Warning: Bliss-following is contagious!

It's been far too long since I've shared my progress in producing The Miracle in July, my online genre-busting manuscript experiment which has me poking holes in my comfort zones and oozing all kinds of spectacular experiences. Since July 6th I've faithfully, weekly, published one prologue and 10 segments for a total of 35,005 words. It's been unbelievably scary to publish drafts of my very personal, very erotic story so that I may someday see my words bound in a cover, kicking it on the shelf at Powell's Books.

It's been a very scary experience, and also fucking amazing. Here's why: Inspiration. I have inspired people. Yes! Me!

It's so hard to express in words (How is this possible that I cannot express things in words??) how fantastic it feels to be told by your peers, your readers, your loved ones, that blatantly baring your darkness and aiming for what you desire inspires them to do the same. Some of you are painting again. Some are trying your own hand at multimedia storytelling. Some are trying again to follow your bliss, a journey that was abandoned when life got in the way. You have been calling, writing, whispering you inspired me.

What a precious phrase to hear!

I heard a lot of these happy noises of the inspiration that MIJ brings last Saturday at the party I threw at Leisure Public House in St. Johns. About 40 of my closest fanatics gathered with me to celebrate the beginning of Act Two of The Miracle in July. We drank gin and lemonade, ate gorgeous red velvet cupcakes with fondant starlings on them (thanks again @megheroonie!) and I gave away buttons and CDs of music and gift certificates. The much-anticipated and utterly gorgeous MIJ locket line made its debut, and I even sold quite a few copies of my signed, limited-run, newly revised drafts of Act One. (I have like four left...send me a message if you want one!) We all had a damned fine time, as you can see:



We're a beautiful bunch, aren't we? There are a couple of photos that didn't make the cut for public viewing, however, like the one where I am sitting on the couch like a lady and my cotton black and tan animal print panties are clearly visible. Something about the camera angle and the fact that I have acres of legs makes it possible to see my crotch. OMG! I've been Lohan-Speared! My freak-out about this isn't so much the exposure they are clean panties (after all, I've already decided to pose for Playboy if they call) as it is that the MIJ fan base is growing so fast that now I fear I must always wear underwear in public. And shave down there. In case of paparazzi. (Or Aaron Hockley.) Damned pseudo-celebrity status!

Speaking of fans, the word about The Miracle in July is spreading fast! The Facebook fan page adds new members every day, and people have been tweeting, bookmarking, and emailing the hell out of it. I so love the randomness of how new readers find it. "I saw a retweet." "I was looking up the lyrics of a song you embedded in your story." "You linked to me, and I read a little and got hooked." Awesome!

Even awesome-r is that the quality of the feedback has been phenomenal. Advice and suggestions from all of you have influenced my writing and the configuration of the MIJ site. I re-wrote the "about the author" and "about the story" pages and re-arranged the navigation. I added an Amazon store for music featured in my story. I added a "draft" graphic to all the segments, and made it easier for new readers to get to the Prologue so they could follow my bliss – follow the story – from the very beginning.

There are things I still need to work on, like better use of interactive maps in the story, and there are things that I've promised have not materialized, like a members-only section. But I've learned it's OK to not be perfect all the time, a lesson that is a big part of publishing drafts of my memoir. I do my best writing and then I put it out there in its imperfect form, just publish it, and then crank out another segment the next week. And I know the work won't be done even after I post the Epilogue after the end of Act Three! I'll still have lots of work to do on the story and lots more work to get the story out in book form. But as I begin Act Two I find I have so much more confidence then that fateful morning last July when I began publishing my bliss. And I have my readers to thank for that confidence.

I've learned so much already during the production of MIJ, and the most unexpected outcome, the most powerful magic, has been discovering that this story of mine more important than just me. There is something larger at work here. Knowing so many of you are experiencing my story along with me, getting to hear your encouragement, and being told that I've inspired others to try their own hand at following their bliss – all of that tells me that I'm doing something right. I just might be onto something here with this "follow your bliss" thing. It makes the painful extraction of my words to describe my own journey so very worth it.

Thank you all for sharing this with me, and for embarking on your own journey to answer this question: Do you have what it takes to follow your bliss?

There's only one way to find out. <3

Let's go steady!

My story so far: first musings in following my bliss

Early tomorrow morning with be the ninth time in as many weeks that I've faithfully published a new segment on The Miracle in July, my guerrilla publishing experiment. I'm busting my emotional chops every seven days in the name of achieving my bliss, but that's not all I've been doing. Oh, no. I've gotten lots more done.

Let's start with the big news, shall we?


I'm very excited to announce that boutique literary agency Baker's Mark has agreed to represent me in publishing The Miracle in July! Bernadette and Gretchen, the ladies of Baker's Mark, are eager fans of the MIJ who like the story, the format, and the boundaries I'm pushing. When I started publishing my story I had no specific plans to find an agent, and instead I concentrated on producing good content and readers to read it. I also didn't actually find Baker's Mark, in fact didn't know anything about them, until I met Bernadette at Beer and Blog, the weekly bloggers networking event I write for and help promote.

Not only am I very surprised to have agency representation even before I've finished Act One of MIJ, I am also sighing with relief! Knowing who will represent me in big stuff like publishing rights is one less thing I need to fret about. I sincerely believe Baker's Mark is a perfect match for my project. My assistant @MeaganKate and I sat down with Bernadette and Gretchen not long ago and while we all agreed that the MIJ, my interactive manifestation of destiny, is a hugely ambitious project, we also all agree that we're up for the challenge.

Editorial Note: I promoted @MeaganKate from Intern to Personal Assistant the day I said yes to Baker's Mark, of course -- that girl is my good luck charm!

I'm also very pleased to say Apture, the multimedia tool I that makes my story so interactive, featured MIJ as Site of the Week. They also said this very nice thing about me: "There is no denying she has talent." Sweet! I've also been interviewed about my project on OurPdx and The Abundant Artist and received manymanymany private messages and tweets from esteemed friends and virtual strangers asking questions, giving suggestions, and offering to spread the word about my story.

In other news, I recently spent some time with talented local photographer @richburroughs who shot some promotional photos of me on gorgeous film at my home. (You can see a couple of digital shots on Flickr, here.) And in a few days @MeaganKate and I will be on Strange Love Live, a technology-focused podcast hosted by the lovely @CamiKaos, to talk about MIJ.

