I'm playing again today, trying to decide how many of these I can create for a wee chapbook. Let me know what you think. The feedback will help me determine which goes in and which stays out.

Thanks for giving your opinion on 1.) whether poem is accentuated by this photo, 2.) whether placement of poem should shift to a different position or take on a different color font, or 3.) should I give up the idea of doing a chapbook of this type.

Waiting for opinions,

Claudsy

Days of Learning, Days of Growing

Courtesy of BJ Jones Photography

This past couples of weeks has been interesting. Have you ever had a time in your life when you seem to have gone back to school, but you don’t go to class? It’s as if everywhere you go, everything you encounter are lessons of one form or another.

What do you do with the experience of meeting a person casually who begins telling you their life story at that moment, for seemingly no other reason than because you happen to stand next to them? And what do you do when something in what they say “clicks” in your head audibly, telling you that this bit of information, this insight is something that must be remembered?

Here’s another example. I’ve been concentrating on several small projects lately aside from the blogs and website. I send out at least two, sometimes three, submissions each week; poetry at least once and fiction. I’m putting together a growing list of submission markets for both genres.

My biggest project at present is my book of poetry “The Moon Sees All.” It’s out with my beta readers. It’s being poked, prodded, and evaluated for necessary/suggested changes to make it absolutely irresistible to publishers. That’s an enormous step for me.

My rejection rate is decreasing. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining. I’d just like to know the reason. In the meantime, I’ll accept this change and the blessing.

Life seems more settled for me in many ways right now. I actively write less, but produce better, given the acceptances lately. I don’t feel harried any longer, which is another blessing. On top of all that, these tiny lessons in changing my thoughts, attitudes, aspirations, etc. have begun bearing fruit in small but effective ways.

Perhaps, in the end, that’s really the take-away for life. Small changes—choosing to spend the day enjoying the outdoors and appreciating those natural gifts we can only experience where they live—repay us with fresher minds and hearts. Our spirits are rejuvenated because we focused on something outside ourselves for a while.

Doing the dishes allows for quiet thinking time. It isn’t the task that’s so important, it’s the time you spend with yourself, considering and pondering those caches of thoughts tucked away in mental closets that you’ve not had time for lately. Mundane chores, while necessary to a tidy household, are also opportunities to review, renew, and reconnect with that piece of yourself that you’ve neglected.

At least, that’s what I’ve concluded. For instance, a few weeks back I showed everyone my office area and how bad it was in the disorder department.  I’m about to get radical with it. I’m clearing out those things that don’t grow corn for me anymore.

About half of the items occupying my space will be eliminated in the next few weeks. I am simplifying my life, my work, and my intentions. The goals remain the same. It’s the approach that needs a clean sweep.

And there you have it. Part of my studying has led me here. The rest comes from lessons encountered willy-nilly in unexpected places.

Things should get really interesting before long. I’m looking forward to it.

Now, let me ask you again. Have you been given surprising lessons lately? Leave a comment and tell me about them. We all have them. It’s whether we recognize their delivery or not.

Until later,

Claudsy

Taking Stock

Once in a while, like everyone, I have to pause long enough to take stock of things that are going on in my life. This past week has been a really good one.

Two of my poems were accepted by the literary journal, Four and Twenty Short Form Poetry; one “Moon Paths” for the July 17 issue, and one “Seniority” for their online promos. I couldn’t be happier with this news.

The past couple of days I’ve been working to finish the final edit on my book of poetry “Moon Sees All” before sending it off to beta readers. I put out a call yesterday for those readers and have received a marvelous and enthusiastic response. As soon as I get the finishing touches on the manuscript and get it reformatted as a PDF, I can send it to those lovely readers on Thursday.

Since I’ll be incommunicado from Friday through Sunday, I have plenty to get set up for my working week beginning on that absent Sunday. The editorial calendar is in place for Two Voices, One Song and will take effect on July 8^th as soon as Meena and I both return from trips elsewhere. That puts work onto my plate for the next three days.

