text: Items 1 to 48 of 53 total 1 / 2 Next View: 12 / 24 / 48 Great Product! By Sam on 4/23/14 Sam would recommend this product to a friend Shipping and packaging was excellent. Quality and workmanship is far better than any competing product. Overall value and performance is exactly what I needed. Awesome By Austin on 4/19/14 Austin would recommend this product to a friend Just installed and checked out my water. The RO unit gets me down to 30 ppm and he DI has me clean at 0. I live in a 100 year old house with old pipes and this unit is able to get me down to a TDS of 0 Great By Mark on 4/15/14 Mark would recommend this product to a friend Very well constructed and easy to assemble. Good job Best Value Around! By Geoffrey on 4/1/14 Geoffrey would recommend this product to a friend I couldn't be happier with my 5 stage chloramines plus system it has worked excellently thus far. I purchased it when it was deal of the day and it's the best money I've spent for equipment. You get an top notch constructed ro/di unit that so far for me has made perfect 0 tds water (about 100 gallons so far). Love this BRS made unit have had zero second thoughts. Happy tank By spankme10 on 3/31/14 spankme10 would recommend this product to a friend Happy tank. Happy Us. Super easy to assemble. Love the auto shutoff. Next purchase, float valve and storage tanks. At 60 psi I'm seeing about a gallon per hour with the 150 gpd add on kit. It cut the waste water discharge in half. Great and solid filter By jacyn on 3/27/14 jacyn would recommend this product to a friend THis was my first time using my own RODI filter at home. Set up was reallly easy. THe first time I ran it not a single leak and this one comes with all the upgrades you would want. Great package. City of MIami uses Chlormines if anyone lives in the City and is wondering if they use cholrine or chloramine. I called and spoke to the water department to find out. BYE BYE CHLORAMINES By Ryan on 3/20/14 Ryan would recommend this product to a friend Love this RODI system, very easy to set up and use. Makes 5 gal of clean water in 2 hours on my city pressure. hassle free! Great! By Joe on 3/11/14 Joe would recommend this product to a friend Just what I needed. I am new to the hobby and was topping off with saltwater... Then I was using distilled water from the grocery store until this unit arrived. Salinity is good to go now.It is such a convenience. Does take up some real-estate under the kitchen sink and is a little pricey, but worth it IMO as it will pay for itself in the long run. Many times over for large tanks. Excellent Quality Product By Gordie - West Allis, WI on 2/24/14 Gordie - West Allis, WI would recommend this product to a friend Very impressed with quality and workmanship. Would have definitely rated this a "5" but to begin with, the BRS 6 Stage Chloramine system that I wanted was out of stock, and the directions that came with my unit left much to be desired regarding valve position for initial flush after set up. Directions should be "step by step" with pictures and explanations for us "new bees" that are buying these systems for drinking water, not possessing extensive aquarium experience or a masters in hydrolic engineering. Telling someone to turn a valve on or off means nothing unless you know what on and off are. A diagram with each component clearly labeled would also be helpful. Instructional video on BRS website did not load so I had to go to YouTube to figure out what to do. This made my 5 minute install an hour and a half, as most videos told me everything except what I needed to know. Last recommendation would be for BRS to look past the aquarium business and to become a little more user friendly to folks stuck on municipal water that just want an alternative to the standard under counter system. For instance, I live in a 2 bedroom apt. that has an unused half bath. This allowed me to keep everything wall mounted & out in the open (I have a 5 gal. Rubbermaid beverage cooler w/float valve for R/O collection). This will make monitoring, disinfecting and filter service a breeze. Bottom line - After 3 weeks of research and a sales call from A rental service, BRS is definitely the way to go, both in cost and quality. Even though the filters are supposed to sit for a day, my unit was producing Monochloramine free water within 1 hour of initial flush. Very well built By gpsreef on 2/7/14 gpsreef would recommend this product to a friend Had to explain to my significant other that this wasn't a $500 dollar piece of equipment b/c it's build so solidly. Run's great and has produced nothing but 0 tds water. I do have a question what is the blue valve on top of the unit? I know the grey valve is for flushing out the carbon but the only thing I know about the blue valve on top is that when open I'm down around 20 psi and when I close it I'm getting a much nicer 40 psi. well built By trent on 12/28/13 trent would recommend this product to a friend this is a well built product and a must if you are serious about keeping a reef tank. easy to use and the TDS meter is great for letting you know when to change out the media. I have been using mine for six months and have had no problems. Awsome Product By Zach on 12/19/13 Zach would recommend this product to a friend Awesome high quality product. Great having own system at home and being able to control system after having issues with RO/DI water from petstore with extremely high nitrates that almost took out my tank. Awesome buy and would suggest to anyone so you can control you water quality being produced with proper filter changes. Have already recommended to multiple people. Crabs love it By Jacob on 9/13/13 Jacob would recommend this product to a friend My reef crabs I have on a bit of live rock seem to be enjoying the new ro/di water immensely compared too the brita water I had to use before. Awesome By Marcus on 8/7/13 Marcus would recommend this product to a friend What can I say, another great product from BRS!! Great purchase By Mike on 6/28/13 Mike would recommend this product to a friend I didn't know anything about these units so after some research I ordered. The first thing I noticed is the quality of the build. This unit is solid as a brick, no el-cheapo plastic. Within minutes I had this thing up a running by hooking it up to the garden hose on my back porch. Now I'm making ro/di as I hang out chatting on the porch. As I collect the waste I'm watering my outdoor potted plants..perfect!! I will completely agree with some others here that the instructions are horrible. Don't let that scare you it's very, very simple to operate and monitor the quality of the water you are making...if you buy this product I promise you will be very happy with it. Wonderful product and service By Chris on 6/28/13 Chris would recommend this product to a friend I bought this system 4 days ago on Monday and it arrived yesterday. It took me all of 5-10 minutes to connect it up. I let it run according to the directions and last night I had a fresh 5gal container of RODI water just waiting to be mixed with salt. BRS has fantastic customer service (they actually alerted me on Facebook that this was on the DoD because I somewhat jokingly asked them to put it on sale a couple of weeks ago). :) They're fast and careful shipping and contain all the parts needed for 3 styles of connections. I also credit them with getting me into Saltwater from fresh because I started watching to BRStv videos. These are great too. Thanks guys and girls! You're my #1 place to shop online now! best purches i have ever made By Jacob on 5/27/13 Jacob would recommend this product to a friend this is a necessary item if you have a fish tank of any kind. after switching to RODI water my nitrates and phosphates all dropped and my fish all look like they are floating in midair, the water is so clear. i have also have had less fish and coral loss since switching to RODI water. over all this is the beast product i have added to my tank aside from the tank itself!!! amazing product!!!!!!!!!!!!! Works great By Ad on 4/23/13 Ad would recommend this product to a friend Works exactly as it should - puts out 0 TDS RO/DI water on demand. Received mine with a cracked piece but BRS customer service was fantastic and had the part shipped out immediately. Quality RO/DI System By Richard on 4/19/13 Richard would recommend this product to a friend I have had this RO system for a few weeks now, so now I have it set up the way I want it, and it has been great. I use DI and filtered water probably differently than most people who have purchased BRS RO systems in the past. I have only a fresh water tropical fish tank, no reef tank. This system is so easy to configure it only took a few minutes to add a 3 way valve after the carbon filters, so I can get all the clean water I need for the fish tank, or drinking without using chemicals to neutralize the chloramines and other chemicals in my water. We don't like drinking DI or distilled water, so just clean filtered water is great for us. The DI water I use for indoor plant boxes, so now I don't have all the salts collecting in the soil and on the sides of the plant boxes, also use for room humidifier, so no more white powder collecting on the floor. Actually, anywhere distilled water is needed it is now easier to get and cheaper in the long run. When I first started using the system I recorded the water pressure with the flush on and with the system making DI water with the flush off. Now I have a base line, so I can better tell if the sediment filter is getting full or the membrane is getting too old. May help in the future. I noticed one reviewer who had leaks in his system, with over 30 tubing connections I wouldn't have been too upset if one leaked, but not one leak has been seen and I have used it for several hours. Tells me just how good the quality and the workmanship is on these systems. Keep up the good work BRS. I researched and compared every RO system I could find and this one may cost a little more than some others, but the quality of the components is the best. Awesome Product! By Jack on 4/18/13 Jack would recommend this product to a friend All I can say is, it's a great buy! I was tired of having to drive to my LFS to get water then carry the water into the house, etc. But, the knowledge of my city water having ~1-4 ppm of chloramines in it has prevented me from getting a unit for a while. The guys at BRS explained that this unit would be perfect. It took about 2 mins to setup! After the initial system flush, I was making water. I will admit though, I was a little hesitant to use the water because of the chance of some chloramines getting through. So, I tested it in the water quality lab at my State's Aquarium (I volunteer there) using a new HACH spectrophotometer. Here's are the results, but keep in mind, this is a brand new unit: Regular Tap Water Free Chlorine: 0.87 mg/L Total Chlorine: 2.72 mg/L Ammonia: 0.863 ppm 10 min. Flush Water Free Chlorine: 0.01 mg/L Total Chlorine: 0.00 mg/L Ammonia: 0.825 ppm Final RO/DI Product Water Free Chlorine: 0.00 mg/L Total Chlorine: 0.00 mg/L Ammonia: 0.00 ppm It works! 