@MeaganKate and I have also made several major additions to The Miracle in July web site:

• Donations to support me as I write the story can now be made on the site
• A press page was added and embedded with a social media press release (complete with TwitPitch, links to the MIJ Flickr page and Friendfeed page, and preferred keywords)
• A fan page was added and contains links to MIJ badges and desktop images
  
• The images page is now an RSS feed from the MIJ Flickr page
  
• The About the Story and About the Author pages were re-written
• The Table of Contents was moved to the far right, out of the posting area
• "Like this story? Please consider [donating]" was added to the bottom of posts

Whew! As you can see, a lot has happened in the two months I've been writing The Miracle in July. And thanks to this self-imposed, admittedly brutal schedule crafting weekly installments of a very important experience in my past, I have learned a lot, too, about myself and the life of being a writer. I am beginning to understand how to coax my muse into reaching each piece of the story's puzzle inside of me. I can see that I take care in choosing the words that stay in, and that I worry about the words I should leave out. I watch the struggle of picking out the perfect media elements to help my readers be there with me, be in that moment. I listen to hours of music for that inspirational hook a song's title brings to my words. And I dig into the digital records of my past, scour the pages for storytelling clues. And while I do all of this creating, I must also make lists of ways to introduce MIJ to new readers.

So, yes. I've been a very busy girl since I last wrote here, and boy am I looking forward to the end of Act One. When that happens I'm taking a short hiatus from posting and instead will be focusing a bit on re-writing Act One, into turning it into a beautiful eBook for downloading and into a manuscript for my new agents to show off.

I also have many other exciting things in the works -- things I can't talk about just yet, but will just as soon as I can. In the meantime, I'm going to keep up with the type-ity type type. I'm going to keep following my bliss. It seems to be working in my favor so far. =)

Let's go steady!

The Miracle in July: I'm just getting started

Tomorrow will be the third week since I unleashed The Miracle in July into the wild, and the overwhelmingly positive response continues to thrill me. Tweets, emails and personal conversations with readers about my project have brought fantastic feedback about things to try in the future and what isn't working just yet. The "brutally honest, compelling" writing is a hit, the embedded media elements are dead-on, and my lofty, ambitious balls are basking in accolades. The launch of my storytelling project was good, really good, and I've only just begun.

There are also a lot of questions about what the hell it is. What IS The Miracle in July?

At the moment I'm calling it a semi-autobiographical venture in destiny manifestation. I hesitate to call it a fictionalized memoir because that phrase pricks the eyeballs of many in the publishing industry, and also because it's mostly true. I have many thoughts about a blanket refusal to accept all genre-bending works as equal and acceptable. I mean, if Publisher's Weekly is touting Jane Austin Monster Mashup novels (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters) then who the fuck dare tell me there is no such thing as a true life story set in the future? #seriously

The Miracle in July is my experiment in reverse-engineered publishing. The online publication is only the first step in seeing my story on the shelf at Powell's Books one day. I'm using blogging software to tell this story and as much online user-generated content and social media tools as possible. Not having to spend copious amounts of money on advertising or development is what makes publishing the story online first so attractive. Add to that the instant feedback from readers and the chance to build a frenzied fan club, and I've got myself a win-win situation.

I also found myself an Intern, one who really understands the vision of my ambitious project. @MeaganKate is gorgeous and sassy and super smart, and loves me and the story. She's also a really great writer. We've begin scheming, and this tweet pretty much sums up our plan. Meagan will be helping me get the word out about The Miracle in July. By this I mean she'll help me "pimp it real good" using both traditional and new media methods, and figure out new ways to share what I'm up to. I need readers to read it and authors who want to try my experiment in reverse-engineered publishing, too. We're also looking for a forward-thinking publisher who wants to help redefine how books are promoted and created. Meagan is damned qualified to do this and I'm lucky to have her.

If you'd like to help me get the word out, I invite you to go to The Miracle in July and click on the following image (they're at the bottom of eacg page and segment) and share or save it to your favorite bookmarking and social networks. There is also a hashtag to use on Twitter, if you want: #themiracle. For those of you who have done that for me already, I can't tell you how much it means to me. Wait! Yes I can! THIS MEANS SO MUCH TO ME! THANK YOU!

The Miracle in July has a solid, juicy structure thanks to my wonderful plot editor @jcrotham, a guy I've known since we were kids. JC is overly educated in old dead guy literature and angsty screenplay writing exploring existentialism. He's been writing stories and agonizing over details and plot arcs for as long as I've known him. Perfect! He keeps me on track and my feathers smoothed. Let me tell you: that's not easy. This story is already kicking my ass, and with 30-40 more segments (and weeks) to go, really his job is to keep my ass looking good.

In addition to cranking out one new segment a week, on Monday mornings, I'll soon have a Members Section for tasty Easter egg linkies and other goodies, a social media press page for "copy this code" badges, blog widgets and links to published articles about The Miracle in July. And yes, soon you'll be able to pre-order the gorgeously designed eBook version of Act One. It'll be missing it's interactive media, of course, but the writing is designed to stand alone and you won't be too sad that it's not there. (My Wish to the Universe: hurry up and make an affordable eReader with clickable hyperlinks. There's a huge market for it!)

Want to know more about The Miracle in July? Contact me. Please. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy reading my life story and watching me follow my bliss.

Meow!

Let's go steady!

Happy birthday to me (and my type-ity type type) on #july6

Lately, certain things in my life have been left to their own devices or forgotten outright. Such things include regular household cleaning, renewing the license tags on my car, and tending to my garden. My teenager also complains of being left alone too much, forgotten. While he's been touting his alleged neglect for years now like a badge of honor, he enjoys near-constant computing and delicious, homemade I-feel-guilty meals. However, he's probably right on some level. (Just to be clear: not anywhere near the "legal definition of neglect" level.)

All this letting things go by the wayside is because of the type-ity type type.

You may have noticed I tweet a lot about getting ready to, being in the midst of, or just finishing up some type-ity type type. I've been working a lot, for months and months, on something very special. It is hugely ambitious, deeply personal, and requires much balls out soul searching. And a lot of type-ity type type. This leads to laxity in keeping attention on anything else.