What work? Oh, research for profiles, some flash fiction, themed chat and brainstorming ideas. I’d like to have several finished posts for all my blogs in place and ready for auto-downloading before I leave for a few days. That takes some of the pressure off for next week, too.

Along with that work is my attempt to catch up on all of my coursework. I’m a few lessons behind and would like to start fresh when I return. Whether I make it or not depends on a few things; mainly whether I make it harder on myself than it needs to be, which is often the case. I really have to work on that tendency of mine.

I’m also beginning to take better care of myself; a plus in anyone’s book. I came close to the crash and burn scenario a couple of weeks ago. Having been in deep doodoo before with that scenario, I’ve chosen a much healthier avenue.

A half an hour of yoga will begin my day, followed by my recumbent bike workout. At that point, a need for sustenance will take over; giving me an opportunity to continue with health consciousness and to choose something that will aid my body to get healthier. Meditation will follow later in the day when I really need a break from everything else.

I know. I tend to make full schedules for myself. It could be my age, you know. I’m at that stage where each minute seems to need some purpose, even if it’s only to be still and live within the silent moment. Over the past few months I’ve come to appreciate stillness and the inward view as a way of coping with self-imposed work demands. I’ve reduced those demands to help compensate, as well.

And there you have it; my recap and taking stock for the week.

I hope everyone has a great holiday tomorrow and fun rest of the week. If you need to, pause to take stock of your own days and what you choose to fill them with. What’s happened lately that improved your attitude, gave you reason to ponder an important question, or encouraged you to push just a bit further in pursuit of something you really desire?

Feel free to share here. I love comments and knowing what’s happening with others. Now I must return to the editing table. Take care, all, and God bless.

Claudsy

An Alphabet of Life’s Daily Events: “A” Through “M”

A few days ago I was reminded of family duty of communication. Work and daily life chaos had prevented me from calling on of my aunts for far too long. I was reminded periodically, but “things” got in the way. She took the initiative to call me, never chiding, but reinstating my obligation to keep in touch more regularly. I’m to keep that in mind came the unspoken instruction.

Break to when I got off the phone. Questions swirled in my brain. How often do we change course in our lives through such a soft-toned reminder that someone worries about us when they do not hear from us often enough? And how often do we voice the same concern over one who’s been silent too long?

Causing people distress isn’t something I indulge in purposely. Yet, as it does for so many it happens occasionally through social interaction and family dynamics. Somewhere there must be a mechanism for the prevention of the effect of our lives.

Direction came from my Creative Muse as she let fly with one of her spurts of healing juice. I discovered within me the unstoppable need to put poetry to picture for Claudsy’s Blog. This process takes as long as writing a blog post and is not something done to save time.

Examination of suitable photos takes nearly as much time as writing the specific poem that will hold court in that image. Sizing the photo, getting Sister’s copyright with proper placement, and sighting the position of the text box, all take up time. I’m fussy. Everything must be just right before I hit the save button, and if it isn’t, it hits the trash bin.

Fortune smiled for me, I had the exact photo that fit my mood. Muse wrote the poem through my fingers. Et voila, a poem photo is produced and posted.

Gathering other images for use with poetry kept me moving that day, along with my other writing obligations. Stretching my writer’s fingers has become a full-time occupation lately; one which keeps me growing and moving forward. The experience is a good one, albeit exhausting.

Here, in my small office space does magic occur. I don’t concern myself with whether someone will lift my new creation for their own use. I’m sure some already have. I think of these personal triumphs as ambassadors, carrying part of my purpose with them on their travels.

In the time it’s taken to write this short piece, something I’ve created from nothing more than a thought and a supposition has taken flight to destinations unknown, to ask questions, offer solace, lift a spirit or simply offer beauty. That is its only obligation and my only concern.

Jumbled within our daily exercise of life, should we not take one hour to create something for no other reason than to share it? Should one have to desire more than that revelry in order to enjoy the process of creation? Must we have other agendas?

Knowing the soul’s purpose for creation is, I learned, absolutely necessary or there can be no joy in it. If the act of creation causes dis-stress, pain, confusion, tension, and a sense of never being good enough, it becomes the destroyer of the one creating; its own antithesis.

