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NaNoWriMo Prep: The Music
Last year I didn't have a set playlist for writing during NaNoWriMo. This year, I'm trying to change that. Starting with the list I began last year, I've been adding to the Code Warriors playlist with songs that I hear that seem to fit the theme. Just as a warning, if you hate this playlist (which I can understand), I don't think that means you'll hate the book (whenever it ends up getting finished). The music is quite obviously and unabashedly heavy on EDM, Dubstep, and movie soundtracks. But it combines the two main things that I want to start off with which are: Technical/Electronic feel and Upbeat/Light-hearted/Energetic. (Okay, yes, that's five if you split on the slashes, but it's two general ideas)
It's only a small part of the entire list, but this one spells it out pretty well… Play Hard.
Here Comes November: NaNoWriMo Prep
Last year I did a pretty crappy job of prepping for NaNoWriMo. I was working on a couple different pieces, but basically started totally from scratch for NaNoWriMo without any prep on an idea that I'd been sort thinking about for a while. Obviously, I hadn't thought about it enough… I got about 25,000 words written but halfway through I figured out that the first quarter of the book I was trying to write should actually be a book by itself. I was trying to jump in way too fast and accelerate to an arbitrary story point that I wanted to write about. In doing so, I uncovered a whole new story that could (and like I said, should) be told before I get to the other part.
My problem then became (and still is): I need to do some prep work. Why is that a problem? Because in my mind, Prep Work is not Writing. My logical mind is aware that I need to do more prep before my writing (the Valkyrie Project mostly congealed in my mind when I worked out the whole outline over a period of several hours while handing out candy to Trick-or-Treaters). But my goal-oriented mind says: You're not going to hit your word count goal if you keep writing about this character or outlining more of the story! (To which my logical mind wants to respond: I haven't hit my word count goal on a consistent basis in about three months, so maybe Mr. Goal-Oriented needs to STFU)
Nevertheless, this argument rages on in my mind even as I go through Sean and Johnny's Planning and Outlining Novels using Scrivener course in the hopes that with 11 days left before November, I can have a wholly fleshed out plan for adding 50,000 more words to the start that I got last year (before going back with my tail between my legs to the other stuff I was working on before the month of insanity started).
If any other novelists are reading this, how do you account for planning time in terms of meeting goals? My possible solutions include…
- Go to a time count system for my goals instead of a word count. (The problem then being that I'd have to buckle down and make sure that I actually focus during the time I say I'm going to be working on writing. Also, sometimes I can come up with 500 words in 30 minutes, which might get me to my daily goal, but for planning I might get barely anything done in that same 30 minutes)
- Maybe go to a hybrid system of words/time where if I get to my word count goal quickly, then cool, I'm done. Otherwise, if I'm focused in front of the computer for a certain amount of time, then whatever I write is good enough. I feel like I'm self-aware and disciplined enough to make that work, but I'm also self-aware enough to know that I would probably try to use that soft measure as a way to slack off.
- Count words that I write as planning towards my word count goal. I like this idea, but it seems overly generous since writing about a character, or even a rough story outline, is a lot easier and can include a lot more superfluous/extraneous, stream-of-conscious type words than writing actual words for a manuscript.
- Write blog posts about my stupidly inane writing problems and count those words toward my word count goal. (Note: I actually do this already because I do count my blog posts as part of my word count. I justify this because: a) I am actually writing and editing the posts before I put them up, so it does at least require some of the same skill, and b) it's part of marketing and trying to get my name out there a bit, so maybe someone will read a post I write and then be like "Who is this guy?" and see that I have a book [or soon multiple books] and decide to read something I've written besides a blog post).
- Just ignore word count goals when I'm doing Planning and accept that I can feel good about writing outlines and character synopses even though it doesn't add any words to my manuscript word count.
Any other options?
Kindle Pre-Orders for Self-Published Authors
Just as we call out Amazon when they do something stupid, so must we praise them when they do something smart. Just after their "Let's all send nastygrams to the CEO of multinational corporation" email, Amazon followed up with this:
I think the email there pretty much says it all. I know this is something that self-published authors have been asking for since Amazon first started letting them publish via KDP. I'm guessing when KDP started, Amazon assumed that people would just throw up pre-order pages and then never deliver a book. They've taken care of that by requiring that you upload at least a draft version of your manuscript in order to have the pre-order page created.
I know I'll be using this when I finally get Valkyrie Project 2 edited! 90 days seems like a good goal date… Maybe I should go upload the first draft right now. :)
Audible Control Center Options (Life Changer)
Okay, this may not change your life, but for me it has quite literally brought about a new found sense of ease and happiness while listening to audiobooks.
If you use the Audible app for iOS (or Android I would assume as well) and you use it on your smartphone while walking around or doing chores or whatever, then you've probably had someone say something to you or a train or a loud truck go by that causes you to miss part of the book you're listening to.
Arg! and Be quiet! Can't you see I'm listening to an audiobook! Do not disturb!
Anyway, until a week ago, I was not aware that you could actually change the behavior of the "Control Center" for Audible. What does that mean? The Control Center is evidently the name for the lock screen that you get when you're listening to music or an audiobook or some other app that uses what I can only assume is the Audio API. This is what it would look like if you'd just started listening to No Return by Zachary Jernigan (on sale for a ridiculous $4.49 on Amazon/Audible at the time of this writing):
What is the behavior you could (and probably should) change? Well, there's those arrows to each side of the Play/Pause button. If you're listening to music, it's pretty obvious that they'll go back and forth in your playlist. But for an audiobook? You'd probably assume they'd go back and forth between chapters (and you'd be right). But chapters in audiobooks tend to be long. I've never actually wanted to skip ahead or back a whole chapter. (Maybe someone else has) But if you go to the Settings in Audible and scroll down a little, you'll see a setting for the Control Center. In the screenshot below it's already set to Jump Seconds, but as mentioned, the default is Chapter Skip.
Hit that Chapter Skip and you'll get the next screen where you can change it to Jump Seconds. Then you can go back and customize how many seconds you want the app to jump forward or back. (I like 20 seconds, obviously. I listen at 1.25x usually and 30 seconds is a bit too far for most interruptions or external noises. 20 seconds at 1.25 speed is really only 16 seconds and if I were listening to a book where I had to 1x it, I'd probably change that setting to 10 seconds instead – 15 seconds would probably be ideal in that case, but it's not an option).
That's all. Now you can back up quickly and efficiently without having to unlock your phone. Life: changed. You're welcome. :)
Stop Using Your Authors As Leverage
In which Amazon asks its KDP authors to use themselves as leverage to tell Hachette to stop using its authors as leverage. (The content of that page was also emailed to all of Amazon's self-published authors this morning)
I mean, I know there's a lot of confusion and argument over how to use the word "irony" properly (I'm pretty sure I don't know), but if literally can mean figuratively, then I'm pretty sure this is the precisest example of irony that I've ever seen.
Chuck Wendig theorizes that maybe one of the microservices over at Amazon has gained sentience and posted this of its own volition (among other things – his post is well worth reading, though NSFW). I think it's also just as likely that this was an April Fool's prank posted on the wrong date (and emailed to all KDP authors just to really get the LOLZ).
Seriously. Come on, Amazon. You are literally asking people to email the CEO of a huge multi-national corporation and then copy you on it so you can then report on the number of people who decide to support you. I haven't seen that kind of strategy since middle school (though I think it happens in high school and even higher education, but I made a point to purposely distance myself from people who pulled that kind of BS). I guess with adults it's a little bit more like…
and some of this…
Don't get me wrong. I love Amazon. I buy books there because the Kindle Paperwhite is really nice and it also syncs with my iPad and iPhone (better than any other booksellers apps). I buy all kinds of other things there too, because SHIPPING. I've ordered something on a Saturday night and had it delivered on Sunday. Delivered on SUNDAY.
But Amazon has already won the eBook pricing collusion case. What they're talking about now is straight up legitimate capitalism. If Hachette wants to charge a certain price for their eBooks, then you either charge that price or you don't sell that product. And if their eBooks are so over-priced, then aren't they just going to go out of business because of that unsustainable practice? And once Hachette publishing has been swallowed up by the black hole of its own hubris, won't the authors who provide the content of their books simply take their new content to a different publisher? Maybe even to Amazon? So… it just doesn't make sense to me when I look at it from Amazon's Economic Powerhouse perspective.
(And don't try to tell me it's because Amazon cares about authors making more money – that's the most transparent attempt at favor currying that I've ever seen. If there are authors out there who buy in to that, I've got this awesome book-based start-up that I'm taking investments in. It's gonna be HUGE!)
It also doesn't make sense if I look at it from the perspective of a self-published author. If I have decided not to publish with Hachette or any of the other Big Guys (almost said Big Five Guys, but that would be a tremendous insult to Five Guys… so good…), then why would I want Hachette to be more competitive? Why would I say "Hey Hachette, because of your decision to sell eBooks for $14.99, you've opened up an entire market for self-published authors to sell their books at, well, anything less than that. Can you stop selling your books so expensive now so that people will want to buy more of your stuff and less of my stuff? Thanks." Why? Why would I do that?
I had an analogy in here, but it was kind of weak, so let's just leave it at that. I have a competitive advantage. Why do I want someone who keeps shooting their self in the foot to stop and instead aim their gun at my head?
