"I bought apples" and other crazy-but-true tales

I’m still buzzing about interviewing Marshall McLuhan scholar, singer/songwriter and award-winning sci-fi writer Paul Levinson for Read Write Web. Did you read it? Here’s the link: Twitterdipity and Paul Levinson: Social Media's Ecology

In it I talk about how Twitter’s very unique ecosystem creates “twitterdipity” which led me to connect with this media ecology hero of mine. At the end of the post Paul answers five questions about things like Wieden + Kennedy's Old Spice "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" campaign, the role of community managers, and the “empowerment of everyone” in the Digital Age. (By the way...choosing just five questions to ask? An agonizing process that took me days. Days. Of. Agony.)

Luckily, the agony was not in vain. Judging by the increasing traffic to my web sites, the number of custom links clicked, the number of re-tweets, and my many new Twitter followers and LinkedIn connections, I’d say that my Twitterdipity post was well received. I’m just happy that, in the end, I done sound smart-like. It’s important to me that my work with interactive storytelling, entrepreneurial authorship and alternative content publishing be shared with as many media-lovin’ experimenters as possible. And it’s happening! My career has become worthy of academic consideration!

Last week I found out that the Writing Arts department at Rowan University has an Internet and writing studies class called Composing Spaces. In the course description for this class I'm linked to as an author "choosing to circumvent traditional publishing processes and institutions" along with NIN and the author of The Sandman, Ray Connolly. (Click on the word "burgeoning” cause that’s me, yo.)

And, remember my gushing about skyping into Lance Strate's Intro to Communications and Media class at Fordham University last month? It just keeps getting better! That appearance went so well that I’ve been asked to participate in a symposium sponsored by the Institute of General Semantics (fancy!) and the Media Ecology Association (hurray!). The theme is New Languages, New Relations, New Realities and is next month, in New York, a place I’ve never been before. I’m looking forward to meeting some of the names on the books I study and the MEA posts I read. I’ll reveal more about my role at the symposium as the time for departure draws nearer...but rest assured, it’s SO GONNA ROCK!

And before I jet-set to NYC (to no doubt find myself in heated discussions about the future of storytelling) I’ll be leading a session at WordCamp Portland, which runs Sept 18-19. My session is on Sunday afternoon and is called Using the Apture Plugin to Tell Interactive Stories. I’ll be discussing how to configure multi-panel hyperactive links and media embeds with Apture, like the one you see in The Miracle in July, in WordPress. I’ll also cover best practices, hyperlink aesthetics, and the effective use of media as storytelling device.

Now, there is one thing that I have been working on for months, and at an agonizingly slow pace: the Epilogue. This is that last piece of MIJ I’ve yet to published, that final curtain on the first draft of my storytelling experiment. Everyday I work on it, shaping the narrative and killing my darlings, and everyday I’m closer to being able to let it go. But after a period of trying to rush this final and very important segment through, I’ve realized that it is best for my creative peace of mind to let the work sort itself over time. Until it feels complete the Epilogue will go unpublished. But trust me...it’ll be sooooo worth the wait.

In the meantime, in case you missed it, I made apple pie last weekend. I announced I’d be baking this pie in a status update to Twitter and Facebook:


This statement attracted Facebook comments that inspired me to write a flash documentary of the pie-making as a social status story -- a collection of short statements, in this case, six status updates. But, you know me. I need a challenge. So, my story plays on the seduction of the smell, taste and sight of making and baking a pie. Yes, I wrote food p0rn: You can see the text (and a photo of the resulting pie) via the link below:

"I bought apples. You know what that means..."

Yes, it’s a gift. You’re welcome :D

An Anthology of Almost-Posts: What the hell I've been up to lately

This post is a collection of almost-posts. I’ve gathered together my post-its scrawled with headlines, I’ve tagged my notebooks for post ideas, and have perused my Google docs to assemble a hodgepodge of totally awesome experiences that I’ve neglected to document here, on I Heart Media. You know, my personal blog. The one I haven’t updated since March. FIVE MONTHS AGO.

Ahem.