Longing to free Muse from a stagnant prison empowered me to begin writing, to make a serious effort toward publication and the writing life. My hard work led to being published several times in several genres. Along the way, the business got in the way of the creation.

Making room for life within the business of living under the title of “Author” can wear down anyone as it did me. I’d lost sight of my purpose in writing. I’d almost lost the joy creation. I was brought up short before it was too late. And I’ll always thank those responsible for it.

A Break from habit, Causing me to follow a new Direction to make a closer Examination of the  Fortune in ideas Gathering  Here  In  Jumbled array;  Knowing,  Longing for the Making of new creations for all. 

Turning Off Alarm Bells, Building Structure, and Fulfilling Dreams

When I left teaching, my life drifted for quite a while, not because I couldn't think of something for which to use my time. On the contrary, I could think of dozens of uses for time, but to what purpose. The idea of purpose kept nagging at me. I didn't seem to have any, and the realization ticked me off.

No longer stranded on a foggy, deserted beach, I took up writing again where I’d left off years before. Oh, there were no screenplays or commercials. There was no research for PBS documentaries on spec. I no longer did corporate writing. Instead, I began slowly by learning to write specifically for children.

What does this have to do with alarms, structured lives, and fulfilling one’s life dreams? Everything!

My first desire as a child was to write. I came to a place where my need to fulfill that purpose, held so long within a tiny corner of my being, refused to remain in the shadows. My life was worth more than early retirement, disability, or relaxation.

My writing brought me here, to this new cosmos of cyber energy and virtual reality, completely peopled and conveniently housed. I made an interesting personal discovery the other day; one which I intend to do something about.

I’ve watched my day skewered by bits of life’s battle with time. Errands, email, writing prompts, publication submissions, social media networks, you name it. This goes on each day as I run to catch up. I stopped running today. I took a nap when I was tired.

I got three poems out to, for me, a new market. I singled out a new submission to another market for tomorrow. I didn’t work any further my author’s page. That will happen some other time. I did get two other blog posts done. I didn’t complete a guest post that I need soon.

Yesterday these unfinished items would have nagged with the voice of guilt as I went to bed; today, not so much. I made a decision to stop battling with time. I can do what I can do. That reality is the only one that matters. I don’t have to apologize to anyone for not working 18 hours at my desk each day to complete goals I set for myself. I only have to move the goals to eliminate the guilt.

Each problem has both a solution and an opportunity; a solution to correct the problem or minimize it; an opportunity to take something unexpected from the problem and create a new project, attitude, viewpoint, or blessing.

So much of our day is taken up with the business of others. Some of us choose to take up the business of ourselves and what’s good for us. When we live at the behest of others, we only exist for ourselves. Existence isn’t the same as living. Living takes energy, gives energy, and creates beauty.

Restructuring life takes time and effort, but it pays for itself in the end. Lately, I've had little real time to write as I want to, dreamed about, and planned for. That situation is about to change.

I’ll still blog, but my blogging will have morphed into something new. I’ll be writing more poetry, more guest blogs for other sites, and working far harder on my own books. And I’m looking forward to this new avenue of endeavor.

The world is changing as am I. It’s my hope that each of you will be along for the ride, however long I stay in the saddle. Stay tuned for my announcement of things to come and places to go.

Until then,

Claudsy

Approaching Daytime with Nighttime Thoughts

Courtesy of BJ Jones Photography

You’re wrenched from sleep by the nightmare rampaging behind your eyelids, leaving you drenched with sweat and gasping. After all you’ve just run for your life, pursued by a raging lunatic with delusions of godhood.  Why wouldn’t you be looking around to see where she is?

Has this ever happened to you? Don’t feel alone. This past week I’ve been through this scenario at least four times, once with shouted sound effects: mine. I chalk it up to my muse preparing me for a day at the keyboard.

I would welcome the experience if I was engaged in actively writing horror stories. Unfortunately, I’m not. Horror isn’t usually my cup of tea.