95% flawless By Travis on 4/15/13 Travis would recommend this product to a friend Amazing system. I'm already looking to add the pressurized drinking water addon. Only issue I had was the unit as shipped leaked where the auto-shutoff was connected. After playing around with it, I noticed that their hose wasn't cut 100% smooth and straight, but had a little notch of plastic still attached. Recut with a razor blade. Problem solved. It also illustrated how careful the hose ends need to be cut to prevent leaking. Ro/di plus system By Shellback on 3/17/13 Shellback would recommend this product to a friend Thanks for my order BRS, I just hooked up my system and it works great the tds are zero. EASY SETUP! By JOHN on 2/17/13 JOHN would recommend this product to a friend This came nearly ready to go from BRS. The kit includes every possible water source connection you could ask for. This is my first ro/di unit so everything was completely new to me. Included instructions leave a little to be desired, but fortunately BRS has a great video online. I chose the saddle valve for a water connection, but unfortunately the valve included did not fit my pipe (3/4") so I had to purchase one from HD. So far, it's producing 0 TDS water with a respectable amount of waste water. What more could you ask for? Another fantastic product from BRS. I also like that the filter elements are easy to find and so affordable. Thanks BRS! Quality Systyem By ScubaJ on 1/9/13 ScubaJ would recommend this product to a friend The unity clearly has a very high build quality. I had an issue with a missing part on the order and BRS took care of the situation very promptly. Will continue to order from them in the future! Awesome! By Calvin on 1/8/13 Calvin would recommend this product to a friend purchased this product because i figured it should pay itself off within a few months. i found myself going to a LFS to pickup RO at least twice a week and that got old pretty quick. Everything you need to mount and get some 0 TDS water comes in this package! thank you BRS! Awesome! By Calvin on 1/8/13 Calvin would recommend this product to a friend Recently started a brand new 130g (not including sump) tank and i found myself going to a LFS for 10 gallons of RO every few days. I figured I would save myself the trip and install one of these here at my office. It should pay itself off in a few months so im glad! Got it on sale too because it was on their deal of the day! Everything you need comes in this package to plumb the system! thank you BRS! Works great--0 TDS By Andrew on 9/13/12 Andrew would recommend this product to a friend This thing works as advertised. I have almost exactly 40 PSI at the faucet, and it cranks out 75 gpd of water that has 2 ppm TDS going into the DI resin and 0 ppm TDS coming out of the DI resin. Works great in my tank. Great RO/DI unit By Jeremy on 8/14/12 Jeremy would recommend this product to a friend I love this RO/DI, it comes with eerything that you will ever need. My water preasure is 60 psi from the tap without any kind of boosters os i get more than the 75 gallons a day that it is rated which is a nice little bonus. This unit rocks! By Michael on 7/28/12 Michael would recommend this product to a friend I bought this ro/di unit after hauling water around town for almost a year. The money spent on this unit has paid for itself in 2 months. Make sure to get the adjustable float valve or the automatic water sensor shut off kit. Water comes out zero TDS after the DI resins. Our city water has chloromines in it and comes out of the faucet 150 grains hard on TDS meter. I searched around and looked at many other units and this was the way to go. Highly recommended. Great Product for bad city water By Joshua on 7/25/12 Joshua would recommend this product to a friend Living in the large metropolitan city of Houston, our city water was chalk-full of TDS, as well as lead, copper, arsenic, flouride, etc. The unit was quickly producing pure water after an hour of initial flushing. I moved to Oxford, MS shortly thereafter where they only use chlorine to treat the local water supply, and we also have nearly 90 psi of water pressure here, compared to Houston's 55 psi. My only recommendation is to pick up a booster pump to get as close to 90 psi as possible. Waste water is cut down significantly, and pure water is produced much, much faster! I plan on picking one up when I eventually return to Houston. Excellent Product By Jeff on 6/5/12 Jeff would recommend this product to a friend I shopped around quite a bit before finally choosing this. Glad I did and I'm extremely happy with my choice. Easy installation which was a huge positve since my plumbing skills are next to none. Huge time saver By David on 5/28/12 David would recommend this product to a friend Many RO/DI systems exist out there and all probably function about the same with minor differences. The reason I chose this unit is because it is well supported by brs, it's designed for reef setups, and getting new filters is super simple. Would recommend. Awesome Buy By moore1811 on 5/11/12 moore1811 would recommend this product to a friend First off, I'd like to say that I'll now be coming to BRS for all my saltwater needs. I ordered the product Wednesday and received everything well packaged that Friday, I can't say the same about Marine Depot. Install was a snap, an elbow needed tightening, which cured the tiny leak. I rinsed the RO and DI systems thoroughly and pre-DI I had a reading of ~3 and post DI I had 0 TDS across the board. In review I couldn't be happier and I suggest this system and supplier to all! Highly recommended, good quality. By Gerardo on 4/29/12 Gerardo would recommend this product to a friend Well put together, quality fittings and easy clear instructions. Absolutaly the best RO/DI unit out there. Great value and I would recommend to my saltwater friends. Love it. Sweet! By Grant on 3/26/12 Grant would recommend this product to a friend This is a great piece for ANYONE, with or without an aquarium! I'm filling up a jug for drinking water as I write this. There are three things to keep in mind: One: ALWAYS SET A TIMER!! You don't want to flood anything! Two: Flush your RO membrane a minute or two before and after each use. Three: Add a float valve to your order so you're not "up a creek" if you forget the timer! (Mine is in the mail as we speak) Make that four things. Four: Check with your local water authority to see if you have chloramines first. I did. I'm glad I called. Now, order away. You'll save a LOT of money. Awasome By Jeromy on 3/17/12 Jeromy would recommend this product to a friend BRS had the unit all setup. I connected the unit to the hose style connection. It took 10 min to put the unit onto the wall and to the hose bid. I love this Unit, Thank you BRS DON'T WAIT... GET ONE ! By Darrin on 3/8/12 Darrin would recommend this product to a friend After purchasing my 75 GPD RO/DI 5 Stage Chloramines Plus System, I could not be happier... I was able to stop relying on obtaining water from outside sources and with the great product that BRS stands behind, great customer service and education, I couldn't be more satisfied and knowing the filter replacement media is affordable. Thanks BRS !!! Great product, great price By Luke on 2/12/12 Luke would recommend this product to a friend I received this unit back in November for my birthday and have loved it. It works well, taking my 330 tds down to under 30 for the DI and 0 after. My only thought is that I have it on a constant auto top off system directly to my tank, so it eats the DI very quickly since the membrane has quite a bit of time to equalize between times it turns on. It wouldn't be a problem if I filled a bucket and used a top off pump. Fortunately, BRS has cheap DI resin, so I can get some more. Wonderful experience and a beautiful product. Great Product! By ange062 on 1/19/12 ange062 would recommend this product to a friend Houston is notorious for having awful TDS from the tap (~300) as well as using chloramines for water treatment. This BRS system was not only the best value but also offered the best features and filtration available. The RO unit takes the water from 300TDS tap to 10TDS output. The DI resin then drops it to 0TDS as expected, and all at a nice flow rate even with the low water pressure I have in my house. All the features and included goodies are also great. I like the RO membrane flush system, the carbon block bypass for flushing new carbon, and all of the included hookup options are great. I've been using this for both of my reef tanks as well as drinking water and have at least several hundred gallons through it now with not a single complaint. awesome! By Marcos on 1/9/12 Marcos would recommend this product to a friend great purchase, easy to use and setup, clear instructions, no problems. love it! great product ayoer easy install By michael on 12/27/11 michael would recommend this product to a friend picked up this unit due to being in san Diego and you need to deal with chlorimine when doing ro/Di. received the unit and it was so easy that spent more time deciding where to place it then the time it took to set it up. and 20 minutes after starting ti set it up had water flowing. doing the clean out and 15 minutes after that was making great 0 tds water Great product but double check everything! By hman on 12/13/11 hman would recommend this product to a friend Bought this unit because we were doing a bunch of home remodeling and it was a great excuse to pick up an RO/DI unit for the kitchen. Installation is a snap, even though I'm FAR from plumber, and the unit works really well. A few things I didn't like though: 1) The Dual TDS meter cables are a little on the short side, making mounting of the meter a little tough if you have to get creative under a tight sink space. 