I'm seriously tempted to write to Hachette and ask them to please continue selling their eBooks at high prices so that I will continue to have the opportunity to self-publish and sell my books to people who are looking for something that doesn't seem so outrageously priced. I wonder what email@example.com would think of that…
Meanwhile, now all I can think of is Five Guys and curry. Wouldn't that be delicious?
Digital Book Day!
less-ful self-promotion follows…
I'm putting The Valkyrie Project up for free as part of the Digital Book Day organized by CJ Lyons.
I know that I'm going to download at least a few of the books that are already being advertised on there, and since I have a book that I can give away for limited periods of time (at least until I put out the second one and get them both into other eBook markets), I figured I could submit and promote (for what little it's worth).
So, from July 13th until the 15th (2014), The Valkyrie Project will be free on Amazon. Tell your friends! And tell them about Digital Book Day too… an easy way to jump start an eBook collection or find some new indie/underground authors.
Some call the ability to publish digital without any sort of corporate representation (of any size) the "eBook revolution", so it is very fitting that this first Digital Book Day coincides with France's Bastille Day. Even more so since I will be celebrating this Bastille Day in France! #terriblehumblebrag
No go forth and download!
Covert Art (US vs UK)
I know there's a difference… I just don't understand it. Perhaps someone will stumble across this and explain to me why UK readers want such vastly different covers from their US counterparts… Are we really that different? I've only been to Great Britain twice for very short periods, so I will admit to not knowing anything beyond the surface level there, but I would be very interested in understanding what it is that drives the stark difference in the way the book covers are presented between the markets.
As an example, here are the covers for The Causal Angel which releases in July. I've seen a similar thing (surprisingly, but perhaps not surprisingly, similar in terms of colors and composition) with The Darwin Elevator released last year. I'm sure there are more… But why?
Interval Training for Writers (and other Professional Development)
tl;dr Applying the principle of interval training to my writing will allow for a nearly 50% increase in output while still giving me time to keep current on technology relevant to my daily (non-writing) work.
I'm doing a little (or large, I guess) experiment this year. Initially it started as a way to balance my writing output with what I repeatedly hear is an important part of a mid-list writer's life: The Day Job.
So in order to allow myself periods where I focus intensely on writing, editing, learning about writing, reading fiction for inspiration, and not feeling guilty about dedicating more time to writing than to professional development, I adapted a technique I learned in high school cross country training.
Fartlek, which means "speed play" in Swedish, is a training method that blends continuous training with interval training.
The idea of interval training is probably more familiar than that of continuous training since it's used in a lot of popular workout programs. It involves doing periods of high-intensity reps with a short rest in between. Fartleking (sp?) is like interval training but instead of resting, you just don't run as hard you had been. That's an important analog for my plan because I don't want to try to write a whole bunch over a short period and then not write for a while. I think just about any writer will tell you that's basically asking for failure.
For the last 6 months of 2013, I worked on a schedule that I broke down by days and then morphed to a weekly set of goals that allowed a little more freedom in terms of what I did on a given day.
But then in November, I did NaNoWriMo. (And even though I didn't win, aren't we all winners?) I realized that I could definitely push myself to write more than I had been in the months leading up to November. But instead of trying for 50,000 words per month (or even 27,000 like I did in November), I compromised on a schedule that would allow me to balance professional development in the workplace with development of my writing skills. By fartlekking my writing, I get to push my writing muscles past where they would normally go, but then I pull back give myself some time to recover from the exertion and mental fatigue that comes with the focus it takes to push those muscles. During that recovery, I continue to "run" but I also engage a different set of muscles (though muscle confusion is a whole different training philosophy).
Starting with a slow warm-up in December, I had my first push in January and am now backing off again for February. January yielded just over 18,000 words, which is double what I averaged per month in 2013. So, if I can do that much in my sprint months and then fall back to my average of 9,000 in off months, I'll have about a 47% increase over last year. And assuming all goes to plan, I'll still have a day job (with the all-important health insurance).
Two Months to Inspiration?
The only writing instruction you'll ever really need from Hugh Howey. This blockquote probably violates fair use or something… but this is the core of the post with the preface stripped away.
No excuse is good enough to NOT WRITE. Being on book tour? Not a good enough excuse. Having a day job, a family and house to take care of, meals to cook, a dog to walk and exercise? Not good enough excuses. The people who make this work find the time. I told myself, even knowing that my days were blocked up with interviews and bookstore events, that I would find the time.
SAND was written on trains and in airports. It was written in Finland at five in the morning before I went to the Helsinki Book Fair. It was written on the stoop of my hotel while I waited in the freezing cold for my publicist to pick me up. It was written in the back of the cab on the way to the fair. It was written at the fair while I waited on interviewers and while between interviews. When I wasn't writing, I was thinking about the plot, my characters, having conversations, making notes in my cell phone.
I flew to Amsterdam where I wrote more. Every day, I wrote at least 2,000 words. I had a few 3,000 and even 5,000 word days. These were crucial, because my mother was meeting me in Italy to spend 10 days of my book tour on vacation with me. When she arrived, it meant getting up a little earlier every day and writing before we set out to see the sights. It meant writing at night before I went to bed. I wrote in a laundromat in Venice while I refreshed my single carry-on of clothes. When I got to 50,000, my mom and I toasted with glasses of wine and had a nice meal. And then I powered on, knowing this wasn't enough.
I'm very tempted to take this as a soul-crushing defeat because I've struggled just to get to an average of 755 so far in 2014 (and yet am proud of that average). But, I am not a full-time writer like Hugh, so instead, I should probably take it as inspiration. Or maybe a challenge. A New Year's Resolution, perhaps?
I do: Write on trains, think about the plot, characters, conversations, and make notes in my cell phone. I do: Get up a little early to write. I do: Write in airports and on airplanes the one or two times a year when I'm in an airport or on an airplane.
I don't: Go to the Helsinki Book Fair, or wait on the stoop of my hotel for my publicist. I don't: Get interviewed. Though I do interview someone else about once a month, but when I'm waiting for those interviews, I'm usually doing work for my day job. I don't: Fly to Amsterdam. I don't: Ever write 3,000 or even 5, 000 words in a single day. I don't: Write in a laundromat in Venice, or any other laundromat. I think the last time I was even at a laundromat was nine and a half years ago. I don't: Write at night before I go to bed. I usually follow Tim Ferriss's advice to have Fat and Fiction before bed. A bit of fat to keep the blood sugar up and the fiction to disconnect the thinking part of the brain. (It'll be even better when I get my Kindle Paperwhite)
If I can somehow manage to maintain that average of 755, I'll be at 275,000+ words for the year. That would be almost 100,000 more than what I tallied in 2012 (my previous best year*). My actual goal is 210,000 which is only 575 per day, so I've got a something of a buffer right now (yes, that's a bit sarcastic; we're barely 2 weeks in to the year!).
But whether you take it as an admonition, a guilt shaming, or a guantlet in the dirt, Hugh provides one last piece of advice to go with his tale of extraordinary, overwhelming production:
The only wrong system of writing is to not write.
* Since I started keeping track
In Which The Physical World Manifests Itself As Annoyance
or: Where I Come Up With A Really Pretentious Sounding Title That Actually Somewhat Contradicts The Content Of The Post
So there's a book I wanted to read. I'm not sure why, because it's not that great a book. I think I wanted to study the magic system a bit, but now that I'm reading it, the whole magic system is just kind of… magic… The rest of the book contains many things I feel like I can learn from though, so probably still worth it… except that…
I am a cheap ass bastard and didn't want to shell out $5.99 for (the Kindle version of) a book that I wasn't really sure I was going to like in the first place (turns out to be a great decision in this case). But the problem with being a cheap ass bastard is that I get books from the library. Now, the library, for it's part, has done a wonderful, remarkable job of making books available in electronic forms (both eBooks and audio downloads). This particular book, however, was not available in any electronic forms. Just paper.
In order to read this book while waiting for something or someone, I have to carry it around with me. I can't just take out my phone and load up my Kindle (or other eReading) app and have it sync my location with my iPad and my actual Kindle (soon to be a Kindle Paperwhite). I can't read it in bed at night (or in the morning since it's still dark when I wake up in the winter). Soon I'll have three different ways to read eBooks without any lights.
Plus, it's just one book. The whole "read anywhere" thing is probably the most common reason that people say they love eBooks. But when you're like me and pretty much constantly reading: 1) fiction book, 2) tech/programming book, and 3) non-fiction book, only having a single book in a form that takes up as much (or more) space and weight than a reading device that has all three options (and more) feels very encumbered.
It's only 274 pages, so that's a relief… But I'm not gonna lie, after this, I'm tempted to download the eBook version of any paperback books I own just to be able to read them more quickly and easily and pleasurably*. I know that's technically illegal and I haven't actually done it yet, so don't come after me right now… but in those cases, I have already bought (or was given) a hard copy, so the author (and publisher) is getting their money. I'm sure if you asked the authors, they'd be happy to let me read whichever version was best for me (in fact, I've seen and heard a couple others say basically that when asked what the best way to buy their book is. "Buy whatever version is best for you. Then buy whatever version is best for your friends. *wink*wink* *laugh*")
Finally, the promised contradictory message contained in the title of the post: Obviously, since I'm still using a device that exists in the physical world, then there isn't really a way to get away from reading books in the physical world, even if the content is contained on sheets of transistors instead of sheets of paper. So really, the physical world is manifesting itself no matter how I choose to read. It's just the paper part that's the annoyance.
And, scene.