Thankfully, these weren’t memories either. I admit to having known a few with major emotional and mental problems, but none who went quite that far. So what it is that I’m supposed to get from this race against nightmare pursuit?

I get a kick-start in my day, first thing in the morning. These types of events almost always occur just before I need to get up in the morning. I don’t recommend them as a visual alarm clock. It’s too hard on the heart.

I also get an imagination that’s wide awake and looking for a place to happen. Just because I don’t write horror doesn’t mean that I can’t use this snatch of dream as an action scene for one of my fantasy stories. They always have to have villains, and those with delusions of godhood make some of the best; especially when you give them normal day jobs and pleasant demeanors.

The latest one gave me the answer to a sticky situation with my main character, the second lead, and several bits related to or involving the villain that I didn’t realize I had until now. That’s quite a bit of work for such a short bit of dream, but I’m grateful for it.

So, if you’re looking to broaden how you approach your daytime writing, look to your nighttime thoughts. They may well hold the key to those influential scenes with hero, villain, backstory, etc. Who knows what kind of gem mine you might find when you go on an active search.

I’m sure you’ve heard all the tips.

·       Keep a small notebook or index cards on the table beside the bed with a reliable pen to write down those bits you remember of dream, or thoughts that flash through your mind while it’s in twilight sleep.

·       Give yourself a moment to orient once you wake, to allow your mind to wander across its nighttime landscape and resolve any issues left tangled before waking.

·       Surprise your body with a full-body stretch; extend your limbs as far as they will go, straightening all the fingers and toes until they feel like they’ll fly off the ends of hands and feet. Get the spine elongated and all the long tendons of the body.  You’ll be grateful afterwards. (BTW, this is an old yoga exercise and practice for waking up the body.)

·       Regardless of what you dream, remember that your mind showed you these scenes for a reason; there were problems needing resolution, aspirations wanting acknowledgement, fears needing attention, ideas needing a place to show themselves off. Pay attention to them. They do have meaning.

Most of all, give them a job in your daily writing. Use them in whatever way you can, and enjoy the fact that you have them. Some people never remember their dreams, not even a snatch of one and they feel deprived.

Now, on a different thought train, I encourage everyone to pop over to Claudsy’s Blog today to see what my guest blogger, Meena Rose, brought to the forefront. She’s had her own little experiment that can be used by anyone, and is especially helpful to those who write in any capacity. You can find it at: http://claudsy.wordpress.com/ 

I also guest blogged at Meena’s blog this morning. Find it at: http://meenarose.wordpress.com/

Enjoy your day, all. Until later,

Claudsy 

Biting, Chewing, Swallowing—Not the Same

Every month I look at projects that seem to have bred on my desk while I wasn’t looking. I’m sure every writer goes through this phenomenon once in a while. I always have big projects, small ones, and ones waiting to be given the light of day.

While trying to come up with a post here today, I took a good look at my eight-foot desk—a really good look. I may have taken on a bit much lately.

Among the piles of debris stacked along two thirds of the right side are the magazines and journals from the past two months that I have yet to read. Yes, I do keep that stapler in plain sight, so that I don’t have to rummage through those piles on a doomed search. I have a vague idea what’s contained in those piles; vague being the operative word. The dragons keep stray projects from deserting.

Really important prelim work for one of the novels I’m writing is piled prominently on the floor next to my chair so that I can grab it at a moment’s notice.

I know; chaos. Right?       

Sorting through everything doesn’t come easy for me; it’s a lot like chewing food. The reason is that I’m not sure what I’m going to need or how soon, which means I can’t quite put it aside yet. Living in Limbo is something that’s been necessary for quite a while. It’s not one of my favorite locales, but it beats living nowhere.

Swallowing digital bits and bytes is much easier. Believe it or not, my computer files are much more organized. I keep thinking about a piece from 60 Minutes done by Andy Rooney. He wanted to know if creative and productive people kept their offices neat and orderly, or if they looked like his—out of control on steroids.