2) Included plastic fittings were a little sketchy if you wanted to do any type of permanent installation, and I just don't like the "vampire" saddle clamp. Solution: Buy the John Guest fittings. 3) Double check EVERYTHING for leaks. Found a leak in the 1/4" tubing that was pre-run by BRS. A poor cut on the line connected to the flush valve ended up in a hard to find slow leak. Solution: BRS includes a ton of extra tubing so replacing it wasn't much of a problem. 4) Double check your order. I'm sure it was just a mix up in my unit, but I ordered the Plus system and they ended up sending me the unit without the pressure gauge. Of course I realized it after plumbing and hanging the unit! Solution: BRS Customer Support sent me out a new pressure gauge. All in all I'm happy with the unit and happy with BRS, after doing my homework this unit is definitely the most feature rich for the best price. Video instructins makes for easy install By Walter on 11/29/11 Walter would recommend this product to a friend Denver Water recommend treating for chlorimine so had to get this pricier RO/DI system. Getting 0 TDS water with this system as advertised. Added the drinking water add-on kit. Denver tap water tasted fine before but the RO drinking water is much better tasting.. great buy! By Danny on 9/17/11 Danny would recommend this product to a friend I live in the Los Angeles area and had no idea what chloramines were until I did some research. I am glad I did because it turns out I needed one of these instead of the basic unit. This is very heavy duty, I attached it to the bottom of my stand. It came with everything I needed and am super happy with my purchase. 18 months use works like a champ By Christopher on 8/5/11 Christopher would recommend this product to a friend No problems and my So Cal water definitely has chloramines. One recommendation is that if you need this you likely have expensive water and should get the auto shut off kit when you get the RO system. Forget that the thing is one once or twice and you will spend more on water quickly. Great Product! By nathan on 7/16/11 nathan would recommend this product to a friend This product exceded my standards! I had a diatom and algae bloom and after using this product it cleared up within days! Great Product! By Ryan on 5/4/11 Ryan would recommend this product to a friend Installed this system in less than 15mins from start to finish. It is very easy to use... no more trips across town to get RO/DI water from my local reef store. Thanks BRS. Great product for beginners and experts By Christopher on 2/6/11 Christopher would recommend this product to a friend My discus and reef tank are both flourishing, and I am confident knowing that the chloramines in my tap water are taken care of. Write Your Own Review You're reviewing: BRS 5 Stage Chloramines PLUS RO/DI System - 75GPD *How do you rate this product? *Would you recommend this product to a friend? Yes No *Nickname *Summary of Your Review *Review Submit Review


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A brazen attempted burglary in Blue Bell has shattered some residents' sense of safety.
Police in Whitpain say they are looking for three men who attempted to force their way into a home wearing sweatshirts that had the word "police" on them.
The incident happened shortly after 1 p.m. on Monday at a home on the 1800 block of Meredith Lane.
Police say three men tried to open up a front door and then attempted to push the door in when the resident opened it.
Lena Gellenber lives next to the targeted home. She says after hearing a knock on the door, the victim may have gotten lulled into a false sense of security.
"She said one was wearing a hooded jacket that had "police" across it. She could see through the glass so she went to open the door."
Turns out the three men at the door weren't cops at all.
"She said they tried to push the door in. Luckily she said she was able to push it back and call 911."
Police say no one was injured.
If you have any information, you're asked to call the Whitpain Police Department at 610-279-9033.
Flames are tearing through a South Jersey forest right now, and this wildfire is only expected to grow.
WTXF-TV330 Market StreetPhiladelphia, PA 19106-2796Phone: (215) 925-2929Fax: (215) 982-5494

subset: commoncrawl


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Definition of Digitalis toxicity
Digitalis is a medication prescribed to certain heart patients. Digitalis toxicity is a complication of digitalis therapy, or it may be occur when someone takes more than a large amount of the drug at one time. (This is called an acute ingestion.)
Causes, incidence, and risk factors
Digitalis toxicity can be caused by high levels of digitalis in the body, or a decreased tolerance to the drug. Patients with decreased tolerance may have "normal" digitalis levels in their blood.
Signs and tests
The heart rate may be rapid or slow and may be irregular.
In an emergency, assist breathing as needed (see CPR) and get professional medical help.
Expectations (prognosis)
The outcome varies depending on the extent of toxicity and that develop.
David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc. – 1/23/2009


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Dutch artist Diedrich Kraaijeveld makes photorealistic sculptures of cars from painted pieces of wood. That's impressive enough, but here's the best part: Kraaijeveld's pieces are assembled from painted pieces of wood he scavenges and recycles. In other words, these perfectly color-matched and ...


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2 people found this helpful
I have been working at Kimberly-Clark part-time for more than 3 years
Pros – Kimberly Clark provided great pay and an opportunity to work with some really great people. You get the chance to make a difference in so many peoples lives. A very rewarding process all together!
Cons – I really had no downsides with Kimberly Clark. I enjoyed my projects every term I was assigned to them. I'm still friends with many of the people I met during my time there
Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend
I have been working at Kimberly-Clark full-time for more than a year
1 person found this helpful
I worked at Kimberly-Clark full-time for less than a year
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Part one of a new series: Learn how to make your own cigar box guitar for around $25.
Guitar legends choose the one song they'd most want to be remembered by — Part 1.
Richie Kotzen and Mike Portnoy discuss the Winery Dogs' new camp for musicians.
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The American people have been telling the GOP they need relief at the gas pump, not the Republican budget plan that ends Medicare as we know it to give tax breaks and other subsidies to Big Oil.
On May 11th and 12th, the House passed two more of the GOP's 'Drill Only' energy bills that will not bring down prices at the pump, rather than voting to end the Exxon earmarks.
- H.R. 1229 passed by a vote of 263-163 on May 11th and makes offshore drilling less safe, rushing the very processes that the National Commission on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling found led to the BP disaster.
- H.R. 1231 passed by a vote of 243-179 on May 12th and mandates the most sweeping expansion of offshore drilling in our nation's history - making broad swaths of the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts open for leasing automatically.
These bills are a boon to Big Oil - which is already raking in nearly $36 billion in profits this year for its best year since 2008 -- that would make another catastrophic oil spill more likely.
Instead, Congress should be ending taxpayer subsidies for Big Oil, as called for by President Obama and Democrats. Even, Speaker Boehner said that oil companies should pay their fair share.
Key facts about H.R. 1229:
- H.R. 1229 makes offshore drilling less safe, by limiting the time to review drilling permits, even after the largest offshore oil spill in the history of the United States.
- H.R. 1229 would require the Secretary of the Interior to act on a drilling permit request within 30 days, allowing the Department to extend the time period for 15 days twice with extensive documentation of the rationale. Under the bill, if the Secretary has not made a decision within 60 days, the drilling permit would be "deemed approved," whether or not the safety or environmental review had been completed.
- These permit applications are for complicated and dangerous activities, and imposing such a rushed and arbitrary deadline would strain oversight capacity and prevent the agency from conducting a safe and adequate review. The National Commission on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling found that lack of adequate government oversight was a leading cause of the BP Gulf oil disaster.
- In addition, H.R. 1229 could result in more drilling permits being rejected as the Interior Department may be forced to rejected permits, rather than allow them to be "deemed approved" if the safety and environmental review has not been completed.