* Did anyone else immediately think of a 50 Shades joke there?


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subset: commoncrawl


text:
The name Stradivari is synonymous with quality for fans of classical instruments, incredible given the fact that the famous Italian luthier died over 250 years ago. Antonio Stradivari's instruments often sell for millions of dollars at auction, despite the fact that both science and casual listening tests have yet to actually prove that the instruments are definitively superior to modern instruments. It's possible you've heard Itzhak Perlman playing his, but more likely you're just familiar with the story of how Yo-Yo Ma left his $2.5 million Stradivarius in a New York City cab (thankfully, it was recovered). The Fort Symphony Orchestra received one of these rare and valuable instruments on loan from Mr. and Mrs. William S. Davis in 1981, and this weekend you'll have the rare chance to hear it sing as the FWSO celebrates the 300th anniversary of the violin. Concertmaster Michael Shih will have the honor of ripping out Mendelsshon's Violin Concerto in E Minor on that million dollar mother. The concerts take place at 7:30 p.m. Friday, 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at Bass Performance Hall, Fourth and Calhoun Streets in Fort Worth. Tickets are $10 to $71. Visit fwsymphony.org.
Fri., Oct. 8, 7:30 p.m.; Sat., Oct. 9, 8 p.m.; Sun., Oct. 10, 2 p.m., 2010


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A decade and a half of devilish deeds and die-hard journalism
The doors indeed will close on a respected program
Rich Kinder has made a cool billion dollars since leaving Enron. Now hes ready to take over the world, or at least the nearest pipeline.
Ungraded exams. Suspect scores. Departing teachers and lawsuits. Is this alternative school really passing the test on its highly touted educational claims?
Stir is out to whip Hootieat their own game


text:
Kerry O'Malley Cerra is a former high school history teacher who often incorporated historical fiction along with traditional textbooks to bring time periods to life. Just a Drop of Water, her first middle grade novel, was inspired by a deeply personal experience following the tragic events of September 11, 2001. You can read more about that inspiration on her website here.
A summary of Just a Drop of Water from the publisher:
Award-winning author Richard Peck has praised this novel saying, "This is history tensely told for readers too young to remember the moment when this century truly began." And Kirkus Reviews said, "Cerra does a good job of re-creating the combination of fear, confusion, patriotism, prejudice and community spirit the attack engendered, and readers should identify with Jake's plight. A perceptive exploration of an event its audience already sees as history."
Describe your workspace.
A summary of Just a Drop of Water from the publisher:
Ever since he was little, Jake Green has longed to be a soldier and a hero like his grandpa, who died serving his country. Right now, though, he just wants to outsmart—and outrun—the rival cross country team, the Palmetto Bugs. But then the tragedy of September 11 happens. It's quickly discovered that one of the hijackers lived nearby, making Jake's Florida town an FBI hot spot. Two days later, the tragedy becomes even more personal when Jake's best friend, Sam Madina, is pummeled for being an Arab Muslim by their bully classmate, Bobby.
According to Jake's personal code of conduct, anyone who beats up your best friend is due for a butt kicking, and so Jake goes after Bobby. But soon after, Sam's father is detained by the FBI and Jake's mom doubts the innocence of Sam's family, forcing Jake to choose between his best friend and his parents. When Jake finds out that Sam's been keeping secrets, too, he doesn't know who his allies are anymore. But the final blow comes when his grandpa's real past is revealed to Jake. Suddenly, everything he ever knew to be true feels like one big lie. In the end, he must decide: either walk away from Sam and the revenge that Bobby has planned, or become the hero he's always aspired to be.
Award-winning author Richard Peck has praised this novel saying, "This is history tensely told for readers too young to remember the moment when this century truly began." And Kirkus Reviews said, "Cerra does a good job of re-creating the combination of fear, confusion, patriotism, prejudice and community spirit the attack engendered, and readers should identify with Jake's plight. A perceptive exploration of an event its audience already sees as history."
Describe your workspace.
Honestly, I change up my workspace quite a bit. My most favorite place to write is at the beach—which, on most Florida days, looks like this.
I'm so lucky, right? I do my best thinking there. But, that's a luxury I can't have every single day, so most of the time I get to write in this beautiful office surrounded by wonderful books...and my dogs. (Confession, it's rarely as clean as it looks in this photo. Three dogs and several kids cause such HUGE messes.)
Describe a typical workday.
Typical is not in my vocabulary. Does that really exist? I truly admire anyone who can set a routine for themself, and I'm sure I'd have a boatload more books in the world if I did have a "typical" daily routine, but, alas, I'm a mom and that comes first. I hate to admit it, but there are times I go weeks (and sometimes a few months) without writing. Shameful! It won't be much longer before all of my kids are off on their own, so I'm okay with the writing time suffering, for now.
List three of your most favorite things in your workspace and why they are meaningful.
What a fun question! First, definitely my dogs. They are crazy, obnoxious, bark incessantly at lizards, birds, or whatever else might be outside. See that big window in the photo above. They have lots to look at, so it's rarely quiet. On the flip side, they don't bark when I read to them, even when it's a sucky first draft. They're so loyal!
Second, I'd have to say this really cool box my daughter made is a favorite object. Back when I was unpublished and still wallpapering my entire downstairs with rejection letters, she gave me this keepsake for Christmas with an awesome note telling me the multitude of reasons why I shouldn't give up. Love her!
Third—but not last because there's so much I love about my office—are the books on the shelves next to me. Most are written by friends and fellow SCBWI members, so it's like writing with big, giant arms wrapped around me, whispering words of encouragement and reminding me what the end result can be. Sometimes we even have wine. J
Do you have any rituals in your work habits? If so, describe them.
I love scented candles and tend to pick a scent to carry me through each book. With Just a Drop of Water, I lit a Japanese Cherry Blossom candle each time I went in my office to work. I'm still looking for the prefect scent as I begin a new book soon.
What do you listen to while you work?
Other than my dogs barking, absolutely nothing. I cannot concentrate with any noise in the background. Unless of course I'm at the beach. Then it would be the sound of waves. Love!
What is your drink and/or snack of choice while you're working?
*Hangs head in shame* I'm a Starbucks addict. You might as well just inject the vanilla chai latte directly into my veins. And, I simply cannot write without it. But, I've promise hubby to break this habit, unless I sell a gazillion copies of my book and can justify continuing down this expensive path. Hey, ya'll, go buy a copy so I can keep Starbucks in business.
What keeps you focused while you're working?
Nothing. Is there a trick to this? Maybe I should go read what other authors responded here so I can find out all the tricks. My mind wanders way too much…
Do you write longhand, on a computer, or another way?
I jot notes in lots of pretty spirals all the time. Especially when I'm with my critique group or get ideas while at a conference. Before I dive into a story, I try to do a plot clock, so I at least know where the story is going, what my MC wants, and what's in his or her way. Then I can settle down with the computer for the actual writing.
How do you develop your story ideas? Do you use an outline, let the muse lead you, or another technique?
I've never admitted this before, but I don't think I have a muse. I read all the time about how authors have conversations with their characters, or how their main character is taking over the page while the author merely types in carefully dictated words. And every time I hear or read this, I wonder if the author is on something. Does this really happen? Characters speak to you? My books are written slowly. Each word is a struggle for me. Every sentence a chore to make sure I'm keeping in line with how my character would act or speak. I'm museless, but if he/she's out there floating around, I hope they show up soon. My current revision sure could use it.
If you were forced to share your workspace but could share it with anyone of your choosing, who would it be?
This may sound lame, but I'd actually love to share my space with my critique partners. It would be awesome to be able to bounce ideas off them when things popped in my head without having to wait for an email or text reply. I could do the same for them. But, then again, we might get all goofy and nothing would be accomplished. (We're missing one in this photo, but you can see, we tend to mess around a lot.)
What is the best piece of writing advice you've heard or received?
Of course we all know this, and you, like me, have probably heard it from a countless other writers, but it's something I found myself repeating many times during my publishing journey. This business is subjective—from getting an agent, to selling a book, to editing, and even reviews. Your work isn't going to be for everyone. It won't be liked by everyone. Find the right editor and the right agent. The ones who fall in love with your words and your story. That's all it takes. Just one amidst the hundreds! They're out there.
Thank you for stopping by Creative Spaces! To learn more about Kerry O'Malley Cerra and her writing, visit her website.
Thank you for stopping by Creative Spaces! To learn more about Kerry O'Malley Cerra and her writing, visit her website.


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Home delivery across the UK
It normally takes five days by standard post UK standard delivery.
Free returns within 28 days. About delivery and returns
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With pretty detailing that little girls will love, these school shoes feature a feminine stitched flower design on the black leather upper as well as fun flashing Lights in the sole. The riptape strap adjusts for best fit and Agion antimicrobial linings help busy feet stay fresh. Available in whole and half sizes and a range of widths.
|Upper Material
|Lining Material
|Sole Material
|Fastening Type
|Removable Insole
|Adjustable Strap
It normally takes five days by standard post UK standard delivery.
Free returns within 28 days. About delivery and returns
Look after your shoes by using products from our specially selected shoe care range. Learn more about shoe care here.
We now offer free delivery - to home or to store - on all items. Returns are also free. Learn more about delivery and returns here.
I bought a pair of these shoes for my granddaughter at the beginning of January and they still look as good as new at the end of the summer term. They had been an exceptionally good fit and were pretty as well as practical. Now of course she has grown out of them and the logical thing to do was to buy another pair of the same,style but of course this is not possible because they have been discontinued in the black leather (her school does not allow patent).