For instance, my poor garden. Those tiny spaces in my yard that yield fragrant flowers, alien veggies and mindful clarity has not been touched in months. After planting some onions, peas, and two kinds of lettuce I kind of just...stopped spending time there. And I've missed it. I truly heart my garden and its permission to experiment with nature. Sinking my hands into the soil has always brought my brain to task, triggering in me a state of deeply focused thinking. But lately I've been busy, insanely busy, with the type-ity type type.

Yesterday I finally got the chance to work in my sunny garden for a few hours. The weather was perfect for it, I had the time to get dirty, and I needed an inner dialogue with the voice of experience that comes when I physically connect to the Earth. When I was done kneeling on the ground, pulling weeds and pushing plants into dirt, I had some things figured out, a sense of calm, and 24 mature, rouge, sweet cherry tomato plants. Offspring from last year's crop.



I guess this means my garden was neither neglected nor forgotten, hm?

Today, while I re-potted those 24 tomato plants, my mind entertained the idea that if this special, deeply personal secret project of mine and its intense, intensive hours of type-ity type type didn't kill my garden or starve my teenager or get me a ticket (special thank you to the Portland cop who gave me a warning and waved me along) then maybe. Just maybe. It won't ruin me, either. Maybe it's not only a good idea to move forward with my plans, but a great one. One that could bring great things.

We'll see next Monday, the morning of #july6. That's when I'm setting my project adrift for all the world to see, to ultimately embrace or reject. I hope my hard work, this endless type-ity type type, will all make sense once the journey begins, and I hope the message of it is not lost in the translation, and that the risk and effort I'm making is at the very least respected.

And that night I'm celebrating my birthday at the Leisure Public House (in St. Johns, of course) and will be giving away these rouge sweet cherry tomato plants that grow, with or without me. I hope there's some hardy specialness in them for whomever wants them, and that you join me and in a drink or two.

Won't be the same without you there, telling me how sexy my gynormous balls are on #july6.

RSVP on upcoming.org

Let's go steady!

A Musical Ode to the Social Web

Ah, the social Web. That transparent, mystical place were friends and lovers come together and break apart, where digital footprints are forever (thanks to the Way Back Machine and Google's seemingly infinite file storage space), and where you can easily be found by the boy who held your sweaty hand for three seconds in the shady corner of the playground in the 2nd grade.

This is the age of worldwide community, of Internet Rock stars, of diluted importance on geographical location. Social media allows the walls surrounding information and potential relationships to dissolve, and propels anyone with a good idea and a understanding of social capital (read: Whuffie) a chance to catch the attention of millions of eyeballs. As mediaChick, someone who sees geeks and online media boundary-pushers as the Beatles of our times, the social Web has become a breeding ground for opportunities for true innovation. And I don't toss that word "innovation" around lightly.

I heart it so, this social Web. I heart it for the unlimited possibilities it affords the human race. In honor of my love affair, here's a small collection of music with a social Web bent. Enjoy!

And to the boy on the playground: we've grown apart, I'm afraid. Your Twitter stream is full of hockey scores and weekend hunting stories, and mine has coffee foam art twitpics and punctuation. Consequently, I won't be following you back. Sorry.

MySpace by Chicks on Speed

Craigslist by Weird Al



Twitter by Ingrid Michaelson

Facebook by Rhett and Link

Flickr by Jonathan Coulton

Let's go steady!

How to get rid of boys FAST!

In honor of Ms. Erin Patton's 11th year on this planet, I am re-posting this from another place I used to blog (somewhere that rhymes with ByPlace) because said Ms. Erin modeled for me in the feature photo. She gave it that visual somethin-somethin every how-to article needs.

Happy birthday, girl!

Ladies…have you ever innocently walked down the street, only to be harassed by foul-mouthed boys wanting your love? Are you constantly fending off males who just can't grasp the concept that you're not interested? Sick of horrendously bad pick up lines, such as "If you were a laser, you'd be set on "stunning"? Dead tired of downplaying your beauty and awesome personality so the boys won't follow you home at night? Me too…but NO MORE!

Designed to repel even the most determined males instantly, my Wormlips Technique is portable, user friendly, utterly disgusting, and highly effective. In fact it's so effective that I have used it successfully for many years, keeping the undesirables at bay easily and quickly! My innovative Technique has been tested thoroughly and under the strictest standards and auditing procedures, and now that I am convinced that the Wormlips Technique will CHANGE YOUR LIFE FOREVER!

And now…for a LIMITED TIME only…I'm sharing this valuable Technique with you in the hopes that women everywhere can experience relief from constant unwanted attention.

Wormlips Technique: Explained
As seen in the photo, the Wormlips Technique causes the lower face to appear as if there are a couple of large, fat worms surrounding the mouth. (Modeling my Wormlips Technique is my protégé genius Ms. Erin, aged 8. Her form is perfect, no?) Contorting the face like this makes the stomach of all XY chromosome-based human life forms to churn. Next, an involuntary grimace of disgust appears, followed by the avoidance of eye contact and quick abandonment of the goal to get you into bed. Hurray!

Wormlips Technique: Three Easy Steps!

1. Fold your lower lip down, exposing the worm-flesh colored skin and covering up your lower lip. If you can't keep your lip folded over, you will need to practice this. Keep at it! However, if you're one of the unfortunates with a mouth that "just isn't built that way" then you are destined to be harassed by depraved men who blatantly undress you with their eyes. Sorry. Everyone else, on to Step 2!
2. Stick your flattened tongue out halfway, folding it up to cover up your upper lip. Viola! The Wormlips Technique in its full glory!
3. Engage in the Technique and reclaim your right to be a beautiful, self-fulfilled woman without risk of attracting that loser who just won't take "no" for an answer.

See how easy it is? Don't let another minute go by… reclaim your life and ACT NOW!

Monetary donations are accepted.

Let's go steady!

Social media learning: for business AND pleasure

Last week, Kevin Jones of Engaged Learning invited me to participate in his Working/Learning Carnival. This is where a bunch of people write blog posts with a theme and the host of the Carnival, that would be Mr. Jones, gathers up the post links and lists them all in a post on the host's blog.

I met Kevin last year at an eLearning convention in San Jose. It was on this trip that I took those awesomesauce* photos of the Leonardo exhibit at the Tech. Remember? Go read My First (Dead Man) Crush for the whole, geeky story. I was at this convention courtesy of what most people would consider my "real" job. I have a full time job with benefits and a 401(k) that pays me to produce multimedia education elements and concern myself with maintaining the company's online reputation. I know I'm lucky to have this job, and I work very hard planning and producing, 40 hours a week.