I remember watching him wonder through the halls, taking an informal poll about  offices belonging to his colleagues. With camera dutifully following him, chronicling all that was to be seen, Rooney discovered that his domain was, in many aspects, more organized than several others on the staff. Because he knew how hard each of these men and women worked each day, and the types of schedules they kept, he concluded that people who were very productive and creative, were also messy and preferred it that way.

When I envision some of those offices, I can look at mine and smile. At least my books occupy a bookcase, I have no uneaten food lying around, I know where my extra checks are, and my computer is easy to get to. I have actual clear floor space.

Andy might be surprised at how disappointingly uncluttered my office area really is. Or, I could be kidding myself in a fit of guilt-ridden denial.

Must do something about this--I’ve ordered my actual work, now to tackle the physical side of things.

Until later, peeps. Let’s see, if I get all of that pile into the right-side file cabinet…

Claudsy

Publishing, Management, and Living with Challenges

April’s challenges are now history. Poetic Asides semi-annual PAD challenge concluded with its take-away poem and MNINB (My Name Is Not Bob) Author’s Platform Challenge has wound its way to independence for those taking the plunge.

**BTW—MNINB is Robert Lee Brewer’s great writer’s blog here on Blogger. Check it out, if you haven’t already.

Now that those two challenges and the rest for Poetry Month are completed, others along with me have that let down feeling. As a result, one enterprising writer of my acquaintance decided to throw out a challenge of her own for those of us who schlepped around the obstacle course of the Author’s Platform task calendar.

De decided that we needed incentive to get more active with our work. She dared us to submit one piece of our work each day during the month of May. I guess her logic was that April’s challenge showers caused our Muses to create lots of blossoms that needed distribution.

Since I’d just come off two major challenges, with a third chiming in once a week, I was already primed for another ride on the carousel, leaning out for a brass ring.

Yep, I’m going for it, with both hands and my handy-dandy flash drive of material yearning for a new home. A few times a week throughout May, I’ll be here telling everyone about what I’ve sent out and to whom.

Please stop by and help me keep track of whatever success I might have in placing some of my poor orphans. Hope to see you about the place often. Take care all.

Until later,

Claudsy

5 Steps to Beginning New Chapters

A life is a personal book of experience. Just as a larch cone waits to drop to earth to begin a new life cycle by birthing a new tree, new life chapters begin all the time. You’re born, cut your first tooth, leave home for nursery school, attend first grade, start middle school, move on to high school, then college or a job. You see what I mean? All of these mentioned qualify as new chapters in your life.

The birthing process in any activity is both a beginning and an end. Recently this has been one of the most critical things for me to recognize and take into account. I’m always beginning things, while putting others on the back burner until later. Engaging in this behavior leads me into frustration, near-panic states, and little efficiency in time spent working.

Since taking on the challenges presented to me during the past few months, I’ve developed my own method for dealing with my writer’s life chapter beginnings. The steps I use are done every day. They take little time to complete, but save much time later. That’s one thing above all that I’ve learned from taking Robert Lee Brewer’s Author Platform Challenge this month.

Here’s how you prepare for each day’s slim chapter in your writing life.

1.    Take inventory of those daily goals that went unfinished from yesterday and get them out of the way. Otherwise, they’d hang around your neck, dragging you down. If a previous daily goal cannot be finished due to the length of time necessary, devote one hour of active work on it to reduce its size for the next day. This step needn’t take more than an hour and a half.

2.    Determine this day’s goals now that yesterday’s have been attended to. Begin with those items which are routine each day—i.e. email, social media updates, check out at least three blogs/websites and comment as needed, and any writing challenges underway. Devote no more than three hours to this activity. This is also the time to do your own new blog posts for the day.

Also, do a quick scan of your week’s goals, month’s goals, and year’s goals.           Can you cross off anything on those?

3.    Pull up one larger project—book, short story, essay, etc.—that has been sitting on the hard drive for at least six months and give it one hour of your time. Do a rewrite, complete edit, additional research; whatever is needed to get the piece closer to submission quality. If possible, have a market picked out and write a query/cover letter and submit it that day.

4.    Take at least one hour to work on the latest project in your arsenal. If the rough draft hasn’t been completed, then finish it if possible. The first revision can wait until tomorrow's goals. (For book-length projects, an hour could get you up to ten pages of material, if you’re working NaNoWriMo style.)