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My little girl only wore them for 3 weeks and the sole went to the lights and split. Not good on a Sunday morning, a day before school with no shoes. Went back and got a refund.
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Stacey, coventry
Really nice shoes, fit really good my daughter has really thin ankles so finding shoes that fit can sometimes be a problem. These fit great though! I have a very disappointed little girl as only one shoe lights work so make sure you check both! Her size is now out of stock too so nothing I can do as she starts school in two days! Not happy!! Feedback from Clarks: Thanks for leaving a review; we're sorry to hear you're unhappy with your purchase. We value all our customer feedback so thank you for your comments which have been fed back to our team.
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Nilantha, milton keynes
These fit perfectly on my daughter's feet and she loves them. The LED's can be turned off for the school.
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samantha, telford
Purchased these for my 6 year old daughter for school.Having previously bought Velcro strap fastening shoes and them failing to do the job after 5 weeks was slightly reluctant to purchase similar again,but so glad I did.The inferior strap shoes were not from Clark's and I will not buy again.Lovely looking shoe,nice design,fit perfectly and look smart,and straps showing no signs of wear 2 months on.More expensive than I would normally pick but so glad I did!
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Danielle, lowestoft
Lovely hard wearing shoe, perfect for school and polish up like new with Clarks shoe polish! Lovely bright LEDs which can be turned on or off, 6 months later and still in fantastic condition, about to purchase next size up!
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Laura, southwell
These school shoes are fantastic, they do scuff, but as long as you have the black polish they stay looking like new, we've had them for months now and I love them. They are comfy for my little girl and still look lovely and smart what more could you ask for! Just wish the E would come back in stock so I can get the next size up!!
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Bought these for my twin daughters who will be starting school in September. Have always bought my other children's schools from Clarks. They are the best quality and always last from September to June. Never had any problems with soles or Velcro straps. My daughters love the lights on the shoes and I like the fact the light can be turned off or on. Reasonably priced, but pity no free gift as kids are drawn to gifts when picking shoes. They are easily bribed. Feedback from Clarks: Thanks for leaving a review; we value all our customer feedback so thank you for your comments which have been fed back to our team.
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Michelle, west bromwich
Received these and initially thought they were great. However the lights on one of the shoes does not work! Too late to return as already wrote her name in them. Disappointed as they are so expensive. Feedback from Clarks: We're sorry to hear you're unhappy with your purchase. We do thoroughly test all our products before they go on sale, so the issue you describe seems unusual. Please return to one of our stores with proof of purchase so the manager can look into it for you. We will happily refund or replace any items deemed as faulty.
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Ayla, corsham
Have bought these shoes for my daughter who is going to start school in September. I am impressed with the quality and am excited to send her to school in them.
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Lovely shoe, very hard wearing would definitely recommend to others.
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text: Kareem! View full-size image < previous next > Is this photo a winner? "This is a photo of my friends and I at a Laker game wearing a shirt that I created on CustomInk.com. CustomInk.com is very professional and they did a really good job of making sure I got what I wanted in a timely manner. There was a little snag in the order (that was my mistake) and they got it fixed up very quickly and had great communication with me. This is definitely my best experience with custom print shops. Very good shirt quality too." - supawang (Mar 07, 2011) Share this photo on: Twitter Facebook Pinterest Similar Photos: Lakers | Kareem | Abdul-Jabbar | friends | fans | game | event sporting | hobby receation individual Feeling inspired? Visit the CustomInk Design Lab to start your own group order. Design Your Own


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The genius of David Fincher
As we get ready to spend an evening in the cinema watching Gone Girl, there's some serious prepping going on at the Rainy Day HQ. The novel by Gillian Flynn, on which the film is based, has been re-read, and this excellent analysis of director David Fincher's approach by Tony Zhou has been watched several times. Yes, we're ready. Bring it on.
Currently reading
To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris. It's the follow-up to The Unnamed, which was the second novel by Ferris. On first glance, both books are similar in that they do their best to exhaust the reader. Equally, both are about suffering and despair and one can safely bet that Ferris will not win the 2014 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, for which To Rise Again at a Decent Hour has been shortlisted. If you like dentistry, though, there are some amusing bits:
His canine, in an advanced state of decay, was stained the color of weak tea but was still rooted to active nerves. No dentist in his right mind would pull a tooth without at least applying a local anesthetic. I told him that, and he finally agreed to the local. He resumed his meditative position, I juiced him with the needle, and then I went at his canine with a vigorous swaying grip. Two seconds into it he began to moan. I thought the moaning part and parcel of his effecting emptiness to the extreme, but it grew louder, filling the room, spilling out into the waiting area. I looked at Abby, my dental assistant, sitting across the patient from me, pink paper mask obscuring her features. She said nothing. I took the forceps out of my patient's mouth and asked if everything was okay.
"Yes. Why?"
"You're making noise."
"Was I? I didn't realize. I'm not actually here physically," he said.
"You sound here physically."
"I'll try to be quieter," he said. "Please continue."
The moaning started up again almost immediately, rising to a modest howl. It was inchoate and bloody, like that of a newborn's with stunted organs. I stopped. His red eyes were filmed with tears.
"You're doing it again," I said.
"Doing what?"
"Moaning," I said. "Howling. Are you sure the local's working?"
"I'm thinking three or four weeks ahead of this pain," he said. "I'm four to six weeks removed."
"It shouldn't be painful at all," I said, "with the local."
"And it's not, not at all," he said. "I'll be completely silent."
I resumed. He stopped me almost that very second.
"Can I have the full gas, please?"
I put him under and removed the tooth and replaced it with a temporary crown.
The annual Gatsby reading
Reading The Great Gatsby is an annual Rainy Day event. Here's a favourite snippet:
"By seven o'clock the orchestra has arrived, no thin five-piece affair, but a whole pitful of oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos, and low and high drums. The last swimmers have come in from the beach now and are dressing up-stairs; the cars from New York are parked five deep in the drive, and already the halls and salons and verandas are gaudy with primary colors, and hair shorn in strange new ways, and shawls beyond the dreams of Castile. The bar is in full swing, and floating rounds of cocktails permeate the garden outside, until the air is alive with chatter and laughter, and casual innuendo and introductions forgotten on the spot, and enthusiastic meetings between women who never knew each other's names."
One of the great sentences: No. 2
"Its vanished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsby's house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams; for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder." F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
Why is this great? The audacity of it all, for starters. The idea that the trees which once stood on the site of Gatsby's house were so magnificent that they could have played a role in the "last and greatest of all human dreams" is outlandish, but the author is in full flight here and intoxicated with his imagination. There are passages of expression in Gatsby that rightfully have been compared to music, and there are others in the novel that have been likened to magic and this is one that contains a little of both. Fitzgerald's ability to display those vanished trees is one of his greatest conjuring tricks.
One of the great sentences: No. 1Tweet
Thermonuclear review
In the annals of acidic reviewing, nothing beats Truman Capote's flip dismissal of Jack Kerouac's work: "That's not writing, that's typing." Still, the March/April issue of Foreign Affairs magazine does not do too badly when it comes to Thermonuclear Monarchy by Elaine Scarry, Professor of Aesthetics and General Theory of Value at Harvard. Snip:
"This curious book addresses what Scarry describes as the incompatibility of nuclear weapons and democracy. But her knowledge of nuclear matters is superficial, and she says very little about the weapons, other than to draw attention to their awfulness and to the fragile, illegitimate, and dangerous structures that govern their possession and potential use."
By the way, here's now Gore Vidal dissed Truman Capote: "He's a full-fledged housewife from Kansas with all the prejudices."Tweet
The Goldfinch
Alex O'Connell in the Times said it was "a heavyweight masterpiece", but in the Observer Julie Myerson wrote that she was bored by it, calling it "a Harry Potter tribute novel". On one hand, Kamila Shamsie in the Guardian called it an "astonishing" achievement, but on the other, the Sunday Times' Peter Kemp wrote: "No amount of straining for high-flown uplift can disguise the fact that The Goldfinch is a turkey."
So is latest Donna Tartt worth reading? Well, those who are lonely, or who are outsiders, or who love the paintings of the Dutch Masters, will find much in the 771 pages to comfort them. But above all, for boys who love their mothers, living or dead, there's a lot to ponder. Snippet:
"How was it possible to miss someone as much as I missed my mother? I missed her so much I wanted to die: a hard, physical longing, like a craving for air underwater. Lying awake, I tried to recall all my best memories of her — to freeze her in my mind so that I wouldn't forget here — but instead of birthdays and happy times I kept remembering things like how a few days before she was killed she stopped me halfway out the door to pick a thread off my school jacket. For some reason, it was one of the clearest memories I had of her: her knitted eyebrows, the precise gesture of her reaching out to me, everything. Several times too — drifting uneasily between dreaming and sleep — I sat up suddenly in bed at the sound of her voice speaking clearly in my head, remarks she might conceivably have made at some point but that I didn't actually remember, things like Throw me an apple, would you? and I wonder if this buttons up the front or the back? and This sofa is in a terrible state of disreputableness."