Kevin's presentation at the convention was about overcoming the objections to using social media in learning environments. It impressed me. More important than impressing me was that Kevin is from Portland, Oregon. That day he pretty much guaranteed himself a spot in my Twitter stream. In case you aren't aware of the inner-workings of the mind of mediaChick (which is an experience in and of itself and not a recommended activity within one hour of eating) being from Portland is always going to get you my Gold Star of Awesomeness (GSA). Especially when mediaChick is far from home in a land of strangers and weirdly shaped trees with pointy bark and gynormous** green fans shooting out of the top of them.

Editorial note: Please don't move here solely for the purpose of getting a GSA unless you already have a job lined up. You'll be inflating our unemployment numbers and that just ain't Gold Star of Awesome.

I spend a fair amount of time keeping up with the constant influx of new technologies, theories and trends that affect my job. This means I get to spend time learning for work and go to conventions in places with strange foliage, and this is a beautiful thing. I love to learn! If information was a tangible thing, I would figure out a way to wear it, eat it and breath it. At the same time. Learning for work is a perk for me, and provides me with another bonus: the opportunity to learn things that also help me as a social media consultant.

Yes, in addition to writing and producing eLearning media, I am a social media consultant in my (I have no) spare time. It has become an eye-roller lately, this moniker "social media consultant." It joins "expert" and "guru" as labels that once meant a lot, if applied legitimately, but with overuse has become diluted. Look at what's happened to the word "innovative." So much is "innovative" now. This is the age of mashups, for a reason. You dig? And while some wonderful things are admittedly Super-Cool (read: mp3 players, GPS, the Googles) they're only Super-Cool, not "innovative." Innovative is the electric switch, the automobile and the silicon wafer. But does that discredit the Super-Coolness of the mp3 player technology? Nope.

I'm fine with being merely Super-Cool as a social media consultant, and not a guru or expert. I don't consult to be known as one. I'm happy enough reveling in the real power behind consulting and teaching the what and the how of using social media: all the learning that it requires. That spells A-W-S-O-M-E-S-A-U-C-E, yo. With a capital A.

Being a consultant is about sharing information, listening and advising. My job is to teach people what social media is and why they might care to know more about it. And if they want me to, I give them a plan on how to use social media tools to their benefit. Yes, I also execute brand strategy and build reputation dashboard monitors and all that other buzzword stuff...but the more I consult and listen and share my social media knowledge, the more I realize that my expertise (and all the real fun) is in the counseling.

I enjoy figuring out where a person or business is in their social media life, where they want to be, and helping them figure out how to get there. And in the process of learning and researching things that might help this person or that business, I am provided the bonus opportunity of learning things that also help me in my "real" job.

Social media isn't innovative. It's not hard to figure out, or implement. There is certainly no lack of information available online and off, written by amazing people with blogs waaaay more popular than mine. (Go read Connie Bensen, Maki and Dawn Foster's words.) These are smart, professional people who teach and listen and advise, for money. Like I do. There are a lot of social media consultants in the world today, but I don't see them as my competition. There's plenty of learning and teaching to go around. And as long as my job (or jobs, I should say) involve the opportunity to learn, I am satisfied.

I know there's nothing more Super-Cool than empowering another person with information that has empowered you.

I will link to Kevin's Working/Learning Carnival post when it is up. In the meantime, I wanna hear it: what are your thoughts on working and learning?

awesomesauce* For the record, I first heard this little ditty in a tweet from either @caseorganic or @corvida. Regardless of the source and the fact that everyone else on this planet has been "awesomesaucing" themselves silly without me all this time, they're both awesomesauce and you should be following them on Twitter.

gynormous** For the record, I came up with this little ditty. I think. And also for the record, the best part about it is the "gyn". Because secretly I am a 12 year old boy.

Let's go steady!

Perception is personal (and consequently, not negotiable)

Image via Wikipedia

The last few days are pockmarked with examples proving without a doubt that perception is personal. Some of them affecting me personally, some not. All jarring, nonetheless.

Time and again a perception disconnect has played out. Involving situations of multiple points of views of such stark contrast, delivered with such absolute conviction, it tugs at my belief the Universe wants to make damned sure I've learned this lesson: individual opinion is personal, based on the whole of a life time of experiences and current thinking processes.

I am greatly influenced by and quite aware of this disconnect. This is that place in conversations and relationships where differing strongly-held opinions are so utterly contrasting that both parties are left scratching their heads in wonder. Questions like How could anyone possibly look at the evidence and see it any other way? and Who in their right minds, after all that has been said and done, could believe otherwise? populate thoughts.

I find exploring the answer to these questions powerful writing fodder. But that's prose, what I make up. In real life, I find disconnected perceptions a terrible burden. They make my heart race and my hackles raise. Realizing I'm not on the same page as another person, sometimes not even the same book written in a language I comprehend, is a nightmare.

I would prefer it if petty conflict was passe and bitter smallness was a curable disease, but it's not. I imagine I would be much more open to letting naturally insensitive creatures into my life if I could assure at least the resemblance of decorum, but I cannot.

What I can do, however, is limit the amount of petty conflict, bitter smallness and insensitive creatures in my life. And yes, I can write about it. I can work through the shifting intricacies of disconnected personal perceptions in my stories. I can refuse to take part in "going there" when pressed repeatedly to explain the reasoning behind my convictions, maybe in the hopes that I'll change my mind. And I can remind myself that an opposing view has just as much a right to exist as mine, even if I am undoubtedly sure mine is the "right" view.

In the construction of the storyline running through my current project, I find I am always thinking of this conflict. It almost feels I've manifested these recent real-life examples of personal perception disconnects to help me write the pieces that go in it, to help give me insight into the complexities of the relationships between people, to help me be a better writer and person. But it sucks, really sucks, when these complexities and disconnects threaten my world despite my best efforts.

So to the Universe I say this: it is my contention that this disconnect, this illusion of what is truth and what is fiction, is already a central theme in my life. I am quite aware of it, I study it, I live it. Therefore, I recommend the Universe drop the shovel, and step away from the hole. I'd like to move on to other life lessons, please. Perhaps in the way of learning to feel peaceful for long periods of time. I could use some of that.