5.    Take a break to get up and walk around once every two hours. Get something to drink. Talk to a neighbor, family member, make a phone call; whatever you need to do that has nothing to do with writing. This short break of fifteen to thirty minutes will help refresh your thinking and help your body get the circulation flowing again.

Here are some no-brainers as well. Eat, get some exercise. Nobody says you have to sit in that desk chair for hours on end, grinding away at the keyboard. I’ve learned the hard way that that isn’t healthy. You can just as easily run through mental brainstorming while doing the dishes as you can at the computer, if you must keep thinking about words.

Do a fifteen minute workout during a break; a few standing push-ups, stretches, leg lifts, standing crunches, anything you want. Crank up the stereo and break out into dance moves. Salsa is excellent for circulation.

Do an errand. Getting away from the computer will help stimulate flagging senses. New sights and sounds help generate new ideas. Enjoy yourself.

Try out these steps. See if they help you through the day. The main thing I’ve discovered, though, is that I must allow myself time to relax, more than anything else.

The world won’t come to an end if I can’t finish something today and must attend to it tomorrow. That doesn’t apply to deadlines. Those are rigid, but everything else is on a temporary sliding scale. When you begin a new chapter, see it as a personal adventure in professionalism. Realize that you learned one new aspect of writing yesterday, and you can build on it today.

© Claudette J. Young 2012
Photo Courtesy of BJ Jones Photography

Planning for the Month Ahead

During this past couple of months I’ve spent most of my spare writing time working on my Wordpress blog, with daily postings related to a central theme. This month’s theme was “Whether.” Nothing else, just “Whether.” I decided, for those who haven’t dropped by one of my other homes yet, to write about aspects of a writer’s life and work.

Each post title begins with the word “Whether” and tries to reflect the heart of the post’s theme. I’m not sure if I succeeded with my final desire. I know that I received more likes from April 1 to April 20 than I’ve ever received in one month before. That’s going some.

What I discovered is that I can suck the life out of a subject and still find something more to write about it. I wonder what else I can find to write about for the next few days before April arrives. Just call me “Vampira.”

Next month is almost a predictable theme. POEM. Since April is National Poetry Month, having this theme makes perfect sense.

Now, let’s look at that scenario before trying for substance on it. Robert Brewer’s Poetic Asides site will have its annual poem-a-day challenge going, with the end result being a chapbook manuscript to be submitted for competition and possible publication.

My friend Marie Elena and her poetic partner in cyberville, Walt, will probably have more goodies lined up on their poetry site, Poetic Bloomings. Several of the other sites dealing in verse will undoubtedly have goings-on that will rival the upcoming Maypole dance.

Which should I go for this coming month? It’s not like I haven’t anything else to do but write poems.

I could do Robert’s challenge prompt each day and also post it on my Claudsy’s Blog and on BlogHer. I think that would be cheating, though, and have to reconsider that to find out if I’m allowed to do that. Either way, I would be writing a lot of poetry throughout those halcyon days of Ares’ month, if I take up either challenge—BlogHer, Poetic Aides, and/or any of the others available.

As my friends know, I have no trouble writing poetry. I enjoy it more than most things, when I allow myself to take the time to produce it. I think what bothers me about it is that revision of it is such a pain. When I write verse, it’s instinctual, immediate.

I don’t what to have to analyze the intimate feelings that brought those particular words to the front of my consciousness and placed them on paper. I want raw emotion, not devised and controlled feeling that insinuates itself into the reader’s mind during the reading process. I want the reader to see and feel it as I did when I wrote it. I want the reader to envision that instant that’s been placed in physical form upon the page.

That need of my own may be the most poetic thing about what I do when I put words on paper for others to read. Visceral response should be the only response, to my way of thinking. That’s what verse is for me. Shakespeare wrote from the gut. Its form of verse tells a story that resonates within the sinuses upon reading aloud. Whitman did the same when he wrote about his take on the world and our place in it, about how we treated each other and ourselves.