So, without further ado (and in chronological order) here are some of totally awesome things that I’ve been meaning to write about on I Heart Media:

In a post I wanted to call I abused my Platinum Badge at SXSW (and I’m SO not sorry), I planned to describe how I networked my ass off in Austin, TX and all the people I met and stuff I learned. (I cover how I got a RACC grant to attend SXSW in the post Back in the Saddle at South by Southwest.) So, to recap my 13 days in Austin: this amazing conference was freakin’ magic. For realz. I wrote a few words about what went down at SXSW on the Webtrends corporate blog (complete with blatant name droppin’) but it doesn’t even BEGIN to uncover the juicy bits. Guess y’all will have to wait for the book chronicling my adventures at SXSW 2010. The working title currently is My First Time: A Girl’s Guide to Getting the Most from the SXSW Experience. It’s very “mediaChick” don’t you think?

One thing that happened at SXSW that leads into my next almost-post is that I finally got to meet Anthony, from Hype Machine. Anthony introduced me to Fred, from Kickstarter. OK...I had heard of Kickstarter before SXSW, and had briefly considered using it to help fund MIJ in some way, but the “all-or-nothing” aspect of it made me very nervous.

Fred changed my mind, though, when he explained that the thing that made me most wary was exactly the thing that worked most in the campaign’s favor because it solicits the urgency necessary to make a Kickstarter campaign a success. Word of mouth and viral marketing, both critical mediums in promoting any message, are only viable when people care enough to pass along that message. Backers need to care in order to invest, and they want to protect that investment by contributing to its success.

So, inspired by my trip to SXSW I came home to launch a fundraising campaign on Kickstarter. As part of that campaign, I planned to announce the launch of Destination Denmark (the name of my campaign) with a post titled Crowdsourcing: How to do Epic Shit in $10 Increments or maybe Why Giving Me Money Totally Gets You Into Heaven.

Even without the posts, and thanks to lots of help from tons of people (and mentions in the Oregonian, and on Silicon Florist and KGW Live @ 7 on the Square), I totally pwnd that all-or-nothing fear and raised more than $5,000 in 45 days to take a research/media-gathering trip to Denmark. That was no mean feat, my friends. That there is what you call a community success made possible by the social web. Powerful stuff, that social media. (Here’s my Kickstarter page for your viewing pleasure.)

My post-funding glow was set to be expressed in a post I planned to call Was it good for you? How to create a Miracle in “This Economy”. Not very SEO-friendly, I know, but it IS catchy, yes? I did manage to publish several posts on the Destination Denmark blog during the campaign, if you’re so inclined to delve into the world of fundraising for travel.

Next, to the sound of a deafening anti-climatic roar...I finished writing The Miracle in July. Actually, I still have the Epilogue to publish (more on that later) but with almost 100,000 words in three Acts I think it’s safe to say I’ve got plenty of 1st draft content to keep my readers busy for a while. The last chapter of the last act came and went without fanfare, or the creation of the post I had wanted to write. I was going to call it I Wrote 100,000 Words and All I Got Was 100,000 Words and Writer’s Hump. Not my favorite, but the subject matter is fairly clear, I’d say.

Then I went to Denmark. It was AHHH-MAZING!

Imagine, if you will, going on an International research adventure. You’re there with the blessings and cash of more than 100 people who believe in you and your project, and this realization makes every day a pleasure, a gift. No plans go derailed. No case of hiccups disturb the work or the focus. It felt like a dream, and when I came home I fully intended to write about the experience in a post called Dreaming Big, Living Large: Today is the first day of the rest of my life. (That one makes me giggle!)



Full of gleeful fantasies of gutting the 1st draft of MIJ and taking the scraps to fashion the TIGHTEST, MOST VISCERAL AND MESMERIZING STORY KNOWN TO MANKIND, I returned home and slept for a week. Then I published the 2nd draft of the Prologue. (No, not the Epilogue. Patience! I’ll explain about that later.) Both versions of the Prologue are available and when I released that link I wanted to write a post called The Evolution of a Story: The MIJ Prologue, Revisited or perhaps, simply, Double Your Pleasure for the Price of FREE!

Most recently, something totallyamazingomgIcan’tbelievemylife happened that deserves a mention. Actually, in retrospect, after the banner year I’ve had since embarking on this crazy-ambitious journey of a publishing experiment, it makes total sense...but when it happened...I actually...kinda...choked up. With happiness. And pride. And validation, excitement, possibilities, hope, and (I’m not ashamed to admit to it) a swelling ego.