Let's go steady!

How to write better and faster (and why the library makes me sexy)

Image by margolove via Flickr

I like to go to the free writing classes the Multnomah County Library offers to the general public. They have a huge number of interesting programs and events to go to: classes and workshops on a wide range of topics, special interest clubs, exhibits, storytelling times -- and all of it is conveniently listed online on the library's Event Finder page.

I'm a big library fan (duh) and therefore-hereto-consequently am freaking excited to report that @melissalion and I will be teaching our Social Media in Real Life class on May 8th. This is really great news for the mediaChick brand. Teaching at the library is super sexy, and I'm all about promoting the idea that smart = sexy.

So, I've attended a few writing classes at the library, and although most of the classes are geared toward the beginning writer I find they're invaluable for gaining perspective on the art of getting my damned words out in some sort of sensible, cohesive form. It takes work to make words look this good. In fact, I find it can be really, really hard. (Which of course means it's worth doing.)

Recently I attended a class called Speed Depth in Fiction Writing, taught by local author Laura Whitcomb. Laura talked through some techniques she uses to write third draft stuff the first time around in her "how to" book Novel Shortcuts.

So at yesterday's class I listened to what Laura had to say about her experiences as a full-time writer and the things that help her write faster, better. Although I didn't learn anything new, I did get a cheat-sheet of sorts on how to quickly crank out a story's blueprint. I think I'll find that most helpful because I'm a hardcore list-maker and need structure for my muse to be happy.

Here is an overview of the most goodest advice, with my "buck-fifty" comments thrown in. (I think we all know that I have comments to throw in.):

Create a soundtrack for your story
Search for songs that emulate your story, its climax moments, its characters. Play them when you write, starting with the one tune that really nails the overall feeling of your story. Your story's title track. End your soundtrack with the scene that best conveys your ending scene. Everything in between is up to you, but should include music from the time period of your story, music culturally relevant, etc.

Movie soundtracks are the best place to look for music that has an emotional charge, but without lyrics. Music without lyrics is optimal for writing for most people. Then you have people like me: fiercely attracted to music that first sucker punches me with a delicious melody and then finishes me off with lyrics that blow my mind. Consequently, my story soundtracks often contain all songs with lyrics -- distractions be damned.

Let the Masters guide you
When your best efforts to write a scene in your story the way you want it isn't happening, when you're struggling to make a decision about solving a tricky plot problem, try to remember how another, more experienced writer has pulled it off. For Pete's sake, don't rip off the Masters, only emulate the Masters. They know more than you and you'd be a better writer if you paid attention to how they go about solving the problems of their characters in their stories.

Random thoughts are not random
Laura calls this sensation your "sensory ghosts" and I call them "Ah-ha! moments" but they both boil down to the same thing: your subconscious is connecting the dots for you. The next time you're working away on something and suddenly you're reminded of a totally random phrase in a book, or a poem, or a person from your past, ask yourself "why." You'll find your brain has been working hard, along side you, and has found something new to consider in your writing. Perhaps the beat of the poem will make that clumsy intro paragraph finally work, or a quote from somebody else's character will inspire you to write a better plot line. When this happens to you, this "out of the blue" idea, you should probably shut up and listen to it.

If it stinks, cut it down at the knees
This is something I have found to be most useful in my quest to eradicate my tendency to be too wordy when I just can't get a scene to come together the way I want it to. Here's how you do it: Starting from the bottom of your page, read backwards through your disappointing sentences until you find one that you think is actually pretty effing good. Hack everything that follows it. All of the stinky, not awesome sentences. Ah...feels good, doesn't it?

Perfect your story's Big Moment
In every great story there must be critical passages that the reader's mind will drift to when thinking about it. That's what makes it a great story. There should be, however, one defining passage -- one moment that encapsulates the very essence of your story's awesomeness. That trait, what Laura calls a "cross hairs" moment, is in every single great story in the history of great stories. Make sure your story has one, and that it rocks.

Take the shortcut to the scene
This is a great way for writers who want to cut through the hemming and hawing prevalent in the early stage of creation, all that namby-pamby emotional back story crap that bogs me down because I'm INFJ and only sharing my writing with the public due to my fear of mortality. I require structure to create, and deadlines, because the creative process isn't a natural process. It doesn't just ooze out of me and I can't turn on and off the floodgates. The writer, the artist, the sculptor, the turn-table king -- we're all creative people who need to induce the muse to come out and play.

Here's one way for writers to quickly plot out a story's scenes (one page per scene):

1. Start with a short description of what should happen in the scene. Use regular type font.
2. Write a few lines of dialogue that supports what's happening in the scene. Use bold font.
3. Write for ten minutes, as fast as you can. Faster than your speeding, nay-saying inner critic. Use italic font. Next, go back through and bold 10 or so phrases you really like. You probably recognize this writing method (which you probably learned in high school) as free writing or stream-of-consciousness writing. Laura calls it a "heartstorm" which is cute, but I don't always write from my heart. I shall call it free writing, with the unspoken understanding that the sub-types are "heart," "brain" and "sex organs."
   
4. Print out your one-page outline, the bones of your scene, and keep it within eyesight while you write your third draft of it the first time out, the flesh of your scene.
   

Positive thought: not just for New Agers
Visualize whirled peas aside, the power of positive thinking cannot be denied. A good attitude and hopeful optimism is critical to your success and the health of your writer's ego. Since that statement is coming from a natural pessimist, I encourage you to give some weight to the idea that it can help your writing career and your writing. Here are some tips and tricks to get yourself in the right frame of mind for your undoubtedly pending fame and fortune:

• Write the copy for the jacket of your future book, your bio for the online column you want to pen, or the accolades from your wordsmith heroes tooting the talent horn.
• Go get your author photo taken and introduce yourself as a writer (even if you feel you aren't one. Yet.)
  
• Visualize breaking through barriers or walls. Literally. Write words on the walls or hang things on it that represent your barriers (people, places, things) and then use your hands, a sledgehammer, a cannon, whatever your little heart desires, to bust it down.
  
• Fantasize about your impending fame and fortune. I recommend you do this right before falling asleep or within 5 minutes of waking, because those are the times of day your sub-conscious mind is still more in charge than the conscious mind. As the conscious mind likes to remind you that, no, you are not a wildly successful and sought-after writer on permanent working vacation in the tropical isles, you'll want to focus your fantasy life to when your mind is more receptive.

