of my children in Tidbits of Time, howevahhh, this is one of my favorites. Have you written little stories about your
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Writing Forward
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101 Creative Writing Exercises: Now Available on Amazon
9 Feb 2012 | 1:00 amAre you ready for an adventure? 101 Creative Writing Exercises takes you on an exciting journey through the world of creative writing. You’ll explore different forms and genres by experimenting with fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. You’ll discover effective writing tools and techniques. And you’ll create projects that you can submit and publish. Ideal for new and experienced writers alike, this book will enlighten and inspire you with fresh ideas. 101 Creative Writing Exercises You’ll learn a lot by simply reading these exercises, which impart writing… -
How Critiques Help You Improve Your Writing
7 Feb 2012 | 4:00 amCritiques help you improve your writing. There are two schools of thoughts about whether critiques of your work can improve your writing. One school of thought says that art is subjective. Therefore, a critique is nothing more than someone else’s opinion. This school of thought also argues that critiques might harm the artistic integrity of your work by injecting someone else’s ideas and visions into it. The other school of thought says that art may be subjective, but other people’s opinions matter and can actually be helpful. This school of thought believes that writers may… -
How to Defeat Writer’s Block
2 Feb 2012 | 1:00 amLet's diagnose and defeat writer's block! Wikipedia defines writer’s block as “a condition, primarily associated with writing as a profession, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work.” However, I have come to believe that in most cases, writer’s block is a symptom, not a condition. Before we can cure writer’s block, we have to diagnose it. Writer’s block is almost always presented as some mysterious disease. A writer sits down to work and nothing happens. The ideas are gone. The words don’t come. It must be writer’s… -
Tips for Developing Story Writing Ideas
31 Jan 2012 | 1:00 amTips for developing story writing ideas. Short stories, flash fiction, novels, and novellas: there are countless stories floating around out there — and those are just the fictional works. It’s no wonder writers get frustrated trying to come up with a simple concept for a story. One look at the market tells you that everything has been done. But what makes a story special is your voice and the unique way that you put different elements together. Sure, there might be something reminiscent of Tolkien in your work, but so what? Echos of Lord of the Rings can be found in some of the… -
Final Sneak Peek at 101 Creative Writing Exercises: Body Language
26 Jan 2012 | 1:00 amFinal sneak peek at forthcoming book, 101 Creative Writing Exercises. 101 Creative Writing Exercises is slated for publication in early February. This book of creative writing exercises will take writers on a journey through different forms and genres while providing writing techniques, practical experience, and inspiration. Each exercise teaches a specific concept and each chapter focuses on a different subject or form in writing: journaling, storytelling, fiction, poetry, article writing, and more. Every exercise is designed to be practical. In other words, you can use these exercises to…
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How Not To Write
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Not Writing Is Like A Warm Bath
18 Jan 2012 | 5:34 amI don’t really want to go back and look at how long it’s been since I sat down to Write (yes with a pretentious capital ‘W’). I know it’s been months, but to be fair it’s really been years. Sometimes I look back to my best writing days and see it as another lifetime. A human life is made of many little lifetimes, overlapping yet often so distinct as to be held as a perfect memory separate from the whole. For me, the little lifetime was six years. I locked myself in a room nearly each and every day and wrote for several hours. I wrote two novels, several… -
The Dreams We Leave For Those Who Follow
9 Jul 2011 | 6:13 amThis post is more about writing than you might think. Yesterday, I watched the launch of STS-135. Maybe you did too. Before the launch I texted my son to make sure he was watching too. It was just a few minutes before lift-off and he scrambled to make sure everyone in the house was watching. Later that night, I asked him what he thought about it. He thought it was sad because the program was over. I asked him what he thought about private companies going into space. He said, “I don’t think it’s going to happen.” I asked why, and he replied, “Because there’s… -
The Old Man and the Tweet
3 Jul 2011 | 10:31 amWIRED has a post about what Hemingway would think of the Internet. The author is a little young to be writing about Hemingway. He’s not even 30, but if you read his bio you’ll see that it’s really just tongue in cheek (or rather some other body cavity) humor he’s after. It’s unfortunate though. With a little effort, the author could have taken a fluff plug for his new book and turned it into something poignant. He could have sliced off about half of his monologue intro, dropped into the fairly predictable jokes quickly and then discussed what an older Papa would… -
Return to Writing in Six Steps
22 May 2011 | 5:59 amYesterday, I was frustrated, pessimistic. I was disappointed and pissed off. Today is different. I’ve taken steps to ensure that the coffee is up to snuff, but you can’t really avoid it. The down times, I mean, not the coffee. Problems with coffee can always be avoided. You just dump out the pot and try again. With writing, not so much. When I’ve been Not Writing for awhile, I tend to get melancholic. You might recognize these symptoms in yourself. You take a favorite book down and read some words. You think, “How the hell did this writer find the time to do… -
Slow and Steady
21 May 2011 | 7:03 amI am reading an essay I’ve read many times before. It’s a travel piece, but it’s also a discourse on philosophy an exposition of the human soul in all its basic forms as told through the lens of a journey from war to sunshine. How is it, that when we read a piece like this, one that we’ve tread over many times… we find ourselves caught up in just a few words that seem to have slipped our attention. This turns into a sudden realization, a spark of profound insight which ignites the imagination and calls us to do the bidding of the universe or in some cases to bend the…
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Bookshop Blog
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Oh, How I Agree! Mostly.
6 Feb 2012 | 6:49 pmMy friend and superlative bookseller/bookshop owner, Maryelizabeth Hart, owner of The Mysterious Galaxy–with two locations now!–posted a link to this article on Facebook, and I just had to share! The article discusses what things an ... -
Out of the Loop–It’s No Mystery Why
3 Feb 2012 | 4:43 pmI remember calling up an author to set her up for a signing. Nothing unusual about that. However, the signing was in relationship to her having been nominated for an Edgar–the prestigious award given to ... -
Good For Them! But Is It a Sound Business Move?
1 Feb 2012 | 10:25 amPublisher’s Weekly covered the announcement by Barnes and Noble, that they will not carry anything published by Amazon in their brick and mortar stores. The fact that I am championing B&N is not lost on ... -
WHERE’S MY PACKAGE!?!
31 Jan 2012 | 8:14 pmNothing sends customers into a tizzy faster than a missing package. Once it leaves your hands, there’s only so much you can do to find one of these waylaid packages. Tracking SHOULD tell you where ... -
Uplifting News About Independent Bookstores
30 Jan 2012 | 11:18 pmI was off looking for a different article, when my path crossed this rather nice upbeat article on the state of indies. Take a gander and hopefully it will give you a spring in your ...