Key facts about H.R. 1231:
- H.R. 1231 mandates that the Secretary offering up half of the unleased areas off the Atlantic and Pacific Coast and offshore Alaska for drilling. It also dictates that the 5-year drilling plan include production goals that would increase the amount of oil produced per day by at least 3 million barrels and natural gas produced per day by 10 billion cubic feet by 2027.
- This will ensure that drilling occurs off the beaches of the entire East Coast down to North Carolina, the California Coast, and in the Arctic Ocean and Alaska's Bristol Bay - no matter if a state objects to drilling off its beaches.
- American oil production is already at its highest level since 2003, and is projected to grow. The temporary drilling stoppage, after the BP oil disaster, is over and 12 deepwater drilling permits have been issued since March, along with 51 shallow-water permits since last October, roughly the average from before the spill.
- Drilling only is not the answer to gas prices. "According to a 2009 study from the government's Energy Information Administration, opening up waters that are currently closed to drilling off the East Coast, West Coast and the west coast of Florida would yield an extra 500,000 barrels a day by 2030…. gas prices might drop a whopping 3 cents a gallon, the study said." [CNN, 4/25/11] And that is decades away … in 2030.
- We must invest in American clean energy like solar and wind, as well as electric vehicles and efficient cars. But to help Big Oil, Republican have voted time after time against clean energy investments to power our future, bring about long term energy independence, and create good jobs here at home, while bringing down gas prices for good.
These bills are opposed by the League of Conservation Voters, National Resources Defense Council, Environment America, Defenders of Wildlife, Sierra Club, the Wilderness Society, Alaska Wilderness League, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Clean Ocean Action, Conservation Law Foundation, Earth Justice, Greenpeace, Oceana, Ocean Conservation Research, Pacific Environment, Public Citizen, Southern Environmental Law Center, and Surfrider Foundation.


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Originally posted on Gigaom:
The internet was already pretty restricted in Turkey before the passage of a law this past February, allowing local telecoms regulator TIB to demand the blockage of any website within 4 hours, without a court order. The law also requires ISPs to store web usage data for 2 years so authorities can go through it if they want.
According to AFP, it was only a matter of hours between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan threatening to "wipe out" Twitter in Turkey, and the blocks coming into force. On Friday, shortly after the blockade drew widespread condemnation, Turkish President Abdullah Gül said (via Twitter, ironically) that he doesn't approve of blocking entire social media platforms. Turkey's bar association has also filed a legal challenge.
View original 571 more words


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Job Description Product Owner, SaaS Platform icix is a well-funded start up that helps many of the world?s largest companies to effectively and efficiently manage risk across their global supply chains. Our cloud applications, together with our network, enable businesses to4/22/2014 South San Francisco, CA Save This Job
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Airbnb is revolutionizing the way the world travels. Tagged by Time Magazine as the "eBay of Space", Airbnb is a profitable, fast-growing, online marketplace giving everyday people the ability to monetize their most valuable asset: an extra bedroom, vacation rental, airbed,4/8/2014 San Francisco, CA Save This Job
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Job Description The Manager of Hardware Systems is a key member of the engineering management team and helps develop the vision, direction and architecture of the systems used at Audience. This role has responsibility for the productivity and effectiveness of the hardware3/19/2014 Mountain View, CA Save This Job
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FLSA Classification: Exempt Department: Engineering Location: Palo Alto, CA Reports to: VP Hardware Engineering Summary: Ooma is seeking a full?time Hardware Engineer to join the Product Engineering team. Essential Duties and Responsibilities: Design and development of all3/18/2014 Palo Alto, CA Save This Job
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Description Anvato is looking for a talented Senior Software Engineer with strong object-oriented software design and back-end web development skills with 4+ years of hands-on development experience. Apply only if programming is your passion, you are a top coder, and you want to3/15/2014 Mountain View, CA Save This Job
Job Description: Perform NVM memory product debug, verification, characterization and qualification Generate functional, characterization and qualification reports Define product specifications based on data and performance Perform product electrical and physical analysis Create3/15/2014 Santa Clara, CA Save This Job
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According to Anniston police Capt. Allen George, officers received a phone call that a vehicle was being repossessed on the 3500 block of Gurnee Avenue between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.
When police arrived they found a green Toyota Camry attached to a tow truck. One of the men in the tow truck told police they were there to repossess the vehicle, George said.
George said when police went to talk to the owner of the vehicle, his face and chest were covered in blood and his nose was bleeding. Blood was also found in the victim's vehicle, George said.
The captain said the victim told police that when he got into his car to try to stop the men from taking it, one of the men opened the driver's side door and bashed him in the face with a metal pipe. The victim was checked by Anniston EMS at the scene but declined further treatment, George said.
According to George, police were unable to recover any paperwork or documentation for repossession of the vehicle. No one was arrested on the scene because police were unable to properly identify who hit the victim. The victim did not say whether he knew the men, George said.
The car was impounded by Anniston police Sunday and was still at the station Monday morning, according to George.
George said the victim will press charges against the identified suspect., who could face a charge of second-degree assault, a felony, according to a police report.
Staff Writer Madasyn Czebiniak: 256-235-3553. On Twitter: @Mczebiniak_star


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Nail Your Novel
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'The moment of making the first sound or writing the first word is special' – The Undercover Soundtrack, Pete Lockett
Posted in Undercover Soundtrack on April 23, 2014
My guest this week is a percussionist who has worked with an astonishing list of world-class musicians, a list to make any music fan giddy – Bjork, Peter Gabriel, Robert Plant, Dido, Bill Bruford, Jeff Beck, Ustad Zakir Hussain, The Verve, Texas, Trans-Global Underground, Nelly Furtado, Lee Scratch Perry, Primal Scream, Damien Rice, Dave Weckl, Thomas Lang, Jarvis Cocker, Craig Armstrong – and more. Trust me, at some point you've had him in your headphones. He found that his music fuelled a desire to write a novel, and after a good gig he would rush back to his hotel room, eager to pour out the next chapter. He says he wanted to take a simple starting point and construct an epic journey that ventured outside the normal – bringing together birth, death, the afterlife, reincarnation and immortality into new coherence, and echoing the journey he takes when working with musicians. The result is A Survivor's Guide to Eternity; he is Pete Lockett and he's on the Red Blog with his Undercover Soundtrack. Pinch me, someone.
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How to write a novel: following the strange – guest post on Writer.ly
Posted in Interviews on April 16, 2014
Have you ever filled in one of those questionnaires that's supposed to tell you what your ideal job is? Whenever I did, I usually found them desperately disappointing – but then they probably weren't meant to send people to precarious, impractical occupations like writing. Except that one day, I filled one in that did. And it did it with one excellently judged question: 'do you value the strange'?
Not only did this prove there is only one job I'm really fit for, it also summed up what drives me to write.
Today I've been invited to Writer.ly, who asked me to describe how I develop my novel ideas. Expect a lot of head-scratching, thinking, running, shopping – and writing of notes that no one will ever see but me. Come on over… and tell me if you also value the strange …
authors, beginnings, deepen your story, developing an idea, drama, entertainment, fiction, Fix and Finish With Confidence, guest post, having ideas, how to develop an idea, how to write a book, how to write a literary novel, how to write a novel, ideal job, ideas, inspiration, interview, interviews, literary fiction, literary novels, literature, music for writing, My Memories of a Future Life, Nail Your Novel: Why Writers Abandon Books and How You Can Draft, Planning, polishing, publishing, Roz Morris, Writer.ly, writing, writing a novel - Nail Your Novel, Writing Characters Who'll Keep Readers Captivated: Nail Your Novel, writing life, writing routine, writing to music
'Road trips require a soundtrack; so do some novels' – The Undercover Soundtrack, Linda Collison
Posted in Undercover Soundtrack on April 16, 2014
My guest this week says she studied music in high school. She describes music as a time machine, and even indulges a wish that in a parallel life, she became a musician. (In common, I'm sure, with many of my Soundtrack guests – not least, me.) In this life, though, her instrument is words, and she compares writing to a long process of dreaming a journey. Her novel is the story of teenagers coming of age on a road trip and was a finalist in Foreword Review's Book of the Year Award. She is Linda Collison, her novel is Looking For Redfeather, and she's on the Red Blog with her Undercover Soundtrack.