Well, there you are. I hope you found this informative, and not a re-hashing of things you already knew about the craft of getting your words right. Or, if it is, that I was at least entertaining enough for you. I'll be trying out Laura's "shortcuts to the scene" tips, a good story plotter for my list-loving brain, and continuing with the other things mentioned here I'm already doing.

To my writer readers: any other tips to share on writing better, faster? Any of these ideas new to you, or something you might try? Drop me a comment or contact. I'd love to know! Meow!

Let's go steady!

Not scared? Then you're doing it wrong

"If it isn't frightening, it's not worth doing."

I was ruminating with Ed Borasky (@znmeb) about that old adage yesterday at Beer and Blog. We sat at the bar together, I drank the lovely dark stout @pdxflaneur bought me, Ed ate his aromatic clam chowder, and we discussed how the things we choose to do in life, the things that influence pivotal changes and pregnant possibilities, are often the scariest experiences in life.

Ed is a superincrediblytalented math guy who specializes in open source performance testing software. He likes to optimize things for efficiency and discuss the future of semantic Web, and his real first name is Maurice. (He's also available for hire, so if you're looking for a superincrediblytalented math guy you should go check him out).

Talking to Ed makes me feel smart-ish, because I can work in smart-ish phrases when I talk to him: "Profiling Ruby is soooo 21st Century" and "Done with that paper on algorithmic composition and synthesis of music yet?" for instance.

Quite honestly I'm not sure what he's getting out of our chats, but he's very nice to indulge me when the topic is the art of being human.

The byword If it isn't frightening, it's not worth doing is similar to other, familiar Life in a Nutshell versions I live by. That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger and If it's hard it must be good for you are themes I know well, as a writer and a human. I weave them into my stories, and I live and breathe them. I'm betting you do, too.

And I try to do scary things, every single day. I stretch my personal boundaries and talk to strangers, acting like that's no big deal. I blindly trust in my capabilities and capacity for being the best, most awesome me I can be. I am also working on the biggest, most personal media project of my life. The kind that solicits reactions from friends and strangers praising my bravery and questioning my sanity.

It's not bravery. It may be insanity. But always It is frightening, and therefore worth doing.

No matter how loud my instinctive personality kicks and screams, of course preferring I NOT do these frightening things, I still do it. My instinct tells me it's necessary to plunder through. Even though I am not a risk-taker by any means. Even if I am not a fan of surprises, and need mental preparation for spontaneous acts of "winging it" (which isn't really winging it, FINE). I do it anyway.

But still, I want to live a life of rewarding personal fulfillment, not have life be what happens when I'm busy doing other stuff.

What kind of "life" is that?

If you're not taking chances once in a while -- really going for it, scaring yourself with the fierce desire to follow through -- then you're doing it wrong. Life deserves better from you.

Go, start, now. You'll be so glad you did. I know I am already, no matter what happens.

Let's go steady!

A Vibrator Story (like A Christmas Story, only completely different)

Image by Cranky Media Guy via Flickr

Now that my mother and little sister have traveled home from their very short visit to Portland, Oregon, and I have had a chance to reflect on the events that transpired, I am ready to tell the Vibrator Story.

After I finish the rest of this beer. Hold please.

Ah, yes. Let's get on with it:

I swear my mom and sis were in my house less than 10 minutes before (what shall henceforth be known as) The Great Dildo Reveal. I was giving my pregnant sister and cane-wielding elderly mother a tour of my home, catching them up to what I'd improved on since they were here last. So, while my teenage son brought in the luggage, they tottered around the place. It had been a few years since they'd seen my home, certainly before either one of them began tottering.

We made it to my recently painted bedroom and were admiring my skillz when I noticed my doggy @littlegyrl (YES she has a Twitter profile. DO NOT JUDGE ME.) had made herself a nice little napping nest on my bed. She takes great car in doing this, breaking into my room and making herself at home between my sheets, arranging the pillows and comforter just so. She's prolly getting even with me for avoid eye contact with her at bedtime, as neither I nor my son will let her sleep with us because she sheds more than the cat. (Also, she snores but will never admit to it.)

Now here comes the Comedy of Errors part: First, I said something to my mom about the dog getting inside my bed and leaving her mess. Mom is standing on one side of the bed, and I am on the other. She says something about how the dog is an Angel Baby and the Best Dog Ever and she just misses me is all, and can't I understand that? My sister, who is at the end of the bed, watches the exchange wryly. My mom pulls back my comforter to shake out the dog fur, and at this exact moment the teenage boy appears in the doorway.

Suddenly my mom says "Oh" in such a way that makes everyone turn and look at her. She is looking at my bed. We then, collectively, all look at what she's looking at: my vibrator laying on my fur-covered bed sheet.

(Well, duh. Where else would it be? Seriously.)

I say "MOM!" and steal a quick look at my teenage son, hoping to see a look shock so I can make a smarty-pants comment about women having needs, but he's not even blinking hard. Darn. My sister says "Uh, you can put the blanket down now." She does, finally, after a few very long seconds. My son rolls his eyes and walks out, audibly sighing.

Sigh, indeed.

And there you are, The Great Dildo Reveal. I don't know what lesson I'm supposed to learn here, as I have no inclination to boot my battery operated bed mate from the left side of the bed. Why should I?

But I'll tell you this: it was funny as hell, and a fairly perfect way to start a weekend off with visiting relatives.

Let's go steady!

Prelude to a vibrator story (a shiny Twitter distraction)

My mom and sister are in town visiting this weekend. They arrived on the Greyhound bus from small-town living in Eastern Oregon, loaded down with my niece fetus, sleep apnea machinery and Ikea dreams.

Within an hour of lugging their luggage into my home, my mother inadvertent unveiled my vibrator to everyone in the house. Including my horrified teenage son.

Oh, yes.

I'll write more on my weekend with visiting family, soon. In the meantime, please enjoy this video that you all should have watched by now: Old Man Stewart Shakes His Fist At Twitter

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Twitter Frenzy
comedycentral.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

If you haven't already, don't forget to subscribe to this blog so when that dildo post goes up you'll be sure to see it. (Because apparently having my teenage son, my mom and my sister check out my sex toy isn't embarrassing enough.)

Let's go steady!

