Blog Musings

This blog will be on hiatus this month as I consider how best to manage it and what it will be about.  It needs to be reinvented.  As you can tell, I've had many ideas, but few of those have I stuck with.  I need to decide what this blog is about, and that will take time, especially as I take on other tasks during this last quarter of the year.  So, please bear with me while I do some blog musing.

Thanks,
Jodi

Creativity and the Circadian Rhythm

Are you a night owl or a morning person?  If you are a night person, you may want to try coming up with new fiction ideas and solving old ones in the morning.  If you are a day person, the best time is in the afternoon.  This data comes from Mareike Wieth and Rose Zacks as found in the article "To Speed Up The Creative Process, Slow Down" by Sam McNerney.  According to the research, it turns out you are better at creative thinking at non-peak times.

I found this information through a long and tangled path whose trail head began with Sue Shellenbarger's article "The Peak Time for Everything" and ended with Sam McNerny's.  But it was intriguing enough to make me wonder how true this is and which person I am.  I feel that I am a natural night owl, but because of my career, I have been forced into a day-time rhythm.  As for as creative ideas go, I generally record date and time for many writing-related things, but not always.  I'll report back in if I have enough data to figure out how true any of this is for me.

Cite:  McNerney, Sam. "To Speed Up the Creative Process, Slow Down."  Why We Reason.  N.p., 10 Feb. 2012. Web. 27 Sept. 2012.

Getting to Know Your Blog Neighbors: Two Regency Blog Posts

I've never been a social butterfly, but as the Internet cuts out the scary face-to-face aspect of socializing, I have no excuse to be a Net recluse.  So I decided to launch a campaign to spread my wings a little by reading, commenting, and linking to some blog posts.  I'm starting with my Regency blog neighbors.  Two of them.

•  Author:  Rachel Knowles.  Blog:  Regency History.  Blog Post Read:  When Is the Regency Era?  Post Date:  September 25, 2012.  My Summary:  Useful information on the official and unofficial time span of the Regency.
• Author: Kathryn Kane.  Blog:  The Regency Redingote.  Blog Post Read:  Boy to Man:  The Breeching Ceremony  Post Date: August 31, 2012.  My Summary:  There's more to "breeching" than just putting the young Regency boy in a pair of pants.

   

New Paths, New Blog

I haven't been writing fiction much lately because I have been working some things out.  As my writing-related dreams go down different paths, so too must my blogs.  I will be working on separating out my fiction from this blog.  The new home is Weirding Out Fiction.  Once I get both blogs tweaked, I'll let you know my thoughts about my fiction and other things.  For now, bear with me, please, as some things get moved about.  Thanks!

More Book Buys

I've been trying to keep better track of my books buys, so this is likely to become a regular feature.  Anyway, I was busy Friday and Saturday.  I got 50 books for $12.90--or an average of approximately $0.26 each. They are listed below.

History Tidbit: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Herschel?

Turns out, the planet Uranus could have been . . . Herschel or Georgium Sidus.  When I was first reading this in the article "On Astronomy: The Solar System Explained, &c.," I couldn't figure out what planet the magazine and the original source, Mrs. Bryan, meant.  So I turned to Wikipedia article "William Herschel," and it had the answer.  Sir Frederick William Herschel discovered Uranus.  To curry favor with King George III, he named it the Georgian star.  Later, the name became Herschel.  Then, finally, Uranus.

So I guess the mnemonic could have been very different: My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Him . . . .  
Which would have tied nicely into the male-centric view espoused in this line: "In the center of the solar system is placed the sun, like the father of the family, surrounded by bodies dependent on his emanations, called planets . . . " (Bryan 88).

But hey, I'm just surprised by the fact they have articles on astronomy in a lady's magazine anyway.  Or that they think astronomy is "elegant and useful" knowledge for female readers (Bryan 88).  Especially considering that the original lecture came from a woman no less!  Huh, go figure.

Cites:

• Bryan. "Lectures on Natural Philosophy: The Result of Many Years' Experience of the Facts Elucidated" [Excerpt]. Rpt. in "On Astronomy: The Solar System Explained, &c."  La Belle Assemblee 3 June 1807:  88-91. Google Book Edition.
• "William Herschel."  Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 12 Sept. 2012. 

Writing Tidbit: Suspenseful Delight, Not Torture

In The New York Times, author Alex Stone explains the psychology behind why waiting is torture.  The article has some excellent points that I would like to highlight here and relate to writing.  In particular, I want to relate to how writers open up a question but delay when they answer it.  Sometimes the sense of suspense works, sometimes it doesn't.  Perhaps this article gives some hints as to why.

Got Books? Free Books Found!