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How to make an audiobook using ACX
Posted in self-publishing on April 13, 2014
Do you want to release your title as an audiobook? If you live in the US, you can go through ACX, the DIY arm of Audible, but ACX wasn't open to UK authors – until now. For the past month, I've had both my novels in production as a test pilot, and now I can tell you what I've learned so far about offering a title, choosing a narrator and working with them.
Good question. ACX is a network where narrators and producers can meet authors who want their work released as audiobooks. Once you've hooked up, you can then use the site as an interface to create the book, keep track of contracts and monitor sales. In short, it's genius.
Setting up
You know how tedious it is every time you set up an identity on a new site? All that form-filling and profile-making? ACX requires minimal faff. Once you tell them who you are and what book you'd like to offer, it pulls the detail off Amazon.
Getting voices
You can:
- opt to narrate and produce the audiobook yourself, but to do this you must have professional-quality equipment and experience of sound editing, or the book won't pass the quality check.
- pluck a willing narrator/producer out of the ether – this is what I did.
Pitching your book
Next to your book info, you can add notes to make your book more attractive to collaborators – your platform, sales figures and anything else that will convince them you're worth working with. Which brings me to…
Making an audiobook isn't cheap. An average novel is about 10 hours of narration (roughly 90,000 words) and is likely to cost $200 or more per finished hour.
You have several options if you're seeking a narrator/producer on ACX
- pay up front
- pay a royalty share (which I did)
All the ins and outs of this are much better explained on the ACX site, so check them out there.
My acx journey – mistakes made and lucky discoveries
Choose an audition passage
When I talked to the ACX crew, they told me many writers put up the first few pages as the audition piece. This can be a mistake, because the beginning may not be typical of the book's action. I looked for a challenging scene with dramatic dialogue as well as the narrator's internal thoughts, which I felt would test the reader's approach more usefully.
I added notes about the context of the scene and the style of the book – and waited for auditions.
And lo, they rolled in. (This was in itself a wonderful surprise.) Once I got over the novelty, I realised I needed to tweak my presentation.
Accent – & mistake #1 – ACX lets you specify the age, style and accent of the reader. Age and style were easy enough to choose, but accent caused me more trouble. I assumed this had to be British as, obviously, I'm a Brit, my characters are Brits and I write with British language. However, ACX is predominantly US, so that vastly reduced the available talent pool. Some of the voice actors did very credible Brit accents. Some couldn't pull it off and sounded Chinese or German. Others ignored my stipulation – quite wisely as it turned out they sounded just fine in their natural accents. So I quickly realised accent was a detail that didn't matter, and edited my directions. Indeed the narrator I chose is American.
Another reason to choose an accent other than your own is if the majority of your readers are in another territory. I sell a lot in the US, so an American accent might make them feel more at home.
Accent isn't the only deciding factor, though.
Suitability for the material – While the narrator might be able to do a good job with the audition scene, you have to be sure they'll interpret the whole of your book in the right way. A Regency romance needs a completely different approach from literary fiction, and I can imagine it's a nightmare to realise your narrator simply doesn't 'get' your book. If you have a contender, poke around in their ACX profile and follow up any websites where they demonstrate other books they've narrated. Also, ask them what they like to read.
Acting versus reading & mistake #2 – some books benefit from a reader who will do a lot of gutsy acting, including distinct voices for the main characters. But for most fiction, that's too much. They're journeys in prose and need a more intimate, subtle treatment, which might even sound flat to some ears. Listeners know they're being read to. They don't need rollicking declamation – or music or sound effects. And a good reader can make it clear who's talking without bursting into different voices, so you actually need less 'acting' than you might think.
I made another mistake here in my original guidance notes for the audition. I didn't ask for different character voices, but I did explain the book had sections in a different tone – the female narrator, and the future incarnation who was a male version of her. Thankfully, before it went live a friend pointed out that this might cause a lot of horrible baritone overacting, and that I should simply let the text do the work.
Ultimately, you choose a narrator on a hunch that they fit your work. One author I spoke to at LBF said he knew when he'd found his because the guy sounded like the ideal voice he'd have chosen – but better. That's how I found mine too – although it was by a more roundabout route.
And here is Sandy Spangler – my narrator!
I had a shortlist of possible voices, including seasoned Broadway actors, but there was one question I couldn't answer. When I looked into their backgrounds, none of them had narrated a novel like mine, and I was worried they wouldn't get it. Then I remembered a friend who I'd heard do narration work – on a computer game, of all things. At the time, I noticed how she had an insightful, feisty quality that reminded me of Laurie Anderson. Even better, I knew her reading tastes made her a good fit.
I contacted her. She didn't know about ACX, but she was keen to give it a go, registered and sent me an audition. Her reading was just right – inhabiting the material with well-judged expression and I knew the book would suit her personality. If you've been a subscriber here for a while you might recognise her from some of the goofy photos I've used on my posts. But her voice absolutely suits my kind of fiction, and if yours is like mine you might like her too (here's her ACX page).
Our process
Here's how we're working.
Pronunciation guide – All books have peculiar words and names and you need to warn your narrator of these. We set up an editable file on Google docs. As I said, Sandy's American and I'm a Brit, so we had to decide whether she should pronounce words like 'leisure' and 'z' in the UK or US version. I decided we could fiddle endlessly with this so I asked her to do whatever was natural. If we tried to anglicise everything there would be certain words we'd miss, or the stresses would still be American. And I didn't want to get in the way of her doing the most instinctive job. So she says tomayto while I say tomahto. No big deal.
Pace - one of the first tasks is to approve the first 15 minutes of the audiobook. Sandy was afraid I might think she was reading too slow, but I felt the text suited a measured pace. ACX actually advise that you err on the side of slow because listeners can artificially speed the reading up if they want.
Pauses – you need pauses between paragraphs, scene switches, and maybe in other sections too. We spent an email exchange identifying exactly the right kind of pause for each.
Listen to finished chapters – You need to set aside time to listen to chapters as your narrator uploads them to ACX. We have a schedule and a chart where we tick off chapters I've approved or asked for modifications (usually these are pronunciations or stresses). ACX gives you a time code so you can pinpoint exactly where an edit is needed.
And that's the story so far. If you're interested in the finished audiobook, you can sign up for my newsletter here. And you can find out more about My Memories of a Future Life here. Next time, I'll delve into the narrator's side, including what exactly is involved in creating an audio book.
In the meantime, tell me: have you made an audiobook? Are you tempted to? Have you any tips to offer or questions to ask? Share in the comments!
ACX, Amazon, Audible books, audiobooks, authors, drama, entertainment, fiction, finding a narrator for your book, Fix and Finish With Confidence, how to judge possible narrators for your book, how to make an audio book, how to write a book, literary fiction, literature, making an audio book with ACX, My Memories of a Future Life, Nail Your Novel: Why Writers Abandon Books and How You Can Draft, narrate your novel, narrating a book, novels, publishing, Roz Morris, Sandy Spangler, self-publishing, voice acting, voice actors, writing, writing a novel - Nail Your Novel, Writing Characters Who'll Keep Readers Captivated: Nail Your Novel, writing life
'A trickle of notes can flood your thoughts with broken things' – The Undercover Soundtrack, Warren FitzGerald
Posted in Undercover Soundtrack on April 9, 2014
My guest this week has studied music more closely than some. His previous artistic incarnation was a rock singer – both with a band of his own and performing as a session vocalist to vast venues. (If you're very good, we'll include a video of him so you can see for yourself.) Now he has settled into an artform of lower decibel, but he hasn't left music behind. His latest novel, Tying Down The Sun, is the story of a kidnap in the Sierra Nevada and he used music to help him verbalise the landscape and to mark the plight of his captive characters as their ordeal wears on. He is Warren Fitzgerald and he's on the Red Blog with his Undercover Soundtrack.