Miss Me? Monday 3/30/09

Lest you think I've been slacking in the Department of Blogging, here's another installment of Miss Me? Monday. This is where I handily outline all the other places on the Internets that I've been awesome, so you don't miss a thing. Also, I crave the attention.

Let's begin, shall we?

Beer and Blog - Portland

Social causes are very important to me, so last week on the Beer and Blog...er, blog...I called for an End to Awkwardness. This call was answered by many, as evidenced by the quickness of the keg's depletion and the fact that I danced in public. (There is probably photographic evidence of this rare dancing event, but I just checked Flickr and so far nothing has come up. Yet.)

I Heart Media - Vox

If you care to notice, I continue to leak my dreams and fears into my Vox blog. I shared Notte Sento, a short, gorgeous stop-motion film about two young and attractive strangers who spend the night together on the streets of Rome. The ditty from Vedera called Satisfy (Desire on Repeat) is about going for it (in regards to matters of the heart). And let me tell you, some people are never satisfied. I called Metronomy "a clever British band with a sexysmooth Casio-influenced new wave sound." After seeing their music video I am now adamant my next home will be an English manor and that no soccer balls will be allowed.

Long Lunch PDX

I wrote a basic "what the hellz is..." piece that I'm quite pleased with called Feeds for Free - RSS Feeds in Real Life. I worked hard at making a potentially technical subject matter into prose that was non-technical and simple. AND I successfully integrated both ninja kitties and skeeball championships into the examples. ROCK. ON. (Remember, I can work this kinda magic for you too, dear reader. Contact me and we'll get you all magical-like in no time.)

So ends another installment of Miss Me? Monday. I hope you enjoyed your trip around the Internets. But why miss me at all? Subscribe and never miss a thing!

Let's go steady!

Nothing says "I care" like taking off your clothes

Image via Wikipedia

Funny story how I ended up as July in the Naked for a Cause 2010 charity calendar. I know you've heard me yap about it before, but here's a recap anyway: its purpose is to monetarily benefit a few very worthwhile local organization and features twelve months of some of my favorite tech-heads in Portland. Plus me. I'm in it, too.

Some would (and have) argued that technically I am wearing something: a half-apron (handmade by me and super cute) with a teeny white laptop, held in front of me. Be that as it may, I assure you I am plenty naked. Believe me, you don't know naked until at the exact moment it's time to take off your clothes so Aaron Hockley can take a bajillion photos of your bare-ass-ness, your dear (since high school for frick's sake) girlfriend blasts cheesey stripper music.

Now that's naked, my friends. Naked, and so very alone.

But if you're not convinced I'm naked enough, you should go buy a calendar and see for yourself. Better yet, you should buy one this Sunday at the Get Naked for a Cause Champagne Autograph party! (It's at the Muddy Waters Coffeehouse on SE Belmont, and runs 6-8pm.)

Even at the risk of brain damage from Sharpie fumes, I've been practicing both my In Real Life name and Twitter handle all week. Trying to find that balance between flourish and class isn't easy, you know.

Go RSVP now on upcoming.org.

But back to the funny story of how I ended up as July. About a year before I was persuaded by calendar proprietresses and fellow raven-haired lasses @colemangirl and @wonderwendy77 to pose, I was in a major emotional funk. (I didn't exactly make it easy on them, either.) As I lay on my cool leather couch, second-guessing every single decision I've made in my life, I happened to catch Calendar Girls on television. I clearly remember thinking to myself, "$&^# me! Now there's something I'd never do. Psshaw!"

It's funny, because in the last year my perception of who I am and what I am capable of has actually changed me into the kind of person who'd would do that. That's freaking hilarious to me, this beautiful simplicity in the enrichment of point of view you gain as a result of embracing life and moving forward, of believing and following your bliss.

It might as well be The Secret to Life: Nothing's impossible.

Let's go steady!

Clearly I need to work on the mediaChick brand (or do I?)

Like all self-respecting social media consulting professionals, I often vanity search. This is, of course, because a person's self-worth is directly tied to how many times their links appear on the first page of search results. (As I'm pretty sure I saw that fact stated on a slide in one of the bajillion SEO presentations I've seen on Slideshare, it must be true.)

So, here is what comes up when I search "i heart media" in The Googles:

First page, second link, there I am. Got myself tagged "journalism" you see. That's like, NEWS and stuff. Me likes it. When you think about "i heart media" you should be thinking about writing and information (with a healthy dollop of me-me-me thrown in for prosperity.) Veeery Goooood.

Now, here's what we get when The Googles search "mediaChick":

Yeah, that's right. P0rn. I know who's responsible for this tag (cough@lollyraecough) and it looks like it's been that way for a while. But does it hurt the "mediaChick brand"?

My personal digital identity is decidedly far-flung, ranging from straight talk to jive talk. I write in many places online and off about about love, technology, life, music, relationships and baking (among other things) using both good words and naughty words. And, more than once, I have been caught in delicious moments of both utmost professionalism and omgyoudidNOTjustsaythat. Sometimes at the same time.

In my Social Media in Real Life class yesterday I talked about having a "digital self" online, which is the whole of the little pieces of you found around the Internet that together represent an online version of your "real" self. For instance, on the Long Lunch PDX blog I try to write in an approachable way that puts readers with technology anxiety at ease. That's my digital persona there, as a social media teacher. You won't ever see me using the kinds of photos I've used here on this blog. You've seen worse, I think.

It's all there on the Internet, bits and bytes of my digital self, sprinkled amongst the pages. Just waiting for some jokester (watch your back @lollyrae) to tag mediaChick as xxx-rated.

Although, you know? Kind of feels like a challenge.

Let's go steady!

The 5 Most Awesomest Firefox Add-ons

Firefox is my browser of choice. With the exception of my little affair with Chrome (we all went a little wild when it came out, didn't we?) I have been using it for more than three years.

And truly, if it left me I might die.

Like any good lover or Web productivity tool, Firefox has submerged itself into my everyday Internet experience. Certainly, it has changed the way I live my life.

The best thing about Firefox, which is one of the most successful open source programs out there, are the browser add-ons. The ability to customize my online environment using tools made by people who do the same kinds of things I do every day means I get useful tools. YAY!

Add-ons save me time and that makes me look awesome in the eyes of my clients. They give me the geek cred I crave when my colleagues erupt with gleeful schoolgirl giggling when I share newly discovered Firefox add-on nuggets of productivity deliciousness. From the boys even.