Cacti with Alps
"It was a fairy-tale world, child-like and funny. Boughs of trees adorned with thick pillows, so fluffy someone must have plumped them up; the ground a series of humps and mounds, beneath which slinking underbrush or outcrops of rock lay hidden; a landscape of crouching, cowering gnomes in droll disguises — it was comic to […]
Huntington and the Clash of Civilizations in Ukraine
In 1993, Samuel Huntington put the cat among the international relations pigeons with an article in Foreign Affairs magazine titled speculatively "The Clash of Civilizations?" He expanded it to book length and it was published in 1996 as The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. The book was immediately condemned by the multi-cultural complex because of its staunch defence of Western values, but its stock rose significantly after 9/11 as people woke up to the reality that the new, anti-Western barbarians were already at the gates.
Huntington makes a number of recommendations to save Western civilization, including restraining "the development of the conventional and unconventional military power of Islamic and Sinic countries." But he also urges the West "to accept Russia as the core state of Orthodoxy and a major regional power with legitimate interests in the security of its southern borders." When it comes to today's politics, it's worth examining how Huntington stacks up two decades after his initial analysis, especially regarding Russia.
In chapter 7, which deals with "Core States, Concentric Circles and Civilizational Order", he looks at "Russia and its Near Abroad" and lays out several scenarios for Ukraine, "a cleft country, with two different cultures." Its "civilizational fault line between the West and Orthodoxy runs through its heart and has done so for centuries" says Huntington and he suggests that "Ukraine could split into two separate entities, the eastern of which could merge with Russia." He also quotes a Russian general as saying, "Ukraine or rather Eastern Ukraine will come back in five, ten or fifteen years. Western Ukraine can go to hell!" This leads him to conclude: "Such a rump Uniate and Western-oriented Ukraine, however, would only be viable if it had strong and effective Western support. Such support, is, in turn likely to be forthcoming only if relations between the West and Russia deteriorated seriously and came to resemble those of the Cold War."
And here we are 2014, where relations between the West and Russia have deteriorated seriously and talk of a new Cold War fills the air. Huntington rewards reading.Tweet
Gass and Gaddis and Blue language
On Being Blue by William H. Gass was first published in 1976, the year when the Apple Computer Company was formed, the Ramones released their first album and Agatha Christie died. Now, it's being republished by NYRB Classics, with an introduction by Michael Gorras, and here's a snippet from his appreciation of the amazing flexibility of the English language in the hands of Gass:
"Say it. Go ahead, stand before the mirror, look at your mouth, and say it. Blue. See how you pucker up, your lips opening with the consonants into a kiss, and then that final exhalation of vowels? Blue. The word looks like what it is, a syllable blown out into the air, and with the sound and the sight of saying it as one. You blew blue, though let's pause a while before getting on to that, and try it out in the other languages you might claim to know. Bleu. But it's just not the same, your lips don't purse as much, the eu cuts the syllable short where the ue prolongs it, sustaining it like a piano's pedal. Blau — that doesn't work either, and the ow makes the mouth open too far. It's not quite a howl, it's a touch too soft for that, and yet it's a blowsy sound, and untidy. As for azzurro or azul, well, those suggest something else entirely."
"The ship's surgeon was a spotty unshaven little man whose clothes, arrayed with smudges, drippings, and cigarette burns, were held about him by an extensive network of knotted string." The Recognitions by William Gaddis.
While Michael Gorras pays tribute to the musical language of William Gass in his introduction to On Being Blue, Gass did something similar for William Gaddis in his introduction to The Recognitions: "I particularly like the double ts with which our pleasure begins, but perhaps you will prefer the ingenious use of the vowel i in the sentence with which it ends… or the play with d and c in the same section," he wrote. Michael Robbins looks at "How perfectly strung-together words can delight the ear" in the Printers Row Journal.Tweet
People of the book
On 10 May 1953, the old German city of Chemnitz was renamed Karl-Marx-Stadt (Karl Marx City) by its Communist rulers. On 21 June 1990, Marx was deposited in the dustbin of European history and Chemnitz was Chemnitz once more. The city is home to many attractions, including the Lessing & Kompanie bookshop. According to the German book trade magazine, Börsenblatt, the owner of Lessing & Kompanie, Klaus Kowalke, invested €3,500 in an all-day session with a professional photographer taking 1,700 snaps of 127 of his customers in the shop, with their favourite books. The result is a charming Tumblr.Tweet
Book of the Year: "Submergence" by J.M. Ledgard
J.M. Ledgard leads a double life. As a journalist, he covers East Africa for The Economist, but he's also a novelist and the multitasking narrator of Submergence, James More, reflects Ledgard's twofold career. Ostensibly, he's a water engineer based in Nairobi, but that's just a cover for his activities as a British intelligence agent. When we meet him, he's been captured by a Somalian affiliate of al-Qaeda, which keeps moving him back and forth across the bleak African terrain, trying to hide from American drones while planning jihad. James is sustained in his suffering by the memory of a brief affair in a hotel on the French Atlantic coast with Danielle Flinders, a brilliant and carnal bio-mathematician, who studies the luminous creatures of the ocean floor. As James sinks deeper into the desolation of his captivity, Danielle prepares for a dive that will take her to the extreme depths of the Atlantic. Submergence mixes language, science, politics, geography and love in a superb story about deserts, oceans, desire and terror.
Saif, the leader of the jihadist group, constantly talks of martyrdom. At one point, he says, "I expect to die soon. I welcome it. I expect you'll be killed too. That is why I want you to convert to Islam."
"No," James said, firmly.
This exchange is followed by a truly extraordinary lyrical passage:
"There was no chance he would convert. It was not just a question of Islam, it was the way life was constructed. A man lived his threescore years and ten, less than a whale, less than a roughy fish, and the only way to come to terms with his mortality was to partake in something that would outlive him: a field cleared of stones, a piece of jewellery, a monument, a machine. Every man was a loyalist for what he knew. Even tramps fought for the tramping life. Life was too short for him to renounce the English parish church, once Catholic, with their knights' tombs, prayer cushions, flower arrangements, the brass lectern in the shape of an eagle. No, the quiet of those places — the ancient front door, the graveyard, the meadow, the damp — gave him a sense of belonging. He was loyal to them. It was too late to abandon the English canon, from Chaucer to Dickens, the first World War poets, Graham Greene typing through the smog and the drizzle… He had said it before: he was an intelligence officer who reached out, spoke Arabic, read widely, but if the Crusades were invoked — and Saif was invoking them — then he was a Crusader. If he had to die at the hands of fanatics, he wished to remain familiar and coherent to those whom he loved and who loved him."
J.M. Ledgard has partaken in something that will outlive him and he's to be congratulated for writing such honest and moving prose. If, in 2014, we are to suffer pain and loss, let us remain familiar and coherent to those whom we love and who love us.Tweet


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A slew of recent lists has named us snobby and brainy, bike-friendly and outdoorsy. But here's a ranking that carries a little more weight, and comes backed by harder data: The Twin Cities has the lowest unemployment of any major U.S. metro area, according to the latest numbers from the Bureau of La ... More >>
From poets and directors to comedians and dancers, the Twin Cities are teeming with creativity
Alan Moore, Louis C.K., Bethany Larson, and more
Influential artists of 2010
Minneapolis: Not a Brainiest Metro.We've got our big, fancy universities and our hi-tech marquee names here in the Twin Cities, but it's not enough, people. Our neighbors in Rochester, Madison, Ames and Iowa City all made it onto something called the Top 20 Brainiest Metros list. We did no ... More >>


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- North America »
- United States »
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- Radio Gracia Houston
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Radio Gracia Houston "CHRISTIAN CONTEMPORARY MUSIC" Evangelizing nations. 24/7 from Houston, Texas United States to the world, we were one of the first pioneers in ... See more
Houston - Texas, United States - English
(832) 243-6344
Songs playing in Radio Gracia Houston


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I ride therefore I am. Cyclocross, Mountain or Road, geared or single-speed, trail advocate, bike blogger, business analyst. I am a co-conspirator to this little place called talkingtreads.com. Thanks for checking us out. Reach me directly at kurt*at*talkingtreads*dot*com
Posted in accessories, commuting, design on May 29, 2013
Pretty cool concept, simple and easy to install it appears.
More information can be found at their site here.
Help the cause on their Kickstarter page.
Bike brain teaser
Posted in entertainment on May 22, 2013
Urban Cycling Hall of Fame launched
Chrome Industries and ECHOS partner with urban bike pioneers to celebrate and announce the Urban Cycling Hall Of Fame (UCHOF). UCHOF is a collaborative effort that celebrates the culture of urban cycling and showcases the history and people shaping the modern urban bike movement.
UCHOF Selection Committee is compromised of those individuals who have contributed to the urban cycling movement and have been assembled to cull through the nominees and select the UCHOF Class of 2013. This year's inaugural committee includes Kevin "Squid" Bloger, John "Prolly" Watson, Christina Peck, Austin Horse, Nelson Vails and Andy White.
UCHOF pays tribute to those individuals who have contributed significantly to the urban cycling culture and draws attention to the influence urban cycling has had in popular culture through events, products and legendary triumphs of influential cyclists. UCHOF's mission in the first year is to collect the artifacts and stories of urban cyclists to create the Collections that will tell the story of urban cycling and educate the public on urban cycling culture. At it's core UCHOF was born from the desire to unite riders and gather collectibles to tell the story of where we came from and who helped us get here
As part of its launch, UCHOF is issuing an open call to the public to nominate cyclists who have contributed to the urban cycling movement. The categories include Riders, Organizers and Makers. Riders are recognized heroes who have earned respect from a local to global level. Organizers are the masterminds who work behind the scenes of legendary events that play a pivotal role in the cycling culture. Makers celebrate the true artisans of our time and are those who have proven their excellence and add value to the community we live and ride in.