Tuesday, Mom ran across a person with a table full of free books.  That's right, free books.  It seems like she wasn't the only one who checked them out, for while she was there, someone came back for a second helping.  But she managed to wrest these away:

Format:  Title; author/editor/publisher; genre

1. Are You Normal About Money; Bernice Kanner; Nonfiction


2. FUBAR; Sam Seder and Stephen Sherrill; Nonfiction


3. If Aristotle Ran General Motors; Tom Morris; Nonfiction


4. The Care of Fine Books; Jane Greenfield; Nonfiction


5. Your Soul's Compass; Joan Borysenko and Gordon Dveirin; Nonfiction


6. Sharing the Wealth: My Story; Alex Spanos; Nonfiction-Business


7. The Millionaire Next Door; Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko; Nonfiction-Business


8. Man of His Word; Promise Keepers (NIV); Nonfiction-Christian


9. The Social Fabric Vol 1: American Life from 1607 to 1877; Thomas L. Hartshorne and Robert A. Wheeler and John H. Cary and Julius Weinberg; Nonfiction-History


10. The Spiritual Awakeners; Keith J. Hardman; Nonfiction-History


11. Beginning Writer's Answer Book; Jane Friedman; Nonfiction-Writing

And now, they found a new home with me :-D

Business Tidbit: Two to Five Percent Advertising

I've been looking into the process of starting up a business, and I came across an interesting fact about advertising.  Start Your Own Business suggests devoting "2 to 5 percent of anticipated gross sales" to advertising (Lesonsky and Entrepreneur Media 493).  And this is annually. 

This might be a good guideline for indie/self-publishers who spend money on advertising.  Actually, it is probably is helpful for any writer with a book out. I suppose if you use free versions of advertising, figuring out the equivalent value would work too.  Two to five percent. That's Entrepreneur Media's guideline.

Cite:  Lesonsky, Rieva, and Entrepreneur Media. Start your Own Business: The Only Start-Up Book You'll Ever Need. 3rd ed. Entrepreneur Press, 2004. Print.

History Tidbit: Regency Era Tooth Whitener

Crest White Strips?  Why not try Prince's Cherry Paste.  Apparently, Regency era people wanted white teeth, too.  According to an advertisement in La Belle Assemblee, besides cleansing and preserving teeth, Prince's Cherry Paste whitened them (47).  I guess no matter the era or diet, a person had difficulties keeping teeth nice and bright and white.

Cite:  Prince's Cherry Paste. Advertisement. La Belle Assemblee 3 June 1807: 47 [Bell's Monthly Compendium of Advertisements for July, 1807 Section].  Google Book Edition.

61 Mile Yardsale Goal: 100 Books for Less than $100

Well, I've been inactive thanks to a three-day yardsale called The 61 Mile Yardsale.  This started Thursday and ended today, Saturday, Sept. 1, and it runs along Missouri Highway 61.  I bought a lot of stuff, but the main thing I look for at yardsales is books.  I set a goal to buy a 100 books for less than $100.  I reached that goal, easily.  I bought a 140 books at a grand total of $42.80.  This averages out to about $0.31 each.  Can't beat that!  Anyway, there were more fiction books than nonfiction, about 79 compare to 54.  And most of that fiction was historical, 69 of them.

A Study in Samples: Gunmetal Magic: Information

Information in Gunmetal Magic by Ilona Andrews

One of the marks of a professional writer is the deft handling of information, and there are some nice examples of this in this sample by Ilona Andrews.  The first nice handling comes in a character introduction.  If you recall in the last post, I mentioned that in Chapter 1 the sound in the MC's dream had a mirror in reality.  It was someone knocking on the door: Mrs. Haffey.  At Kindle Locations 193-200, the MC (Andrea Nash) describes the disheveled and worried appearance of her neighbor a floor below.  She has come pounding on Nash's door in her nightgown.  Just after this description and reveal of relationship, Andrews writes, "Normally Mrs. Haffey viewed her appearance as serious business.  In terms of battle readiness, she was my hero--I've never seen her without her makeup and hair perfectly done.  Something was really wrong" (Kindle Locations 193-200).  Andrews ties physical description reveal into the plot, into what is happening now.  She makes the description relevant.  After all, Monica Wood in her book Description, declares that good description is not only accurate but relevant (4).  Andrew's use of description here is not only relevant, it adds to story.  It adds tension.  Great job there.

A Study in Samples: Gunmetal Magic: Openings

Openings of Gunmetal Magic by Ilona Andrews

Gunmetal actually has two openings.  One is an untitled prologue, and the other is the proper chapter 1.  I'll cover them both.