There is no thought in my mind of advancing to great acclaim for verse I produce. My only need is to translate personal feelings and perceptions into some concrete form that approximates the echoes of nebulous and insubstantial stimuli.

April, a month of verse, arrives in five days. How many others out there will accept the challenge, is unknown. Would that each could take but a moment to place simple words on a page for the purpose of holding on to that moment in time.

TTFN, all

Claudsy

I've Been Tagged

I've Been Tagged

Terrie Hope tagged me to answer some questions here, and then come up with questions for other bloggers to answer. Here are my answers - and the list of people I want answers from. (Hint: You're one of them.)

The Tag rules:

1. You must post the rules! 

2. Answer the questions and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you’ve tagged.

 3. Tag eleven people and link to them.

 4. Let them know you’ve tagged them.

These are my answers to Terrie's questions.

1.      If you could be a character from a book you've read, who would it be and why?

That would be Keisha from Lackey’s Owl Trilogy. I like who she is and how she operates in her world.

2.     Do you have a favorite place to read? In the garden? Your favorite chair?

I prefer reading on the couch where I can stretch out my legs and get comfortable.

3.     What was the first book you remember ever read?

The Little Red Hen. It was a Golden Book and I had it memorized for many years.

4.     If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be, and why?

That would be Elizabeth Moon’s book, “Deed of Paksennarion”. That book gets deep inside me and brings out stuff I never knew was there. It acts as a psychic cleanse every time I read it.

5.     Favorite author?

I tend to have favorites for each genre I read. Anne McCaffrey and Mercedes Lackey tie for epic fantasy. Andre Norton  and Orson Scott Card for pure sci-fi, Susan Wittig Albert for modern mystery and modern children’s fairy tales,  Spider Robinson for sf and urban fantasy, Dr. Wayne Dyer and Eckhart Tolle for self-awareness, and the list goes on and on and on.

6.     Do reviews influence your choice of reads?

Rarely, though they might intrigue me. What usually brings me into the book is when I can read the back copy. If that intrigues me, I’ll go further and begin reading the book. If I’m not sucked in by the end of the third page, though, I’ll walk away from it.

7.     Fiction or Nonfiction?

Fiction first, if for entertainment. Nonfiction on specific subjects that interest me. I’m one of those eclectic readers who will read soup cans for the ingredient list and nutritional chart. I also read a lot of scientific articles in a wide range of fields.

8.     Have you ever met your favorite author?

I wish, but no, I’ve not been that fortunate.

9.     Actual books or eBooks (Kindle, Nook, etc.?

I prefer physical books, simply because I like the feel and substantiality of them. EBooks work as well, though at present I can only read them on my PC.

10. Classic or Modern Novels?

Either or both. I have been known to have a couple of each being read at the same time.

11. Book Groups or Solitary Reading?

I’ve never been a member of a book group. Reading is a very solitary pleasure for me. It’s the one time when I don’t have to take anyone else’s feelings, attitudes, or opinions into account when experiencing an evolving story. I like that.

I've tagged:

1.     Denise Stanley  http://denise-roomtowrite.blogspot.com/

2.     Laurie Kolp  http://conversationswithacardinal.blogspot.com/

3.    Kim Curley  http://cupcakesblogcorner.blogspot.com/

4.     Julie Louise Phillips  http://jlpwritersquest.blogspot.com

5.     Linda Evans Hofke  http://linda's-life-otos.blogspot.com/

6.     Carrie Martin  http://carrieoncarryingon.blogspot.com

7.     Yaya (aka Joan Erickson)  http://yayashome.wordpress.com/

8.     Hannah Gosselin  http://wordrustling.wordpress.com/ (aka Metaphors and Similes)

9.     Patricia A. Hawkenson  http://phawkenson.edublogs.org/

10. Barbara Ehrentreu  http://barbaraehrentrew.blogspot.com/  (aka Barbara's Meanderings)

11. Laura Page  http://literarylegs.blogspot.com/

  My questions for others: I'm asking similar questions as well as creating totally new ones.