From September 18 – 20, 2013, UCHOF will be exhibiting and participating at this year's Interbike in Las Vegas where they will host the First Annual Urban Cycling Award Ceremony at the Double Down on Sept 18 2013.
To nominate a cyclist into UCHOF or donate cycling memorabilia, visit www.uchof.com.
Check out the UCHOF on instagram at @UrbanCyclingHOF, they will be spotlighting riders and memorabilia that will be collected for the physical hall of fame.
Boombotix Boombot2 Review
Posted in accessories, reviews on May 9, 2013
Whether clipped onto your messenger bag, sitting on your workbench or your office desk, the Boombotix Boombot2 delivers great sound from your Bluetooth device. Three button operation makes it simple. Press the center button to turn it on, when the light turns green you can use the headphone jack input to play music. Press the button again, the light turns blue, you can connect via any Bluetooth device. The outside two buttons are simply to turn the volume up and down. When you are done or need to charge the battery, press and hold the center button and it turns off with two beeps. Charging is done with the supplied mini-USB cable, to your computer or USB wall plug you might already have from your iPhone.
The Boombot2 comes in a handful of designs, but you can paint it very easily and make it all your own. Boombotix sent us over one for our review and we were impressed by the sound and volume. It comes in handy not only around the bike but also around the house and outside. We found where our iPhone lacked in sound the Boombot2 was right there to solve that problem. It took a beating; getting tossed around and the occasional splash of water. At around $70 the Boombotix Boombot2 gives you some great sound that is totally portable and lasted for hours.
Bicycle Rear View Camera
Posted in 2013, accessories, humor, safety, stupidity on May 6, 2013
Chrome Industries Announcement – Welded Postbag and Rucksack
Posted in 2013, accessories, bike messenger, commuting on May 2, 2013
Chrome Industries announced today two new bags, the Welded Postbag and Welded Rucksack, weatherproof, utilitarian packs made for the city commuter. The Welded Transport bags use the same technology as Coast Guard boats to deliver the most durable waterproof protection with the least amount of weight. Chrome's 100% RF welded waterproof bags with versatile and can be worn over the shoulder, carried in hand or strapped onto a bike rack or basket.
Chrome Industries' Welded Transport bags include:
Welded Postbag: Heritage inspired postbag with high-tech welded waterproof seams. The Welded Postbag has an adjustable shoulder strap for cross body wear and interior haul handles for off-body carry. It''s designed to be worn over the shoulder or strapped onto a bike rack or basket. Features included welded waterproof seam construction to keep contents dry; removable, padded laptop sleeve that fits up to MacBook Pro 15 inches; Daisy Chain mounting loops on back panel; and quick access exterior pockets to fit U-lock, wallet, keys, and personal items. Made with waterproof 600 denier TPU coated outer shell and custom gunmetal finished hardware.
Available in Charcoal
Available in-store and online: 5/1/2013
Welded Rucksack: Heritage inspired Welded Rucksack features high-tech welded waterproof seam construction that keeps contents dry. Features include a removable, padded laptop sleeve that fits up to MacBook Pro 15 inches; Daisy Chain mounting loops on back panel; quick access exterior pockets for U-lock, wallet, keys, and personal items; shark tooth closures that adjust for different volumes and load sizes; ergonomic shoulder strap design; and industrial metal cam lock compression buckles. Made with waterproof 600 denier TPU coated outer shell and custom gunmetal finished hardware.
Available in-store and online: 5/1/2013
Welded Transport bags can be purchased in Chrome Hubs located in New York City, San Francisco, Chicago and Portland, OR and online at www.chromeindustries.com.
Hitler loses all his Strava KOM's
Marin Bikes – Suffer and Stoke photo contest
Posted in 2013, contest, photography on April 26, 2013
The guys over at Marin Bikes are putting on a photo contest to capture your "Suffer and Stoke". Simply go to the Marin Bikes Suffer and Stoke contest site, sign up upload your photo and get some votes! Top Suffer and Stoke photo gets a 2013 Marin Mount Vision XM6, top Suffer photo gets Oakley Radar Sunglasses, and top Stoke gets a Chrome Niko Camera Bag. Winners will be announced May 20, 2013. See the site for rules.
Posted in 2013, California, design, recreational cycling, video on April 25, 2013
Civilian Bike Company Announces 2013 CX models
Posted in 2013, cyclocross on April 25, 2013
Civilian Bike Company of Portland, Oregon announced the pre-sale of four models in limited quantities. New for 2013 is now a more MTB rear spacing of 135mm, PF30 bottom bracket, machined head tube, belt ready frameset, and a Hart Design CXAR carbon fork.
With this new release, 2013 season comes two new deluxe models. The Le Roi Le Vuet, the single speed to the stars, my personal ride, includes Ritchey accessories and FSA crankset, Avid BB5 stopping power, for $1199. The deluxe version, shown above, bumps you to belt driven awesomeness and Avid BB7, at $1499 and just the frame at $899. The Vive Le Roi adds a few gears to be a 1 x 10, with SRAM Apex guiding you through the shifts and stopping you with Avid BB5's. The deluxe version offers a 2 x 10, with Shimano blend of 105 shifters, CX70 front derailleur, and Ultegra rear derailleur, and stopping you from lighting speed with Avid BB7's for $2049. Sizing options below.
Ordering the 2013 models are simple, you pick your model and size, email email@example.com with your order, make sure to include your address, phone, and best time to call. They will give you a call to finalize the order and for you to provide them with your credit card information. Bikes are estimated to ship around July 1st, 2013. It is a limited order so if interested, act now! Operators are standing by.


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November 28, 2014
April 19, 2013
Members of the Orange Co. Education Foundation (OCEF) rode around the in a school bus today to deliver grants to the most innovative teachers in the county.
Their first stop on the tour was at Orange Co. High School.
Lorraine Ryan received $250 dollars for her scholarship fund.
"I asked for scholarship money towards the writers block school newspaper," says Ryan. "We had opportunities to get grant money for things we believed in to help the kids and to encourage them to write, write well and to be involved in something that means something to them."
Thomas dixon received a grant for his music class.
"What we are aiming to do is purchase ukuleles and materials for instruction on that instrument for my students in the music appreciation class," says Dixon. "They will actually get instruction on how to play solo and in group settings."
Dixon and Ryan also thanked the foundation and they hope to continue to inspire and educate with the help of these grants.
The board members went around to eight schools in Orange Co. and personally delivered grants to 16 teachers.
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November 4, 2009
Former Congressman Duncan L. Hunter was kind enough to interrupt his extended Idaho vacation once more to answer a few questions and put his two cents in on the issues of the day. He and Lynne had their daughter-in-law and grandkids join them in Idaho over the Halloween weekend. He also extended his vacation plans for another week or so. After 28 years in the US House, then writing a book, he certainly deserves to enjoy his family, the R&R, and the hunting and fishing opportunities this weeks long vacation has afforded him.
Hunter mentioned his son Duncan D. could not attend for Halloween, because he was in Afghanistan over the weekend on a fact finding trip. I let him know that their local newspaper, the North County Times (San Diego area), had two headlined stories about Duncan D.: one addressing his trip to Afghanistan and his clear statement that this war is winnable; and the other about his fervent opposition to ObamaCare.
Hunter mentioned that the North County Times was a good paper, and had usually treated him fairly over the years.
I then told Hunter that while researching the media archives during the race for the GOP 2008 nomination, I noticed a trend in his hometown's other big paper, the San Diego Union Tribune. That early in his career, they seemed to treat he and other conservatives with an even hand, but that sometime in the 1990's they started veering to the far left, and injecting that bias in their 'news' reports.
Hunter then recited the history of the San Diego Union tribune, with Copley Press acquiring them, and Helen Copley running the paper, until her death in 2001. We pick up the interview at this point (due to recorder malfunction)….
DH: Even though she had Herb Kline, who was Nixon's press secretary, as the manager of Copley Press, they started pulling in more liberal reporters and opinion writers. And her son, David Copley took it over. And it's just kind of a mess right now. And you know all the newspapers are dropping like flies right now because they can't keep up with the electronic side.
So yeah, they changed it, and they hated border control. They hated the border fence - which was my baby, and they managed to cow all the other politicians in San Diego to not be in favor of the border fence.
AJM: It's funny though, how you kept getting re-elected by large margins.
DH: Yeah, that's a good statement on the irrelevancy of the printed media. On the other hand, listen, you talk to your friends (other politicians around the country) and you think your local press has given you a couple of shots, then they tell you 'look what my guys did to me', and you walk out of there saying "God Bless Copley press" (laughing). It's all relative, all a matter of comparison. And everyone's got their written media, at least one or two, that give them a bad time.
But interestingly, North County (Times), was always good.
AJM: Yeah, they seem to cover the news without a lot of bias, a lot of opinion written into the article, except for the opinion of the people they are interviewing.
DH: Yeah, they are very good folks. I was impressed by them. And they actually did a lot of coverage of the Iraq War too. They had some people over there, and if you look up the national stuff on the Iraq War, there were some North County Times reporters, which is interesting.
AJM: I noticed that.
DH: They are obviously not a NY Times or other large paper with the logistical stretch to be able to do that kind of stuff.