In a post that I could have called Where did I put my tweed jacket with the leather elbow patches, anyway? or maybe Guess who’s coming to Communication and Media 101? I planned to squee! and hurray! my way through the story of how I found myself on a big screen in a Mass Communications class at Fordham University in NY to answer questions about transmedia, next-generation publishing, and following your bliss. Yes! Me!

In short: It was awesome. The students loved me. I loved them. They asked great questions, and of course I encouraged anyone who wanted to try something like MIJ to go for it. “Dream big!” I said. “Aim high! Failing sucks, but not as much as endlessly wondering what if?” I confess, it was so moving that if I’d been in the room physically we’d have ended the class with clasped hands, singing Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, or The Impossible Dream. Or perhaps Baby I’m a Star.

So that’s the extent of the totally awesome things that have happened lately that I’ve neglected to write about on I Heart Media. If you add this post of many almost-posts to the posts that were actually published in the last year, you’ll see I’ve kept my eye on my lofty goal of trailblazing the road to alternative publishing. And I’ve got more opportunities to do more blazin’ in the near future. The next three months are smothered in awesomesauce:

• I’ll be revealing the MIJ Epilogue at my first-ever MIJ reading on August 18th at NedSpace. This is a Kickstarter backers-only part-tay, so if you invested in Destination Denmark and you live in the Portland-Metro area, I’ll be emailing you an invite soon. Watch for it, yo.
• The following month, in September, I’ll be extolling the virtues of something as-yet-undecided-but-MIJ-related at WordCamp Portland.
• Then, the month after that, in October, I’ll be in NYC participating in the Media Ecology Association's Symposium exploring the topic New Languages, New Relations, New Realities. What does this mean exactly, “participate”? Well, that’s a post title I haven’t thought of yet...and let’s hope I publish something well before another five months have passed.

So, there you are. My collection of almost-posts, an assemblage of totally awesome experiences that I’ve neglected to document here, on I Heart Media. I hope my adventures inspire you to follow your dreams, like I am.

:)

Let's go steady!

Back in the Saddle at South by Southwest

Tomorrow I travel to Austin, TX for the biggest, baddest Film/Interactive/Music conference in the whole damned world: South by Southwest. Thanks to a small Professional Development Grant from the Regional Arts & Culture Council this journey to the Lone Star State will satisfy a long-held dream of mine.

Apparently, all I needed to do was to write an interactive, genre-bending, alternative publishing experiment in the form of a very personal erotic memoir. Wow! Who knew? :)

It was just last year, in July of 2009, that I faithfully began publishing draft segments of The Miracle in July online, baring it all for the world to see. I had an idea, and a dream, and the desire to see what would happen if I followed my bliss...if I just "went for it" with as much chutzpah as I could muster.

It's now March 2010. I'm on an extended hiatus between Act Two and Three, a break from the brutal MIJ production schedule which comes to an end when I return from SXSW. You can expect the regular Monday morning postings from me that you've missed so much beginning March 29. You're welcome.

Of course, a hiatus isn't really a break. I've stayed plenty busy!

• I released my first ebook, an erotic anthology called Venice is for Lovers: Erotica from The Miracle in July - Act One, which is gorgeously viewable on most ereaders.
• I launched an MIJ newsletter. (HINT: Sign up for my newsletter and get $1 OFF my ebook Venice is for Lovers!)
• I updated the Media Coverage page to include some very nice things that Portland Reading Local and Conversations in Marketing said about MIJ.
• I revised the MIJ Social Media Press Release. (Artists of all kinds should have one!)
• I revised (again) the About the Author, About the Story, and About the Music pages.
• I met several writers inspired by my publishing experiment and encouraged them to follow their bliss and move forward with their dreams without an agent or a publisher.
• I began editing the book version of Act Two, and continue to work on Act One and the Prologue.

Since I started publishing The Miracle in July I've written close to 80,000 words of my first novel with the encouragement of hundreds of people who have read, supported, and shared my interactive digital love story. And now I'm headed South to share my bliss with potentially hundreds more readers and supporters. All it took to get to this point? Hard work, determination, lots of gin and lemonade, and an unwavering faith in the rewards of following your bliss.

For those of you who are interested, my SXSW schedule is posted online. And, if you're going to SXSW 2010 as well (I'll be there all week) please hunt me down and say hello!

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!