1.     What’s the name of the worst villain in any book you’ve read?

2.     Do you eat/snack and drink anything while you read? If so, what?

3.     What was the first book you read meant for adults?

4.     If the house caught fire, which would be the one book you’d save from the fire?

5.     Which author has had the greatest impact on you as an adult?

6.     Do you read book reviews before reading a book?

7.     Would you rather read poetry or memoir?

8.     Have you gone to a book signing? Who was the author, and what was the name of the book?

9.     For you, what’s the main attraction of e-readers and e-books?

10. Did you go through a phase during your teens of reading romance/horror?

11. Would you recommend a book that you didn’t particularly like or one that was poorly written? 

There are some people I didn't tag because I ran out of people who haven't been tagged.  So, if you haven't been tagged, please answer my questions as if you have. 

Many people have been tagged already. For those I’ve chosen who have been tagged and answered prior to this, let me know and you’re forgiven for not participating. If you’ve not been tagged yet, you’re it!

Communication—Have We Killed It?

How many times do you text instead of call? You use the same keys on the phone for both purposes. You allow for much the same time and concentration for the action. What’s the real difference here?

Is the difference that with texting you can abbreviate nearly every word in order to avoid actually explaining yourself to a live human being? Is this avoidance merely a manufactured stratagem to keep people at a distance rather than to allow them into your life? Have you ever really thought about why you do it? I’m not talking time savings, either.

Texting, for me, is a tedious thing. On the flip side, I no longer care for talking on the phone, either. Some may say that I’m isolating myself from others, including family. But is that true?

Looking at it under the microscope, I see that in one respect the accusation is true. I really detest solicitation calls, harassment-type calls, and those that interrupt my writing activities. As a result, I keep my phone turned off most of the time. Ask my friends and family if you don’t believe me.

Allowing for that quirk of mine, I can say that I also don’t like voicemail. I try to avoid that like a bad case of bird flu. I will return text messages once a day or so if I have them waiting.

Those who know me also know that this is how I deal with things from outside my office and home. As I’ve gotten older, I don’t particularly want interruptions to what I’m doing. I have enough of a juggling act going without that.

I talk to hundreds of people each week on the computer, some frequently, and have no difficulty dealing with the volume, most of the time. Although, there are days when one more email could have me dropping off the cliff called “Not Enough Time.”

I call my dad every day unless I’m prevented by circumstance or timing on a given day. I try to call extended family at least once a month—at least one of them anyway—to touch base and see what the southern group is doing. I also have those family members I connect with on the computer, and as with most families, word always gets around, sooner or later.

Most of the time, I use the phone for business only, with a few exceptions. Friends I don’t get to see in person or family members, who would rather talk on the phone than write, get regular to semi-regular calls from me. The reasons are agreed upon by both parties.

My brother texts me, if he can, instead of calling, mostly because of his schedule and the time zones between us. He hates talking on the phone worse than I do. I think that must come from our upbringing. We weren’t allowed to spend much time on the phone when we were growing up and the call had to have value each time. Telephones weren’t toys back then, and a person didn’t replace them because a new model came out.

Few of us write actual letters anymore. Our personal world pace seems to have gone “a gallopin’” as the old-timers used to say. Our lives are cluttered with so many activities, must-do’s, plans, and expectations that we don’t give ourselves time to stop and think for more than five minutes before we’re off and running again.

Real letters take time to write. Thought is necessary for how and what we write in them. Texting doesn’t require that, only abbreviations and a ten-second window of opportunity. Phone calls require listening to what someone has to say, processing that information, and composing an adequate and appropriate reply.  Emails are faster and less thoughtful most of the time, as is texting.

Is it any wonder that technology has encouraged a withdrawal from the previous methods of communication? Look where the Pony Express got us. The USPS!

Let me know how you feel on this subject. Agree or disagree with what I’ve said. Each communication type has both plus and minus columns.

Until later,

Claudsy

PS—Over at http://claudsy.wordpress.com/ I’ve delved even further into this subject, but with a different slant entirely. Please take a few moments to hop over there and take a gander at the other side of the tracks.