Amazon Rising Stars Award 2010, authors, Authors' Club Best First Book Award, Babel, Beethoven, Bolivia, characters, Ciudad Perdida, Colombia, contemporary fiction, Desert Island Discs, drama, entertainment, Gustavo Santaolalla, hostages, incarnation, kidnap, kidnap stories, Latin America, literary fiction, Ludovico Einaudi, male writers, music, music for writers, music for writing, music of Latin America, music of South America, musician-turned-writer, musicians, My Memories of a Future Life, Nail Your Novel, National Liberation Army, Peru, playlist for writers, rock singer, Roz Morris, session vocalist, Sierra Nevada, singers, South America, Sun, The Go-Away Bird, The Motorcycle Diaries, The Undercover Soundtrack, Tying Down The Sun, undercover soundtrack, vocalists, Warren FitzGerald, Waterstones' Book of the Month, writers, writing, Writing Characters Who'll Keep Readers Captivated: Nail Your Novel, writing to music
An easy way to make your plot plausible – control your novel's timeline
Posted in How to write a book on April 5, 2014
Years ago, when I got editorial queries on my first ghosted manuscript, the most tricky to answer were the comments about the novel's timeline.
Scratch that; they weren't just tricky. They were a forensic slog.
I'd already checked everything that affected the central plot events – journey times, important dates and so on. But that was months before. Not only that, there were countless niggles I hadn't realised would alert an editor's eye. It was amazing what I didn't know about my own book. How many hours had passed since the hostages were taken? On what day did the characters meet the mysterious man? She questioned every plot beat, flashback and nightfall.
Sitting down to answer that exhaustive list, I felt like Arthur Dent when he lamented that he couldn't get the hang of Thursdays.
Thankfully my timelines held, give or take a minor snag, but I learned my lesson. Ever since, I've been fastidious about them.
Timelines are mainly invisible
Unless you're writing a time travel story or a novel with condensed action, timelines are mainly invisible to readers. Like plot and character arcs, they're the unseen looms of the storyteller's art. And this means writers often don't realise they need to take control of them. Until they face an editor's interrogation.
You'll be astonished what editors – and readers – will call you on. Is it possible for Joe to have recovered from his broken leg enough to climb a ladder? Are those characters in two places at once? How can that scene be back story if the event hasn't happened yet?
If you take control of your timeline, you'll find it much easier to know if your plot is plausible, and to sort out the hiccups.
Here are my tips.
First draft
If the timeline drives the story, you might want to design it before you start writing, or sketch out the main markers – historical events, calendar landmarks. Some writers use year planners, but a sheet of A4 is just as good.
You might also want to verify possibilities that require precision – such as travel. (And if you're writing time travel you need to be very precise.)
Otherwise, be casual. You can decide these details in revision. If you stop and fret every time you need to write 'last night' or 'next June' you'll probably get paralysed by indecision. Write something magnificently vague such as 'the other day' or 'soon', and sail on.
Before you revise
Now get serious about time. Before I revise a manuscript I analyse the first draft with an exercise I call a beat sheet. Essentially it's an at-a-glance summary of every scene. You can make it on paper or a spreadsheet, and one of your columns is reserved to record when the scene happens.
As you summarise each scene for the beat sheet, notice if you've made a point about the date, time or event, and record it in the timeline column. If you haven't, leave it blank.
Also write in if a deadline has appeared – for instance, 20 minutes before the bomb detonates. If your plot includes a race against the clock, the timing often needs to be worked out to the minute. With the beat sheet it's simplicity itself to write the timings against plot events and check they work.
Then fill the blanks, deciding what will be plausible for those sections of the story. Perhaps the precise date isn't important and you can bracket them together as 'summer', to ensure your weather descriptions are consistent. Or you might decide you can enhance the action by setting it at Christmas or even a time that corresponds with a newsworthy world event – whatever suits you.
But when those editors and beta readers quiz you on your story's plausibility, you'll have the answers ready. Painlessly.
The beat sheet is my go-to method for revising my novels' structure, plot and character arcs. It's explained fully in my book Nail Your Novel: Why Writers Abandon Books & How You Can Draft, Fix & Finish With Confidence.
Do you have problems keeping track of time in your novels? Have you found a solution? Share in the comments
Arthur Dent, authors, beat, beat sheet, beta reader questions, beta readers, copy editing, deepen your story, Douglas Adams, drama, editorial feedback, editors, entertainment, fiction, Fix and Finish With Confidence, getting the hang of Thursdays, having ideas, how to make a beat sheet, how to make your plot plausible, how to plot a novel, how to write a book, how to write a novel, My Memories of a Future Life, Nail Your Novel: Why Writers Abandon Books and How You Can Draft, novels, Planning, Plot, plot events, polishing, publishing, revising, Rewriting, Roz Morris, solving problems with your novel, stories with time travel, The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy, Thursday, Thursdays, time in novels, time travel, timelines in novels, working with editors, writing, writing a novel - Nail Your Novel, Writing Characters Who'll Keep Readers Captivated: Nail Your Novel, writing life
'Tragedy and loss are cornerstones of my story' – The Undercover Soundtrack, Anne Allen
Posted in Undercover Soundtrack on April 2, 2014
One of the special pleasures of hosting The Undercover Soundtrack is the honesty of the writing. My guests are ready to delve into their innermost creative spaces and share the bare, exacting process of turning memories, experiences and feelings into stories. My guest this week is one of those writers who drew on raw times to create the novel she shares with us. Music helped her examine two tragic losses, with their conflicting emotions and struggling hours. The soundtrack is haunting and melancholic, but is also rakish and fun – Rod Stewart makes a welcome appearance as life recovers and warms up again. The author is romantic mystery novelist Anne Allen and she's on the Red Blog with her Undercover Soundtrack.
Adele, Anne Allen, authors, Chris Rea, contemporary fiction, Dangerous Waters, deepen your story, Denis Quinn, Desert Island Discs, drama, entertainment, family drama, fiction, Finding Mother, Fix and Finish With Confidence, grief, Guernsey, Guernsey Retreat, how to write a book, how to write a novel, hypnosis, hypnotherapy, Johann Pachelbel, loss, Medwyn Goodall, Michael Jackson, music for writers, music for writing, My Memories of a Future Life, mystery, Nail Your Novel, Nina Simone, Philip Chapman, playlist for writers, Rod Stewart, romance, romantic mystery, Roz Morris, Terry Oldfield, The Undercover Soundtrack, tragedy, undercover soundtrack, Wings of the Morning, Wishing Shelf Book Awards 2012, Women Writers, women's fiction, writers, writing, Writing Characters Who'll Keep Readers Captivated: Nail Your Novel, writing from grief, writing from loss, writing to music
How many words do you write a day? And do you have to force yourself? How successful authors do it
Posted in How to write a book, Inspirations Scrapbook on March 30, 2014
This question appeared in my inbox from Adam Nicholls after I reported on Facebook that I'd managed 4,000 words of The Mountains Novel in one day. Adam DMd me, in not a little anguish:
How many words do you write per day? And do you have to force yourself to do it? I love writing, but it's work.
There are two significant points in this question:
- output; books growing steadily at a satisfactory rate
- difficulty.
How many words per day?
I asked this question of a group I'm a member of, The League of Extraordinary Authors. Romance author Melissa Foster says she has no difficulty getting 7,000 to 10,000 words written in a day and that she adores the blank page. No issues with output there. (But there's more to writing a good novel than stacking up the wordcount, as she points out in the comments below.)
Romance author Colleen Thompson says 'When on a publisher's deadline, I write 1,000-2,000 words a day 6-7 days a week. Otherwise, I try to produce 20-25 new pages per week. Right now, I'm editing, so all bets are off!'
And contemporary fiction author Linda Gillard says 'I don't have a regular wordcount but I doubt if I do more than 2,000 new words a day. I think of it as a chapter a week. It's more important to me that I should work every day on the book – research or editing. For every day spent drafting, I spend 3-4 days re-writing/editing. Drafting I find quick, editing slow. Once a book is under way, I expect to work most days.'
Ultra noir detective author Eric Coyote says he ignores wordcounts – 'because so much of my writing is re-writing. I clock time: 2-6 hours a day. Usually I work a couple of hours in the middle of the day, then a blast at night until 2 or 3am.'
Graham Greene, who was hardly a publishing slouch, would set himself a modest target – 500 words a day he was satisfied with, and he stopped even if he was in the middle of a sentence so he could pick up the following day.
Stephen King talks in this interview for The Paris Review about how he aims for 1,000 words a day.
And since you asked (or Adam did), I track wordcounts if I have a deadline, as when I'm ghostwriting. The plot is agreed beforehand and by the time I write it's simply a matter of enacting what's in the outline. I'd usually get 2,500 words done in a day, 5 days a week.