(Passionate love for a community-coded productivity app isn't weird, right? You know what? I don't care. True love needs no explanation.)

I've poured over my very long extensions list and culled it down to the 5 Firefox add-ons that I find absolutely invaluable. That have changed the way I do things on the Web. (Okay, there are actually many more, but for the sake of the average Internet reading attention span, let's stick to 5.)

The 5 Most Awesomest Firefox Add-ons

Apture Editor
[video]

With one line of code I can make interactive, multimedia infused, non-intrusive panels on any of my blogs thanks to Apture. The links in this very post -- which activate panels of related information upon click or mouseover to show videos, Web pages, even widgets -- were created in very little time.

Apture not only creates custom panels of content that popup quietly, these panels show any related content you may find and lists them as thumbnails along the bottom of the panel. You can use any of the numerous available types of searches for content to link to in any panel. Anything you want, from numerous sources. You can also point to any custom url or embed a widget in a panel.

Try it out (click the Edit this Page button)

Zotero
[video]

This amazing Firefox extension was developed by the Center of New Media and History to help students collect, manage, and cite research sources for their papers in 2006. But its amazing capacity as a reference maintenance software is only the beginning.

It automagically stores whole Web pages and anything on a Web page (PDFs, files, media, links) for labeling, tagging, and categorizing. The export function allows one-click bibilographies, indexes and project data that is already formatted and code-clean. The customizable user interface makes it very easy to work with while collecting data, and it plays nice with other Web tools and and word processing applications.

I use Zotero to manage my bajillion different projects, which runs the gamut between creative to technical, so it's not just for scholars needing to export a thesis bibliography. Even if you're not quite sure how this powerful Firefox extension might be useful to you, you should probably watch the video just to be sure.

Zemanta
[video]

It was love at first sight with Zemanta. Not only does this extention help me build multimedia-rich blog posts and email with nary a hitch, it saves me content development and research time. I don't know about you, but time I manage to save is time I deserve to gain.

Zemanta integrates into your blog post (all the major platforms are supported) and email (just gmail and yahoo at the time of publishing) and provides you with one-click media, hyperlink and tagging capability right inside your blog posting interface. In a single bound, people! It provides instant "share this" type code at the end of each blog posts without needing to type a key. It also tries real hard to only provide content that's not copyright wink-wink questionable.

Get thee on the Zemanta tour to find out more. Once you install it you'll soon be like me, spending all the time you save by figuring out how to spend all the time you save. ;)

Ubiquity
[video]

"...connecting the world with words." This easy to use, keyboard shortcut enabled, community-based mashup experiment changes everything for me.

Ubiquity runs on an open API. To invoke and use it, you execute commands. You select things on a Web page or type in a command. Then it figures out what you are asking of it and allows you to then use whatever it brings back to you in a variety of ways, all without leaving the page you are on. You can ask it to translate, search, map, email content to anybody, check your google calendar/email/to do list/documents, check the news. Yes, you can even Twitter from it.

Ubiquity is beta, it's semantic webby, and it does far more than I've explained here. If you haven't tried it yet, you're missing out. It is a taste of the future of the Web. For seriously.

Web Developer
[video]

At publishing time, there have been 9,958,956 downloads of this add-on, making this FireFox extension one of the most popular out there for those of us who work in Web development. The goodies in its menus will turn you into a productivity messiah in the eyes of clients and free you up to spend that time saved making your projects work juuuuuust right.

The Web Developer browser extension is a toolbar that provides easier ways to do a lot of the usual time intensive subjects. Edit any page's CSS and see your changes live (and locally), displays the page information for pretty much anything you'd want to know on any page on the Internet, disabling cookies and images, code validation, browser resizing...the list goes on and on.

Rmember it's popular for a reason, and that's because it is most awesome,

And so my love affair with Firefox burns on.

But what are YOUR favorites? I wanna know!

Let's go steady!

Miss Me? Monday 3/2/09

Because I wouldn't want you to miss anything, for your convenience I'm rounding up the links to what I've been up to around the Web:

OurPDX
My friend Angel owns Ladybug cafe in my neighborhood, St. Johns. I may have mentioned it a few bajillion times on twitter, you know, if you keep track of those sort of things. (Is that creepy? I'm not sure. Probably.)

Angel has hung her incredible coffee-centric photos on her cafe's walls (see her Flickr set) and her reception Encrusted was on Sunday. I wrote about it here, on OurPDX, a blog I love dearly. And I'm not just saying that because of lack-of-post guilt, either. Nuh-uh, no ma'am.

Beer and Blog
As you all know I take my Portland Chapter Beer and Blog Provost duties quite seriously, so naturally when I wrote about the cool stuff we're going to do this month I managed to misspell a word in the title of the calagator.org event listing and write "peak" instead of "pique". I am a moron.

Thanks to @pdxflaneur for keeping my heinous crimes against literature on the down-low by pointing this out to me in a private message on Twitter, and well now GOSH here I am, revealing to unknown numbers of grammar finger-shakers on the Internet.

Oh, screw it.

Long Lunch PDX
Over on the Long Lunch PDX blog I wrote 1,000 + "let me lay it out for you people" words about Twitter. I've written about Twitter before (on this blog) but this time I worked in a letter from my favorite coffee people: Wes and Chris of espressoarts.com, a coffee catering company. Chris sent me an email about the same time I was toiling away on my post. It was related, so in it went. It feels a bit long by Internet-attention-span standards, but clear about the purpose of Twitter. Please go check it out and tell me what you think.

By the way, this is a new thing I'm trying on the Long Lunch PDX blog: Quick Question About. The segment title? Meh. Not exactly in love. But I do want to answer some questions about using social media in real life, so send them my way via a comment on this blog. (Really, any of the blogs. Why do I have so many damned blogs??)

I Heart Media - Vox
Check out Röyksopp in "Happy Up Here" which is from their newest album. It's all Space Invaders and electronic pop goodness, if you're in the mood for such giddiness. You may know these boys from Norway as "that band that does that song, with the video of the dog, um, in space."

Oh, Röyksopp. Sigh. I have such a thing for Scandinavian bands. (What am I, 12?)

This has been a Miss Me? Monday.

Miss me? Subscribe to my feeds, and never miss a thing.

Let's go steady!