So, yeah, I'm still up here (in Idaho).
AJM: So do you have time for an interview now, or would you rather do it sometime later this week, or…
DH: No, go right ahead. You got a little time. I'm looking for a particular restaurant that I'm going to take my wife to, so go ahead. I'm just driving around the streets here looking for it.
AJM: OK, do you have a hands free device?
DH: Absolutely.
AJM: OK, I don't want to take responsibility for killing you (laughing).
DH: Great. It's a fancy world, and I'm as artsy-crafty as the rest of them.
AJM: Well, first of all, you probably got a little bit of the news on the election. It went fairly well for the republicans this time, yesterday.
DH: One big disappointment, of course, was that the John McHugh seat was taken by a democrat (NY-23). That race was a good example of the fact that politics never comes wrapped in neat packages. The Republican nominee, as you know, ultimately endorsed the democrat after she pulled out and after the conservative Hoffman was endorsed by the party…
AJM: Exactly, that was no surprise to those of us that thought she (Scozzafava) was a bad choice up front. He ended up losing 49 to 45%, with 6% going to the republican even though she dropped out. The other factor that helped sink Mr. Hoffman was the fact that the RNC and the NRCC had put up $900,000 to Scozzafava before she dropped out, and ran attack ads on him. So he was up against it. He hung in there but he lost. Kind of like you thought he might. I got the impression, you said last week that whenever a conservative is not aligned with the Republicans; the democrats are quote unquote – "licking their chops". That's what you said.
DH: Well, with the split, the mathematics hurt you. It was inevitable that she would get some Republican votes that would have normally gone to the conservative. If we would have had a unified republican line there, we would have done better.
But I think that seat is available, that seat is a likely "win back" for the Republicans in the November election.
AJM: If indeed the GOP can get their house in order, and there is no guarantee that they are going to do that.
DH: Yeah, if we have a united ticket here this next time. The democrats will do everything he can to imbed themselves over the next six or seven months, but I think we have a better than 50/50 chance of taking that seat back.
AJM: Yeah, I think so too. It's not that far away either. But New Jersey was a success. That slob Corzine was shown the door, which is a very good thing. And in Virginia, the Republicans actually ran the table with a fairly conservative lineup, after going for Obama in 2008.
DH: Yes. Virginia righted itself with this election.
AJM: Exactly. Well, we've got some more troubling things coming down the pike here, besides health care. I just saw that Obama released a statement that he's going to double down on Cap and Trade, the global warming legislation. And that's our next battle. What do you suggest that the Republicans and conservatives do to combat this?
DH: I think the republicans have to appeal to the folks who will be most affected by the Cap and Trade, by the Obama Administration. That's the people who carry lunch buckets and work for a living. That there's going to be a continuing exodus of high paying jobs as a result of this emphasis by the Obama Administration, which will make moving a production line to China or India become more attractive than ever to American employers.
So working the jobs angle – I think that the Republicans should try to get the attention of the labor unions, and let them know that their life blood is going to be leaving this country as America becomes more unfriendly to business.
AJM: The republicans and the union leadership have seldom been on good terms, but that didn't stop a whole bunch of people, people I knew, who were union members from supporting Ronald Reagan back in the day.
DH: I remember the times, years ago, when George Meany was about the only guy in America who was willing to take a tough line against the Russians. His longshoremen, at one point, refused to load Russian ships during a foreign policy crisis. So unions and union leaders may become unlikely allies to the cause of keeping jobs.
And that has happened before. When "no growth" advocates tried to control the housing industry in California, business and labor had come together to offset that campaign. And they've done so in several places, and have done so successfully.
You've got to remember, those guys that are working folks are the same people that follow our flag in times of war, and protect this nation, pay taxes, and do lots of good things. I think that one thing the Republicans have to remember is that union workers, in many cases, reflect the best of this country.
AJM: That is true for the ones that actually do labor, but unions such as the SEIU, the service employees union, is frankly, not much more than a Marxist front.
DH: You have literally hundreds and hundreds of unions in this country, so you can't simply….that's like saying that Mr. Madoff ran off with all the money in a suitcase so capitalism is bad.
AJM: No, I agree, I'm just saying that there are some unions that are completely in bed with the Democratic Party, no matter what. You can maybe still reach some members, but this SEIU group – the ACORN folks, the vote fraud folks – and they're the kind of…
DH: No doubt that you tend to have lefties, or left wingers tend to gravitate or attempt to embed themselves in labor unions. That's true. On the other hand, you have a lot of great union members who are good Republicans. And I think the Republican Party has to remember that. For the Republican party to glom on to "free trade" on the basis that sending the jobs to Japan and Asia dissipates the power of the guys who they perceive were tearing down their signs during the election, that is union people, and to take a wholesale approach like that is a mistake.
AJM: I think so too. I worked at Boeing for nine years, and I'd say a good 40% of them were republicans right off the bat, and another 20% were conservative democrats. It was not always reflected in their leaderships' decisions; doesn't mean you can't talk over their leadership and attract large swaths of the lunch bucket guys.
DH: Yeah.
AJM: On the other side of this argument with Cap and Trade is also the angle that James Inhofe has been taking, Senator Inhofe. And that is that the whole damn thing is a fraud with all the recent science showing that the last 10 years to be cooling, not heating. So hence we have the name 'climate change' now instead of global warming. The whole scheme is a socialist construct to give the UN and supra-national entities power of taxation and regulation that they do not currently have.
DH: Well, I think there is a shortage of solid science on the part of the "global warmers". The former head of the American Academy of Sciences, who passed away several years ago, was a staunch foe of this global warming concept. If you look for the hard science, you'll see there is much less hard science than there are speeches promoting the concept of global warming. And it wouldn't be bad to have a major debate with the best advocates and scientists on both sides.
For a lot of people I think this has become a big cult. And I think a lot of the scientific community, which more than any other community, likes to be loved. So some of them have become very polarized, but there are a lot of them who are very objective, who dealt from the "show me" state, who haven't seen the hard science that would compel the conclusions that we've seen talked about as if they are old, settled science.
AJM: It was interesting, because last Friday Glenn Beck had on his show a gentleman from England who is a leading skeptic. And he showed a graph, where all the computer models for global warming, from all these various universities and what have you, making their assumptions, all showing this trend line of heating the atmosphere over a period of years. So even though there were slight variations in the rate, he showed two pages of all these "studies", or computer models, showing this warming. Then he showed the last 20 years of actual scientific data compiled by the head scientist at, I believe, MIT, and it showed the line going in the exact opposite direction – from 20 years of meticulous data collection.
DH: (laughs)
AJM: So the idea that Algore can dismiss this as some kind of settled science is really beyond the pale.
DH: Listen, do you remember the old Liberty Valence movie with Jimmy Stewart? And Jimmy Stewart finally told the reporter that actually the character who was played by John Wayne had shot Liberty Valence, and not him….
AJM: Yeah, yeah…
DH: discarding the glory and the fame of having shot Liberty Valence. And the reporter closed up his notebook and walked away, and Stewart said "aren't you going to print that?", and the reporter said "listen, when the legend conflicts with the facts, print the legend". (laughing)!
I think that's what a lot of the media are inclined to do right now.
But we need to have a national debate on the technical aspects; we need to have a scientific debate. Let people watch the science, and have an objective debate in lieu of the bombastics, and let the people make their own decisions based on this.
The people are being effectively walled off by the media. The people who object on a scientific basis to the notion of global warming are being shouted down. We need to have a debate on this.
AJM: I agree. And Senator Inhofe, I give him a lot of credit, he's been leading that fight, to have that very debate. He's offered to debate Algore, on a televised…
DH: Not Jim Inhofe debating. I like Jim Inhofe, he's a good guy. Nor Algore. We need to have a debate with the best scientists. For example, take the…, exhume the papers from the guy who was, as I recall, the president of the American Academy of Sciences – he passed away a couple of years ago. He was a very revered scientist in this country. He dismissed the notion of global warming.
AJM: Yeah, and he's not the only one. In fact, one of the leading French scientists, who was at the forefront for the global warmers, came out a year and a half ago and said "you know, we've been wrong, it's cooling now, not warming". So he's flipped sides, this guy from France, and he is probably the equivalent to this guy from the American Academy of Sciences. But they are immediately labeled 'heretics'. It's a religion for some of this folks.
DH: That's right. So let's have the debate. It would be good.
AJM: So let's see, global warming, the elections, what else was I going to ask….Oh, I was going to ask you about the book you said you were writing. Your book on Iraq and Afghanistan. Is that going to come out in a book form soon?
DH: Well, it's not going to be on your local bookshelves in the next couple of weeks, but I will have it done in a couple of months.
AJM: Do you have a publisher lined up?
DH: We are working away.
AJM: Ok. Well you've got a lot of experience under your belt, unlike that guy who is sitting in the oval office, who's already got two biographies, I mean autobiographies. Are you ever considering writing your autobiography?
DH: No. I haven't been considering that. I'm trying to do something that is of some value to the country, other than entertainment (laughs). No, but we're working away on this thing (war book) and it should be done in a month or so.
AJM: OK. Question. One of the folks that I correspond with, one of the guys who supported your campaign said, "you know, that Hunter must have known Ronald Reagan pretty well", and he asked if you would give an anecdote about any experience you had with the Gipper. I know you knew him for a long time. But any humorous or interesting anecdotes you'd care to share about the old guy?