Untitled Prologue

This world needs setup, because it is our world, modern times, but it isn't.  Or rather, it is, but with a major, interesting twist.  The world has suffered an apocalypse by magic, but it is recovering well.  Andrews does an excellent job of setting this fact up right away through a faux document that explains that magic hit the world hard, but the people are still persevering.  Besides giving some basic facts about magic waves and magic powers, this document gives a hint of time frame.  This magic attack happened 40 years ago.  This information is told in an engaging writing style, and it is brief and quick.  It gets the simplest facts across, it gets emotion across, it hints at cool stuff, and then it moves on.  And this all within four paragraphs and one set of attributions.

My Other Jour De Fete Purchases: U-Dog-U

My mom and I saw a cute white dog walking around with a hat on, so we decided to ask if they got that at the Jour De Fete.  They had!  They got them at booth held by U-Dog-U.  So, we decided to go down and claim at least one of our own for our newest doggy.

My other Jour De Fete purchases: Wood!

These are something I always buy, every fair I see 'em (though just usually not this many).  Homemade wooden cups and bowls and now candleholders.  There they are all in a row, nearly $60 worth of 'em.

Coming Soon

I'm a little behind on many intended blog posts.  I hope to post the rest of the Jour De Fete purchases this weekend.  Then, I want to start on my first in a new series, A Study in Samples.  Besides that, I have other ideas for blog posts--writing articles, research articles, business-related articles (remember Weird Wednesday?).  I also want to post details about my own fiction. 

Lotsa plans, yes, but little time.  My vacation is ending, and I am feeling the pressure (from myself) of getting another novel ready for eventual publication.

So, I'll do my best by this blog, but "tomorrow" might actually mean "next week," sometimes.  Well, maybe a lot of times ;-)  But at least this blog will be active and fun again.  Delays are worth that.  

A Study in Samples: A New Series

I recently found a writing ebook recommended on the OWW SFF mailing list.  How to Improve Your Speculative Fiction Openings by Robert Qualkinbush.  Qualkinbush's book was a good, informative read about spec fic short story openings.  Thought-provoking.  So much so that I decided to apply similar analysis to novels--not just beginnings, but on what makes them tick, on what makes them purr.  Since I got a new ereader (Amazon's Kindle Keyboard), I decided I'd use Amazon lists.  (Mostly because this ereader has 3G, a must-have for someone who has no access to WiFi.)  Amazon has a Book list broken down by genre.  I picked Fantasy, and on my Kindle, it's automatically sorted by popularity.  From there, I downloaded samples. 

At first thought, a sample may not seem like enough to analyze.  But as Hooked author Les Edgerton writes, "A good, quality story beginning is a microcosm of the work entire.  If you capture the right beginning, you've written a small version of the whole" (7).  Edgerton is mostly concerned with material far less than a chapter in length.  Ebook samples often give more than that.  So if he can get so much out of a few pages, I feel much can be learned from a chapter or so.

And much can be learned about what works and doesn't work from such a sample.  You see, I'm not one of those people who believe commercially published writings are free from flaws.  No writing is perfect.  But that doesn't matter in this blog series, for the parts I want to tell are the parts that work well, because errors did not shoot a particular novel up the ranks, its excellencies did.  And a lot can be learned from the good stuff.

That being said, I have finished my first sample: Gunmetal Magic by Ilona Andrews.

Cites: 

Edgerton, Les.  Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One and Never Lets Them Go.  Cincinnati: Writer's Digest Books, 2007.  Kindle Edition.

A Few Good Men: Friday's Child by Georgette Heyer

I wish this was A Few review, but it's not.  It's been too long since I read Georgette Heyer's novel to do it justice.  But even so, I'm still left with a strong, good impression of the manly goodness of not only the main male character but that of the three secondary males.  So in the end, all I can say is this: the men were excellent in this novel, and it was well worth the read.  Definitely one of my faves of Heyer's.

More Jour De Fete Purchases - Coming Tomorrow

I have some more Jour De Fete purchases to post about, but it is getting late, so I will do so tomorrow.  These include cute dog purchases (sadly, not dogs, but dog products, but still cute), some more lotions and oils, some handcrafted wooden bowls and like, and one of those cool neckcloths you see people wearing at hot events like fairs.  If my aunt returns to the fair tomorrow and picks it up for me, I may have one more item to post about, homemade deodorant.  Until then!

More Bug Off Products

Because I am regularly sought out by tiny, flying bloodsuckers, I'm really into bug repellants.  The commercial products just don't cut it, and I don't like constantly dousing myself in their inefficiency.  So, at the Jour De Fete, I keep an eye out for pest-offs, and we found another homemade product.  This one is Grandma Bea's Repel Insect Spray. 

I like the fact that this one is a spray.  Mom tried this one out today and liked it.  I haven't had a chance to yet, but I am looking forward to using it so I can keep my blood to myself.

The creator of this product has several links you can look at, including a website under construction, an etsy page, and a facebook page.  Her email address is gmabeas@hotmail.com.