My own fiction is trickier because there's much more discovery and exploration, even though I plan, so wordcounts grow erratically. They might shrink, too, as I realise I can't leave the passage I wrote the day before. The day of 4,000 words isn't a consistent norm although I didn't stop there. By the time I closed the file that day I'd added another 2,000. Only time will tell how much of that I'll keep as I'm sure I was cross-eyed by the end.
Indeed, like Eric, I find it more useful to record the hours spent. With novels like mine, part of the work is understanding how to handle the idea. So a session on the book may produce no new footage in the manuscript, but several hours writing notes or reading.
Get on with it
Of course, we could research and tinker endlessly. It's easy to slip into procrastination instead of getting the writing done.
There are two main reasons why we might dither for ever:
- we can't immerse
- we're worried about getting it wrong – the inner critic
Where do you write? Stephen King in The Paris Review says he creates a 'refuge' where he can shut away. He also remarks that being close to a window is fatal because it's easier to look outside instead of inwards to the imagination.
I posted last week about getting into the zone, using music. Writing tutor and suspense author James Scott Bell explains in this post how he subscribes to the oft-repeated philosophy of writing when he feels inspired, and making sure this happens at the same time every morning. Yes, be brutal with your muse.
Don't lose contact with the book
A surprising number of writers feel a stab of stage fright before they sit down with their novel. I do myself, but only if I've had to leave the manuscript for more than a few days. The more I keep my contact with the book warm, the more I feel comfortable to venture back inside it. It helps that I'm drawing on the experience that the other novels worked in the end. What if you don't yet have that or for some reason that isn't enough?
Warm up the writing engine
Some writers favour freewriting exercises. Freewriting is basically splurging onto the page or screen, regardless of grammar, spelling, quality or any other critical issue. The point is to remove inhibitions and let the ideas flow, to connect with your creativity. Famous exponents include Natalie Goldberg in Writing Down The Bones, Julia Cameron in The Artist's Way, and another of my cohorts in The League of Extraordinary Authors, Orna Ross.
Get out more
In my conversation with the League of Extraordinary Authors, Linda Gillard had this terrific advice. 'I find the best way to stimulate the flow of ideas and the desire to write is to put myself in a situation where it's impossible, eg Christmas.' Indeed, this is one of the tactics I recommend in Nail Your Novel - if you're stuck, go and do something messy that will make holding a pen impossible. Make meatballs or go to the gym. Inspiration is no respecter of convenience.
Do you have wordcount goals? Do you find writing a struggle? What would you tell Adam? Share in the comments!
Adam Nicholls, authors, beginners, Colleen Thompson, deepen your story, entertainment, Eric Coyote, fiction, Fix and Finish With Confidence, free writing, Graham Greene, having ideas, how to write a book, how to write a novel, ideas, inspiration, James Scott Bell, Julia Cameron, League of Extraordinary Authors, Linda Gillard, literary fiction, Melissa Foster, music for writing, My Memories of a Future Life, Nail Your Novel: Why Writers Abandon Books and How You Can Draft, Natalie Goldberg, novels, Orna Ross, Planning, publishing, Romance author, Roz Morris, Stephen King, The Artist's Way, The Paris Review, The Undercover Soundtrack, unblocking, undercover soundtrack, wordcount, wordcounts, writer's block, writing, writing a novel - Nail Your Novel, writing business, Writing Characters Who'll Keep Readers Captivated: Nail Your Novel, Writing Down The Bones, writing exercises, writing life, writing routine, writing targets, writing to music
'Pictures in melody' – The Undercover Soundtrack, Aaron Sikes
Posted in Undercover Soundtrack on March 26, 2014
You could divide my Undercover Soundtrack guests into those who aren't put off by lyrics and those who are. My guest this week is one of the latter. He says that music with lyrics is too domineering when he's trying to write – but that orchestral or ambient electronic music sets his imagination free to roam. His novel is a quirky noir of dirigibles, automata, back alleys and a hardboiled hack (the bipedal journalistic sort, not an equine), and his central character was honed by long hours simmering with Hans Zimmer's soundtrack for The Dark Knight. He is Aaron Sikes and he's on the Red Blog with his Undercover Soundtrack.
Aaron Sikes, Adrian Legg, ambient electronic music, authors, Chicago, Daft Punk, deepen your story, Desert Island Discs, DJ Fact.50, drama, entertainment, fantasy, fiction, Fix and Finish With Confidence, Gods of Chicago, Hans Zimmer, having ideas, how to write a novel, Humphrey Bogart, Inception, instrumental, Joe Satriani, lyrics, male writers, music, music for writers, music for writing, My Memories of a Future Life, Nail Your Novel, noir, playlist for writers, publishing, Rewriting, Roz Morris, serialised fiction, serialised novels, serialising fiction, soundtrack, The Big Sleep, The Dark Knight, The Undercover Soundtrack, Tron Legacy, undercover soundtrack, writers, writing, Writing Characters Who'll Keep Readers Captivated: Nail Your Novel, writing to music
7 essentials for writing a good novel – notes from the Undercover Soundtrack
Posted in How to write a book on March 24, 2014
You'll have seen the posts here about my blog series the Undercover Soundtrack.
Over the years, the posts consistently repeat certain bare essentials, both for reaching the writing mindset and creating a good story. Here they are, and whether you write with music or not, we all need them.
To enter the zone
In front of us is a keyboard and a screen, or maybe a pad and pen. Whether you're putting on a soundtrack, closing the door on your favourite silent space or seeking the anonymous corner of a coffee shop, the first step is to find a way to delete the outside world.
Start the time machine
Whether we write gritty memoir or the most extravagantly invented fantasy, we need to harvest our emotional memories. Many of our scenes, dilemmas and storylines are drawn from feelings we had at important times with family, friends, loved ones.
To keep the pace
Stories aren't static. To keep the reader gripped, we need to generate a sense that the world of the story is changing all the time. For me, music is a useful reminder, because music does not stand still. There may be a new instrument snaking into the mix, a new variation on a theme, a creeping, evolving harmony. If this is going on in my ears while I'm spending time with my book – whether I'm musing or typing – I find it keeps me up to the mark – pushing for ideas that give this forward pressure.
And structure
We're getting more musical now. A song is not unlike a well-told tale. It creates a territory of familiarity – a pattern we recognise of verse and chorus. Then we have the second verse – familiar, but not the same because the background is more dense or the lyric more intense. The second chorus is usually more substantial than the first, and even if it has the same lyric, it packs more punch. And on the song goes, seeking a climax.
And elegance
For all its variation, a song is tightly disciplined. It develops by adding only what belongs. As story writers we can splash about in ideas, locations, settings, characters and events, but the more they align with the home territory (or exquisitely contrast with it), the more they will seem to belong in one piece.
And contrast
In a piece of music, there might be a breakdown, where most of the elements are subtracted, perhaps leaving only the drum track or the melody at great distance. Breaks are important for a reader too; perhaps a campfire scene, a time out from the pressure to let the reader breathe before the tension comes flying back.
To calm the inner editor
Novels are huge and often daunting. Getting from beginning to end requires persistence, and we always find our confidence tested. Many of my Undercover Soundtrack guests report that music is an essential companion in this. It helps us believe more in ourselves, our story, our characters, our world – and in our ability to finish.