DH: Well, I wasn't that close to Reagan, but I was one of the congressmen who came in with him in 80. I was part of several of his campaign appearances. I will tell you at one point a friend of mine was a speechwriter in the Reagan Whitehouse. He said "congratulations, Reagan is going to be in your town campaigning for you in the next couple of weeks, and I'm writing the speech. What would you like him to say about you?"
So promptly, as a new congressman, I wrote several very strong, praise-filled provisions that I supplied my friend with, who was the speechwriter. And I was eagerly awaiting the President. And the President got up and went right down the line - when he was at Mission Valley in San Diego, with 20 thousand people there several weeks later – went right down the line. He almost read it like I wrote it. And then he turns to me and said "yes, and my good friend Duncan HOWARD... one of the fine young stars in this new congress." (Laughing)
AJM: (Laughs) Did you spell your name wrong when you gave it to him?
DH: And my colleague, Bill Lowry, who was there on the podium with me – we were always competing for press – he had a heckuva laugh. And later, so did I.
AJM: I take it you still won the race…
DH: Yeah. No, it was a great time. Anyway that was one of the fun times we had with the Gipper. Let me put it this way. He knew where the Soviet Union was and he knew what he wanted to do to them, but he didn't remember all the names of these nondescript congressmen.
AJM: Well I tell you though, what was interesting in the press, back in the mid 1980s, you led a delegation to Europe to convince the Europeans of a couple of things, regarding missile defenses as well as…
DH: Yeah, missile defenses.
AJM: The fact that you were still relatively green, or young back then says something – that Reagan would be happy with you leading that charge. I thought that was kind of impressive.
DH: Yes, that was a good campaign. That was when the Soviets had threatened Europe with SS-20 missiles, and theater missile defense, theater ballistic missile defense, was not banned by the ABM treaty. So we visited with the French, the British, and I believe, the Germans and we urged them to start development on theater ballistic missile defense systems. We also worked with the Israelis. And working on the Armed Services Committee, we were the driver on the development of the Arrow missile defense system, which Israel presently deploys.
AJM: And it's funny. I read a piece published several years later, I believe published in the 1990s, when the debate re-ignited over missile defenses with Clinton basically trying to snuff them out. But I read a piece where Jack Kemp had credited you with being the leader on getting the thing passed through congress initially, back in the 80s.
DH: Well very good. Jack was a good guy. And Jack was a real leader on missile defense too.
AJM: I know he was. And for him to single out you was quite complimentary. I think he mentioned Henry Hyde as well. The three of you were the brass knucklers for Reagan in the House.
DH: Well there were a lot of great supporters of the Gipper in the House.
AJM: Well in conclusion today – I'll let you go eat – any inkling or any urge to perhaps compete for a certain Senate seat or governorship in the great state of California?
DH: No. Right now, my job is simply to be supporting cast. I've won three awards for shuttling grand kids around and if my son asks me for any advice, I'm always happy to give it to him. And it's always worth what he pays for it (laughs). You've got another Hunter up there in the Capital right now.
AJM: I know. Like I said, I keep an eye on that. He's impressed me. He's saying some good things. It's funny, because it's come full circle, because he's saying a lot of the same things that you have previously said on the same subject matter. He didn't fall far from the tree.
DH: In that case, that's a reflection of his good judgment. (laughing).
AJM: So did you get any more hunting in this past week?
DH: No, I've just been driving out and watching sunsets out here with my wife. But we've done a little bit of hunting here, a little bird hunting here in Idaho.
AJM: Did you end up catching a steelhead like you said you were going to?
DH: No, we were going to go up today, but it's a long run to get up there. So we didn't go. We ended up not going, although the steelhead fishing is tremendous right now.
AJM: That's kind of a shame.
DH: They've got what they call a forty rear run. They are doing real well.
AJM: Must be that global warming, because here in the Puget Sound, every year we get salmon, salmon coming back in different seasons, different years. Some of the King salmon go out and come back after four years, the sockeye, etc. But the only fish that does not have a supplemental system of hatcheries to try to increase the stocks is the Pink salmon. The Pink salmon, they don't stock them, they don't hatch them. They are native, all of them. And we had a record run this year – of pink salmon. So I'm wondering if some of these hatcheries are….
DH: More proof that big government does not work!
AJM: Absolutely.
So I'll let you go now. We'll hook up next week. What I'd like to do when you are back in San Diego, and more or less settled in one spot, I'd like to set up that conference call system, because there a couple of other folks that would really like to get in a question.
DH: Be happy to do it, absolutely.


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Bloomingdale House Rental Photos and Description
House, 3 Bedrooms, 1 Bath, (Sleeps 6)
Our fully furnished, three bedroom cottage is in a quiet subdivision on two connecting lakes, South and North Scott Lake. We have 100 feet of lake frontage with a sandy beach. For a nice trip around the lake we have a 18-foot pontoon boat. Also a raft, canoe, row boat and paddle boat. Plenty of fishing, swimming, sun bathing and just relaxing.
The cottage is equipped with all the essentials: microwave, washer, dryer, electric stove, toaster, coffee maker, dishes, pots and pans, refrigerator. We have satellite TV, A new 42' TV, a Playstation 2, central air, and a fireplace.
There is a gas grill for cook-outs and plenty of picnic tables. Within 20 minutes, there is all kinds of shopping in Kalamazoo or South Haven, a winery in PawPaw and the Kal-Haven trail are also close by. There is a 3-Par golf course just a quarter mile away and a ski resort just minutes down the road.
Keywords: House
- Suitability:
- non smoking only
- pets not allowed
What makes this house unique
We love staying at the cottage just to relax and enjoy the water. We fish alot right off the dock or in the pontoon boat. We have relaxing rides on the pontoon boat at night and listening to the radio. Its just beautiful! This is why we get most of the renters that come back each year. And there enjoy the area because there is lots to do.


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Find records of Walter Enyart
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Walter W Enyart (1942 - 2007) was born on August 31, 1942. He was born into the Enyart family.
Walter had no-known relationships. Walter died on August 17, 2007 at age 64.
Walter W Enyart's last known residence is at Highland Park, Wayne County, Michigan.
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Possible Relatives
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- Charles Enyart
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- Jerry W Enyart
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- Michael L Enyart
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- Louis M Enyart
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- Robert E Enyart
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What Is Top 40 Going To Do With Its Best Music In Years?
As recently as April, I was reluctant to acknowledge a turnaround in the quality of Mainstream Top 40's available product. There was a "Hips Don't Lie" here, a "S.O.S." there. But there was little uptempo pop/rock product beyond the usual teen punk. And there was also a preponderance of ballads, including several of the wimpiest AC crossovers in a long time. Top 40 was continuing its three-year journey away from Hip-Hop, but that didn't mean it was finding anything compelling to replace it with.
Then Gnarls Barkley became a U.S. hit, the superstar releases started to roll out and 2006 began shaping up as the best Top 40 summer in nearly a decade. If it's not quite the CHR-dominated summer of 1984 ("When Doves Cry," "What's Love Got To Do With It," "Time After Time," "Legs," "The Reflex," "Dancing In The Dark"), it's certainly the best summer for tempo and variety since 1997 ("I'll Be Missing You," "Semi-Charmed Life," "Men In Black," "I Want You," "Mo' Money Mo' Problems," "Quit Playing Games [With My Heart]," "How Bizarre").
Best of all, instead of witnessing a retreat into pop balladry, the summer of 2006 bears another watermark of other great periods for Top 40: more songs that find the common ground between R&B and Rock, whether it's Gnarls Barkley or Nelly Furtado. And if Gym Class Heroes have a hit-and starting with KIIS-FM L.A. is a pretty good indicator-we have our first Hip-Hop/emo (!) hybrid! And as with the Romantics and Stray Cats in 1983, there's also music from Beyonce' and Christina Aguilera that manages to be retro and contemporary at the same time.
And now the discussion must turn to, "How can Top 40 take advantage of all this mass-appeal uptempo product?"
For starters, every GM, PD and marketing director in the format should be giving some consideration to trying to be on TV this summer. If you have any sustaining belief in the power of television advertising (and the TV-driven success of Bob-FM, Jack-FM and friends should have restored it), it's time to be in front of potential converts reminding them that Christina Aguilera, Beyonce', Shakira, Jessica Simpson, Justin Timberlake and Janet have current product, and making sure they know who Rihanna, Nelly Furtado, and Gnarls Barkley are. And in the summer, Top 40 has its best chance of having the medium to itself, something that also benefited the early Adult Hits outlets.
There should also be some thought given to quarter-year maintenance. Summer has historically been a good book for Top 40. Fall has not. With so much all-ages product currently available, PDs should give some thought to contesting that starts before Labor Day and carries adult listeners into the fall. (Or, for that matter, follows teens away from their summer jobs and back to their rooms, where they can go back to more solitary methods of finding their music.)
Finally, with so many places to hear old music in any given market these days, Top 40 needs to reestablish itself as the place to hear new music-particularly when there's much new music worth hearing. Cumulus/Atlanta OM Rob Roberts, then the PD of WHYI (Y100) Miami, remarked in the late '90s that you could tell when the current product was good because it was more compelling than any gold-based holiday-weekend feature. Five years ago, that wasn't the case. But having heard a July 4th weekend full of retro product, one can confidently say now that the new music is better than "Ice Ice Baby." (And wasn't it scary when it wasn't?)
And now, please post your thoughts on how to take advantage of the current strong Top 40 product.