How about you? What essentials would you add? And if music isn't your aide of choice, is there something you use to get a novel finished?
authors, books, Character, confidence to write, emotional memory, entertainment, fiction, Fix and Finish With Confidence, handle the inner editor, having ideas, how to write a book, how to write a novel, ideas, inner critic, inspiration, music for writers, music for writing, My Memories of a Future Life, Nail Your Novel: Why Writers Abandon Books and How You Can Draft, novels, permission to be creative, permission to experiment, permission to write, Planning, polishing, publishing, Roz Morris, silence the inner critic, the creative zone, The Undercover Soundtrack, time machine, undercover soundtrack, writer's block, writing, writing a novel - Nail Your Novel, Writing Characters Who'll Keep Readers Captivated: Nail Your Novel, writing life, writing routine, writing to music
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Recent Posts
- 'The moment of making the first sound or writing the first word is special' – The Undercover Soundtrack, Pete Lockett April 23, 2014
- How to write a novel: following the strange – guest post on Writer.ly April 16, 2014
- 'Road trips require a soundtrack; so do some novels' – The Undercover Soundtrack, Linda Collison April 16, 2014
- How to make an audiobook using ACX April 13, 2014
- 'A trickle of notes can flood your thoughts with broken things' – The Undercover Soundtrack, Warren FitzGerald April 9, 2014
- An easy way to make your plot plausible – control your novel's timeline April 5, 2014
- 'Tragedy and loss are cornerstones of my story' – The Undercover Soundtrack, Anne Allen April 2, 2014
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100 Spinnaker Dr, Sausalito, CA | Directions 9496537.859266 -122.478730
Mon-Sun: 11:00am-11:00pm
The Spinnaker is a dining establishment that features panoramic views of the Sausalito waterfront, San Francisco skyline, Angel Island, Belvedere, Alcatraz Island & the Bay Bridge. Glass walls that extend from the floor to the ceiling glass enable guests to see the scenery from every angle in the dining room. The restaurant's menu offers fresh seafood, pasta, steak, chicken & vegetarian options. Its seafood offerings include mahi mahi, crab, grilled lobster tail & petrale filet. Its pasta selections include penne with grilled chicken, four-cheese ravioli with walnut alfredo or pesto sauce & fettuccini with crab. The company also offers steak or filet mignon with cabernet bordelaise, piquant chicken breast saut & braised chicken breasts in a champagne reduction. The Spinnaker features banquet facilities that accommodate up to 170 guests, as well as valet parking.
Terrible Service Beautiful View – I wanted to take my family to Sausilito for the day and enjoy a meal at the famous Spinnaker with the fantastic view on the water. We had driven quite a ways over an 1 1/2 hours in traffic and were starving by the time we arrived.
We got our name on the wait list and were told the wait time would be 45min-1 hour but we could wait in the louge area and have drinks and appetizers. We opted to do the latter since we were all famished.
We approached the louge area and the waitress ask us to be seated. We chose a table to our liking so we could enjoy the view. One she would have to bus which she didn't appreciate.
The waitress took a while to clean the table (she was busy). She took our orders without writing anything down. She delivered our drinks 10- 15 min. later. She had forgotten my order and so my family told her I had the mussels appetizer which came with scallops as was printed on the menu. Needless to say 30 min. later the mussels arrived solo no scallops to be seen.
When this was brought to her attention she just said oh sorry and did nothing to resolve the issue. I ate the musssels which were good without complaining.
My daughter and husband ordered the Spinnaker burgers well done and they both came out medium, lots of red in the middle. They had to be sent back. Meanwhile the waitress had changed wait staff and was sitting down eating her lunch. The new waitress was very kind and friendly and did her best to serve us.
The first waitress was in a hurry, cranky and ready to get off duty. We were obviously cramping her style. She even snapped at another couple. We dd not feel welcome there by the wait staff or the hostess. It was a terrible dining experience, the worst I have ever had and I have been to a lot in my years. It's really too bad because we had an out of town guest and it was our first and last time at the Spinnaker. Cannot recommend to any one. Also another couple had a similar complaint. They said the wait staff was not used to large crowds and were very angry and cranky toward them as well. Very sad and disappointing.
Horrible service; will NOT return – The first time I dined at Spinnaker, we had 7 people in our party and ordered drinks, food and desserts. The food and service was excellent. I returned approximately 2 months later and had a completely different experience. One member of our 5 person party did not drink alcohol so the rest of us abstained to be polite. From that point on, despite ordering appetizers and dinner (several people ordered the special), we were treated horribly by our servers. Each was extremely rude and made very rare appearances at our table.
During dinner I mentioned to the manager as well as two of our servers (three different servers appeared at different times throughout our meal) that we had a birthday in our party. Unfortunately our food was very mediocre this time so we all passed on dessert. When we informed the waiter of this, our dessert menus were immediately snatched away from our hands. The waiter then brought the check and said, very snidely, happy birthday, as he set the check on the table. At the table next to us, there was a big celebration with a free dessert for the person with the birthday. When I complained to the same manager that I had spoken to earlier, I was told that we had to purchase dessert in order to get a free birthday dessert. When I mentioned that he had not told me this before, the manager then offered a free dessert. I declined as our celebration had already been ruined.
In addition, my entire party was surprised to find that despite the minimum price tag of $20 per meal, the restaurant charged for soda refills.
On both occasions we had reservations and still waited at least a half an hour to be seated.
Obviously, no member of my party will be returning to this dreadful establishment and I would advise that others not waste their money there.
J'adore – I spent a great time with my friends.
For sure, we all go back there
We – waited for one hour. the staff were rude. When asked how much longer is the wait, angrily responded that we were already told there is no available table yet. Upon ordering, soem of us requested rice instead of potato with our order and the waitress rudely said they do not serve rice, only orzo. all orders came with rice anyway including the one who specifically requested for orzo. When asked to change that to orzo, she got mad and said the order was for rice. Food was mediocre, definite very expensive for the quality.
Wonderful view and food – Had dinner with my date and enjoyed every aspect of the restaurant. We were seated by a window facing San Francisco and saw the lights come on. Million dollar view! Staff was wonderful and very informative. I truly enjoyed the Petrale with macadamia nut crust. Shared the Strawberry Zabaglione dessert......tasted awesome. I would highly recommend this place. I thought it was a tourist trap but the maitre'd told us that they have a lot of bay area regulars.
Lovely Experience – I've been back several times, only during the day. I feel like the view would be wasted at night. The service has always been prompt and friendly and all the food is well priced and delicious, esp. the shrimp sandwich. The last time I ate there, I was seated right next to a huge glass wall right on top of the water and saw seals poking their heads up during the meal. It's in a charming neighborhood, a beautiful and easy drive from SF. The restaurant is low key but elegant, they have valet but have never had trouble parking in the area.
Very Poor Food & Management! – Went to this poorly managed restaurant with my family for Easter Brunch-lunch. Requested a table in back (got seated in the front part). Our server was decent but not great!
The food was terrible, almost to the point of nasty. How can you screw up a salad and clam chowder????
The manager approached our table YELLING (I NEED THE TABLE NOW - I MOVE YOU TO THE BAR AREA AND GIVE YOU A FREE DRINK) Every single person at our table is in the restaurant business - We all got up and vowed to NEVER eat at this tourist trap ever again!!!!! The only thing nice about this place is the view (the food and management are terrible).
I congratulate this establishment in making a huge mistake of talking to us with such disrespect!
Delicious Food with Great View of SF Bay – Perhaps my favorite Bay city, Sausalito can boast about this restaurant on the water. It literally sits out IN the Bay on pilings, water lapping the posts around you. We watched the sail and motor boats move across the water, enjoyed the gulls fishing for their early evening snacks just outside the glass wall near our table, and dined on excellent food. Parking was valet and easy, service was friendly and consistently attentive. Our roasted halibut and grilled mahi were perfectly seasoned and the chowder was yummy. Menu choices are plentiful and dishes are presented well. Before dinner you can browse wonderful galleries nearby and enjoy the views from the city which faces the Bay. Exciting photo ops abound.
Outstanding Service, Good Food – Three of us ate here for lunch on Tues., June 12. Our server, Robert, was outstanding. We never asked for more water or bread. Our table was watched and replacements made immediately. We had one N.E. clam chowder, which was very good. The other two of us had the spicy tomato bisque seafood soup..... good, but not that good that we would order it again although it WAS loaded with scallops. We also had the Petralie Sole with macadamia crust and a fantastic sauce, and the pan-seared scallops. We both would have liked these more seasoned, but they were, nevertheless, tasty served with wonderful julienned vegetables & asparagus spears, with orzo. The other lunch was the stuffed avacado. Again, good. The atmosphere is fantastic. No matter where you sit, you have a view of the bay. I've been there months ago, and will certainly return.
Worst restaurant experience ever – was excited to try Spinnaker with a group of seven on a very special family occassion. They made us wait one hour past our reservation time, with three hungry young children. Even then, they said they could not seat us yet. We left and had to find somewhere else on a busy Saturday night. They made no apologies, acted as if they had no control, and offered no compensation for our wasted time. Absolutely horrible service. I would not take a chance on this place at anytime, let alone a special occassion. Obviously, they overbooked and valued their revenue over their customers' satisfaction. Great view if you don't mind horrible service. Worse I've seen lately.
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